Chapter Fourteen:

Crawling on his knees across the stone flower bed, Colt reached for one of the loose stones in the dirt, lifting it out of the ground. He brushed his curious little fingertip across the unusual dark specs, before he slid off the flower bed to go and show it to his father. "Daddy, look." He ran up the garden path, towards where his father was sat. They were looking at another house that they might move into. While Greg was in the house with the realtor, Nick and Colt were taking a look at the garden.

"What is it?" From his position on the steps leading up to the house, Nick reached out for his excitable little boy, lifting him onto his lap.

"A rock. Look." Colt placed it in the man's hand, letting him take a look at it.

"Oh yeah, it's got spots on it." Nick noticed. "Where'd you get it?"

"Over der." Before Nick could get a good look at it, Colt took it back, sliding off the man's lap. He ran back down the path towards the flower bed, seeing if he could find another one just like it.

"Please, your birthday was two weeks ago. Everyone knows that presidential treatment for birthdays only lasts a week... tops. So I don't have to do what you say." Greg argued with his mother, as he stepped out the double doors leading to the back garden. He had stupidly told his mother that they were house hunting this week, so she insisted on coming along with them. He told her that she had no say in their decision, but she still wanted to see the houses.

"I was merely suggesting that you take a look at the house that's just become available closer to home." His mother defended herself, carefully stepping around Nick on the steps. "The gardens nice and big though. You could put a swing set or something in it. Not too sure about that though." She pointed to the shoddy work on the fence job.

The panels were falling apart, revealing the back yard of the neighbour's garden.

"Hey," Greg took a seat beside Nick on the steps, gently tapping his knee. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, Colt's already dismantled the flower bed. We better leave before we get billed for it." Nick pointed his attention to their son, getting a smile out of Greg. "I'm fine, Greg. You don't need to keep checkin' up on me."

"I'm worried." He playfully adjusted the baseball cap on Nick's head, so he could see into his eyes without the shade of the visor in the way. "It's natural for me to be worried. You had chemo yesterday, you should be at home in bed."

"Some people go straight back to work after their treatment. I'm no different, so don't treat me different. I'm fine." He insisted, pecking a kiss to the younger man's cheek, before he climbed to his feet. "Do you really not like this one then?" He looked up at the back of the house, realising it wasn't the best choice as it needed a lot of work.

"Its way out of our price range, Nicky." Greg reached his hand out for Nick, so he could pull him to his feet. "And what would we need with four bedrooms and three bathrooms? I know you've always wanted a big family, but I don't think I'm cut out for that many kids. Besides, the kitchen isn't overly big either. It's the first one, the next one will be better."

"What's yah Mom moanin' about?" The older man queried, watching the woman rearranging the flower bed their son had just dismantled.

"Oh, she just wants us to find a house in California. She said it's still technically her birthday, so we have to at least consider it. We can't go though. Our lives are here. I met you here. My job is here. My friends. I know Sara is never really around anymore, but she still thinks of this as her home too."

"I don't care where we live. I go where you go." Nick gave him a smile, holding his hand as they made their way out of the house. "I admit it's not the best choice." He looked at the state of the walls and the ceiling. "It'll need a lot of work. We could always have three kids, and save the last one as a guest bedroom when their Nana visits."

"Oh she'd love that." Greg laughed, leading the way into the front room. He took another look around the room, before he backed himself up against the far wall. "Three kids?" He placed the older man's hands on his hips, as they looked into one another's eyes. "Can you really see us with lots of kids like that? I can barely picture myself as Colt's father sometimes."

"You were the one who said you wanted another baby with me. Don't you want a real family home that our kids can grow up in?"

"Yeah, a baby." He pointed out to him, giving the man a wide smile. "I never pictured us with three kids. Driving them to school, helping them pick out tuxedo's for prom, helping them learn how to drive... I can't think about stuff like that now. Seems like another life."

"It will be. It'll be our future. I have so many good memories of my childhood at the ranch. My parents really made it a family home. Don't you want that for our kids?"

Greg nervously giggled, giving the man a slight nod. "Yeah, it's just weird to talk about this. We have one kid. A baby. I've never planned out anything for the future before. I just take things as they come. Even with you, we never made any future plans before. I moved in with you because I wanted to, not because I was planning on anything in our future."

"Up until recently, I didn't think I had a future." Nick moved closer against his partner, practically pinning him against the wall. "Maybe this isn't the house for us, but I want a house like this for us to live in and raise our children. The kids we may have will need a garden to learn how to ride their bikes in. They'll need their own room each." He tried to sell him on the idea. "I don't know about you, but I don't really like the thought of raisin' our kids on the fifth floor of an apartment buildin'. What's the problem with buyin' a house together?"

"I just never thought I'd be the settling down domestic type." Greg took another look around the room, wondering if he could really do it.

"Things change, G." He chuckled softly, gently brushing his fingertips through the younger man's soft hair. "We have a baby together. We already have a future together, raisin' our son. Once we get a place, what's stoppin' you from marryin' me, Greg?

Greg immediately froze, feeling the blood draining from his face. "Marry?" He gulped the word in his throat. "As in the big wedding thing, a church..."

"Yeah." Nick nodded, brushing his thumb across Greg's chin. "I love you, Greg. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone or anythin' in my whole life. When are you gonna get that into your head? You can trust me, Greg. I won't break your heart again. I can promise you that on the life of our little boy."

Greg anxiously bit his lower lip, wondering if he could do the whole marriage thing. He had never even thought about getting married and settling down someday, but then again, he had never thought that he would ever have a child either, and he managed that okay.

"Yeah . . . what the hell." He smiled at the older man. "I'll marry you. As long as we don't have to do the whole church honour and obey thing. And as long as you're not doing it because you think that this is the end for you." He quickly warned him. "I won't marry you if you're giving up."

"This is me holdin' on." He leant forwards, pressing their lips together to ignite a kiss. Since he had been back, they hadn't exactly been together romantically a whole lot. The furthest they had gotten was spooning while they slept, holding each other's hand and the occasional peck to the cheek, but nothing serious.

Nick slid his hand to the small of the younger man's back, slowly deepening the kiss to his long lost love. Just like before, their tongues playfully battled for control inside one another's mouth. Nick weaved his fingers through his partner's hair, gently gripping a handful as they pulled apart for air.

"When we do buy a house, we're going to christen every single room." Greg declared, grinning widely against his partner's lips. "That is if you want to. I trust you, Nick. I want you back for real." He assured him, pressing their lips together again. "Don't you want to?"

"Here." Nick reminded him of where they were.

"At home." Greg wrapped his arms around his partner's neck, resting their heads together. He knocked the baseball cap off Nick's head as he did, sending it falling to the rotten wooden floor beneath them. "One more thing." He gently combed his fingers through the man's hair. "There is one way that you can take control of this, without having to hide it."

"I thought you might say that."

"You can't pretend that you're not ill, Nicky. Pretending won't make it go away. At least this way, you'll have a little control over it. I love you; all I want to do is help you."

"I know." He bent down to pick up his hat, replacing it to his head. "Okay." He agreed, slowly lifting his head to look the man in the eye. "I want you to do it."

"You trust me with your hair?"

Nick chuckled softly, giving him a nod. "I'm not expectin' to have any left at the end of it, so I don't think you can screw that up. And despite what I've said in the past about your home made haircuts, I've always thought that your unique hairstyles make you even cuter." He brushed his hand through his partner's messy spikes, messing them up even more. "I trust you with my life, Greg. I want to marry you, because I love you and because I trust you. I want you to be my next of kin."

"Nicky." Greg shook his head, not wanting to talk about the possibility.

"My parents shouldn't be the one to decide what happens to me. I'm not a kid anymore. I want it to be you. There's nobody that I trust more with my life than you. I feel safe with you, like nothin' can hurt me as long as I have you."

The younger man entwined their fingers together, not wanting to think of the possibility of actually losing him. "Only if you're mine." He lifted his head, looking the man in the eyes. "We have to be equal partners in this. I know you're more at risk right now, but anything could happen to me too. I'm not a kid anymore either. It was humiliating having my mother decide what happened to me when I went in for my c-section for Colt. Even though I'm glad that she was there, I wanted it to be you."

"Equal partners it is." Nick sealed the deal with a kiss, adjusting the cap on his head as they pulled apart. "We'll go see this last house on the list, then we'll head home. And stop worryin' about me; I've been through way worse than this." He peeled his partner off the wall, taking him out of the house towards the car.

Jean was already standing by the car, watching over her grandson playing around the fence surrounding the front garden. "There you are, thought we lost you. Are we ready to get going?"

"Yep." Greg lifted his toddler into his arms, carrying him to the car. He strapped him in the back beside his mother; before he drove them all off to the next house on their list. This one was a little closer to the crime lab, but it was set in the middle of a very suburban looking street.

Greg felt as though he had stepped onto the streets of Desperate Housewives, fearing Bree Van De Kamp was about to step out of one of the houses with a basket full of freshly baked muffins.

"This is more like it," He stepped into the house, spotting the large kitchen straight away. He ran his fingertips across the smooth marble counter, before he took a look in the cupboards. Besides being a little dusty, they were perfectly sized and looked brand new. "Dishwasher, washing machine... fridge, freezer... this makes it potentially pricy though, right?" He looked round at their realtor, who was stood talking to his mother.

"Uh... no, it's right in your price range."

Even though he doubted the woman, he continued to explore the kitchen, feeling as though he had just stepped into his dream kitchen. He loved cooking, even though he spent half his life eating things out of the microwave, cooking was a secret indulgence of his.

While Greg continued to explore the kitchen, Nick followed his toddler up the stairs, watching the child taking it one step at a time with his arm extended over his head to reach the banister. Once they reached the top of the stairs, Colt turned left towards the closest bedroom, immediately running for the window to look outside.

"Daddy, up." He reached his arms out to the man, unable to reach the window ledge on his own.

Nick slid his hands beneath his child's arms, lifting him onto his hip. He stepped closer to the window so he could see out, noticing that this garden was a little bigger than the last house. There was a single flower bed along the fence, with a beautifully maintained lawn stretching across the rest of the garden.

They continued to explore the rest of upstairs, finding two bathrooms and three bedrooms. The master bedroom had an adjoining room attached, not quite large enough to be another room, but it could easily fit a small desk or a baby crib. There wasn't a door attached or a window, so Nick assumed that the last owners had used it as a walk in closet or something.

He eventually made his way back down the stairs, setting Colt down as they reached the front room. All the rooms were completely empty, but that didn't stop him from picturing their own furniture in the rooms, making it the family home he had always dreamed of.

"We have to get out of here before I shake the realtor's hand." Greg suddenly appeared beside him, giving him a smile as he looked round at him. "Have you seen the kitchen? It's huge. It comes with a working fridge, freezer, oven... even the ceiling fan. I don't care if we just buy the kitchen, we could live in there."

Nick chuckled softly, trying to calm his hyperactive partner down. "We have to consider the rest of the house too. You haven't even been upstairs yet. I'm glad you like it, but it's only the second house. We don't even know if there's any schools near here or a park."

Greg sighed softly, watching his dream going down the drain. "I didn't even want a new house, now you're taking it away from me."

"I'm not takin' it away from you." Nick pressed a kiss to his partner's pouty lip, adoring him even more. "Come and look upstairs. Colt's already picked out his room. It has the perfect view of the garden outside."

"Can you really see us living in a place like this?" Greg sat on the carpeted stairs, resting his chin in his hands.

"I don't get you, Greg. One minute you're sayin' I'm takin' this away from you, the next you're not even sure if you want to live with me."

"That's not what I said." The younger man defended himself. "I just... I don't want things to change." He vulnerably looked up into the older man's eyes. "Do you love me?"

"Greg." Nick knelt down in front of him. "Yes. You know I do."

"Then you're supposed to accept that I'm not this kind of person. I'm not just going to turn into your dutiful little wife over night, giving you all the children you want and this perfect family home that you've always dreamed of. I'm not like that." He leant forwards, placing his hand on Nick's cheek. "Nicky, you know me. I'd go crazy in a place like this. Don't get me wrong, I love the kitchen, but the rest of it isn't me. Even if we decorate it and personalise it, it still won't be me."

"Greg, I understand what you're sayin', I really do. But how do you know, unless you try? You're just scared, baby."

"Don't call me, baby." He gave him a playful jab to the shoulder. "I had your baby, but that doesn't make me yours." He leant forwards, pressing a kiss to the man's lips. "I love you, Nick. I want your dreams to come true, especially now. But you can't domesticate me."

"I don't want to." Nick assured him. "I want you as you are."

"Then show me a studio flat or a condo. I can't do a stepford wife's house."

Nick chuckled softly, shaking his head at the younger man. "It's not a stepford wife's house. It'll be ours. We can't raise kids in a studio flat or a condo. We don't even have the money for a condo. This isn't really me either, but parents are supposed to make sacrifices for their kids. I don't want things to change either, but they have to. We're not single anymore, we're fathers. We have a life completely dependent on us to survive."

"You think I don't know that? I haven't been his father for less than three weeks like you; I've been his father for the past three years. It's hard, Nicky. How do I know that you're not just going to leave us once we have all of this? Can we please just take this slow?" He climbed to his feet, adjusting the cap on Nick's head. "We don't need to rush into anything, because you're not going to die. Please believe that. We need you here. I need you."

Nick gave him a smile, whispering, "I'm not goin' anywhere."

"Have you seen the asking price on this place?" Greg's mother made her way out into the hall, holding various brochures and things in her hands. "It's horrendous. I hope you're not going for it. It doesn't come with any kind of security. The garden's easy to access from the front of the house and the back doors are only glass."

"We're not." Greg slid his hand into Nick's, pulling him to his feet. "We're gonna stay where we are... for now." He checked that it was alright with his partner, before he lifted their toddler into his arms. "Time to go home. Daddy needs to sleep and you need your lunch." He pressed a kiss to his child's head, realising that he had already made a few sacrifices for his son.

A few more wouldn't hurt.

Later that night, when he finally got their toddler down in his bed, Greg led his partner through to the bathroom. He sat him down on the bath tub, getting a confused look out of the man as he knelt down beside the sink to search for something in the cupboard.

"Ew, you don't shave your balls with them, do yah?" Nick immediately cringed as he saw the clippers in his hands.

"No. And how do you even know I still do that?" He grinned round at him, slowly making his way back towards him. "You haven't seen me naked in three years." He pulled the cap off the older man's head, dropping it to the floor beside him.

"You told me you'd never rock the dick fro, because it makes you look bigger without it." Nick reminded him, gently pulling Greg towards him by his belt loops.

"Sometimes I hate that you know me so well."

"Why?" The older man gave him a curious.

"You already know all my quirks. You know exactly what to expect from me. There's no surprise for you anymore. Not like when you first start dating somebody." He placed his hand on Nick's chin, gently angling his head to kiss him. "Why'd you come back for me?"

"Because I love you. You do still surprise me. I came back expectin' to just find you, but I found our beautiful little boy with you. You've always surprised me. I don't want anybody else but you." He unbuttoned his shirt, tossing it to the floor beside his baseball cap. He raised the clippers from Greg's hand, clutching the younger man's hand tightly between his own, as he whispered, "I wouldn't want anyone else to do this but you either."

"It's just a haircut, Nicky." He gently brushed his fingers through the older man's hair. "It'll grow back before you know it. It's just to give you back a little control. I know how scary it is. I know I've never had anything like this, but I had another life growing inside of me. Everything changed for me, I felt like I had no control over my own body. I know what that's like." He pressed a kiss to Nick's forehead, before he turned on the clippers in his hand.

He slowly started to comb the blades of the clippers through Nick's hair, watching the clumps falling away from one section, before he started on another. Nick eventually closed his eyes, gripping his hands on the bath tub either side of him as he felt the feather light pieces of hair coming away from his head.

Greg eventually turned off the buzzing motor of the clippers, brushing away the rest with his fingertips. He missed the man's luscious soft hair already, but he knew that it was for the best. "Do you want to shower?" He brushed his hand done Nick's chest, brushing away the rest of the hair. "You could always have a bath."

Nick remained sat on the edge of the bath a moment, watching Greg collecting up his hair into a bag. "Will you stay?" He asked him, giving him a nervous smile as he looked up at him. "You don't have to... I just miss..."

"Yeah." Greg dropped the bag into the bin, pressing a kiss to Nick's forehead, before he playfully brushed his hand across the man's shaved head. "You just can't wait to see me naked again."

"If I was that desperate, I'd take a peek while you were sleepin'." Nick teased him, climbing to his feet off the bath tub. He gently placed his hands on Greg's hips, taking a step closer as he looked into his eyes. "I miss you. I really didn't mean to hurt you."

"Water under the bridge." Greg smirked, never understanding that saying until now. "C'mon, I have work tomorrow." He stepped around Nick, turning the hot water of the shower on. He then lifted his t-shirt up over his head, turning to face Nick as he unbuckled his jeans. "C'mon cowboy, you're not gonna make me shower alone, are you?" He purposely left the fly of his jeans open, placing his hands on his hips as he gave the older man a seductive look.

The Texan immediately took the bait, sealing a kiss over Greg's lips as he slid his partner's jeans out of the way. While they continued kissing, Nick delicately ran his thumb across Greg's c-section scar, wishing he had been there at the time of their son's birth. He gave his partner a gentle push backwards into the shower, removing his shorts as the water started to pour down around the man he adored.

"C'mon then, Nicky." Greg combed his fingers through his wet hair, giving his partner a seductive look.

The older man hesitantly reached for the buckle of his belt, nervous about what Greg would think of him now. He eventually dropped his jeans to the floor, placing his thumbs beneath the rim of his boxers. He never wanted Greg to see him like this, but he couldn't hide it from him forever. He slid his boxers down his legs, slowly straightening up to look the younger man in the eye.

"C'mere," The younger man was still focused on his eyes, gently pulling him into the shower with him. He circled his arms around Nick's shoulders, holding his warm body close against his own for the first time in years. "You're shaking." He whispered softly, placing his hand on his partner's newly bald head as he held him closer. "You don't need to be scared with me, Nicky. I know what to expect."

"Well I'm glad you're well informed." Nick pulled back from him, closing the shower door behind him to stop the cold air from brushing across his back. "Greg, I can't..."

"C'mere," Greg reached for the shower gel bottle behind him, pulling Nick closer to soap him up. "I love you." He smoothed his soapy hands down the older man's chest. "You don't deserve this, any of this. I've missed you so much. I just want you back. I don't care that you can't... it's not permanent. There's more to love then sex."

Nick knew that he was right, but he could feel Greg's hard groin against him, without so much as a twinge from his own appendage. He started to feel inferior to the younger man, as though he didn't even measure up to him now.

"Turn around." He whispered against Greg's neck, watching as the younger man slowly turned away from him. He circled his arms around Greg's waist, holding him just like he used to, before any of this happened to him. "It might be more permanent than you think, G."

"What do you mean?" He tilted his head over his shoulder, giving Nick a curious look.

"I eh... I haven't been able to get hard since my prostatectomy. It took me three months to get my bladder control back. I gave up tryin' to..."

"You weren't with me." Greg tried to lighten the mood, placing his hands over Nick's on his stomach. "Nick, I don't just want you for sex. I want you completely... for who you are. Did you really think that was the only reason I ever wanted you? Because if you did, then you're seriously stupid."

"Thanks a lot." The man smirked.

"You're welcome." He turned in his arms again. "You're back because this is where you belong. You have a son and you have me. You don't belong anywhere else, and you know that, or you would have found something. You're here to stay, so you better get used to it. For better or worse, you're mine, cowboy."

(END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN)

Thank so much for all your reviews so far. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I've done extensive research on the types of cancer that Nick has, but I'm no expert. This is Fiction, so I really don't have to worry about getting every single fact straight. Last I checked, men can't get pregnant in this day and age, so it shouldn't bother you too much.

Anyone else in England snowed in today?

We could have done with all this snow over Christmas, not now. I usually have to walk a mile to get into work, but it comes up to my knees at the moment and that was just putting the rubbish out :D

Have a great weekend!

Hope the snow doesn't cause anyone too many problems.

~ Holly