Emelaide smiled as she leaned Marreck back onto the bed. "I love you too," Emelaide whispered softly between long, sweet kisses, "So very very much."

"Em..." Marreck breathed as he stopped their kissing and breathed in slow, steady breaths. "We shouldn't do this. Far too tempting." He added softly before reluctantly wriggling away from their embrace. "These are going to be a long eleven months." He shook his head, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

Emelaide frowned as she leaned back and pulled her knees to her chest. "By then you will not want me..." Emelaide whispered sadly as she rested her chin upon her knees. "Marreck.. How can we even know if we can make love if we do not even try?" Emelaide asked as she looked up at Marreck. "The doctor is not always correct... He may not be correct about my strength and ability through the pregnancy... He could just be being over-cautious because this isn't a normal pregnancy..."

"Emelaide, what do you mean I'm not going to want you?" Marreck sighed as he shook his head, not giving the rest of her statement validity by ignoring it. "When are you going to trust me when I tell you that I want to be with you? That I love you and will for the rest of our lives? When will you even start to believe me?" He asked as he stared defeatedly at the floor.

Emelaide sighed as she looked over at Marreck. "You misunderstood me. I meant that you will not even want me by the time this pregnancy is over... You will have grown so accustomed to making yourself not want me, that in time you'll end up just not wanting me under normal circumstances out of habit.. That is what I meant," Emelaide explained softly as she curled into his side, wrapping her arms around his waist as she buried her face into his chest.

"Honestly my love... How can you say that I do not trust you and do not believe you? Would I be here now if I didn't? Would I have kissed you, wanted you.. if I didn't trust and believe you?" Emelaide asked as she looked up at Marreck.

"If you believed me when I said that I love you then how can you think that'd I'd ever teach myself to stop loving you? Em, do you honestly even believe that?" Marreck asked in disbelief. "I love you. I want to be with you and eleven months without bedding you is not going to change my feelings. I wish you would just understand." He frowned deeply.

Emelaide sighed as she looked away from him, "Never mind, Marreck.. You are not understanding and you are twisting it in the completely wrong direction. I cannot make you understand so let us just forget it and drop it before we get into another fight. I don't want to fight with you again," Emelaide added softly in a tone hardly above a whisper.

"Emelaide." Marreck sighed as he put both arms around her and gave her neck a soft kiss. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound upset with you. I'm only concerned that you think that I'll stop wanting you which I want you to know is never going to happen." He said softly as his kisses continued, making their way to a spot behind her ear. "I love you. Always." He murmured lovingly into her ear.

"I know you'll always love me," Emelaide said softly as she leaned into his kisses, "But that does not mean you will always want to make love to me... What if, because of this pregnancy, you will remain too afraid to make love to me for fear I will get sick again? Or what if because of this pregnancy, you will be too afraid to make love to me for fear I shall get pregnant again? Living in constant fear of making love to me for so long.. it is sure to subconsciously begin to affect you and that fear will remain instilled even after it is deemed safe by the doctor..."

"I'm not afraid of those things, Em. I'm not afraid of making love to you. I'm only restraining because of doctor's orders." Marreck said quietly. "Are you afraid? Is this what this is about?"

"I am not afraid to make love.. I haven't been afraid during this entire pregnancy until you told me that if I do one thing wrong, I'll either lose the twins or I myself will die. That is the only thing I am afraid of. I am afraid of losing our twins.

"Yet... I know my body.. I know it's warnings, it's every ache and pain. I know the causes, for the most part.. I've learned over the past couple of months what to expect, when to expect them, and I know my limits. I am not so fragile as the doctor believes me to be.. But you and the doctor seem to believe me to be as fragile as glass, when I assure you I am not," Emelaide finished with a sigh as she began picking up the cards and forming them into a deck again.

"And yes, I am afraid that based on this pregnancy, you will grow more and more afraid of what will happen.. I am afraid you will grow to be so afraid of me that you will not make love to me for fear of a pregnancy, for fear of getting me sick, for fear itself. I am so very afraid that you will not want me as you did before this pregnancy. I know you will always love me as you did before this pregnancy, but that does not mean you will still want me in the way you did before this pregnancy," Emelaide whispered as she packed up the cards and slid into her wheel chair. Setting the cards on her lap, Emelaide added in a soft, yet normal tone, "After I put the cards away I think I shall take a bath and go to bed."

With that, Emelaide sighed as she wheeled herself out of the bedroom towards the living room to put the cards back in their drawer in the game cabinet.

"Emelaide." Marreck's head began to ache as he laid back on the bed. He figured it wasn't the best plan to go after her, especially when he needed time to think. Of course he knew she was so fragile but he didn't want to chance anybody's lives on it. He wished she would understand that he'd never become fearful of them being together but perhaps the only way she'd realize it would be seeing it.

Going back into the bedroom, Emelaide went over to her dresser and took out a nightgown to put on after her bath. "I'm sorry I went off like that," Emelaide said softly as she looked over at Marreck, "I just... I needed to get it off my chest before it was too late and I never said a word of how I was feeling.. I did not mean to upset you."

Offering a small smile, Emelaide added softly before leaving the bedroom, "It is alright, if we do not make love until after this is over and there is no risk.. I understand where you are coming from with this.. I just.. I wish you would trust me to know my own limits."

Sighing, Emelaide wheeled herself to the bathroom and turned on the hot water to start a bubble bath.

Marreck groaned in fustration into the sheets after Emelaide left. Why was she making this so difficult on him when all he wanted was for her to be safe until their twins were delivered?

He rummaged through his clothes, looking for pajamas before giving up and closing all the drawers. Marreck stood and knocked softly on the bathroom door before entering and leaning back against it. "Are you sure about this, Em?" He asked softly.

"Am I sure about what?" Emelaide asked as she added the bubbles to the water. Grasping the sink to stand and keep herself steady, Emelaide began changing out of her clothes as she looked over at Marreck, "Am I sure it is alright that we do not make love until after everything has passed? Yes, I am sure I am alright with that decision. If that is the way it must be, then I am not going to continue to fight it. I will not keep fighting with you when we have much more important things to worry about and spend our energy on than fighting."

"I've decided that I'm going to take up knitting and crocheting again, to keep myself busy since I cannot do much of anything else right now. Could we go to the market tomorrow and get some supplies?" Emelaide asked as she turned off the water, tied her hair up into a high ponytail, and slid into the tub.

"Knit and crochet? Of course, love. We can pick up some supplies if that's what you'd like." Marreck asked as he slid down the back of the door and sat on the cool bathroom floor. "I don't want to fight with you either, Em. I don't want to argue about magic or pregnancies. I don't want to get angry and storm off. I want to be here for you no matter what." He said casually as he rested his head back against the door.

"You are," Emelaide assured him with a warm smile as she looked over at him, "You have always been here for me, through everything. That is what I love so much about you. No matter what happens, I can always count on you to be here for me, for everything."

Resting her head back against the tub, Emelaide sighed a sigh of bliss as she stretched in the tub. The hot water felt great on her skin and she was loving every second of it. "But yes," Emelaide said after a little while, "I haven't knitted or crocheted since I lived in Winterglade, and I think now would be the perfect time to start up again. Hopefully, by the time the children are born, I shall have a blanket made for the both of them," Emelaide added happily with a grin.

"I love you too, Em. And we're going to get through this too." He promised with a lopsided smile before standing up. "I'm going to make some tea before bed." He said before turning and walking to the kitchen to boil water.

Finishing her bath, Emelaide stretched as she stepped out of the tub. She felt rejuvenated and happier after such a tranquil bath. Dressing into a light blue nightgown with snow lace trimming, Emelaide brushed out her hair and kept it up in the pony tail. Getting situated int her wheel chair, Emelaide went about gathering the laundry into the hamper before heading out to the kitchen. "Could you pour me a cup too, love?" Emelaide asked as she looked up at her fiancee.

"I figured as much." Marreck grinned as he was already pouring into a second cup which he handed to Emelaide. Marreck blew on his cup of tea before taking a small sip.

Emelaide laughed as she took her cup of tea, "You know me so well." Taking a sip Emelaide smiled as the flavor burst on her tongue. Peppermint, her favorite.

Noticing that Jessi wasn't back yet, Emelaide asked jokingly, "I see Jessi isn't back yet.. I wonder if he got lost?"

---

In fact, Jessi hadn't gotten lost, but infatuated with the scenery. By the time Emelaide had taken her first sip of tea, Jessi had already been all over the city multiple times. He loved Winterglade already, and he had hardly even been there. Grinning he returned back to Emelaide's house and hung up his jacket. Heading into the kitchen, Jessi smiled, "This place is gorgeous.. I don't think I'll ever leave!"

Emelaide laughed, "I'm glad to hear you like it so much. You should see the other villages in Winterglade. There is so much variety and so many unique shops in each village that you could spend a year traveling Winterglade and still not have seen everything or done everything."

"Glad you like it here." Marreck laughed as he took out a third cup. "Tea?" He offered as he poured the hot water into the small cup and handed it to Jessi.

"Yes, thank you," Jessi said with a warm smile as he sipped the tea, the warmth of the tea filling his chilled body.

"How far did you wander out?" Emelaide asked curious as she sipped her tea.

"Until the border to Elimlee. And man, that house they're building? That thing is going to be a beauty when it's finished. Not to mention huge," Jessi added with a chuckle, "It looks more like the sort of house I picture you two living in."

Emelaide laughed, "We Winterglade elves tend to have cozy cottages to live in. Dimitrius is probably getting the largeness from Ariala and his sister, Dimeria. You see, Dimitrius is the heir to the throne of Winterglade. Well, he would be if his Father hadn't disowned him and just had another son to take over. But still, that royal blood still runs through him and that's sure to affect his sense of judgement in regards to housing," Emelaide added with a wink.

"I, on the other hand, prefer the nice and cozy. Though we were just speaking of an addition to he cottage, a green room for Marreck. Have you any thoughts to a good place to add onto the cottage? I was thinking right off of the bedroom, or in that general area, but I'm unsure.. What do you two think?" Emelaide asked with a sip of her tea.

"I think it'd look nice off the living room." Marreck offered as he planned the layout in his mind. "That angle gets more sun during the day and it'd be easier to grow plants there." He reasoned as he continued to sip his tea. "What do you think, Jessi?"

"That could work if you made that window that's there into a doorway -- it would be the perfect place for it," Jessi agreed.

"Really?" Emelaide asked curiously, "It wouldn't look awkward? Hm, I don't think I'm picturing the layout of the cottage right... You'll have to draw it up for me," Emelaide said with a nod as she looked up at Marreck. "After all, it's hard to judge when you've only see the front and inside," Emelaide added with a laugh as she sipped her tea.