A/N: I don't own Ghastly, Valkyrie, Gordon, Nye, Darquesse, or Skulduggery.
Ghastly smiled to himself as he packed. Valkyrie was his dream come true. So many women wanted things from a man and she just wanted him. He blinked back happy tears and laughed as Odie barked softly in question. "I'm OK, sweetie. I'm just a lucky man and I know it." Then he told the puppy just why he was so lucky, and he felt tears again, but he didn't care. He'd never know anyone as selfless as Valkyrie was as capable of being and he knew it had taken everything decent in her for her to trust him.
Determined not to let her down he went to collect her. "Ghastly, what is it?" She asked, her voice full of worry, and he realized belatedly he hadn't wiped away the tears when she was kissing the trails softly. "Sweetheart, what?" She asked, cupping his face gently and he felt fresh tears, but happy ones and when she saw his smile she broke into a grin then she was crying too.
Ghastly rolled his eyes. "A fine couple we'll make if we keep crying like this." She laughed and he held her to him tightly. "I just realize how lucky I am and I know you're sick of hearing it, but I am. How you didn't get frightened and run away- And seeing me the way I was-" He broke off with a shaky smile.
"I love you, Ghastly." She said, stroking his face gently. "My heart was breaking for you because I love you. I just wanted for you to be happy. And you are now, so that's all that matters. Did you arrange for a babysitter?" She asked and he grinned hugely, holding out a soft-sided pet carrier.
"The kids are coming with us. Hope you don't mind. And well, they have a built-in babysitter coming along. I couldn't leave my father-in-law behind, now could I?" Valkyrie's face lit up and she hugged him even tighter and Ghastly thanked his lucky stars that she approved. He was never going to tell her, but he needed a woman like her, that kept those she loved closest to her and he would have been heartbroken if she had protested.
"Thanks, Ghastly, and I mean that. We'll make time for just the two of us, but I was praying we'd have our family with us. Now let's go get dad and the kids." He nodded happily and they found Skulduggery getting his bag finished. He turned to them and smiled.
"I've got to thank you both. I haven't been in a vacation in well, ever to be honest. This will be nice for a change. You're both OK with this?" He asked, coaxing Odie into her carrier.
"Of course, Dad. You know we are." Valkyrie said as she gently put Garfield in his. She bundled Skulduggery into a tight hug and Ghastly's heart softened to see the care she showed towards the man. Skulduggery had been a broken, dangerous, angry man when he found Valkyrie, and it was only from his love for her that he'd learned to live again.
Ghastly could never repay her for giving him his best friend back, or how loving and indulgent she'd been with the Dead Men. He knew being fussed over wasn't something she enjoyed, but she'd been sweet with all of them during the lunch, and saw them all off with all of the leftovers, hugging each one tightly and he could tell each man left thinking he'd been her favourite guest.
He checked the shop one last time to make sure everything was secure, then the bags and the kids were packed in the van, Skulduggery only too happy to sit in the back near what he now insisted were his first grandchildren. Ghastly smiled, amused and happy to see his oldest friend so happy.
"We've created a monster." He said and Valkyrie smiled at him. They talked easily as he drove, or listened to music and Ghastly found it was even easier being with Valkyrie now. Now that they were married he could be as affectionate as he liked without feeling like he wasn't being a proper gentleman, and knowing that they would be able to start a family of their very own made him slightly giddy.
Valkyrie seemed to read his thoughts. "I must be making you sick, but it'll be wonderful having babies for us all to fuss over too. Are we crazy? Trying to run a shop and have children?"
"My father did it, but then I was such a terror that I was all they had. Don't laugh, I was. I was an utter brat and my mother always warned me my own child would be worse, but I still want him or her. It's just- The jinx can pass down, you know? Bad enough for a boy, but if we have a daughter-"
"If we have a daughter and she is as beautiful as her father is handsome, we'll be lucky and you know it. She'll find someone. We did." He smiled at her, relief flooding through him. That had been his greatest fear, that she wouldn't want their baby if it came out different. Of course he was getting ahead of himself. First they had to have the baby, he was fairly sure that's how it worked.
Valkyrie swatted his arm. "You stop that, Ghastly Bespoke. I know exactly what you're thinking."
"So do I! Go for it, man. I want grandchildren!" Skulduggery offered from the back and they all laughed.
They'd stopped several times along the way to stretch their legs and let the kids play in the grass, in their safety harnesses of course. Ghastly smiled to watch Skulduggery and Valkyrie, mainly because Valkyrie was doing everything in her power to make sure both men felt indulged and loved, and it was working. He hadn't seen Skulduggery this happy since before their war and it did him good to see it.
Of course Ghastly hadn't been this happy in centuries either. There'd been countless times of falling in love, of thinking he'd found the right woman at last, or being chased by someone he had no interest in. He shivered inwardly, remembering one woman who had bitterly told him that a man as hideous as him would never find real love when he spurned her. She'd been interested in the freak she saw, not a real man and he wondered how two women could be so different.
Valkyrie walked up to him a steaming cup of tea in hand, just the sight of her banishing his gloom. "Don't worry, this was just boiling water. I brought tea from home." She said and he smiled his thanks. He didn't know what the coffee was like, but tea out of the machines that dispensed paper cups was hideous. He'd once suggested they could use it to interrogate prisoners and only been half kidding.
"Barry's, and you brought the Irish breakfast kind, thank you, sweetheart." He kissed her deeply, ignoring the happy grin from Skulduggery. Once they were all settled again in the van it didn't take long to reach the coast and the cottage he and Skulduggery had found for them. Valkyrie actually squealed in delight when she saw the cottage, and hugged him so tightly he could barely park the van.
"Valkyrie, sweetheart, I need to breathe." He managed to wheeze and she let him go with an apologetic giggle.
"Sorry, I just can't believe this, how did you know I've always wanted to stay in a cottage?" Ghastly jerked a thumb towards the backseat where Skulduggery was just waking up.
"You don't remember the summer we had a case on the coast? I knew the moment you saw a cottage you'd love to stay in one, at least for a little while." He said sleepily. "OK, I'll grab the kids and luggage and you two can get settled in." He offered but of course they ignored him. Ghastly was certainly never going to see his best friend as a father figure, but Skulduggery was family and he wasn't there as a fifth wheel.
They were all settled in soon enough around a cozy peat fire Skulduggery managed and Ghastly sighed with relief. They'd made it. They were married, they were a family, and they'd made it. "You know sweetie, I haven't thanked you enough for taking the kids in, or me for that matter." Valkyrie said, cuddling into his chest.
"Nonsense, I love all of you, you know that. I'm the one who should be thanking you. And I can thank you by seeing to dinner. What would you like?" He asked and she shrugged.
"We're on the coast, I could go get fish." Skulduggery offered and they both nodded. "I'll be back, mind the kids. He said cheerfully and was out the door. Ghastly worried briefly about his friend, but he saw the glance Skulduggery exchanged with Valkyrie, he really was OK.
"That's amazing, Val." Ghastly said softly. "I mean that. Skulduggery was a broken man when you met him. Very angry and disturbed, oh, I know he mostly was cheerful with you, he's always given those he cared about his very best and he worshiped you from the moment he saw you. I think it helped him, you know, to have someone who loved Gordon as much as he did to help him on the case." Valkyrie nodded and shifted and Ghastly knew he'd reminded her of their first meeting. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you, I was trying to protect you."
"I know, I'm sorry I stared, it's just- I couldn't imagine how much pain you had to be in. I've never asked, but do they hurt? I know mine hurts like blazes sometimes." She said turning to him. She'd never let Nye remove the scar she'd gotten, but she always hid the hand, or at least the palm from people when she could.
"No, they never hurt, ever. Yours, well, scars can be bothersome at first, but yours shouldn't hurt, especially not now. Is it hurting now?" He asked and she nodded. Immediately his heart leapt, he'd always hoped to be there for this moment, and it didn't surprise him when Valkyrie's eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out from the pain.
She was Surging. A real Surge, not like the false start she'd had years ago that nobody could bring themselves to tell her the truth about. And of all the days for her to do it. He wondered if it was a good sign and he hoped so as he tenderly arranged her on the sofa. He brewed a healing blend of herbs and was putting compresses on her when Skulduggery returned with a fine collection of fish and fresh vegetables. Immediately he put them on the table and rushed to Valkyrie's side. "This doesn't change how you feel for her, does it?" Skulduggery asked worriedly.
"You know it doesn't, Skulduggery. Mages like to see people in their twenties as children because we can't face the fact that we're old. And she's been an adult as long as I've known her. No, this only makes me love her more. I'd been convinced she wasn't going to Surge, that she might start to age like a mortal."
Skulduggery nodded. "I'd told her once that it happens. And you married her, knowing she might be that way? Lord, you really do love her." He said softly. Valkyrie's eyes fluttered open.
"What happened?" She asked groggily, then winced from the pain.
"You Surged, sweetheart, for real this time. No one could bear to tell you, but the first time was a false start, it happens." Ghastly said gently. Valkyrie looked shocked, then winced as he helped her sit up and pressed a healing tea on her. Skulduggery stroked her hair tenderly, then went to see to dinner, giving them privacy.
"But a false start, I would have aged as quickly as a mortal, magic or no magic, and you still married me?" She asked and he nodded, unable to speak. "But Ghastly-"
"I would have rather had one day with you than centuries with another woman, Valkyrie Bespoke, you know that." He said tenderly. "I love you, it wouldn't have mattered to me either way. The bad news of course, is that now you're stuck with me for centuries." He teased and she giggled despite the pain he could see in her eyes.
By dinnertime she was out of pain, but still weary. Odie and Garfield planted themselves firmly into her sides and they ate dinner on the sofa near the fireplace, Ghastly not minding a bit. He was just thankful that she'd Surged at last and survived it. Second Surges could be especially dangerous and he guessed that being Darquesse was the only thing that had saved her life.
But now he could see her happiness as her power, now fully awakened flowed through her. Seeming to read his mind she smiled at him. "This is wonderful. Not just the day, but my magic- I can't describe it. How do you two walk around like this all day?"
"It is pretty wonderful, isn't it?" Skulduggery asked. "You'll get used to it, it will always feel wonderful, but you will get used to it. I'm just relieved that you really did Surge this time, of course, well, Darquesse has been burned out of you, you simply won't need her anymore."
"Good." Valkyrie said, smiling contentedly.
Whoa, a second Surge? I think Landy mentioned in the books that sometimes a Surge just doesn't come, so I wondered what would happen if you got a false one, would a real one ever come and would you survive it? And can Darquesse really be gone?
In the first draft in my head they went off alone on the honeymoon but I just didn't see Skulduggery in an emotional place to take being left behind all that well. He just found his daughter after all, so I think this worked, just not very romantic, I know.