#ashbday2018

Loki pants in the doorway, frantically looking around. Of course it was him, who else would it have possibly been? Ashley rolls her eyes at herself.

“You’re searching for something.” She yells from the kitchen, “Could it oh so possibly be me?” A small smirk forms on her face as Loki whips around to see her.

“Oh my-Babe!” Loki shouts in between breaths, “I’m so glad you’re alive!”

Ashley’s face twists in confusion, “Uhm, Loki, of course I’m alive.”

He shuts the door and starts walking to the kitchen, “Well, I thought that you died,” he pauses next to her and looks her straight in the eye, “because you look like an angel.” His smile beams with confidence as he waits for a reaction.

She just sighs, walks back over to her plate, and takes another bite of cake. After a few seconds of thought, Ashley replies, “.....Loki why?”

“Because you’re the birthday girl.” Loki waltzes over and places a kiss on her cheek before leaning against the counter next to her.

“That literally has nothing to do with what you just said.” She points out, tilting her head slightly.

He shrugs, “Maybe not, but I believe your birthday should be a Cradle-wide holiday since you’re so beautiful.” Loki snags a bite of the cake Harr had left, while wiggling his eyebrows at Ashley.

“....Where are these coming from?” she narrows her eyes, “Who’s been teaching you pick up lines?”

“Uh! I’m offended you don't believe that I could think of these on my own!” She raises an eyebrow at him, “That’s it. You’re under arrest for this crime.” He turns Ashley around and grabs her wrists, “Just remember, anything you say can and will be held against you. So, I suggest you only say my name.” Loki’s deep whisper trails along directly next to her ear.

Ashley bursts out laughing, “Okay, there’s no way you came up with these on your own! That’s not even something you’d hear from Cradle!”

He releases the grip on her wrists, only to swipe the glasses off her face. “Eh, okay, I had help, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t make some if I wanted.” Loki takes a few steps back and peers through her glasses.

“Loki, hey why do you have those?” She quickly turns around to see Loki wandering around the kitchen with her glasses on. He shrugs, but doesn’t respond until a few moments later.

His eyes finally land on her as he stops in the center of the kitchen, “Babe, I must be wearing 3D glasses,” the glasses fall slightly down his nose, as if on cue, “because your body is popping.” His Cheshire smile only grows at the end of his line.

“Loki mother-fucking Genetta,” Ashley puts her hands on her hips, “you give those back right now or I swear to God I’ll climb you like a tree.” She looks him up and down, tempting both of them.

Loki smirks, holding her glasses a little higher like it’s a challenge, “You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

“Maybe I would.” she winks, “But gimme.” She reaches up for the glasses, but Loki only moves them higher.

He uses her struggle to wrap his free arm around her. Before she can react, Loki pulls her in for a sudden kiss. Ashley flinches slightly, but realizes a way she can turn this around. Deepening the kiss, she quickly tugs off his jacket. When she pulls his arm down with the jacket, her hands find the glasses. With one last lean into the kiss, she snatches the glasses and runs off to the opposite corner of the kitchen.

Ashley slides on her glasses, “Thank you.” she gives a little triumphant noise, “Now I’m going back to-” She gets cut off by suddenly being lifted into the air.

“Aw it’s cute you thought it’d be that easy to escape.” Loki whispers into her ear. He sets her down on the counter, “I’m not quite done with picking you up quite yet, birthday girl.”

~~~~~~~

“A-Ashley!” Immediately, Luka spun around, hiding whatever was behind his back from view. “Umm, what are you doing up?”

“I missed you.” She grinned, more than a little suggestion in her look. “I was hoping we could have a little morning time together…”

She loved the blush on Luka’s face at her words, finding him so ridiculously adorable. “J-Just a minute. Please. Go back to your room. Go back to bed. I’ll be there soon.” His panicked sentences came out choppy as he hoped she would listen.

“Fine, fine,” Ashley said, wholly amused. “I’ll leave.”

She went back the way she came, stripping off the dress to hop back into bed. It wasn’t so bad to have a day to just relax, especially when the promise of Luka’s surprise was swirling around in her mind. Perhaps she could seduce him after. That would be a fun present, to watch Luka squirming in pleasure beneath her fingers.

True to his word, less than fifteen minutes later, Luka knocked on the door. “Come in!” Ashley called.

The door opened, and Luka came in carrying a box. He stopped short when he saw her in the skimpy nightgown she’d slipped into. “A-Ashley. You look… beautiful.” He stepped inside, placing the box on the table. She joined him standing over the table, trying to peek at what he’d brought. He slowly pulled out a round cake, decorated with a decadent floral pattern. It must have taken him hours, with the delicate lace that was laid over it with icing. A single candle sat in the middle, waiting to be lit.

“Oh, damn Luka. That’s amazing!” The smile on Ashley’s face was the brightest he’d ever seen it.

“Happy birthday, Ash.” The flame flickered to life. “Make a wish.”

“Okay!” Ashley closed her eyes and spoke her heart’s true desire. Then she turned to plant a kiss on Luka’s cheek. “Thank you, Luka! I love it so much.” She was about to draw him in for another kiss, this one much deeper, but he hurriedly pulled away.

“Wait, wait… Let’s eat the cake first.” He picked up the knife he’d brought with him.

“What’s the rush? I want to eat something else first…” She giggled, tracing his jaw with a finger.

“Ahem…” Luka coughed as he reddened, turning back to the cake to try and hide his embarrassment. Really, he was hoping she wouldn’t notice how nervous he was with his slightly trembling hands. “Just indulge me.” So very carefully, he cut her a slice of the cake with the prettiest pale rose.

“I’m not going to say no to cake!” She grinned, prepared to dig in. “Wow, this is incredible!” The soft sweetness filled her mouth, bringing with it not only the taste of dessert, but also the love that Luka had baked inside. She couldn’t stop, taking bite after bite of the deliciousness until her fork smacked against something firm. “Huh?” She set aside her utensil, using her fingers to touch the silver thing that was hidden amongst the sponge. “Luka… What is this…?” She looked up at the love of her life. “Oh!”

He wasn’t there. He had sunken to one knee, staring up at her with an impossibly tender look in his honey eyes. She was holding the ring he’d had custom made months ago, just waiting for the perfect time to give it to her. And now here he was, looking so nervously bashful as he gave her a little smile. “Ashley,” he started, his voice trembling, “I love you.” He took a breath to try to steady himself. “You drive me… crazy in the best way, and I can always be myself around you. I want you to know just how much I appreciate and adore you.” He took the ring from her as she was too stunned to speak (for once). “Please. Will you be with me forever? Will you marry me?”

“Yes, of course!” Ashley burst into happiness as he slid the ring onto her finger, though he missed the first attempt. She threw her arms around him, clutching him so tightly as their lips met in a kiss that was full of heat. Her tongue sought out his, wanting every part of them to be connected in a moment as magical as this.

Ashley stood in front of Cradle's finest bakery and stared through the store front's windows at the displays of the sweet cakes and donuts. She could smell the sweet, sugary smell that came from inside whenever the front door was opened by customers.

Ashley twirled a strand of her blond hair around her finger, as her stomach growled with hunger. She bit her lip and looked at her reflection real quickly to make sure she didn't look like she had just crawled out of bed. She adjusted her green headband, fixed her dark green blouse and adjusted the green ombre skirt around her waist. She then, absentmindedly traced one of the many silver threads that embellished the skirts as flowers.

She stood there deciding whether to go into the bakery to buy herself a slice of sweet cake or to wait for her friend instead. The decision wasn't too difficult to make after all. Her friend was late to their meeting.

Ashley glanced up and down the street quickly and walked towards the door. She placed her hand on the large copper handle and heard footsteps running towards her.

She turned and saw her good friend, Kaia running towards her. Kaia was dressed in a Black Army corset coat, black leggings and black riding boots. Her dark brown hair was pulled up in a high ponytail.  She tripped, crashed face first into the side of the bakery.

Ashley leaned over slightly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."said Kaia, a grin on her face. "Nothing that I'm not used to. Sorry I'm late--again."

"Let me guess…Sirius wouldn't let you go without getting on to you about something?"asked Ashley as Kaia walked over to her.

"Not exactly…He wouldn't let go, but not to give me a good talking to."

Ashley giggled and Kaia slid her arm through hers.

"So, birthday girl, what do you want to do today?"

Ashley looked at her thoughtfully. "Breakfast, shopping, lunch, maybe visit Oliver?"

Kaia nodded thoughtfully. "We can do that. Do you really want to see Oliver before tonight? You know we have that double date thing. And since it's daytime…"

Ashley understood what her friend meant. During the day, Oliver was a thirteen year old boy, due to a curse placed on him, while at night he became his true self.

She made a face at her friend. "Fiiiine. But you suck."

Kaia grinned. "Oh I know I do. Why do you think Sirius is so happy after lunch and during some of his meetings?"

Ashley giggled. "That reminds me of when Oliver had to go to a meeting at Civic Center last month. Guess who went with him even though it was supposed to be a private meeting? This girl. Guess who hid under the table the whole time and gave her man a hard time to speak? This girl. Then afterwards he banged me up in the garden where we first met."

Kaia started giggling as they both headed towards a small, outdoor cafe.  Once there, they sat down gave their regular order to the waitress and started talking again.

"So, what are you wanting to get for your birthday?"asked Kaia before taking a sip of water that the waitress had left.

"Oliver wearing nothing, but a bow."said Ashley with a straight face. Kaia stared back, glass of water still at her lips. A giant grin appeared on Ashley's face as  her friend set her glass of water down. "I'm joking! Geez! Like Oliver would do that..."

"Gahhh…I can't see Leprechaun Boy doing that."muttered Kaia looking thoughtfully.

"Hey! Mine."said Ashley "Besides, he wouldn't wear a bow. He'd hang his hat. And will you stop calling him Leprechaun Boy?"  

"I wasn't thinking of him."muttered Kaia "I'm not attracted to Leprechauns. I was thinking of what to buy you for your birthday."

"If that's the case, I still need to buy you something for your birthday, since I wasn't able to."said Ashley cheerfully. "I'm still pissed off that I came down with that horrible stomach bug going around."

"Uh…what bug?"

"Stomach bug? It hit me pretty hard around your birthday."

"There's no bug going around. Believe me. I work in a bakery where I deal with healthy and sick people. No stomach bugs. No one in the barracks has it either."

Ashley frowned. "Maybe I'm one of the first cases?"

Kaia shrugged as their food was brought to the table. "Maybe. You look thinner than usual."

She picked up her fork and stabbed her french toast as she eyed her friend. "Are you still meeting Oliver at the pub every night?"

Ashley nodded. "Why?"

"Maybe it's the alcohol messing with you?"suggested  Kaia "Or maybe it's the dozen donuts you eat by yourself everyday? Congratulations, you may have gotten diabetes. Quit eating so much sugar, Ash."

"Nah."said Ashley drenching her pancakes in maple syrup. "I'm alll gooood. So, what do you want for your birthday?"

"Ask me later."muttered Kaia "Today is your day. Let's see…we're going to Gertie's Secret."

"That old lady store? For what?"

"Lingerie. We're going to make Oliver cream his pants when he sees you."

"You're taking me…to an old lady's story…for lingerie…so Oliver can jizz his pants?"

Kaia finished her eggs and gave a quick nod. She watched Ashley finished her pancakes and then reach over with her fork and steal two of her french toast.  "Hungry?"

"Famished."

Ashley ate the last of the french toast as Kaia stood up and went to pay the bill.  She leaned back in her seat and drowsily  watched people going up and down the street.  

"I told you to stop eating so much sugar." Kaia appeared next to her. "Looks like you're going to have a sugar crash."

Ashley waved her hand at her. "I'm fine. Let's go. Thanks for breakfast, Kai."

"Don't worry about it."

They walked over to Gertie's Secret and met the elderly owner of the store who was setting out new inventory for the month.

"Oh!"gasped Kaia as she picked up a dark red lingerie set and held it out to Ashley. "Try this on."

Ashley took it from her and saw that it was just a few straps held together with two buckles.  "Are you kidding me?"

"Easy access."

Ashley shook her head and put it back were it came from.

"Here's this one."

Kaia held up a beautiful red teddy that came with crotchless panties. Ashley turned it around and stared.

"It has no tit covers." She looked at her friend. "Why doesn't it cover tits?"

Kaia looked around the store and found a basket. She sifted through them and came back and held up two pasties to Ashley's breasts. "You cover them in shiney pasties. Look. These have tassles so you can shake your boobs at Oliver and hypnotize him."

Ashley started laughing. "Shit, Kai."

"He's a leprechaun. Leprechauns like shiny things."

"He's not a leprechaun!"

Kaia grinned as she held up the pasties to her own breast. "Think Sirius would them?"

"From what you've told me, he'd probably enjoy ripping them off you."muttered Ashley looking through the racks. She found a green bra-panty set that connected to a choker. The panties had green garters.

"I'm going to go try this on."said Ashley and disappeared to the changing room. She undressed and quickly put it on. The bra was extremely small on her. She checked the size and saw that it was the right size.

"Hey Kai? Can you you bring me this in a bigger size?"

Kaia stuck her head in the dressing room to see what Ashley was talking about and her eyes got big.

"Ash, what did you do to your boobs? They're huge."

"Nothing!"

"I bet it's all those donuts."

"Just get me a bigger size!"

"Okay, okay."

Ashley unhooked the bra and put it back on the hanger as Kaia reappeared with the same set in three different sizes.

"They all looked about the same size, so see which one fits better."

Ashley nodded and with Kaia's help found the right size.

A little bit later, they left the store with Ashley holding almost 5000 lin worth of lingerie and flavored lubes.

"I hope Oliver likes all of those."said Kaia "Those were the most sexiest things we could find."

"I think he'll like them."said Ashley "I may not wear them for longer than 5 seconds, but he'll like them."

"Good."

"Where are we going?"

"To get dresses for tonight."said Kaia. "We're meeting the guys at the pub."

Ashley yawned as they reached a store. Once inside, they went to work on looking dresses.

"I found mine."said Kaia holding up a dark blue empire waisted dress with cup sleeves. It had silver embellishments on it.   

"I wonder if I can find something like that, but in a different color."muttered Ashley looking through the dresses. She found a beautiful light mint empire waisted dress with half sleeves. It had a beautiful white lace ribbon around the waist and draped in white lace train.

"Oh!"said Kaia coming over to look at it. "That's perfect! You could wear your hair up and pin it back with a rhinestone hair ornament."

"That sounds gorgeous." Ashley looked excited. "Can you imagine us dancing under the stars with our guys."

"Dancing."repeated Kaia giving her side eye. "Sure. Dancing. We all know that you'll start humping Oliver as soon as you see him."

Ashley laughed. "Gotta keep my man happy, you know."

Kaia giggled as they went to pay for their dresses.

A bit later, they stepped out and ran into Kyle, the 7 of Hearts, the medic for the Red Army.

"Oh, it's you two."he said looking at both girls.

"Hello Kyle!" Ashley greeting him cheerfully as Kaia gave him a nod with her chin. "How are you?"

"Busy! I'm doing check ups on the citizens of Cradle before heading out to do maternity check up."

His eyes flitted towards Ashley and then away.

"What are you girls doing today?"

"Shopping."responded Kaia and he peered at her face. "What?"

'You're still a klutz." He said opening his bag and pulled out some ointment and placed some on the scrape where Kaia had scraped herself when she faceplanted against the wall earlier that morning. "When will you learn to walk like a proper human being?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. When my feet decide to cooperate."

Kyle grinned and looked at Ashley.  "Oh! Since you're here, I need to talk to you about your last appointment with me."  

He ushered the girls into an alley and faced Ashley.

"I got your bloodwork back. Ashley, when was your last menses?"

Ashley's eyes widen. "Why?"

Kyle looked around to make sure no one was listening before whispering. "According to your levels, you're at least 7 weeks pregnant."

Kaia and Ashley stared at Kyle. Both girls didn't say anything.

Kyle waved his hands in front of them. "Are you two okay?"

"T-That's not possible."said Ashley "I can't be pregnant. Oliver and I are extremely careful. We're beyond careful."

Kaia stayed quiet, but held her friend's hand.

"Well, it can happen…even if you are extremely careful."said Kyle in a low voice. "See, when a man and woman fuck each other senseless ---"

"That's enough."said Kaia putting a stop to Kyle's colorful bird and the bees conversation. "We know what happens."

"Do you need me to help get you home?"he asked.

Ashley shook her head. "No. If you do that, then Oliver will get suspicious about what's going on and you know how he gets."

"Foul mouthed little bastard."whispered Kyle and that made Kaia started laughing.  "You could have done so much better than him, Ashley."

"I love him and his grumpy ass."she said "I love when he roasts the shit out of me. Look Kyle, don't tell him anything. Don't hint at anything. I want to surprise him with the news of the pregnancy. Do you think he'll be okay with it?"

Kyle shrugged. "God, I need a beer right now. Look, I don't know. I don't even know if he wants kids. He's always kept quiet about that kind of shit."

Ashley nodded slowly. " Thanks. I'll figure this out."

Kyle nodded. "If you say so. Let me know if you need me there for support. I can knock some sense into Oliver if he throws a fucking fit or something."

"We can all help knock some fucking sense into him."said Kaia with a grin as she placed her elbow on Ashley's shoulder. "You've got a little Leprechaun Baby  to take care of and if Leprechaun Boy doesn't want to help, he'll have to deal with me once he gets past Sirius because you know my hon isn't going to let Oliver get near me."

Ashley gave them a grin. " Fine. We'll see how it goes. He's not going to be fucking happy about this."

"Then tell him to stay out of Blanc's…elixirs."said Kyle making Kaia cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

"Fuck you, Kyle."snapped Ashley "Oliver doesn't need any uppers to get going."

"He's just too horny?"asked Kaia with a straight face and got smacked in the boob. "Ow! That's my fucking tit, Ash.  Hit the other one 'cause  that's my play tit."

"Bitch please."

Kyle looked amused, shook his head and started heading out of the alley. "I'll see you two later. I have to go back to work."

Ashley and Kaia followed him and waved him off.  

"Well…that was interesting."sighed Kaia slipping her arm through Ashley's. "I wasn't expecting that. Were you? Is that what your stomach bug was?"

Ashley shook her head as they started walking down the road. "I guess so. I should have been paying better attention to myself. It's just when Oliver gets his hands on me…I forget everything around us. I become super focused on him. On what his hands do and touch…his mouth on my skin…feeling his breath against my ear…his di--"

"Well, that's enough info."interrupted Kaia before she lost Ashley to her day dreams. "So…how are you going to tell Olly that you're having his weird leprechaun baby?"

"Kaia!"groaned Ashley "Don't call my baby 'Weird Leprechaun Baby'. He'll probably be a Junior. And don't say anything about my Olly's name, Akari!"

"Fine. Fine."

Both girls walked to the main road of the Central Quarter.

"Meet me in my room at seven."said Ashley. "We can walk over to the pub and meet the guys there."

Kaia nodded. "Sounds good. I think it may be another late day for Sirius at work."

"Same with Oliver."

They checked through all the bags they were carrying and handed off their correct bags.

"Don't push yourself."said Kaia adjusting her shopping bags. "If you're too tired, stay home tonight."

Ashley grinned. "Fuuuuck no. It's my birthday. I'm partying."

Kaia shook her head, a grin on her face. "Fine. But I don't want to see you passed out on the table."

"I won't do that!"

Ashley waved to Kaia and headed back to the cottage that she shared with Oliver and Blanc. She adjusted the bags in her hands and skipped home.

She found Blanc working on his garden and greeted him.

"Hello Blanc! Is Oliver still here?"

Blanc looked up and smiled at her. "Hello, dear Ashley. I'm afraid he is not. He worked in his garage for a few hours and then left without a word."

Ashley set the bags down and kneeled down next to Blanc, tucking her skirt under her. "Was he okay?"

"He seemed his usual self."said Blanc looking up at her over his glasses. "Moody, irritated, you know, very Oliver."

Ashley gave him a side grin. "Of course. Do you need help with the garden? I don't mind helping you."

"Oh no." He said cheerfully, "I'm just about done. How was your morning in Central Quarter? I see you went shopping for your birthday."

"It went well. I got to hang out with Kaia and she bought me some things for my birthday. I got this beautiful dress to wear for tonight."

She pulled the dress out from the bag to show him and he smiled.

"It goes with the hat Oliver made you a few months ago."said Blanc "It looks to be the same color."

Ashley looked at the dress surprised before looking back at him. "I'd completely forgotten about that hat. I have to go look for it. Thank you Blanc for the reminder."

She stood up, gathered her belongings and hurried inside the cottage. She hurried up the stairs and went into the room she and Oliver shared. She set the bags in the corner of the room and went searching in the closet. She didn't find anything there, so she looked under the bed. She found a black hat box and dragged it from under there.

She opened it and found a light mint feminine top hat. She carefully pulled it out and fixed the white bow that was attached to a beautiful white veil on the back. It was one of the first gifts Oliver had given her. She walked over to the mirror and put it on. She fixed the bow some more  and worked on unwrinkling the veil.

She set the hat down on the dresser and laid down on the bed to rest for a little bit. She was more exhausted than she thought. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Ashley woke up a couple of hours later and yawned. Her eyes landed on her top hat and an idea formed in her head on how to tell Oliver about the pregnancy. She got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom. She could hear Blanc in the kitchen making tea. She walked down the hall into a different room and closed the door behind her. She looked around and smiled.

Ashley looked around Oliver's sewing room and walked over and started looking through his materials. She found a sage green felt and sat at the big table. She worked quietly and put together a miniature hat together the way Oliver had taught her. It wasn't the best, since she didn't have the same experience as he did, but it looked okay.  She kept working on it until she looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 6 in the afternoon.

She found a dark green ribbon and worked on it for a bit as she tied it around the small hat.  She frowned at it, but cleaned up before heading to take a quick shower.  

She stuffed everything she needed into two bags and headed out to the Black Army headquarters.  She watched as the sky changed colors and sighed softly.  She hadn't seen Oliver all day and she missed his grumpy face.  She hurried and reached the gate where she let the guard know that she was expected.

"Of course, Miss Ashley. Go right ahead."said the young soldier and she gave him smile as she walked past. She went to the barracks and opened the door.

As soon as she did, she was greeted by the Black Army talking loudly as they all prepared dinner and were setting the table.

"Hello?"

Seth stuck his head out of the kitchen and saw her. A smile formed on his face and he pushed his way out of the kitchen and made a beeline towards her.

"Ashley, dear!" He said wrapping his arms around her. "How are you? Oh my! Why is your hair wet? Are trying to catch a cold? No, no, no! This is not good. Sit here. I will go get you a towel to dry your hair off."

He pushed her into a chair at the table and walked off before she could say anything. Fenrir came running past Seth, with Shu Shu, his dog running behind him.

"C'mon Shu! If you pee in here, Sirius will kill us both." He said and came to a stop as he saw Ashley. "Hey there, Ash! Fancy seein' ya here. Are ya goin' to join us for dinner? Oh wait…hold on to that thought. Shu! Hurry your wiggly butt outside. Have some manners in front of a lady."

He leaned down and picked up the door and hurried outside with him as Seth came back.

"Seth," said Ashley as Seth started toweling her hair dry. "I'm supposed to be meeting Kaia in her room at seven."

"Oh that's right!"he said cheerfully. "Well come on! I'll take you to Kaia and Sirius' room."

He helped her up and offered her his arm. Ashley smiled as she took it and picked up the bags she had brought.

Seth reached over and took the bags from her and led her down the hall.

"Is Sirius still working?"asked Ashley as they passed Sirius' office and Seth nodded.

"We got so many new recruits so he has to do all the paperwork."

"Is he going to be able to go out tonight?"

"I'm not sure. I'll talk to him."

They went up the stairs and reached a door. Seth knocked and the door opened to reveal Kaia standing there as she frenchbraided her hair.

"You're here!" She said cheerfully and pulled Ashley and Seth into the room. "Seth, I know you're probably about to head down to dinner, but can you help us get ready?"

"Of course! Consider me kind of like your big sister." He said cheerfully as he set the bags on the king sized bed.

Ashley looked around the room and saw that it was very organized. Sirius must keep the room organized since Kaia was a bit messy.  She looked over and saw a vanity table covered in make up, next to the bathroom door hung Kaia's dress.

"Go get dressed, Ash."said Kaia "So Seth and I can do your make up and hair."

Ashley nodded and walked into the bathroom with her dress. She carefully changed into the dress and adjusted the bust of the dress and then fixed the train.  She stepped out of the bathroom and found Seth working on Kaia's make up.

Seth looked up when Ashley stepped into the room and grinned. "Oliver is a very lucky man. That dress wouldn't be on you this long if you were with me."

Ashley stuck her tongue out at him. "You're just saying that."

"Am not!"

Kaia giggled. "See? You look great."

Ashley sat on the bed and worked on putting on her  white stockings and her shoes.

"I was thinking we could fishtail braid your hair."said Seth to Ashley as he put the finishing touches on Kaia's make up.

"Well," said Ashley pulling out the hat box out of one of the bags she had brought. " I want to wear this hat."

She pulled out the hat to show them.

"Oh!"squealed Kaia "That is beautiful! Did Oliver make that?"

Ashley nodded proudly. "He did."

"Well now."said Seth turning to face Ashley. "An updo is very much what we need to do for you. Come! Sit here and let me work on your hair."

Kaia gave Ashley a grin as she went to get her dress and disappeared into the bathroom. Ashley went and sat down at the vanity table and Seth carefully combed out her hair before he starting pinning her hair up. He used his teeth to pull the pins open and then slid it into her hair to keep her hair in place.

He then set the hat on her head and carefully unrolled the veil that was attached to the bow.

"There." He said softly. "Yes indeed. Oliver is a lucky man."

The door to the bathroom opened and out came Kaia in her dress.

"I don't think Oliver will appreciate the fact that you've hit on his girlfriend twice."she said going straight to a small jewelry box and started going through it.  "You know how he is. He's going to go full Leprechaun on you and attack you when you least expect it."

Seth grinned. "He'd get upset for no reason even if I sneezed. Well, you two are just about done, so I'm going to go eat dinner real quick."

He gave a bow and left. Ashley stood up and walked over to the bed and pulled out the miniature top hat .

"What's that?"asked Kaia and Ashley gave her a smile.

"It's how I'm telling Oliver that we're having a little Mad Hatter."said Ashley and showed her the hat. "I made it. It's not as good as the ones Oliver makes, but it's getting there."

"It's cute."said Kaia leaning over to look at it. "You can tell it's not an Oliver Knight hat, but it's still  cute. How are you going to tell him?"

"That, I'm not sure yet."

"I'll find a way to get you time alone so you can talk to him."

"Thank you! That means so much!"

"Just don't say something like 'Oliver, check out my tits. Pregnancy made them huge like this. Want to play with them?' "

"Kaia!"

Kaia grinned. "I see that blush. Were you planning on asking him that?"

Ashley felt her face burning hot. "I was not! But now, I don't think I can face him because of that."

"It's not like he's going to go face first into your boobs when he sees you."

"He usually goes face first into my cunt."

"ASHLEY!"

'I'm joking!"said Ashley as Kaia handed her pearl earrings and necklace.  "Seriously! I am.  Oliver is a good best boy."

She put on the pearl earrings as she sat down on the bed and worked on putting the necklace on as Kaia went on looking for more jewelry.

"Hey."

Ashley looked up and saw Kaia kneeling in front of her.

"We're going to celebrate your birthday. You may not be able to get drunk, but I'm going to get you on a sugar crash."said Kaia cheerfully. "You're going to stuff yourself full of food and dance and just hang out with us. Don't worry about anything else."

Ashley nodded. "Of course. Of course."

Kaia stood up as she put on some gold dangling earrings and pulled her friend up. "Let's go then."

She put on her shoes and led Ashley out of the room.

"What about Sirius?"asked Ashley "I asked Seth and he said Sirius was loaded down with work."

"My love came by before you got here."explained Kaia with a small smile. "He and Oliver are meeting us at the pub. He assigned Seth and Luka to take us there…so that means the whole Black Army is going with us."

"What?"

"Oh yeah. You'll see."

They entered the living room where Seth and Luka were dressed in their formal uniforms. But they weren't the only ones. The rest of the Black Army were in their formal uniforms as well.

Ashley and Kaia exchanged a knowing grin and then gave everybody a smile.

"Why you all look so handsome."said Kaia "I assume you are all escorting us?"

"Escorting and some."said Ray who was sitting at the head of the table.

Kaia tilted her head. "Does Sirius know?"

"That Old Man would ruin our plans if we told him."said Ray and several people laughed.

Ashley grinned. "Should we get going then?"

Seth walked up to her and offered her his arm and she took it as Luka walked up to Kaia and did the same to her.  They stepped outside and found a carriages waiting for them.

"Nice."said Ashley impressed. Seth and Luka helped her and Kaia inside. "So Sirius asked you two to escort us."  

Luka nodded, a slight blush on his cheeks. "Yes. He said you should arrive unharmed and untouched."

"That's sweet of my Sirius."said Kaia as the carriage started moving. Ashley looked out the window and saw another carriage following them. She could see many horses and their riders following the carriages.

"So everybody else is coming with us?" She asked and both men nodded.

"Of course," said Seth with a grin. "It's not a party without the Black Army."

Luka smiled shyly, but didn't say anything.

The four of them spent the ride into Central Quarter 6talking about the funny things that happened over the past few months in the Black Army  headquarters. The carriage came to a stop and Luka stood up and opened the door. He stuck his head out  and frowned.

"Seth. Come here."

Seth stood up and went over to where Luka was. He looked out and frowned as well.

"Come on. We have to go see what's going on."said Seth "You two stay here. We'll be back for you. We have to make sure uh, everything's in order."

They got out and closed the door behind them.

"What's going on?"asked Ashley as she and Kaia hiked their dresses up to around their knees and  sat on their knees trying to look out the window.

"I'm not sure."said Kaia squinting. "I see most of the Black Army heading towards the end of the street."

"I see Sirius!"said Ashley as she saw Sirius on the step to the pub talking to a Black Army soldier and then walked off towards the end off the street. He didn't look very happy about something. "He looks pissed about something."

Kaia bit her lip. "Crap. I hope the plan's not ruin."

There was a knock on the door and both girls looked  towards it. They scooted further into the corner of the carriage. Kaia made sure to shield Ashley.

"Does the door lock?"whispered Ashley.

"I don't know." Kaia whispered back as shouts were heard from outside. She stood up and carefully walked over to the door and felt around for a lock.  

Ashley looked outside again, but couldn't see anything.  The door opened and a sliver of light came flooding in.

"What are you two idiots doing in here? You both look like puppies with your tails inbetween your tails."said a voice.

Ashley squinted in the light. All she could see was the outline of a tall person, but she recognized the voice.

"Oliver?" She got off the seat and hurried over to the door where she looked down at the person holding the door open.

He gave her an annoyed look. "No. It's Blanc the Stupid Rabbit. Who else would it be?"

"Oh my guh, Olly!" She jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I missed you, you grumpy ass doofus."

Oliver turned his head and buried his face into her neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Not as much as I missed you, you idiotic yabber nut. Now stop talking and just hug me."

Ashley tighten her hold on him and took a deep breath. She could smell the woodsy fragrance of his cologne and sighed happily. She had missed him so much and had spent all day feeling like there was a part of her missing. Now that he was in her arms, she felt complete again.

"Hey Oliver."

"Go away, you overgrown chipmunk."

"I can't, Leprechaun Boy. You're blocking the doorway."said Kaia as Ashley turned her head to look at her.

"Be nice. Both of you."said Ashley.

"What are you talking about, Ash? We're being nice."muttered Kaia "Anyhow, what's going on? Why is the Black Army looking like they're going off to battle?"

Oliver looked around, he scooted more into the shadows. "The Red Army showed up. All of them."

"What?! Why?"asked Ashley

"I'm not sure. The Chosen Thirteen for the Black Army don't look pleased."said Oliver in a low voice. "I barely made here as the Red Army was showing up."

"Is the plan still in place?"

"I'm not sure. I could probably go check, but the Dumbass King and the Gay Queen would probably screech at me to go away."

"Did you just call Ray…Dumbass King?"asked Ashley, a small grin appearing on her face.

"No. I called Lancelot a Dumbass King and Jonah as the Gay Queen."said Oliver as Kaia backed away to let Ashley and Oliver into the carriage.

Oliver helped Ashley up into the carriage and followed after her. He closed the door behind him and locked it.  He sat down pulled Ashley into his lap and hugged her again. She leaned against him and rested her forehead against his cheek. He ran a hand down her arm and she shivered and curled up more against him.

She placed her hand against his chest and felt his heart beating under it. She felt warm and safe in his arms.

"I wonder how much longer we'll be in here."muttered Kaia and Ashley snapped out of her moment with Oliver to see her staring out the window.  "It looks like the Red Army is heading inside the pub? That's not right…the Red Army wasn't supposed to be here."

"Chipmunk face, get away from the window."said Oliver "You don't know what can happen if you stay there."

"Why? Are we having a threesome right now?"asked Kaia looking annoyed. "Oh Leprechaun Boy…come and make me and Ashley yours."

Oliver gave her a weirded out look. "Fucking hell no."

Kaia stood up and walked over to the door. "I'm going to go see what's going on."

"Are you insane?"asked Ashley "What if they're killing each other?"

"That's why I have to go check."

Kaia put her hand on the door handle and on the lock and there was a loud knock. She let go and took a step back. Oliver crossed his arms, looking annoyed. Ashley leaned against him, watching the door.

There was several loud knocks and Seth's voice was heard.

" Hey. It's me and Luka."he said "We came back for you."

"What color dress am I wearing?"asked Kaia

"Dark blue empire waisted dress."

"It's Seth."she said and unlocked the door. It swung opened to reveal Seth and Luka's shadows.

"Are you two okay?"asked Luka  

"Yes!"said Kaia "Oliver's here with us. What's going on? We saw the Red Army show up."

Seth pouted as he crossed his arms. "Yes, they showed up and took over everything. Sirius is absolutely pissed and looks like he's going to kill Jonah. No offense, Luka."

"None taken."muttered Luka "Sirius is more than welcome to do so."  

He helped Kaia down from the carriage, then helped Ashley and then moved out of the way for Oliver.

The guys led the girls towards the pub and stopped at the door.

"Welcome to your special night, Ashley."said Seth as he and Luka opened the doors to the pub.

Ashley looked at them confused, then turned to look at Kaia and Oliver who were watching her. Kaia had a smile on her face and Oliver, had a small grin.

Oliver offered his arm to her and she took it and led her inside.  Once they stepped inside the pub, they could hear soft orchestral music playing. The whole pub had been decorated in Ashley's favorite colors and for a birthday party. One half of the room was covered in tables that held platters of food and desserts. The other half had tables for sitting down to eat, but also had the outer doors opened that led to the bigger deck outside.  

"What…I thought…" started to say Ashley as the Black and Red Armies walked into the pub from the kitchen.  "I thought this was supposed to be a double date?"

"Well…" said Kaia as Sirius came and wrapped his arms around her. "It started that way. Then the rest of the Black Army heard and they all wanted to pitch in and help celebrate."

"We went a bit over our heads," admitted Sirius "So I talked it over with Oliver and he said okay because he knows how much the Black Army means to you."

Oliver glanced away, a blush on his cheeks as Ashley looked up at him.

"Then the Red Army heard about it and crashed the party."said Seth "We're not sure how they found out."

"We found out from the baker."said Jonah haughtily "We had ordered a large amount of cakes that our chef wasn't able to do and the baker didn't have it ready. I went to see why and I found out all the cakes he had ready were for tonight. So I went back to Headquarters, told everybody and here we are."

"You should have minded you own business."muttered Luka and Jonah saw him.

"Luka! Come over here and give your big brother a hug! Also I need to fix your tie!"said Jonah cheerfully.

"Oh god. Kill me now."whispered Luka under his breath.  

"The Red Army was kind enough to bring the orchestra and some refreshments."said Ray, looking pleased that peace had been extended between both armies. He turned to look at Ashley. "Whenever you are ready to start your birthday celebration."

Ashley nodded. "Go ahead."

Someone from the Black Army gave a loud woop and several people laughed.

She leaned back against Oliver and sighed happily when he placed his hands on her waist.  She looked up, closing her eyes and he kissed her forehead lightly.

"You're not wearing your hat."she said turning to look at him. " You always wear your hat."

He wasn't wearing his usual suit either. This time he was wearing a black tuxedo with a dark green vest, and a dark green ascot.

"I wanted to try something new."he said in a low voice. "You're wearing the hat I gave you…it goes well with the dress."

He lowered his mouth to her ear and said "The top of that dress makes your tits look great. I can't wait to take you home and play with them."

Ashley turned bright red when she heard him. He straighten up and looked indifferent.

"Come, let's feed you. You probably haven't eaten anything all day. Chipmunk face probably didn't feed you anything."he said "But don't eat a lot, I have a surprise for you. We'll sneak out later."

She nodded as he led her to a table and pulled a chair out for her. She sat down and he disappeared into the crowd.

Kaia came up to her from the crowd and sat next to her. "So? How do you like your surprise?"

Ashley gave her a smile. "Extremely surprising. Is this why you took me shopping?"

Kaia nodded. "Yes and no. Yes because Sirius and Oliver needed to get everything in here. And no because I wanted to spend time with you and get you your birthday presents."

A soldier from the Red Army came to their table and set plates in front Ashley and Kaia with French hors d' Oeuvres of escargot, salmon trout tartare with pressed caviar and tomatoes and mini tartes flambees.

Both girls exchanged a quick look as another soldier brought two water glasses and two wine glasses and set them in front of them. He pulled two rolled up utensils out of his coat pocket and set them next to the plates. He bowed and left quickly.

"What the fuck is going on?"asked Ashley looking at the plates.

"Looks like the Red Army took over the party."murmured Kaia as another soldier came up and pour them water and wine. They thanked the soldier and looked uncomfortably at the food. "We should at least try it. Let me take a bite first. If something happens, it happens to me and not you."

She unrolled her utensils and placed the napkin on her lap and picked up the mini tartes flambees. She took a bite.

"Aren't they just absolutely delicious?"

Both girls looked up to see Jonah and Edgar standing at the side of the table. They leaned down and kissed the back of their hand.  

"You both look absolutely beautiful tonight."said Edgar "You would think the Black Army was capable of throwing an exquisite party like us in the Red Army, but they fell short."

"Of course they did."said Jonah "They aren't as refined as we are. This party would have been a complete failure if we hadn't shown up with back up support."

"I don't know."said Kaia "I think the Black Army did quite well in planning this, seeing as I helped with it. It would have all gone to plan if we hadn't had party crashers at the last minute."

Edgar smiled coyly at her. "So you consider us party crashers?"

He lifted her chin up. "Did you not invite Zero?"

"Yes. Just Zero and his date."

"The Red Army is his date, then."

"Let go of her, Edgar."said Ashley holding a knife to his neck.

The smile on his face got a bit wider. "Are you threatening me, Alice?"  

His eyes slid over to her. He looked amused.

"Leave us alone."said Kaia sternly and he dropped his hand.

"As you wish."he said and he and Jonah left to mingle among the rest of the party.

"The nerve of the Red Army."whispered Ashley " You and the Black Army worked hard on this and the Red Army just swoops in and takes the credit for it."

Kaia shook her head as she gripped her fork.

Luka showed up and picked up the plates and glasses. "Don't eat these. Oliver and Sirius are bringing you food that we made this morning. None of this fancy stuff. They're also bringing juice and mead."

"I'll take the juice."said Ashley quickly "Or water. I'm parched."

Luka nodded and disappeared into the crowd.

"The boys cooked…what did they make?"

"I actually have no idea."

"Sorry for taking so long, little lady."said a voice and both Ashley and Kaia looked up to see Sirius setting a plate of food in front of Kaia. "Oliver's on his way over here."

He pointed through the crowd and sure enough, there was Oliver walking through the crowd juggling a plate and a stein. He arrived at the table and set it in front of Ashley.

"Sorry for taking so long, Goober face."he muttered. "There was a lot of people in line for food. Absolute nutters."

"Stay here and share with me."said Ashley as she looked at the plate full of Shepherd's pie, toad in the hole, Yorkshire pudding, roast beef,  Beef pot roast, and veggies.

Oliver gave a quick nod and she took her hat off and set it on the end of the table. She then fed him off her plate. He accepted, his cheeks bright red.

"This is great."said Kaia sitting on Sirius' lap. "You fellows did an incredible job with your cooking and baking. I'm impressed."

"Little lady, you're always impressed with my cooking."said Sirius slicing up some pot roast.

"It's always like magic."she said and he fed her the forkful of pot roast. "Like poof."

"Yes. Like poof."said Ashley taking a sip of her glass of water. "So how long have you boys been planning this?"

"About 2 months or 3 months. It's like whatever."said Oliver. He looked over the pub. The Red Army was sitting daintily on one side eating their own cuisine, listening to their own music, while the Black Army had spread out over the pub eating the food Sirius, Seth, Fenrir, Luka and Oliver had spent all day making, talking and just hanging out.

All of a sudden, there was a great cheer from the Black Army side and bagpipes were heard.

Everybody turned to look towards the sound as more people started talking more excitedly. The Red Army looked quite displeased as they stood up to see what was going on.

Drums and fiddles were heard as well as guitars.

"Excellent!"shouted Fenrir as he hurried through the room "Now it's really a Black Army party!"

There was a lively jig playing and tables were getting pushed out of the way as people started dancing.

Ashley looked over at Oliver, who looked mildly amused. She looked back at the dancers and saw Kyle dancing with the pub owner's daughter. She giggled as she clapped along to the beat of the music.  She could see Seth, Luka, and many others dancing.

"Come on, Kai."said Sirius unbuttoning his formal coat and hanging it on the back of the chair.

"What?"

"I owe you some dances."he said lifting her up in his arms and taking her to the dance floor. He set her on the floor and started dancing with her and  were lost among the crowd  after a few moments.

Ashley leaned back against Oliver and sighed softly and she leaned her cheek against his chest.  He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her hand gently.

"Hey."he whispered. "Now it's our chance to sneak out."

Ashley looked up at him. " Really? Now?"

"Yes. Come on."

He handed her her hat and led her through the pub through a  back door. He held her hand and they hurried down the street until they reached the fountain in the middle of Central Quarter.

There in front of the fountain was a picnic set up.

"A picnic for both of us?"asked Ashley looking up at Oliver. He rolled his eyes.

"No. For the pigeons. Of course for us."he said and helped her sit down on the blanket. He sat down next to her and pulled the basket to him.

He pulled out the tea set that she loved along with the teacups and used a magic crystal to heat the water for the tea.

Ashley took her hat off and set it next to her. She leaned on her knees as she watched Oliver prepare the tea.  He then pulled out some cookies, some cake slices, and a beautiful red rose made out of frosting, fondant and edible glitter.

"I brought all your favorites."he said shyly. "I know Sirius and Luka made them too, but I made these at home just for you."

"Olly…"whispered Ashley looking at everything before looking into his gray eyes. "You didn't have to do anything like this. I know doing this kind of thing makes you uncomfortable. Just sitting here with you under the stars would have been than enough.  I missed you all day, you know. Blanc said that you had been working in your garage."

"That stupid carrot muncher has no idea what's going on anymore."said Oliver annoyed. "Don't talk about him."

"Okay, okay. But honestly, I was kind of hoping to run into you at some point today."

"Did you really miss me that much?"

"Of course I did! I was going crazy. I think it was the longest I've gone without seeing you since we got together."

"You silly girl. You would have thrown yourself at a  thirteen year old?"

"I would have thrown myself at a thirteen year old you had I had the chance. That's how much I missed you."

Ashley gave him a smile and he laughed softly.

"You are strange one."

"I'm not the only one."

She leaned against him and breathed in his cologne.  

There was a comfortable silence surrounding them as they looked up at the stars.

"Ash-"

"Olly-"

They both interrupted each other as Oliver reached for the rose and Ashley reached for her hat. They paused and stared at each other for a few seconds.

"You go ahead."said Ashley with a smile.

Oliver blushed, gave a quick nod, grabbed the rose and held it in front of him.

"Ashley," he said in a matter of fact voice. "You drove me crazy when you came here from the Land of Reason. I have no idea why you irritated me beyond everybody else, but you did. I couldn't stand being next to you, much less look at you. Your stupidity was abounding and it made that blind carrot muncher look more intelligent than you. Hell, that gay queen was more tolerable than you with all of his screeching. No matter how much we told you to stay out of trouble, you always found yourself in deeper trouble. I mean, seriously. How difficult is it to understand stay out of trouble?  Now, we've been through all of this, I've gotten to know you as friend and lover and I'm ready to offer you this rose. Please consider spending the rest of your life with me. I promise to take good care of you and love you as well."

Ashley stared at Oliver, completely speechless. "O-Olly…"

She looked at the rose he held out to her and her eyes filled with tears. What she thought had been a fondant rose covered in glitter, actually held a gorgeous engagement ring. The band was white gold roses braided to make the band and the diamond was cut to look like a beautiful rose.

"Of course."whispered Ashley looking at Oliver. " Of course I'll marry you, you grumpy ass."

He gave her a quick grin and kissed her. She pulled him by the ascot and savored the kiss. His hands went to her hips and she pulled away quickly after giving his bottom lip a nip.

"I have something to show you."she said "I'm going to do magic from the Land of Reason."

Oliver looked confused. "What do you mean magic? The Land of Reason has no magic."

"Uh huh."she whispered placing a finger against his lips. "We had magic. Just not magic like here in Cradle."

She grabbed her hat and showed him there was nothing inside. Then she twirled the hat, tossed it in the air, caught it and tapped it against his head.

Oliver looked confused as he felt his hat on top of his head. Ashley smiled and took his hat and her hat and smacked them together hard. There was a burst of smoke and their hats were gone. The smoke cleared and Ashley held out her hand. Oliver looked at it. There in her hand, was the miniature top hat.

She gave him a smile and he looked confused as he took the hat. It fit in the palm of his hand.

"You made this?"he asked looking at the hat.

"I did."she said "It was a bit of a rush job."

"I can tell. The hemming is atrocious. The cutting is hideous. Who taught you to do this? It wasn't me."said Oliver and she sighed softly.

She held his face. "The hat represents something you idiot."

He looked down at it. "It does?"  

She raised her eyebrows and nodded. He continued looking at the hat until it finally clicked.

"Oh fucking shit…are you…am I…are we…are we…really?"

Ashley gave him a huge smile. "Of course, you doofus."

He pulled her close. She could feel his shaky breath against her ear. Was he crying? She couldn't tell and if she even mentioned it, he would never forgive her for it. She sat there running her fingers through his hair, waiting for him to calm down.

“What are you working on now?” she asked, finally losing her patience with the silence.

“Something delicate that will explode if you bother me,” he said, not bothering to look up.

She saw right through him and grinned, mischief written on every inch of her face. “You’re awfully good with your hands, Oliver.”

He refused to respond to her innuendo and kept himself from even looking over at her, already knowing the cheeky expression she wore whenever she decided to tease him. Not that he didn’t like seeing it because he did, he liked all of her expressions, but if he looked at her now it would only encourage her and he really was trying to work.

“Such skilled fingers, knowing just where to touch to make something go pop.”

The p sound was almost obscene coming from her lips and he paused for a moment, fighting back a blush that threatened to expose the fact that yes, he was still listening to her and dammit her words were not going to mess with his concentration. Which was clearly what her aim was because she kept going.

“I never thought you would have such a delicate touch, you know. I thought you would be rougher and that works for a lot of things but this careful work, the detail-”

“Ashley.” It was a warning, his voice low and almost a growl.

“Yes?” And she was baiting him, the brat. Her voice was pure innocence but he didn’t need to look to see the laughter in her brown eyes.

“Give me a moment.” He waited a breath before going back to work, hoping that she would keep quiet until he finished.

For a few moments, all was quiet, and his shoulders relaxed minutely. He was able to concentrate on the delicate wires and crystals that were in a tangle before him and needed recalibrating. Delicate, careful work, and it did require some concentration that was difficult to obtain when she was there. Granted, she didn’t have to say anything at all to distract him, but he would never tell her that. Who knew what trouble she would cause with that information.

“The way you say my name like that is sexy.”

Dammit. He looked over and saw her attempting an innocent smile but he knew better. She was teasing him and would keep doing it until he reacted, the little minx. Fine.

Oliver straightened and stepped between her legs, running his fingers through her long blonde hair. She hummed happily at the touch and squeaked when his fingers fisted in her hair and yanked her head back, exposing the smooth column of her throat to his mouth. She stayed absolutely still, trembling faintly under his hands, and he slowly slid the tip of his tongue up her neck to her ear, giving the lobe a sharp bite that made her gasp. “Do I need to gag you?”

“Maybe?” Her voice was breathy and strained, but not at all in pain. She loved it when he dominated her like this, and he could only hope it would make her quiet long enough for him to finish his project.

He tugged harder on her hair and ran his tongue over the shell of her ear, giving the lobe another nibble, this time gentler. “Be. Good.” Just to be sure, he angled her head and slanted his mouth over hers, devouring her in a hot kiss that left his pants uncomfortably tight and her cheeks flushed crimson.

She didn’t say anything more. He slowly released his grip on her hair, noting the shudder that ran through her as his fingers slowly slid through the silky locks until they dropped over her shoulders. Her eyes were glazed and he smirked, satisfied that she would stay quiet for now.

He returned to his work, fingers moving quickly over the coils, crystals, and wires as he fought to finish it before she shook herself out of the daze he had put her in. It took a few minutes more and he was finally done, lifting the small device to inspect it under the light. Pleased with the work, he set it carefully into the base he had built and turned it over, setting the final piece where it belonged. The pieces clicked together with a soft snick and it was done.

Oliver set the globe on the table and took Ashley’s hands, cupping them in her lap before he placed the globe in them. The weight of the object snagged her attention and she blinked, looking down to see what he had given her.

“What is it?” she asked, holding it with great care as she tilted it this way and that, studying it carefully.

Instead of telling her, he reached over to press a tiny button on the side and suddenly the globe was glowing, a swirling mass of darkness interspersed with purples, greens, blues, and reds, and tiny pinpricks of brilliant light. Her eyes widened and she stared at the globe, slowly turning it and then looking up at the ceiling, where the stars were projected into a riotous nebula.

Oliver cupped her hands in his, gently turning it to send the stars whizzing by. He found himself smiling at her rapt expression, the lights glinting off the lenses of her glasses. His thumb found the button again and the projection vanished, but when she looked at him he still saw the stars shining in her eyes. “Oliver… It’s beautiful.”

This softness was rare, and he treasured it all the more every time he saw it. Once sure that she wouldn’t drop the globe, he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, a stark contrast to the possessive one from a few minutes earlier. “Happy birthday, babe.” Another peck and his smile turned into a smirk. “Now don’t go dropping it.”

“I wouldn’t!” Ashley actually sounded offended, the globe clutched in her hands and held protectively against her breasts. She was scowling at him now and he fought back a laugh. This woman of contradictions, all sass behind an innocent face, strong despite her petite frame, drove him crazy and he loved her for it.

The care she took in setting the globe down on the table charmed him, and he watched in amusement as she hopped off of the table and stepped into him, fingers sliding up the lapels of his jacket to twine in his hair. He gazed down at her, expression unreadable, as she leaned into him and kissed the corner of his mouth. The spark of mischief was back and he knew she would test his resolve but couldn’t bring himself to care.