Thank you again for your reviews! You make me grin and blush like an idiot ahaha, thank you!

I didn't check for grammatical errors this time- its Christmas so I didn't have the time, so if you find one, let me know and ill fix it!

On with the next chapter!

As King Louis XIII of France became acquainted with his new son, the musketeers began to relax on the warm hearth by the fire in the adjoining chamber down the hall, relishing in each others soothing company after a particularly stressful night.

As Porthos and D'artagnan began to slowly unwind and finish each others account of the evening past over a bottle of Paris' best wine, Athos took notice of Aramis' quiet form standing still in the doorway- where he had stayed since he had entered the room.

In the half light of the fire, Athos saw Aramis was staring intently down at his bloodied hands, loose strands of hair hanging over his face and covering his expression.

Seemingly mesmerized by his palms, Aramis spread his fingers and turned his hands over again and again, inspecting each crimson stained fingerprint before rubbing them together vigorously and repeating the process.

When it seemed he could not rid himself of the stains Aramis hands began to tremble, subtly at first until the entire length of his arms were twitching and his frame was visibly shaking.

Athos quickly strode over to his brothers side, seeing Aramis on the verge of some unforeseen breakdown he could not have here of all places and certainly not now.

Forcing Aramis to look up and meet his sincere gaze as he took hold of Aramis arms and prevented them from shaking, attempting to ground the man in the moment.

"Aramis, brother, what is troubling you at such a merry hour?" Athos whispered softly, his friends gaze seeming to look straight through him as if he were not present.

"I- I'm-" Aramis began, his stuttering voice interrupting Porthos'and D'artagnans' happy conversation and earning their full attention at the sight of their pale and shaking comrade, eyes quickly growing wide with concern as they sprang up from the floor and across the room to comfort their brother.

"What's the matter? Did he fall ill?" D'artagnan demanded, looking to Athos for an answer while he placed a steady hand at Aramis' side when he swayed on his feet slightly.

Athos was now torn. Should he confide in his brothers and tell them the truth of Aramis full involvement that may explain his distant behaviour, or, should he remain loyal to his word and hold allow Aramis to tell them in his own time.

Porthos immediately grew suspicious of Athos' behaviour when he hesitated to share what must obviously be important information, withholding it from his brothers.

Porthos knew that his brother Athos was a man of few words but what little he did say was always straight to the point and usually vastly important information or wise advice.

There was never any pointless dilly dallying or beating around the bushes- a fearless trait for a musketeer- and yet he refused to enlighten them.

Aramis however, 'having clearly left his wits behind him' as Athos would later recall, decided to indulge his brothers requests and stated, " I'm a father…" before losing what little wits he had left and crumpling to the floor in shock of his own statement.

The newly 'enlightened' musketeers seemed to freeze at the announcement, unable to catch Aramis before he face planted on the rug while Athos bent down and did his best to pick him up and carry him to a nearby couch, stepping around his shell shocked brothers quickly as to avoid their eyes.

It was only a few minutes later that anyone uttered a word, as Athos attended to Aramis unconscious form while Porthos and D'artagnan remained rooted to the spot, dumbstruck as they did their best to digest this daunting surprise and what it implied for their friend, their brotherhood and the future of France.

Taking a deep breath, Athos glanced approvingly over Aramis' slumbering fitfully, his hands now clean of the bloody reminder and walked over to the fireplace so his back was to his brothers.

It seemed the proverbial cat was out of the bag, there was nothing he could do now but fill in the gaps.

Better he tell them than Aramis, for Athos would save Aramis the embarrassment and shame he would no doubt display as he awaited his brothers harsh judgement.

Of course Athos knew his brothers would be nothing but supporting, regardless of past mistakes. What was done was done and they would love him none the less for it. They were family, having only each other in this world- what was one more relative but a beacon of light in a gloomy world.

And so turning slowly, Athos offered his brothers to take a seat before downing a glass of wine and sitting across from them, sharing the adventures of Aramis' double life from the first night and over the course of the past months with all their depressing woes and hopeful promises.

Silence filled the room upon the end of the tale, each mans expression showing that he was deep in thought over the position of their brother, until finally, Porthos broke the silence.

"So you're saying that the moral of this story, is that it would appear we need to get a bigger leash for our handsome devil over there?" Porthos joked lightly eyes his sleeping brother with nothing but love.

He would hardly abandon Aramis through this, as he would sure Aramis would stick by his side if their roles were reversed, Porthos reasoned with a smile, besides, who else would have the nerve to participate in his explosive melon balancing act?

He doubted pretty boy D'artagnan would volunteer, he chuckled glancing over to D'artagnans questioning face, 'that boy loved his hair too much to allow melon juice to ruin it, let alone wear the hat of a musketeers.

D'artagnan smiled at Porthos' light hearted barb, "Yeah, seems like I need to teach Aramis a little something about women" he added with a wink, as Athos ruffled his hair and cracked a toothy grin for the second time that night.

They would help Aramis get passed this, they all would. Athos stuck his hand out in front of his brothers as they knowingly followed his gesture.

"All for one, and one for all" they said in unison, smiles all around as they lay back once more by the fire and talked long into the night oblivious of the dying storm outside.

Oh man I really felt the feels on that one, I don't know about you!

Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Only the epilogue is left now xox