On the Twelfth Night... (Madam Mim and Xana)

Viola looked away as Olivia disrobed, trying to be respectful. She had seen Olivia, all of her, before, but it was different then. Olivia had been enthusiastic. Now, she was still unsure, and Viola didn’t want to do anything that might offend or hurt her. Not again. So she looked down, glancing as Olivia’s feet and legs, until they disappeared in the tub. She smiled up at her wife once she settled into the water, trying to be reassuring, unsure if she was successful. If a smile could be reassuring, now.

Olivia’s offer to join her in the bath was a surprise. Not that she didn’t want to, because she wanted that very much, but she wouldn’t have expected her to offer, and certainly wouldn’t have asked. But Viola had seen Olivia completely nude, and it only seemed fair that Olivia should see her nude. So she began disrobing, trying to put down the fear that Olivia would not like how her body looked. Olivia’s questions helped to distract her some.

“I don’t really know how it works either. I’ve never had a relationship, never thought I’d be able to. I’ve…fantasized, about having one with you, something like this but… well, I am still not entirely sure how it could work. I just know I want you to be happy, and I would do a great many things to bring you happiness.” She explained, as she loosened her corset enough for it to come off.

"Do you even want children?"

Viola laughed, nervously, as the blouse beneath her corset came off now, over her head. Olivia would seen that Viola had a tight, firm figure, strong and slender. “I’ve hardly considered the prospect, love. I knew that I wanted nothing to do with the process of creating a child, the thought of lying with a man making me nauseous at best. Because of that, I just figured it was not something that would ever happen for me. But…” She considered for a moment, watching Olivia’s eyes as she eased out of her skirt. Her legs were long and lean, a fact Olivia likely already gleaned from their times together before. A fact that had been highlighted by the pants her liked to wear, even when posing as a man wasn’t necessary.

“I know you want children, and I am serious when I say I don’t want to deny you anything. At the same time, it is rather clear I cannot give you children. In that regard I… I will support you, if you choose to get pregnant, and will do whatever you ask to assist in this. Whether you want my brother to perform this task, or someone else…” She sighed, the words having spilled out as she tried to word this correctly, trying to find right way to phrase it. “I know I will be jealous, and I cannot help that, but the thought of raising children with you…That thought will get me past any jealousy.” She was nude now, completely exposed to Olivia. Pink flushed her cheeks as she met Olivia’s eyes, laughing to cover her shyness. Without hesitation, she joined her wife in the tub. “You tell me what you want to do, love, and I will support you.”

When Viola admitted that she'd never had a relationship, that she had about as much idea as Olivia as to how this would work, Olivia shrugged. "I suppose we'll just have to figure it out then, won't we?" she suggested with a small smile. "We'll take baby steps."

As Viola slowly stripped Olivia felt as though she were being rude or perverse, like someone peeping through a window. But this was her wife who had made love to her many times, had seen her completely exposed, had bared herself as much as she dare. This was the body she would have to get used to. It wasn't a man's, but the heart that beat in it loved her and had made her happier than she had ever thought so what matter was it what it looked like? Sebastian had proven, at any rate, that being a man didn't necessarily mean knowing how to please a woman. Viola admitted to jealousy, but that raising children would help her to get over that.

"I do want children very much," she admitted, casting her eyes to the surface of the water for a moment. "And I wanted you to father those children...but I suppose Sebastian is the next best thing. What are we going to tell him, anyway?" she added. Then all at once all of the questions she'd had for months came tumbling out. "Would the children call you Mother or Auntie? Or would they call you Father? What would they call him? How many children would you want? What names do you like?"

Olivia realized how rapidly her questions were coming, impossible for Viola to answer, and she clamped her lips shut. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "These are just things I've been wondering over for months with no one to talk to about them. Small steps, I know." Her eyes slid over to Viola, still hardly daring to believe this was happening. What should she say? What should she do? "You're beautiful," she said at last before leaning forward to clumsily kiss her. In the water one hand slid around Viola's waist and pulled her closer. It was strange to feel another woman's breasts pressed against hers but at the same time strangely thrilling. "And I love you...Viola."

Viola could only laugh, amused at her wife’s antics as she asked a million questions. It was only natural, really, there wasn’t a map or a guide for the type of relationship they were beginning to embark upon. And Viola had years to accept her orientation, Olivia was just beginning to understand. Olivia apologized for the barrage of questions, but viola just smiled, stroking her cheek, “We will figure this out, all of it, a little at a time. But perhaps we should prioritize? Sebastian does seem to be the most pressing concern, at the moment.” She starting, trying to narrow the conversation down in a way that they could actually get something accomplished.

An effort that was dashed as Olivia spoke of her beauty and moved in to kiss her. “You’re beautiful,” she retorted into her wife’s lips as her mouth opened to accept her. Soft, supple bodies slipped and slithered together in the soaking bath. Feeling Olivia against her skin, Olivia’s hands on her waist, her own hands in Olivia’s hair, she was growing more comfortable with this. Being Viola, really being Viola, all of herself, at once. A woman who loved another woman, a woman who, by some miracle, loved her back. Months of anguish, of loneliness and loss, of desperate need seemed to bubble up now, as she pulled Olivia close, as Olivia pulled her just as close.

She was shuddering as Olivia pulled away to breath, to speak, to proclaim her love. Viola’s lips didn’t move far, planting light kisses on her cheeks and jaw, longing for the salt sweet taste of Olivia’s skin. It was a strong effort to pull back, to resist losing herself in Olivia’s soft warmth, and the best Viola could do was to limit herself to gentle kisses, “I love you so much, Olivia. If only I can make you as happy as I am now, I could show you how much I love you.”

"Darling you have made me happy," Olivia protested. Careful not to slosh the water out of the tub she straddled Viola's lap with her knees on the bottom of the large tub. The reflection of daylight made it almost impossible to see beneath the surface of the water, but her hands still slipped to Viola's waist--which, it seemed, had been meant for her hands to fit there--then up to her ribs. One part of her urged her to let her hands wander higher to Viola's breasts, while another part was shy and still convinced it would be perverse.

"You made me happier than I'd ever been before I sent you away," she assured her between gentle kisses. "Happier than I've any right to be, particularly after how I treated you." She leaned in to place a tender kiss at Viola's throat. Her lips moved lightly against her skin as she murmured, "I hope you can forgive me in time for being so horrible to you. If I had known, if I'd had even the slightest idea, it would have been Sebastian I'd sent away. God knows how many nights of luxurious bliss we've lost because of me." Finally she plucked up the courage and slid her hands up to Viola's breasts. They were supple and soft and altogether more wonderful than she'd thought breasts could be. Gently she squeezed them and let her thumbs play over her wife's nipples. "First we'll discuss what to do about your brother," she murmured, "and then I want our wedding night. A real one. We'll start from the beginning and discover together, hm?" Olivia smiled and placed another kiss on the other side of Viola's neck before straightening.

"Now," she said, suddenly businesslike though she didn't leave Viola's lap nor did her hands move from her breasts, "how do you think he would handle the truth? My guess would be poorly. A manege-au-trois is scandalous but hardly unheard-of, but you never hear about two relatives in the same one."

"You made me happier than I'd ever been before I sent you away," she assured her between gentle kisses. "Happier than I've any right to be, particularly after how I treated you."

“Don’t blame yourself for that.” Viola insisted, caressing her wife, “We lied to you. I lied to you. I wished I didn’t have to, and I really shouldn’t have, but I did. I made a choice, and I suffered the consequences of that choice.” It was hard to keep up the discussion as Olivia kissed her, neck and shoulders, places she had little experience receiving kisses. She was so used to being in charge, to controlling the entire situation so her secret never got out, that relinquishing control like this was terrifying, and exhilarating. There was no more concern that Olivia wouldn’t accept her, or would revile in horror form her. It was a strange thing, to be so vulnerable, to not know what was coming next. To let someone explore her, as she had explored so many.

"I hope you can forgive me in time for being so horrible to you. If I had known, if I'd had even the slightest idea, it would have been Sebastian I'd sent away. God knows how many nights of luxurious bliss we've lost because of me."

“If you can forgive what I did, I could forgive a hundred such reactions. You only reacted how most reasonable people would. Honestly, you were even more understanding and reasonable than most, I’d wager. And I assure you, I will make up for all the passion we have missed out on. I promise.” Then it was her turn to direct her wife, leaning forward to catch her lips in a hungry kiss. The heat of the bath and the heat of Olivia’s body was making her hotter, was making her blood boil in her veins. And then as Olivia’s hands touched her breasts? She gasped, head thrown back in delight. It was tentative at first, she seemed unsure, but soon Olivia was massaging them, the sensation particularly pleasing given her soft, delicate hands.

"First we'll discuss what to do about your brother," she murmured, "and then I want our wedding night. A real one. We'll start from the beginning and discover together, hm?"

“Yes…yes...A real wedding night…as you deserve. As we deserve,” She agreed, yearning fluttering with her core. Of course, Olivia was being quite the tease, presume to have a serious conversation about her brother, was her hands worked euphoria into her body. “I don’t imagine he’ll take it well. We are...uh… rather competitive, with one another. Always have been. I imagine he’d take this as a loss. Not that I think of you as a prize to be won, but he might. We would have to frame this in a way that make it seem like we are letting him off the hook, rather than depriving him.”

Olivia allowed herself a small, carnal smile when Viola threw her head back and leaned in to rain little kisses on her throat. Viola liked her breasts touched; she filed this information away for later use. She murmured softly against her wife's skin before placing a few more kisses then sitting up straighter. She raised her eyebrow as Viola seemed to struggle getting the words out.

"Focus," she admonished playfully, "or I'll go over there and sit on my hands." She inclined her head toward the other side of the large tub and moved as though to go away, but didn't leave Viola's lap. "Behave and I'll do anything you want. Promise." It was surprisingly easy to settle back into this relationship with the woman she had married, teasing and playing the way they used to.

"We would have to frame this in a way that makes it seem like we are letting him off the hook, rather than depriving him."

The real Sebastian was confirmed, to Olivia's mind at least, to be a selfish prat. She pursed her lips in thought for a few moments. "I could tell him that I invited you back for his birthday, knowing how close you two are," she suggested. "But also, I know that he has a mistress. I don't know who but I know she's down in the village somewhere; I've heard him try to sneak out and watched his horse turn that way. I could say that by the time I realized what he was doing it was too late to rescind your invitation and you were already on your way, then make the offer to let him carry on his affairs if he lets mine alone." She shrugged. "It would hurt his pride, but it's better than having to sneak around and I wouldn't have to tell him with whom it was. We could make an arrangement to spend an hour or two once or twice a week to try and conceive children and otherwise live our own lives. After all, all I did ask from him was patience and time, and he couldn't even give me that. I'd say the same to you if you did such a thing. I don't meet infidelity with faithful chastity, to be used like a broodmare and nothing more." It was an explanation but also a warning. She didn't know how many women Viola had been with before her--more than one, almost certainly--but that was to be put in her past. She was her wife, and that meant faithfulness no matter how great the temptation.

"How does that sound?" Olivia asked once she'd let this all sink in. "He gives us our children then leaves us alone and we leave him alone. You and I make a show of reconciling and that'll be the end of it."

Viola didn’t miss Olivia’s warning, and a pang of guilt bubbled up, misplaced or not. She had a chance to start fresh with Olivia, no lies, no secrets, and she wasn’t going to waste it. Even when it was difficult and scary. Even if she feared losing this delicate thing between them, just beginning to blossom. She took her wife’s hands in her own and looked into Olivia’s eyes.

“Well, then, while we are being honest, I have a confession. The night when you were with my brother, the first night with him, I thought I lost you. I thought our time was over, and you’d go on to find happiness with him, never the wiser that a switch had been made. Foolish of me, that is clear now, but then, I had just lost the woman I loved. I wanted distraction, from the thoughts of what you and my brother were doing, and so I left. Went into the village, and spent the evening drinking. Spent the evening talking and flirting and kissing another woman. I had every intention of taking her to bed. But I…I couldn’t. “ She took a moment to sigh, and squeezed Olivia’s hands.

“I did have many youthful dalliances, before I met you, but since? None. Not when you took my brother to your bed, not when you exiled me, not when you left me with silence and months old, tear stained letters. I can’t see myself ever wanting another woman, not in the way I have wanted you. I…I hope you can forgive me.”

“Now, with the hopes you can forgive me, I do like your idea. Let him live his life while we live ours. Besides, there is nothing so unusual about female relatives living together to help raise the children. It takes a village and whatnot. So I’ll be Aunt Viola and he will be father, and I suspect he’ll be as involved as most fathers are in raising their children.” Viola explained, brushing some wet strands of hair back behind Olivia’s ear.

”Now, I do hope you realize, love, that my brother and I share a birthday. On account of being twins, of course. So, what are you planning on do for my birthday?” She teased, nuzzling her nose against her wife’s before moving in for another kiss.

It was hard to hear what Viola had done the night she had taken Sebastian to her bed. But flirting and kissing was all that had happened, and could she really be blamed? She had been seeking solace and Olivia had been none the wiser; technically it was she who had cheated, for she had been with another since the switch. She squeezed Viola's hands back and shook her head.

"There is nothing to forgive," she assured her, sealing that promise with a kiss. "The past is the past, there's no changing it. But now there is no deceit between us and we're devoted entirely to each other. There's no way you could have sired a bastard like Sebastian might have, and though I'm sure you've left a trail of broken hearts in your wake none of them have come calling so I assume there's no way your past will haunt us. From here on in we hide nothing from one another and hope that Sebastian will leave us to our wedded bliss." With a kiss on the nose Olivia closed the subject and left it there. There was no reason to dwell on it any more than this.

"So you'll be the aunt then?" Olivia frowned a little, but she supposed it made sense. "Perhaps in time they will come to call you mother as much as they will myself. It just doesn't seem right for it to be otherwise, but if that's the price we pay for our family then I suppose it's a very small one. I'll try to schedule my times with Sebastian in advance so that beforehand you can make sure that I will at least have some pleasure out of it." She smiled mischievously and brushed her thumbs over the nipples of those soft, heavy breasts. Viola nuzzled her and moved in for a kiss but Olivia backed away.

"Oho! Asks the woman who missed my birthday entirely! And Christmas!" she teased before leaning in to take that kiss and then some. Her lips moved down Viola's throat and she lifted her breasts above the surface of the water to close her lips around each stiff nipple in turn. "Your birthday's a week off yet...but perhaps I'll take you to the garden," she mused without ceasing her attentions to her lover's breasts. "It was there we had our first kiss, and we've had plenty of trysts before...but I want you, Viola. I want to see you spread naked in the dirt, holding onto the tomato trellis as I visit such pleasures upon you..." She ground against her gently and wrapped one arm around her waist again to pull them closer together. "Or maybe after mass I'll strip myself there in the chapel and lay myself bare for you upon the altar. We agree on the faults of our religion, so why not worship at the altar of one another's bodies?" It was blasphemy, but if they were wrong about the Church then she was certain God would understand.

"I think I shall leave it a surprise," Olivia decided at last, slipping her hand between them and parting her wife's lips to rub her clit. This part was easy enough; she had touched herself enough to know how to touch another woman. "But you have years of experience, my love, and I have none. I'll need practice, will I not, if I'm to make sure your birthday is all you dreamed and more?"

Viola maintained a sheepish smile as Olivia playfully chided her on missing her birthday and Christmas, offenses she could not deny. “I will certainly have to make up for my lapse, sweet Olivia.” And then it was hurt turn to blush as Olivia spoke of the ways they might celebrate her birthday. “Are you sure, love, I mean I…” she trailed off, as Olivia’s hand became unbearably sweet on her body. And her lips, God! “I was happy to…to…to just…love you. To worship you…and tend to your pleasure for all my days.” Viola managed, once she recovered from the shock of Olivia’s sultry lips.

"Or maybe after mass I'll strip myself there in the chapel and lay myself bare for you upon the altar. We agree on the faults of our religion, so why not worship at the altar of one another's bodies?"

A strangle, pleasured laugh escaped her lips, disbelief at how bold her wife was becoming. Where was that devoted Catholic girl she married? “I’d never encourage you to commit blasphemy love, but I’d never deny you either…” She tried to be seductive, coy, but her ploy failed as Olivia teased her, finding the center of her bliss. Her head lulled back, unable to concentrate on the conversation, unable to form thoughts or words or even syllables. Her legs spread wider, wanting more of Olivia, amazed how good someone else’s touch could be.

"I think I shall leave it a surprise. But you have years of experience, my love, and I have none. I'll need practice, will I not, if I'm to make sure your birthday is all you dreamed and more?"

“Ex…experience, yes. Yes! Yes, you…you need it. I need it. I need…God, love, I need you!” That last phrase was a cry, and exhale of exultation, bliss leaving her body as it grew rigid. God, Olivia was touching her, and kissing her, and loving her, and it was better than she even dreamed! It took several gasping breaths to regain her composure, smiling a giddy smile as she met her wife’s eyes again. “You might not need as much practice as you think,” she purred, pouncing on Olivia now, both hands holding her face close to hers. The kiss was hungry, that first taste of ecstasy that had she craving more, nibbling on Olivia’s lip as they parted, “And I need to get you back for that.”

Witnessing another person's orgasm--man or woman--was still strange to Olivia. She felt as though she ought to avert her eyes or give Viola some privacy. But Viola didn't seem to mind and so she took her cue, instead placing slow and gentle kisses down her neck and across her shoulder while her wife caught her breath. Perhaps it was lucky she and Sebastian had only twice shared a bed; she was still relatively inexperienced and so Viola could teach her exactly what she wanted without experiences from another influencing Olivia's actions. She squawked in surprise when Viola lunged at her, falling backwards in the tub with her feet breaking the surface of the water for a moment before clinging to her wife's shoulders, giggling madly. Then her lips were caught up in a hungry kiss and Olivia forgot her surprise.

"Get me back?" she repeated huskily. "Well that's hardly fair. I was a child aiming at a target and getting lucky; you are an experienced hunter chasing down a deer to strike her through the heart." She grinned and kissed her again, lingeringly. "Am I to endure such revenge every time I want to show my wife how much I love her?"

“Oh yes,” Viola husked, taking her turn to explore her wife’s body, enjoying how the water and soap make her so soft and slippery. “Yes, I will always return your attentions upon me, for I crave your bliss as much as my own. Because your pleasure is my pleasure.” One knee went between her wife’s thighs, keeping them open as she filled her hands with Olivia’s wet flesh. Her back, strong from all the work she put into her garden, evident as the muscles tensed beneath the skin. Her hips, perfect curves for gripping during their kisses. The perfect hips for carrying a child, their child. She might not be able to plant the seed, but they would be her blood as much as Olivia’s.

“I cannot wait to have children with you, my love. I cannot wait to meet the beautiful sons and daughters you will bear us,” Viola whispered, stroking her lower stomach, as if to summon offspring to her body. She nibbled on Olivia’s ear as her hands slid further down, seeking the apex of her thighs, the apex of her sensuality, the warmth of her body. Finding that engorged nub of her womanhood brought a smile to Viola’s lips, knowing just how much Olivia was enjoying this, enjoying her. Two fingers curled within her depths, groaning at how her wife seemed to be wetter than the bathwater. Gently exploring her, thumb moving in circle about her clit, repeating a mantra of love and devotion into Olivia’s skin, “I love you so much, Olivia. God, I love you, and I want you. Need you. Need your love and your joy. I need you to know how much I love you.”

Taking Olivia’s breath as a cue, she moved faster within her, losing herself in the silken softness dripping against her fingers. Losing herself in Olivia’s moans and sighs, in her skin and neck and satin hair. “Cum for me,” she breathed, a command and a supplication, desperate and demanding and needy and subservient all at once.

Olivia breathed in sharply as her wife turned on her and slid her knee between her thighs. The feeling of Viola's hands on her body were incredible; she had back the one she had married, the one she had fallen in love with, the one she had shared a wedding night with, and it was like not a single day had passed. When Viola whispered in her ear about children and stroked her stomach Olivia felt her walls clench and shuddered with the surprise of a small orgasm rippling through her body. She found she loved it when Viola talked about their future children, but that small release wasn't enough.

"I love you too Viola," she gasped, writhing beneath her as her fingers explored her while her thumb rubbed her clit. Olivia leaned her head back on the edge of the tub and clung to Viola's shoulders but was unable to keep her hips and legs from squirming with pleasure. "I love you so much! God I love you!" She tried to say more but her voice was lost in pleasured gasps and moans. Olivia moved her hips up against her wife's hand as she pumped her fingers faster in and out and moaned in helpless pleasure.

"Cum for me," Viola breathed.

Olivia didn't hear the pleading subservience for now, only the gentle but firm command. At the idea of Viola's power over her pleasure, over her happiness, and how easily she wielded it with three whispered words Olivia felt that pleasure in the pit of her stomach move down and explode into orgasm. She came with a cry and Viola's name on her lips, arching her back and clinging to her shoulders. The Countess was left panting as she came down from the pleasure that she immediately wanted to experience again. Breathing heavily she leaned her forehead against Viola's and grinned.

"I think we're clean enough for now," she said. Once she could move again Olivia stood on pleasure-shaken thighs and grabbed towels for both of them, stepping out then handing one to Viola. "I said I wanted a wedding night," she pointed out, "but that was more like a wedding bath. I told you before we married, love, that you would spoil me and now you have. A bath is just no substitute for a night, you know." She moved from the marble bathroom into her bedroom--their bedroom--while she toweled off. After scrubbing her hair with the towel she tossed it away and laid on the bed to display herself, dark, wet hair spilling across the clean white sheets like splattered ink. "Just because you're not a husband anymore doesn't mean you can shirk your husbandly duties," she teased.

The bath had started warm, and grown hot as they explored and enjoyed one another, but had now cooled. Cool, compared to the heat in Viola’s blood, and the heat between her wife’s thighs and the heat within their joint mouths.

“Clean enough, I suppose,” Viola agreed, watching Olivia dry herself off, “for now.” Despite how strange and queer their relationship was, how neither of them really had a framework for how it was supposed to work, it seemed easy to slip into. That comfortable casualness with which they could flirt and talk and move through their life together. It just proved that their first month of marriage hadn’t been a lie or a mistake. Viola might have played the role of Sebastian, but she had been Viola underneath, the entire time. And it really had been Viola that Olivia had fallen in love with.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Viola murmured, entranced by the gorgeous, erotic vision laid out before her, “Not after I dreamt of this for the past six months.”

---

Hours passed like minutes in Olivia’s arms and bed. The sun had set and the moon had taken its place, shining like alabaster over her wife’s skin. Despite putting it off in favor of reuniting and reconnecting with her wife, Viola knew they would have to confront her brother soon.

“Does he sleep in here? I mean, when he isn’t off with his mistress?” Viola asked, holding Olivia’s body to hers, enjoying the new sensation of skin on skin. She had been so grateful to be back in Olivia’s life, and so engulfed by the mutual pleasure of love making, she hadn’t taken the time to figure out the logistics of living here. Sharing a home and wife with her brother, a man with whom she had shared nearly everything throughout her life. Was it selfish to want to sleep in Olivia’s bed? To want to spend almost every waking moment with her?

“If I need to sleep away from I…I can accept that,” Viola decided, nuzzling Olivia’s soft, russet tresses, “ A small sacrifice, to make this transition smoother. Should I join you two at dinner, or would you rather speak with him alone?”

"Hmm?" Olivia had been lightly dozing with her head on Viola's shoulder. One hand cupped her breast and had idly played with her nipple until she'd fallen off, but continued now that she was awake again. The past several hours had been glorious and exhausting and she was left wondering whether she'd already learned it all or how much more she didn't know. She'd been resting with every intent of sliding again beneath the covers to explore her wife some more. After processing Viola's question she shook her head sleepily.

"He sleeps in another wing of the house," she answered. "After what happened I told him I didn't want him here until I was ready again. We can keep some apartments for you but I see no reason for you to have to sleep in them so long as the servants don't see. Servants talk, you know." She kissed Viola's neck softly. "But if you don't mind I'd rather speak to him alone. He might think you convinced me to take a lover if you're there, and I'm petrified of him putting two and two together if he knows of your...proclivities. We can say that you arrived this afternoon and are resting after a long journey and will join us in the morning. I think he may be a little more receptive if you aren't there. He seems to feel antagonized by you." She carefully levered herself up to lean over her wife, dark hair spilling down across Viola's creamy skin in the moonlight, and smiled. "And why shouldn't he? You did steal away his wife, after all," she teased before leaning down to kiss her.

“You are probably right, about talking to Sebastian alone,” Viola agreed, far too complacent from hours of love making to make any argument. Giggling, as Olivia kissed her, and shifted in bed, the shadows of the moon doing interesting things to her physique. Giggling more as Olivia accused her of having stolen her brother’s wife, a fact she couldn’t rightly deny while in bed with her.

“Fair enough love. Fair enough,” She sighed, running the back of two fingers from Olivia’s temples to her chin. “I am worn out, admittedly. Traveling, and then and afternoon with you has left me positively drained. Perhaps after resting a bit I’ll be ready to eat again. And maybe even have some dinner, too!”

---

Sebastian waited in the dining room for Olivia to show up, finding himself annoyed that she was keeping him waiting. But that was her style, wasn’t it? To keep him waiting? Taking him into bed once in the last six months? Still, she wasn’t usually late to dinner, keeping up the pretense of married life, if just for the servants.

But, well, he couldn’t discount that his sister had something to do with this. It was too convenient that Olivia was late to dinner on the same day his sister returned. But the time spent waiting on Olivia gave him time to consider his approach. Should he just open with accusations of what she was doing with Viola?

Except, he wasn’t sure what she was doing with Viola. Were they together? Was Olivia just like his sister, unable to find men attractive? That was a comfort, actually, in the moment. Proof that he hadn’t actually failed as a husband, that Viola hadn’t beaten in this. How could he compete, if there was never a chance for happiness between them? He never suspected that another woman like his sister could exist, a woman without any desire for men, but if there was one in the world, perhaps there could be more.

His anger receded some as he contemplated this, deciding to let Olivia lead the conversation. He could hear her out, if nothing else, glancing in her direction as he heard her approach the dining room.

"Well then, you rest my love," Olivia cooed, kissing her neck one last time before sliding out of bed, "while I go treat with your brother."

She realized she was a little late in coming down to dinner, but he could wait. Doubtless he would leave immediately after to go spend time in the arms of his mistress, so what was the harm in making her wait a few minutes longer? Even as she fumed over the idea she realized that she had a mistress too and was being hypocritical...but Sebastian had taken a mistress first and that was the point! Harnessing her anger she took a deep breath before striding into the dining room.

"So sorry I'm late," she said lightly, sitting down and waving the servants away once they'd placed their meals in front of them. "I was with your sister." Olivia watched her husband out of the corner of her eye as she took a bite. "I had decided to put aside my feelings and invite her here for your birthday as a surprise, since you two are so close. It was too late to ask her not to come when I realized the double life you've been leading." Olivia chewed slowly and set down her fork before looking at Sebastian. She'd practiced this a hundred times in her head, even before Viola had come back.

"All I asked of you was patience, Sebastian, and you couldn't even give me that." Her tone invited no argument as she gazed at him steadily. "All I wanted was for you to give me time to work through things and work up to sharing a bed with you. I was frightened and confused and hurt and just needed time, and you denied me even that. Well...I don't care who she is and I don't want to know. I've known for some time how often you go into the village and come back reeking of cheap perfume and beer and I've made a decision." She straightened her back and drew herself up to her full height sitting down, liquid black eyes boring into him, gauging his reactions as she laid down how things would be. "Don't you dare bring disease into this house, and I'll sire no bastards so you ensure that you don't either. Do I make myself clear?" She didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "I propose we come together on agreed-upon evenings each week or every two weeks--every month; however you'd like it--for the purposes of siring children. Other than that you carry on your affairs and I'll carry on mine. It seems to me that the first incredible month of our marriage was simply a lure, now that I can clearly see that you have no respect for me, for my intellect, or for my feelings. Given that the love I thought was there wasn't, I see no point in being a wife in anything other than name, and I'm sure you know me well enough by now to know that allowing only you to take a lover while expecting me to remain faithful is an unacceptable solution. So I propose we ask for no names of lovers, no details, and show enough respect for this forced but holy institution to discuss finances before buying gifts. Sound fair to you?"

Her tone made it clear she expected no answer other than 'yes,' but she picked up her fork and began eating again while waiting for Sebastian to digest her barrage and decide whether this was an acceptable arrangement to him. Hopefully he would come to the conclusion that she intended to take up male lovers, rather than devoting herself entirely to his sister.

"So sorry I'm late. I was with your sister."

Sebastian gave her an inquisitive look as she made the stamen, not expecting her to be so bold with the confession. Except…no, this wasn’t a confession. Merely a statement of fact. There was nothing between his sister and his wife. Not as she explained how she had invited Viola back for his birthday —theirs, really. He wished she can conferred with him on that matter before hand, even though she intended it to be a surprise. Viola’s presence wouldn’t help things here, and while they had been close once, he hadn’t missed her much. Not after the fight they had the day she left. Not after the way she poisoned his marriage before he had a chance to even know Olivia. But it was done, and after his birthday he could send Viola away again, before Olivia could start putting pieces together.

Then she jumped right into her accusation, and as much as he wanted to defend himself and deny any wrong doing, she wouldn’t let him. She spoke until she said her piece, laying out the second arrangement of their marriage. He wanted to argue the point, ask her how patient she expected him to be. He wanted to asked just who she intended to take to bed. He wanted to laugh off the idea that he should submit to being made a cuckhold, but he knew there wasn’t a leg to stand on. The mess Viola made of things still hung in the background, and Olivia could still ruin their family name if she revealed it. There was some fairness in her offer, he could admit, seeing as she wasn’t demanding he stop seeing his mistress. He sighed heavily and nodded.

“Doesn’t seem like I have much say in the matter,” he grumbled, finally taking a bite of his meal. “But yes, I suppose it is fair enough. I just have one condition, as far as the men you taken to be your lovers. All I ask is that it isn’t anyone I know, or who knows me.”

"I'll take no man you know as a lover, and you take no woman I know," Olivia agreed tacitly. She cocked her head to the side and watched him curiously while he ate. "But what makes you think you have no say in the matter?" she asked. "Sebastian I love you--or, at least, the you you used to present to me--and I want you to be happy. Clearly you were unhappy with me taking in everything in my own time, relearning to trust you, figuring everything out, and so you sought out your own happiness. I can't grudge you that." She shrugged. "But you can't grudge me mine, either. I was on my way to repairing that trust, to reconciling what I thought I knew with what was real. But I never have and still cannot tolerate disloyalty and I'm afraid that those fractures are now irrevocable."

Olivia sighed and took a sip of her wine. She did love Viola. She loved how Viola loved her, how she made her feel, how they'd spent their days together. But it really would have been so much simpler if that had all just been Sebastian. As it was, the real Sebastian had made a fool of her.

"You showed no respect for me," she continued eventually, "you made me look foolish and weak. You were disloyal and dishonest, when that and patience were all I ever asked from you. You do get a say in the matter, Sebastian, so tell me: does this arrangement sound unfair to you? I haven't asked who she is, haven't demanded you stop seeing her, I haven't even--and please do correct me if I'm wrong--made a big scene about it. Sebastian, I don't even care whether you fall in love with her or with someone else so long as you sire no bastards. So exactly what say would you like? And I don't ask that rhetorically or sarcastically. I really do want to know." She looked at her husband evenly, genuinely interested in what more he could possibly want. Not to be cuckolded, certainly, but that was off the table. He'd done it first and she wasn't going to allow him to forbid her from her own relationships while he carried on his down in the village like some boor.

Sebastian wanted to defend himself, defend his actions. If he were the person she had fallen for, and done the things he had done, it would be unforgivable. If he had loved her as much as he had professed to, and still cheated on her, he’d be a monster.

The truth was, he didn’t love her. He had hoped to, by now. Hoped he would fall in love with her, as Viola had. things were different, between them. That first night had been miserable for her, and that second night a disaster, and after that she had been so cold and distant, how could he fall for her? It would be one thing to be patient and understanding if he had been the one she spent that first magical month with, but he hadn’t. He had a day with her, before she turned him away.

“No, you are. You’ve been quite reasonable, and understanding. More than could have been asked or expected of you.,” he sighed, running anxious fingers through his hair. He drank from his wine to prevent anything else from coming up. He wished he could tell her that it was Viola she had fallen for, not him. Wished he could tell her it was Viola who had loved her, who still loved her, rather than him. But surely that was worse, wasn’t it? A sin, to love another women as she would have a man. Knowing the truth wouldn’t help her, wouldn’t sooth her. It would only make things worse. Their marriage was a sham of the thing, but there was still hope for his sister. That she might find a marriage to make her happy, if such a marriage to a man could make her happy. If Olivia knew her secret, it could ruin the chance for her to find that happiness.

“I hope this arrangement brings you satisfaction,” he said, the statement slightly defeated as it left his lips. He wasn’t Viola. He wasn’t the man Viola pretended to be, when wooed her. And even if he didn’t love her, he didn’t want her to be unhappy. He didn’t want to hurt her, even though he had. “When should we…” he waved his hand about, trying to fill in the words with pantomime, “Try for a child?”

"I hope it brings you satisfaction too," Olivia returned, watching Sebastian over the rim of her wine glass. It was a strange way to word it, but she supposed it was fitting. She didn't know whether he actually cared about her happiness, but wishing her satisfaction was cordial enough she supposed. "And I hope it makes you happy, Sebastian," she added, "truly I do."

When he asked when they should try for a child a slight crease appeared between her eyebrows and she chewed lightly on her lip. She searched for an answer in the tablecloth but found none. How often was too often? How often would make Viola suspicious or jealous? It wasn't a pleasant prospect, sleeping with a man who seemed to have no interest in her pleasure, but it was necessary. She wanted children--they wanted children--so badly, but that was the one thing Viola couldn't give her. So perhaps after a few children she could stop and Viola would have her all to herself. Wouldn't it be best to get it out of the way now, then?

"Sundays," she decided finally. "Sundays are when we're most likely to be entertaining people. Presenting a united, loving front to guests would be best and I'm sure it would be noticed if we consistently sneaked upstairs together Sunday evenings. Unless, of course, you have a standing date with your lover in the village on Sundays?" It wasn't said with the least bit of venom. She didn't want to cause problems with the other woman; if Sebastian wasn't going to stand in the way of her happiness she wouldn't stand in the way of his. Perhaps this woman loved him, and she wouldn't jeopardize that.

“Sundays work,” he agreed, trying for a smile. Trying to be friendly, even though it felt strange, in the moment. Felt strange that their entire marriage had been reduced arrangements and agreements to save face. He couldn’t managed a smile, so he settled for a nod. “Then I suppose my birthday will be our next opportunity, then.”

He stood then, and approached her caressing the back of her hand. There was a moment of regret, wondering what might have been if he hadn’t gotten himself injured. If Viola had never come here as him. Would they have fallen for one another? Would they have been happy? Or would they have figured this out then, without ever having the pretense of being deliriously in love? “I’m sorry things didn’t turn out the way you wished, Olivia.” Steadying her features, he wanted to say more, even opened his mouth to speak. Instead he sighed, “See you on Sunday then.”

---

Viola had gleefully volunteered herself to assist Olivia in preparing for the party, keeping up the act of trying to ingratiate herself to his sister in law once more. In reality, it was more excuses to spend time with her love. Exploring the grounds, finding their favorite enclaves into which to indulge in one another. Despite many hours spent in sweet embraces with Olivia, the party did manage to get planned and prepared.

Her parents had arrived the morning of, greeting Sebastian and Olivia and herself in an affectionate embrace. “Oh darling you look just lovely. I dare say that Olivia’s charms are rubbing off on you. Perhaps this will finally be the year you find yourself a good marriage,” her mother cooed, managing to offset each compliment with a criticism.

I already found myself a wonderful marriage. Couldn’t be happier. “Oh mother, you say that every year.”

“And I mean it, every year. Olivia, dear, won’t you extol the virtues of married life to Viola?” Viola and Sebastian both laughed, hiding their nerves at how uncomfortable the conversation had become. Not that their mother could have guessed it. “At least I know you will give me grandchildren, and I am quite grateful for that! How are we progressing, in that regard?”

“Mother!” Sebastian huffed, nearly turning red from the suggestion. Made especially awkward by the arrangement that had been made for this very evening.

“Darling, it’s only been six months since the wedding. Give them at least a year before you start pestering them.” Their father insisted, resting his hand on her shoulder.

“I’m not pestering anyone. Merely inquiring as to whether or not Olivia has an important announcement she intends to make during the party.”

“Well, if she did, you will have to wait for it along with the rest of the party guests,” Viola declared, putting an end to the issue.

The party was a grand affair, no expense spared. It was a rather convenient thing, that Olivia could save face by having a lavish celebration in honor of her husband for public consumption, while still honoring Viola, given the shared nature of the day.

Of course Olivia was quite generous to include her maiden sister in law in the celebrate of her husband’s birthday. Many of the guests made sure to greet her, and wish her a happy birthday, but it was all really as an afterthought, she knew. Unspoken pity that she was still unmarried at 23. Unspoken pity that her brother had secured such a good marriage for himself while she had little prospects. Viola let their pity roll off her. She didn’t need it. She was staggeringly happy, happier than a far lot of them, she was certain, in their arrange political marriages, with half the couples she met with unfaithful to one another. Few of them would have what she had with Olivia, few of them would understand the love and bond that had developed between the two woman. For that, she pitied them.

The hardest part was watching from afar her brother with Olivia, putting on a display of affection for the guests. That and knowing what was coming this evening. Knowing that her wife was going to sleep with her brother, so she could conceive. It wasn’t just jealousy making her agitated. She still remembered that morning, when Olivia sought her out, nearly in tears after the way Sebastian had treated her. Would she be like that again tonight? Would it be easy to perform her martial duties, sans pleasure, or would she suffer through it silently, hold in the discomfort in hopes of successful conception? All Viola could be was be there for her, ready to make up for uneasiness between her wife and her brother.

His touch was surprisingly tender. For a moment Olivia felt a pang of regret. He didn't know what had happened, that she'd figured everything out and accepted that she was in love with a woman. He hadn't really even had a chance to be married to her himself...but she was already in love with someone else. She couldn't give herself to Sebastian, heart and all, so the next best thing, the most merciful thing, would be to allow him to seek to find the same joy she had found.

"I do hope we can be friends," she said quietly. "Although I understand if you would rather not."

~*~

Despite their best efforts to distract one another, Viola and Olivia did manage to plan and execute the party. Lavish decorations, hundreds of guests, and the entire kitchen staff was busy for days preparing everything. The entire bottom floor was sweltering the day of the party from the heat of the ovens. When their parents finally arrived Olivia worked hard to bite her tongue at their mother's criticisms of Viola and inattention to Sebastian. Instead of allowing herself the same candidness she had with the siblings she merely smiled politely.

"In a good marriage the virtues extol themselves," she said with a plastered-on smile, resisting the urge to add that Viola would get married when she was well and ready, regardless of the fact that she was already married. When their mother mentioned children, however, she felt the blood rise in her cheeks and hid it behind her fan while their father and Viola chided her. She gently squeezed Sebastian's arm in what she hoped was a reassuring way before leading them inside.

The party appeared to be a success. Nearly everyone invited had come and appeared to be enjoying themselves. Olivia kept an eye on the food, trying to gauge how much would be left over to take into the village in the morning as she tried to do with big affairs like this, but she was too nervous to eat much herself. Tonight would be the fourth time she shared a bed with Sebastian and she dreaded that it might be as unpleasant as the others. Through the dancing and the toasts and the feasting and the gifts Olivia just wished she could be there on Viola's arm instead, to reassure her that she was important too, but her wife seemed content on the sidelines for now. The Countess made a note to have the servants save a piece of cake and make it up to her later. At last the party petered out, with the guests going home or upstairs to the guest wing. Olivia took a deep breath before smiling and turning to her husband.

"Shall we?" she suggested, tilting her head toward the stairs. Once they were in her room--the room she shared with Viola--Olivia crossed to the vanity to begin taking off the heavy jewelry and pulling pins out of her hair. "So how is she? The woman in the village?" she asked casually, looking at Sebastian in the mirror. "I don't say that to be catty, I really do want to know. I want you to find love, Sebastian, and I want us to be friends." Once she had extracted the last pin she removed the hand holding her hair in place and let her hair fall to her waist before turning to face him, hoping he couldn't see how nervous she was. "I would have invited her if she wouldn't have looked suspiciously out of place."

It was awkward being back in that bedroom with Olivia. Making small talk as she removed her jewelry and hairpins. Small talk that became awkward as she asked about his mistress, while he was trying to get into the state of mind to bed her. Which really, wasn’t helping.

“I don’t think it would have been a good idea to invite her,” he agreed, wondering how Annette would handle having to see him with Olivia all night. “But I appreciate you being so understanding about everything. I am quite sincere when I say I am lucky, things turned out the way they did. Not ideal, surely, but certainly could have been much worse.”

Her questions about Annete had him thinking about her end of that bargain, and how she had wanted to take a lover. Had she already? Was he someone who had attended the party? If he was an upper class man, he almost certainly was, nearly everyone of name had been there. But there was no reason for her to take a man of note to her bed. Surely if there was such a man she lusted after, she would have just married him? Perhaps it was a man she had wanted, but couldn’t pursue because of class dynamics. Bah. Wondering was going to drive him mad, and get him no closer to fulfilling his duty to her.

So he pushed that all aside as she turned to him. She really was beautiful, a fact he had never denied. She was a beautiful, desirable woman, and he still wished he could have found it in himself to fall in love with her. “How…how do we do this? I mean, should we try to make it like lovemaking, or keep it purely mechanical? Do you want me to…prepare you, before we start?” Dammit, it was awkward to discuss. Be he had tried some of what Viola had shown him on Annette, to the point where he was quite certain she really liked it. Perhaps he could do the same for Olivia, if she wanted that. If she didn’t still associate such acts to the ill-fated night with his sister. “You tell me what you want me to do, to make this more comfortable for you.”

The evening, as all their evenings together, was awkward but slightly less unpleasant, as it seemed that Viola had taught her brother something that disastrous night. Olivia still hadn't spoken with her about that, and was unsure whether she ever would. Was it even relevant anymore? Each Sunday evening therafter Sebastian seemed to become slightly less self-centered than he had been their first night together. During the week and on Saturdays, however, her days and evenings passed in bliss with Viola all but ensured that her love wasn't stolen by the more convenient twin. Viola started teaching her how to fence and they spent hours together in the garden or the library. Olivia feared Sebastian might catch on, but fortunately bonds of this sort were to be expected between "sisters," so hopefully any affection shown between them would be put down to that.

After a couple months Olivia fell ill. At first she thought it was just a bug, but after spending two weeks too nauseated to be able to enjoy Viola's touch she finally called for a doctor. Upon being asked once that worthy had left she insisted that it was as she had expected, that this too would pass. The next morning, however, was their anniversary and she thought it only fitting to wait until then to elaborate.

"Happy anniversary," Olivia whispered, grinning and pressing a kiss to her wife's neck. "Now hurry up and get dressed. I'm starving!" She practically bounded out of bed and dressed, pinning her hair back into a simple style before going downstairs to have breakfast with her sister-wife and her brother-husband. God but she had a complicated marriage! She would have told Viola this in private, but Sebastian deserved to know too so she had finally settled on telling them both together.

"So the doctor came yesterday," she said once they'd been served. "And this illness will pass. He said this nausea usually lasts three or four months, but that for some women it never goes away." She looked up from her plate, unable to hide her wild grin. "But in either case it's all because I'm pregnant."

Both Baccarin twins looked up at Olivia with wide, unblinking eyes, words failing them. Each processing what had been said and what it meant. Viola was the first to respond, nearly jumping from her chair to wrap arms around Olivia. It was a struggle to restrain herself, because she wanted to kiss and squeeze her love. Settling on an affectionate hug, Viola reasoned she could wait for privacy from her brother to demonstrate just how thrilled she was by the announcement. “Oh, we have so much to do! Prepare a nursery, and pick out names and collect a layette.”

Sebastian hesitated a bit more than his sister, but nevertheless, moved to hug Olivia, and plant a chaste kiss on her forehead. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise, given their Sunday evening scheduled couplings, but he could still hardly process the words. She was pregnant, with his child, and they would be a family. A strange family, perhaps, but a family regardless. “I am so happy for you. For…us.”

Us. The word was strange, as it hardly felt as if there was still an “us” between them. Because he had a lover, and presumably she did as well. Or was she waiting, until she conceived to take her lover? She had promised to bear his children, so perhaps she wanted to be sure the child was his before pursuing. No, there was no point in fixating on it. She was pregnant with his child, and he would be father. Caught up in the thrill of the moment, he even hugged his sister, finding himself relieved that she was around to share this with them.

Truthfully, he had wanted to send Viola away after their birthday. But she and Olivia had made up, and really taken to one another. And Olivia was having quite the effect on her, as their mother had already noticed at the party. Since she’d come back, he hadn’t once seen her don men’s clothes. Perhaps she was finally past that phase, embracing a woman’s place with guidance from Olivia. Oh sure, she still dueled, and had even begun teaching Olivia, but she was becoming so much more domestic, taking up gardening and reading poetry alongside Olivia. And now that she was show such excitement for Olivia’s pregnancy, perhaps she was finally ready to settle down herself. She was young enough she could still secure a decent marriage. Young enough she could bear a couple children of her own. If she moved quickly she could even raise her children alongside Olivia, and they’d grow up like siblings.

At least, that was his line of thought as he composed a letter to his parents, informing them about the pregnancy. Including the suggestion that Viola might be more receptive to a suitor, now that she had spent some time around Olivia and had seen the merits of marriage and motherhood firsthand.