Wow. It's been so long since an update has happened with this story, or since I've really sat down to write anything that wasn't school related. I'd like to hope my writing has evolved since I was a teenager, even though my love for this DCOM and book has for sure stayed the same. So, the much overdue Chapter 5 starts now.

I Don't own Avalon High

Also, as for a timeline, the story starts in September, the beginning of the school year.

Will POV

As a kid, I always watched the clock, sitting and waiting for when my dad would finally be home from work. I can remember being so excited to see him, tell him all about my day, ask him about his, maybe play with him for a bit before bed if it was an early night for him. As I got older, that feeling of excitement was replaced with dread, not wanting to have to live up to expectations or hear about what I could be doing better. The differences seemed like night and day, yet the dread I felt for him coming home in those times didn't even compare to the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

It was amazing how time seemed to drag on, yet move exceedingly fast all at once waiting for my dad to walk through the door. On one had, it felt as though I was just watching the seconds on the clock tick by, and on the other, it was as if time knew when I wasn't watching the clock, looking back at it to find minutes has passed when I had just turned my head away, trying another useless distraction as my mind ran circles with all of my thoughts.I could hardly tell my father how my day went without expecting scrutiny, how was I supposed to tell him I was having a baby at seventeen? Or that I'm a knight in some secret organization that nobody can know about?

There was always the optimistic part of my brain however, that tried reasoning that he's my father, and would love me no matter the news I gave to him. Maybe knowing about the baby would be enough of a shock to him that my nonexistent desire to attend the Naval Academy would just slip past him and I wouldn't have to deal with his tomato red angry face more than once.

Looking around at everybody, it was hard to imagine a change in the dynamic that we had going on here, and it was even harder not to feel guilty about disrupting the peace in the lives of everyone in the room. Mallory and Miles sat off to the side, going over some homework while Marco played his video game off to the side, too focused on the screen to really pay attention to the tension that I was succumbing to. From my spot at the dining room table, where I was attempting to look over a playbook, I could see Allie in the kitchen with Jean, chopping vegetables for a salad while Jean stood at the stove, stirring whatever was in the pot in front of her.

Allie caught my eye then, and just like any other time we made eye contact, I could feel my mouth turn up into a wide smile, despite the storm brewing in my mind. It was like a nice, calm sigh, looking into her eyes, knowing that no matter how angry my father was after the news comes out, she would be there to help soften the blow.

Glancing back at the clock, it seemed like roaming thoughts sped it up, the little hands speeding away, now showing that fifteen minutes stood between me and what was sure to be the explosion of Mount Wagner, my father' temper.

Shifting in my seat, I tried to focus on the playbook in front of me, trying to let the offensive plays sink into my mind more than they already had in the past few weeks of them being created. Trying was the operative word there. It seemed no matter how hard I tried, i couldn't shove the thoughts of my father from my mind.I felt a hand slip into mine as I delved further and further into my own thoughts and dread, pulling back to the land of the aware as Allie gave my hand a squeeze, smiling at me.

"I can see the gears in your head turning from here, Will. Wanna tell me what's going on in that knightly head of yours?" Her voice was soft, comforting to hear. I could feel the dread pull back a tad with her next to me, her presence making me feel better in general.

Leading the way, I grabbed her hand and went upstairs with her behind me, heading for the lounge area in our attic and plopped on the couch, pulling her close into my side, feeling her small frame curl into me.

"It's not going to be as bad as you're thinking," Allie spoke, playing with the finger that rested on her shoulder.

"You're right," I admitted, "its going to be so much worse,"

"Will-"

"Allie, the man wouldn't talk to me for a full day when I decided that I wasn't going to join ROTC, and was mad for days when Mallory got bangs without asking his permission fist, those were mild, his reaction to a baby, at seventeen, before college, not gonna be good, "

I could feel the tension actually flowing in my body, just remembering the situations over the years. Denting my Jeep, forgetting my homework, failing a test, losing a game that should've been a steal, playing over and over in my head.

"I'm sure after he realizes there's nothing he can do to change it, he'll accept it," Allie reassured me, trying her best.

Taking her cheek in mine, I smiled slightly, running a thumb over her face. Here she is, pregnant at seventeen, her future hanging in the balance with all the responsibilities floating over her head. School, family, being King Arthur, keeping the balance, and now adding being a teen parent on her plate, I wished she would be nervous as well, that I would have to be the one to reassure her, not the other way around.

"I think this is supposed to be the part where I comfort you, not the other way around,"

Allie rolled her eyes and scooted in closer, if that was even possible, to me, sighing and taking a deep breath.

"I mean, in a typical teen romance turned teen pregnancy story, that would be the case, but since when has our relationship been anything close to typical?" She had a point there, nothing about our relationship has been normal, from meeting to now, every step has been different than others around us.

"And, babies are known to melt a heart or two. Give your dada time, Will. He may erupt like a volcano when he finds out, but when this baby is here, and he can physically hold it, he'll be a puddle of goo in their hands,"

While thinking of my melting into a pile of goo was not something I could ever imagine happening, Allie did make a good point, and put my mind to ease to an extent.

Leaning back on the couch, we let the silence speak for itself as we just sat, enjoying the two of us and the comfort being together provided us, however brief it was. Just as we were settling down a little more, the sound of the garage door opening could be heard, signaling that the end of the world as we knew it was indeed happening, my father was home from work.

Every muscle in my body tensed hearing the connecting door to the house open and the thud of his work boots as he came in the house. Sweat started to form on my palms, and I could feel my worries Allie had just put at bay coming back up, a shiver running up my spine, realizing the time had come all too soon.

Sighing, Allie got up from the couch and offered me a hand up as she stood in front of me, smiling that smile that won my heart in the first place.

"It's better to just face the music than anything,"

With that, I was up and off the couch and moving down the stairs, feeling like somebody other than me was moving my body.

Making our way down the stairs, the aroma of pasta filled the air, normally, it would make my mouth water, but now, all it did was churn my stomach as each step down to the first floor lead me closer and closer to what was sure to be my last supper.

My dad saw us first as we rounded the corner from the stairs to the kitchen, readying to help Jean carry the dishes for dinner to the dining room.

"Will, good, dinner's ready, Allie nice to see you, will you be staying for dinner?" He sounded so happy and relaxed for once, so maybe that was a good sign that tonight wouldn't be as bad as I thought. If there was any hope, it would also be a signal that he won't fly off the handle.

"Yeah, Admiral, Jean invited me earlier if that's okay with you," Allie shot my dad another megawatt smile that he smiled back, chuckling.

"Well, if Miles is staying, I can't think of a reason as to why you shouldn't, besides, its not like you wouldn't be here another night this week if not this one.

Everything besides their conversation was tense, Marco, Mallory, and Miles still hiding away wherever it is they were, trying to avoid what was bound to come next. Jean carried the main dish into the dining room as Allie and I finished setting the table, with everyone flocking in with the smell of food floating to their nostrils. Personally, the thought of food right now made my stomach turn, and once the smell of the eggs in the salads that went along with dinner hit Allie, I could tell that she was going to be struggling just as much as I.

Dinner started off fairly normal, everybody talking about their days, Marco enthusiastically telling us all about the different projects he was working on, or had intentions of creating in shop class, Mallory telling us all about her newest routines with her dance team, it was a normal dinner, until conversation turned to me. One worded answers seemed to be the only thing I could come up with for anything .

The conversation gradually shifted back to my sibling and parents, after Allie managed to answer questions while feeling queasy, filling in my dad about her latest track times and how she enjoyed being captain this year, which unleashed a whole new level of guilt, since she would be too far along to run her final season for the track team, but that was something to focus on after I had dropped the bomb on my dad.

Things continued to go smooth for dinner, or at least in my mind they did, that is until they all fell apart. Dinner was ending, and Marco, Mallory, and Miles just conveniently excused themselves for a project, taking their dessert with them, leaving Allie and myself stuck at the table, where without others to fill the conversation, my silence was noticed, and fast.

"Will, you've been awfully quiet down there," my dad commented, making the back of my neck tickle with new beads of sweat running down it.

"Just a lot on my mind, " I opted to try and keep it brief, choosing to ignore the look Jean shot me from across the table

"And what exactly is weighing you down there?"

Here it was, my big opportunity to tell him everything, and I was too chicken to even formulate a sentence.

"Just a lot I guess. It's kind of hard to explain," I tried to say more, but it was like my brain wouldn't let me.

"Well as your parent it's my job to try and understand," Suddenly I was transported back to explaining myself and my decisions to him over the grief I had when my mom died, the reason why I pushed Mallory down or hit her, all the things like that. Explaining that I'm part of a magical society committed to protecting the balance of peace in the world and said magical world had a prophecy that predicted that I would become a father so soon, was not on the cards fo me.

"So, um, Dad," I started out," You know how in our history class we all had different assignments having to do with King Arthur?" I asked, starting off with the least crazy part of the whole thing," well, there was this organization in Camelot, The Order of the Bear, is what they called it,"

"Uh huh," he nodded. I could see the gears turning in his head already, trying to figure out the path that I was leading him down.

"Well, Allie's parents helped Allie with her research on it, and, the Order turned out to be a secret society of sorts, kind of like a club. A really exclusive one that's been around for generations going back to Artherian times,"

"And you've been distracted tonight because you keep thinking about a society that you want to be a part of? I'm not seeing the reason for the oning out here, Will,"

"Well, Mr. Wagner," Allie started , taking some pressure off of me, and hopefully softening him up since he never seemed to be able to be mad at Allie, "The Order of the Bear isn't just a society that values King Arthur and Camelot history, but, its rather there to protect the peace that Arthur brought to the world, by being extensions of the people that did it themselves originally,like reincarnates "

My dad gave her an odd look, somewhere between skeptical and confused, made to open his mouth, then closed real fast before he finally started to laugh a bit.

"Reincarnate, ha. This has been a good one to pull on me, very creative, but I think you kids could do better," he thought this was all a joke. Great.

Everybody chucked awkwardly before I cleaned my throat, finally finding the ability to speak again.

"Dad, its not a joke. It's something that actually true, something that we're a part of," I couldn't believe I was explaining it, "I'm Galahad, Marco is a knight, and so was his dad. Lance is Lancelot. Miles is even Merlin and Leah is the Lady of the Lake,"

He was looking between me and Jean now, shocked that Marco's dad was being brought into this, and then eyeing up me and Allie more.

"And you, the one with the Arthur obsessed parents, you're not a part of this crazy conspiracy?" Ha. If only he knew. Allie nervously laughed, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear and sitting up a bit straighter in her chair.

"Well, actually Admiral, I'm kind of wrapped up in the middle of it. Since it was my project that started all of this, and I was the one that put the pieces together, trying to keep the peace, do what's best for others, I guess I was acting, well, Kingly, and that's my own role in all of this. I'm King Arthur,"

If he didn't already think it, my dad was now looking at Allie like she had three heads, and all of those heads were fire breathing dragons.

"So, you want me to believe that you guys are part of some magical thing, and you're knights and protect the world from evil?"

Well, when he put it that way.

"I mean, we are able to prove it, if you're skeptical about it, Sir," Allie spoke, eyeing up the toy sword that somebody had conveniently placed on the counter behind us.

My dad gave us a sideways glance, taken aback by the offer to prove something exists that he believed to be a joke through and through.

"Okay, prove it,"

Grabbing the sword from the counter I brought it over to Allie, turning to my dad before I handed it to her.

"Any sword in the hands of Arthur becomes excalibur," I handed the toy to Allie, smiling slightly when the blade glowed, and in place of a foam sword was excalibur, right in front of my father's eyes.

I could practically see my dads spirit leave his body as he watched as Allie stood there with excalibur in her hand, the realization that he couldn't write off anything I said and that he really was staring at reincarnates of the round table. Things grew so quiet you could hear a pin drop as we all sat there, not really knowing what to say. We all just sat, watching my father, waiting for a reaction, nervous that this was a gasket waiting to blow.

"Arthur, I know it's a lot to take in. It was a lot for me when David told me before he passed. I didn't know about the kids' involvement until this afternoon, and I wouldn't have known if I hadn;t caught the-," Jean started to speak but promptly closed her mouth, realizing too little too late that she mentioned too much.

"Caught them," my dad spoke again, finally," what do you mean ' caught them' Jean?" The edge in his voice had me cringing as he looked over at us, suspicion in his gaze.

"Dad, with the Order, there are prophecies, just like the one that predicted us being the reincarnates, this one predicted somebody that would help lead humanity into a new age of peace. Someone that was born purely of the light," I paused before I continued on, "the only thing is, this person hasn't been born yet,"

I could see the look of realization hit my father, and felt my heart sink. I could see him move to speak, but before he could yell, Allie chimed in.

"We were careful, sir, so careful, but there was no way around this, it was fate. It was predicted, there's no changing things. It was willed to happen. All we can do is roll with the punches now, Sir,"

I could still see my dad's face turning a worrisome shade of tomato red as he took all of this in. The brandy he had poured to go along with his dinner had a substantially smaller amount in it than the beginning of dinner and dessert, not that I could blame the guy at all.

"I just need a minute," he spoke, getting up from the table, his chair skidding behind him as he stood, walking upstairs. We could hear the bedroom door slam closed as we all just sat there, not sure what to do or say next.

The room remained silent as we all digested what happened and cleared off the table in silence, all too busy with our own thoughts.

The tension in the house broke down as everybody went about their own ways. Mallory, Miles, and Marco all pretended that they hadn't been eavesdropping, Jean went to check on my dad, and Allie and I retreated to the pool out back, sticking our feet in and just sitting on the edge, contemplating everything that had happened over the course of the past few weeks of knowing about our baby and the prophecy.

Silence filled the space between us as we just sat, kicking our feet in the water. The last moments of the conversation with my father just playing out in my head, over and over again,the look of confusion, even disbelief that covered his features. I thought I saw my dad disappointed enough times in my life, this was just different than those times before, though.

Allie leaned back and laid on the patio tile, keeping her feet in the pool as she just laid there, beautiful as always.

Silence continued to fill the atmosphere as we just sat there, taking comfort in the presence of one another.

"He'll come around, eventually," Allie spoke, stretching her arms back and propping her head with them as she kicked her feet in the water some more, letting the coolness take her in.

"Honestly, I'm not sure he will. Normally when he's mad, he yells, he didn't yell or scream this time. It's the quiet that has me worried,"

I leaned back with her then, moving us so that she had her head resting on me, and her hand was enveloped by mine.

"Do you love this baby?" Allie asked unexpectedly, startling me.

"Is that even a question?" I fired back at her, wondering what she was even saying in this moment, " I love this baby already, as much as I love you, "

Allie smiled and me and sat up, pulling me with her and placing one of my hands on her stomach.

"That love you have, imagine it building and growing over sixteen years, and imagine looking into its eyes, and seeing that they're in over their head. Is there anything that you wouldn't do for them?"

"Nothing in the world,"

"Exactly. Your dad is going to come around, it may take him a while, but he will come around. Besides, people say that babies soften hard exteriors, I don't think this is an exception to that," Allie sounded so positive, so upbeat about it all.

Pulling her in for a kiss, I couldn't figure out just how lucky I am to have her, but the way her head fit into my hands as I cradled it, I knew that destiny had everything to do with it. If destiny brought us together, it could bring my dad around to the idea of the Order, and the idea of being a grandpa.