"I need you too."
He stood and led her to the bed, where they both undressed before joining each other under the covers and making love. For the first time, Blythe gave herself completely without any sense of impending loss, like she'd always had before.
They had the rest of their future together.
Later, warm and cocooned in the covers, while she lay on his chest, they planned that future.
"I don't want a long engagement," he said.
"Okay." She smiled. "I want to spend more time in Tapt Oyer together, with your family."
"Done."
She got up and he rose as well, their bodies moved toward one another.
She stopped when they almost touched and looked up into his beloved grey eyes. "I want to adopt sooner than later."
"Yes?"
"We've had our time to get to know each other." She wrapped her arms around his waist. "We don't need to cement anything before bringing children into our relationship."
"No, it is all nicely cemented." He sounded very happy about that.
Since she was too, Blythe wasn't even tempted to tease him. "Now, it's time to build our family."
"I like the sound of that."'
"So do I."
They would have to figure out the logistics of how to make her career work with being part of the royal family, but Tor made clear he expected her to continue her travel show, only he would be traveling with her when possible.
Blythe loved the sound of that. Almost as much as she melted hearing him whisper words of love in her ear as she dozed off to sleep.
Blythe talked to Janice the next day, telling the sister of her heart everything. Far from being angry with her, Janice reacted with compassion and understanding to Blythe's news about her infertility and how it had driven Blythe to keep up a façade of friends with benefits even after she realized her feelings for Tor were entrenched much deeper in her heart.
"That must have been really hard to find out. People say things so casually that must have really hurt."
Trust Janice to realize that immediately. "Yes."
"But you know that even if you never wanted to be a mom, you'd still be an amazing woman and the dearest sister I could ever hope to have, don't you?"
Blythe had some work to do to get to a place where she truly believed her inability to have children didn't make her any less, but she knew she wasn't doing that work alone.
Tor and Janice were firmly in her corner and always would be.
The rest of the Asgersens were just as supportive, even Prince Canute. He shocked Blythe by telling her he'd always hoped she and Tor might get together.
"I kept bringing other women around, trying to make you jealous."
Tor told his father off for putting him through that annoyance only to be told smugly, "It worked, didn't it?"
"Your dad is very impressed with his matchmaking skills," Blythe said to Tor later.
Tor grimaced. "Between him and my brothers, everyone is taking credit for us getting together."
Blythe smiled up at Tor, her expression brilliantly happy. "You and I know the truth."
"And that is?"
"Love brought us together."
He wrapped her up in his arms, leaning down so his lips hovered right over hers. "And love will keep us together."
"Oh, yes."
The kiss they shared held all the newly admitted love and confidence he would never, ever let go of.
THE END