A/N: Loooong chapter warning…

He was back.

I was on the edge of the ocean, peering into the frothy white-capped water, when a figure rose out of the waves. He was completely dry. Not even a hint of water glistened in his spiked hair. Matt was back.

And he didn’t look happy.

Lips pressed tightly together, he slowly inched his way up the beach. I instinctively started backing away. But I guess since this was a dream, Matt moved much faster than I did, even if he appeared to move at a snail’s pace. In the blink of an eye, he was two inches from my face.

“You can’t hurt me,” I snapped with much more confidence than I felt. Can you die in a dream?

He adopted his favorite cross-armed pose. “You did not restart the feud.”

“I don’t have to do anything you tell me to. You don’t control me or my family. Leave us alone!”

Matt took a deep breath and flicked his gaze skyward. I braced myself, half expecting a giant rock to crush me to death. A salty sea breeze lazily drifted by, but nothing happened. Matt simply spoke: “I’m disappointed in you, Tyler. But you’re right. I cannot force you to do as I ask. However…”

“What?” I snarled.

“Since you did not complete your half of the deal, I cannot give you what you want.” Somewhere deep down, a chasm opened up in my chest. I hadn’t known, but secretly I had held onto the hope that Matt would release Tony from this plane and make him alive again. But now he wouldn’t.

“No! Please.” I clasped my hands together, begging him. “Please, you can’t keep him here. I need him.”

“I’m only being fair. Our deal was a deal.” But his expression faltered a moment. “And this plane isn’t all that bad. Look, Tony is doing fine.”

Matt waved his hand at a rock, which flickered to life with an image: Tony sitting on a bench beside Ian Burningham. Both blondes were smiling and relaxed, just taking in the scenery.

I slowly lowered myself in front of the rock and watched. Occasionally they would talk, or point at something, but they always smiled. Tony was at peace. I was aware of the minutes ticking by, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from him. This might be my last time to see him.

I had no idea how long I’d been sitting there when the image suddenly shook, then disappeared. Once again, the rock was a rock. “Time for you to go,” Matt said softly. He raised a hand. I could feel my physical self stirring in bed. But just before he woke me up, he said, “If it helps, I didn’t mean for Tony to die. I’m sorry.”

***

The dream was still running through my head hours later. It was a warm spring day, and Nadia and I were headed into the forest. Birdsong and rustling leaves filled the air. I shook the dream aside and concentrated on the walk.

When we reached a small clearing surrounded by tall firs, I stopped and took her hand. Swinging Nadia around to face me, I smiled down at her.

“This forest is beautiful,” she sighed. “I wish others were not so afraid to leave here. I mean, this place is a great spot for tea!” I spluttered with laughter. In return, she lightly slapped my arm. “Look at all the flowers! It’s like something out of a fairytale.”

“We didn’t come here for flowers…”

“I know you don’t like them, but seriously. These are so gorgeous!”

“Shh,” I whispered, raising a finger to her lips in what I hoped was a nice way. How do you politely tell someone to shut up?

“I don’t understand why- Er, what are you doing?” Perplexed, she watched as I kneeled down and eased a box out of my pocket. All at once, the realization hit her. Nadia squealed and covered her mouth with her hands.

In-between her squeaks, I asked, “Nadia, will you marry me?”

She leaped in my arms before I had even put the ring on her finger. “Yes, yes!” I laughed and hugged her back, quietly slipping the ring on her finger.

***

The next few months were a whirlwind of planning. How was I to know you had to put so much effort into weddings?!

There were invitations to write, food planning, dress making, location picking, flower arranging… I helped out where I could, but Nadia seemed to want to manage the bulk of things, so I let her. It’s not like I had an idea of a perfect wedding. Well, my ideal wedding would at least have nothing to do with flowers.

Then one breezy September morning, I slipped into a rather princely tux (loaned by Kalen, of course) and strolled down the path towards the Middle Ground. I had a ways to go, which meant lots of time to think. According to tradition, Nadia would leave later so I wouldn’t see her in her dress until she walked down the aisle.

I wondered if Tony or Matt could see me now. What would they say? Would Tony think I’m doing the right thing?

No, I knew this decision was right. Maybe the best decision I’ve ever made in my life.

With that in mind, I determinedly wove my way around the trees towards the center of town. Trust Nadia to pick the most public place ever to get married – the park.

I mean, sure it was scenic and all, but…

Practically the whole town showed up, dressed in their nicest shirts and iron-pressed pants. Luckily for me, they didn’t seem too angry about that battle. Just in case though, I made sure that Samson was always within earshot so I could call for help if I needed to. I was sure I could fight off two or three of these townspeople, but the whole town?

Anyway, it didn’t matter since Kalen was there, and the town would definitely not fight his son in front of him. Kalen was surrounded by a small group of couples, his arm looped into mum’s. His wandering eyes found me and he smiled a bit, nodded, then returned to his conversation. The action reminded me of Tony. But Tony was at peace, and that was all that mattered now.

Mum and Kalen took their front-row seats ten minutes later, and the rest of the town quickly followed their lead. Nadia was nearby.

From out of the Silva, two black unicorns ambled out of the trees. Viar nickered when he saw the wedding gathering, but Vern kept his silent coolness as usual. And in-between the pair stood an angel.

Nadia’s dress fit tightly at the top and flared out as it got lower. Somehow she managed to make it look modest and sexy at the same time… The town began clapping and a few cheers rang out as she slowly made her way to the flower-adorned aisle.

I stood under the arch and tried not to smile too big. But that was impossible.

Nadia was beautiful. By the time she joined me, I still hadn’t wiped that stupid grin off my face. I probably looked like that creepy Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland…

But she was smiling just as much, her rosy cheeks glowing in the sunlight. It sounds cheesy, but there was nowhere else I’d rather be. I slid her hand into mine as the pastor-dude started talking.

We exchanged simple silver bands, hers almost getting stuck as I pushed it on. Luckily it didn’t. That would’ve been embarrassing.

“I pronounce you husband and wife. You may-“

The pastor didn’t even need to finish that sentence…

As we embraced under the arch, all the gathered unicorns reared and neighed as loud as they could. Everyone in the audience rose, clapped, and threw rice. Mum was blinking back tears. Kalen sat silently next to her, but his smile was the biggest out of everyone’s.

Pretty soon the crowd dwindled as they filed away to congratulate mum and Kalen and eat cake. “I look too fancy,” Nadia whispered to me.

“You look great,” I said. “Perfect actually.”

Nadia’s face turned a brighter shade of pink as she mumbled, “That’s not all…”

When I looked at her inquisitively, she didn’t answer. Instead she flushed deeper and lowered her voice so no one else could hear it. “I… might… sort of be pregnant.”

***

After that bombshell revelation, I put all my energy into crafting new furniture for the baby. The crib was finished in record time, and with the leftover wood I fashioned a sort of wall decor animal for the room. I even made a small wooden sculpture of Vern. There was only one problem.

We didn’t have a room to spare for the baby.

So, at Nadia’s suggestion, the new crib and decorations got shoved in our bedroom. No way in hell were we ever refurnishing the basement…

While we were at it, we decided to fix up the rest of the house too. Kalen brought over some cheap (but much better than old ones) wallpapers, which we spent a couple of days putting up. I wanted to redo the floors too so they wouldn’t cave in, but we didn’t have time.

Nadia’s bump was growing exponentially with every passing day.

She spent most of her pregnancy in the bathroom, and all of her free moments waddling around the house like an adorable penguin. I made her a rocking chair so she would have a nice place to rest if she got tired walking from the bathroom to the kitchen.

One summer morning, the clouds were the color of cotton candy. It should have been very peaceful.

Instead, Nadia was screaming.

Baby was coming! I helped her on Viar’s back and sent them racing into town towards the hospital. I ran in vain behind them, knowing Viar would arrive hours before I did.

A long while later, I staggered into the hospital and leaned against the stark white counter. “Where’s… my wife?”

“I’m sorry, who are you looking for?” the receptionist asked, in a tone that suggested she wasn’t paying much attention.

“June!” A passing-by nurse scolded the other woman. “That’s the future Prince you’re talking to. You know who he is looking for!” Turning to me, she added, “Room 113, dear.”

I didn’t even have the energy to roll my eyes at being called “dear”. My feet automatically followed the room signs until I reached the hundreds.

Hours of screaming and having my hands squeezed later, Nadia and I wearily pushed open the door to our house. Setting the basinet gently on the floor, she reached inside and stroked our baby’s cheek.

“You better get working on another crib,” she said with a smile.

For where we had been two, we were now four.

Carmen and Elijah had arrived.