Chapter 25

guys,,, this is the final chapter. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

360 Days Later

Liam's POV:

The past almost-year had been complete bliss.

Being mated had changed a lot of things in Milo's and my relationship, but simultaneously it had changed nothing at all. The awkward confessions, the hugs and cuddles, those hadn't changed. The way we acted around each other gradually did.

The light in his eyes when he looked up at me, the beaming smiles when I did something he called 'Liam-like', the silent hours we'd spend on the couch or the bed, just holding each other, those grew to be new things that I loved more and more with each passing day. And now, within the last half-year, there was more to look forward to.

Half a year after Julie had told us she was willing to surrogate for us, we had taken her up on that offer, and now her stomach had a noticeable bump where Milo's and my child was gradually growing.

There were only a few months left until the fourth member of our small household would arrive, and I planned to spend every moment of that with my mate, from innocent kisses and hugs during the daytime and not-so-innocent ones during the hours when the world was thrown into darkness. I was sure that I had already made him feel wanted, and my hope was to continue that until the day I died.

Today was just a part of that plan.

Last fall, I had surprised Milo by getting down on one knee and proposing. He had started crying and sat down next to me, hugging me fiercely, before chanting out a million 'yeses'. Today was the day we actually tied the knot.

Well, the knot had been tied almost a year ago when we completed the mating ceremony. This was just the human equivalent of that- double knotting it, if you would. A doubly secure bond.

I reached up to fiddle with my tie again and Sage reached over to slap my hand away, catching my eyes in the mirror we were both standing in front of. Julie sat in the corner of the room, legs crossed and hands smoothing out her light blue dress. My father's office inside the Ceremony Hall had been taken over by us as our dressing room, while Milo and Adriel were in the meeting room across the hall.

"Stop doing that," my best friend muttered to me, "it looks perfect already."

"You know I don't trust your judgement," I countered, using my other hand to tilt the bottom of the tie just slightly off center. Sage kicked me. "Ow."

"Stop doing that," he said again, louder this time.

"Both of you shut up, pregnant woman in the room," Julie commanded, causing us both to shut up. Even after all this time and a year away at college, Julie was a force to be reckoned with.

The door behind me opened, and after turning around, I came eye-to-eye with Paisley. She was thirteen now, a step into teenagedom, but she still found extreme joy in the prospect of being the flower girl slash ring bearer.

"Dad says five minutes 'till showtime," she informed me, meeting my gaze before grinning brightly and jumping at me. "I can't believe you're getting married!"

"Me either!" I laughed in response, because she had said the same thing twenty times over the past hour and this was what I had always said in response.

"Don't ruin each other's hair!" Julie called, sounding annoyed. "Especially you, Liam! Or the makeup!"

"Ah, shut up," I grumbled at her, turning around as Paisley left the room.

"No," she said in response, tilting her head up to look at me defiantly. With a sigh, I ignored her and went to sit down in my father's office chair.

"Crazy to think that in a few short years, this office will be mine," I commented, looking around.

"It is weird," Sage agreed. "And you're getting married. Wow. Two years ago I didn't even think we'd be this close, but here we are. You're on the threshold of marriage, we're both gonna be dads soon, and Julie's pregnant."

"I notice that two of those items on the list go hand in hand," Julie commented, but was interrupted by the door opening again, this time my father himself stepping in.

"Almost time," he said with a kind smile before turning to me. "Looking good, son. Come out when you're ready and we'll signal to the pianist and everyone else."

Once he left, I turned to Sage with a slightly panicked expression. "Why are you so good at making me freak out?"

"A special skill," he joked, but sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder all the same. "Look, you're gonna be fine. You know your vows, right?" I nodded. "And you love Milo, right?" Another nod, this time slightly surer. "Then you'll do fine."

"You can do it!" Julie said with jazz hands as she heaved herself onto her feet and readjusted the waist of her dress again.

"Thanks," I sighed, looking between them. My two best friends, all of us taking different paths in life. It felt slightly somber.

"No problem. Now, go get 'em," Julie replied with a bright grin.

After pulling them both into a quick hug that hopefully communicated just how thankful for them I was, we turned and left the room, ready to embrace the destinies that laid for us in the world beyond.

-

370 Days Later

Milo's POV:

"Milo," my mate said as he walked into the room, a plate with a cupcake on it in his hand. I glared at him for barely a moment before returning my attention to the sleeping baby in my arms. Nimbus, our firstborn child, who was so difficult to get to sleep. He was the reason I now had perpetual tired circles under my eyes. Finally, after two hours of shushing and rocking and humming, he was unconscious. "Sorry," Liam whispered, setting the plate down next to me on the couch and reaching out his arms. "Want me to go put him down?"

I hesitated for a moment, looking down at our sleeping child's face, before nodding and handing him over to his father. Liam leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead- I winced, wondering if he would wake up, but he didn't- before carefully opening the door that led to Nim's room (a new addition to the old house) and walking inside. I watched them go, a soft smile on my face as I rubbed at my eyes.

Before long, Liam returned, closing the door softly behind him before exhaling and coming to sit next to me. He picked up the cupcake and handed it to me. I grasped it while I waited for him to get comfortable.

"Happy birthday," he whispered to me as he picked up a fork and cut a piece of it, handing it to me so that I could taste the treat. I hummed in approval.

"Remind me again, how old am I?" I joked with a smile.

Liam rolled his eyes but responded anyway. "You're twenty. Congrats on hitting double digits times two."

"I don't think that makes a lot of sense."

"I don't think you make a lot of sense."

I cut a piece of the cupcake for him and held it out for him to take. Instead of taking the fork, however, Liam just dipped his head down and ate the bite off of the fork.

"You're so childish," I commented, letting the fork drop back onto the plate alongside the half-eaten cupcake.

"I think having a child did that to me."

"I can't imagine you after having another."

"I can't imagine you after having another," my mate countered, brushing some of my hair off my forehead and leaning down to press a kiss to it. "You're so tired as it is."

"It's your fault for not getting up with Nim in the middle of the night. For someone who claims to have excellent hearing, you really do suck at waking up to his wails."

"Maybe you should wake me up."

"But by then I'd already be up, so what would the point be to wake you up as well?" I pointed out, and we both sighed. By now we'd already come to accept that it was a phase of Nim's childhood we couldn't stop.

"Back to your birthday," Liam changed the topic, "do you like the cupcake?"

I nodded. "Did your mom make it?"

"Yes, actually," he mumbled, looking down in embarrassment. "I tried. That day when you were out with Adriel and I was alone with Nim, when I got him down for a nap, I did try to make a cake. It just... you know."

I hummed in acknowledgement, splitting the remainder of the cupcake into two and poking one with a fork to give to my loving husband and mate. Again, he just ate the edible part at the end of the metal, so I just shook my head and ate the final bit, then leaned down to place the empty plate on the floor. Then I leaned into his side, sighing loudly, and curled into him.

Soon enough, I felt his arms wrap around me as I was pulled onto his lap. "I love you," he said, leaning down to press a kiss to my cheek. "You're such a good dad to Nim. And a good friend to Adriel and Sage and Julie, when she remembers to visit. And a good mate slash husband slash whatever else we are."

I felt a low blush begin to climb my cheeks, so I diverted Liam's attention by tilting my head back to peck him on the lips.

When I pulled back, his hand was already in my hair, giving him access to press soft kisses to my neck in places that he knew made me shiver. When his tongue trailed over the permanent mark he had left on me on our mating night, I had to pull back.

"Nim is right there! Right there!" I whisper-shouted, pointing towards the door that led towards his room.

"He's right there any other time," Liam pointed out, but reluctantly removed his hand.

"It's different. And it's daytime, and the windows aren't covered. Idiot."

Liam scoffed but his arm wrapped around my waist in a more innocent touch. "Fine, then," he mumbled, burying his nose in my hair before he took a long inhale. "Later."

A blush rose on my cheeks at that.

"I can't believe it's been two and a half years," I sighed, leaning against the back of the couch. "It feels much shorter."

"I know," Liam agreed. "Can't believe I wasn't with you from the start. Like, ever since my parents allowed me to date at age fourteen, I should've been your boyfriend."

"We both know I wouldn't have liked that very much," I replied with a short laugh.

"Well, it ended well," Liam sighed. "Even if there was four years of missed time in there, at least we're here now."

"I think we did good for ourselves, all things considered," I noted, looking around. "I'm not dead. You're not dead. We have a kid."

"A gorgeous kid who spawned from my gorgeous mate," Liam grinned, reaching for my hand to squeeze it. I frowned.

"I thought Nim spawned from Julie?"

"But he doesn't actually have any of Julie inside of him. It's all us, love."

"Hmm," I hummed, leaning against his shoulder with a sigh. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Liam's voice was soft as he pressed a kiss to my cheek before turning my head to capture my lips. "I love you too."

And, right then, I knew that we'd be fine.

Because we had love, and with love, we needed nothing else.

THE END