Colin looked around at his room. It didn't look substantially different from rooms at any of the hotels he'd stayed in. It had a bed and a bureau. It had a desk and a chair. He didn't need much more. It even had an en suite bathroom. That bathroom connected to the other room, the one that would become the baby's room in only a few short months, but he wouldn't think about that.

It didn't feel like home, but Colin shouldn't have expected it would. It would take time, he guessed. Time and effort. He had a lot to get used to about this new world he'd just entered. The house was one of them.

He and Mansur could have held some kind of housewarming, but it would have been a pretty small and pathetic get-together. Colin didn't want to bring any of the SEALs along. Chief and DeWitt had been nice enough at the end of his term with them, but he still had a lot of bad blood with them all. Neither of them knew anyone else in Virginia Beach well enough to bring them by. So they'd just moved into the townhouse, with its new furniture and new accoutrements, and that was the end of it.

The doorbell rang downstairs. Colin ignored it. Mansur was down there, and it was technically his house.

Two minutes later, heavy feet raced up the stairs. Those weren't Mansur's feet. Mansur was lighter, more careful. Colin stood and got ready for a fight. When someone knocked on the door, he balled his hand into a fist before calling out. "Who's there?"

"It's me. Ed. Can I come in?"

Ed didn't sound like himself. It was his voice, but he sounded shy, diffident. That wasn't Ed at all. Was he sick? Hurt? Had something happened to one of the guys? Had Miazga taken a turn for the worse?

"Come in."

Ed let himself into the room and closed the door behind him. "How are you doing?" He shoved his hands into his pockets and kept his eyes on the ground. "It's a nice place you've got here. Pretty sweet."

"How did you find it?" Colin wasn't prepared for the way his chest hurt at the sight of Ed. He hadn't expected to see him again, but if he did he figured his anger would carry him through. Right now, his anger wasn't the driving factor.

"I spoke to Mansur." Now Ed did look up. His eyes were red and ringed with dark circles. "I wanted a chance to talk to you a little bit. Um. I didn't think you'd take my call, so I talked to him. Are you doing okay? I saw you on TV. I know it's not the career you dreamed of, but I hope you don't mind my saying you were pretty awesome up there."

"Thanks." Colin blushed. "It was a little weird, you know? I had a lot to learn. But you know how it is. You don't have a choice about some things, so you do what you have to do and you shut up about it."

"Right?" Ed snickered. His grandfathers had said the same thing, and for a second it almost felt like the old days. "Listen, Colin, I wanted to tell you something. I've had a chance to do a lot of thinking. Um, I've been in therapy. I didn't want to, at first. You know how it is. We're big, strong, manly, Southern men. I'm a SEAL. I don't get therapy, I cause therapy.”

"But someone, who might or might not be Chief, wasn't having any part of me saying no anymore. Not after the scene I caused. So I went. I've still got a way to go. Don't get me wrong. But I'm getting there. I'm learning. I want to get better, Colin. I want to get better, for you. I want to be a good partner. I want to be a good friend, and I want to be a good father." He swallowed. "I want to be a good husband, if you'll let me."

Colin staggered into the wall. If Ed had told him he wanted to leave the Navy, run off to Iceland, and start making soap for a living, Colin would have been less surprised. "I can't...wait. What's really going on here? Are you sure? Where's all of this coming from?" Was Colin really awake right now, or had he dozed off again?

Ed stepped forward. "I don't want to be presumptuous. I also trust that everything you said to me was true. That includes every time you said you loved me. Do you still love me, Colin?"

Colin closed his eyes. Could he afford to say yes? Could he afford to risk the constant battles, the jealousy, and the fights about appropriate behavior?

Could he afford to turn his back, to say no, to reject the one lover he'd always wanted?

He reached out and put a hand on Ed's face. Ed had trimmed his beard. He'd groomed it too. Someone must have coached him on that, because it was never this soft when he was left to his own devices. "I will never stop loving you, Ed. I want to give us another try." He held up a hand. "I'm scared. I won't lie."

"I won't pretend to be a perfect man, Colin. But I'm trying, for you. I'm learning. And I've got a lot of people working to keep me honest." Ed bowed his head, and then he stopped. "Can I kiss you?"

Colin stretched and kissed Ed. He'd intended a chaste kiss, but as soon as their lips met it turned into a searing, burning kiss that threatened to ignite Colin's clothes. He pulled Ed closer.

"I still want this." Colin's knees buckled as they hit the bed. "I want to be with you. I know it's going to be rough for both of us, but we can work on it. If we're both on the same page with the important stuff, we can work on it." He bowed his head, and took Ed's finger into his mouth, teasing the tip with his tongue before sucking the whole digit in.

Ed moaned. "Gonna be the death of me, Colin. These past few weeks without you have been Hell. I want to do better. I want to be your alpha, forever." He pulled back for a moment. "I'll get the lube. You go ahead and get naked."

Colin obeyed. This would be the first time they slept together in a proper bed, not a Navy bunk. These were good sheets, real sheets. The walls were good and thick too. They could make noise without worrying that they'd disturb other people in the platoon, or face disciplinary action. The freedom of it all had him thickening up without a hand on him.

He climbed up onto the bed and knelt there. He left his knees about shoulder width apart and sat back on his feet, hands on his knees, and waited. The good and real sheets he'd just admired were smooth and clean under his skin, with the kind of thread count he hadn't believed existed until Mansur picked them out.

He was showing off for his man, and that fact wasn't lost on Ed when he got back to the bed. He stood next to the bed and breathed in for a moment. "Look at you," he said, after a long moment. Colin kept his eyes lowered, but he preened under Ed's gaze. He wasn't an exhibitionist, but he liked the way Ed's eyes darkened and his breath quickened. He liked it when Ed looked. "Look at you, all waiting and wanting. And you're all mine, aren't you?"

Colin nodded. If he moved his arms he'd shake too much so he just nodded. "All yours, Ed. No one else's, ever again."

Ed stepped closer. "Say that again," he growled, running his fingers through Colin's short brown hair. The air conditioning didn't seem to be quite so excessive when Ed did that, and Colin moaned.

"Er, no one else's, ever again?" he said, trying to remember. The connection between words and his brain wasn't easy with Ed tugging on his hair like that.

"Very nice." Ed's voice had reduced to a little purr. "I do like that." His other hand stroked Colin's flank.

Ed claimed his mouth with a brutal kiss before pulling back. "I like you just like this," he crooned, peeling off his shirt. "Just like this, Colin. Let me make you happy." He stroked Colin's shoulders, over his arms. He brought them back over his pecs and rolled his nipples in his fingers. Every brush of his skin made Colin harder and hotter, but he didn't move. Ed liked him just like this, and it was kind of like a game, to see just how long he could stay in that posture until he had to move.

From time to time, Ed had to stop to shuck an item of clothing, and Colin's mouth watered. His alpha's cock stood strong and proud from his body, and Colin just had to suck it like the last time. "Just a taste?" he asked, eyes down.

Ed chuckled. "Not this time, love. I don't know if I'd last. Next time, maybe in a few hours, I promise you can suck to your heart's content." He stroked Colin's cheek and bent him over.

Colin heard him reach for the lube and heard the pop of the cap. He rubbed his face on the coverlet as he waited for that first cool, slick finger to breach him. "I've wanted this too long, Colin," Ed murmured, as he stretched Colin open. "Not just this, but you. I've missed you so much."

Colin's soul glowed with his alpha's words. Ed still loved him. Ed loved him enough to work on his issues. They were going to find a way to make it work. They had hope. That hope, just as much as the way Ed found the sweet spot inside of him, kindled the heat in his body, and had him rocking back onto Ed's fingers. He needed this.

Finally, as though they had all the time in the world, Ed pushed inside of him. This time he entered with one slow, inexorable but patient push. The last time had been great. Ed had mistakenly called it perfect. Wars had been fought for this moment. Wars had been ended for this moment. He grabbed onto the coverlet and let out a low groan as Ed bottomed out, relishing the stretch and the delight of being not just full, but full with his alpha.

Then Ed was fully seated. This was glorious. This was the ultimate connection. He was engulfing Ed, and Ed was buried hot and huge inside of Colin. Ed's arms trembled with the effort of holding himself still, though, so even though he never wanted this feeling to end Colin gasped out, "Move."

Ed did. He pulled back and snapped himself home again, and then again, setting up a desperate pace that left Colin keening and begging. He turned his head to the side, looking back to see his lover. Ed looked even more beautiful like this, pink with exertion and glistening with sweat, than he did when he was at rest. His wild brown hair was plastered to his forehead, and he clenched his jaw as he thrust into Colin, again and again.

With a mighty grunt, Ed hauled Colin to his knees and held him there with one arm as he reached around with the other. He took Colin's aching cock in his hand and gave three firm, purposeful strokes.

Colin cried out as he came, a hot mess all over the duvet. Maybe Ed wasn't the only one who was too overcome to stretch the moment out. That was okay. They'd have the rest of their lives. Ed lost the rhythm and pumped his release directly into Colin while Colin shuddered around him.

They dozed off in one another's arms for a little while. They had no reason not to. They had nowhere to be. No one was going to burst into the room and stumble into one of the other bunks. They even had a bathroom to themselves, so when the time came to clean up they could manage it without a problem.

They slept in the next day. Colin was a little sheepish when they went downstairs to face Mansur, but his friend was nothing if not completely happy for him. They fixed breakfast together and celebrated before settling down for a serious discussion.

"I'm operating under the assumption that you're probably going to move in with Ed." Mansur grinned at Colin as he sat down with a new cup of coffee. "I'm not mad. I figured you would want your own place eventually, when I bought this one."

Ed nodded vigorously, and then he stopped himself. "I hadn't asked yet." Then he twisted around to look at Colin. "I do think we should probably live together, since you said yesterday you would marry me and everything."

Colin felt his cheeks get red, but he just chuckled. "They usually do go together, but I guess they don't have to. No judging."

"We'll probably want a bit of a bigger place, once the kid's born." Ed grimaced. "It doesn't have to be huge, or out in the country or anything. A place like this, where the outdoor maintenance is done for you, would be kind of ideal. It's not reasonable to expect you to take all that on, plus the kid, plus working, while I'm gone all the time."

Colin's jaw dropped. He remembered Ed's grandparents. They'd been good guys, but they hadn't been the most liberated of men. "Wow. That's a great idea. Have you been talking to people?"

"I might have been." Ed blushed. "I am a smart guy, you know. I do learn, eventually." His eyes shone with the reflected light from the windows as he met Colin's eyes. "Hopefully I haven't learned too late."

"I don't think you have." Colin took his hand and held it. Maybe they'd be all right, after all.

* * *

Ed was amazed by how little Colin had to move. The whole cohabitation thing was solved by grabbing his suitcase and his laptop and putting them into the car. That was all. Colin didn't even have a car of his own.

That was the first thing they had to change, or rather the first thing Colin had to change. Colin had mornings off, and Ed did not. Colin headed out on Monday morning to pick out his first car, which he did without a lot of fuss or bother.

He came back with a mini-van. Ed laughed at him for ten minutes. Then he saw the car seat in the back seat. He shut up and installed it.

Ed put his condo on the market a week after Colin moved in. He would miss the place, but it wasn't set up for babies or little kids. He and Colin sat down together and looked at their finances, and as it turned out, things weren't as bad as they'd looked in Egypt. Colin's new job at the TV station paid a lot better than the Times had, and he'd saved quite a bit of money working there since he had virtually no living expenses. They had no trouble finding another condo in the same development as Mansur, although not too close. That would just be weird.

Ed still had a little bit of trouble living near Mansur, but he got over it. He understood Colin needed Mansur's friendship, and they both needed the safety net the other provided. Colin was also able to take care of Mansur's cat while Mansur traveled, so that was a load off of everyone's mind.

The cat never did warm up to Ed, but Ed could live with that.

They got married a few days before they closed on the condo. They had a quiet, small, civil ceremony followed by a get-together at Shifty's. The bartender with the weird tattoo was on duty. Ed tried to get a good view of the tattoo, but most of it was covered. He guessed it didn't matter; he was here to celebrate his marriage, not poke around at other people's ink.

Colin kept his own name. That chafed too, but Ed was honest about that and Colin got it. Ed understood why Colin had to do it. He wasn't just some guy. He was a semi-public figure. He had four Olympic medals to his name, and he took speaking engagements to pick up extra money as a result of that. He was a respected journalist, and now he was a local celebrity. All of that brought money to the family, and that would go away if he surrendered his name.

The loss of tradition chafed, but Ed could live with it. He talked about it with Chaudhary. Oddly enough, Ed found himself untroubled by the fact his omega husband earned more money than he did. "He doesn't just have the TV job," he told Chaudhary. "He's got a side gig doing freelance editing. I think he's freelancing for the Times, too, although he's doing mostly commentary for them now. And he's working on a book. And—and. It's like something snapped in him, while we were apart, and now he's just got this fever."

"Does that concern you?" Chaudhary leaned back and watched Ed carefully.

"Well, I'm a little worried about him, honestly. But if you mean am I all up in arms because of the money, no. We've talked, you know? I would have been, before." Ed blushed to admit it, and he dug his toe into the carpet. "Like, yeah, we both grew up poor, but his family was super poor. He got shuffled from relative to relative because they were all too poor to keep him, and even then sometimes he just went without food or shoes or whatever."

"So for you, it was a case of, 'Well, we were poor and we turned out okay.' For him, it was, 'I'm not having my kid growing up with that kind of instability and poverty.'"

"Exactly. And once the cork was popped on that bottle, you can't put it back in." Ed shook his head. "I should have thought of it, but you know. I was all caught up in my own thing."

Chaudhary snorted. "Wow, you couldn't read his mind and get to the bottom of his unexpressed hangups? Imagine that." He shook his head. "So, you're okay with it. Good. And your relationship is otherwise harmonious."

"For now." Ed chuckled. "We're spirited guys. We'll find something else to argue about. As long as we're healthy about it, that's probably fine."

Their baby continued to grow and develop inside Colin, and when the Ides of March rolled around, Colin duly reported for his C-section.

He was pale and twitchy as he lay in the hospital room, eyes never settling on any one thing. "I'm nervous," he told Ed. "I don't like this, not even a little bit. But it's what we have to deal with, right?"

Ed's insides twisted. "Yeah, babe. It is. But you'll get through it, just like you got through everything else. And our kid will be born at the end of it."

Colin grimaced, but he didn't say anything more. He didn't speak at all, not during the process of anesthesia and not while they cut him open. Ed stayed up near Colin's head, on the safer side of the curtain. It wasn't that he was squeamish about blood, but he didn't need to see his husband's insides.

Their son was a perfectly healthy, if large, boy with no hair and giant gray-blue eyes. He had huge lungs on him and a fantastic grip. They washed him off, tested him, swaddled him, and pushed him into Ed's arms.

Ed stared into his son's eyes. He'd fought hard for this little guy, and he figured he'd earned this moment. After a few seconds, though, he noticed that the sense of urgency on the other side of the curtain had only increased. A surgeon called for blood, and then for more of it.

Then he called for clamps.

"What's going on?" Ed held his precious son closer to himself as the nurses raced to comply.

The anesthesiologist disappeared onto the other side of the curtain. Then she returned. "There's a bad tear. It looks like it's been a problem for a while. We have to do an emergency hysterectomy."

Ed's mouth went dry. "He won't be able to have more kids."

She frowned at him, a little line appearing above her mask. "We don't have a choice. He'll die."

"Right here." Colin's voice was weak, but Ed could hear him all the same.

Ed bent down to kiss Colin’s face. "Did you get all that?"

Colin smiled. "Yeah. Do it."

Ed straightened up. "You heard the man." He felt a little pang. He'd have liked to have the chance to convince Colin to have more kids someday. But this wasn't about him. This was about Colin, who hadn't wanted this in the first place.

Colin had to stay in the hospital for a few days, but he was determined to recover. At first he hesitated to look at the baby. Ed didn't push. He just kept holding their son while he sat in the room, and after a few hours and a lot of sleep Colin asked to see him.

Ed showed him how to hold their son. "We don't have a name for him yet." Colin traced the line of the baby's jaw with his delicate fingertips.

"No. We never talked about it. We should probably come up with something, though. 'Hey You' is going to get old pretty soon." Ed snickered. "I was thinking. Mansur Adami sounds a little odd, but maybe Manny. Emmanuel?"

Colin beamed at him, even through his pallor and exhaustion, and it was done. Ed wiped away a few tears of joy. He knew he'd done good.

Mansur, in the meantime, was becoming a popular reporter for the Times. He couldn't travel outside the United States, at least not safely, but he could and did travel within them. He covered fires, natural disasters, and riots with the kind of competence and zeal he showed in the rest of his life.

While covering a story about a tornado in Kansas, Mansur met an investigator with the Department of Justice. The investigator was working to see if there had been discrimination at work in terms of how fatalities played out. The investigator, Ken, turned out to be a gay beta who had no interest in children.

DC wasn't close to Virginia Beach, but it was closer than Kansas. The two hit it off, and they started dating.

Colin hadn't taken the time to get to know the other spouses. He hadn't had time to take. Now that he was on paternity leave, though, he found people he barely knew or didn't know showing up for him in ways he'd never imagined. Even Ed hadn't understood just how tightly knit the husbands could be.

Mal stopped by to drop off food. "It's not even poisoned," he promised in a bright tone. "And now that you're not pregnant anymore," he added with a wink to Colin, "I brought some extra wine. Because believe me, you'll need it."

Fitzpatrick's husband, Nick, came by to check on Colin throughout his recovery. "I know you're used to taking care of yourself," he said with a wink. "But you don't have to do that anymore. And while you're doing a good job of muscling through, you're still pretty sick. So, sit back and let someone else do the work for a little while. I've had two kids already, okay? I've got this."

And Tony, Chief's husband and a fellow Olympian, showed up at least twice a week for no other reason than to make Colin feel like he had someone else there. Ed had to smile at that. Tony always showed up surrounded by a brood of children, which had to set Colin's teeth on edge, but he never said anything against it. Instead, Tony just pitched in and helped.

By the time Manny was two months old, Colin seemed as natural with him as any of the others. And he was just as willing to cuddle or play with his baby, too. "I'm glad we got back together," he said one night, as they sat in front of their fireplace. "This, being a family together? This is a pretty nice way to live."

Ed looked around at their home. It was bigger than anyplace either of them had ever lived and filled with baby accoutrements. They were surrounded by friends who were becoming as close as family. "We're home," he said, and kissed Colin.