-Maddie-

He won't know, there's no way. He'll be none the wiser…

Maddie contemplated this as she lay out her white lace lingerie on the bed in front of her; the same lingerie that had brought out a whole other side of Tommy the night before. Her heart began to beat faster with the memory and her pussy tingle between her legs making her press her thighs together. He had instructed, no… more like ordered her to wear this lingerie every day until he said so but now she was already thinking about going against his orders. Part of her couldn't believe that she had let herself become like putty in his hands so easily. Then again, the other part of her wasn't surprised at all. She had been powerless, and she had to admit it was one of the most erotic moments of her life.

As Tommy had convinced her to abandon her foolish attempt at quitting being a slayer, it meant that today she would have to dive headlong back into training. She imagined she would have to prove herself ten times over in order to appease Zach enough to not send a less than glamorous report back to the Council. Fucking hell, Maddie, she thought, you really do make life hard for yourself sometimes.

She looked back down at the lingerie and sighed. It was too beautiful to wear whilst training, she would only get it sweaty and maybe even damage it. That would surely anger Tommy more than if he found out she wasn't wearing it at all and so, making her decision, she left it laid out on the bed and fished out her ordinary underwear from the drawer before dressing in her comfiest training attire. He had already left early that morning, despite the two of them being up until the early hours as he hadn't been able to get enough of her lace covered body, so as far as he knew, she was still wearing it. Maddie smirked at the memory as she dressed before heading downstairs in anticipation for Zach to arrive.

Maddie hadn't yet told her watcher that she had decided to carry on being a slayer and hoped that surprising him with the news would put him in a good mood. She still wasn't ready to be best buds with him, but after reading what he wrote in his diary, she decided she would try to get along with him as best she could. She also had to make it up to Tommy as well, after ignoring him for the best part of four days and almost wrenching the two of them apart over her stubborn attempt to quit slaying. He and Zach had been right of course, and she had known it all along. That it would be impossible for her to quit. But her experience in the tunnels had haunted her to the point where she had pushed against them so ferociously. She hadn't told Tommy that she had been having nightmares about that fight in the tunnels ever since it happened but decided she may need to. Just like she had helped him with his nightmares, she was becoming certain she would need his comforting presence in order to rid herself of hers.

'Urg, I need to get my head in the game,' mumbled Maddie to herself as she descended into the foyer. 'You're a slayer, so just fucking deal with it.'

Maddie found Esther in the kitchen, preparing her breakfast and smiled widely. There's nothing a good breakfast can't fix, she thought. It was still very early, and she wondered what time Zack might show up but realised that knowing him, he would be there before too long. After breakfast, she went and retrieved the diary from the living room, finding it on the floor where it had been dropped the night before, and went and sat by the window to await Zach's arrival. No doubt he had noticed that he had left his diary behind and would want to try and retrieve it before anyone found it. Well, it was too late for that.

Only ten minutes passed before Maddie saw a car trundle up the driveway and park up before Zach got out looking particularly disgruntled. She smirked to herself before getting up and making her way out of the living room and down the corridor, hiding just at the end so she could watch him enter. He didn't knock and instead let himself in quietly, looking around for anyone nearby before sneaking in and over to the coat cupboard. She watched as he opened the cupboard and found his bag hanging there. He took it out and opened it, reaching inside as his body went stiff. Now's the time, she thought.

With quiet footsteps, Maddie approached Zack, creeping up behind him as he opened the bag fully and was peering down inside it, and came to a stop behind him.

'Looking for this?' she asked, breaking the silence and making him jump a foot in the air and gasp. He swivelled around to face her, catching his breath as he looked down at her perplexed before she held out the leather-bound diary for him to take. He swallowed thickly, looking down at his diary before slowly taking it out of her hand. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off.

'Yes, I read it,' stated Maddie. 'So did Tommy, he was the one who found it.'

Zach gave a look of slight panic, 'Ah…' he stammered. 'I see.' A silence passed between them for a second before he looked up and noticed her outfit and gave her a puzzled look before it changed to one of realisation. 'You look like you're dressed for-.'

'Training,' finished Maddie.

Zach beamed a relieved smile and huffed out a laugh. 'Well, I must say that this is a great relief! I was worried that I would have to give the Council some bad news today.'

'Yeah, well now there's no need,' she said with a small smile. 'However… there are some things that I want to get straight with you.'

He looked up, his expression more serious but not looking like he wanted to argue. 'Very well,' he nodded.

'If this… watcher-slayer relationship is going to work then there are going to be some things that need to be understood,' began Maddie. 'One: all decisions on any future missions, patrols, big bads etc will be made as a team. Which includes my family as well as us.' A brief look of uncertainty passed over Zach's face at this first request, but it was soon gone and he nodded in agreement. 'Two: no more stupid tests like the last one. I'll be honest about my weaknesses and you can be honest about your feedback, okay?' He nodded again, seemingly more on board with this one. 'And finally, Tommy. My relationship with him, my engagement, is not up for debate. If you're still thinking about trying to break the two of us up, then you'd best forget about it.'

Another silence passed between them as Zach took in Maddie's last demand, giving her an understanding look before nodding. 'Alright,' he agreed. 'But I'm sure I don't need to point out that your relationship with Thomas and his family is a weakness you could do without. Your enemies will try to exploit that to their advantage and the consequences could be catastrophic.'

Maddie swallowed and pursed her lips. 'I know,' she admitted with a sigh. 'But that's my problem, not yours.'

Zach sighed but nodded, putting his diary back in his bag before holding his hand out to her to shake. 'Then I trust you to know what you're doing.' Maddie took his hand and shook it, finally giving him a genuine smile which he returned. 'Come,' said Zach. 'Let's begin training.'

Maddie trained with Zach all morning without taking a break. He pushed her hard, but not unreasonably so. First, he instructed her to warm up with twenty laps of the grounds whilst he set up the training room ready for the morning, which took her about an hour at a steady pace. The rest of the morning, he had her do a series of acrobatic drills and assault courses around the training room which did a good job of challenging her skills to the point where she found that she was enjoying herself. He had evidently designed this training regime on the basis of her score in his test. Her worst score was in the stamina category, and all of the day's training seemed designed to push her in this aspect.

Zach offered at several points for Maddie to take a break but she refused. She was on a roll, and she didn't want to break her flow. As a result, she kept going and by two in the afternoon, he instructed her to stop as she reached the tenth minute of balancing on the pommel horse on one hand. She dismounted gracefully and looked to see that he was giving her an approving smile which she returned.

'Great work,' Zach announced as Maddie stretched her arms over her chest to ease out the soreness.

'Thanks,' she replied, taking a deep breath. 'So, what's next?'

'That'll do for today,' he said and Maddie looked back at him in mild surprise as well as a small measure of disappointment.

'Really? But it's only two o'clock,' she questioned.

'Indeed, but we have finished ahead of time since you didn't want to take any breaks,' he smiled, looking impressed. 'Besides, I need to contact the Council to give them my report.'

Maddie's smile dropped with Zach's words, and she felt her chest tighten as she looked at her feet. 'Oh, yeah,' she mumbled. 'I suppose you'd better tell them what I've been up to.'

'Yes,' he hummed. 'I'm sure they'll be pleased to know that you've made steady progress over the course of the week.'

Huh? Did I hear that right? Maddie looked up at Zach with a confused expression to find him smiling warmly down at her.

'You mean… you're not going to tell them about me nearly quitting?'

He let out a humoured huff. 'What the Council doesn't know won't hurt them,' he said. 'I doubt them knowing would help anybody in the long run anyway.'

Maddie blinked in disbelief, a wave of relief washing over her as she let herself smile widely before impulsively running over to Zach. She collided with him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug making him gasp loudly in surprise.

'Thank you, thank you, thank you!' she cheered as she squeezed him around the middle. 'You're the best watcher ever!'

Zach made a little gasping noise as he placed his hands on Maddie's arms. 'You're welcome,' he choked. 'But I can't… breathe.'

'Oh! Sorry!' exclaimed Maddie, releasing him as he sucked in a much-needed breath and coughed before giving her a reassuring smile and they both laughed awkwardly.

'The rest of the afternoon is your own,' said Zach once he caught his breath. 'I'll be back again in the morning, and we will work on your combat skills.'

Maddie nodded her understanding, feeling a little excited. 'Okay.'

She showed Zach out, waving him off as her stomach growled hungrily. She made herself a late lunch in the kitchen as the cooks were already busy preparing dinner. Charlie had been brought down to eat his lunch also so she sat and ate with him before offering to take him upstairs for a while. Maddie hadn't spent as much time with him as she should have over the last few days and realised she needed to make up for it.

Maddie took Charlie up to his room and played with him on the floor for a while, holding a wooden truck and making it drive around him whilst making engine noises which made him laugh. She now only seemed to notice how much he had grown over the course of the six months she had been in 1924. His legs had gotten slightly longer and stronger, so he now walked around without falling over as much. His arms were also stronger, and he was now able to lift heavier objects than he had before. As she took notice of these small changes, she realised that these were things that usually only a mother would notice and the thought caused her to pause. She really had become like a mother to Charlie and suddenly the desire to have a child of her own sprang up on her. Not so long ago, Maddie was convinced she would never be able to experience motherhood but this opportunity of a new life she had been given had now shown her that it would be entirely possible. She pictured herself in her head, with a round belly as she carried Tommy's child and felt herself well up at the thought. Is that what I want? She asked herself this and pondered for a minute before the realisation hit her. Yes, yes! I want to have a baby.

Maddie smiled to herself, thinking about how happy Tommy would be once she told him. Then she remembered the implant in her arm, and it caused her to pause, her smile fading a little. She still hadn't told him about it, and she wondered if he had even questioned why she hadn't gotten pregnant yet. She knew she would need to tell him soon though, as well as find a way to remove her implant if they wanted to have a child within the next two years at least. However, she remembered that their engagement had only just happened and decided that springing this on him would give them one too many things to think about. No, wedding plans first, then I'll tell him that I want a child.

Maddie nodded to herself happily, content that she had made the right decision when she suddenly felt the need to go and see Tommy. All these thoughts of having his baby making her hot under the collar. Thankfully, Charlie had begun to tire and yawned, ready for an afternoon nap and she scooped him up, rocking him softly before he quickly fell asleep. She settled him in his cot and left the room, letting Esther know that he was asleep, before running to the bedroom to get washed and dressed.

She got herself ready in a flash, redressing in clean clothes before neatening her hair and putting on a little makeup before dashing out of the house. She hoped that surprising Tommy at his office would be a nice surprise since she hadn't been there in a while after he had essentially sacked her now she was his fiancé.

Maddie drove to Small Heath in one of the spare cars, enjoying the autumn scenery as the golden leaves were being blown off the trees in all directions. Maybe this is it, she thought. Now that I have a watcher who I seem to get along with and there is no one trying to kill us, maybe we can finally settle into a happy routine. She quickly shook this thought from her mind, realising that she would likely jinx herself if she let herself hope too much. When she arrived, she parked the car up outside the office and made her way inside, everyone giving her a smile as she waved at them.

'Afternoon, Maddie!' called Skudboat and she gave him a friendly wave. 'What brings you here? Thought Tommy had stopped you working here now?'

'He has,' smiled Maddie, laughing knowingly. 'Just thought I'd stop by and…um... say hello to everyone.'

Maddie managed to stop herself from saying 'surprise him' knowing that it would earn her a knowing smirk from Skudboat and anyone else who was listening.

'In that case, it's always good to see you,' smiled Skudboat just as Arthur emerged from his office.

'Mads!' he called, looking somewhat surprised as he walked over to them. 'What are you doin' ere? I thought you'd be training until the sun set. Tom told us you've decided not to quit.'

'Yeah,' she smiled. 'I have. I thought Zach might keep me training until midnight but apparently, he's decided to take it easy on me. I think he's just glad I've changed my mind.'

Arthur stepped forward and gave Maddie a brotherly hug before smiling at her with that knowing twinkle in his eye just as John walked in through the front door and beamed as he saw her.

'Fuckin 'ell, Mads,' he exclaimed. 'Didn't expect to see you here anytime soon.'

Maddie also gave John a brotherly hug and beamed up at them, 'I'll go and see if Tommy's doing anything. I'll see you guys later.'

Maddie saw Arthur and John steal an amused look at each other, but she pretended not to notice. By now the whole office either knew or had heard first hand just how much fucking they did in Tommy's office, so it wasn't like it was anything new. She weaved her way through the busy office, saying hello to various people as she passed before making it to Michael's office, giving him a wave as he was on the phone as she passed. He smiled and waved back before she walked on to where Lizzie was sat at her desk. Lizzie looked up at Maddie and gave her a sour expression, evidently hoping she wouldn't have to see her in the office again.

'Oh, it's you,' she said before glancing over at Tommy's office. 'Good luck, he's been in a foul mood the past couple of hours. He's lost some business deal in America and isn't taking it very well.'

'I'm sure I'll cheer him up,' said Maddie with a smirk. Lizzie looked back at her with a venomous stare before she looked back down at the paper she was writing on. Maddie knew it was unfair to taunt Lizzie this way, but the woman was always so sour that she couldn't resist.

'Maybe… but he still got rid of your desk,' replied Lizzie, making Maddie look behind her to see that her desk was indeed gone and had been replaced with a set of filing cabinets. 'Guess he doesn't want you around here as much.'

Maddie felt her heart sink a little at seeing her old desk gone but didn't let Lizzie's words get to her.

'That is a shame,' admitted Maddie, with a hint of bitterness in her voice. 'But I suppose he doesn't want his future wife working a boring run-of-the-mill job anymore.'

Lizzie snapped her head back up and leered at her angrily and she gave her a victorious grin before turning to approach Tommy's door. She rapped on the glass three times and soon heard Tommy's voice on the other side.

'Come in!'

Maddie nearly flinched as she heard Tommy's snappy yell from inside the room but managed to contain herself so as not to give Lizzie the satisfaction. She turned the handle and let herself in, shutting the door behind her. Lizzie had been right; he was in a foul mood. She could tell from the way he was hunched over his desk, his brow furrowed angrily as he wrote rapidly on a piece of paper in front of him, almost ripping the paper with amount of force he was using. A cigarette hung from his lips which wafted tendrils of smoke around him before joining the grey haze of smoke that filled the room. She had to waft the smoke away before she coughed, realising she really had stepped into the lion's den.

After a second, Tommy looked up and spotted Maddie, peering at her through his glasses before clearing his throat and sitting back in his chair.

'I thought you would still be training,' he said simply, his tone of voice sounding somewhat impatient.

Oh dear, this isn't good, thought Maddie. Tommy had never reacted this way to seeing her enter his office before, and she knew that she was in trouble, although she wasn't sure that it would be in the sexual sense.

'Er… yeah, well Zach let me finish early so I came to surprise you,' said Maddie, feeling brave enough to walk further into the room. 'If that's okay?' She waited for Tommy to reply, coming to a stop in the middle of the room. He just stared at her for several seconds, puffing his cigarette with a stony expression and she concluded that he was too preoccupied to entertain her for now, cursing that she would have to walk out of the office past Lizzie with her tail between her legs. 'No, it isn't. I can see that you're busy. I'll just-.'

Maddie made to turn to leave again but was stopped by Tommy cutting her off.

'Maddie,' he said softly but with and air of menace making her turn back to look at him. He pierced her with his blue eyes before putting his cigarette out in the ashtray before lifting his hand to beckon her over to him. The same way he had the night before. The similarity in the gesture made moisture immediately begin to pool between her legs and she swallowed before walking around his desk to stand next to him. He followed her with his eyes as she did this, remaining silent before pushing his chair back slightly and patting his lap to indicate for her to sit. She bit her lip nervously, looking down at his lap before slowly sitting herself down so her legs were to one side, and she had to twist her body to face him. As soon as she sat, she could feel his erection press into her ass cheek and she had to bite her lip again to stop herself from smiling knowingly but this proved to be a mistake.

Tommy suddenly pinched her chin roughly, making her look at him in the eye as she let herself gasp. It looked like the dominant side of Tommy was here to stay, she realised, as well as admitting that her submissive side was also happy to be around for the time being. She was the slayer, she shouldn't be letting her dominate her so easily with just a look. But then she remembered how good it felt with his fingers inside her as he told her off and decided she liked being dominated, at least for now.

'Stop biting that lip,' he ordered huskily. 'Or I'll bite it for you.'

Maddie immediately stopped biting her lip but couldn't stop herself from licking them in response to the tone of his voice. Tommy's eyes flashed and she felt his arm wrap around her waist before pressing her to him and smashing his lips to hers. She heard herself let out a little whine as he kissed her aggressively and cursed herself for giving him such satisfaction. He quickly drew his lip into his mouth and bit down hard, harder than he ever had before and she could feel her lip begin to bruise and swell as she let out a shocked squeak. She drew back from the kiss and looked down at him, a shocked but knowing look in her eye. He really was in a bad mood, and it was now becoming evident that it was making him more aggressive sexually. His gaze immediately dropped to look at his handiwork, his eyes darkening as he looked at her swollen bottom lip before lifting his hand to slowly drag his thumb along it. Maddie was now panting like a dog on his lap, yet again in Tommy's thrall as he took his time to trace her lips and cheeks with his thumb.

Then he moved his hand away and reached down to place it on her leg where the hem of her dress was. He slowly caressed the skin of her shin, maintaining eye contact with her for a minute before pressing his lips to hers again. The ache from her lip awakened a whole new level of arousal in Maddie and she sighed as Tommy began to aggressively kiss her again. At the same time, he began to move his hand up her leg, lifting her dress up with it as he worked his way up past her knee and along her thigh towards her underwear, and it was in that moment that she remembered the set of lace underwear that was still laid out on the bed at home. The underwear she should be wearing now.

Shit! Maddie suddenly withdrew herself from the kiss and leapt of Tommy's lap, her heart jumping into her mouth as she did so. He gave her a look to signify he wasn't the least bit impressed and narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. She flitted her eyes down to his lap and saw the hard bulge there and tried her best to ignore it, knowing that it would driving him crazy by now.

'I er…' stammered Maddie, trying to think of an excuse. 'I just remembered that I want to visit Audrey's before it closes. Lorraine said she would have some new stuff in today.'

Maddie's lie was poor, she knew it was. But she knew if Tommy found out that she had come to his office not wearing that lingerie like he ordered her to, then she would be done for. Especially as he was already in a bad mood and would certainly be even more so if he realised. Although, judging from the look he gave her next, she doubted whether she had made the right decision to try and lie her way out of it. His expression had changed again and was now frowning sternly in a way that cast dark shadows across his face. His pupils had constricted, and his gaze now pierced her dangerously before they flicked up and down her body quickly and she knew he had figured her out. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I need to get out of here, and fast, before he finds out.

'I'll be back soon,' she muttered, unable to keep the nervousness from her voice before taking one tentative step backward.

Tommy moved with the speed and precision of a cat, taking even Maddie, with her enhanced skills by surprise. His arm flew out and snatched her arm before she could dodge him and he yanked her toward him with a jerk and before she could stop him, he had his hand up and under her dress. She felt him grasp a handful of her knickers and she grimaced in anticipation of what he would do next. He sighed, air blowing out of his nostrils angrily as he gave her a stern look.

'Tsk tsk,' he tutted, tightening his grip on Maddie's arm and underwear. 'You couldn't even manage one day, eh?'

He looked up at her expectantly through his glasses, quirking his eyebrow as he waited for her to try and explain herself.

'Sorry…' whispered Maddie shakily. 'I forgot.'

Tommy gazed back at her a moment, his expression changing to one of almost mild amusement. 'Forgot?' he questioned, his gaze becoming dangerously devious.

She took a shaky breath, debating over what to say. 'I… er…forgot to put it on after training,' she stammered. 'It won't happen aga-.'

Before Maddie could finish speaking, she felt herself being thrown forward and in a blink of an eye she found herself lying face down across Tommy's lap, landing on her stomach with a grunt. She felt his hard erection stab her stomach before she looked up at him in shock. Is he really planning what I think he's planning? Her ass was now sat directly in front of him and her feet struggled to make contact with the floor. Her pussy betrayed her and throbbed eagerly, awaiting the punishment she knew she was about to receive as her mind reeled at the thought that she was about to be spanked whilst lying across Tommy's fucking knee.

'Well, I'll have to make sure you won't forget again, won't I?' said Tommy as he slowly pulled her dress up and over her ass so that he could now see the very mundane and average set of underwear she had pulled on that afternoon. She heard his angry huff of breath as he laid eyes on it and tutted again.

Silence followed for a few seconds as Maddie felt Tommy place his hand softly on her ass and caress down the back of her thigh to where her garter was. He hooked his finger underneath, pulling it taught before releasing it with a snap against her thigh. She flinched instinctively and she heard him chuckle darkly above her. Well, at least this is putting him in a better mood, she thought.

'Twenty strikes should do it,' said Tommy, finally breaking the silence. 'Do you agree?'

Only twenty? This seemed like a mild punishment to Maddie, but she knew better than to egg Tommy on for more and she nodded in response.

'Uh huh,' she mumbled, shutting her eyes ready for the first smack. However, she felt his fingers lace through her hair before tugging on it sharply. She knew he was prompting her to speak properly, and she fumbled on her next words. 'Y-yes, sir.'

Her head was released, and she let her cheek rest on his thigh just before she felt the first smack hit her right ass cheek, just on the spot where her leg met the curve of her bum. The strike stung like hell, much worse than she thought it would, and she hissed sharply. The sound was also loud enough to be heard by anyone in the immediate area and she was sure Lizzie must have heard it. Tommy however didn't seem to care, his dour mood obviously making the task in front of him very appealing and he immediately followed with another smack to Maddie's left cheek.

This time, she couldn't help but let out a small moan with the impact, whimpering as the pain receded into a tingling sensation of pleasure that rippled over her skin and settled deliciously between her legs. Her pussy and clit soon began to throb, and she automatically pressed her thighs together to try and put pressure on her clit. This didn't go unnoticed, as she should have predicted, and he was quick to deliver a further three smacks across both buttocks, each harder than the last.

'Don't even think about it,' warned Tommy, as Maddie panted to try and regain her composure. Her pussy was begging for some kind of friction but any move she made would mean he may well keep her orgasm from her, if he wasn't planning that already that is.

Tommy paused for a second before continuing his punishment, taking his time to deliver gradually harder spanks making her skin smart angrily, surprising her at just how much force he had behind his arm. After fifteen spanks, she could imagine how red her skin must have looked and could feel his cock twitching against her stomach. The last five spanks were the hardest, and she gritted her teeth to try and contain her moans but failed horribly. As he paused, taking a breath as he prepared for the last strike, sheknew she needed to find a way to stop herself from screaming and opened her mouth to bite onto his trouser leg. He made no complaint as she did this but chuckled again before landing the last crack against her backside.

The sound probably could have been heard from the other side of the building, so it was a good job that Maddie managed to muffle her pleasured scream into Tommy's thigh. The skin on her ass was now hot and tingling painfully, the hot burning sensation making her weak and light-headed. She had felt her underwear gradually grow wetter and wetter over the course of the punishment and there was no doubt he had not failed to notice.

After a few seconds of catching her breath, Maddie felt Tommy lift her weight up back onto her feet where she wobbled slightly before regaining her balance as her dress dropped back down to cover her. He pinched the red skin of her ass making her flinch and she finally looked at him, an insufferably smug look on his face. Still, she could feel yet more moisture pool between her legs and shuffled on the spot awkwardly. She glanced down at his lap again and saw that there was a wet patch of his left trouser leg where her arousal had seeped through, matching the wet patch caused by her saliva on his right leg. Maddie assumed that her punishment was now over, and she met Tommy's eyes with an eager and expectant look in the hopes that they would now fuck like rabbits. However, he set his face into its blank mask and quirked his eyebrow at her.

'I don't know why you're giving me that look,' Tommy hummed as he took Maddie's hand and guided her to stand in front of him. 'Your punishment hasn't finished yet.' He placed his hands on her shoulders before firmly pushing down. She let herself fall to her knees easily, resting between his legs on the floor as he looked down at her devilishly making her realise that it was unlikely she was going to get to cum anytime soon.

For the rest of that week and the following one, Maddie didn't dare forget to wear her lingerie, although Tommy agreed that she didn't have to wear it during her training. Eventually, he let her put it away once the novelty had work off, wanting to wait until he craved it in the future before taking it out again. His dark and domineering streak also lasted during this time, although when it came to the time when they were alone together in their bedroom at night, he went back to his softer, passionate side so as not to take it too far. Maddie appreciated this as it meant she had the opportunity to be in charge at least some of the time.

The days passed one after the other as Maddie, Tommy and the Shelby's settled into a daily routine that was for once free of imminent danger. October rolled over and by then Maddie had adapted to her stringent yet somehow enjoyable training routine with the guidance of Zach. He had planned and written an itinerary on a large sheet of paper and pinned it to the wall of the training room. It consisted of a mixture of training room and field-based training as well as specific days and times she needed to patrol the city. He had covered all of her time up until Christmas and had told her he would plan what would happen after new year during their Christmas 'break' which lasted from Christmas eve at about six o'clock in the evening to nine o'clock new years morning. The only decent time off she had up until then was Halloween of course, which was famous being evil free despite expectations of the opposite, as well as the weekend following. When Tommy had inspected the schedule, he had questioned this odd gap.

'I thought you would be busy on All Hallows Eve?' he had asked, pointing to the day on the schedule with a bewildered look on his face making Maddie laugh.

'Ha ha, you must be joking!' she giggled, enjoying the opportunity to make him seem clueless for once. 'All the evil types take the night off on Halloween. They find it tacky.' Tommy had looked at her with a look of wary disbelief, but she had given him a reassuring smile. 'It's true. The only time I had to do anything on Halloween was when a bunch of trick or treaters decided to egg my front door back home. Which they obviously regretted.'

Tommy gave her that familiar look to say that he hadn't understood something that she had said.

'Trick-or-treaters?' he questioned, saying the phrase as if it was the most bizarre thing he had heard.

Maddie had taken great joy in explaining the tradition of trick-or-treat, which probably wouldn't be mainstream in England for another few decades, and watched his face as it scowled in disbelief that people would engage in such a pointless practice. However, his attitude soon changed when she went on to describe a typical Halloween party and how she went to one in little more than a pair of bra and pants as her costume.

Much to Maddie's annoyance, it took her a several days to remember that her birthday was in fact in November and she had failed to tell anyone about it, even Tommy who not surprisingly hadn't asked having already told her he wasn't one for birthdays. His birthday had been and gone months ago, not long after he had been discharged from hospital after his head injury. She remembered being mad at him when she realised as he had neglected to tell her, only finding out when Frances had asked him if he had enjoyed his birthday as she served dinner that night. However, her annoyance had faded once she realised her birthday gift to him would have to be a long evening of fucking since she hadn't been able to buy him anything.

However, Maddie wasn't as keen to celebrate her birthday with no presents, her childlike side wanting to be the centre of attention. She certainly didn't want to spend the whole day training, which by the looks of the schedule, was currently what was planned for the day. She approached Zach about this when she realised and asked if she could have the day off. He had been reluctant but they came to a compromise that she would train until midday then have the rest of the day off. Giddy with excitement, Maddie crossed of the afternoons schedule for the 10thNovember and wrote 'MADDIE'S BIRTHDAY!' in big letters above the morning schedule.

'Oh, by the way,' Maddie chirped that evening as she and Tommy got into bed for the night. 'I forgot that it's my birthday next month.'

She kept her voice as nonchalant as possible, trying to make out that she too wasn't that bothered about the milestone but gave him a twinkling and hopeful look. He turned to her and gave her a blank look before grunting his response and turning the bedside lamp off. Maddie felt her heart sink a little as she settled her head onto his chest. Wow, he really doesn't give a fuck about birthdays, she realised. Sighing, she let herself fall asleep and the thought of her birthday was quickly forgotten by the next day.

By the time Halloween arrived, Maddie was thoroughly looking forward to her time off. In terms of her slaying, she felt she had improved leaps and bounds due to Zach's training, feeling faster and stronger than ever. Luckily, she had also come across very few evil creatures that actually offered her any threat over the course of the month. Zach had reported this good news to the Council and it seemed that they were happy with the current status quo. She had become rather fond of her watcher during this time, finding his stuffiness and lack of sense of humour amusing in its own way.

That Halloween morning, Maddie awoke full of energy and excitement for the day, shaking Tommy awake who grumbled with annoyance.

'Get up, Tommy!' she urged excitedly. 'Ada will be here soon!' He gave her a tired look before batting her away and getting up with a huff.

Ada had said she would come to visit for the weekend and would be arriving early that Friday morning with Karl. The rest of the Shelby's had also taken the day off, leaving the office to be ran by Skudboat for the day, and had planned to also spend the weekend at Arrow House along with all the children. There were various things planned, such as horse riding, walks around the grounds as well as hunting, although this was mainly to give the men opportunity to escape the house and give the women chance to gossip. Although the physicality of the hunting appealed to Maddie, she wasn't keen on the idea of hunting animals for sport and had decided she would join the women for that part.

Tommy made sure to take advantage of the small amount of time they had in the shower that morning, knowing that the house would be full of people for the whole weekend and the likelihood of them getting any privacy would be next to impossible. She let herself be as loud as she liked, also knowing that she would have to stifle any moans during whatever brief encounters they would manage to have over the coming days. When they made it downstairs to the foyer, there was a knock at the door and Maddie ran over to answer it just as Esther appeared to do the same. Ada stood in the doorway, a wide beaming smile on her face and Maddie leapt into her arms, squeezing her tightly.

'Not too tight!' called Ada with a laugh, making Maddie release her with an apologetic look. 'It's good to see you!'

Karl, who was stood next to Ada, gave Maddie a small smile and she crouched down to give him a small hug also. Maddie had noticed when she first met Karl that he was a quiet and solitary kid and had only had a few interactions with him. Nevertheless, he seemed glad to see her.

'I'm so glad you're here too! I've been excited for days!' replied Maddie, as Tommy came over to give his younger sister a hug.

'I should know,' he mumbled, with a smug half-smile. 'She hasn't stopped talking about it all week.'

'Hey!' she whined in mock offence, giving him a playful nudge. 'You're just as excited as I am.'

Tommy gave Maddie a withering look which she countered by sticking her tongue out at him just as the sound of roaring car engines echoed in the distance. They looked up to see several cars speeding up the driveway and she skipped down the steps to greet all the other guests. As soon as they were parked up, she found herself surrounded by people who she hugged and greeted eagerly. John's kids scurried around Maddie and pulled at her to play with them as Esme scolded them, although she didn't mind. She had found that she was a favourite of John's children ever since they realised how strong she was. She was reminded of the time she had carried all six of his older children like a donkey, two of them clinging onto her legs, two in each arm, one on her shoulders and one wrapped around her front. Johnny had also joined the fray had turned up with his caravan which he parked at the bottom of the gardens that would no doubt become home to the children for most of the weekend as they all loved the outdoors. Isiah and his dad Jeramiah had also been invited for the weekend and Maddie hugged both of them happily.

Breakfast, which was meant to be an epic feast to start the weekend, ended up being a chaotic hot mess. The adults were to eat in the dining room as the children ate in the kitchen supervised by Esther. However, Maddie only managed to get through two mouthfuls of her breakfast when Esther appeared, looking dishevelled and said the children were acting up. She also said that Charlie had broken down into a fit of tears, demanding Maddie feed him his breakfast.

'I'll go and sort them out,' offered Esme, making to get up from her place next to Maddie.

'No, it's fine,' said Maddie, standing up. 'I'm sure I can handle it.'

Esme sat back down and nodded but her face betrayed a look of humour and she cast John a knowing look. Maddie also noticed everyone else try to conceal their smirks but she pretended she had imagined it as she left the adults and made her way to the kitchen.

Sure enough, as Maddie entered the kitchen, she realised she had made a huge mistake. The floor, which was no doubt spotless only minute earlier, was already covered in food as well as the tabletop. The kid's hands and faces were covering in crumbs, butter and baked beans and they were squealing and shouting at each other across the large table. Arthur's son Billy and John's son Daniel, the youngest of the children at only a few months old were sat in their highchairs laughing and squealing with the excitement and had gotten their mashed up breakfast all over themselves. Poor Charlie, who was sat on the end in his own highchair next to them, was bawling his eyes out as Karl half-heartedly attempted to comfort him.

'Mama!' he squealed, the sound ripping through Maddie and making her shiver.

'Enough!' she yelled, an unusual tone of maternal authority in her voice. The children fell silent and looked at her in shock, apart from Charlie, who continued to cry and reached out to her as he realised she was there. 'Sit and eat like grown-ups before I tell your parents!'

The older children all sat down quickly and looked down at their plates and began to eat as Maddie hurried around the table to scoop Charlie up into her arms. He calmed immediately and settled into sniffing and hiccupping as she sat herself down next to Billy and Daniel, placing him on her lap.

Maddie struggled for the next fifteen minutes as she tried to feed Charlie, Billy and Daniel at the same time as they each demanded her attention, one getting annoyed when she turned her focus to one of the other two. This was made harder by the fact that after a few minutes, the other kids had plucked up the courage to start misbehaving again and begun throwing food at each other whilst they laughed in hysterics. Maddie herself failed to dodge a rasher of bacon that was lobbed across the room and it left greasy crumbs in her hair, making her loose her temper again.

'Oi! Will you lot behave!' she called angrily to them, only this time they ignored her scolding and carried on, no longer afraid of her threats.

Maddie pinched the bridge of her nose, inheriting the habit from Tommy, and sighed in frustration. One child she could handle, but ten? She remembered how she had wanted to tell Tommy that she was thinking of having a baby with him and now doubted whether that was a wise idea. Then she remembered that she wasn't planning on having this many if she could help it and decided not to throw the idea out too hastily.

Once the babies were fed, Maddie made sure the rest of them had eaten sufficiently before setting Charlie back in his highchair and getting up to go over to the sink. She wet a towel with some water and ordered the children to line up in front of her. She would be damned if she would send them out with dirty faces and mucky clothes.

'Stand still, Katie!' she ordered John's youngest daughter as she wiped the assortment of crumbs from the girl's face as she squirmed.

Before too long she had cleaned up all the older children, Karl being the cleanest of them, which was a blessing as Maddie was sure Ada would have thrown a fit if he'd ruined his clothes. As the last of them ran out of the kitchen, she could hear the adults chatting out in the foyer somewhere and realised they had finished breakfast without her, and her tummy grumbled angrily. Great, now all I'll get is leftovers, she thought. She turned her attention to the three babies who were the grubbiest of them all, sitting to wash them as she picked at the leftovers the children had left, some of which she was sure had been in their mouths before being spat back out. Is this what motherhood is really like? Maddie asked herself this as she wrestled with Charlie, who saw the task of being washed a funny game. Despite her excess strength, the toddler could contort himself into such a way that it was like trying to grip onto a large bar of soap.

'Charlie! Stop wiggling!' pleaded Maddie, although she herself began to giggle as Charlie laughed as he tried to escape her grasp.

Maddie did her best, but it was evident that all three of them needed to have a change of clothes and from the weight of Billy and Daniel, they needed their nappies changing as well. Sighing, she picked all three of them up, holding them across her torso and made her way out of the kitchen to do just that. She now realised that Esme and Linda had taken the opportunity to give responsibility of the children to someone else for a change and now she had little choice but to watch over them for the time being. However, as she walked with the three babies in arm into the foyer, she was greeted by everyone waiting for her expectantly. She looked up at them with a start, not expecting them to all be stood there and shifted uncomfortably as she spotted them look at her with amused grins.

'What?!' she snapped, not liking being left out of a joke.

This was enough to cause everyone to collapse into a fit of hysterics, even drawing tears to John's eyes as he gasped for air. Maddie could do little but watch with annoyance as they all laughed at her, huffing angrily to herself. There was evidently a joke that she was not yet in on, and after struggling for the past half hour, she found their laughter was making her grumpy. The only person who wasn't laughing was of course Tommy, who managed to catch Maddie's gaze. The look he gave her was different to all the other looks he usually gave her. It was soft and loving, with knowing glint that confirmed to her that he liked seeing her in this light. He smiled encouragingly at her and she smiled back shyly as the laughter of the others finally began to subside.

'Fuckin' ell, you look like a right state,' puffed John as he struggled to contain his breath. She looked down at herself briefly and realised that her shirt had various food stains on it.

'Ha. Ha,' said Maddie, giving John a livid glare.

'Sorry, Mads,' apologised Esme as she wiped a tear from her eye. 'When you offered to help, we just couldn't resist letting you fall into the trap.'

She pursed her lips but despite herself she felt herself smile and a laugh escaped her. She admitted that the set up had been perfect and she had unwittingly walked into the chaos without thinking.

'You did well though,' said Ada. 'John's kids usually come out looking a lot worse after a meal.'

Maddie smiled gratefully as she felt herself blush, pointedly trying to avoid meeting Tommy's eyes again. 'Thanks,' she replied. 'I guess I'll go and sort these three out.' She started to walk toward the stairs when she felt Pol put her hand on her shoulder.

'It's alright love,' she said. 'I'll sort Charlie out.' Pol took Charlie into her arms before turning to give Linda and Esme pointed looks, signifying it was about time they took back responsibility for their own children. The two women sighed, looking like they wanted a little more time to themselves but came and took their babies anyway before the three of them made their way up the stairs as everyone else started to disperse.

Maddie watched and waved to Charlie as he was carried up the stairs by Polly, who waved his little hand back at her with a smile. Then she heard someone come and stand behind her and she felt Tommy's hands rest on her shoulders.

'Did you manage to eat anything?' he asked softly as she turned to look up at him.

'Yeah, although it wasn't the best breakfast I admit,' she responded with a smile. Tommy gave her a small smile back as his gaze searched her face and she felt him place his thumb on her check and rub firmly as if trying to get something off her face. She grimaced and he chuckled at her kindly, not looking a bit perturbed that she had food on her face. He leant down to give her a soft kiss before withdrawing and looked down at her again as if he was going to ask her something. From the look in his eye, she knew what he was about to ask and quickly spoke before he could.

'I should go and get cleaned up myself,' she stated quickly, feeling suddenly nervous as she took a step back. 'I won't be long.'

Tommy scrutinised her stoically for half a second before nodding. 'Alright.'

Maddie gave him another smile before turning to hurry up the stairs to the bedroom, her heart fluttering madly as she shut the door behind her. Why was she so nervous? She had already decided that she wanted to have children with Tommy, so why couldn't she just tell him that? Then she remembered that their engagement had only just happened, and the timeline of their future was still unsure. Not to mention the fact that she was still a slayer, and a slayer having children was always complicated, no matter what the circumstances. She imagined what Zach and the Council would do if she fell pregnant and shuddered at the thought. Zach had come around and accepted that she would be getting married, but becoming a parent? She doubted very much that he would take the news well, and the Council even less so.

Maddie shook her head to try and clear her mind, deciding that this internal debate was going nowhere for the time being. Her and Tommy were yet to announce their engagement publicly so planning for a child would be premature at this point. She let herself relax, realising she had some time to think about it more before walking to the bathroom.

'This Monday?'

Maddie struggled to keep the nervousness from her voice as she spoke but tried her best to look unperturbed.

'Yes, I've already sent the information to all the newspapers,' confirmed Tommy, stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray.

'All of them?' asked Maddie. 'So, the whole country will know?'

She failed to keep her expression under control this time and the Shelby's all gave her an encouraging smile.

'It has to be done sooner or later Mads,' said Ada, putting an encouraging hand on her shoulder. 'Besides most of the country already know since Tommy proposed publicly at Cheltenham.' Maddie sighed and nodded; Ada was right, they did all know. 'The only thing is, with the official announcement of your engagement, you'll get a lot more attention from various people wanting to get to know you.'

Maddie's eyes widened slightly with panic, remembering what Ada and Tommy had warned her about after they first got engaged. She would be in demand from all sorts of people, from all classes, to attend dinners and events around the country now that she would be the future Mrs Shelby. She swallowed thickly and nodded again, although she felt her confidence dwindling rapidly. The only reason it hadn't already happened is because they were all waiting for the official announcement before making contact, an understandable formality it seemed. I really haven't put much thought into this, she realised. The added responsibilities she was now facing were totally unlike any she was used to and she concluded that she would likely prefer a hoard of vampires to fight rather than a room full of aristocrats to talk to.

Then Maddie felt a warm hand on hers, and she turned to see that Tommy had reached over to comfort her. She looked up at him and he gave her a look that told her not to worry, that he would take care of her and walk her through the process so she wouldn't be alone. She smiled back at him, thankful for his presence, just as dinner was served. She ate in contemplative silence as everyone else struck up conversation. She realised now that her admittedly flimsy excuse to avoid the baby topic with Tommy was now out of the window and she knew she would have to bite that bullet sooner than she'd wanted. However, she wasn't sure she would be able to bring up the topic herself, although she was sure he wouldn't beat around the bush much longer.

After dinner, everyone stayed up for a few more hours of light drinking and chattering before deciding to get an earlyish night as the men were due to get up early for their hunting trip the following day. Once in their bedroom, Maddie sat down at the dressing table and began brushing her hair silently, using the task as a way to distract her mind from all the whirlwind thoughts in her head. Her marriage to Tommy was going to be more than just a fairy-tale where the two of them were bound together forever. She was going to be a wife. A wife with all the duties and responsibilities that entailed, which was scaring her more that she wanted to admit.

Maddie could tell that she was being unusually quiet and withdrawn which she had been since dinner and knew that Tommy and everyone else had picked up on it. As she sat at the dressing table, almost in a trance, he busied himself with undressing and putting his clothes away neatly, likely giving her some time to think, before she eventually heard him approach. He appeared in the reflection of the mirror as he stood behind her, his expression straight but soft, and placed his hands on her arms gently. She looked up at him silently and gave him her best attempt at a confident smile, but he didn't look convinced and looked back at her knowingly. The two of them had seemed to perfect this technique of conversing silently to each other over recent weeks and Maddie found that it was rather comforting.

Tommy ran his hand down Maddie's arm as he lowered himself to kneel next to her, taking her hand in his. He coaxed her to turn and look at him directly as he gently caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. She looked up and met his eyes and he reached up to place his other hand on the back of her neck to massage the tense muscles, making her sigh.

'Tell me what you're thinking love,' muttered Tommy quietly.

Maddie knew that he probably had a good idea of what she was thinking, so she knew he was asking this so she could hear her own voice speak her worries out loud. She took a breath before deciding she needed to get the words off her chest.

'I'm just so nervous,' she whispered. 'About what will happen. There's just so much to think about. What will everyone think of me? How am I going to keep up the lie that I was born in this time? What if they find out that I'm a slayer? How am I going to manage the wife stuff and slayer stuff at the same time? Will I have to organise loads of events? I've never organised anything like that in my life!' Maddie could hear she was beginning to babble uncontrollably as well as feel tears begin to sting the backs of her eyes but couldn't bring herself to stop now that she had started. 'What if I don't know what people are talking about during conversations? What if I talk about something that hasn't happened yet? What if they all laugh at me and spread rumours? What if they expect us to -.'

Maddie managed to cut herself off before she said the words 'have a child' out loud and managed to silence herself as tears streamed out her eyes. She had kept all of this bottled up for the past month, refusing to acknowledge it until now and it had caused her to nearly explode. Tommy had remained silent as he patiently listened to her outburst and he sighed as he pulled her into her arms to let her cry into his bare shoulder.

'Shhh,' he hummed quietly. 'It's alright, Maddie.'

She felt him stroke her hair as she sobbed and they stayed like this for a couple of minutes until she managed to calm herself and she pulled back, wiping the tears and snot from her face. Tommy cupped her face and wiped away some of the tears as they looked at each other silently again. He searched her face for a few seconds, looking like he wanted to ask something but must have decided not to.

'You're right to worry about all that,' he said. 'But you won't have to do it all alone, eh? You have me and everyone else.'

Maddie let out a half-laugh, half-sob type noise and nodded her agreement. She sucked in a breath through her nose before leaning into kiss him tenderly before breaking apart, so their lips were still brushing.

'I love you, Tommy.'

'I love you, Maddie.'

They kissed again and this time Tommy wrapped his arms around Maddie to lift her onto her feet before scooping her up into his arms like a knight would a princess, making her gasp and giggle.

'What're you up to?' she asked, her mood immediately starting to improve as he gave her a devilish smirk.

'I'm going to help my fiancé feel better,' he responded before dropping her onto the bed.

'How is you're training getting along Mads?' asked Ada, between a sips of her tea. 'Is Zach giving you a hard time?'

'Not really. I mean, he pushes me hard,' responded Maddie after hastily swallowing a mouthful of cake. 'But it's good because I'm improving a lot. Maybe having a watcher isn't all bad.'

Ada smiled, looking relieved that Maddie was enjoying her training despite its intensity. They were sat on the sofa nearest the window that overlooked the gardens at the back of the house as they enjoyed tea and lunch with the other women. There was an unusually warm bout of sunshine that had pushed through the November clouds and was casting a warm glow onto the two of them as they sat. The men had left at the crack of dawn that morning as planned and the house as a result was much quieter, even if the children were still running around the place. Linda and Lizzie were sat talking on one of the other sofa's whilst Esme and Polly were sat by themselves as they sipped their tea.

'Ha, I never would have thought I'd hear you say something like that,' chuckled Ada and the two of them shared a laugh together.

It was true, if someone had told Maddie six months ago that she'd say those words, she wouldn't have believed them but here she was. In fact, she had come to trust Zach enough that she had even invited him to join their little weekend holiday. He had looked excited at the idea of hunting but had politely declined, stating he was going back to London to report to the Council as well as visit his family. Although she suspected his main reason for refusing was because he wouldn't be welcomed by the other men, and he was probably right since most of them were still dubious of him.

'Me neither,' agreed Maddie as she leant forward to cut herself another slice of Esther's amazing sponge cake. As she sat back into her seat again, Ada gave her a more serious look, making her swallow her mouthful of cake thickly.

'How are you feeling about the engagement Mads?' she asked. 'You seemed a little off last night after Tommy told you about the announcement.'

Maddie felt her chest tighten a little, but it was nowhere near as bad as what it had been the previous day. Maybe talking this out with Ada is what I need, she thought. As this thought crossed her mind however, she noticed that the rest of the room had gone silent and were now all listening to their conversation. She looked at them all hesitantly before deciding she may as well tell them all. She repeated what she had said to Tommy the previous night, only without the tears this time as the women listened politely. Once she had finished recounting her woes, all the women fell silent for a moment before letting out humoured laughs, although they were not malicious.

'We worry about the same things Mads,' explained Ada as she laced lingers with Maddie's affectionately.

'Yeah,' chirped Esme. 'I'm as gypsie as they come. I hear people talking about me behind their back but what they think don't matter. You're a Shelby, and that's all that really matters.'

'They all try to find a reason to dislike you or tear you down,' added Pol with a devious glint in her eye. 'But that means you can do the same to them.'

Maddie observed all the women around her for a second and sighed in relief. She wasn't alone in this. It was just as hard for them as it was for her, even if she did have the added challenge of being from the future as well as being a slayer. With their support, it seemed more likely that she would be able to survive this crazy life relatively unscathed.

'Is that all that's bothering you?' questioned Linda this time, who looked at Maddie purposefully. Her eyes signified that she had an inkling as to what was also worrying her.

Maybe I should tell them, thought Maddie. They're women and they will probably understand, although the implant might freak them out. She pursed her lips nervously as the women stared at her expectantly again, trying to decide how much or how little to tell them before huffing and making her mind up. She had kept it a secret, her implant and the fears around having a child, for that long that she realised it was about time that she brought the cards away from her chest. But that didn't mean she wasn't anxious as to what the women's reaction would be.

'I've been… keeping a secret from all of you,' started Maddie, looking down at her hands sheepishly before looking back up. 'Well, kind of anyway. More like I just haven't told anyone here about it yet. Not even Tommy.'

The women didn't immediately respond but cast each other nervous glances. A secret that was also still a secret from Tommy was never a good thing.

'What is it?' asked Ada, unable to keep the curiosity from her voice. Maddie swallowed and licked her lips.

'Have any of you noticed that… I haven't gotten pregnant yet?' she questioned.

'Yes,' responded all the women at once, making Maddie jump slightly and look at them all in confusion. Had they really all noticed this? If they had, then it was now certain that Tommy and the men had also noticed as well. Polly, in response to her bewildered expression, rolled her eyes at her.

'Honestly, love,' she huffed with amusement. 'With the amount of fucking the pair of you do, only a blind idiot wouldn't wonder why you weren't with child by now.'

Maddie felt herself blush hotly and the women laughed at her embarrassment before an awkward silence fell over the room as they looked at each other again with sad expressions. She realised that they were likely coming to an obvious yet in this case false conclusion; that she was unable to have children all together and she rushed to put them at ease.

'Don't worry!' Maddie exclaimed. 'It's not what you think.' The room fell silent again as new bewildered looks were passed amongst them before they looked back at her expectantly. 'Okay,' she sighed. 'So, what I'm going to tell you may sound… crazy, but it's true.' She paused for a second, gathering her words before carrying on. 'In the future, there are various ways to prevent pregnancy called contraception. One of them is by taking hormones that stop ovulation so there's no egg to fertilise. That's why I haven't gotten pregnant.'

The silence in the room was deafening as Maddie let this information sink in. The women's faces were all blank as they stared at her for the best part of a minute as if she were crazy before Polly finally plucked up the courage to speak first.

'Well, you're right that does sound crazy,' she said, sitting back in her chair. 'But then so has everything else you've told us about the future.'

'So… how have you been getting the… hormones or whatever they're called?' asked Esme, looking dumbfounded. 'You've been here for six months.'

'Oh, well there's different forms,' explained Maddie. 'The most common is a tablet you take every day. I think they were… or will be invented in the sixties. But as medicine became more advanced, they invented other ways to do it that were more reliable.'

The women gave Maddie another eager look to carry on and she turned to Ada before rolling her sleeve up her arm. Ada gave her a puzzled look before Maddie took her hand and guided her thumb onto the inside of her upper arm and pressed it into the muscle so she could feel the implant. Ada gasped and initially withdrew her hand, looking back at Maddie dubiously before tentatively putting both hands on her arm to feel the implant again with pure fascination.

'It's called and implant,' informed Maddie as Ada massaged her arm. 'It releases hormones consistently and it lasts for three years.'

The other women watched in awe and gave Maddie a look to ask if they could also feel her arm. One by one, the women traded places and took turns feeling the implant in her arm. Even Lizzie had a turn, her curiosity evidently beating her desire to not get too close to her.

'It's in there deep,' Lizzie said as she prodded her arm firmly. 'Does it ever come out?'

'It's supposed to,' said Maddie with a sigh. 'But mine is in deeper than it should be, probably because I use those muscles so much.'

'How long does it have before it stops working?' asked Linda, who had a nervous look on her face. Of course, thought Maddie, being a stout Christian meant that Linda would likely find the whole concept of contraception unnerving at least, sinful at most. However, it seemed like the woman was trying her best not to be judgemental.

'Just over a year,' answered Maddie. 'After that I won't have any protection.'

This statement opened the door to the related topic that Maddie also wanted to talk to the women about. Did she want to have children? She already knew the answer to this but it was the complicated stuff that came along with it that she was worried about. Pol, as perceptive as ever, picked up on this and asked the obvious question.

'Do you want to get pregnant, Maddie?'

'I've given it some thought,' began Maddie. 'And yes… I do want to have a child.'

The other women beamed happily at this news, all except Lizzie, who's eyes were downcast and sad looking for a moment before she restored her usual air of indifference.

'But won't you have to wait until that thing wears off?' asked Esme.

'I'll find a way to get it out, that's not what's worrying me' dismissed Maddie.

'What is?' prompted Ada.

Maddie sighed and closed her eyes, picturing Nikki, the slayer who had a child and died, leaving her son without a mother. Nikki had been so focused on her calling and her duty as a slayer she had gotten herself killed, failing to protect herself for the sake of her child. What if that happened to her?

'I'm a slayer,' she said, making the women look down with sudden understanding. 'We aren't exactly meant to have kids. And for good reason.'

Maddie went on to tell a brief recount of what she knew about Nikki and how she feared that the same would happen to her. As well as the fact that she didn't know how Zach or the Council would react to it, even fearing that they would take drastic measures to prevent it. Then there was the general worry whether she would even be a good mother? Until recently, she wasn't even sure she liked children. Although Charlie had helped her get over that phase since she came to 1924.

'Maddie,' said Pol once she had finished her tirade. 'You are not like this Nikki woman. You have us to support you. And sod the fucking Council! They can blow whatever hot steam they want out of their gobs but it won't make a bit of difference. You can do what you want Mads, and you will be a good mother.'

'Yeah,' agreed Esme. 'You managed to survive breakfast yesterday and that's no easy feat!'

Maddie felt her eyes begin to sting and she sniffed in an attempt to stop herself from crying. She had shed enough tears already over this but despite her efforts, a singular tear rolled down her cheek. She felt Ada pull her into a hug, and she smiled into her shoulder, delighted that the women were all supporting her. Even Lizzie hadn't made any complaint about the idea even if her expression was still a little melancholy.

'Promise none of you will tell Tommy about the implant and all the other stuff,' said Maddie, addressing the group again. 'I am planning on telling him, I'm just looking for the right time.' She wondered whether he would be mad she had kept this from him, and felt her saliva go sticky in her mouth.

'We won't,' nodded Pol with a smile. 'But you'd better do it soon, something tells me he may have already assumed the worst by now.'

-Tommy-

'Come on, Tom!'

Tommy felt himself being snapped back to reality at the sound of Arthur's voice calling to him. He realised he's spent a long stretch of time staring into the small fire at his feet that they had made to make their morning coffee and breakfast. He had only been vaguely aware of the flickering flames dancing around as the cogs in his mind span endlessly. His thoughts solely on Maddie and her mood over the past day.

He was worried that the reality of being his wife had finally dawned on her, judging by her outburst the previous night, and it was taking a toll on her mentally. Any normal man would have been concerned that she no longer wanted to marry them, but Tommy knew that her love for him was absolute. He did however worry how the inevitable shift in the dynamic of their relationship would impact them both. She would have to keep up appearances for his sake, a thing she wasn't used to doing up until now and when applied to her in particular, would be difficult. Maddie was no fool; she had figured this out already, but it was obviously making her anxious. However, Tommy hoped she would adapt, just as she did when she was faced with any slaying related problem. But he knew it would be a challenge for her.

There was something else bothering him though. Something that he had suspected for a while which he was now almost certain was true. Maddie couldn't have children. He remembered thinking this a while ago, although he had pushed the notion aside at the time. However, after seeing her with the children the previous day, the troublesome thought came rushing back to him. She had acted strangely during the interaction they had in the foyer, as if she were trying to avoid a topic that they had not yet begun to discuss out loud. Tommy had in that moment wanted to ask Maddie about the possibility of having a child and had been close in doing so when she made an excuse to disappear. It had been too convenient, he thought. Her expression had betrayed a look of nervousness, like she was reading his mind right there, and he knew his suspicions were not unfounded.

Last night, she had cut herself short in the middle of her outburst and his remembered feeling his heart skip as she did so. He had been tempted to ask her what she was going to say but thought better of it, she had been upset enough as it was and he didn't want to bombard her with yet more things to worry about. But Tommy knew he needed to get the truth from her sooner or later, to know for certain that the possibility of them having a child was off the table. Can she really not…?

Tommy hastily cleared his throat before standing up and looking over at Arthur who was readying his horse in preparation for them to begin their hunting trip proper. Finn was already on his horse, eagerly waiting for everyone else so they could get going. Tommy threw the remains of his cigarette in the fire before picking up the leftover pot of water and pouring it over the flames. He needed to clear his head. Clear it of all the chaotic thoughts for the afternoon before he gave himself a headache.

They packed up the remaining few supplies they had before they all mounted their horses again and headed due south toward an area that Johnny knew to be good for hunting game. The idea of the hunting trip had been John's idea. He had always enjoyed it, both as a means to gather food and as a sport and had been eager to get out into the countryside. Tommy had been reluctant at first, not being one to keep on killing animals for the sake of enjoyment, but he admitted he needed to get out into the outdoors again. It harkened back to his youth where he slept outside most nights staring up at the stars and feeling free. He realised he needed that, even if it was just for a day.

'Something on your mind Tom?' asked Johnny, pulling his horse up beside him as they trotted uphill. Luna, who Tommy had decided to ride for this trip, whinnied slightly in freight as Johnny's much larger horse came up alongside her.

Tommy wouldn't have chosen Luna as an ideal horse for this trip, but she would have had to have been ridden by someone as there weren't enough horses for her to be left behind. Either Finn or Isiah would have been the other potential riders and since Luna was essentially Maddie's horse now, he didn't trust either of them to look after the mare properly. So, he had begrudgingly given Finn his favourite horse to ride whilst he took Luna himself, Finn looking particularly pleased with opportunity to ride the large black and very expensive full Arab stallion for the day.

Tommy looked over at Johnny with an impatient look as he quickly steadied Luna before she began to panic. 'Nothing you need to worry about, Johnny.'

Johnny gave a brief look like he was going to question further but thankfully he let it go and nodded, the group settling into a stoic silence as they made their way across the fields. Soon they made it to their intended spot and sure enough they spotted a flock of pheasants in the distance, the birds blissfully unaware of their hunters just a few hundred yards away.

'Looks like we're in luck boys,' announced John happily. 'We'll be bringing back a feast tonight.'

They led their horses over to the stream, dismounting them and leaving them to drink before descending downhill toward the flock on foot with their hunting rifles in tow. The pheasants were settled in an area of long grass so once they got to the bottom of the hill, they were no longer visible. Without prompt, everyone silently spread themselves out near where they had spotted the flock. Tommy readied his rifle before lifting it and settling the stock against his shoulder, readying his aim.

Once everyone had found their spots and readied themselves, Johnny put his fingers in his mouth and let out a short but very loud whistle. There was a sudden loud roar of many wings flapping wildly before the birds emerged from the tall grass, scattering in different directions above them. Tommy quickly locked on to one of the birds, putting it in his sights before pulling the trigger. Several gunshots sounded all at once and he spotted his bird spin in mid-air before falling to the ground somewhere in the tall grass along with a handful of others as the rest of the flock flew away in a flurry of flapping wings.

Tommy heard John laugh somewhere off to his right and knew he had been on target too. He waded through the long grass toward where he saw the pheasant fall, brushing the grass aside until he found it. He picked up the limp bird by its neck and trudged back to the others with his kill. John, Arthur, Johnny, Jeramiah and Michael had all managed to secure a kill whilst Finn and Isiah were looking somewhat crestfallen. Jeramiah put an encouraging hand on his son's shoulder and gave him a fatherly smile.

'Remember to inhale when you take a shot son,' he said and Isiah nodded, looking more confident with his father's encouragement as the two of them began walking back toward the horses.

Finn looked around at his brothers with an expectant look for them to do the same but was met with a snort of laughter from John and Arthur.

'You sure that gun's not too big for ya?' teased Arthur, pushing his baby brother playfully as John sniggered.

'Fuck off Arthur!' retorted Finn, shoving Arthur back angrily.

Arthur's expression changed to one of humour to one of anger and he squared up to Finn, looking him in the eye and for once Finn didn't back down as he usually did. Tommy had noticed that Finn had become less tolerant of their teasing in recent weeks and had a feeling something like this would happen sooner or later.

'You got something to say Finn?' asked Arthur dangerously and Tommy decided he needed to intervene.

He stepped forward and put a hand on Finn's shoulder, pulling him back as Johnny and John did the same with Arthur.

'Enough, Arthur, leave him alone,' instructed Tommy, giving his brother a stern look. Arthur stared back at Finn a second longer before looking at Tommy and shrugging off the two men holding him. He walked away without a word and Tommy turned back to Finn who now made the mistake of directing his frustration at him.

'I don't need you to defend me!' he said, batting his hand away and Tommy could feel his own heckles beginning to rise. 'I could have taken him.'

Now it was Tommy's turn to let out a small laugh, making Finn falter a huff air out of his nose. Tommy admitted that he and his brothers probably did bully Finn more that they should have, finding his reactions rather humorous. It was obviously beginning to get to him, and Tommy decided on this occasion not to be like John or Arthur. He prodded a finger into Finn's shoulder harshly, making him stumble back a step.

'Lock the rifle into you're shoulder next time, eh?' said Tommy, giving Finn a light slap on the cheek before walking away.

He pulled his cigarette case out of his pocket and lit one as he began his trudge back up the hill. If worrying about Maddie wasn't enough already, now he had to worry about Finn getting into a fight with his older brothers because of their bullying. He knew Finn wanted to be seen more as their equal now he was approaching adulthood, but that would always be a struggle. In truth, Tommy and his brothers were actually protective of him in their own way. Their mother had died when he was a baby so he couldn't remember her, maybe that was why they kept him from doing the more dangerous jobs in the company, knowing he hadn't had chance to get to know their mother as well as having their father up and leave them. Pol had stepped up as a mother figure, but Tommy, Arthur and John had automatically filled the paternal role and had perhaps not done the best job of it.

As they all regathered by the horses, tying the pheasants to their saddles, Finn's demeanour had calmed, as had Arthur's, and the incident was instantly forgotten about. They mounted up again and trotted off further along the stream.

They hunted various game over the course of the day including rabbit and deer. Finn managed to get a hang of it and managed to bag himself a few pheasants and rabbits whilst the glory of killing the only deer of the day went to Jeramiah, who was still the best shot out of anyone Tommy knew. By late afternoon, the sun had begun to set and it quickly became too dark for shooting signifying that it was time to go home. They packed their spoils onto their horses an began the journey home in high spirits. The outing seemed to have injected all the men with a vigorous energy and Tommy found that his mind was wondering back to Maddie who was hopefully awaiting his return eagerly. His memory flitted back to the recent period where their sex life had fell into a routine of dominance play. He knew she had let him take the reigns but only because he knew she enjoyed it as much, if not more, than he did. This thought caused blood to rush to his groin rapidly, and he unconsciously kicked Luna up into a faster gallop toward home.

Once home, they left the horses in the care of Eric and gathered their kills in their arms to take into the kitchen. The cooks inspected their kills with admiration and immediately relieved everyone of them so they could sort and prepare them. Tommy instructed the head chef to prepare the deer Jeramiah had caught for dinner that night before they made their way through the house to find the women. He was keen to get Maddie away from the others for a while before dinner, not wanting to wait to have her in his arms until later. He heard the women and children before he saw them, their laughter echoing up the hallway like wind chimes and they followed the sound into the living room.

'Ladies!' announced John, who walked into the room first. 'We are going to be eating well tonight!'

The women looked up and smiled although they also rolled their eyes at John's loud bravado. Tommy looked around to find Maddie but didn't initially see her until he realised that everyone had been laughing at something at their feet. He rounded the sofa and looked down to see her on all fours on the carpet with Charlie sat on her back. He had a handful of her hair in each hand like reigns as if she were a horse as she crawled around in a circle.

'Alright down there Mads?' laughed John who had also spotted her. As everyone else filed into the room, they came over to watch and laugh as she came to a stop and looked up at her audience with a smile.

'Kind of,' she said as she lowered Charlie to the floor who looked less than pleased that their game had come to an end. 'Katie asked if she could ride on my back like a horse since I'm strong and then all the other kids wanted a turn.'

Tommy let a small smile tug at his lips, not at all surprised that something like this had been occurring whilst they were out. He held his hand out for Maddie to take as she stood herself back up.

'It was very funny to watch,' informed Esme who had slid herself into John's arms.

'Thanks, Esme,' said Maddie with faux sarcasm followed by an embarrassed laugh.

Tommy took Maddie's hand and led her over to the sofa and they sat down next to each other. Arthur poured everyone fresh drinks and sat down himself next to Linda and the room fell into its normal collection of small groups that were engaged in separate conversations.

'So, the hunting trip went well?' she asked, turning her body toward him and bringing her feet up underneath her.

'Yes,' replied Tommy, taking a sip of his whisky. 'Jeramiah shot a deer that we're having for dinner.'

'Oh,' said Maddie, looking a little sorry for the deer for a moment. 'I suppose venison is pretty tasty.'

Tommy watched as Maddie took a small sip of her whisky, watching as her lips pursed together as she swallowed the spicy liquid. He slowly snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. His hands were still a little cold from the outside and her body was comparatively hot and slowly began to warm his palm up. She looked up at him through her lashes and gave him a knowing look, raising one eyebrow and struggling to contain her smirk.

'How was your day?' asked Tommy, who never usually asked boring questions like this but found when it came to Maddie he genuinely wanted to know.

Maddie gave him a small but odd smile, turning toward him even more so she was almost sideways on the sofa. 'Good,' she said. 'We chatted a lot.'

'About what?'

Maddie paused for a second too long, looking up at Tommy with same odd expression. 'Nothing that interesting. Women's business.'

Tommy recognised the familiar term that Pol and he often used and he appraised her silently for a moment. She seemed to be in a better mood than she had been the previous day, but there was still something off about her. However, his mind soon became distracted as he pressed herself against his side, placing her hand on his chest to absentmindedly fiddle with one of his vest buttons. He couldn't help his eyes from wandering and shifted it downwards to look down the front of her dress which had a low-cut collar. He locked onto the swell of her breasts and could feel tingling heat spread under his skin. Maddie kept her gaze on him, watching his eyes and eventually started to bite her lip as she often did when she was getting aroused, making him look up and lock his eyes on them. He leaned forward as if to kiss her but stopped himself when he remembered where he was and made himself look away, eliciting a quiet giggle from her. He needed to get her alone, and fast.

He turned his attention to the people in the room for a moment to distract himself and saw that his brothers were in a similar situation to him. Arthur and Linda were sat on the sofa directly opposite them, Arthur with his arm wrapped around Linda's shoulder, his hand drawing slow circles on her upper arm. They had their eyes locked onto each other, speaking quietly as she blushed at whatever he was saying. John was sat on an armchair near the window with Esme on his lap. He had her pressed closely to him, their foreheads touching as they giggled together. He then whispered something into her ear as he slid his hand under her skirt. Tommy shouldn't have been surprised that John would be the least discreet out of the three of them. He now realised that they'd had the same idea as him and noticed Esme jerk her head in the direction of the door as a hint to John. Hesmirked and the two of them stood up before walking in the direction of the door.

'Excuse us a minute,' he announced as he was led from the room by Esme.

Tommy shifted his gaze to Arthur, who gave Linda a knowing look before standing up himself, pulling her up with him. 'I need a minute alone with my wife to talk something over.'

Tommy didn't know why Arthur was bothering with the excuses, it was blindingly obvious what was going on. At this point, everyone had begun to smirk and giggle discreetly to themselves, and he felt everyone's gaze settle on he and Maddie expectantly. Tommy sighed and looked back at Maddie who gave him a look to confirm what he was hoping.

Without bothering with any polite announcements, Tommy got up and pulled Maddie with him, the two of them discarding their glasses on the table and walking out of the room without a word. He heard the sound of laughter just before the door closed shut behind them but decided he didn't much care. He led her down the corridor toward his office, the nearest available private space where he knew they wouldn't be disturbed. He opened the door and pulled Maddie inside before slamming the door shut behind him, making her raise her eyebrows at him.

'Does hunting make all men horny or something?' she asked with a sexy giggle, making Tommy's cock throb angrily.

'You're about to find out.'

The encounter in the office had done little to satiate either Tommy or Maddie, even if though they had been rough enough to knock a number of books from the shelves in the process. They were the last couple to return to the living room and he couldn't help but feel slightly smug, as if he had been in some kind of silent competition with his brothers. Indeed, he did notice John and Arthur give him irksome looks out the corner of his eye, but he knew none of them would even admit what they had all been thinking. Shortly after they returned, they were called to dinner and everyone sat in their usual places.

Tommy and Maddie had been sharing lustful glances since they left the office and whilst they waited for dinner to be served, she decided to try and frustrate him even further. He was already dreading the next few hours before they could go to bed without seeming rude, but now she was going to make that virtually torturous. She initially started by tickling the inside of his ankle with the toe of her shoe, commencing their favourite under-the-table game that they had played many times before. He glanced over at her with a warning look, asking her if she really wanted to play this game with him tonight. She looked back at him with amusement and bit her lip as a clear answer to his question. Very well, he thought. As her foot began to slide up his leg toward his knee, he reached under the table with one hand and caught her ankle so her leg was outstretched. Her eyes flashed deviously as he watched for her reaction and she smiled cheekily, waiting for him to make another move. The two of them had already become oblivious to the conversations that were happening around them, the voices sounding nothing but muffled background noise to Tommy as his focus was squarely on Maddie.

He held her foot still for a second before resting it on his knee and releasing it. She kept her foot there, looking intrigued as to what he was going to do next. He rested his palm on the top of her foot, still at first, before steadily tracing her ankle bone with his index finger. Maddie lifted her eyebrow up at him tauntingly and looking somewhat unimpressed. Tommy refused to retaliate, not letting her bating get the better of him. He continued his circular caressing for a minute before starting to run his finger up the inside of her calf as he took a nonchalant sip of whisky. Her nostrils flared slightly in frustration, but she let her face fall back into a relaxed and serene expression, refusing to break eye contact with him.

'Care to give us your opinion on this, Thomas?'

Tommy blinked and turned his gaze to Pol who had addressed him, a stern yet amused look on her face. Everyone else looked back at him expectantly, and he realised they must have been talking about something important which, due to his and Maddie's antics, he had no idea what it was. He let his grip on her foot go slack and she took the opportunity to withdraw it, making him clench his teeth in frustration.

'My opinion on what?' he asked, causing everyone to look shocked that he hadn't been listening until they looked at Maddie, who was now looking particularly pleased with herself, and a look of realisation settled on their faces.

Pol however looked annoyed that he hadn't been paying attention. 'The taxation charges in America, Thomas.'

Of all the topics in the world, they were talking about the dullest and most tedious one over dinner, one that could kill any arousal in a man in a matter of seconds which was already starting to happen to him at the mere mention of the word tax.

'What about it?' asked Tommy impatiently, keen for him and Maddie to go back to being ignored in their own little world.

'It's affecting our profits coming in from our imports over there. They've been steadily declining for the past several months,' said Michael, who was evidently more interested in this than anyone else.

Tommy was well aware of this issue and had already devised a plan to deal with it, although he had yet to discuss it with his family. However, now wasn't the time.

'I'm aware of that,' responded Tommy. 'We'll talk business once we are back in the office.'

Pol and Michael stared back at Tommy silently for a second before sighing and the table started to talk about something else. He finally turned back to look at Maddie who looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh, pursing her lips as her cheeks flushed red. He gave her an unimpressed look, already thinking of how he was going to make her regret her immature sniggering at his expense. She eventually calmed herself and sat forward, leaning one of her arms on the table as the other disappeared underneath it. He quickly felt her hand rest on his thigh and she squeezed firmly, purposefully digging her nails into his skin as she smirked at him and rested her chin on her other hand.

Tommy inhaled as he took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it as Maddie watched him curiously. He didn't want to let on that her touch was beginning to make him aroused again, and the easiest way to do that he found was with a cigarette in his mouth. He quirked his eyebrow once at her, knowing it would spur her on more and he sat back in his chair in a relaxed, almost bored manner. He felt her nails dig into his leg a little harder and she narrowed her eyes at him, making him smirk back before turning away to at least appear to look like he was now listening to everyone's conversation. An angry huff sounded to his right before Maddie's hand began to drag along his thigh towards his crotch. He was able to remain mostly still in his chair, but it was impossible to prevent his thigh muscles from twitching as she inched closer to where his erection was beginning to harden in his trousers. Then, just as the tip of her finger was about to touch his cock, the dining room door opened as dinner was brought in.

Maddie instinctively flinched and sat back in her chair, letting go of Tommy's leg making him sigh through his nose in irritation. She gave him an amused smile and an apologetic shrug as her plate was placed in front of her before she turned her attention to her food eagerly. The conversation at the table had turned to something much more light-hearted and she was encapsulated by it for the rest of the meal. She didn't restart their game again and neither did Tommy, since he had decided he was planning on taking her upstairs as soon as dinner was over.

As a result, dinner seemed to stretch out for what felt like an eternity, going on much later than ususal. Eventually though, all the plates were cleared and everyone started shuffling around and standing up in readiness to move back into the living room. Maddie also got up from her chair, looking keen to continue the night which made Tommy's heckles rise. There was no way he was waiting any longer, even if they had only fucked just before dinner.

He cleared his throat as he stood, stubbing out his cigarette as he did so. 'If everyone will excuse us,' he announced, placing his hand on the small of Maddie's back. 'Maddie and I have decided to get an early night.'

The room turned to them and regarded them with amused smirks as Maddie looked up at Tommy with a confused look. 'We have?' Her face remained perplexed for a second before realisation hit her and her cheeks blushed angrily before she turned back to the room 'Er… yes, we have. Um… night everyone.'

Maddie gave everyone a small awkward wave as Tommy took that as a que to nudge her forward by pressing his hand into the small of her back. Everyone said goodnight as they walked briskly from the room, giving them knowing and amused looks as they passed. Once they were out into the corridor and the dining room door had closed, she took a large step forward and turned to face him before falling into step in front of him, walking backwards as he carried on walking forwards.

'That wasn't very subtle you know,' she smirked. 'At least we usually try to be inconspicuous.'

'And our exit from the living room earlier was inconspicuous?' responded Tommy, raising his eyebrow questioningly.

Maddie made a face that indicated he had a point. 'I suppose you're right there.'

They shared an amused smile before Maddie turned round to walk forwards again and they hurried out into the foyer and up the stairs toward the bedroom. The door had barely closed behind them before they were in each other's arms, their lips smashing together eagerly. Her lips tasted like the wine she had been drinking with dinner mixed with the sugary taste of the chocolate dessert the cooks had made, the combination like an aphrodisiac on Tommy's lips, making him instinctively run his tongue along her bottom lip.

Maddie sighed in response and placed her hands on his shoulders before doing a little jump to wrap her legs around his waist in one swift movement. He caught her as she jumped, not that he needed to, and held her thighs in the spot where they met her ass. He squeezed the soft skin there as they continued to move their lips together, making her sigh again against his lips. Moments like this never failed to make him smirk victoriously, and this time was no exception. He grinned and let himself chuckle once, causing her to grab a fistful of his hair and grind her hips against him in frustration, her heels digging into his back.

Tommy walked over to the bed and climbed onto it so that he was kneeling on it with Maddie on his lap, the two of them still fully dressed. Their lips hadn't parted since they entered the room, neither one of them wanting the contact to end. But it would have to if they wanted to get their clothes of anytime soon. He ran his hands up both of her thighs to her hip bones, hitching her dress up as he went. At the same time, he could feel her hands trace the lines of his jaw before dropping to undo his tie and top buttons of his shirt. He began to lift her dress up her torso toward her chest and paused as she continued to kiss him passionately, evidently not wanting the embrace to end yet.

Eventually, Tommy had to intervene and he gently pushed Maddie back so their lips parted and they both had to gasp to catch their breath. They locked gazes with each other for a moment, her eyes heavy-lidded and dark as she looked at him with an intensity which she had never done before. As he took notice of this however, she began to undo his vest and shirt buttons slowly, looking down at his chest to focus on her task, prompting him to continue his. He lifted her dress up to her underarms and she automatically lifted her arms up to let him lift it over her head before dropping her hands back to his buttons as he tossed her dress onto the floor. Maddie soon reached the last button on Tommy's shirt and pulled his vest over his shoulders followed by his suspenders, shirt and undershirt which joined her dress on the floor. Their lips joined again, only this time they were much softer and slower than before, planting feathery kisses along each other's jaw and neck in between their lips locking briefly. He snaked his hands up her back to the clasp of her bra which he unfastened before sliding his hands up to pull the straps down her arms to remove it completely. He cupped her breasts with both hands gently and brushed his thumbs against her erect nipples, eliciting a loud gasp from her as she pressed herself against him more in response.

Tommy could feel his cock pushing painfully against his trousers, the feel of Maddie's hard nipples beneath his thumbs making it throb furiously. After a few more seconds of kissing, they broke apart again only this time she pulled back on her own terms and looked at him again with the same intense expression she had done a moment earlier. They paused like this a moment before he moved his hands up to cup her face and look into her eyes properly. They looked apprehensive, like she wanted to ask him something important and he realised that he too needed to ask a question of his own. Sensing her nervousness and hesitancy, he took it upon himself to ask what he had been intensely wanting to ask for the past few days.

'Maddie,' he uttered, barely above a whisper. 'Do you want to have a child?'

He felt like his heart wanted to stop beating in his chest as the question finally left his lips, dreading the tragic reply he was now sure Maddie would utter. As the question left his mouth, she shuddered slightly and swallowed thickly, her nervousness not seeming to diminish and Tommy could feel his own saliva turning thick. He waited patiently for her to respond, her hands caressing the shaved hair at the back of his head as she gathered her words.

She sucked in a slow breath and sighed, opening her mouth to finally speak. 'Yeah,' she sighed. 'I do want to have a child with you, Tommy. But…'

Maddie trailed off, her voice faltering and Tommy knew that his fears were correct. He closed his eyes and ducked his head down, a shaky breath leaving his nose before he looked back up again and nodded.

'But you can't,' he said, finishing her sentence for her as his jaw muscles flexed angrily in an attempt to stop his eyes from stinging.

Maddie blinked once, her face transforming into one of nervousness to disbelief as her brow furrowed questioningly, making Tommy falter in response.

'Wait… you thought I couldn't…?' she muttered, looking into his eyes again before a look of regret crossed her features. 'Oh fuck… Pol was right. You really have been thinking the worst!'

Now it was Tommy's turn to look perplexed as he stared back at Maddie with a stern expression, his heart beginning to beat faster again as he realised what she was saying.

'You mean you…? But you haven't gotten pregnant so I…' Tommy for once was lost for words, unable to understand how she could not be pregnant by now if she was actually able to have children.

Maddie sighed; a look akin to regret crossing her features as she watched him struggle to get his head round what was happening.

'This is my fault,' she said, placing a hand on Tommy's cheek. 'I should have told you about this sooner.' Told me about what? Tommy pondered this a second until Maddie lowered one of her hands to grasp his, lifting it to place it on her left arm over her bicep as he looked back at her confused. 'This is why I haven't gotten pregnant.'

Maddie placed Tommy's thumb over the inside of her bicep and pressed it into the space between the muscles firmly. He felt it, something hard nestled in the muscles of her arm, deep enough that there was no way he would have noticed it unless he had been looking for it. He couldn't help but take a sharp intake of breath, not expecting to feel something so odd underneath her skin. He felt his eyebrows knit together in disbelief as he turned his attention to whatever the foreign object was. He lifted his other hand so he could prod her arm further, Maddie silently letting him investigate without protest. The object was small and felt much like a matchstick that lay parallel to her bone. It was then that Tommy noticed the small mark to her skin, barely more than a blemish, that was directly above one end of the matchstick and assumed this was the spot where it had gotten into her arm.

'What is it?' Tommy finally asked and Maddie let out a small laugh, no doubt finding his childlike wonder very funny.

'It's called an implant,' said Maddie. 'It stops me from getting pregnant.'

Tommy blinked as his head whirled around in circles. The future has ways to prevent pregnancy? How is that even possible?

'How does it work?' he asked.

Maddie went to explain the concept of contraception, and how in the future they had near enough perfected it to the point where it was close to impossible to become pregnant if you used it. She spoke as if she had already talked about this recently and he realised that she had probably confided in the women about this judging by what she let slip about what Polly had said as well as the 'women's business' comment she had made earlier.

'Why didn't you tell me this before Maddie?' he asked, once she had finished. 'I thought you couldn't have children because you're a slayer.'

Tommy admitted that he felt hurt, maybe even a little angry, that Maddie hadn't told him about a big thing like this until now. They were supposed to be getting married and she had decided not to tell him about something so crucial. He realised then that he had let his features fall into a semi-scowl and noticed as she immediately become uncomfortable, and he realised that his reaction was what had been holding her back. She had likely not thought about it until recently and only then realised that it should have been something she should have told him about a while ago.

'I'm sorry, Tommy,' said Maddie apologetically, her expression scared. 'I didn't mean to keep it a secret. I just didn't know how to tell you or anyone else about it because I was afraid of how you'd react.'

Tommy looked up at her and saw that she was trying not to get upset, evidently worried that he was angry with her. He sighed and shook his head, pulling her to him so she rested her head on his shoulder. How could he be angry at her? She had just told him that she wanted to have his child, a statement that he had forgotten about in his shock at learning about the implant, but the one that he should have focussed on from the start.

'I'm not angry,' he said. 'I'm glad that you want to have a child with me.'

Maddie pulled back again, her eyes looking wet but she had managed not to cry. 'Really?'

'Of course,' he responded, giving her a soft smile. 'But what about the implant? Do you want to wait until it stops working?'

'Oh,' she exclaimed before falling into a second of silent thought. 'No, I don't want to wait that long. I suppose I'll have to find a way to cut it out.'

Tommy managed to suppress the grimace he almost made in response to this suggestion, not enjoying the idea of Maddie cutting her arm open and how much pain that would cause her. However, this would be the only way if they wanted to have a baby anytime soon. Then the thought of what she would look like with his baby in her belly flooded his mind's eye and he felt his blood rush downwards again very swiftly.

'When?' asked Tommy, unable to keep the eagerness from his voice.

Maddie let out a small laugh in response and had obviously noticed his keenness. 'Um, maybe we should get the wedding out of the way first?'

She was right of course. The last thing they needed was a scandal if she got pregnant before they were married. But he was now even less patient to marry her that he was before. They hadn't set a date yet, but they had agreed to wait until after the new year at least.

'January,' stated Tommy, pulling Maddie closer to him on his lap as he spoke.

'Huh?'

'The wedding. Let's have it in January.'

Maddie giggled her infectious and adorable giggle as she took in what he had said. 'But that's only two months away! We haven't even planned anything yet.'

'What's to plan, eh? We will get married at the chapel in the village and celebrate here,' said Tommy. He had never seen the point in overthinking a wedding, although he knew there would need to be an extravagant reception to appease the people he would have to invite. But all that he could leave to Ada, who he was sure would jump at the chance to organise an event like this for Maddie.

'But… what about all the other stuff like…' she began, trailing off again.

'Like what?' prompted Tommy teasingly, now finding he was enjoying Maddie's nervous babbling. As he said this, he dipped his head into her neck and began to kiss it softly, making her quiver.

'Ah… like the flowers… and um… the invites and the… the catering…' mumbled Maddie, virtually incoherent as he continued to kiss and nip her neck. He wanted to make her forget about the complications of the wedding and just be happy that they would soon be married. 'And… and the speeches.'

Tommy felt a nervous pang in his chest at the sudden memory of Arthur's terrible speech at his and Grace's wedding which was replaced by the sinking feeling as the memory of that day came back to him but he pushed it away quickly. He had loved Grace dearly, but now he loved someone else just as much, maybe even more that he had loved her, and he wasn't going to let the memory of Grace get in the way of it.

'Shhh,' hushed Tommy huskily into Maddie's neck. 'We can figure all that out later.'

Lifting her weight up off his lap into his arms, Tommy brought himself up and lowered Maddie onto her back on the bed with him above her. She had fallen silent and was now sighing softly in response to his touch as he continued to kiss her neck softly for a second before he began to move down her chest toward her breasts. He brushed his lips over one of her nipples, making her shiver, before grazing it with his teeth and nipping it harshly. She gasped and arched her back off the bed as he went to do the same to the other nipple before coming back up to connect his lips to hers forcefully. He reached down to finally undo his trousers, kicking them off before undoing Maddie's underwear and pulling them off too. Tommy lowered himself down again so that he was pressed flushed against her body, her thighs instinctively pressing into his sides as he felt her nipples press into his chest, but he didn't push into her just yet. He looked into her eyes, their noses almost touching as he hovered above her. She looked back up at him lovingly and wide eyed, a small smile playing at her lips. He couldn't quite believe that she would soon be his wife; that she could soon be the mother of his second child. He wanted to stay locked with her this way all the time if he could, but alas he would have to settle for what time they did get together.

With that in mind, Tommy finally pushed himself inside her, a groan escaping both of them as he did so. Her soft warmth enveloped him, and the sensation made him shudder slightly before he began to thrust at a slow pace, much slower than was his usual. The revelations of that evening were making the sensations feel almost new again, and he found he wanted to savour them as much as possible. Maddie's eyes had closed soon after and she had quickly begun to whine and arch her body into his with every slow movement of his hips and it was making it hard for him to maintain his pace. After a few minutes of this, he could feel her stomach muscles tighten and he knew her orgasm was already approaching. The increase in tightness around his cock caused him to swear under his breath and he couldn't help but increase his pace slightly, chasing their climax to its end. Maddie laced her fingers into his hair as her jaw dropped open, loud moans now erupting from her whilst Tommy struggled to contain the growling coming from his chest. Only seconds more passed before he felt his orgasm ripple through him followed quickly by hers, her pussy pulsating around his cock as he emptied himself inside her, his name falling from her lips as they collapsed into each other.

They lay there panting for a minute until Tommy lifted his head up to look down at Maddie again and the two of them smiled softly as he pictured the day when he would soon see her walking down the aisle toward him.