A/N: This is a ficlet that I wanted to work into Time of the Season, but it wasn't quite right for that story... Hope you enjoy. If you like my OC, I might put her in other Harry/Ruth. Update on the sequel to Time... is that I've written half of the first chapter, but I want to get at least three-quarters of the fic written before I post it. Hope this will satisfy people for the moment...

Everything is perfect. The day has gone without a hitch. The happy royal couple have departed, along with their security detail, and the citywide party is finally beginning to wind down. The sun is shining in the azure blue sky over London, and all is well with the world. All, that is, except Harry Pearce's mood. The whole process of providing security for the royal wedding has only served to remind of the fact that his own wife is no longer working with him. This is the first big operation they've done since... He shies away from the thought, and scowls as he catches a snatch of Tariq and Beth's conversation – "We'd have got it done so much quicker if Ruth..."

"Alec, take over for me," he tells his new Section Head curtly, handing him his headphones. "It should be fairly quiet now." Alec nods silently, not daring to argue.

"Thank God," Harry sighs as he gropes the wall in the pitch black of the hall, trying to locate the light switch. It's very late, and he hates being late now. The Grid has been so busy since she left, and everyone is working overtime, but he always tries to leave London early on a Friday night. There's no point in staying, after all. He throws his jacket over the back of the sofa and wanders upstairs, exhausted.

They are all sitting up in his bed, waiting for him as always, Scarlett curled up on Ruth's lap. She is reading aloud, and she makes sure to finish her page before looking up and smiling at him. "A fine thing," he tells his wife, "when I get usurped by a spaniel." Ruth snorts with laughter. "The spaniel doesn't snore," she reminds her husband dryly. He raises his eyebrows in indignation as two-year old Lizzy, snuggled against Ruth's side, chortles, "Daddy snores!"

"Yes," Harry grins, "and that's exactly what you should be doing right now. Come on, say goodnight to Mummy, then off to bed!" Ruth kisses her daughter on the top of the head, and then Lizzy holds out her arms to Harry. He swings his daughter up over his shoulder, grunting slightly with the effort. Lizzy kisses his slightly grizzled cheek and then proceeds to suck her thumb as her father carries her out of the room. Once Lizzy is settled, he returns to his and Ruth's own room, where Ruth has set aside the picture book and is waiting for him as she rubs cream into her hands. "Good day?" he asks her as he removes his tie.

"Busy," Ruth sighs happily. "I took Lizzy to playschool, did some shopping, and then we fed the ducks on the way home. I swear, some days, she's more exhausting than a day on the Grid." Harry laughs and begins to unbutton his shirt. "I'll be sure to tell the team that, the next time we work a twenty-hour day." He's never been so happy. Of course, losing Ruth from the team has been difficult, but he completely agrees with the need for their daughter to have at least one decent parent. The move to the country has made things easier, too. He commutes now, but he finds himself more willing to leave the office at a decent hour when he knows he has a family waiting for him. Ruth has settled down somewhat now – collaborating with an Oxford friend on a new translation of the Aeneid, and surprising herself by enjoying it so much. Since Lizzy was born, just a year after their marriage, his life has been turned completely upside down – and he loves it. He likes tripping over tiny wellington boots at the back door when he takes Scarlett out for walks in the morning. He likes finding teddy bears and picture books on the desk in the formerly well-ordered study.

And most of all, he likes evenings like this.

Fin