When Ernest thought too much about it, it terrified him. The closeness, the love, the family dynamic- but what he was really scared of was himself. Of repeating the past, of what seemed to him to be becoming a cyclical pattern of behaviour, and one that he felt he had no say in.
But now, lying in bed with her, sleepy and satisfied, the warmth of her naked body against his- the fear was gone in that moment. Completely.
"Mmm, yeah- feed Charlie any more and he'll be bouncing off the walls til Christmas," he replied softly.