The Secret (A Tom Hiddleston Fan Fic)

Epilogue

A/N:  Hello, lovely readers. So, I though that Ashley and Tom's story needed one last final curtain call to tie everything in a neat bow. As always, I hope you like what I've written, and I'd love to hear your comments!

Cheers!

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Tom's POV

"How long do you think you'll be on the naughty step?" Luke asks as we sit outside in the garden on a rare warm, sunny day.

"As long as it takes," I say, taking a sip from my water bottle as we break from moving. The large items had been brought to our new home by a moving service; Luke and his boyfriend Brandon had volunteered to help with the more personal things... that is, Luke, Brandon, and Ash's friend, Frank and his new fiancé, Beth. Ashley had told me of the connection between Frankie and herself. I couldn't be mad at her for it, but rather angry at myself for putting her in that predicament.

As Luke grins at me, I see Ashley stalking from our new house.

"Pray tell, Mr. The Film Industry Loves Me More Than Botox and Designer Clothes... what exactly am I to do with this?" she asks, waving the Oscar I won in front of my face.

It is not the first time she's done this. Oh, no. By my count, she's done it no less than four times:

The first was when the Oscar arrived via express delivery (from none other than Robert Downey, Jr. himself).

The second was when I'd taken it (at request) to an interview.

The third was when I'd thought it would be funny to display it in our main bathroom so guests could mimic receiving it in the mirror.

And the fourth... I believe that is today.

Do not get me wrong. Receiving the Oscar despite the fact that I'd denied it in front of my colleagues and... I don't know... 100 million viewers, was as much of a shock to me as to Ash. And I know that all the grief I've received from her about it is absolutely deserved. That and any and all other grief I've received from her.

In the last five or so months, we've had our good and bad days. Firstly, there were the tabloid stories that Ashley had stolen me away from Jordan. We had managed to put to rest those rumors, with no small amount of support from Luke and his team as well as others who knew of our marriage.

Secondly, Ashley had been scorned. For lying about our marriage, for being married to me, for being pregnant... for more things than I can count. As for myself, I remained relatively unscathed. The stabs at my reputation had oscillated between being considered a mere rogue or scoundrel (their words, not mine), to being somehow hypnotized by Ashley's womanly wiles. All of this, I've refuted... or attempted to refute.

Ashley has thwarted my attempts at battling many of these rumors, only to the curse me for their existence. Not every time, mind you, and I don't blame her for the times that she has. As I've thought many times, I will spend all of eternity making up for my mistakes to her.

"I'm not sure, Love," I say, standing to take the offending item from her hands. "Perhaps we can affix it to the top of the garage in some manner of a weather vane?" I ask.

Ash doesn't allow me to take it immediately, instead examining it as if for its aerodynamic properties. Finally, a smile spreads across her face, and she looks at me as if she's finally come up with the perfect plan to put this thing between us to rest.

"Follow me," she says, and I do so without question.

She carries the statuette into our new laundry room and proceeds to stand upon tiptoe to place it on a higher shelf.

"There," she says, placing her hands on her hips as her protruding belly sticks out even further. "I think that's the spot for him."

I look from the golden statue that, frankly, means nothing to me anymore, to my wife, who means more to me than she'll ever know. I made the right bloody choice, I think as I stand behind her to wrap my arms around her swollen belly, kissing her on the top of her head. "I think that's perfect." She looks over her shoulder at me and I sigh, knowing my punishment is not over.

"Do you know why I placed it there?" she asks, never referring to it as Oscar.

"I've no idea, though I trust it's for a very good reason."

She smiles before pointing from the statue to me. "For as long as it's there, you're on laundry duty."

I allow her words to sink in, including the weight they carry with an upcoming baby. As I start to argue, I see the look in Ash's eyes and all the fight goes out of me. It's no longer about paying back a wrong or even feeling repentant for my past crimes. No... it is all about making Ash feel like she is the most important person... thing... entity... in my life.

As I stretch to straighten the useless statuette, I hear a gush of some fluids then a gasp. I look to Ashley only to see a look of surprise and wonder on her face.

"Tom... I think my waters just broke," she whispers.

I grin at her before I feel my own heart begin to flutter at the thought of welcoming our child into the world. As I start to jog to our new bedroom to retrieve her bag for hospital, she grabs my hand to stop me.

"What is it, Love?" I ask.

"You're forgiven," is a she says.

I smile at her before kissing her on the forehead. "That's all I needed to hear," I say as I kiss her lips then, knowing we are about to be led into parts of our relationship and our lives yet unknown.

The End