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“So,” Haechan starts as he stands outside of the circle Renjun and Shotaro have scratched into the dark spring earth. It had rained early that morning and the soil squished pleasantly between Haechan’s toes but he is trying very hard not to make too much noise and upset the careful sigil balancing happening in front of him. Sungchan is on his knees beside him, head tilted curiously to the side, as his dark eyes follow Renjun’s selenite wand work through the ground. “how will it work, actually?”
Shotaro’s otter familiar, Kei, does a little wiggle in his lap before Shotaro answers. “Renjun is going to make the baby out of the sigil-soil.” it sounds too simple, so Haechan knows Shotaro is leaving out all of the complicated magical details. Haechan isn't mad about it, but it also doesn’t answer his question. “And then once the baby is...sculpted?” Renjun nods. “Sculpted, we drip the blood on the baby and…” Shotaro wiggles his fingers and everyone watches stardust fall from them onto Kei and his knees. “Boom! Right?”
“Pretty much,” Renjun agrees and shifts back to look at his sigil work. It is very clean, from Haechan’s bird’s eye view, and he is very impressed. “If it works, we will have a baby in like...an hour or so.”
Sungchan pokes at one of the rocks outside of the circle. “We shouldn’t tell Jaehyun it was that easy. He was in labor with Jisung for like, eighteen hours.”
Renjun wrinkles his nose in sympathy and holds his hands out for Shotaro to pour the moon water over them. “Poor Jaehyun… Alright, let’s do this.”
“Can we play music?” Haechan asks before Renjun’s hands can touch the ground and offers a bright smile as Renjun turns an exasperated look up at him. “I didn’t say it had to be baby-making music. Though setting the mood would be cool.”
“You,” Sungchan says quietly, “are incorrigible.”
Haechan just grins at him and throws up a peace sign.
They do put music on but only because the sounds of the forest grow intimidating as Renjun works the rain-drenched earth carefully. Sungchan reaches over the circle to rest his hands on Renjun’s shoulders in gentle encouragement, followed by Shotaro resting a hand on one knee and Haechan taking the other. It is a group effort of the finest degree and by the time Renjun is finished crafting the baby they are all a little winded from the effort of it.
“A boy?” Shotaro asks softly as Renjun cradles the little body in his lap for a moment, fingers resting lightly on his cheeks.
“Sicheng had asked for a boy. A first boy stag… He won’t start to properly look like anything until the blood, but…” Renjun smiles down at the little earthen boy and pats his cheek lightly. “I think he’ll be an excellent great stag when he grows up.”
“I agree,” Sungchan says and presses a soft kiss to Renjun’s cheek. “Should we do it now?”
Haechan holds the two vials out and Renjun takes the one with Johnny's blood with a grin. On the count of three they drip it onto the little baby’s chest and watch as deep emerald, blood red, and soft pink magic swirl around his body for a moment. They all wait with baited breath until he starts to cry and Renjun soothes him gently, gently rocking him in his arms to calm him down.
Inside the coven house, Johnny's mug slips from his fingers and Sicheng’s head snaps out towards the forest. Ten is startled but Yuta doesn't need to ask what has shaken his mates so deeply.
It is very much like their younger siblings to make the birth of their firstborn a surprise, after all.
“I’ll clean that up later,” Johnny says absently, already moving out of the kitchen with Sicheng at his side and a delighted Yuta in tow, his hands pressed together in front of him.
“No, I got it,” Ten says quietly, delight sparkling in his eyes. He knows only one thing would send all three of them running out of the house.
It is so very easy for Johnny to follow his heart to his son, rain falling lightly around them as he breaks into the small clearing and zeroing in on the small sandy-haired baby already squirming to try and sniff him out. His little fawn ears are slightly too big for his head but he’s perfect and Johnny calls softly for him to soothe his little distressed cry.
“He’s beautiful,” Sicheng whispers, tears pooling in their eyes as Yuta wraps his arms around their waist. “Renjun, he’s perfect. ”
Renjun beams and gently sets the baby in Johnny’s arms, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek before stepping away so he could learn his father’s scent. “Well, look at the material,” Renjun teases softly, eyes absolutely fond as Johnny holds his son up to his neck and rests his cheek atop his little head as he tucks his nose just under his chin.
“What are you going to name him?” Shotaro asks from the ground, rubbing over Kei's back as he beams up at them.
They had so many names in mind before Johnny had the baby in his hands but suddenly none of them seem good enough. There is a tiny little life depending on him, snuffling and curling against his chest for comfort and love, and there is absolutely nothing good enough for this perfect little boy.
Luckily, Sicheng disagrees. “Uriel,” they say through their tears, reaching over and gently brushing their fingers over their baby’s cheek. “Little Uriel.”
That, Johnny thinks, is absolutely perfect.
☾
“He’s here,” Sicheng says simply and Taeyong almost drops his phone in surprise.
“What’s his name, Chengie?” Taeyong whispers and sits up from his blanket nest. If he leaves in an hour, he’d be at the house by sunrise. It’s a long drive to make it alone but he thinks that he’s had quite enough of the city and he wants to see his godson. He wants to see his godson immediately.
Sicheng is smiling on the other line, Taeyong can feel their overwhelming love all the way from here and Taeyong can’t help but smile to himself. “Uriel, his name is Uriel.”
“It’s perfect. I’m about to get in the car, actually. Don't worry about it.”
Sicheng laughs softly and Taeyong’s heart skips a beat when he hears a quiet little snuffle. “Shh, shh... Yongie, you cannot and should not drive at night alone. Maybe get Hongjoong to drive up with you?”
Taeyong wrinkles his nose at that but he does know Hongjoong is awake. Hongjoong doesn’t actually sleep. “But I want to meet my baby first…”
“And you will. Make him wait in the car.”
Taeyong laughs softly. That’s perfectly doable, he thinks.
“Hongjoong! Road trip time!”
Hongjoong is at his door in a moment, headphones around his neck. “Yeah? We heading up to Xiānjìng?”
“Yup! The baby’s here!”
Hongjoong gasps, the light song that plays constantly in his aura picking up in excitement. “I’m getting the keys.”
☾
When Taeyong gets out of his car and sprints up to the coven house, Sicheng is standing on the porch with Uriel half asleep in their arms to greet him. Johnny and Yuta are sitting in the porch swing but Taeyong is Sicheng’s best friend and their lovers know that friendship is not theirs to interrupt. Sicheng comes down the steps easily and gently bounces Uriel as he fusses at being just a little too far away from Johnny. He’s clingy but no one really blames him, there’s hardly a moment where Johnny’s hands aren’t on Uriel.
“Oh, Chengie...” Taeyong has tears in his eyes and Sicheng hands Uriel over before their fellow love witch can start sobbing. This is a happy moment and while Sicheng believes in happy tears, they do not want them right at this moment. “Chengie, he’s beautiful.”
“Of course he is,” Yuta smiles, head tilting to look at his son in Taeyong’s arms. His hair is dark blue now and even longer. “He looks just like Johnny.”
Taeyong smiles down at the small baby curled against his chest, finger caught in Uriel’s tiny fist. He doesn’t rock him, too caught up in Uriel’s pretty amber eyes and a nose that might as well have been copied and pasted from Sicheng’s own face. He does look just like Johnny and is a warm and lovely weight in Taeyong’s arms. “I’m in love with him,” Taeyong announces rather suddenly and Yuta has to bite back a laugh.
Sicheng smiles softly and squeezes Taeyong’s shoulder. It’s the happiest they’ve seen him in months since the city chewed him up and spit him out. The love that Uriel radiates is a healing force. “He’s too little to know how to tell you he loves you, too, but i promise you he does.” there are tears shining in Taeyong’s eyes and Sicheng wraps their arms around his waist to comfort him. Uriel makes a soft little chuff at the sight of his parent and Sicheng doesn’t hesitate to lean down and kiss their son on the nose. “How old is he, roughly?”
“I would say about...nine months?” Johnny says and chuckles as Uriel immediately squirms to try and find his father. “Oh, bud… you don’t want uncle Yongie to hold you anymore?”
“I'm not as good as his daddy~” Taeyong smiles and sets little Uriel in his father’s arms. “And that’s perfectly okay with me. He’s allowed to like you three best.” He brushes Uriel’s sandy hair away from his forehead and smiles as the fawn snuffles sweetly at the touch.
Hongjoong walks over from the car with a bounce in his step and his blue hair floating in a playful cloud around his head. He makes no move to touch Uriel now that he’s settled down in his father’s arms but tucks against Taeyong to watch Johnny bottle feed the baby. “Oh, look at that little prince~”
It hits Yuta suddenly that, in a way, Uriel is a prince and Johnny a king. The forest before them, in part, belongs to Johnny and every creature within it bows to him in reverence. There’s so much power on the patio but right now it is soft and careful.
Johnny doesn’t want to scare their child. He’s too little to understand it.
“He is a little prince, isn’t he?” Sicheng says and settles comfortably on the stool by the swing where Johnny is feeding their son. “It feels like everyone is making grand migrations to come see him.”
“In a way, some of them are,” Johnny admits with a sheepish smile. “but Doyoung and his herd are on their way regardless so i suppose we can’t count them among that number.”
“More deer are coming?” Hongjoong asks softly as he sits on the ground. His aura is close enough to pique Uriel’s curiosity, his tiny hand reaching out to touch the music notes swirling around him. “Can I stay to meet them?”
“I’d like for anyone who’s around often enough to meet them, but you might have to wait a few days? Doyoung is…touchy.”
“Sensitive,” Sicheng corrects and strokes their fingers through Uriel’s soft hair. “Doyoung is sensitive.”
Taeyong laughs softly and lays his head down in Sicheng’s lap. Things in the forest might be changing but the comfort it brings will never leave. New friends are new friends, he thinks, and he’s happy to help his best friend welcome them in.
☾
“Jongin, you are more than welcome to see the baby.” Sicheng is kind under all of that vicious beauty and Jongin appreciates that about them, but they also do not hold the same prejudices that their mate does.
But Sicheng also wears the heart of Jongin’s great grandfather around their lovely throat as a crystallized necklace. Their kindness is as much of a threat as their anger and Jongin does not wish to provoke them.
But he also doesn’t want to step on Johnny’s toes.
“Not inside the house,” Jongin says finally, his ears twitching on his head as Jinyoung steps into the glen where they sit. “I’m more than happy to meet him but I don't want to leave my scent in the house.”
“The baby?” Jinyoung asks and perks up when Sicheng nods. “We can see the baby?”
Sicheng frowns and crosses their arms over their chest. “Was someone keeping you from seeing the baby?”
They are asking if Johnny or Yuta stepped into the forest with threats on their tongues and Jongin is happy to report that no, they did not. The only thing keeping them from visiting the new prince of the eastern wood was their own caution. “He’s young, Sicheng, he needed time to adjust to the scents of his family and not the scents of strangers who might not be around long enough for him to get to know.”
“You don’t need to leave, we have made that very clear.”
“If the new stag does not wish for us, as two bears, to be around his herd and his fawn, we leave, Sicheng. He deserves a peaceful power transfer and he shouldn’t have to worry about us,” Jinyoung sighs, leaning against a nearby tree. “If he wants our help, obviously we’ll give it.”
“But if he wants us to leave, then we will leave.”
Sicheng sighs softly but they do not press. This is not their side of the forest, after all, and they cannot make Jongin and Jinyoung do anything that they do not want to. “I understand. But will you see Uriel before they come?”
Jongin smiles fondly, sitting up a little straighter. “We’d love to.”
When Johnny sets his son in Jongin’s arms and trusts him not to hurt him, it’s difficult for Jongin to hold his tears back. It’s a trust he didn’t expect, and a trust he’s not wholly sure he deserves, but as Uriel turns his big, sparkling eyes up to him and snuffles curiously, Jongin knows that he would do anything to protect him.
“He’s perfect,” Jinyoung says, holding his hands up in denial when Jongin tilts his arms to offer Uriel to him. “He’s too perfect, I will drop him by accident and all three of them will kill me.”
“It would be deserved,” Yuta says a little too calmly for Jinyoung’s comfort.
Jongin only laughs and blows a raspberry against little Uriel’s cheek to hear him giggle.
☾
It’s not too early in the morning when Uriel starts to stir but it’s early enough that only Yuta’s light sleep is disturbed by his little sounds. Untangling himself from Johnny’s vice grip takes more time than he’d strictly like but then he’s out of their lowset bed and at their son’s bassinet to smile down at him. Ai is flitting around his head to keep him entertained and Yuta brushes his finger over his little hummingbird familiar’s back in greeting.
“Good morning, my little daisy…” Yuta gently lifts Uriel up in his arms, brushing his nose gently over the baby’s cheek and smiling softly at the soft snuffles Uriel makes in his ear. Yuta takes his time to bond with the little golden baby as Ai zooms around the room, delighted with the early morning sunlight and Uriel’s gentle noises.
Uriel truly looks so much like Johnny, from the soft brown of his hair to his faint freckles and sparkling eyes, and Yuta knows that he will never tire of taking the baby in. “Good morning, little fawn,” Yuta whispers again before kissing Uriel’s nose, chuckling softly as tiny and sleepy hands take hold of his cheeks. “Did you sleep well?”
He doesn't babble, just wrinkles his nose and pats Yuta’s cheek with his chubby little hand, but he smiles as he’s cradled to Yuta’s chest. Yuta is careful not to leave the room with him yet—Johnny, while the heaviest of sleepers, will wake up the very moment his son is moved from his space—simply paces the room by his bassinet to keep Uriel sweet and quiet before the early morning hunger hit him.
It is terribly like Sicheng of him to demand to be cuddled before the rest of the morning could begin. The little pieces of his parents’ personalities that have seeped into Uriel only serve to make Yuta love him even more and his heart melts as he reaches up to touch the little antler earring dangling from his ear.
Johnny wakes to the soft sound of Yuta whispering to their son in Japanese as he feeds him a bottle and turns his head to see Yuta curled up in the rocking chair with Uriel tucked against his chest. The sight is enough to bring tears to his eyes and he shifts a little to watch them properly without waking Sicheng. “‘Mornin’,” he whispers and melts at the warm smile Yuta sends his way. “Has he been up long…?”
“Good morning.” Yuta shakes his head, finger rubbing sweet over Uriel’s cheek as he rocks idly in the chair. “He wanted me to walk around with him… He’s all changed and just as hungry as you are in the morning.”
Johnny snorts and is immediately rewarded with a loud smack to the chest from Sicheng whose eyes haven’t opened and who makes no other motion to indicate they’re ready to wake up. He had it coming, he knows, but that doesn’t make the sting hurt any less. “Sorry, sorry…”
“Don’t make such loud noises this early.” Sicheng’s slurred morning mandarin makes both of their partners’ hearts flip and if they were more awake, they’d roll their eyes. “I'm going back to bed if the baby is happy. ”
“He’s very happy,” Johnny whispers and presses a chaste kiss to Sicheng’s lips. He does not get one in return but he’s okay with that. Sicheng will make it up later.
“Sleep well,” Yuta calls, and bites back a snort of his own when Sicheng lazily flips him off. Sicheng rolls off of Johnny’s chest and curls into the pillows beside him, falling back asleep easily.
☾
Sunset falls on the garden and Sungchan looks towards the border as Uriel curls up in his nap and watches with rapt attention as Renjun plays with his magic for him. Little Uriel’s parents aren’t far, so Sungchan rubs his back and flicks his ears a little.
Joshua and Jeonghan leave the tree line the next moment and even little Uriel tries to move and see the newcomers. There is a dancing garland of true fairy lights—little sprites dancing along a string of purple pansies—wound in between Joshua’s lovely mottled antlers and as Johnny rises to greet his childhood best friend, Sungchan lifts Uriel up and blows him little kisses when he fusses at moving.
“Shh, shh… It’s okay…” he whispers and lowers his head so his nephew could reach up and bat at the crystal dangling from his antlers.
“Aww, is he noisy~?” Jeonghan coos in absolute fondness as he slips down from Joshua's back, rubbing his hand over the mottled white and brown of his mate’s side. “A sweet little twig who didn’t fall too far from the tree.”
Johnny doesn’t even pretend to be offended. It’s hardly a barb as far as Jeonghan goes and Uriel is hardly noisy at all.
He just doesn’t like to be moved when he’s nice and cozy in someone’s lap. It’s understandable.
“He was just comfortable,” Sungchan laughs and shifts Uriel on his hip, bouncing him lightly just to hear his little giggle. “Uriel, say ‘hi!’ C’mon, lil daisy~”
Uriel snuffles softly before cooing at the newcomers and Joshua, still a stag, stomps in absolute devastation. Johnny, I'm stealing your kid.
“Over my dead body,” Sicheng calls, but makes no move to get up from where they’re reclined in Taeyong’s lap. They’re all sunwarmed and lazy and Sungchan is almost positive that Hongjoong is fast asleep in Yuta’s lap in a happy puddle of witches. They’ll stay like that for hours if they’re allowed. “Welcome back to civilization.”
“We’re close to humans,” Jeonghan says as Joshua takes a moment to shift in a twist of royal blue magic. “That’s a civilization.”
Yuta raises his brow. “Is it?”
“Sometimes it is. The stupid ones leave out honey milk for me and that’s an excellent thing.”
“Can I hold him?” Joshua asks, ignoring the bickering that starts the moment Yuta and Jeonghan share a space for more than five minutes and beaming at the little fawn settled against his uncle’s chest.
“You’re his uncle, too, Josh, of course you can hold him.” Joshua absolutely beams at Johnny and cradles the baby carefully in his arms. He doesn’t stray too far from Sungchan and Johnny, afraid of upsetting the little fawn, but he’s absolutely delighted by him. It’s not that he wants a child of his own, exactly, but there’s wonder to be found in the little body curled up against his chest while trying to familiarize himself with his scent.
“How’d you get him to look just like Johnny?” he asks Renjun who looks startled to be asked about how his nephew came to be into the world. He looks so startled that Joshua has to swallow back the laugh that’s sitting on the tip of his tongue.
Jeonghan doesn’t do the same, but Jeonghan never passes up an opportunity to laugh at someone else’s expense.
“Has no one asked? ”
“Well, no. I don’t think many of us care past the fact that he’s here now. And he doesn’t only look like Johnny, don’t put my sibling’s excellent genes to the side like that. Most of the work was done with their blood? I did some simple feature making on the earth but…” Renjun makes a vague gesture with his hand. “I guided the blood to do what it needed to do, I suppose.”
Jeonghan hasn’t stopped giggling but he tilts his head at Renjun. “That’s some phenomenal magic, little witch. I knew you were good but that is still very impressive.”
Renjun takes the rare compliment easily. “Thank you. Are you going to hold him?”
“I'm not giving him up, so. No, he’s not.” Joshua grins and accepts Jeonghan simply wrapping his arms around his own where they cradle Uriel to his chest. “You do good work.”
The ‘thank you’ that answers is a chorus and Sungchan basks in the warm laughter as it surrounds him.
New life is such an exciting thing.
☾
“Do you think there are too many people?” Taeyong asks softly as he holds Uriel on his hip. They aren’t presenting a front that’s too strong to welcome Doyoung and his herd but Taeyong doesn’t want anyone to be upset about being slighted and he certainly doesn’t want to upset Doyoung on his first real day as the great stag of the western wood. “He won’t be startled?”
Johnny shakes his head and turns his head to glare at the house. It takes another moment but Haechan comes out with Yangyang in tow–Yukhei is probably fast asleep and wouldn’t want to be woken up for any real reason–and a sunshine bright smile. He knows he’s late but he also knows Johnny won’t say anything about it. It’s a tentative but easy balance. “No, it’s a good number and I cleared it with him first. Besides, he’s not alone and Jaehyun won’t let him be upset for long.”
“What’s he like?” Hongjoong asks from where he’s perched on the railing of the porch. Jaemin and Jeno are with him and they’ve all agreed to go back inside if it becomes a problem but they’re just as excited to meet the new arrivals. He’s only met one faerie and Jeonghan makes an interesting first impression.
“Well,” Sicheng says as they adjust Uriel’s teddy bear hood on his head, “he’s one of Johnny’s best friends on this earth, so that should tell you that he’s a boatload of fun. He doesn’t look much like Jeonghan, though. Don’t stare.”
“Don’t stare–? Wait, why not? Sicheng–?”
“They’re coming,” Sungchan interrupts Hongjoong with a fond quirk to his lips. Renjun elbows him with a small snicker before they both school their faces into something more neutral once the first of the herd crosses the territory lines.
Doyoung, Sicheng thinks, might be one of the most beautiful stags they have ever had the pleasure of seeing. Johnny’s golden coat and great golden antlers are stunning and Joshua’s mottled brown and white coat and antlers are certain to take one’s breath away but the great white and pink antlers that rise from Doyoung’s head are regal. He holds a dozing white fawn in his arms, Jaehyun’s little pride and joy Jisung, and Sicheng gasps softly.
“He has wings,” Renjun whispers, covering his mouth. “A little baby deer with wings…”
“They’re heart-shaped,” Taeyong adds with nothing short of awe and adoration as he gently bounces Uriel in his arms.
“Jaehyun’s wings are heart-shaped,” Johnny says, smiling brightly as Jaehyun waves at them, “got them right from him. Jaehyun is shaped with love.”
Sicheng thinks that Johnny is a simp for his best friend, but they do not say this aloud as they count the deer in Doyoung’s herd as they appear. Some are shifted into their human forms but most are not, a precaution with how many strangers are around. Sicheng isn’t offended. “I just realized that we’ve never seen a doe before. There are...three with them?”
“Great stag herds are typically only the sons,” Sungchan explains, sighing softly. “We didn’t have a sister but if we did, she would have probably joined Doyoung’s herd or have been raised by Joshua’s family.”
“That sucks,” Yangyang says before Haechan elbows him in the ribs and bounces on his toes.
“Can I run to Mark?” Haechan asks Johnny, who simply gestures for him to move forward. Haechan is off like a bullet and a sandy blond buck breaks off from the rest of the herd to run to meet him, rubbing his muzzle against his cheek as Haechan throws his arms around his neck they don’t often get to see each other but Johnny knows that the move is going to be Haechan simply driving Mark up the trees with his love and the constant presence of his loud boyfriends.
“I see Haechan has not changed in the least,” Doyoung says, his eyes roving over the assembled group. He tilts his head as Taeyong seems to have a sudden realization and passes Uriel over to Sicheng with a panicked little sound. It seems the little pink-haired love witch isn’t Johnny’s second mate but Doyoung wonders about his hold on the little prince.
It’s not his business but that doesn’t mean that he won’t ask Johnny about it when he gets a chance.
“Will he ever?” Yuta asks and Doyoung allows himself a small snort. He already likes this little dark witch.
The introductions are a long affair and Sicheng keeps a careful tab of everyone’s names. Doyoung, the next stag of the western wood, his little son Jisung, and his mate Jaehyun, who Sicheng is familiar with. He has a sister, Sooyoung, whose pretty ears are the same white as Jisung’s coat and whose white blonde hair rivals the light color of her ears. Doyoung’s cousins, Sunmi and Seokmin are both lovely shades of beige, but they remain in their deer forms so Sicheng makes note of how they are not yet comfortable with the strangers in their new home. Taeil is a lone buck with a lovely strawberry blond coat but he shifts soon after they settle and Sicheng likes his face. They can’t explain why, really, but he just feels like comfort and warmth. And like he gives excellent hugs. Last are the youngest members of the herd, Mark and Winter, brother and sister, and both a pleasant light brown.
It is a solid family. Sicheng looks forward to the prospering of the western wood under their care.
☾
“He’s not your mate and you just...let him hold Uriel?” Doyoung asks like Uriel isn’t in his lap and playing with the little stuffed deer that Renjun had made for him. Jaehyun rolls his eyes and gets a flick to one of the pockets of bioluminescence under his jaw in retribution. He’s glowing lightly in the fading sunlight and Johnny knows that flick hurt something awful with the lights active on Jaehyun’s body. “I do not count.”
“You don’t,” Yuta agrees, “but Taeyong is his godfather and as much family as you are. If Taeyong can’t hold him, you can’t hold him.”
Doyoung wrinkles his nose but accepts that. He turns his head towards the western wood and considers the work he will have to do to bring it back to the glory it hadn’t known in years. He won’t be alone, he thinks as he looks over his herd as they adjust and mingle, but it’s somewhat daunting to consider. The two remaining bears have offered their help and to back off if that’s what Doyoung wishes but he’s surprised to realize that he...does not wish for that. He doesn’t want to push them out of the only home they have ever known and he wants them to see what the western wood can be when properly cared for.
It is the least that they deserve after all of this time.