Rewriting His Past

Forever and Always

Twenty Years Later

When Pyrite put his arms around his waist and tucked his face against his neck, Dusk whispered, "Micah will murder you if you awaken the twins."

"I will kill you; forget about Papa." Their firstborn daughter, Silver, tumbled into the kitchen. Her blond hair was as messy as she was, a matted nest between her wolf-like blonde ears. At seventeen, she was getting ready to enroll in the same university as her parents, hoping to follow in her dad's footsteps as an adventurer.

Pyrite mocked, "With your sword skills," and returned to kissing Dusk's neck while he resisted the urge to moan in front of their daughter. Alright, enough of that. Dusk crushed his heel against Pyrite's inside foot. "Ow!" Grumbling, Pyrite withdrew. Silver laughed and took hold of the coffee cup that Dusk was holding out.

"I appreciate it, Father," Silver replied, and Dusk grinned at being called something that still seemed odd. Despite spending twenty years together and subsequently having eight children.

"Hair," Dusk uttered, effortlessly tugging at his magic with a wave of his hand. With a tiny amount, Silver patted his daughter's hair back into a flawlessly pulled-back blond mohawk, and her golden eyes gleamed. She moved forward to give his check a kiss. Like many of their other pups, Dusk had discovered that she enjoyed it when he rubbed her left ear between his fingers.

Silver sat at the long kitchen table that could accommodate their expanding litter and said, "You are the best."

"How about me?" Sliding into a chair next to Silver, Pyrite spoke. He had grown even larger. It was hard for Dusk to believe he could get even bigger than he already was, but he did. Along the way, he discovered an alpha trait in addition to everything else he needed to know. Even after all those years together, Pyrite's personality remained the same. An explorer who had established a reputation for himself and led his own guild was someone the King even called upon, even with a hint of disdain for the nobility.

"Tell Dad I will speak with him once my bruises have healed." Silver took a sip of her coffee, and Dusk shook his head, setting down a plate of just-cut fruit. His meals consisted mostly of fresh fruit and baked goods from the bakery or from Micah's baking sessions because he was still unable to cook.

"She'll talk to you after her coffee is done." When it came to his mate's morning ritual, Dusk said he found it amusing. In an hour, they will be using their metal sticks to batter each other unconscious in the training yard. "Speaking of, do you want one?"

"Not right now." Pyrite declined the coffee, which meant he was having juice this morning. Silently, Dusk opened the refrigerator and took out the pitcher.

"Dad!" A matching set of yelling whispers arrived. That would be the eldest twins. They acted like they were eleven years old, even though they were fifteen years old. They tripped into the kitchen and saw themselves reflected in their father, to whom they turned once more for advice.

"Today, are we not going to practice with you?" Copper, who took adventure seriously, remarked, "Nickel says you are taking him to the blacksmith." Dusk let out a sigh as Copper cast a sneer at his twin. For the hundredth time, he was wondering why the majority of their offspring resemble their wolf-folk mate.

"My blade broke off!" Nickel said, with a big smile on his face, "I can't wait to find a better practice sword." He wasn't wasteful, but Nickel's laid-back attitude always set Copper on edge. By the laylines, a fight seemed inevitable. Dusk had asked Word to keep an eye on Micah, who had recently given birth to their most recent set of twins. Those who appeared to be modeling themselves after their papa. Word reassured Micah that the three of them still slept through their linked senses, with their dark heads of hair and, of course, their sparkling gem magic. Nevertheless...

"If you awaken Mercury, Cobalt, or Papa," Dusk said he was thinking of the long night he had with the restless newborns. "Swords or practice will be the least of your concerns." Their jaws clicked shut in unison. While raising the kids, it seemed to have fallen too Dusk to be the voice of discipline and reason. Micah loved to spoil, and Pyrite tended to get lost at the moment and loved good roughhouse sessions with the kids. "While your dad takes Nickel to the blacksmith, Silver, could you practice with Copper? " Dusk asked Silver, who had watched the twins get into trouble with a certain gleam of pleasure in her eyes.

"I would love to beat him up." Silver said it cheerfully.

Cooper remarked, "I will not lose this time," as lightning flashed between them. Making it plain that he did not want any noise this morning, Dusk cleared his throat.

"Could you drop something off at the office for me?" Dusk asked Pyrite. Thinking of his good friends that he had working at his shop. The sisters were great at running things while he was out, but he felt bad leaving them to shoulder all the work when they had just finished launching a new token line. The storage tokens gained a lot of popularity, which meant that he would have a lot more work.

"Anything to prevent you from visiting the office." With a smile, Pyrite's ears darted to the doorway where the final three people stammered in. Tungsten, who, at thirteen years old, resembled Micah but was born a pure wolf folk: For a child of the wolf folk, Lith was quiet, but even at ten years old, she looked remarkable like Pyrite. Zircon, an eight-year-old blonde wolf pup, resembled his sister in appearance.

"Need help with breakfast, Father?" Lith asked, her ears just barely visible through her thick, long hair as she approached and tugged at his tunic. She grinned drowsily at him as Dusk stroked her head between her ears.

"While I finish chopping up the fruit, could you bring a basket of buns to the table?" When Dusk inquired, she nodded and proceeded straight to the woven basket containing the fresh breads.

"I need a hand with some experiments today; do you want to help Tungsten?" Dusk asked his middle son, who was very interested in all of Dusk's work despite not being able to use magic due to his race.

"I'll prep the backyard!" Like all pups, Tungsten was full of energy and shot out the back door of the kitchen before the door could swing closed.

"Let me get him some breakfast!" With more interests than he could handle, Zircon grabbed the basket from the unfortunate Lith and trailed behind Tungsten. There would not be a crumb in that basket left by them. Dusk let out a sigh.

"I'll stay inside and help Papa with the babies." Lith remarked. Reaching for another basket of bread that was always at home since it was populated mostly by wolf folk and one ravenous familiar. Here, there was always an abundance of food.

"Thank you; I will be depending on you to keep him off his feet." Dusk said, and Pyrite nodded between mouthfuls of fruits. Their most recent set of twins was somewhat of a surprise, and Micah's body struggled during the delivery this time.

"Speaking of," Pyrite said, standing up to help their stubborn and still-healing mate down the stairs to the kitchen. Speaking with his mates was now as easy for Word as it was for him, and he had decided to get Pyrite to find their mate.

"I am fine." Micah was insisting, and with the twins nestled in his arms, Lith went over to pick up one of the babies. If she chose to become a mother, she would make an amazing mother one day. Dusk completed chopping the fruit, yawning into his elbow. "Dusk worries me more than anything else; when was the last time you slept?"

"Prior to the twins' birth," Sliver uttered, downing the last of her coffee. "I recall Father looking like this following the birth of each sibling."

"The least I can do is take the first few nights of insomnia; it is not like I am the one who had to give birth." Dusk shook his head and spoke. He could afford to give Micah a few days off so that he could get some rest. Because he enjoyed keeping an eye on the newest group of recruits, Pyrite found it difficult to take time off from the guild. "Your papa hardly ever gets time to relax." Not only did Micah oversee their home and staff when they were not on vacation, something was done after every childbirth. Even his brother, the King, was unable to dispute Micah's network of people, so he still had time to assist him in running the nation.

"I'm pretty sure you're way worse, Father." With a laugh ringing in her gold eyes, Silver spoke while resting a hand on her chin. She is too much like both her dad and Papa for his own good.

Lith agreed with Silver and stated, "It is true." Once more, Dusk sighed, realizing he was outnumbered.

"I am concerned." Dusk said, moving fast to pull out a chair, while Word took to his perch that sat in the middle of the table. Word was delighted when Silver reached out and gave him a quick scratch on the chest.

Copper said, "It is what you do best, Father," and his twin gave a nod. Everyone was against him. With a laugh, Dusk felt more loved than his damaged upbringing had ever allowed him to believe he could be.

"I'll rest." Dusk held up his hands in submission. Fortunately, the twins were still asleep after staying up all night, so Micah slipped into the chair.

"When?" Micah spoke in a voice that he had grown to recognize as disbelief.

"This afternoon," Dusk said, hoping that his experiments with a new type of storage token would go smoothly.

"I'll hold you to that." Micah said after accepting the fruit Pyrite offered him.

"If not, I can think of ways to tire you out." Pyrite said with a growl, making all the children gag with disgust, even Lith.

"Dad, you are so gross." Sliver stood up and rolled her eyes. Kissing her papa and new baby brother and sister on the check. "Come on, Cooper." Taking her brother with her, they went out the same door to the back.

"Not in front of the babies, Dad." Lith was scolded with a frown on her face. Shaking her head and cuddling her baby sibling, she left the room.

"Ah, don't be like that to your one and only dad," Pyrite called after her, taking the other twin in his arms. He winked at Dusk and left him to see that their mate was fed properly.

"Here," Dusk said, pulling over a plate of abandoned fruit for Micah to peck at. He always lost his appetite for a few weeks after birth; it was worrying no matter how many times he saw it.

"Albite and Amber are such calm babies." Micah said, a dreamy, tired smile lighting his face. Dusk, after being awake all night due to tending to their cries, wisely kept silent. Nodding and taking a mouthful of fruit without a word. "When they're not crying," Micah said, his eyes crinkling with laughter. "Thanks for staying up last night."

"I am their father," Dusk said, taking Micah's hand in his. It was a natural thing they did every morning since they married shortly after the Thyst incident. "And their papa was naturally exhausted after bringing them into this world."

With a look of sadness on his face, Micah remarked, "I wish you could have had the same amount of love that you clearly have to give, growing up." Dusk brought Micah's hands to his lips. Micah had been most affected by the details of his early years, but it was the depth of emotion and the concern that helped him get through it.

"With you and Pyrite, I made it through." Dusk said, when they were left alone after the fire. They all sort of crumbled. Facades crumbled when they had no one left to maintain them; they were emotionally exhausted. It helped more than he would have imagined that they were able to persuade Dusk to attend therapy with them. With that and Dia's guidance, Dusk's life fell into place before their hurried marriage a few months later. He continues to see his therapist to this day. It appeared that he would just have to put up with it for the remainder of his days. Having children both alleviated and exacerbated his PTSD, but facing the problems was made easier by acknowledging them.

"As we all promised, forever and always." Pyrite kissed Micah's neck and entered without the baby, who was probably with Lith.

"Yes, always and forever." Micah whispered, his smile returning.

"Always and forever." Dusk said, before their older children's familiar cries for their father, papa, and dad sparked their younger ones' outcries. Something he had never imagined coming true—a happy family.