Standing in the cabin, Homelander did his best not to feel too disappointed. It felt different to all of the times he'd been there before. He had nothing but happy memories of it recently. It had been the place where he had spent his first Christmas with Victoria. They had been so content. They'd just sat around and enjoyed each other's company. It had been perfect and everything that he had wanted.

"Do you think that we could maybe start a fire?"

Homelander snapped out of his thoughts as he heard his wife speak. She was still wearing her coat over her woolly grey jumper she'd tucked into a pair of jeans. They'd driven out to the cabin that morning after Homelander had suggested they spend a week away. They needed a week away from Vought and the stresses of the city. Homelander was, somehow, doing well in the polls. He was still popular, despite the DA trying to come after him. But he had the best legal team going. There would be no chance that he would actually be punished for what he'd done.

"Are you cold?"

"I'm just thinking that it's likely to get chilly," Victoria said to him and she picked up some logs from the basket by the open fire.

Ryan and Evelyn were outside, playing together while Victoria sorted the cabin out and unpacked everything. Homelander hadn't been particularly helpful. He'd carried the cases and bags inside, but that had been about it. He'd spent the rest of his time just looking around the space and reminiscing.

"I'll do it," he promised his wife.

"You sure?" she asked him back.

Victoria had been apprehensive about why they were going to the cabin, but he'd insisted that it would be good for them. He'd told her that some time away as a family where they could just be together was necessary. She suspected he was trying to keep her away from people. He'd be on edge ever since Daniella had shown up and he'd gone to see her brother.

"I can do it," he told her and he took over building the fire.

"Well, I'll make a start on dinner," she said. "The kids bags are unpacked and their sharing the guest bedroom upstairs. I think Evie should be alright with Ryan."

"She has started sleeping the night through," Homelander said.

"I was thinking that we should maybe get her a bed when we return to the Tower," Victoria said, moving around the kitchen and finding ingredients for a pasta dish that she was going to cook. "I think she's big enough for one now, plus she has one here."

"You think so?"

"Well, she's growing so fast," Victoria said. "I mean, she's practically walking…she can talk…and all the parenting books I've read say that she should be going into a bed soon."

"You know you don't need to read those parenting books, right?" Homelander checked with her. "You know what you're doing. Those books are just written by shrills who think they know best when I bet in reality their kids are absolute terrors."

Victoria rolled her eyes behind his back as she heard him finish with the fire. He stood up, wiping his hands and tugging his gloves from his fingers. He tossed them onto the coffee table and moved into the kitchen, peering through the window to check his kids were still okay as he moved towards his wife. He stood behind her as she began chopping up an onion, a pepper lined up to be chopped afterwards. He dared to wrap his arms around her waist from behind, feeling her stiffen slightly before she relaxed slightly. He knew she still wasn't comfortable being around him, but that was why they were where they were.

He wanted to put her at ease. He wanted her to see how good it was without anyone interrupting them. It could be exactly how it had been. She just needed to be able to see that. Plus, she needed to relax before they had another baby. She needed to be as relaxed as possible before that happened.

Homelander kissed the side of her head tenderly and Victoria tried to focus on chopping the onion in front of her. "Do you remember the Christmas we spent here?" he asked from her and Victoria felt a pang in her chest. She had been so hopelessly in love with him back then. She would have done anything for him. She thought he was perfect and that nothing could ruin them. It was only later when she realised that she hardly knew who he was.

"The first Christmas we had together."

"The first time we had sex too," Homelander reminded her and Victoria doubted she was unlikely to forget that. It had been the time she'd opened up to him too. She'd told him everything about her childhood and what Eddie had done to her. Little did she know then that he'd snuck out that very same night and killed Eddie.

"That feels like such a long time ago," Victoria replied.

"I suppose it was when you think about it," Homelander replied. "Look how far we've come. Back then I didn't think I could have kids and now look at us…we have two children and are a perfect family."

"Things have changed a lot since then," Victoria said.

"But in some ways, they haven't," Homelander said to her, kissing her one more on her cheek before letting his nose brush along her neck. "I still love you, Victoria. I love you as much as I did back then. That's never changed…and that's enough, right?"

Victoria wanted to tell him that it would never be enough. It would never make her forget who he was and what he had done. She despised him for so much and he knew that. Everything he stood for went against her principles. She was only with him because she was trapped and he had to know that. She'd tried to run away before. She'd spent months on the run from him. He'd been so angry with her. He'd told her that things would be done his way from then on and she was too scared to argue with him. He'd threatened her. He'd scared her.

But that wasn't how he wanted to do things. He would work that way if he had to, but he found it easier if she just went with him and played the role he wanted. He wanted the perfect wife and Victoria knew she wasn't that, but for the sake of her daughter and Ryan, she could play that role, but only to a certain extent.

"I want it to be enough," she replied, humouring him as best as she could. She was a survivor and this was her way to survive. She knew there was no other option.

Homelander hummed against her body and he whispered into her ear, voice husky and low.

"It will be enough. You'll soon see."

….

"I rarely get Christmas Day off. Usually I end up doing the rounds…you know…going to hospitals…visiting police departments because those guys are the real heroes. Those of us in the Seven without family were the ones who worked over Christmas," Homelander informed Victoria as the two of them sat together at the dining table, eating leftover turkey sandwiches.

The cabin was quite cold, but Homelander didn't feel the chill. Victoria, on the other hand, did feel it. She was dressed in long sleeved pyjamas, socks on her feet and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She had one leg bent, heel on the edge of the chair as Homelander sat across from her, legs spread and an empty plate in front of him after devouring his sandwich.

It was Christmas night and they had spent most of the day in bed before leaving for Victoria to make a Christmas dinner. She'd introduced him to some British delicacies he'd never had before too. In particular, she had given him a twenty minute speech on how delicious a Yorkshire pudding was and he had to confess that she wasn't wrong.

"So how did you get this Christmas off?" Victoria wondered, leaving the crust of her sandwich and dropping it onto her plate.

"I told Madelyn that I'd done my fair share of Vought PR for the holidays and I wanted time away. After all of the interviews we've done in the run up to Christmas, we were owed this," he said to her. "I mean, the photoshoot of you preparing me a home cooked Christmas dinner earned you brownie points for all of next year."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "That was ridiculous," she complained to him. "I looked like a fifties housewife while you sat at the dining table waiting for me to serve you."

"I could feel the anger rolling off of you," Homelander informed her and Victoria groaned lowly. "But I have to confess that you did look super hot in that dress, Vicky. It did ignite something inside of me…not denying that."

"Really? So me in a poodle skirt gets you going, huh?"

"You in anything gets me going," he replied.

Victoria arched her brow. "Really?" she questioned him.

"Not lying about that," Homelander assured her. "It's amazing, really, the effect you have on me…no one's had it before…not Maeve…none of my previous girlfriends…just you."

Victoria blushed at the comment and she nodded her head. "I feel the same," she assured him on that point. "I never actually thought I'd fall in love after what happened with Eddie. I thought that I…that it would hurt too much…that I didn't want it…but with you, it's almost like it's too easy and that scares me too because I know that if you want to then you could break my heart. I never wanted to give anyone the power to do that."

Homelander moved to his feet and he settled down in front of her on his knees. He drew her own legs down and turned her round so that he was knelt in between her legs. He reached his hands up and took hold of hers, fingers entwining with hers and holding her limbs lightly. She looked down to him as he kissed the back of her hand.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered to her. "I love you, Victoria. I love you more than anything or anyone…and you know that you can hurt me too, don't you?"

"I don't want to," Victoria said. "But I just don't know how this stuff goes, John. I've never done this before and there are times when I remember who you are…you're the Homelander…a supe…part of the Seven…and I get scared. I get scared that will come between us and you'll find someone like you-"

"-No," he interrupted firmly, shaking his head and running a hand up her arm to take hold of her chin and turn her gaze onto him. "None of that matters. Me being in the Seven…being a supe…just because you aren't any of those things doesn't make any difference to me. You're perfect just as you are and to you…I'm John…and I've never just been John with anyone else. You're the only one who has gotten to know the real me."

"And you for me," Victoria whispered and he brushed her hair behind her ear before pushing himself upwards to kiss her tenderly, his lips moving over hers and relishing the moment of vulnerability he would never allow himself to have with anyone else.

…

Homelander snapped out of the memory as he finished eating his dinner that night. Victoria had been talking to Ryan about something, but he had zoned out. Evelyn had been making a mess of her food and Victoria cleaned her up before Ryan helped her clear the table. They tidied up together and Homelander let Victoria take the lead. She suggested a board game and Ryan jumped at it, rushing to the cupboard with the games.

Last time Homelander had played a game had been that Christmas with Victoria when she insisted they play Monopoly. She'd even taught him the rules. He'd won, wiping her out despite her trying to convince him not to bankrupt her when she'd settled on his lap and reached for his fly.

"I'm going to take this one to bed," Homelander said as Evelyn started to doze off.

He'd been sat on the floor and helping her with a jigsaw she had been working on that had twelve pieces. She'd tried moving the pieces together when they clearly didn't fit, sat in between her father's legs as Homelander let her do it by herself.

"Is she sleepy?" Victoria asked.

She had been playing Uno with Ryan, lowering her cards to say goodnight to her daughter. Homelander carried Evelyn in his arms and she nestled against his shoulder, already dropping off. It had been a long day for her after travelling.

"She is," Homelander confirmed.

"Okay," Victoria said and she stood in front of her daughter and kissed her on top of her head. "Sleep tight, Evie."

"Goodnight, mummy," Evelyn said weakly and Homelander winked to his wife before carrying his daughter up to the bedroom. Victoria watched them retreat and she returned to her seat with Ryan. She settled down as he took a sip of the water in the glass in front of him. He'd set his cards down on the table and there was look in his eye that Victoria didn't quite think she'd seen before.

"You okay?" she asked from him.

"Evelyn is lucky to have you as her mom," Ryan said and Victoria cocked her head to the side. Ryan put his glass down and looked to her. "I miss my mom."

"Oh, Ryan," Victoria sighed softly and she moved around the table to sit next to him. She moved a hand to his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "You know that you can talk about her, don't you? You don't need to keep things bottled up. Your mom was an amazing woman and I don't want you to think that you can't talk about her."

"I know," Ryan said. "It just makes me sad because I miss her so much and when I see you with Evelyn…it just reminds me."

"That's normal, honey," Victoria assured him. "Your mom loved you so much and I know you loved her so much too. I know that it can be sad to talk about her because you miss her…but sometimes…in the future…you might not get as sad. You might be able to remember all of the happy things that you did together. You'll smile instead of cry."

"Do you think so?"

"I know so," Victoria promised. "But if you ever want to talk about her or if you're feeling sad then you know that you can come to me, right?"

"I just…sometimes you just look so sad and I don't know if I should," Ryan said and Victoria let out a shaky breath. She didn't want him to feel like that. She wanted him to be happy. "But dad says that it's because you lost your baby."

"Yeah," Victoria said. She wasn't going to burden Ryan with anything else he didn't need to know. "There are times when I'm sad, but if you ever want to talk then we can. You can always talk to me…and I want you to know that I'm not trying to replace your own mum…mom," she corrected. "No one will ever be her."

"Thanks, Victoria," Ryan said and she shot him a smile and a wink.

"Hey, sport, I think it's almost your bedtime after you shower, right?"

Homelander's voice echoed into the room and Ryan let out an exasperated sigh but stood up. He bid goodnight to Victoria with a brief hug and then he hugged his dad before heading up the stairs. Homelander sat in his son's vacant seat and peered at his cards. Shaking his head slowly, Homelander then looked at Victoria's cards using his x-ray vision.

"You'd have beat him in about three rounds," Homelander said and that brought out a smile in Victoria.

"That was why I could never play any card-based games with you. You constantly cheat," Victoria said and she took the cards from him and packed them away.

"I tried not to, but you know how I hate losing,"

"Yeah, I know because you always complained about it," Victoria said and she went to start boiling the kettle for peppermint tea. "Anyway, did Evie get down okay?"

"She did. She hardly managed to listen to me reading her bedtime story," Homelander said. "And then I heard you talking to Ryan. You're good, you know? It all comes to natural to you…being maternal…and while Ryan might not see you as his mum right now, I think he will in time."

"He doesn't need to though," Victoria said, putting the kettle on the stove and turning to face him as he stood up and folded his arms over his chest.

"No, but I think he will," Homelander retorted. "And then when we have another baby…you really have nothing to worry about. Look how perfect Evelyn is and how good you are with Ryan. I just…I really think we can be happy, Victoria. I truly do. Look how amazing today has been."

Victoria tried to remain calm. He didn't need to know that her and the doctor had a plan to avoid her getting pregnant, but it would only work for so long. She turned to busy herself with making her tea.

"It's been a good day," Victoria admitted to him. She would let him have that. "But you heard what the doctor said. My blood pressure needs to be lower. I assume that's why we're here, right? You're trying to relax me?"

Homelander chuckled darkly. "That obvious, huh?"

"You're not exactly subtle," she replied and turned her head over her shoulder to glance to him. "But I guess it's working because I quite like being here…it just feels so much more peaceful than the Tower."

"I agree," Homelander said to her with a nod of his head. "This is what I'd always imagined our life to be like…just us…no interruptions."

"Yeah," was all that she could offer him. "I mean, this place holds nice memories for us, doesn't it?"

"The best," Homelander answered her honestly and he only hoped that by the end of the night, there would be even more memories for them together. He was trying his best to woo her, but he didn't know if it was possible. He hoped it would be, but when it came to Victoria, things weren't always easy.

…

Alex wasn't sure how he had made it back to the States. A part of him wondered if he was making a mistake, but as soon as he'd turned the news on and seen Homelander parading Victoria out like a trophy wife, he knew he had to go back. She'd been painted as a bad wife. She'd ran away from her husband. She'd taken their daughter too. She was being villainised, but Homelander was constantly there defending her honour and protecting her from the press. He only brought her out at certain points, telling the press that she needed time to recover and focus on her own mental health.

And Alex couldn't take it. He wanted to go back. He wanted to help. He didn't know how and he wasn't sure if he could, but he couldn't hide in the shadows. Homelander had to know he was alive too. He hadn't found him and he hadn't killed him. Maybe he was under the assumption that Alex would just hide quietly in the shadows? But that wasn't who he was. He wasn't going to give up on the woman he had fallen in love with. He only hoped she didn't give up on herself.

…

So just another filler chapter in the meantime! We have the return of Alex and what is Homelander planning? Please let me know what you think!