Chapter Text
Back in bed, Legosi was slowly lulled to sleep. It was still dark outside, it was probably about 2AM, and he was zoning out with the sound of the shower as background noise. While his stomach was churning in anxiety and the images, sounds, and smells of Louis pinned beneath him still made his blood rush downstairs, his brain was tired. Tired of this day, tired of thinking, and tired of anxiety, so as the time in which Louis was in the bathroom extended indefinitely, Legosi drifted off.
He’s only half-aware of the things going on. Not completely asleep, but far from awake. He’s vaguely capable of discerning the sound of the shower vanishing and everything sinking into a sacred kind of silence which both soothed and swelled Legosi's anxieties in waves.
First he is taken by the quiet to the silent depths of his own mind, where he is reminded of the upcoming, awkward, terrifying conversation with the omega bearing his pups, and jolted awake enough to forget it on the shock, the cycle repeats for what feels like I finite times during the period in which he absent-mindedly hears steps getting closer.
There's a quiet that feels much longer than it is, before he feels the bed shift under the weight of another person by his side.
"I know you're awake, Legosi." Louis whispers.
Legosi grits his teeth and opens his eyes, defeated. Louis is laying on his side, his head shifts towards him and lays on Legosi's chest, positioned carefully so that his horns are nowhere near his face enough to threaten him. Neither moves nor talks, despite an acute awareness something must be said.
"We need to talk." Louis continues.
"Yes." Legosi agrees.
"This is… this is weird. Isn't it?"
"It's awkward."
"Great, then you have experience." Louis deadpans and Legosi wants to chuckle about it, but can't bring himself to do it.
The heavy silence continues.
"You tried to mate me."
"Louis, I am so, so sorry about…"
"I've been in love with you for years." Louis cut him.
Legosi quieted down. In his tired state and with the deer on top of him, it was hard to move, but his entire body tensed, which Louis very clearly felt after hearing his snicker.
"I don't know quite when it started. At some point I was just… with you on the back of my mind all the time. I just… I was in love. Am, in love."
"I… yeah. Me too."
"Really? I say I've been in love with you for years and your reaction is that?" For the first time in a while, there was some movement when an irate deer stared down at the wolf.
"I… I'm not good with words. Especially not in this situation." Legosi admitted, looking up at angry amber eyes making him feel small.
"Try."
"I… you're amazing." Legosi raises one hand to the other's cheek and that makes his expression soften. "You're so beautiful, and so strong, so powerful, so… unique. You're the real life version of the kind of heroes we only have stories about. You care about others and about the world so much more than what you let yourself show. I was basking in your light for so long… who knows when I was in love with you. Maybe I was always, a little bit."
There was a moment of silence. Louis's expression was quiet and pensive, but the palm of his hand came down with a slap on the alpha's chest. "Why didn't you say anything?" He yelled, before rolling himself to be laying by the wolf's side instead of on top of him. "You just… look at this."
"Why… why didn't you say anything?"
Louis's face was flooded by a rush of blood that left it even redder. "Not the point!"
And there was quiet again. Awkwardly looking at the ceiling as each their biggest secrets were out on the air between them.
"So, we've established we're in love with one another." Louis started. "Why didn't you just mate me then?"
"Are you kidding me? I was not sure! That was heat! I wasn't gonna mate you if I couldn't be 100% sure I had your consent." Legosi blurted out.
"Well you had." Louis said, quieting the wolf down. "I… I wouldn't mind it. Being mated to you." Louis concluded. "With Haru, did you guys ever…"
"We hadn't even talked about it. Our relationship lasted a long time, but I don't think it went far." Legosi said. He inches his hand closer to that if the deer, but is incapable of holding it, even as his pinkies touch. "We-We didn't talk about the future. Marriage, mating, kids, that kind of stuff never came up, we eventually just moved on separately."
Louis listened intently by his side. His own pinky touched against Legosi's. Neither hand moved further than that.
"Was that why you broke up? The lack of a future?"
"Probably. There was a lot of stuff, I think. We didn't have that much in common, I may have put her on a pedestal a bit too much, but I still love her, just not as a girlfriend."
"Not that much in common? What, she wouldn't go to the black market to fight a psychotic hybrid with you?"
Legosi laughed. "Not really her style. She wouldn't lead a pack of lions, she wouldn't give me her leg to fight a murderer, she isn't crazy."
"So you like the crazy ones?" Louis snickered back. "I like the crazy ones too. The kind of guy that goes gun blazing and bare fisted fighting a mob, finds out a murderer and takes them down in secret, and that goes all out tearing down the fabric of society cause he's just a fool in love."
They giggled at each other, adrenaline-filled memories flooding in but filtered through sheer nostalgia. Legosi finally finds enough courage to hold Louis's hand. It feels so small and soft, but experienced.
"I think I made this so much more complicated than it should be." Louis whispered, placing a gentle hand over his belly. "I'm sorry about roping you in like this. I feel like I scammed you."
"What? No, no, no, Louis, it's not like that. I wanted to be here for this." Legosi turned sideways, his other hand shooting up to meet with the deer's over his torso.
"We truly do like drama." Louis giggled, but welcomes the touch. "Are you still in this? Me, Oguma and Leano?"
"Of course!" Legosi said, much more loudly than he intended. "I-I-I'm all here for this. I want to be here for you and for them! I want to-to-to..."
"Start a family?"
"Yes!" Legosi responded immediately.
Louis just smiles at him.
"We did this in a very weird order, didn't we? You even knocked me up before we started dating." Louis brought a hand up to Legosi's cheek. "Very well, then let's do this."
"We will?" Legosi's tail started wagging, furiously hitting the mattress.
"Yes, we will. We'll start dating, start a family, we'll raise our 2 beautiful hybrid children together here in this house." Louis moved forward, kissing Legosi softly. This act makes the wolf almost explode internally. "I'm sure you and I will find a way to make domestic life weird and exciting."
Legosi covered the smaller body in his arms, taking in his scent, kissing and nipping what skin he can find. His heart is a maddened, rhythmless drum, but holding this man like this feels like holding onto a rock in a storm. It was real, this man was really real, really here, really laughing as he started crying, calling him a big baby, but hugging him back all the same.
This was his mate, in his den, carrying his pups, for the sake of starting their family. The path here was odd, weird and off the wall, but here they got anyway. And Legosi is simply overjoyed.
----
"You seem really happy with this." Legosi mentioned offhandedly on his next night drinking tea with his grandfather.
"Well, I am." His scaly face parted in a happy grin. "That little pup I raised is all set to start his family! You can't imagine the inner peace it brings this old man!" He said.
"I'm happy too grandpa."
"And have you told others about it yet?"
"Haru and Jack know already. I'm sure Louis told others too. I came back to my old place the other day, and I think my neighbors figured out what happened, one of them commented on my smell." Legosi brought his turtle neck down slightly, showing the still angry red bruise on his neck, made by an omega herbivore marking him as his.
"I guess the smell of mated alpha is noticeable."
"Well, the alpha's that allowed themselves to be branded by omegas are rare. It probably takes some time for people to recognize that."
"And how is Louis?"
"He's fine. He's happy!" Legosi smiled, a blush in his face when talking about him. "We're changing some things around the mansion. Getting the twins room ready, I'm moving into the master bedroom with him. He's going wild with decorations for the kids."
"Glad to hear." Gosha smiled.
"... I also got into contact with Yafya. He wants me to have a job as a special agent."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'm not 100% sure of what I'll be doing, but I want to have a job to help the world be a better place for my kids."
Gosha giggled. "That sounds great, Legosi." He sipped from his tea. "How does it feel to say it? That they're your kids."
Legosi's smile was wide and overflowing with joy. "So good. My mate and my kids."
----
The new cribs are in. They could just ask someone to build them, but Legosi is waiting for a call from Yafya, while Louis is just not doing anything right now, so they're building it themselves. Louis gives instructions from a chair, while Legosi puts the pieces together.
It's an hour before the first one is ready and more half an hour to finish the other one, between losing screws and looking for them on the ground and on the box.
Legosi is cradling a bottle of soft drink, while Louis is snacking on fish meat. Legosi is sitting in the ground, but with his head resting in his mate's leg. His belly is huge now, closing in on delivery day.
There's a sensation of pure calm and bliss in this moment.
"Do you want to know why I picked you to have kids?"
"Weren't you in love with me?"
"Well, yeah, but there's also something else."
Louis was breathing slowly, looking absent-mindedly to the crib. His hands undid the knots of Legosi's scruff and smoothed over the fur.
“Because you’re good, Legosi,” Louis admitted. “You’re not- you’re good. You’re kind, and nice, and sweet, and you care about others, and you want to protect people, and you’re devoted, and you’re loyal, and…” The red deer paused, looking down and locking eyes with the man looking up at him with intensity. “You’re not like me, Legosi. You don’t hold grudges, you’re not an asshole to people to protect your pride, people don’t need to go through layers of prickly behavior to see some goodness in you, you…"
"Stop it, Louis." Legosi commanded, with no doubt in his voice. "Don't talk like that about my mate."
Louis snickers and Legosi puts his hand on the other's cheek, lifting himself on his knees to look at the other's eyes at the same level.
"You too are good, Louis."
Louis is quiet, turns his eyes away, and puts his hand on his belly. "I wanted to have a child with your goodness. I don't know how much of it is genetic, but I hope some of it is, I want some of it to be, at least."
Legosi pulls Louis to focus on his eyes. "We can also have a child with your goodness. You're so much better you give yourself credit, Louis, and I hope our children will have some of your goodness too. Your sense of justice, your willingness to fight for what you think is right, your strength to do what it takes. I hope we'll raise a kid with all of it." Legosi kisses his mate's face until he smiles. "You are good too, Louis."
Louis gives a weak laugh, and Legosi hugs him tightly.
--
"You are tearing the fabric of the couch." Legosi realizes Haru is right and apologetically releases the couch of the hospital. "Go down with Gosha, seriously, there's still half an hour to go! Louis will be fine!"
"But-"
"It's a c-section, it's a very common surgery, he's in good hands, and tearing yourself and the couch apart will not help him." Haru says, and Legosi has to admit it's right.
She guides him down to the cafeteria where Gosha is eating some snacks and he gets him egg salad sandwiches.
He lost the count of how much stuff he's eating in the anxious stupor, he can barely process the taste of them since his mind is elsewhere. Gosha says he's getting the tab.
He lost track of time for the entire period and is only shot back to reality by a call from Haru to say the surgery is over.
--
Louis looks so tired. It's hard to blame him, he's been medically gutted and is still in quite a few painkillers. But his smile makes up for it.
There are two pups in his arms, both have a greyish-brown fur. They look a bit wolf-like, but he thinks that will change over time.
Legosi is gathering the courage to hold one of them.
They're so small, so delicate. Legosi is big, lanky, muscular, and clumsy, and there is a dread deep inside him that he will hurt these two most precious things in the world.
"You will not hurt them, Legosi." Louis assured him, like he read his mind. "Come here, and hold your child, you damn mutt." He chuckled, and indicated to the pup in the pink blanket, Leano.
Legosi moved towards the pup in slow steps. Leano was so terribly small, so tiny that Legosi could hold her in a single hand. He could also crush her with a finger. He felt as big, awkward, and monstrous as he felt in school when presented with the prospect of taking his daughter in his arms.
Thankfully, Louis was there to reassure him.
Legosi puffed his chest and gathered all his courage to take that last step.
"Hold her head." His mate instructed, and Legosi took extra precautions to do so.
Leano's fur is fuller than Oguma's. They are both the sweetest, most amazing beings he's ever seen, even if they're just making small sounds, and can't even open their eyes.
Legosi broke down crying when he finally settled his daughter properly in his arms, sitting by his mate's side while he held their son.
--
It's been years now. Life as a father is hard, even if Legosi has the cushion of Louis's money, and he has gotten so much more respect for his grandfather for raising him and his mother without that help.
Gosha loves his role as great-grandpa, and happily moved in with the two to be there at all times to raise the kids. And even more, to teach them how to raise them.
Legosi's job is odd, he spends a lot more time in meetings than he expected, but the rest of the time includes taking down bad guys and he is always happy to make the world safer. He will climb together with Louis to the role of Beastars, as Yafya planned, and they're certain they'll change the world. This time, it's a matter of necessity. This is the world their kids will live on, so they must make it the best one possible, especially for hybrids.
Today, when Legosi gets home, he immediately goes to his kids play room, where their toys are scattered around. Gosha is sitting in a chair on a small table, overseeing as the two draw away with crayons. Oguma is the first one to notice him and he jumps from the table and dash towards him.
It always fills him with warmth when his tiny arms circle his legs. He grabs the boy and brings him up to hug him back, putting their cheeks against each other.
Oguma is nothing like his namesake. He's not at all serious or stoic. He's silly, loves jokes, and is always laughing loudly.
Leano, now, is pretty different. She's the serious one, but Legosi has the distinct feeling that he might recognize her as being just shy and awkward, since he was the same.
She doesn't dash towards him, she takes small steps after getting out of the chair and putting it back in its place politely. She also hugs him by the leg, but there's no less warmth in it.
Legosi also picks her up from the ground and she joins her siblings in his arms.
They're much less small, but they're still the same most precious things that he's ever seen. They are very deer-like now, but they have more than a few wolf traits, little elements here and there that show that they’re indeed Legosi’s children. Their fur is grayer than Louis’s but still red; they have small, but still not sharp, fangs; their ears are more wolf-like, smaller and more triangular; their tails are like Louis’s, but they move like they’re a canine’s, wagging fast when their dad holds them; and they have small eyes like Gosha’s. They also both love eggs.
Oguma is all smiles and a motor mouth, rapidly speaking in somewhat broken words what they did that day, Leano listens to her brother talk with silence, only offering nods when he asks confirmation to her.
Legosi pulls every energy in his sore muscles to sit down by his children’s side as they show him everything they did today. They’re already trying to write things under Gosha’s tutelage, and they’re going to start going to a kindergarten next year. Louis had to look around for a good one for hybrid children, he’s every bit the protective dad Legosi thought he’d be.
The process repeats when Louis enters, he looks the kind of tired that is hiding behind a facade that melts away when he sees his children and takes them both in his arms.
He’s making an effort to be more present and affectionate to his children than Oguma was for him.
The whole family is sat down at the table and Louis greeted him with a sweet kiss like he does often, but being a dumb wolf, it still makes Legosi blush sometimes.
The kids have an energy the two old men can’t keep up with all the time and when the opportunity arises, they slip away and leave the kids with their great-grandfather in front of the TV so they can eat a snack and regain some energy.
Louis is munching on salad from the fridge while Legosi is frying eggs. They have these moments, at least, peace and quiet between themselves.
Legosi’s work is hard, raising children is hard, being in a marriage is hard, but it’s the kind of hard that gives him a blissful sore afterwards. He has the greatest mate in the world, the only one that could keep up with his craziness, and vice-versa. His children are the most amazing things in god's green earth, and he’s so proud of them every time they do anything his heart might explode; he has started collecting pictures, the first lock from trimming their fur, every little detail he wants to keep with himself.
Legosi is happy when he sits down in the kitchen, side by side with his mate while he hears him complaining about how Horns’ latest partner really wants to screw him over, but he won’t let him, “There’s no chance he gets what he wants, don’t worry about it”, Louis ascertains. “I’m just shocked at the audacity of thinking he could do it.”
“Clearly he doesn’t know you.”
“Oh, but he will.” Louis lays his head on his mate’s shoulder, huffs one last time and finally goes quiet for a little bit.
The silence is a moment of absolute bliss. Louis is warm at his side, his rage has left his body with the contact.
“This is the last big thing I have this year.” Louis admitted.
“Already?”
“Yeah. After that we can start trying.” Louis’s golden eyes locked his gaze with his mate.
Legosi almost choked on his sandwich and started coughing while Louis snickered at the sight.
“We already have two kids, the idea of making a third one gets you that nervous?” Louis smiled while offering him a handkerchief to clean the saliva coughed out in his mouth. “Or is it just because we’ll do it the old way this time?” Louis whispered to the other with a sly smile on his lips and Legosi blushed. “God, you’re such a virgin.” Louis laughed.
“What’s a virgin?” Leano asked quietly from the door, her face was stoic as ever, but her parents figured out how to notice a few of her quirks, like the flick in her left ear when she gets curious about things and wants to ask lots of questions.
“Nothing, sweetie.” Louis says, cursing under his breath at letting his mouth run afoul at his house. Legosi and him had agreed to mind their language around the house, but being surrounded by the Shishigumi lions makes these habits hard to kill. “What are you doing here, pup?”
“Grandpa wanted to get some snacks!” Oguma bursted into the room, immediately skipping his way into Louis’s lap. “I want corn with butter!”
Leano takes her time getting to Legosi's leg, pulling on his pants and signaling that she wants to be lifted. He smiles and brings her up, plopping her down on his lap. "And what about you, sweetheart? Do you want anything?"
"Egg sandwich." She says, looking up at her father.
"That's great, I want it too. Let's have some." Legosi smiles down at her. He leaves her on the ground and picks up the eggs to prepare for them, also picking up corn for Oguma, already distracted by describing every event on the TV to Louis.
Legosi smiles quietly, the smell of more eggs frying in a pan filling the room. His bones are tired and he can't wait to fall down on the couch and watch his kids get hypnotized by the TVand their snacks while his mate is on his side, just as tired, and just as happy as they get ready to expand their family.
He got everything he needs now.