Gray’s eyes widened. “Uh… He murdered his children? And you thought a tattoo in his honor was a good idea?”
“There’s something worth retaining in every kind of memory, knucklehead. Here was this funny, friendly, wacky old little man who seemed to have a heart of gold—and yet he’d killed his three sons because they’d joined the rebel forces that terrorized their town. Meeting him changed my outlook on the world. Completely fucked with my head.”
Gray chewed on the corner of his lip.
“I tried to stop judging people for what they did, after meeting him,” Darius murmured. “Because it takes a monster to murder your own offspring. And it takes a hero to fight rebels that outnumber you, rebels that rape and kill other people’s kids and loved ones. So what was he? A monster or a hero? Neither? Or…just a man who’d done both good and bad.” He paused briefly. “It’s not my job to measure one act against another. It’s my responsibility to try to see the whole person.”
Gray was running on way too little sleep to think about ethical dilemmas, especially after the night they’d just had. But he respected Darius’s viewpoint; he admired it, even. A lot.
“I’m so in love with your mind.” He leaned over Darius and kissed his cheek.
Darius hummed contentedly and gathered Gray’s hand in his own. “I don’t think the painkiller’s working, but I can’t feel the pain anymore.”
Gray quirked a grin. It wasn’t working, but it was working? “You feelin’ a little loopy, baby?”
“Not at all,” Darius claimed. “That’s why I don’t think it’s working. It’s a…stay-at-home painkiller. Get it?”
What?
Oh. Working, stay-at-home. Mother of God.
“That’s the worst joke I ever heard.”
“That’s fuckin’ mean,” Darius grumbled, turning onto his side. Thankfully on the side of his good shoulder. “Jayden called me Dad.”
Gray blinked. That came out of nowhere. “He did?”
“Mm. Was an accident, but he’s getting there. It’s all coming together—kinda—but…hear me out, I’m not fucking allergic to marriage. Just…wedding hooplas. I don’t like hooplas.”
Gray smiled widely and had to cover his mouth with a hand to keep from laughing.
He’d thought seeing Darius drunk was the funniest thing ever. Clearly, he was wrong, ’cause Darius hopped up on painkillers took the prize.
“I know you don’t like hooplas, sweetheart.” Gray couldn’t resist. He knew he should let Darius get some sleep, but this was too good. So he got comfortable next to his man instead. “What made you think about marriage?”
“I’m thinking about steak too,” Darius murmured sleepily. His voice was sounding more and more drowsy. “So rare that a good vet should be able to bring it back to life.”
Gray laughed under his breath and stroked Darius’s cheek. It wasn’t the first time he’d said that.
“Things are coming together,” Darius repeated. “Marriage is missin’, innit? Marriage and adoption. Boys gotta be ours permanently, you gotta be mine permanently. Written in stone s’way I like it. Four Quinns and our home base. Cats, dogs, chickens, a few feeder pigs…”
“Oh, we have not discussed feeder pigs.”
“Not yet,” Darius whispered.
It was impossible to get serious about anything right now. Gray smiled and leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to Darius’s lips. “You know I’m already yours for the rest of our lives, right? You’re the love of my life—even when you hide shit to protect me.”
“I would never do that. Go back to saying how much you love me.”
“You’ve done it several times, Darius. Most recently when you hid sixty photos of human trafficking victims from me.”
“Those don’t count,” he argued, slurring his speech. It was a reminder of how dumb it was to talk about this while Darius was riding an opioid wave. “You weren’t supposed to know about that, so it doesn’t count.”
Gray snorted a chuckle and shook his head.
Maybe the drugged confession about marriage had given Gray his own wave to ride, because he wasn’t annoyed worth a damn.
“Get some sleep, baby.” He leaned in and gave Darius one more kiss before rolling off the bed. Gray wanted to catch some sleep too, but he had to eat first. His stomach rumbled in approval. “We’ll discuss marriage and feeder pigs another time.”
“S’long as you say yes to the most important one, I’m good,” Darius mumbled. “And then I’ll get the pigs anyway.”
Gray grinned and walked out of there, and he wasn’t sure he could shake the grin anytime soon.
Gray got three hours of sleep before it was time to say goodbye to River and Reese.
Combat gear had been replaced by sweats, tees, and ratty ball caps.
“This was fun. We should do it again sometime,” Reese said casually.
Gray let out a laugh and hugged the man.
River was next. “Bring your man out to see us in Mclean next time you have babysitters. I reckon you’ll get along with our boy.”
That would definitely be fun, however. “Count us in.” Gray took a step back and smiled at the twins. “Thank you for being here. We couldn’t have done it without you.”