"Ten, then." His reply came easily, and was said in a completely serious way as though he meant it completely. The truth was, he would do whatever he could to make her happy. And if that meant giving her fifteen children, he'd find some way to make it happen. Because no matter what he was dealing with, he loved her too much to do anything less. "No," he answered around a soft laugh. "I choose not to imagine Lydia babysitting because it can never happen. And really, the two of them together would be even worse. They'd encourage each other."
His expression sobered slightly as he looked down at her in his arms. Talking about this made him think about what he had earlier, about what had led him to talk to Claire in the first place. Things needed to change. He needed to change. If they wanted to move forward and towards a happy life here, he had to find a way to let go of the past. And whilst Claire hadn't led him to any illusions that it would be anything but an uphill battle, he was encouraged by the simple fact that she'd made it seem possible at all. That, and that she had understood why he wasn't ready to tell Marian all of it yet. But that didn't mean he couldn't tell her he was trying to fix it. Because though she didn't know the details, she knew something had been bothering him. Had been, in her own words, scared for him.