Epilogue

Jiminy Cricket considered himself a tremendously lucky man. He had a job where he felt useful and like he made a difference. He lived in a town where people greeted each other by name in the streets. He came from a place where there was no indoor plumbing, central heating or penicillin but life had taken him to a place where all these magical things existed. He'd traded the magic of potions and spells for a world of magic such as electricity and triple glazing. To him, who'd not had the greatest luck when it came to traditional magic, this was a pretty good trade. Further on, he had a great dog that came with him wherever he went and who rarely chewed on anything important. He had a sweet house filled with things he liked and that gave him peace of mind at the end of the day. He was healthy, strong and in this world, only forty-nine years old according to his driver's license (which beat the hundred and something he suspected was his real age).

These were all comforts to him but the real blessing in his life was his family. His beautiful, courageous, intelligent wife, who he to this day could not believe was really his, and the three children she'd given him (although he'd overheard her promise their daughter that she wouldn't always be the youngest of the family, so he supposed it would soon be four). He had never imagined he'd be anything but an honorary father to Pinocchio and now he had three children of his own.

Flynn, Rufus and Merida. Flynn, the oldest, all of five years and the image of his mother, with dark hair and pale green eyes, liked to do anything he wasn't allowed to do. He'd decided last week he was going to grow up to be a pirate. Rufus, the quiet middle child, looked more like Jiminy himself, with sandy blonde hair that shone with copper when the sun struck it. It was permanently tangled even though he preferred quieter pastimes like reading and drawing to more athletic activities. He had decided he was going to be a librarian like his idol Belle. Merida, his youngest, and only daughter, was just three but didn't let that slow her down as she followed her brothers around wherever they went, her little mouth pursed in annoyance as her legs were too short to let her keep up with them. She had a wild fall of bright red corkscrew curls that her mother adored brushing and tying up with pretty ribbons and that always ended up falling out or tangling as Merida rarely paid the ribbons any heed. She had the green eyes of her mother and he was already worried how many heads she would turn when she grew up. He loved them more than he had ever thought possible and the time he spent with them was the most precious he had.

Still, however much they loved them, once a year they sent their children off to Granny or James and Snow for a week. The one week a year his lovely wife was in heat. Then there was nothing but them, their need for each other and the still overwhelming urge to be close. It had been six years since the fateful night he had gone to the Diner to "help" and still their frantic, urgent need for one another hadn't ceased. Sometimes he wondered if it ever would. He hoped not, but he had a hard time picturing how they'd be able to keep up their rather vigorous bedroom activities after turning seventy. But it certainly wouldn't be for lack of trying. With a smile he opened the door and stepped into their house.

The text had arrived at lunch time and as usual he had been careful about booking appointments in November so he'd been able to just smile widely at the screen and reach for his umbrella.

"It's arrived. Snow just picked up the kids. Hurry home or I'll start without you, R."

After checking the ground floor and finding it empty he climbed the stairs two at a time, passing the pictures on the wall. The one of their engagement morning, taken with Ruby's phone, her face beaming and him looking goofily stunned that she'd said yes and down in the corner, Pongo, the ring box still attached to his collar, was doggy grinning. The next picture was from their wedding day with Red looking absolutely stunning in her white gown. And what had been on under it had been just as good. The third picture was taken at last summer's town picnic, the whole family sitting on the blanket Granny had made for the purpose. She and Marco were sharing tiramisu to the left and in the middle were he and Ruby, her face turned towards him as she laughed at something he'd said while he was looking into the camera with a smile. His arm was curled around her waist and her hand rested o his knee, her wedding band catching the sun. In front of them were the children. Flynn, grinning widely, his arm around Pongo and next to him Rufus who was sneakily feeding the Dalmatian a piece of his sandwich. Merida was laughing, her piece of cake mostly stuck to her face. Past the pictures on the stairs he reached the bedroom door and opening it found Red brushing her hair in front of the full-length mirror. She was wearing a msall scarp of lace passing for underwear, heels and a deep bottle green corset, cinched around her waist that was still trim after the three children she had given him. The breasts that had fed them rose softly against the fabric and the arms that had carried them spread open in welcome.

"I really am the luckiest man alive." Her lips twitched and she tilted her head, her eyes already roaming over him.

"You're about to be."

The End

A/N: Thank you all for reading this far and especially to those of you who reviewed, it means the world to me and encourages me to keep going. I hope you have enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it. It was completely unexpected that my exercise in writing smut would end up being one of the longest stories I have ever written.

I am working on several more Red Cricket things at the moment (which is one of the reasons why this one has been so slow to be updated!). If you want to read more of my stuff until I post those I have a second (or should I call it a first?) profile on this page, search for Sannikex and you'll find me. Again, thank you all for reading and reviewing! S. D.