Saturday Night

Summary: Futurefic. Oneshot. Our favorite Sons on a Saturday night, about ten years down the road.

Discalimer: I own nothing to do with The Covenant.

"Daddy, Daddy," Erian cried as she came dashing down the stairs. "Look at this cool suit of armor Deacon got for Christmas!" Reid looked up, a lazy grin spreading across his face as he saw his daughter decked out in a plastic breastplate and helmet, complete with a shield and sword. "I'm a knight," the four-year-old happily declared.

"Wow, you look pretty tough. I'm glad I'm not a dragon," Reid replied, sitting up from where he had been lounging on Caleb's floor. Caleb also looked up, noticing his son following her, also wearing the costume.

"We're going to play knights, Dad," Deacon informed his father.

"You are, huh? Well, it's a good thing I'm a king, then. Are you ready for your first quest?" Reid asked the two children.

"Uh, yeah," Erian replied, while Deacon leaned over to Caleb and whispered, "What's a quest?" Erian was watching them out of the corner of her eye and trying to listen to the answer. Caleb explained to them, while watching Tavin, Pogue's two-year-old son, try to negotiate the stairs.

"Playing knights," he gravely stated once he had caught up to the older children.

"Okay," Caleb responded to Pogue's son. "Uncle Reid is the king, and is going to tell you what to do." Tavin dutifully turned to Reid, who had also captured Deacon's and Erian's attention.

"Here is your quest, brave knights. I want you to go upstairs and fight the ogre. You see, he's stolen all of my gold." Reid spun out the story more, and Caleb sat back to observe. He glanced over at Deacon, and watched the three-year-old with pride. Sometimes it still amazed Caleb that he was a father, not once but twice. His gaze turned to the tiny daughter in his arms. Would she grow up to be as smart as her brother?

They had had some surprises this generation. No one could have been more shocked than Reid when his first child had turned out to be a girl. He had been smug for months, pointing out to Caleb the irony that it would be Reid's son who would be the oldest, and presumably the leader of their children. Caleb had been concerned about that. Marrying had settled Reid somewhat, but he was still Reid, and all of the Sons were uneasy that he still had used more that any of them. But Erian had proven to be the best thing possible for Reid. Oh, he was shocked all right. No one had expected a girl. But she had her dad wrapped around her finger, and that had stabilized him more than anyone had thought possible. Reid Garwin had actually settled down.

Caleb could understand that. He looked down at the bundle in his arms again. Having a daughter was different. She had been quite the surprise as well. It had been a few generations since there had been more than one child born to a family. Between his daughter and Erian, the elders were in quite a quandary, and many people were looking forward anxiously to their thirteenth birthdays. There had been a few indications that being female wasn't their only surprise. Both had shown... curious circumstances at their births. Neither Caleb nor Reid would be astonished if one, or both, of them also received the power.

Caleb looked up as the trio headed back up the stairs to find the ogre's gold. He grinned at Pogue, who was watching Tavin trying to catch up with the other two. His thoughts must have been following Caleb's.

"Who would have thought that Reid's daughter would be the ringleader," Pogue mused. "Wonder what kinds of trouble they're going to get into as they get older."

"Hey!" Reid indignantly threw a pillow at Pogue, who grabbed it and threw it back.

"At least they have Tavin to keep them grounded," Pogue finished his thought.

"Just give him some time," Caleb responded. "I'm sure that stoic face is hiding something. He'll probably be the wildest of the lot. He is your son after all." This time the pillow flew at Caleb's head.

"Hey, hey! Watch the baby!" Caleb used just enough to deflect the pillow back at Pogue. This proved too much for Tyler, who had been watching silently up to this point.

"Do you have any idea what a pansy you sound like right now, Caleb?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

"Ah, shove it. It's not like you have any room to talk," Caleb shot back over Reid's snicker.

"I'm not mooning over a baby, man."

"That's only because Athan isn't here," Caleb retorted. "You're no better than the rest of us, you know."

"Hey, don't include me in that 'us'," protested Reid. "I'm not a wuss like the rest of you." This time the eye rolling was universal, as was the snickering. "What? I'm still the charming badass I was back in the day." He looked slightly offended that they were still laughing, and started to flip them all the bird, which quickly turned into running a hand through his hair as the children all ran back down the stairs. Now they were laughing even harder, and Reid himself sheepishly joined in.

"What's so funny?" Erian asked, as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Your dad was just telling us a joke," Tyler finally managed.

"Ooh, you should get him to tell you a story, too. He's really good at those. He tells me lots of stories about princesses and fairies, and I especially like the one about . . . Hey! Why are you all laughing again?" But this time no one was able to answer her; they were all laughing too hard, except of course for Reid, who was actually blushing a little.

"They have dragons and monsters, too, you know," Reid said, trying to defend himself, with a self-conscious grin. "Okay, maybe I have changed, just a little," he allowed.

The sons finally managed to control their mirth, as the children began to get impatient.

"Daddy, we need another . . . what was that word again?" Erian asked.

"Quest," Deacon supplied. "We need another quest, king. We killed the ogre."

"Did you bring me my gold?" Reid asked. The kids looked at each other, apprehensively.

"Forgot the gold," Tavin stated, shaking his head.

"Well, go get it, then! That is your next quest. It should be in the ogre's cave, in the side of the mountain."

"Okay, Dad, I mean King!" Erian tossed back over her shoulder as the kids raced back up the stairs.

Caleb looked around the room, thinking that while some things had definitely changed, others had not. The Sons were probably closer than ever now. Sure they were all married, and settled, with children and houses and the rest of the trappings of adulthood. But that hadn't put an end to their friendship. If anything, the added level of maturity had drawn them together. By mutual, although unspoken, consent they got together every Saturday night, most times just showing up at Caleb's house in time to get some dinner and play with the kids before tucking them in bed in one of Caleb's guestrooms. Then the guys, and most often their wives, would sit around and reminisce, or watch a movie, or whatever, and enjoy the peace after the chaos of a four-year-old, two three-year-olds, and a two-year-old. Tonight it was just the guys, since their wives had decided they needed a night out.

They really were fortunate in their wives, Caleb reflected. None of them felt threatened by the Sons, and the bond they had. Each wife understood that every Son was who he was, in large part due to the influence of the other Sons. They had a shared childhood, after all. They were so much a part of each other that it was never even questioned. People don't stop to wonder if the sun will rise, they just know it will. In this same way, the Sons knew that they would always be close, as did their wives. And the wives embraced that. And really, Caleb thought, to love one Son was to love them all.

The pillow hitting the side of his head knocked Caleb out of his musings. "Hey!" He looked around for the culprit.

"You've been brooding all night," Pogue complained. "Has having two kids addled your brain? 'Cause, really, I thought it would be Tyler who was moody tonight, since the wife and kid have gone to visit the in-laws and all."

"Yeah," scoffed Tyler. "I can't believe I'm wasting my freedom here with you losers."

"Right, like you're going to go to a bar by yourself," Reid taunted. "Who would discourage all the women from hitting on you?"

"Serve you right if I did. I don't have to stay here," countered Tyler. "Besides, I can take care of myself. I am almost thirty, you know. Not quite as old as the rest of you," he couldn't help but add as Pogue groaned in the corner, "but capable all the same." Still, he made no move to get up, and no one expected him to. They all knew that he was lonely with his wife and three-year-old Athan gone, and was counting down the days until they'd be back.

The kids appeared at the bottom of the stairs carrying an empty laundry basket. Reid allowed the subject to drop as he transferred his attention to them.

"We found the ogre's cave, and the treasure!" Deacon exclaimed, for once getting a jump on Erian. She scowled at him.

"Here's the treasure," Tavin said, patting the laundry basket.

"Yeah, but the king's gold isn't there," Erian insisted with a Look at the boys. Reid broke in before things got out of hand.

"That's okay," he assured them. "I know who took it. Uncle Pogue just told me that the leprechauns have stolen it. But they are very tricky, so you have to be sneaky. You have to pretend to be a leprechaun so you can get close enough to grab it. Do you know how to talk like a leprechaun? Here's what you do . . . "