Revision Note: My revision note for this chapter is actually at the bottom, so if you want to skip down to the bottom and read that first, fine with me. Just so long as you don't skip the chapter completely...


This was what Will thought of when he thought of Skandia: warm fires, time spent with friends, the scent of heady pine smoke lingering in the crisp spring breeze. He and Halt were sitting in front of a fireplace in one of the many rooms in the complex maze of doors and hallways that made up the Hallasholm Commons, each nursing hot mugs of coffee and talking in quiet tones. For the first time since their birth, all four Treaty babies were sleeping peacefully. Ola and Horace had assured Will and Alyss that they would look after them while they slept, and had urged the new parents to get out and do something. And so Alyss was talking with one of the women of Hallasholm she had met and quickly befriended upon arrival, and Will and Halt had holed up in front of a cozy fire to do some talking.

"So," Halt began conversationally. "How are you feeling right about now?"

Will shrugged and shook his head slightly. "I don't even know. Thrilled, scared, overwhelmed... Maybe a little bit of everything." He smiled, and Halt felt a corner of his mouth twitch upwards in response. "It's definitely worth it, though."

"It's going to be rough when they start walking," Halt said, taking a sip of coffee. Will nodded.

"Yes, that thought had occured to me." He grinned wryly.

Halt raised an eyebrow. "Keep your knives out of reach," he said sardonically. Will rolled his eyes, though he was obviously smiling.

"I sort of figured that one out on my own, thanks." They lapsed into a comfortable silence while they continued drinking their coffee. Surprisingly, Halt was the one to eventually break it.

"Have you thought about godparents yet?" he asked. Will nodded.

"Yes, actually, Alyss and I were just talking about that this morning." He grinned fondly, then slowly the grin dissipated. "Early this morning." Halt cracked a smile at his former apprentice's clear displeasure at being up at such an hour. "We were thinking that Horace and Cass could be godparents for Nathan and Megan, and Gil and Jenny for Danny and Caitlyn."

Halt nodded. "I'm sure they would be honored. Have you asked Horace yet?" Will shook his head.

"We wanted to ask Horace and Cassie together. Besides, she might need a while to recover after hearing the news. I sure did."

"I think we all did," Halt replied with feeling. "We were expecting twins."

"Which would have been trouble enough," Will said emphatically, but was unable to keep the smile off his face. For all the odd hours and occasional complaints, Halt knew that Will was absolutely elated to be a father, and that Alyss felt much the same way about motherhood.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Halt said mildly. He stood up and stretched, emptying the dregs of his coffee into the fire and sitting back down. Then, on impulse, he added, "I meant it when I said you'll both be excellent parents, Will."

Will smiled at him. "We had wonderful parents to learn from." Halt smiled back at him, acknowledging the close bond that had formed between the two of them through the years.

Now it was Will's turn to stand. "Well, I'm going to go get some sleep. 'Night, Halt." Halt looked up at him, one eyebrow raised practically to the ceiling.

"It's afternoon." Will frowned and looked out a window, seeing blue skies and white clouds which confirmed the fact that it was, in fact, midafternoon.

"Oh," he said. "I didn't notice."

Halt smiled fondly at the retreating form of his former apprentice. For all of his inquisitiveness, curiosity, and easily excitable nature, he knew that he hadn't been lying. Will and Alyss would really make great parents. As a matter of fact, they already were.


When Will returned to the room he, Alyss, and their children were staying in, he found Alyss already sleeping on the couch. He smiled to himself at the sight. Even completely and utterly exhausted, she was still absolutely stunning.

Gently, so as not to wake her, he lifted her up bridal style and carried her over to her side of the bed, laying her down and brushing her long blonde hair out of her face. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and lifted the thick blanket over her sleeping form before crawling over to his side and pulling the blanket over himself.

Beside him, he could hear Alyss' deep breathing. He could hear silence from the rest of the room, meaning that the babies were all sleeping peacefully - and soon, hopefully, he would be as well.

He moved deeper into the warmth of the down blanket, smiling contentedly. Right then - for once - everything couldn't have been more perfect.

And he fell asleep with a smile on his face.


Well, there you have it. Chapter six. I know the ending was kind of cheesy, but - yeah.

Just a little heads up: I am completely rewriting this story. There are huge time gaps that I skipped in the first version because I didn't feel like writing them that I am now busy filling in, and the revised version is going to be several chapters longer, in the end, than the first version. This story was nine chapters (not including prologue) before I revised it; now that I'm rewriting, I think we're looking at anywhere from fifteen to eighteen. I don't think you can really complain about that, but just so you know: it's going to be a lot harder to skip from a revised chapter to a non-revised chapter because the time skips will get confusing. For example, by this time in the old version, the gang was already back in Araluen and had talked with Cassie and the King. In the new version, you can plan on them being in Skandia for another chapter or two, or maybe even three.

Reviews are love!