Author's Note:

Will separate the Lemon's from the main text for those who don't wish to read those parts.


January 26th

"You know this would have been so much easier if you just let us use your man-womb." Tala pouted a bit, watching Ray come back into the sitting room of the Hiwatari manor with a tray of drinks, while Tala was busy bouncing an eight-month-old Kyra on his lap.

Already her raven hair was down her neck, her bangs clipped up with a pink bow with a little blue rhinestone stuck in the middle. Even though it was cold outside, it was hot within the manor and instead of being bundled up in heavy clothes she was in a simple powder-blue onesie with feet. Currently she was teething on Tala's bracelet, drool running down his wrist and her chin that he seemed to ignore.

"We've been over this Tal." Ray rolled his eyes, sitting down in on the beige colored loveseat beside Kai who had narrowed his eyes at the red-head. "You wouldn't be able to get me pregnant like that, I'd have to be in heat to begin with." Ray started, stopping when Tala held a hand up.

"I know I know, I was just messing with you kitten." He smirked, watching Kai's eyes flash dangerously from the nickname. "Would make it so much cheaper though, but thankfully all that court case money finally came in."

Ray's head perked up a bit, as he was busy sipping at the tea he had brought himself. "That's good to hear, took them long enough to get that all to you guys."

"Right, I'm almost twenty-one and Bryan just turned twenty. We should have had all of this when we were eighteen and everything was settled, I'm just glad it's over with." Tala sighed out.

"And you're sure you guys want a kid?" Ray asked, eyeing the puddle of drool along Tala's knee and wrist.

"Of course, I love Kyra here so why wouldn't I want one of my own?" Tala asked, nuzzling his pale cheek into the soft strands of raven. "Besides it'll give her a little playmate."

"You say that now, wait until you can't sleep because they cry all night or get sick." Kai rolled his eyes, looking about worn out from life even though he was only eighteen.

Having taken over the company once Voltaire had passed was already throwing his life around, but he was trying to make it work to keep a roof over their heads even though they had enough to fall back onto. It wasn't that the work was too much, but it was the fact that he had to be gone most of the time from his family that was causing him to have problems. He didn't like the idea of leaving Ray alone with Kyra all the time, but Ray refused to fly to Russia with him because of Kyra's age. Having employed Tala and Bryan to help with his work load, they decided to move closer to their boss in Japan and were now in the process of making a family of their own.

"Kyra is actually a wonderful baby, she's been so easy sometimes I'm afraid something might be wrong with her." Ray chuckled softly.

"Nah, she's just taking after her other father." Tala laughed, placing a kiss on top of the baby's head. "I better head out, gotta meet Bryan over at the clinic."

"Have fun with that." Ray chuckled, as Kai stood and took Kyra in his arms from his friend and started wiping the drool from her lips before he sat back down.

"Yeah, we'll see. Should know if it sticks in a month, I'll see you later guys." Tala waved over his shoulder, showing himself out of the manor.

"I hope they know what they're doing." Kai grumbled, holding Kyra in his arms and handing her a teething ring.

"They'll be fine, after all they've had plenty of practice with this little one." Ray cooed, nuzzling his nose into Kyra's getting a squeal of delight in return. "I'll go make us some lunch." He kissed his lover on the cheek before standing and leaving the two in the sitting room.


"You're cutting it pretty close there." Bryan said, checking his watch as his boyfriend stepped up to him as he waited outside the clinic.

"Sorry, lost track of time." Tala apologized, wrapping his arms around Bryan's as he turned to lead them into the clinic. "You excited?"

"About jacking off into a petri dish? Ecstatic." Bryan deadpanned, getting smacked on the shoulder for his comment.

"I meant about having a baby you jackass." Tala pouted, shaking his head while choosing to stay quiet the rest of the way into the building to the front desk.

The woman behind the desk popped her gum, eyeing the two men before her. "How can I help you?" She asked with a bored tone.

"We had an appointment with Doctor Hamada" Tala spoke up before his boyfriend could.

"Third floor, fifth door on the right." The woman said in her bored tone before going back to popping her gum.

Tala practically dragged Bryan away from the desk over to the elevators, bouncing on the balls of his feet he pressed the button and dashed in the second the doors opened. Bryan could only roll his eyes, trying to ignore how excited his boyfriend was acting over this. Truth be told he wasn't even sure if he wanted a child, after watch how Kai's life seemed to almost flip upside down he didn't need that happening to himself, but he knew he wanted to see Tala happy.

As the elevator made it's slow ascent upward Bryan found himself trying to pump himself up for a child of his own, somehow it still didn't sound that appeasing. Already they were spending millions of yen to do this kind of procedure, Tala's idea of splitting their genes to create a child exactly from the both of them, it was experimental at best and expensive. It wasn't like they didn't have the money though, and now that they both had a steady income coming from working in Kai's company he wasn't all that concerned about money.

His fears were more along the lines of being father material, with the kind of upbringing he had within the Abbey, a place that still haunted his dreams at night, he wasn't sure if he was the perfect choice in having a child. Tala had placed them both in therapy sessions and it seemed to be working for the red-head, yet Bryan knew he wasn't fully ready to take the kinds of steps Tala had made to make himself better.

As the words to stop his boyfriend were at the tip of his tongue, the doors to the elevator opened and Tala dashed out into the hall. Bryan growled in his throat, stomping after him dead-set on stopping him until Tala turned around to wait for him to catch up by the fifth door down the hall on the right. The way Tala's smile had reached the width of his face, the way his blue eyes were shining with the utmost joy Bryan could only swallow his words.

"C'mon, now whose the slow poke?" Tala chuckled with a roll of his eyes.

Bryan didn't speak, coming up beside Tala as he pushed open the door to another smaller waiting room. The nurse behind the desk looked up, a bright smile on her face.

"Ah, the Ivanov and Kuztenov boys I assume?" She asked, her smile bright and cheery.

"You assume right." Tala said as he strode over to the desk. "Is Dr. Hamada in?"

"Yes she is, if you two would like to take a seat I'll call you as soon as she's ready."

Tala nodded going over to the many vacant chairs along with wall of the waiting room, the second he sat down his nerves started to kick in and his leg began to bounce almost uncontrollably. Bryan smirked, watching his lover become a nervous wreck now was somehow amusing when all along he was fine.

"I want him to have your eyes." Tala said out of nowhere, and Bryan only gave him a questioning look. "Blue eyes are too common place, but yours are unique." Tala continued, and Bryan's smirk turned into a soft smile.

"Then he should have your hair."

"You think?" Tala asked, his leg stilling for just a second as he looked up at Bryan with wide eyes.

"I've always loved your hair, so I think if he's to have my eyes he should have your hair." Tala nodded as if he approved.

"How many features of the surrogate do you think he's gonna have?"

"Maybe a few, do we get a refund if he gets them all though?" Bryan asked with a snort of laughter.

"I doubt it, we don't even know if it'll be a he to begin with. We could get a girl for all we know."

"Better not, otherwise I'm refunding it completely." Bryan scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Tala smacked him across the chest with the back of his hand. "You will do no such thing. What's wrong with having a girl, your goddaughter is a girl incase you forgot."

"I didn't forget, but how will she carry the Hiwatari name? I want a son to carry my name, we're only having one where Kai and Ray can have more if they wish."

"You tell Kai to have another kid and he might shoot you." Tala cut in only getting a nod from his lover. "I understand what your saying, but times have changed, and she could carry the name if she felt like it."

Bryan shrugged his shoulders a bit, looking indifferent to the news. "It's not the same."

"Will you stop being so traditional for once?" Tala shook his head with a groan. "How about we just hope it's healthy and looks somewhat like us?"

Bryan nodded, deciding to stay quiet for the time being before he was called by the nurse. He glanced at Tala unsure why he was being called first, only to get shooed away by said male. Through the wooden door Bryan followed the nurse down another white corridor to a blue door with a red number one nailed in the center near the top.

"In here Mr. Kuztenov." She smiled warmly, opening the blue door for him, stepping in after him.

The room was spacious, with a table along the right wall and a sink in the left corner. At the back of the room was a metal container, looking almost like a metal pot with a lid.

"You can place your clothes on the table here, and there are magazines in the drawers. Please clean the area and wash your hands before and after. When you are done, place the dish you have ejaculated into in that metal can over there. Make sure the lid is on securely, there are paper towels and gloves if you're more comfortable using those." As she gave her instructions she had indicated to everything in the room, leaving Bryan slightly embarrassed and dead silent as she slipped out of the room.

With a shake of his head and sigh he began to empty his pockets, setting his wallet and keys down on the table before throwing his black jeans over the top of everything carelessly once he kicked his boots off under the table. He went over to the sink and washed his hands before pulling out the stack of magazines from the drawer of the table, a frown quickly coming to his lips as he flipped through the first three.

"Shit." He cursed, tossing the magazine on the floor and snatching his phone out from under his jeans.

[How do they expect me to do this when the magazines are all women?] He typed out to Tala, hitting send harder than he should have.

A few seconds went by before Tala had replied. [I was wondering the same thing, but mines not too bad looking so I might be able to do this?] Bryan rolled his eyes, already feeling everything he had before coming back to him.

He couldn't do this, even if he wanted to, he was gay for heavens sake. The least they could have done was supplied them with porn of other men, not women. Running a hand down his face he shook his head, trying to think of something that might help since he didn't want to let his lover down when an idea hit him.

[Send me a pic.] He sent out.

Tala replied quickly, a photo attached to the message. [Can't, no phones allowed.] He had written, while the photo attached was that of a sign that said no cellphone use on the wall of the room Tala was in.

Bryan rolled his eyes, wondering how often Tala used that cybernetic brain of his these days. [Any luck?]

[None.] Came the quickest reply Tala had sent in the history of them dating.

LEMON STARTS:

An evil smirk came to Bryan's lips as he prepared his next idea. [Bet if that cock was in my mouth it'd be hard by now.]

Tala's eyes almost bugged out of his head, his stomach rolling at the words written down on the screen of his little black phone. His own smirk coming to his mouth as he realized Bryan's idea, his fingers quickly dancing along the screen of his phone.

[Bet it would be, and so would yours if I had my hands wrapped around it. Jerking, pulling, licking.] He hit send, excitement rising up within him as he waited for the reply.

Bryan's smirk grew, his lavender eyes looking over the words of his phone a few times as he thought of something to write back.

[Mmm baby you know I like it when you do that, but don't expect me to be gentle today.] He hit send, his lower groin slowly coming to life as the words created a picture of him and his red-head in a hot and steamy position that he loved all too much.

[When have I ever asked you to be gentle? I want you to tear me apart.] Tala replied, the same images coming to his mind as he was already working his own erection.

Somehow, they saw the same thing; Tala on top with his head between Bryan's legs as he sucked on his member where Bryan was doing just the same, while also probing Tala's entrance with three fingers. The pressure was already bearing down on Tala and his back tensed as Bryan forced another finger with him, swallowing him almost completely.

Tala's head snapped back, moaning out as his entire body shuddered before he took his lover back in his mouth fully while stroking his length harder. His slim pale fingers working the saliva that was running down the shaft, helping his hand work more fluidly against the skin. Bryan made a groaning noise, his throat blocked by Tala's member in his mouth and he pulled back some in order to breath before he ran his tongue along the tip while spreading Tala's entrance wider.

With their jaws starting to hurt and Tala's entrance as stretched out as it would go, Bryan pushed the red-head off him while keeping him on his hands and knees as he kneeled behind him. Without warning, and only using the spit from his mouth Bryan plowed into his lover. Tala screamed out, his knuckles turning white as he gripped at the floor beneath him as his body was jerked forward from Bryan's movements.

The two moved in sync, Bryan's right hand clamped down on Tala's hip where his left was underneath the red-head and stroking his length along with the movements of Bryan's thrusts. Fire crawled along Tala's backside and he cried out Bryan's name as his arms gave out and he fell forward, his lower half stuck in the air as Bryan's pace became overbearing and before they knew it they both exploded out.

LEMON ENDS:

Tala dropped his phone as his head went back and a loud moan escaped his lips. Trying to keep his hands from shaking too much, he emptied what he could into the petri dish. Bryan breathed in heavily, having sat his phone down beside him when he knew he was ready and twisted his petri dish closed before setting it in the metal bin at the back of the room.

Both, still in their own rooms washed their hands and dressed back into their clothes, collecting their personal items before stepping out at the same time. Tala blushed, as Bryan smirked at him while coming over and kissing him hard on the mouth.

"A bit loud, don't you think?" He asked, placing his arms around the red-heads shoulders to lead him out of the white corridor.

"You haven't heard nothing yet." Tala teased, coming out of the corridor as Bryan held the door open for him and they stepped back into the waiting room.

"Ah, everything work out alright?" The same nurse as before asked, her smile unwavering.

"We hope so." Tala grinned his signature wolfish grin, nudging Bryan in the side.

"Alright, the samples will be taken upstairs and spliced and then placed in Ms. Fernandez within three hours, after that it's just a waiting game and we'll be sure to call you if anything sticks."

"Thank you, we appreciate it." Tala smiled, taking Bryan's hand in his as they headed out of the waiting room back to the elevator.


February 11th

Tala's leg was doing it's nervous dance, his cell phone sitting on the coffee table in front of him as he stared at it unblinking. Ray came into the sitting room, shaking his head slowly as he sat down beside the red-head gently as to not scare him.

"Why haven't they called? If it didn't take, don't you think they would have called? They should have called on the ninth." Tala asked.

"I'm sure they'll call regardless of what the result is, you paid enough money to at least get a yes or no answer." Ray said placing a hand on Tala's shoulder.

"Bryan's praying it doesn't." Tala growled out, shaking his head as his leg dance quickened.

"Why do you say that?" Ray asked.

"I just know it, he never liked the idea to begin with. At least he'll be happy if it doesn't work… Guess we can always adopt in the end, there's no way we can afford to do this again."

Ray opened his mouth to speak when Tala's phone went off, jumping the small space between the couch and the coffee table Tala lunged for the phone. His fingers fumbled with the answer button before he slid his finger across it more firmly, pressing the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" He answered, his voice almost timid and all Ray could do was sit back and watch with hope filled eyes.

"I see… Thank you." Tala's voice lowered and he side glanced at Ray who gave him an apologetic look, with a sigh Tala pulled the phone down from his ear and turned it off.

"Tala, I'm so sorry." Ray began, going to replace his hand back on the red-heads shoulders when he was jumped in a hug.

"It took! IT TOOK! I'M A PAPA RAY, I'M A PAPA!" Tala cried happily, squeezing the neko-jin around the neck as he laid upon him on the couch after knocking the younger male down.

"That's great Tal…. Can you let me go…? Can't breathe." Ray wheezed out as his windpipes were getting crushed, Tala promptly sitting off of him and helping him to sit up right again.

"I have to call Bryan and you have to call Kai!" Tala exclaimed happily, reaching for his phone again and before Ray could protest he was already on the phone with his lover.

Ray smiled shaking his head at the older of their little group, as he realized that even though Tala was the oldest he didn't act like it very often. Reluctantly he pulled out his own phone and went to Kai's contact, though wasn't that all surprised when it just went to voicemail.

"Didn't get a hold of him?" Tala asked as he hung up his phone, seeing the way Ray's eyes dimmed a little from the excitement they had just had.

Ray shook his head. "No, it's alright he'll call me back when he can."

"That boy needs to take a break every now and then you know." Tala said as he sat back down.

Ray scoffed. "I tell him that, but he doesn't listen."

"Will he be home for Kyra's birthday at least?" Tala asked, watching his friend's mood sink lower.

Ray shrugged. "He said he would be, but that doesn't mean anything. What'd Bryan say though?" Ray asked, quickly looking happier than he was a second ago.

"That's amazing Tal's but I have to go now." Tala mocked, causing the two to laugh.

Ray went to speak when Kyra's cries started to come from down the hall, Ray's ears perking and as if on command he stood up from the couch. Tala sat and watched quietly as Ray disappeared down the hall, coming back momentarily with Kyra in his arms. Her little pale face red from crying, but now she was silent as she fed from the bottle she held.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to be so loud and wake her up." Tala apologized.

"It's alright, she's not been napping long anyways." Ray said as he sat down in the arm chair across from the couch Tala sat on, leaning it back as he adjusted Kyra on his chest, so she could still drink.

"She hasn't been sleeping well since Kai left, she never does." Ray sighed out, and Tala seemed to understand and just nod.

"It's tough, isn't it?"

"Sometimes, but she's easy. See, out like a light again." Ray said softly, taking the bottle from Kyra's hands and setting it beside him on the floor as he shifted her around to where she laid on her stomach against his chest.

"You've done good, for what it's worth." Tala said, a smile coming to his lips.

"I haven't done it by myself, without Kai we wouldn't have a roof over our heads or food on our plates. I just miss him, and sometimes I need a break. You'll do fine though." Ray said, his hand lazily drawing patterns on Kyra's back as he quietly purred while she purred back.

"Sounds like a truck engine." Tala chuckled.

"Little body, but she makes some loud noises." Ray chuckled back. "Congratulations by the way."

Tala's lips formed a smile that stretched the width of his mouth, his blue eyes brightening. "Thanks."


October 19th

Tala paced the waiting room of the hospital, Bryan sat in one of the stiffed backed chairs that lined the walls in a half-square watching his lover pace the space in front of him. Ray watched him with sympathetic eyes, every now and then glancing at his own lover who was busy holding their now one-year-old daughter in his arms as he was pointing out the city lights below them through the large window that sat at the back of the waiting room.

Ray smiled slightly, placing a hand over his stomach as he breathed in deeply and removed it and standing with his lover and daughter.

"You should talk to him, he's a nervous wreck and Bryan is not helping."

Kai only glanced over his shoulder to see his best friend still pacing, and he shook his head. "He did this to himself."

Ray rolled his eyes. "Just because you would have chosen differently for him, doesn't mean he's not happy about his decisions. This pregnancy has been hard on him and Julia both, the least you could do is be there for him when he needs you. You were in his shoes only a year ago." Ray said sternly, taking Kyra from Kai's hold. "Now go and talk to him."

"Fine." Kai bit back, turning on his heel to go over to his best friend. "Hey, c'mon." He motioned with a nod of his head to the red-head, who seemed lost but followed the others lead outside anyways.

Ray watched them go, as did Bryan as he still looked emotionless to everything.

"Can you watch Kyra for me – Thanks." Ray said, not giving Bryan time to answer as the one-year-old was place in his arms and the neko-jin ran off towards the bathrooms.

Kyra looked up at Bryan, blinking her crimson orbs a few times at him and he shrugged his shoulders to her. "Don't ask me kid." She giggled at him, nuzzling into his chest as sleep started to come down on her little mind and body.

Ray came back a few minutes later, two bottles of water in each hand and he placed them down on the table beside Bryan's chair in the corner of the room.

"Not back yet?"

"No, and they haven't called us in either." Bryan huffed, eyeing Ray a bit. "You pregnant again?" Ray visibly bristled, and he shook his head no almost violently.

"No, why would you ask that?" He almost screeched out.

Bryan scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Just asking, plus you got some pudge there."

"Thanks for calling me fat you ass, tell me again why my boyfriend employed you?"

"Because I'm good with numbers and you are not." Bryan shot back, though his tone was playful.

"Har har, I can take her now if you want." Ray said as he sat down on the other side of Bryan.

"Nah, I got her." Bryan shrugged, pulling Kyra closer to his chest. "She purrs?"

Ray nodded, smiling a bit. "Sounds like a truck, doesn't she?"

Bryan nodded. "Kind of funny, do you purr?"

"Only when I'm content." Ray shrugged. "She does to, so with her purring it means she's content with you."

Bryan scoffed and rolled his eyes. "That's a laugh."

"How so?"

"Pfft, you think I was raised to do this? Look at me, I'm not father material by a long shot. If it wasn't for you and the others of your old team, Kai would have been in the same boat as I am now." Bryan explained, keeping his voice low enough not to wake Kyra.

"You have Tala, Spencer and his wife, along with Ian, on top of Kai and me."

Bryan shook his head. "Yeah, that's four out of six who didn't have fucked up childhoods. Not much help there." Ray frowned a bit, but even with Bryan's stubborn attitude he wasn't about to give up.

"First, watch your language around my daughter. Second, you're only going to fail if you keep thinking like this. Trust me, my childhood wasn't sunshine and rainbows either, a lot of kids aren't. Yes, what you and the others went through is horrible but you're out of that now. You're about to be a father, and whether that's something you truly wanted or not it's too late to back out now.

"The man I knew, the man that tried to kill me, didn't act like this. He saw a problem and pressed on, he did his best and that's all his captain ever asked of him. What makes you think he's gonna ask anymore of you now, because to me he's not going to. If anything, he's just going to need you to hold his hand and dry his tears when he becomes sleep deprived." Ray spoke, making sure to keep his eyes locked with Bryan's through everything he said.

Bryan went to say something when a nurse came up to them, her smile bright and warm. "She's ready to receive you now."

Ray smiled and nodded, looking back at Bryan to see what he would do, and he was not disappointed when the elder man stood up and handed Kyra back to him. Silently the lavender haired man went down the hall to where Kai and Tala had disappeared down what seemed hours ago, while the nurse gave a questioning look to Ray who just smiled at her again and sat back with his daughter in his arms.


Outside on the smoking deck Bryan stepped out into the chilly night air, coming up to where Tala and Kai were standing each smoking a cigarette in silence. Tala gave Bryan as small smile, though it was weak, and he could only assume the kind of conversation the other two men were having.

"Babies here now, if you'd like to go see it."

Tala's eyes widened, and he snubbed out the cigarette quickly under his snow-white boots. As he went to walk past Bryan his hand was caught, and he looked at Bryan with a questioning look but decided to keep his mouth closed when he looked into the younger male's eyes. There he saw it, the uncertainty of the step they had just taken, but also the love of the other that he knew was solely reserved for him and him alone.

The two ex-demolition boys walked back into the hospital hand in hand, while Kai simply smirked to himself and snubbed out his own cigarette before following behind them a few feet away in order to give them their space. Ray watched with that same smile on his lips as the two new fathers stepped back into the waiting room and up to the nurse and following her down the other side of the hall.

Ray shifted Kyra, still asleep against his chest, as Kai came and took the seat Bryan had been in previously while holding his arms out silently for his daughter.

"You know the rules, you can't hold her after you were just outside smoking. You reek, it's not good for her developing senses." Ray shook his head, only getting a frown from his lover as he looked to be slightly pouting at not being able to hold his child.

"They going to be alright?" Ray asked after a moment of silence passed over them.

"Yeah." Kai answered with a nod of his head, a soft smile coming to his lips.

Ray pulled his arm free from under Kyra's back, shifting her once more in order to reach out and place his hand over Kai's. Kai looked a bit taken back, looking down at the tan hand that laid over his and back into those beautiful golden eyes of his lover.

"Are we?" Ray whispered out, his voice catching in a choke in his throat.

Kai took Ray's hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze before lifting it to his lips and placing a gentle kiss to the back of it.

"Yeah."


Tala's thin lips formed into a wide smile as the nurse led them to the recovery room they had placed Julia and their child in, practically dragging Bryan behind him now from his excitement. Both men's breath seemed to catch in their throats, Julia looked over to them and smiled from her perch on the bed where her twin brother Raul was sitting beside her smiling down at the bundle in her arms.

"Congratulations boys." She smiled, holding her arms out to them as Tala approached cautiously to her other side.

"Thank you, thank you so much for doing this for us Julia." Tala said, tears in his eyes as he pulled his baby closer to his chest.

"It wasn't a problem, besides you payed me enough to want to do it." She winked. "What's his name?"

Tala's mouth hung open and he turned to Bryan, his blue eyes almost sparkling with the tears inside them. "We have a son; did you hear that Bryan we have a son." He whispered out in his excitement.

"You had the name if it was a boy, remember?" Bryan said, trying his best not to smile at how happy his lover was.

"You're right… What was it?" Tala asked.

The other three in the room chuckled at the excited red-head. "Dimitri." Bryan reminded, and Tala nodded.

"Right. Hello, my little Dimitri Nicolai." Tala cooed, smiling down at the sleeping babe in his arms as tears quietly rolled down his pale cheeks.


October 19th, One Year Later:

It was a rather warm day as the proud parents watched the kids play, the smell of burgers and hotdogs filling the outside air around them. Bright blue and red balloons hung off the lamp posts and tables, the blue cake sitting neatly in the middle of the picnic table with the writing 'Happy Birthday' in red icing awaiting its destruction from the now one-year-old Dimitri.

The one-year-old boy was following around a two-year-old Kyra in the sand box, trying to get back his shovel from her as she had stolen it moments ago, tears running down his pale face. Julia, having found a seat on a bench in the shade watched with a smile on her face, laughing at the scene before she got up to help her distressed son. Glad that Tala and Bryan had invited her to celebrate his first birthday, her brother, Raul, had been sitting in the sand box with the kids until he got up to talk with Bryan about something by the grill.

"Now, Kyra, that wasn't very nice taking your friends toy. Can you please give it back?" Julia asked gently, bent down to Kyra's level.

Kyra looked between the woman and the little red-head boy she had taken the shovel from and handed it back, a frown on his thin lips and a glare that rivaled her fathers as she crossed her arms over her small chest.

Julia could only laugh as she took the shovel back. "I've seen that look plenty of times, but it was never that cute before." Julia said as she handed the shovel back to Dimitri, who snatched it and ran off to the other end of the sand box. "I think I might have another shovel you can use, lets go see if we can find it." Standing, Julia held her hand out for the little girl to take and she led her over to the bench she had been sitting on before.

"I'm so sorry about that Julia." Ray said as he approached the two, a five-month-old Kain clutched to his side.

"It's not a problem Ray, you should have seen me and my brother at that age. Gave grandpa all his grey hairs before he turned thirty." Julia laughed, finding another plastic shovel from her bag and handing it to Kyra.

"What do you say Kyra?" Ray turned his attention on his two-year-old.

"Thank you." Kyra mumbled before taking off for the sand box once more.

"Sometimes I wonder what I'm going to do with her." Ray shook his head slightly, shifting Kain on his hip before he sat down with Julia on the bench.

"She seems like a sweet girl, have to remember she's only two, plus it'll toughen up Dimitri having to stand his ground against her." Julia said, holding her arms out for Kain. "May I?"

"Yes, please." Ray sighed, handing his son over to the Spaniard woman. "He's getting heavier by the day." Ray said as he rolled and cracked his neck.

"Where's Kai?" Julia asked, looking around the park and unable to see said male.

"He's in the car taking a phone call…" Ray muttered. "I wonder what I'm going to do with him sometimes…" He mumbled under his breath.

"Least he could make it, from the sound of it Tala wasn't sure if he would even be here." Julia said, bouncing Kain on her knee.

"Yeah, he almost wasn't here for Kyra's birthday either…" Ray said in a sigh, deciding to omit the fact that Kai wasn't there for the birth of their son a month later.

"Must not be easy, for either of you." Julia said with a slight frown, her green eyes showing her sympathy.

"It's hard on Kyra mostly, she's really attached to him." Ray answered, watching his daughter digging in the sand box.

"Daddies little girl." Julia smiled, getting a nod in return. "Well you have a really cute family, Ray."

"Thanks." Ray blushed slightly. "Do you mind keeping an eye on them?" He asked as he stood.

"Not at all." Julia said, smiling to Kain as she held him up to her face and then blew into his pale cheek, causing the five-month-old to laugh.

Ray smiled his thanks, walking off towards the parking lot to find his missing boyfriend. By-passing Tala and Bryan, who both turned and watch him with looks of concern, though they didn't say anything as he went by.

"So, once these are done we can eat, sound good?" Tala asked, turning to Raul as Bryan closed the lid of the grill he was standing before.

"Sounds good to me, I'll let Jules know and we can wrangle the kids."

"Good luck trying to catch that nephew of yours, he's quite the runner these days." Tala warned with a laugh.

"Must take after me then." Raul laughed. "Thank you, for letting us come."

"Of course, she is his mother after all." Tala said, placing a hand on Raul's shoulder. "If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't haven been able to do any of this. She made a great sacrifice for us, the least we could do was include you two."

Raul only slightly blushed, a smile on his lips. "Thank you, it means a lot to us… So, Bryan, how has fatherhood affected you?"

Tala chuckled, turning to his husband. "Should I tell him, or would you like to?"

Bryan simply shrugged, deciding to ignore them as he went back to grilling the food in silence. Tala shook his head, a smile on his lips.

"That pretty much sums it up." Tala started. "But when I'm too sleep deprived to do anything, he's up in an instant and taking care of things for me. Dimitri is a wild one at times, one second, he's content and then the next he's crying for no reason what-so-ever. Takes a lot out of you, specially if you didn't get much sleep the night before."

"Sounds like Jules when she was little." Raul chuckled.

"I baby-sat Kyra a lot, and let me tell you, I was expecting it to be easy. She tricked me, because those two are the complete opposite."

"Well, it is different when it isn't your own child." Raul chuckled.

"Very different, and it's not like I can ask Ray to watch him now that he has Kain." Tala frowned slightly.

Raul nodded, checking over his shoulder at the others in the sand box. Julia having joined the toddlers inside it with Kain sitting between her legs, holding his own shovel that he was gnawing on.

"Do you think you'll ever have another one?" Raul asked, turning back to the two fathers of his nephew.

"No." Bryan grunted, pulling the food from the grill top and placing it onto a platter.

"I'm happy with just Dimitri, I don't think I'd be able to survive two." Tala sighed. "It would be nice if Dimitri had a sibling, but with Kyra and Kain I think that's good enough for him. Not to mention Spencer's son, Sven."

"Where is Spencer?" Raul asked.

"He couldn't make it sadly, but he did send a gift." Tala piped up, a smile on his face and motioned to the large box wrapped in bright yellow paper. "I have no clue what it is."

"Foods done, can get everyone over here now. Just don't let Tyson go first." Bryan said as he plated the last hamburger patty on the platter, turning off the grill and closing the lid.

"I'll get Jules and the kids." Raul said quickly, running off to the sandbox to fetch his sister.

Tala went to say something to Bryan when Kai and Ray approached the food table, and already they both could tell the two had just come back from arguing.

"Can I take your car?" Kai asked, eyes on Bryan as Ray stood beside him.

"Sure." Bryan tossed the keys to Kai, having set the platter of food down. "What's going on?"

"Need to sign some papers, sorry about this." Kai said, catching the keys effortlessly and turning to Ray. "I'll see you tonight." He kissed his cheek before walking off, Ray only rolling his eyes as soon as Kai was out of hearing range.

Tala and Bryan both gave him a look of sympathy, before they were crowded by the others coming up to the table. Julia carrying Kain on her hip, whom Ray took almost immediately and holding his hand out for Kyra to take.

"What would you like to eat Kitten?" He asked, trying to hide his frustration with her father.

"Cake!" She cheered, upon seeing it in the middle of the table, causing the adults around her to laugh.

"Not now, would you like a hotdog for now?"

"Da!" She said excitedly.

"Here, let me help." Max said, coming up beside Ray and taking a paper plate and putting a hotdog on it for Kyra as he had watched Ray struggling to get a plate while balancing Kain on his hip. "What else you want Kyra?"

"Mustard!" She cheered.

"That's my girl." Max beamed, squeezing the yellow goop on the plate beside the hotdog, going down the table and collecting whatever else the little girl shouted out as they passed by it.

Once everyone was seated and eating contently, idle chatter flitted about the table. Near the end, where everyone was about done with their food, Bryan stood at the end of the table, Tala standing with him and coming to his side where he held onto his arm lovingly.

"I'm not very good at these things…" Bryan began once all eyes were upon him. "But, I just wanted to thank everyone here for coming. I know some of you had to come a long ways out to be here, and we're thankful for that." He spoke with an air of confidence around him, Tala beaming brightly beside him.

"Thank you, Julia, for giving us this opportunity to be fathers to Dimitri. Without you, we wouldn't be here now. And thank you, to the Blade Breakers. If it hadn't been for you, all those years ago, Tala and I wouldn't be where we are now either." He finished, sitting down quickly as a very faint blush crossed his face, receiving a round of applause from those at the table.

"That was wonderful hun." Tala whispered into his ear, kissing him quickly on the cheek before he took his seat once more beside his son, who was sitting comfortably in Julia's lap. "Presents or cake next?"

"CAKE!" Kyra called from beside Ray and Max, her face barely above the table top.

"Cake it is then!" Tala cheered with her, getting up to grab the cake and placing it before his son on the table.

After the singing of the 'Happy Birthday song' was over with, Tala lit the single candle that he had stuck in the center of the cake. Dimitri stared at it with a blank expression, unsure of what to do with it as his lavender eyes were locked on the small dancing flame.

"Blow it out Dimitri!" Kyra called from her spot across the table, bouncing in her seat.

"Here, why don't you help him Kyra?" Julia asked, pushing the cake towards Kyra.

"On the count of three." Ray said, watching with a warm smile as his daughter crawled onto her knees to reach the cake better.

"One. Two. Three!" Everyone counted, and Kyra blew out the flame, startling Dimitri who began to cry.

Tala laughed, shaking his head. "Of course you would cry about that."

"He's probably tired." Julia said as she tried to soothe her fussing son, as Tala took the cake back to cut into it.

After everyone had a piece of cake, Dimitri had fallen asleep in Julia's lap; having cried himself to sleep.

"I feel bad that he didn't get to open his presents." She said as she nuzzled into his soft red hair.

"We can still open them." Raul said beside her.

"No, they're his to open." Julia said crossly, narrowing her eyes at her brother.

"He's right, we can still open them." Tala interjected. "I'm dying to know what Spencer sent him anyways." He chuckled and stood, going over to the table that held the presents, the large yellow box having to sit on the grass beside it.

"Maybe Kyra can help me?" He said, turning to the table where everyone was sitting still.

"Da!" She squealed and rushed from the table over beside Tala.

"Alright, you pull on that side and I'll pull on this one." Tala directed, taking a piece of the yellow paper into his hold as Kyra went to the other side. "NOW!" He called, ripping the paper down in one clean tear, Kyra following suit to reveal a white motorized play car that looked like a mini version of a BMW.

"Leave it to Spencer to send something like that." Bryan shook his head.

"I like it." Tala said, admiring the picture on the front of the box after removing the rest of the yellow paper. "Onto the next one!"

He plucked out a smaller box, with an even smaller box attached to the top of it held on by rainbow colored ribbon. "This is from Julia and Raul." He read off the card attached and pulled off the ribbon and then the paper to reveal a small art pad and paint set.

"He'll love it." Tala beamed.

"Love finger painting the walls." Bryan grumbled under his breath with an eye roll, causing the others at the table to laugh.

"I love to paint, so I'm hoping he'll love it just as much." Julia said once the laughter stopped.

"I'm sure he will, thank you Julia." Tala smiled to her.

By the time the presents had all been opened, the sun was starting to set behind the line of trees and the adults began to pick up the area in order to head home. Dimitri still sound asleep in the folds of his mothers arms, while Kain had also passed out in his stroller not much later.

"Ray, you don't need to help us. Go home and put those two little ones to bed." Tala ordered as he snatched the stack of plates from Ray's hold.

"Are you sure, I don't mind." Ray protested.

"Yes, now get going before I have Bryan carry you to your car." Tala threatened.

"Alright, alright I'm going. I'll see you later, thanks for having us Tal." He pulled the elder into a quick hug, getting one in return before he went and picked up his sleeping daughter and shifted her on his hip as he wheeled the stroller with his son away to the parking lot, Max going after him to help load the sleeping kids into the car.

"I'm still worried about those two." Bryan said in a low whisper as he brought his own stack of trash to the bin where Tala was standing.

"You and me both… But, there's nothing we can do about it." Tala sighed shaking his head. "I can only smack some sense into Kai so many times."

"Have you tried hitting him harder?" Bryan asked, a smirk on his lips.

"I prolly will if I have to."