Reap the Earth at Which you Stand [boyxboy]

Epilogue

~Friday 12th August 2022~

"He's not going to be happy if we're late, Mylo!" Dakota called out to his brother, crouching down to pet the german shepherd Mylo had insisted he get. Apparently, for years in the penthouse, he had begged Akos for a dog. When they finally got their own house, Akos caved. Magpie was perfect, docile and calm when she needed to be and a bitch if she was threatened. Dakota only wished Vasile would agree to get one for him, one day maybe.

"Sorry, he's just not having a fun day with pants," Mylo jogged down the stairs without a care in the world, making the baby boy strapped to his chest giggle as he bounced, "apparently, a degree too warm and Ozi just wants to be naked," Dakota chuckled, pinching his nephew's cheek whilst Mylo flittered about, collecting his satchel.

"Here, I can carry it," Dakota took the bag from Mylo, slinging it over his shoulder whilst he waited by the front door.

"Where's Zy?" Mylo asked, wrestling with his youngest in an attempt to put a hat on him. Ozis had been a difficult one from the beginning, nothing like the twins, which only made Dakota chuckle any time Mylo would beg him to babysit. As if he didn't have enough children on his hands to begin with.

"Cael kept him for the day, I offered to but apparently it's easier to organise a birthday party with a three-month-old than without," Dakota shrugged, attaching the leash to Magpie's collar and running a hand through her thick fur.

"How are you doing with him? Did Pete give you the herbs to help him sleep?" Mylo followed Dakota outside, taking a moment to lock the front door and passing the keys to his brother. Dakota fumbled about with the stupid amount of keychains on Mylo's key before stuffing it into the satchel and walking down along the path to the sidewalk with his brother. Magpie was trained enough not to pull, so she happily blundered along beside Dakota, stopping every so often to sniff the flowers that Mylo had planted all over his garden.

"No, Cael doesn't mind him sleeping in with us. I have to get up for the feeds anyway so it doesn't really make a difference. He should settle down soon enough," then maybe Dakota could actually get some sleep in more than two-hour increments.

"Are you planning on having more?" After the traumatic birth with his first-borns, Mylo had made the decision not to have any more children until Akos turned him. He didn't need to be in another coma for six months, it was painful enough to hear about how much he had missed out on his twins' lives to begin with, let alone risk a repeat. Of course, Akos turned him when he was given a clean bill of health by Pete, and then only eight months ago, Mylo announced that he was pregnant once again. Then came Ozis, six months ago, their second son. Although, Akos was already begging for another.

"Cael wants a girl, so I suppose we'll keep going until we get one," Dakota couldn't help but touch his stomach whenever he thought of his children. Thanks to Pete, he didn't have any scars from the births, but there were more than enough from before. He had thought about taking the witch up on his offer to remove some of the other scars over his torso, but decided against it in the end. They were ghosts of his past, but only ghosts at that. They couldn't hurt him, they only reminded him of what he had overcome.

"Girls are easier," Mylo muttered, bending down to pick up Ozis' hat for the fourth time, glowering playfully at the child as he put it back on his head. Ozis only continued to babble, turning his head to stare at other people in the street and trees and anything else that caught his tiny attention span.

"Come on, Mags," Dakota coaxed when the dog stopped briefly to simply look around the streets. She did that often, checking for anything out of the ordinary. Not that it was necessary. The neighbourhood that Mylo lived in was a safe one, Dakota only lived a few blocks away, they had picked it out carefully.