Tale as Old As Time [Finished]

[yamikuronue]

Siegfried sighs. "I'm sure the pantry is atrocious in my absence."

[CalamityJade]

Morden gave a look of mock disappointment. "Well, then let us hurry. I can't imagine you wish to ponder the state of the pantry much longer." With that he started moving towards the car.

[yamikuronue]

Siegfried picks up the carrier,  walking toward the car. Time to learn how this thing straps in...

[CalamityJade]

After a few minutes of fumbling, O would drive back to the house. When asked about the week, he simply said that 'Lance had to work out some issues' and that 'the kid'll figure it out on his own'

[yamikuronue]

Siegfried, meanwhile, is content to draw up a list: "We'll need a crib for Grace, and more diapers, formula, we'll want to babyproof the house, a baby monitor, some age-appropriate soft toys..."

[CalamityJade]

Morden thinks a moment. "I imagine that you could do well with cloth diapers, though that would depend on your constitution."

Obsidian shakes his head. "Right. Gonna leave that to you two."

[yamikuronue]

Epilogue: 1 year later

Lance stands on the balcony of his father's former bedroom, looking out over the gardens at the sunset.The new lighting Siegfried had put in was just coming on, dim at first, making it much easier to navigate if you were, say, looking for a dropped stuffed rabbit which was absolutely essential for bedtime despite having been missing for the better part of a day.

He swirled his drink in his hand, deep in thought. As much as he'd grown to tolerate Grace, the thought of spending a few hours with a half dozen children aged between 1 and 4 still grated on his nerves; better if he stayed up here, out of the way, with a glass of whiskey. There was a time he wouldn't have acknowledged his limitations -- but then, back then, he'd have hidden in his room full-time instead of making the effort to meet the other parents Siegfried had befriended.

He had to admit, his half-brother had blossomed in the presence of other parents. He'd taken to parenting like a duck to water, and the added bonus of making new friends served to highlight just how lonely he'd been. Lance winces slightly, still feeling a bit guilty about the torment he'd put his family through in the name of keeping them safe.

Deep in the back of his mind, Wolf stirs sleepily and rolls over. Lance smiled, faintly. Since he started listening to Wolf more, it had become almost impossible for his uncle to sneak up on him -- the creature never failed to acknowledge the presence of his Alpha, even if he was otherwise full, sleepy, and content. Still, he'd let the other man speak first.

[CalamityJade]

"Don't blame you for heading up here. I'm fine with there only being one thing underfoot." Obsidian still had this tendency not to knock, but he'd long given up seeing if the kid...if Lance would jump when he 'snuck' up on him. He'd stayed around, having apparently needed some sort of work as dictated by his parole officer. He actually had been doing construction and demolition work. 'Gave him time to work with his hands' he said.

[yamikuronue]

"That Alice makes Grace look like an angel," he points out, referring to the most mobile of the toddlers who had come to Grace's party.

He glances back in acknowledgement of his uncle, but turns quickly away from the sight of the bedroom, stripped of personal belongings, ready and waiting for him to move in. That's tomorrow's problem, he tells himself.

[CalamityJade]

O chuckles. "Point. The mobile ones are always the worst...least as much as I've heard." He shook his head. "Besides, Sig and Mor can deal with them." True to form, Morden HAD been staying around a lot. He still was a consulting accountant and hadn't close that down, but...he wasn't as quick to take long trips and seemed to have curbed his more interesting jobs for the time being.

[yamikuronue]

Lance snorts. "They're still the weirdest gays I've ever seen," he adds, referencing -- but not reigniting -- an old argument he'd finally lost.

[CalamityJade]

"Only because you're still waiting for all the colors to explode out from somewhere?" O chuckled a little. "They do good by the kid and by you."

[yamikuronue]

"Yeah."

He stares out at the gardens for a long moment, thoughts churning through his head. Finally, his shoulder slump a bit. "I really don't know if switching rooms is the best plan."

[CalamityJade]

"Maybe, but it's the plan you got." He puts his hand on Lance's shoulder. "I know you're still hurtin...but you wanted to be able to move on...and I'm sure they'd want you to as well. This is the first part of this." Granted, he said the same thing when Lance agreed to having the party here, but that was a minor detail.

[yamikuronue]

Lance takes a deep breath, nodding slowly. "I guess.. I guess you're right. There's benefits to having Siegfried live right beside Grace's rooms, and someday the whole house might be full again, so it's best to settle into the suite now." Still, he stares out at the gardens, brooding.