who: billy and maddie
where: their house
when: evening

Madigan headed indoors the second she saw the flash of light from the spell components she'd been preparing a bit back into the woods behind the house. It was about bloody time. So, those gathered up, she walked inside, and started dropping everything into he heavy trunk that was just inside the door. Then, she went in search of her boy. Who wasn't that difficult to find. "Y'know, my life was a lot easier when I was dead." she mused. "Hung around, lurked, watched...teased you...wasn't all bad. Now I've got more spellwork to do than I have in decades, pissy, overly dramatic teenagers about who're constantly demanding attention or downright need it in order not to get themselves killed, have to keep my energy up to tend to you..." she trailed off. "You know that bit about how people should be careful what they wish for?" she asked. Then she smiled at him. "Not feelin that at all." she finished. Then she gave him a kiss on the lips, and a hug.

He hooked her round the waist and pulled her in, returning the kiss. "No, me neither," he agreed as he pulled back a little, resting his forehead against hers. "Anyway, at least you're not getting bored - I know I've been neglecting you a little lately." What with the amount of work he'd been fitting in, and then the fact he'd been mostly laid out over the weekend after the tricks he'd pulled in Lullaby's dreams. He was just beginning to feel himself again now, and had taken the day off before he got hold of Corwin to start on the floor he wanted. He'd give the guy a ring tomorrow.

She smiled at him, and gave him another little kiss. "Yes, yes, I've been feeling terribly neglected. You off doing your own thing and all, making money and that, I'm really holding it against you." she added. "Well...that and you knockin yourself flat for the girl. And me spendin all my time doing spells for one or the other...when did we get to become the honorary aunt and uncle, here?" she asked, amused. Of course, if anyone else were around she would make a much better show of being put out by having so much demanded of her, but...she didn't mind. Not really. Hell, even if they weren't requesting such hard core stuff, with the things they'd spoken of that could be lurking in the shadows, she would have insisted anyhow.

"I think it was round the time that Oz and Sophie became honorary parents," Billy told her with a half smile.

Maddie gave him another kiss, grinning a little at that. "Probably." she agreed. "The wolf really...seems to have stepped in there." she said, smirking and sounding amused. "And good thing I'm so family oriented, all this random kids stuff running about. Dramatics and all." Which was really something that was heavily playing on her mind of late, with her starting to settle into this being alive business again. Family. Billy. Marriage...kids. Things she very much wanted, though she didn't know how to talk to him about that. After all, it was something that they never would have dreamed they'd be able to contemplate, until very recently.

"Well, Oz was always the guy who was going to make a natural born father of it all," Billy mused. He'd not been at all surprised to see his best friend step up like that. "They do seem to really like making a drama out of a crisis though, don't they? Please, tell me I was never like that," he chuckled.

Absently playing with his hair, she laughed. "Not so much." she said. "Maybe a smidge, but these two seem to be going for full fledged dramatics all the time. You were at least slightly more subtle than all that. Slightly less prone to going off the deep end before it's warranted. You, however, were also lucky enough to have me around, keeping your head even." she added with a grin. "Difficult to go pitching a fit into hysterics when you have a girl giving you a Look and possibly tellin you you're an idiot when you try." Or, that was her story and she was sticking to it.

"'Pitch a fit into hysterics'?" Billy asked, doubtfully. "You know, even with your steadying presence, I don't think I've ever been even close to doing that." Not even when she went away - no, then he just closed down. The dreamwalker was not one given to dramatics. "So, what about you"? he asked, giving her a grin. "You prone to fits in your youth?" Which was an odd question to ask to someone who looked no more than eighteen, but then she'd been eighteen for quite some time now.

Maddie had a little smirk for that. "What do you think?" she asked him, watching his eyes with clear amusement dancing in her own. "Takin what you know of me--do you think I was possibly hot headed, and pitched the occasional fit about things?" she asked. She had. She'd started pub fights. She'd done quite a lot of things, really. Maddie had never been the best behaved girl around, that was for sure. The leap to her losing any sense of tact after she'd died hadn't actually been that big of one.

"See, from what I know about you, I'm torn on that. Because my gut instinct is to say you were a little hellion. But then again, I know you knew you had a fate, so you might just have buckled down and got on with things," he mused. "Then again - I'm sure you mastered the art of getting things done and causing a fuss all at the same time," he decided.

Laughing, Maddie kissed him again, then tugged him over to flop down on the couch with her. "You'd be right on that last bit." she said. "Before I found out about the chopping block I was on, I was pretty...well let's just say there were a few establishments 'round I was no longer welcome at. And a church or two. Afterwards, I still caused trouble if trouble was to be had, but I did keep things moving forward to make sure it was all in place for my big blaze of earthquake death."

"And now?" he asked, settling down at her side. "Are you all mature and sensible now? Your hellraising days over? Or should I watch out?" he teased, slipping his hand underneath her top to rest on the soft skin of her stomach, just because he could. He doubted he'd ever get tired of touching her.

She laid back, looking at him. "We'll have to find out, won't we?" she asked. Then she tugged him down to kiss him, a proper sort of kiss. She liked when they had time like this. Time where there weren't limits on it like him having to go to work, or say, her manifestation time ending. She was a huge fan. Of course, she should probably talk to him about a few things. Not the smallest of which was the whole issue she'd actually kinda sorta brought up...that family thing.

He went with the kiss and was of half a mind to take things further, but he knew he had things to discuss with her - things that were probably a little overdue by now. But he'd been in no real frame of mind to discuss them before, and it wasn't like he'd acted on them. But he wanted to - he just didn't want to without discussing it with her beforehand.

Maddie drew the kiss out until she needed to do silly things like breathe, then she pulled back just enough to look up at him properly. She propped her arm up to play with his hair, something she really liked getting to do. "I suppose there are some things we should talk about here, one of these days." she said.

"Talking? That's a new one," Billy teased. "I seem to remember we used to do a lot of that, way back when," he continued. They had, after all, had a relationship based largely on words for a good few years now.

She smiled at that. "Imagine that, we used to, I remember!" she said. "Of course, that was before I could take all my time with you, doing all sorts of interesting things..." she took the opportunity to do much the same as he had, and slide her fingers beneath his shirt, though she did it at the back of his neck, to touch his back. "But yes, talking. How's things been with you?" That was a great way to bring up family, Madigan. she berated herself.

"Hey - I happen to be a fan of those interesting things," Billy quipped, circling round her belly button with a finger, just lightly. "And it's a novelty being able to do them, rather than just talk about them." Or rush through them. "But, I've been good - I've actually been meaning to talk to you about a guy I met the other day..." he told her, leading in to what had been on his mind.

She was a fan too. And she was not at all letting herself get distracted by his touches or thinking about dragging him upstairs...or maybe not actually making it upstairs. It was their house, they could do whatever they wanted in their living room. Focusing! Not thinking about that. Really. "Oh?" she asked. "What guy, and what've you got to talk to me about?"

"Well, the guy, obviously - well, not so much the guy as..." Billy chuckled and started again. "I went to see a client the other day, guy called Corwin who wanted his basement floor relaid. A guy who is, apparently, haunted. Or who is definitely haunted and definitely knew about it and he called me on being a dreamwalker when I ended up talking to both of them instead of just him."

Maddie stilled a little as she took that in. Of course, being who and what she was, her first instinct was caution. "Did he now." she said. That was terribly subtle of him. And there are other people in the world that can see spirits! More common than Dreamwalkers for chrissakes! "...and?" she prompted, trying very very hard to not be incredibly tense, and sound defensive. She wasn't sure how well she did on that, however. She was a Protector. He was hers, on more than the one level. And silly haunted bastards running around randomly accusing people of being dreamwalkers, that was something she wasn't enormously comfortable with.

Billy smiled a little at her tone - he was long used to Maddie being protective of him, after all. "Yes, he did - and he told me something else. Apparently there are other dreamwalkers in town," he told her, sounding a touch excited. "And he gave me numbers."

Okay she wasn't happy with that either. Why? Dreamwalkers were dangerous. He knew that. He was one. And alright, so he didn't dream. It was a small bloody town, wasn't it. And if someone wanted to get to him they could, even if it was walking through others' dreams if Billy was in them, and she couldn't protect him there. "....I see." she said. "...and you're...planning on contacting them, are you?" she asked. Her tone was tighter than she wanted it to be, but she couldn't help it. "Through shady random person who assumed you were a dreamwalker, and not, say, a medium, which would have been more likely?"

He'd anticipated that she'd cling a little in this conversation, but he frowned slightly at her tone. "Yeeeees, I was going to call them," he told her, slowly. "Why shouldn't I? And he wasn't 'shady random person'-" Billy decided it best not to mention the guy hadn't shown his face at all throughout their conversation. That wouldn't go down well at all. "-he was someone I'm going to be doing work for. And dreamwalkers Maddie. here, in town - people like me!" that meant something to him, it really did.

Maddie looked at him. "Billy, I love you. But you forget sometimes, how things work." she said. "And hello! You're a dreamwalker yourself! You know just how dangerous you can be! You're going to just call up these others and hope they're not evil dangerous bastards who let their abilities go to their heads and oh, say, randomly fuck with people for fun because they can't actually get caught?" she asked. Which was milder than she was thinking, she was thinking of those who could off people who annoyed them, because they could.

"And if they're not...?" Billy asked her, quietly.

"You want to take the chance?" Maddie countered. She didn't let herself go off on a tangent. Letting him know that if he did, and he got close, then all they'd have to do was meet the people he was close to. Like her. Like the wolf. Like any of them between the two houses.

Billy looked down - she was taking this a lot harsher than he'd anticipated. He took a moment, then sat up, moving away from her a little, enough to separate them out fully, before he met her eyes again. "You know, for years I thought it was just me. That there wasn't a 'type' - it was only after I came here that I found out that there were other people like me in the world. And you're now suggesting that I just, what? Ignore them? Hide from them?" He paused, before continuing. "Risk my first meeting with them being in a dream they control?" he added, more quietly. That might be a viewpoint she understood better, though it wasn't one Billy was overly concerned with.

She sat up as well, retreating to the side of the couch where she curled up, looking worlds of unhappy. "Just because you thought you were alone, and found out that you are not doesn't make it any safer, or any better an idea. Billy..." she started, then just pursed her lips and looked away, trying to figure out how to word things to him in a way he wouldn't flat out ignore. "I can understand you being excited that there are others in town. I get it. I just...I've seen too much to just wander in blind, thinking it all might work out nicely." Especially with a gift like yours that's so goddamn open to abuse. "If you really want to do this, I ain't gonna tell you you can't, but I'm not gonna sit here and be tickled about it either. And I'm going to want to put as much protection on you as possible, and if at all doable, I would like to be there if you do meet these others."

"Maddie," Billy said with patience. "I expected you to want to take precautions. And to be there. not that we're talking about meeting, not yet. Just a phone call." It was the fact that she'd seemed to him to leap straight to 'oh fuck no' that had thrown him. "That's why I wanted to talk with you about it first. But, you're right, I can't just know there are others like me around and not want to make contact."

"It's dangerous, and I don't like it." she said, for the record. Just so it was out there. And she really didn't care if this all went down fine, and these other dreamwalkers were fluffy little kittens, she still didn't like it, and wouldn't apologize for wanting to keep Billy safe. No way in hell. "Keep me informed, of whatever you're doing with it." she said. And until then, after she warded the wolf's house, she might just do theirs. In fact, she was now thinking she was going to regardless. "I'll be putting the sanctuary spell on our house as well." she informed him. "Don't go passin out invites, please."

Billy gave her a Look for that. "Because I'm known for bringing home strays, right? I'm not at all protective of my privacy..." he deadpanned. "But no, I won't be bringing them back here - if I even decide I want to meet. Which isn't guaranteed."

"You wouldn't have to bring them back here, all you'd have to do is say 'why don't you drop by sometime'." Maddie snapped at his statement. "So don't." She didn't comment on his not saying one way or the other if he would meet them. She was already working on the assumption that he would contact them, and the natural progression would be to meet. Because people could be nice as pie on the phone, now couldn't they? Sure they could. And if they really wanted to do damage, then they'd have to meet. "You said there was more than one? You planning on contacting all of them?"

"There's two. And I don't know, it just seems simpler to say 'them' rather than 'her' and not know which one I'm talking about," Billy told her, keeping his cool in the face of her tone. "And I don't generally go inviting people back here either. I'm not completely stupid - remember the whole vampire incident?" he reminded her. One of his friends had been turned last year and then appeared at Billy's house, garnering an invite before Billy had a chance to realise what had happened. It had only been through Oz' intervention that Billy hadn't ended up vamp fodder, and that had left his best friend blind in one eye.

"Aye, and that was different." Maddie said. "He was your friend. You didn't know. Not your fault." she continued, because she believed that. Two. And both women. Well wasn't that excellent. Or not. She knew she was being spectacularly twitchy and overprotective right now, but couldn't in any way help it. "Just...keep me informed." she repeated. She didn't figure she'd at all talk him out of it, and if she did, he'd resent her for it which she also wanted to avoid. This whole having a protected thing did work easier sometimes if you weren't romantically involved. Because if you weren't, you probably cared a lot less if they resented you, just so long as they were safe.

Billy held out an arm to her. "Course I will - and I promise to try and not do anything stupid," he added as an olive branch.

She wasn't so sure about that. There was a reason she'd started protecting him in the first place, after all. But, she moved back over towards him, even if she was still looking distinctly unhappy. And on top of the whole stupidly dangerous thing, not one but both of these other dreamwalkers were women, and that was making her twitch, and twitch hard. The last thing she wanted was for him to finally find some other girl that he had a bunch in common with, could talk to, play with, go frolicking in dreams with...when she was finally back. Wouldn't that just be a kick to the teeth. Well, they weren't allowed to have him, Billy was hers. And for now she was just going to quietly sulk about that, and not say a damn word.

He put his arm round her and pulled her in, dropping his face down into her hair and just taking a moment. He loved her hair, he always had. He'd always thought that, if he dreamed, he'd dream about her hair. "It'll be okay, I promise. It's just a phonecall and I promise not to do anything more than that unless I talk to you again."

"Thank you." she said, because she knew an answer was required, and just because she was having an internal pissy bitch fit didn't mean she wanted it to spill over onto him, or, in fact, discuss it. Because as twitchy as she was being, she was also somewhat aware of the fact that she was being ridiculous. It was just something she couldn't necessarily turn off, unfortunately.

He watched her, and for a moment there was that compulsion to offer to not do it. To throw the numbers in the trash and walk away, if it made her happy. But it was only there for a moment - he wanted this, this was important to him. And he'd be careful, it'd be fine and she'd see that it was all fine. "I love you," he said, instead.

"I love you too." she said in return, and she relaxed slightly. Not a lot, but then again, it wasn't usually an easy thing, getting Maddie to relax once she was wound up. She did turn her face in towards his, to give him a kiss on the cheek, however, in some effort to speed that process up. She'd just...brood about it by herself, and go over every goddamn spell in her trunk, to make sure every angle was covered. Unfortunately, she knew there were still limitations, simply because of what he was. Again with the fact that no matter what, she couldn't help him there, in dreams. And if someone had control before he did...Stop it, you're not helpin. she told herself.

He pulled a slight face, looking uncomfortable. "I have to do this, Maddie," he told her, his tone almost apologetic. He wanted her to understand, he'd like her to be okay with this, to be supportive, but he had to wonder if that was just too much to ask for.

She drew in a deep breath, and let it out in a rush. "And I said I got that. I know. I didn't tell you not to do it." Or ask him not to, same difference. "Didn't say anything about that. If you have to do this, then you have to. I just...see too many possibilities for danger to be happy about it. I'm sorry." she said, meeting his gaze. "I can't edit that part of myself out. I can't not see how it could all go horribly wrong and honestly with people with abilities like yours, we know just how wrong that could go." she said, her voice softer than it had been, because her point wasn't a nice one. She wasn't trying to drill it home this time, however, she was just trying to help him understand where she was coming from on it. "The things you can do...imagine that in the hands of someone who doesn't have the moral code you do. And I know it's dangerous for you as well, but still, you know the effects it's had on you, that god complex you have, imagine how that would play in with someone like that. Billy I hate to say it but you're probably in the minority of people who wouldn't abuse that kind of gift. You aren't common knowledge, and it's not as if anything you'd do would be traceable. And all of the rest of us? ...we're defenseless."

Billy considered this, leaving it a moment before answering. "Then, if I do decide to meet either of these women - you're not coming with me," he told her, firmly. "They can't touch you if they haven't met you. And I don't dream." Which, in his mind, made him safe, as long as he didn't end up in the same dream as them by accident whilst walking. And it wasn't like he walked a whole lot anyhow these days.

"Oh hell no." she said immediately. "I don't care if I'm not immediately with you as in 'hey, meet my girlfriend', but there isn't any way in this lifetime that I'm not going to be there." she said, turning to face him. "You're not going to be leaving my sight when all that happens, and if I can sit within earshot, all the better, but...just no. Not happening."

"Fine - you can be in the same room, but you don't approach, you don't talk, not even as much as a passing 'hello'. If she tries to talk to you, just walk on by. No meeting of any description," he said, not willing to argue about that. It wasn't something that had occurred to him before, but it definitely had now and he wasn't risking her. Not in the slightest.

"Fine." she said in return. That would probably work best, as much as she wanted to be right there with him when it happened. Tactically speaking, that was the way it should go down. And it wasn't as if she hadn't made hard calls before to be tactical. Therefore...that would be how it happened. She could live with that. He'd just have to choose someplace public. Which really, anyone even slightly intelligent would want in the first place. So if they wanted 'hey meet me in private' that would be a red flag all on it's own.

"It might not even come to that, Maddie," he reminded her. "Hell, I'm going to have to cold call these women for all I know - Corwin gave me numbers, but he was pretty damn reluctant to do that and even then, I don't know if he'll have warned them to expect my call or anything."

"I'd rather come up with a reasonable plan now in case it does, than try and think about it on the fly if you call up and there's some mary sunshine on the other end of the line asking to meet up in half an hour." Maddie said. And it was possible just a little bit of that jealous pissy bitch sentiment leaked into her tone there, even if she wasn't trying for it to. "So...there's a plan." And she was going to be having a very, very long night of spellwork, because that shit was getting done immediately, preferably before he even picked up the phone.

He caught the tone firmly that time and he shifted so he could look at her. "You're jealous," he stated. "Maddie... Maddie, you don't... I'm not going to go off with one of these girls, you know that, right? I'm yours. I've always been yours and I'm not suddenly going to change my mind on that. Especially not now." Now that they finally had a chance of a real life together.

She looked even more unhappy then. "I know." she said. Even if she was still jealous, it wasn't like he was wrong or anything. And it was good to hear him say those things regardless, but yeah. She couldn't help the twitch. Just like she couldn't help the protective thing. It was just there. "Don't you go thinking that's why I'm really unhappy about all this." she added in. "That ain't it, it's everything I've already said." It was possible she was a touch defensive there. Just a weeee little bit.

"So I should be convinced that you're only doing this because you're genuinely concerned about me and not because you don't like me having lunch with another woman?" he asked, trying hard not to sound like he was teasing her, but failing miserably. He knew why she was concerned and he didn't believe she would let jealousy get in the way of worrying about him legitimately. Mostly, having got over the surprise that she was jealous at all, he found it kind of amusing.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, you should be convinced of that. Totally. In fact, the J word shouldn't ever come up again in regards to this matter." she said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest and huffing a slight bit. Yet she hadn't actually denied that she was jealous. Shit. she probably should have tried that first.

"Oh no, god forbid you should ever be jealous," Billy teased, then turned slightly more serious, pulling her into him. "Or that I should actually give you any reason to be jealous. I haven't? Have I?" he asked, his tone now changed entirely, the fact that it was an honest question clear and plain there.

She sighed, and she settled in with him, relaxing a lot more fully now. "No, you haven't given me any reason." she said, very seriously. "I just...I dunno. I'm irish, and possessive." she mumbled, sulking a little, but it was mock-sulking. "I trust you." she added. "I just...don't share terribly well."

"The two go hand in hand do they?" Billy asked her, combing his fingers through her hair. "Or is the 'Irish' just coincidence, really? As for the rest, well I can promise you that you have me entirely to yourself for the whole of today. I've decided to take it off work, so, you know, if you need convincing about the whole 'you have no reason to be jealous' thing, today would be a good time to do that..."

"I dunno, most of the time we're not known for stunning rationality." she said. Then she smirked a touch. "Now that sounds like an excellent idea." she said. "Though...I've got something to talk to you about as well. Something that's been on my mind." It was possible she looked a tiny touch nervous. "You and I...I seem to be back now, and all, and I was thinking about...that future we weren't going to be able to have."

Billy settled down a little more, so they were more lying on the couch together, rather than sitting. "The one that maybe we could have now?" he asked her. It had clearly been on his mind as well, though they hadn't discussed it and, before she was resurrected, he'd never even mentioned it. Why would he? He knew the kind of future they could have together and he'd known that if he'd even dared suggest that maybe he could ever desire something more normal than that, she'd be on at him again, or convinced he was going to leave her. Something. So he'd kept his mouth shut, hadn't really even let himself consider the alternatives, but things had changed now...

"That would be the one." Maddie said, snuggling in close to him. She thought for a few moments, before speaking again. "...should probably say...there's a possibility that I'm already pregnant." she said. Which she would think of a better way to put, but she didn't think there was one. Not really. She didn't know, of course, but she figured after a while it'd be obvious. Like possibly being around long enough to have a cycle, but not having one. That was usually a pretty good indicator.

Billy's hand stilled in her hair and he looked down at her. "What?" he asked, clearly and obviously shocked - which was a rarity for the generally under-expressive dreamwalker.

Maddie looked back at him, wondering if that was good, or spectacularly bad. "...I'm a Protector, love, that kind of thing sort of...happens with us. I don't know if I am, but well. There's a chance." Actually a pretty damn good one. I'd put it under the 'likely' heading. But she didn't want to say that until she got a better grip on how Billy was dealing with the news she even might be...

He needed to remember to breathe. Breathing would definitely be a plus right now. And possibly kick-starting his brain. That would be a plan too. But... "Pregnant? As in... We're going to have a baby? As in, I'm going to be a father?" he asked, sounding shocked still, and slightly scared, definitely nervous as all hell, but there, at the back somewhere, there was that uplift of tone, that slight positive note that could have been joy or maybe hope.

She bit at her lower lip for a minute, sort of really really hoping that she heard that undertone right. Nodding, she watched his eyes closely. "If I'm not pregnant already? I probably will be." she paused. "...soon, with as often as we tend to get into one another." she added. "So...yes?" she suggested.

Billy leaned his head back against the arm of the couch and looked up at the ceiling, exhaling slowly. he took a few breaths, getting used to this idea. It was something he'd never dared even consider. Him, a family, children - it was something he'd cut out of any potential future when he was about sixteen, just like he'd cut out any suggestion that he'd ever have a normal love life. And now here he was, his life completely changed. He had Maddie, properly, totally and everything that went with that and now, suddenly, they were facing the possibility of a family. A real, actual family. He needed to say something here, he knew. He did. He just... Had to sort out the roiling emotions first. And that took him a while, and what finally came out wasn't quite what he expected.

He laughed. not long and hard, just a short, sharp, happy sound, mixed with disbelief as he looked down at her and began to smile.

Madigan had been waiting pretty much with her breath held, for whatever he was going to do. Because seriously, she had absolutely no idea. What she hadn't expected was the laugh, but the smile he was beaming down at her helped articulate that a little better. "So...I take it you're okay with this then." she said, not able to help but smile in return. She kept her eyes on his, to sort of try and read what was there, see that he really was okay with this. But so far? It looked to her like he was. It was a relief.

"I..." He paused for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly. "This isn't anything I ever... I never thought that I'd..." I was always going to be That Guy, growing old, apparently alone in the world. No family around me. He couldn't say that - she knew it already, but he couldn't say that right now.

She nodded, reaching up to thread her fingers through is hair, until she rested her hand on the back of his neck. "I know." she said, voice soft. She didn't need him to clarify that for her. "But...now there's another way here. And.." she smiled. "I would love to raise a family with you." Maybe she'd actually get to raise her daughter this time. That would be something she wanted so very much. But the whole deal, the whole package, that she wanted, in that almost too afraid to say it sort of manner.

He laughed again, a little bit at that, wondering if he was actually in shock at the moment. He should probably be taking this slightly more seriously. But everything felt unreal right now. there was a definite sense of wonder there, but, yeah, definitely unreal - like he was dreaming. Or what he figured dreaming must feel like. But he knew he wasn't asleep - this was real. He could tell the difference. He should be more serious.

Maddie used the hand on the back of his neck to tug him down so she could kiss him. He wasn't being terribly coherent right now anyhow, so really, she wouldn't be cutting off conversation. So...there were always other ways to communicate. Like kissing! Which she was a fan of. Along with everything else.

Kissing was good, it didn't require thought, or connection with reality, or any kind of higher brain function which Billy was sure he was lacking right now. A family, a baby, a child, being together - growing old together. All these things he'd never thought that he could have and suddenly, there they all were. He pulled back from the kiss a little, his lips still resting against hers. "Marry me," he whispered, completely on impulse. But it felt right.

Okay so now it was Maddie's turn to kind of blink a bit and do the shock thing. Sure, she'd figured that they'd...well, be together and everything, and she would want to be Mrs. Gardiner, but she hadn't figured--oh what the living hell was she doing, reeling? "Oh hell yes!" she said in a breathy whisper in return, pulling herself out of her blindsided mode quick enough. This was punctuated by kissing him like the world might be ending outside. Sure, they'd have to figure out little details like..oh, say, how to go about that. But they could figure it out later. Much later, even.

There'd been that pause, but Billy hadn't for a moment thought she'd reject him, which might have been able to be considered arrogance, but he saw simply as knowing how they felt about each other. He loved her, she loved him, neither of them was ever going anywhere, it seemed natural. And then she accepted and there were kisses again, which were always interesting when you also happened to be grinning like an idiot.

She was smiling too, and only pulled back when she needed to breathe, beaming at him. Madigan wasn't a girly girl. She really wasn't. But every once in a great while, something would strike her the right way, and she was reminded that she was in fact a girl, had even died when she was a teenager, and she could girl it up with the best of them. "When? Can we arrange it soon? Can we have an outdoor wedding?" she asked.

"Whenever you want, and if you want outdoors, it's gonna have to be soon, unless you want to be standing in three foot of snow," Billy pointed out, since fall seemed to have hit today. "Hmm, maybe we could have it when the leaves properly turn," he suggested, twisting a strand of her red hair round a finger and thinking she'd look so very beautiful standing there surrounded by swirling leaves.

Maddie was fine with that. "Soon, then." she agreed. "I'm fine with that. I'll have to get a dress and everything, but yes. When the leaves turn." It wasn't like they actually had to plan a huge wedding. They'd invite what...four people? Five? She couldn't even think of a fifth person, actually. So really, just the wolf and his lot. Yeah, not really a whole lot of planning would need to go into that. Though...she would want to have a nice dress. She couldn't seem to stop smiling.

Billy was comfortable with the idea of that and it was growing on him, fast. Under the trees somewhere, they'd find the right spot. Just a few people - he didn't want to make a big thing of it, keep it personal, private. yeah, he like the idea of that. "You okay with keeping it small?" he asked her.

"I was just thinking that it would be incredibly small. Like...four people and the preacher." she said, having to laugh a little that their minds were working on the same levels. "Unless you have other people to invite, it's not like I have anyone I know. Thought the wolf's household. Anyone else you would want to be there, love?" she asked, reaching up again to play with his hair, watching his eyes with pretty clear adoration in hers. Yes, Maddie was a very happy little bunny.

Billy shook his head. "No - I want to keep it small. You know I'm not a big fan of large groups anyway." And it wasn't like either of them had family - which was something Billy wasn't going to bring up right now, since the reason she was back at all was because the last of her line had just died. No, not a subject he wanted to be on right now. "I love you," he told her.

"I love you." She said in return. This was...feeling all amazingly perfect. They could have a tiny wedding, it would be nice, and just them and the people they cared about, and... She was going to be married. Properly married, too, not just married because she needed to have a kid before she shuffled off her mortal coil at eighteen. No, married like she would like to be. Because she was happy with her boy and in love, and they could have a family together. She could get to raise her daughter this time. Maybe they'd even get to have other children. She could have a life this time around, that she'd gotten cheated out of the first time.