Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot of the story here. Thanks so much for reading and an even bigger thank you to those who review and let me know what you think.

Hours and Hours

Uncle Taron texted them to meet him at Rachel's office so that they could avoid the maternal dominants ganging up on Eggsy and Harry once the meeting was over. A great idea, Eggsy figured, especially since he didn't really fancy an audience if Harry was going to let him down easy and tell him he wasn't interested in more than sex. But Eggsy didn't expect to walk into Rachel's clinic and find out that Harry had gone off somewhere rather than wait for him with Taron like Eggsy had assumed he would. Uncle Taron said Harry had done it to act as a decoy, drawing people away so that Harry could meet Eggsy in private later...but Eggsy's gut said that that wasn't the whole story. Not by a bloody long shot.

Nope, Eggsy was definitely getting the vibe that Harry didn't want to talk to him at the moment and that...well that could not be a good sign. On a number of very important levels.

Harry didn't want him like that. Harry thought his gifts childish and beneath him. Tacky or stupid or beneath him given what other blokes had probably tried to court Harry with.

And of course Rachel and Taron did their best to reassure him that he had nothing to worry about...but Addison just shook his head and William stayed in the background, watching it all play out without commenting.

Fuck

"Here, you need to see this." Retrieving a pair of glasses from his suit pocket Taron held them out to Eggsy with a 'there, there' smile.

"Bribing me with designer shades ain't gonna make me feel better, Uncle Taron. Specially since I don't need glasses ta begin with." They weren't that sick looking either. Even if they probably cost more than his entire wardrobe.

"No, these are mine. I'm just letting you borrow them so that you can see Harry's reaction to your presents."

"How..." Trailing off Eggsy's eyes went wide as his uncle's words sunk in. "Ya sayin...those are some sort of recording device? Seriously?"

Rather than answer Taron slipped the glasses into place on Eggsy's face and then gave it the command for it to play from where he'd paused it.

Fucking A.

Eggsy was sure his eyes were anime wide as he found himself watching a recording of Harry's reactions to Eggsy's courting gifts as it all played out on the glasses' 'screen'. The scene started with the kids being let into the room and Eggsy couldn't help but be amused to see how hyped they obviously were. It was a wonder they didn't wiggle right out of their clothes.

But thankfully they didn't and Eggsy had to grin as he watched the kids take their turns approaching Harry, half the class marching up to Harry with plenty of strut to their steps while a couple had to be shyly nudged forward by their teachers. They were all so cute and almost as adorable as the way Harry just melted over them. Enlisting their help had definitely been a brilliant move on his part.

Nice to see that the whole daisies from Daisy had worked as the kill shot, the image of Harry cuddling his little sis like a teddy bear making Eggsy feel all gooey inside too.

Watching until the end Eggsy took the glasses off and immediately asked Taron if he could have a copy of it.

"Of course. I'm planning to make one for Harry too."

"Cheers. Thanks."

Uncle Taron gave his shoulder a squeeze. "He did love it. He just needed a bit of time to process the fact that you're serious about him."

"Right. It's fine. I'll talk ta im later once he gets used ta the idea." And since he didn't want them focusing on him at the moment, it made his nerves that much worse, Eggsy informed his uncle that William wanted to talk to him about something important.

"Uncle Will, hmm?" Smirking at that Taron raised an eyebrow in William's direction.

"We need to discuss the boy's training. Privately."

Taron's eyes narrowed.

Motioning for Taron to follow him William walked off to a corner of the room, Taron following after him with obvious suspicion. Then they started talking in voices deliberately pitched so that no one else in the room could hear what they were saying which was really annoying. Not because Eggsy didn't know what they were talking about, because he did, but who didn't hate knowing you were being discussed but couldn't hear what was being said?

Cuddling Daisy against his chest when Rachel handed her over to him Eggsy kissed his sister's head and asked her how her gums were doing.

Rachel reached out to stroke a hand over Daisy's curls with a motherly look of affection. "The swelling is down and the teeth that were coming in are basically through. She should be better until the next ones decide to make their appearance."

"Great."

Rachel laughed at his tone of voice. "Don't worry, you'll reach the stage where those baby teeth are falling out and you're playing fairy godmother soon enough. They grow up so fast."

The way she sighed that made it clear that she missed having little ones running around. She'd told him about her kids and shown him pictures so Eggsy knew that both were older than he was. If they lost teeth now they'd be the ones coughing up money. And visiting the dentist to get a fake one put in.

"And look on the bright side, she's excellent practice for when you have kids of your own. Harry will certainly want them. You gave his biological clock quite the jolt earlier."

Wait...what?

Distantly aware that Rachel was laughing in reaction to the face he must be making Eggsy struggled to restart his brain after the minor bomb she'd just set off inside his skull. Biological clock? Kids with Harry? Harry wanted to...fuck.

Well fuck for the purpose of having kids...which was not something Eggsy had really thought all that hard about. Until now. He'd enlisted the help of the kids because he'd thought it would earn him brownie points as well as personalize the whole thing. He hadn't meant it as-he hadn't been implying or offering to-it had just been...oh fuck a duck what if Harry was considering his courtship but only to get kids out of the deal?

He'd known that Harry wished he had children. That was obvious to anyone with eyes in their head. And the thought that they might have kids down the road had been something he'd thought about once his uncles had explained the courting stuff and everything to him, but since the whole courting thing had come up Eggsy hadn't really stopped to think about the fact that Harry probably didn't have many years left before he couldn't have kids. Least not naturally, so to speak. The idea that men could get pregnant wasn't going to be natural in Eggsy mind for quite a while yet, thank ya very much. But the point was that if Harry wanted them they'd have to start havin em real soon. Like ASAP.

"Don't worry, Sweetheart. I don't think he'll be buying baby clothes for anyone but Daisy for a while yet. And you still have plenty of courting to do."

Eggsy worked up a smile for Rachel. A pretty weak one judging by the look she gave him, her hand coming up to pat his cheek comfortingly.

Though her expression was quite serious. Probably to match what she had to say next.

"Don't court him unless you're serious about him and building a life together with him, Eggsy Unwin. Or you'll regret it."

"Yeah. Uncle Taron already had that speech with me."

He'd just forgot to remind Eggsy that kids would have to come ASAP if they wanted them.

"Good."

"Ah...has he...ever said ow many sprogs he wants?"

Rachel's lips twitched. "Sorry. That I can't tell you."

"Thanks anyway."

"The way these two go at it they'll have a litter before you know it."

Eggsy appreciated Rachel joining him in giving Addison a death glare.

"The truth hurts."

"You're the one who's gonna be hurtin if ya don't quit messin with me."

Addison snorted. "They're over there discussing how much training you still need. I don't think I have anything to worry about just yet, Boy."

"Uncle Taron, Uncle Addy's being mean ta me!"

Taron looked over and smirked at them while William stated that Eggsy should get used to that. Addison wasn't likely to change in that regard.

"Oh shut it, King."

"Unlike the boy I could make you." William shot back. "So try and be civil, Egerton."

"That's like asking you to take that stick up your arse out."

Now William was giving Uncle Taron a look and even from a distance Eggsy had to admit it was pretty potent. But Uncle Taron was a badarse too, and didn't seem remotely affected by it.

Eggsy hoped that gene wise he took after them and not Uncle Addison.

One Addison in the family was bad enough.

"Right. Let's go home before there's bloodshed. King here is apparently going to stop by the house tomorrow to show us how it's done, training Eggsy. The bloodshed can wait until then." Uncle Taron's smile was not a nice one.

That was how a wolf smiled.

Naturally William didn't look worried in the least.

)

For the first hour after the meeting Harry found himself being interrogated within an inch of his life by family and friends about Eggsy. Hell, pack members he didn't even like and vice versa got in on the questioning since they all wanted the latest gossip straight from his mouth to spread to everyone else. Not to mention the nature of a lot of their questions had just been wildly inappropriate or downright crude. And while naturally he'd done his best to shut them down and-we'll he had said a few things he probably shouldn't have. But they'd all reflected positively on Eggsy so hopefully the boy wouldn't hold it against him.

The way he might very well hold it against Harry that it had taken him hours to get back to the Egerton estate to thank him for his gifts and properly address the younger man's proposed courtship.

Shit. He hadn't meant to keep Eggsy waiting so long.

Thinking about the people who bore at least part of the blame for that had Harry going all soft again as he remembered how he'd almost escaped forty minutes early, only he'd ended up stuck after the sister of one of the daycare workers had joined their group and started gushing over what Eggsy had done for the kids in thanks for their help. Everyone had melted over the news that Eggsy had arranged for a bakery to make the children special, oversized rainbow cupcakes with their names spelled out on them. He'd even purchased a special, gluten free cupcake for Emily. Not that Emily couldn't have gluten, she could, but her mother was the type to worry about nothing and pay too much attention to advice found in magazines and daytime telly. And Eggsy had gotten her a special cupcake so she wouldn't be left out. Had taken the time to find out that one child had dietary restrictions to make sure that didn't happen. And that was...

Harry found himself sighing dreamily.

Which given his age was embarrassing on far too many levels to count.

So instead Harry focused on not driving off the road and breathed a sigh of relief when he finally arrived at his destination in one piece. The rain had even stopped, which Harry took as a good omen as he opened the car door and headed inside to find Eggsy to apolgize for his tardiness and make amends.

Only problem? Eggsy wasn't in the house waiting for him.

"He went out about an hour and a half ago. He needed to run off some energy before his nerves had him bouncing off the walls. Or his wolf tearing up the upholstery. You couldn't have gotten here a little sooner."

"I was mobbed."

Taron's expression made it clear he didn't buy that excuse at all.

"Well go find him and give him your answer." A moment's pause. "And just keep in mind that after today the single members of the pack who are looking for a dominant are all going to be looking at him now. Especially if you don't stake your claim on him."

Harry growled at the idea without thinking.

It made Taron grin. "Good. Now shoo and bring my nephew back home before the rain starts up again. He went four legged, by the way."

"Thank you."

Deciding that he should follow Eggsy's example, he didn't want to get his clothes dirty or take the time to change, Harry used the room Taron directed him to to undress and then leaving his clothes there transformed into his wolf form. That done he headed out and nodded a thanks to Taron for opening the back door for him and then took off running, his nose searching and finding Eggsy's scent with ease.

Tracking Eggsy took no effort on his part, Harry free to enjoy the pleasure of running on four feet without having to worry about sussing out which way Eggsy had gone or overthinking the whole courting thing. His wolf was a lot more black and white in his thinking and Harry's human side had to admit that the other half of him had some very valid points to bring up.

Harry had been running full out for about ten minutes when he spotted Eggsy loping towards him, though for a brief moment he was very confused since Eggsy was not a brown wolf. Eggsy's lovely coat was predominantly white with black and grey accents, not mud brown, but it seemed that currently Eggsy was covered in mud, hence his new coloring and Harry's initial confusion. And the closer Eggsy got to him...well Harry found himself unable to do anything but laugh at the picture his would be suitor made.

So Harry just stood there and shook with laughter over the mud, leaves, and other debris sticking off of Eggsy like moss on a rock. Eggsy was a ridiculous, adorable mess.

Coming to a stop about four feet away from him Eggsy's wolf was definitely not amused as it stared him down. And did a good job of it since Harry was pretty sure that even if he hadn't been distracted by the sight of his lover he'd find that dark look impressive, especially given Eggsy's young age.

'Oi. Somethin funny?'

'Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look?' Harry was just able to ask between heaves of laughter, shaking his head over the whole thing.

'Not like I've got a mirror on me.'

'What happened?'

A long, telling moment of silence.

'I was chasin a rabbit and slipped in some mud.' Eggsy grudgingly admitted.

'And you decided to roll around in it?'

'It was a big arse fuckin puddle!'

Imagining it sent Harry back into fits of laughter that made talking impossible.

'Think it's that funny, do ya?'

Harry was in no condition to answer that. But yes, yes he did.

Eggsy's eyes narrowed, which should have warned Harry to be on his guard and back away from the younger wolf, but sadly he was too busy finding the whole situation hilarious to see what was coming until it was too late. Eggsy had gotten within range to shake at least some of the mud and guck on his fur right onto Harry's formerly pristine coat.

Yelping in shock and disbelief Harry jumped back, but not soon enough to save himself.

'EGGSY!'

Eggsy grinned at him, teeth on display. 'Lookin good, Harry.'

Lifting a paw to swipe it over his face to remove a clump of dirt there Harry was definitely not laughing as he glared in Eggsy's direction.

'Tell ya wot, Harry. First one ta the pond near the house gets the sexual favor of his pick after we wash up. Last one there's a rotten egg!'

And so saying Eggsy took off running like the hounds of Hell were after him.

'You cheat!'

Bounding after Eggsy immediately Harry poured on the speed and chased after the younger wolf like it was his mission in life. A mission he was definitely not going to fail after the boy had not only cheated, but sprayed him with mud for no good reason!

He could hear Eggsy's laughter in his mind though. And the thrill of the chase and the absurdity of it all soon had Harry forgetting to be annoyed and he started laughing too as the race became a game. One he was determined to win...but if he didn't Harry was good with that too.

Wolf and man in complete agreement about how fun this was Harry howled his enjoyment, his own increasing when Eggsy's wolf echoed the sentiment.

Fortunately Eggsy had been running around the estate for over an hour now and so he wasn't as fast as he normally would have been. Harry had seen for himself how much speed the other man could generate when he put his mind to it. But Eggsy wasn't running at full capacity and Harry had plenty of energy to spare at the moment. Not to mention plenty of motivation to get to the pond first.

Reaching Eggsy side by the time the pond was in view Harry looked over in Eggsy's direction just in time to see Eggsy looking in his direction. They were both probably smiling like idiots. Or at idiotic as one could when you were a wolf.

They were also now running side by side, in perfect synch as their strides matched up and their heartbeats fell into rhythm. Whether Eggsy had slowed down to make that happen or Harry was just that fast, well Harry would ask him about it later. For the moment Harry just let his human questions be pushed aside and concentrate on his wolf, who gloried in the chase and the company of Eggsy's wolf.

The thought that he could easily distract Eggsy and win the race occurred to Harry...but in the end he just howled his enjoyment and dove into the pond with Eggsy to get cleaned up.

He'd rather not have mud all over either of their faces when he told Eggsy that he'd accept his courtship.