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***Mark's POV***

Sitting at the bar, tumbler in his hand, Mak looks inside the glass as if he was searching for answers.

Grey immediately huffs a large breath of air from beside me. He shifts his foot to move in between me and Daddy Parker.

Martin pushes a hand against Grey's chest.

"MAKIL OLIVER PARKER!" Grey's voice booms through the dark, empty bar.

Mak's head turns, snapping to meet the attention of his very irate husband.

With tear filled eyes, Mak drops his head and turns his attention back towards the glossy bar top.

Grey shoves past both Martin and I; our group stands still watching him carefully.

He walks to the seat that Mak occupies and turns the chair so we can all make out the scene transpiring in front of us.

"May I help you?" Mak's voice is distant, trembling. He seems more fragile than I have ever known.

Seb pushes his forehead into my bicep. I grip him around the waist, pulling him into me.

"You took something that didn't belong to you. I want it back." Grey seems beyond frustrated.

This isn't exactly the Hallmark moment I thought we would bare witness to.

"I'm sorry. You can have it back. I promise." Mak shakes the glass in his hand.

The bartender studiously ignores the full grown men who are filling his bar with no intentions of ordering a single drink. He refills Mak's glass with whiskey.

Grey doesn't say anything. He stares. Mak is the object of his attention.

"What is it? Fuck! Just take it and leave." Mak throws his hand in the air, dismissively waving Grey off.

I almost want to smack the depressed angel.

Without another word, a yelp comes from Mak's lips. His body is hoisted into to the air. His stomach lands on Grey's shoulder.

Grey does an about face before silently walking off through the bar entrance. I hurry to the bar, throw down a stack of bills, and rush off behind our group as we follow Grey.

"What are you doing?" Mak bounces against Grey's back like a sack of potatoes.

"Taking back what you stole from me." Grey doesn't elaborate any further. He scoots into the vehicle with Mak in front of him.

"My stuff." Mak groans.

"What room number?" Grey has a take no prisoner attitude. Mak throws his hands over his face.

"821" It takes seconds for me to send a text to the hotel clerk who already agreed to have it delivered home.

"So, we're gonna act like you didn't just kidnap me?" Mak rolls his eyes.

"Gonna act like you didn't run away from me?" Grey stares Mak down. The tension is absurdly tangible.

"We will talk about this at your house." Mak makes it a hundred times more uncomfortable.

"Mak." Grey growls.

"Mak, cut the fucking shit. It's your house too. I'm trying not to be pissed off at you, but you're just really pushing your luck." Daddy Parker dares Mak with one cut of his eyes.

The ride home is fast. Taking no chances, Grey carries Mak up the stairs.

Not bothering to wait until they were in private, Grey immediately starts talking.

"Give me your shoes Mak." Grey pushes his hand towards Mak. Whatever history that look has, Mak pulls his shoes off before handing them over to his burly husband.

"Now you can't run." Grey hands the shoes to Martin. Daddy Parker walks quickly out of the french doors before throwing the tennis shoes over the balcony. Mak stares with a gaping mouth.

"Sit." Grey snaps his fingers; he paces in front of his quiet husband.

"I am so angry at you. You just. Did you even think? What could possibly have made you? You know what. Don't answer that." Grey moves around, his hands sit on top of his forehead, threaded thru one another. His chin is tilted towards the roof.

"Don't you get it?" Mak starts yelling. The break in his voice is almost too hard to listen to.

"You will never have anything if you are with me. I will always be a liability. Please. Just let me go. You will see how much better off everyone will be without me." Mak chokes on thick sobs.

"You sure he is a genius?" Gavin rolls his eyes and whistles.

"News Flash" Grey throws his hands in the air, closing and opening them with intensity. "I have nothing without you. I am nothing without you. Fuck! Mak, god damn it."

Grey grabs at his biceps and shakes his head.

"If I live a thousand years, this will make no sense to me. Do you really think I would trade a day with you for a lifetime with someone else, even if that means having a family? If so, get you're head checked, genius. I would rather die a thousand harsh deaths than breathe on a planet where you aren't mine. I didn't marry a family, Mak. I married you. I said vows to you. Do you remember that? Do those ring a fucking bell? Vows to love one another through everything." Grey zeroes in on Mak.

"This is part of everything. The moment you chose to leave me behind, I remembered that vow. Everything. When those letters came, I didn't love you less. I loved you more. Don't you dare punish me for other people's opinions. I don't share in their delirium." Grey gets in Mak's face, his chest pressing against Mak's. The weight of that beast of a man causes Mak to bow backwards.

"You are mine. Whether that includes kids or a dog or a fucking Cheetah. I will not live another day without you beside me. Unless you tell me, right now, that you don't love me, well I will personally arrange transportation to get you out of the country. The only reason we will not be together is because you don't love me. Because I sure as fuck love you Mak Parker." Grey pushes his hands into Mak's hair; their eyes lock on to one another.

Mak's lips tremble. The tears run from the corner's of his eyes, down the slope of his reddened cheeks. They escape into his hairline.

"Do you love me, baby?" Grey whispers the words with so much raw emotion, I actually shake my head. My own tears are threatening to break free.

"More than anything." Mak closes his eyes before taking a large gulp of breath.

"That's all I needed to know." Grey falls forward; his hand slides to the back of Mak's neck. Grey pulls him into his mouth like a starving man who just tasted his first meal.

I want to squeal because I'm so fucking happy. I pull Seb closer before kissing him sweetly. I turn my attention back to the action at the counter quickly.

Mak knots Grey's hair in his hand, sliding his legs around Grey's waist. There is not an inch of empty space between their bodies.

Grey pulls Mak forward while he moves greedily down his husband's neck, taking every single thing he wants from his boy, without remorse.

"Rings, Daddy." Mak's words are a pant. His hips continue to rub against Grey.

"After I fuck you." Grey pushes back, bringing Mak with him before charging forward to push Mak against their closed bedroom door.

If I told you that the scene wasn't the start of an amazing porno, I would be bold face lying.

"They're going to be a while. I suggest we all get some food." Martin laughs. Daddy Parker waves us through the house, back towards the elevator we had come in through earlier.

"I have never been more proud of my son." Martin pushes his hands into his face. I wrap my arms around him. He cries into me.

"Martin, it's okay." Seb holds on to Martin's hand as I wipe Martin's tears.

"I just thought I lost them, and that was more than I could bare."

We walk to the pub beside our apartment. It isn't far. We order drinks while going on about the most stressful few weeks we have had in a long time.

"Excuse me for bringing up an open wound." Gavin looks like he regrets what he is going to say.

"You have every right. You have been here. You have suffered the same as each of us." Martin gives the go ahead. Gavin takes it.

"Why is adoption the only choice? Fuck those bigot bastards. Grey and Mak are going to be wonderful parents. Did they think of private surrogacy? Or, private adoption?" Gavin looks to us for answers.

"In my opinion, Mak got his heart set on bringing a brighter future to someone who didn't get a choice in theirs. The problem there is my son-in-law let that block him from the other choices. It may not be what he desired, but there are other ways to help." Martin drinks from his tumbler.

"At the cost of his sanity, is it even worth helping?" Alex pipes up.

"No." The voice has us all turning in our chairs.

We turn to see Grey holding Mak. The way it should be. Always.

"I'm sorry. I'm so damn sorry. I got overwhelmed. I tried to control it. I failed. I apologize for everything. It wasn't any of you who I was running away from. I was trying to lose me." Grey pulls Mak into his lap and cradles him against his chest. Mak's words are sad comfort.

"Well, that was fucking selfish." Gavin stands up, shocking us all. He slams his hand down on the counter and shakes his head.

"You befriended me. The last six months were amazing, everything I ever dreamed of. I wake up one morning, bam. Like a freight train had hit me straight in my heart. I'm so mad at you Mak. You just left me. You left us all. We had to hold it all together while you bounced. That's not what family does. We stick together. If you think you can just run away every time the world throws blows at you, don't come back. I can't handle it. I don't want to. I fucking missed you." Gavin sobs into his hands. His legs start shaking. He falls in Alex's arms as he loses the will to stay vertical.

Mak jumps from Grey's arms and climbs over all of us to get to Gavin. He wraps his arms around him, whispering frantically.

"I was selfish. Never again. I'm so sorry, Gav. Please forgive me. I will do anything."

Gavin looks up with red rimmed eyes. He blinks away the tears that are pooled around his lids. "Anything?" Gavin whispers. He sniffles while looking directly at Mak.

"Anything." Mak promises with a kiss to Gavin's small head.

"Three things." Gavin holds up his fingers.

"Greedy." Mak giggles.

"One: you let me help you find a baby. That's not optional. I will do it anyway." Gavin glares at Mak.

"Deal." Mak smiles at his little friend.

"Two: be my best man when daddy finally decides I am worthy." Gavin rolls his eyes while turning his head to place a kiss on Alex's lips.

"The third?" Mak looks on in anticipation.

"Dance with me." Gavin pushes Mak off of him. Standing up, Gav pulls Mak to the small dance floor. He taps his phone, obviously using the music app to change the juke box. Gavin bounces around as BTS plays through the speakers.

"God what a fucking punishment." Alex laughs while drinking from his beer.

"Yeah. Mak looks real tore up." Grey smiles as his husband grinds down on Gavin.

"You two talk it out?" Seb looks over at Grey. Grey smiles.

"If by talk, you mean did I fuck him into the mattress? Hell yeah I did. Then I almost didn't let him cum. I gave in at the end." Grey shrugs. He's such a sucker.

"I don't know why I'm so invested. But," Martin grins wickedly. "You made him top you, huh?"

"Exactly." I high five Grey. My boy is a genius.

"Then we talked for a few. Those agencies just didn't handle the letters well. It piled up until my baby broke. It isn't worth it." Grey drinks slowly from his glass.

"Sometimes, you have to help yourself." Alex makes the comment. We stare at him in question.

"They aren't always right you know. Mak isn't any of those things. Look at him. He's not emotionally perfect to them, but to us he is far more. He didn't have the upbringing most of us had, but he still managed to climb to the top. That says more than having a family to raise him ever will. He's a fighter. He stood up for all those kids. He faced fears he should not have had to. It makes him better than they are. He isn't a monster. He chased a monster down and put him in his place. When you get your kids, they're going to be damned blessed to have such an incredible daddy. That's what matters. No words can change what is truth." Alex smiles knowingly. He's a fucking genius.

"Yeah. We know that. Mak does too now. I told him. I never wanted anything more than him. Kids included. If it I have to make a choice, which I don't, it will always be him." Grey stands up and walks over to his husband. He pulls him away from Gavin.

Alex walks over to Gavin, taking Mak's place. I pull Seb away. Kip and Mario follow, pulling Martin along with them.

Mario trades Grey partners and Mak laughs. I missed that laugh. It had been one long week of pure hell.

Never again.