A/N: This chapter (and most likely all chapters from here on out) will be written in a novel style rather than a play style. Because, well, I'm getting tired of it with all my other books being written that way. But anyway, I'll most likely go back and edit all those chapters in the future to make them this style instead. Hope you enjoy the change!

~First-Person Narration: Jasmine~

I yawned, stretching carefully inside the hammock, trying not to shift my weight too abruptly as I woke up. The last thing I needed was to fall out of the delicate structure and land with a jolt to my tailbone. I nearly winced just envisioning it for a brief moment. On a normal day, that would probably be exactly what would happen. And I would laugh at myself for being such an uncoordinated idiot. But I had to use more care in my actions right now. I didn’t even want to think about risking the twins, even slightly. They were far too precious.

I shifted to glance over at Optimus and yelped. He was already awake. Watching me. Why the Pit hadn’t I felt anything through the bond? I pushed away just slightly, and the hammock rocked, causing my spark to nearly stop for a moment. Optimus seemed, well, amused. The nerve of the mech! Startling me so early in the morning. He knew I wasn’t any kind of ‘morning person’. And of course he just had to-.

He just . . . had to kiss me . . . His lips felt nice against mine . . . A hand cradled the back of my head, the other drifting down to my abdomen, where the slight chill of his skin felt welcome, though a tad unusual, compared to the warmth that was growing inside. The twins were coming along quite well, and with the accelerated growth, it was like everything was coming and going faster and faster. It felt like I was standing on the edge of a highway. Cars whizzed past so quickly I couldn’t make out the details.

I really hoped that would slow down once they were born. I was already exhausted and they hadn’t even been born yet.

Optimus pulled away slowly from the kiss, smiling as he left one more quick peck on my lips, sliding a hand over my hair. “Well, Maiden, how do you feel?”

Despite the alarming wake up, I grinned at him, and pushed against his chest slightly, the hammock giving a slight rock. “I feel like I’m bonded to a weirdo,” I retorted, and he smiled. My words might have been interpreted as bitter if I weren’t grinning at him, with nothing but joy coursing through the bond.

He grinned, pulling me close again, burying his face into my neck, breathing deeply. A small tingle ran up my spine as his hand slipped against the small of my back. I laughed as his grip tightened to the point where he literally obliterated any space that was between us.

“What the slag do you think you’re doing, Optimus? You’re crushing me!”

He chuckled softly in response, but his words felt a little more solemn. “If I had crushed you, it would have been the first day we met. And you certainly wouldn’t be here now . . . It’s a good thing I was so careful with you . . .”

I blinked slowly. I couldn’t see his face, but slipped a hand to the back of his neck, holding him against me. He felt right pressed close. A small smile crept across my lips despite the air of seriousness that had fallen. “You were so, so careful . . . Even when I jumped off a railing . . . You saved my life . . .”

A brief laugh escaped him, but he kept his face against my neck. “Why ever did you do that, Maiden? You nearly caused my spark to stop with worry.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, imagining the ever-composed Optimus Prime sick with worry, much less having his spark stop because he was . . . well, scared. “You certainly seemed calm enough at the time,” I replied, recalling the way it didn’t even to faze him. The only indication he gave that he’d even noticed it happening was the way he’d kept me from splattering on the floor. That would’ve been messy.

He shook his head against my skin. “No, Maiden. I . . . Would’ve been responsible if anything had happened to you. And knowing what I know now . . . I would have never forgiven myself, Maiden. Even then I wouldn’t have forgiven myself for losing a human life. Much less one so full of vigor, with such potential . . . Why did you do it, Maiden? It doesn’t connect for me.”

I smiled sheepishly. “I um, well . . . I told you then . . . It’s because I trusted you. Because I still trust you. Because I knew you wouldn’t let me fall. Because you wouldn’t let anything happen to me. And then I said that you’d promised to protect me . . . But you told me you hadn’t actually promised anything . . . And then you left . . . And then I got upset and left, and I got kidnapped by ‘Cons, and they blackmailed you with my life to come for me, and then you came and we had our little adventure, and I finally made the transition from human to Cybertronian. And then a whole bunch of other stuff happened and here we are. All because I jumped off a railing. Funny how that works, huh?”

I could feel his lips spread into a slight smile against my shoulder. “Funny how that works, Maiden . . .”

I let out a small sigh, kissing his temple. “What’s on your mind, Optimus? What’s wrong? You should be happy. We’re going to have our family. We’re going to be happy. And no one can take that away from us because we’ll behead them if they do. What’s your deal?”

He nuzzled himself against me for a moment before tilting his head to look up at me. “Because I could have lost you, Maiden . . . Not just once but so many times . . . I’d truly thought I had . . . A few times . . . And it terrified me . . .” The gleam in his eyes was beginning to become evident; he was actually upset about this, upset enough that his eyes were watering. It was a question in itself whether he would shed the tears, but I wasn’t really sure what to think.

“Even more so knowing what I know now . . . If I had to go back . . . I would never have put you in harm’s way. I would never have let you . . .”

I frowned, blinking, processing his words bit by bit.

“You never would’ve let me make the change . . .” His implication was confirmed when he gave the slightest nod. It was . . . Insane to think of my life as just a human now. To think about what would have happened if I had stayed the way I was.

I quickly shook my head in return. “No. No. No, no, no. No, Optimus. Not at all. Unacceptable. I don’t care what you say or think, I don’t care how many times I scared you because you thought you’d lost me. I don’t care how terrible you make it out to be. Because I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself. And you know what else?”

I took his chin in my hand, forcing him to look at me. Right now, I didn’t care if he was a Prime. I didn’t care if he was the King of England. I was his wife and his bond mate and I’d be damned if he wasn’t going to listen to me.

“Every up and down, every twist and turn, I wouldn’t trade it for the world because it means I get to spend the rest of my damn life with you. Because it means we are going to be a family and I am never going to give that up. And I swear to Primus if you find some way to time travel and try to change that, I will hunt you down and hog tie you until you get it through your thick Prime skull that while we have had one crazy adventure, we’re in it together and it’s still going strong. And I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks, I love it. Every second of it. And if you ever think otherwise I’m going to knock you on the skull until it sinks in. So don’t you ever doubt me. And don’t you ever doubt that every scare was worth THIS. Because if you do, I’m going to hunt down the S.o.B. who brainwashed you and snap their neck.”

He stared at me for a moment, breathing slowly, and then, well, his lips found mine again, but he was smiling now, broadly. The space between our bodies was still minimal, less actually, and it felt a little squished, but it was hard to mind when it was Optimus, and he just felt . . . right . . . Warm . . . Sweet . . .

I couldn’t help but snicker, even as we kissed, and he felt it through both our bodies and the bond. His smile grew as he gave less than an inch between our lips so we could speak. “Yes, Maiden? Do you find something amusing about my advances?”

I couldn’t help myself. I began snickering even more, shaking my head. “Besides the fact that you referred to them as ‘advances’ like such a dorky, wonderful little gentleman, and the fact that I’m nearly halfway through the pregnancy . . . Morning breath . . .”

He blinked, and I could’ve sworn a slight flush crept across his cheeks. “Is it really that bad?”

I laughed, kissing his cheek, murmuring against his skin, near his ear. “I’m giving you a reason for us to go inside the treehouse . . . I’d love to see what you’ve put together for our little getaway spot . . .”

His relief was a bit more obvious than he probably would’ve liked. He immediately set to restraining himself again, putting himself back in partial-Prime mode. He never seemed to be exactly the mech I met years ago. He was . . . different now. And frankly, I wondered if that was because of me, either because of the bond, or a bit more indirectly. It was likely the bond that was throwing him off a bit.

He gave a small nod and a smile. “Only if you come with me. I want you to be the first one inside . . . Besides the workers, of course . . .”

I grinned at him. “Well I’m not waiting out here.” I moved to slide out of the hammock, attempting to get out carefully. And I nearly had it. One foot out.

And the other got stuck. I nearly fell face-first into the floorboards. Nearly. Thankfully, I have a very deft Prime as a husband and bondmate, who is more than capable of helping me from making a complete fool of myself. Sometimes. Sometimes not even he can fix that.

But today, the sweet mech, at some point or another, had already gotten out of the hammock, and before I could wince, had an arm positioned carefully between my breasts and the bump growing on my abdomen, the other just under the progressing lump.

I let out a quick breath. “I still say it’s worth it. Every time.”

He smiled, pulling me upright, looking me straight in the eyes though he was a minimum of six, maximum of nine, inches taller than me, maybe a bit less. I wasn’t really sure on the measurements. I’m not the greatest at estimating height. “I believe you, Maiden . . .”

He kissed me, a sweet, slow kiss that didn’t push any boundaries. Even if we’d already broken each one a while ago.

~~~

The treehouse, in a word, was marvelous. The bathroom was equipped with a standalone shower, a large tub and even a hot tub. The tiles were a light tan color, a third of the walls a pale blue, the rest a sunshine shade of yellow, bringing the room alight, the combination making it look a bit like a beach. Other than that, it was fairly basic, though of course on the nicer end of things for the toilet, sink, cabinets and whatnot.

The bedroom, well that was wonderful in it’s own way. The walls were a sky blue trimmed with a seafoam green. The same colors we’d used for the wedding the first time around. It was gorgeous with bits of white and yellow used to offset it. The bed was cherrywood with obvious accents of ruby red, the bedspread a rich purple with a white trim. The room was well-lit with plenty of windows and a skylight, to the point that it almost glowed. Which was a major plus considering the rest of the bedroom furniture was cherrywood as well. It looked wonderful together.

The kitchen and living room were beautiful. The oak cupboards and every other wooden structure was sturdy and had that reddish hue to it. The furniture was leather and smooth, a chocolate brown shade. It was wonderfully put together, warm, and inviting. The countertops were marvelous with the white, veins of light green running through them. The living room was carpeted, the dining area and kitchen tiled white.

In case we ever wanted to bring the children here, a child-friendly room, two, actually, existed. One held two beds and the other just one. The current beds were small, one sized for a child Sunny’s age, the other two for those aged about two or so. Otherwise, two cribs were inside one of the rooms. For until they were capable of being in a bed.

The rooms were, as expected, incredibly child friendly. They were colorful and animal themed, obviously targeted towards children. It was safe with child-proof locks on anything that wasn’t entirely safe.

I couldn’t help but grin at the way Optimus was apparently just a tad bit overprotective. And maybe paranoid. But he was a good father. A wonderful father. And he was going to cherish our children like no other. It was a beautiful thing to think about.

Of course, one of my favorite . . . Well, quite possibly it was my favorite room, was the miniature library. It was a fairly narrow room, no more than ten feet wide and sixteen feet long, or so I guessed, with a floor-to-ceiling window that took up ninety percent of the outside wall. On one side of the room was a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf that was lined with page upon bound page of wonderful, beautiful books. The other side was sitting area with a coffee table and a couple end tables with lamps.

I could spend days upon days in here. I couldn’t resist temptation before heading over to the shelves, looking at the seemingly endless titles in front of me. It was nothing compared to the library I had inside, I knew that much, but it had books I hadn’t read. Not to mention I hadn’t set foot inside the library in there in ages. I hadn’t had the time between the amnesia and work and trying to get my damn life together.

But this? Right now, with the pregnancy keeping me off my feet a good portion of the time, with the way I had, well, plenty of time to do practically nothing, I had a feeling this was going to become a new favorite spot fairly quickly.

I took a deep breath, smiling as I took in the unknown titles, some grabbing my attention immediately, others easily dismissed as I moved onto skimming the title etched onto another’s spine. “I love you, Optimus. You are, quite frankly, wonderful. Like, the best person on the face of the fragging planet. Who else would know to do all this for me?”

He chuckled gently, coming up behind me, wrapping his arms around my abdomen slowly. “Anyone who cares enough to know you and love you like I do.”

“ . . . So only you. Could’ve just said that, Dork.”

He smiled. “Fine. Only me. Better?”

I couldn’t help laughing softly as my fingers slipped over the book spines, searching for something that seemed to stick out. No such luck at the moment. “Much better, Optimus. My lovely mech.”

He smiled, brushing his lips against my shoulder. “My beautiful femme.”

I nearly squealed when I found a book I hadn’t read in years. And hadn’t finished. Well, the book I’d finished. The series? Not so much. I’d been waiting for the second book to come out when I’d made the transition from human to Cybertronian. My former reading addiction had kind of . . . fallen off the grid as much as my old body.

“Ohmygosh! Optimus where did you find this? How did you find this? You insane, wonderful, beautiful man!” I’d yanked the book off the shelf and turned around, kissing him quickly before turning and grabbing the second and third books. “Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful man!”

His smile grew, keeping his arms tight around my waist, what remained of it, anyway. “I was hoping you’d enjoy that . . . Check the inside of the cover on the third book, Maiden . . .”

I blinked, pulling away from him to set the other two books down, flipping open the hardcover book. I couldn’t believe him. “You got me an autographed copy? You crazy son of a fragger! How did you manage that?”

Inside the book against the red, were the words, “Dear Jasmine, keep reading. And teach your children the love of the written word as well. The world needs more dreamers. Call me sometime if you’d like to chat!”, scrawled in a cursive, almost sloppy but in an artsy way, followed by seven digits.

“I remembered . . .” He told me, kissing my cheek.

“But I never-!”

He pointed to his chest, his spark chamber, and the words were plain as day, even without the bond. ‘I don’t need my ears to listen to your spark. You said it yourself. It’s all worth it.’