Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After the Events with Orion, neither Lennox, Thea or Sammy had thought they'd ever get a parental figure again. Thea barely even knew what a father was, Sammy had lost his own at such an early age and Lennox never felt the love he'd wished to feel.

All that was changed by one man. One man that didn't even really have a father of his own, but somehow managed to become a father figure to them all.

Hagen had insisted on them buying a small house near the beach. Sammy still sailed with his brother and the rest of the alpha cru, Lennox stayed close by Alea's side, and so did Thea. They'd occasionally all go on trosk with Alea's parents, just like how the two sisters had always dreamed of. They all felt a sense of freedom, a sense of belonging, and it was all tied togheter by Cassaras. He occasionally watched Thea and her family from afar while they were on trosk, checking for any danger or just as a small greeting before heading off to be on his own again. He had never been one to stick around in one place for too long, much less around people.

Though something about those kids made his cold heart ache a little. They deserved a home, even if they all went their own paths. He begrudingly had to admit that he had grown fond of the way Sammy would excitedly jump up and down while grabbing onto his leg, how Thea's eyes would light up with excitement when he got her a new book, or the content happiness he had seen whenever he took Lennox to go see his grandparents.

"Im telling you, get the paperwork over with. Im sure it'd be a happy surprise for them.", Hagen was sitting at the kitchen table, looking through some news article that truly didn't have anything noteworthy to say. But it was something to occupy his weekends with.

"You know how much i hate this human stuff. They always need so many papers, it's honestly just wasteful.", Cassaras grumbled in return. He already had to somehow explain to authorities why he didn't have any paperwork of his own, and then go through the trouble of convincing the authorities to let this mysterious man adopt 2 children and get the rights to take in his relative.

Hagen shrugged.

"I was able to start a new life, so you can aswell."

A new life. Cassaras didn't know if that was truly possible. At night he was still haunted by nightmares from being Captured by Orion... But the most torturous thought of all was that that good-for-nothing bastard had threatened to kill him in front of Thea. The nightmares she had only recently been able to get under control, all the pain and suffering all those innocent kids had to go through...

"Cass.", Hagen said, having put the newspapers to the side and gotten up to gently lay his hand on Cassaras shoulder.

It gave him a silent reminder to breathe. Hagen put his hand on his chest and listened to him deeply breathe in and out.

"Better?", He asked gently and Cassaras gave a silent nod. The Prince usually didn't like this amount of closeness, but Hagen was different. He was..special, in his own way.

"Im fine.", He then insisted and took a step away. Another thing he disliked was showing that he might be hurt in some way, though that was because all Nixen grew up like that. Showing you were hurt was seen as weakness, and weakness was the thing looked down upon the most.

The other man seemed to silently understand and went to the kitchen to make himself some coffee.

"Im gonna be working on my lesson plans, if there's anything you need you know where my office is.", with a now full coffee mug in hand, Hagen made his way upstairs. Even though Cassaras had insisted on keeping the house small, it had 2 floors. Downstairs was the Kitchen which was connected to the living room, main bathroom and a Guest bedroom. Upstairs was Hagen's office, His and Cassaras' shared bedroom and 3 other bedrooms. Those 3 bedrooms... They were barely used, but Cassaras kept them anyways. Just incase maybe one of the kids that had wormed their way into his heart may need a place to call their own.

After Hagen left, he didn't quite know what to do with himself. He decided to look at his phone and saw a new text from Thea.

<Me and Lennox are gonna be in the Area soon. Should we come over? I didn't get to see the new house in person yet.>

Admittedly, the thought of having her visit did sound good.

<Sure.>

He thought that was gonna be the whole conversation, since usually they didn't really do small-talk, but he got one last message from her for the day.

<In 3 days. At around 1:30 pm. Alea will be busy with something so we're gonna come alone.>

Cassaras reacted with a thumbs-up emoji and turned off his phone. He could wrack his brain for ideas on what he could make for lunch.

And fill out that Paperwork he had been dreading for so long. He wouldn't be able to avoid it forever, and honestly, he didn't want to.

He was gonna do it. Now or never. Hopefully he'd get it done in time.

Chapter Text

Hagen and Cassaras were busy making Lunch togheter for when Thea, Sammy and Lennox would arrive. Sammy had heard from Alea that the other two were gonna visit Cassaras, and he had immediately wanted to tag along.

The Prince made a small portion of Pasta and Tomatosauce for Hagen and Sammy, meanwhile the other Man was making a salad and fruit bowls for the others. He had been assigned that job since he could do it while sitting. His chronic pain was flaring up today, which was why he was staying home from teaching and Cassaras had insisted on him not unnecessarily exerting himself by standing around

The Lunch was proudly displayed on the Kitchen table. Cassaras was getting nervous at the thought of the surprise he would reveal. He had spoken to Thea's parents and Sammy's older Brother Ben about his plans to adopt the two, and luckily was able to get their agreements on it. Now the only thing in the way was telling the kids.

"Im sure they'll be happy over it. Especially Sammy.", Hagen commented.

Cassaras silently nodded. That ball of energy would probably be bouncing all over the place.

The bell rang.

"I'll get it.", Cassaras said, motioning for Hagen to take his seat at the table. As he opened the door, Three familiar faces greeted him.

Sammy immediately enthusiastically shouted a "hallooo!!" and fell into his arms, which caused Lennox to smile a little.

"Hi.", The boy said to Cassaras, following Sammy inside with Thea right behind him.

"Hello to all of you.", Hagen signed, motioning for them all to take their places at the table. Cassaras nervously took his place next to him.

"Cassaras has some exciting news to share."

"Really?! What is it?!", Sammy immediately perked up, looking at Cassaras expectantly. He was signing and speaking at the same time.

Lennox and Thea looked at eachother questioningly before directing the questioning towards the Prince.

Cassaras looked a bit uncomfortable, but pushed through it.

"Yes. I wanted to inform you all of something.", He signed, taking a deep breath to prepare himself. "The past few days, me and Hagen have been talking with authorities and your parents. Well, Thea's parents and Uncle Oskar and Ben."

The young boy was surprised to hear that Cassaras had spoken with his family, and was about to make a comment, but Thea lightly shushed him.

"I wanted to tell you that.. I was able to officially get Custody of Lennox, and Im adopting both Sammy and Thea."

All three of them needed to process it for a while, before Sammy got up and went over to hug Cassaras again. The little boy had tears in his eyes and the Prince couldn't help but be concerned.

"Like... seriously? You actually did it?", Lennox asked, a flicker of hope shined in his eyes.

When Cassaras nodded, the other boy's eyes also started to get wet with tears.

Thea decided to get up and go over, gently wrapping her arms around her father and Sammy. Lennox stayed where he was, not wanting things to get too crowded.

They stayed like that for a few moments before Cassaras pulled away again. He wasn't one for too much physical touch.

"Does that mean i get to call you Papa now?", Sammy questioned, but was more so joking than actually being serious.

"I-", The man was a bit taken aback by the question, and didn't quite know how to feel about the term. It... Felt weird, being called that, but at the same time it ached in his heart. But the ache was a good one. Sammy was willing to call him his father.

"If you want. I can't stop you either way.", he shrugged, trying to play it off and return to his usual self, making Thea smile.

Eventually the situation calmed down again, and they all gathered around the Table. Thea took one of the fruit bowls, Lennox went for a salad bowl, Cassaras also decided on fruits while Hagen and Sammy ate Pasta.

"Mmm.. this is absolute best-pasta!", The young boy exclaimed with voice and hands. "I couldn't have wished for anything better. Best-pasta from my best-papa!"

That made Hagen chuckle a bit. "Yes, Cassy is quite talented at making that. I wonder why."

Sammy giggled aswell. "Maybe it's in the Family! Lennox, you HAVE to try to make some for the Cru sometime aswell! We've gotta see if you inherited the talent."

"Im not sure if that's such a great idea, he might just burn the whole ship down.", Thea joked, earning a harsh nudge with his elbow from Lennox, which she gave right back.

"No fighting at the table.", Hagen reprimanded and shook his head in mock-dissapointment.

After the Meal, Cassaras decided to show them around the house. Lennox and Sammy were astounded when they found out they have their own rooms.

"Huh... Im so used to sleeping on a couch, im not sure if i can even fall asleep in a bed anymore.", Lennox joked. "I was barely even able to sleep in my bed back then so.."

The thought back to his old home seemed to suddenly hit him deeply, making him look to the side and try to shake the feeling off. Sammy quickly changed the topic in hopes of cheering him up.

"My room will be the coolest ever. Now i have even more room to store my collections in.", Sammy sighed happily and turned back to Thea. "And you have more room to store your endless book collection."

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "True."

Everyone got time to decorate their rooms to the best of their abilities and get comfortable in the house. Later in the day Thea, Lennox and Sammy decided to call Alea togheter, meanwhile Cassaras and Hagen did the dishes downstairs.

"See? Everything went well, just like i told you.", Hagen commented.

"Yeah yeah, smartass.", The prince grumbled back, but couldn't help but smile into himself. He had given the Three exactly what he wished. A place they could call home, a place they could revisit anytime they want, a place with a Father that they didn't need to fear or run away from.

They were safe. His family was safe. Everything felt right.

"Thanks for convincing me.", He reluctantly added and gave Hagen a kiss on the cheek.

"No problem, Delerey.", Hagen gave him a short kiss back. Cassaras had to huff a little at the petname. He found it corny, but admittedly, it still meant something to him.

Maybe this was an okay new life to live. After all these years, he finally felt safe and relaxed. Even if the past plagued him sometimes, there was always a path forward, and that was one he was finally ready to go. With his three new kids and Hagen by his side.