A/n: This is the last chapter in my little story. Thank you to everyone who read it. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Chapter 4

Nathan loved having Edge around, about as much if not more than he enjoyed being married. It was nice waking up in the morning knowing that Gabriel had actually agreed to marry him. They didn't go anywhere, preferring to stay in the little glade that was their home. They would only take him into town so that he could talk to his mother. Nathan knew that if Annalise didn't hear from them, she might not want Edge to come back, so they would go to town so that he could call her and talk to her. It was clear that they missed each other, but that was only natural.

As the next few months went on, Nathan knew that he didn't want Edge to go home. But he also knew the toddler couldn't stay here. He had to let his son go back to his mother. Arran and Adele agreed to take him back to Annalise after their wedding. They would use it as a vacation, and see the States. He and Gabriel talked to them about what they'd seen on their trip as they prepared where to go.

Arran and Adele's wedding was in late summer, and it was clear during it how happy the two were together. Afterward, it was only a couple of days when they came to get Edge. He and Gabriel had the toddler fully packed. Nathan held onto him a bit too long, not wanting to see Edge go. He wasn't sure exactly when he would be coming back, though Annalise had promised that she would send him back. It was hard to watch him leave, though. He considered going to the airport, but he almost thought that would be harder than letting him leave with Arran and Adele.

A couple of days afterward, he got a letter from Annalise. Gabriel said that Edge had arrived safely, and said that she'd send him back after the new year. Personally, it couldn't come soon enough.

The first few years were the same. A child under five couldn't travel alone, but Arran and Adele were more than willing to help their nephew see Nathan and Gabriel when it was necessary. Two times a year, he would come to visit, and each time, it got harder and harder to allow him to leave. Gabriel would help him with any lessons he'd been doing at home, leaving Nathan to feel more helpless. He was sure that soon enough, his son would read and write better than he could.

And then, Edge's fifth birthday rolled around. He spent it in Wales, with him and Gabriel. It was hard, though, because things would be changing. He was starting kindergarten in a few weeks. He had already talked about it with Annalise, who'd come to drop him off. They'd agreed on summer and Christmas. It was a longer holiday, after all, and thus it made sense with the long travel time from New York. It would be that way until he stopped school.

This entire thing made Nathan wonder. What would his son be like? Would he turn out more like him, more Black? If so, school wouldn't be fun for him, just like how it had been for him. Or would he turn out more like Annalise, who had always been good at school? It was hard for him and Gabriel to let him go that time, just as it was every time Edge left.

"Don't worry, I'll see you for Christmas," Nathan said as Edge hugged him goodbye as Annalise came to got him.

"I know, Dad," Edge said before he turned and hugged Gabriel. "You, too, Uncle Gabby." He was still calling him that, though he had been able to say Gabriel for years, and probably always would. Gabriel said it annoyed him, but Nathan knew that it didn't bother him as much as he said it did.

"Just think, it's almost the same amount of time as he's usually away," Gabriel told him that night as they cuddled by the fire.

"Yes, I know, but think about after that," Nathan pointed out. "He'll be gone for like six months."

Gabriel leaned over and kissed him. "I know. I miss him, too, and I know he misses you, too. He'll be fine. We'll be fine." Nathan nodded, as he leaned over and kissed his husband as Gabriel moved on top of him. Yes, they would be fine.

Nathan woke up in a sweat, shaking from the nightmare. Gabriel's hands were on him, soothing him as he whispered to him, trying to calm him down. "It's okay, love," he said. "It wasn't real." Nathan laid back down on the bed, trying to calm his rapid breathing. Gabriel laid down beside him, rubbing his chest.

"Sorry I woke you up," Nathan said.

"It's okay," Gabriel said, smiling. The nightmares didn't come as often, but he still had them from time to time. Now, of course, it wasn't Gabriel that was dying his dreams. His son was in them, too. His husband was still more frequent since that was something that had almost happened, but Edge had been in his nightmares more and more since he had come into his life.

At that moment, the bedroom door opened. "Dad, Gabby? Everything okay?" Edge, who was now ten years old, stood there nervously in the doorway.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Nathan said, trying to force to flat tone out of his voice. He didn't want to worry him. This, however, wasn't the first time Edge had been woken up by the nightmare. Tonight, they were sleeping inside because it was raining. It wasn't unusual for them to sleep outside, and it was easier for him to wake up his son then.

"Don't worry, everything is good," Gabriel said, smiling at Edge. "Go back to bed." Edge nodded, and moved from the doorway, closing the door behind him. They waited for the footsteps to die off. "We are going to have to talk to him about it eventually. He's getting. He's starting to wonder about all things you and I - and Annalise - are not telling him."

Nathan nodded. "I know." He turned on his side to face his husband. "It's just… how do you explain all of that to a child?"

"None of us were that much older than him when we all went through it," Gabriel pointed out. "I'm not saying right now, but eventually…. We will all have to talk to him about it, at least to some degree. Have you mentioned any of this to Annalise?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, a bit," he said. "She said she's mentioned that we all went through a war and that it was horrible. She said she's been pretty vague though on exactly what that meant. I just don't know how to explain my nightmares, except what I've already said - that some bad things happened, and sometimes they come out in my nightmares."

Gabriel leaned over and kissed Nathan. "For now, that's fine, I think," he said. "Eventually, though, you and Annalise will both have to come to terms with the fact that it might not be enough information for him. He'll want to know about our pasts, and while none of us are thrilled with going there, we can't blame the boy for wanting to know."

Nathan nodded, returning the kiss. "You're right." Edge was a good kid, a bit moody from time to time, but he was intelligent, kind, thoughtful… He truly was the best of both him and Annalise, with some of Gabriel and Ben, too, he was sure. He didn't want to ruin that with talk of the past, but Gabriel was right. It was a part of them, and they would need to tell him something at some point.

"Of course. I'm always right."

Nathan chuckled, and it was soon after that the two of them fell asleep again.

Nathan and Gabriel treasured the holidays they had with Edge. It got harder and harder to let him leave. By the summer that he turned fourteen, there was already talk of a girl. "He's too young for a girl," he whispered to Gabriel one night as they cuddled together outside by the fire.

"Actually, he's not," Gabriel responded. "He's almost fourteen. That's perfectly normal." It was always moving too fast for Nathan, however. Yes, Edge spent all summer and Christmas with him, but it still seemed like he never saw him. Every time he did, his son was always changing a lot - older, taller, and looking more like him every time he saw him. Except for the eyes, of course. "You're just saying that because it's hard for any parent to see that their child is growing older."

Nathan knew that Gabriel was right, and of course, he asked about the girl, whose name was Elizabeth. She was a White Witch. Of course she is, he thought to himself, figuring that only made sense after he had fallen for Annalise at his age. Edge also complained about living with his mom and step-dad. He was starting to dislike being inside more and more, and no one there understood that. He didn't get sick to the degree that Gabriel and Nathan did, but at times, it did make him uncomfortable. He was also having issues in school, as technology gave him problems as well., it was clear that there was some Black Witch in him.

That summer, they took Edge to France and Switzerland, something they had always planned to do. Edge had always loved climbing, and he seemed to enjoy going with them. He also learned some French from Gabriel, though his knowledge was only basic. Nathan was glad that his son was smarter than him, because the only words he could say in French were "Bonjour", "Je t'aime", and "Au Revoir." No matter how much Gabriel tried, nothing else would stick. Edge was a better writer and reader than him, too, and had been for years. That was okay. Nathan had long since come to terms with that.

As the summer came to an end and they planned to send Edge back on a plane back to the States, his son seemed reluctant to leave. "Can't I stay here with you and Gabriel, Dad?"

"You have to go back to your Mom and Ben, and finish school," Nathan said. "There are no schools near here."

"I hate school," he said, "and I don't like living there."

"You're just saying that because you're there year round and only here for a short while," Gabriel said.

"If you want, we can look into it," Nathan said, however they lived out in the middle of nowhere. If Edge wanted to go to school, he had to stay with Annalise. "If you still feel this way later, you can always move here after you finish school." After all, he would be an adult that summer, so nothing could stop him. He loved that Edge wanted to come and live with him, but things were better this way. He may have not have been smart enough to finish school, but Edge was. He wanted him to finish, not quit because he felt he'd be better off here.

The next summer, Nathan was sitting around the fire one night. Gabriel was sitting next to him, as he always was. Edge sat on the other side of the fire. "Dad, Gabriel? Can I talk to you two about something?"

Nathan glanced over at his husband, who returned the glance before they turned back to Edge. "Sure, what about?" He had a feeling that he knew what this was about. It was something that he and Gabriel had both talked about at length. They knew it was coming. He was still young, and there were still certain things that he didn't want to tell his son. However, Nathan knew that he couldn't ignore it completely anymore. Edge was older now.

Edge was quiet for a second before he started to speak. "I talked to Mom, before I came here," he said. "I know that there was a war here in England before. You've both said that before, but neither of you talk about it. That's why you both have nightmares. She said she did something, something horrible, and spent a year in jail. She said I was born in jail, and that her father took care of me."

Nathan nodded as Gabriel sat quietly next to him. "Yes, all that is true." He felt himself tense a bit, glad that Annalise didn't tell him what she did. He doubted Annalise wanted to talk about it. He didn't want to either. He didn't mind talking about other aspects of the war. Just not that. Gabriel reached over and put a calming hand on his arm.

"She said that was the reason that the two of you broke up, but that she doesn't think you two would have lasted anyway," Edge continued. He didn't say the words in the sense that he wished they were together. Nathan and Annalise had never been together. Edge had grown up with Gabriel and Ben, but his son spoke in the sense that this is what he was told and that was all.

"She's right about that, too," he said.

"That's all she said." Edge shrugged. "I just… I wanted to talk to you about it. What happened? Like, you've mentioned the war, so has Gabriel, but… That's it. What else happened?"

"Well, you know what the war was about, we talked about that." Nathan and Gabriel had mentioned what it was about, and they knew that Annalise had, too. It seemed that all of them had glossed over their parts in the war. They feared at the time that he was too young, but as he got older, they knew that they couldn't shield Edge forever. "Gabriel and I had important parts in it, in trying to get control away from the White Witch Council to the more equal council that we have now. Your mother came in a bit later, but what she said was true."

Gabriel was silent beside him, but Edge spoke up. "What did she do?"

Nathan glanced at Gabriel again, who decided to answer for him. "She did exactly what she said," he answered. "That's for her to tell you, and if she doesn't want to, that's fine. It doesn't matter anymore. The only thing that does matter is that she paid her dues for it."

"She'd moved on, we all have," Nathan said. "We've all done things that we regret." He didn't think that he would ever tell the extent of what he did during the war, the number of people he killed. That was something that he never planned on telling him.

"Like what?"

"Nothing that we plan on telling you," Gabriel said, which only caused Edge to groan. "The past is the past. We were in a war, and in a war people do what they have to in order to survive."

"You mean you've killed people," Edge said, but that statement was met with only silence. "Oh, come on, I'm fifteen… Neither of you were much older than me."

"That's true, but times were different," Nathan said. "There are things that we might never tell you. Things that we don't talk about, even now. Maybe in a few years we'll sit down, but right now, this is as far as the conversation is going to go."

"Okay, fine…" Edge said. "I get it was bad. It's not like I'm going to glamorize it or something. You and Mom both have nightmares because of it. I guess I was just, wanting more information about your pasts. Uncle Arran and Aunt Adele don't talk about it, either." Nathan wasn't sure how much information was necessary, but maybe one day he would go into a bit more detail with his son about what went on. "I want to know what was so horrible that you have nightmares about it so long after it happened. People trying to kill you? You killing people?"

"I'll say your Mother's nightmares are about what she did, but that's all I'll say," Nathan said. "Mine aren't about any of that, though I'm not saying that none of that bothers me. My nightmares are about losing Gabriel." Edge looked confused, so Nathan continued. "In the final battle, he got hurt. I tried to protect him, but he ended up getting shot. He bled a lot, and nearly died. Arran managed to save him. He was weak for a while, but he survived."

"So… you dream about what would have happened if Uncle Arran hadn't saved him?"

Nathan nodded, as he felt Gabriel's hand squeeze his own. "Yes, most of the time I relive that night. I do have nightmares about other things from time to time, but that is the main one that has stuck with me."

Edge nodded, and the conversation died down after that. Later on, after Edge had fallen asleep, Nathan and Gabriel were laying together on the ground as the fire was beginning to die. Gabriel drew him into a deep, lingering kiss. "Hmm, what was the for?" Nathan asked.

Gabriel just smiled at him. "Do I need a reason?" he asked. "I thought you handled that conversation about the war rather well. I thought I would need to step in a bit more if it came up again, but you did well."

Nathan smiled at him. "I'm not sure that's going to be enough, and I don't blame him for wanting to know more."

"For now, I think it'll do," Gabriel said as he kissed him again before they both drifted off.

The next summer, with Edge's seventeenth birthday coming up in a year, there was a lot of talk about what Edge wanted to do for his seventeenth. "Mom offered to do the ceremony," Edge said.

Nathan nodded. "If you want her to do it, then that's fine with me," he said. Due to the way he'd misused his own powers, he was nervous about his son discovering his own. What would it be? Invisibility like Annalise? His own ability to change into animals, like his father? Healing or potion making? Both of those were in their family, as well.

"I want you to do it, Dad," Edge said.

Nathan hesitated for a second. "Sure," he said. "If that's what you want, I'd love to." He gave his son a smile.

Edge smiled back. "Great. You don't think Mom will be upset, do you?"

Nathan shook his head. "No, she'll understand." They had already discussed who Edge wanted to be there. His mom, obviously, aside from Nathan and Gabriel. Of course, he wanted Arran and Adele and his cousins there, too. Nathan and Gabriel had volunteered to go back to the States, but Edge had said that he wanted it to be here in Wales.

"Don't be nervous," Gabriel told him later.

"I'm not," Nathan quickly responded.

"Yes, you are," his husband said, smirking at him. "He wants you to do it. That's huge. Don't be nervous. Everything else will work itself out." Nathan's own had been… unorthodox and rushed, but he was more nervous about wondering what power his son would get. Seeing that he was still distracted, Gabriel wrapped an arm around him and drew him into a kiss.

"Seriously, get a room you two," said Edge from his position a little way away. Gabriel and Nathan just chuckled.

Nathan smiled at Edge. He had just finished performing the ceremony and watched as his son walked off to talk to his mother and friends. The group here was rather small, just family and friends. It had gone smoothly. He turned and went over to stand next to Gabriel.

"See, that went all right," said Gabriel, wrapping an arm around him.

Nathan turned to him. "Yes, it did," he said. "I guess I was just nervous." Even Annalise seemed happy, as Edge finally maneuvered away from her to talk one of his friends and his girlfriend. They had come here from the States to see this ceremony. Edge looked almost exactly like he had at his age. He was making plans to move here once he graduated from High School next year. He didn't care for school, but he could get through it. "Edge is set on moving here."

Gabriel nodded. "Who could blame him? It's nice here."

"Annalise hates it."

Gabriel smiled at him. "Of course she does. You've hated having him on the other side of the ocean, haven't you?"

Of course he had, and Nathan had made sure that Annalise knew that he had influenced his decision as little as possible. Edge had his mind made up, though. "I promised him we would take him to France and Switzerland again, and spend a bit more time there this time." They had gone there before, but because Edge never spent more than a couple months there at most, they didn't get a whole lot of time.

"That sounds like a great idea," Gabriel agreed. "He wants to practise his French more."

Nathan groaned. Seventeen years together, and he could still say no more than a few words in French. He didn't read very well either. Edge was miles smarter than him, for which he was very grateful. That was something he was glad his son had inherited from Annalise. Gabriel just chuckled, and drew Nathan into a kiss.

The next four months went by relatively quickly, and before Nathan knew it, it was Christmas. Edge arrived, and the first thing he wanted to do was talk about his gift. Apparently, he had discovered it a month ago or so. "I can change into animals," he said, a smile breaking out across his face. "That's the same gift as you, right, Dad?"

Nathan felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't sure that he wanted for Edge to have the same gift. He had such trouble controlling it when he had gotten it. "That's great," he said. He didn't feel like it was great. Part of him hoped that he would get Annalise's gift, but he had known that wouldn't happen. Edge has shown that he was, in some ways, a lot like him.

Gabriel squeezed his hand. "And your grandfather had that gift, too," he said, not mentioning the fact that Marcus had stolen a lot of other gifts. That was something else that they had not discussed at great length with Edge yet.

Edge nodded, still pleased at having his gift. "I was wondering, Dad, if you could help me? You know, control it?"

That sinking feeling in his stomach deepened, and he felt Gabriel's hand squeeze his tighter. He hadn't used any of his gifts since the end of the war, not even to light fires. "Give me a second with your Dad, okay?" Gabriel said. Edge nodded, but walked off, leaving them alone. "Your son asked you for help. You need to tell him something. He knows you don't use your gifts, but not why."

Nathan nodded. "It's just… Fuck, I was hoping I wouldn't need to."

"You had it controlled, yes?" Gabriel asked.

Nathan nodded. "Yes, but it's different, being an animal. It doesn't seem as if he's used it enough to figure it out yet."

Gabriel nodded. "Talk to him," he said. "If you don't want to do it, then don't. But either way, you have to give him a proper answer." He leaned forward and kissed him.

Nathan nodded, motioning for Edge to come back. "I'd be happy to help you, but I warn you, I haven't used it a long time," he said.

Edge nodded. "That's fine. It's just… I figured since you had the same gift, you could help me.

Nathan smiled at him. "Yes, I'll help you." He felt his hand get squeezed again from Gabriel, and he dropped it and walked off with Edge. He could do this, and he needed to at least talk to Edge about what to expect if he wasn't going to do it himself any more. He had no reason to worry. Everything had turned out fine. Nothing was perfect, but he wouldn't change a thing.