AN: I know I'm not the only one who has about seven different houses on the Castle grounds. I'm also sure I'm not the only one who decided MacCready would go and get his son after he sent the cure, but, alas, that's a fic for another day. Or another several days. It'd need more than one chapter. This has been sitting around since early January and I'm still not satisfied with the ending, but if I don't post it now I never will.
Disclaimer: The world of Fallout and (most of) the characters contained within belong to Bethesda. Ruby is mine.

Nights in the Castle were rarely quiet, even when Ruby returned to her quarters late. Between the drills and the lively community that had sprung up in the past couple of months, there was plenty of noise to be had outdoors, and the quarters she shared with her family were no quieter.

And yet, on this night, Ruby returned to their quarters to find little noise at all. Usually, with two young sons, there would be something- laughter, crying, an imitation deathclaw roar. Metal would clang against metal as Shaun tinkered with something; Duncan would cause a crash when he knocked over the snack cakes he was trying to steal. Quiet was just not something Ruby expected these days.

She took a quick look around to make sure everything was alright. Codsworth, she knew, was just fine, puttering around as he finished cleaning for the night. He outright refused to confine himself to their quarters, instead taking on the responsibility of cleaning the whole of the Castle. Right now, it seemed he was about to head over to the armory, which usually needed tidying up at this hour.

Dogmeat and Garland, a dog whom she'd bought off a man wandering the Commonwealth a month back, were already sleeping in the doghouse just outside the quarters. The cats were… well, she was never quite sure where the cats were most of the time, but she assumed they could take care of themselves. They tended to disappear during the day and pop up in the armory, or near the gardens, or by the artillery. So long as they came back in once in awhile for food, she wasn't too worried.

The kitchen and living area that served as the entrance to their quarters were both still. Her and MacCready's bedroom was dark, and the small washroom they had was dark. There wasn't all that much to check.

When she finally peeked into the room Duncan and Shaun shared, she stopped.

There, on Duncan's bed, lay her husband, comic book in hand. Tucked under one arm was Duncan, and curled up to the other side of him was Shaun. Both boys were listening intently as MacCready read aloud to them. None of them seemed to notice her in the doorway.

"Flee, citizens! Flee!" MacCready said in a voice much shriller than she'd ever heard him make. Duncan giggled at the noise. "You cannot stop the wrath of the AntAgonizer!"

"The voice, Daddy!" The quiet laughter from the boys slowed down as Duncan pointed to another character on the page. "Do the voice!"

MacCready cleared his throat, and when he spoke again, his voice was lower than usual and featured an accent vaguely reminiscent of Vadim back in Diamond City. "Stand down, villain! Grognak will stop you! You cannot win!"

The boys gasped at something on the page, something Ruby couldn't see from this angle. Duncan let out a quiet, "What happens next?"

"We'll just have to see," MacCready said, back to his normal voice, before turning the page.

Another gasp came from the boys, and Shaun's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Ewwww."

"That's a lot of blood, huh?"

"Uh-huh."

MacCready grinned before preparing to speak again. "My ants!" he squealed in that shrill voice from earlier. "You'll pay for that, barbarian!"

Giggles erupted from both sons yet again, and the story continued. MacCready did a different voice for each character: some children had squeakier voices, brutes sounded gruff and burly, and other villagers had a soft lilt. As he made each voice, he made faces to go along with them. His nose scrunched; his mouth twisted to the side. No matter the character, the boys seemed completely engrossed in the story.

Ruby leaned against the doorframe and smiled. The irritable, emotionally distant merc from Goodneighbor seemed a thing of the past. The nightmares she'd had about losing Shaun again, or of raising her son and stepson in the Commonwealth, or of the possibility of seeing MacCready die as Nate had, were all but gone in this moment.

The boys had changed, too. When Duncan had first arrived, he had trouble talking to anyone but his father, but he had since bonded to Shaun and to Ruby. He had no hesitations now in commenting on the story, even with his stepbrother next to him. Shaun, likewise, seemed like a kid again. Ruby often wondered if his time in the Institute was what made him so serious or if that was just his natural inclination. Now, however, he was just as enraptured by the comic as Duncan, as a young boy ought to be.

As the story drew to a close, Ruby watched the boys laugh and react to their father. He loved comics at least as much as they did, and he seemed to love spending time with them even more

"Another!" Duncan exclaimed as MacCready finally closed the comic.

"I think that's enough for tonight, buddy. It's about time for you to get some sleep."

Shaun sighed. "Aw, man! Bedtime already?"

"Tell you what," MacCready said as he ruffled Duncan's hair and sat up again. "Maybe your mom can read you two a comic tomorrow night. She does a killer Silver Shroud."

Ruby laughed. "I hope you're not just saying that for my benefit."

All three heads shot up at once. A smile spread across Duncan's face, Shaun blinked in surprise, and MacCready scrambled to finish sitting upright. "It wasn't, I promise," her husband said. "When did you- how long were you standing there?"

"Not long. Just for the last few pages or so." Ruby pushed herself away from the door frame and walked towards them. "Come on, boys. Time for bed."

Shaun hopped off and crossed the room to his own bed. "Night, mom. Night, Grognak."

Ruby snorted. "Good night, Shaun." Once he'd climbed in, she pulled his blanket over him and pressed a kiss to his forehead. MacCready did the same for Duncan on the other side of the room.

When she crossed the room to Duncan's bed, the young boy looked up at her pleadingly. "Five more minutes? Please?"

"Not tonight, sweetheart. You'll need some shut-eye if you and Shaun want to take the dogs all over the castle again tomorrow." Duncan giggled at that, and Ruby smiled at him. "Besides, you're sleepy already."

" 'M not sleepy," Duncan said with a yawn. For a moment after he stopped, he looked thoughtful. Ruby was just about to finish tucking him in and give him a kiss goodnight when he spoke. "Can you really do the Silver Shroud voice?"

Ruby brushed his hair off his forehead as she thought. "You'll just have to ask all the bad guys I put away. See how they think I did." She chuckled when Duncan's jaw dropped a little. "Good night, sweetie."

Duncan yawned again and turned over on his side as she pressed a kiss to his forehead. "G'night, mommy."

As she stood up straight again, MacCready walked over to her and slung his arm around her waist. Together they walked back towards the door and the lightswitch. "Good night, boys," MacCready said one last time before they turned off the light and left the room.

They walked in silence back to their own room. MacCready squeezed her side gently as she pecked a kiss to his cheek. Bedtime for the boys usually meant bedtime for them, too, if they wanted any rest that night.

"You're a good dad, you know," Ruby said as she shucked off her jacket and searched for her nightgown.

MacCready chuckled behind her. "I'm trying."

"You're succeeding."

"You think so?"

"Mhmm." She turned back towards him as she changed out of her clothes. "RJ, I know that we weren't sure how well all of this would go, whether they'd get along, and with Shaun being… well, you know-"

"I know." He climbed into their bed and patted the spot beside him. Ruby quickly tossed her nightgown before climbing in beside him. "Wouldn't be able to do it without you."

She tucked her head against his shoulder and smiled as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Guess we'll just have to read to them together tomorrow, huh?"

"We'll figure something out."

Ruby closed her eyes and hummed happily as MacCready worked his arm around her to hold her close. With the boys asleep, and with all outside evening activities finished, there was nothing left to keep them awake.

And so, in the quiet of the night, they fell asleep to nothing but the sound of the other's breathing.