darker_london | Awwww, that's...kinda sickeningly sweet... (Aly, Peter)

Aly woke up at two in the morning to feed Baby Thomas, and by the time she got him back to bed, Peter still hadn't joined her. Which wasn't necessarily unusual at the moment, but she had to make sure he wasn't having one of those...death relapses. She padded silently through the halls until she reached the living room where she found Peter scribbling madly in his journal. "Darling?" She asked softly, her voice crackly from sleep. "What are you doing?"

Peter barely looked up. "Just writing. I was trying to remember everything Thomas did today. You know...what he played with and the noises he made. I thought he might say 'dada' again but he kind of said 'dagallaaahaaooo'. So...I'm trying to figure out how to spell that..."

Aly chuckled softly. Oh how she loved her husband. But he'd been up like this for several nights now and it worried her. She hoped it wasn't because of what she'd done. Or that he was feeling ill again. "Peter, you should be sleeping. Your body has been through a lot and it won't get better if you don't let it."

"I know I just...want to remember things."

"Uhm...are you going crazy?" Aly asked, as tact wasn't always possible at 2:30 am.

Peter finally looked up at her and he grinned. "It wouldn't be the first time!" When she didn't grin back, he allowed the expression to slide gracefully from his face. "Oh, right. Serious conversation time. Okay, pretend I didn't say that last thing and ask me again!" Peter waited, with an expectant look on his face.

Peter's relaxed attitude towards the whole thing made Aly relax and she allowed herself a laugh. "No, I just...nevermind. I was worried, but I was clearly worrying in vain. You've just been so...invested in your journals. I was worried there was something else going on. You know, because of...things."

Peter watched her for a second and then he tucked his pen behind his ear. "No. No, Aly, it's not that. I just...I don't want to forget again."

"But darling, you won't..."

"I know but...okay. Here's the thing. I remember everything that happened while that bitch of a thing was in my head. But I have no way of knowing for sure if I retained all my memories from before, save reading all these journals and checking. And I was doing weird things like cuddling animals and not drinking tea and David said maybe I hadn't remembered something from before. It...just terrifies me that something could have slipped through the cracks, you know? And...obviously I'm not as indestructible as everyone thought, and this could happen again, and if it does...what if NOW slips through the cracks? I don't want to forget now."

"Oh, Peter." Aly moved towards him and she stood in front of his wheelchair with her arms on his shoulders.

Peter wrapped his arms around her gratefully and he rested his head against stomach. "I had Thomas drill me today. He was telling me stories about our time at the monastery to make sure I remembered them and I did except for the one he threw in as a 'control group'. He had me terrified I'd actually forgotten something for five minutes until he realised I was actually freaking out and explained what he'd done. Then he felt bad, so he...well be bought me lube. Because it was shiny and he's Thomas."

"He...bought you lube?"

Peter nodded. "Yes..."

"Is that somewhere you'd want to be shiny?" She asked him, with a raised eyebrow.

"Not especially, no! But Thomas is like a giant magpie with shiny things." Peter finally closed his journal and he laid it and his pen aside. "Just...promise me if I forget something, you'll remind me, okay? I don't want a single second with you to just fade away. I want to remember this. I want to remember you." They'd been civil to each other since Peter had been back because neither of them wanted their children to worry about the state of their relationship. But Peter found it difficult not to let what had happened between Aly and Dietrich to get in the way. And Aly knew he needed time, so she was giving it to him. Peter was tired of being hurt, however, and he kissed Aly's stomach, directly over the baby bump that was his daughter.

Aly took it as a good sign and she slid on to his lap gracefully and kissed his forehead. "I promise, dearest Peter. I won't let you forget me. It's okay if I sit on your lap, right?" She knew his body might still be hurting, physically or emotionally, and it seemed best to check.

"Always. You can sit on me anywhere! Oh...I wish I'd said that better." Peter said, his ears turning red.

Aly cackled wickedly. "I think you said it pretty darn well actually." And she leaned in to catch his lips with a deep kiss because everything seemed so very right.