"we were gonna live in a treehouse and make babies,

and we were gonna bury our ex-lovers and their ghosts,

baby we were made of gold"

~ Ane Brun - The Treehouse Song ~

The sun beamed down harshly on South Dakota in June, and Myka was thankful for the good weather as she watched Helena's biceps flex while she worked. "You're being a perv." The brunette grinned over her glass of coke, her eyes peering over her oversized yellow sunglasses.

"So are you." Leena smirked. Claudia looked unbelievable. Dressed in a tank top and a pair of jeans, the caretaker clutched the branch above her and hoisted herself up. It was just as good as watching a beautiful person slowly undressing on TV. Better even.

Myka chortled at that and moved her head to the side. "Okay… I am." She sucked on the glass lightly as she watched her wife, harnessed to the great old elm tree in the garden.

"Mommy, can I have one of these?" Lil's bare feet pattered over the decking and she held up a popsicle.

"Huh? Sure…" Myka tilted her sunglasses down and bit her lip as Helena swiped back her hair irritably. She had no idea what she'd just agreed to, but she couldn't quite tear her eyes away.

The three year old pouted slightly and looked to Leena for confirmation.

"What have you got there, honey?" Leena chirped and squirmed slightly before sitting up.

Lil held up the popsicle in her grubby fingers with pleading eyes. "Oh sure," the innkeeper smiled. "Want me to open it for you?" Lil nodded and gave a gleeful smile. "Say, you want to go and bring Elliott one too?"

Lillian nodded again and dashed back into the inn to raid the freezer once more. Leena looked down at her son who was playing with his toys on the grass. She chuckled and shook her head. "You're terrible."

"I'm…" Myka paused and squinted her eyes. "Okay… I'm a little bad."

Leena smirked and watched as Lil came dashing out of the back door again now holding two unopened popsicles and her own already melting stick of flavoured ice.

"One for me?" Leena smiled and Lil nodded.

"And me?" Myka asked, crossing her arms after she put her diet coke on the table.

"Oh…" Lil bit on the end of her finger and giggled.

"None for me?" Myka feigned outrage. "Really?"

"Here, you have mine." Leena grinned and opened Elliott's. "Sweetie, come here…" She waved the boy over and he looked up, obviously distracted. "Lil's got something for you."

He finally pottered over on podgy legs and held on to Leena's knee for support. "Here, you want this?"

"Mine?" He murmured.

"Yeah, here…" Leena grinned and placed the stick in her son's hand, watching indulgently as he licked it and hummed in appreciation. "Nice?" He nodded and put his arms in the air, still clutching the popsicle for dear life. Leena scooped the 18month old up and let him cuddle up to her.

He was a surprisingly clingy toddler, which wasn't so much a problem until they tried to take him to day care. He had bawled his eyes out and Claudia had bent down and told him that he needed to be brave and she knew it was scary, but he was going to make friends and have fun. He'd only understood half of it, but his mother's calming influence and utter faith in him made him more confident.
Leena often stayed at home as much as she could, but as Lil began to actually want to go to day care, Elliott would become jealous and in the end, he wanted to go too. Now though, he wanted snuggle time with his mama. She wedged him in between herself and the cushions of the garden loveseat that she was sat on, sighing when his head fell to her chest. "Someone's tired," she murmured, threading her fingers through his curly hair. "Myka, pass me the sun lotion?"

Myka smiled, taking a quiet moment to watch the mother and child before she reached over and picked up the bottle. Leena curled her lips up in thanks and squeezed a little onto her palm before rubbing in into his head and face. He whined a little but was far too exhausted to kick up much of a fuss. "See Mommy up in the tree?" She pointed and he nodded tiredly. She continued to rub his head, smiling instinctively as he place his hand on her chest as if to keep her there.

She winced and plucked the abandoned popsicle from his hand, saving herself from the mess, and plopped it in an empty glass on the table as he fell asleep. Myka thinned her lips. "You want me to put him down?"

"Sure," Leena hefted him up after he was fully unconscious and let out a groan. "He's getting too heavy."

Myka chuckled and lifted Elliott up herself, bringing him into the B&B. Coming back with two glasses of ice tea, she handed one to Leena and pulled her own daughter onto her lap, sipping slowly. "You okay?" She frowned.

Leena winced and leaned back, pushing herself up in discomfort. "She's kicking like crazy," she held onto her abdomen, heavy with child and wriggled around a little more, trying to get comfortable.

"Want me to get Claud?" Myka asked, placing a hand on her friend's arm.

"No, no…" Leena took deep breaths. "Just… give me a second." She tried to calm her breathing. "Oh wow," she whispered. "Easy," she soothed, standing up and moving out of the sun. Another ridiculous kick and she had to pant for air. "God…"

"Still going?" Myka asked. Leena nodded. Lillian whined and wriggled to get off of Myka's lap and did so, running off in a moment of hyperactivity with her popsicle. "Can I?" Myka asked.

"Sure…" Leena leaned back, watching as the agent settled her hands against her belly. She hissed at another kick. "Hey, Claud?" She called out then huffed at another kick. "Jesus!"

Myka chuckled and gave Claudia another shout. "Hey, you need to come and have a look at this!"

"Umm," Claudia looked down at herself and glanced at HG, rolling her eyes. "Kinda tied to a tree right now, Leena!" She carried on hammering at the branch in front of her.

When Helena had come to her with blueprints of a treehouse design for the old tree outside, Claudia had actually squealed. It was magnificent, and as soon as they got a day off with good weather, the two inventors got to work. It was only a quarter of the way done, but it was looking pretty awesome actually.

Leena hissed again and tried to stand up. "I uhh… I think I need to go lie down," she murmured.

"You alright?" Myka was quick to grab her. "Are you having contractions?"

"What?" Leena shook her head, waving a dismissive hand. "No, no… Though I think I'll bet all my money on this little girl becoming a soccer star." She cupped her lower belly and stroked with a thumb. It wouldn't calm the child inside her, but it was worth a try.

Leena was 27 weeks pregnant with her second child and fed up with it already. Okay, no that was a lie. Today she was fed up with it. Elliott had never been this bad and she held in another grunt as her little girl decided today was exercise day. "Oh my god, she won't stop." she half laughed, half sobbed.

"How do you usually calm it down?" Myka asked as she settled the woman on the couch in the living room.

"Claudia, usually…" Leena winced. A kick to rib and she felt like her child was actually trying to kill her. "Stubborn asshole." she grit her teeth.

"Want me to cut the rope on the tree? That'll get her down…" Myka wrinkled her nose, looking behind her as a curious Lillian toddled in with sticky hands.

"Mommy, what's the matter?"

"The baby's wriggling a lot," Myka smiled and scooped the child up, immediately regretting it when her daughter's palm stuck to her forearm.

"Oh fff…" Leena cut herself off just in time and grabbed Myka's other forearm. "Claudia… get her, chop her down, cut the rope…anything or I'm going to end up in hospital with a cracked rib at this rate." She squinted her eyes shut and Myka nodded hastily before dashing back outside and setting Lil down.

Myka briefly glanced to see what Lil was doing and after finding her perfectly safe playing with Elliott's toy cars, she approached the tree where Helena was currently dangling from a high branch with a belt harness. They had been so invested in the project, Claudia had transported one of the cherry pickers from the Warehouse over to the garden. "Claud," Myka called up and watched Claudia climb onto the picker and untie herself.

"I know, I know, I'm coming." Claudia sighed. "She hurting?"

"Yeah," Myka nodded, slightly surprised that she didn't need to persuade the stubborn woman. "Pretty badly actually…" Claudia lowered herself with the controls giving Myka time to share a flirty simper with her wife. Helena gave an unabashed grin and winked before getting back to work. Encompassing a wide smile, Myka bounced on her toes, pursing her lips to try and stop herself from getting overwhelmed. How a 165 year old could be that sexy… She cleared her throat and rubbed her neck as Claudia caught up with her on the ground. Pulling off her hardware gloves, the inventor wiped a layer for sweat from her forehead with her forearm and practically marched into the house.

"Hey," she soothed to Leena who was bracing both her elbows on the arm rest.

Leena grit her teeth and closed her eyes. "Make her stop," she whimpered.

"Oh hey," Claudia hushed her, placing both hands on her wife's stomach. "Woah… she's rearranging the furniture again, huh?"

Leena let out a pained laugh, shaking her head. "Don't joke." she hissed. "Please don't make me laugh."

"Shh, okay." Claudia waved a hand to get Leena to lie further down the couch. "Let's go for a walk. See if we can get her to sleep." She kept her hands on Leena's tummy, smiling instinctively when the baby began to move around and kick. What she wasn't expecting was for tears to roll down the sides of Leena's cheeks. "Oh hey, it's okay…" she watched the innkeeper cover her eyes with a hand. She let out a grunt of frustration but Claudia continued to rub gently. "Sweetie, come on. Let's go for a walk." She took Leena's hand, smiling when the woman eased herself up, clenching her palm hard.

Myka watched the scene and the couple leave the house, feeling quite relieved she didn't need to do that again.

They had tried again, but after a year and a half of no luck of a lasting pregnancy with either agent, Myka and Helena decided to undergo adoption proceedings. At first, they had worried that there were too many children to bring up considering the danger of the job, particularly when Leena announced she was pregnant again. They were already on the waiting list, and had initially panicked, but after a few calming words from Claudia explaining that they had each others' backs, particularly where childcare was concerned, Myka and Helena decided to keep themselves on the list.

Leena had begun to calm down as she walked, wincing occasionally when the baby moved inside her. "How're you doing?" Claudia enquired as they walked around the cornfield casually.

"Hurts, Claud. Really hurts." Leena sighed and practically dug her heels into the ground when another kick to her lower abdomen. "Oww fuck…" She looked up, trying to relax when Claudia wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "You know how Elliott's quiet?"

"Like you?" Claudia smirked, knowing where this was going. "Ohh yeah, I kinda gathered you were going to put the blame on me." She hugged Leena closer and rubbed her shoulder as they walked.

"Yeah well… it is your fault." Leena snapped, closing her eyes as she was guided around the field. "'Let's try it out for old time's sake,' you said. 'We'll use a condom', you said."

Claudia just sniggered. "And are you regretting the outcome?" She asked, fearing the answer slightly.

"At the moment yes." Leena looked over to see the heartbreak on Claudia's face before she quickly put it right. "When she falls asleep, no." She turned in the woman's arms and gave a peck to the caretaker's lips as an apology for being grouchy.

"Mmm," Claudia hummed against her lips and brought her hand up to clutch at Leena's cheek. "You know what else we could do to calm her down?"

"Don't you dare. I'm not having sex in a field." Leena rolled her eyes.

"Why not? There's plenty of space… the grass is too high for anybody to see… What do you say?"

"No." Leena huffed. Another kick followed by what felt like a little ballet twirl. She cupped her tummy and frowned. "If I get bitten by a snake or any insects, I am most definitely allowed to kill you," she said and with that, pulled off her blouse, her bra and lay them on the floor.

Claudia's eyes widened as Leena lay herself down on top of her clothes and followed a few seconds later when she finally managed to wet her lips. She landed safely between her partner's legs and leaned down for a kiss, smiling when Leena suddenly became amorous, wrapping her arms around her neck and pulling her down tightly now that her clothes had disappeared. And that, of course, made Claudia very happy indeed.