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“Faster, horsey, faster!”
Damen laughed and increased his pace as the little prince squealed with glee. Horsey rides were Lukas’ favourite. Who was Damen to deny him?
The boy hung tight to his father’s neck and laughed into his ear. At two and a half, he was energetic and endlessly playful, as all children should be -- but he had also gained quite a reputation with the servants for being exceptionally exhausting. The wet nurse in particular always had something to say about Lukas’ behaviour, but Damen dismissed her concerns; his son was perfect in every way, and Damen would hear no word against him.
Laurent emerged from his study just as Damen was running past it, and Damen stopped abruptly in order to avoid colliding with his husband. Lukas whined at the loss of motion, but said politely, if a bit disappointedly, “Hello, papa.”
“Hello, Lucien.” Laurent reached over and lifted the boy, pulling him against his chest and holding him close with an hand on his bottom. “How is my little prince today?”
“Very well, papa.” Lukas grinned at him, showing off his tiny teeth. “Father was giving me a horsey ride.”
“So I see,” said Laurent calmly, but his eyes were brimming with affection.
Damen was smiling. “He seems to have an infinite supply of energy.”
Laurent raised an eyebrow at Lukas in an expression of mock displeasure. “Is that so? Have you been keeping your father from his duties? You know he is very busy.”
Damen felt his cheeks redden. Laurent may have been addressing their son, but he knew that comment was directed at him. He had been neglecting his duties lately, in favour of spending time with Lukas. He would need to learn to control himself.
“Why don’t you come into my study, Lucien? You can help me with my paperwork,” Laurent was saying, but what Damen knew he meant was, I’ll give you some paper to scribble on. It made Lukas feel important, though, and seeing his son act like a miniature king made Damen glow with pride.
“Okay,” Lukas said happily. He turned to Damen. “Goodbye, father. Papa needs me now.”
Damen drank in the image before him -- his perfect son held tightly against his perfect husband’s heart -- and felt such intense love for the both of them in that moment that he thought he might burst with it. He could hardly believe how lucky he was.
He thought of all the times when Laurent, usually so cool and composed, would throw propriety to the wind and let himself have a little fun, even if it was only for a short time -- and all for Lukas, the little prince who had come along and warmed the parts of the Cast-Iron King’s heart that Damen had not been able to on his own.
“Yes.” Damen met Laurent’s eyes and melted a little at the softness he saw in them. “Yes, he does.”
* * *
Dinner was a quiet affair, as it usually was now. Damen sometimes found himself missing the days when his whole family and all their guests would gather around the table and have a feast, but those reminiscent moments were becoming less frequent as time passed. Damen would not give up his life with Laurent for anything in the world.
Nikandros was dining with them tonight, as was Jord; the two of them had gotten very close over the past couple of years. Damen wanted to gloat -- Nikandros had, after all, been the first to disapprove of Damen’s relationship with a Veretian -- but he held his tongue. Besides, Nikandros had never actually confirmed any of Damen’s suspicions regarding the nature of their relationship, though it was quite obvious. They practically lived together.
They were almost finished their meal when a break in the conversation gave Lukas the opportunity to ask a rather shocking question.
“Papa, do you ever ride father?”
Damen gaped at him, his food halfway to his mouth. Nikandros and Jord both choked on their wine. Laurent dropped his fork. It landed with a clatter onto his plate. The room was silent, except for the sounds of Nikandros coughing.
“Horsey rides,” he wheezed when the coughing subsided. “He means horsey rides.”
Damen sucked in a shaky breath. Lukas looked confused. Everyone else looked relieved.
“Ah… sometimes, Lucien,” said Laurent carefully, a beautiful blush dusting his cheekbones. “Your father is… very strong.”
Lukas beamed. “Do you think I’ll be as strong as father, someday?”
“Now, Lukas,” Damen scolded, though there was no real malice in his words. “Your papa is very strong, too. It’s not just me.”
“I know, father.” Lukas puffed out his tiny chest. “But you’re also very big.”
Nikandros choked again.
* * *
“He’s growing so fast.”
Laurent hummed in agreement and stared at nothing in particular as Damen undid the laces along his arm, an action that had become something of a tradition between them. Not exactly erotic -- although it could be easily made so -- but intimate nonetheless.
“He’ll be a good prince, I think,” he went on, taking Laurent’s lack of response as an invitation to elaborate. “He and Elansyus get along well, they’re practically inseparable when Makedon brings him.” Damen worked efficiently, mindlessly weaving the threads out of their eyelets. “And he --”
“This was never what I wanted,” Laurent said suddenly, as though he didn’t even know Damen had been speaking. Damen’s fingers stilled at his shoulder.
“I never wanted children,” Laurent continued. “I never wanted to continue my line. I told you that, once.”
“You did,” Damen breathed, unsteady, not sure where this was going.
“When I was a child, I used to think my family was cursed.” Laurent’s voice was very quiet. “My brother and my parents, all dead before their time, my uncle with his -- affliction, and -- me.” His breath caught, but he soldiered on. “At first, I decided I didn’t want children because of the curse I thought ran in my blood. I didn’t want to pass it on, I wanted it to cease to exist. Later, it was because of my uncle.”
Laurent wouldn’t meet his eyes. Damen said nothing, knowing Laurent needed silence, right now. He was choosing his words carefully.
“But… I’m old enough now to know there’s no such thing as curses, and even if there were, Lucien is not my blood. And my uncle is dead. I cannot think of another reason not to continue my line. And…” His shoulders slumped, as if in defeat. “I do love him, so very much.”
Damen squeezed Laurent’s shoulder gently. “As do I.”
When Laurent spoke again, his voice was so soft that Damen had to strain to hear him. “You must tell me the truth, Damianos… Am I a good father?”
“The best,” Damen answered without hesitation. “A child could ask for no better father than you.”
Laurent scoffed, but his cheeks were pink. “You jest. I asked for honesty.”
“Then allow me to be honest with you.” Damen moved to stand directly in front of Laurent and took his face in his hands. “My love, you are the bravest, strongest, most intelligent man I have ever known. You are kind, even if you will not let yourself admit it. You have a heart of gold, and you -- I daresay Lukas loves you more than he loves me, even when I give him horsey rides.”
Laurent laughed gently, his eyes gleaming in the firelight. “You mustn’t say such things.”
“I cannot tell my own husband how much I love him?”
Laurent laughed again and looked away. Unable to resist, Damen brushed his thumb over the blush on Laurent’s high cheekbone. Beautiful. It was the only word to describe him, and still it wasn’t enough.
When Laurent turned back to him, his eyes twinkled with mischief.
Damen grinned. “You are thinking.”
“I am.”
“What about?”
Laurent licked his lips. Damen’s eyes darted down to watch that pink tongue flick over them, making them wet and shiny, and he yearned to taste them. “About what Lucien said at dinner.”
Damen slowly met his gaze and raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Yes.” Laurent’s hands came to rest on Damen’s hips. Damen shuddered. “It has been quite a while since I last rode you, hasn’t it?”
Damen swallowed. “It has.”
“We should fix that.”
“We should.”
Laurent wrapped his arms around Damen’s neck and brought his lips to his ear. “I love you,” he whispered.
Placing his hands delicately on Laurent’s waist, Damen replied, “I love you, too.”
Laurent pulled back. Their eyes locked. Damen never wanted to look away.
“Take me to bed,” he whispered.
* * *