The Dresden Files/Codex Alera is copyright Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.

"I cast Fuego," I said, munching on a cheeze nip as I sat in front of Murphy's laptop with my headphones on.

"Harry, you always cast Fuego," Bob the former Skull said. He was now an older professor at the University of Chicago. "Sure you don't want to mix it up a little? You have like seventy-five combat spells you can use and the unintentional damage you do with Fuego—"

"I cast Fuego!" I pounded the desk a little, causing the bowl to jump off the surface and onto the floor.

"Dammit, Harry, that's the third time." Murphy came over and leaned down to pick up the mess.

"Honey, you don't have to—"

"Shut up and play your game." She sighed.

"Guys, I need to put a pin in this. Got some lovin' to do."

"Aww, Harry, we were almost through this level three Dungeon!" Thomas, the former vampire, said. He lived in a downtown apartment building and drove for Uber. Apparently, in this timeline or whatever, the Raiths never came to power.

"See ya, guys," I said and pressed the disconnect button.

I leaned down and lifted Murphy up into my lap.

"You didn't have to do that, Goofy." She giggled as I pulled her entirely off her feet and into my lap, squirming.

"Yeah, I did." I kissed her softly as she wrapped her arms around me. "Maggie asleep?"

"Went down about an hour ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I stood up, Murphy in my arms. She giggled as I spun her around a couple times then started for the bedroom.

"I didn't want to disrupt your game." She flushed as I kissed her deeply.

"Believe me, baby. I'd rather spend time with you than on some stupid game. It's just a time passer."

"I know, but you need time with your friends. Especially after—"

I nodded as I made it to the bedroom and lay her back, kissing her mouth. I slipped her top off and began licking her smooth skin, kissing and sucking her pert breasts.

"God, Harry. You need to shave…" she moaned softly as she writhed under me.

I made my way down her body, kissing and licking. I was very oral, enjoying the taste of her skin. I pulled her pants down abruptly, stripping them off then pulled my shirt and pants off, stepping out of them.

It had been three weeks since our wedding. Three blissful weeks where no one tried to kill us, no one needed my magical assistance, no supernatural creature went on a rampaging revenge quest to destroy the world. No necromancers were raising the dead, no werewolves attacking Chicago citizens at night, no foul group of hungry vampires preying on the living. It had been a lovely time of me, Murphy, Maggie, and weekly Dungeons and Dragons over Skype.

Everyone else who had attended our wedding remembered what the world had been like before, except for Maggie and Melissa. Susan and Martin lived a few doors down from us, and our daughters were close friends. It was a bit strange having the mother of my child be married to another guy, but I was so happy being Karrin's husband I didn't care. Martin still worked for CPD, but in homicide, not Special Investigations. Supernatural creatures existed only on the TV screen or in movies, not rampaging down the streets as a re-animated Tyrannosaurus.

Life would be perfect….except for two things; Lara and Molly.

I felt a huge sense of guilt around Lara. She had stolen my life, my love, my magic. But I had been a somewhat willing participant. She had been transformed into a creature of Fae, and as such, didn't have a place here as Thomas's sister. Thomas, of course, remembered her, but no one else did. Thomas had three other half-sisters by other mothers. But no Lara decorated any Raith Family tree. Jeffrey Raith, Thomas's father, ruled the wealth he had with an iron fist and had disowned Thomas long ago after an altercation between them.

And Molly. Just the thought of her made my heart clench. Michael and Charity, of course, remembered their eldest daughter, but none of the other children did. Birth records proved Molly had never existed. We had yet to get an inkling of where, or who, they might be.

Karrin and I had a fantastic life. I taught English at a local high school, and Karrin was retired from CPD. She had a long successful law enforcement career and had been rewarded for it. She consulted with different federal and city agencies around Chicago providing tactical and martial arts training and had opened her own Dojo, where she worked with youth from the streets. She loved showing violent youth how to master themselves both inner mind and outer action, then feeding them into the high school where I picked them up and taught them how to write proper English. It took a moment for both of us to adjust to the new situation we found ourselves within. Our lives followed a lovely pattern, and no one tried to kill us, attack us, or otherwise inhibit us other than your normal, run of the mill gang-bangers. Once you've handled a literal gang of bloodthirsty werewolves, Chicago gangs were simplistic in comparison.

We'd decided we wanted a child of our own, and passion became a regular counterpart to our day jobs. I thrust inside her a few more times, and we both came together, clenching our bodies tightly and feeling our spirits enfolding as one — in a figurative but not literal sense.

I held her in my arms, enfolding her from behind as we both basked in the afterglow.

"Mmmm," she said.

"I know, right?"

"Mmhmm."

We panted, breathless, both of us caressing the other as we lay back on the pillows.

"I don't ever want this to end, Harry."

I smiled. "Neither do I."

"No, I mean…" she put a hand on my cheek, turning my face to stare into her eyes. "I really don't want it to end."

"Neither do I, honey."

She sighed. "Harry."

Frowning, I sat up. "What? What's wrong? What did I do?"

"I love you. I love our life. I love trying to make babies with you."

"Yes, me too." I put my arm around her. "But I feel like you're about to say but."

"Yes, you know me too well."

"But what?"

She shrugged. "You know who else isn't around beside Molly and Lara?"

"Hm?"

"Goodman."

I winced at that. Goodman Grey had been the Naagloshii, the skinwalker. He'd also been a hell of a good assassin, the one Molly paid to put a bullet in my back. He'd also been a good friend and ally, and onetime lover of Karrin's.

"Ebenezer said like Molly and Lara, anyone with Fey blood never existed here."

"Yes."

"So, what do you want me to do about that?"

"Harry." She got up and went into the bathroom. I could hear the shower running, and four minutes later, she came back, toweling herself dry. "Mab, Molly, Sarissa, Fix, Lara, Goodman, and Ivy." She ticked them off on her fingers.

"All people who are no longer part of this continuum, or whatever."

"And McAnally's," Murphy added a finger.

"Yeah, it's a barbershop now."

"Like it had never been there."

"And why isn't John Marcone here? I thought he was the most 'human' of everyone. No magic at all."

"I know, right?" She said. "Which, I suppose, is evidence he was far more than he appeared after all."

"And?" She paused, looking at me.

"And what?"

She sighed. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Apparently."

"Okay, Wizard. What are you doing to find them?"

I shook my head. "Absolutely nothing."

"But they're our friends, Harry. People who have had our back in the past. People you care about. Especially Molly."

"Look, I feel bad for Molly, I do. But I trained her to take care of herself."

"Harry, it's not just Molly, and you know it."

"No, Murph." I shook my head. "Magic has become nothing but trouble. Look, I loved being a fire slinger like the best of 'em, but it brought no end to trouble, mayhem, and violence. I don't want that old life back."

"But Harry…" Murphy said, threading her fingers with mine. "What if they're in trouble? And need our help? Won't you feel terrible if something has happened to them, and you didn't do everything you could to find them."

I grit my teeth. She was right, of course. But I didn't want her to be right. I was happy, blissfully happy for the first time in…ever. We were happy.

"You know if I go poking around too much, I might not have this anymore," I said, sliding her hand down between my legs.

She gripped it. "Guess we better make use of it while we can, eh?"

"Definitely."

"I'll do a bit of research, but I refuse to do anything to jeopardize us. I have the two people I love most in the world right now, right here, and I won't do anything to disrupt that, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay. If you can at least find something out, I'll feel better. I mean, I suspect it's just a parallel Universe or something, and they're fine, just like you said, but if something else is true, we'll need to gather our forces, Harry. Goodman deserves backup if he needs it."

"So does Molly, I suppose."

"How will you find out?"

I shrugged. "The great Big Mac in the sky, I suppose, would be the best place."

"And how do you propose to speak to him?"

I sighed. "Talk to the holiest person I know that is here right now."

"Michael?"

I nodded.

"I'm sure he'd like to know Molly is safe too."

"Yeah."

I kissed her again, and we made love. Slow and tender this time, each of us finding that perfect rhythm of move and flow, touch, and taste. I kissed every part of her I could, and her mouth found my parts as well.

My mind didn't want to think about my friends and what they might be going through. I'd talk to Michael and see if he could get a line into Mac. As I came inside my loving wife, I fervently hoped nothing would change about our reality that might take this away from me.