Hephaestion worried nothing would ever be good again after his assault and Khalis' birth, but it did, just as Alexander said it would. Khalis was now two years old and toilet training, as well as being weaned from nursing.
"Mam, Mam!" the little boy ran into the expansive kitchen, where Hephaestion was doing the dishes from an early lunch. Khalis tugged on Hephaestion's tunic, sucking his free thumb.
"Yes, my angel?" Hephaestion knelt down to his son's level.
"Potty," the boy wriggled.
"Oh! All right then! Good boy telling me," taking his son's hand, Hephaestion walked Khalis to the washroom, helping him to sit down on the toilet.
Khalis shivered and squealed in surprise as he went, Hephaestion holding him steady. As he got him down from the toilet and cleaned him up, Alexander walked in the open door, having to go himself. Khalis ran over to him.
"Papa, I go potty!"
"You did?! Such a good boy!" Alexander praised.
Khalis beamed up at him once more and then ran down the hall to his nursery to play by himself.
Alexander watched him go before turning to Hephaestion.
"He's beautiful, you know," going up behind the man, he wrapped his arms around his waist.
"Don't even think about it, Xander," reading the man's mind, Hephaestion glared at him through the looking glass above the wash basin.
Alexander pulled away, and Hephaestion turned to face him briefly before attempting to move around him.
"Wait a moment," Alexander stopped him by grabbing him gently by the arm, turning around before encasing Hephaestion in his arms again so that they were back to front, "Don't you think Khal deserves a companion to play with?"
"I don't appreciate this game you're playing, Xander."
"It's not a game," Alexander sat down on the toilet, looking up at his miffed lover, "I am being quite serious, Phai. It has been two years."
"Yes, well, it's not been long enough," Hephaestion whispered, his voice strained by unshed tears, "I still have nightmares."
"But just how few and far between have they been?" Alexander tried reason, "You've had ten nightmares in the past year, Phai. You are healing."
"Then why does it still feel so raw?! Why am I crying?" Hephaestion asked, not even bothering to wipe away the tears that fell down his cheeks.
"Because we're talking about it, and you're frightened. I understand that, but you have to realize that I do not intend to harm you in any way. I am not Darius, and I will never use you as he did. I swear it on my own life, Hephaestion."
Hephaestion collapsed into Alexander's lap, sobbing. Despite the discomfort in his bladder and the cramped space of the washroom, Alexander rocked his distraught lover, hoping against hope that someday it would get better, and praying to all the gods he knew to help him know how to make it so.