– Monday, October 22nd, 2018 –

I watch Mila slowly close her eyes, giving into the sleep soon after I put her in bed, while Finnley and Oliver were trying to light a camp fire in the pit that is in the backyard of the cabin that we rented with the four of us.

Alex is in the kitchen, putting marshmallows into a bowl, and grabbing drinks; non-alcoholic drinks.

I found out Oliver and Alex were both alcoholics, who were trying to stay sober again after a weaker period in the beginning of the year, and since Finnley isn't allowed to drink anything due to his medical condition, I just figured it would be a decent thing to not drink myself either.

No alcohol in this cabin, for the rest of the week.

The four of us rented a cabin in the Belgium Ardennes, just because we felt like getting away for a while. At first, we wanted to go with the four of us in total, but soon after we agreed on this vacation, Finnley admitted he didn't want to be away from Mila for a whole week. So we took her with us.

"Is she sleeping already?" Finnley appears in the door opening of the bedroom, and I turn to smile at him.

"Almost." I whisper back, reaching a hand in his direction, asking for his hand. He grabs mine and walks up to me, allowing me to hug him from behind, my arms around his waist and my chin on his shoulder, as we both look down at Mila.

"She's growing so fast." Finnley whispers. "She's already two months."

"Before you know it, she'll be walking, and running away from us. And talking, talking, talking."

"In the blink of an eye, she'll reach puberty and starts to annoy the hell out of us."

"And we'll have to scare away all the boys who want to date her."

"Oh, there will be no dating until she's 18."

"Agreed." I chuckle, and he smiles, sighing in content.

"You are so going to be the same as your father. Embarrassing her in front of others and making jokes about her to tease her."

"But of course, I will. That's my duty as her father, isn't it?"

Finnley laughs softly, nodding. "You do that, so she can come to me for love and hugs and everything."

"She's totally going to be your princess. I already know I'll never come near the bond you two will have."

"I'm sure you will. You're just as much her father, Cris." Finnley turns a bit to look at me. "Maybe not by blood, but most definitely by heart. I see how you look at her. You love her endlessly. You did from the first second, just like I did."

"Which is true, but you just... everything is so natural when you do it. I'm just awkwardly learning how to take care of her."

"Don't forget I had practise with Liv and Lara already, and you never came near a baby because you thought they were loud and obnoxious."

"I still think they are, just not Mila."

"She is quite the silent one, huh?" Finnley grins. But he's right. Mila hardly ever cries, just when she's really tired, or hungry, or whenever she just woke up. But she isn't screaming for attention, she isn't crying when she's being put in bed. She just stares at us and falls asleep.

"Let's go outside." Finnley whispers, placing a kiss on my cheek. "She'll let us know when she needs us."

I nod, set up the baby monitor and walk outside with him, where he turns on the other monitor before we sit down by the fire.

Oliver is poking into the fire to get it to burn better, while Alex hands us our soda's, soon returning with the snacks.

"So, fire." Oliver gestures widely. "Like you requested, Pretty boy."

He chuckles and grins. "Thanks Oli-dollie.

"Ugh... that name..." Oliver rolls his eyes, grabs a marshmallow as soon as Alex placed it on a side table, and puts it on a stick.

"Stop calling me Pretty boy, and I'll stop calling you Oli-dollie."

"But you are a pretty boy, sir." I lean towards him with a seductive smirk, but he nudges me and pushes me away with a scowl.

"Long glad I lost my nickname." Alex mutters as Oliver pulled him down and into his lap. He leans into Oliver's hold, who puts his arms around Alex in a way that they're both cuddling, and he's roasting a marshmallow.

"What was yours?" I curiously ask, putting two marshmallows on sticks for Finnley and myself in the mean time.

"Baby face." Finnley and Alex tell me in the same time, making me laugh a bit.

"That's adorable."

"It's not going to be a thing again," Alex deadpans while sending me a warning look. "Kiddo."

I stop laughing, send him an unimpressed look and shrug carelessly. "A kiddo couldn't raise a kid, and I'm doing that."

"We'redoing that." Finnley corrects me with a chuckle, staring at his marshmallow. His eyes turn glazy as soon as a silence settles, and I can't help but stare at him in awe, wondering what's going through his mind right now.

He seems so relaxed that it's hard to tell how many things happened in the past years, but at least it tells me he is content with his life right now – despite his medical condition.

We chat for a while about school, Alex' job, Oliver's recovery after the car crash, my recovery – Finnley's condition is avoided because he doesn't want to talk about it – and about small unimportant things.

In between, Mila once woke, Finnley took her outside shortly, brought her back to bed after a while, and came back with a black box that I remember distinctively. He showed me the box during summer, to remind me of a lost memory, and how important that memory was.

The memory about the day he told me what Sydney did to him when he was a kid, and the photo's he kept as evidence. He told me how his parents had thrown them away, while Charlie recovered them because he thought they might be needed whenever Finnley was going to file a report for abuse.

The pictures did serve their purpose in court, and now he took them on our trip, baffling me a bit.

"Why did you take those with you?"

"Because I think I need to put it behind me." He sits down in between Oliver and me, staring at the box for a short while, before he looks towards the fire. "I want to burn them, as the mark of a new beginning. A better life, a happier life... no more dwelling over the past."

"That's a good step to take." Oliver agrees, nodding a bit. "If you're ready though."

"I am." Finnley sends me a warm smile. "I have the best boyfriend in the world, I have an amazingly adorable daughter and every day, they remind me that there's a bright future, and the past is in the past, and it should stay there." He grabs the box, opens it, and grabs the photographs – that are in an envelope. "So, this is to a new beginning, and a bright future."

I watch how he throws the pictures into the fire, and for a while, the four of us just watch them burn in silence.

It's Finnley who breaks that silence again. "And since we're here, with the four of us anyway, Cristian and I want to ask you guys something."

I smile, knowing what this is about, while he grabs my hand and we turn to look at a our two best friends.

"What?" Oliver frowns a bit worried, and Alex sits up a bit.

"We've went over endless of possibilities, but we kept coming to the same conclusion. We want you guys to be Mila's godparents."

"Wait, seriously?" Alex' eyes widen in surprise, and he sits up straight. "Us?"

"Yeah." I nod, squeezing Finnley's hand supportively.

"What if we ever break up?" Oliver wonders aloud, though Alex hits his shoulder for it. "What? It's a possibility. We're not married. We're not even together that long."

"I don't care about that. I just care about Mila, having two decent parental figures would anything ever happen to us." Finnley looks at me shortly.

"And we all know there's always a possibility something will happen. But we're both sure you two are the best choice."

"What about Stan and Nathan?"

"Thought about it, but Oli..." Finnley sounds a bit whiny. "You're our best friend. Both of ours. The way you took care of me when I was a mess, the way you took care of Cris when he was a mess..."

"I get Oli, but why me?"

"Because you are my second-best friend, you know what I went through, you know what evil is out there, and I'm absolutely sure you will do everything in your power to protect Mila from that part of the world." Finnley kicks him. "Plus, you're great with kids, and she really likes you."

"True." Oliver nods and nudges Alex with a smile. "And I'm going to marry you no matter what, just not now."

Alex' face flushes, and he stares at Oliver for a while, when he whispers; "are we gonna get married, yeah?"

"Yeah." Oliver shrugs. "I know you're the one. I'm just waiting for you to be sure I'm the one too."

"Fool." Alex laughs awkwardly. "I already know you are the one. You're the first and only I had a relationship with, because I know you are the one."

"Well then..." Oliver chuckles. "We'll be godparents?"

"Yes, we will." Alex smirks.

A/N This is not the end, yet. There's one more chapter. okay? :) Thank you for your attention, please leave comments and votes! :D