When Joscelin arrived at Tretower after his visit with his sister, he wasn’t surprised to find it filled with shadows. His lunch with Gwen had gone longer than he’d anticipated and it always got dark sooner as near the mountains as they were.

The large manor house wasn’t empty though. Joscelin’s lips twitched when he heard his wife’s voice coming from the direction of the kitchens, and setting the parcel he’d brought atop his lap more securely, he wheeled his chair around and headed down the hall. He couldn’t wait to get out of the damn chair. The healer and physical therapists had warned him the rehabilitation would be extensive and he likely wouldn’t ever truly walk normally again, but he could handle a bit of a limp if he could just stand.

Patience had never been a virtue of the Jones’ family, but Joscelin was trying to keep his frustration and brooding away from his wife. She was dealing with a lot already. Joscelin knew she hadn’t expected pregnancy – bloody hell, neither had he – but she wasn’t even twenty-five. Pregnancy hadn’t even been an inkling of a thought with any kind of reality attached to it yet.

She was doing beautifully, as Gwen said she would, but he knew it was still a hard concept for her to grasp. For his part, he’d been surprised at first, but he’d always wanted children. Lots of them. He hadn’t planned for them just yet, necessarily, but he was ready to be a father. He was ready to be a father to Romy’s children.

The thought turned his lips up as did his wife’s voice, louder now as he pulled into the doorway of the kitchen. She was standing over the soup Lulu was stirring, spoon in hand, apparently taste testing supper as they went along.

"A little more rosemary, I think, yeah?" Romy said after dipping her spoon into the deep pot of chicken soup. Lulu's ears flapped as she nodded her agreement, the elf had been teaching her some new recipes at Romy's request. She wasn't a terrible cook, but her knowledge was limited. If she was going to be a mother, she ought to be able to feed her family. That's what mothers were supposed to do.

She'd felt the wards tingle with the familiar sensation of Joscelin's arrival and she knew without looking that he was watching her from the kitchen door. Turning to him with a smile, she greeted, "Welcome home, dear. Where did you run off to?"

"Lunch went a little long with Gwenny," he said, wheeling into the kitchen before holding out the winter bouquet of flowers to her. "Since it went a little long, she helped me pick flowers for you for putting up with us, so I guess they're from both of us."

He grinned then. "Dinner smells good, love."

Romy's smile blossomed much like the blooms in her hand. Today had been a pretty good day. She felt better after the talk she'd had with Tonks earlier in the week, and Joscelin always made her feel special and loved. Bringing the flowers to her nose, she breathed deeply.

She slipped into her husband's lap and hugged him tightly. "Thank you both, then, but Gwen will have to wait for her hug. Lulu's been teaching me some new recipes. We're having a chicken and rice soup with winter vegetables." Leaning in, she gave him a proper kiss hello. Lately she'd been so caught up in their little whirlwind of news that she'd been a little neglectful in showing her affection. "So you had a good lunch? What did Gwen think of our news?"

"I did," he murmured against her lips, hand cupping her cheek as he pulled another kiss from her before he pulled away again, smile curling his lips as he continued, "and she was pretty surprised about the future little Jones, which is always fun to see, but more happy than anything. I told you she's been waiting for me to procreate since she was little herself."

"Amazing, given how much you frustrate her sometimes," she teased, though she was pleased and relieved to know her sister-in-law was excited for them. It was nice to have that reaction after the ordeal when they announced their marriage. Romy's never regretted marrying Joscelin for a second, but she wished they'd been more thoughtful about how they'd gone about it. "Didn't she have some kind of news of her own?"

"Mmm," he hummed in the affirmative as he nuzzled his nose into her hair until he found the soft spot beneath her ear. "And I'm afraid she was able to pull the rug out from under me this time."

Sighing softly as Joscelin's mouth moved lightly over her skin, Romy tried to concentrate on what he was saying. "Oh? What did she say?" she asked, one hand coming up to smooth over his chest.

"That she went ahead and got herself a Jones' spawn before we did," he replied, grinning against her skin as he felt her take in the news.

Romy pulled back, shocked confusion etched on her face. "What? Gwen's pregnant, too?" Brow furrowing, she rambled, "She's not showing at all. I already can't fit in my denims. That's so weird, Tonks and I were talking about if we were all pregnant together the other day. You seem surprisingly unafraid."

Joscelin blinked a moment at the thought of all of them pregnant at the same time, but he grinned as she finished. "You know, I thought she was pregnant at first too. I may have threatened to feed Savage to the dragons and some similar rot," he admitted, rueful gaze on hers.

"And just be careful throwing words around like having all three of you like that..." Joscelin shuddered. "You might jinx it."

She couldn't help but laugh at Joscelin threatening to harm Jonathan. In most things her husband was a steadying force, calm and easygoing, but where his 'little' sister was concerned he was a bit of a mother hen. "So she's not having a baby? Then what's this about spawning?"

"Adopted the little urchin she's had in her house. Tess? We bought her a little auto that Gwenny won't let us keep at White Chapel?" Joscelin was grinning from ear to ear now. He was excited to be a father, but just as pleased to find himself an uncle.

"Really?" Romy squealed. "She found Tess' grandmother? That's wonderful!" Another piece of the puzzle that was their family had slipped into place. Theirs was a hodge podge of individuals, a wide array of personalities that somehow managed to find each other and hold on, so unlike what she'd had growing up.

As she felt water begin to well, Romy rolled her eyes in resignation. At least they were happy tears. Wet trails ran down her cheeks as she looked to Joscelin with a sentimental smile. "Our baby's going to have such a big family."

"Aw honey, don't cry," he murmured, though there was a smile on his lips and in his eyes as he reached up to brush the tears away with his thumb.

Gaze rising to hers then, happiness and mischief shone in his features. "We'll make sure he... or she, has a big family."

Romy raised a brow at the look in his eyes. "Let me deal with the idea of the one baby before teasing me about the passel of little dragon handlers you want, okay?" A hint of wickedness crept over her visage. "Or I'll make sure you have to deal with three pregnant women at once. You know Tonks and Bishop will give plenty of opportunities."

"You're an evil woman," Joscelin murmured, already nuzzling for her neck again. "'s why I love you so much," he grinned against her skin.

Lips curling as she tilted her head, exposing more of her neck to his exploration, Romy's laugh was throaty. "As it should be."


SUMMARY: Joscelin tells Romy about the new addition to the Jones family.