Mouse and Henry returned to an empty apartment. It turned out that Leo had an outing planned for the next day that Mouse's mother didn't think he'd want to miss, which involved the pony Blaze and a few of his cousins, so Mouse and Henry agreed that he should just come back to New York City two days early. There was no need to deprive the child of his fun, just because his parents missed him.

"Hey, do you realize that, depending on when conception actually occurs for us, I could actually be pregnant right about now?" Mouse asked her husband as they walked home from the market in the evening of their second day home. "We've been getting busy for about two weeks with no protection, so implantation could be happening right now." She stopped and stared at Henry, looking absolutely adorable in her sundress. "Oh my god, can you imagine? Henry, can you?" She prodded him, eyes wide.

He switched all of the grocery bags to one hand so he could place the other, fingers spread, on her abdomen. He smiled and rubbed noses with her. "That would be a really marvelous thing, Mouse," he murmured. He blinked, his face so close she could almost feel his long eyelashes brushing against her face. "Why don't we get home as fast as we can and see if we can hurry things along? Encourage conception?" He kissed her softly, bags hanging from two fingers.

"Okay," she replied breathlessly. "And maybe we can even try some of those funky positions that are supposed to help?"

"Honey, you know that's complete and total bullshit," Henry responded, bopping her nose with his fingertip, making her blink her beautiful eyes in the warm, New York evening. "I might as well tie you to the bed and pour oil on you or whatever."

Mouse shrugged her shoulders, a gesture which had only become more sexy to Henry with the addition of her new, Tahitian tan. "Fine by me," she said with a sultry smile as she turned away and began walking up Greenwich Street, knowing her husband was watching her go.

Henry just stared at her for a few beats before giving himself a brisk shake, like a wet dog, and following quickly after her.

Mouse turned around and laughed at him, shaking her head. Her laughter died in her throat when Henry tripped and nearly fell.

"Be careful," she chided, stopping and waiting until he caught up with her. "You're important to me, I don't want you getting hurt, okay?"

"You need to stop trying to seduce me on the street, then," Henry retorted, nudging her shoulder with his own. "Save that stuff for when we're safely indoors, please."

Mouse snorted at his words. Even though she knew he found her attractive, the idea that she could seduce anyone still sounded absolutely ridiculous to her.

So they made it home, got their groceries put away, and took themselves off to bed, where they had a lot of fun, though no one actually tied anyone up, or poured anything on anyone.

"You can if you want," Mouse assured Henry. "And I assume I can if I want as well?" She looked up at him interrogatively.

"What? Oh, yeah," Henry answered, laughing. "I'm not against it or anything, but I feel weird combining those kinds of activities with baby-making," he admitted. "Call me old-fashioned if you want," he finished sheepishly.

"I'll call you really really cute and sweet," Mouse responded, reaching up to kiss him.

"Cute? Couldn't I at least be handsome? And manly?" Henry requested.

Mouse looked up at him, lips parted. Henry had a few days' dark stubble on his face, accentuating the line of his jaw, and his chest and shoulders had a deep red flush from his sexual excitement, visible even under his tan. He was breathing deeply from his exertion, and he had tiny drops of perspiration dotting his upper lip and temples.

Mouse parted her legs and rolled her hips, so he could feel her slick core against him. "Okay, my handsome, manly husband, fuck me now," she murmured, closing her eyes.

And suddenly baby-making was the last thing on Henry's mind; all he could think about was how hard and how far inside his wife he could thrust himself, and how many times he could do it. His brain stopped functioning altogether as he drove into her over and over, trying to brush the tip of himself against her each time.

He could feel her tightening against him each time, her grip on him with her arms and legs getting tighter and tighter, and he knew that she was close, too. Finally, when he felt like he couldn't breathe if her grasp on him got any tighter, she just clung onto him, rising up off the bed while moaning as if she were in pain, except he knew she wasn't. Hearing her noises in his ear like that sent him shooting off like a rocket, and he tried really hard not to just fall on top of her, worried that he'd be too heavy.

They lay there for a few minutes, cooling off, catching their breath.

"Henry?" Mouse's voice was quiet.

"Yeah?" He tucked some of her wispy hair behind her ear.

"Is that--is that what it's like? With other people?"

He just looked at her, not sure what kind of answer she was looking for. He knew she wasn't superficial or vain enough to want to hear that she was the best or anything like that; what did she want to know, then?

"I mean, when people pay other people for sex, or if it's a one night thing with a stranger, is that what it's like?" She scooted closer and repositioned her head on the pillow so she could see his face. "I'm just trying to understand what motivates people to do those things. I can totally understand why people would pay for it, or lie for it or whatever, if it felt like that, you know?"

Suddenly she looked very young to Henry.

"Oh, Mouse." He pulled her close, so their bodies were touching. "Oh, honey." He tucked her head into the hollow between his neck and shoulder, and took a deep breath.

"No," he said finally. "I wish I could say yes, actually. Everything would just make so much sense, then, wouldn't it?

"But no. What we just did was the most amazing thing, and so, so wonderful, because of how we feel." He leaned back so he could look at her. "It sounds so trite and stupid, but it's the truth. Even when we're just super horny and it's just animal lust, it's still so incredible because of what we feel.

"Don't get me wrong," he continued, rubbing his stubbly chin on her head. "You can still rub the right spots for X amount of time and feel the right things, for sure. But not like that. The physical part of sex is the easiest part of all, I think. All you need is to be reasonably healthy, right? But if health and rubbing is all that's going to be involved, well, we can leave it to the animals, don't you think?"

Mouse nodded. "I don't think I'll ever want it enough to go out and look for it on its own," she said quietly. "Sex, I mean. Not that I think there's anything wrong with that," she elaborated. "I know lots of people who love sex, and they should have as much as they want.

"But not me," she said firmly. She even gave a little head shake, though she probably wasn't aware that she did it.

"Well, that's good for me, I suppose," Henry declared with a chuckle. "Unless you're looking for it from me, I mean.

"And I'm going to tell you, though I know you'd never ask," he continued in a gentle voice. "Sex with my first wife was lovely, a very fulfilling experience, though I don't think it was as satisfying on a purely physical level as what I have with you."

"Henry, you don't have to say that, you don't have to tell me that," Mouse objected.

"I know, I know, but I want to tell you," Henry insisted. "And sex with Madeleine, well, it was never very good, even when it was, if I'm being honest," he admitted.

"And I'm just bitchy enough to admit that makes me a little bit happy," Mouse said with a grin that Henry found completely bewitching. "Now, I hear that cheesecake we bought calling my name, so what do you say we go out there and demolish it, husband?"

"Sounds like a plan, wife," he replied.

So they did, and it was delicious, and they even saved a little bit for Leo, who came home the next day with Happy, exhausted and ecstatic, and full of happy stories of going fishing, and frogging, and riding the pony Blaze.

They were waiting for him down in the lobby, and he ran to them, his dog on his heels, as Mr. Bobby held the door for him.

"Mommy! Daddy!" he yelled, running toward them, legs churning. Happy barked as they both tore through the lobby. Leo leapt up into his parents' arms, laughing as he hugged them both. "Did you guys miss me? As much as I missed you?" He kissed them both, even giving Henry the rare kiss on the mouth. "Tahini is really far away from Virginia, you guys, I missed you so so much!" he declared.

Mouse laughed at his mispronunciation of Tahiti. "We missed you so much we came home early, big guy, just to see you!" she assured him. She released him, letting Henry carry him to the elevator as she waited for her sister to follow with his little suitcase.

"Thanks, Mary Lizard," she said, kissing her sister as she entered the lobby. They followed Henry and Leo and Happy, arm in arm. "Can you stay?" Mouse continued.

"Just until tomorrow," her sister answered. "I still have some stuff to finish before school starts," she explained.

So they went upstairs and had a nice visit, enjoying watching Leo's reunion with Merry and Chrissy, and looking at pictures of his time in Alexandria, and sharing their pictures of "Tahini."

"Wow, look at how blue the water is," Leo said. "Maybe next time you go on your honeymoon, I can go with you."

"People only go on one honeymoon," Henry explained. "After that, it's just called a vacation, son, and you can definitely come with us, okay?"

Leo nodded happily, his mouth full of cheesecake. He even gave a little to his dog, when he thought his parents weren't watching, though of course they knew, and really didn't care at all.

"Okay, big guy, bedtime," Mouse said at eight thirty.

"What?" Leo looked around. "But it's not even nighttime yet." He looked at his father.

"School starts next week, Leo," Henry reminded him. "We have to get back to regular hours, okay? Summertime schedule is officially over."

"We still have back to school shopping to do, and you still need a hair cut," Mouse put in. "We have things we have to get done in the next three days, remember?"

Leo looked at Mary Lizard as his last resort.

"No no, don't look at me, kiddo, I have no authority," she declared, shaking her head for emphasis. "I'm the fun aunty, and that's it.

"I can put you to bed, though, and read to you?" She looked at her sister hopefully.

"Knock yourself out," Mouse said with a laugh.

"Yay!" Leo cheered.

And after Leo was in bed, Mary excused herself as well, saying that she had to leave pretty early. "Good night, you guys," she added, blowing them a kiss.

"Good night, Mary Lizard," Henry called. "Thank you so much, for everything, truly."

"It was such a pleasure, Henry," Mary replied. "We love Leo, and we love you. Welcome to the family."

"Yeah," Mouse added, snuggling into his side on the couch when they were alone. "We love Leo, and we love you. Welcome to the family. And thanks for welcoming me into yours."

"Our pleasure, Miss Mouse, our pleasure. Let's haul our tired selves to bed, what do you say?"