Well, this is the last chapter, so I suppose it's time I introduce myself. I'm a medical student that's about a year and a half away from residency. Primarily, I work in pediatrics and infectious disease (though my heart seems to have taken a home to ICU and trauma). I took an interest in Harry Potter when I was touched by a patient who could literally talk about absolutely nothing else—in order to be able to connect with him more, I started reading and getting back into it. And once I got through the Cursed Child, I was filled with ideas of my own. I hope you've enjoyed this story and I thank you very much for sticking with me through forty-five chapters and nearly 100,000 words. For being so patient and loyal, you are the Albus to my Scorpius.

~10 years later~

Albus took a deep breath and rolled over onto his side sleepily. Saturday morning. Finally, a morning he didn't have to get up and go to work, see patients, follow up on recent research. He could relax. Sleep in. Reach over and put an arm around his sweet husband to warm him with gentle cuddles—

"Dad?" A small voice squeaked. Albus opened his eyes now and looked down from his pillow.

His little son stared back up at him with gleaming eyes and a hopeful smile. As soon as he realized that his father was awake, he squirmed his way up closer to him so that he too could have morning cuddles and attention. "Shhh…" Albus whispered. "We must be quiet so we can let Daddy sleep," Beside him, Scorpius stirred but didn't wake. The child hugged his stuffed toy while he accepted a kiss on his head. "Pancakes, Dad?" he asked, apparently not understanding that Albus wanted Scorpius to stay asleep a little longer. He sighed. No more sleeping in for him today. He got out of bed and carried his little boy into the kitchen, chuckling when he clapped his hands gleefully. Albus sat him at the table. "Do you want some juice, Orion?" he asked while he made the motion in sign language. Scorpius had made it clear since before they even got married that he wanted their children to know sign language, just in case his own hearing ever got worse to the point of it being beyond repair. Orion nodded excitedly. Albus drew his wand—the kids got so enchanted when he did magic for them—and summoned a cup from the drying rack.

Scorpius and Albus got married almost immediately after they graduated Hogwarts. Albus, though he never expected himself to, became a Healer at St. Mungo's. He realized in his sixth year that he spent so much time taking care of his best friend, he'd become very good at understanding the conditions and treatments for ailments. He'd never been particularly strong in his studies, but once he moved into more specialized subjects and training, he realized it came easier to him than he could've expected. Scorpius had to take quite a bit of time after graduating to rebuild his strength and health—while dealing with his icy blood curse, he was also plagued with recurrent infections from the cuts made into his body by the illegal Healer. No matter how many times he was treated, the wounds seemed to continuously make him sick for years after. However, he was very pleased to be walking and talking just like normal. A year after their marriage, Albus and Scorpius decided together that they wanted to begin raising children. Since Scorpius couldn't have his own, Albus didn't want him to feel left out of the chance of giving life to the little ones they'd dreamed of. So they came to the agreement that instead of having a surrogate, they'd adopt orphaned magical children. They first adopted a baby boy from an Irish orphanage and named him Orion; keeping within family custom for Scorpius. Once he turned two, they realized that it was time for another so that he could have someone to play and interact with. They next adopted little Leo from a Ukrainian orphanage for magical children. And they didn't expect to, but they came across adopting a little girl as well—their youngest, Lyra. It was quite a full house and an unexpectedly growing family. But it was all they'd dreamed of. There wasn't any other way they'd have it.

So now as four-year-old Orion sipped his juice carefully and watched his dad begin brewing a potion over the stove, he asked aloud if he could help make Lyra's bottle this morning. He loved following adults around and 'helping' them with grown-up things. Albus smiled. "Can you fetch the bottle out of the wash?" he requested. Any degree of assistance made the boy feel like a hero. Almost as if on cue, a cry broke out from a distant room. "Sounds like she's ready for breakfast," Albus remarked. But Orion, the quickest a sharpest toddler Albus had ever met, immediately corrected him. "That's Leo, dad! Leo! Leo!" Albus set down his stirring rod and followed the cry into the nursery room. Orion was at his heels. He scooped the ambling two-year-old up into his arms with a gentle coo. "Good morning, baby." Leo was still sleepy, but had apparently awoken at the smell of breakfast being made. He was always hungry. "Hi Leo," Orion piped in. Albus carried him out into the kitchen and sitting area to prepare his juice as well and get the pancakes started.

Just as he thought he had everything going under control, Orion alerted him when a bell went off from the cauldron, "Dad! The potion is ready!" Albus quickly removed it from the heat and poured some into a vial and the rest in a jar. "Can you go set this on Daddy's nightstand for me? Don't wake him up. Just set it there so he has it first thing when he wakes." he encouraged his son. Leo banged on the table with his fork. "Bird, bird bird!" he sang out loudly. He'd lately heard Albus and Scorpius using the word 'birthday' a bit (since Orion had just recently turned four) and was trying to mimic them. He just couldn't get the words out right. "Shhhh…" Albus reminded. He just wanted Scorpius to sleep. He really didn't know how his husband did it—he stayed home with the kids all day and played with them, cared for them, bathed them, fed them, changed their nappies, everything. Albus liked to take over the duty on the weekends so that Scorpius wouldn't overwork his fragile body.

But to his dismay, Orion came running back into the kitchen with more news to report. "Dad, I went in to put Daddy's potion there, but Daddy was waking up and he kissed me good morning and then he said he was going to go check on Lyra!" Albus sighed. Scorpius was always on top of the kids and never took time for a rest. He loved being a father too much. Bigger footsteps padded into the kitchen. "Good morning," a hoarse voice murmured. Albus smiled and stepped forward to kiss his husband. Scorpius was holding baby Lyra against his chest. Albus kissed her too. "Bottle's ready for her over there. Want me to feed her? Why don't you sit at the table and let me bring you tea? Oh, did you take your potion?" he went on. Scorpius chuckled. "Love, I'm fine. I took the potion, I'm definitely going to feed the baby, and I really think you should focus on your pancake flipping skills instead because those are just bloody horrendous." Albus laughed at his lopsided mess piled onto the plate. He was right.

So Scorpius settled into a chair between his toddler sons and cradled the baby, putting the bottle to her lips so she too could feed. "She's a petite girl for four months old," he remarked as she took her formula hungrily. "Tea! Tea! Tea!" Leo repeated. Albus sipped from his teacup and moved to gently rub his husband's shoulder. "How do you feel this morning?" he asked seriously. Some mornings were harder on Scorpius than others. The low body temperature he endured left his joints constantly achy and stiff, and he never really slept well. But Albus charmed his extra blankets on that side of the bed to stay heated all night so that the symptoms wouldn't be quite so bad. Scorpius shrugged and tried to smile. "I'll be alright today. It's going to be nice to have the whole family under one roof again. I can stay busy and forget about the rest." he replied.

Orion looked up from his pancakes (which were swimming in syrup) and asked through a mouthful, "Who's coming today, Dad?" Scorpius smiled at him when he noticed Orion had signed a few of the words in his question. Albus set his teacup down. "Grammy and Grandpa are coming, so are Auntie Lily and Auntie Rose, Uncle James will be here, all of your cousins, and Grandfather will come too." he replied. Leo and Orion cheered excitedly to hear that they'd get to play with their cousins and see their favorite family members. Scorpius grinned at their joy. "It's very kind of you to host your dad's birthday party here at the Manor this year. I'm sure he appreciates your time and effort." he said. Albus shrugged. "We may not always get along, but I think he's happier now that we've overloaded him with grandchildren and he gets to feel like the hero all over again."

"He always gives the boys far too many sweets."

"Simply because I say not to,"

"Well, you just can't quell the need to save the day in someone like Harry Potter."

Albus rolled his eyes, but chuckled. Things between him and his father had gotten better, but they always butted heads every now and then. Draco had also initally struggled with the idea of letting Scorpius marry because he viewed it as giving his son away to someone else to care for a love him. It took a lot of convincing and many many conversations between him and Albus, him and Scorpius, and him and Harry. He couldn't deny though, that Albus was a perfect match for his son. And for that reason, he did support the marrying and starting a family.

Even though he did send an owl daily to check up on him.

Scorpius gave a little shiver as his baby girl finished her bottle and began crying to be changed. "I'll be right back," he announced. The inadvertent wince he made while getting up told Albus that he wasn't being entirely honest about his current pain level. He quickly followed Scorpius out of the room to catch him in the hallway privately. Lyra had stopped crying with the sensation of being rocked. Albus drew his wand and gently made a swift motion over Scorpius's robe, casting a warming charm that would help to dispel the aching chill. Scorpius gratefully smiled. He allowed for himself and the baby to be wrapped into a hug by Albus—this was still one of his favorite things ever. It was the best feeling in the entire world to go to sleep beside Albus every single night, to wake beside him with a few bumps of children sleeping between them often. It was everything Scorpius had wanted out of life. A life that he'd almost lost several times in his short span of years. "I love you," he murmured to Albus as he rested his head on his shoulder. He could practically feel his husband smiling. "Oh I love you too. It's hard to believe we've come so far ever since we met."

"We've had much to overcome. But we made it. And we're happy. I'm happy—you're—we're—wait, we're happy—?"

"We're all happy, you little geek." Albus replied, still reveling in the sweet awkwardness Scorpius seemed to retain through the years. He pressed a kiss onto the soft cheek beside his. Scorpius had really, really come a long way, as had he. It had all seemed to get better once they'd finally found each other.