Late and dark was the winter night, the sort of chill hung in the air where every breath misted before one's face and ice had started to form on grass leaving them looking like glittering daggers. The occasional waft of it followed Abigail into the hospital as she made her way through the automatic doors and up to the maternity ward. Will had gone into labor some hours earlier while she'd been in one of her remote classes and Hannibal at work. As expected, Hannibal had dropped everything and taken Will to the hospital while Abigail had finished her class, fed then readied the twins before she'd taken them over to the House with the aid of Dolarhyde – all organized by Hannibal of course. With them under Beverly's care and somewhere safe, she'd made her way to the hospital hoping to meet her little sibling.

Just as with the twins, the newest Lecter had decided they wanted to be born and were rather swift about it. So, by the time Abigail had questioned a midwife as to where her fathers were, said little sibling had already entered the world. For a full year now Abigail had been part of a proper family, she had parents who loved her and siblings that looked up to her, her education was again on track and she'd even made a friend in Marissa Schurr. Yes, things were going well for the Lecters and Abigail was proud to be one of them.

She knocked on the door before slipping inside to see Will sweaty and tired but holding a baby lovingly in his arms while Hannibal watched over them. His hair had fallen over his forehead making him look years younger, but otherwise Hannibal didn't have a stitch out of place.

"Ah, Abigail, there you are." Hannibal beckoned her closer and snaked an arm around her shoulder once she had reached him. "I trust everything went well with taking the twins to Beverly?"

"Yeah. All good. Things good here? How's Will."

"I'm fine." Will assured with a comforting smile before nodding down to the tiny baby. "As is your brother."

"Brother?" She'd got another little brother? Honestly, none of them had cared what gender the baby turned out to be, but she couldn't help thinking she and Veronique were somewhat outnumbered. "It's a boy?"

Any fly on the wall of that room would have seen only a happy family celebrating the birth of a new member, they'd have no clue about the blood on all of their hands or the darkness that followed them. The Lecters were a family of killers, it was the glue that bound them. Most people were so oblivious when it came to the truth, and it didn't help that Hannibal Lecter was a master manipulator.

"Yes." Will nodded. Abigail moved closer to see the baby while Hannibal rounded the other side of the bed and perched on it. Already they could tell he'd be a copy of Hannibal just as Claude was. "We were debating names before you came in, I think we've finally settled on one though."

Sebastian Lecter, that was her youngest brother's name and one which suited him well. Abigail, Claude, Veronique and Sebastian, the children of a demon and his prince.

~X~

With Sebastian having been born a few days late rather then prematurely like the twins, there hadn't been nearly as long a wait before Will and the baby had been allowed to return home. Hannibal felt terrible for his beloved Bentley though, with three young children he feared for its interior. Maybe he'd invest in a Range Rover, something befitting his wealth and taste but far more practical for carting around small children. He'd been debating getting Will a car for a while now, so maybe Sebastian could be his excuse.

The moment they'd gotten Sebastian settled in his crib at home both his fathers had breathed a sigh of relief, he was officially safe and surrounded by their scents. The last of Hannibal's guest rooms had gone though. Having opted to give the twins their own rooms and Sebastian the nursery and since adopting Abigail, all five bedrooms were spoken for – wasn't like Hannibal had ever really had guests anyway.

"He already looks like you, Hannibal." Said Will as he leaned against his mate drawing him out of his thoughts. "Maybe I should be jealous all our pups look and act more like you than me."

"Nonsense, mylimasis, the twins and Sebastian all have your hair and I'm sure more of you will show itself in them as they grow."

The twins wandered in then clearly curious about their new brother and bored with whatever game Abigail had been occupying them with. Though still so young, Claude never let his sister out of his sight and always held her hand if they went outside. Hannibal had done the same with Mischa when they'd been young; hopefully Claude would protect Veronique where Hannibal had failed their aunt.

Without needing to be asked, they lifted the twins into their arms so they could see Sebastian, but Hannibal clung a little tighter to his daughter than usual. A namesake was all that remained of his beautiful sister.

"He's tiny." Muttered the girl causing Will to laugh.

"He's a baby, Roni, they're always small. You and Claude were tiny, too. He'll get bigger."

Will was the only one who ever called their daughter Roni and, thankfully, it seemed it would stay that way. Hannibal wasn't a fan or shortening such a beautiful name, but he couldn't deny Will anything.

"Will we get big like you, Papa?"

Hannibal smiled at his firstborn son. "You shall indeed."

Nothing could be set in stone regarding which dynamic a child would present as until puberty, but Hannibal saw the signs in Claude well enough and was positive he'd be an alpha. Veronique was slightly harder to judge but he leaned toward omega. Sebastian though, it would be years before even guesses could be made.

Will pulled Hannibal's attention away from the pups then when his tone became rather serious and blue eyes fixed on him.

"Abigail said the FBI came to see you again while I was at the hospital. They still wanting you to help them profile the Flag Killer?"

"They are, but there's no need to worry. I have no interest in catching him unless he interferers with my or Francis' work. Tattlecrime is still pushing the theory that he's some twisted copycat of me, but the FBI know better. Still, my kills keep people reading."

Will grumbled a moment. "I don't like them hanging around us, Hannibal. What if they figure out who you really are? If they look too closely they'll realize my ID saying I'm from Shreveport instead of Baton Rouge is a lie. That ID might say the correct name, but everything else is still fake. Then what? We'd lose Abigail and they'd find hers is fake too. The pups-"

Hannibal cut his mate off by enveloping him and the twins in a hug; ever the protective alpha and determined to ease his omega's worries before he upset the children.

"There isn't any need for you to be apprehensive, Will. No one is suspicious of me or our family. As far as the FBI is concerned, I am an alpha of stellar reputation who has done exactly as they requested. The Flag Killer knows nothing of us, he isn't a threat and will not bring doom to our door. I am simply their preferred psychiatrist at the moment."

Will took a breath; logically he knew Hannibal to be right but he'd never be rid of that voice in the very back of his mind that told him everything would be stripped away eventually, that all of it would end bloody and cold.

"I guess you're right, I should be focused on Sebastian. I just don't like the idea of them loitering around us."

"Papa?" Hannibal's maroon eyes fell to Claude's own. "Why is Daddy sad?"

He flashed the child a smile. "He's not, son. Everything is all right." Will pulled the boy closer, squeezed him and kissed the top of his head lovingly. "Why don't you and Veronique go get Winston ready? It's almost time for his walk and I'm sure Abigail would like the company."

The twins didn't need telling twice, they'd inherited their love of dogs from Will and jumped at any opportunity to be around the animal. They fussed for their fathers to set them down, then hurried off out the room in search of their big sister and Winston. Both Will and Hannibal watched them go before their attention turned back to one another. In an instant Will had filled his mate's arms and clung to him tightly. The omega mumbled an apology for worrying the elder man but Hannibal brushed it off as not needed. Will hadn't long given birth, his hormones were still trying to stabilize and protecting their identities would always be a source of anxiety and stress for them. Will's concerns had been perfectly understandable and nothing that needed an apology.

"I love you, Will. You are my mate. I love Abigail, the twins and Sebastian, they are my pups. I have only ever truly loved one other person and I failed Mischa. I will not fail the five of you."

Will clung tighter to Hannibal, breathed in that comforting alpha scent and fisted the back of his suit jacket. "I know you won't, and I know you love us. I won't ask you to tell me what happened to your sister, I know you don't want to talk about her, but you know she loved you, right? She was your baby sister, of course Mischa loved you."

Bless Will's kindness. Most probably assumed Hannibal to be immune to things like trauma, didn't realize the unflappable exterior was just a shell and that the loss of his dear sister had left Hannibal mute for a number of years afterwards. Hannibal's PTSD wasn't something that anyone other than Will knew about and that was the way it would remain.

~X~

Even with the final renovation happening to the House, assisting the FBI and a new pup to care for, Hannibal had found time to restock the refrigerators. Dermot Driscoll was the name of his latest victim, a rather rude and arrogant attorney, and Hannibal had taken just about every organ from him as well as a few good steaks. Will was still healing and needed all his strength back.

While his family wasn't banned from the basement, it wasn't a place any but him normally had cause to be, so Hannibal indulged in the silence as he unpacked his bounty from the cooler and put them away in the fridges. In just his waistcoat and shirtsleeves Hannibal looked significantly more casual that usual, but this was his quiet time after all. Kokoretsi was a dish he'd not prepared in a while and something Will had rather enjoyed, maybe he'd pair it with a pickled salad.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs then and Hannibal glanced to his watch before closing the cooler. Late was the hour so, instead of greeting his eldest properly, he simply continued tidying away his things as he spoke.

"You should be in bed, Abigail."

"I know, Papa." That was something she'd picked up from the twins after Claude had questioned why she called their parents by their first names. After that she'd slowly started using papa and dad more and more until it had become second nature to her. Seeing Will's face light up when she'd first called him dad had been the highlight of Hannibal's week. "I can't sleep."

That finally had him face her. "Would you like me to get you something to help?"

If that meant warm milk or sedatives Abigail wasn't entirely sure – possibly both knowing Hannibal Lecter. Regardless she shook her head and padded further into the sterile basement.

"No, thank you. I did want to ask you something though."

Yes, Hannibal had already figured that out for himself. The teenager would have shown significantly more interest in the organs and meat he'd come home with were there nothing else on her mind.

"And what would that be, Abigail?"

"Well, there's a performance of King Lear at the end of next month, and I'd like to go see it. We've been studying the play in my online classes and our teacher said it might be good for us to watch the Ian McKellen version rather than just reading it. I heard about the performance and thought, maybe seeing it live would be helpful as well. It's just – well, the tickets aren't exactly cheep and they're selling out fast."

Hannibal hardly even paused to think about it before he nodded and began rolling his sleeves back down. "Very well. If you wish to see the play then I would be happy to take you. If you would like to you can invite your friend Marissa to join us."

Abigail seemed taken aback and actually furrowed her brow a little. "Wait, really? Just like that?"

He gave her a soft smile, the fatherly one he'd not known he had until the twins had been born. "Abigail, you should know by now that if you simply ask me politely for what you want, you will probably get it. I am rather pleased you have taken an interest in the theatre and literature, many your age don't anymore. I will purchase tickets tomorrow afternoon once I'm finished with my patient, so make sure to ask Marissa first thing in the morning."

"Okay." She nodded happily. "Thank you, Papa."

Abigail hugged him then and Hannibal stroked her dark hair gently. Gone was the scared little girl Jack Crawford had tried to make her, instead he held Abigail Lecter in his arms and she was most certainly her father's daughter.