A response to a Tumblr prompt from Thymefortea:  How Patrick or Shelagh brings up the subject of wanting to have a baby soon after the wedding. Bonus points if their discussion turns into a more intimate “discussion” while on honeymoon.

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Shelagh’s eyes wandered around the now quiet sitting room, amazed at how her life had changed so quickly. Barely two weeks ago, she had never even been in this room, much less anywhere in Patrick’s house. Now, it was a most beloved spot, home to those she loved most in the world, and soon it would be her own home. Her eyes shifted to the ring Patrick had placed on her finger that afternoon in answer to her promise to marry him. Shelagh could feel her heart start to race now just as it had then, and smiled.

Stirred from her reverie by the sound of Patrick’s footfall on the stairs, she looked up. Returning from checking on Tim upstairs, Patrick grinned as he approached her. “He’ll have some interesting dreams tonight, I reckon. What a day we’ve had!” He squeezed her hands in his.

Shelagh took a deep breath. “It’s all just so overwhelming!”

Instantly, the smile slid from Patrick’s face as the air escaped his lungs. He swallowed with difficulty, his eyes struggling to meet hers. He grimaced and forced words out. “Shelagh…I’m so… terribly sorry…I’ve pushed you too soon. We can- we can go back, move more slowly. I never wanted to make you feel uncomfortable, or make you feel obligat-”

Stunned, Shelagh interrupted. “No. No, no. Patrick, that isn’t what I meant. I didn’t mean-It’s not you…”

He drew in a shuddering breath. His eyebrows came down, questioningly. “Shelagh? I-I don’t understand.”

Shelagh smiled lovingly as she grasped his hands in hers and held them to her heart. “I never meant you, dearest.” Her lower lip caught between her teeth as she struggled for words. “It’s just that I never imagined I could be so happy. Not even in my wildest dreams.”

Relief flooded his face, his smile as wide as hers. They stood like that, silently communicating all the pent up emotions of the past long, lonely months. Slowly, he placed her small hands on his waist and moved his own to cup her face.

“I dreamt of you so often, Shelagh. I dreamt you could love me; selfish dreams where you would love me enough to leave an entire life behind just to be with me. And you have. You’ve made my dreams come true.” His thumbs caressed the smooth skin of her peachy cheeks, his fingertips tangling in her hair. Eyes glittering, he leaned in and whispered, “Tell me about your dreams, Shelagh. Tell me what you dreamt of those sad, lonely months.”

Shelagh closed her eyes, remembering. When she opened them, her face was filled with the expression of quiet joy he had come to recognize. She breathed in deeply and told him, “I dreamt you would love me, too. That I could be your wife.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed herself against him. Her head tucked in at his shoulder, they both marvelled at how they just seemed to fit. “And now it’s happening. I’m free to love you-and Timothy, too. We’ll be a family.” Shyly, her eyes flickered away and she pressed her cheek to his chest..

“Sweetheart? What is it? Tell me.” He nuzzled her hair.

Her breath escaping on a sigh, she whispered, “I had another dream, too, Patrick. I’ve been given so much, but I’ve become greedy for more.” She kept her face turned into him, afraid to see his expression when she spoke.

“Anything, Shelagh. Anything you want. I’ll give you the moon and the stars if that’s what you ask.” He coaxed her face up to his.

Her hand crept up to his cheek as she forced herself to meet his eyes. “I want to have your baby, dearest. I know we have Timothy, and I love him so very much. He would always be enough. But if we can, if you could possibly… consider starting over?” She knew she was asking for a great deal. To have another child would change everything, and there had already been so many adjustments.

Patrick’s eyes glowed warmly. “Shelagh, there’s always been a baby here between us. And if I’ve learned nothing else from you, it’s that we can’t stop love from growing.”

Her eyes a bit watery, she looked up at him, thrilling at the happiness beaming back at her. Patrick’s hands moved to cradle her head as he lowered his own. Through fluttering eyelashes, she watched him pause for a moment to give her a chance to slow things down.She pushed up on her tiptoes and met his lips halfway in a warm, deep kiss.

In the dark of her new bedroom, Shelagh Turner laughed. Not the light giggle shared between friends over nonsense, nor the warm chortle of a mother with her child. It wasn’t  even the  humorous chuckling response to a funny joke.

No, this laugh was deep and throaty, escaping on an exhale and filling the room with an electric charge. This laugh was sexy. And Shelagh knew it.

Patrick growled in response, pulling her warm body up against his. “Now that’s the sound of a happily married woman,” he remarked smugly.

Wordlessly, Shelagh smiled into his smooth skin. She traced her fingers across the planes of his chest, shyness banished between them forever.

“Are you going to share with your husband the source of such a seductive laugh?

Shelagh lifted her head and raised herself up on his chest.

“I’m afraid I made a terrible mistake, dearest.” She met his eyes with a knowing look, a warm smile brightening her face. He read the new confidence in her expression and smiled crookedly. Tapping her fingers along the length of his collarbone, she pressed a kiss to his chest before she continued, “I have gravely underestimated the number of babies I want to have.”

Patrick’s head fell back against the pillow as a deep chuckle rumbled in his chest. He shifted their bodies so they were facing one another, his hands tangling in her smooth hair. “So more than two, then?”

Shelagh’s face was very serious. “I’m afraid so, Patrick. If I  had any idea it would be like this I would have said twenty!”