Marcus Cole grinned as he entered the room. Even after two years, he still got a kick out of saying that. His wife, on the other hand, thought it was getting a little old.

"I thought we agreed you weren't going to do that anymore," Susan greeted him, not looking up from the flimsy she was studying.

"Actually, you agreed. I never said a word."

"No, Marcus, you just didn't say the right words: Yes, Susan. Of course, Susan. Whatever you say, Susan..." she trailed off as she continued reading.

"Well, hello to you too," he said as he took off his cloak and threw it into the bedroom.

He crossed back to the couch where she was sitting and leaned over her shoulder.

"So what are you reading?"

"Report from the Narn homeworld," she replied shortly, still engrossed.

He placed both hands on his temples as if concentrating very hard on something.

"Wait, don't tell me... I'm picking something up. Ah! Got it - There's been a cease-fire between the two major factions, and the leaders are calling for negotiations. The public have decided now is a good time to put forth a bid for democratic elections, and public rallies are starting up all over the planet - most of which have been engineered in one capacity or another by our own illustrious G'Kar. Narn colony worlds are showing support with rallies of their own."

"I hate it when you do that," she told him with a menacing glare, which wasn't really all that effective since he was still standing behind her.

"Don't blame me because the Rangers are better at gathering information than Earthforce is," he said as he came to sit beside her.

"I'm not - I'm blaming you for being an annoying jerk," she replied sweetly.

"So you admit that Ranger Intelligence is better than Earthforce Intelligence?"

"I never said that," she shot back immediately, "Besides, I got this report today - the same as you did."

"Oh well, we can't be perfect all the time."

"Now isn't that the understatement of the year?"

"If you're going to keep being mean, I'll start singing," he threatened.

"God no, anything but that!" Susan feigned terror.

"Sorry, too late, I'm going to sing." He took a deep breath and began, "There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his -"

He was cut off abruptly as his wife clapped her mouth over his, rather effectively shutting him up. They stayed locked together for some time until Susan remembered something and halted mid-kiss.

"Damn, I forgot. The restaurant called to change the time - our booking was moved forward half an hour."

"So.... I guess we're going to be late unless we really hurry?" it was more a statement than a question.

She nodded. "Basically, yeah."

"Well," he said, kissing her again, "There's a lot to be said for being fashionably late."

She kissed him back for a moment, then wrenched herself away.

"No, Marcus, come on, we'll hardly even have time to shower as it is."

Sighing, he stood and, holding out his hands, pulled her up beside him.

"Well, to save time, why don't we share the shower?" he asked, his expression innocent.

She snorted. "Like that will really save us time."

"So you don't want to have a shower together?" he questioned, before leaning down to kiss her neck.

"I never said that," she said with a grin, and, taking his hand, lead him into the bathroom.

They arrived late at the restaurant. Everyone else was already seated and waiting for them to arrive. It was a wonderful reunion, all the old faces around the table. John and Delenn had arrived that morning from Minbar, bringing with them a three year old David and a six month old Leniera. Garibaldi and Lise had travelled from Mars, while Stephen, still a permanent resident of B5, was there with his fiance, Heather.

The dinner went well, the group catching up with each other and exchanging news about absent friends and family. They were a noisy crowd, even without David running around the table, moving from lap to lap, and refusing to stay put for more than a few minutes. Thankfully, the restaurant was managed by very understanding people who were really just happy that so many famous, important people were all in their establishment at once.

Once the lengthy process of eating was finished, they all went back to Marcus and Susan's quarters for coffee and more talk. David had fallen asleep in his father's arms while they were still in the transport tube, and made no protests when he was put to bed with his sister in Marcus and Susan's room.

"So Delenn, how's Leniera's namesake going?" Susan asked as she returned to the main room where the others had settled.

Delenn smiled as she thought of her one-time aide, now a powerful member of the Minbari government.

"He is very well. There has been some talk that he will follow Rathenn to the Grey Council."

A round of pleased, surprised comments filled the room.

"Really?" Susan replied, "This all must have been kept quiet, we haven't heard a thing about it."

"Yes, it has been "kept quiet". But only because Lennier wished it so."

This was something so typical of Lennier that it invited no further comment.

The conversation flitted from topic to topic, as conversations do, until a good natured argument broke out between Sheridan and his former second in command.

"So tell me, Susan, honestly, how is my station holding up?"

Susan visibly rifled. "Your station? Your station? Even after almost four years, it's still your station?"

"Well, four years isn't all that long..." John replied, clearly baiting her.

She took the bait willingly. "Well, of course, it wouldn't seem very long when you're off playing the celebrity now, would it?"

"John, I've visited you and Delenn on Minbar, remember? I've seen what it is you do. Trust me. You're a celebrity."

The rest of the conversations in the room had paused now while everybody watched the two of them toss insults at each other.

"This coming from someone who's told so many people she's God that delegations wanting to worship her are arriving!" he shot back, gleefully.

Susan momentarily halted the argument to elbow her husband in the ribs.

"You told him?" she demanded.

He looked at her innocently. "No, of course not. Although I might have mentioned something about it to Stephen..." The two men were promptly rewarded with a patented Ivanova glare, before she returned her attention to John.

"A delusional Pa'K'Mara and a blind Gaim do not, in my opinion, constitute "delegations". Besides, a little religious adoration never hurt anybody. Probably did them the world of good."

"Probably did your ego even better."

"And you're certainly one to talk about ego's aren't you, Mr "I'm the most powerful person in the galaxy, and I know it"!" she told him with a grin.

"It's a tough job..." he said with an exaggerated sigh.

"And you're the only one with the head size to fill it!"

"Come, now, Captain, you're just upset because you think you'll never attain my standard of captaincy."

Letting out a laugh of disbelief, Susan immediately retorted, "Oh, you think you were that good do you? Well, let's look at the statistics: Lets see, how many times over these four years have I almost blown up the entire station? None? Sounds about right. Now, how many times did you, in your years in command of Babylon 5 nearly blow it up?" She began counting on her fingers. "There was the time with the alien probe seeking information, then there was the time you wrestled with a madman over the controls to a network of bombs planted all over the station-"

John cut her off before she could continue. "Now hold on - those were totally justifiable-"

This time it was Garibaldi who interrupted. "Kids, kids, settle down, will ya? Now grow up, or I'll put you both in the brig."

"He started it." Susan said to get the last word in, and only just restrained herself from poking her tongue out.

Lise now spoke up, seeing that the argument would begin again if somebody didn't.

"Did they always fight like this?"

"No, thank God," Garibaldi answered, "Otherwise we might never have gotten anything done. But it wasn't because they didn't want to. No, they couldn't - not with the "chain of command" and all that junk."

Sheridan was about to cut in that technically he still outranked Ivanova, when the baby started crying from the other room

"Do you want me to get her, Delenn?" he asked, already halfway out of his seat, but Delenn was faster.

"No, John, it's alright, I'll see to her."

Heather got up to join her.

"Do you mind, Delenn? I just love babies and -"

The two women moved into the other room .

"You better watch yourself, Stephen," spoke Garibaldi, "Or Heather will have you knee deep in kids before you can say "I do"."

"Hey, you won't hear any objections from me - I love kids. Speaking of which," he added with a grin (mainly to turn attention away from himself), "Susan, Marcus - when are you two going to start a family?"

The couple exchanged a glance. They hated this question.

"Well, it's not that we don't want children," Marcus began.

"It's just that we're both so busy all the time -" Susan added.

"Besides, there's plenty of time for that later," he finished.

"Still, there's no time like the present. You never know what's going to happen tomorrow, or the day after. If you two really wanted kids, you wouldn't let anything get in the way of it," Sheridan advised, and would have continued with the lecture if Delenn and Heather hadn't remerged from the bedroom.

"Heather!" Susan jumped at the chance to change the subject, "Delenn! How's Leniera?"

"She is fine, just a little restless."

The two women seated themselves.

"Who wants more coffee?" Susan offered, in the hopes that people would forget the previous topic of conversation.

After a few affirmative replies, she rose to go into the kitchen, and Lise joined her, offering to help.

"So Lise, when are you and Michael going to tie the knot?"

The other woman's answering smile was slightly pained.

"I knew I was going to get asked that question sometime tonight."

"Touchy subject?"

"Like you and Marcus having kids? Yeah, I suppose so. Truthfully though, I'm not sure if we ever will get married. Neither of us really feels the need to. We're happy the way we are." She shrugged, not sure how else to explain it.

Susan nodded. She knew marriage wasn't for everyone - Marcus had certainly had his hands full convincing her to marry him. Plus there was the added pain of all that had happened during the last days of the war with Earthforce. But as long as they were happy, not much else really mattered.

"So what about you, Susan? How did you and Marcus finally get it together? Michael tells me you used to hate him."

"I never hated him," she skirted around the topic as they returned to the others laden down with cups.

Stephen, who had been listening to their conversation added, "No, he just annoyed the hell out of you."

"Well I still do that," Marcus jumped in, "The only difference is that now she finds it charming."

The others laughed at the look she gave him in reply.

"No, come on, Susan, Marcus how did you two end up together?" Lise repeated the question.

"That particular topic isn't open for discussion," Susan replied flatly.

"You mean to tell me you still haven't told anyone?" Stephen asked incredulously.

"Did you expect me to?"

"Well, it was almost four years ago, Susan," the doctor reasoned.

"And that threat still stands, Stephen, never doubt that."

"Don't worry, Susan, I never doubted it for a second."

"Okay, now I'm confused. Susan, Marcus, Stephen, what's all this about?" John Sheridan could still act like the Captain when he needed to.

The three exchanged guilty looks.

end part one

go to part 2

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