Claire's limbs were liquid as she basked in the afterglow with Caleb. She could lay there forever with him, ignoring the city outside, forgetting everything and everyone else. These were the moments between them that meant most to her, when she felt closest to Caleb. They were able to be quiet, to lay everything else aside, and to just be themselves, laid bare in front of one another, all their vulnerabilities on display.

This was a side to Caleb than Claire wondered whether anybody else had ever seen, even Rachael, the ex who had broken his heart. She doubted it, somehow. She would never have imagined it, but she and Caleb seemed to have this connection that was stronger than anything else she had ever known, a connection that seemed to get stronger every day. Now, with the addition of their child into the mix, that bond was seemingly unshakeable.

She smiled back at Caleb as he told her he was fine, laughing as he kissed her nose. "Oh, you don't have to go away to get that," she breathed, teasingly nipping at his bottom lip. "All you have to do is ask..." Sure, his having been away for a few days had given an extra spark to proceedings, but still... if he was up for letting her take control, then it was all good.

Claire had thought that what they had was it. They were their own little family, she and Caleb against the world. Against all odds, they were going to be parents, and she was so happy she thought her heart would burst. For a moment, in the infirmary, when Caleb had questioned whether he was the father, she had felt everything slipping away from her: her husband, the life they had built together, and, potentially, the child she had so longed for.

However, after the panic had subsided, Claire had seen the expression of joy and wonder she had hoped for, the expression that said that Caleb was more than okay with it, that he wanted to be a father to their child, wanted to stay with her and raise thir little family.

She couldn't have asked for anything more.

Still, she laughed and rolled her eyes as Caleb asked what his gift would be for giving her the impossible, and she shook her head, snuggling closer and resting her forehead against his, noses pressed together for just a moment, approximating the Māori hongī greeting. It was sharing the breath of life, something that she would do with her husband without hesitation, for the rest of their days together.

"Wow, you have a high opinion of yourself," laughed Claire, pulling back slightly before kissing his lips with infinite tenderness. "We can always get you tested, you know. See whether you've got super sperm or something." She knew it was probably just blind luck that led to Caleb getting her pregnant, but it would be fun to tease him, just a little bit. "Maybe it's that Ancient gene of yours, e taku tahu."

She would have kept on teasing him a little, just spending time with him in that moment, but her stomach put paid to that, letting out an ominous rumble as it reminder her that she had barely eaten all day, probably the cause for her fainting earlier. "I'm sorry to break this up, e ipo," she grinned, reluctantly untangling her legs from his, moving their hands from her belly. "But mummy and bump need to be fed!" She wondered what they had in the little fridge in their quarters, whether it would be enough, or whether they'd need to go to the mess hall. Whatever, she needed to eat, and she needed to eat soon. "Want to eat in or out tonight?"

He smiled into the teasing nip she gave to his bottom lip, damn if he wasn't so knackered from the extreme range of emotions they'd gone through today then he'd definitely be starting round two. But as it were, he just let her tease him, he could be content with that for a while, besides sometimes teasing was even more fun that actually having sex with her. Especially if it meant one or both of them ended up laughing at the other, which had actually happened a time or two.

He did however put on a bit of a mock pout as he replied, “I thought I did just ask...really....nicely,” as he trailed a hand across the chain at her neck, letting his hand trail all the way down to the tag that sat nestled against her chest.

The sparkle of mischief in his eyes, as he trailed his hand back up, never breaking eye contact with her, as his hand reached the back of her neck and pulled her in for a slow, sensual kiss. He never got over seeing her in nothing but his tags, never thought he would ever give someone that kind of commitment and he couldn't keep the grin off his face any time he saw them.

Caleb couldn't believe that, that one sign of commitment to her that night in New Orleans would lead him to where he was in that moment. Not only in a different galaxy with his wife, but starting a family with said woman, he didn't think it was possible that he could actually feel much more content and whole as he did in that moment.

He couldn't help laughing along with her, as she rested her forehead against his, no matter where they had sex, how they'd slept together, this was always how they ended up. Resting on the nearest surface foreheads pressed together, he never questioned it, just sharing in the intimate moment and he did feel like it was an intimate moment, definitely a lot better than just rolling away from each other and going to sleep.

Part of him wasn't even sure he could do that kind of thing with Claire, he'd never not be able to just share this moment with her, for someone who was most definitely confident beyond anything else he really liked these 'connecting' moments with her. Had come to almost in a sense look forward to them, it was when he felt the closest to not only his wife, but his best friend as well.

“Well someone has to have an high opinion of me,” he joked back, eyes lighting up as he continued to tease her, “Tested? There you go again, wanting to stick me with sharp pointy objects. Claire, am worried about this obsession with the sharp pointy objects.”

He managed to keep a straight face for almost a minute before he broke into laughter, his head resting against her shoulder as he kissed at the top of her arm, in-between laughing. His sense of humour definitely was not getting any better and that was with him being going for a few days, he could almost picture the eye roll she'd give him for that comments.

“The Ancients are most definitely not getting the credit for knocking you up,” he said, quite stubbornly, laughter dying away and looking back up at her.

He knew that she was teasing, but even as his hand tried to cover the full area of her stomach, he didn't want anyone else taking credit for something he had clearly done. That was his child in there, his family, and he had to sort of take a moment to realise just how sort of possessive his thoughts were, before he wrapped his fingers back around hers.

The moment was interrupted though as her stomach gave out a loud grumble, he couldn't help raising an eyebrow as she sat up, him following suit, picking up the discarded t-shirt from earlier and offering it to her. “Suppose you want me to do the gentlemanly thing and fetch you food? Now that you're in a delicate condition and all that?” he asked, teasing her, his eyes soft as he stood up from the bed.

His own trousers were half way across the room, he sighed as he realised he was going to have to fetch them, one day they'd actually manage to get undressed and put the clothes away properly before falling into bed together. That clearly wasn't that day though, pushing himself up from the bed, he headed to the small fridge in the room, smirking at her as he completely bypassed the trousers on his way.

He was being a damn tease to her and he knew it, but he'd get dressed if she wanted him to, he had always felt comfortable in his own skin, had never had any problems making it across a room stark naked, and if Claire got to ogle him as he did so, well it never hurt to have ones ego inflated occasional.

Crouching down in front of the small fridge that occupied there quarters, very much aware of the show that he was giving Claire, as he opened it, “Well there's enough here if you want eat in? Or if you wanna go to Mess, we can?” he said.

Even as he grabbed a bottle of water for him, stood back up, turned around to face her and very deliberately made a show of drinking the water slowly.

Laughing, teasing Caleb was never far away, no matter how quiet and intimate the moment they were sharing, and Claire laughed as pouted and declared that he had asked nicely, the laugh turning to a shiver as his fingers traced the chain around her neck, right down to where his tag rested against her chest. Along with her bone pendant, she never took that tag off, not that anyone else ever saw it, but she was still proud to be wearing it as a sign of Caleb's commitment to her, and hers to him.

Returning the slow kiss that Caleb initiated, Claire felt complete. It was almost enough to set her fire again, but not quite, and she managed to tamp down on the flickering little flames of desire growing in her belly again. She'd read that a woman's sex drive increased throughout pregnancy, even at the end, and they would just have to find ways of making love without Bump being problematic. There was no way she was going to stop making love with Caleb just because she was carrying his baby.

Lying there quietly for just a minute or so, no demands on one another, no needs other than what each was already giving, was the simplest, purest pleasure Claire could have ever hoped for. However, she grinned as Caleb started joking again, and her eyes sparkled with mischief.

"No pointy objects required this time," she chuckled, tracing her fingers through the smattering of golden hair on his chest. "Just a quick squirt into a tub, and you're golden." Not that she could see him doing that, not in a million years. She didn't need to know how he had managed to get her pregnant: the fact was, he had managed it, and she couldn't be happier.

Claire chuckled, her eyes rolling, as Caleb got a little indignant - and maybe a touch possessive - about having gotten her pregnant. "Oh yeah, like there was a handy Ancient waiting in the wings, just ready to sort things out," she grinned, lightly punching his shoulder again, even as he tangled his fingers with hers again, resting on her belly. "Trust me, there is nobody else going to take the bloody credit for this!"

Laughing as her stomach made the decision to leave the bed for them, Claire took the proffered t-shirt - the one that Caleb had been wearing before he had unceremoniously stripped it off - and paused in putting it on, instead watching Caleb as he sauntered across to the fridge, bollock naked, giving her quite a show. His body was perfect, with the exception of a couple of large scars on his sides, each of which she had been responsible for repairing when he had been injured. Still the scars didn't bother her; they told part of Caleb's story.

She sighed as he mentioned they had enough food in their fridge, and, shaking her head with reluctance, Claire leaned across the bed, grabbing a clean bra from her bedside drawers - a bra, which she noticed as she clipped it on - was now more than a little too small for her blossoming breasts. "Unfortunately, e te tau, I think if we stay here any longer, we won't be eating tonight at all..." She balled the t-shirt up, tossed it in his direction, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "Come on, lover boy, mess hall it is... as long as you can keep that 'I just knocked up my wife' expression off your face!"