A/N: Beta by Navigator101, updated on 10/17/18.

Chapter 2

If something is over and done,
don't hold on to it. Break free,
move forward, and experience
a new beginning.

-Joel Osteen

Luffy slowly blinked his eyes open and took in his surroundings. At least this time, he knew where he was, kind of. He felt comfort from his brothers sleeping on either side of him. He turned his head to the side and lifted his head to look over Sabo's and saw a blond stranger giving him a small wave.

"Hey," the blond man greeted casually. Did he always look like he was tired? Or maybe he was tired. He needed a nap. Oh. What if he's not allowed naps here? What did Sabo tell him this guy's name was?

Marco watched as the boy sat up and looked at him with a wide-eyed blank expression. The funny thing about the look was that it felt like the boy was looking straight inside him. Maybe the kid was looking into his soul or something. He wanted to shake his head at that ridiculous thought. Luffy had such large clear eyes that Marco found himself unable to look away.

"Mar…co," the soft sound of his own name startled him. Marco stared at the kid with wide eyes of his own. His eyes shifted over to the older brunette when he heard a chuckle from the other side of the bed.

"Congratulations. You're the first person he's ever talked to, besides us," Ace drawled with a grin as he lifted his head from the bed to better see the man.

"Good job, Luffy," Sabo yawned as he reached up to pat the boy's head.

The praise caused the boy to smile, and what a smile it was. His smile was so bright that Marco could have sworn the sun was in the room. Marco placed his elbow on his knee and his head in his hand, feeling quite pleased with himself. "I'm honored-yoi."

"Well, now that you boys are awake, I need to do a checkup on little Luffy," a female voice said from the door.

"Kobato," Marco greeted.

"Marco," she returned before turning back to the boy in question. "I'm worried about all those old needle marks. Are you on some kind of medication for something?" Luffy only tilted his head, not understanding what she wanted to know.

"Ah, no," Sabo looked sadly at Luffy's arm. "They sometimes give him, uh, stuff. All different kinds to see what kind of reaction he would have. Their form of entertainment. We don't know what they were."

"And you two?" Kobato said angrily after a moments pause to take in what was just said.

"Just Luffy, and it was only for a few weeks. It started when we were sent to the last guy," Ace said as he and Sabo got up and moved to sit a little bit away from Luffy to give the doctor more room to work. Luffy got up to follow his brothers but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, causing him to stiffen in fear.

"It's okay, Luffy," Ace said. "We're safe here."

"This lady is a doctor. Doctors are people who make you feel better," Sabo explained.

Luffy relaxed and turned around to sit at the edge of the bed, facing the doctor. If Ace and Sabo said it's okay, then it's okay, but he didn't like the angry look she has. "Doc…tor," Luffy lifted his bandaged arms and looked back at his brothers. "Better?"

"That's right. If you get hurt or don't feel good, you go see a doctor. They make you feel better," Sabo said.

Kobato moved a chair to sit in front of her patient after moving all her tools to a nearby table. She smiled at the boy, all trace of anger gone.

Luffy's eyes followed her hands as she moved about to pick up something. He pointed at her hand which he had bitten earlier. "Sorry."

Sabo and Ace quickly grabbed their brother, dragging him into a tight hug, happy that he did something without them telling him to, causing the boy squawk and giggle. "Luffy, we're so proud of you!"

The doctor huffed as she watched them with a strained smile before she pulled the two boys off her patient. "That's cute and all, but I need to do my work," she told the boys, before turning to Luffy and giving him a smile. "Your apology is accepted. Just refrain from doing so again." Luffy tilted his head in confusion before looking to his brothers for clarification.

"She says, 'It's ok, but don't do it again.'" Sabo explained. Luffy looked back to Kobato and nodded.

"Lucky you," Marco said to the doctor, "you're the second person, besides these two, he's ever talked to-yoi."

Kobato gave him a smile and patted his head. "I guess I should feel special then."

As the doctor worked on him, Luffy turned to Marco, looking as if he remembered something. "Thank you."

"Huh? Oh, right-yoi," Marco finally remembered what Sabo had told Luffy to do before he passed out. "You're welcome-yoi."

Kobato sighed after finishing her checkup. "We're going to have to keep an eye on him for signs of withdrawal from whatever was administered. I don't have all the right equipment to do any tests to find out what they were. Let me know right away if he starts to act up. Everything looks good, besides a slight malnutrition. Thatch can handle that part. The lacerations will take some time to heal up, along with the bruises. There are no broken bones to worry about. How did he get this scar?" She pointed to the visible scar under Luffy's left eye which didn't look very old.

"Tripped and landed on a knife," Ace answered with a cringe.

She gave Luffy a look of disbelief. "You're lucky it didn't get your eye instead. Be careful next time."

She then looked to Sabo and gestured for him to come closer. "I need to check over you two as well." After she finished with the older two, she deemed them healthy enough. "You boys are malnourished also. I'll have Thatch bring you boys something good to eat. You're free to roam about but stay out of trouble and eat everything Thatch gives you. As for Luffy, he has to stay here until I say he can leave. It probably hurts just to move around. I'm surprised he didn't scream in pain from that hug."

-*/-*/-*/

The next few days, commanders came in and out to talk to the boys. They had heard about how the youngest was learning to communicate with new people and offered to help. Ace and Sabo had decided to wait on exploring the ship until Luffy was allowed to leave the infirmary.

At first the young boy would hide behind his brothers. Eventually, he got used to random people coming in to talk.

Izo was one of the first after Marco and Kobato. The kimono wearing man introduced himself as the head doctor of the ship and the commander of the 16th division. He had brought something for Luffy to wear, seeing as he was only clothed in the bandages Kobato had wrapped him in.

"It's just an old t-shirt from one of my men, but it'll have to do for now." The bright cheery smile brought warmth to his chest, and he smiled back fondly. "You can use this scarf as a belt, so you don't trip over it. We don't have any belts small enough to fit you."

"Thank you?" Luffy said slowly and looked to his brothers to see if he said the right thing.

"Don't mention it. If you boys need anything, just ask for me or Kobato. Kobato is the only Pediatrician on board, so she's the one you should to go to for treatment. If you can't find either one of us, just come in here or grab anyone from the 16th Division. My division specializes in the medical field, mostly doctors and nurses."

"Actually," Sabo said shyly, rubbing the back of his head, "we'd really appreciate a bath?"

The Commander looked at the boys thoughtfully before coming to his decision. "You two can. Luffy will have to wait until we take his bandages off." Now that Izo really looked at them, they were filthy. Kobato did well in towel bathing the young one before bandaging him. "I'll bring something for you boys to wear also. So just toss what you have on."

It took some convincing to get Luffy to stay in bed while the two older boys went to clean themselves with a nurse to guide them to the bath. While the boys were gone, Luffy withdrew himself under his blanket, until they came back.

Izo had no idea what to do with the boy during that time. He even tried to engage the brat in a game of peek-a-boo, only to feel embarrassed to be doing something like that at his age. At least Kobato came by and saved him from feeling awkward.

Thatch would always come in with something for them to eat. He had left them soup and rice porridge their first day there while they were asleep, so he didn't get a chance to talk to them. The first time he brought food when they were awake, he found it amusing and watched fondly as the two older boys fed Luffy. They picked up each item and set in front of the small boy, telling him what it was before he ate it. After that, the Fourth Division Commander took over the food identifying lessons.

"That's a banana, a fruit," Thatch said has he handed the boy the yellow fruit.

"Banana fruit."

"Banana. Fruit is the food category."

The boy looked confused. "Confuzing. So banana or fruit?"

Thatch sighed, giving up on teaching the boy food categories. He'd learn eventually as he grew older. "It's a banana."

"Okay. Banana." Luffy opened his mouth to take a bite.

"Wait. You have to peel it first," Thatch glared at the laughing duo on each side of his student.

"Do what?"

"Peel it. Like this. Now you can eat it. Just this part, don't eat the peel."

"Mushy," the boy said with his mouth full.

"You don't like it?"

"No. Like it." He liked everything Thatch had brought them. Though the first time the head cook brought bread, it wasn't well received at first.

Luffy picked up the small loaf with a pout. "Bread."

Thatch wasn't really surprised that was the first thing the boy was able to identify on his own, but he was surprised that the boy didn't seem to like it. "You don't like bread?"

"Bread," the boy said with distaste and stuck his lower lip out further, holding the offending food towards Thatch.

"Don't be picky, Luffy," Ace told him. "You have to eat everything. Always eat everything you're given. You never know when your next meal will be."

It didn't go unnoticed by the older man that the other two hadn't touched their bread yet either. "While that's true in most cases, with me here, you'll never go hungry. Besides, it's not just any bread. It's Rosemary Bread. Try it. You might like it." He watched as the boy pouted even harder and took a small bite from the loaf, then began to chomp on it with gusto. He laughed. "Good, right?"

"Mm. Yummy." Seeing how much their younger brother enjoyed the bread, Ace and Sabo picked up their loaves and gave them a wary look before taking a bite, then downed it in the same manner.

Luffy had liked Vista's mustache. Seeing the muscular man finger his mustache, Luffy attempted pull it off once the commander got within reach, wanting to try it on himself.

"Sorry, brat, but this is something you get once you're a real man," Vista teased as he rubbed his mustache from the painful pulling, causing the boy to tilt his head, not understanding what the swordsman was saying.

Blenheim only stopped by and stuck his head in for a few minutes and waved, not wanting to startle the boys with his intimidating size. He had his fair share of scaring people just by being in a room. He wasn't the only one on board with that same problem. He'd just try again once he was sure he wouldn't scare the boys too much. Kingdew, Atmos, Curiel, and Fossa did the same.

Only with Fossa, just sticking his head in the room caused the boys to just stare at the scars on his face. Ace and Sabo had automatically pushed Luffy behind them in response to just seeing his face. To which the 15th Division Commander just sheepishly rubbed his head and apologized for his scary face and to assure them that he wasn't going to attack them.

Jozu thought Luffy had an interesting first reaction to him. He had intended to do as his fellow larger brothers did and just take a peek in to introduce himself so as to not scare the kids, but the smallest brat's wide eyes on him stopped him in his tracks before he could even introduce himself. The next thing he knew, the two older brats were scrambling to grab their younger brother, as the kid scurried and somehow climbed his way on to his head to pull at his hair.

"Luffy! Get down from there!" the blond yelled at the boy.

"What are you doing? That's dangerous," the brunette called out as he pawed at Jozu's legs to get to his brother.

"Ball," Luffy simply stated in a happy tone, oblivious to his brothers' distress. "Ball." There went another tug at his hair.

Jozu reached up to pull the boy off his head as the kid cried and pouted about the 'ball.' "That's my hair, brat. Not a ball."

"Ball," the kid repeated with determination, reaching his hands out to his hair, pouting. "BALL!" he wailed and squirmed in Jozu's hands when he realized he wasn't getting the round thing on the man's head.

Jozu was saved from another ear breaking scream when Speed Jiru, who had happened to be nearby to hear the beginning of the tantrum, stopped by with an actual ball and handed it to the boy.

"Ball!" the boy cheered as he took the ball from the 14th Division Commander and walked back to his bed in contentment.

"Sorry about that," both Ace and Sabo bowed.

"He's been wanting one since he first saw some kids play with it a few years back," Sabo rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm surprised he still remembers it, even more surprised that he didn't listen to us," Ace mumbled as he turned to watch Luffy bounce the ball unsuccessfully on the bed.

Both of the commanders laughed at the look of disappointment. Jiru walked in and took the ball from the end of the bed, where it had rolled to and explained that the ball wasn't going to bounce on the bed. He then showed the boy by bouncing it up and down on the wooden floor, causing Luffy to squeal and cheer.

On their third day, Blamenco had found the three boys in the hall, with Sabo carrying Luffy. The Commander gave them a suspicious look when Ace herded them behind him once the man was in sight. "What are you three doing? I thought Izo said the little one isn't to leave the infirmary yet."

"Nothing," Ace replied too quickly and piqued the Commander's suspicions.

"You three aren't trying to run away are you? I swear no one here is going to kill you or anything. If we wanted to, we would have done it already, instead of spending so much time treating you boys."

"No, no, not at all," Sabo quickly replied with a shake of his head and a tentative smile from behind Ace. "We believe you. It's just that, um, Luffy needs to pee?"

"Is that so?" the gray-toned man raised an eyebrow at the way the statement was said. His large size made it easy for the man to peer over Ace, them being kids also helped, to get a better look at the two behind him. "Hey, why's the kid crying?" he asked when he noticed Luffy sniffling with his face buried in the blond's shoulder.

"Nothing. He's fine," Ace insisted as he attempted to walk away, keeping himself in front of his brothers. Sabo shuffled behind to keep him and Luffy partially hidden.

Blamenco let them pass without question before a smell caught his attention. He smirked at them, causing the two older boys to freeze. "The kid wet himself didn't he?" He laughed at the cautious look they threw at him. "Why didn't you say so? I'll see if someone has any extra clothes for you boys and have someone take care of your bed. Go clean yourselves up."

The two older boys gave the commander's back a look of surprise, as the man walked away, shaking his head and laughing to himself. They thought for sure Luffy would have gotten in trouble for wetting himself. Sabo's parents would always yell at him when he did it and Dadan was no better. She would smack Ace around and make him clean his own bedding.

Namur was a little hesitant in meeting the boys. Being a fishman had given him plenty of bad experiences with meeting new people, especially the ignorant ones. That didn't stop Haruta from dragging him through the infirmary door with him.

He was relieved and a little confused when none of them even gave him a second look. He decided to not question it and just sat there as Haruta did most of the talking. At one point during his short stay in the room, the little one had gotten off the bed and walked in front of him. The blue commander was then presented with a green rubbery ball that he remembered seeing in Jiru's room before. Why his brother even had one, was beyond him. Not that it mattered what his brothers kept in their rooms.

"You want me to play with you?" Namur asked with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged at the enthusiastic nod he received and lightly tossed the ball at the boy, who then caught it and tossed it back to him.

By the time Luffy was able to leave the infirmary, he'd already met all sixteen commanders at least once or twice. The first thing Ace and Sabo did when Luffy was cleared to leave the infirmary was to take the small boy to the deck for some fresh air.

There were a lot of people they hadn't met yet, just loitering around. They waved and greeted the trio as they passed. A few came to introduce themselves and chat a bit but not for too long.

Luffy mostly hid behind his brothers and didn't talk to anyone. That didn't seem to bother anyone, and the two older brothers were fine with that. It was still progress in Ace and Sabo's book.

They walked over to an empty space and looked between the rails at the sea in awe.

"Pirates?" Luffy asked his brothers.

"Yeah. Good pirates," Sabo said with a smile.

"Good pirates?"

"Pirates are just like everyone else," Ace said. "Like how there are good people and bad people. Bad pirates would have killed us already or used us like that bastard," he growled the last part.

"Free," Luffy said in awe. He'd heard so many stories about pirates from his brothers. They told him about their dream of wanting to be pirates so they could be free. He wanted to be a pirate too, so he could show his brothers freedom.

-*/-*/-*/

Marco woke the three boys up in the infirmary, where they had slept for the past three weeks since there was nowhere else for them. "Wake up. There's someone here to see you-yoi."

That woke Ace and Sabo up quickly. Who would want to see them? How did they know they were here?

At their alarmed look, Marco told them that they had spoken to someone about giving them a place to stay, since it would be too dangerous for three children to stay aboard a pirate ship. That calmed them a bit but not much.

As they made their way to the deck, they could see a muscular man in a white uniform talking with Whitebeard. The familiar marine uniform had them hesitating. Marines were their enemies. Marines would want Ace dead if they ever found out about his heritage. Why was there a Marine on a pirate ship, talking, and laughing with its captain as if they were buddies?

But when the marine turned his face just a fraction, both Ace and Sabo faltered in their steps before running full speed towards the man with their arms wide open. "SHITTY GRAMPS!" they yelled.

Garp's eyes widened, not believing his eyes as two very familiar boys ran towards him. As if in a trance, he lifted his arm to punch each boy on the head before they even touched him, causing them to cry out in pain.

"Never thought I'd miss that," Ace laughed as he grabbed the painful lump on his head.

"Never thought I'd miss seeing Shitty Gramps," Sabo grinned with his brother, also nursing a painful lump.

Luffy, seeing his brothers getting hit, wanted to run up to the man and beat him up, but Marco stopped him. Luffy looked at him in confusion, then looked back to his brothers as they laughed. Why were they laughing after getting punched? Well, at least they were okay with it. He just held onto Marco's pants with one hand and his ball with the other as he followed the man's leisurely pace to the group.

"Ace? Sabo? Is it really you boys?" Garp asked in shock.

"Yup!" Ace grinned, with his fists on his hips.

"In the flesh," Sabo also grinned.

Garp pulled them into a hug and sobbed like a child. "I thought I'd never see you two again. You just up and disappeared. And Dadan, that old hag, said you guys got kidnapped right in front of her." He wiped away his tears and gave them a humorous grin. "Would you believe she tore down the whole forest looking for you guys? I bet she didn't think you'd be out here." He laughed loudly.

"Yeah, we were hunting rabbits for dinner, while the old hag just sat there and did nothing," Ace huffed as wiped his tears and crossed his arms, before he gave a fond smile. "She really did that, huh?"

"Seems you three know each other," Whitebeard broke up their tearful reunion.

"My grandsons," the Marine gave the large man a huge smile, before he frowned. "Who's that?" he motioned his head towards Marco's leg, where Luffy stood, feeling lost and confused.

"That's Luffy," Sabo answered. "He was kidnapped too. Not too sure why they would want to kidnap a baby though."

Garp's eyes widen at the name. "Luffy? Baby?"

"Yeah. What's wrong, Gramps?" Ace asked at the man's renewed tears.

Instead of answering, the man let go of the two and crawled the couple of feet over to the confused boy and said softly as more tears came down, "Monkey D. Luffy, we've never met, but I'm your grandpa." This stunned the group. No one ever told them Luffy's full name, not even Ace or Sabo knew what it was. "You're so big. I'm so sorry I've missed so much." He brought the kid into a tight hug, his shoulders shaking. "Whitebeard, I can't even tell you how much this means to me."

"Ball!" Luffy reached his hands out to his escaped toy, only for it to be handed back by Marco. He had no idea what was going on. His brothers cried, then they laughed. That means they're not hurt right? Then this old guy hugs him a little too tight and cried even harder than his brothers did. Is this old man okay? Is he hurt?

Whitebeard only gave the graying man a fond smile. "Why don't we take this to my room, and we can talk. I'm sure we all have questions."

Ace and Sabo once again told their story of what happened with them and how Luffy came along.

Garp gave the two boys a proud smile, letting them know how proud he was that they were able to take care of a toddler and themselves so well. Then he spoke seriously with Whitebeard. "Now that it's come to this, I can't take these boys. I think it's best to leave them here with you. Your name alone will keep them safe," Garp continued at the captain's confused look. "My son, Dragon."

Whitebeard's eyes widened at those few words in understanding. It wasn't common knowledge that Dragon was Hero Garp's son, and it completey slipped his mind.

"You want us to keep him safe from the government." Garp nodded. "I see."

"Gramps, what do you mean?" Ace asked.

"Luffy's dad is currently the most dangerous and most wanted man in the world. If the government finds out about Luffy …" he knew the two boys would understand. Ace was in the same situation after all.

Ace grabbed Luffy in a tight hug, with the smaller boy's back to his chest. "Luffy has nothing to do with his shitty dad. Luffy is Luffy! What does his blood have to do with anything?!"

Garp nodded in agreement, "Luffy was on a ship headed to Dawn Island, where he could have lived in peace when he was taken a little over a year before you boys. Dragon didn't want his burden to drag his child down. Luffy," he looked to the boy, "my stupid son, your dad, left me a message for you. 'Live your life the way you want. You are your own person. Live freely.'"

Ace and Sabo looked surprised at the message. His dad wanted his son to live his own life and not be tied down by his blood. Ace wondered if that's what his dad, Gol D. Roger, would have wanted for him too, and if that was the reason why Garp had taken him in.

"I guess we don't have much choice, then. We'll stay here," Ace crossed his arms.

Garp gave the boys a warm smile. "You boys have changed."

Ace looked away in embarrassment. "It's what babies do to you," he repeated what he overheard Dogra say to Dadan one night. This caused the men in the room to laugh.

"Yeah, well, we may have another problem though," Sabo said. "Luffy's, well, how do I explain this? Different? We wanted to keep it a secret, just in case, but if Gramps trusts you guys …"

"What do you mean-yoi?" Marco asked.

"Luffy, how many people are on the ship next to this one?" Sabo asked the boy, rather than answering the question.

Luffy tilted his head while still being held by Ace. "Thirteen."

Garp narrowed his eyes at the boy. "How do you know that?" He did bring thirteen of his most trusted men with him.

"Somehow."

"Well, that's interesting-yoi," Marco whistled. "I've heard of children being born with Haki, but I've never met one-yoi."

"Um," Sabo started uncertainly, "not sure what that is, but there's another problem." The men looked at him to continue, but Ace picked up the rest of the explanation.

"He's a genius when it comes to fighting. He learns just by watching. He's not strong, but he's good, especially with weapons."

"Great," Marco muttered sarcastically before sighing. "That's not good-yoi. There would be all sorts of wrong people after him if anyone learns about that. I take it, that's what you three had been doing, fighting-yoi?"

"Yeah," Sabo nodded. "Since he learns so fast, he's actually our main fighting force. Ace and I are his backup."

"That's kind of why you were lucky Lu wasn't able to fight that time," Ace winced. "You still would have won, there're too many of you guys, but at least the idiot leader would have had a fighting chance. If Lu were there, there would have been a lot more casualties."

"We just want you to know what comes with keeping us here," Sabo said. "Just in case, you know ..."

"Speaking of which, Ace, Sabo," Garp gave the boys a steeled look, "I believe you should tell them everything they're up against with you two also staying here. As you've said, I trust these people. Everything said in here today will not be slipped to anyone else. Do you understand?"

Ace glared at the man, knowing what he was saying. In the end they both nodded and stood tall, ready for whatever may come their way.

"Newgate, if you need any more convincing to keep them here, it's not just Luffy that needs the protection." Garp looked to the boys for them to tell their own tales.

Sabo looked up to Whitebeard and started first. "My name's Sabo. I'm a noble, but I ran away from my family because I don't agree with their despicable ways. They don't care about anything but their status. All humans that aren't born a noble are considered trash. They'll do anything to get me back so I don't tarnish their name."

Garp nodded, letting the other two men know what the boy said was true. "They've gone as far as hiring a local pirate to get him back. Dadan didn't tell me the whole story about that."

Sabo rubbed the back of his hair as he smiled. "Dadan and the rest of the gang rescued me and Ace."

"And you?" Whitebeard looked at Ace with interest.

Ace flinched but took a step forward and looked at Whitebeard. He squared his shoulders and readied his resolve. "I'm Portgas D. Ace, real name is Gol D. Ace, son of Gol D. Roger."

Whitebeard's eyes softened. "Roger's son."

The fondness in which it was said confused the boy. "Wasn't Roger your enemy?"

"We were rivals. We were also drinking buddies, but enemies, we were not," Whitebeard looked up, lost in memories. "The world may think of him as a dangerous man, but those who knew him, know better. He was a good man."

Ace was thoroughly confused. Everyone he'd talked to talked about the late Pirate King as some kind of monster that deserved his death, but the man he thought of as Roger's enemy talked about the late Pirate King as if they were good friends.

"We are all children of the seas. Your lineage does not matter here, be it a runaway son of nobles or two children whom the government believes should never have been born," Whitebeard declared. "Garp, you're always delivering something troublesome." Whitebeard laughed. "Fine. They stay. From now on, you boys will be Whitebeard Pirate's cabin boys. You have to pull your own weight around here," he grinned at the boys.

"Don't understand," Luffy said.

"He means, we can stay, but we have to do some work to help out," Sabo explained.

Luffy titled his head. "Work?"

"We just have to help clean and run errands," Ace explained.

Luffy brightened at that. "Oh. Okay. What grandpa and dad?"

That one statement brought a stunned silence to the room. As one, the adults turned their heads to look at the two older children.

"What?" they boys yelled defensively.

After what felt like an eternity, they somehow managed to teach the young boy what a grandpa and a dad were. It wasn't easy as they had to explain other things just to explain what they were explaining. The result ended up being, "Grandpa and dad people. Ace and Sabo parent."

"Sure, kid," Marco sighed with his face buried in his hands. Who knew teaching a brat the basic structure of a family would be so frustrating.

The two older boys smiled, relieved that some of their problems were solved, and their Gramps, the only person they truly trusted, was within reach to help them.

"Um, by the way," Ace turned to Garp, "why are you here? I mean, on a pirate ship? You're a marine, right?"

"You mean you've never told them?" Whitebeard raised an eyebrow at that.

Garp laughed. "I work with pirates," he said as if it wasn't important. "Of course, only the ones I like. I help them; they help me. Don't tell anyone though." He laughed again at their stunned reaction. "I'm taking my grandsons for a few weeks for an overdue bonding time." He decided.

-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/

A/N: Someone asked why there's a pediatrician on the ship. She's there for her own selfish reason. ^_^v Don't worry. She'll be explained later. I just don't remember which chapter, though...