Five days later, Liberty, Elijah and Billy were all waiting in the airport; the two men were looking bored and tired and Liberty looked as if she couldn’t contain her excitement. Her legs were jiggling up and down as she sat and she was tapping her fingernails against her jean-clad knees.

“You’re making me nervous,” Elijah muttered, covering his mouth as he yawned. “And remind me why I had to come out at this god-forsaken hour.”

“It’s six AM,” Billy answered, looking perplexed. “You used to have to get up earlier than this for LOTR.”

“Yes, but that was when I HAD to. Not because I WANTED to.”

“I see the distinction,” Billy replied. “But don’t you WANT to see Dom?”

“I suppose,” he admitted begrudgingly. “However, there’s only going to be a lot of kissing and groping and stuff.”

“You think Billy and Dom won’t be able to keep their hands off each other until we get back to the apartment?” Liberty asked honestly; Elijah gave her an ‘oh please’ look, which she giggled at.

Elijah yawned and slugged down half of his coffee, “What time does your plane leave?”

Billy sighed, “Tomorrow.”

“You don’t want to go home?” Liberty asked, turning in her seat to look at him.

“Not especially. I’m having far too much fun with you.” She smiled at him. “But it’ll be good to be in Scotland again,” Billy continued. “And then I’ve got to finish up filming for Far Side of the World so I’ll be busy.” He turned to a grumpier looking Elijah, “What time does your plane leave?”

“Tonight,” he answered. “I’m all packed and stuff, I just have to get back to this lovely airport and take off back to LA.”

“I wish we could all just live together,” Liberty mumbled, resting her head on her hand.

“Like The Brady Bunch,” Billy put in. “That’d be fun. I could be Bobby.”

“No, you couldn’t,” Elijah argued. “You’re too old, Bobby’s the youngest.”

“Oh, so YOU’D be Bobby and I’d be Mr. Brady.”

Elijah shrugged, “Or Greg.”

“Ooooh, yeah, Greg. That makes Dom, Peter! HA HA HA HA HA!” He clutched a stitch in his side, still laughing. “And Libs can be…er…Jan?”

Elijah nodded, “Yes, because Raya would be Marcia.”

“What about Orlando?”

“Davy Jones,” Elijah chuckled, his face lighting up as the tiredness and grouchiness ebbed away. “Who could be Alice? And Cindy?”

“Liv could be Cindy,” Billy answered seriously. “I’m not too sure about Alice. Maybe Viggo. YEAH! VIG!”

Elijah and Billy erupted into fits of guffaws that made Liberty just stare at them with a silly smile on her face until she felt a brushing on her shoulder and turned around to swat at the fly that was probably there to annoy her; instead, she ended up being face to face with a pair of leather pants.

She frowned in confusion and allowed her eyes to travel upwards; now she saw leather pants and a taught blue t-shirt. After several seconds of silence (except for the boys’ laughing) her eyes met grayish blue ones and a cheeky grin; she jumped from her chair, screaming, “DOM!”

A huge grin spread across his face and he dropped his bag at his feet; she climbed over her own seat to be in the line of chairs on his side and threw her arms around his neck, nearly making him tumble over as he lost his balance. As he kissed her, she felt as if she could never get any happier than this.

Then she pulled away from him, looking serene. “You’re wearing leather pants.”

“I am, indeed,” he nodded, not taking his eyes off hers.

“That’s going to make getting back to the apartment a really hard thing.”

“I counted on that,” Dom answered, grinning even larger. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to wait any longer.”

“You can wait another half hour, for God’s sake,” Elijah muttered, shaking his head at them and downing the rest of his coffee; Billy stood next to him looking extremely happy. Liberty stood aside as Billy, Elijah and Dom all hugged manly-like and all of them began talking nonstop.

“Priya flushed my cigarettes---”

“I’ve now perfected the potato song---”

“Liberty wouldn’t let us watch Pop Idol---”

“Or drink any lager on the job---”

“She kept moping---”

“I did not---”

“You did, too, you were a complete wreck to live with---”

“That is NOT true---”

“No, it’s really not, I’m lying---”

“It’s good to be back,” Dom laughed, slipping his arm around Liberty’s waist and picking up his discarded bag. The four of them then began walking towards baggage claim.

“Nice trousers, Dom,” Billy commented, nodding his approval. “I notice it has the same effect on birds as my kilt does.” He nodded toward a pair of giggling teenagers who were gawking at the group of them, pointing at his pants and then whispering to one another.

“Hardly,” Elijah muttered, half laughing. “I don’t see any ‘birds’ passing out from fright like they do when you wear your kilt.” Billy opened his mouth to respond, looking very offended, but Dom cut him off.

“They’re from the set. Tara allowed me to bring them home with me. Oh, she also sent you this.” He pulled a Polaroid from his pocket and handed it over to Liberty; she picked her head off his shoulder and stared, open mouthed at it.

“What is it? Let me see,” Billy jumped to her side and looked over her shoulder; his mouth dropped open as well. “Dominic. You’re wearing leather trousers and nothing else. Where are your sneakers?”

“God, you look hot,” Liberty breathed, a hand now on her mouth. Dom tipped his head back and laughed. “Tara is now my hero.”

“She thought you’d say something like that,” Dom laughed, shrugging. “I do my best, you know. They sprayed this fake tan stuff on me so my chest wasn’t so pasty pale.”

“Your chest isn’t pasty pale,” Liberty stated, slipping the picture into her pocketbook.

“It is compared to mine,” Billy commented lightly, a spring in his step. He ignored the looks of doubtfulness from Elijah and Liberty. “I should just stay at the airport and wait for my flight.”

“It leaves tomorrow, though,” Liberty pointed out. “If we leave here now, we can all go out and celebrate.”

“Oh, NOW she wants to go out,” Billy rolled his eyes theatrically. “She wouldn’t while you were gone,” he added to Dom.

“That’s my girl,” he approved, kissing the top of her head. She snuggled into him, sighing in contentment. “Apparently, you’ve missed me.”

“Obviously,” she said, her voice muffled. “You haven’t missed me?”

“No,” Dom replied, shrugging. “I was too busy being a Sex God to think about the little people.”

“Oh, shut up,” she replied playfully.

“Can you do me a favor?” Elijah asked as Dom walked up to watch the bags and to find his own. Liberty nodded. “Could you and Dom keep the nauseating stuff to a minimum when we go for ROTK pick-ups in two weeks?”

“I don’t see why not as we do so aim to please.”

Billy let out a snort of laughter, “Well. At least it’s only two weeks away from you. Though you make me ill, I do like being around you.”

Liberty smiled at him and gave him a quick hug, “Aww, that’s sort of sweet, in an odd way.”

“Do you think Raya will be able to go?” Elijah asked suddenly, as if something had dawned on him. “What with being pregnant and all?”

“I’m not sure what she’ll do,” Liberty stated evenly. “Though I hope she can make it, because we need to schedule some time to get my dress made.”

“She’s due, I believe, in two weeks,” Billy commented, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “She’ll probably come. I mean, it’ll probably pop out before we’re set to leave anyway…OB has the most luck of anyone. Lucky bastard.”

Dom walked back up to them holding his bags; Elijah took one from him and the group left the airport where they got into Liberty’s jeep and drove back to the Monaghan apartment.

*

After toasting everything under the sun at the local pub, the three of them took Elijah back to the airport with all his luggage; his plane for LA would leave at 9pm, and though they were all sad to see him go, they’d be seeing him in two weeks at the ROTK pick-up’s anyway.

Liberty sighed, “It’s so weird not having Elijah around all the time. I got so used to it.”

“Yes, when you and he were kissing all the time for no reason,” Billy remarked, leaning his head back against the seat as Dom drove them back to the apartment.

Liberty looked back at him, awestricken, “That was a long time ago.”

He picked his head up and looked at her, “How long ago was it?”

Dom’s knuckles where he gripped the steering wheel were turning white and he muttered, “3 years,” in a voice that sounded remarkably distant.

Liberty glanced anxiously at him and then looked back at Billy, whose eyebrows were raised. She tried her hand at explaining, “We’ve never really talked about that…period of time. We talked about it then, of course, but not since. Really.”

“Every time I bring it up you change the subject and every time I breech it to Lij, he stuffs food in his mouth so he doesn’t have to talk.”

Billy and Liberty both looked at Dom, Liberty was clearly dreading talking about the subject. She carefully laid a hand on his arm, “You know it didn’t mean anything, right? You’re not still all upset about it, are you?”

“Why should I be?” He asked in a voice that was more accusatory than he’d intended.

“I’m sorry I brought it up,” Billy apologized, rolling his window down in hopes that some of the tension might clear.

“No, don’t be,” Liberty said. “We obviously need to talk about this, so…it’s good you said something.” She turned back to Dom, “It was never anything with me and Elijah, Dom. Not like it is with you and me.”

“I just don’t understand it, that’s all.” He sighed heavily, relaxing his back and hands as he turned into the parking lot of the apartment building.

Billy opened his door, “I’m going to go upstairs and pack.” Liberty nodded, handing him her keys out the window; he gave them an encouraging smile and then trotted into the building and out of sight.

Liberty turned back to Dom, “I don’t know what to say.”

“There isn’t much you can say, I’m afraid.”

She sighed, “You know Elijah doesn’t have feelings for me, right? I know he told you so.” She added, “Billy told me,” as an afterthought because he looked at her imploringly. “I don’t have any feelings for him either. I love him, but as a friend. As a brother. Just like you love him.”

His fingertips brushed against her hand and then he looked at her, “I know.”

“If you know then why are you acting like you think we’re going to run off together at any moment?”

Without speaking, he shrugged and looked out his window as rain began to drizzle down from the blackened sky.

Liberty leaned over towards him, her lips mere inches from his ear, “I love YOU, you know.”

“I know,” he whispered. “I just wish you had from square one.”

She pulled away, tipped her head back against the seat and let out a huge laugh. “You idiot,” she chuckled; he looked at her, amusement and confusion written across his face. “It was always you, I was only too blind to realize, too stupid to see. Elijah was what you could call ‘comfortable.’ It was right after asshole Tyler, right before Mr. Right. That’s all there is too it.”

“Who is this Mr. Right?” Dom asked, an eyebrow raised. “I would like to disembowel him.”

“It’s you,” she laughed, brushing her lips against his cheek. “It’s always been you. And you know what?”

“Hmmm?” Dom turned to face her. “What?”

“It’ll always BE you.” The way she said it, her tone of voice, it all made him really believe it this time; he’d pushed feelings to the back of his mind, feelings about she and Elijah when they’d first met and how he’d been crazy about her since the first moment he’d seen her. He’d forgotten the insecurities about her suddenly wanting Elijah, until now. However, when she spoke so sincerely, they vanished. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him and pressed kisses to her temple, her hair, her cheeks, her lips.

“I’m sorry,” he said into her hair. “I didn’t mean to be…”

“Stupid,” she finished for him, grinning. She put her forehead to his, “It’s okay. Just trust me, all right? Like I trust you.”

“You do trust me, then.”

“After all we’ve been through, I’d be crazy not to.”

Dom laughed fondly, “It’s good to be home. It’s good to be back with you. Next time I leave, I’m taking you with me, even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming.”

“You won’t have to,” she promised. “I’ll go willingly.”

The two of them went up the stairs to their apartment and met Billy on the way down. He explained in a rush, “I have to go get Elijah at the airport, then drive to the hospital. Orlando left a message on the machine…see you later!”

He rushed down the stairs and out of sight. Liberty looked at Dom with an anxious expression on her face, “Do you think everyone’s all right?”

“Yeah, I don’t see why not. Look at it this way,” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, “---we’ve got the place to ourselves now.”

Tumbling into the apartment in a tangle of arms, legs and clothes being thrown off, Liberty and Dom stumbled into the master bedroom; she was down to just her bra and knickers and he had managed to discard himself of his shirt, jacket and shoes, but not his pants. He undid them, unzipped the leather pants, and started to push them down off his legs when he suddenly stopped and tensed.

Liberty, laying below him on the bed, frowned, “What’s the matter?”

Dom pushed and tugged with all his might, but couldn’t get the pants to move. “My leather trousers. They’re…they’re stuck.”

“Oh dear God,” she sat up and tried to help him push them off, but they wouldn’t budge. “This happened on Friends once,” she grunted, pushing harder. “But he was pretty screwed. He couldn’t get them back ON.”

“I’d rather have that trouble right now,” he laughed, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “What are we supposed to do?”

“Well, you don’t need them off---”

“No, I know, but that would be uncomfortable as I can barely move in them now as it is. Plus, what if they never come off?”

“Of course they’ll come off eventually.” She sat up on her knees, cupping his chin with her hands. “We might have to cut them.”

Dom screeched and began pushing more furiously at the pants that bound his legs. “But I look so hot,” he whined. “I don’t want to ruin them!”

Liberty sighed, “Dom, it‘s been so long.”

“I know,“ he moaned. “Trust me, I don’t want this to stop us---” The phone cut him off and he groaned. He waddled over to the bedside table and picked up the extension, “’Lo. Orlando, I’m a little busy…What? No. Billy’s just flown out of here, but I’ve just gotten home and it’s been THREE months since I’ve seen Liberty and my trousers won’t come off. Stop laughing, it isn’t funny. If you were sex deprived, I wouldn’t be laughing at you. Well, okay, you’re right. Maybe I would. He’s picking up Elijah at the airport and bringing him to the hospital. No, I don’t know why. No, I didn’t check the machine. I was a little busy--- ORLANDO. WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON!? Yes, there IS need to holler! I haven’t had sex for three months! Yes, I KNOW I’ve gone that long before, but this is freaking different!” He blew out a long breath, angrily, and waited. “Raya’s in labor? Then why are you ringing? Why aren’t you in there with her? Ooooooh, Priya. Of course. Where are your parents? I don’t know. No. No. Yeah, all right. I’m sure they’ll be there soon, though. Can’t you give us at least a half hour? Or ten minutes? I’ll make it quick.”

“How romantic,” Liberty laughed, rolling her eyes and flopping back against the pillows. She reached down to the floor and pulled her jeans back on, though Dom was shaking his head at her.

“Yes, yes, we’re on our way. Calm the bloody hell down. You’ve done this before. Yes, dad, I’ll keep it in my pants. Thank you. Good bye. Stop worrying, we’ll be there in two seconds. All right. Bye.” He hung up the phone and sighed, “Raya’s in labor, Priya’s by herself in the waiting area and Orlando’s having a coronary. We need to go to the hospital. I told him I was sex deprived, but he wouldn’t listen. It’s as if he doesn’t care.”

She falsely gasped, “He doesn’t care about our sex life on the day that his second child is being born? How rude and selfish.” Liberty got up, crossed to the closet and dug a sweater out to pull over her head.

“Why are you getting dressed?” Dom whined, “We were supposed to be shedding clothes.”

“There’s a baby being born and our friends need us,” she tossed him a shirt. “We need to go. We’ll finish this later, I promise. Frankly, I didn’t want to stop either, but we haven’t got much choice.”

“What about my trousers?”

“You’ll have to wear them.” She threw some socks on and then slipped her feet into some shoes. He slid his t-shirt over his head.

“What about the pretty nurses who will be all over me because of them?”

“You’ll have to ignore them.” Liberty pulled her long hair into a ponytail, tossed a sweatshirt at Dom and then left the room. “It’s eleven o’clock, all the pretty nurses will be gone home to their boyfriends. You’ll be left with the graveyard shift nurses.”

He emerged from the bedroom wearing his leather pants, sneakers and a baggy Manchester United sweatshirt, his hair all over the place and his eyes bloodshot and tired. “All the mean old women, then?”

Liberty nodded, took his hand and pulled him out of the apartment.

***

The scene in the waiting area was much different than it was at Priya’s birth. It was just Billy half asleep in a chair with Priya on his lap, coloring in a coloring book and humming to herself something that sounded like “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and Elijah slumped against the chair beside them, snoring.

“How did you get here so quickly?” Liberty asked Billy, taking a seat across from them.

“Drove as fast as the car would allow,” he replied, yawning. “Elijah was waiting outside the airport for me with all his luggage and stuff. He said Orlando had called him on the cell and told him not to go anywhere. You know what? Elijah’s this one’s Godfather.”

“How’d that happen?” Dom wondered, picking up a magazine from the table and glancing at the sleeping Elijah.

Billy shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe Raya and OB felt bad about his relationship with this one.” He pointed not-so-casually at Priya. “Since he’s so scared of her and all.”

“I’m surprised she’s not sleeping,” Liberty commented, relaxing in her chair and covering up a yawn.

“She will be,” Billy replied surely. He motioned towards Dom’s pants, “Your trousers giving you trouble? Orlando muttered something about you being angry you couldn’t get any.”

Liberty put her face in her hands, “For God’s sake.” She looked up, “Prie, do you want to go to the cafeteria and get something to drink?”

“Snack?” She asked, nodding and hopping off Billy’s lap. She put her coloring book and crayons neatly on the table and took Liberty’s outstretched hand. They started to walk off, but Priya stopped and turned around; she walked over to Elijah and started patting the pockets of his jacket. He awoke with a start, glancing around and then his eyes fell on the little girl who was pulling a cigarette pack out of his pocket.

“No!” Elijah gasped, standing up. “I swear that was my last pack and there’s only one there!”

Priya shook her head and began feeling the pockets of his pants. Elijah looked up at Dom with an oddly dignified expression on his face, “I feel like I’ve been dealing drugs.”

“She must have seen your bloodshot eyes,” Billy commented lightly.

“That comes from not sleeping for about…let’s see…56 hours.”

Priya, satisfied, found no more cigarette packets; she took Liberty’s hand once more and led her out of the room.

“I would go after her,” Elijah sighed, sliding back into his seat. “But as I can’t smoke here anyway, there’d be no point.”

It was one in the morning when Orlando briskly walked into the room with a proud ‘I’m a father’ look on his face, “Well,” he said stoutly. “We have another one.”

“Another Priya?” Elijah asked, sounding sad.

Orlando gave him a look, “No, we have a little Orlando.”

Dom nodded approvingly, “Nice one, OB. You can teach him how to shoot CG arrows.”

Ignoring this, Orlando turned to Liberty who was sprawled across three chairs with Priya laying in her arms, fast asleep. “Awww, she’s so sweet. I wonder how she’ll like her little brother.”

“That possibly depends on how many names he’s got,” Elijah remarked, sitting up straight. “Give it to us, Bloom. How many have I got to remember?”

“And you DO have to remember,” Orlando said, smiling. “Because you’re his Godfather.”

Despite himself, Elijah grinned happily and stood up to give Orlando a hug. After hugging all of the men congregated there, he scooped his daughter out of Liberty’s arms and said, “His name is William Turner Andrew James Bloom. Raya’s doing brilliantly, she asked that I bring Priya in before I take her home.” Liberty gave him a quick hug and then he disappeared down the hall again, with Priya sleeping in his arms.

“His name is William,” Billy sniffed. “After ME!”

Dom laughed, “William Turner doesn’t ring a bell to you, does it?”

“Oh, bloody Orlando,” Billy cursed. “That’s his character in Pirates! I‘ll have to have a word with him.” He sniffed again, “I’m going to call him Will, anyway. And possibly teach him how to do karate.”

Dom sighed and sat back down, “Another Bloom. She'll be pregnant again within the week"

Liberty rolled her eyes and shook her head, but said nothing.

“Give her at least after pickups are done,” Billy stated evenly.

“We should bet,” Dom suggested.

“No,” Liberty said strongly. “You shouldn’t.”

Billy ignored her, “I give her two months.”

“You really shouldn’t,” Liberty warned, her hand on Dom’s arm.

“I'm going with just one month,” Dom said. “They can't hold out longer than that.”

“Though you are right, I also know that you failed human anatomy.”

Dom looked at him, “What's that got anything to do with anything?”

Liberty gave Elijah a ‘help me’ look but he shook his head, wanting nothing to do with any of it. She picked up a brochure beside her seat and handed it to Dom, “Look, Dom. A pregnancy leaflet.”

Billy put his hand up, “Wait, before you open that, is it a deal?”

He nodded, “Sure whatever.” He opened the leaflet and flipped through. “DAMMIT!”

“I tried to tell you,” Liberty said, shaking her head.

“At least we didn’t bet any money,” Dom replied, slipping the leaflet into its appointed spot on the wall.

“That’s not fair, you owe me money.”

“I do not.”

“You do. We made a bet.”

“But we didn’t specify any amount.”

“You bastard.”

“YOU bastard.”

“Shut up, you two,” Elijah muttered tiredly. He stood up, “I want to go see my Godson.”

“What bit his arse?” Billy asked, sighing.

“The Godfather bug,” Dom answered blandly.