By morning light, Gordon wakes. He swings his legs out of the bed and stands up. He walks over to the fire place and adds some more logs.
"Come back to bed." Brianna says.
He turns round to her and gives her a small smile.
"Im coming lass." He says.
He walks back over to the bed and climbs back in.
"Ill be going back to work soon." He says.
She puts an arm over his waist and rests her head on his chest.
"Not too soon I hope." She says.
"Its the only way I'll be fit again. Muscular." He says.
There is silence for a couple of moments.
"Whilst you were gone, it was our one year wedding anniversary." She says.
"I know." He says.
"Did you remember?" She says.
"Not on the day. But once I knew that it was past January, how could I forget that we were wed." He says.
"It was one of the hardest days without you." She says.
He puts his hand on her back and rubs it slowly.
"I thought too much of this baby not meeting you." She says.
He takes his hand and places it over her stomach.
She looks at him and kisses him softly.
"I want to call him Gordon." She says.
"You think it's a boy?" He asks.
"Well, I'm carrying low." She says.
"Wee Donnie." He says.
"Donnie?" She says.
"Aye. That's what I was called when I was a bairn." He says.
"I didn't know that. When did you become Gordon?" She says.
"Maybe 15. When I was a man I suppose and not a wee boy. You have to become bigger, stronger and Donnie is a wee lad. Not a man." He says.
She slowly reaches for his face with her hand and pecks him gently.
"I thought that he would be all I had left of you. And I was so grateful to even have that." She says.
"You have my soul as well. That has always belonged to you and no other." He says.
"After a couple of weeks, I starting thinking that we'd never get you home. I didn't give up, I just didn't want to think about you not coming home or too much about you coming home in case you never did." She says.
"I wanted so much to be able to hold you close to me. For weeks it was all I thought about. I never thought of rescue, nor death. My mind was blank and I did not have the energy to muster any thought at all." He says.
Gordon looks quickly to Brianna's belly as the baby kicks.
He puts his hand to her belly and holds it softly.
"He never kicked really. Not until he started hearing you. He knows his father." She says.
"My wee lad." He says back to her.
He leans down gently and kisses her stomach.
"I worry that what happened before, with wee Archie will happen again." Gordon says.
Brianna looks to her stomach. "It worries me too, although Mama assured me that it's not a pattern of sorts, that it's just bad luck sometimes. That the likelihood of it happening again isn't increased by having it happen once."
Gordon rubs his hand over her belly and looks to her.
"I'll do everything I can, to protect both of you." He says.
"I know." Brianna replies.
He lies next to her belly for a while.
She rubs her hand onto his neck and he looks to her.
"I love you." She says.
He moves up the bed and puts a hand to her cheek. "I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone."
He puts his lips slowly to hers. They kiss for a while before he feels her hand run over his crotch.
"I want you". She says.
She climbs on top of him and slides him into her. She slowly moves her hips over his until he starts to moan.
She climbs off of him and then lies next to him. He puts himself inside of her so that he's spooning her back.
She puts an arm around his neck and pulls his mouth towards hers.
He puts a hand onto her chest and the other one of her belly.
After a couple of minutes he finishes inside of her.
He lies on his back and she cuddles into his chest.
"I don't think we'll ever be able to make up for lost time." She says.
"Keeping a vixen like you sexually satisfied is hard work." He says.
"When you were captured, did you ever touch yourself?" She asks.
"No, I couldna bare it. Did you?" He asks.
"I couldn't either. I tried once and thought of you but it just made it sad and I wasn't able to." She says.
They lie for a while in each others arms.
Eventually he stands up and walks to the dresser. He pulls out some clothes and puts them on.
"Where are you going?" She asks.
"I'm going to see Auntie Claire, I've got a bit of pain in my back." He says.
"Nothing too bad though right?" She says.
"No. I just don't know if it's concern or not." He says.
He gives her a kiss on the cheek and walks to Jamie and Claire's cabin.
He walks in the door.
"Auntie. It's Gordon." He shouts.
"I'm in the surgery." She says.
Gordon walks through.
"Is everything alright?" She says.
"Auntie, I've had some pain in my lower back." He says as he rubs it with his hand.
"Is it sharp? Dull?" She asks.
"More sharp than dull. It works it's way down my legs from time to time." He says.
"Sciatica." She says.
"What?" He replies.
"Your back. It will be pinching the sciatic nerve which runs down the backs of your legs." She says.
"Aye that's right." He says.
"I'll need to do a quick exam before filling anything else out." She says.
He hops onto her bed.
"Just pop your trousers off." She says.
He does and lies flat on the bed.
She feels his back.
"I think you have some bulging discs in your back." She says.
"Can you fix them?" He asks.
"I can give you exercises to do, they should help." She says.
"Tell me, when was your last erection?" She says as she feels his lower back more concerned.
"Christ, Auntie." He says.
She looks at him forcefully.
"This morning." He says.
"Do you ever get any numbness around that area?" She says.
"No, never." He replies.
"If you get any. It's not uncommon with bulging discs." She says.
She finishes the exam and he puts his trousers back on.
"Is everything alright with you and Bree?" Claire asks.
"It's been hard." He says.
"In what way?" She says.
"It's been hard for us to connect. When I was first back, I couldn't bare for her to touch me. And I didn't feel close to her." He says.
"Is it better now?" She asks.
"It's better. It's not back the same as it was. But it's better. I'm just worried about her and the bairn." He says.
"You're worried that what happened the last time will happen again?" She says.
Gordon nods. "I'm terrified."
"It's incredibly unlikely." Claire says.
"I just don't know if I could take more hurt." He says.
"I worry that I won't be able to be the father I want to be." He adds.
"Gordon. Why?" She says.
"I'm not the man I was. I'm not strong anymore. I've wasted away to nothing. What example would I set?" He says.
"Gordon, you'll be the most amazing father. Your physicality has nothing to do with how you'll be as a parent." She says.
Gordon doesn't reply.
"I never knew my father. And I never really had one. Uncle Jamie is the only person who really was there." He says.
"I know." Claire says.
"I just don't want to let Brianna down." He says.
"You won't." She replies.
"Thank you for letting me marry her." He says.
"You are the only person in the world, that we would even consider to be good enough for our daughter. And we cannot tell you how glad we are that you love each other and have a love that you tell the bees about." She says.
"Thank you Auntie." He says.
He stands up and leaves and heads back to the cabin.
He walks in the door and sees Brianna in her shift over a pot.
He walks up behind her and wraps her arms around her. He kisses her neck.
She turns around and kisses his face.
"I want you again." He says.
"So quickly?" She asks.
"Aye." He says. "Only if you want me." He adds.
She nods.
He places his hands down her legs and pulls her off her feet. He walks to the bedroom and places her down on the bed.
"Do you know what your mother asked me?" He says.
"What?" Brianna replies.
"When my last erection was?" Gordon says.
"And what did you tell her?" Brianna says.
"I had to tell her the truth." He says.
"Ask me when my last erection was." He adds.
"When?" She says.
He takes her hand and places it to his trousers.
She feels his erection through his trousers and rubs it.
She slips his trousers off and he pulls off his top.
He slides himself inside of her and begins motioning his hips back and forward.
She moans into his mouth before gripping onto him really tightly. Gordon finishes soon afterwards and he collapses into a heap next to her.
"Christ." He says.
"What?" She asks.
"I love you." He says.
He kisses her softly before placing an arm over her.
He dozes off for a while and she plays with his face.
Weeks pass the same way. And Brianna and Gordon revert back into a much simpler and familiar routine. Brianna now sits at 30 weeks.