"Soon, it will be one year since the last time all of us gathered here for the celebration of my sixty-first birthday," the former Supreme Dragon said in a soft, melancholic voice. "Today, it's another opportunity for us to celebrate, and this time it's about family lost and found."
"I'll always drink to that," Liam said in his usual, cheerful voice, gaining the enthusiastic approval of all the others.
"Thank you, my dear." Alastair gave him a paternal look. "The deities have blessed you with a heart of gold. And, since it seems everyone else agrees with this beautiful soul here, I want you to consider this man," he gestured to Thaddeus, "as one of us and give him the love and respect he deserves."
"Consider it done, Great-Uncle." Daniel nodded, backed by his cousins and their life partners. "For me, Mister MacGregor is already a hero. I'm proud and honored to welcome him into the family."
"I—I don't know what to say." The gray-haired man stood, casting a look around the table, his eyes lingering a little more on Ezra, Peyton and Justin. "I'll do my best not to disappoint you," he continued in a slightly shaky voice.
"You won't, dear boy. You never did," Alastair looked at Thaddeus, affection shining in his emerald-green eyes.
****
In the room they shared, Ezra and Peyton were making love with the young Bloom lying on his back, his lover straddling his waist and rotating their slim hips, taking the hardness of the young man deeper into them, riding Ezra into oblivion. They were beautiful, a work of art made of pure lust, their eyes closed, lips slightly parted.
From time to time, a long moan filled with desire escaped from those plump, delicious, oh-so-kissable lips, driving their lover crazy with passion, urging him to piston relentlessly into the wet, slick, hot channel that pulsated around his manhood. Ezra's hands were busy sliding up and down Peyton's supple back, flat chest and hard abdomen. He couldn't get enough of admiring his lover. They were flawless, the embodiment of perfection.
On the edge of insanity, under the action of Peyton's fluid moves, Ezra couldn't stop it anymore, and with a last, long, deep thrust, he flooded his lover's channel with his hot seed. Patting the bed, the young Bloom found a thin blanket he pulled over the two of them, then stayed still with Peyton collapsed on top of him, catching their breath, eyes half closed.
"Did I tell you lately how much I love you, my beautiful, beloved one?" Ezra whispered, lightly touching his lover's damp forehead. "If not, I'll tell you now. I love you, today, tomorrow, always, until the stars will lose their shine."
"Really?" Peyton raised their head, a somewhat pained look in their jade-green eyes. "You say that now because I'm young and...interesting, but you'll get bored in a year or two, and I'll end up in the trash bin."
"No, don't even think about that!" Ezra passionately protested, wrapping his strong arms around the delicate form resting on top of him. "What I feel for you, what we have, is not just a whim, it's forever," he said, his dark-blue eyes shining like two sapphires.
"Don't I disgust you? My anatomy, the way I was born. Aren't these reasons for you to despise and loathe me? If it's so, please, tell me now while it's not too late, while I can still go and not look back," Peyton continued in a small, defeated voice, on the verge of crying.
"My beloved, what's wrong?" Ezra cupped the other one's face with one hand, caressing it with the thumb of the other. "You've never had such thoughts before. What happened? Did someone threaten or scare you?"
"I don't know what's wrong with me," Peyton said, in the same tired, defeated voice. "But lately, when I look into the mirror, I see this ugly creature, not a man and not a woman, useless and repulsive. All I do is sleep, eat, vomit and get fat in spite of vomiting everything I consume. On top of that, I'm horny all the time, preying on you like an insatiable harpy, a real whore."
"Wait a little," Ezra said, his heart starting to beat faster. "Do you also have strange cravings, like cake and gravy or ice-cream and pickles or... I don't know, things like that. Or any other cravings, for that matter. Stay right here, babe. I'm going to get Alasdair. Ardan is a good guy, he'll understand."
Several minutes later, Alasdair and Ezra came into the room, a worried Ardan in tow. "Dude," the redhead started, "did you and your mom ever have that heart-to-heart talk about...you know...girl things. Period and the whole shebang."
"What?! No, we didn't. I mean, yes we did, but only in general terms. I talked more to Dad about boy stuff, safe sex, how to treat a girl right... Everyone, my doctors included, thought I would have a boy's sex life, so no one insisted on the girl parts and...why do you ask?" Peyton got suddenly whiter than a sheet of paper.
Ardan sighed heavily, rolling his eyes at the undiplomatic approach his boyfriend chose, so he decided to put an end to the poor soul's incertitude and torment. "What Spitfire is trying to say is that you may be pregnant," he said, timidly touching Peyton's messy curls.
The man's words, spoken in a hesitant voice as they were, had the effect of a bucket of ice poured on their head. Slowly, they disentangled themselves from Ezra's embrace, going to the furthest corner of the bed, where they hugged their knees to their chest, staying like that, completely still, like a statue. They were thinking about the future, evaluating all the options they had, sure of only one thing: they wanted the child.
However, Peyton didn't want to force Ezra to be a part of the child's life, so they had to let him go, to put distance between the two of them. Knowing the young Bloom like they did, it was more than sure he wanted to focus on his career as a journalist, and a baby would hold him back.
"I want this baby, even if you don't." They heard a voice next to them, a small, broken voice, begging for the life of the child growing inside their womb. "I know carrying it will be unpleasant, painful even, but please, give it a chance."
"I won't harm it! What made you think I would?" Peyton turned their head, meeting Ezra's tear-filled, sapphire-blue eyes.
"The way you isolated yourself in this corner, running away from me, just when I wanted to hug you and tell you how happy and proud you make me, and that I can't wait to hold the baby in my arms. Our baby. And give them the world and love them and..."
"What if the child inherited my condition? What if they are born this way, a creature who is not a woman, nor a man?" Peyton closed their eyes, silently crying.
"They will be loved, cherished, supported, pampered by a whole horde of aunts, uncles and cousins, not to mention their father because I'll be damned if I let someone who hurt my child get away with that."
"You can count on my help," Ardan, who had stayed silent until then, winked. "Spitfire would be also glad to lend a hand. He's a doctor, after all, and a hell of a good one."
"Okay, lovebirds, this is the long-awaited moment of truth." Alasdair walked into the room, holding a box in his hand. "Regina had a spare one, and she generously donated it," he continued, opening it. "The stick of truth. Use it according to the instructions."
"What was that?" Ezra gave his cousin a confused look after Peyton disappeared into the bathroom with the box and the item it contained.
"A pregnancy test, cousin," Alasdair's answer came on a doctoral tone. "The love of your life has to...you know...pee on it and wait for the verdict.
After about fifteen minutes, that seemed like an eternity to Ezra, Peyton came out of the bathroom, pregnancy test in hand. They gave it to their friend, waiting for the verdict.
"It looks like I'm going to be an uncle, and the two of you, parents," the redhead solemnly declared, his dark-green eyes glazed with tears. "I'm so happy for you guys!" He hugged both of them.
The news about Ezra and Peyton's impending parenthood spread like fire, courtesy of Alasdair, so when the two went down for breakfast, everyone applauded and congratulated them. The ladies of the clan surrounded the one who was expecting, offering them advice and words of encouragement, soothing their tense nerves with their mild voices.
****
"Here you are! Hello, Uncle Bayan, welcome home!" Ezra came running out of the mansion, greeting Alastair's Eurasian nephew. The man had come back in the United States after spending twenty-three years in Hong Kong, taking care of his maternal grandfather's companies there. Moments later, he threw himself in the other man's arms, giggling and crying at the same time. "Uncle Thaddeus, let's go inside. It's time to celebrate! My father's bloodline will live through Peyton, they are carrying my child! I'm going to be a father! Can you believe it?!"
"Oh, son, I'm happy, incredibly happy for you and that sweet lover of yours! I'm going to treat them like a royalty. I will carry them around day in and day out and won't let them do any effort!" Tears of joy and happiness were running down Thaddeus's cheeks as he wrapped his firstborn in a fatherly embrace.
"Welcome home, dear Bayan," Alastair said affectionately, smiling to the Eurasian. "Benjamin, sit down. You're late again," the Stark patriarch continued in a voice he was trying to make sound stern with no success. "No more excuses from now on. Your son and his partner need you around. They have a baby on the way, your grandson."
"But, sir, I don't know what..." Thaddeus started, only to cut himself short a few seconds later, when he saw the expression of happiness on his siblings', nephews' and nieces' faces at the mention of his real name. They loved Benjamin and wanted him back, needed him, even.
"You're right, you don't have a clue," Alastair smiled between tears. "Sir? What in the immortal gods' name happened to "Uncle"? That's what you used to call me," he continued. "Now sit down and eat everything from your plate."
"Yes, Uncle," Benjamin said, taking a seat between Justin and Ezra, who still couldn't believe he was going to be a father. His sons, he thought, looking at the two young men. His beautiful sons.