The beauty of kids growing up was that they put themselves to sleep. When she was little, Isabel never wanted to go to bed and it took a lot of convincing from Farlan and Levi to get her to go sleep. Now that she was eleven she went to bed on her own accord and Farlan couldn't think of anything better than that.

He lay in bed, flipping through a book and waiting for Levi to join him. That was another good thing about Isabel being older now; she didn't need a whole lot of attention and she could take care of herself if she needed to. Now Farlan could get caught up in all of those books piled up in the corner of his bedroom. Levi's bare feet barely made a sound as he entered his and Farlan's bedroom. There was a contemplative, determined look in his eyes as he crawled into bed.

"You all right?" Farlan asked, putting his book aside.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. He paused for a moment, blue eyes flickering over to his boyfriend. "Farlan, I want a baby. I want more than one kid and now that Isabel's getting older and can take care of herself, I think it's time we have a kid."

"A baby?" he asked. Not the most eloquent response, but in his shock he couldn't say anything else. He and Levi had been together for a while, but he didn't know if he was ready to be a dad. A baby was a huge responsibility and a huge step in their relationship. They had the money and the space for a baby. The only issue was Farlan wasn't sure if he was ready to be a dad.

His own dad had been nothing more than a deadbeat. It wasn't that Farlan wasn't scared of becoming one himself; no, the only way he'd leave this family was if someone killed him, but he just didn't know how to be a dad. He couldn't leave all of the parenting to Levi like he did when Isabel first came to stay with them. But part of him wanted a family. Well, a bigger family. Isabel was nearly over her toddler years when Levi brought her home and Farlan would like a baby and have the whole experience. But if they did have the baby that'd mean a massive lifestyle change. Levi would be sidelined from heists, for starters, and the baby meant another mouth to feed.

And what if something goes wrong, he thought. What if Levi miscarries? Then what? What if everything goes south and we can't feed our family? What if I'm a shitty parent? Should we even be raising a baby down here? The Underground isn't a good place for a kid. But then again, Isabel turned out just fine. Our baby could too, theoretically. And how much different could a baby be from Isabel in terms of taking care of? It'll be more work, but I want to take it on. I don't know if I'll be a good dad, but I can't be worse than I already am to Isabel. After all, Levi and I have raised her since she was a kid. We're basically her dads already.

But the thought of holding a baby, his baby, in his arms made excitement jolt his veins. We can take anything that comes our way. We've been successful in life so far; we can still be. And besides, we have nine months to get everything together. We have time and we'll be beyond ready by then. I want to have a baby. The skills I don't already have I'll get. I want this too.

"Yeah, a baby. Are you deaf or something?" Levi inquired, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"No, it just kind of came out," he replied with a chuckle. He gave Levi a wide smile and grabbed his hand. "I'd like to have a baby too."