The Empire living the goeie lewe.

On the beach, jewels of sky and sea, warm sand, his hair ends brushing against it as he swung in the hammock.

Lazy, drowsing, comfortable and good temperature, spouse splashing in the water, children dumping buckets of cream and opalescent shells near his dangling toes.

Strong rich coconut cream smell, dessert scent, sticky glop landing on his forehead.

Roman reached for it in daydream, brought back gooey fingertips, grimaced.

He glanced around to search for dream seagulls.

Not mess from gulls bottoms but more glop that would've fit nicely in a piecrust.

His eyes opened, a tiny slit then wider, fully, depending on the amount of natural light, the color beneath his lids could be soft grey, pale blue, sometimes light brown flecks mixed in.

No bird feces on him, no pudding either but sunscreen.

Lots of sunscreen.

Roman swung from the hammock, thump- landed on his rump, locked eyes with a enthusiastic and proud of himself grinning round face, baby face of a mini Leo, wild unmanageable curly hair and a few teeth missing, a flawless smile to Roman, perfection.

'Hey now, what happened, little Leok? Did you use the entire bottle?'

'Most of it.' Roller shrugged. 'Da-Ta said to, so you wouldn't get crispy like bacon.'

Roman looked at all of it, his son's coated white hands, the blurry reflection in the glass outdoor table showing his own equally white forehead, the bits and blobs of goop whiting the lawn in places, coconut smelling grass and weeds.

It made him smile.

'Let's find the garden hose and wash this off before the neighbors think we turned into snowmen, okay, buddy?'

'Oh-kay!' Roller agreed, glancing over to the grill, the other Daddy cooking at it, beamed happily at not only the scent of the food but Da-Ta hyena cackling his 'hee hee hee' laugh, humor extracted from his husband's white painted face.

They cleaned themselves of the white goo, dried their hands and Roman's face and hair indoors, tossed the towels in the laundry basket, headed back outdoors.

'Guess what I did?' Roman junior held the senior's hand as they walked across green grass.

'Hmmm, I don't know.'

' Daddy, that's being LAZY! You're unfair, you have to guess!'

'Uhm- hum, I guess that...that... I don't know.'

Roller's lower lip went far out under the upper one, a tantrum frustrated pout that he'd learned from the pouting expert, his 'Uncle Bean'.

'I made all of them.' Chubby young fingers pointed to the sandbox, the multiple bucket created castles, most ankle high at best, a few impressively knee high on the elder of the Romans.

'ALL of those?!' The Samoan father was quite proud and in good spirits enough to joke around. 'How long WAS I asleep?'

Roller's brow wrinkled, eyebrows and mouth sagging with confusion. 'Today.' he answered shrugging once again.

'Well, those are great, buddy. You're going to build some more?'

'Yeah!'

'An entire city?'

Another deep in thought Roller shrug. 'Maybe a town.'

'That's cool. I'll check on Da-Ta's cooking then later we'll bring your cars and trucks out here.'

'And the boats.'

'Yeah those too.' Roman agreed, observing one main part of his goeie lewe, his adorable and charming, very likeable when not having the occasional screaming tantrum fit, his micro Leo, hair and face of his beloved, name of his own.

'Boobies and butts!' Roller bellowed, grinning, looking to see the reaction from his father. 'Boobies AND butts, Daddy!'

Roman placed a washed palm to a drying hairline, felt the approach of a headache. ' Uncle 'Bean' taught you those words, didn't he?'

'Yeah but not Uncle Seff.'

'Of course not.'

'But the mean man they hit said bad words too, Daddy.'

'Hit? Why'd they hit him?'

'They hit and kicked him because he was a mean-mean.' Roller scraped his plastic shovel through the sand. 'He said I was a lobster claw.'

'Who said that?!' Roman asked, shocked and beginning to snarl. 'I'll do worse than hit him.'

'The mean man.' Roller produced his seventh shrug. 'He's in the hop sittle.'

'I'll ask them tonight, go and visit him myself.' Roman scowled.

'But I AM a lobster claw, right?'

'You and your sister are NOT. You're both wonderful and special and when you're not pouring a bottle of sunscreen on me when I'm napping, you're both very very good.'

'Not ALL of the bottle.' Roller quipped and his father laughed, feeling a tug at his shorts, knowing exactly who it was.

He glanced down, smiled at the toothless grin, tiny fat fists clinging for a free ride to his shorts, nearly undressing him from the strength of the pull.

Roman hated ectrodactyly and loved his family, little Leo with his missing fingers and beautiful curly hair, Alofa with her missing toes and cute baby smile, each day he saw more of his husband's face in their son, his own mother's in their daughter.

He silently, secretly vowed to hunt down and bust the teeth out of the jerk who'd insulted them, his precious babies.

'Hey, Alofa. You're just like most females, wanting to bare my butt for the world to see.'

Alofa in her bright floral print one sie, sturdy but soft socks and shoes, knitted panda face cap and rolling over the lawn in the toy laden walker, dug her small hands into her diaper, removed a cluster of shriveled dandelions and offered them as gift.

'Well, thank you. Hmmm, if flowers are growing in there, it means we need to change your diaper more often.'

Alofa giggled loudly , bounced with her arms up and wide spread.

'Okay, THERE we go!'

The lift up and hug combined with noisy squealing laughter didn't bother him.

The hard tugging of his down to the feet hair did.

'Youch, OWCH! Leo, help, she is EATING my hair!'

Leo abandoned the braai to play run to the rescue, jogging a bit and also laughing.

'Daddy's hair has no nutritional value, Panda, not now with the new brand of conditioner. Look over here, see, good fun!'

The folded into a flying bird origami piece of paper mesmerized Alofa enough to unhand the down to the ground tresses, giggling.

'Wonderful baby, yay for the Panda!' Leo settled Alofa back into the rolling walker, checked on the meat and folded another 'bird' for Romes junior to throw about.

'You are the greatest father, Leo.' Roman obeyed the famous apron saying, he kissed the cook.

Over and over.

'Second.' Leo commented before giving bold kisses back, eyeing the sizzling food. ' The neighbors, they spy on us, Cupcake.'

'Then we'll give them plenty to gossip about.' Roman lost count of how many times his mouth fell on Leo's, got slightly dizzy and mercury rose from how soft that mouth was combined with his.

'Cupcake, your hair is wanting to flip the burgers.' Leo whispered.

'Oh it...OH! Crap!' Roman tossed his mane backwards before it singed. Attraction had nearly scorched his admired locks. 'Thanks, my sweet uce. I'd would've gone up in flames without knowing.'

'Leo likes to help.' His husband's shoulders went north, a Roller shrug. 'Hot is what they say Cupcake is, pool side in shorts.'

'Who says?!'

'The women people.' Leo stated. 'They look. They smile. They want to eat.'

Roman twitched with discomfort, embarrassed. 'Yeah...well...'

Saved by the Leok, wanting attention as young boys did, yelling and hopping around.

'Look at me, look what Uncle Seff taught me!'

Roller did what he was nicknamed, he ninja rolled.

In the wrong direction.

Hitting the metal folding chairs and toppling one, the clanging clashing noise scaring both children to tears.

Leo ran to his next rescue, checking his son for injuries and the unwanted 'boo-boo'.

Alofa screamed loud enough to burst the decibel level. Roman wracked his mind to soothe her terror.

He made the mistake of peek a boo, hiding his face with his hands.

Alofa cried louder, disapproving of this. She liked her daddies to have faces, this gone away face was unacceptable.

'Daddy, NO! ' Roller scolded. 'You're mean! You scared her bigger than she was!'

'Hey, happily ever after, we can hear y'all down the street.' Dean jumped the wooden fence, skidded and fell.

A gloating chuckle behind him, then gracefully over the fence. 'He finally fell! Did you see that, Romes? All those years of teasing us and HE finally fell!' Seth grinned.

'Yeah I saw.' Roman held his squirming daughter who had targeted Seth with a gleam in her eyes.

'Ohhhh oh, here comes your future old lady, babe.' Dean taunted, laughing when his lover hopped back over the fence.

'Quit hiding Seth, she's only a baby.' Roman peeked over the tall wooden posts. 'She barely can walk.'

'She's obsessed with me!'

'My apprentice.' Dean commented jokingly and his boyfriend glared at hm.

'She won't attack you, get around here and eat, stop cowering from a baby.'

'I wasn't cowering.' Seth grumbled, stepped back into the yard, scowled at Dean, gave Roman a hard smirking glare when Alofa squealed and attached her small arms around his legs.

Two Leos watched fascinated, Roman looked on mildly amused and Dean began humming wedding music.

' You-' Seth started to curse, saw the baby eyes sparkling, felt the small fingers gripping his jean legs, looked at the gummy mouth smile and decided to surrender. 'I love everyone of you.'

'Great. We brought extra munchies. I have the huge delicious wieners, Seth has the nice soft buns.'

Roman groaned and laughed at the terrible joking. DX all over again, new generation.

'YOU are hardly huge.' Seth objected, Alofa holding on to be pulled over the grass. 'And why do I have the soft buns? Why not you?'

'Okay, okay.' Dean raised his hands. 'Yours are not soft, they're STALE.'

'Jerk. Louse. Creep.' Seth sputtered, pleased grin worn on his face. 'And when we're away from little ears, I'll use vulgar language to describe you.'

'Thank you, babe.' Dean said and smooched. Roman wore an upturned mouth, happy to have them as a team again, with him once more.

'Crap, look at you!' Seth yanked him into a grand embrace. 'Our brother, settled down.'

'And his hair long and grown down to his as-' Dean glimpsed his smallest fan and the baby sister, grinned slightly humiliated. 'Astounding feet.'

'Yay for Uncle Bean! ' Roman junior hugged both men, bounced and clapped his hands. 'Yay for Uncle Seff!'

'And yay for braai.' Leo piled meats onto platters. 'Who's hungry?'

Cloth over the table, chairs in place, braai buffet spread out, Alofa staring at Seth the entire time, drooling, offering him food cheerfully.

Roman was satisfied and relived that they'd gotten back together, after the length of time apart, after the fights, the relationships with others, the cheating on the other people to have affairs, still no rings worn but the matching made from broken fence pieces bracelets pleased him.

He didn't ask about marriage, wouldn't pressure them.

'So how's the security guard job going?'

'So so.' Dean answered while Seth avoided Alofa's stalker staring.

He pulled his fingers away before Alofa chomped on them , spoon in hand.

'We may start our own business.'

'Ah.' Roman observed the gathering, knew what was missing. 'And what about a family?'

Something else pleasing, their brick red blushing faces.

'Uhm...yeah, well...' Seth stammered, handing Alofa's gift of rattle back to the child. 'We've discussed that too.'

'Many times. Even talked about adoption.' Dean looked at his image in the butter knife shine. 'But my untrustworthy personality turns people off.'

'You could try for mpreg.' Roman suggested. Seth clutched his own tee covered belly during Dean's admiring stare, more of a fan guy than Panda being a fan baby girl.

'Yeah we're thinking of it as well.' Seth answered however not relaxed enough to have his knees anything besides slammed closed.

Roman smiled and nodded, looked at his guys, his again, his wonderful children and his Ray, back to Leo abnormal normal, thin long scar above his eyebrows where the lobotomy had almost happened, a rescue mission that had brought the three men back as one to save another from a brutal attack.

After all the arguments, the fights and split- up that none wanted, fans included, the three separate ways they'd gone, ending up in Ambrollins case, having night jobs that didn't involve the use of ladders and turnbuckles, in Roman's case, becoming what he'd aspired to be more than a big name champion, a husband and father.

The goeie lewe for each of them.

Blue sky, white clouds, temperature relaxing, great day to participate in brunch.

This once a month get together food fest family gathering had them all in good moods, from the shape-shifters to the group of music notes, treble and eighth leading a swift flying flock of small whole notes.

Roman had his daughter as audience, observing silently from her playpen area beneath the tallest sturdiest umbrella, his feet moving in blurred motion as he did laps around the blanket, dropped to do finger push ups, then crunches, up again to jog in place, bounce on his feet and wave, smiling, at the curly haired father and son across the lawn, building a very low to the ground tree house fort, his heart warming and sometimes patience draining husband and son.

'Hey, I beat my old time by twenty seconds! What do you think, Alofa?'

'Bleh.'

'Bleh?!'

'Bleh.' Alofa responded, teetered over to land on her largest stuffed toy, a massive soft kangaroo.

'I'm mortified, my dear. Most of the time, females ENJOY my performance.'

'Bird poop.' Alofa answered, thumb going towards mouth and Roman grinned.

'Ah, your brother's been expanding your vocabulary.'

' Da-Ta.' Alofa pointed and beamed.

'Well, Da-Ta is anything but bleh . Even at almost forty, he still has the smile that makes Daddy very happy.' Roman replied, one of the most truthful statements he'd ever spoke in his life, picked his daughter up and eased her into the backpack baby carrier, wincing each time she nearly scalped him by tugging hard at his hair.

' Horse-go, horse-go!' Alofa bounced and laughed, gleefully pulling hair and kicking her fathers back.

' Okay there, Princess, don't make me bald before my time. Let's walk over and see what Da-Ta and Roller's doing.'

''Da-Ta! Roarer! Bird poop!' Alofa cried out and giggled.

'All except the bird poop.' Roman quipped, strolling the 'scenic route' of the lawn, as several baby music notes spun around Alofa, getting her to clap and shriek with delighted giggling.

He halted at the sight of the fort, mostly card board big boxes with a bit of plywood here and there.

And as a flag, high up tied to a branch, a pair of his spouse's boxers, flapping about.

'Daddy!' Roman Leok junior ran towards him with decibel matching shrieks of happy laughter like his sister's. 'Do you like my fort?'

'It's...interesting. Why are Da-Ta's unmentionables in a tree?'

'It's a FLAG.' Roller corrected with a pout. ' Besides Da-ta said your unter wared is too small to use as anything except for a kite string.'

Roman glanced at his grinning husband, now truly mortified, mental image of his various thongs and string bottoms tied to kites.

'I see the Cupcake's frosting is pink! Very colorful, very pretty!'

'Very embarrassed.' Roman said, stole a collection of joyous kisses anyway, children first then husband, from short and sweetest ( and in Alofa's case, rather drooly) to long and lingering last placed upon his spouse's smiling lips.

Alofa tugged at his tresses again and wiggled to be let down to earth.

'Here, hold baby boo while I unstrap this thing.' Roman handed Leo their starting to whine child.

'Hello, small lioness Panda. Do not cry.' Leo said, a bird chirp of a sound as music notes danced in his hair, burrowing into the curled and untamable locks, swinging on the ponytail.

Alofa grinned and drooled. Roller reached up to hug his baby sister.

'Hi, baby! Hi, baby! I love you!'

'Careful, Ro.' Roman dropped the backpack to the lawn with a sigh. 'She's got a squishy marshmallow head just like you.'

'I won't hurt her, I love her!'

'You didn't when Da-Ta and I brought her home from the hospital, a month later you had her in a box on the lawn trying to sell her for a quarter.'

'I know, that was DUMB.' Roller stated with enough over dramatic sighing to cause his parents to snicker. ' I should've asked for LESS money.'

Roman turned to watch the baby notes spinning around to cover his amusement while Leo flat out laughed loudly.

'Can she see my fort? Please?' Roller jumped in circles.

' Sure but let her play carefully.'

'Yaaaaay! Come on, Lo-Lo!'

'The babies.' Roman said and collapsed on the grass with a huge smile, Leo beside him, whole notes hopping on their ears, sitting on their knees.

'The babies, yes. They are...'

Roman sat up at the notes squeaks, felt his heart race as they flew away.

It was happening again, not as often but still damaging.

The trauma.

The flashbacks.

Yes, it was there, nightmares in his husband's glazed over eyes, dazed terrified expression.

Leo shrieked much as his children had before but without joy, without happiness, just fear and horror.

And pain, still wearing the long white line of a scar across his forehead, scar from the Wyatts attempt at surgery.

Roman grimaced, cursed quietly at the thought of Bo, that damned lobotomy and himself most for being an idiot and not getting to the rescue soon enough, his fault he believed for letting it happen in the first place, the kidnapping.

He grasped his husband, counted to four before embracing the sweaty struggling body, made direct eye contact, spoke slowly.

'Calm down, Roos. It's okay, nobody here is bad, nobody will hurt you.'

'Let me go! It hurts, my head hurts!'

Roman cursed again, glanced around for help.

' Look there, Leo. See the babies? Our kids, look there's Roller, right? And Alofa, see?'

Leo sniffled, nodded, kept struggling.

'Here, don't fight me, don't panic. Relax. Breath, relax. Remember the yoga you do? Breath and calm down, very slow.'

Leo wilted a bit at a time, sniffled and sighed.

' The queen panda and the little ninja cupcake and the inked bunny cupcake.'

'Yeah that's right! Great work, my love.'

Roman hummed a song from the past, music from childhood, rocked his husband in his arms, in his lap, cradled and loved, exactly as he would hold and comfort his children.

THEIR children, his and his beloved's, Three Joe and her mate and their tiny musical brood buzzing about, the 'knock knock' and leaps over the wooden fence from Seth and Dean, carrying a bounty of fruit, bagels, eggs and bacon.

He carefully, very slowly loosened his grip as Leo relaxed.

'Hey, what's with all the food?! I planned to cook.'

'Your cooking is... not good, hopping cake.' Leo said with a huge smile.

Roman's eyebrows dropped and he glanced at his grinning former in ring team mates.

They were laughing at him.

'What?!'

'Why do you think we always got take out, Romes? You CAN'T cook worth a cent.'

Seth nodded. 'Yeah but we never told you so not to hurt your feelings, big guy.'

' Well now I feel unloved.' Roman grunted. Three Joe for old times sake landed in his hair.

Roller dived in his lap, hugged with tremendous happy squeezing force.

' All of us love you Daddy! But your cooking is teb ub rull.'

'Oh thanks.' Roman said, smiling throughout the faked sarcasm in his tone of voice. 'What say you, Alofa?'

'Bleh.' Alofa commented, clutching Seth's feet with fan girl enthusiasm, Dean chuckling during, Leo and son beaming, notes flying over their heads.

Goeie Lewe twenty four seven.