K, so I like this idea, even if chapter one is really, really short. Shorter than my normal standards, it's because I don't want to rush you into the main plot and ruin it for you too soon. So, I hope that you enjoy this AU. I don't' own Dragon Knights, and I don't want any flames, please. No flames, and I will update next Saturday. Thanks!

1

Father

Tetheus stood in the middle of the room, holding his newborn son. There were tears in his eyes as he looked down at the too–tiny form, and they spilled over as he looked beseechingly up at the ceiling.

"One. I have one still here. I can't take care of him on my own, I can't. What am I supposed to do? He's three hours old, I can't feed him, I can't watch him forever, and I can't be there for him all the time. That's why these things are done in PAIRS! So one can watch while the other works, then they trade off! Now how can I do this? I'm on my own, what now? What am I supposed to do?" He fell to his knees, and held his only son, his only family, close to his chest. The infant moved slightly, disturbed by the sudden shouting right above its head. "Shh, it's ok, daddy's here now. Nothing will hurt you, not while I'm with you. I'll look after you, I'm here."

Two nurses watched from the window in the door at the grieving father, attracted by the yelling. They stood there, and watched as Tetheus sat fully on the floor, rocking his son a little, then humming to him as the tears rolled aggressively down his cheeks. They were touched at what he was doing. Not too many fathers could stand being that close to a baby that had taken the life of its mother.

"Poor dear, I hope he gets on alright." One nurse whispered to her college, brushing her black hair out of her eyes.

"I don't know, his wife died in child birth. Can't say that he didn't know that it wasn't going to happen."

"You mean that he planned this?"

"WHAT! No, it's just that three months ago, the doctor said that either both the mother and the child were going to die, or just the mother."

"Child? But I thought that she had twins?"

"She did, but they didn't know that until she went into labor last night."

"But isn't that so sad. Not only did she die, but so did the older twin."

"What do you mean 'die'? That one didn't even live in the first place. Which is why no one knew it was there. We got lucky, though. The one that he's got now, it looked like it was going to die too. Was all blue and wrapped with the cord around its neck."

"What happened to them?"

"Simple really, the mother came down with a cold before she got pregnant, and they thought that it went away. Only thing was, it didn't. It became worse as time went on without them knowing, and it hurt the infants too. You saw how small the second one is. Half the size, and really thin? Most babies have that pug like look to them, but this one looks like it's a stick or something."

"I really think that we should help him out. He lost his wife and one of his sons all in one day. And he's lucky to have that one now. He should go lie down. I'll get the doctor."

With that, the nurse ran off while her friend pushed the door open, and cautiously went over to the new father.

"Sir… Tetheus, I need to take your son to the ward. He'll be feed there, and kept warm. If the doctor sees the need, put in an incubator, possibly. You just need to give me your son, then you can go rest and see him later, 'mkay?"

"Alfeegi." Tetheus muttered, looking up at her with tear-strained eyes.

"Hmm?"

"He has a name. It's Alfeegi. His mother wanted to call him that, so that will be his name. And if you don't mind, I want to stay with him a bit longer. Please." The nurse considered him for a moment, wondering if he could be trusted. More than likely, he was blaming the child for his wife's death, and if so, he could more than likely hurt the newborn.

But the pleading in his eyes was too strong. She gave in, and nodded, turning to leave.

"I won't hurt him." She turned, and looked at Tetheus, who spoke as he rose. "I know that you're thinking that I'm going to hurt Alfeegi. But I won't. I don't blame him, it's not his fault that she was sick. It's not his fault that he's the only one left. It's not like Alfeegi could choose. No, she knew what was going to happen, I did as well. We made this choice. I will love him the way I would have if his mother and brother lived. There will be no difference. I can assure you of that."

She stayed for a moment longer, looking at the father as he sat himself in a chair, cradling his son to his warmth. She watched as Tetheus kissed Alfeegi's forehead, and stroked the top of his head lightly, carefully. She smiled, and walked out as Tetheus nodded off to sleep, holding Alfeegi tighter and closer as peace fell over the mourning and exhausted form of the new, widower father, and his son.

vxr

It was eight months after Tetheus brought Alfeegi home that trouble started. The first of which was where Tetheus could put Alfeegi when work would start up for him again. His leave was extended, as now he was single, and had to raise the boy on his own. At first, Tetheus couldn't bare to be too far away from his son, so Tetheus would sleep on the couch, with little Alfeegi perched on his chest, both sleeping still and peacefully pretty much through the night. Contrary to what Tetheus had come to think about infants, Alfeegi never cried, he would sleep almost through the night, (only wakening in the middle to squirm, telling Tetheus that Alfeegi had been in one spot too long and needed to move), and that Alfeegi was happiest (so it looked like to his father) when Tetheus sat on the couch, and held Alfeegi to his chest. Tetheus couldn't understand why though.

One thing that Tetheus was worried about was how Alfeegi was very quiet; never crying, fussing silently, and how after eight months, his hair was growing fast, but he still hadn't opened his eyes. But now Tetheus was facing the problem of what to do with Alfeegi. His office had a strict no children policy #, and money would get low if he had to quit. All of this in a big, empty house where the only reason that Tetheus even went upstairs was to change his cloths. A father and a three-month-old, in a giant house that he and his wife had once lived in, and no means of knowing what the next day would hold.

Tetheus was pondering all of this on the couch one mid-day. Alfeegi was asleep on his father's chest, twitching now and then, as dreams took over the young mind. Tetheus could feel his son's small, quick breaths; and the sun was streaming through the window, warming the tranquil pair. Tetheus was almost asleep when the phone rang. Jarring him fully awake, he carefully reached over and grabbed the phone before it could bother his son, and winced as Alfeegi moved a little, also awoken by the loud sound.

"Hello?" Tetheus answered, trying to comfort his son at the same time.

"Tetheus!" Came the answer. Tetheus eased up considerably at that moment. He knew that voice, even if it was coming long distance over his phone. It looked as though there might be an answer.

"Lykouleon, it's good to hear from you. So, what country are you in now? Or are you halfway between someplace?"

"Good thing you asked. Raseleane and I are coming home to see you two! I was kind of wondering if you could pick us up at the airport tomorrow. I'm sorry that it's such short notice, but the Travel Company said that our package expires tomorrow. We thought that we still had another month." Tetheus smiled. He would have no problem with picking his friends up from the airport. He could show off his son to them. And he could ask the childless couple if they could watch him for a little while, just until he worked something out with his job.

Then he frowned. "to see you two!" is what Lykouleon had said. Tetheus knew that he had meant Tetheus and his wife. He didn't know that both his wife and son were dead, and now it was only he and his two-minute younger son in the huge house. Lykouleon had left a year and a half ago on a vacation, and didn't even know that Tetheus was going to be a father. Lykouleon had been unreachable for most, if not all, of the time.

"Sure, no problem. What time do you come in, and where?"

vxr

Tetheus stood at the gate with Alfeegi in his arms, watching the passengers file off the plane one by one. Most, if not all of them were wiping their eyes from drowsiness, as it was a seven-hour flight, and there were no stopovers. Then, bounding out of the plane came the ever-energetic Lykouleon, with his wife trudging behind him.

"Tetheus! You came! Where's Joyce? And who's this? Were you two too busy to not tell us that we were going to have more family? Raseleane, come look at what Tetheus found on his doorstep!"

"Yes, dear." Raseleane muttered, flopping her bag down on a bench then standing beside her husband. She immediately livened up when she saw just what Lykouleon was bouncing on the balls of his feet over. "Oh, he's just adorable. What's his name Tetheus?" she questioned, running her fingers through the child's semi-long blue/green hair.

"Alfeegi." Tetheus answered. "And I'm sure Joyce would have wanted to come, if she was still here." Silence fell over the little group. Alfeegi moved a little bit, then snuggled closer into Tetheus' shoulder.

"I … I'm sorry, Tetheus. I didn't know."

"I know that you didn't know, you haven't been around. I'm not blaming you or anything. I'm just letting you know."

"Was it child birth that did it?" Raseleane asked quietly. Tetheus nodded.

"There were twins. This one survived. I'm sorry to say that his older brother and his mother did not."

"He's very small." Lykouleon commented after a moment.

"Yes, the doctors were concerned that he wouldn't have enough body weight on him to survive the night. But look at him, here at an airport with me."

"He's well behaved." Raseleane noted. Tetheus smiled, nothing got passed her.

"You should see him normally. He's such an angle. I've never heard him cry, not even when he was born. He fusses now and then, only for a moment or two. This is the liveliest I've ever seen him. He doesn't ask for much, but I'll give him whatever he needs. Already do."

vxr

The ride home was uneventful. Some questions of what had been going on at home. Lots of questions of what other countries were like, and plenty of cooing over little Alfeegi when he sighed in his sleep in the car seat. That night, though, was a little different.

Upon getting home, Tetheus proceeded to cook everything in the house for the welcome back dinner, while Lykouleon and Raseleane looked over Alfeegi. They noticed that he wasn't very social, and preferred to sleep snuggled in Raseleane bosom rather than anything else. Just as dinner was served, the storm that had been promised since the week before finally came in. It rained peacefully enough at first. But by desert, it was shaping up to be a wild one. The small group just left the dinning room when the first clash of thunder rolled in from right over the house itself. That woke little Alfeegi from his doze in his father's arms, and sent him wailing.

At first, Tetheus tried to calm Alfeegi down, only to wind up hugging the boy to his chest in desperation. As soon as he did that, Alfeegi stopped crying, and fell silent. After a moment or two of quiet, Alfeegi cooed happily to himself, and looked up at his father for the first time.

Tetheus' breath caught in his throat. Alfeegi's eyes were gorgeous! A sparkling copper that would remind anyone of a newly minted penny. They were huge, and held trust in them as they met their fathers. Tetheus smiled. His son had cried for the very first time, and he had also opened his eyes. Relief rushed through every inch of him as he looked into the orbs of his son, knowing that Alfeegi was every bit the son he had hoped for.

"I'm guessing that's a good thing?" Lykouleon interrupted the tranquil scene before him, only to receive an elbow in the ribs from Raseleane. Tetheus smiled.

"Yes, it's a very good thing."

Only it wasn't.

Two days went by before Tetheus started to worry over his son. After the thunderstorm, Alfeegi became a little more baby-ish. He was finally curious, turning at every sound that the house made, and making small sounds of complaint whenever Tetheus would put him down in the crib and left the room. After Lykouleon and Raseleane had left that night, Tetheus proceeded to figure out why Alfeegi was calmed by Tetheus so quickly. He sat with Alfeegi on his chest, just until Alfeegi was asleep.

Then he carefully pulled his son off his chest, and found that the child tried to grab at him. And when he was walking around, it seemed as though Alfeegi made a point to keep his ear pressed to his father's chest. That could only mean one thing. Alfeegi liked to listen to Tetheus' heartbeat. It only made sense. Alfeegi had spent nine months listening to his mother's heart, so why not listen to his father's now?

But the reason that Alfeegi was worrying Tetheus was that the only way he could get Alfeegi's attention was to call his name. He wouldn't respond to waving things in front of him, and he never watched the world around him. Tetheus was especially worried when he read a book to Alfeegi, but when he pointed out the pictures, the boy never looked away from his feet.

Taking Alfeegi to his pediatrician, he had him checked out and explained his concerns to the doctor. After some time spent in the office, Tetheus learned just what it was that pleagued his son.

"He's blind." The doctor stated bluntly, not looking up form his notes.

"What?" Tetheus thought that the doctor was joking with the over worked father.

"Your son was born completely blind. He can't see a thing in front of him. Lives in darkness, blind as a bat. Do you want me too spell it out for you?" Tetheus held his son closer, and sat down heavily in the chair behind him.

"But, what did this too him? What can I do with him? How can I teach him, raise him? How can – but I… what do I do?"

"Raise him like you normally would. Now if you excuse me, I have other patients." And with that parting word, he left. Tetheus sat on the chair, starring at his son, whose big, blind copper eyes stared back at him. After a few minutes, Tetheus rose, walked up to the front desk, and requested to have a new pediatrician lined up for him… one that specialized in blind children.

#k, so I don't know when babies open their eyes, I'm guessing that it's like cats and dogs where it takes a little while to open their eyes, I just don't know how long, and those pages, for some reason, would not load. Also,I don't know how long maturnity leave is. So, I guessed. Also, I don't know if companies can have that kind of policy, but you know what, it's just a plot mover, so let it slide, please?