Nick stood at the sink and scrubbed dishes. Tony kept telling him he didn't have to. He was a guest in their house, he said, and guests didn't do dishes. Nick had been there six weeks already. He couldn't see himself as a guest anymore, and he insisted on picking up his share of the housework.

Six kids in the house generated a lot of dishes.

That was okay. Washing dishes was meditative. He had to be present in the task, or else he'd miss something gross and embarrass himself, but the task was repetitive enough that he could lose himself in the activity. He could absolutely do that, without a problem.

He still didn't know if he was having a boy or a girl. The doctor knew. With only about two and a half months to go on this pregnancy, the doctor absolutely knew. Nick wanted to know. He wanted to buy something for the baby that wasn't a bland, beige onesie. Sure, they had the rest of the kid's life to try to force gender norms onto the poor thing, but Nick wanted to get something cute for his kid now that he could afford it.

Tom was back in Virginia Beach. That counted for something, at least. Nick had no idea what was going on with the trip he'd taken to Nebraska. Luke had tried to explain it, but Luke only had the vaguest grasp of what had been going on there himself. In the end, all he could do was guess that Tom had confronted his parents, and it hadn't gone well.

The CPS investigation was still happening, so Nick couldn't ask Tom directly. Playing telephone was frustrating. And so Nick washed dishes and tried not to fret. He could have found out if the child inside of him was a boy or a girl, but he didn't want to miss out on having Tom there for the reveal yet again, so he held off.

Would he have to miss out on having Tom there for the birth, too?

The doorbell rang downstairs, but Nick ignored it. Instead, he focused on the dishes. No one should be coming to the Boone house to see him. When Tony glided into the kitchen to tell him the visitors were for him, therefore, he thought he could be excused a certain degree of shock.

His visitors were none other than the two social workers who'd been assigned to his case. Their posture was different this time than it had been for other visits, though. Their shoulders were down, relaxed. They gave him a genuine smile instead of thin, fake little grimaces. "Hi, Nick. How are you tonight?" asked Marcia.

"I'm a little frustrated. I'd like to see my partner.” Nick took a deep breath and forced himself to be calm. "But since that isn't happening, I'm as well as can be expected. How are you?"

"We're good. We're actually here to apologize."

Nick's eyes bulged. "Apologize?"

"Like we said before, we have to take every investigation seriously and investigate thoroughly. Even when the accusation turns out to have been malicious.” This was the investigator whose name wasn't Marcia. Nick didn't know her name, and he didn't want to. That would humanize her.

"We've finished our investigation," Marcia continued. "NCIS helped. Your partner's parents were apparently making a concerted effort to try to get Sammy taken away from you. It's not for us to speculate as to why. I think there's a criminal case pending against them. But there's someone here from the Navy who can tell you more about it."

Nick didn't want to hear from "someone from the Navy.”

"Is this a trick? Something to try to catch me up in something and take Sammy away?"

"No tricks, Nick.” Not-Marcia walked over to the door and opened it.

Tom stood on the other side. He wasn't wearing his uniform. He wore dress pants and a pink shirt, and he was the most beautiful sight Nick had seen in a good long time.

"Congratulations, Nick," Marcia said. "You're in the clear. Go on, enjoy your future together. You deserve it.”

Nick barely heard her. He could only stagger toward Tom, who leaped forward and wrapped his arms around Nick. "I've missed you so much.” He wrapped his arms around Nick's waist. "Holy crap, that's our baby!"

Nick blushed. "Yeah, I'm as big as a house."

"Hush. That's our baby. You're perfect.” He kissed Nick's belly, which prompted furious kicking. "You're perfect too.”

Tony and the social workers laughed. "Go on, Nick. Sammy will be just fine here for the night. Go celebrate.” Tony winked. "Have fun."

Nick hesitated, but Tom clasped his hand and gave a gentle tug. It was all Nick needed.

They drove out to Tom's condo. Nick flinched before he entered, but it would be okay. Tom was here, and he wasn't going to leave Nick alone in the place.

Tom picked up on his reaction. "It's okay," he said. "Baudin's up at Walter Reed in a secure unit. He'll be getting help. You're safe.” He closed and locked the door behind them. Several shiny new locks had been added to the door. Nick relaxed when he saw them. Tom truly loved him.

He cupped Tom's face with his hands and took his mouth in a deep, passionate kiss. "God, I've missed you.” He licked his way back into Tom's mouth and sighed. "This time it feels longer than the ten years we were apart."

"That's because it wasn't us keeping us apart.” Tom gave a bitter chuckle. "It wasn't us keeping us apart then, either, but now we know. I want to stay with you forever. I don't ever want to be apart from you again, okay?"

"We'll see what we can do about that.” Nick grabbed Tom's hands, and Tom led him back into the bedroom.

Tom had prepared for this. He'd filled his bedroom with flowers. Vases full of roses covered every flat surface, punctuated by lit pillar candles. For a second, Nick worried about a fire hazard. Then he realized that the candles were all electric, with LEDs instead of wicks.

He gasped and pressed his hands to his mouth. "Tom!” There weren't words to describe his astonishment. Was he shocked? Flabbergasted? Awed? "This is—this is beautiful. Amazing. I can't believe it."

Tom wasn't done yet. He reached into the bedside table and pulled out a small box from the drawer, as well as a bottle of lube. "Nick, I meant what I said. I don't want us to be separated again. Not now, not ever. We'll make an appointment and go visit a justice of the peace, or we'll find a ship's captain and they can do the job just as well. If you want something bigger and more formal, or a church service or something, we'll do that after the baby's born. But if I hear anyone referring to our baby as my 'alleged' kid again I'm going to start breaking things. I want to do right by you. I want the whole world to know, you're the one for me. You've always been the one for me, since day one. I've loved you since the day I met you, and I'll love you until the day I die. Probably beyond."

Hot tears spilled down Nick's cheeks. "Can we find the judge or the captain or whoever tomorrow?"

Tom laughed. "Yeah, babe. Yeah we can.” He tugged at Nick's shirt. "Right now, I want to see you. I want to see all of you."

Nick couldn't get out of his clothes fast enough.

Early in his pregnancy, Nick had been too exhausted to get all that enthusiastic about sex. He'd enjoyed it, sure, and he'd wanted it. He just hadn't been able to be all that gung-ho about it. He'd lost most of the second trimester to anxiety, deployment, and then the investigation. Now, well into the third trimester, he could both recognize the changes in his body and appreciate them.

Every sense was heightened. Tom's musky scent had always been a favorite, but now it flooded Nick's senses and went straight to his cock. Every brush of Tom's skin against Nick's bare flesh was like dusting bare nerves. He didn't have to do much to get Nick to sit up and beg, and Nick couldn't be ashamed of it. Maybe some of the effects would wear off later on, when he didn't have months of minimal contact to whet his appetite. Maybe not.

Tom turned him onto his side to get him ready. "It's probably more comfortable for you right now," he said, "and besides—I can see your baby bump better this way."

Nick wasn't sure if that was sweet or creepy. He decided it was both, but he wasn't about to complain. Not when Tom could do that with those fingers of his.

He pushed back onto Tom's lube-slick digits, looking for more. It felt amazing just to have some part of Tom inside him like this. A puzzle piece had fit back where it should be again. Maybe it took a little bit of effort and prep to get Nick ready to accept the next piece of that puzzle, but the payoff would be worth it.

Tom worked his way into Nick, bare as the day he was born. They didn't need to worry about barriers. They'd already gotten pregnant, and they had no other fears about the other. Tom's cock was perfect, hot and heavy and filling. Nick paused to let himself adjust, and then he nodded.

Tom apparently had suffered from the separation between them, just as Nick had. He tried to keep a slower, steadier pace at first. Nick could feel him straining to hold himself back, and he smiled. It was sweet that Tom was trying, but Nick didn't want him to hold back. Nick wanted Tom to take everything he could, everything Nick had to offer and then some. He rocked his hips as best he could given the awkward position and smiled up at Tom.

Tom understood. They didn't need words between them, not right now. He snapped his hips and drove forward again and again. Nick cried out, freed from having to hold back, and thrust into his own fist. This was exactly what he'd been missing. This was what he needed. This was coming home.

He spilled his release out onto the sheets, and let the bliss wash over him. Tom wasn't quite finished, and he kept going until he lost the rhythm. Then he collapsed beside Nick, sweaty and panting. "That was incredible."

"Thank you.” Nick forced himself to relax while Tom gently pulled out and snuggled back into his fiancé's arms. "I needed that. I'm not sure I even knew how much I needed that until just now. But I needed that."

Tom lay beside him, arm snug around Nick's waist, for a long moment. Nick wondered if he'd fallen asleep. "Will you still marry me?" he asked, after a long few seconds.

Nick snickered. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll still marry you. But only if you'll still marry me."

"Even though my family's kind of terrible?”

Nick rolled over so he could look up into Tom's sad eyes. "Tom, my father literally murdered a woman. I've got no stones to throw about terrible families. And maybe we both come from some kind of questionable stock. But we love each other. We've always loved each other. We love Sammy. We'll love the new baby just as much. If we have love, we don't need anything else. I honestly think, as long as we're together, we're going to be okay."

Tom stroked his callused fingers through Nick's hair, and Nick purred just a little. "You amaze me, you know that?"

"Here's to fifty more years of amazing each other.” Nick kissed Tom on the lips.

They were finally home.

***

They got married three days later, at the Virginia Beach City Courthouse. Mal and Trent were there, along with Tony and Chief's kids. Everyone from the platoon was there, too. Nick legally changed his last name to Fitzpatrick and, in an utter shock to both of his parents, Sammy asked the judge if he could do the same.

"It's been weird, sir," Sammy told the judge, when asked if he knew what he was asking. "I spent most of my life thinking Tom hated me and hated us. But he's been great. I'm proud to have two dads now, and I'm proud my other dad is Tom. His parents may be trash, but my other grandparents are trash too so that's okay. I want everyone who sees us to look at us and see one family."

And so the judge signed off on a name change for Sammy too. Tom couldn't quite see the paperwork for the tears in his eyes, but that was okay. Kids were supposed to make you cry, right?

They didn't do a honeymoon. Maybe someday they'd get around to it, but honeymoons weren't feasible in the third trimester of pregnancy and with a ten-year-old in tow. They just weren't. They didn't need that stuff, either. They wanted to focus on getting their life together in preparation for their new daughter's arrival.

Nick had held off on finding out their baby's sex until they could learn together. Tom choked up about that, too. Funny, he wasn't pregnant but it seemed like he was choking up all over the place. He couldn't help it. His birth family had shown themselves to be truly awful, but this family he'd built was true gold.

At the doctor's appointment, Tom and Nick learned they were having a girl. That made coming up with a name for their child easier. They debated between several names. They didn't exactly have a burning urge to name the baby after either of their mothers, and even other ancestress' names kind of lost their lustre for Tom.

It was Nick who came up with the name at long last. "Malina," he said, sitting up straighter and smiling in triumph. "It's perfect. Mal's been a great friend to us, and to your platoon. He's helped Sammy find his place around here. We may not have any blood family left, but we've got those guys. And that's enough."

It was enough. The more Tom thought about Malina, the more he liked it, and her name was secure by the time Malina put in her appearance. She showed up a little early, but neither of her fathers was about to complain about that. She was fully formed and healthy, so the doctors figured she'd just developed a little faster than many other babies.

Fitting a new baby into a two-bedroom condo wasn't easy, but they made it work. They had been looking at other condos in Virginia Beach, but a conversation with Lt. DeWitt and DeWitt's commanding officer convinced them to stick it out in the smaller space for a little while longer than they might have otherwise.

Tom's experience with Baudin had left him with a bad taste in his mouth with regards to the Navy and even some of his fellow SEALs. He still loved them, and he'd never want to hurt them. But he couldn't trust some of them, and that was going to spill out into his work eventually. He hadn't joined the Navy of his own free will, and he wondered if it wasn't time to make a change.

The only problem was, he had no idea what else he'd do. The ability to make a bunker blow sky-high in less than sixty seconds had limited commercial applications.

DeWitt and Captain Cabrera had an alternative. "We spoke with some other people a little further up the food chain," Warren told him. "And they spoke with a few other people. We showed them what you and Robson did with that mine-detecting drone. It was a big hit. The two of you impressed a lot of people. You impressed some important people, Fitzpatrick. You've been offered a place at Annapolis."

Tom couldn't believe his ears. "Me, an officer? I'm hardly officer material."

"On the contrary. You've mostly shown yourself to be a leader and a gentleman. Both of you have. But that's not what the Navy wants from you. They want your brains, boys. And they're not afraid to admit it. You're not likely to ever be admirals, but you'll have a good, long career doing research and development for the Navy. Research that will save lives.” DeWitt grinned.

"And don't forget opportunities in the civilian sector, after you've retired.” Cabrera waggled his eyebrows. "It's a great opportunity."

Tom wondered if his eyes were shining like lightbulbs in his craggy face. That would probably cause some undue alarm. The offer solved all kinds of problems, but it created a few of its own. "This sounds...it sounds amazing.” He scratched at his five o'clock shadow. “This doesn't just affect me, though. I'd have to talk about it with Nick. He's got a stake in this too, you know? He'd have to change jobs and everything."

"Of course. You wouldn't be able to get into the fall class anyway. You'd have to wait for the next year, so you've got a few days to figure things out."

It wasn't an easy decision, but Nick didn't have to think about it for too long. "It's going to be a little challenging, to leave our friends like this, but that's the life. And it's such a fantastic opportunity. I know there are other hospitals up there where I can find a job."

"Right?” Excitement welled up inside of Tom as he considered his future. A research job would mean no more deployments. He'd be doing work to save people, not just shoot them. He'd be there to watch his kids grow up and to keep Nick safe.

Sammy was unenthusiastic about the move, because it would take him away from Noah. Fortunately, they had Skype. Annapolis was only four hours away, too. It wasn't exactly down the road, but they could still get together for long weekends and vacations.

They got a visit, as summer wound down into fall, from a pair of wealthy New Yorkers driving a giant Mercedes SUV. Tom had an idea who they were, and he was prepared to hate them. When he saw their sad eyes, he couldn't make himself stay quite so hostile.

"I'm Edward Baudin, and this is my wife Sara. We're Jake's parents. Would it be all right if we came in?"

Tom sighed. Nick was doing better these days, but he still shrunk into himself when he heard the name. "Is that the best idea?"

"Look. We just want to talk. We're not violent people, I promise.” Edward held up his hands. "We want to talk about what happens going forward."

Nick looked down and away, but he nodded. Tom let the couple in.

Sara paused for a moment as she passed by the little swing where Malina slept peacefully. She covered her mouth with both hands, and tears flowed freely from her eyes. "I'm so glad," she whispered. "I'm so glad your sweet baby was born safely.” She reached out, as though to touch, and then she snatched her hand back.  Apparently she thought better of it.

Nick offered them coffee, which they accepted. Everyone waited in awkward silence while Nick soothed his own agitation with hospitality, and then they spoke. "I'll get right to the point," Edward said in a quiet voice. "We want to offer you a settlement, in your lawsuit against Jake."

Nick's mouth tightened. "I'm curious to know why you think that's a good idea.” It was better than Tom would have said. Tom wanted to chase him off for even having the thought.

"I know. It sounds stupid, like we're trying to erase the consequences of his actions.” Sara dabbed at her eyes. "I kind of feel like we've done exactly that often enough that you're right to be concerned, but that's not what this is about."

"Isn't it?” Tom leaned forward. "If you'd seen Nick, after that attack—"

Edward shuddered. "We spent all of Jake's formative years terrified that being an alpha would somehow make him violent. We tried to keep him away from anything that suggested conflict. We didn't let him play contact sports. We stifled the way he expressed himself. We censored his reading material. It was exactly the wrong way to handle his diagnosis, but—well, hindsight and all that."

Tom scoffed. "We’re alphas. It's not a diagnosis. It's no different than having a different hair color.” He clenched his jaw. "I guess that's why I'm not exactly sympathetic to him, you know? There's no extra drive toward violence."

"Not for you. Not for normal guys.” Sara shook her head. "I think we created it. When he found himself in a position where he'd been betrayed, as he certainly was, he couldn't cope. He became paranoid, and he didn't know how to handle what he was feeling. That's on us."

"He's received a dishonorable discharge. He's not going to jail. Maybe he deserves  it, but I don't think he'd get any better there. And a guy with his training, and his expertise, would be dangerous after being exposed to what he'd see in jail.” Edward closed his eyes, and Tom couldn't blame him. "He'll be receiving care for a long time, first as an inpatient and then as an outpatient. We can afford it."

"But as part of the care he's going to receive, we want to limit the number of times he has to revisit the crime.” Sara's hand flew to her own throat. "He's already going to have to rehash things for the Fitzpatricks' trial. We can put him up on the stand if you want, but you'd get more from the settlement than you would if you won your lawsuit."

Tom exchanged a long glance with Nick. Nick looked pale. "Part of me wants to say no. I thought I was going to die. And there's a big part of me that wants to see justice for that. The criminal court system didn't help me with that. They kind of did the opposite. But the civil court system might be able to give me what I need.” Then he took a deep breath and slumped his shoulders. “It's not about money, but there's no justice in sabotaging a man's ability to recover, is there?"

Tom took his hand and squeezed it. "It's your decision, Nick."

Nick shook his head. "Not really. It's not a decision at all. I'd have to be some kind of a monster, wouldn't I? The way they make it sound, he wouldn't even recognize it as a consequence. It would just increase his paranoia.” He gave a sad smile. "I guess you can talk to my lawyer. I'll tell her to say yes to whatever."

When they heard the amount of the settlement, Tom let out a whistle. He'd known Baudin's family was loaded, but loaded enough to drop fifteen million to clean up their wayward son’s mess hadn't even crossed his mind.

When Tom's parents pled guilty, it was almost anticlimactic. They'd hated Nick, of course. They'd told the sheriff to run Tom out of town just to separate them. And then their fortunes had ebbed. What had become a remote possibility had become almost a necessity—they would need Tom's death benefits to pay off their own debts. If he acknowledged Sammy as his, or had any more children, they risked losing the farm.

It all came down to money. Tom couldn't even call it greed. It was still evil. They'd been willing to throw their own grandson to the wolves for their own gain, and of course there was the ghoulish part where they'd been downright eager to cash in on Tom's demise. But then, he'd written them off when he heard the truth. They only pled guilty because Baudin agreed to testify against them.

In the end, the whole mess exhausted Tom. But he had his husband. They had their children. They had a whole life ahead of them to look forward to, and nothing else mattered beyond that.