Epilogue
Lifting an unsteady leg off the floor, the toddler reached her little hands out for the edge of the coffee table in front of her, using it to support herself. She shuffled around the outside on her shaky legs for a few paces, before toppling backwards onto her diapered bottom as she lost her balance and her grip on the smooth edge of the table. Not letting it discourage her, she leant forwards on her hands, lifting her bum into the air in an attempt to climb to her feet again, but it didn't quite work out how she planned as the muscles in her arms and legs were too weak to lift herself from the floor.
"Don't help her." Her father stopped her oldest brother from assisting her to her feet, knowing she needed to strengthen her muscles by herself in order to get herself mobile like her twin brother. "She's got it, just give her a second." He watched as her unstable little legs struggled to hold her weight, wishing he could trade places with her.
When they first started noticing problems with her mobility in comparison to her twin brothers, they just hoped that she was a little slower at reaching her milestones as she was in hospital the longest. But when the doctors told them that she was presenting early signs of cerebral palsy when she was barely ten months old, they were told that she would never be able to do anything for herself.
At one years old she proved them wrong by sitting up all by herself. She soon learned to commando crawl, but walking at three years old was her biggest milestone yet and they wanted to cherish every moment of it.
Giving it another go after toppling backwards and forwards a few times, the tot clambered to her feet, wobbling a little as she tried to catch her balance. She lifted her leg for a brief moment to take her first unassisted step forwards, getting a proud cheer from the watchful eye of her father.
He caught her hands to assist her round the room, encouraging her further with every step she took. After months of watching her twin brother, Ethan toddling around the room on his own, she was finally doing it for herself with the assistance of her brand new leg braces that were buckled down to her new shoes. They were pink with clear plastic butterflies dangling from the laces, giving her special princess walking powers.
Or so Nana Jean told her anyway.
Days of scooting around the room on her bottom or on all fours were finally behind her as she toddled around the furniture in the room on her own two legs, feeling as though her world had suddenly become a little bigger.
"She won't even need that surgery to loosen the muscles in her leg if she keeps this up." Greg proudly stated, sweeping his daughter into his arms as she started to get tired. He pressed multiple kisses to her little cheek, before he plopped her down onto the sofa beside his husband. "Ethan! C'mere bubba, we have to get you dressed. We're leaving as soon as your brother gets home from his soccer game."
"Raa... ma' house..." Ethan jabbered his way around the sofa, clutching the toys in his arms as Greg lay him onto his back on the living room floor. He continued to play with his monster truck and dinosaur as his father changed his diaper, before dressing him in jeans and blue check shirt. "Raaa..." He made his dinosaur attack the monster truck, giggling and squirming as Greg playfully tickled him.
"Is he a little monster like you?"
"I no mu' ster." The toddler refused, driving his truck across his father's arm.
"Dad, do I have to go to Nana's? I don't wonna go." Colt dropped onto the end of the sofa, drumming his thumbs on the control pad of his father's I-pad, flinging another angry bird into action. He licked his bottom lip as he concentrated on aiming the next one, before his father suddenly snatched the device away from his hands. "Hey."
"Why don't you wonna go?" Nick asked him, holding the I-pad ransom to get some answers out of his son. "You used to love goin' to Nana's."
"Max has a swimming pool in his back yard. He's back from his holiday this weekend, so I can go over there and swim with him?" Colt crawled on his knees across the sofa, trying to reach the device out of his father's hands to finish his game. "Nana's house is boring." He complained. "I don't wonna go."
"We haven't been over to Nana's since Christmas." Greg pointed out to their ten year old, remembering the days when he used to beg them to go over to his Nana's. "Besides, we're celebrating Daddy's and the twins birthdays over there, so you have to come with us."
"But I don't wonna go!" Colt whined, pushing himself off the sofa as they wouldn't let him do anything he wanted.
"Don't slam that door." Nick warned him, watching his son storming off up the stairs. He listened out to make sure Colt didn't slam his bedroom door, hearing something else instead. "Is that baby still cryin' next door?" He heard the familiar whimpers of the neighbours newborn, knowing they couldn't complain as their neighbours had to put up with two screaming baby's in the middle of the night when they first bought their twins home.
"Yeah, I saw her this morning, she looks really tired." Greg lifted his son Ethan off the floor, pressing a kiss to the top of his head now that he was dressed and ready. He handed him back his toys, sending the toddler off on his way, before he reached for his daughter from Nick's arms. "You're next, Munchkin."
"Have you spoken to her? Do you know what she had?"
"Yeah, a boy. I can't remember what she said his name was though. She told me he's not feeding very well this morning, so he's probably just hungry." Sliding his hands beneath his daughter's arms, Greg lifted her against his chest, adjusting the little hair bunches tied either side of her head. Her hair wasn't quite long enough for ponytails or braids yet, so he had just tied the short strands of mousy blonde hair that she did have into little bunches on either side of her head. "You okay, Nicky?"
"Yeah . . . I'm just tired. Long shift at the lab." The older man climbed to his feet as he heard a car, going for the front door to let his son in. Harry's mother pulled her car up at the end of the driveway, giving Nick a wave as his son jumped out the back with his soccer kit in his hands. "Hey, kiddo. Did you win?" He waved a thank you to Harry's mother for dropping him off, before he pushed the door shut behind him.
Jacks shook his head, grumpily throwing his bag against the wall, before he kicked off his muddy sneakers.
Nick bent down to pick his son's bag up, hanging it up on his coat peg, before he slotted his sneakers into an empty slot on the shoe rack. "Hey, hey..." He caught his son's arm, lifting him onto his hip to stop him from running off. "C'mon, it was just a game." He hugged him tightly, carrying him through to the kitchen to get him something to eat after his soccer game. "What's the matter?" He perched his son on the counter beside the fridge, whipping him up a sandwich. "Did you fall out with someone on your team?"
"No." Jackson folded his arms across his chest, shaking his head as his father offered him a slice of cheese for his sandwich. "No crusts."
"I know." Nick quickly chopped off the crusts, plating it up, before he handed it over to his son. "What happened then?". Although he was talking a lot more than he had been two or three years ago, his seven year old son was still really quiet and bottled his feelings all the time. He playfully ruffled his hand through his son's hair, secretly wishing that Jackson was a little bit more like Greg than himself, just so he could get through to him every once in a while. "Are you annoyed that you didn't win?"
His son shrugged his shoulders together, taking his first bite of his sandwich.
Nick rested his hands on the counter either side of his son, trying to figure him out from his facial expression. He was really hard to read though. He looked like a miniature version of Greg, but he couldn't read him as well as he could his father. "We're headin' off to Nana's in a few minutes. Finish that up. I'll go getcha some clothes to wear."
"They called me stupid 'cause I don't read so good."
"Who did?" His father leant back against the counter, gently prying the sandwich away from his son's mouth so he could get some answers out of him. "Who called you stupid? Are they on your team? Were they on the other team?" He questioned him as though he was a suspect from work. "Do you know their names?" He knew that his son could read, he just wasn't as confident as the other kids and often stuttered if he had to read aloud.
Jackson just shook his head instead of answering his father's questions, grabbing for his sandwich again. "When are we going to Nana's?"
"As soon as we're all ready." Nick pressed a kiss to the centre of his son's forehead, playfully ruffling his hand through his hair. "You're not stupid. You're my bright little boy. You're gonna be smarter than Papa one day." He smiled at him, pressing multiple kisses to the top of his head. "I'll go getcha some clothes to wear."
"Can I have my red hoodie?" Jacks called after him.
"Yeah."
Jackson stayed in the kitchen to finish his sandwich, ditching the plate on the side as soon as he was done. He slid himself off the counter, going for the fridge to grab a juice box. He wandered off into the front room, handing the juice box and straw over to Greg as he climbed into his arms.
"Hello to you too." Greg smirked, piercing the straw through the foil in the top. He handed it over to his son once it was ready, putting his arms around his little waist to hug him tightly. "Did you have a good game?" He caught a faint nod from his son as he leant back into his embrace. "Daddy tell you we're off to Nana's?"
"Can we go swimming?"
"We sure can. We'll have to get Granddad out there to clear all the leaves out again." He chuckled softly, pressing a kiss to the side of his child's head. He clutched his little boy tightly in his arms, wishing they would all stop growing so fast. Ethan was still toddling around the room with his toys from the sofa to the television unit, while his sister was laying on the play mat on the floor, looking as though she was about to take her nap.
"Nana and Granddad's house has a perfectly good swimming pool." Nick argued with their eldest, making their way down the stairs. "Max will still be there when we get back next week. I don't know why you're makin' such a fuss about this, because you know there's no way that we're leavin' you behind, so you might as well stop whining like a baby."
"I don't wonna go though." Colt continued to whine.
"One red hoodie." Nick presented his son Jackson with the sweatshirt, along with a t-shirt and some shorts. "We almost ready to go? We're gonna hit rush hour traffic soon."
"Almost." Greg lifted his son to his feet to get him dressed, seeing the familiar anxious expression on his husband's face as their arrival at his parents wasn't going to be prompt again. He couldn't help but smile to himself, glad that some things around here never changed.
"What?" He asked, catching the sly smile from the younger man.
"Nothing, baby." He giggled softly, tossing Jackson's muddy football gear aside to deal with once they got back. He couldn't wait to get out of here for their first vacation in years, even if it was just to his parents house. It was better than the same boring routine all the time. "Did you get the food bag ready for the road trip?"
"Yeah, we might need a couple more diapers for the twins though." Nick checked through the luggage they had packed, trying to think of anything else they would need or something he might have forgotten. He hated spare of the moment packing, but it was the only thing that Greg knew how to do. He wouldn't pack until the last minute wherever they were going, even the school runs in the morning were a nightmare if the younger man was in charge. "Greg, where are the twins clothes? I laid them all out this mornin' for you to pack."
"Uh... they're probably still upstairs." Greg swept back the hood of Jackson's sweatshirt, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Go and grab any toys you wonna play with." He stepped around the twins, hurrying up the stairs to the twins room to grab their things.
"You had all day to pack them, G." His husband called after him, gathering shoes at the front door for his four children.
"And I did. The twins stuff is all in this one. Diapers and things are in here. Colt's and Jackson's things are in the blue one." Greg dropped the heavy suitcases onto the floor, dropping Nick's duffel bag on top of them all. "And I packed you some stuff too. See, I can be organised." He gave him a smug smile, before he grabbed two sets of shoes from Nick's hands. "Ethan, Colt... shoes on."
Nick handed a pair of sneakers over to Jackson, before he unlocked their car reserved for Soccer Mom's to start loading their things into the back. He had refused to give up his truck after the twins came along, so evidently Greg had to trade in his car so they could afford to buy a car to get all six of them from point A to point B. It wasn't too bad though, it brought back fond memories of long road trips back with his siblings when they were going on holiday, accept now he was the adult who had to listen to the squabbles, ridiculous fights and complaints of being hungry or bored.
"Put this one up front with us." His husband handed him the food cooler. "Are you ready to celebrate your fiftieth birthday?"
"Is no an acceptable answer? I'd very much like to stay forty nine."
Greg giggled softly, pressing a playful kiss to the creases beside his husband's eye. "When you came back to me seven years ago and told me how sick you were, I thought that getting you through the next year would be a miracle. Now here you are about to turn fifty, and you're worried because you've now been officially alive for half a century?"
"Well when you put it like that."
"You really have nothing to worry about, baby. You're still as gorgeous as the day I met you."
"You're just sayin' that because you want me to drive."
"No, I'll drive." Greg assured him, grabbing the keys from his hands. "We better do a bathroom run. Ten minutes, then we're leaving. You better go give Evelyn the spare key, before we forget." He reminded him, hurrying back into the house to start loading their children into the car. "Jacks, can you go to the little boys room now. Colt, you're next. We're not stopping straight away again just so you can go."
"I don't need to go." Colt protested. "I never ask to go anyway."
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that, Pinocchio." Leading his boys off to the bathroom, Greg gently pushed one through the door first, not listening to their protests of not needing to go.
He caught up to Ethan in the front room, prying him away from his toys to get him in the car first. He made his way back for their forgotten child, still laying on the play mat in the front room. He felt guilty for abandoning her again, wondering how they would ever cope if she could really never do anything for herself.
"Papa." Jackson hurried towards him, handing him the pot of hair gel. "Can you do my hair?" He stood still as his father gently spiked up his hair into messy spikes like his own, before he handed him back the pot of gel. "Who's going to take care of Snickers while we're gone?"
"Evelyn, but Snickers is pretty good at taking care of himself."
Greg had never had a pet before in his life, so when they adopted a stray kitten that the kids decided to call Snickers, he wasn't quite sure what to expect. Snickers spent all day out of the house on adventures, only coming inside for his breakfast or dinner. He occasionally stayed inside if the weather was bad, mostly hiding under beds or sleeping on the high cabinets in the laundry room.
The overall experience of having a pet so far was pretty disappointing.
"Daddy's just giving Evelyn the key to feed him."
"Why can't we bring him with us?" Jackson queried. "I think he would like Nana's house. She has a bigger garden than us and a swimming pool"
"He'd get lost. He doesn't know the area around Nana's house. This is his home here." Greg pointed out to him, settling the twins as they started to get frustrated that they were the only ones in the car. "Snickers will be fine. We can call Evelyn tomorrow to make sure that he ate all his breakfast."
"Okay." His son sighed softly. "Are we leaving now, Papa?"
"Yeah, did you go to the bathroom first. No bathroom breaks this time." Greg wiped his sticky fingers down his t-shirt, before he grabbed their bags to load into the back. "Colt, bathroom first." He stopped him from climbing into the back. "We're not stopping in twenty minutes just to let you use the toilet."
"I don't need to go though."
"Try."
"I did try. But I don't need to." Colt protested, reluctantly jumping down from the car to hurry back inside the house.
Nick hurried back across the street as soon as he had given the key and instructions to Evelyn, pecking a kiss to the side of his husband's head as he hurried past him into the house. "Did you shut your bedroom window upstairs, Colt?"
"I didn't open it."
"That's not what I asked." His father checked all the windows downstairs, before he made his way upstairs to close all the windows up there. "C'mon Jacks, we gotta go." He ushered him out of his bedroom, grabbing his bag of toys for him. "We're gonna be swimmin' and goin' to the beach all weekend. You won't need this many toys."
"Yes I do." His son informed him, taking the lead down the stairs. "Can we take our bikes?"
"There won't be enough room in the car with the twins stroller in the back." Nick shook his head, double checking the back door, before he grabbed the extra diaper bag he had stashed in the hallway. "Hey G, you got everythin'?" He called down the drive to him.
"I think so." Buckling in his last child, Greg slid the back door closed, taking his own seat in the driver's seat. He watched Nick locking the front door, double checking that it was secure, before he joined them in the car. "Did you get your phone charger?"
"Yeah." He presented it from his pocket, plugging it into the car to make sure that his phone was fully juiced. "I'll text yah Mom as soon as we leave city limits, then she won't be worryin' that we're late or somethin'. Did you pack the kids beach stuff?"
"Can we go?" Colt complained from the back seat, wishing they did these checks inside the house, rather than inside the stuffy car in their driveway.
"I got em." Greg assured his husband, starting the car. "Everyone buckled up?"
"Papa, I'm too hot." Jackson struggled with his sweatshirt beneath his seatbelt, forcing Nick to climb out the car to assist him. He knew it would be a bad idea, but he also knew that there would have been a tantrum if he didn't give him his favourite red sweatshirt. "Daddy, I'm hungry."
"You only just had a sandwich, Jacks. Can you at least wait until we're left our street?" Nick adjusted his seat a little as he got back in, hoping to have a snooze later, knowing he'd need it before they arrived at Greg's parents house for dinner. "Go, Greg."
"Yeah this is gonna be a fun drive." His husband sarcastically remarked, before he counted the children in the rear view mirror, making sure they had everyone and they were all buckled in.
Before they even reached city limits, Colt and Jackson both started to complain that they were hungry. He fished out some cookies from the bag, giving them all one each, before he had to play 'I spy something the colour of'; a game Greg made up for them when Jacks was still learning the letters of the alphabet.
After two hours in the car, Nick, Ethan and Avery were fast asleep, but Jackson and Colt were starting to get bored. Rather than finding something to entertain themselves out of the mountain of toys they brought with them, they started squabbling and clobbering each other, prompting Greg to pull over at the next rest stop for a little break.
"Shoes on. Nobody is jumping down from this car without their shoes on." Greg declared, grabbing a stray sneaker off the floor, slotting it onto Ethan's little foot. "Nicky, baby wake up." He playfully jabbed his husband through the seat. "Hey, can you get the stroller out the back? We're stopping for a few minutes."
"Yeah." Nick rubbed the sleep from his eyes, stretching his arms, before he climbed out the car. He set up the stroller for the twins, loading in his sleepy little toddlers, while Greg took the hands of the older two, taking them over to the park they had been to a few times on the way to Nana's house.
"I gotta go to the little boys room. Anyone else?" Greg handed the bag of food over to Nick, before he hurried over to the little barbeque shack right next door on his own.
While he was on his own, he took the opportunity to use the pregnancy test he had hidden in his jacket pocket. Nick was too sleepy to notice anything though, so he didn't have to be that discreet about hiding it. He was hoping that it came out negative, but he had been feeling the familiar effects over the past couple of weeks, prompting him to buy one just in case.
He set it down on the toilet tank once he had used it, turning his attention to his watch to time it. He was glad he splashed out on the clear blue pregnancy test, knowing it would give him a more accurate answer than the cheaper ones he was used to working with from the lab. He couldn't bear to watch the little hour glass blinking away on the screen though, so he watched the second hand of his watch ticking around for three whole minutes instead.
Inhaling a deep breath, Greg grabbed the test off the toilet tank, not sure whether he was happy or sad to see 'Pregnant' across the top of the little screen. He kept staring at it, hoping the word 'not' was going to appear in front of it, but instead '3+ weeks' appeared at the bottom.
"Oh crap." He muttered, realising that was his answer for now. He was just about to leave the diapering years behind with Ethan, he didn't think he could put up with it for another three whole years, along with the sleepless nights and the feeling of being run down and exhausted all the time.
Before Nick started to worry where he was, Greg shoved the test back in the packet, hiding it in his jacket again. He hurried back to the park, giving Nick a smile as he dropped onto the bench beside him.
"I thought you fell in. You okay?"
"I'd rather not talk about my bowel movements in the middle of a park." Greg smiled at him, playfully tapping his husband's leg. "You ready to get going again?"
"Yeah." Nick pushed himself to his feet, grabbing the handles of the push chair. "I can drive if you're not feelin' well, G."
"I don't mind driving." Greg grabbed the stray sneaker off the floor, slotting it back onto his toddler's foot. "I swear he has one foot bigger than the other. He's always losing one of his shoes." He made sure he tightened the velcro this time, brushing a slither of dribble from the tot's chin. He had already been through so much with the twins, especially with the news of Avery's disabilities, he didn't think he could cope with another baby.
"Boys." His partner ushered their older two towards him, taking them back to the car. He loaded them in one by one, making sure everyone was safely buckled in, before he took his seat beside Greg in the front. "Your Mom isn't gonna make a big deal out of it this weekend, is she?"
"About you turning fifty? You know she will."
"I'm startin' to wish I had taken you up on that offer to head out to Hawaii for our vacation. We could be crashed out on the beach catchin' some rays right about now."
"I don't like to say I told you so, but I did." Greg grinned at him, putting his sunglasses on as he pulled out of his parking spot. The next leg of their journey was a straight stretch, before he had to make his way through the busy city, towards his folks house on the outskirts.
"Alright, here we are." Nick announced, watching his husband carefully pulling up behind Daniel's car.
"Daddy, I really have to go." Jackson wiggled in his seat, waiting for the car to stop, before he pulled his seatbelt off. Nick quickly opened up the back, lifting Jackson out of the car to get him inside. "Hi, Nana!" He waved a hand at the woman.
"Hi, sweetie." Jean held the door open, giggling softly as Nick hurried past her towards the downstairs bathroom. She made her way out to the car to give her son a hand with the rest of the children, getting her first hold of Ethan since he turned three. "You're starting to get heavy, sweetheart." She lowered him to the floor after a quick hug, lifting her only granddaughter out, while Greg struggled with all the bags. "Hi honey, everything okay?"
"Yeah." Greg pecked a kiss to his mother's cheek, taking their luggage inside. "Dad, can you grab Colt? He's asleep in the back."
"Yeah, sure." His father caught him for a hug. "You okay?"
"Yeah," He ditched his sunglasses, ruffling his fingers through his hair. "Are you moving?" He immediately noticed the flat boxes leant against the wall. "Where are you going? Why wasn't I told?"
"Can't get anything past you." His father smiled, realising they were going to have to tell him sooner, rather than later. "Your Mom and I were going to tell you tonight. We're retiring to spend some time on my boat. Most of this is going in storage, so I brought some boxes back with me to pack it up. With all you kids out of the house now, it seems right."
"All? Aza's fifteen." He protested.
"She's sixteen." His father corrected him, taking his son's jacket for him as he took it off. "With her in boarding school most of the year, she's not fussed with us selling the house. When she's off on holidays, she can spend time with us on the boat or at your Aunt Chrissie's if she wants to spend time with her friends. Zane's off at college, so she's not exactly fussed and Micah's actually moving in with his girlfriend this week."
"But you're selling the house?" Greg looked at him wide eyed. "What? Why? How could you do this? I grew up here. Nana Olaf's ashes are scattered here." He pointed out into the garden. "You can't just sell it as if it doesn't mean anything. This is our house."
"Yes, but you don't live here anymore though, Greg. You haven't lived here for a very long time now." His father pointed out to him, hanging his son's jacket up, before he made his way out to the car to fetch his grandson. "Heads up, Greg knows." He warned his wife, getting an eye roll from the woman. "What? You know I can't keep secrets."
"They've barely been here two minutes, Daniel. I should have bound and gagged you until the time was right to tell him." She shook her head at him, keeping her eye on Ethan, while she held Avery in her arms. "We were supposed to tell him right before they left, that way he couldn't argue about it."
"Well he knows now." Daniel lifted out his eldest grandson, carrying him into the house.
Greg stormed out into the garden, making his way towards his Nana Olaf's tree at the bottom of the garden. He dropped to his knees in the grass, clearing off the dead leaves from the stone slab they had made for his Papa Olaf. His ashes were scattered out at sea, but his Nana Olaf wanted to make a memorial a little closer to home. She passed just a few months after the stone was laid, making him realise that she really couldn't live without the love of her life.
"Hey..." After a few minutes, his husband crouched down beside him, gently putting his arm around his shoulders. He rested their heads together, looking down at the memorial stone laying in the overgrown grass. "Your Dad just told me. Just because they're sellin' the house, it doesn't mean that your childhood is gone too. The memories of your childhood are in your head. This place is just... bricks and water."
"It's my home. It's not just a house, it's mine. My Papa and Nana Olaf are here. You think the next people are going to keep this here? They'll toss it in a skip and chop the tree down the second they move in. They don't care that this is their resting place and they won't care that this is my home."
Nick held him a little closer, understanding where he was coming from as his own mother had finally sold their ranch. It was just her living there after his father died, making her feel lonely and she couldn't quite tend to everything the way that her husband did. He travelled to Texas with his brother and sisters to help her pack everything up, feeling as though a part of himself was being taken away as they rid the house of any trace of them ever living there.
He eventually began to realise that his own parents had probably gone through the same thing, before they found a place together to raise their own family. He hadn't been back to the ranch in years and he now had a family home of his own, full of people that he loved.
"Are you cryin'? They haven't even sold it yet." He clutched him tightly, trying to comfort him as he saw a tear in his partner's eyes. He rarely ever cried about anything, so he knew that it was serious this time. "Greg, you and I both know that nothin' stays the same forever. You're forty six now, baby. Most people have let go of their childhood home years ago."
"I'm not most people. This is my home." Greg leant back into his embrace, clutching his arms around him tightly. "I don't even remember our last house. This one has always been my home. It's the one where everything has happened. My Nana Olaf is scattered here. Everywhere I look in the house I have memories of them and my childhood. Colt spent the first few months of his life in my childhood bedroom with me. How can they just get rid of it so easily?"
"They've been considerin' sellin' up to retire on their boat for years." Nick pointed out to him, remembering hearing about Daniel's plans so many times. "You knew this was comin' eventually, G. What did you think they'd hold onto it forever for you?" He turned his partner in his arms, holding his head to his chest as the younger man let his tears go. "It's just a house, Greg. Just bricks and water. Your memories of this place live in you. Your memories of you Nana and Papa Olaf live in you too."
"But I love this house." Greg closed his eyes against Nick's chest, listening to the comforting sound of the older man's heart beating. "This house means everything to me. I don't want strangers living in it and changing everything about it. It's mine." He opened his eyes as an idea suddenly popped into his head, realising he'd have to sell Nick on the idea as well as his parents. If he really was about to have another baby with Nick, they'd need a new house anyway as they had four kids squeezed into two bedrooms back at home. "Do you like it here?"
"Yeah." His husband spoke softly, gently combing his fingers through the younger man's hair. "But I don't have the same connection to it that you do. I never even got to meet your grandparents."
"Nana Olaf would have liked you." Circling his arms around Nick's waist, Greg leant back slightly, looking into the older man's eyes. "Papa Olaf wouldn't have though. He never forgave or forget. He never really warmed up to my Dad, neither did Nana Olaf actually. Mostly because my Dad just lets Mom walk all over him. I think they liked him deep down though. My Dad never stopped trying to get on their good side, especially after they moved in here with us. He said everyday at the breakfast table with Nana Olaf was like standing on trial everyday for a crime he didn't commit."
"Who wouldn't like your Dad? He's awesome."
Greg smiled in agreement, glad his parents had been more accepting over his choice of husband. "What do you think about... moving in here?"
"Here?" Nick gave him a surprised look.
"Granted we'll have to up route everything in our lives to here, but what's so bad about this place. You've been saying for years that you want to get out of Las Vegas, especially as the kids are starting to get a little older. We can move them out here, get them into new schools. We'll have to get new jobs, we can't commute to the lab every time we're on shift, but you've been saying that you want to give that up and teach or something. You'll have the chance out here." Greg started his plan to try and sell his husband on the idea. "Most of my family is around here too, so we'll always have a babysitter on hand."
His husband gave him a slight smile, not too sure that he wanted to up route his whole life to a city that he didn't really know. "Did you just think of this in the twenty minutes since your father told you that he's plannin' on sellin' it?"
"Kinda." The younger man shrugged. "Do you not like it here?"
"I don't know, G, it's your folks house. Honestly, I'd feel a little weird buyin' my folks ranch and movin' my family in there. Especially since it's not even there anymore, they knocked it down."
"See, that's where we're different. When I love something, I want to be near it. I was fascinated with the history of Las Vegas, so I got myself a job out there so I could live in the city of my dreams. That's got old now though. I just want to live with you, and if this place is gonna be empty, I want us to live here."
"Can we afford a place like this?" His husband tried to think logically. "Your folks are sellin' it so they can afford to live out their retirement on their boat. They're not gonna give us any deals, just because we're family. How many bedrooms does this place even have?"
"Master bedroom, master bath, four bedrooms on the second floor with two bathrooms between them. Including the guest bedroom and guest bathroom. Three bedrooms on the third floor with one bathroom and the guest house downstairs," He motioned over his shoulder, making sure he hadn't missed any. "The downstairs study could easily be made into a bedroom and it has two living rooms. The formal one that no one ever goes in and the playroom, so one of them could easily be a..."
"When would we ever need that many bedrooms?" Nick stopped him there. "Why'd yah folks even buy a house with that many bedrooms when they only had you? The ranch I grew up on had four bedrooms, total. My folks had one. My brother and I shared one and the girls were split between the other two."
Greg gave him a shrug as he never really asked them why they bought such a big house. "For family to stay over, I guess. There's always people staying over here, because my Mom has always wanted a big close knit family. And my Dad worked really hard for this house. He's not just going to give it some random stranger."
"You really want it, don't you?" Nick knew that if Greg wanted something so badly, he wouldn't let anything get in his way, but he was a little worried that he'd take advantage of his parents kindness towards him. "We have to really think this through, Greg. Not some snap decision in the spare of the moment. We're gonna be changin' just about every aspect of our lives and the kids lives for this."
"This house has much better wheelchair access than ours does. Just in case." Greg added another point, letting Nick out of his arms as the man started to think this over. "Avery's gonna need the space once she starts getting more mobile."
"You loved our house when we first started looking." His husband reminded him. "You said we'd build the kids own childhood memories there, now you just wonna leave it behind for your childhood home?"
"I'm pregnant." He played his final card in the deck. "Pretty soon there's gonna be seven of us in our three bedroom house. Sara's gone. Grissom's gone. Catherine's gone. Warrick's family are gone. The only friend we really have there anymore is Evelyn and she wants to move to Spain with her mother. Here we'd have my family around us and my brother and sisters, just starting their own lives. We need this, Nick. It's a better life for all of us."
"Your... pregnant?" He spoke softly, making sure he heard him right. "When were you plannin' on tellin' me this?"
"I only just found out today, so I was gonna tell you for your birthday present tonight." Greg leant back against his Nana Olaf's tree, watching Nick trying to process all the information. "Do you not want another baby with me?"
"You know I do." He smiled at him, anxiously combing his fingers back through his hair. "You know that I want a big family like mine, ideally. But realistically... I don't think we can do it. The move, the up route and the new baby all at once. You need to learn to slow down a little, G. Everythin' in our lives can't be spontaneous or spare of the moment snap decisions. We have to properly plan out stuff like this."
"Uggh.. that's sounds boring though."
Nick chuckled softly, scooting himself forwards on the grass to place his hands on the younger man's knees. "I friggin' love you, G." He leant a little closer, capturing his lips for a kiss. "I am the father, right?"
"Yes." Greg giggled, "Who else would be the father? I've only been with you... for the last decade of my life."
"Well they said the scar tissue could prevent me from ever bein' able to father a child naturally. We shoulda used condoms." He rolled his eyes, turning to lean against the tree beside, Greg. "This can only ever happen to us. I've had prostate cancer, testicular cancer, cysts and we're both men, but this still happens. Can we sue your doctor?" He smiled at Greg beside him. "He told you that gettin' pregnant with Colt was like a million to one chance, but since then we've had Jackson, two miscarriages, the twins and now another one on the way. Either he got it wrong, or you're just too damn fertile."
"You are too then. You're the supplier, I'm just the oven they bake in."
"Yeah, we'll see if that holds up in court." Nick playfully tickled his sides, before he joined their lips together for a kiss. "I knew I shoulda got the snip three years ago when I had the chance."
"Do you not want it?"
"Of course I do." He brushed his thumb across the younger man's cheek, looking into his big beautiful brown eyes that hadn't aged a bit since the day he first met him. "Okay fine, have it your way. We'll talk to yah folks about the house. I don't want them doin' us any favours though. We put an offer in just like everyone else. Then we'll just have to wait and see if we get it."
"We'll get it." He sealed his lips to Nick's, whispering, "My folks wouldn't kick an old age pensioner like yourself out on the street." He squirmed as his husband playfully tickled his sides, sending chills down his spine. "You know I'm kidding." Greg put his arms around him, resting their foreheads together as he looked into his eyes. "I'm gonna need you around for a long time now, Nicky. I don't want to stay in a place where the threat of being attacked or shot is just part of our daily work routine. I want you safe."
"I am." Nick smiled back at him, feeling completely protected with the younger man's arms around him. "I can't wait to have another baby with you, G. I'm gonna be about sixty by the time this kid is ten." He realised, getting a smile from his partner. "We'll look like grandparents by the time they're in college."
"Hey, you said you Mom didn't have you until she was in her fifties." He reminded him.
"Late forties." His husband corrected him. "She's turnin'... ninety six this year."
"Wow." Greg whistled, realising she must have been the same age he was now when she had her last child. "Do you think we can handle a fifth child?"
"Sure, why not? After what we've been through, havin' another baby is nothin'. Provided we don't have to deal with all the usual dramas." He smirked, catching his partner's lips with his own. He felt like a teenager again making out with his boyfriend against a tree, but he always felt like that with Greg as that was the way he made him feel. "Five kids." He smiled at him, feeling butterflies in his stomach. "I didn't think I'd be able to have one. I guess we better go see how much money we've gotta try and get together for this place then," He climbed to his feet, helping the younger man up with him. "Preferably before this baby comes along. Do you think they'll knock half the price off if we just stay in the guest house?"
"We can keep the babies the drawers." Greg giggled, letting Nick go on ahead of him as he looked back at his Nana Olaf's tree. He smiled at the thought of waking up to it every day, hoping that they really would get this house to live out the rest of their own lives together just like his grandparents had.
The End
Thank you to AA-MamaBirdCat, Marymel, stamor2125, TeddyBear, Sue, MrsBee1973, , Dreamer, purplehaz97, vaughn's girl 59, HeartsColide and everyone else who has been reading this story.
This is 1 of 3 endings that I wrote, but I think I prefer this one the most. It took so long because I keep adding to it or changing the last part. Please let me know what you thought. I have no idea when my next story will be uploaded. I've got a few projects in the workings at the moment, a few of them are Nick/Greg based but I've also got some GSR, but nothing long enough to upload yet. Please read some of my other stories in the mean time, if you liked this one I would recommend 'Baby Makes Three' and the sequel 'Just the three of us'. My personal favourite of mine is still 'Something Missing'.
Thank you everyone, hope you have a wonderful summer.
~ Holly