EPILOGUE

7 months later

Casey's POV

"Pee break?"

"You have no idea", I groaned in the dark room that belonged to Riley and I.

It was late at night and I had just gotten up to pee, for the third time in an hour. My bladder wasn't necessarily full. The pressure on it was making it irritable, forcing me to remove whatever was in it, which always turned out to be just a little urine.

Just like my bladder, I was irritable.

Peeing in the middle of the night was something that was occurring often recently, but that didn't mean I was accustomed to it. I admit it wasn't the only reason I was irritable. In fact, irritability was something that occurred for no reason. My hormones were all over the place and only one thing was to blame.

Even though after lengthy denials I had finally believed I was pregnant, that hadn't settled in until I saw physical changes associated with pregnancy. My baby bump was the most obvious sign. It grew steadily until I couldn't ignore it anymore. By then it was so big I couldn't see my feet when standing up.

Riley had adjusted to the pregnancy pretty well. He was always there to lend a hand. After lengthy talks about the future, we had decided to give us a try. I missed my family and having Riley there was amazing. He wasn't just my shoulder to cry on, he dealt with ridiculous meal demands and stayed up with me when I couldn't sleep. He even stalked my family so he could tell me how they were doing.

As expected they weren't fine. Both my dad and Calvin were distraught. My mom had even made the journey to the house, even though she couldn't stand dad. My disappearance was a mystery none of the detectives working on the case could solve. Both Karen and David were dead. There were no clues.

At that point my disappearance was a cold case. My family got on with their lives but according to Riley, "You can tell they miss you Casey".

I missed them terribly too. Riley had said we'd figure out to do once the baby was born, that maybe with time Isandro would give up looking for me. I still had hope that I would see my family again.

Giving up my family, school and the future I had dreamt of wasn't easy, but overtime it became easier. I wasn't happy about everything, but I understood the danger I was in. It was better this way.

Having Riley there gave me comfort, and love in abundance. I still loved him and the love grew every day. He was still the guy I became friends with. He still made fun of me. He wasn't perfect, he was just my screwed up guy.

The others were also great. We had become a family, albeit a weird one. Shalien was like our mother and Andrew our father. Derek reminded me of Calvin and despite Margaret's age, she was more like an older sister. We cooked and had long conversations. The others could go out. I couldn't. Andrew still believed Isandro was looking for me.

Everyone was anticipating the day the child would be born. I could and couldn't wait for that moment. No one knew how the delivery would be like and I was scared I wouldn't live through it. I wasn't even sure where the baby was going to come from. The idea of a caesarean section at a hospital was dismissed for obvious reasons.

So here I was, heavily pregnant and clueless.

When I came back from the bathroom, Riley had fallen asleep again. I climbed onto the bed and curled up in front of him, placing his hand on my belly. Within a few seconds my eyes were close.

"Babe?" Riley said suddenly.

"Hey. I thought you were asleep", I said.

"I was", he said and paused for a few seconds. "I think it's time".

"Time for what? Are you dreaming?" I asked.

"The baby...the baby is ready to be born", he said.

I turned slightly and opened my eyes. My heart rate increased "What?!"

"He talked to me", he said.

"You were dreaming", I dismissed him.

He shook his head. "I heard him. He talked to me".

"Riley, I know you have all these powers and all, but sometimes..." I said and was cut short by white hot pain searing through my lower abdomen. "Fuck!" I yelled.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked. Alarm seeped into his voice.

"It hurts", I managed to say.

"I'm going to get Andrew and Shalien and we'll figure out what to do, okay?" he said. I could hear from his voice that he was scared too.

"Riley I can't do this!" I yelled.

He captured my head in his hands. "I'll be back, okay?"

Before Riley could walk out, Andrew burst into the room.

"It might sound ridiculous at the moment, but I think your baby is ready..."

"We know!" Riley and I cut in simultaneously.

"Oh", Andrew said.

"Wait, how do you know?" Riley asked.

"Cairo communicates in dreams, remember?" Andrew replied.

"Did he also tell you what to do?!" I yelled.

I was in pain and probably facing death. There was no way that baby was going to come out of me without me dying.

"Riley, can't you tell him to wait?!" I screamed.

"Um..." Riley started.

"The baby! He talked to you. You might as well talk to him!"

My voice probably woke up the others. They all ran into the room.

"Worth a try", Andrew said and shrugged.

"Okay, here goes", Riley said and extended his hand to my belly.

*

The baby didn't wait. He'd waited for months and waiting a few more hours wasn't something he was going to do. He couldn't wait any longer to meet the world, or the six people in the room looking perplexed.

I groaned in pain for minutes that felt like hours. It was getting unbearable. Blinded by the pain, I felt my body give up. I could swear I heard the shrill cry of a baby before I fainted.

When I woke up I saw a blurry Riley sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a little bundle that he kept rocking back and forth. I rubbed my eyes to be able to see properly.

"Is that...?" I asked softly.

He nodded. "This is our baby".

I opened my mouth and closed it, lost for words. I was a father. I had given birth to a baby. This was not something I had ever envisioned let alone thought possible. I always thought if I had a baby he would be adopted. But here he was. In that bundle of blankets lay a baby, my biological baby that I had given birth too.

I looked down at my belly; it was smaller than before, but not back to its normal size. I wasn't bleeding or in pain. I seemed okay.

If this was a dream, it was a very elaborate one.

"It's a boy", Riley said with a big smile.

I opened my mouth and closed it again.

"He has green eyes", Riley said. I could tell he was trying to get me to say something. What do I say?

"I think he looks like me", he said.

...My baby. I had a baby. I had a biological baby with my boyfriend. We were dads.

I smiled slightly. "Can I hold him?"

"Of course", Riley said and moved to hand the baby to me.

I held him in my arms, shifting so I could hold him comfortably. I pulled down his blanket a bit, revealing a beautiful face I had contributed to. Riley was right, he did look a bit like him with a head full of black hair. The sight of him made my heart swell. This little beautiful person was mine. I already loved him and knew I was going to love him even more. I couldn't help the smile that sneaked across my face.

The sudden intrusion caused him to yawn and open his eyes. He stared up at me.

"Hello baby", I said.

He just looked up.

"He's got blue eyes", I said, noting the blue orbs that stared at me.

"No he doesn't. Those eyes are green", Riley said.

"These eyes are totally blue..." I said and witnessed something magical. The blueness of the baby's eyes disappeared only to be replaced by green. "Oh no wait...did his eye color just suddenly change?"

"He takes after me", Riley said. "I guess he's got some powers".

"Well, he has my lips. Going to break hearts with those", I said.

I didn't want to think that our baby wasn't human, even though I knew he wasn't. Being like Riley complicated things. That meant he'd have to learn to control it.

"Your lips do look gorgeous", Riley said.

"Can't believe this is our baby", I said.

"We haven't named him yet", he said.

"Max", I said clearly.

"How about Max Philip Andrew Stone?" he said.

"Maximilian Philip Andrew Stone Linley", I said smiling.

"That's a massive name. Poor him", he said.

"Well, he is special", I said. "I love you Max", I cooed.

I thought I saw a smile, but that could have just been a trick of the candle in the room. What Max did wasn't a trick though. His eyes reverted back to blue.

"Do you think it means something? His eyes changing color", I asked.

"Yes, and maybe we'll find out what", Riley replied.

I smiled. "I love you".

"I love you too Mr. Stone", he said. He leaned over to get a good look at Max. "I should go get you some food now. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Max's pupils dilated.

"I'll take that as a yes", Riley said.

I looked at Riley and back at Max. A few minutes ago I had been certain I was dying. Now, now I was happy, the happiest I'd been in months. I had two of the most important men in my life with me. I hadn't known just how much important Max was, but looking at him then, I knew I would protect him with my life.

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A/N: Idk what to write here. Yep, the story feels half-done. I quite agree. But that's only because I am planning on writing a sequel, starting from where I ended. In the new book Max will play a vital role.

As to when that book will be published....hmm, you'll just have to keep your eyes open.

Dante