Chapter XXVII

A Promising Forever

S eated between Min-jae's legs, Jeremiah lounged tiredly like he'd run the longest marathon. It was getting closer to his expected due date, and with these days came a strange exhaustion he couldn't seem to escape. He considered himself well-rested, and he wasn't starving for anything, but he was having trouble keeping his eyes open and tensions low.

Together in their bedroom, Min-jae's hands glided against the roundness of Jeremiah's stomach, smiling to himself as the life inside came forth. Over the months of growth, the inner aura became stronger and more pronounced. Jeremiah had begun to take in more blood than solid foods, following his taste buds and change in feeding pattern to give what it seemed this baby wanted.

Sometimes, giving all they wanted was beginning to feel like it wasn't enough now that it appeared Jeremiah's own energy was being depleted. From what he knew, at least in half-vampire terms, hunger had to be quelled so that the fetus would not seek further nourishment from the body in which they were nestled, but with this baby being a full-fledged dhampir at its roots, Jeremiah couldn't be sure what was going on, or if it was a late stage pregnancy normality. He just hoped it wasn't something he and Min-jae should be worried about. All he knew was that he wanted to hurry up and get this baby out of him.

"Weren't you going to be busy today?" Jeremiah asked, eyes closed, and his brow was knitted in strain. It was 6:00am currently, a time Min-jae would usually spend elsewhere. "If there's something you need to tend to besides me, I'll be fine until you get back."

Min-jae shook his head with a smile, keeping his hands touched tenderly against either side of Jeremiah's stomach. "Nothing else matters right now," he said sweetly. "Putting today's tea harvest off by a day or two won't ruin the leaves. I just hope the humidity dies down a bit. August heat isn't too bad in this area, but the humidity always makes it worse. Not going out today just means I get to avoid it and spend this time with you."

With his eyes closed, Jeremiah worked the faintest of smiles onto his lips, partly glad and feeling a bit guilty from taking Min-jae away from his work. "If you insist," he said. "Can I be honest with you?"

"Of course," Min-jae nodded, watching as Jeremiah settled their hands together atop his bump.

A fluctuation spurred around them then, a separate sensation hovering nearby, and Jeremiah gasped quietly when the strangest and most unnerving tweak rippled up his thighs and pelvic area. "When I was little," Jeremiah said, trying to put the inner commotion aside. "I used to be afraid of a lot of things. The dark and ghosts; the idea of what other monsters existed all terrified me, but I don't think I've ever been as scared of something as I am to actually have this baby."

"What do you mean?" Min-jae asked.

Able to laugh at his fears, Jeremiah fought the internal discomfort slowly but surely starting to come forth. His legs were beginning to feel strange, all the way down to his knees, and it felt like his lower spine had a fist gradually closing a pressure around it. Nothing hurt yet, but…

"When I was born," Jeremiah continued, "My dad said having me was the most painful experience he'd ever lived through. Mind you, he was a vampire slayer at the time and had dozens upon dozens of scars all over his body. You can assume he had a very high tolerance for pain considering he had to fight battles through it. Being there for all four of my brother's births, births my dad chose to have naturally and without any suppressants…" Jeremiah sucked in a chest of air and let it out roughly. "With how much he screamed each time, you'd think someone was ripping him in half."

Understanding where Jeremiah was going with this, Min-jae unconsciously passed his hand down to the underside of Jeremiah's bump. If his body were still in the same condition it'd been in on the night they first met, there would be no worries for the inevitable. Now that all of his pain receptors were on max, there was no doubt in either of their minds Jeremiah was in store for a scary unknown.

"If I couldn't handle the damage done to me before," Jeremiah said, "How am I going to survive getting this baby out of me? I consider myself still strong in some sense, but remembering my dad's screams are starting to get to me."

"Is there anything I can do?" Min-jae asked. He couldn't imagine how afraid Jeremiah was at this moment. They'd spent their months together feeling nothing but eager anticipation to finally meet their baby. Now that everything seemed to be drawing to an inevitable close, i.e., the birth, all of a sudden the reality of it all was kicking in. "You know I'll be beside you through it all, but is there anything I can get you?"

Genuinely on the verge of tears as he was trying to keep them down, Jeremiah tried to breathe evenly and regulate his panic.

There it was again, the rake of tenseness crawling up his legs and around his entire groin. When his breaths became staggered, Jeremiah turned his face and closed his eyes, nose touching against the calming spur of Min-jae's scent. Still, nothing hurt right now, but the anxieties were preparing him for the worst.

"Don't leave me," Jeremiah begged, heart pounding. His voice sounded as though Min-jae had already decided to part ways with him, and he was imploring the Korean dhampir to stay, to never leave his side.

Shutting his eyes, Jeremiah's grasp on Min-jae's hand tightened, and he winced from the discomfort meeting his hips. "You've already said so much to me," he said. "You've promised so much to me, and we're having this baby, Min-jae. You can't leave me now."

"What are you talking about?" Min-jae said, acquiring his own distress due to Jeremiah's apparent distrust. "I know all the things I've said and what promises I've made. I wouldn't have made those promises if I didn't mean to keep them." He freed his right hand from Jeremiah's grip and cupped his face, bringing Jeremiah to open his wondrous eyes. "You and I weren't very careful when we took hold of each other for the first time," Min-jae went on. "But when you looked at me like I was the only person you could ever want, I wanted to be the only person you'd ever need."

The discomforts were beginning to shift into slight aches, and Jeremiah pushed a sharp breath from his mouth. "Everything seems to have caught up with me," he said, clenching his teeth for a second. "I've been so happy, Min-jae. You've made me so happy through all this time. But I'm afraid."

"It'll be okay," Min-jae promised. "We're past hoping to have thought a bit more before falling into what we have now. Being afraid of what's to come is natural, but don't forget I'm beside you every step of the way." He paused then, catching the gleam of frightened tears beginning to shine in Jeremiah's eyes. He was trying to be brave, and Min-jae thought he was doing a great job despite his tears.

"Don't leave me, Min-jae." Jeremiah winced, and his toes curled when the pain began to rise little by little.

I could never, Min-jae thought, feeling the pinkie finger of his left hand crack from how tightly Jeremiah clasped him. "In every universe," he whispered in Korean against Jeremiah's hair. "I've waited for the moment to have you. I'm not giving you up now or ever. Not for a second, Jeremiah."

The instant his name left Min-jae's lips, the approaching pain making its way into Jeremiah multiplied, and he lurched upright, cursing aloud again and again before leaning into Min-jae once more. The fears of moving ahead with this birth were sky high, but there was no putting anything off for later. This baby wanted out now, and getting through it was all Jeremiah could do.

"Take me to my parents," Jeremiah winced. If he was going to bring this baby into the world, there was no way he was going to do it without one person in particular, and it was Hamilton. He'd gone through a great many things on his own before and during times when all he'd wanted was Hamilton, and this was definitely a moment in his life he wouldn't be able to get through without his dad.

Without question, Min-jae transported them to the castle, and Jeremiah groaned achingly when the shadows dispersed. His anxiety was up as he tried to breathe correctly and double down on his happiness to at last meet his baby, but he couldn't fully get past how afraid going through all of this was making him.

"Come on," Min-jae said, keeping a hand on Jeremiah's lower back. "Let's make you comfortable."

Being around 10:00pm here, it wasn't a surprise that everyone in the castle was up and about; Dominick and the Ramus twins were here for their usual tutoring sessions, and Hamilton was the first to acknowledge their arrival when he sensed Min-jae's aura. Having already known the time was nearing for Jeremiah to give birth, Hamilton's excitement was pushing against the high ceilings no matter how much he held it in.

A room had already been prepared in the guest chambers, and while Jeremiah was greeted by his brothers and Demiesius showed himself, he couldn't focus on them enough to say he was happy to see them, too. He was, but instead of a warm ‘hello', the only thing Jeremiah could manage without swearing aloud was a nod as he gritted his teeth .

In no time, Jeremiah lay within the same room Hamilton had used to give birth to the boys, a room whose windows overlooked a steep drop into the gardens lush with Autumn flowers.

As the bed was positioned in front of a grand window open to the dark and beautiful sky, it seemed as though the glittering stars and full moon wanted a chance to witness such an anticipated event as well. The pale moon shone upon Jeremiah like a spotlight of hope and tribute, each glimmering star like an additional gesture of salutation, and suddenly Jeremiah wasn't as afraid as he'd been a moment ago.

With only Hamilton and Min-jae accompanying Jeremiah in the bedroom, minutes turned into an hour, an hour into several as the winding halls of the castle rang with a familiar holler not heard in nearly twelve years. In those hours, Hamilton never left his son's side, and Min-jae never let go of Jeremiah's hand no matter how many times his fingers were broken and reassembled.

Min-jae encouraged Jeremiah's curses that leaned toward him every once in a while. Curses of "How could you do this to me?" and "This is all your fault!" making him laugh one moment and apologize the next. But the screaming and curses were at least something that oddly helped with the excruciating pain. At times, Jeremiah thought he might pass out during the process when the time came to exert himself.

For so long it seemed, Jeremiah shouted out his bearings, working up a sweat as tears were wiped from his face, and his ear was met by words Min-jae couldn't help from sharing as a constant reminder. I love yous and endless promises for a happy life and future as one calmed Jeremiah's pain stricken woes, his heart, as the desire to sob through this suffering crept to the surface. But he swallowed his tender sorrows and replaced them with optimism so great he could no longer see the dark that'd lingered in his thoughts these past months.

In this moment at least, when the last strain pushed through his body and gradually subsided, Jeremiah's entire being was enveloped in a fairness so yellow that the previous aches were forgotten upon hearing the first soft whine of his baby.

"You did so good," Min-jae whispered before kissing Jeremiah's temple, and he watched as Hamilton cleansed the fussy infant before bringing them closer.

Collecting himself and his breathing as he lay with his head in the pillows, Jeremiah couldn't help the tightness rising in his throat. Seeing Hamilton cradling such a small being with an aura so light and familiar, Jeremiah couldn't help the tears that drenched his puffy cheeks. The aura was the same as the one that'd accompanied him in his dreams, that'd whirled around him day and night, and it was so finely attached to him that he couldn't bear to think of being cut off from it.

Jeremiah's watery eyes took in their head of dark hair, how the tiny fists unclenched, and when Hamilton neared the bedside and the curious baby turned their head toward the two they appeared to be searching for, every bad that ever existed before was vanquished by the sweet dark brown gaze that looked upon them.

"It's a boy," Hamilton whispered, transferring the baby into Jeremiah's arms, and he pressed a kiss to his son's forehead as he swallowed back tears of his own. "You know everyone is going to want to meet him but take all the time you need."

Jeremiah could hardly find the words to speak. His now bare chest had a brand new warmth pressed against it, a warmth that moved, whose heart he could hear and feel, and when he raised his hands and placed them on the backside of the fidgeting being, he looked incredulously into the eyes of the man whose gaze matched that of their son.

Without warning, Min-jae kissed Jeremiah. It was spontaneous and eager, drenched in a type of merriment that had no end to how far it could stretch. He was so unbelievably in love at this moment. How could he love this deeply and truly? How could he fall for someone who'd entered his life so suddenly and without means for things to turn out how they did? The night after meeting Jeremiah for the first time, if murmurs of a future such as this were to speak to him, Min-jae knew he could have scoffed at the notion.

But all that lay before Min-jae in this moment was his. Jeremiah, he'd come to accept, was the unmistakable love of his life, and he was, without a doubt, the only person in this entire universe who could have given Min-jae what else lay before him in all their unique and favored quality.

With a likeness far more similar to Min-jae's than anticipated, the newly born infant cooed, eyes looking upon his father who passed a thumb over the back of his soft hand. He was already the center of their attention, would always be, and his heart and all would be something neither of them could imagine being severed from.

As Jeremiah smoothed a hand atop the little boy's back, and he rested comfortably and tiredly in the pillows, he smiled to himself as he closed his eyes. "You're here," Jeremiah said, mostly to himself. He hardly had the energy to sit up all the way, but he could manage a smile and a light laugh as a jest left his lips. "I have to say I'm a little offended," he said. "I carried you all this time only for you to come out looking nothing like me."

Min-jae chuckled, placing a hand atop the boy's dark hair. "My genes are stronger than I thought," he said. "But he's beautiful, isn't he?"

"He is," Jeremiah closed his eyes and turned his nose against the comforting and engaging scent of his son. His aura was plentiful and lush, teeming with love. "Have you decided on a name? I know thousands must have crossed your mind by now."

"I can name him?"

"Of course, you can," Jeremiah's tired eyes opened to Min-jae. "He's your son, too."

"In that case," Min-jae smiled and carefully received the infant from Jeremiah's warmth.

There was no fuss as his tiny form was turned over in his father's hands, and Min-jae brought the boy close enough to touch the tips of their noses together. The true likeness this baby shared with his father was undeniable; the memories of what Min-jae's own baby photos looked like came to mind. To be so connected to someone in a way he still scarcely understood was incredible. His own parents had always been two people he could decipher in a manner he'd thought was natural through the years, but to know this link fastened between him and this magnificent boy no one else besides Jeremiah could perceive the way they did was fascinating. He was especially theirs.

"If we had a girl," Min-jae said, "I was saving the name Hyun-jae, but since we have this beautiful boy with us instead, I'd like to name him Tae-min if that's alright."

"Tae-min," Jeremiah got a taste of the sweet-sounding name on his tongue. "Song Tae-min. It suits him."

Overcome by the fact that Jeremiah would choose to place his name before their son's, Min-jae's heart swelled even bigger than he previously thought possible. "The greatest things come to us unexpectedly," Min-jae said, speaking directly to his boy. "I never would have anticipated you, but you're here, now, Song Tae-min, and we'll be by your side forever."

When Min-jae looked toward Jeremiah and the other dhampir had fallen into a slumber he couldn't keep himself out of, Min-jae smiled to himself and pressed a kiss to Jeremiah's forehead. He'd worn himself out and deserved the rest.

With Tae-min secured in Min-jae's own arms, he took a seat to enjoy the silence with their son.

In this moment, everything was perfect.

The future appeared more promising than ever before.

***

A shift in the bed was what brought Jeremiah out of his sleep. It'd only been two hours, and he couldn't recall shutting his eyes, but his body felt far less heavy than it had before. He yawned and blinked as if he might slip away again but turned his gaze onto the person seated at his bedside. Their dark eyes looked upon him in a manner that hadn't changed much in the decades they'd known one another, and when he returned a weary smile, Jeremiah couldn't help but feel small under his brother's shadow.

"You plan on sleeping forever?" Dominick said, the mild curve on his lip telling of his jest. "Your son is a quiet one, but I'm sure he'd like to know where you are, too."

Feeling as though his energy had returned to him, Jeremiah worked himself up and stretched, a bit glad to see his body and all returned to a state he'd become used to. It was like he hadn't been pregnant at all some hours ago, nor could he recall much of how torturous the process had been. He felt brand new.

"Did you see him?" Jeremiah asked, pulling on a fresh stack of clothing that had been left for him.

"I did," Dominick nodded. "Min-jae may as well have paraded him around like he was a trophy. He was very proud."

Jeremiah chuckled at the notion. With how happy Min-jae showed to be through the months just feeling the kicks of their son, finally being able to hold him and see him was like nothing else.

"What do you think?" Jeremiah asked as they moved through the halls. When he looked toward Dominick beside him, he almost regretted the question, as it made him feel like his old teenage self was looking for some sort of approval from his older brother. There wasn't much Dominick used to disagree with or discourage when Jeremiah was younger, but he'd always appreciated Dominick's stance on things.

"What do you want me to think?" Dominick asked instead, arms folded across his chest. They stopped in front of a sizable window overlooking the pool room. The water of the fountain was still and the only light seeping inside was that of the hallway. "It's a little too late to give an opinion on you being with this Min-jae guy and having a kid." Dominick carried on. "But, if you insist, I think this is good for you. Clearly you're happy, you don't appear to have regrets, and I'd like to see you start to settle down. Settling down will take you away from trying to be what I used to be."

Jeremiah tensed where he stood. "What do you mean?"

"You think I never knew you used to frequent bars and clubs?" Dominick scoffed. "I still own the majority of the ones based in London, Jeremiah. I never questioned because it's none of my business, but those places were never your thing. Until after the twins apparently."

Jeremiah grimaced on the inside, not quite wanting to recollect on the time he'd put into forgetting and occupying his time with others.

"Anyways," Dominick continued. "If Min-jae and your son keep you away from those types of distractions, I'll be glad you're heading into the future with this very unexpected family. They'll make you happy and that's all I've ever wanted for you."

As Jeremiah kept with his brother's eyes, the blood child could see there was something more itching in his mind. To perhaps encourage where he could, Dominick said, "Go on."

"With what happened…" Jeremiah started. "What I did to the twins, what they did in return, and from everything that spawned afterwards — I was sure that was it for me, and whatever would follow was nothing more than a lost cause. Everything felt pointless, Dom. I had regrets. But not anymore. Now that I have Min-jae and my own son—," it was so refreshing being able to say that, "—my regrets almost seem necessary; without them, I wouldn't be here, and there's nowhere else I'd rather be."

Biting back a smile, Dominick didn't mean to look like he might jest and make fun, but he was content to see his brother in this light. Having watched Jeremiah grow from a boy he'd tried to shelter from loneliness, embolden, and be at least half a role model for, the fraternal pride emitting from Dominick was pronounced in the manner he clapped a hand at Jeremiah's shoulder and nodded.

At last making it down to a sizable sitting room, Jeremiah was a bit taken aback by how many faces were there. His senses were so dulled he couldn't pick up on much aside from Min-jae and his son. Demiesius was undetectable, his brother's and Hamilton were faint, and he hadn't felt a single one of these extra auras until he was standing in the same room.

Having come to welcome the new baby was Dominick's entire family: Raeden and his daughters, Zelda, and Sienna. The girls were much older now, in their mid to late twenties regardless of the fact that they could still pass off as nineteen at the youngest. Jeremiah felt a little bad with how long it'd been since his last visit to Dominick's home. He used to go so often, but his visits had slowed down ever since…

Gesturing kindly to Raeden who acknowledged him with a smile, Jeremiah returned an embrace with Zelda and Sienna who congratulated him. They couldn't hold back from showing such a burst of excitement in telling of how adorable they thought Tae-min was.

On another sofa sat Jackson and his husband, Caesar Albane Ramus; a lycan Jeremiah was still embarrassed to admit he'd unnecessarily clashed with on a few occasions. They were cordial and respected each other a lot more than they had in their very first meeting, but that didn't stop the strangeness from probing Jeremiah. It was one-sided, the awkwardness, but he tried to push it aside.

Old tensions were forever buried.

When the vampire/lycan couple stood to congratulate him, Jeremiah clasped Caesar's firm left hand, receiving a hug from Jackson that lasted a little longer than he'd expected. Considering their history, Jeremiah hated to feel awkward since enough time had passed for things to be…not quite fo rgotten, but forgiven nonetheless. Between them, there used to be a chain linked to his wrist, his heart, really — a chain he came to realize in this moment was no longer attached to him.

After Jeremiah's falling out with two people whose names hadn't touched his lips in well over a decade, and before being snared by Min-jae, what distractions he'd sunk into were meant to overlap this person before him: Jackson, someone he hadn't been able to escape. But ever since Min-jae and ever since consuming Min-jae's blood and having his own taken in as well, the chain that'd once kept him stapled to the likes of Jackson dismantled on its own and without his notice.

The likeness of this red-haired immortal had regretfully occupied his thoughts in moments Jeremiah couldn't take back, but it certainly had been some time since the name Jackson crossed his thoughts.

As it seemed, Jeremiah was finally past what hadn't been and would never be.

"Congratulations," Jackson said. "Your son is beautiful."

"Thank you," Jeremiah smiled, unleashed from their mutual embrace. "I hardly got to meet him yet."

Turning about the room, Jeremiah passed his eyes over his brothers and the Ramus twins. They were closer together at a counter area, and Avery waved happily in Jeremiah's direction before nodding toward a tall, open window. Before it stood Hamilton, Demiesius, and Min-jae. The quiet pride radiating from his parents when they turned and looked upon their eldest son was intense.

Jeremiah thought they were looking at him like he'd given them something, shown them something so precious that it was impossible for it to have come from any other than him.

When Jeremiah drew nearer, Min-jae turned from the window as well. In his arms lay the tiny form of a being that surely wouldn't exist right now if not for them.

His throat tightened as his newborn's eyes took him in.

Tae-min, Jeremiah thought as the infant was placed in his hands. He was small, extraordinary, and Jeremiah's love for him was immeasurable.

Even still, with those notions fresh and solid in him, Jeremiah was at a loss for words to describe how overjoyed he was to have this. All of it: this baby, this man before him, his parents and the love of the people who'd come to show he mattered to them. His heart was overflowing with so much goodness brought to him by all in this vicinity, and he was glad Tae-min could be brought into the world on a night where such true love encased him.

As his throat burned uncomfortably from the wave of happiness surging through him, Jeremiah's eyes shifted toward Demiesius who touched his face. He hadn't known a tear shed from his eye, and the elder promptly wiped it away before planting a gentle kiss against his temple.

Jeremiah knew there were words his father wished to privately share with him; in the space of his psyche the elder could no longer reach, but instead of letting the strain of such an unfortunate detachment show more of itself, Jeremiah assuredly met Demiesius' gaze, and his smile projected brightly.

"Thank you for this life, Father," Jeremiah said, and then shifted his eyes toward Hamilton. "Dad. I would have none of this without you two."

It had taken so long to find his footing, the right path to walk, but Jeremiah was here now, and what events he'd lived through would be what lessons he used to help his own son find his way if ever he needed the guidance.

After so long, it was as though his life was at last in its beginning stage, and he couldn't wait to walk this endless path into a future that was blindingly bright.