A/N: Another epilogue chapter. This was actually a request from a reader over at AO3 asking for Fenris playing a lute to his unborn child. I do so love fluff, but I'm also very picky about Fenris. I wanted to let him keep his edge while still doing this very tender thing. I hope it worked. Thanks for reading! Happy New Year to all!

xxxx

Pride

Fenris lifted his head from the blade he was sharpening when Marian entered the room. She huffed and sighed as she eased herself down onto a chair across from him. She looked irritated. And he secretly loved it. The corner of his mouth turned up just slightly into a satisfied smile.

Her small frame was overpowered by the large round belly she carried in front of her. She was heavily pregnant and Fenris found everything about it fascinating and wonderful. Marian thought somewhat differently by now. She repositioned and breathed heavily trying to settle into her seat. In bed, she had recently taken to sleeping sitting up but it seemed that position was now becoming uncomfortable as well.

Fenris's smile grew.

He resisted the urge to go over and feel for his son's little movements inside her. His son. Varania seemed certain it was a boy, and a mage as well. Pride swelled inside him. Fenris hid his grin by lowering his head back down to the task of pulling the whetstone slowly across his sword.

Marian accused him recently of 'hovering.' He couldn't help it really, and he had no intention of changing his behavior. She was a prize he had won. She was territory he had claimed. She was a mountain he had...

"Enough! Fenris, Enough!"

He was snapped from his self-indulgent reverie.

"Enough with the grinning and the chest puffing and the...everything! Maker! Men! You know, Renna said Antonius was the same way."

"I was not aware that you've spent time with Renna and had such discussions." Fenris couldn't quite picture his Hawke in a sitting room 'entertaining' like some pampered noble, no matter how awkward it was getting for her to be active.

"Sometimes she comes here to chat. She brings the baby." Marian shrugged. "I think it's good for her. If it were up to Antonius, he'd never let them off the estate. He is overly protective."

Fenris wasn't sure if he liked the idea of Antonius's lover and only child sneaking off alone to wander in a dangerous city without protection. Especially when Fenris had sworn to protect them as he would his own family.

"I don't think Antonius would approve of her going out onto the streets without escort." He said sternly.

Hawke shrugged again. But this time the motion seemed to have a challenge in it when she said boldly, "Sometimes, I go to visit her."

She knew that bit of information would irritate him. She knew he was none too happy these days when she ventured outside the protection of either their home or his arms. "I don't think I approve of you going out onto the streets without escort." He replied as he narrowed his eyes at her. "You can hardly defend yourself in the way you are accustomed right now."

"Don't change the subject! We were discussing how annoying your maleness has gotten."

Fenris rolled his eyes. He could address keeping better tabs on his wife later. "You cannot compare me to Antonius in this regard. It is a natural thing for him to feel pride. He is the Archon. I was a slave. It is different."

Marian threw her head back and moaned. "Unnnhh! I'm so hot!"

Talk about changing the subject. "You always say that." Fenris leaned back over his sword.

"I really mean it now. Now I'm fat and hot. It's different." She said in mockery of his own argument.

"You are not fat. You carry my child. It's different." He countered.

"And there it is again! Male pride." She pushed herself out of the chair with some effort and stalked out of the room; as much as she could manage stalking. "Insufferable!"

Fenris smiled broadly at her back as she left.

xxxx

Fenris set aside his greatsword a while later when he was finished caring for the blade. He rose and thought to check on Marian, but his sister intercepted him. She shoved a lute at him while looking angry. Her face seemed like she meant to shove a weapon at him and not a musical instrument. He just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Here. You need a hobby." She said curtly.

"What?" His upper lip curled in disgust and a little confusion as he looked down at the lute.

"You need a hobby that isn't hovering after and annoying the void out of your pregnant wife. And all the rest of us." She added under her breath.

"Don't be ridiculous. I do not need a 'hobby' and I intend to continue to do as I please." He said dismissively as he tried to walk past Varania.

She repositioned to impede him again. "In addition to keeping you occupied, learning to play serves another purpose. Handling a babe is not like wielding a greatsword. You can't 'fight' them into submission, and there is no guarantee that the child will be as accepting of your brutish protective streak the same way Hawke is. She might complain, but she lets you have your way far too much. Children rebel on instinct, you need to exercise a more delicate means of interaction. It will come to Hawke naturally as it does to all mothers. You, on the other hand," she eyed him skeptically, "will need to learn otherwise. Best start now. It was either this or teach you to sew. Your choice." And she held out the lute again.

Fenris wasn't sure he appreciated being spoken to in this manner. Unfortunately, he heard Marian's voice in the back of his head repeating what she had tried to tell him many times, that he and Varania were far more alike than either would admit to. His sister might have taken longer to start exercising her freedom but now that she was, he couldn't deny their similarities. He wondered if Merrill had to put up with half as much stubborn pride as he made Marian suffer through.

Fenris took the lute and then stormed past Varania without another word.

xxxx

Learning went slowly at first. He recalled he picked up reading more quickly. But he had had Marian's assistance with that and her special motivational tactics. Varania was obviously a less encouraging instructor, so after only two official lessons, he dismissed her services in favor of muddling through himself.

Eventually, hesistant plucking started to give way to smooth melodies. He would not be defeated by a damn lute afterall. He did notice that Marian seemed more at ease when he was occupied with the instrument than when he had been occupying himself entirely with her protruding midsection. Interestingly he also found the task of learning and playing relaxed him. And it was a different sort of oddly quiet relaxation compared to the release he found in swordplay, or in making love to Marian, or even in drinking wine. He liked it. So he chose to ignore the smug 'I told you so' looks Varania gave him whenever she found him practicing. To her credit, she avoided actually saying 'I told you so' and he respected that. He was certain he would not have afforded her the same consideration.

It was with lute in hand that he found himself one evening sitting before the small glow of a muted fire in their bedroom with Marian trying in vain to get comfortable enough to rest.

He stopped playing when she growled out her frustration. "Would you like to just sit with me for a while?" He offered. "It has helped you before to rest against me."

"It's not me this time, love, it's him," and she pointed to her belly. "He's kicking like mad and I'm not sure how to sit to make him more comfortable. Maybe he's running out of space in there, or maybe he prefers it when I walk around. I just don't know what he wants tonight."

Fenris rose and joined her on the bed. He helped her ease into a position on her side and then sat next to her, as close as he could get. "Just rest. Let me try."

He had caught Marian more than once when she thought no one was listening, singing to the babe inside her. She would never admit that she was doing it afterwards, but he knew better. He decided he was not so proud anymore to prevent him from doing the same, so he started to play.

The song was very quiet and slow. It was one she had sung to him many times before. His deep voice was nearly a whisper when he started to sing along with his strumming. She closed her eyes and smiled, but said nothing. It was a far cry from the bloody killing and battle shouts he was more accustomed to, but he continued as best he could, his hands and voice surprisingly eager to learn this more tender skill.

When the song was finished, he leaned in to rest his hand over top of where his son lay inside the woman he loved. He seemed quiet and calm, and Marian's deep and even breaths were a welcome sign that she had also drifted into the Fade.

Fenris set aside the lute and settled in next to her. As he felt the Fade start to pull on his senses as well, he decided he would have to swallow more of his pride and thank Varania in the morning.