N: Wolfgang wasn't paying attention when Niko was brought into the hug, being stuck in the past as memories returned.

When he felt Angel's tail wrap around him, Niko immediately froze up since he wasn't expecting any physical contact. When he was practically pulled into the hug, he felt incredibly small in the embrace, and he tried to make himself small as well.

A couple seconds later, Wolfgang noticed someone's heartbeat was racing, and when he turned to see his panicked son, "Angel, could you release my son, bitte? He doesn't like to be hugged."

M: Angel whined but relented and let go of Niko, but refused to release Wolfgang, she felt safe in his embrace.

A couple minutes later, Mandara came in with William, both of them smiling at the sight before them.

"Hey Wolfie, Liam told me that you might be interested in adopting our little guest, is that true?" he asked.

N: Wolfgang turned around to face them, but he struggled to, and he tried to move, Angel was definitely not letting go, so he stood up and turned, the Eternal in his arms.

"I mean...ja, I am interested in adopting her, it's just that I'm not sure how the process works with me being resurrected and all, and," he glanced at Niko, who was spacing out in a seat nearby, "well, I don't know if I could take care of both of them."

M: Mandara was concerned about Niko's behavior but focused on the topic at hand, "well, you won't be doing it alone, we're more than happy to help you take care of them, that's what family does after all. As for the adoption process, that will fall under Neflen to situate that so I think he'll understand and do what he can to help."

"Hey, you ok there," William asked Niko, "what's wrong, I thought you were happy about getting a new little sister?"

N: "He was," Wolfgang answered, and when he watched William reach out to Niko, he quickly added, "bitte, don't touch him for the time being. I'm pretty sure the hug triggered a memory."

Walking over to his son, he knelt down in front of him, his expression somber, "Nikolaus, do you want to go back to our room?"

The boy slowly looked up, and when he met his father's eyes, he slowly nodded. Wolfgang dipped his head and stood back up, shifting his weight so that Angel was a bit more comfortable in his arms.

At that moment, the Saxon wished he could split himself in half so that he could take care of both Angel and Niko, to be able to be for the eternal while he soothed his son. But alas, as long as the eternal wasn't in a healthy weight and still needed medical attention, he couldn't keep her in his room.

Seeing that it was the only option, he reluctantly turned to Mandara, "could you take Niko to my room, bitte?" Although he needed the help, he didn't like the fact that it was someone apart from him who was taking care of his son at his lowest point.

M: "Yeah, I can, Liam can help pry Angel off of you," Mandara agreed, "come on Niko, let's get you to your safe space."

He led the boy to the Saxons' room, asking a housekeeper if they could get some hot chocolate for him to calm him down. When they arrived he partially closed the door so they could have some privacy.

"What happened, buddy, your father mentioned something about a hug, did- did your scar get touched?"

N: Niko just laid down on his side of the bed, curling up into a ball, his back to the door. His eyes tightly closed, he did his best to hold back his tears as a wave of fear washed over him.

"Ja," he finally muttered, "Angel pulled me into the hug by my waist and...I can't blame her. She didn't know."

M: Mandara pursed his lips, he sat down next to Niko and gently rubbed his shoulder in comfort, offering whatever reassuring words he could think of while they waited for Wolfgang.

"You know your father is gonna ask what happened, are you gonna tell him about it," he asked after a while, "he deserves to know, he wants to help you with your past traumas but he can't if he doesn't know what they are."

N: "I know," Niko mumbled, "but what's the point when he didn't even know what I did in my past life. He had to go to France and get himself killed; he wouldn't understand."

He opened his eyes, unfocused and barely open, as he muttered under his breath, "I wish Onkel Heinz was here."

Meanwhile, back in the infirmary, Wolfgang was finally freed from Angel's embrace, and after he had reassured her that he would return, he quickly rushed out of the infirmary, walking briskly to his room.

M: "I wish so as well, I miss him and Erna," Mandara sighed, "but if they were here, I know they would say that you should be more open to your father. Speaking as a father and a grandfather, I know that even if Wolfgang doesn't understand at first, he will eventually, that's how he always was. I'll be right here for you while you tell him, if he doesn't understand then I'll make him understand, I promise you that."

Wolfgang opened the door then, Mandara gave Niko a few more pats, "you'll feel better once you get it off your chest, you don't have to bear this burden alone anymore."

N: Niko only turned around to see Mandara, then his attention shifted to his wide eyed father, whose face was filled with concern.

"Niko," he spoke as he walked over to his side, watching as his son sat up, but wasn't looking at him, so he sat down beside him, "how are you feeling now?"

"Ich weiß nicht (I don't know)," the boy muttered, and the pair sat in silence for a moment.

"Bitte, let me help you," the older Saxon spoke as he went to hold his son's hand, but he hesitated, wondering if his son was fine with physical contact, "I want to be able to help you, to make up for the years I wasn't there for you."

Niko didn't say anything for a while, wondering if he should tell his father about what happened, but eventually all he said was, "Angel touched my scar."

Wolfgang just sat there, wondering what he meant, then when it finally clicked, he lowered his head. "Where's the scar?"

"Along my waist."

"Does it hurt when you touch it? Not just physically?"

Confused, Niko looked over to his father, and he could see the pain in his face. "Ja, it does."

"I'm sorry that you have to feel that pain. I should have been there for you, but now," Wolfgang turned to Niko, "you won't suffer that pain alone."

The boy just looked down at his feet, tears started to run down his face, so he leaned against his father, to which the Saxon took it as a cue and held his son's hand.

M: Mandara wrapped a wing around the two, gently petting Niko's hair, "we all got our scars, Niko, some certainly hurt more than others, but it's our job to help bring each other comfort, and that's what your father and I want to do for you."

He gazed at Wolfgang for a second and muttered a quiet sorry before saying, "Even your father has one, you know how your uncle Johann, Rowen, Edel, and Mandoria had brands of Prussia's symbol on them? Your father, mother, and Heinz had tattoos instead since they were knights, I don't know about Erna and Heinz, but Wolfie had his removed, and it left a scar that he doesn't want people to touch. Now that he knows about yours, you two can have something you both understand, and can help each other when they start hurting."

N: "Onkel Heinz mentioned about the tattoos but," Niko turned to his father, "you removed yours?"

"I doubt the British would have liked it if I, a former Prussian knight, still had the eagle tattooed on me while I was in their army," Wolfgang coldly joked, "but also...I just didn't want something to remind me of 'him' every single day."

The boy only hummed as he rested his head on his father's arm once again, understanding what he meant.

M: "If you ask me he's pretty brave for doing it, from how he described the process it was severely painful, I couldn't do that for sure," Mandara chuckled, "your dad's always been a little rough on his body, he loved to challenge anyone he could to a good wrestle, and then would get his ass kicked about 40% of the time."

A knock came at the door and Eclipse was there holding a plate of cookies and cups hot chocolate, "hey fellas, I heard our big man was a little upset, I know it's kinda early but I brought some treats, Ella tried to help make them but she kept eating the cookie dough."

N: Niko couldn't help but grin a little, "she used to always do that. No respect when it came to cooking," before thanking Eclipse as Wolfgang handed him the plate of cookies.

"You make me sound reckless, Mandara," Wolfgang sighed as he held his son's hot chocolate for him, "I'm no Johann that's for sure."

M: "Say's the man who wrestled a bear cub because it disrupted your proposal to Erna and ate the ring," Mandara laughed, "you and Johann are both very reckless, you're just reckless in different ways. There is a reason why Rowen would make sure that Erna was around when you and Johann would try to go somewhere by yourselves, Heinz was certainly more cautious but would still join you if you two bugged him enough, only Erna could keep you in check."

"Or me, though not directly," Eclipse butted in, "I noticed that you got a bit more wary around MA after I first appeared, and you never challenged him to another fight, I didn't think he bit you that hard, you didn't even have a scar from it."

N: "But it's not as if people normally go around biting people," Wolfgang countered, then he sighed, "of all the scars that I've collected over my life, why the tattoo scar of all of them? And that stupid death scar..."

"Where's your death scar," Niko asked after biting into a cookie.

"That's a story for another time. We've talked about scars one too many times," the Saxon grumbled as he set his son's hot chocolate on the bedside table before resting his face in his hands, "is it too early for a drink?"

M: "I don't think so as long as you keep it light, just like MC says, it's five o'clock somewhere," Eclipse shrugged, "When Poland wakes up on the wrong side of the bed he usually has a White Russian, which is coffee with a bit of vodka in it."

"And is definitely not a drink you should be introducing to him," Mandara interrupted, "you remember what vodka does to this hard head, the Unicorn had to get new floorboards, they couldn't clean up his mess and it smelled awful. Wolf, you can have a small drink if you want, but nothing too strong, Thunder was planning on taking you and Rowen to his military base today and I don't want you being tipsy around all that firepower."

N: "Alright, there's that," Wolfgang mumbled before raising his head, "I'm still going to have a drink anyways."

When he got a hard stare from Mandara, he reiterated, "something light, ok? I'm not that stupid. Where can I get anything? I'm pretty sure Poldara made sure I couldn't find any drinks too easily."

M: "Poldara made it hard for YOU to find drinks, but not the rest of us," Eclipse smirked, "follow me, I know where a stash is."

Eclipse led him away while Mandara stayed with Niko, he took him to the kitchen and opened a hidden door underneath the island, combing through the bottles until he found one that he figured would be ok, not too strong but not too weak.

"Try this one, it's not the top shelf stuff but it'll do for 9:00 in the morning."

N: Wolfgang inspected the bottle before pouring himself a glass of it.

"Woah," he muttered, his eyes widened, "not bad. What is it?"

M: Eclipse took the bottle to check the label, "Captain Morgan Lite, spiced rum, normally rum has quite a bit of alcohol per volume but the Lite means that it has less than the normal bottles. MC's the one who usually buys alcohol so you're not gonna find much fruity spirits in this house, but you don't like wine anyway so I suppose there's no loss there.

N: "Got to hate the French somehow," Wolfgang muttered before downing his glass, "still got that kick either way."

He poured himself one more glass, and this time he slouched on a chair and drank a bit more slowly.

"Am I really cut out to take care of Nikolaus and Angel," the Saxon wondered out loud, staring at his glass as he twirled it in his hand, "I mean, look at me, drinking this early in the morning while the both of them are hurting."

M: "Buddy, you need to spend more time with MC, this is just a Tuesday for him, the man practically lives off alcohol, we've already told you about his Moonshine hut in the woods," Eclipse stated, "that's beside the point, it's not like you don't have experience raising two kids, brothers and sisters at that, sure it wasn't for as long as one hoped but you do have the ability to take care of them both. What's more, you don't have to do it alone, almost everyone in this household has had kids, everyone has experience with parenthood or even grandparenthood."

He put the rum away and patted Wolfgang's shoulder, "have a little faith, if you keep doubting yourself then you are practically guaranteeing yourself to fail, but if you just keep your chin up and turn your 'I can'ts' into 'I cans' you can handle anything. Now, let's get you some breakfast, drinking on an empty stomach can make you get drunk easier and faster."

N: "What do you think I was trying to do," Wolfgang muttered before finishing off his drink and going off with Eclipse to make some breakfast.

Not too long after, they were sitting at the dining table with the Saxon eating away, and feeling much better on a full stomach.

"Would you be joining Rowen and I to the military base," he asked, "after all, you were the one who told me about the transfer today?"