Last Time

Harry nodded and he stood up with a sleeping Taren, and he put him in the bassinet that was next to Leolin's. He tucked the blanket over his waist, and smoothened it out, smiling.

He took a breath and turned to look out over the two rooms, and he headed into the smaller living room, to keep an eye on his twin girls, who were playing with the doll house they had in this room. They were bashing the dolls about more than anything, but Harry didn't mind, and he left them to it. They would be having their fourth Dragon pox vaccines in just two days, and it was going to be a hellish time for them because of the distress those vaccines caused, and none of them were looking forward to it.

Chapter One Hundred-Twenty-Nine – Vaccination Party

Max really hadn't wanted to go to work, but Nasta had chided him out of the house, while Harry got the twins ready for their Dragon Pox vaccines.

He dressed them in sleeveless dresses, but also put them in knitted cardigans gifted to them by Missus Weasley, so that they were kept a little warmer.

"Do you want their carrycots, Harry, or do you want to carry them?" Draco asked him.

Harry sighed. "I want to carry them, but I think after the vaccine it'll be too difficult to keep a hold on them through the floo."

"I can hold onto them, Harry." Nasta told him. "If you want to carry them through, and then hold them during the vaccine, I can carry them home safely, and you can snuggle them when we get in."

Harry considered it, then nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"We'll have tea waiting when you get back." Draco promised.

"Just look after Blaise." Harry said worriedly, considering Blaise had woken up with a headache, which had steadily turned into head-splitting and debilitating. Blaise had gotten very angry and snappy as the headache got progressively worse, and Nasta had ordered him up to bed to rest in the dark silence of their room.

"I'll keep an eye on him, I promise." Draco said. "Max said he'll feel better now that he's had a pain potion, and the headache should ease off within the next hour."

"Just keep watching him."

"Stop fretting." Draco told him, bending forward to kiss his forehead. "Blaise is going to be fine. I'll be fine watching over him, and all these kids, while you make sure our girls are protected."

Harry nodded and held his two girls tighter.

"If you need any help, Draco, call someone. My uncle Idris is home, and so is Alexander." Nasta said.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Just go to the hospital before you're late and we have to reschedule. We already have Taren's appointment next month, the last thing we need is for them all to have their vaccines together. Which reminds me, don't forget to book Taren's vaccine while you're there."

"We won't forget." Nasta told Draco.

"Good, I hate floo calling the hospital to book a vaccine, they always make some sort of sarcastic comment about how many kids we have."

"Really?" Harry asked. "I thought they'd be more professional being healers."

"It's not the healers who book appointments, Harry. It's the welcome witches." Nasta told him.

"Oh, well should we complain? They shouldn't be allowed to make such stupid comments to patients."

"I'll complain if they do it again." Draco grumbled furiously.

Harry nodded, checked the time, aborted a curse, and then carried the twins through to the other room, and Nasta followed.

"Should I go first, love?" Nasta asked him.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, that way if I do have a rough landing, you can be there to catch us."

Nasta nodded and he grabbed a handful of floo powder and in a flash of green flame he was gone. Harry gave Draco a last kiss, and he followed, his heart hammering as if he were the one going for a vaccine.

Nasta caught him easily, before Harry even knew if he would fall or not, but Harry didn't mind. He'd rather be caught than risk falling flat on his baby girls.

"Come on, Cariad." Nasta said softly, urging him to the waiting room, and sitting him in some free seats, after they'd checked in at the orderly desk.

Nasta sat beside him, and tried to distract the girls from wanting to go down onto the floor to play. Ave still escaped and she toddled slowly over to the children's play area, using empty seats and other people's knees indiscriminately.

Harry sighed, and Nasta smirked at him, before he stood and went to follow Ave around the waiting room, leaving Harry with Eva.

A couple of people went before them, but they didn't have to wait overly long before they were called and Harry carried Eva, while Nasta picked up Ave from where she was playing and carried her, whining and kicking, to Healer Nasser.

"Well, we are in a mood today." Healer Nasser laughed, looking at Ave.

"She doesn't like being pulled away from any toys, they're getting up on their feet now, so they like going where they want to go, and not where we need them to go." Harry said with a wry smile, sitting Eva on the little patient bed and taking her cardigan off ready.

"Ah, but they're over a year old now, so of course exploring is on the cards." The Healer laughed. "Now, I'm going to take some basic measurements." He told them, but they were all very used to this routine by now. "This is the older twin, Eva?" He asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes." Though despite knowing that it was Eva, he still bent down slightly and sniffed her, just to confirm what he already knew, that she was his little Eva.

Harry let the Healer check Eva's measurements, her height and weight, and Eva was as good as gold throughout the physical examination.

"It might be best if I get the other examination out of the way too." Healer Nasser told them. "They're not going to like these injections."

Nasta nodded and sat Ave next to Eva, her cardigan was already in his hand, and being sat next to one another at least distracted the twins for all of a minute, just long enough for the Healer to sort out Ave's examination.

"They're growing steadily, there are no signs that concern me."

But Harry was concerned about the two needles that the Healer had turned to pick up. He knew what was coming, and he hated it, even if it was vital to the health of his twins.

"We are doing the thirteen month vaccines today." Healer Nasser said, more for his own benefit, but Harry liked that he was checking the little bottles, and voicing the ones he would be using, just to be one hundred percent sure. "Ave seems to be the wriggliest today, so I'll sort her out first."

Nasta held Ave and Harry turned Eva around so that she wasn't watching. There was no way that he could block out Ave's screaming though, and Eva started crying in sympathy with her twin.

Harry held Eva when Healer Nasser turned to him, with the second needle prepped and ready, and he held Eva's little arm out for her vaccine, and as soon as the Healer was done Eva's crying picked up a more hysterical edge.

"Right boys, I don't need to see you now until…august, with your big boy, Braiden." Healer Nasser said, looking at the appointment sheet he had on his desk.

"No, we've just had a new baby, Taren. He'll be here next month."

"My, you're busy. Right, when was he born?" The Healer asked.

"The third of February."

"Right, then I have Monday the sixth of March, does that sound good to you both?"

"Yes, that's perfect, thank you."

"Of course, well, I'll be seeing you in a month then." The Healer said, handing over a little appointment card, and he just sounded so satisfied, and Harry knew it was because yet another new baby was going to be protected from Dragon Pox, a disease that Healer Nasser hated with a passion.

"Thank you, Healer."

"It was my genuine pleasure, boys."

Nasta picked up both girls, who were screaming and playing up, kicking out their feet and hitting him with their tiny hands, and Harry knew that the next few hours were not going to be pleasant ones, but at least the girls were going to be protected from Dragon Pox, and no matter how hard they cried or kicked, Harry would rather see them in this pain, than he would watch them suffer and die from Dragon Pox.

The bruises came out just a bare hour later, and as Harry sat in the smaller living room by himself, with the twin girls with him, one on each leg, trying to soothe them despite that it was impossible, Harry had to keep reminding himself that it was to combat Dragon Pox. He reminded himself that people, especially babies and the elderly, were very vulnerable to the disease. Draco had shown him pictures of people who had gotten Dragon Pox, but survived. It was usually people who had had their initial vaccines as babies, but hadn't kept up with their boosters who were able to both contract the disease, and survive it…if they were relatively young and healthy, that was. The bright green pockmarks that remained as a permanent reminder were hideous, and very disfiguring. Harry didn't want that for any of his children, so he shushed and soothed the twin girls as best as he could.

"Ave, sweetie, look what I have for you." Draco tried, holding out a very small, almost ridiculously small, piece of chocolate. It looked like half a square of an ordinary chocolate bar.

"Eva, look, you have one too." Harry said, trying to tempt his baby girl with the other half of the square.

"Just pop it into their mouths." Nasta told them.

"What if they choke?!" Harry said immediately.

"They're not going to choke, love. But they need to actually taste it."

Draco didn't question Nasta like Harry did, he just popped the bit of chocolate into Ave's crying mouth, letting her taste the chocolate on her tongue.

It took a moment, as the chocolate melted a little, and then Ave sort of mouthed the chocolate around, and her tears trailed off as she focused on what was in her mouth. That was all Harry needed to see before he popped the bit his was holding into Eva's mouth.

The girls weren't quite as hysterical after that, though they were still damp eyed, and grizzling. Harry considered that as a plus.

"Whose idea was this?" Harry asked.

"Mine." Draco said. "I asked my mother how she dealt with me after my vaccinations, and she told me she would give me a small piece of chocolate. I asked Nasta if we could try it."

"A small treat after a vaccine is fine." Nasta said, before anyone could say anything.

"It's worked, so I think we should do this after every vaccine, well done, Draco." Harry smiled.

Draco pinked up a little at the praise, but he stood a little straighter too.

"Well, all of them bar Taren, naturally." He said. "He's too little for any solids."

"He'll be happy with a cuddle. With their first vaccines they usually cry themselves to sleep anyway." Harry said with a grimace, worrying about when he would have to take Taren for his first vaccine in just a little over two weeks.

"You remembered to book Taren's vaccine, didn't you?" Draco fretted.

"Oh, yes. It's on the sixth of March, Draco. Can you pin it, please?" Harry said, taking out the little appointment card they'd been given, knowing that Draco liked to put the vaccination appointments on the corkboard in the kitchen himself, because of what had happened to his grandfather.

"Sure. Do you want tea also, this one has gone cold." He said, touching the still full mug.

Harry nodded. "Now that the girls are a bit more settled I will, thank you."

"They'll be asleep soon." Nasta said, looking at the two grizzling girls.

Harry nodded his agreement. "I want to keep them down here, just to keep an eye on them. I know nothing ever happens, I just…my Dracken wants them close."

"I understand, Harry. My Dracken wants them close as well."

Harry smiled at Nasta, then down at his twins. He held them closer to him, and they fussed, and grizzled, but they stayed snuggled up to his chest, and that alone told him how unsettled they were. Normally they would be pushing away from him, trying to get down onto the floor to play, or crawling off to explore all the corners of the room, practising pulling themselves up to their feet and cruising the furniture. That they wanted to stay snuggled up to him wasn't usual, and he held them tighter, bending to kiss one, and then the other.

They were unsettled for the entire day, and though they did go down for their nap, they started grizzling again as soon as they woke back up, and none of them could get them to eat much for their lunches.

Harry was cuddling them back on his lap, which upset Leolin, when Max flooed back home. Harry watched him from the other room as his mate inhaled deeply, and just smiled, his shoulders relaxing and he stepped over the fire gate, immediately toeing off his shoes.

Regan spotted him first, and hefted himself up, and went running to Max. That made Harry smile, even as his twins whined and Nasta tried to hush Leolin.

"Daddy!"

"There's one of my big boys." Max said happily, easing down to one knee to scoop Regan into his arms.

"Play with me, Daddy."

"You wanna play? Come on then."

"Welcome home, Max. How was work?" Draco asked, going over to Max to take his work robe.

"Urgh, work." Max groaned. "They had me on stock take again, I swear if this carries on, they'll regret it when I walk out. How were things here, how are my baby girls?"

Harry just shook his head and tried to soothe the girls, who refused to let him go.

"They've been trying to meld into one person with him all day." Blaise told Max. "They really didn't like that vaccine. They even had some chocolate, which did stop them from crying, but they still want to be as close to Harry as possible, which has set off Mister grumpy Faerie."

"Daddy, look!" Regan demanded.

Max quickly looked down at the game Regan wanted to play with him, and Harry smiled as he watched them. He figured that the kids had been a little unsettled with Max going to work, because they hadn't known if he was coming back. These fights and arguments had to stop, for their children's sake, if not their own.

"Should I make tea?" Draco asked, looking around and realising that he and Blaise were the only one's free to do so.

"I would murder a cuppa." Max insisted.

"Unless you're willing to sit here and feed it to me, I have my hands full." Harry sighed unhappily, he really wanted some tea.

"I'll sit and feed you." Blaise told him, coming to sit beside him and wrapping an arm around his back, raising his other hand to brush the curls from Ave's face.

"So is that a yes, Harry?" Draco asked.

"As long as Blaise doesn't mind."

"Of course not. I have a lot of making up to do."

Harry chuckled, but turned and nodded to Draco, who went to sort out tea for them all.

"Were they really so bad?" Max asked, sending the girls a solemn look.

"No worse than usual, Max. They're okay, but the Dragon Pox vaccine hurts. Like, really hurts." Harry said, remembering his own experience of the vaccine. "The chocolate really helped, though."

"I'm surprised you allowed that." Max told Nasta, but he was smirking, he knew what was coming, and so did Harry.

"I'm sure you all think I'm some sort of monster." Nasta replied. "A tiny bit of chocolate after a vaccine isn't the equivalent of throwing them into a cess pit."

"Who ever said anything about throwing them into a cess pit?" Harry asked, a faux innocent look aimed at Nasta. He could see Max trying to suppress a laugh from the corner of his eye, and it threatened to bring out a smile on his face too.

Nasta sighed, and Harry could almost see him counting to ten. It made him lose his struggle not to smile.

Draco came back in with a tray, and he handed out drinks, and gave Harry's to Blaise, who dutifully held out the cup so that Harry could drink. It was a nice little bonding exercise for them both, after the heartache of Valentine's Day.

Max got to come and sit on the settee after he'd played for half an hour with the kids, and Harry passed him both of the twins and hurried for the bathroom. He wanted to get there before any of the kids realised what was going on, otherwise he'd have an audience.

He was able to pee in peace for once, and he enjoyed the small piece of silence and aloneness, as he washed his hands and then just stood at the bathroom counter for a bit.

It didn't last, his peace never did, but he couldn't find it in himself to be mad when he heard a tiny hand slap the door.

"Mummy!" Calix called out. "Mummy."

Harry opened the door and hunched down to grin at his two year old.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked with a grin.

"Come play, Mummy!" Calix ordered him, offering his hand.

Harry took that tiny hand and allowed himself to be pulled back into the living room, and then through to the family room. His mates all sent him an understanding look…they'd all been in his position before. It was a rather common occurrence after all.

Harry sat down and he played with his babies, because they meant the absolute world to him, and he loved them with all of himself. With four mates he could easily take as many 'time-outs' as he needed to play with the kids too, because he knew the others would juggle the other household chores, so he wouldn't have to. That was definitely one of the major perks to having a large mateship, all the extra hands to help run the house and watch the kids.

Harry was woken up two days later, on the twentieth, to breakfast in bed by Max.

"Is it my birthday?" He asked, still half asleep.

"No, guess again, my dearest love."

"Your birthday?" Harry asked, rubbing his eyes.

Max just chuckled and kissed him. Harry yawned and eased himself into an upright position. He'd had the bed to himself, as he and Max were the only ones up here.

"Time is it?" Harry asked, looking blearily for the clock.

"It's only eight, but I wanted to surprise you."

Harry's brain was starting to wake up, and he finally clicked what day this was.

"It's our anniversary." He said, smiling.

"There we go, got there in the end." Max teased, coming to sit up by the headboard, throwing an arm around him.

Harry chuckled, and went right for the tea, hoping that it would wake him up a little more.

"Happy anniversary." He told Max.

"Right back at you, love."

"Have you eaten, or can we share?"

"We're sharing of course." Max told him, turning to kiss his head.

Harry smiled, and he started eating, then turned to feed Max.

"That should be my job." Max told him, offering him a piece of croissant.

Harry took the offering, chewed and swallowed. "It's still hard to believe it's been three years." He said consideringly, thinking back over their mateship. "We never really had a conventional anniversary anyway. This is the day I woke up off of my heat period and found you trapped in a wardrobe."

"I was terrified in there." Max said with a sigh.

"You never said." Harry replied, abandoning breakfast to turn to look at him.

Max sighed even heavier, and cupped Harry's chin in a huge hand. He smiled, but it was humourless.

"I've told you the story of my uncle Benedict, Harry."

Harry bobbed his head in agreement. "He went too long being unmated, and he wanted a mate so much that one more rejection threw him over. He murdered twenty-seven dominants, an Elder, and the submissive who had rejected him."

"I'll never condone what he did. I loved him, he was my uncle, but…" Max swallowed painfully. "What he did was vile and monstrous. A submissive should be safe to reject who they want without the fear of being hurt or killed for it."

Harry nodded his agreement.

"The entire family was in agreement. Benedict was too, once he came back into his right mind. He told grandfather that…that if he was spared, no matter how unlikely that actually was given what he'd done, that he would kill himself anyway. He couldn't live with what he had done."

"What does this have to do with you being in the wardrobe?" Harry asked.

Max snorted. "Love, I thought I had done the same thing. I thought I had snapped and raped a submissive. I thought I was going to be executed."

Harry gaped at Max as he heard that. "You were sitting in that wardrobe thinking you were going to be executed?"

Max nodded. "I was thinking of this terrible thing I had done. I was remembering how soft and sweet you were, thinking that I had raped you, and I hated myself in that moment for it. I finally understood how Benedict must have felt, preferring to die rather than live with those actions."

"Does anyone else know this?" Harry demanded.

"No. I never told anyone. I didn't want anyone to know that we'd had a messed up start to our mateship. You technically shouldn't even have me in your mateship, your Dracken sees me and Draco as one dominant."

Harry made a noise at that, and wobbled his head a bit. "It's not quite that simple. My Dracken knows there are four of you. It knows each of your scents, it knows you. It doesn't just look around and completely skip over you as if you're not there, but we think that we only mated to three, so it's sort of…surprised, but not alarmed, whenever we're feral and realise that there are four of you."

"It's actually a relief to hear you say that." Max sighed, slumping. "I was thinking that maybe your Dracken did skip over me or something."

"No, it's more like we know we have four mates, but we don't really know how we ended up with four mates when we only mated to three. It doesn't reject you, or even Draco, we accept all four of you being here. I think we just see you as an added bonus."

"Mate three, get one free." Max joked, and Harry laughed, hard.

"Yes! We should tell people that that's how I got you if they're rude enough to ask."

"Come on, eat your breakfast before it gets too cold." Max told him, and Harry turned back to the tray, and he snuggled into Max.

"I don't often get breakfast in bed."

"That's because you're terrible at actually staying in bed." Max told him.

"It doesn't help that my last few birthdays have been disasters."

"No, that doesn't help." Max sighed. "We'll try exceptionally hard now for your twentieth this year."

"I still can't believe I'll be twenty in five months."

"We've got to survive Draco the diva turning twenty, first." Max pointed out.

Harry hummed. "True, though it's the meeting in May that I'm dreading the most."

"We'll look after you, we always do."

The words came out a little hollow after their most recent bust-up, but Harry tried not to allow it to drag down the mood. He was still disappointed that he couldn't trust the promises that his mates made to him, and the only thing that they could do now was prove him wrong over time. He really hoped that they did prove him wrong. He couldn't live like this anymore.

After breakfast in bed, Harry took a shower with Max, who despite being up and dressed, didn't mind showering with him. They touched and teased one another, Max washed him down very thoroughly, but Harry was only seventeen days post-birth, and he wasn't up to much else. He did very much enjoy the bonding experience, however. It was nice to have some one on one time with one of his mates. Because there were four of them, he sometimes worried that they thought that he saw them all as one, and he worried that sometimes he did do just that, so it was nice to take some time out to remind them that he did see them all as unique individuals, and not just as 'one of his mates'.

He let Max carry him down the stairs, because why not. He wrapped his arms around Max's neck, and smiled up at him from those strong, capable arms.

"I love you when you're in this playful mood." Max told him, bending his head and lifting Harry higher just so that he could nuzzle into his face.

Harry giggled at that, trying to nuzzle Max back, and he run his hands through Max's hair. It had been cut recently, as it had no hint of curl to it. It made him think of his own hair. He would ask Draco to cut it for him later.

"I thought you were never getting out of bed." Blaise teased as Max carried him into the family room.

"When I was getting such five star treatment, I didn't want to." Harry laughed.

"Mummy! Bo da." Braiden shouted up at him from across the room, leaping up and he came running.

"Bore da, Braiden. Good morning." Harry repeated dutifully.

There was a rush as all the kids tried their hand at the usual several language round of greetings, and Harry tried to do them all in turn, but it was just a cacophony of noise.

Max placed him safely down on his feet, and Harry went to his knees to hug them all, kiss them good morning, and getting wet, dribbly kisses back.

He was pulled over to play with a little wooden farm, and he smiled as he was handed an elephant. He spent the morning playing with his babies, shuffling around the floor as much as he was able, until Leolin woke up, and immediately demanded his attention as he was very upset having woken up wrapped in Blaise's shirt from yesterday.

Harry shushed him, and comforted him, even as Leolin clawed at him, and bit at him with his lone tooth, trying to meld them into a single person. Their attempts to get him used to the scents of his fathers was currently not providing any fruit, but they were determined and committed to carrying on their little idea.

"It's Kimberly's birthday in nineteen days, Max, have you sorted her present out yet?" Harry asked.

"Not yet."

"She is your grandmother!" Harry told his mate. "You sort out a gift for her, don't you dare leave it until the last minute."

Max laughed. "Okay, I won't. I know what I want to get her, I just haven't had time to go and pick it up."

"Sanex's birthday is on the eighteenth too, Nas, is he doing anything?"

"I'll catch up with him, Caru, and find out." Nasta told him. "He might want to spend it with Crista, though."

"We still haven't met her." Harry despaired.

"She's worried, Harry. Most people won't accept a werewolf, and most magical creatures don't like other magical creatures being around them. Drackens are especially territorial, and sensitive to such things."

"That's bullshit." Harry declared. "We get on well with the Faeries in the family, and then there's Remus too."

"I said most of them, we've shown that we can be the exception, though there were some of us who had a problem with Remus in the beginning."

Harry scowled as he remembered his own mates telling him not to hand their babies over to Remus. It still made him angry to think of it.

"We've grown since then." Max put in, waving away Nasta's comment. "We still have room for improvement, but we're working on it."

Harry nodded, glad that they had agreed that they still needed improvement. They were all going to continued therapy, they knew that they needed it. Harry was pleased that they all understood and agreed to that.

Leolin eventually calmed down, and Harry slid him into his little bouncer, and distracted him with his light up ball. Ever since Dain and Kailen had told him that Leolin could see more colour than they could, he wondered if the ball was flashing different shades of the colours he could see for Leolin, or if his Faerie baby saw them as completely different colours entirely.

Harry was given tea, and he got to sit up on the settee and properly greet his mates.

"We have Caesar's birthday in April too." He said, before taking a sip of tea.

"You're getting way ahead of us now, love." Max chuckled. "Caesar's birthday isn't until April, it's still February."

"I just want to make sure everything is done and ready, I hate doing everything last minute. I need to get Teddy a present as well, his birthday is in April too."

"He'll be two, won't he?" Draco asked.

Harry nodded, drinking more tea.

"Let's just take things one month at a time." Max chided them, smiling. "For now it's still February."

"How has Taren been this morning?"

"A little bit fussy." Blaise told him, looking into the bassinet with the baby. "He seems fine, though. I think it's just because he's getting older."

"Did you scent him?" Harry asked, sitting forward.

"I did." Nasta assured him. "He doesn't smell sick, Harry, but we were late feeding him breakfast, Calix and Farren were fighting, and we had to sort that out before he could be fed."

"What were they fighting over?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Calix took one of Farren's banana slices…he was not happy about it."

Harry sighed and slumped backwards. "No more babies." He said. "They're going to kill us eventually."

His mates all chuckled at him, but he noticed that they didn't disagree, and that made him smile. He could think of worse ways to go than death by being overrun by babies.

It was now March, and Harry was feeling much more like himself. He was upstairs and stripping all of the beds of their sheets for the wash, and putting clean sheets back on.

He was moving more, playing with the children more, and getting a little bit frisky with his mates. They hadn't had sex yet, but they were definitely getting to that point, and Harry was being teased and wound up by his dominants. He was at the point where he was feeling almost normal. His caesarean scar wasn't bothering him, his abdominals weren't sore, and Healer Almus was pleased with him, and with Taren too.

Harry took the armful of dirty sheets down to the kitchen, and then through to the utility room, and dumped them down into a basket. They were a large family, and the sheets needed to be changed every week, and it was a big job. Maybe he should start staggering the days? Do the kids at the beginning of the week, then the bassinet sheets in the middle of the week, and then his own bed sheets at the end of the week. It had to be better than doing all of it together.

He checked his watch, saw that he had forty minutes left of this cycle, and he went back into the kitchen to get himself a cup of tea. He made his own tea, filled a teapot, and then carried it on a tray into the family room.

"Mummy! Where go?" Calix demanded.

"I was doing the washing, love." Harry told him.

"How much is still left to do?" Max asked, standing and taking the tray from him immediately, as Calix wrapped both arms around Harry's legs, threatening to trip him.

"All the kids bedding." Harry said, as he bend down and picked up Calix. He ignored the horrified looks on his mates' faces as they watched him. They still thought it was too soon for him to be doing any lifting, but Harry was feeling fine.

"Mummy, play with me." Calix insisted.

"Okay, baby, what are we playing?"

"Cars."

"Come on then, show me."

Harry put Calix back down and his son was gone, on tiny little legs, back over to where he'd been before, and Harry sat down behind him, cross legged, and he accepted the car handed to him.

He stopped now and then, to drink his tea. He kept an eye on the time for his washing, but he mostly just enjoyed himself playing with his kids.

Taren was now a month old, thirty-one days to be exact, and tomorrow he was going for his first Dragon Pox vaccine. It was not going to be a good day for their newborn baby, but it was going to be limited by Max and Blaise taking the older kids to visit Caesar and Amelle, and a playdate with their cousins, Eleonora and Beatrice.

Harry was staying here with Nasta, and they were going to be handling Taren, and trying to comfort their baby in the aftermath of the vaccine. Leolin was also going to be staying with them, and while they were at the hospital he would stay with Draco.

Speaking of Taren, he made a soft noise in his bassinet, and they all turned to see two tiny hands, covered with little blue scratch mitts, stretch into the air.

Max laughed, but it was Blaise who stood and went to pick up the baby, who was starting to remain awake for a little longer than he'd been before. They often found Taren awake and staring at things that he could see from his bassinets, but if they left him for too long then he'd start to flail and cry, and if they didn't have a bottle ready for him, he would often work himself up so much that he refused a bottle, and fell asleep crying. Harry hated it when Taren did this, so he made sure they always had a bottle ready for him.

Even so Taren was flailing for Blaise, who grabbed the bottle and offered it to their baby quickly, before he could work himself up too much.

Harry sat back and smiled as he watched Blaise feeding Taren, who had stilled his little body so that he could feed.

"Mummy, baby eating."

Harry couldn't help the smile that split his face. "That's right, Farren. Your baby brother, Taren, is eating."

Farren toddled over to Blaise, who bent forward to show Farren the feeding baby. Farren petted Taren's hair, before giving him a kiss.

"Good baby." Farren told Taren.

Harry stifled a laugh, but he was proud too. He loved all of his children, even if Calix was rather destructive, and naughty, and Tegan was very wilful and selective in who she would play with, he didn't care. They were all perfect to him.

Harry finished off the washing, pegging what he'd taken from the machine outside in the blustery, but bright March morning, after making absolutely sure that the door into the family room was closed so that no little bodies came outside with him.

It was a nice day, but far too windy for the kids to come out. Some of them would be blown off their feet. Harry was having trouble keeping his feet in the wind, so no, the kids couldn't play outside today.

There was also a massive pile of wood to the one side of the garden, which Nasta had put there, and insisted that he needed. Harry definitely didn't want the kids playing on that, or thinking that it was part of their playground equipment and climbing over it.

He headed back to the house and made sure to shut and lock the back door. He checked the washing, and then went back to sit down in the family room.

"What do you need all that wood for, Nas?" Harry complained. "You better get rid of it before the good weather comes, these kids will be all over the garden the moment the sun stays out long enough."

"It'll be gone by then." Nasta told him, not even looking at him from where he was sat, reading a book in a language Harry couldn't read.

"What do you even want it for?" Harry persisted.

"I'll tell you once the kids are in bed." Nasta replied, again not looking up from his book.

Harry rolled his eyes and let the matter drop. He had just sat down when Eva clambered up next to him and plonked herself on his lap, shoving a book into his face.

"I take it you want a story, huh?" He laughed.

Eva snuggled in and Harry cracked open the book, all but melting at his baby girl cuddled into him. His girls didn't often want cuddles, so he relished the time he could spend with them on his lap.

He read Eva a story, watched as Max struggled through his paperwork when Regan kept trying to 'help' him, Draco was sat on the floor playing a game with Tegan, and Blaise was rocking Taren, despite the fact that the baby was already asleep. He smiled, and bent to kiss Eva who was obviously in a rather mellow mood today. He loved days like this, where no one was in work and everything was calm, if not peaceful. He wanted more days like this, and he savoured it while he could, because Taren's Dragon Pox vaccine tomorrow was going to mean that they did not have a day like this.

The house was too quiet with only Taren and Leolin in it, and Harry was admittedly nervous as he got his newborn baby ready for his first vaccine.

Leolin had woken up happy, and rather giggly, and he was content to sit in his bouncer with his Ma doll clutched in his arms. He had slept with Harry's shirt last night, and it had clearly made him very happy and put him in a good mood.

"Remember to fold the washing, Draco." Harry warned his mate. "I do not want to have to do that when I get back in."

"I've got it, love. I promise." Draco swore to him.

Harry nodded. "Good. I want to focus everything on Taren when I get home."

"I'll even clean-up and vacuum if it makes you feel better, just stop fretting so much."

"Do you even know where we keep the hoover?" Harry teased.

"Ha ha." Draco replied sarcastically. "Of course I know where it is, and I know how to use it too…well, mostly."

Harry sniggered, but let it be. If Draco broke the hoover they could replace it, and then never let Draco forget that he'd broken it.

They were going to take Taren the same way they had the twin girls. Harry would carry him, and hold him while he had his jab, and then Nasta was going to carry him home, as Taren was very squirmy when he wanted to be, and they were expecting him to be a veritable octopus after he had this vaccine.

"It's time to go, Harry. Are you both ready?" Nasta asked, coming into the room.

Harry nodded, nervous for his month old baby, but he knew that this needed to be done. "We're ready."

For the second time in a little over two weeks the two of them flooed to the hospital, and headed to the waiting room for the vaccines. They checked in at the orderly desk, and then sat in some free seats to wait for their names to be called.

Harry breathed deeply to keep himself calm. The smell of the hospital was associated with bad feelings for him, so the smell automatically made him nervous. Nasta wrapped an arm around him, and kissed his head, urging him to put his face to his neck, so that all Harry could smell was him, and not the sterile scent of the hospital. It helped, as Nasta knew it would. There was a reason, many of them really, why he wouldn't so easily give up on his mateship. Max had been right, it wasn't these small bust ups that would break them up, it would have to be something really major, but that didn't mean that he was going to let them keep getting away with it. Those little arguments and fights wouldn't break up their mateship, but Harry would be damned if he allowed them to continue.

They were called quickly, and Harry carried Taren through to Healer Nasser's rooms. He knew where to go now as easily as if he were in his own home.

"Well, I haven't met this one yet, have I?" Healer Nasser asked, looking genuinely happy to see Taren.

"No, this is our youngest son, Taren. He's a month old."

Harry put the sleeping baby down on the bed, and Healer Nasser smiled.

"I do like seeing them when they're asleep. It makes the general assessment easier, though I'm afraid he won't be asleep for long."

Harry nodded his understanding. He'd known that Taren wouldn't remain sleeping after the vaccine. He watched as Healer Nasser did general tests, and checked them against the file that Healer Almus had compiled.

"Right, do you want to hold him, or leave him lying down?" Healer Nasser asked, once he was done with the physical checks.

"I'm going to hold him." Harry said softly, hoisting himself up onto the bed, and picking Taren up gently.

Nasta helped him to gently remove the cardigan that Taren was wearing, exposing his tiny arm. Taren made a soft grunt, and squirmed a little. Healer Nasser held Taren's arm tightly with one hand, and he slid the needle under the skin with the other.

Harry was braced for the crying and squirming when Healer Nasser depressed the plunger, and then withdrew the needle. Taren did not disappoint as he started crying and flailing, and Nasta took the baby from him, putting him back in his cardigan and swaddling him in a blanket too, just to try and keep him safer through the floo.

"Well, I'll be seeing you boys in June for his second jab." Healer Nasser said, watching them try to comfort the squalling baby. "Here's his appointment card, if you can't make it you can change it at the desk."

"Thank you." Harry said, and he followed Nasta as they left the room. They both knew that Taren would cry himself to sleep now, and that he might not want a bottle for a couple of hours, which would mean a missed feed or even two if he was very unsettled.

"Go through first, Harry." Nasta told him, giving him a gentle nudge towards the floo.

Harry did as he was told, knowing that Nasta would never leave him alone, not even in the hospital, and he flooed back home to find Draco waiting with tea. He had, in fact, hoovered both rooms, and Harry smiled at him.

"Thank you for cleaning up, Draco."

"Of course, Harry. I live here too." Draco insisted, moving him to the settee, where he had tea waiting for them.

Nasta came through, and Taren was screaming now, fighting the blanket wrapped around him, fighting Nasta, and just screaming.

The three of them all tried to soothe Taren to no effect, they offered him a bottle that he refused, a dummy that he spat out, and eventually they just had to let him tire himself out, and cry himself to sleep.

"I hate the Dragon Pox vaccines." Harry sighed.

"They're a vital necessity for their health, Harry." Draco told him, looking rather alarmed, as if he thought that Harry might stop the kids from having any more vaccines.

"I know that, it doesn't mean I don't still hate them. He has to have another one in just three months too."

"We'll look after him, Harry. It's just the shock of the pain, that's all." Nasta told him.

"I don't like my babies being in pain. I know they need it to be safe. I know they'll die in horrific agony if they don't have these vaccines, and then contract Dragon Pox, I know all of that, but I still don't like it, and my Dracken really rides me hard when I see them breaking their hearts like this."

Both his mates cuddled him between them, and Harry took a deep breath, shoving his Dracken side away. He could deal with this, because he really did know how vital those vaccines were for his babies, and he would do anything to keep them safe, even watch them scream and thrash around in the aftermath of these vaccines, if only it meant keeping them safe and alive in the future.

It was Kimberly's ninety-third birthday, and they were going to spend the day at her home, where they had all been invited to celebrate with her.

They had decided to go a little later in the day, so the kids had had breakfast, and then their lunch, because really they needed that long to get showered and ready as there were five of them, and nine kids.

Harry had made up three nappy bags, made sure the kids were all dressed and clean, and were all still accounted for while his mates all tag teamed for their en suite, and even using the other bathroom on that floor, as they tried to get ready around one another.

"Mummy, why no play?" Braiden asked him with a frown.

"We're going to go and see nana Kimberly and granddad Alexander, Braiden. You can play there." Harry said with a smile.

"We go now?" Calix asked him.

"We're waiting for your daddies." Harry said.

"Where they?" Braiden asked then.

"Upstairs, Braiden."

Braiden toddled off, as if he would go and get them, and Harry laughed, knowing fully that the baby gate was at the bottom of the stairs.

"Daddy! Daddy! Hurry up!"

Harry lost it, and he laughed, hard, as he heard Braiden yelling up the stairs.

"We go now!" Braiden carried on.

It was Blaise who carried Braiden back into the room, and he was smiling too.

"I see we're being harangued by the kids now." He grinned.

"They wanted to know why they couldn't play." Harry chuckled. "Please tell me they're almost done up there?"

"Almost." Blaise told him, but his attention was all on Braiden, smoothing his hair away from his face.

Harry did another round of checking on the kids. Taren was in his bassinet, fast asleep and waiting for them to pick him up and go with him. Leolin was in his bouncer, waiting for the same thing. It was the older kids who were getting fussy and impatient.

Max was down next, their present for Kimberly in his hands, and then Nasta followed. Draco was the last one down, as they'd known he would be, because he cared for his appearance a lot, and as he was almost glowing, Harry very much appreciated the extra effort he took, as he went and kissed Draco.

"Right, count the kids, we don't want to leave anyone behind." Nasta insisted.

"I have Taren and Leolin." Harry said, going and picking them both up. Leolin frowned as he caught sight of Taren, so Harry boosted his Faerie baby up to his neck, so he couldn't see Taren.

Nasta had Farren and Regan, Blaise picked up Braiden and Eva, Draco had Tegan and Ave, leaving Max with the very active Calix and he grabbed the folded down pram. Max, Nasta and Draco also had a nappy bag each slung around them.

They flooed over to Alexander and Kimberly's home one by one, and as he landed, Harry moved out of the way of the fireplace and headed to the garden. It was a nice day today, a bit cold, but sunny and bright, spring had truly sprung.

"Harry, how are you sweet one?" Alexander asked him, coming right over to him, and Harry knew why too…that damn fight. "Have those boys been treating you right?"

He nodded. "Yes, though I still haven't gotten any of my makeup meals, I think they're waiting until I'm more recovered from the birth."

"Are you still sore?"

Harry shook his head. "No, in the last week, maybe two, I've been feeling much better. I'm no longer in any pain, I'm not even sore, and I'm getting back to what I normally do."

"So they have no excuse for not taking you to dinner?" Alexander asked, not impressed at all with Harry's dominant mates, it seemed.

"I think the timing comes into question too. We've had to deal with three Dragon Pox vaccines in two weeks, and Nasta is hording wood in our garden for some reason. We asked him what he was doing, but he just said we had to wait until the kids weren't about, and then still never told us what he's up to."

"Taren would have had his first vaccine, how did he take it?" Alexander asked.

"Badly." Harry said, shaking his head. "He screamed himself to sleep, and missed a feed. He was unsettled for the entire day too."

"Oh, poor thing. I remember taking my little ones for their vaccines." Alexander grimaced as he remembered those awful days. He held his arms out and Harry transferred the sleeping Taren to him.

"Granddad." Max came over, hefting Calix over his shoulder, ignoring his son kicking at him.

"Maxie, I hear you still haven't taken Harry for his make-up meal."

"Not yet." Max said, but he was smiling. "It's on the cards, though."

"You have it booked?" Harry asked, brightening up visibly.

Max winked at him. "I might have."

Harry couldn't keep the grin from his face. "Where are we going? When are we going? Will I like it?"

"You will like it, but everything else is going to be a surprise." Max told him, giving him a stern faux glare.

"But, I want to know what I'm going to eat."

Max laughed at him, put Calix down and finally set the poor boy free, and he turned to hug him tight. Leolin didn't appreciate it, but Harry certainly did.

"Well at least you're doing better." Alexander told them.

"Much better." Harry said happily. His mates had been trying a lot since he'd allowed them back into the house, and though he was very curious about Nasta's wood hoarding, he was pleased with their behaviour otherwise.

Braiden went charging past them, and he went straight for Richard, who he still affectionately named 'Ganda Itch'. It was because of Braiden that Myron and Richard looked up, and saw them, and while Richard swept up Braiden and hugged him, Myron patted his mate on the shoulder and made his way purposefully over to them.

"Harry, are you okay?" He asked, pulling him into a gentle hug. Leolin didn't like that either, if his scowl was anything to go by.

"Yeah, Max won't tell me when or where he's taking me to dinner!"

"It's a surprise!" Max insisted.

"You've booked somewhere?" Myron asked Max coolly.

Max couldn't nod quick enough. "Yeah, I've sorted it all out. Harry and I are going for dinner, and then I'm treating Nasta to dinner the night after."

"Does he know when and where it is?"

"He knows when it is." Max admitted.

"Is it soon?" Harry wheedled.

"You are terrible when you think there's a surprise for you."

Harry smiled up at him. Max cupped his chin and smiled back, but couldn't help himself as he bent down to kiss him. Harry kept Leolin over his shoulder so he didn't see, or try to stop them.

"I like surprises." Harry said softly.

"I thought you didn't like them?" Draco asked, coming up behind them. He had no kids with him, so Harry assumed they'd already been set free.

"I didn't used to." Harry said, looking at the grass under his feet. "Going through…going through what I did, surprises never meant anything good, but now, with you, I've learnt to look forward to surprises."

Draco and Max both hugged him, and Harry laughed.

"I'm glad you're getting more used to surprises. We can spoil you more then." Draco told him.

"I don't like sudden surprises, not yet." Harry warned. "But a bit of a build-up, and I'm okay."

"So tell you that you have a surprise, instead of just dumping it in your lap?" Max clarified.

Harry chuckled. "Yeah. I get worried when you start hiding things from me, but I know I have a surprise meal, so I'm not worried now. I'm excited because it's just the right amount of surprise, without worrying me."

"Good, we try not to worry you with surprises, but we know that sometimes we get it wrong."

Harry bit his lip and frowned. "I…I try not to get overly worried. I know you wouldn't give me any bad surprises, especially now. I just can't help it sometimes."

"Mummy!" Farren interrupted them, toddling to his legs and clinging on.

Harry readjusted Leolin on his shoulder and crouched down. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"Want…want that."

Farren pointed behind him, and Harry stood back up, taking Farren's hand.

"Show me, honey."

Farren pulled him off, running on his little legs, and Harry followed at a quick walk. He had been expecting food, with Farren it was usually a food item that he wanted to try, but Farren actually led him to a swing set.

Harry smiled as Farren looked back at him, to see if he'd noticed, and then his toddler did a sort of little jig on the spot to express his excitement to try it. He'd clearly seen some older kids on it, and now he wanted a go.

"Come here, Farren."

Harry lifted him with one arm, which was no easy feat given that Farren was their biggest, and heaviest child, despite that he was a quintuplet, and four months younger than Braiden.

Harry carried him over to the child swing, and not the one for the older kids, and he sat Farren in the seat and Harry grinned at his son's excitement. Farren didn't usually show so much excitement for anything unless he could eat it, which wasn't a bad thing, but it was nice to see him excited to play for once.

Harry pushed Farren gently to begin with, but he couldn't help but push him a bit harder when the two year old actually started laughing. He would be sure to remember to buy a swing set for their own garden now, considering Farren loved it so much.

"Hi, Harry."

Harry looked over, as a young woman placed her own child in the swing next to Farren. Harry smiled as he recognised her.

"Hi, Shae. How are you?"

"Tired, worn out, more of the same." She told him with a laugh, as she pushed her own baby. "Yourself?"

Harry sighed. "Same. I had a baby five weeks ago, and I'm only just getting back to normal."

"Oh, I had heard. Taren right?" She asked, pushing the baby.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. He was taken from me pretty much the moment I arrived." He laughed.

"I haven't had any more, not since this little princess was born, remember we were pregnant together?"

"Of course, from that freak heatwave." Harry rolled his eyes.

Shae laughed along with him. "That's right."

"So this is…oh damn, was it Diane, or Diana? Max did tell me, I swear, I just have a memory like a sieve at the moment."

"Diane." She smiled kindly at him. "It's Daniel's mother's name, and she was heaven sent during my pregnancy, so my Dracken agreed to name our baby after her. Daniel sobbed on me like the world was ending or something, then he's always been close to his mother, especially after his father was killed."

"What happened?" Harry asked, having not heard this story. "If you don't mind sharing, of course."

"Oh, it's not a secret." Shae assured him. "But his father, Will, was accused of eyeing up another submissive, and her dominant killed him for it."

"That's awful."

Shae nodded in agreement. "Diane has always steadfastly insisted that it was mistaken identity, and says that Will was murdered."

"What did the council do?"

"Nothing." Shae growled a touch of her Dracken coming out. "Alexander and Fia…that's Fiammetta Messana, both campaigned for justice for Will's death, they knew the submissive in question, and she'd accused other dominants of eyeing her up before, just to get them killed because she didn't like them, or their submissive, and they were sure that she was doing it on purpose, but the Elders ruled that one dominant being killed was enough, and they refused to execute her dominant for murder."

"They should execute her." Harry said darkly.

"Oh, Harry, the council won't execute submissives." Shae told him, shaking her head. "There's too few of us. A submissive would have to do something severe these days to get themselves executed."

"But she's only going to do it again!" Harry insisted.

"We all know that." Shae hissed. "She's already got five dominants executed already, and I'd bet my life that all of them were innocent. I always keep my eye on Daniel at the gatherings in May, because he's likely to rip her head off for getting his father killed."

"Wait…she's allowed to go to the meetings?"

Shae looked disgusted. "Yes, it's where she hunts for her next victim."

"Why didn't my mates tell me about her?"

Shae shook her head. "They probably don't want to worry you. If they see her, they likely head the other way. She's an older submissive now, Harry, she doesn't usually interact with younger submissives or dominants. It's not your mates you need to be worried about, it's Alexander and other dominants around his age. Especially now that he spoke out against her behaviour publically."

"Alexander would never look at another submissive. Never!" Harry repeated for emphasis.

"Diane insisted the same of her mate, Will, Harry." Shae said pointedly, and Harry felt cold, automatically turning and looking for Alexander in the large crowd.

He was still cradling Taren, laughing heartily, his face so bright and familiar that Harry couldn't imagine not knowing him, and didn't want to imagine him dying. Alexander was the heart of the Maddison family, the one they all went to if there was a problem, the one always willing to help no matter the situation.

"We can help look after him." Harry said fiercely. "If someone is always with him, then he'll always have a witness."

Shae smiled at him. "I'm sure between all of us, we can manage that." She said.

Harry nodded decisively. That bitch wasn't going to rip Alexander away from them like she had ripped five other dominants away from their families, not even if he had to plant himself at Alexander's side all bloody night.

Farren soon got bored of swinging, and Harry pulled him out and let him free. He waved goodbye to Shae, and he carried Leolin on a Faerie sightseeing trip around the tremendously large garden. There were flower buds everywhere, some flowers here or there, and Leolin was visibly excited to see them.

"Do you like this flower, Leolin?" Harry asked, hunching down, sitting Leolin on his legs, as he let his Faerie baby touch and stroke the flowers.

Harry noticed that where Leolin could be violent to them, to his siblings, to people in general, he was ever so gentle with plants. His tiny hands, which could claw at skin and draw blood on people, could stroke a delicate flower petal with extreme tenderness and love. Harry hoped that when Leolin got over his attachment to only him, then he would start to treat them all as gently as he treated the plants around him.

Leolin did not get tired of his tour around Alexander's garden, and Harry went from flower to flower, from bush to tree, with Leolin making excited, happy squeals at each one of them. Harry loved seeing him like this, as his Faerie baby couldn't take the gummy smile from his mouth. He looked exceptionally adorable with his one tooth.

Leolin might not have gotten bored of his walking nature tour, but he did eventually get hungry, and Harry could tell that his baby was torn, as he squirmed in discomfort as his hunger grew, but he reached out for the next flower, and then the next, not wanting it to end.

"Do you want to have a bottle, Leolin?" Harry asked him, even knowing that Leolin didn't have the capacity to answer him. "I know you're hungry, sweetie."

Leolin let out a soft whine of hunger, but reached for another flower, this one a very pretty shade of blue. Leolin refused to let go of it, even as he started crying.

"Here, I've got an idea, baby."

Harry shovelled his hand into the ground, and carefully eased the entire flower up, roots and all. He shook off the excess earth and then handed the entire thing to Leolin, who held it like a teddy. Harry had learnt early on from the Faerie books the city had allowed them to have to never hand a Faerie babe a 'dead' flower, which Kailen had explained meant a flower detached from its roots. Faeries hated nothing more than they hated 'dead' bunches of flowers. You could give one a potted plant, or a whole flower with the roots, but never one where the flower had been cut or plucked from its roots. To a Faerie that was the equivalent of killing the flower, and in a way, Harry could see their point.

Harry went over to the pram, which was empty, not that he was in the slightest bit surprised about that as this was technically Taren's first outing and introduction into the extended family, and he dug in the nappy bag for one of Leolin's bottles, before heading into the house to heat it with hot water, seeing as he couldn't perform magic with Leolin in his arms.

"Harry, there you are, sweetheart. I haven't had a chance to see you yet." Kimberly called out, smiling radiantly at him.

"Hi, Kimberly. Happy birthday." He said with a smile. "I'm so sorry, but I've dug up a flower from the garden, Leolin wouldn't let go of it. I promise I'll plant it again as soon as he's asleep."

Kimberly laughed happily, and touched a hand to Leolin's smiling face.

"He's so precious like this. If he likes that old thing so much, he can keep it. Plant it in your own garden, and that way he'll always have it for himself."

That was why Harry loved Kimberly, and Alexander too, so very much. They didn't care about such small things like Harry digging up their flowers, they cared that Leolin, their great-grandchild, was happy and calm.

"Can I heat this up, ple…?"

"Harry, sweetheart, do not finish that sentence. If you don't turn around and heat up that bottle right this instant, I won't share my cake with you." Kimberly threatened.

Harry smiled, and he did as he'd been told, turning around and boiling the kettle so that he could heat up Leolin's bottle.

Kimberly came over to stroke Leolin's hair, and while he was in such a good mood he allowed it without even a fuss, or a scowl. He was still grinning happily, fingering his flower.

"I do love seeing him like this." Kimberly told him.

Harry hummed in agreement. "I can't wait to see what he's like in full summer, when we can pretty much live in the garden from dawn to dusk. He's always like this around nature, so it'll be good to see if he'll always be like this during the summer. Though I'm sure he'll still have his moments. He's an Unseelie for a reason."

"It's hard to remember that when he's like this." Kimberly insisted.

Harry looked at Leolin, still playing with the flower, and he smiled.

"This is one of his good days, definitely." He said, pouring the boiled water into a mug and then placed Leolin's bottle into it.

Leolin's smile slipped to a frown and he whined a little, before he went back to touching the flower, but he seemed to realise that he was inside now, perhaps he could sense that he was out from under the spring sun, or he could no longer smell the grass underfoot, but whatever it was, Leolin's Unseelie scowl was breaking through the previous happy grin.

"I think someone doesn't like being back inside." Kimberly sing-songed, and Harry chuckled.

"He really doesn't. I'll heat his milk up now and then take him back outside. He might like eating in the garden."

Kimberly helped him to check the milk, and while a little cooler than Leolin normally liked it, his Faerie son was looking increasingly like he was going to burst into tears, either from his disconnection to nature, or because he was overly hungry, but either way his lower lip was trembling, and Harry could see the tears welling up, so he decided that the milk was warm enough and he thanked Kimberly and hurried Leolin back out into the garden, found a quiet spot under a tree, and he offered the bottle to Leolin.

It took a few tries to get Leolin to latch on, but he finally did, after a gust of wind rushed over him, and he started giggling again. Harry smiled to hear him, and breathed a sigh of relief when Leolin settled in his arms and latched onto his bottle, and started feeding.

It was Nasta who found him first, looking slightly worried. It was the visible sigh of relief though that let Harry know just how worried Nasta had really been.

"There you are."

"Hey, Nas. Leolin really likes this tree." Harry said with a grin. "Don't stand there you're blocking his wind, come this side."

Nasta did as he was told, and came to sit beside him, out of Leolin's wind. Harry couldn't stop grinning, as with every gust Leolin smiled around the bottle.

"I love him when he's like this." Nasta said softly. "Not to say I don't always love him, I do, but there's something…peaceful about seeing him like this."

"It's because he's peaceful. Nature always makes him peaceful. It makes me think that when we keep him inside for so long, that he starts acting up out of stress. Maybe we should start taking him out daily from now on. Even if it is just a walk to the bottom of the garden and back."

"I'm sure we can manage that, it'll be easier in summer." Nasta agreed. "It might be harder to do in really bad weather. He could get sick."

Harry nodded his agreement, but he looked back at Leolin feeding. He didn't want to take his eyes from his baby when he was so utterly contented.

The both of them stayed right where they were, watching Leolin until he finished his bottle. Harry winded him carefully, watching the miniscule wings that wrapped around Leolin's back.

Turning Leolin back down into his arms, the two of them watched as Leolin became enraptured with the blue flower he was holding, touching and petting it, but it took moments for his full belly to start making his eyes heavy. After every blink his eyelids fell further, stayed closed a little longer, until with a last blink Leolin fell asleep.

Harry smiled at him, and bent to kiss his baby, before passing him to Nasta.

"Don't you dare crush his flower. Kimberly said that we can take it home for him, and plant it in our own garden. Maybe we should be planting more flowers for him, Nas. Maybe we could go to a garden centre?"

"Of course, Caru. We'll make a trip of it, and buy him all the different coloured flowers we can find. Our garden could use some brightening up."

"Which reminds me, what the hell are you doing with all that wood you're hoarding? You keep bringing home more!"

Nasta laughed, but Harry was glad that he seemed happy about his wood hoarding.

"I swear if you're building a dragon sanctuary in our garden…"

Nasta laughed fully then.

"Well, in a way, I am."

"Nasta, no!" Harry said firmly.

Nasta laughed again. "I'm making a tree house for our own little dragons, Harry."

"A tree house?"

"Yeah, have…have you seen a treehouse before?" He asked, sobering, as if he thought Harry wouldn't have heard of one before, which was entirely plausible given the Dursleys.

"I've never seen one, but I know what they are." He said, forcing a smile. "Can you really do it?"

"Of course. I might not have actually built our house, Harry, but remember that I'm the one who actually planned and mapped it out for the people who did build it."

"Are the trees we have strong enough?"

"They won't be like those amateur tree houses that are just little boxes propped onto a tree. They're going to be proper little houses built around the trees."

"Oh, you mean you're going to build more than one?" Harry teased.

Nasta actually looked a little uncomfortable. "We could have quite a few kids, Harry, I thought that maybe it would be better to build more than one tree house. I mean, we already have nine kids who are all two or under."

"How many, Nas?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Three." He mumbled.

"Three proper little houses in our garden? Mmmm, sounds more like you're trying to force our kids to live in the garden…or are they for us to escape when the kids take over the house?"

Nasta slung an arm around him and pulled him in tight, kissing him.

"Whatever they're for, I want to do this, for our kids first and foremost, but if they really do take over the house in ten, twenty years' time and we're outnumbered forty to one, it's nice to have an escape plan handy."

Harry laughed loud and long…so loud he almost disturbed Leolin.

"I hope to fucking god we aren't outnumbered forty to one, that's…that's…"

"Two hundred, Cariad." Nasta offered him.

"Two hundred!" Harry demanded, his eyes widening. "No! No, Nasta. We don't want two hundred kids!"

Nasta chuckled. "We'll get through it if you do."

"We might need five tree houses." Harry giggled. "One for each of us."

Nasta smirked at him. "I think I can manage five of them."

Harry chuckled. "I can't wait to see them when you build them. I take it you're starting this spring?"

"I've already started." Nasta told him. "I've planned the first one out, and I've just started making the ground structure for it."

"How long will it take?" Harry asked curiously.

"At least a year." Nasta told him, smiling. "But I'm committed to finishing it now."

"Will they be big enough for us to go on?"

Nasta aimed a smirk at him. "Of course." He said.

Harry grinned at that. "Big enough for Max?"

Nasta chuckled softly, trying not to disturb Leolin in his one arm, even as he wrapped the other around Harry and pulled him in close. "Even Max."

"I'm excited now." Harry confessed. "I'm sure Max will love it more than the kids."

"Braiden will be three and a half, possibly four, by the time it's finished, Harry. I wouldn't put all your Galleons on Max being the most excited just yet."

Harry gasped in delight. "Oh, Braiden will love it! He's getting more adventurous now as he approaches three. I can't believe his third birthday is literally five months away. He's getting so big."

"All of them are now. Calix is an absolute hellion still, Nico found him trying to climb the new apple tree that Alexander put in just last year. Thankfully he was found before he could fall…or snap the poor immature tree in half."

Harry actually giggled. "Do we apologise for that?" He sniggered.

"No need." Nasta told him with a grin. "Like Kimberly brushed off you digging up a flower just for Leolin, Alexander just laughed when he heard about it. They are wonderfully kind people."

Harry smiled. "Yeah, they really are."

"Come on, the others were looking for you too, they must be frantic right about now."

Harry groaned and rolled his eyes. "You four are soo overprotective. What could possibly happen to me in Alexander's back garden?"

"Don't make me answer that." Nasta told him seriously.

Harry huffed, and grunted a little as he found his feet. He offered a hand down to Nasta, who smiled at him, and took his hand, letting Harry help him to his feet. He loved it when they treated him like an equal, and not like an invalid.

They wandered out from behind the tree, and Harry didn't know if it was his imagination or not, but it seemed that all the dominant Drackens let out a collective sigh of relief. He brushed it off, but he did walk over to Alexander, who was hogging Taren it seemed, just so that he could check on his newborn.

"There you are sweet one, everyone was worried when you and little Leolin vanished."

"Oh, I was just feeding him under that tree." He said, pointing. "He liked feeling the wind over his face, you should have seen him smiling around his bottle every time a gust of wind washed over him. It was adorable."

"I can't even imagine it." Alexander smiled, even as he lowered his arms a little to allow Harry access to Taren.

Harry stroked the soft cheeks of the sleeping baby and smiled proudly.

"Leolin definitely does better in nature. Nasta says we can go to a garden centre and pick out all the flowers for Leolin that we need. I'll like that."

"Harry, where did you go?" Max asked, just appearing at his elbow, and giving him a gentle touch.

"I was just feeding Leolin, Max. Nasta found me and sat with me."

Max blew out a breath. "Good, I'm glad you're safe."

"Perfectly safe, dear." Harry teased.

Max snorted a laugh and bent to kiss him.

"Your grandmother will be cutting her cake soon, Maxie." Alexander said.

"Do you need me to get plates or anything, Granddad?" Max offered.

"No, just make sure none of your little ones get caught in the stampede." Alexander said, then winked at Harry.

Harry snorted a laugh. "If any of them do, it'll be Farren, and I don't rate anyone else's chances against him."

Draco and Blaise caused a bit of a commotion then, as they spotted him at the same time and came clamouring.

"I'm fine. I'm fine!" Harry insisted loudly, but he allowed his two mates to touch him, and then kiss a cheek each. "I was feeding Leolin behind a tree, that's all."

"You shouldn't wander off on your own." Draco fretted.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'll do as I please."

"Harry…"

"No!" Harry snapped, getting angry.

"Harry, are you okay?" Myron asked, hurrying over as he heard him shouting. Nasta appeared from nowhere as well, Leolin still tucked into his arm.

Harry held his ground, glaring at Draco for a moment, before turning to Myron and cuddling in.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Dad. I just…I lost my temper a bit, that's all."

Myron held him close, smiling, and Harry didn't realise what he'd done until he turned to see everyone else looking at him like he'd grown another head.

"What?" He asked, frowning. "What have I done this time? Broken another stupid submissive rule I didn't know about?"

"You called him dad." Draco informed him, sounding poleaxed.

Harry trembled a little, and looked at all four of his mates in turn, then at a smiling Alexander, and he blushed hard. He tried to pull away from Myron, who was having none of it.

"Stop acting like he doesn't have the right to do so." Myron snapped at the others. "You're upsetting him!"

"Harry."

That was Nasta, and Harry trusted him with these sensitive issues perhaps more than any of the others, and putting a little fragment of trust into Nasta, Harry peeked up at him with worried eyes.

"I'm glad that you finally found someone you can call dad." Nasta told him, smiling. "I was just surprised as I hadn't realised you were this far ahead. I'm proud of you."

"Really?" Harry asked tentatively.

Nasta nodded seriously. "Really."

"This far ahead in what?" Harry asked.

"Your recovery." Nasta explained simply. "Calling someone 'dad' is a very big step, and I'm proud of you for making it. I'm sure all of us are."

That was a 'Nasta nudge' to the other dominants, a warning to them to agree with him or else, and Harry let out a soft laugh as the other three rushed to reassure him that they felt the same way. He brushed both hands over his eyes, and Myron wrapped both arms around him to cuddle him, looking very pleased with himself.

"I can't believe you could have picked anyone, and you chose my dad." Max said, and Harry looked up at him worriedly as he heard something in Max's tone. It was the devilish sparkle in those sapphire blue eyes however that had Harry smiling automatically and relaxing back down. He knew that look well.

"You could have chosen anyone, Harry. Anyone, and you chose him."

"Maximilius." Myron said warningly.

"Richard too." Harry confessed.

"Both of them?" Max asked, looking only slightly surprised this time, before he regained his playful look. "Now Dad Richard I understand, he's funny, playful, an absolute laugh, but why him? He's my blood Dad and I wouldn't even pick him if I had a choice."

Harry chuckled as he realised that Max was trying to both lighten the mood, and take the attention off of Harry and put it onto himself. He appreciated that.

"You're not too old to go back over my knee." Myron threatened.

"I might be." Max said, grinning, a hint of challenge in his voice.

Myron's jet black eyes narrowed, but then he smirked, in a way that was all dominant male. "I assure you, Max, you're not."

"Uhh…" Max actually took a step back from the look aimed at him, and Myron's smirk widened.

"Calming things down…Harry, why did you pick them?" Blaise asked, with just enough curiosity to stop the question being offensive.

Harry smiled shyly, and retreated back into Myron's muscled, bulky side, clutching onto him like a toddler hiding behind his mother's skirts.

"I can't help how I feel." He said.

"No. No." Blaise said. "I just wondered if it was a specific event that lead to it, or if it had just been building for a while, or if it was because you saw them more than anyone else." Blaise reassured him.

It did reassure him too, and he smiled, but didn't come out from Myron's protective shadow.

"It's been building for a while, the feelings came a long time before I…before I gathered the courage to voice it out loud. With Myron I just…I feel safe in a way I've always wanted to feel safe, and never have. It's obviously different with all of you, you're my mates, not my parental figures. I don't know if I can explain it, but…but the safety feels slightly different. I've never really had that sort of parental love, not that I remember, and…and I like it." Harry admitted.

Myron cuddled him tighter to his front, and Harry absorbed the feelings it gave him like the little sponge he was.

"Then there's Richard, who looked after me so well through the court process. I needed him to support me through that, and he did that and so much more. I would never have gotten through it without him, I would never have gotten justice without him, and before it happened I never realised just how much I needed that justice. For people to listen to my story, and then punish them for what they did to me. I needed that more than I knew I did, and Richard was the one who walked me through it one step at a time, pushing me when I needed it, supporting me when I needed it, and just holding me at the end of every day like I needed. I…I love them for what they did for me, how they continually make me feel safe and loved and accepted, and really, I don't think I could have chosen two better dads for myself."

"You really couldn't have." Max said, smiling, coming over and slinging his arm around Myron's neck.

"I thought you didn't like me as much as your Dad Richard?" Myron asked with a scowl.

"You know I was only joking." Max insisted. "I love you, so much, Dad."

Myron's gaze softened to a smile, and while he kept one arm around Harry, the other hugged Max. He kissed his oldest son, and then Max gave him an incredibly tight squeeze that forced his breath away.

"Right, no more sappy talk." Max declared. "I want cake. Harry, come and raid the cake with me."

Harry grinned and took Max's hand, and allowed himself to be pulled to the buffet style table. Kimberly's massive birthday cake was on top of it, and Max made Harry laugh when he swiped one of the buttercream flowers from the back and held it out to Harry to eat.

Harry gave Max a heated look, and sucked his finger into his mouth, taking the buttercream for himself, but mostly to rile Max up, whose blue eyes went almost as dark as Myron's black.

"We haven't done anything together for months." Max said softly, giving Harry the look that he loved. The one that made him feel powerful, and desirable.

"I haven't felt any soreness in over a week, and no pain for at least two. Taren will be six weeks old in just six days…my six week post birth sex ban is almost over, Max. I hope you're ready for me."

Max gave him a lingering look that was all man, all dominant, and one hundred percent satisfied.

"I think it's you who should get ready for me, lover." Max all but purred.

Harry shivered, and he felt a twitch of interest, and his gut clenched in a way he hadn't felt in way too long. He drew closer to Max.

"Oi, you two are seriously getting too hot and bothered." Cepheus told them. "I wouldn't usually mind, I'd just stand and watch." He said with a wink. "But I think you're going to scar your own child if you go much further."

Harry looked at him, then down at Cepheus' legs, where Regan was standing and giving them the evil eye.

"Oh he's never liked us getting intimate." Max waved off.

Harry chuckled. "He used to, but recently he's started telling us off for it."

He went and picked up Regan, putting his two year old on his hip. It said how relaxed that Max was that he didn't fuss or flap about him bending and picking Regan up. He truly was getting back to normal now, and he loved it.

They had stayed until late. Much later than they had planned, and all of the kids were sleeping, and Harry was ready to join them.

"You sit here and we'll get these kids into their pyjamas and then into bed." Nasta told him, easing Harry into a seat. "Max, make us some tea, would you?"

"Sure thing, lover." Max agreed, carefully placing down the folded pram he'd been holding in one hand, and then popping Taren into his bassinet, before doing the same to a zonked out Leolin.

Draco, Nasta, and Blaise headed up the stairs with their armfuls of kids, while Harry smiled to himself, and placed Leolin's uprooted flower down on the coffee table carefully. He would plant it tomorrow for his Faerie baby.

He had an idea, and he got up, before he could fall asleep and forget his thoughts, and he went to grab Nasta's laptop. He booted it up, put in the password, and waited for it to load. He went straight onto the search engine and asked it for plants that could be put in a baby's room, and he was excited to see that there were some plants that he could actually put in Leolin's room.

He grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote down every single plant, even the trees. If he could give Leolin a room of trees and flowers, then it wouldn't matter if it was raining outside, he would always have his very own garden inside the house.

"What are you up to?" Max asked suspiciously. "You're not ordering any more toys to torture us with are you?"

"No, Max. Come here, look. I had an idea."

Max put the tray down and came to look at the page. "Plants?" He asked.

"For Leolin's bedroom." Harry nodded.

"Ah, most plants draw in oxygen at night, Harry, and give off carbon dioxide."

"I know, I did Herbology in school too." Harry said, rolling his eyes. "I specifically asked for plants to put in a baby's room, and all of these plants give off oxygen at night as well as during the day! If we can put plants in Leolin's room, he might feel safer, and happier."

"That's wonderful, Harry. We can order all of these plants."

"Nasta said he'd take me to a garden centre. I want to plant flowers in the garden too, ready for summer."

"You might get some of these in a garden centre, but others I think are too specialist." Max told him, looking down the list. "Okay, get what you can from the garden centre, and then we'll order everything else."

Harry smiled widely. "He'll love it!"

"Uh-oh, what are you two up to?" Blaise asked them.

"We're picking out plants for Leolin's room!" Harry told him excitedly.

"Can he have plants in his room?" Draco asked worriedly.

"Yes, there are some that don't take oxygen at night." Harry told them. "I'm writing a list of all of them now."

"That's a good idea, Harry." Nasta told him, coming to him and kissing his head, and also looking over his list. "Add orchids and aloe vera to the list. I know they don't take oxygen at night."

"We can still go to the garden centre?" Harry asked him.

"Of course, now bring all that over here and we can search some more, but with tea."

Harry gathered up his list, and the laptop, and handed the latter to Nasta, and he sat next to his top dominant and wrote down all the plants that Nasta showed him, while they both had a hand free for their cups of tea.

"I can't wait for the summer. Out in the garden all day, those little paddling pools we have full of cold water. Iced drinks." Max said wistfully. Then he grinned at the four of them. "All of us in just shorts and nothing else."

"Hopefully we'll be surrounded by flowers this year too." Harry said, smiling.

"That'll be nice, though be aware the other kids might rip them up." Max warned.

"Can we stop them from doing that?" Draco asked.

"We can, but it might still happen. They can be replanted easily enough." Nasta told them, closing the laptop and turning to cuddle Harry.

"Is it a good idea to get little fruit plants?" Harry asked. "Like strawberries and raspberries? We could teach the kids to pick the fruit, and they might actually eat them."

"We'll buy some fruit plants." Nasta told him, looking pleased.

"Can we go soon?" Harry asked.

"Next week, Caru. When Max is off. We'll take all of the kids and make a day of it."

"Are we invited?" Draco asked.

"Of course." Harry said quickly.

"You all need to learn to drive." Max insisted. "We have one car, and I'm the only one who knows how to drive. We'll have to walk to this garden centre now, with nine fucking kids. You're all insane."

"Well we did say we wanted to take them out more." Harry grinned.

"Thankfully the nearest garden centre is in the retail park just behind the big supermarket we go to, so it's not too far." Nasta said.

"A half hour trip turned into four hours to get there with nine kids." Max groaned.

"Come on, Maxie, we can do it." Harry chided. "I want to go."

Max sighed. "Oh fine, next week then. I'm sure there's a café or something over there too, so we can have a rest, and some lunch. Or just change the kids."

"It's going to be so much fun!" Harry said excitedly, and his mates smiled to see him so excited, but it was tempered with exactly why he was excited just to go to a garden centre…the Dursleys.

"We'll plan it properly, and keep them safe. If we take the big pram we can put some plants underneath it." Nasta said.

"I hope they at least have some plants that we can put in Leolin's room. He'll be so calm if he sleeps around nature." Harry was almost bouncing, his previous tiredness forgotten.

"Will you take him?" Draco asked.

Harry considered it. "Yes. We'll look out for anyone who is visibly sick and avoid them, but I don't want to stop him from coming when everyone else is, and I want him to pick some of his own flowers too."

"He'll pick them all and you know he will." Blaise told him.

Harry grinned. "I hope he does."

"Whatever he wants, he can have." Nasta assured him.

Harry smiled up at him, and then out at his other three mates.

"Thank you." He said softly. "I know I get excited over the most random of things, but that you're willing to get excited with me means a lot."

"It automatically makes us excited when you get excited." Blaise insisted.

Harry smiled. He did love these four men, despite the arguments, disagreements, and whatever else, they did love one another, and they had seen him through some of his darkest times, supporting him through the courts, and he wanted them, needed them. He was glad that they had come through the latest argument unscathed, even if they had hurt one another with their words, if not their fists.

Harry sighed happily, and drank his tea. He couldn't wait for their first trip out as a whole family. It might very well be a disaster waiting to happen, but they were a large family, and they were only going to get larger, he refused to keep his children trapped in the house continuously just because they had nine of them. He couldn't wait to get to that garden centre.

A/N: I hope you're all safe and staying inside, lovelies. Protect yourselves, protect others.

I will try to do what I can as a distraction, and a boredom-breaker, and several people have asked if I could update more often in this time, but regretfully I can't do that. I'm considered a key worker, and as such I am still in work, despite the UK now being in a lockdown. As such I will be keeping to my usual schedule, as nothing has actually changed for me except I am now more stressed and exhausted than normal.

If I run out of material for my posted fics, as this is the last pre-written chapter I have for RotD, I am willing to start posting those I have waiting in the wings, the fics I've been trying to finish before posting them up, as a way to try and help in these trying times.

StarLight Massacre. X