Crow met Penelope’s lips with rivaling desire, pleasantly surprised by her reaction as she leaned up to kiss him. He was glad that his comment hadn’t scared her off. Since they had only just gotten together again, it felt soon to bring up the idea of starting a family, but he couldn’t help himself. It was something he found that he was looking forward to, and he wanted her to know it—even if it wasn’t something they would be expecting to do for quite a while.

When Penelope pulled back from the kiss to rest her forehead against his, he opened his eyes and grinned at her breathlessly, running his hand along her back. At her following words, he was relieved to know that she wasn’t as upset as he had thought about the idea of giving up her knighthood. However, he knew it was still going to be a difficult transition for her, so he planned to do his best to make that change as easy for her as possible. He wanted her to see that the life they were going to have together would be much better than anything her life as a noble had to offer.

He was about to tell her again but wavered as he noticed her take on a bashful look that caught him by surprise. Not used to seeing her like that, he found the expression to be somewhat charming. However, what she said next got his heart racing even more. [i]She’s thought about it too,[/i] his eyes widened in realization, and his lip curled upward in a smile of its own accord. He wasn’t the only one that had thought about the prospect of starting a family. Somehow, knowing that made him even more eager for their future together.

As Penelope stepped out of his arms and announced that they should go to bed, he nodded in agreement, quickly reading that she wanted to change the subject. While he was excited to find out that they were on the same page about their life to come, he knew they would have plenty of time to discuss what that life would look like later on. There was no point in talking about it now, when it wouldn’t happen for quite some time.

Moving a little closer to her, Crow brought a hand to her chin to gently tilt her head up as he leaned in to kiss her once more. Unlike their last kiss, he met her lips tenderly until he pulled back to hold her gaze. “I can’t wait to be with you for the rest of my life, no matter what it looks like,” he murmured with a soft smile. “I love you, Penelope.”

Touching one more kiss to her forehead, he walked with her over to the bedrolls that had been laid out by the others and took one that was close to the spot Rikki had set up for the knight. Laying down tiredly, he glanced over at her and sighed, “I also can’t wait for the day when we can sleep next to each other again.” Once he had settled down comfortably, he drew his blanket over his body and reached across the gap between them to give her hand a squeeze. “Goodnight, love,” he yawned. “I’ll see you in the morning.”