The summer had gone by fairly well, and the chill was beginning to set in on Masyaf a little sooner than everyone would have liked. Malik froze nightly while Iman was perfectly warm. Although he finally convinced her to shut the window and it was a good thing, because it began to rain hard over the next few days, turning the caked dirt into lakes of mud. Everything smelled different when it rained, Malik was able to smell the pages of the books better, and that smell had become a friend to him recently. He didn't spend much time without Iman, as she was expected to give birth any day now. Just as she had done for Maria, she watched over Iman to give Malik some time to himself every now and then. Although, Malik was usually babysitting with Altaïr.

He'd grown more fond of Darim than he thought, and the boy was becoming increasingly lively. He could sputter out only a handful of words by now, none of which included Altaïr, and that upset him. He was sitting in a chair, watching Altaïr try to get Darim to stand up even for a second, but the boy kept falling back.

"You have to let him do it himself, Altaïr. He won't learn any other way." Malik said, having seen this act more than enough times, repeated by other fathers. The man gave up with a heavy sigh, and laid on the floor, letting his son climb on his stomach triumphantly.

"I'm exhausted enough with him. But now I'll have to go without you, and try to keep everything running smoothly." Altaïr said, speaking to Malik but looking at his son.

"Just because I'll be having my own child doesn't mean I'll forget about aiding you where you need it." He said, somehow grabbing Darim's attention, picking the boy up and setting him on his lap when he was close enough. "Maybe it'll be easier. Darim will have someone closer to his own age to play with."

"I guess so." He said as his eyes shut, hid fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Something about the way he said that was unsettling, but then Malik realized that it was all too quiet outside of the room. He set Darim back down to take a look around, mostly to see that Iman was alright. She was always in the back of his mind, but that was his first worry at the moment. He felt himself turning into a predator, looking for her.

Maria reached him first, smiling. "There's nothing to worry about. But do me a favor and go open the window in your room, I may forget later."

He nodded slowly, doing as she asked. Of course, it wasn't much longer before he was waiting outside the room, pacing as Altaïr had done almost an entire year ago. He was much calmer on the outside than he felt. He decided to sit to wait it out, but it was painful. He was able to peer inside for just brief moments when someone left the room. He didn't even know why he bothered, he could hear her and from that visualize how much pain she was in. But her face was in far more pain than he imagined it being. The door always shut before he could see her clearly.

In the middle of the night, the door opened softly. Malik looked up, more nervous than he'd ever been.

"I... Don't know how much longer she'll be in labor. But it's safe to say she'll be up all night. I think she's calmed enough for you to go sit next to her for a bit, if you'd like." Maria said, offering a small smile, following him inside again.

He gently ran his hand over her head, trying his best not to make it obvious that she didn't look as good as she could have. But she was asleep, so he sat down next to her. Iman sensed he was near and shifted closer to him, a small smile on her face.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Maria suddenly said, turning sharply from the room. He didn't care much, he was just worried for his wife. She woke up suddenly, looking very surprised to see him, but also relieved.

"Malik, what are you doing?"

"Maria told me that I could come in. I wanted to make sure that you were doing alright, and it looks like you are." He said softly, brushing her hair back. She smiled.

"It hurts a lot."

"I'm sure it does..."

She looked up at him, and then sighed, closing her eyes. She gripped his hand, and he had to clench his jaw to avoid making any sound. He almost bit through his tongue by the time she released his hand, and he cleared his throat. Maria came back in a few minutes later, ushering him away and out of the room again. Altaïr had fallen asleep some time ago, Darim on his chest. Malik let them be, sitting back down and trying to rest a little himself. It was quiet enough for him to sleep for an hour or two, at least until he was woken up by a passing assassin, who was kind enough to bring him something to eat. He smiled genuinely and let the man pass. He looked to his left and Altaïr was gone, but he shrugged. He probably went to go to bed, or to eat.

The whimpering that Malik could hear through the morning was truly testing his willpower. He did everything he could to keep from going back into the room. Lucky for him, Altaïr was returning from his breakfast, stopping him from going much further.

"This was just as hard for me. It's worth it to wait." He put his hand on Malik's shoulder to keep him where he was.

"Thank you." He sighed, distracting himself for a while by talking to the man. He paused in the middle of his sentence when he heard what he'd been waiting all night for. He could tel Altaïr wanted to laugh at him for staring at the door, but then he looked fairly surprised himself.

There were two small cries, only minutes apart.

Something hit Malik in the gut and he fell to the ground rather fast. He was listening for something else entirely. The crying had muffled and eventually stopped, but no one had come out yet. It seemed like hours later when he found himself standing again, just as Maria opened the door, not saying anything but letting him inside.

It was a good thing he'd opened that window, Malik thought to himself. The room was hot, but Iman was crying silently, holding their twin boys in her arms as she caught her breath. It was certainly something to see, and Altaïr had been correct. This certainly was something worth waiting for. Malik sat beside her and gave her a kiss before anything else. She closed her eyes happily and her voice was quiet and raw.

"I guess you got what you wanted, and then some, hm?" She grinned and he shook his head.

"I don't know how I'm going to possibly ever thank you for this, my love."

"Just let me rest for now. And try to think of another name." She winked, letting Malik take each of them for a few minutes.

It was a different feeling holding his own sons rather than Darim. Sure, the warmth and wriggling was similar. But the feeling in his gut that had hit him earlier hit him again, harder. It wasn't nervousness really. It was more of sense of worth, and something he'd only felt when he'd given a few lessons to novices that truly appreciated what he'd done. Malik could be a role model for more than a day or wo. He was able to stand this time, fearful that if he didn't he wouldn't get to see this moment develop into something better. He felt Altaïr's hand on his shoulder.

"Let me know if you need anything, Malik." He said, then parting with Maria at his arm. He was alone with his family, finally. He returned each of the boys back to their mother so they could all rest. He only left to make sure that Iman would get something to eat.

"Have you thought of another name?" She asked in the afternoon. He was nervous to ask her for such a favor.

"I was curious... Would you mind if we named one of them after my brother?" He asked, looking her in the eye, more emotional than he'd felt even when he'd heard Iman agree to marry him. He relaxed when she smiled and nodded.

"I don't think we'd be able to come up with another name that would have much meaning."

"It does have quite a story behind it." Malik sighed, trying to keep himself together. Her hand reached up to his face.

"I love you, Malik."

"I love you, too, Iman."

Her eyes closed finally, and it was silent. He kept the window open so the room would cool off. He woke up in the middle of the night when one of his sons began crying, taking him from Iman since she didn't wake. His body wanted rest, and he sat down until the younger of the two began to settle down as he held him.

"You're a very lucky little boy." Malik smiled, talking quietly to soothe him more, bringing him close to his chest. "You'll always be safe here, and you won't ever be alone." The boy almost smiled after there was a yawn. Malik only dared move once he was limp, and after he set the boy back down, he shut the window before it got much colder.

It wasn't always nice to be woken up in the middle of the night, but once a system had been worked out, it wasn't as much of being woken up as it was waking up before the crying started. Malik looked slightly more tired than usual for the longest time, more cheerful when he was able to go to bed a little earlier than usual. Iman wouldn't let herself part from their boys for the better part of five months, but finally they were moved into the adjacent room. Slowly, they were sleeping more through the night, and Malik was happy for that. The color in his face was returning, as Maria had put it with a grin. It wasn't until almost a year later Iman had decided that she would rather be a mother, and was content knowing that she could defend her children should she need to. However, she did still do some work for everyone. Iman's new role was as a librarian, having already familiarized herself with the layout of the library.

Kadar, and Fahid were good boys, for the most part. Malik often had to separate them from fighting over a toy, or accidentally kicking another. By the time they were three, they were both playing with Darim, who was teaching them games, and occasionally hauling around his own little brother, Sef. They occupied themselves well enough to the point no one had to keep much of an eye on them, unless they were outside the castle.

One this particular day, Malik was dealing with exhaustion from the lack of a good nights' rest. He was listening to Altaïr give the other high-ranking assassins a small lecture on a change he wanted to be made. Malik was only half listening. Everyone was dismissed, and as usual, Altaïr asked Malik to stay behind.

"Yes?"

"You look tired. Did you sleep much last night?"

"I hardly slept at all. I'm not sure why, either. It's frustrating." Malik said, looking the man in the eye, getting slightly annoyed as he grinned. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Let Maria and I watch Kadar and Fahid for you tonight. Maybe you can relax from working all the time." Altaïr said softly. He sighed.

"Thank you. But please, if it's too much for you, bring them back."

"I think we should be able to handle two more boys who are reasonably well-behaved." Malik opened his mouth, but he quickly shut it. "You may leave." Malik then nodded and walked out of the room, his shoulders slumping as his feet felt heavy suddenly. He turned the corner to see if he could get a small nap.

"Baba!" He almost cringed for once when he heard the two boys, tensing as they lunged onto him, dragging his body down to the ground.

"Let your father inside." Iman said firmly, walking over to help him up, worried suddenly. She spoke softly in his ear. "Are you feeling well?"

"I'm just tired. Tell the boys to be quiet if they're going to be in here." Malik grunted, shuffling to the bed and collapsing onto it.

"Don't sleep too long."

"If Altaïr comes by later, just do as he says and don't ask." He said, and then everything faded into noise, and then nothing. His limbs detached from his body, and he felt like he was suddenly surrounded by water. It was calming, and he noticed that pain in his back was slowly ebbing away, making him smile. He woke up to a darkening room, and Iman gently nudging him with a smile.

"You're awake, now."

"I am." He stretched out and his back popped satisfyingly as he sat up after. She made a face but she kept smiling at him.

"Do you feel better?"

"Much better, yes. Are the children with Altaïr?" He asked with a pause. She nodded. "Good."

"Why did he take the kids?"

"He wanted me to spend time with you, and to relax so I could sleep tonight." Malik sighed heavily, and then wrapped his arm around her. Iman's head rested on his shoulder and she closed her eyes.

"I feel like we haven't taken much time for just the two of us." She added.

"Now would be a good time to start changing that, you know."

"Really, now?"

"I believe so." Malik smirked and saw her shake her head before leaning in to kiss him, but only for a second.

Iman practically ripped Malik's robes off his body when his back slammed to the bed, his head nearly hitting the wall. It was hardly necessary to say she missed him. It was only when she arched her back, letting out a small moan that Malik began listening carefully for the door. It was slightly ajar, because he could hear footsteps echoing loudly from the staircase down the hall. That slight fear of getting caught suddenly made both their eyes connect, and both grinned. It shouldn't have been exciting, but it was.

"Maybe next time we could go out on one of the balconies?" She said quietly as she pulled her clothes back on quickly. Malik tried his hardest to ignore answering her, but he looked up at her.

"Maybe." He replied with a grin, just as the door busted open with four boys and a man flooding in. He looked up to Altaïr.

"How do you manage them?" He sighed exasperatedly, leaning against the wall.

"Practice." Iman grinned, standing and quickly getting all their attention with a ball. She sent them outside, and quickly shooed out the man. Clearly she hadn't had enough time with Malik yet. However, they did take a walk out of the room to watch the boys play from a distance.

"Iman?"

"Hm?"

"Is this what you wanted?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is this what you wanted from your life?"

"Where's this coming from?"

Where was this coming from?

"I'm just curious."

She paused. "Yeah. I guess it is." She smiled. "What about you?"

"I've lived here most of my whole life. I know that our sons will likely live here for most if not all of their lives as well. And I did meet you in the village, and I don't regret much from that time on."

"What do you regret?"

"Not being able to protect my brother. But that was some time ago."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

"Hm."

He leaned over to kiss her, and he smiled as his arm wrapped around her tightly. It was all his.