Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

December 24^th, one year ago…

It was close to midnight but Twilight and Yor were still awake.

After all the excitement, Anya was finally asleep, and they were working on wrapping her presents in the living room.

While Loid’s presents were wrapped carefully and stylishly, Yor’s were a disaster.

“I think I’m doing a poor job,” she smiled a little embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it, I don’t think she’ll care about that,” he defended. “She’ll probably tear it apart in seconds just to get to the toy.”

“Just like last year,” Yor chuckled happily.

This was their second Christmas as a pretend family.

Last year, they had spent their first Christmas together, but Twilight had been so busy that Yor had to take care of everything by herself.

This year was different. Twilight didn’t want to burden her, so he made sure to request time off his side missions so he could be there, helping her.

“Oh, she’s going to love that!” Yor declared excited when she looked at the toy pistol her husband was about to wrap.

“I sure hope so. It was the last one and I had to fight a lady at the toy store,” he told his wife recalling his shopping mission earlier that week.

Yor laughed imagining Loid fighting for a toy gun for their daughter. She would have done the same.

A genuine smile escaped from Twilight. His wife's laughter was just as beautiful as her.

“What the hell am I thinking!” he reprimanded himself in his thoughts immediately.

Lately, he’d been catching himself having those weird thoughts more and more often.

He tried convincing himself he was just annoyed, but the truth was he was scared.

They had been living together for more than a year and they had become sort of…close.

Even when he hated to admit it, every day he found himself eager to finish whatever side mission he had so he could go home…to his family.

It was a weird feeling. He felt happy and safe, but at the same time anxious and terribly guilty because he knew it was only temporary.

In the dead of the night, when he was about to fall asleep and he was at his most vulnerable, only then he dared to admit that he wanted to stay with them forever. And not only that, but he also dreamed about asking Yor to be his real wife. He wanted to touch her, kiss her, and do much more with and to her.

But every day, after waking up, he would pretend he never had those thoughts or rationalize them into nothing. He was a fucking spy! There was no time for real relationships or sappy feelings. He had a fucking job to do.

And yet…on moments like this, when silence was peaceful instead of dreadful, and it was just the two of them, it was so easy to dream.

“Loid?” Yor called puzzled. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, of course,” he smiled rubbing the back of his head. “I think I just got distracted.”

He had been staring at her…again.

“I think this is the last one,” she put one poorly wrapped present under the Christmas tree and got up.

They both contemplated the tree full of presents, pleased at their hard work. They both wanted their daughter to be happy on Christmas morning, just like any other kid.

They looked at each other and smiled. Truth to be said, they made a good parenting team.

Truth to be said…they were standing way too close to each other, but neither of them moved.

It wasn’t rare for them to stand close to each other (when the situation required it).

But not like this.

This kind of moments sparingly happened, but lately, they had become a little more common. Maybe it was because they had been spending too much time together.

Yor's shy eyes looked up and he found a completely different look in her eyes. One he hadn’t seen before and didn’t fully understand, but it made his heart thumb painfully against his chest.

He wanted to touch her even just once.

“Don’t you dare, Twilight!” he warned himself in his thoughts.

But it was too late. His hand moved to tuck in a strand of her hair behind her ear and he kept his fingers there. Her beautiful black hair was as soft as he always imagined.

He knew it was better to take his hand off her quickly. Yor didn’t like to be touched and got nervous easily. A kick on the chin (or other part of his body) could be in the near future if his hand stayed there, but he simply couldn’t move.

Yor had rejected him already. That night when he tried to trick her into becoming his real wife, he’d received a very clear answer. Yor didn’t see him that way. She didn’t want him, and he had accepted her decision.

After that, he should have felt relief. Not being involved made things easier for him and his mission—less work, less effort, less lies, and most importantly, an eventual clean exit.

But, as much as he hated to admit it, the truth was…

…it had hurt.

Yor had been the first woman to reject him, and she had done it so strongly and clearly.

At first, he thought his ego was probably bruised because of the rejection, but now he understood it wasn’t only that.

He wanted her.

Yor was the only woman he had ever truly wanted—the only one he couldn’t have.

And yet, his hand was still unable to move, his fingers were still buried in between her soft hair.

It was okay if she kicked him. It would be worth the risk just to touch her once.

But Yor didn’t do such thing.

Instead, her hand slowly reached his face and placed it on his cheek.

His mind went blank.

His heart was beating out of control.

This was the first time they were touching each other so intentionally. The first time they looked at each other like this.

Just for that moment, he wasn’t a spy anymore, he was simply…a man.

The only thought in his mind was that he loved the sensation of her skin on his.

Her hand was on the side of his face, and he didn’t know what to do, but he wanted her to keep it there forever.

But it had to stop.

This moment—her touch—had to end before he did something he shouldn’t. Before he gave up on everything just to have her.

So, he gently grabbed her hand and kissed it, like any gentleman would, before putting it down.

“Thank you for everything you do for Anya and me,” he told her.

Yor was blushing.

“It’s me the one who should be thanking you for letting me be part of your family,” she replied.

Yor was looking at his lips when she said those words and it took him every ounce of discipline not to kiss her.

“I think we should go to bed,” he told her.

“You’re right, we should get some sleep,” she replied, but that was not what he meant at all.

She smiled sweetly at him before telling him: “Merry Christmas, Loid and good night.”

“Merry Christmas, Yor.”

He saw her walk away like many other times...

…wishing he could follow her.

Chapter Text

[Redacted] poured his second cup of coffee in a row.

“Anya, are you ready? We’re going to be late for school!” he yelled before quickly drinking his coffee, hoping for a quick effect, because he was dead tired.

As he waited for Anya, he wondered how he had managed to survive so many years working as a spy with so little hours of sleep.

“I’m here, dad,” Anya emerged from her room yawning and rubbing her eyes.

Poor Anya. He didn’t need to ask if she had slept well. Of course, she hadn’t.

Nobody in their home was sleeping well (not even Bond).

The youngest and newest member of their family liked to stay up all night and his current favorite hobby was to use his brand new lungs to cry as loudly as he could.

“Dad, I want to stay home today,” Anya told him. “I want to sleep.”

His daughter laid on the couch instead of sitting by the table to eat breakfast.

“I wish you could, but you already missed five days this month,” he reminded her. “You can’t miss any more days of school.”

The school had called him and Yor because of Anya’s absences. It had been his fault; he was in charge of waking Anya up and driving her to school, but they all had overslept after one of those crying baby all-nighters.

Anya whined.

“Oh, come on, this is the last week!” he cheered. “Just a few more days before winter break and then, Christmas!”

That definitely cheered Anya up. She loved Christmas.

Now that she had a good motivation, the little girl got up from the couch and headed to the dining table to start eating.

That reminded him, he still had to do all the Christmas shopping.

“I’m done. Thank you for breakfast!” Anya got up after a few minutes. He would never understand how she was able to eat so quickly.

“All right, go brush your teeth before we go,” he told his daughter.

A few minutes later, she had her backpack on her shoulder and they were ready to go, but before they could leave, Yor came downstairs.

“My love, what are you doing up?” he asked worried. “The baby is asleep; you should be asleep too!”

Out of the three of them, the one who was most sleep-deprived, the one who had worked harder than anyone since James was born a month ago, was Yor.

“I wanted to say bye to Anya and wish her a good day at school,” she smiled sleepily, crouching in front of their daughter to kiss her forehead. “Have a good day at school, Sweetheart. I love you.”

Anya hugged her. “I love you too, mommy. Have a good day taking care of my baby brother.”

[Redacted]’s eyes sweetened. It always happened when he saw his wife being such a good mom.

“All right, now go back to sleep, darling,” he grabbed her face and gave her a quick kiss. “Sleep while he’s asleep. You really need your rest.”

Yor waved them goodbye by the door before they left for school.

***

When he came back home, Yor and the baby were awake.

She was sitting on the bed, with her back leaning on the headboard. She was feeding him.

“He woke up right after you left,” she explained. “I think he was just hungry.”

“I see,” he sat on the bed too.

At least James wasn’t crying.

“Can I bring you anything? Tea? Breakfast? Water at least?” he offered.

“Tea would be lovely,” she accepted.

“Coming right up,” he caressed his wife’s face and baby’s head before leaving for the kitchen.

He wanted to support his wife the best way he could. Right after giving birth, the doctor mentioned post-partum depression. The former spy had read about it during his days impersonating a psychiatrist, so he was familiar with it.

Although the exact cause was still unknown, factors like hormones, stress and lack of rest and support contributed to developing it. This was the last thing he wanted for his wife, especially after everything they lived before moving to Westalis.

That’s why he had decided to support Yor in every possible way. While she took care of their son, he took care of Anya, cooking, and all the house chores. Plus, he also offered to care for James so she could take a break, but that hadn’t worked—the baby preferred to be with her.

“Here’s your tea, darling,” he set the cup on the nightstand. “I brought you an apple too.” 

“Thank you,” she took the apple right away.

James had finished eating and was fast asleep.

“Let me take him, so you can drink your tea,” her husband suggested.

[Redacted] carefully took his son in his arms. James looked like he was in a food coma, after having his breakfast. He loved having that little baby in his arms. On the other hand, the baby did not like this at all. His tiny face twisted in a strange manner and before they knew it, he was crying again.

“Oh no! Come here, Sweetheart!” Yor took him back, hugging him and placing his little head on the top of her shoulder. “He probably has colic.”

Or maybe his own son didn’t like him.

“What am I thinking?” he reprimanded himself.

It was a really stupid thought. His wife was probably right; babies got colic, that was common. His son probably preferred being with Yor because he could smell milk in her. It was simple animal survival instinct; when someone was so little and defenseless, the best thing they could do was stay as close to the food supply as possible.

“I know,” he sighed.

The truth was he felt very nervous after this month of parenting a newborn. Yor was a natural; just like she had become Anya’s mother in about a day, she was also doing great with their son. On the other hand, he…well, he was doing not so great.

Every time he held the baby, he wasn’t sure what to do. On top of everything dark intrusive thoughts filled his mind.

What if I mess up?

What if he hates me?

What if I end up being a terrible father?

More than a couple of years ago, when he adopted Anya, he didn’t wonder about this. His priorities were other, and when Anya became his priority, he had been her father for a long time. Plus, being the parent of a little child was very different from being the father of a baby. Anya could voice her needs and wants, she could tell them when she didn’t feel well, when she was hungry or tired. She was also potty-trained when he got her and could hold her own head.

This was a whole different experience and he felt so overwhelmed.

“[Redacted], are you okay?”

Without realizing it, Yor had come close to him and was trying to grab his hand, which was nervously holding the front of his shirt.

Yor’s concerned face made him snap out of it.

“Yes, sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry,” he took her hand and kissed it. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Yor came close to kiss his face—their baby still in her arms.

“It’s okay, I get nervous too,” she confessed. “Taking care of a baby is a lot sometimes. But then I remember I’m raising him with you and that makes me feel better.”

That’s right. They were doing this together.

[Redacted]’s mind quieted down after hearing this. He leaned his back on the headboard, then gently made his wife lean her back on his chest and put his arms around Yor and the baby.

“Together,” he repeated feeling happy.

***

Things got a little easier once Anya was finally on Winter break from school. At least they didn’t have the pressure of being on time for school, so they could sleep a little more.

“Dad, we still don’t have a Christmas tree!” his daughter complained.

"That’s right, the Christmas shopping!" He reminded himself.

Christmas was less than ten days a away and he had a grand total of zero presents, zero Christmas decorations up, and zero Christmas trees.

“You’re slipping, Twilight,” he reprimanded himself that way because he was used to doing that.

“Anya wants the biggest tree we can find” his daughter proposed. “I want my little brother to think it’s a giant tree.”

“All right, how about we go get the tree this afternoon? We’ll go to the market and see what they have,” he suggested. “What do you say, my love? Are you and James ready for a little trip?”

Yor didn’t answer. She was sitting on the couch, holding the baby, dozing off.

“Yor?”

His wife woke up and suddenly shivered. She already had a big blanket around her shoulders and tried to wrap herself tighter, even though the living room was plenty warm.

“My love, would you mind closing the window, please? I’m freezing,” she requested.

[Redacted] looked at the window and found it closed.

He gave a couple of big strides and was crouching in front of Yor in a couple of seconds.

His wife’s cheeks were red, and her eyes were glassy.

He placed a hand on her forehead. It was burning. Nevertheless, Yor kept shaking because she felt cold.  

“My love, I think you’re sick,” he informed her.

“No, I’m just a bit tired, that’s it,” she argued.

Her husband carefully took the baby from her arms, and she didn’t resist. James made little complaining noises as soon as this happened.

There was a bassinet (that he never used) in the living room. [Redacted] placed the baby there and went back to his wife.

Yor was barely conscious. She put her head on his shoulder and he felt the heat radiating from her.

“Anya, do me a favor and watch your brother while I take mommy upstairs,” he asked his daughter while carrying Yor in his arms.

Anya ran to her brother’s side.

“Don’t worry dad! Bond and I will watch him,” she said taking her job very seriously.

Her little brother was already starting to cry, so Anya gently patted his head.

“It’s okay, baby. I’m here, you’re not alone,” she soothed.

[Redacted] knew the baby was in good hands, plus he wasn’t going to take long to come back. He just wanted to put his wife in bed.

“Our baby…” Yor whispered. Her voice sounded hoarse. “I have to take care…”

Yor tried getting up from the bed but was too dizzy to do it.

“It’s all right, you need to rest,” her husband gently helped her lay down. “I’ll take care of the kids.”

What he really wanted to do is take care of her, but he knew that if he stayed there, she wouldn’t rest and just worry about Anya and James.

By the time he was back in the living room, the baby was already crying, Anya was panicking and Bond was barking.

He wasted no time and picked up his son.

“I’m sorry, dad. We tried, but he just…” Anya apologized.

“It’s okay. He’s not used to being on the bassinet,” her dad explained.

James calmed down a bit while he held him, but the former agent knew it was only a matter of time before the baby realized he wasn’t Yor.

A couple of hours later passed between cries and attempting to feed James. When he went to check up on Yor, she was still feverish and barely conscious. He knew it was probably a normal sickness, but he worried anyways.

Yor had told him how her mom had died.

“A cough from a weird cold,” that’s what she remembered.

During and right after the war it wasn’t uncommon for people to go because of “harmless everyday” illnesses. When people were malnourished, overworked, and stressed, the body has a hard time recovering.

Yor wasn’t malnourished, but she was somehow stressed and very much overworked because of the newest member of the family. Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.

Determined, and still with James in his arms, he walked towards the phone and called Franky. It was unusual for doctors to make house visits, but he wanted to ask Franky if his girlfriend could make an exception and come see Yor.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Franky said after his best friend explained the situation. “Let me call her.”

Franky’s girlfriend had an emergency at the hospital and couldn’t make it herself, but she was kind enough to send one of her colleagues.

It was a young doctor, probably younger than Yor herself, but he seemed competent.

“Looking at your wife’s symptoms, it’s probably the flu,” the doctor told him.

“Oh no! James and Anya! What if I make them sick?” Yor worried. “Should you check on them too?”

“We can wait on that, as long as they don’t show symptoms. If they do, I recommend taking them to their pediatrician,” the doctor suggested. “Don’t worry, ma’am. Children have an incredible immune system.”

[Redacted] walked the doctor out after that. In addition to general recommendations to take care of Yor, he’d also given him medication for Yor's flu symptoms.    

“You may need some extra help these days,” the doctor advised hearing a baby cry loudly before leaving.

“No kidding,” [Redacted] responded sarcastically after having closed the door.

He ran to get James from the very-hated bassinet.

“I think he misses mommy,” Anya observed. “He’s been crying a lot.”

“I know, I miss her too,” her dad replied rocking him anxiously, trying to calm him down.

“What are we going to do, dad?” Anya sounded worried.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of him while mommy gets better,” he was trying to sound confident. “Remember when it was just you and me before meeting her?”

Anya made a weird face.

Oh, she remembered.

It was a disaster.

“We managed back then, and we’ll manage for a few days now,” her dad chirped rocking James way too hard. “We’ll be fine.”

Anya’s baby brother kept crying and the little girl wasn’t convinced at all about her dad’s words. He was a terrible liar now.

They needed mommy back and fast.

***

Four days passed by painfully slow.

Four days from hell.

Anya and her dad had basically camped downstairs in the living room and the place was a complete mess—bottles, diapers, blankets, plates, pillows everywhere.

Despite her dad’s insistence on Anya sleeping in her room (so she could rest), the little girl had decided to stay there to help him.

There was no way her dad was going to make it on his own.

[Redacted] was trying to keep it together, but every time his son cried, he received a shot of adrenaline.

Yor made it look so easy. She simply knew when to feed him, when she needed to change a diaper or simply cuddle their son.

He had no clue.

He would try anything, and he usually got it wrong. So, most of the time he would just hold James, not knowing what to do—like a complete idiot.

Since he needed to have the baby in his arms most of the time, he had been unable to do any house chores and could barely cook.

“Dad, it doesn’t smell good,” Anya told him and that’s when he realized he’d left the lasagna in the oven for too long.

Right after Anya’s comment, he put James down and ran to the oven, just to find something inedible.

That day, for the first time in his life, he had burnt dinner.

“Let’s order something,” he told his daughter in the middle of James’ crying.

To be honest, he had lost track of time and didn’t even know what day it was. Which is why, when Franky showed up at their door he was surprised.

His friend had promised he would drop by to help during the weekend, when he didn’t have to work at the repair shop. It was finally Friday evening, so Franky dropped by the Forger’s.

“What happened to you?” was the first thing Franky asked him.

When the former spy opened the door, he had the baby in his arms, and a very strange appearance. [Redacted]’s hair looked crazy, his eyes were red (Franky suspected from not sleeping), his shirt was stained with milk or baby spit (not sure about that one) and his clothes were so wrinkled.

Was this man really the best spy in Westalis once? Franky wasn’t sure about that anymore.

When Franky entered and saw the state of the house, he thought maybe there was a small earthquake on his way there and he didn’t notice it.

“What the hell happened here?!”

Never in the couple of years he’d visited the Forger house he’d seen it in this condition.

“Yor is sick,” was his friend’s answer. “I’m trying to care for James, Anya and the house at the same time.”

“Well, it’s not working,” Franky mocked him.

He could tell this wasn’t amusing for his best friend.

“Did you come here to make fun of me or to help?”

“I can do both,” Franky said smiling. “Okay, what do you need help with?”

“Let’s start with the kitchen,” he proposed. “While I change the baby’s diaper. He hates being wet.”

He hated to admit it, but that doctor was right. He did need help and Franky’s presence was heaven sent. His best friend managed to take care of the kitchen in no time. After that, he also helped clean up the living room and even played with Anya a bit. He even convinced the little girl to sleep in her own room. Now that he was there, the little girl didn’t have to worry about her dad and little brother, so she could finally rest.

James was more or less quiet, so [Redacted] managed to cook some chicken soup for Yor. She had declined any food throughout the day, but she needed to eat something.

It was still early, but Anya was so tired she had gone to bed already. Franky was still tidying up the living room when the soup was ready.

“Hey, can you please hold James while I take this to Yor?” [Redacted] asked his best friend. “He hates being in the bassinet.”

“Sure, hand him over,” Franky extended his arms.

[Redacted] carefully placed his son in his arms, half expecting to hear full-blown crying, but it didn’t happen. James was kind of sleepy, so maybe he hadn’t noticed.

It was the perfect opportunity to go see his wife.

When he got to their room, Yor’s fever had gone down.

“Thank God,” he muttered when he felt her forehead.

Yor stirred and woke up when she felt his hand on her.

“How do you feel, darling?” he asked her.

“A little better,” she answered. “I’m not dizzy anymore.”

“Do you think you can eat something? I made you some soup,” her husband gently caressed her face and she nodded.

“I could eat.”

This is where he really wanted to be. He wanted to take care of his wife.

In more than two years of marriage, he’d never seen Yor sick. He had been sick with a cold more than a few times, but not Yor. They would even joke about it, and she would always say that it was because she ate well and slept well.

Maybe she was right.    

Back when he was an agent and he slept only a couple of hours a night, his body would do weird things.

“Careful, it’s hot,” he warned her, as he was bringing the spoon towards her mouth.

“I can feed myself,” she protested.

“I know, but I want to do this,” he argued. “Please, let me.”

“Okay,” she blushed, and he found it endearing he could still make her do that.

When she was done eating, he put the bowl on the nightstand and moved to cuddle with his wife. After four days, he’d missed touching her.

“It’s too quiet,” she observed. “Where are the kids?”

“Anya went to bed early and James is with Franky downstairs,” he replied kissing her head.

“I’m glad Franky came to help you,” she smiled. “I know it hasn’t been easy.”

She had no idea, but he wasn’t going to tell her.

“Yeah, me too,” he agreed.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to get out of bed tomorrow,” she beamed and coughed a bit. “I feel better.”

“Take your time, my love,” he suggested. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll manage.”

After that, they talked and cuddled for a few more minutes. Her husband wanted to stay with her all night, but he also knew it was time for him to go check on the baby.

“Call me if you need anything,” he kissed her forehead.

“I will,” she answered.

That’s all he needed to feel a little less overwhelmed—some time with his wife and seeing she was doing better.

He closed the door of their room and headed back to the living room.

***

James was not crying.

Franky had him in his arms. The baby wasn’t even sleeping, and he seemed quite content.

[Redacted] felt relieved and infuriated at the same time. His whole theory about the baby wanting to be near Yor because she smelled like food supply had just been debunked. Franky did not smell like milk.

Now the best explanation was that his son really didn’t like him.

“How do you do it?” he asked Franky. “All he’s done these days is crying and now he seems fine with you.”

Franky chuckled. He didn’t really know how he was doing it, but his friend sounded a bit desperate.

“Both of my kids like you more than me,” he complained and sat on the couch, looking defeated (and very tired).

Franky felt tempted to make fun of his best friend, but right before he did, he took pity on him. He had no clue why kids like him so much, but he had a theory why children got upset near [Redacted].

“You just need to relax,” he told him. “Kids are very perceptive; they can feel when you’re on edge.”

“BORF!” Bond seemed to agree with that statement. The pup came near [Redacted] and placed his head on his knee.

Maybe Franky was right. He was so used to being on edge he hadn’t even noticed it but he’d been like that for most of the month, and even more since Yor had gotten sick.

Franky left after a while (he wanted to see his girlfriend). [Redacted] thanked him for his big help and promised he would pay back one day, when Franky was in a similar situation. Franky giggled thinking about that.

After his best friend left, Bond fell asleep on the carpet and there was a strange silence in the house.

Anya and Yor were sleeping too. The only ones awake were [Redacted] and James.

Oh no…

The baby was already starting to pout. He had probably just realized who was holding him and he didn’t like it.

“Relax,” the former spy commanded himself.

It didn’t work. The more anxious he felt, the more his baby cried. He regretted not begging Franky to stay.

Hearing his baby’s cries made him realize he still hated hearing children crying (especially his children). Maybe that’s why he got so nervous. That thought helped him finally turn the corner.

He took a deep breath and instead of trying to rock James, he decided to look at him. Sensing his gaze, the baby stopped crying for a minute, but kept pouting.

[Redacted] let out a big sigh.

James couldn’t sleep well at night, was a complete cry baby and hated being away from Yor.

[Redacted] chuckled thinking this baby really was Twilight’s kid.

His kid.

“I know, I know. You hate being away from her,” he tenderly kissed his baby’s forehead. “I understand perfectly. I hate it when I’m not with her too.”

James looked at him with those big blue eyes, identical to his.

“But we’re going to have to team up on this mission, while she recovers,” he continued. “I’m actually not so bad. You can ask your sister about me.”

James had finally stopped crying.

After that, [Redacted] kept talking to his baby for a good while, then cuddled on the couch with him until they both fell asleep.

***

When Yor woke up the next morning she felt much better. She could breathe well again, and her cough wasn’t as bad. Plus, her fever was gone, and she was no longer dizzy.

“Great,” she thought as she was going downstairs.

It was early in the morning, and it was very quiet. Anya was probably still asleep.

When she got to the living room, she found her husband laying on the couch, with their baby on his chest—a hand holding him there. Both were completely asleep.

“Awww, so sweet!” she couldn’t help saying, completely moved.

She walked quietly towards the coffee table and grabbed the camera. She wanted to take a picture.

That picture would become iconic in their family. So much, that a few years later [Redacted] kept a copy in his office.

It was the proof his son did like him.

Chapter Text

Christmas came and went fast.

It wasn’t their first one together, but it was more meaningful than the previous ones because there were no more secrets between them and because of their newest member.

Compared to the previous two Christmas, it was more modest for sure. Now that WISE did not take care of all the expenses and the Forgers were on a budget, the quantity of presents for Anya was reduced significantly.

Yet, Anya seemed as happy as usual. She hadn’t received a mountain of toys like the previous two years, but she had her parents and her little brother (the best present of them all).

“This one is for you, James!” Anya showed the baby excitedly.

Since he was too small to open his presents, her parents had allowed Anya to open James’ presents too.

“It’s a teddy bear!” she beamed.

Anya gave him the little plushie and he dropped right away.

“I’ll put it on the table so you can see it,” she picked it up.

The baby was very awake that morning, as he stared at the big Christmas tree they had bought just a few days ago.

Anya’s dad was holding him so he would be able to look at his big sister opening all the presents. He was almost a month and a half old and, and although he still cried a lot and woke up in the middle of the night, at least now he’d let other people beside Yor hold him.

In fact, James and [Redacted] had become inseparable now that the baby had warmed up to his dad. [Redacted] would carry him in his arms everywhere. He’d even learned to do house chores while holding the baby.

“Good,” Yor thought as she dried Anya’s hair with a towel that evening, after her daughter had taken a shower and Christmas day was about to be over.

She loved that little baby, but she had also missed spending time with her daughter and playing with her. Now that both parents were able to hold James, taking care of him was easier.

Yor smiled when she saw her husband kiss their baby’s head before carefully placing his little face on his shoulder. It was so sweet seeing him loving their son.

Yor didn’t notice when she started humming, but [Redacted] did.

After two years of living together, he knew Yor only hummed when she was very happy. Her voice was sweet as honey. [Redacted] secretly thought that Yor was probably meant to be a professional singer, but life had other plans. He had fallen in love with that voice very early in their marriage (even though it took him a long time to admit it).

Yor looked up and found her husband staring at her.

Her big eyes took his breath away for the hundredth time.

“May I ask you on a date with me?” his tone was so soft and Yor couldn’t help smiling.

The first time he had asked her on a date he’d use the same words, but his tone had been very different and much more intense.

She blushed.

“Yes!” that’s the only thing she could say.

This time, she didn’t need to learn anything and (hopefully) she wouldn’t have a serious injury in her butt.

“Great, let’s do it on New Year’s Eve,” her husband proposed.

They smiled at each other for a long time. Yor was now brushing Anya’s hair and her husband kept patting James in the back softly.

“James, you need to know that mommy and daddy flirt A LOT,” Anya informed her baby brother. “Get used to it.”

Yor giggled.

“Wait a second, as much as I would love to go on a date with you, I don’t think it’ll be possible,” she said. “We’re kind of busy here.”

[Redacted] looked at Anya and then the baby he was holding.

 “Who’s going to watch our kids?” Yor asked. “Franky will probably want to spend that day with his girlfriend.”

His wife was right. Plus, even if Franky's girlfriend was working that day, taking care of an infant and Anya at the same time would probably be too much for his best friend.

Yet, he really wanted a date with his wife. They hadn’t been on a date in months, since before James’ birth. So, using his resourceful former spy brain, he came up with something.

“Don’t worry, darling,” he smiled confidently. “I think I have something in mind.”

***

He took the whole week to plan it and Yor didn’t ask him about it because she wanted to be surprised.

On New Year’s Eve, her husband wore a suit and she put on the brand new dress she’d gotten for Christmas. When she got to the dining room and saw candles on the table, she realized where their date would take place.

“Would you mind if we stayed in for our date?” he asked holding their baby.

Yor's eyes sweetened. It always amazed her the lengths her husband would go to make her happy.

“I don’t mind at all!” she responded. “My love, this is beautiful!”

He’d decorated their dining room and living room with candles and silver colored stars.

“Mommy, have a seat, please,” Anya asked her.

Yor noticed she was wearing a pretty dress too.

“I hope you don’t mind I brought my kids to our date,” he joked.

“Not at all, since I had to bring mine too,” she joked back.

Anya sat at the table too and Yor extended her arms to hold James while her husband served dinner.

During dinner, Anya used her best manners. Yor thought that probably her husband had instructed her to do so, since this was a special occasion.

The meal was fantastic. She knew her husband’s cooking skills were incredible, but this time he’d really excelled himself.

After eating they talked for a while, fed James and let Anya play with Bond.

Since it was New Year’s Eve, they had allowed their daughter to stay up later than usual, but it was getting late and they could tell Anya was getting sleepy. She finally fell asleep on top of Bond (a common thing for her). Her dad scooped her up and carried her to her room, Yor followed them with the baby in her arms. He was getting sleepy too after eating.

Yor changed Anya into her pajamas and [Redacted] put James in his crib. The baby had fallen asleep.

After this, they went back to downstairs to continue their date.

[Redacted] turned on the stereo and played soft music.

“Would you like to dance?” he offered his hand to his wife.

They had been on plenty of dates since they had moved to Westalis, but they hadn’t danced since that night at Donovan Desmond's party almost a year ago.

Yor remembered the way her husband had looked at her that night and all the kissing they did. It wasn’t their first kiss, but back then, she thought he was acting, trying to convince others they were really married, when he was just kissing her because he couldn’t take it anymore.

Things had certainly changed since then.

Now she knew his real name and that he loved her.

But there was something that hadn’t changed…

…she still wanted him.

They were dancing slowly, embracing each other while listening to the soft trumpet and piano playing from afar. [Redacted] could feel his wife breathing on the crook of his neck and he kept moving slowly while he kissed the top of her head.

Yor moved her face, rubbing her nose on his neck, until she reached his mouth.

Just like that night all those months ago, they weren’t dancing anymore—just kissing.

She wanted to thank him for the date, but she was unable to interrupt their kissing session.

Every time they kissed, they lost track of time, and this occasion was no different. The music was long gone and now they were laying on the couch in the living room, cuddling and kissing some more.

They both knew they were being stupid. James had been asleep for more than an hour and they should have taken advantage of this time to sleep too, but they had missed being alone like this.

Yor was laying on top of him, caressing his face, giving him little kisses in between their talk.

“I’m so happy I can lay on my belly,” she said relieved smiling at her husband.

After months of pregnancy, it felt great she could do this now.

“I kind of miss your belly,” her husband admitted caressing her face. “It was cute.”

“Well, I don’t.” she was sure of it. “At the end, I couldn’t even climb the stairs without feeling tired. Can you imagine?”

That statement only made him hug her tighter.

They were staring at the fire in the chimney. That fire was their only light and it made everything feel warmer and cozier.

“Did you enjoy our date, my love?” he asked her.

“I did,” she answered giving him a kiss. “Probably our best date ever. Thank you so much.”

[Redacted] smiled. They really had come a long way since their first date. Now he knew exactly how to please his wife.

Yor wasn’t like those women from his previous life as a spy. Honey traps didn’t work on her, neither did all the fancy resources he had used in the past to woo other women.

All Yor wanted was the real him—his love.

Suddenly, they heard fireworks outside. Both glanced at the clock on the wall and realized it was midnight.

“Happy New Year!” they said at the same time, beaming.

[Redacted] took Yor’s face and kissed her.

This was the first time they started the new year like this. They knew they had plenty of years ahead of them and they would start each of them the same way.

Yor got up a little after that.

They were tired and really needed to go to bed. James would probably be up in an hour or two, so whatever rest they could get was better than nothing.

[Redacted] got up too.

Yor was already on her way up, but suddenly turned around, caressed his face and looked into his eyes.

Her husband realized they were probably thinking about the same thing—last year’s Christmas. The first time they had touch each other like this; when they were already in love, but too scared and stupid to admit it.

[Redacted] tucked in her hair, just as he had done that night. Only this time, instead of kissing her hand, he pulled her face and kissed her lips.

“Let’s go to bed,” his wife said pulling his hand and he knew exactly what she meant.

This time, he didn’t wish he could follow her.

He simply did.

Chapter Text

Her husband had kissed her.

Loid had kissed her.

On the lips. Like real couples do. Kissed her.

Yor’s thoughts weren’t very coherent after that kiss.

It was her first.

At some point, she had resigned herself to never kissing anyone. But she had. It had just happened!

And it hadn’t been someone random, it was someone she cared about…deeply.

Now they were walking back home. Snow fell rapidly and Anya giggled trying to catch as many snowflakes as she could. Loid was carrying their daughter and his face was completely neutral, as if kissing Yor was something that happened every day.

Yor, on the other hand…well, she was half-hiding her face in her chunky scarf. Even though it was cold, her cheeks were burning. She had a deadly grip on her purse, but what she really wanted to hold was her husband’s hand.

She wanted to, but she didn’t dare.

She also wanted to kiss him again, right there in the middle of the sidewalk, on their way back home.

Yor shook her head.

It was probably a fluke. God knows why Loid had done such thing. Maybe someone was watching? Maybe he had to convince people around them they were really married.

Weird. She hadn’t seen anyone around.

Her heart seemed to become bigger just thinking about that.

Could it be that…?

No. Stop.

Thinking those things would only make things worse for everyone, including herself.

They had an arrangement and everything worked so well because nobody ever crossed any lines. It was best if it remained that way.

Nevertheless, lately Yor would watch her husband a bit longer than usual when he wasn’t looking. Lately, he would come home earlier, and they would spend more and more time together. They had become friends and she loved staying up late talking to him. She liked the way his squinty eyes suddenly softened, and how clean he smelled after a shower. Loid was so smart, he knew about so many things, he’d travelled so much. But what she liked the most was his kindness and how much he loved their daughter.

They were home now.

She was preparing some tea for them and some hot cocoa for Anya. Her family was waiting sitting in the living room.

Now that she was in the kitchen alone for a second, she wanted to take a minute to remember that kiss.

His nose was cold against hers. His lips were soft and wet. His eyes were closed and there was a small tickle from his breathing. Closing her eyes while it happened went against her assassin training (always keep your eyes open!) but she realized it was the best decision of her life because, since she couldn’t see anything, she could remember every sensation.

Yor could still feel the snowflakes falling on her face and eyelids. His lips moved a little against hers and she did the same on instinct. His hand was on her face and was lightly holding her against his mouth. It had been something so soft, and yet so powerful, as if he was afraid she might escape or as if he was trying to tell her something very important. 

Yor had been wondering for a while how it would be to kiss her husband. Sometimes, while they were talking, she would accidentally stare at his lips.

Loid would never stare at her lips. He was a very respectful man…and he probably had no interest in someone like her.

Whenever that thought popped into her mind, Yor’s eyes moved towards her ringless hand.

“It’s not real,” she had to remind herself.

That was right. Pretend couples didn’t kiss. Pretend wives didn’t wear rings on their fingers either.

But she wanted to. Deep down she wanted him to kiss her, and she wanted this to be real.

“Looks like it’s a big snow storm,” Loid announced while looking out the window.

“Yay! No school tomorrow!” Anya celebrated.

“We’ll see about that,” Loid countered.

Yor placed the tray with hot beverages on the coffee table. She felt calmer now.

Husband and wife smiled at each other like they always did.

The snow didn’t stick, and Anya had to go to school the next day.

Yor kept thinking about the snow and the kiss. It would become one of her most precious memories.

From then on, she always wished for snow because deep in her heart she hoped her husband would kiss her again.

***

That morning, when Yor woke up, it was chillier than usual.

When she opened her eyes and saw white outside, she got up excited like a kid and went straight to the window.

Snow.

That winter had been warmer than usual, and she had resigned herself to not seeing snow that year.

Thankfully she was wrong. Just like she had been wrong about so many other things.

“Yor?” her husband’s sleepy voice called her from their bed.

She turned around and saw his messy bed hair and squinty eyes barely open. He had just woken up.

“What are you doing up so early on a Sunday, love?” he asked her. “Come back to bed, please. I need some cuddles.”

Yor chuckled. He was more spoiled than both of their children combined.

[Redacted] always needed cuddles in the morning to start his day right and at night to be able to sleep well.

Yor smiled sweetly and went back to bed. The room wasn’t as chilly when she was in her husband’s arms.

“Why are you so happy this morning, my love?” he asked kissing her face.

“It’s snowing!” she beamed.

“I see,” her husband replied, but he was too busy to even look out the window. “And what’s so fascinating about snow, Mrs. Forger?”

Yor blushed. This is the first time he asked her that question.

“Well, it reminds me of our first kiss,” she told him.

[Redacted] was now looking into her eyes, caressing her face.

“The one at the park?” he asked.

“The one in the snow,” she replied. “Since that day, I wanted you to kiss me again and I thought that maybe if it snowed, you would.”

Why? Why did his wife had to be so cute? Who gives those adorable answers just like that?

[Redacted] couldn’t take it anymore. He had to kiss her.

“Oh my God, I love you so much!” he told her in between kisses.

Yor giggled.

“I take it you like snow as much as I do now, right?” she asked him.

“It’s now my favorite. I’ll be happy if it snows all year,” he kept kissing her.

They stopped for a second to look into each other’s eyes and decide how to proceed. It was Sunday and it was still early, plus it was practically a miracle neither Anya nor James was up yet. With a little luck, maybe they would have enough time to…

“Mommy, daddy!! It’s snowing!!” Anya yelled from her room.

Maybe not. Not enough time.

Minutes later, their daughter came into the room holding hands with their one year old toddler.

“Can James and I go play in the snow?” Anya asked.

“It’s still very early. We’ll all play outside later,” her dad told her. “That way, we’ll have more snow to play.”

“But what if it melts?” Anya complained.

“It won’t,” her mom argued. “This time it’s sticking to the ground.”

Anya looked out the window and saw a thick layer of snow already accumulating.

“Okay, I’ll wait,” she decided.

Anya climbed into her parents’ bed. Her little brother was already there, cuddling with their dad. She placed herself in between her parents and brother and hugged her mommy. Everybody knew mommy was the best cuddler in the family.

The Forgers stayed warm in bed looking out the window at the very magical snow.

Chapter Text

“I’m so nervous,” Franky said for the tenth time in the last hour.

He was wearing a tux and somehow had tamed his wild hair for the special occasion. He looked good.

“Were you this nervous when you married Yor?” he asked his best friend.

They were in one of the side rooms of the church, waiting for the ceremony to start.

“Not really. Well, yes, now that you mention it, I was very nervous about my mission,” the former spy recalled. “But not about getting married. If anything, I was relieved I was able to find a wife.”

“You’re not helping!” Franky almost grabbed his hair as a nervous habit but stopped himself right on time.

[Redacted] looked at his watch. The ceremony was starting in less than ten minutes. They were probably going to come get them any moment.

“Oh my God, what if she changes her mind?” Franky wondered almost crying. “What if I’m standing by the altar and she doesn’t show up?”

“Like in Berlint in Love?” his friend sort of joked around. “I doubt it.”

Franky got up and started pacing quickly around the room.

“Her family thinks she’s crazy for marrying someone like me,” he confessed. “I’m a nobody from Ostania. She’s wonderful. I don’t deserve her.”

[Redacted] knew something about feeling that way. Sometimes, that’s how he felt about Yor. Maybe he could help his friend, just like many times he had help him.

“Franky, that’s crazy. You’re a good man,” he told him. “You’re smart, resourceful, and funny too.”

Franky groaned. He wasn’t convinced.

“But the most important thing is that she loves you and wants to be with you,” [Redacted] continued.

It was true. He’d seen it with his own eyes. This girl was crazy about his best friend, and it showed.

“It doesn’t matter what her family thinks, as long as you two want to do this,” he declared. “You’re the ones who are going to marry and live with each other.”

Franky let out a big sigh of relief. Yes, that was right. His bunny loved him and wanted to marry him. The rest didn’t matter.

“I’m still nervous,” he admitted.

[Redacted] looked at his watch again. Any minute now.

“Don’t worry, the wedding itself is not a big deal,” he reassured him. “All you have to do is stand there and say: ‘I take you…uh…wait, what’s her name?”

[Redacted] just realized he’d never heard the girl’s name. Franky had introduced her as “his bunny”.

He looked at his friend and saw sheer panic in his eyes.

“Franky, what is her name?” he repeated the question.

“…”

“Oh my God, Franky!” he yelled panicking. “Please tell me you know the name of the woman you’re about to marry!”

He knew it, of course he did. Unfortunately, at the moment, his mind was totally blank, and he couldn’t remember it.

“FUCK!” Franky jeered.

He’d been calling her “bunny” for so long now he couldn’t remember her real name.

That wouldn’t do. He had to say her real name during the wedding vows.

“I’ll go ask Yor. Maybe she knows it,” [Redacted] walked nervously towards the exit. “If she doesn’t know it, we’ll make Anya ask her and pray for her not to realize the groom doesn’t know her name.”

“Wait!” Franky yelled as he was opening the door. “I remember now!”

[Redacted] felt like he could breathe again, and Franky wiped some sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

“Are you sure it’s the right name?” [Redacted] wanted to make sure.

“Yes! I’m positive,” Franky assured him. “Her name is…”

But before he could say it, there was a knock on the door.

“Is the groom ready?” one of the bridesmaids asked.

The panicky expression returned to Franky’s face.

“Come on, let’s get you married,” his best friend pushed him towards the door.

***

Franky’s face looked as white as a paper sheet as he stood by the altar waiting for his bride.

His best friend was standing right next to him, ready to catch him in case he fainted (which by looking at him was likely).

Yor was sitting right at the front and looked stunning wearing a pink dress. Even James looked very neat wearing a little suit similar to his dad’s.

His son was a year and a half old toddler now. He had learned to walk months ago, and no one could stop him now. Both parents silently prayed he would behave during the ceremony. Currently, he was too busy playing with a toy car he’d brought from home.

Anya was nowhere to be seen, but they knew where she was—with the bride. Franky had asked her to be the flower girl and Anya happily accepted.

Music started and Franky straightened up and adjusted his glasses. He was ready.

Anya entered the church sprinkling rose petals as she walked. Her dress was the same tone of pink as Yor, and she looked lovely.

[Redacted] took a quick look at his best friend. Franky looked like he wasn’t breathing.

Oh no…

Now he really thought he was about to faint.

“Franky are you okay?” he whispered but heard no answer.

Not sure about what to do, he looked at Yor, almost trying to communicate telepathically with her. Yor, who also knew Franky, knew things weren’t right with their friend.

Franky’s body involuntarily leaned towards one side and Yor’s eyes opened, because she’d seen plenty of bodies fall, so she knew when this was about to happen.

Just when they thought Franky was done, he snapped out of it, straightened his body, and returned to a normal state.

The bride had just entered.

The ex-assassin and the former spy let out a sigh of relief.

As he saw his future wife walking down the aisle, Franky’s face changed, from paperwhite robotic to a huge smile.

That man was totally in love.

[Redacted] knew this by experience.

Anya finished her big task and sat by her mom and brother. James noticed her presence right away and climbed on her lap.

“Hey James, did you miss me?” Anya hugged her little brother.

The ceremony started. Both groom and bride were beaming.

[Redacted] only hoped his best friend remembered the bride’s name when it was time for the vows. Franky had forgotten to tell him her name again, so if he forgot, he couldn’t help him.

Luckily for everyone he didn’t.

Everything was going well, but before the ceremony was done. James finally noticed his dad was standing right in front of him.

“Daddy!” he yelled with a huge smile.

[Redacted] shook his head and put a finger on his lips to signal James he should stay quiet, but that only made the baby yell louder.

“DADDY! UP!”

The toddler wanted his dad to pick him up.

Both parents froze not knowing what to do.

The shameless baby kept yelling. Yor tried to grab him, but he escaped and simply walked towards his dad.

At that point, [Redacted] had no choice but to grab his baby and hold him while the ceremony was over.

“I am so sorry,” he apologized to the groom and bride.

“Don’t worry about it!” the bride beamed.

She really had a magnificent sense of humor and was perfect for Franky. [Redacted] felt really happy for his best friend.

***

The bride’s family wasn’t as bad as Franky imagined. Aside for the typical old complaining aunts, the rest of the family was happy about Franky becoming a new member.

It was a big family, especially compared to the few guests on Franky’s side—the Forgers and his colleagues from the repair shop.

The bride was friendly to everyone. She knew how much the Forgers meant for her now husband. Franky had told her all the truth before asking her to marry him. She loved Anya and James and saw them as her niece and nephew. The kids really liked her too.

Since the weather in April was generally nice, the wedding banquet was outdoors and there was even a dancefloor with a very talented band.

Anya and James enjoyed dancing the most. Their dad thought it was more like jumping and running all over the dancefloor, but since they were the youngest kids at the party, everybody thought they looked adorable dancing.

At some point, the groom and bride picked up his kids to dance with them and he took this chance to slow dance with his wife without having to watch his children. [Redacted] knew Yor loved dancing, now he did too.

The banquet was delicious. Franky and his wife had chosen a menu that combined typical food from Ostania and Westalis. The combination of both turned out to be fantastic.

The Forgers knew this already.

The party lasted into the night, until the bride and groom finally bid everyone goodbye to go on to their honeymoon.

“Thank you!” Franky said to his best friend before leaving.

All this happiness had happened because of him. Franky would have never thought about moving to Westalis if it wasn’t for him. He would have never met his wife if he hadn’t met the Forgers.

[Redacted] and Yor waved goodbye as Franky drove away. They were very happy for him.

Their kids were asleep by then. People were slowly leaving, but the couple stayed a few more minutes to have one last slice of cake and listen to the band. They had to take this chance because they didn’t go to a lot of parties.

“Looks like this time we beat them, Mrs. Forger,” [Redacted] declared looking at their tired kids.

“Apparently so, Mr. Forger,” Yor giggled.

The Forger family was sitting at their table. [Redacted] was holding Anya, who was drooling on her dad’s lapel. By this time, he was so used to this, he didn’t even flinch. Yor had their son in her arms, while she skillfully ate.

There wasn’t a lot of people left, but the band kept playing. Yor listened enchanted by the music. Her husband couldn’t help staring at her.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” he inquired.

“Sure, my love.”

“Today, I couldn’t help noticing how you looked at everything,” he began. “By any chance, is this something you wanted?”

“Hrmmm? What do you mean?”

“You know, the flowers, the puffy white dress, the church ceremony, the cake,” he listed. “A wedding.”

Yor now understood the question and she took a moment to answer (which only made her husband a little nervous).

Even though they had been married for more than three years now, he was willing to do all this if that’s something his wife wanted.

“Well, all this is truly beautiful. All weddings are,” she started. “Sure, it would have been nice to wear a puffy white dress and have flowers everywhere, but…”

She stopped for a moment, trying to find exactly what she wanted to say.

“But?” her husband pressed.

“But I don’t think it’s necessary,” she completed. “Weddings are beautiful, but that’s not the important part. Marriage is.”

Her husband nodded. He understood.

“Plus, I kind of like how things happened for us,” she kept going. “I like how we fell in love slowly, while already married.”

“Me too,” he kissed her hand thinking about their life in Ostania. “It couldn’t have happened any other way for me. It couldn’t have been anyone else. Just you.”

He meant it and she felt the same way.

Yor put her head on his shoulder, and they just listened to the band, while holding their sleeping children.

No mattered how it has started, the life they were building each day was truly beautiful.

Suddenly, [Redacted] turned to see his wife's face.

"Okay, not a wedding," he said. "How about a honeymoon?"

Yor smiled. 

Now that was a good idea.

Chapter Text

It was pitch dark when a thunder woke him up.

He was on the floor of an old place. The paint on the walls was worn off and there were stains on the wooden floor.

This wasn’t home. Where was he?

“Twilight?” a familiar voice called. “Good, you’re awake now.”

He had to blink several times to make his eyes focus and he could finally see who was talking to him.

“Nightfall?”

“Yes, I know you’re hungry,” she told him. “I managed to find a couple of onions today. I’m sick of onion soup too, but given the food shortages, I think we’re doing better than the majority of people.”

“Food shortages? What the hell are you talking about?” he asked.

Nightfall eyed him suspiciously.

“The food shortages because of the war,” she responded.

“War?!”

Nightfall rolled her eyes and sighed exasperated.

“Not again,” she mumbled. “Agent, what’s your name?”

His name was [Redacted], but he was not going to tell her that. Only his wife, daughter and best friend knew his real name. For the rest of the world he was…

“Loid Forger,” he answered.

“Shit. You blacked out again, didn’t you?” Nightfall said. “Fuck. I hate it when this happens.”

[Redacted] was very confused. He didn’t know where he was, his wife and daughter were nowhere to be found either. But that wasn’t the strangest part in all this.

“Nightfall, you’re alive,” he couldn’t believe his eyes.

[Redacted] had seen her die the day he and Yor rescued Anya. Nightfall had died a hero by crashing the plane the scientists from Project Apple were using to escape. Yet, she was alive, but how?

“Oh that. It’s funny how you always kill me in your fantasies,” she said. “That doesn’t speak very well of you, Twilight.”

[Redacted] frowned. She had called him by a codename he didn’t use anymore. He was no longer Twilight.

“You have no clue what I’m talking about, don’t you?” she asked him. “Let me catch you up.”

Nightfall sat on an old chair before talking.

“You finished R and R and were discharged to go back to being an agent,” she informed him. “Ostania declared war to Westalis and attacked our country no long after that.”

[Redacted] was shaking his head. Impossible.

“That’s not what happened. We stopped the war!” he looked in his memory and saw it clearly. “The SSS was behind Project Apple. My daughter was involved as a test subject and Yor and I…”

Nightfall shook her head firmly.

“Handler came to get me out of R and R,” he continued. “It was right after the attack on Eden Academy.”

“Nobody attacked Eden,” she corrected him. “And of course Handler didn’t come get you.”

His head was pounding.

“But then, if Handler didn’t come get me, that means I didn’t go back to Ostania, so Yor and I…”

“You and Yor Briar got divorced almost three years ago,” Nightfall completed.

He shut his eyes tight, trying desperately to remember anything Nightfall was saying, but there was nothing in his mind.

“And the baby?” he asked anguished.

Nightfall closed her eyes and took a deep breath before answering.

“I hate this part,” she mumbled to herself. “She didn’t keep it. I’m sorry.”

“It’s a lie!” he accused.

She had lied to him about that before, she was probably lying again.

“Twilight, we’ve been through this before,” she told him. “I don’t care if you don’t believe me. It’s the truth.”

He got up to look for a door and get the hell out of there. He needed to go find his family.

Nevertheless, as soon as he did it, he felt lightheaded.

“Hey, take it easy,” his colleague told him. “You’ve been sick lately.”

“I need to go find Yor and Anya,” he felt desperate.

“It’s a bad idea,” Nightfall helped him sit on the nearest chair. “You’re too weak, it’s raining, and there’s too many Ostanian soldiers out there. We need to stay inside.”

Nightfall gave him a glass of water.

“Ostania is winning the war. They took Westalis’ capital a few weeks ago. There was nothing we could do,” she said sadly. “WISE has been done for a long time. You and I are the only ones left. We’ve just been keeping each other alive for the past few months.”

War. Death. Horror everywhere.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar noise—muffled steps and breathing. It was Bond.

The old pup went straight to his lap, expecting his master to pat his head affectionately. Bond looked skinnier and dirty but [Redacted] felt relieved to see him. Until he realized something.

“Why is Bond here? Shouldn’t he be back in Berlint with Anya and Yor?”

“Shit,” Nightfall jeered and that only gave him an ominous feeling. “You went to get him last year, when you managed to go back to Berlint.”

[Redacted] looked at his dog. There was no way in hell he would take Bond from Anya, unless…

“Nightfall, where is my family? Where are Yor and Anya?” he could barely ask her because deep down, he knew the answer already.

Nightfall sat down next to him and grabbed his hand before answering him.

“They died last year in a bombing. The dog was the only one who survived,” she said. “You’ve been having these blackout episodes ever since. I’m sorry, Twilight.”

Her words echoed in his head over and over.

They died. Bombing. War.

All of his fears had materialized before his eyes, but somehow none of them could register in his mind.

His breathing was quick, but no air would come into his lungs. He was drowning.

This had to be a lie.

It had to.

He had so many happy memories of the past few months with his family in Westalis. They had moved into a house; Anya was back at school and Yor was six months pregnant. They had just bought a crib a couple of days ago. They loved each other; he saw his daughter play every day and he slept with his wife in his arms every night.

All the things that Nightfall said weren’t real. They couldn’t be.

“Hey, knock it off,” his colleague told him. “Breathe, Twilight!”

He couldn’t go on—not without his family.

Bond barked, but it sounded weird, as if instead of being right next to him, the dog was outside the room.

“[Redacted], wake up!” Nightfall yelled.

How did she know his real name?

“[Redacted]!”

That wasn’t her voice either that was…

“[Redacted]! My love, please, you’re scaring me,” Yor begged him.

[Redacted] finally opened his eyes.

He was safe and sound in his wife’s arms, drenched in cold sweat and trembling from head to toe.

“You were screaming,” she told him kissing his face and wiping the sweat with a tissue. “Are you okay, my love?”

He didn’t realize he was crying until he heard his own sobs. He nodded. Thank God it was just a horrible nightmare. Air finally entered his lungs.

“The-there was w-war,” he stuttered. “I was with Nightfall and Bond. You, Anya and the baby…you were…” he couldn’t even say it aloud.

“Dead?” Yor asked quietly.

They were sitting on their bed, and he hugged her instead of answering. He was desperate to feel her arms around him, her baby bump against him.

“It was just a nightmare, my love,” she soothed while she caressed his head and rubbed his back. “It happens to you sometimes, when there’s a storm.”

Only then, [Redacted] heard thunder outside.

“I don’t remember,” he told her. “Does this happen every time there’s a storm?”

“No,” she replied. “Every once in a while.”

Maybe it was the way his mind dealt with fear. He’d studied this back when he pretended being a psychiatrist. Still…

“I need to go see Anya,” he got up from the bed.

He needed to make sure his daughter was safe and sound.

[Redacted] got out of the room and quickly walked towards Anya’s bedroom, then he carefully opened the door and got in quietly.

Anya was sleeping. She was breathing normally while she cuddled with Mr. Chimera. She looked so little.

A shaky hand caressed the top of her head and [Redacted]’s eyes started to water again.

His family meant everything to him. Everything.

He got out of the room after that because he didn’t want to wake his daughter up. Then he went downstairs and sat right at the bottom of the stairs with his face buried in his hands. The former spy was having a hard time calming down. He was still shaking when his wife sat next to him.

“I’m sorry I woke you up and scared you,” he apologized.

“It’s all right, my love,” she took his hand and kissed it, then she rubbed her face with it. “For better or for worse. In good times and in bad times. In sickness and in health. I pledge myself to you. Remember?”

[Redacted] smiled. She had just repeated their vows.

“Come sit on the couch,” she got up and pulled his hand. “I’ll make us some tea.”

It was around 3 a.m. He was still shaking when Yor gave him a cup of chamomile tea. He didn’t feel like drinking but he did anyways.

Yor could see he was still very affected by that nightmare, so she sat down and pull him down, so he could lay down and put his head on her lap. Her husband loved taking naps on her lap.

“Everything is okay, my darling,” she soothed running her fingers through his hair. “We’re all safe and sound at our home in Westalis. Anya is sleeping in her bed. You and I are together and love each other. Our baby is growing and will be here in a few months.”

[Redacted] hugged her waist and placed his face against her growing belly.

“I think I need some concussive therapy, just to be sure this is real,” he told her. “Would you mind doing that, please?”

“What? No!” she responded alarmed by his request. “I can’t do that!”

The former spy never thought there would be a time when he desperately needed to be kicked on the face, but at the moment, it seemed like a great solution. However, he knew it was unlikely his wife would agree to do that.

But then…

KICK. KICK. KICK.

That wasn’t Yor, but their baby kicking his face from the inside of his wife’s belly.

“Thank you, baby!” he laughed and kissed Yor’s belly. “Now I feel much better.”

KICK. KICK.

Only then, [Redacted] was able to believe this was real.

***

Pitch dark and then a thunder.

A familiar shabby place. Him waking up on the floor. Nightfall’s voice.

This was an old nightmare.

In a few moments, Nightfall would tell him about the onion soup and the food shortages, then about the war in Westalis.

Breathing in. Breathing out. There was nothing to be afraid of. This was nothing but a nightmare.

Nevertheless, when Bond came in the room and Nightfall told him his family was dead, [Redacted] still shook. This was the worst part of that horrible dream.

“But it’s still a nightmare,” he reminded himself aloud.

“And how do you know this is just a nightmare?” Nightfall’s poisonous voice asked him. “How do you know it’s not your other life the one that’s a dream?”

His breathing stopped.

He didn’t know. Right then, that dream was so vivid, everything about it seemed so real.

But then, something happened…

…he heard a baby crying.

[Redacted] laughed.

“Because I can hear my son crying,” he answered calmly. “See you next time, Nightfall. I’m going home to my family,” he told her before waking up.

The baby’s cries were louder now. By the time he opened his eyes, Yor was already sitting on the bed, about to get up.

“I’ll go see him, darling,” he told her. “You go back to sleep.”

“Okay,” she responded sleepily before laying back down.

[Redacted] opened the door of his son’s room and saw him standing on his crib crying his eyes out.

“Hey, Sweetheart. Did the thunder wake you up and scare you?” he asked as he reached for him and picked him up. “They scared me too.”

James stopped crying, put his arms around his dad’s neck and placed his tiny face on his shoulder.

“Dada,” his little voice said.

The baby was less than a year old and was learning how to walk. During the day he was unstoppable, but in times like this, he didn’t mind being cuddled.

“Ah! Ah!” James tried to talk. In his little language, that meant Anya.

“Anya?” his dad asked. “She’s asleep. She has to go to school in the morning, so we can’t play with her right now.”

James pouted. He loved playing with his big sister.

“How about we go check on her real quick?” his dad proposed. “But you have to be very quiet.”

The baby just giggled and [Redacted] knew he probably wouldn’t stay quiet anyways.

They went to check on Anya, who was completely asleep, snuggling with Mr. Chimera. Her dad smiled seeing that she still looked so little.

“Ah!” the baby said.

“Okay, let’s get out before you wake up your sister,” he whispered.

They walked out Anya’s room.

“Now what?” he asked his baby. “Are you ready to go back to sleep? Or are you going to keep me up all night?” he joked.

The baby smiled and said exactly what he was thinking: “Mama!!”

“I knew it!” his dad tickled him. “This was just a trick to get to mama.”

James giggled delighted. His dad liked playing with him and he loved it.

“Well, mama is asleep too, so joke’s on you, little one,” he informed him.

“Mama?” the baby asked again with a sad voice. “Mama?”

[Redacted] smiled. This baby was just too cute.

“All right, if you promise to be quiet and go back to sleep, you can come sleep on our bed,” he told him. “But this is the last time! And only because of the thunders. Do you hear me?”

It wouldn’t be the last time. Of course not.

So, he took James to the room he shared with Yor. By then his wife had gone back to sleep.

[Redacted] rocked his baby a little before placing him in the middle of the bed.

“Night, night,” he said while the baby cuddled with him. “Sweet dreams.”

Now that he felt safe in his parent’s bed, it didn’t take long for the baby to go back to sleep.

Soon, [Redacted] also drifted off. This time there were no more nightmares.

He felt safe.

He knew this was real.

Chapter Text

This wasn’t the first time her husband bought her flowers.

On Mother’s Day and on her birthday, there would always be a bouquet of fresh white roses waiting for her.

Yor knew it was her husband the one who purchased the flowers, but he would always say they were from Anya.

She wasn’t sure if he was shy about giving her flowers or if he was being considerate because she did get shy about receiving presents, especially something as beautiful as flowers.

However, that changed one day.

After she got hurt during an assignment and she spent a couple of days at the hospital, one evening she entered her room and found something special inside a glass vase laying on top of her dresser.

It wasn’t the perfect white bouquet that Anya gave her on Mother’s Day, nor the exaggerated quantity of flowers Yuri always bought for her.

Instead, she found the most perfect red rose in full bloom.

She kept staring at it in awe.

Back then, her husband and her were sharing a room out of necessity, since her brother had been staying with them for a couple of days (and who knows when he would leave).

It had only been a couple of nights, but Yor liked sharing the room with her husband. He was so warm and always smelled so good. Plus, every night he would give her the most tender kisses and would let her fall asleep in his arms.

“Do you like it?” Loid whispered hugging her from behind.

“That depends,” she answered playfully resting her head on him. “Who is this rose from?”

Loid turned her around and kissed her face over and over.

“From me,” he answered. “I bought that rose for my wife.”

Yor beamed at his answer. Nobody had given her a present like this; she’d never had a boyfriend or even a suitor who would buy flowers for her. The only man she’d ever kissed was her husband, the only man she…

“I love it,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

As beautiful and perfect as that flower was, it wasn't for anyone else to see. It wasn't part of an act to make him look like a real husband. If it had, Loid would have placed it in the living room for Yuri to see it. Instead, that rose was inside their room, so only them knew of its existence.

This rose was for her...

Anya and Yuri were already sleeping. Even Yor and Loid were wearing their pajamas and it was time to go to sleep.

While lying in bed in the darkness, they weren’t talking much like other times, but she could see his bright blue eyes full of emotion while she caressed his face.

Things had changed so much between them in the last few weeks, and she couldn’t be happier. Just like every night, he was the first to kiss her. They kept kissing and kissing for a long time and it was so hard to stop that time, but they had to otherwise they risked losing control.

Just like every night he put her head on his chest and let her fall asleep while hugging her. Yor’s heart was beating so fast while thinking about that rose and about his kisses. She wanted call him ‘my love’ and say what was on her mind—that she was in love with him.

But she didn’t dare, so instead she whispered:

“Good night, Loid.”

“Good night, Yor,” he whispered back kissing the top of her head and hugging her tight against him.

Maybe one day…

***

It was August and they had just moved into their new house a few weeks ago.

When Yor opened her eyes, her husband wasn’t in bed. Which was weird, because every day when she woke up, he was there.

She rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms while yawning. Then she patted her belly. The baby moved a little.

“Good morning, little one,” she said to her belly. “Do you miss those daddy cuddles?”

[Redacted] loved spoiling his wife with lots of affection. Every morning, as soon as she opened her eyes, he gave her kisses and caresses; he would also lovingly kiss and rub her baby bump until he made their baby kick happily.

But that morning, he wasn't there to cuddle with his wife and baby.

Yor tried not to worry. A few nights ago, her husband had a horrible nightmare and it had taken him a long time (and a few kicks from certain baby) to calm down. Maybe the best thing was to try to find him and make sure he was okay.

She sat up and slid her legs to one side of the bed to put on her house slippers. Then she turned her head to look at the clock on her nightstand and only then she saw it—a red rose in full bloom.

This time it wasn’t in a vase, it was just laying on top of her nightstand. The rose had no thorns, her husband had carefully taken all of them so she wouldn't hurt her fingers. That made her smile.

Yor got up and saw another perfect red rose on top of her dresser. Then on the hallway, on a small table there was another one, and one more on the top of the stairs.

When Yor got downstairs, and saw the dining table and living room, she gasped.

There were red roses everywhere.

Her heart was beating so fast that the baby started kicking frantically. That made her rub her belly and calm down, she didn’t want to scare him. Her eyes filled with tears of joy.

“Good morning, my love,” her husband greeted coming out of the kitchen with a tray full of food. "I was going to bring you breakfast in bed, but you woke up before I could do it."

"Good morning," she kissed him. “This is beautiful! Thank you, my love," she clung to his neck. "How many roses are in here?”

“One hundred and four,” he answered proudly. “One for every week we’ve been married. I thought about buying one for each day we’ve been married, but that would have been 730 roses,” he recounted. “Happy anniversary!”

Yor’s eyes opened big when she heard those words.

Oh no…

“I completely forgot about our anniversary,” she admitted feeling so guilty.

Last year, since they weren’t together for real before, it wasn’t a date they celebrated.

“It’s okay, darling,” he chuckled.

“But I didn’t get you anything!” she protested.

[Redacted] smiled sweetly at her.

“You gave me the best present,” he told her placing a hand on her belly. “You gave me my family back when you decided to move here with me.”

Her eyes sweetened. It had been the best decision of her life. She’d been so happy these months and she knew she couldn’t live without her husband.

“Still,” she insisted. “Maybe I should get you a tie or a sweater, or something.”

He laughed. “Okay, I wouldn’t mind getting a new sweater,” he agreed (never mind that it was still scorching hot in August) and put his forehead against hers.

They both giggled and started kissing until they heard:

“DAD!! Why are there so many flowers here?!”

Anya had woken up and [Redacted] had to let go of his wife.

“These are mommy’s flowers,” he replied. “It’s our anniversary.”

“I see,” the little girl said. “BOND!! Don’t eat mommy’s flowers!!”

Yor giggled.

Seeing herself surrounded by flowers and the love of her family made her feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

She did buy a sweater for her husband, but not that day. However, she did compensate his efforts that afternoon, while Anya went to the movie theater with Franky and the girl he was dating.

“Next year, I’m getting 156 roses,” her husband informed her.

He was out of breath while lying in bed completely exhausted after making love to his wife.

“Great,” she answered, cuddling with him in their bed. “I love it when you buy me flowers.”   

Chapter Text

Yor hadn’t seen a massacre like this since her days as Thorn Princess.

It had been a while.

Red everywhere…on the walls, on the floor, even the furniture.

She walked slowly—her heart beating fast. Yor didn’t want to see any more of this, but she needed to know how far it went, how much of it she would find—the body count.

As she kept moving, sure enough, she found something that resembled her husband. Yor wasn’t sure. There was a twisted leg here and an arm there, and so much red on the face that she couldn’t really tell. Same thing with Anya. In her case, the eyes weren’t in the right place anymore.

Yor followed the red string to the next room of her home. As much as it pained her, she needed to find the culprit and stop the massacre before it became even bigger.

Unfortunately, she knew who the culprit was…her own son.

This was all her fault. James looked like her husband, but he had that affinity for the color red from her.

No matter how much she loved her son, she had to stop him.

Yor quietly entered the next room where she found her son humming happily—his hands and face covered in red, still at work.

“Oh James, what did you do?!” she cried.

The two-year-old toddler turned around, looked at her, and smiled big.

He really was a shameless baby!

“Mama!” he beamed while still holding the weapon in his hand:

A red marker.

“Did you steal that from your sister?” she accused with her hands on her waist. “How many times do I have to tell you? No markers! And no drawing on the wall! Or the floors! Or the furniture!!”

“No? Mama!” he pointed at the wall and Yor realized he was drawing her now.

She came closer, grabbed him and picked him up.

“No. No more,” she told him nuzzling on his soft baby cheek. “Aww, if you weren’t so cute, you’d be in such much trouble!”

Chapter Text

Originally, this was going to be their honeymoon.

[Redacted] had planned this for months: four days exclusively with his wife…without their two children.

It was hard to believe, but he and Yor had never been on a trip alone together. They already had Anya when they met and got married and when their relationship became real, Yor got pregnant shortly after (and many other things happened), so they never had the chance to go on a honeymoon.

After James was born, caring for him made it impossible for them to leave him and Anya. Later he started his animation company, so work prevented them from going anywhere.

Suddenly, three years had passed since they had moved to Westalis, and the coveted honeymoon was yet to happen.

That’s why he was so excited when he started planning the trip. He booked a small and beautiful vacation home by the beach, where he would spend four whole glorious days doing nothing but fucking his wife senseless.

Yor was very excited too. She didn’t like the idea of leaving their children, but she had never been alone with her husband for more than a night, so the prospect of having time just the two of them enticed her.

Their children were supposed to stay with Franky and his wife, who was currently pregnant. And the couple was counting the days for their lovely trip.

Then something unexpected happened.

Franky’s wife gave birth two weeks before schedule and that changed their plans.

His best friend offered to care for Anya and James anyways, but [Redacted] knew better. After James came home from the hospital as a newborn, the whole family had a tough (and sleepless) time. He couldn’t do that to Franky and his wife just so he and Yor could go fuck for a few days. The ex-informant had his hands full with his newborn baby, so instead, they turned a perfectly lovely honeymoon into a family vacation.

It was a good thing that the vacation home he had rented had more than one room.

“We’ll go alone some other time, my love,” Yor cheered as they packed the bags in the car.

“I know, darling,” he smiled at her. “We’ll have a good time with the kids anyways.”

[Redacted] really thought so. He loved his children, after all. Plus, he already dealt with them on a daily basis, how hard could it be to tame them while they travelled?

As usual, things never turned out as he thought when it came to his children.

Less than 40 minutes after leaving their home, James spilled juice all over Anya, himself, and the backseat. They had to stop to clean that disaster.

“Why did you even have juice in the first place?” his dad asked the toddler who was completely soaked in apple juice.

His son didn’t answer, he was too busy trying to clean his sticky hands on his dad’s shirt. Anya had gone to clean up and change at a rest stop with Yor.

Twenty minutes later they were on their way again but had to stop minutes later, this time Anya was the reason.

“Dad, I need to pee!” she announced urgently.

“Didn’t you go at the rest stop?” her dad asked.

“I forgot.”

So, they stopped again. This time, [Redacted] made sure everyone went to the bathroom, so they could continue their trip without interruptions.

No such luck.

A little later, both kids claimed at the same time:

“Dad, we’re hungry!!” Anya declared.

“Hungy!” the toddler couldn’t even talk properly, but they all knew what that meant.

“Oh, come on, kids!” he exclaimed. “We’re less than a couple of hours away…”

“I’m kind of hungry too, darling,” Yor added.

That did it. He couldn’t let his whole family be hungry.

The only thing around was this old raggedy place and [Redacted]'s former spy alarm went off when he saw the inside of this place. He was about to tell them they should look for a different restaurant, but his kids were starving, so they all ate there.

After that, they managed to drive all the way to their vacation home. When they got there, it was late, so they went to sleep after promising their kids they would go to the beach in the morning.

Husband and wife were kind of tired too, so they went to sleep pretty early too.

Before 5 am, Anya woke them up.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” Yor’s groggy voice asked.

“Mommy, I don’t feel well,” those words were followed by their daughter throwing up on the floor and his wife jumping out of bed to help her.

It was probably that dirty place with its dirty food!

[Redacted] was mad at himself. He suspected there was something wrong with that place, he should have taken his family somewhere else.

They spent the first morning of their trip at a local doctor’s office. Luckily, James seemed to be fine, but then again, he had barely eaten anything. He was a very picky eater.

The rest of the day, they just stayed at the vacation home watching TV and listening to the ocean waves from the window. Anya needed to rest and drink a lot of liquids.

When nighttime came, all of them were exhausted so they slept right away.

The next morning, they slept until late and when the Forgers woke up, Anya looked and felt much better.

“Let’s go to the beach!” the little girl said.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Anya?” her dad asked her. “We can rest one more day if you...”

“No, dad!” she refused. “I want to build a sandcastle with James!”

The toddler already had his little bucket and toy shovel ready to dig.

“All right, but if you start feeling bad, we’re coming back here,” he warned her.

So, the Forgers headed to the beach, which was within walking distance from the house.

It had been a long time since they had been on vacation, probably before even James was born.

When the couple heard their children laughing as they played on the seashore, everything was just perfect. The parents joined their kids and played with them too, getting closer to the water, feeling the current drag away the sand under their feet, running by the shore, picking up their children, and safely swimming in the ocean with them.

And when they got tired, they sat on a large beach towel and let Anya and James build a sandcastle while they rested.

[Redacted] placed his head on Yor’s lap. This was still his favorite place in the world, even more now that his wife was wearing a swimsuit. She was running her fingers through his hair and looking at him lovingly.

“Do you want to take a nap, my love?” she cooed. “I can watch the children while you do.”

He smiled. “What I really want is to be alone with you,” he admitted.

“Tonight,” she whispered playfully. “Mini honeymoon!”

[Redacted] giggled. That was right. Mini honeymoon.

They spent a couple more hours on the beach and then headed home to wash off before going to a restaurant to eat dinner.

Anya ate well and James didn’t. That was normal behavior for their children. Anya seemed much better now.

A couple of hours later, their kids were finally asleep in the other room and, other than the sound of the waves breaking, it was peacefully silent. Maybe they couldn’t go on the trip he had planned, but they could at least have this little honeymoon at night.

They were already in bed, Yor’s fingers sneaked under his shirt, as she ran her nose up his neck, just to end up kissing his face.

Alone at last.

Yor smelled like soap and shampoo, she smelled like sand, and also like her—his favorite scent in the whole world.

He took a quick glimpse at the door, just to make sure they had locked it. This was an excellent habit in case their kids got up.

They were already kissing and caressing each other—getting ready for what was about to come.

“I’ve missed you all day,” he told her while kissing her jaw. “Why do I have to share you with those kids?”

“You mean, our kids?” she laughed.

He laughed too. “Yeah, our kids,” he repeated. “They managed to come to our honeymoon and turn it into a family vacation. The nerve…”

Yor put her forehead against his. “I don’t mind,” she whispered. “I get the best of both worlds; I get to spend time with our babies, and, at night, I have you all to myself.”

“Then, we better make the best of it,” he stated and felt her long legs wrap around his waist while they kissed.

[Redacted] loved how his wife never held back and let herself be carried away by passion. She had already pulled his shirt off and caressed his back while he kissed her neck.

“I love you,” she whispered in between kisses.

“I lo…”

But before he could say it back, they heard a soft knock on the door, followed by quiet sobbing.

Alarmed, he jumped out of the bed and ran to the door. When he opened it, he found both of his kids.

“What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly.

“Dad, I think James is scared,” Anya was holding her little brother’s hand.

The toddler was clutching to Mr. Chimera, half-covering his face with the worn-out plushie, but Redacted could easily tell his son was crying.

 Of course, James was not used to sleeping at a different place other than home; they rarely travelled.

“Are you scared, sweet boy?” he crouched and picked him up.

No answer. Just more crying. His son just hugged his neck with his tiny arms.

“Daddy. Mommy,” was the only thing the little boy managed to say.

“I’m here, Sweetheart,” Yor grabbed his little toddler hand and gave him a kiss. “Don’t be scared.”

It looked like alone time with his wife was now cancelled. [Redacted] knew there was no way his kids could go back to sleep unless...

“Daddy, can we stay with you and mommy?” Anya asked with big cute puppy eyes.

...Unless they slept in the same bed as them. (How was he supposed to say no?)

“All right, yes you can both sleep in our bed,” he yielded. “But only because we’re at a different place than home and this is the last time!”

Yor and Anya looked at each other and tried not to laugh. Anya’s dad said this every time and never followed through. Even James knew this and learned not to pay attention to his stern warning. He was already climbing in bed and making himself comfortable in between his parents.

All his tears had dried up and James was now smiling happily.

“Shameless baby,” his dad called him before giving him a big kiss on the head. “Let’s go to sleep. It’s late for you two to be up at this hour.”

“Night, night, daddy,” the baby told him. “Night, night, mommy. Night, night, Anya. Night night, Bond!”

Anya cuddled with James and for a second, [Redacted] thought about the few weeks they stayed at Handler’s apartment, when they had first arrived at Westalis. Back then, they had to share a bed with Anya; his daughter used to sleep hugging Yor’s belly because she wanted to protect her little brother. She was doing that now too.

James fell asleep almost right away and Yor gently caressed Anya’s hair and face to make her sleepy. It didn’t take a long time either.

Both parents looked at their sleeping children for a long time and then smiled at each other.

So far, it had been sort of a chaotic family vacation, but at that time, with his family safe and sound all together, there was so much serenity.

Even Bond decided to join them and was sleeping next to the bed, on a small mat next to Yor’s slippers.

“I know this isn’t what you planned, my love,” she began. “But…”

“I don’t mind at all,” he was being sincere. “I love our kids.”

Yor reached out and caressed his face.

“Plus, I’m so used to the noise and the chaos of our home that if I don’t hear it, I can’t feel at peace,” he added. “I need our kids too.”

“I know you do,” Yor told him. “They love you as much as you love them.”

[Redacted] kissed the palm of her hand.

“We’ll go on our honeymoon one day, darling,” he was convinced of it. “And when that happens, chances are we’ll come back with another baby.”

Yor chuckled quietly. She believed him. “I wouldn’t mind that.”

James giggled in his sleep and Bond made a noise too.

[Redacted] and Yor tried not to laugh to avoid waking up their kids.

They looked so little and so beautiful. How did he get to be so lucky?

There was a point in time when he thought he wouldn’t live long. Back then he thought it was okay for him to die to make a world where children didn’t have to cry, but he was so afraid of living, of feeling, of losing everything again. This family—his family—had healed him.

“Remember the first time the three of us slept on the same bed?” he whispered.

Yor nodded. “When Anya was having night terrors,” she whispered back. “I’m so glad you stayed that time. Back then I missed sleeping next to you so much.”

“I’m sorry for all the pain I caused you and Anya,” he apologized sincerely.

“My love, that was forgiven a long time ago,” she assured him. “In the end, everything turned out well. Look.”

Yor was right. By some miracle he had been forgiven and allowed to stay with his family. Every day he felt grateful for it.

[Redacted] looked at his son’s tiny face and gently patted his head. “James was there too that time,” he smiled. “He was a small as an apple seed, but it was the four of us back then too.”

Yor smiled. It was true; she was pregnant back then—a few days before finding out about their son’s existence. So, the first time they slept in the same bed, it had been all of them together.

“Thank you for staying,” she said.

“Where else could I go?” he asked. “You're my home. My everything.”

They kept the window open. After all these years sleeping with Yor, he had gotten used to it too. They could hear the sound of the waves come and go, like a lullaby.

“I love you,” he told her.

She knew it was true.

Chapter Text

That day, he didn’t feel like going out, but Anya had insisted, and it was hard to say no to his niece.

It was a trick to get him out of the house and cheer him up.

He had gone on three dates with this girl, but he’d been unable to get a fourth date. Franky thought that maybe there was something wrong with him. Maybe he would never find a woman to share his life with.

“Scruffy, don’t be sad!” Anya patted his hand.

“Yeah, stop mopping around,” added his best friend. “So, what if that girl wasn’t the one? It’s her loss,” he kept going. “Plus, you’ve made so much progress. Now you’re able to get dates without a problem.”

“I guess you’re right,” Franky said, although he didn’t sound very convincing.

“Don’t worry, Franky, I’m sure the next girl you meet will be the one,” Yor said.

Franky smiled sadly at her.

Easy for them to say that. They had already found each other, had a beautiful daughter and a baby on the way. He was alone.

“Ice cream will help you feel better, Uncle Scruffy,” Anya told him.

“You’re probably right,” Franky replied. “This better be good ice cream!”

They were standing in line for the newest ice cream shop in the city. Apparently, it was a famous chain with strange but delicious flavors, and since it was new, everyone in town wanted to try it. They had been standing in line for more than 30 minutes and it had barely moved.

Yor rubbed her belly and wiped her brow.

“Are you okay, my love?” her husband asked worriedly.

“I’m okay, it’s just a bit hot,” she smiled.

Of course, it was still summer, and they were standing in the sun.

“There’s a park nearby, you can sit down in the shade and wait for us over there,” [Redacted] suggested while kissing her hand. “I don’t want you to get too tired.”

“My love, I’m okay,” she assured him and kissed him. “Plus, the ice cream is going melt if you have to walk all the way to the park.”

He was looking at his wife with so much tenderness and she did the same.

“I didn’t think the line would be so long,” he said. “I just want you and the baby to be okay.”

His hand was on her belly and now they were hugging.

“You worry too much,” she giggled and caressed his face. “The baby and I are okay. We’re just standing outside on a sunny day while waiting for ice cream.”

He smiled and nuzzled her face.

This was unbearable for Franky. It was way too sweet.

He loved his friends, but sometimes their displays of affection were too much for him. The ex-informant was glad he didn’t live with them anymore and had to see this never-ending love fest every day.

Yeah, he was very happy for them, but sometimes, seeing them like this made him wonder if he would ever have someone who would show him this kind of affection, someone he could love the same way. Or was he doomed to being alone his whole life? He was in his thirties, and he was afraid he would never find such a person for him.

“Scruffy, look!” Anya cut his thoughts. “It’s a bunny!”

Right in front of them, also waiting in line, there was a woman whose backpack had a bunny charm attached. It was a cute pink, fuzzy bunny with a yellow dress.

“It’s cute,” Franky smiled when he saw it.

[Redacted] and Yor were too busy talking sweet nothings and giving each other little kisses to notice Anya started playing with the bunny.

Suddenly, the charm fell off the woman’s backpack. Only then, their parents noticed what Anya was doing.

“Anya, no!” her dad called and picked up the charm.

“It was an accident,” the little girl excused herself.

“It’s okay, Sweetie,” Yor took her hand. “Remember not to play with other people’s things.”

“Okay, mommy,” Anya hugged Yor’s belly.

They still had to tell the owner of the bunny what had happened.

“Excuse me, ma’am. My daughter accidentally broke your charm,” [Redacted] said. “Let me buy another one for you.”

The lady in front of them turned around and when Franky saw her face, his heart skipped a beat, but said nothing.

The stranger took the charm in her hand and looked at it.

“Oh, thank you, but I made it myself,” she explained politely.

“In that case, let me pay for it and maybe you can replace it,” [Redacted] insisted.

Franky took a quick look at the bunny charm.

“I think I can fix it,” he said. “May I?”

The girl offered him the charm and Franky worked on it for a couple of minutes until it was back to normal. Then he handed it back.

“Thank you so much!” the woman said. “This is my favorite charm!”

“You’re very welcome,” Franky sounded pleased. “I’m a repairman, so it’s my job to repair things.”

The woman laughed. “I’m a doctor, so I repair people.”

She was not only beautiful but had a pretty laugh too.

On top of everything, she gave Anya the little bunny charm so she would play with it while they waited in line.

“It must be terribly boring for a little girl to wait so long to get an ice cream,” she guessed. “I’m pretty bored too. At least you came with a group. I’m here by myself. None of my friends wanted to come stand in line with me.”

“That’s too bad,” Franky said. “It’s a great day for ice cream!”

“Exactly!” she exclaimed. “Hey, I hear a different accent. Are you from Ostania, by any chance?”

“You have quite an ear!” Franky smiled. “Yes, I’m from Ostania, same as my niece and my sister in law.”

The woman’s eyes were so shiny when she heard his answer.

“I love the Ostanian accent,” she breathed. “You sound so sexy.”

Sexy???

No one had ever referred to him as sexy. Creepy stalker was more common, but sexy, never.

“Tha-tha-thank you,” he stuttered.

[Redacted] and Yor looked at each other. Something was going on and neither of them wanted to be the third wheel.

Franky got a bit nervous. He wasn’t used to getting a woman’s attention like this. When he was with his best friend, women usually looked at him. The former spy was tall and handsome and still got women’s attention even though he would never dare to look at another woman. For him there was only Yor.

So now, Franky felt very unprepared.

What was he supposed to do? He didn’t want to screw this up. This girl was so pretty, she was also funny, and smart.

Was she really flirting with someone like him?

They finally got to the top of the line and were able to order ice cream. Anya was still holding the little pink bunny in her hand and an ice cream cone in the other one.

The nice lady even took them to a place nearby so Yor could sit down.

“Exercise is good for you, but you also need rest,” she advised her. “How far along are you? About six months?”

“That’s right, six months,” Yor confirmed patting her belly. “How about you? Do you have any children?”

“No, I’m very much single,” she said looking at Franky and that made him blush. “I have a few nieces and nephews, but they’re older than your daughter.”

“That’s great. Do you have a big family?” Yor asked while eating her ice cream.

“Yes, I do. They drive me crazy but it’s fun,” she said. “So, I would like to have a big family one day. Lots of little bunnies!”

“Just like Uncle Scruffy!” Anya interrupted. “He wants to have a big family too.”

Franky’s face turned scarlet, and he became speechless.

They finished eating shortly after that.

“Anya, time to give that bunny back to the nice lady,” Anya’s dad told her.

The little girl didn’t want to give it back.

“But daddy, it’s so cute!”

“Yes, baby. But it’s not yours,” her dad argued.

“Why don’t we do something,” the nice lady said. “You keep the bunny and I’ll keep your uncle!”

The Forgers couldn’t believe she said that.

Then she burst out laughing.

Oh, so it was a joke.

“But seriously, why don’t you keep it and your uncle bring it back to me when we go on a date,” she suggested. “I mean, if you want…”

Did she just invite him on a date. Was he dreaming?

“I would love that,” Franky said to her.

She quickly dug into her purse and wrote her phone number on a piece of paper.

“Sunday, okay?” she said. “It’s an odd day for a date but I have to work Friday and Saturday.”

“Sunday is perfect,” he took the paper.

“Then I’ll see you Sunday,” she waved goodbye. “Take care of my bunny, Anya! And don’t let any other woman steal your uncle from me!”

“OKAY!!” Anya yelled back.

She left and Franky was too stunned to talk.

[Redacted] started laughing.

“Franky, I think that’s it,” Yor said. “You just met ‘the one’.”

Franky looked their way but didn’t say anything.

“I agree with Yor,” his friend stated. “That woman was shamelessly flirting with you for the past hour. It was kind of embarrassing to watch.”

Franky scoffed.

“How dare you say that?” Franky recriminated. “I’ve spent the last few months seeing you and your wife kiss and cuddle every single minute of the day. I’m pretty sure that if Yor wasn’t pregnant already, she would be by now!”

“Okay, okay. Fair enough,” his friend said. “Are you going to call her?”

“Of course, I am!” he responded. “She’s beautiful and kind, and perfect.”

“And she makes pretty bunnies!” Anya added looking at the pink bunny still in her hand.

They walked back to the car. The little girl got tired, and her dad had to carry her halfway there.

Once they were in the car, something popped into the former spy’s mind:

“Hey, did anyone catch her name?” he asked.

They all shook their heads.

Franky was almost sure she never told them her name.

“So how are you going to call her on the phone?” [Redacted] asked.

“I’ll call her my bunny,” Franky answered smiling.

It took her five dates to tell Franky her name, but that nickname remained forever.

Chapter Text

It was another chaotic morning in the Forger’s house.

“James, hurry up!!” his dad pressed. “We’re going to be late for school.”

They were done with breakfast, but his son wasn’t even halfway through.

“You eat like a sleepy turtle,” Anya teased.

“No, I don’t!” James fought. “You eat too fast!”

“All right, that’s enough,” their dad stopped them.

His sister’s teasing motivated James to eat faster, just to prove he didn’t eat like a turtle. Thanks to that, he finished and both kids went to brush their teeth and grab their backpack.

“Are you ready, darling?” he asked Yor, who was putting on her earrings. “We’ll drop off the kids and then head to the office. I have meeting with the staff this morning and…”

“Actually, I’ll get to the office later,” she said. “I have an appointment this morning.”

“An appointment? With whom?”

“The doctor,” she said.

He frowned.

“Are you okay? Do you feel sick?”

“No! None of that,” she reassured him. “I feel fine. I’m just very, very late…”

It took him a minute to realize what she meant by that, but eventually, he did.

“The honeymoon!” he gasped.

“That’s right. The honeymoon,” she repeated.

A few weeks ago, they had finally been able to sneak out for a few days alone. Their kids had stayed at Franky’s house, and they were delighted to spend the next four days with their cousins.

Yor and [Redacted] on the other hand, had spent four whole days doing nothing else but…each other. It seemed like they had brought an extra souvenir from that honeymoon.

“I’ll come with you!” he offered.

“No, my love, it’s not necessary,” she argued. “They’ll just do the test and give me the results. You have a staff meeting and a hundred things to do at work.”

“I don’t care,” he fought back. “This is more important than anything else.”

Her eyes sweetened. Her husband worked very hard, but their family was always the most important thing for him.

“Okay,” she agreed. “It’ll be nice for you to be there too.”

Their kids came running with their backpacks included.

“I win!” Anya chanted and this just made her little brother mad.

“It’s not fair! You have longer legs!!”

“Maybe you’ll be able to beat me one time when you grow up,” she smirked at him.

“I’ll beat you every time!! I’m going to be as tall as dad!”

The little boy was angry. He hated losing.

“Time to go,” their mom said ushering them towards the door. “Let’s don’t fight too much today.”

Anya and James kept bickering all the way to school. Usually, their parents would intervene and try to stop them, but today they were quiet.

“Have a nice day at school, children,” their dad told them as they were getting out of the car.

“Keep an eye on your brother, if you can please, Sweetie,” their mom requested. “I love you both.”

“Don’t worry, mommy. I’ll watch after James the Turtle,” Anya teased. “I love you!”

Anya ran to school with James running and yelling right behind her.

“Ready?” she turned to her husband.

He nodded. “Let’s go.”

At the doctor’s office, they waited a bit before they called Yor in to do the test, then they waited even longer to get the results.

“They’re taking too long!” he complained. “Why are they taking so long? Is this normal?”

The couple was sitting inside the examination room.

“It’s only been about five minutes,” Yor said looking at her watch. “We just need to be patient.”

Timing was a strange thing. They had been wanting another baby for a while. Last year they had tried without any luck. [Redacted] considered it funny how they were able to conceive James after being careless a few times, while in the middle of a mission, exactly when it wasn’t supposed to happen, and now that they really wanted a new baby, it simply hadn’t happened.

“We’re older now,” Yor reminded him after months of trying unsuccessfully.

As usual, his wife was right. It took a simple glance in the mirror to see it. He was over 40, now he had to wear glasses all the time, and he had some gray hair too. Yor looked exactly the same as the day he met her in that tailor’s shop. His wife insisted that wasn’t the case, but that’s the way he saw her and probably the way he would see her even when they became very old.

“We’re not that old,” he smirked kissing her neck. “Maybe we should give it some time and try harder,” he joked.

“Or maybe we’re just meant to have two kids,” Yor argued. “I’m okay with that. Anya and James are plenty.”

[Redacted] was grateful for their two kids, and maybe his wife was right. Trying for a baby and seeing no results each month was starting to get stressful. It was time to give that a rest. So, the couple went about their life not worrying about it anymore.

“If it happens, great and if it doesn’t, it’s okay,” they agreed, feeling less pressure on them.

A few months later, the opportunity for the coveted honeymoon finally came. Neither of them had any expectation about getting pregnant after trying for more than a year. They thought it wasn’t in the cards anymore, so they just went to genuinely enjoy being with each other.

It seemed like they had enjoyed each other a little too much…

“How long has it been?” [Redacted] asked pacing up and down the small examination room.

“Ten minutes,” Yor answered. “My love, you’re making me nervous.”

He walked towards her, held her face and kissed her.

Yor didn’t really need a test. She already knew.

It had been the same as when she was pregnant the first time—the sensitivity in her breasts, the strange feeling of bloating in her lower abdomen, and the occasional crying spell. Plus, the missing period kind of gave it away. However, she didn’t want to get her husband’s hopes up unless she was sure, that’s why she decided to get a test.

[Redacted] himself had asked for this baby. Seeing Anya and James growing, and now that their youngest was going to school, made him want another little baby to love and spoil. Yor was happy with her two children, but she also wanted to give this to her husband.

He was pacing back and forth and looking at his watch every 30 seconds. Yor chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“It’s just that this time is so different,” she took a quick glance at her wedding ring. “When I found out about James, I was alone and terrified. But this time, you’re here with me and I’m not scared.”

[Redacted] hugged her and kissed her face.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that alone,” he apologized.

“My love, that was such a long time ago!” he emphasized. “Everything turned out well, didn’t it?”

He nodded. They had been so lucky, and being with his family wasn’t something he took for granted. He felt grateful every day.

“If it turns out we have a new baby on the way, I’m going to take care of you and spoil you like there’s no tomorrow,” he warned her.

“You already spoil me too much,” she answered back and kissed him.

Just then the doctor came in.

“I see how you two got into this mess,” the doctor joked.

Upon hearing his words, a big smile appeared on their faces.

“Congratulations!”

The couple laughed and hugged each other. They had a new baby Forger on the way.

***

After the doctor’s visit, they didn’t go to the office. They went back home to…celebrate.

It was rare for them to take a day off, but this was a very special occasion.

Now they only had to tell Anya and James.

When the kids came back from school, they tried to act normally in front of them, even though they were about to burst from excitement. Yor thought it was better to tell them over dinner.

[Redacted] started cooking and Yor helped and kept him company in the kitchen, while giggling, kissing, and whispering.

Anya and James were doing homework together at the dining table. It was better to be in the same place, because often Anya helped James with his homework.

“Are you done?” Anya asked her brother.

“No, I need help,” he said.

His sister went around the table to look at his homework and explained a simple math problem.

Another giggle.

Anya lifted her eyes and saw more whispering and more kissing.

“Hey, don’t you think mom and dad are flirting more than usual?” she asked.

James shrugged while trying to solve his homework. “They always flirt,” he stated. “They’re always kissing and hugging.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Anya said.

However, somehow this whole scene looked familiar, like a strange sense of déjà vu. Just then, Bond went inside the kitchen and rubbed her mom’s leg. Lately, Bond had been very attached to her.

“I need help again,” James cried.

“What’s the problem now?”

It didn’t take her long to explain another math problem and for her little brother to finish his homework.

A few minutes later, their dad announced dinner was ready.

They sat at the table and started chatting as usual.

“Anything fun going on at school?” their mom asked.

“We’re doing a play, but we haven’t decided which one,” James told them.

“That’s great, Sweetie!”

“I don’t want to be in the play!” he pouted.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not good at that,” he responded.

Anya snorted.

“It’s because you get embarrassed about everything,” she said.

“Mommyyyyy! Anya is being mean again!”

“Anya, it’s okay for your brother to be a little shy,” Yor said. “Let him be.”

“Okay,” she said. “How was work?” Anya asked her parents.

Yor blushed and [Redacted] cleared his throat.

“Actually, we didn’t go to the office today,” he clarified.

“Ewww. We don’t need to know what you two do during your free time,” Anya joked.

“What did you do?” James asked innocently. “Did you go somewhere without us? Did you play without us?”

“Believe me, James, you don’t want to know…” Anya said.

“Anya…” her dad warned her.

“Sorry, daddy,” she smiled.

Now that Anya was a teenager, she liked to tease her brother more, make strange jokes and ironic comments about anything and everything.

“But what did they do?!” James insisted. He didn’t like feeling left out.

“They kiss,” Anya responded quickly. “That’s it.”

“Oh,” James sounded disappointed. He thought it was something more exciting.

But then he smiled mischievously.

“You want to kiss Damian,” he blurted.

“WHAAAAT?!” Anya’s face suddenly turned the color of the tomato soup. “No, I don’t!”

Her little brother had found a way to tease her, and this was payback.

“You have a big picture of him in your room,” he stated. “Because you want to kiss him.”

James started doing kissing noises.

“No, I don’t!!” Anya defended. “I have a picture of all my friends.”

“But Damian’s picture is the biggest one and the one closest to your pillow,” he chanted mercilessly. “Because he’s your boyfriend.”

The little boy was laughing and Anya, for once, was speechless.

“James…” his dad gave him a warning look.

“He’s not my boyfriend!!” Anya finally regained her voice.

“But you want him to be…” he teased her some more.

“Mommyyyyyyyyyyyyy!” Anya yelled. “James is being nosy!”

“That’s enough you two,” their dad gave them a stern look.

“What did we say about getting along and not fighting,” their mom reminded them. “You don’t want your baby brother to see you fight, do you?”

Both children stared at their mom.

“What?” Anya frowned.

“Huh?” James asked. “We don’t have a baby brother.”

Yor and [Redacted] smiled at their children.

Anya gasped.

“James, mommy is having a baby!” she burst with happiness. “We’re getting a baby brother (or sister)!”

As soon as James heard this, all the teasing and fighting was quickly forgotten and replaced by pure joy. Both children started jumping.

[Redacted] hugged his wife and kissed her forehead. They were so happy seeing their kids like this.

“I told you they were flirting too much,” Anya said and both parents frowned not having a clue what their daughter was talking about.

“Can the baby sleep in my room?” James asked. “I’ll take care of him!”

“Maybe when he’s a bit older,” his dad replied. “When he’s a newborn, he’ll sleep with mommy and me.”

Celebrations continued during dinner. James kept asking so many questions and Anya just made plans. Then at the end, when they were picking up the dishes from the table, both kids started whispering suspiciously. [Redacted] didn’t need his old spy sense to know they were up to something. Finally, both kids went inside the kitchen to ask one important question:

“Can we name the baby?” both children said at the same time.

The couple looked at each other and laughed.

“Of course not.”

“Awww, dad!” Anya complained.

“I told you they would say no,” James said.

Of course, it was a big no. [Redacted] knew his children and because of that, he knew the name they wanted to use.

No child of his was going to be named Bondman Forger.

“Nice try, Anya.”

Chapter Text

Another sleepless night.

That seemed to be the standard for Yor now a days.

She had gone to work, then came home and cooked, and then started packing. She was exhausted, yet sleep didn’t come. There were so many things in her head; it was as if she couldn’t turn off her mind.

At least she was able to find a place for them to live (thanks to Camilla’s generosity). Although she had a good amount of money in her bank account, it wasn’t smart to spend it on rent on that upper-scale neighborhood. She had to think about the future.

Once the baby was born, Yor would be on maternity leave, but it wouldn’t be for a long time. Then she had to find childcare for her baby and go back to work. Later, she would need money to support her children, including paying for their education. Unfortunately, Eden was out of reach for her, and Anya would have to switch schools and go to a less expensive option.

Yor kept calculating a budget in her mind, trying to figure out a number that would allow her to plan her finances. Yuri had repeatedly told her she didn’t have to work anymore. Her brother offered her his unconditional support and told her he had a good job and would take care of her and the kids. But Yor didn’t think that was fair for Yuri.

She was the one who had screwed up by marrying a spy and the one who had gotten pregnant too. So, she should be responsible for her little ones. Plus, at some point, Yuri would probably meet someone and would want to start his own family. She couldn’t depend on him forever. It wasn’t right.

Even though she tried to remain calm, her stomach hurt. It wasn’t just about money. She was alone now. There was no husband she could lean on, no Loid who would help her raise their children.

“He’s gone forever,” she kept repeating in her mind.

Yor sat up and did some breathing exercises. She was anguished and that wasn’t good for the baby. She looked at the clock on her nightstand; it was after 1 a.m. She had to work in the morning, and she really wanted to go to sleep, but she couldn't. So, she got up and got out of her room. Little strolls inside the apartment in the middle of the night were common for her. At nighttime, she could cry without worrying Anya.

Without noticing, she ended up in Loid’s Twilight’s old room.

All his things were packed in boxes. She didn’t know what to do with all his clothes. The best thing was to donate them, but somehow, she resisted. Once those clothes were gone, she would have nothing from him. Well…except their baby.

And then, there was a thought that tortured her the most: What was she going to tell her kid?

A little boy who looked just like her ex-husband appeared in her imagination. He was asking about his dad, and she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to lie, but in this case, telling the truth could be dangerous.

The child of a spy and a former assassin. Great.

She leaned against the door.

The mistake was having slept with him. Clearly, if she hadn’t, things wouldn’t be so difficult. He would have had his clean exit, she too.

Why did she sleep with him? This wasn’t the first time she had asked herself this full of anger. Other than some mild curiosity, she never had any interest in sex. Why had she chosen the worst possible option to finally try it out?

Yor knew the answer, but it made her heart ache.

She was in love with him.

Without thinking, she opened one box. She knew exactly what she would find because she had packed it herself—all their family pictures, the grenade pin he’d given her, and his blue sweater.

The sweater still smelled like him. She couldn’t help bringing it to her nose and inhaling deeply. Perhaps she was torturing herself, but on nights like this, she missed him more than ever.

It was almost summer, but she still put that sweater on and felt better immediately. She even started getting sleepy, so she just laid down on Loid’s bed. The sleeves of the sweater were too long, but she didn’t care. She caressed her belly.

Yor still had no clue what she would tell her child when he asked about his dad in the future. However, that night, she decided she would give away his clothes, but keep that box full of pictures and that sweater too. That way, at least, she could show her kid a picture of his father.

She fell asleep shortly after that.

And she dreamed of him.

***

“Do you need anything?” he asked “How about an apple tart? I can bake something quick before I go.”

Yor shook her head.

“You’re going to be late for your train, darling,” she said. “There’s no time to bake anything.”

[Redacted] stopped packing for the fifth time.

“Maybe I shouldn’t go,” he hesitated. “I can send Franky. It’ll be fine.”

“My love, you know this trip is important,” she argued. “You need to be there.”

Her husband dropped his tie on the bed and went around to hug her.

“This is more important. I don’t want to leave you,” he told her while hugging her waist. “Especially now.”

Her husband had gone of brief overnight trips before, but this time he didn’t want to leave and Yor knew exactly why.

“Is this because I’m pregnant?”

“Well, yes!” he replied. “I don’t want to abandon my family!”

“My love, you’re not abandoning your family,” Yor chuckled. “You’re going on a business trip to Ostania for three days.”

“I don’t want to leave you alone and pregnant,” he told her. “And heartbroken again…”

Yor ran her fingers through his hair.

“I’m not going to be heartbroken,” she assured him. “I’m going to be busy with Anya and James. I also have things to do at work.”

This wasn’t about that business trip or leaving his family. This was about what had happened years ago, when she was pregnant with James, and they had temporarily separated. Even though it had been forgiven a long time ago, [Redacted] still felt remorseful, and now that Yor was pregnant again and he had to travel, that feeling of guilt had spiked.

“I should be here with you and the baby,” he nuzzled her baby bump that was starting to show. “What if something happens?”

“Nothing is going to happen,” she reassured him. “You heard the doctor yesterday; healthy mama and healthy baby,” she tilted his head up, so they could look at each other. “Plus, if anything happens, you can fly home and be here in no time.”

[Redacted] groaned.

“This is torture,” he complained. “You know how much I hate being apart from you.”

“Me too,” she was being honest.

Suddenly, her husband was kissing her, slowly pushing them down to lie on the bed.

“Let’s say goodbye properly,” he suggested while kissing and touching his wife.

“We already said goodbye properly last night,” Yor argued but still returned his kisses. “You’re going to be late.”

“I don’t care.”

***

Yor drove him to the train station and that was the only reason why he wasn’t late. They had taken their time saying goodbye at home.

At the train station, any casual observer probably thought that they were a newly married couple about to separate for the first time after their honeymoon. No one would have guessed they already had two kids (with a third one on the way) and had been together for close to a decade.

“I think you may have to force me to get on that train,” he joked. “I can’t leave.”

“You know very well I’m strong enough to do that,” she smirked. “I can easily carry you.”

“Absolutely not,” he refused. “No heavy lifting while carrying that baby.”

“Okay, okay. It was just a joke,” she defended. “I promise I won’t carry anything heavy.”

It was time to go; the train was about to leave. [Redacted] kissed his wife one more time—savoring her lips and her mouth, committing to memory her scent and the softness of her skin.

“I love you so much,” he whispered and kissed her forehead before separating from her. “Take care of our baby.”

The train was starting to move, so he just hopped in. Yor waved goodbye smiling at him, and it took a great deal of discipline not to jump off the train to kiss her one more time.

When he was too far to be able to see his wife, he finally got inside the cart to take a seat. Looking out the window, he saw the familiar Westalis landscape.

It was strange to go in the opposite direction of his family and to the exact place they ran away from years ago. He had travelled, but he hadn’t been to Ostania since the night Yor, Anya, Bond, and himself crossed the border by foot.

It was impossible not to feel uneasy and he still had plenty of hours to just think.

He’d kissed his kids goodbye that morning, after driving them to school. Additionally, he’d made them promise to behave well (maybe), get along (unlikely), not to tease each other (almost impossible), and to take care of their mom in his absence.

And Yor…well, it had been beyond difficult to separate from her. That twinge of anxiety had installed in his stomach and wouldn’t leave, no matter how much he tried to reassure himself. They had been to the doctor together for her routine pregnancy checkup, and the doctor assured them everything was fine. Plus, Yor was four months pregnant, and the second trimester wasn’t as rough as the first. At least she wasn’t nauseous all the time and could eat well too. His wife told him repeatedly she felt well and that he should go on that trip.

Still, leaving her alone, even if it was just for a few days, didn’t sit well with him. If this trip wasn’t so important, he would have simply refused. But the thing was, he really had to be there.

In the last few months his little studio had been negotiating with a big animation studio in Ostania about a collaboration between the two countries. [Redacted] had discussed it with Yor and Franky, who were his business partners. The project was an animated show that promoted friendship among both nations. The goal was for children to realize people from Westalis and Ostania were not their enemies.

Several studios had proposed different ideas, but they had chosen his. [Redacted]’s idea was loosely based on certain events that may or may not had happened during his years in Ostania. The story was about a spy from Westalis who had to acquire a fake family, and who ends up falling in love with said family.

Many things had been omitted from the show; among them Yor’s former profession, and the true horrors the SSS had carried out (it was after all a kid’s show). Many incredible things had been included, like a little girl who could read minds and a fluffy dog who could see the future.

The people in charge of the project were delighted with the idea and, after months of talking back and forth, they had invited Mr. Loid Forger to Ostania to discuss the details before finally signing a contract. That was why, as much as it pained him to be apart from Yor for a few days, they both knew he had to be in Ostania.

Still, he hoped these days would fly by so he could be back home.

***

It was bizarre to be back in Ostania.

Berlint looked so different—new buildings everywhere, modern constructions, wide avenues, more traffic too.

“Is this your first time in Berlint, Sir?” the driver asked him.

“No, it’s not,” he smiled looking out the window of the car. “My wife and I used to live here a few years ago when we first got married and our eldest daughter was born here too,” he explained. “I haven’t been here since we moved. It’s changed a lot.”

“Then how do you like it?”

“It looks great,” he replied.

Back when he was Twilight, he had lived many years in this country, going from mission to mission, and persona to persona. It was a lifetime ago. Now it seemed like a strange land that looked vaguely familiar.

When he got to the hotel, his hotel room was nice, spacious and…quiet. He wasn’t used to silence anymore. After living with two noisy kids for such a long time, he needed to have noise to feel relaxed, so he turned on the TV. Then he opened the door of the balcony. It had a beautiful view—a nearby park and the city skyline.

I wish Yor was here…

His wife would have loved this view. That twinge in his stomach intensified.

He went back inside the room, looked for the phone and dialed home.

“Hello?”

“Hello, darling,” a smile appeared on his face the second he heard his wife’s voice.

“Are you in Ostania already?”

“Against my will, yes,” he joked and that made Yor laugh.

“I miss you already,” she cooed.

“You do?” he said.

“I need to talk to dad!” his son’s voice demanded.

He couldn’t continue the conversation with Yor because a little boy took the phone.

“Dad, are we going to play basketball on Saturday? Will you be back by then?”

“Yes, I’ll be back on Friday,” he replied. “Can you put your mom back? I need to…”

“Dad?” Anya was on the phone now. “I talked to Damian on the phone, and he said he wants to send something for me with you,” she said. “Do you think you’ll have time to see him?”

[Redacted] rolled his eyes. He just wanted to talk to his wife without interruptions.

“I’m not sure, Anya,” he said. “It depends on how my meetings go.”

“Can he call you at the hotel?”

“Sure,” he answered.

“Daddy, you’re the best!” she beamed.

“Hey, I was talking to him!” he heard James complain. “Give it back!”

“This was important!” his daughter argued. “Stop pulling the phone, James!! You’re going to break it!”

That was the last thing he heard. The phone call ended abruptly, and he wasn’t sure his children had broken the phone.

[Redacted] tried dialing back right away, but the line sounded busy. 

It was okay. Yor would probably find a way to fix it and he would call her back later (after his kids were in bed).

He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 7. Maybe it was best to get dinner. He wasn’t really hungry, but Yor would get mad at him if he didn’t eat.

He left the hotel and started walking with no destination in mind. Suddenly, he realized he was walking towards their old apartment. Even after all these years, he hadn’t lost that habit. [Redacted] chuckled.

And since he was already on his way to the old 128 Park Ave, maybe it was worth it to take a look at their old home. He was just going to look at the building and wasn’t planning on getting in or anything like that, but when he arrived, he saw a young mom with several grocery bags and a very active toddler. The young woman was trying to open the door of the building, while holding her son’s hand and balancing the groceries.

“Allow me,” he said opening the door for her.

“Thank you so much, Sir,” she sounded grateful.

“Can I help you with the bags?” he offered.

The woman hesitated but, in the end, accepted his help. They walked towards her apartment, coincidently in the same floor he used to live all those years ago.

“Are you a new neighbor?” she asked as she dug in her purse for her apartment keys.

“No, I’m not, but I used to live in this building,” he explained. “My wife and daughter lived in that apartment,” he pointed out to the door on their right.

“Oh really?” she asked. “It must have been before Mrs. Truman moved in.”

“Is that the person who lives there now?” he inquired.

“Not anymore,” she answered. “Mrs. Truman just moved out to live with one of her daughters. It’s empty right now.”

“Mommy, I’m hungry!!” an angry kid demanded.

“I’m really sorry, but I have to go,” the woman said. “Thank you so much for your help.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Nice talking to you.”

As soon as the woman closed the door, [Redacted] looked towards his old apartment.

So, it was empty…

He wasn’t a spy anymore, but some skills remained. Opening the door was easy.

As soon as he entered, he was fascinated, as if it was a mythical place.

For the most part it was empty; there were no pictures on the wall and no decorations, but some of his old furniture was still there—the big couch and the dining table with four chairs. The previous tenant probably had used that furniture too.

[Redacted]’s eyes were full of wonder. He wished there was a phone so he could call his wife and tell her where he was. He should have brought a camera!

It was such a small apartment, especially compared to their house in Westalis. If they were living there, there was no way Yor, Anya, James and now baby number three would fit in such a small place.

The color of the walls was different. It wasn’t pink anymore; now it was light yellow, but he was sure the green curtains were the same. He walked to the balcony. It looked smaller than he remembered. A naughty memory popped into his mind. Yor and him making out desperately, while Yuri and Anya were inside. He chuckled.

He went back inside and walked towards the bedrooms. Those looked exactly the same!

Inside what used to be Anya’s room, he could almost see his little daughter playing with Bond, Mr. Chimera, and Agent Penguinman. Then he went inside Yor and his room. They had made love so many times in there.

He wasn’t really interested in visiting his old room. If he was honest with himself, that place caused him anxiety. Most of the time he spent in there it was just him tossing and turning or torturing himself about not being able to be with his family and missing Yor.

But then, he remembered something…

Inside the closet, there was a loose tile of the floor where he kept some spy equipment. Would it still be there?

Sure enough, no one had ever thought about lifting that tile and all his spyware was still there.

The former agent took a quick inventory. Nothing was missing; it was just as he had left it. Now what should he do about it? Since he was no longer a spy, he didn’t need any of this. It wasn’t as if he was going to contact WISE with that radio. Plus, it would probably be suspicious if he walked out of a building with a bunch of stuff, so it was better to leave things the way they were.

The only thing he took was an old camera that still had film in it. Hopefully, the film was still good, because he wanted to take some pictures of the place before leaving, so he could show his family.

After taking plenty of pictures of the rooms and the living room, he went to the kitchen. How many wonderful things had happened in this place. He had fallen in love with his wife and learned how to be a father within these walls.

He stood in front of the sink, while glancing at the living room. The last time he was there was when Yor and him separated. An image of his wife sobbing quietly while hugging herself appeared in his mind. A chill ran down his spine and he felt the need to touch his wedding ring.

She was fine. Yor was back home with their two (soon to be three) children and they were safe, happy, and still loved each other. Maybe it was time to leave; he was starting to feel nervous.

[Redacted] didn’t consider himself sentimental, but he had to admit it was nice to have this closure. He’d been incredibly lucky to have survived it all and gotten his family.

He closed that door behind him.

***

Insomnia was expected, so he wasn’t surprised when that night he was unable to fall asleep. It always happened when he wasn’t sleeping next to Yor, plus being in Ostania without his family was unsettling.

If he was honest with himself, he was also afraid of going to sleep and having his old nightmare, the one that included Nightfall. So, instead of trying to sleep, he turned on the TV and watched something without paying much attention.

He’d tried calling home, but the phone line was still busy. Those kids probably broke the phone while fighting. [Redacted] tried to reassure himself; everything was fine and he would see his wife and kids in a couple of days, plus he would most likely be busy tomorrow and the next day with meetings about the show.

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” he mumbled.

But the truth was he wanted to talk to Yor. He just wanted to make sure she and the baby were okay, and he wanted to listen to her calming voice.

Suddenly the phone rang.

“My love?” the most beautiful voice in the world said.

“Yor!” he beamed.

“Were you asleep? I know it’s late,” she said. “I kept waiting for you to call back and I just realized the kids didn’t hang up the phone properly.”

“I’ve been trying to call back,” he said. “I’m so glad you called me,”

His mood was a hundred times better now.

“How are you, darling?” he asked. “How’s the baby?”

“We’re fine,” she said. “It was just a normal day: work, school, kids. You know, the usual.”

[Redacted] smiled. “The usual” was their daily life, the one they had fought so hard for.

“Guess where I was today?” he told her excitedly.

“Where?”

“Our old apartment!”

“No way!” she exclaimed. “How were you even able to get in?”

“It was empty,” he disclosed. “And I just pushed the door a little…”

He heard Yor’s musical laugh, and he felt pleased with himself.

“How did it look?” she asked.

“It looks way smaller than I remember,” he began. “They painted the walls light yellow, but they kept those old green curtains, remember them? And the rooms look exactly the same. Oh, and they also kept the big couch and the dining table.”

Yor giggled. “The people that lived there had no clue what took place on that couch and dining table.”

“Mrs. Forger! That is so lewd!” he joked and laughed.

At some point the laughter quieted down.

“Remember the times I had to travel overnight when we still lived in that apartment?” he asked. “Before you and I got together for real.”

“Yeah, I remember,” she replied. “You used to call to say goodnight to Anya and then you and I would talk on the phone for a long time. I didn’t know you were on one of your side missions.”

[Redacted] pictured his wife laying on their bed, talking to him on the phone, and caressing her belly.

“Back then, I was so in love with you, even if I didn’t want to admit it,” he confessed. “I told myself I needed to call home to look like a normal dad in front of you, but the truth was I needed to hear your voice…just like now.”

“I wanted to say I miss you, but I didn’t dare even when I was dying for you to come back,” she admitted. “Now I get to say it: I miss you.”

They stayed on the phone for a long time, joking, talking about the kids, Ostania, the past and the future, until he started to feel sleepy.

“Good night, my love,” she said. “Sleep well and I love you.”

“Good night, my Yor,” he said. “I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you too.”

That night, he didn’t have any nightmares.

And he dreamed of her.

Chapter Text

It was his third day in Ostania. Just one more night at that hotel and he would go back home to his family.

How had he survived that couple of months away from his wife all those years ago? That’s right, he had barely survived.

[Redacted] had spent the last couple of days in meetings with the organizers of the project and the big animation company that would be collaborating with his studio. It was important for the project to be a binational effort; that way the message about peace would be stronger.

Everything was going great, and he had the feeling they would probably sign the contract before he went back home, but then an unexpected request happened: the show had to be produced in Ostania. There was no other way around it. With the SSS scandal and Donovan Desmond’s assassination, Ostania had a bad reputation and needed that extra good PR to redeem itself. That’s why that animation show had to be made there.

That meant one thing for [Redacted] and his family: they would have to move back to Ostania.

“I will have to discuss this with my business partners,” he told them.

He couldn’t decide for so many people on his own.

“We understand, Mr. Forger,” the main person in charge of the initiative said. “Talk to your partners and let us know.”

First, he needed to talk to his wife. During the past couple of days, he had called home at nighttime, so they had plenty of time to talk. Nevertheless, this was a pressing issue. He looked at his watch; it was late for lunchtime, the kids were probably still at school, that meant Yor had to be at their office. So, he dialed there.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Forger, your wife is not in today,” one of the secretaries informed him.

“Did she say why?” he asked.

“She didn’t say,” the secretary answered. “She just called and said she wouldn’t be here for the day.”

“Thank you. I’ll try calling home then.”

That was strange. Yor didn’t like missing work; she was probably feeling unwell. It had happened a few times during the first trimester of the pregnancy, and he had to beg her to stay home and rest. He dialed their house number.

No answer.

Maybe she couldn’t get to the phone. He waited a few minutes and dialed again but no one picked up. Now he felt concerned. Where was his wife?

Lunchtime was over. He hadn’t eaten anything; he’d run out of time trying to find Yor. Now he had to go back to his meeting, feeling so much anxiety he had trouble concentrating.

At around 5, when the meeting for the day was finally over, he tried calling home again before leaving the building but got the same result. No one answered.

[Redacted] ran to the hotel to pick up his luggage and head to the airport. He was flying home. What if there was a complication with Yor's pregnancy? What if he couldn’t find his wife because she was at the hospital?

When he finally made it to the hotel, he opened the door of his room with shaky fingers and a plan to get out of there in less than two minutes. But he cancelled that plan as soon as he entered his room.

Yor was standing on the balcony, looking at the view of the city.

“Yor!!” he ran to hug her—relieved nothing bad had happened to her and so happy to see her.

“Hi, my love,” she giggled and hugged him back. “Surprise!”

It felt so good to have her arms around him, her baby bump against him, and her sweet smell all over him.

“I couldn’t find you,” he said kissing her. “I was about to fly back home. I’m so happy you’re okay!”

“Oh, darling, I’m sorry I made you worry,” she apologized. “I was on my way here. Turns out, I missed you too much.”

[Redacted] laughed. He felt like a fool. Maybe being back in Ostania was messing his mind.

“And the kids?” he asked, almost expecting to see Anya and James jump out from somewhere.

“They’re spending the night at Franky’s,” she informed him. “I made a deal with him. We’ll watch his kids this weekend, so he and his wife can go out.”

“That’s fine by me,” he agreed in between kisses.

He didn’t mind watching Franky’s three kids at all, if that meant he got to spend time alone with his wife.

“You look like Twilight today,” she mentioned while she caressed his face and gave him tiny kisses.

It was true. Back home he didn’t wear a suit and wore casual clothes even in the office. So that morning, when he had looked at himself in the mirror, he’d seen that slick spy reflected, instead of his usual self.

“Do you like it?” he asked using his most seductive voice, like he used to do during a honey trap.

Yor wrinkled her nose.

“I prefer my husband.”

Of course, these sorts of things never worked with his wife.

“I can arrange that,” he said taking his jacket off.

If he was honest, he was glad. Even looking like Twilight made him feel uncomfortable. He’d been [Redacted] for a long time now.

“Do you want to take a shower with me?” she asked, loosening his tie and kissing his jawline.

“Yes, please,” he replied. “You know how much I like showering with you. It’s one of my favorite hobbies.”

She giggled. By then she had already unbuttoned his shirt and was now unbuckling his belt.

“Then, let’s get in the shower, Mr. Forger.”

***

“Do you love me?”

Yor knew the answer the first time she had asked that question and she knew the answer now, but sometimes, when it was only the two of them hidden in the dark, she would ask anyways.

“Yes, I do,” he always gave her the same answer and it was always true, just like that first time. Back when he answered that question the first time, he wasn’t used to telling the truth, but the truth had escaped his lips anyways. “I love you more than anything. I love you more than anyone,” he added and made her smile.

They were lying in bed. It was dark now, and they hadn’t turned on the lights so they could see only the city skyline from the balcony and windows. That way, it was easy to pretend they were surrounded by stars.

There was nothing between them, not a single piece of clothing. They were cuddling and feeling sleepy after making love. Yor was gently rubbing her nose on his neck and his face, while his fingertips gently caressed her back. Many years ago, when he was a soldier and later a spy, nighttime was so frightful. Now it was the most peaceful time of his day.

Being back in Ostania with Yor seemed like a dream. Even though they weren’t staying at their original apartment in Park Avenue West Berlint, this place—this city—brought back memories.

“Can I ask you something?” he said, interlacing his fingers with hers. “When did you start loving me?”

Yor brought their interlaced hands to her lips and kissed his knuckles.

“Let me think,” she replied. “Well, I realize now that when Fiona came to the apartment, I felt jealous. So, it had to be before then…”

“You were jealous?” he asked smiling sheepishly.

“Yes! Crazy jealous,” she answered. “But back then, I didn’t know what jealousy was because I hadn’t been in love before.”

[Redacted] seemed very pleased with her answer.

“Go on,” he encouraged her and made Yor laugh.

“When we went to the aquarium, I thought you were cute when you won that plushie for Anya. And later, when you grabbed Agent Penguinman to play with her, I thought it was adorable.”

Even though it was dark, she could see her husband blushing. He got embarrassed about the silliest things.

“So, was that the moment?” he inquired. “When you saw me playing with a giant plushie?”

“No, I don’t think that was it,” she reckoned. “You know? Every time you looked at me with those loving eyes whenever I gave you burnt food it made my heartbeat faster,” she kept going. “But that wasn’t it either.”

Her husband laughed. He was so in love with her, he would have accepted poison from her.

“What about when Yuri came to visit for the first time and we almost kissed?” he suggested. “That was probably it, right?”

Yor shook her head.

“No?” he was surprised. He could have sworn that was it.

“Back then I thought you were a nice man, but I wasn’t in love with you,” she stated, and her husband groaned as if he was in pain. “Sorry!”

All this time, he thought that ‘almost kiss’ was the moment his wife began to look at him with different eyes.

“And by the way, why did you come into my room that day wearing your pajamas after Yuri left?” she asked him.

“Well, I…” he couldn’t come up with a good reason, and, since he wasn’t used to lying anymore, he just told the truth: “I think I wanted to sleep with you.”

“But we had just met!” Yor was astonished by his answer.

[Redacted] shrugged.

“Take it as a compliment,” he added.

“So, Mr. Loid Forger was a perv back then,” she joked. “Now I’m not going to tell you…”

“Yor, I’m begging you, put me out of my misery,” he joked. “Was it at least before we fucked the first time?”

“Yes, of course it was before then!” Yor exclaimed pretending to be offended. “In fact, I’ve narrowed it down to two moments,” she announced. “The first one was at Camilla’s party, when you defended me in front of everyone. Right then, I felt something in my heart.”

He kissed her forehead. She was such a sweet person and those people attacking her brought out the protective instinct in him.

“The second one was the day after Yuri visited us for the first time,” her voice turned sweeter remembering that moment. “We ran into each other after work and you told me that you wanted me to be myself,” she recounted. “I started falling in love with you at that moment.”

[Redacted] sighed and moved her head so he could look into those bright ruby eyes he loved so much.

“How about you, my love?” she cooed. “When did you fall in love with me?”

It had been a long time, and it he had taken his sweet time to admit it, but he knew.

“When you kicked that guy on our first date.”

“WHAT?!” Yor was shocked. “The concussive therapy kick? You can’t be serious!”

Her husband cackled. Seeing her face when he said that was priceless.

“Okay, I’m joking,” he confessed. “But seeing you kick that guy turned me on. You know I felt attracted to you from the day we met and seeing you in action was so sexy.”

Yes, she knew her husband felt attracted to her partly because she was very strong.

“But that wasn’t the moment,” he continued. “It was actually the same day as you. When you told me you were happy you married me.”

“Really?” she asked moved by his answer.

“Yes, that was the moment when I started to love you,” he confirmed. “You looked so incredibly beautiful when you said that to me. I still remember the way your eyes shone and the tone you used. I wasn’t the same after that.”

[Redacted] considered that the moment Twilight’s persona began to crack. He had fallen so deeply in love for his wife, he had failed to see all the clues about Yor being an assassin. Sometimes, he thought that even if he had seen her execute someone, he would have probably found a way to deny it, just to keep her by his side.

They stopped talking after that and things escalated; their kisses deepened, they embraced closer, their breathing became uneven, and they felt lucky neither of them was wearing any clothes. Nevertheless, before they were able to continue, someone knocked on the door.

[Redacted] kissed his wife one more time before calmly turning on a lamp and putting on a bathrobe. Yor stayed in bed but covered herself with the sheet.

“One moment, please!” he said, turning his head towards the door. “Looks like our food is here, darling.”

“Great,” Yor answered. “I’m starving.”

What they were about to do again would have to continue after eating.

Since neither of them wanted to leave the room to go get dinner, they had ordered room service. And since Yor was pregnant, [Redacted] had ordered an excessive amount of food. He wanted to make sure Yor ate plenty.

A while later, after eating all sorts of Ostanian dishes, regret came in the form of indigestion.

“I ate too much,” he complained.

“Me too,” she said rubbing her growing belly. “But we’re pregnant, so I think it’s okay.”

“That’s not how it works for me,” he chuckled. “Even if we’re pregnant.”

Yor giggled. She was unable to eat everything her husband had ordered for her, so he had gallantly helped her finish everything. Now he was paying for it.

“By the way,” he said while cleaning up the table. “How did you get into the room? Did you Thorn Princess your way in?”

When she got there, Yor had no intention of breaking in. She knew her husband would be at the hotel in a couple of hours, so she would just wait for him.

“Of course not!” she answered while adjusting her husband’s shirt she was wearing. “I was waiting for you in the lobby, but the manager saw me,” she explained. “I talked to her for a while and when she realized I was pregnant, she offered to let me in the room. She said I probably needed to rest.”

While [Redacted] was riddled with worry, Yor had been taking a nap in that same room.

“I’m glad she let you in,” he said. “I'll thank her tomorrow when we leave.”

Suddenly, the phone rang. It was almost 10, so they wondered if it was their kids. [Redacted] picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Mr. Forger?” said a young man’s voice. “This is Damian Desmond, sir.”

“Oh, hi Damian, how are you?”

[Redacted] frowned and that made Yor giggle quietly. She knew her husband didn’t like it when someone interrupted their alone time.

“Anya told me I could call you,” Damian explained. “I have a few things for Anya, and I would like to send them with you, if that’s okay.”

[Redacted] tried not to roll his eyes. Wouldn’t it be easier to use a delivery service?

“My love…” Yor mouthed as a silent request for him to be nice.

“Sure, I’ll take those things when I go back home tomorrow,” he agreed. “Where do you want to meet?”

They agreed to meet the next day during lunchtime at a restaurant. Yor had called Yuri and planned to have lunch with him, so while the three of them ate together, Damian would do a quick drop off. They hung up after that.

[Redacted] didn’t like thinking too much about Anya and Damian. He wasn’t dumb; he knew they liked each other more than friends, but he wasn’t sure about the idea of his daughter dating. Even though Anya was a teenager now, he still saw her as his little girl who liked to watch cartoons and play with plushies. If they moved back to Ostania…

“Everything okay?” Yor hugged him from behind.

“Yes,” he said. “But this reminded me there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it, my love?”

“They want the show to be produced here in Ostania,” he communicated. “It’s non-negotiable.”

“Oh.”

She knew what that meant. They would have to move back to Ostania or drop the project completely. Yor breathed out and headed towards the balcony. Her husband followed her.

“We don’t have to do it,” [Redacted] assured her. “I haven’t given them my answer. I can always say no.”

She remained silent and just leaned on the rail of the balcony to look at Berlint city lights.

“It’s strange being back here, isn’t it?” she said with a nostalgic note in her voice. “After everything that happened…”

“Yeah. I’ve had this weird feeling since I’ve arrived,” he answered.

“This is my country. I grew up here, I lived several years in this city before meeting you and Anya, and yet I kind of feel like a foreigner now.”

“We have a good life in Westalis, I don’t mind staying there,” he disclosed.

“I know, but it’s also a big opportunity for you to work for peace again,” she argued. “For us to make a difference in our children’s future.”

They were looking at each other. As usual, his wife had a point.

“What do you want to do, my love?” he asked her. “You know I just want to be with you, wherever that is.”

Yor eyes sweetened.

“Well, you know me,” she said. “I always want to do what’s best for Anya, James, and now for this new baby too.”

They hugged and kept looking at the city lights for a long time in silence. They knew each other so well they both knew the answer already.

They were moving back to Ostania.

Chapter Text

What have I done?

Those were the first words that appeared in his mind. Twilight woke up disoriented. He wasn’t in his room; the window was open and that’s something he never did for safety reasons. He looked at the clock on the nightstand; it was barely 4 a.m.

That was right. He slept in Yor’s room for appearances, while Yuri stayed in their apartment. He could feel Yor’s warmth right next to him.

Suddenly, panic hit him.

Yuri had left last night and he…

Oh God.

He and Yor had slept together!

What have I done?!

His heartbeat accelerated as if he was in the middle of a chase with the SSS.

How could he do this? And how could he do this to Yor?

Twilight wasn’t a good man, that came with the territory. During his career, sex to obtain information was sometimes required. Nevertheless, this wasn’t the case. There was no need for him to sleep with his fake wife. She was an innocent civilian, and he had taken advantage of her. Without a doubt, this was one of the dirtiest things he had done.  

The agent tried to steady his uneven breathing. He didn’t want to wake her and he had to get out of there quickly.

Calm yourself, Twilight.

He’d had sex with plenty of other women, he could handle one more. But then, he remembered something. Two words: unprotected sex.

Calm extinguished with that last thought―unprotected sex, not once but several times.

He closed his eyes, feeling like there was not enough air in the room.

What if she gets pregnant?

Suddenly, an image of Yor with a baby bump appeared in his mind. In his little fantasy, he was holding her and caressing her belly. It was hard to admit it, but he felt happy (and terrified). It hurt to admit he wanted that. He wanted to stay with his family forever, to be Yor’s one and only husband, to have children with her, to raise Anya as her real father. Now he felt like crying.

He shook his head. No, he couldn’t do any of that, he couldn’t have what he wanted the most. Twilight was a master spy and if Yor got pregnant there was a protocol that he had to follow.

Sadness took over him. He hadn’t forgotten; he slept with Yor because he was in love with her. Even now, full of sadness and fear, he still wanted to be with her.

But he couldn’t.

Twilight let out a big sigh. He needed strength to get up and run away from the person he loved the most. He would get out of bed, go to his room and apologize to Yor in the morning. He would tell her they couldn’t do this again, that it was better if they kept their distance, that it had been a mistake. And just to be safe, he would get her one of those pills to avoid pregnancy after having unprotected sex.

Now that he had a plan in mind, he felt a bit more like the master spy he was. Yet, sadness didn’t yield and his body refused to move from that bed.

Get a grip, asshole!

He couldn’t keep doing this. He couldn’t stay in that room. He couldn’t keep hurting her! He closed his eyes and uncovered himself to move.

Just then, Yor rolled over and landed one of her arms on him.

In the dark and asleep, she looked for him. The feeling of her skin soothed him much better than any other plan. She rubbed her nose on his neck, caressed his face with her hand, and kissed his face.

“Are you okay?” her groggy voice asked.

[Redacted] couldn’t resist. He couldn’t leave that bed and he couldn’t leave her. Love was too strong― stronger than any fear, any protocol, any rule. Stronger than Twilight.

So instead of running away, he took shelter in her arms.

“Yes, I’m okay,” he cuddled and covered himself back up.

Enough. He couldn’t fight this anymore. He knew very well he wasn’t worthy of her, that he was just a stand in for someone in her future, that he had already taken so much from her; still, for today and until the moment Loid Forger died, he wanted to be with her as a real husband. It was selfish, yes, but he needed her. He was in love with her.

[Redacted] got comfortable in Yor’s embrace and closed his eyes. Before he fell back asleep, one last thought popped into his mind: what about the possibility of a pregnancy?

That fantasy that had hurt him so much a few moments ago took over him again. This time, he imagined Yor holding a baby and Anya and him sitting next to her. It was an impossible dream, he knew that. And not getting Yor those pills was an unnecessary risk…

Yor sighed in her sleep. [Redacted] wanted more than anything in the world to stay with her forever. It was callous of him to think about it, but then again, he wasn’t a good man. Maybe, if Yor got pregnant, there would be something that would bind them to each other forever. Why not let fate decide?

***

She could hear the birds singing. It was morning, but she wasn’t fully awake. She was more tired than usual and a bit sore too. She tried to move, but something was holding her―someone.

She didn’t feel like she was in danger, quite the opposite. The person who was holding her was also protecting her and kissing her all over. She hummed pleasantly and resisted opening her eyes because she wanted to feel all those caresses.

“Good morning,” her husband said. “I’m going to make some breakfast.”

“Noooo!” she clung to him still with her eyes closed. “Stay with me.”

More kisses. For a second, Yor thought she had convinced Loid to stay.

“It’s still early. Sleep some more,” he said and separated from her. “I’ll call you when breakfast is ready.”

The bed felt cold the minute he stepped out of the room. The sensation of emptiness made her open her eyes. Even though she was tired, she couldn’t go back to sleep.

Maybe it was ridiculous, but, after what had happened between them the night before, she wanted Loid to stay in bed with her and she long to hear that he loved her.

Yor shook her head. She was asking too much; probably he hadn’t said it last night because he wasn’t ready for it or maybe…maybe he didn’t love her.

Suddenly she felt very naked. Yor brought her knees to her chest and lowered her head. She had heard from her colleagues that for men, sex was a casual thing; that they could separate sex from love. How? She had only dared to have sex with him because she was in love, but what if he saw what had happened between them as a casual thing?

There was nothing she could do. This time she had gone too far and now she had to face the consequences of her actions. She got dressed in silence, scared of seeing his face at the breakfast table, afraid of discovering regret in his eyes. If that was the case, maybe they could pretend this never had happened (although, she probably would never forget it). Maybe they could go back to the way they were before…

Yor thought about all their kisses, the way he had held her and touched her. He had been so gentle, so loving. And then, there was that look in his eyes…

She didn’t know much about sex, or men or even love, but that look…she knew Loid’s eyes; she’d learned to read the way he looked at her. Suddenly, Yor began to hope.

After getting dressed, she opened the door and walked into the kitchen. Loid was still cooking when she got there. The delicious smell of eggs and toast filled their apartment.

“I was about to come get you. It’s almost ready,” he announced without looking at her. “Anya is still asleep, but I’ll wake her up in a few minutes.”

With a shaky hand, she reached out to him. She needed to look into his eyes. She needed to know.

That blue gaze of his almost melted her. She didn’t even had time to think; his lips captured hers and she got her answer―he still wanted her.

Yor clung to him, almost crying from relief.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked sensing her uneasiness. “Was last night too much?”

She shook her head. “No, it was perfect,” she answered. “I just miss you.”

Loid clung to her too.

“I’m right here,” he said.

‘I love you’ almost slipped out of her mouth but she was able to keep it in. She was afraid of ruining things between them if she said it. For now, this was more than enough. As long as he was still by her side, as long as he wanted her, she was happy.

The rest, she would let fate decide.

Chapter Text

Yuri was on his way to Westalis.

Westalis. Of all places…

As a former SSS agent, that was a place he never thought he would visit. He shook his head. Fate can be a funny and capricious thing.

As he was getting closer to the border, he thought about his sister, who was married to a Westalian. He had grown up thinking Westalians were monsters who were trying to destroy Ostania and, for a long time, he had dedicated his life to eradicating that threat. Now, in an ironic turn of events, one of them had taken his beloved sister and impregnated her. So not only was Yuri now related to a Westalian by his sister’s marriage, but also by blood―his nephew was from that country as well.

Yuri sighed.

“Oh, Yuri, I can’t wait for you to meet him! You’re going to love him.” her sister’s words echoed in his mind.

He grunted. Very doubtful.

Her sister sounded completely in love with that baby already. That wasn’t a big surprise; she had fallen in love with that dumbass spy and Chihuahua girl in no time, so why would it be different with that baby?

With his luck, Yuri was sure that kid surely looked exactly like Forger―blond hair, blue eyes. Meh. Why would he even care about a miniature copy of that guy who had made Yor suffer so much?

“Documentation, please” the border agent requested, and Yuri complied and handed him his government ID. “What is the reason for your visit to Westalis?”

“A family visit,” he said. “I’m here to see my sister and her family.”

After checking his paperwork, they let him in. He was now driving in Westalian territory. Yuri looked around, curious of the country he had once believed was a hellhole. It didn’t look like that at all. In fact, he had to admit it looked rather pretty―lots of trees, picturesque small towns, and…normal people.

By the time he finally got to her sister’s house he had seen plenty, and he felt relieved Yor lived in a safe country instead of the dumpster he had imagined. Her house was pretty too. It was certainly a bigger place than their former apartment in Berlint; it had a big front yard, a big tree, and a garage.

Yuri didn’t get out of the car right away. He wondered if he would feel uncomfortable staying there for a couple of days. He loved his sister, and he wanted to see her, of course. Nevertheless, now that she lived so far away, now that she had her own family, he wondered if there was a place for him in her life.

Maybe that had been his deepest fear all along―not to be replaced by Loid Forger, but to be completely pushed out of his only family’s heart.

“UNKIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!” he heard a voice nearby and a head full of pink hair suddenly running towards him.

Anya didn’t even give him time to open the door, she did it herself. Then she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him out of the car.

“Unkie, you’re finally here!” she beamed full of happiness, as if she had really been waiting for him for a long time.

“Hey, Chihuahua girl,” he greeted and couldn’t help smiling. “Yes, it’s been a long time.”

He closed the door of his car and walked towards the entrance of their home. Before he made it, Yor ran out and tackled him in a big hug.

“Welcome home!”

He hugged her back and couldn’t help crying a bit. He knew she was happy here, with that asshole spy, still, he wasn’t used to being so far away from his only family.

“I’m so happy you’ve come to visit us!” she said. “I’ve missed you. We’ve all missed you!”

Only then he noticed Anya was hugging his leg too, and that fluffy white dog had come to greet him and was waiting for him to pet him.

“I’ve miss all of you too!” he said, and it was strange to discover it was true. He had missed seeing the girls and even that fluffy dog.

“Let’s go in,” Yor said. “We have a nice meal waiting for you.”

Anya pulled him by the hand, and they crossed the threshold of their home. He almost expected to see Forger as soon as he entered, but he was nowhere to be found.

“Hey good boy,” he petted Bond. “Have you been taking good care of the girls?”

He played with Bond and Anya for a few minutes before washing his hands to get ready to eat and just when he was about to ask if Forger was out, the former spy came downstairs with a little bundle in his arms.

“Hey, Yuri. Welcome,” he spoke softly. “Someone just woke up from his nap; right on time to meet you.”

“Hey, Forger,” he greeted.

Yuri didn’t have to ask about that bundle in his arms; he knew who that was and for once, Yuri froze, not knowing exactly what to do or what to say. Forger walked towards him and stood next to him. Yuri observed the baby carefully; he had big blue eyes and a little bit of blond hair on his head.

“What do you think?” Forger asked proudly.

The baby didn’t give Yuri a chance to reply; he just started crying.

“Oh no, not again,” Forger panicked and rocked the baby.

“Oh my God, Forger. You’re making him worse,” Yuri rolled his eyes. “Give that baby to me!”

Forger handed him the little bundle and, as soon as Yuri grabbed him, he felt the baby’s warmth in his hands and arms.

“You were squeezing him too hard and rocking him too fast,” Yuri told his brother in law. “Let me show you how to do it.”

The baby stopped crying right away. Of course, now that he wasn’t being squished, he probably felt much more comfortable. Forger looked surprised.

“I guess he likes you,” the former spy said.

“Do you want me to take him?” Yor asked with extended arms when she walked back into the living room.

“No, we’re fine,” Yuri said with a familiar possessive note in his voice. “Let me hold him for a little bit.”

Yuri did not let go of his nephew during the whole dinner; he was able to eat with one hand. He chit-chatted with Yor and Forger, but barely took his eyes off that baby.

When they were done with dinner, he didn’t even offer to help clean up, like he always did back in the day.

“I’ll take care of the baby while you guys clean,” he said, still not letting go.

“Hey! I always take care of my baby brother while mama and papa clean up!” Anya grumbled. “No fair!”

“Sweetie, why don’t you both take care of James?” Yor suggested while she and her husband took the dishes into the kitchen.

“Unkie, you heard mama,” the little girl said.

“Okay, okay. I’ll sit on the couch and we both can watch him.”

James was very alert and looked at Yuri while they sat in the living room. He was barely a week old, but by the look in his eyes, Yuri could tell he was smart. Of course, he was his nephew!

In all these months since he learned that Yor was pregnant, he never once considered this baby would also have his blood and would be part Briar. Yuri carefully grabbed one of his tiny hands and the baby wrapped it around one of his fingers. Yuri chuckled.

Suddenly, the infant put his hand in his mouth and began to suck.

“Oh-oh, he’s hungry,” Anya warned.

As if on cue, James began to whimper.

“Oh no, what’s wrong?” Yuri asked.

“Mamaaaaaa!!” Anya yelled and Yuri cuddled the bundle to protect him from Chihuahua girl’s loud noise. “The baby is hungry again!”

Yor came running. She dried her hands with a kitchen towel and quickly looked at the clock.

“I guess it’s time to feed him,” she extended her arms to take the baby from Yuri, but he refused to hand him to her.

“I’ll feed him!”

“Yuri, you can’t feed him,” she said. “Just give me the baby.”

“Why not?” he cuddled the baby away from Yor. “I can do it. Just give me a bottle.”

“Because I’m nursing him,” she pointed at herself, and Yuri’s lightbulb finally went on.

“Oh.”

He had no choice but to hand his sister that warm bundle.

“We’ll be back in a little bit,” she said, and Anya followed them.

As soon as they left, he missed that warmth in his arms, and felt sad.

“So how do you like your nephew?” Forger said.

Yuri hadn’t even noticed he was in the living room.

“He’s okay, I guess,” Yuri pretended not to care too much.

Forger smiled and sat on the chair next to the couch.

“Yor and Anya were very excited about you meeting James,” he commented. “They knew you were going to love him at first sight.”

“Well, he’s Yor’s kid,” he mumbled.

Yuri looked around. There were pictures of their family on the wall and the furniture. In many of them, Yor was still pregnant, in a couple of them, he could see the baby too. It was obvious they were very happy.

“You know? I never thanked you for taking care of them while I was gone,” Forger said. “Thank you for everything you did for Yor and Anya. I know you didn’t do it for me, but I truly appreciate it.”

In the past, Yuri would have scoffed at him and replied with a commentary about Forger’s ineptitude to care for his family. However, seeing those pictures, plus his sister’s face, Anya’s smile, and that healthy, beautiful baby, Yuri didn’t find it in his heart to say anything rude.

“It was my pleasure,” he said. “I trust you’re taking care of them well here.”

“I am,” he said. “And I always will.”

They sat in silence for a while, and they could hear Anya’s giggles coming from the room upstairs.

“How are things in Ostania?” Forger asked after a while.

“Busy, sometimes chaotic, but getting better,” Yuri answered. “Things are changing.”

“For the best?”

“I hope so,” the former SSS agent replied. “But it’s still not safe for you to come back.”

“We weren’t planning to,” he said. “We’re happy here.”

Yuri nodded. Even though he missed his sister, he would never dare to put her and her family in danger, just so he could be near her. As much as it pained him, they had to remain in Westalis.

“I’ll let you know when it’s safe to visit,” Yuri said. “It’s going to take a while for things to settle; perhaps years.”

“I thought so,” his brother in law said.

After a few more minutes, the girls, plus the baby came back to the living room.

“He fell asleep while he was eating,” Yor announced.

Yuri got on his feet and walked towards her.

“May I?” he asked reaching for the baby.

“Sure,” she handed James back to him.

The little one was already asleep, but Yuri was happy to hold him again.

Yor sat on her husband’s lap and he hugged her. It looked like they still loved each other as much as they did a few months ago. Good.

Then, Yor yawned, and Forger did the same.

“Sorry, we haven’t had much sleep in the last few days,” Yor said yawning again.

“I see that,” Yuri smiled. “Why don’t you and Loi-Loi take a nap while Chihuahua girl and I watch over the baby?”

Yor and Loi-Loi looked at each other.

“What do you think, my love?” he asked. “Should we?”

“This seems like a golden opportunity,” she said. “We’ve been taking turns sleeping.”

“Come on, I’ll only be here for a couple of days,” Yuri reminded them. “Now is the time.”

The parents of the newborn looked at each other once more and nodded.

“A small nap right now sounds perfect,” Loi-Loi said. “Thank you, Yuri.”

“Call me if he needs anything,” Yor added.

“I’ll send Anya to get you if that happens,” he replied. “We’ll be right here, watching cartoons.”

“Cartoons!!” Anya cheered.

The couple went upstairs, and Anya ran to turn on the TV.

“They have awesome cartoons here, Unkie,” Anya informed him. “Remember Bondman? They show it here too!”

Back in Ostania, Yuri sometimes babysat Anya and he got used to watching cartoons with her. It was something they used to share together.

“All right, let’s see what kind of cartoons Westalian kids watch,” he said getting comfortable on the couch, still holding James. “Not too loud, so we don’t wake up the baby,” he added.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Anya dismissed his instruction. “When he’s asleep, nothing wakes him up.”

Anya was right. James slept for a solid two hours, and nothing woke him up. Yuri could barely take his eyes off him. He was so little, so cute, and soft, plus he had that sweet baby smell―powder and milk.

During the baby’s nap, Yuri imagined all the things he would teach him. He wanted to tutor him so he would do well in school, teach him Ostanian, and play with him too. Maybe he would even show him his insect collection!

Then, suddenly, the baby began to stretch and tried to open his eyes.

“He’s waking up!” Anya announced and her cartoons were completely forgotten.

For a moment, Yuri wondered if the baby would cry, but he didn’t. He just looked at him and Anya with those big blue eyes.

“Should I go get mommy?” Anya asked.

“No, let her sleep a little while longer,” he said. “We can take care of him.”

Yuri got up and walked towards the window. By then, it was almost December, and it got dark earlier, plus, it was too cold to have the window open, but he still wanted to show the baby. Outside, the sky was pink and orange, the clouds looked like fire, and the trees were almost bare.

“Look, James,” he said. “Isn’t it a beautiful twilight?”

The baby cooed and Yuri smiled. There was no doubt in his mind his nephew understood him. He was a smart kid, like his uncle.

***

“Mama, I think Uncle Yuri wants to steal my baby brother,” Anya accused during bedtime.

Yor tried not to laugh.

“What makes you say that, sweetie?”

“He hasn’t let go of my baby brother since he got here!” her daughter complained. “I could barely give him one goodnight kiss!”

They were both cuddling in Anya’s bed―Yor caressing her daughter’s head so she would get sleepy.

“Well, Uncle Yuri just met the baby,” Yor reasoned. “And he lives faraway, so he knows it’ll be a while until he sees him again.”

Anya pouted.

“I wish I could read his mind,” she said. “That way I could know for sure if he’s trying to steal him.”

Yor giggled and kissed the top of her head.

“He won’t steal him away,” she told her daughter. “I promise.”

“You promise, mommy?” Anya looked at her very seriously. “Yes, I’ll keep an eye on the baby at all times. Now, time to go to sleep.”

“What are you talking about?” her husband walked into the room to tuck Anya in.

“Daddy! Why aren’t you watching the baby?!”

“I came to tell you goodnight,” he said. “Yuri is with him.”

“Noooooooo!” Anya exclaimed. “What if he steals him?”

“Huh?” her husband had no clue what Anya was talking about.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go check on them right now,” Yor got up chuckling and headed back to the living room.

Yuri hadn’t stolen James. Her brother was just walking around with him―besotted, like the rest of the family.

“Do you want me to take him?” she asked. “Your arms are probably getting tired?”

“Nah, I’m fine,” he answered and just shifted the baby a little bit.

“I’m glad to see you two are getting along,” she smiled.

“How could I not get along with him?” he asked. “He looks just like you.”

“Huh? Are you sure?” Yor asked looking at her son. “I think he looks just like [Redacted].”

Yuri scoffed.

“No way!” he argued. “Just because he has blue eyes? The shape of his eyes and his whole face is exactly like yours.”

Yor had to look at her baby again. She seriously didn’t see it. That baby looked just like her husband.

“If you say so,” she shrugged, knowing there was no point in arguing with her brother. “Would you like some tea?”

“Sure, thanks.”

When Yor went into the kitchen, her husband was already heating a kettle.

“You just read my mind!” she said.

“I figured you probably want to spend some time with your brother,” he said. “You know, Briar bonding time.”

Yor smiled at her husband. “Thank you.”

A few minutes later, Yor went back to the living room and [Redacted] headed upstairs.

It was nice having her whole family here, even if it was just for a couple of days. While he was in Yuri’s arms, the baby babbled, and that made her brother giggle. When [Redacted] was around, Yuri always pretended to be so serious, but Yor knew better; he was a goofy, good-natured kid. Suddenly, she felt sad Yuri wouldn’t be able to be here all the time.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“About what?” he looked at her.

“About moving so far away.”

Yor wondered if her brother felt lonely back in Ostania.

Yuri shook his head. “Don’t be silly,” he said. “You did what you had to do for your…our family.”

Upon hearing those words, Yor became speechless. He had finally admitted it. After more than two years her brother had finally accepted the Forgers were his family too.

“Yuri…” she hugged him carefully because he was still holding her son. “Thank you!”

Just then, James began to suck his hand.

“Oh, I think that means he’s hungry!” Yuri handed the baby to Yor right away.

“We’ll be right back,” she laughed and took her baby. But before she went upstairs, a question popped into her mind. “Hey, how come you’re so good with kids, especially babies?”

Her brother gave her a cheeky smile. “I’m just a natural.”

Yor shrugged and kept walking.

That ‘natural’ thing was a lie, of course. The truth was he and Chloe once had to go undercover at a daycare to figure out if one of the teachers was helping people defect to other countries (she wasn’t). Because of this job, Yuri and Chloe had spent about a month working as daycare workers. That had been a true learning experience for both of them; taking care of babies wasn’t easy.

Yuri hadn’t thought about Chloe in a while. He hadn’t seen her since he quit the SSS. Shortly after that, it was dissolved, so he figured she was probably working somewhere else. She was smart, she had a good resume, so she probably had no problems finding another job.

The former SSS agent brought the cup of tea to his mouth and took a sip. Chloe had been his partner on many assignments. It was kind of weird not knowing about her after spending so much time together.

Maybe I should call her…

What? Noooo!

Why would he call her? He was being stupid. Now that they didn’t work together, they had nothing to talk about; they had nothing in common.

But Chloe’s face, smile, words, and laugh kept appearing in Yuri’s mind. And if he was honest with himself, this wasn’t the first time that happened.

Okay, maybe I’ll give her a call.

Chapter Text

When he woke up the next morning, he thought he was home. His wife was in his arms and even with his eyes still closed he could smell the aroma of her shampoo, feel the side of her face on his chest, and her arms around him. [Redacted] loved waking up like this―Yor tangled up with him.

Nevertheless, when he opened his eyes, the place seemed unfamiliar and he realized they weren’t back home in Westalis, but in a hotel room in Ostania. Still, since Yor was there with him, he didn’t feel anxious like the previous mornings. He moved a bit to look at the clock on the nightstand, then kissed the top of his wife’s head and closed his eyes again.

“Good morning, my love,” she kissed his face. “Are you awake?”

“No,” he held on to her tighter. “Let’s sleep a little longer. There are no kids around.”

“What about today's meeting?”

He groaned. That was right, he had one last meeting that morning and, now that his wife was there too, she could go to that meeting as well, as his business partner.

“Come on, we better start getting ready,” she began to get up from the bed, but he gently pulled her back.

“Let’s just skip it and stay in bed until it’s time to go home,” he suggested.

“That’s not very responsible, Mr. Forger,” she laughed, but stayed in bed with him anyways.

Moments like this were reserved for weekends and holidays and only if their kids by some miracle slept in. Plus, in a few months, once baby number three arrived, they would be too busy.

“Hey, I have an idea,” he said. “Let me take you on a date after our meeting.”

“A date?”

“Yeah. The meeting won’t last long and we’re having a late lunch with Yuri, right?” he said. “We have plenty of time.”

“I’d love to go on a date with you,” she said smiling.

***

Just as her husband predicted, the meeting didn’t last long. It was a mere formality and, after Yor met everyone on the team, they talked about how excited they were about the project and working with them, should they decide to produce the show in Ostania. After that, they left and Yor and [Redacted] were free to go anywhere they wanted.

“I want a first date do over,” her husband declared as they walked hand in hand through the streets of Berlint. “Our first date was…well you know.”

Yor laughed. She remembered on their first date she was injured and had to spend the whole day on her feet and in pain. On top of that, she was also nervous, because it was her first date ever, so she couldn’t enjoy it to the fullest. Now she had a little more practice with dating and she could sit down too.

“Where are we going, my love?” she asked. “Please tell me you didn’t plan 864 things.”

“I didn’t!” he said. “But I thought it would be nice if we tried the some of the same things from that first date.”

“Wow, so a literal do over!” she said. “I like that.”

They left their bags in a rented locker by the train station and began their date. They wouldn’t have time to do all those things, so they choose to go to the lake and got on a small boat, then they went to the movie theater, where they spent the whole movie making out, and, finally, they went to a new shopping center where they bought some things for the new baby and their kids. It was a wonderful date.

[Redacted] looked at his watch. It was almost 2 p.m.

“We better head to the restaurant,” he suggested.

Yor had enjoyed their date a lot, but she was also hungry and a bit tired, so she was happy to go to the restaurant. She had forgotten how tiring pregnancy could be sometimes and she tried to remember if it had been like this when she was pregnant with James.

“Sister!” Yuri greeted her and embraced her as soon as they stepped into the restaurant. “How are you doing?” he looked at her belly. “I’m so happy to see you!”

“I’m happy to see you too, Yuri!”

“Hey, Yuri,” [Redacted] greeted him too.

“Hey, Loid, how are you doing?” Yuri offered him his hand.

Thankfully, the days of anger and animosity between those two were a thing of the past.

Yor recognized the restaurant. Years ago, right before she found out she was pregnant, Yuri and she had eaten there, and she had broken down after her brother had asked her about Anya’s birth mother. Yor couldn’t help chuckling. There were so many things she didn’t know back then.

“What’s so funny?” her husband asked.

“Nothing, I just remembered something,” she sat down in between him and Yuri.

Yor felt pleased every time her husband and her brother sat together and talked. She wouldn’t exactly call them friends, but they did get along.

“How’s work going?” [Redacted] asked him.

“Busy as always,” Yuri responded. “But I think we’re making a lot of progress with those commercial agreements I told you about the last time we talked.”

Yuri no longer worked as an undercover policeman. The SSS no longer existed, it had been shamefully dissolved after the scandal with Donovan Desmond’s assassination and Project Apple. Currently, Yuri was employed at the Department of Foreign Affairs (this time it was true), where he worked for peace and cooperation between Ostania and Westalis. Also, thanks to his job, he was able to visit his family in Westalis plenty of times.

“And you?” Yuri asked. “How is that project going?”

“Well, we met with the organizers, and everything looks good,” her husband said.

“So, it’s done?” Yuri asked. “That’s great! That means you will be coming here more often.”

Yor and [Redacted] looked at each other. One look was enough to determine they weren’t ready to tell Yuri about the whole family moving back to Ostania. They still had to talk to their third partner―Franky.

“Probably,” Yor answered.

It was a very pleasant meal, Yuri told them about all the new things in Berlint and the Forgers talked about their kids back home. Even after a whole hour talking, eating, and resting, Yor still felt very tired. Maybe she had overdone it with the trip yesterday and today’s activities. Nevertheless, she didn’t think too much of it; she could take a nap on the train later during their trip back home.

“Hey, how’s Chloe doing?” Yor asked. “You haven’t mentioned her once. Do you think I wouldn't notice it?

“Well…Chloe and I…” Yuri blushed.

“I hope everything is okay between you two,” Yor said. “The last time you visited Westalis with her, you look so happy!”

“Actually, we…”

Before he could tell them anything, they saw Damian Desmond enter the restaurant with a large box wrapped with a funny puppy print and pink bow on top of it. That was right, her husband had told him to meet them here.

“Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Forger. It’s so nice to see you!” the young teen greeted them. “Hi, Yuri. Nice to see you too.”

Damian had visited the Forgers every summer in the last few years, along with Becky. Yor observed he had grown up a few more centimeters since the last time they saw him.

“Hi, Damian,” she said. “It’s nice to see you too.”

“I apologize for interrupting your lunch, I just wanted to bring this for Anya,” he handed them that big box. “Thank you for taking it to her, I really appreciate it.”  

“It’s not a problem,” [Redacted] answered. “Did you leave school to come here? I hope you notified Master Henderson.”

“Yes, of course,” Damian nodded nervously. “I didn’t sneak out. I asked permission.”

“I’m glad you did,” her husband smiled.

Damian hesitated for a moment and Yor wondered if he wanted to say something else. Then, the teen looked at Yuri, who seemed to know what was going on.

“I…better leave,” the boy said and sounded a bit defeated. “It was nice seeing you and thank you.”

He turned around and began walking away. Somehow, Yor could tell something was off.

“Well, we better get going,” her husband said. “Our train leaves in about an hour and…”

Before he could finish, they saw Damian coming back towards them―a determined look on his eyes.

“Is everything okay, Damian?” [Redacted] asked him.

“Mr. and Mrs. Forger, there’s something I need to tell you,” he announced. “I want you to know that my intentions with your daughter are serious. I love her, and I plan to marry her one day.”

There wasn’t a hint of hesitation when that young man told them that. That’s how Yor knew he was being serious. They were speechless.

“That’s it. That’s all I wanted to say,” Damian announced. “Have a safe trip back home and please say hi to Anya for me.”

After that, he left, this time for real.

There was a long silence at their table and when she looked at her husband, she could tell immediately he was as shocked as she was.

“Was this your idea?” he accused Yuri. “Because it’s not funny at all.”

“Not exactly, but I did advise the kid to be upfront about his intentions,” Yuri responded.

“I knew it!” her husband sounded mad. “Is this some stupid revenge for marrying your sister without your consent?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Yuri replied and Yor could tell he was not happy about that accusation.

“Yuri, she’s barely a teenager and this boy came to tell me that he intends to marry her,” he said.

“Oh my God, you are an idiot!” Yuri snapped. “Damian didn’t say he was going to marry Anya tomorrow! Obviously, it’ll be years before that happens!”

Yor began to feel nauseous.

“It’s obvious you’re not a father,” he answered back. “This is not the time for either of them to think about marriage. They need to concentrate in their studies and just be kids!”

Now in addition to nausea, Yor felt really faint.

“I never said they should start planning their wedding!” Yuri defended. “But after what you did to me, I figured I didn’t want that to happen to Yor or you, so I told him he should talk to you first.”

“So, you admit it? You planned this!”

Yor could barely grab her husband’s arm. She was about to faint.

That made him turn his face and look at her. As soon as he did, he knew there was something wrong with her.

“Yor! Are you okay?!”

She leaned on him and tried to answer him, but she couldn't.

“Here, drink some water, please,” he brought the glass toward her lips.

After that she began to feel a bit better.

“Thank you, I’m okay now,” she said.

There was no more fighting between her husband and brother; they both looked at her scared.

“I think it’s better if a doctor checks you, my love,” [Redacted] suggested.

“No, that’s not necessary. I’m fine now,” she argued. “Plus, we need to go home.”

“I agree with Forger,” Yuri intervened. “Let me get the car and I’ll take you to the hospital.”

***

At the hospital, Yuri talked to a couple of people so they would see Yor right away.

His wife still looked pale when someone took her in a wheelchair to examine her. [Redacted] had to wait outside.

“Everything will be okay, my love,” Yor cheered weakly and smiled at him before she left.

As soon as she was out of sight, [Redacted] collapsed on the nearest chair. Anxiety took over him as he painfully relived something that had happened years ago, when his wife was at the hospital because of an assignment that had gone wrong (although, back then he thought she had been hit by a car).

Just like he suspected, this trip was a terrible idea; he should have stayed home with his family. What the hell was he doing in Ostania? If it wasn’t for him, Yor would have never travelled there either.

He thought about the trip his wife had made just yesterday, plus all the physical activity from the night before, plus the stress from today’s meeting, and everything they had done during their date. Yor was probably exhausted already when she witnessed Yuri and him fighting.

Oh God, what if something bad happens to her?

He covered his eyes with one hand, feeling tension in every muscle in his body.

What was he going to tell his children?

He hadn’t been able to protect his wife, the person he loved the most in the world.

His breathing became shallow.

All this was his fault. He was the one who submitted that stupid project. He was also the one who wanted another baby. They were happy with their two children, why on Earth did he want another one?

He was gasping for air now.

What if he lost his wife?

“Hey,” a voice next to him said. “Quit it. You’re going to give yourself a panic attack.”

In addition to that voice, he also felt a hand on his shoulder.

[Redacted] lowered his hand from his face and opened his eyes. When he turned around, he saw Yuri sitting next to him.

“Yor is strong,” Yuri said. “She’ll be all right and you need to be all right too.”

[Redacted] breathed again and gave him a shaky nod. Who knew how long they had been waiting there; he’d lost track of time, but, for once, he felt grateful Yuri was there with him. Maybe they weren’t best friends, and they still have their differences, but they were family.

"About what happened at the restaurant," Yuri began. "I did advise Damian he should ask your permission to date Anya, but honestly, I had no clue he was going to say that to you. I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize," he answered. "I know you're like an older brother to him and I think you did the right thing. I appreciate it," he said. "If anything, I should apologize to you for my reaction. I guess being back in Ostania affected me more than I thought."

"Don't worry about it," Yuri said. "After everything you and Yor lived here all those years ago, it's understandable."

“Mr. Forger?” a doctor finally called him, and he jumped from his seat.

“Yes, doctor,” he answered.

“We ran several tests on your wife and she and the baby seem to be fine,” the doctor said and [Redacted] felt relief wash all over him. “We believe that fainting spell was due to low blood pressure.”

“Are you keeping her overnight for observation?” he asked.

“I don’t believe it’s necessary, however, I do recommend she rests for the night,” he advised. “She told us you live in Westalis and were planning to travel back home today.”

“We won’t,” he assured him. “We’ll stay here until she has rested and is well enough to travel again.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” the doctor said. “I’ll begin the paperwork for her release. You can see her now.”

He didn’t wait another second and went inside the room, where his wife was already dressed and sitting on the bed. He ran to her and hugged her.

“I’m sorry, darling!” he clung to her.

“For what?” she kissed his face. “My love, nothing bad happened. You heard the doctor; I’m okay. We are okay.”

She put his hand on her belly and smiled at him. [Redacted] observed she looked much better―a healthy color had returned to her cheeks. Only then, he let out a big sigh of relief.

“We’ll go back to the hotel,” he said. “I’ll call Franky and ask him to take care of the kids one more night.”

“Absolutely not!” Yuri protested. “You two are staying at my house. It’s closer to the hospital and you’ll be more comfortable there.”

“We don’t want to impose,” Yor said.

“You’re not. There’s plenty of space,” Yuri added. “Plus, we’re family.”

[Redacted] only accepted because Yuri’s house was closer to the hospital.

After Yor was released, Yuri drove them to the train station and picked up their bags from the locker. Then, they headed to Yuri’s house.

Yuri no longer lived in an apartment; he had bought a house a couple of years ago. Neither Yor, nor [Redacted] had been there before.

“Wow, this place is beautiful, little brother!” Yor declared when they crossed the door.

Not only it was in a nice neighborhood, and had a good curve appeal, but also the interior design was beautiful. Who knew Yuri had such refined taste?

“Do you want to rest? I can show you your room?” Yuri asked her.

It was barely 7 p.m. and Yor wasn’t ready to go to sleep.

“I think I prefer to sit in the living room for a little while, if that’s okay with you,” she replied.

“Of course, have a seat,” Yuri said. "Are you hungry?"

Yor rubbed her belly. “I could eat a snack.”

“Let me get you something,” Yuri walked towards the kitchen and [Redacted] followed him.

He remembered very clearly Yuri couldn’t cook to save his life and he was going to offer to prepare something so his wife wouldn’t have to eat anything harmful.

“Hey, Yuri…”

Just then, the main door of the house opened.

“I’m home!” a woman’s voice sang.

“Oh shit!” Yuri ran back to the living room and [Redacted] followed him.

“Chloe?” Yor got up.

“Yor?” Chloe looked at her, left a large paper bag full of groceries on the dining table and walked towards Yor. “Oh, my goodness! What are you doing here?” the young woman laughed. “Yuri told me you were having lunch together, but that you were going back to Westalis today.”

They hugged each other, smiling.

“I almost fainted at the restaurant,” Yor explained. “It was something dumb.”

“Are you and the baby okay?” Chloe asked gently touching her belly.

“Yes, we’re fine!” Yor assured her. “They took me to the hospital to get checked. Everything is in order, but I’m afraid we’ll need to stay with you guys for the night,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all!” Chloe beamed. “You know you’re always welcome here!”

[Redacted] frowned. He didn’t even know Yuri and Chloe were already living together. How did his wife know?

“Are you hungry? I was planning on cooking spaghetti tonight,” Chloe walked towards the dining table where she had put the groceries. “Unless you want something different.”

“Spaghetti sounds fantastic,” Yor said.

“I can help you, if you want,” [Redacted] offered. “Hi, by the way. Thank you for letting us stay here.”

“It’s not a problem; you’re family!” she replied. “And there’s no need for you to help me. Please make yourself at home.”

“I’ll get you something to drink,” Yuri went back to the kitchen and Chloe followed him.

Yor sat back down and [Redacted] sat next to her.

“How did you know those two are living together?” he asked her. “Did Yuri tell you?”

Yor shook her head.

“Chloe did,” she replied. “We talk on the phone every Wednesday.”

He raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t told him about that.

“Dinner will be ready soon!” Chloe chanted from the kitchen and Yor giggled.

Just then, Yuri emerged from the kitchen with two cups and some cookies on a tray.

“You can snack on this while you wait for dinner,” he said. “I’ll go back in there to help.”

Yor smiled proud of her little brother. Just then, [Redacted] noticed all the pictures on the walls of the house. There were plenty of pictures of the young couple together, but also pictures of his own family, including his children, and also pictures of Yuri and Damian.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better woman for my brother,” Yor said. “She’s been such a wonderful influence on him. She balances him out.”

During dinner, [Redacted] didn’t take his eyes off his wife. Yor chatted and laughed, like she normally did. She didn’t look sick or faint, and he felt glad. Maybe it was really exhaustion and low blood pressure. Still, he was planning on staying by her side every moment at least for the next few days.

When Yuri brought dessert to the table, the young couple announced they were now engaged and planned on getting married next year.

“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you before,” Yuri apologized to Yor. “We wanted to tell you in person the next time we visited you.”

“Congratulations!!” Yor beamed and hugged both Yuri and Chloe. “I’m so happy for you!”

After that, Chloe showed Yor a few bridal magazines and talked about the things they had planned for their wedding. At around 10 p.m. they decided it was time to call it a night and go to bed.

“Thank you for everything,” Yor told Chloe. “I’m so happy you’re marrying my brother. I always wanted to have a sister.”

They hugged each other one more time before going to bed. [Redacted] felt happy for his wife.

***

Once Yor and [Redacted] were in bed, exhaustion hit him all at once. It had been such a long day.

“I’m sorry I made you worry,” she apologized while caressing his face and giving him tiny kisses.

He shook his head with his eyes closed.

“There’s no need to apologize, my love,” he kissed her back. “I’m just happy you and the baby are okay.”

They snuggled closer together.

“I want to go home,” she said. “I’m not used to being away from our kids. I miss them.”

“I miss them too,” he admitted. “If you feel well enough tomorrow, we’ll go home.”

They stayed in a comfortable silence for a little while before Yor asked him:

“Hey, are you still upset about Damian wanting to marry Anya?”

He shook his head.

“No, I think I was just surprised,” he said. “You know I don’t like surprises.”

Even after all these years, that bad habit of wanting to control everything showed up occasionally.

“Yuri is right; it’s not like they’re getting married next year,” he admitted. “Plus, Anya likes him and he’s a good kid.”

Yor nodded in agreement.

“If we moved to Ostania…” Yor mentioned without finishing her sentence.

“I’m sure Anya will be over the moon,” he completed. “Not only Anya, but also Damian, Yuri, and Chloe. They’ll all be happy.”

“Do you think we’ll be okay if we move back here?” she asked.

Loid thought about his family, and his wife in particular. Yor would probably be very happy to be closer to Yuri and Chloe.

“Yes, we’ll be happy here,” he said. "Because we'll be together."

Chapter Text

First Halloween

Their first Halloween didn’t really count.

Back then, they had been a family fake family for only a couple of months. Twilight still had so much to learn about parenthood; Halloween and costumes were among those things.

In one of the biggest disgraces of his spy career, he sent his daughter to school on Halloween without a costume. By the time he realized kids were supposed to dress up that day, it was too late. Anya came home crying.

“What happened? Did you get a Tonitrus?!” he asked.

Downcast, Anya shook her head.

“Anya didn’t have to wear her uniform today,” she responded―lips quivering, eyes full of tears. “Anya wanted to be Bondman!”

At first, he thought it was just nonsense, but then, Yor intervened.

“Oh no! Today is Halloween!” his fake wife said. “Were you supposed to dress up for school?”

Anya nodded and sobbed.

Terror filled his mind. He was an horrible father and a terrible spy. Anya was probably the only child without a costume at school. Her classmates probably had laughed and pointed at her for wearing a uniform, because of this, teachers probably suspected something wasn’t right at home, maybe they even began to question whether or not Loid Forger was Anya’s real father, because what kind of father forgets Halloween?! Perhaps someone had even called the SSS and the authorities were on his way to arrest him. All because of a Halloween costume!!

“Awww, poor baby!” Yor hugged Anya. “But hey, we can still get you a costume and go trick or treating tonight!”

As if her words were magical, Anya stopped crying and blinked her tears away.

“We can?” the little girl asked.

“Of course! We’ll make a costume with whatever we can find here at home and get as many candy as we can!”

“YAAAAAAY!! Candy!!!”

Twilight sighed. Somehow, Yor’s words had stopped not only Anya’s cries but also his downward spiral. If neighbors saw Anya trick or treating tonight and she went back to school tomorrow and told her friends, they could probably avoid a catastrophe.

“Yor, I’m so sorry, I have to work at the hospital tonight,” he apologized. Unfortunately, he had a side mission that he couldn’t postpone.

“Don’t worry, Loid,” she smiled. “I’ll take care of everything.”

“What would I do without you?” he sighed again and Yor blushed.

“I’m just happy to help.”

Twilight had about an hour before leaving for his side mission and, since Yor was taking care of the home-made costume, he chose to cook dinner for them. As compensation for his huge oversight, he wanted to cook Hamburg steak, Anya’s favorite.

While in the kitchen, he heard Yor and Anya laughing in Anya’s room.

What kind of costume are they making? He thought and couldn’t help smiling.

By the time he finished cooking dinner, the costume was done too.

“Ta-dah!” Yor exclaimed, proud of her work.

Anya came out of the room in full costume: A sheet with two crooked holes that showed two big green eyes. It was not only terribly plain, but also plain terrible; the sheet wasn’t even white, it had pink flowers and was a bit wrinkled.

“Papa, I’m a ghost!” Anya beamed.

“I see that!”

It was too late for him to be able to fix it or do anything. He had to leave in about five minutes. This flowery ghost would have to suffice.

“I am so sorry,” Yor apologized. “I did a terrible job.”

“No, Yor, you didn’t,” he said. “You did wonderfully. You saved the day; Anya looks so happy.”

Anya was running around the apartment giggling and saying “Boo!” to Bond.

“I have to go,” he said trying to ignore that tug of guilt in his chest. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

That first Halloween didn’t count. He didn’t even get to spend it with his family.

***

Second Halloween

By the time Halloween came again, Loid Forger was fully prepared.

Weeks before Halloween, he fashioned three different options for Anya to wear according to predictions in popular costumes that year and his daughter preferences: witch, astronaut, and Bondman, of course.

Nevertheless, his unpredictable daughter threw a curveball about a week before the big day:

“Papa, I want you to wear a costume too.”

“Me? But I’m not going to school, you’re the one who’s supposed to dress up,” he argued.

“But we’re going trick or treating together!” she reminded him. “You said you would take me this year.”

This year, he had cleared his calendar for that day so he could spend the day with his daughter and wife.

“Yes, I promised it, and we will go trick or treating together,” he assured her. “But I don’t need to wear a costume for that. Parents don’t dress up.”

“Actually, a lot of parents last year wore costumes as well,” Yor informed him.

“Mama is dressing up that day!” Anya cheered.

“I bought a witch costume,” Yor smiled. “You should wear a costume too, Loid. Come on, it’ll be fun!”

Loid groaned. In the last year, he had developed a very dangerous habit: being unable to say no to his wife.

“Alright, what kind of costume should I wear?” he finally gave in.

“BONDMAN!” Yor and Anya said at the same time.

“What? No! Not Bondman!”

“But papa, you would make a wonderful Bondman!”

“I don’t want to dress up like a spy,” Loid said.

“You look a bit like him,” Yor insisted. “You should do it.”

Loid groaned again. That terribly dangerous habit of his…

“Fine. I’ll be Bondman for Halloween.”

He tried to find an adult Bondman costume in stores, but barely a few days for Halloween, it was impossible. So, Twilight had no choice but to make the costume himself.

“I hate this.”

And he complained and grumbled the whole time.

Why did he have to do this? A spy disguised as a spy, very funny. He was an adult, and he didn’t even want to dress up in the first place! And why couldn’t he wear something else, like a vampire or a monster. Stupid Bondman isn’t even scary, and Halloween was supposed to be scary.

Every time he thought about it, his mood soured, however, on Halloween night, when he emerged from his room in full Bondman costume and he saw his little girl’s sparkly eyes, he completely forgot about everything and couldn’t help smiling.

“BONDMAN!!!” Anya yelled full of joy.

“You look just like him!” Yor beamed.

“Thank you, I guess,” he blushed. “Ready?”

“YES!” Anya jumped up and down. “Let’s go trick or treating.”

As soon as they left the building, Twilight felt self-conscious of his appearance. Every single neighbor and pedestrian looked at him and giggled. This was a nightmare; spies should never get this much attention.

“You get embarrassed about the sweetest things,” Yor told him and that only made him blush even more.

They looked like the perfect family, they had even got a hat and a pair of glasses for Bond, so all of them wore costumes.

Anya was ready to run and get as much candy as she could, but before she did, her papa noticed something.

“Anya, come here,” he called. “Your shoelace is untied. Let me tie it up for you.”

“Hurry up, papa!!” she played with his Bondman hat impatiently as he tied up her shoelace.

Yor giggled and adjusted Anya’s hat.

“Alright, all done!” he said. “Let’s go.”

Anya walked a few steps ahead of them, happy in her Bondman costume.

“Should we hold hands?” he suggested to Yor.

“Sure,” she responded and they interlaced their fingers.

They had held hands before. By then, they had gotten used to it and did this whenever the occasion required it. They wouldn’t walk too far. In a couple of blocks, Anya’s plastic pumpkin would be full of candy, and they would go back home. It was good for them for their neighbors to see they held hands. It was simply part of their fake marriage cover.

“You look fantastic,” he commented. “That witch’s hat looks very pointy.”

It was the stupidest compliment he had ever given a woman. But in his defense, his brain was using all his willpower to avoid looking at her cleavage.

“Thank you, I chose this costume because of the hat,” she responded.  

Despite the noise (children playing and laughing), it felt like such a peaceful night.

“Was it like this last year?” he asked his wife.

“Pretty much,” she said. “Anya and I had a lot of fun together, but I’m happy you came with us today…in full costume.”

“Well, enjoy it, because next year I’m not dressing up.”

Yor laughed. “We’ll see about that.”

She was clearly teasing him, still, he couldn’t help laughing too.

“What do you mean?” he asked trying to sobber up.

“I mean that Anya has you wrapped around her finger.”

“That’s not true!” he defended.

“Yes, it is!” she insisted. “But you know what? I think that’s the way it should be. It means you love her.”

He felt the urge to bring her hand to his lips and kiss it, but he stopped himself right on time.

Pull yourself together, Twilight!!

“If you say so,” he cleared his throat.

They walked some more in a comfortable silence, looking at the starry sky and the leaves on the trees, slowly turning colors.

“Papa! My pumpkin is getting too heavy,” Anya complained. “Can you carry it?”

“Yes, of course,” he took the pumpkin. “Let’s go back home.”

***

Third Halloween

It was their first Halloween in Westalis. Also, their first Halloween without any lies, their first as a real family.

Since WISE no longer sponsored them, they were on a budget but [Redacted] still wanted to celebrate (but more modestly than last year).  This time, he wouldn’t make three different costumes for Anya; one would be more than enough.

“So, how would you like to dress up this year?” he asked his daughter during dinner.

“Bondman.”

“Again? Same as last year?”

“Yes, daddy. I want to be Bondman again,” Anya replied.

After his experience as a spy, the last thing he wanted was for his little girl to even entertain the idea.

“How about a pirate? Or a wizard? Or a…”

“I want to be Bondman again!” his little girl insisted.

“Alright, I’ll make you a new Bondman costume,” he yielded. Too bad all their things were still in Ostania or he could have adjusted last year’s costume.

“YAY!! Bondman!” Anya cheered before putting another bite of food in her mouth.

He chuckled.

“What about you, my love? Are you dressing up this year?” Yor asked.

“Of course, I am!” he said. “But I don’t want to be Bondman. Can I be something else?” he asked his daughter, a bit afraid she would request him to dress as that cartoon spy.

“Sure, dad,” she said. “You can wear a different costume.”

Relieved, he let out a sigh. He did not want to be a spy ever again, not even during Halloween.

“What about you, darling?” he asked his wife. “What would you like to be for Halloween?”

Yor huffed. “Nothing,” she shifted in her chair. “I don’t think there’s a costume big enough for me at the moment.”

His wife was a few weeks away from giving birth.

“I feel like a giant balloon about to pop any second,” she added.

“But mommy and my baby brother have to dress up too!” Anya exclaimed.

“What if I made your costume?” he suggested. “What would you like, my love? You know I can make anything.”

Yor thought about it for a moment.

“Something simple and comfortable.”

He smiled with something in mind.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it happen!”

On Halloween night, the Forgers stepped out of their house in full costume and ready for trick or treating. Anya wore a Bondman costume for the second time, followed by her dad dressed as a vampire, and Yor as a pumpkin.

His wife had requested something simple, so her costume was just an oversized orange t-shirt, with a Halloween pumpkin face on her belly.

“Ready?” he asked them.

“Ready!” they both responded full of enthusiasm.

He took his wife’s hand and began to walk.

Even though they no longer lived in Ostania, Westalis wasn’t that different tonight; the streets were full of children and adults in costumes―candy and joy everywhere.

[Redacted] felt relieved; he wasn’t a spy anymore, he didn’t have to pretend anymore, he was just a husband and a dad out and about with his family. He took his wife’s hands to his lips and kissed it. Yor smiled.

“What was that for?” she asked with a pretty blush on her cheeks.

“I wanted to do that last Halloween,” he said. “Now I get to do it.”

Her eyes filled with tenderness. They had been through so much and this moment was nothing short of a miracle. She caressed his face.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you too.”

“Mommy! Daddy! Keep moving!” Anya yelled. “I want to go to the next house and get more candy.”

[Redacted] rolled his eyes. “We’re coming. Don’t walk too fast.”

They walked a few blocks until Yor finally got tired.

“Let me sit here for a moment,” she said the minute she saw a bench.

“Are you alright, darling?” her husband worried. “We can go back home if you’re tired.”

“I’m alright, I promise,” she assured him. “I just need to rest. Why don’t you go ahead and finish trick or treating while I wait here with Bond.”

At almost nine months pregnant, it wasn’t easy for her to walk long distances.

“Are you sure?” he asked a bit concerned. “I don’t like leaving you alone.”

“It won’t be for long. Anya’s pumpkin is almost full!” she argued with a smile. “Come on, go ahead.”

Anya tugged on his vampire cape, and he had no choice but to keep walking.

“Alright, Anya, just one more block and we have to go back,” he said.

“Okay, daddy,” she said. “Don’t worry. Mommy and my little brother will be safe.”

On the last house on the block, when the door opened, they got a big surprise.

“Uncle Scruffy!” Anya squealed.

“Franky? What are you doing here?”

He was dressed in full Count Scruffy costume.

“Hey guys!” his friend greeted them. “This is my girlfriend’s parents’ house. I’m helping with the trick or treaters while they go out with the grandchildren.”

“Trick or treat!” Anya chanted and held her plastic pumpkin so Franky would give her candy but instead of doing that, the ex-informant asked:

“Why are you wearing a Count Scruffy costume?” Franky complained. “You know that’s my thing.”

“What? I’m not wearing a Count Scruffy outfit, you idiot!” he defended. “I’m wearing a vampire costume.”

His friend frowned. Indeed, they were wearing identical costumes, same cape, same shirt, even same colors.

“Dad and Uncle Scruffy are Halloween twins!” Anya giggled.

Both “Counts” groaned. They were best friends but they both hated it when things like this happened.

“Sweetheart, I brought more candy!” Franky’s girlfriend came to the door in full pink bunny outfit. “Oh, hi Loid and Anya! Nice to see you!”

“Hi, Bunny lady!” Anya replied.    

“Hi,” he smiled and realized he couldn’t remember her name. What was it?

“Are you trick or treating?” she asked.

“Yes, we’re almost done,” he answered and Anya put her pumpkin out one more time so they would give her candy, but she still had no luck.

“Hey, you guys are wearing the same costume!” she laughed pointing at them. “Did you do it on purpose?”

“No,” they said at the same time.

“Well, even though you both look cute, I have to say my Franky wore it best,” she declared. “He’s just so handsome.”

She giggled and then tickled Franky and started kissing him right in front of them. It was a bit uncomfortable.

“TRICK OR TREAT!!!” Anya yelled and interrupted them (thankfully.)

“Oh, yes, of course,” Franky said, still wearing some of his girlfriend’s lipstick on his own mouth. “Here you go, kiddo. Happy Halloween.”

“Hey, where’s your wife?” Franky’s girlfriend asked. “Did she stay home?”

“No, she came with us but got tired, so she’s sitting on a bench about a block away.”

“Understandable,” she said. “It’s not easy walking so much at nine months pregnant. Maybe she ran into my mom and my nieces and nephews. My mom likes to give out cupcakes to tired parents while she takes the grandchildren trick or treating.”

“Is that so? What a good idea,” he smiled.

“I want a cupcake too!” Anya’s eyes sparkled.

“We better go,” [Redacted] said. “Yor’s waiting for us.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t leave her alone for too long,” Franky’s girlfriend, who also happened to be a doctor advised. “Babies can come early sometimes, especially if the mom is a first timer.”

“How early?”

“A week or two,” she commented.

That sinking feeling he hadn’t had in a long time returned in full force.

“We got to go now! Thank you for the candy. Bye!”

“Nice to see you!”

“Bye, Scruffy! Bye, Bunny Lady!”

[Redacted] picked up his daughter and ran. Images of Yor in full labor pain invaded his mind. Why would he leave his wife alone when she was so close to giving birth? What an idiot!

They made it back in record time. Yor was not in labor nor in pain; she was sitting on the same bench eating a huge cupcake with neon green frosting.

“Oh, hi! You’re back!” she greeted them. “I was really lucky: a lady with a bunch of kids came by and gave me this cupcake.”

The tension melted from his muscles. She was okay. Thank goodness.

“Can I have some, mommy?” Anya asked while climbing on the bench.

“Sure, Sweetie, have a bite,” she offered her the cupcake. “It’s yummy. That lady saved the day, we were really hungry,” his wife said and rubbed her baby bump.

“I’m glad it was a good cupcake,” her husband sat next to her and kissed her forehead.

This was just the perfect Halloween.

***

Eighth Halloween

He got his sketchbook ready and headed towards the living room where his kids were watching TV.

It was mid-September, but he knew by experience it was best to prepare for Halloween early. Sometimes his kids requested the most complicated costumes, and he needed time to prepare. In all honesty, this was one of his favorite family activities and he loved the whole process. It began by asking his kids what they wanted to be on Halloween. Then, based on their answers, he would sketch several options, and the kids would decide which one they wanted. Once that was settled, he would get to work and create the most wonderful costumes he could fashion. On Halloween night, the Forgers left the house in full costume to go trick or treating around the neighborhood. They always had a magnificent time.

“Alright, kids! It’s that time of the year,” he smiled big. “Have you thought about your Halloween costumes? Tell me. James, you first.”

His five-year-old son jumped up and down and giggled before giving him his answer:

“Daddy, I want to be a trash bag!”

“What?” his dad asked confused. “You want to be a trash can?”

“NO! I want to be a TRASH BAG!”

He narrowed his eyes. After all these years, he still didn’t understand children. Why would anyone want to dress up like a trash bag?

“Alright, how about you think about this for a couple more days and I’ll ask you again,” he suggested. “How about you, Anya?”

Anya paused and hesitated before giving him an answer.

“Well, actually, I was thinking about not wearing a costume this year.”

“WHAT?!”

This was way worse than the trash bag answer.

“Why not?” he asked and tried to sound calm. “You always dress up for Halloween. Remember that first Halloween when we forgot to get you a costume? You cried so much!”

“Yes, but I was six back then,” she argued. “I’m thirteen now, and…”

“You’re still a little girl,” he completed because it was true.

“I’m a teenager now and I should act more mature,” she added. “Plus, none of my friends are dressing up on Halloween.”

“Because they’re lame,” he argued.

“And if I dress up, they’re going to make fun of me.”

Those little assholes. Why would they make fun of a little girl for wearing a costume on Halloween?

“But Halloween is MFFF,” he said. “Mandatory Forger Family Fun!”

“Did you just made that up, dad?” she asked him “I’ll still go with you, mom, and James. I just won’t dress up nor trick or treat anymore.”

That Halloween was kind of sad. [Redacted] thought that his children would change their minds, but neither of them did. James insisted on dressing up like a trash bag and Anya didn’t wear a costume that day. They walked around, talked to the neighbors, and stayed out until James’ pumpkin was full. Then, they went back home.

“Don’t be so sad, my love,” Yor caressed his face while they cuddled in bed that night. “Next Halloween will be better.”

Yor loved this; just the two of them, in the quiet of the night, holding each other. His face was on the crook of her neck, she could feel him breathing and smell the clean aroma of his hair. She kissed the top of his head.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Our kids are growing. One day, they’ll stop playing, won’t love us anymore, and eventually leave.”

Yor chuckled. “That’s not true,” she argued. “They’ll always love us. Even when they grow up.”

He groaned.

“I don’t want our kids to grow up,” he complained. “Can they just stay little forever?”

“Unfortunately, that’s not possible,” she replied.

“It’s not fair,” he said. “After all these years I’m on full dad mode. I’m used to playing games and doing everything for our children. I think I’m addicted to being a dad!”

Yor giggled. “I can see that,” she caressed his face again. “But our kids are still young. James is only five and we still have plenty of years before Anya leaves for college.”

Her husband frowned. He didn’t like thinking about that.

They stayed in silence for a long time. Yor knew her husband would eventually calm down and forget about this issue. But then, he suddenly looked at her intently and said:

“Let’s have another baby.”

“What?!”

“Let’s have another kid,” he repeated and began to kiss her neck. “That’s the best solution. That way, we’ll have more years of Halloween.”

“My love, you are not serious,” she cackled. “You want to have another kid just so we can go trick or treating for a few more years?”

“Yes, among other things.”

“That’s crazy!” she kept laughing because she thought her husband was joking.

He was not joking.

Yor was right, their children were still young, and they still had plenty of years before they grew up, but he missed having a baby. In all honesty, he’d been thinking about baby number 3 for a while, but he wasn’t sure it was right until that very night.

“Is it?” he asked. “Don’t you remember how adorable they were? Remember James’ first Halloween? We dressed him as a little pumpkin and took him trick or treating in a stroller.”

“Awww! Anya was Bondman for the third year in a row, and she helped us push the stroller while trick or treating!” she completed.

He nodded and resumed kissing her neck.

“Wait a second,” she giggled. “Are you trying to give me baby fever?”

“Maybe,” he said without stopping. “Is it working?”

“Maybe,” she kissed him. “Let’s keep going and see what happens.”

He smiled big thinking about all the Halloween days ahead of them.

***

Twentieth Halloween

“I’m home!” Anya announced and walked into the living room.

“Hey, Sis,” her youngest brother greeted her without taking his eyes off the TV.

“Hey kiddo,” she ruffled his dark hair and sat next to him. “Where are mom and dad?”

“Dad’s cooking, mom is bringing some tea,” he replied.

Sure enough, a couple of minutes later, her mom came into the living room with a cup of tea in her hands.

“Hi, mom!”

“Hi, Sweetie,” she smiled. “How was work?”

“Bleh! Boring as…” Anya stopped herself on time. Even though she was in her 20s she was still not allowed to say bad words in front of her brothers. “Bananas. Boring as bananas.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Yor put her cup on the table. “You can always come work with me,” she suggested smiling. “We could use a new accountant.”

Anya didn’t want to offend her mom, who was amazing at finances. She was probably the main reason why her parents’ company had thrived. Nevertheless, Anya hated the idea of having to work as an accountant.

“Nah, that’s okay, mom,” she replied. “Thank you, anyways.”

“Of course, Sweetie, anytime.”

Suddenly, a delicious food aroma flooded the living room.

“Mmmmmmmmm!” Anya smiled thinking about her dad’s cooking. “It smells yummy!”

“Are you having dinner with us?” Yor asked.

Anya still lived at home, but he usually ate out with Damian.

“Yeah, Damian is studying for a test and in a bad mood.”

“Law school is tough, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but this is his last year, so he should be okay.”

“I’m sure he will,” Yor took a sip from her cup.

Anya got up. “I’ll go say hi to dad and see what he’s cooking,” she announced.

And maybe get a little snack before dinner. She was hungry.

Before she entered the kitchen, she observed her dad. He looked like those early days as a family, back when they lived in that small apartment and he was fully concentrated on keeping everything under control. He also looked a bit…sad. Anya was standing by the door, but he was so lost in thought he didn’t even notice her presence. Even though it didn’t happen often, at times like this, she really missed her telepathy. Instead of going into the kitchen, she walked back to the living room.

“Hey, mom,” she called. “Is dad okay? He seems a bit down.”

Instead of answering her, her mom got up and made a motion so Anya would follow her out the back door.

“What’s wrong?” Anya worried once they were in the backyard.

Her mom sighed before answering:

“Your little brother told him he wouldn’t be dressing up this Halloween.”

“NO!”

Her mom nodded. “Well, he’s eleven now and he just didn’t want to do it this year.”

“That kid! How could he?” she said full of indignation. “He should have dress up at least a couple more years!” she kept going. “He’s the youngest!”

“Well, you and James did the same when you were his age.”

And each time they had broken their dad’s heart.

“Poor dad! He loves Halloween and now it’s over.”

Every year, her dad planned the costumes for everyone, he decorated the whole house and go trick or treating with them. It was MFFF (Mandatory Forger Family Fun). In fact, her dad loved Halloween so much that Anya suspected her parents had had her youngest brother just so they could go trick or treating for a few more years.

“What about James?” Anya asked.

“Your brother is in college,” she reminded her. “Plus, I doubt he’ll want to dress up.”  

Anya stayed quiet for a while looking at her mom’s beautiful garden.

“Don’t worry, honey,” her mom said. “Your dad knew this day would come; he’ll be okay. Some things are just meant not meant to last forever.”

With that, her mom went back into the house leaving Anya thinking in the garden.

Her mom was right, of course. However, Anya still felt sad, especially about that last part: “Some things are not meant to last forever.”

Their family was also supposed to be temporary but somehow it had turned real. Now that Anya was an adult, she could appreciate it as miracle.

Anya lay on the grass. It was the beginning of October, and the weather had turned but she still wanted to be there and look at the clouds. She was tired; Anya never liked waking up early and now she had to do it every day to go to work she didn't like. What a hassle! Sometimes Anya wished she was still a kid, so she could go to school and watch cartoons like her youngest brother.

“Bondman!” she said aloud to no one, remembering her favorite cartoon, and she even began to sing the theme. She often did that when she was alone.

Suddenly, she had an idea. Quickly, she got up and ran back to the house.

“DAD!” she called as she entered the kitchen.

“Hey, honey,” he answered as he took a pie out of the oven. “How was work?”

“Boring,” she answered. Even though she wanted to tell her dad about her great idea, she decided to keep cool.

“You can always come work with me,” he suggested and Anya thought it was funny how both her parents wanted her to work with them. “You can draw cartoons all day long, just like when you were little.”

Anya smiled.

“Papa, you know I can’t draw very well,” she said.

“You just need some practice,” he assured her. “And you haven’t called me papa in a long time. What’s going on?”

Since before they moved to Westalis, right before Operation Strix ended. Her dad was as perceptive as always.

“Papa, I have an idea for Halloween,” she finally said and her eyes sparkled. “Let’s all dress up!”

“Huh?”

“Yeah! Let’s wear costumes for Halloween: Mama, you, and me. And Bond too, of course. The original Forgers!”

Her dad frowned. “You want to go trick or treating?”

“NO!” she laughed. “I want us to dress up and decorate the outside of the house so we can give out candy.”

“Oh! I see,” he laughed. “Well…I don’t know. Your brother doesn’t want to dress up this year, and…”

“Who cares?” Anya blurted and tugged on his sweater. “Let’s celebrate anyways.”

Her papa hesitated.

“I could dress up as a witch,” her mama entered the kitchen. “You seemed to love my costume that first time.”

That definitely got her papa’s attention.

“YES! And papa and I can be Bondman!” Anya cheered. “Like the first time all of us celebrated Halloween together.”

“That would be rather sweet,” her mom smiled and, seeing her dad’s face, Anya knew she had won this battle.

“Do you think so, my love?” he asked and reached for her hand to kiss her.

Some things never change…

“What do you say, papa?” Anya asked one more time. “Would you stand being a spy just for one night?”

He smiled. “Alright. Let’s do it!”

Her dad worked on their costumes all month and together they placed spooky decorations outside the house. Then, on Halloween night, the original Forgers stepped out wearing full costumes.

Instead of trick or treating with their kids, Loid and Yor Forger sat on their porch with a big bowl of candy. Anya sat next to them, with Bond by her feet.

Bond was still alive, and they considered it a big miracle. He was an old puppy, but also a healthy one. The Forgers believed that perhaps the experiments had somehow lengthened his life or maybe the whole family loved him so much that Bond simply refused to leave them.

“No chocolate for you, Bond,” Anya said. “But how about some treats?”

She pulled out a few kibbles from the pocket of her coat and offered them to Bond. Even if Bond wasn’t around, Anya tended to carry some with her everywhere she went―a habit developed in childhood. Good thing there were no Tonitrus Bolts at work, or she would have gotten several. Which reminded her…she needed to talk to her parents about something important.

Suddenly, Anya felt nervous and very hot inside that Bondman suit. How would her parents take her news? Would they be angry? Disappointed, perhaps? Maybe it was better to do it now that they were in such a good mood, before the trick or treaters arrived.

“Mom, dad?” she called and they stopped being lovey dovey for a second to look at their daughter. “I have something to tell you…”

“Oh God,” her dad responded with fear in his eyes and reached for Yor’s hand.

“I…” Anya began. “I’m thinking about going back to school.”

Both parents let out a big sigh of relief.

“We thought you were going to say something very different,” her mom chuckled.

“What a relief!” her dad said. “I thought you were about to tell us you and Damian were getting married or something else…”

Anya laughed. “What? No!” she said. “I just want to go back to school so I can become a teacher,” she explained. “Do you think it’s a good idea? Or is it stupid?”

Her parents looked at each other and smiled.

“Sweetie, we think it’s a wonderful idea,” her mom answered and her dad nodded. “We know you aren’t happy with your job, so we were worried about you.”

“We don’t want you to stay at a job you hate,” her dad continued. “We both know how tiring that can be. Believe us, Yor and I had to stay at a job neither of us liked for many years,” he reminded her. “We don’t want you to go through the same.”

It was Anya’s turn to sigh. Now that she had her parents’ support, she felt much better about changing careers.

“I love you, both” she got up and hugged her parents.

“So, a teacher, huh?” her dad asked. “Like Master Henderson.”

“May he rest in peace,” Yor added. “He would be so proud of you!”

Anya blushed and smiled. She hoped to become a teacher as good as Master Henderson one day.

After that conversation Anya felt as if a big weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Now she could enjoy Halloween in peace and right on time because the first trick or treaters began to show up.

“Trick or treat!” a girl dressed as a princess said. She kind of reminded her of Becky.

Many more came after her, so many that she had to go back inside and refill the bowl with more candy. When she came back, a kid of about 5 or 6 years old dressed as a superhero awaited with his plastic pumpkin in hand.

“Who are you supposed to be?” he asked her. “Are you Inspector Gadget?”

“What the h…?”

“Anya!”

“Sorry, mommy,” she stopped herself right on time. “I’m not Inspector Gadget! I’m Bondman!”

“Who is Bondman?” the boy asked.

Unfortunately, Bondman wasn’t as popular as it was twenty years ago.

“These children have no cartoon culture!” Anya complained. “Bondman is the second best spy ever!”

The boy frowned. “Second?” he asked. “And who is the best spy ever?”

Anya smiled and looked at her dad proudly before answering:

“Twilight.”