he looked at the boy with the knife to his throat, the boy whose black eyelashes feathered down against his cheekbones as he glanced away from kit, and he felt something like a shock of recognition pass through him. he thought, how beautiful.
"...and i’ll be right by your side.”
"you will?”
“yeah, you’re stuck with me, wolf scout. i’ll annoy the shit out of you every single morning for decades. longer, and our kids will take your side because you’re good and lovable.”
he breathes deeper. “we have kids?” his iron-willed eyes drift to imagine this future, our future. “how many?”
"as many as you want,” i say, never lying to him.