The Beating of Our Hearts Is the Only Sound

Epilogue: Better Than Okay

Things were good that summer. Allison called to tell them that she was coming to visit for a week, and that she was bringing Claire. Of course, now the whole house was chaos, with Luther trying to get everything perfectly in order.

     At some ridiculous hour in the morning, he was stamping through the halls, knocking on every door. By the time he got to Klaus', both he and Dave were awake, ignoring the summer heat in order to rest in each others arms a little while longer.

     "Get up," came Luther's voice from behind the closed door, along with a too-loud knock. "Allison will be here in a few hours."

     "In a few hours," Klaus groaned, burying his face in his pillow.

     "Yeah. So everything has to be perfect."

     There was a beat of silence.

     "Are you getting up?"

     Klaus sat up, bumping shoulders with Dave, who had been sitting up earlier. "Yes sir, o fearless leader." He did a little salute, even though he knew Luther wouldn't see it.

     "Good." The loud footsteps thudded next door to wake up Vanya.

     Klaus rubbed his eyes and stretched out a little. "And so it begins. Again." He muttered.

     "It won't be that bad," Dave said reassuringly. "We've cleaned the whole house about six times over. There can't be much to do. Plus, Allison!"

     "With a really small child," Klaus added. However excited he was to meet Claire and see Allison again, the idea of having to be a role model– for a whole week– terrified him.

     "Hey." Dave grabbed Klaus' shoulders. "It's gonna be great."

     Klaus nodded and smiled. Dave kissed him gently and then pulled his hands away.

     "Let's get up before Luther comes back."

     Around twenty minutes later, the two of them were ready, and in the kitchen. Grace was working away, making a big breakfast.

     "Good morning, Mom," Klaus said, walking over to the counter.

     Grace looked over at him, smiling. "Good morning, dear. Would you please go and grab the salt and pepper for me?"

     Klaus spun around on his toe and reached up into a cabinet for the shakers. He found them easily, and set them down next to the stove where Grace was working.

     "That smells delicious, Ms. Grace," Dave piped in. Diego had insisted he stopped using "Mrs." The implication of her being married to their father was horrific to him.

     "Why, thank you, Dave," she replied, turning her head to smile at him. "I'm just oh-so-excited that Allison is coming back!"

     "With her kid," Klaus reminded her.

     "It will be so nice to have a child around," Grace said, her voice a little dreamy. "It was so hard sometimes to see you children grow up!"

     Klaus nodded. "Well, is there anything we can do to help here? Luther and Vanya already went to pick up the party crew." He threw some sarcasm in those last two words, but of course it was lost on Grace.

     In the corner of his eye, he saw Dave roll his eyes with a barely-hidden smile. Grace, again, didn't notice. "I think that I've got it all taken care of! Thank you so much for offering." She turned to him and touched his shoulder for a brief moment, her face full of kindness and love. Then she turned back around and continued working away and probably making more food than necessary.