Epilogue

Rocky

Three Weeks Later

The boy thought he was being sneaky, but Rocky hadn't become a Daddy yesterday. He knew his boy was keeping something from him. He just hadn't figured out yet if it was a good thing or something naughty.

Rocky had begun to wonder if his boy even had a naughty streak in him, but shortly after the incident with Drake Stallone the naughty side of Aiden had finally come out. It had only been little things so far, but that was okay. Rocky was sure Aiden was more of a fan of positive attention. Now that Rocky had figured out it had nothing to do with a fear of losing him, and everything to do with a massive praise kink, he'd just made sure to praise his boy at every available opportunity. It wasn't a hardship, he had the best Little in the universe, so it was easy to find words of praise.

When they'd returned from taking Cynthia Blair to the shelter, he'd expected to spend time together, but Aiden had run off to do something on his own. Rocky had offered to help but like so many other times over the last few weeks, Aiden had refused the offer saying he needed to do it himself. Something about learning to work one-handed, though Rocky was certain that was bullshit as he hadn't seen his baby struggling with anything. Well, other than tying his shoe and keeping his cast dry. Otherwise, it was like he'd always done everything with one hand. He'd adjusted practically overnight.

"Daddy!" He heard from down the hall, "Can you come help me?"

Well, well. Maybe he'd spoken too soon. "Coming, baby." He called out, heading in the direction of Aiden's playroom. When he reached the door, his boy was standing there with a wide grin.

"I'm not sure I got it right, can you tell me?" He opened the door as he spoke and gestured to the table in the room.

As Rocky approached he saw that Aiden had been building something using the tiniest LEGO blocks Rocky had ever seen. As he got closer the details took shape and his breath caught in his chest, memories flooding his mind playing like a movie.

There before him was a miniature scale theme park depicting one of the last outings he'd even gone on with Seth. It even had the multiple hotdogs he'd dropped in an attempt to carry two at once. He'd had to finally had to order the condiments on the side and give Seth one dog then go stand in line again to get his. He still didn't know what else was on those damn dogs, but he was convinced they were rigged.

The image before him blurred until he couldn't make out the people milling around, or sitting at the tables. The rollercoasters that were frozen in time mid-ride, just became colorful shapes as tears streamed from his face.

Rocky wiped furiously at his eyes, trying to make the image clear again. How he'd managed to create something so spectacularly accurate Rocky would never know but as he dropped to his knees in front of the replica, he almost thought he could smell the funnel cake and hear the screams from the rollercoasters.

A sob ripped from Rocky's throat and he felt a hand fall on his shoulder, before Aiden's voice came to him, soft and unsure. "Did I get it wrong? It wasn't supposed to make you cry."

Rocky turned his head and smiled up at his boy through his tears, "I've only ever seen one thing in this world more perfect to me than this." He hugged Aiden tight to him, resting his head on Aiden's stomach. "You." He clarified.

"Then why are you crying?" Confusion radiated from Aiden's voice so Rocky found himself explaining.

"When I left our house, I left behind everything. I couldn't look at the reminders of what I'd lost. I wasn't sure I was ready to have any reminders back in my life, or how you'd feel if I brought any home. Now, here you are presenting me with a scale model–made of LEGO blocks of all things–depicting one of the last outings I ever went on with Seth. This is the proof I needed that these memories officially bring me joy now. There will always be a small bit of sadness I know, but there's more happiness."

"I didn't know." Aiden's whispered words brought Rocky up short. He hadn't considered that Aiden hadn't known exactly what he was doing. "If I had known I'd still have done it." Aiden lowered much more gracefully to his knees than Rocky had and cupped Rocky's face between his hands. "Seth was a big part of your life and heart, Daddy. Neither our life, nor our home, will ever be complete without the pieces of him that mean the most to you."

Rocky had no idea how he'd gotten so blessed, but he wasn't going to question it, and he certainly wasn't going to argue with the amazing man in front of him, so he nodded and said, "You're incredible. Have I told you that?" Aiden's blush was absolutely adorable.

"You know," Aiden said suddenly. "We're on a break with the club right now, it's a perfect time to go see what you'd most like to bring back here."

"You're right, but first," Rocky rose to his feet and with the care he'd give to the finest China, he lifted the model from the table. "I'm going to put this in a place of honor. Want to come help?" A sweet smile graced his baby's face as he gestured for Rocky to lead the way.

Once they'd found the perfect spot for this perfect memory, that was now a blend of his two most precious loves, Rocky placed a phone call.

"Hey, man!" The other voice came through the line, "You coming back?"

"Yeah, Josh. Yeah, I am coming back. For a visit, that is. You'll get to meet my Little, Aiden, while we're there picking out some memories to bring home."