October 31, 1860

Meg turned to her left and right as she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't look too bad, she thought. Fortunately the cut of the dress amazingly hid most of her ever growing abdomen. The underskirt of the dress was a pale lavender with a gold design inlayed on the material, the bodice and overskirt were both a deep purple color and were trimmed with gold. The bodice's ties crossed over her chest and tied at her waist. The sleeves were tight to her elbow then flared down to her wrists. She had decided to leave her hair in loose curls and wore a thin gold chain around the crown of her head.

Luke stepped into the room and gasped at the sight of his wife, he swore to himself that as long as he lived he'd never cease to be amazed at her. Meg caught her husband's reflection in the mirror and turned around slowly. They had talked about Meghan's behavior at lunch with Corey and had decided that it was the pregnancy that had driven her to her short temper.

"Well, what do you think?" She asked.

"You look beautiful as usual." Luke replied as he adjusted his tunic. "What about me?"

Meghan tilted her head and squinted as she looked over him. He wore a deep purple tunic that had a bold gold insignia on his chest, his leggings were also deep purple and his boots were black. A mock Excaliber hung from the scabbard at his waist and a gold crown adorned his head. "You look incredibly handsome. I might have to fight off the woman"

Luke smiled broadly at her and approached her. He turned her to look in the mirror and wrapped his arms around her swollen middle. "We make a fine King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. We look good together, don't you think?"

Meg leaned back and placed her hands over his. "We are good together."

Luke went downstairs to do a final check on the room where the party was being held while Meg did a final check on herself, with a soft sigh she left her room and collided into a hard chest.

"Steady there." Ian said as he grabbed her arms. "Meghan you look stunning."

Meg stared at his costume in shock it was identical to Luke's in every way but the color. Instead of being purple like Luke's, Ian's was a deep blue. Another difference Meg realized was that Ian did not wear a crown.

"What do you think?" Ian asked. He had seen Luke's costume and had given Grace a detailed description of it when he'd ordered his.

"I think you have some explaining to do." Both Ian and Meg turned towards the stairs where Luke stood with his arms across his chest, glaring at his friend. "Who are you supposed to be Ian?"

Ian cleared his throat and looked down from his costume to Luke's and arched an eyebrow. "Well, this is a coincidence and kind of embarrassing, too."

"Who are you trying to kid here?" Luke asked angrily.

"Luke please-" Meg began. "It's obviously some kind of fluke. I'm sure Ian had no idea what your costume looked like when he ordered his. Isn't that right?"

Ian nodded quickly. "Listen I'm not even Arthur, if anyone asks I'll tell them I'm . . . Lancelot or some other knight."

Meg smiled at her husband. "See?" She said and left to go downstairs with Ian following close behind her.

Luke looked from his friend to his wife and back again. He saw all right, he saw that just as he was beginning to trust Ian he pulled a stunt that brought them back to square one. Lancelot, indeed, it didn't escape Luke that Ian picked the one person in Camelot who was King Arthur's best friend and who was best known for sleeping with Guinevere, Arthur's wife.

Meghan and Luke made their way among the many people who had come to the party, and she kept an eye out for Corey and her mystery date who had yet to show up. Meg hoped that Corey would come and wasn't mad at her for the way she acted at lunch, she wanted to apologize for her behavior.

She was having a wonderful time though, she had received well wishes on her pregnancy and danced more than once with Luke, then took a turn on the dance floor with several of the other men in attendance. Just when she was going to sit for a minute Luke pulled her into a dark corner. Meghan blushed at his boldness. They had a house full of people after all, but a few minutes of privacy with her husband wouldn't be so bad she thought. Meg wrapped her arms around his neck, but when she looked up she realized it wasn't Luke who had pulled her into the corner but Ian.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Not what you're thinking." He lied smoothly. "I wanted to ask you some questions about the ladies here."

"Oh." Meg replied the disappointment in her voice. She told herself she was distressed because it was Ian who had cornered her and not Luke. "Who would you like to know about."

Ian pointed to several ladies and Meg recognized most of them and gave him some basic information. He then pointed to a redhead in the corner and Meg's mouth dropped open.

"The nerve of some people." She grumbled.

Ian frowned slightly. "Who's that?"

"Elena Ruiz, she's a whore."

"Meghan!" Ian said, shocked that she had such a temper. "I didn't know you could hate like that."

Meg looked up at him questioningly then laughed softly as she realized what he thought. "No, that's her occupation. She works at the bordello, and she's after Luke."

"Wow, that's tough." Ian replied softly. "Looks like she found him."

Meghan looked across the room and sure enough, Elena was beside Luke. Without hesitation she made her way across the room, and Ian followed closely behind. "Hello Elena so nice of you to come to my home."

The Spanish girl raised an eyebrow. "You're looking chunky, Meghan."

Luke groaned, clasped Meghan's hand in his and tried to pull her away before they caused a scene. "Come on Sweetheart let's have a dance."

Meg stayed rooted to the spot. "It seems your costume is rather unique, who are you supposed to be?"

Elena smiled wickedly and arched an eyebrow. "Why Meghan, I'm you."

Ian's mouth dropped open as did Luke's. Both men turned to Meg and found that she had gone pale and had a hand to her stomach. Ian grabbed Luke's arm tightly. "Why don't you take Meg out of here and get some air she doesn't look well."

This time when Luke pulled Meg's hand she followed him away. He took her outside and wrapped her trembling form in his arms.

"I want her out of my house, Luke. Please get her out."

"I will Sweetheart, I will." He said softly. They stood there for a few minutes until Meghan had calmed considerably. When they reentered the festivities, Elena was nowhere to be seen and Meg sighed in relief.

"How 'bout that dance now?" Luke asked. Meg nodded and allowed her husband to lead her onto the dance floor.

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