The blue light of teleportation faded, depositing Jay, Domino, and Luv back in the heart of their Savage Land sanctuary. The waterfall's thunder rolled through the cave like distant drums while sunlight refracted through the cascading water and painted rainbow patterns across wet stone.

  Luv's eyes went round as dinner plates, his little body tensing in Jay's arms. "Dad? Where are we? It's so pretty!"

  Realising this is the first time Luv is properly seeing their Home as he's just been to their bedroom and kitchen, "Home, buddy," Jay said, setting him down carefully. His hand stayed on the kid's shoulder, steadying.

  Luv's gaze tracked across the cave's interior, drinking it in like he was seeing it for the first time. The space opened up behind the waterfall curtain into something that shouldn't exist: Reed Richards' technology nested among Cretaceous rock formations. Holographic displays floated near the sleeping area, their blue glow reflecting off crystalline mineral deposits in the walls. A sectional couch that had definitely cost someone a fortune sat arranged around a massive television screen. The kitchen area gleamed with modern appliances that looked absurd next to stalactites dripping from the ceiling. Recognition flickered across his young face.

  "I remember!" Luv bounced on his toes. "This is where Mom made pancakes! And where the cat chases the mouse!"

  Domino's smile lit up her whole face, "That's right, sweetheart. Welcome home."

  Jay watched them both, something twisting in his chest, like a locked door opening.

  The realization hit him harder than most punches from Death; this was his life now.

  The next morning arrived with all the subtlety of a flashbang grenade.

  Luv's little hands shook Jay's shoulder with the persistence of a telemarketer.

  Poke. Poke. Poke.

  "Dad, I'm hungry. Can we have breakfast?"

  Jay groaned, his brain still three states away from functional. Not used to being woken at dawn. Jay hadn't needed sleep regularly in months, and now, after his fight with Death, his body remembered what exhaustion felt like. But the moment he cracked one eye open and saw Luv's hopeful blue eyes, wide, earnest and completely convinced Dad could solve this crisis, resistance crumbled.

  "Yeah, buddy. Let's go see what we can make."

  Domino lifted her head from the pillow, white hair falling across her face. One eye opened, tracked them, closed again. "It's five in the morning."

  "Kids don't understand time zones," Jay muttered, scooping Luv up and heading toward the kitchen area.

  "Or consideration," Domino called after them, but her voice carried amusement.

  Jay set Luv down at the counter and stared at the kitchen like it might attack him. Cooking. Right. He could reshape reality, manipulate cosmic forces, and had once dog-fought with FURY, but making breakfast for a five-year-old?

  Terrifying.

  "What do you want, buddy? And please say cereal because that's about my skill level."

  "Pancakes! Like Mom makes!"

  Of course.

  Twenty minutes later, the kitchen looked like a war zone with batter on the ceiling and somehow batter on the wall six feet from the stove. Luv covered in flour like a tiny ghost while Jay contemplated whether he could steal the time stone to just make this never have happened and save face in front of his son.

  But the pancakes on the plate looked... pancake-adjacent, close enough.

  Luv attacked them with enthusiasm, his vocabulary expanding in real time. "These are really good, Dad! Not as good as Mom's, but still really good!"

  "Thanks, son. Your honesty is refreshing."

  Domino emerged from the bedroom, took one look at the kitchen, and laughed so hard she had to lean against the wall.

  "Don't," Jay warned.

  "I'm not saying anything."

  "You're thinking it very loudly."

  "That's just your guilt manifesting." She crossed to Luv, dropping a kiss on his flour-dusted head. "Morning, sweetheart. Did Dad try to burn the cave down?"

  "Almost! But he caught it!"

  Jay had, in fact, caught the kitchen towel that had somehow ignited, though he chose not to examine how that had happened.

  Domino caught his eye over Luv's head, her expression softening with warmth.

  Domino's hand found his across the counter and squeezed once, a whole conversation in that single gesture.

  We're figuring this out. Together. Don't panic.

  Jay squeezed back. I'm already panicking. But I'm here.

  Luv, oblivious to the adult emotional complexity happening above his head, kept eating.

  By the third day, Jay had learned several critical things about parenting:

  One: Five-year-olds have infinite energy, physics-defying, thermodynamics-violating and absolute perpetual motion.

  Two: The phrase "I'm not tired" is always a lie.

  Three: He had no idea what he was doing and was absolutely winging it.

  Domino had slipped into a teaching rhythm that surprised both of them, not the formal instruction of a hired tutor, but the practical knowledge of someone who'd survived by understanding how the world worked. Colors and shapes, numbers and letters, the names of things Luv saw around the cave. The kid absorbed everything with startling speed, his enhanced genetics of course, giving him processing power that made learning feel less like education and more like downloading software.

  "What's that?" Luv pointed at the waterfall one morning.

  "Water falling from high up," Domino explained. "Gravity pulls it down. Makes that sound you hear all the time, like thunder that never stops."

  "Why doesn't it run out?"

  Domino paused, looked at Jay, and Jay looked back while neither of them actually knew the hydrological specifics of their magical hidden valley.

  "Because there's a lot of water," Jay tried.

  "But where does it come from?"

  "Clouds."

  "What's clouds?"

  This was going to be a long childhood.

  "Can we touch it?" Luv asked, already moving toward the cave entrance with the single-minded focus of a kid on a mission.

  Domino's hand shot out, snagged the back of his overalls. "We can do better than that." Her eye glinted with something that looked dangerously like mischief. "We can swim in it."

  Jay opened his mouth to object, to point out the million ways this could go wrong with the water pressure, the rocks, the fact that Luv probably couldn't swim.

  Domino shot him a look that clearly said: We're doing this. We are literal demi-gods. Stop being paranoid.

  Fair enough.

  The pool at the base of the waterfall stretched out in crystal-clear brilliance, fed by the cascade and draining away through underground channels. Mist hung in the air like suspended diamonds while the roar of falling water filled everything and made conversation nearly impossible.

  Luv stood at the edge, tiny toes curling against smooth stone, his face cycling through emotions: excitement, uncertainty, determination.

  "It's really loud!"

  "It is!" Domino had to shout over the thunder. "You ready?"

  Luv nodded, grabbed her hand, and jumped.

  The splash sent water three feet in every direction.

  When Luv's head broke the surface, his shriek of delight probably scared every dinosaur within a mile radius. He spun in circles with his arms spread wide, letting the mist soak his clothes and hair and face and everything. Water plastered his brown hair to his skull, made his blue eyes seem impossibly bright.

  Jay and Domino watched from the cave entrance, hands finding each other without conscious thought, hearts full in ways they hadn't known were possible.

  "We're terrible at this," Jay said quietly, just loud enough for Domino to hear.

  "Absolutely awful," she agreed.

  "He's going to be so messed up."

  "Completely traumatized."

  Luv chose that moment to try to drink directly from the waterfall, got a mouthful of water that made him cough and laugh simultaneously, then did it again.

  "He's perfect," Domino whispered.

  "Yeah," Jay agreed. "He really is."

  Her head tilted, resting against his shoulder while his arm came up and wrapped around her waist. They stood like that, watching their son play, and neither of them said what they were both thinking.

  That this felt right in a way nothing else ever had.

  That it terrified them both.

  That they wouldn't trade it for anything.

  The Savage Land stretched out beyond their cave in impossible grandeur.

  Ancient tree ferns rose fifty feet high, their fronds creating a canopy that filtered sunlight into shafts of gold and green. Cycads clustered in prehistoric profusion, their primitive forms unchanged for millions of years. The air hung thick with humidity and the scent of vegetation so lush it bordered on overwhelming. Somewhere in the distance, something roared while something else answered.

  This wasn't the Savage Land from the comics but real, dangerous, alive in ways that made Jay's threat assessment constantly spike.

  Which was exactly why Luv needed to see it.

  Jay kept his null field tight, wrapping Luv in suppression that would prevent any accidental reality warping while still allowing the enhanced durability that came with his genetics. The kid bounced beside them, head swiveling to take in everything, questions firing like a machine gun.

  "What's that tree? Why's it so big? Do dinosaurs eat trees? Can trees eat dinosaurs? What if a tree was a dinosaur?"

  "That's a tree fern," Jay answered. "They're big because they're old. Dinosaurs do eat trees. Trees don't eat dinosaurs. And that last one is just weird, buddy."

  "But what if," Luv insisted with the logic of a five-year-old.

  Domino's probability senses flared. She froze, hand shooting out to stop them both.

  Thirty seconds later, a Tyrannosaurus Rex crossed the path ahead, each footfall shaking the ground hard enough to rattle Luv's teeth. Forty feet of apex predator, scales gleaming copper and bronze in the filtered light, eyes tracking for prey with the cold calculation of evolution's finest killing machine.

  Luv's mouth fell open while his entire body went rigid.

  The T-Rex paused, head swiveling, massive jaws parting to reveal teeth the size of combat knives.

  Then it moved on, crashing through the undergrowth in pursuit of something they couldn't see.

  Jay realized he'd stopped breathing.

  Luv tugged on his hand. "Dad, that was so cool. Can I have one?"

  "No."

  "But Dad..."

  "Absolutely not. We're not getting a T-Rex."

  "But..."

  "Not negotiable, buddy."

  Domino's shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. "Maybe something smaller, kiddo. Like that thing over there."

  She pointed.

  In a clearing where massive ferns grew in wild profusion, a Triceratops munched on vegetation with the unconcerned manner of an animal that had no natural predators. Twenty feet long, scales shading from dusty brown to green, the three horns on its massive head gleaming like polished ivory. The frill around its neck bore scars from old battles, proof this particular specimen had survived more than one encounter.

  Luv froze, his little hand gripping Jay's finger so hard the bones ground together. "Dad, is that also a dinosaur?"

  "That's a Triceratops," Jay said, kneeling to Luv's level. "Herbivore… I mean plant-eater. See how it's just chomping on those ferns? It won't hurt us unless we scare it. And even then, probably not. They're pretty chill."

  Luv's eyes tracked the creature's every movement: the way its tail swished, how its beak-like mouth stripped vegetation with mechanical efficiency, the occasional huff of breath that sent mist into the air.

  "Can I touch it?"

  Domino laughed, the sound ringing through the clearing. The Triceratops' head lifted briefly, regarded them with one massive eye, then returned to its meal. "Not this one, kiddo. But maybe we can find something that won't accidentally flatten you."

  "Promise?"

  "Promise."

  They watched the Triceratops for another ten minutes before moving on while Luv kept looking back, like he was afraid it might disappear.

  Three days later, they found something better.

  The juvenile Pachycephalosaurus stood about three feet tall at the shoulder, roughly the size of a large dog. Its domed skull gleamed slate-gray in the morning light, the thick bone cap designed for headbutting rivals and predators alike. Dusty green scales covered its body, fading to cream along the belly while yellow eyes regarded them with what might have been curiosity.

  It looked lost or maybe orphaned, though it was hard to tell with dinosaurs.

  Luv approached it with the fearless curiosity of childhood, his hand extended palm-up like Domino had taught him.

  Jay tensed, ready to snatch the kid back if the dinosaur attacked.

  The Pachycephalosaurus sniffed Luv's palm with hot breath and wet nose, then bumped its domed head against Luv's chest with enough force to make him stumble backward.

  Luv's startled yelp turned into giggling with pure, uninhibited delight.

  The dinosaur bumped him again, gentler this time.

  "He likes me!" Luv bounced up, immediately approached for another headbutt. "Dad, Mom, the dinosaur likes me! Can we keep him? Please? I'll take care of him and feed him and everything!"

  Jay and Domino exchanged glances loaded with unspoken communication.

  Jay: This is a terrible idea.

  Domino: Absolutely the worst.

  Jay: We're keeping it, aren't we?

  Domino: One hundred percent.

  "What are you going to name him?" Domino asked, already accepting the inevitable.

  Luv didn't even hesitate. "Bonk!"

  "Bonk?" Jay repeated.

  "Because he bonks!" Luv demonstrated by gently headbutting the air. "See? Bonk bonk bonk!"

  The Pachycephalosaurus, now officially named Bonk, headbutted Luv again while this time Luv was ready, bracing himself and laughing.

  And that was how they acquired a dinosaur.

  The bonding process took days, not the instant connection Luv had imagined, but the slow building of trust between boy and prehistoric creature.

  First came the feeding where Luv gathered ferns under Domino's supervision, learning which plants were safe and which weren't. Bonk accepted the offerings with cautious sniffing before eating, always keeping one eye on the humans.

  "Here, Bonk! I got you the good ones!" Luv would call, arms full of vegetation.

  Bonk would approach, eat, headbutt gently, then retreat.

  Then came the touch where Luv spent hours sitting near Bonk, talking in that constant stream-of-consciousness way kids do, letting the dinosaur get used to his voice and presence.

  "So there's this cat and this mouse, right? And the cat is always trying to catch the mouse but he never does because the mouse is really smart. And sometimes there's a dog..."

  Bonk would listen, or at least tolerate the noise, while methodically working through whatever ferns Luv had gathered.

  By the end of the first week, Bonk followed Luv everywhere, slept outside the cave entrance at night curled into a surprisingly compact ball, and greeted the child each morning with enthusiastic headbutts that somehow never hurt.

  Jay watched it happen with a mix of wonder and concern.

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  "The kid's bonding with a dinosaur."

  Domino settled beside him on the cave's ledge, her shoulder against his. "He's building connections and learning to care for something. That's not a bad thing."

  "What happens when Bonk grows up? Adult Pachycephalosaurus can be aggressive."

  "Then we'll deal with it." Her hand found his. "Same way we're dealing with everything else. Making it up as we go and hoping we don't screw up too badly."

  Jay's thumb traced circles on her palm, a habit he'd developed without noticing. "You're better at this than you think."

  "So are you." She turned, meeting his eyes. "Stop waiting for the other shoe to drop. We're allowed to be happy."

  "Are we?"

  "I'm going to say yes." Her free hand came up, cupped his jaw. "Because I'm choosing to be. And you should too."

  Jay leaned into the touch and let himself have this moment, this woman, this life they were building.

  "Okay," he whispered.

  "Okay?" Her eye searched his face.

  "Yeah." He kissed her lips. "Okay."

  The call to Kamar-Taj happened in the third week.

  Jay stood in their cave with Luv bouncing excitedly beside him and teleported with practiced ease. The golden sparks of dimensional magic crackled, forming a circle that opened onto the training courtyard.

  The Ancient One waited on the other side, her expression carrying warmth that still surprised him every time he saw it.

  "Jay," she said, but her attention fixed on Luv. "And how have you been Luv?"

  Luv peeked out from behind Jay's leg, his blue eyes wide with that mix of shyness and curiosity unique to children. "Grandma Yao! I missed you so much. Did you miss me?"

  The Ancient One's smile deepened, reaching her eyes in a way Jay had rarely witnessed. "I did. And I was hoping you might want to learn something special. Would you like that?"

  Luv looked up at Jay, then at Domino, then back to the Ancient One. "What kind of special?"

  "Magic," the Ancient One said simply while raising her hand. Golden light bloomed in her palm, spinning into geometric patterns that rotated through impossible dimensions. "Would you like to learn how to make the pretty lights yourself?"

  The child's face lit up like someone had turned on a spotlight inside him. He nodded so enthusiastically his whole body vibrated, nearly losing his balance.

  What followed became more than just weekly training but routine, structure, something Luv could count on.

  Every few days, Jay would teleport them to Kamar-Taj where Luv would burst through already talking, already excited, already ready to learn.

  The Ancient One had infinite patience with the child and taught him to sense mystical energy through games that looked like play but carried serious instruction beneath the surface.

  "Close your eyes, little one," she'd instruct, her voice carrying that ageless quality that made it impossible to tell if she was amused or serious. "Feel the energy around you. It moves like water, flows like air. Tell me where it gathers most strongly."

  Luv would scrunch his small face in concentration, his hands waving in the air like he was conducting an invisible orchestra. "Um... there! No, wait. Wait wait wait... there!"

  He was wrong the first dozen times, got frustrated, and stomped his foot. "It's too hard! I can't feel anything!"

  The Ancient One never showed impatience. "Then we try differently. Magic is not the same for everyone. Some feel it as warmth. Some as light. Some as sound. What do you feel when you close your eyes and think very hard?"

  Luv scrunched his eyes shut so hard his whole face crinkled. "Like... like humming? But not in my ears. In my tummy?"

  "Excellent." The Ancient One's approval carried genuine pride. "That is your connection to the mystical. Now, follow that humming. Let it guide you."

  It took three weeks of near-daily practice before Luv managed to create his first spark.

  A mote of golden light, smaller than a firefly, flickered in his palm for maybe three seconds before winking out.

  But it was real, genuine magic, not inherited power or genetic gift, but skill he'd learned through effort and practice.

  Luv stared at his empty palm, mouth hanging open, then looked up at the Ancient One, at Jay, at Domino.

  "I did it," he whispered. "I made magic!"

  His shout of joy echoed through the entire monastery, probably startling novices three courtyards over. He bounced on his toes, jumped up and down, spun in circles. "Did you see?! Did you see?! I made the light! It was right there!"

  Jay and Domino, watching from where they'd been pretending not to hover nervously, felt pride crash over them like a tidal wave.

  Jay's throat went tight while Domino's eye got suspiciously bright.

  "Our son just cast his first spell," Domino said quietly, her voice rough with emotion.

  "Kid's going to be a sorcerer," Jay agreed. His hand found hers, squeezed hard enough to ground them both. "Among other things."

  "That doesn't terrify you?"

  "Everything about this terrifies me." He turned, met her eye. "But I wouldn't change it."

  The Ancient One approached them while Luv tried desperately to recreate his success, his small face scrunched in concentration, golden sparks sputtering in and out of existence. "He has extraordinary potential as we assumed."

  "Is that safe?" Jay asked. "With his other abilities still dormant?"

  The Ancient One's expression turned thoughtful, almost calculating. "Actually, this may be the wisest path." Her gaze remained on Luv, who'd managed to create another spark and was now trying to make it dance. "Magic demands discipline, focus and understanding that actions have consequences." She paused, choosing her words. "Teaching him these principles now, while his reality-warping abilities remain suppressed, gives him tools and a framework. When his other powers manifest, he will already understand the weight of what he can do."

  Jay processed that, and it made a disturbing amount of sense.

  "You're teaching him restraint before he has the power to need it."

  "Precisely." The Ancient One smiled, but it carried an edge. "The most dangerous sorcerers are those who gain power before wisdom. Your son will have both, in the correct order."

  Wong chose that moment to stride across the courtyard, his expression carrying its usual stern disapproval. He stopped, regarded Luv with the intensity of someone examining a particularly interesting specimen.

  "The child has potential," Wong said flatly. "Also terrible form. His stance is completely wrong."

  Luv looked up, confused. "What's a stance?"

  "The foundation of all spellwork." Wong moved with surprising speed for someone so solid, adjusting Luv's feet with precise taps. "Feet shoulder-width. Balanced. You cannot draw from the earth if you are standing like a drunken crane."

  "I'm not a crane! I'm a boy!"

  "Then stand like one." But Wong's mouth twitched, almost smiled though it didn't, but almost.

  Mordo observed from a distance, arms crossed, expression unreadable. When he finally approached, his voice carried skepticism.

  "Teaching one so young is dangerous. Especially one with his... genetics."

  The Ancient One's response was mild. "All teaching is dangerous, Master Mordo. That is why we do it carefully."

  "And if he loses control?"

  "Then we will be here to guide him back." She turned, meeting Mordo's gaze with calm certainty. "Just as we were for you. And Wong. And every student who has walked these halls."

  Mordo's jaw worked before he gave a curt nod, then stalked off.

  Luv, oblivious to the adult tension, tugged on Wong's sleeve. "Can you teach me more? I wanna make bigger lights!"

  Wong looked down at the child and sighed with the weight of someone accepting an inevitable burden. "Patience comes before power, young one. First, you will learn to maintain your stance for one hour without moving."

  "A whole hour?! That's forever!"

  "Then you will have time to contemplate why discipline matters." Wong's expression remained stern, but his hand rested on Luv's head with surprising gentleness. "Begin now."

  The transition to introducing Luv to the wider world happened in careful stages.

  First came the video calls with Sue and Jean.

  Sue's face appeared first, her expression already emotional before anyone even spoke.

  "Hi, sweetheart," she managed, her voice thick.

  Luv waved enthusiastically from Jay's lap. "Hi! Mrs Richards? Dad said you wanted to talk to me!"

  Sue's hand came up, pressed against her mouth briefly. "I wanted to see how you're doing. How's your week been?"

  "I rode a dinosaur!" Luv bounced with excitement, nearly headbutting Jay's chin. "Well, Bonk let me sit on his back for like two seconds before he shook me off, but it counts! And I made magic! The light came from my hand and everything! And Dad makes really bad pancakes but they're still good because Dad made them!"

  Sue's laugh came out wet as she wiped at her eyes, not bothering to hide the tears. "That definitely all counts. Every bit of it. You're having such adventures."

  Jean's face appeared beside Sue's, her own expression carefully controlled but her eyes suspiciously bright. "Hi, Luv. Do you remember me? I'm Nathan's mom. He's still too little to talk, but he likes meeting you. I can tell."

  "When will he be big enough to play?" Luv tilted his head, curious.

  "Not for a while yet." Jean's voice cracked slightly. "But when he is, I bet you two will be great friends."

  "And Franklin too! We can all be friends together!"

  The calls continued weekly where sometimes Sue and Jean asked questions about his life, sometimes they just wanted to watch him play, to see him exist and be happy, and sometimes they couldn't talk at all when emotion overwhelmed them too quickly.

  Jay and Domino gave them space to feel whatever they needed to feel since this child carried the genetics of their sons, and that meant something, even if the relationship was impossible to define.

  The in-person visits started in the fourth week.

  Jay portaled them to the Baxter Building on a Sunday afternoon where Reed and Scott wanted to see Luv in person again, to understand how the genetic combination had stabilized.

  They'd barely materialized before Reed started talking.

  "If we could just run a few non-invasive scans, purely diagnostic, just to map the neural pathways and genetic expression patterns..."

  Jay's expression went flat. "No."

  "But the scientific implications..."

  "He's five." Jay's voice carried an edge that made Reed pause. "You're not running tests on a five-year-old. He's a kid, not a science experiment. That clear enough?"

  Reed flinched with actual shame crossing his features. "You're right. I'm sorry. Sometimes I get caught up in the puzzle and forget there's a person at the center of it."

  "Yeah. Don't." Jay's hand rested on Luv's shoulder, protective. "Forget again and we'll have a problem."

  Luv, who'd been watching the adults with wide eyes, tugged on Jay's sleeve. "Are they mad at us?"

  "No, buddy." Jay knelt, meeting his eyes. "Just making sure everyone understands the rules. That okay?"

  "Okay!" Luv's attention immediately shifted to the massive windows overlooking the city. "Whoa! You can see everything from up here!"

  Franklin and Nathan were there, both babies regarding Luv with that same intense focus from their first meeting, the connection still undeniable and still impossible to explain.

  When Luv approached, both infants reached for him while Franklin cooed and Nathan kicked his legs.

  Luv knelt between them, carefully like he'd been taught, and let them grab his fingers. "Hi, Franklin. Hi, Nathan. I learned new magic! Wanna see?"

  He created a tiny spark of golden light in his palm that flickered weakly but held.

  Both babies' eyes tracked the light with laser focus while Franklin made a happy gurgling sound and Nathan's little hands opened and closed like he was trying to grab the magic itself.

  Sue watched with her hand over her heart while Jean's arm wrapped around her shoulders, both women processing something too complex for words.

  The afternoon stretched into evening where Luv played with the babies under supervision, showing them his magic tricks, telling them about Bonk and the Savage Land and how Dad makes really bad pancakes. The infants couldn't understand the words, but they listened anyway, rapt.

  When it came time to leave, Luv hugged both babies carefully.

  "I'll come back soon," he promised. "And when you're big, we'll play together. Okay?"

  Franklin cooed agreement while Nathan grabbed a fistful of Luv's hair and refused to let go until Jean gently extracted his fingers.

  As blue light built around them for departure, Luv waved enthusiastically.

  "Bye, Franklin! Bye, Nathan! Bye, Franklin's mom and Nathan's mom!"

  The portal closed, leaving Sue and Jean standing in sudden silence.

  The old Queen's warehouse felt different this time.

  Jay stood at the entrance with Domino beside him and Luv's hand in his while the familiar space looked exactly as he remembered: concrete floors, exposed rafters, the battered couch and makeshift kitchen. But now his inner circle waited inside, the people who'd become his first family in this reality.

  Maria stood near the workbench, her arms crossed, her expression carrying both curiosity and calculation as she'd been watching them since they arrived, probability senses no doubt analyzing every interaction.

  Bobby leaned against the kitchen counter, weathered face carefully neutral in that way that meant he was feeling more than he'd admit.

  Max hovered by the stove where something was already cooking, filling the warehouse with scents that made Luv's nose twitch.

  Linda sat on the couch, her hands twisted together, her eyes already suspiciously bright.

  Old Tom occupied his corner chair, regarding the proceedings with that thousand-yard stare that spoke of too many years and too much seen.

  Jay's throat felt tight since these people had taken him in when he'd been nobody, had trusted him despite every reason not to, and had become the foundation he'd built everything else on.

  And now he was introducing them to his son.

  The weight of that moment threatened to crush him.

  Domino's hand squeezed his, grounding, while her eye met his. We've got this.

  "Guys," Jay said, his voice carrying more nervousness than when he'd faced cosmic abstracts, "there's someone I want you to meet."

  He gently nudged Luv forward while the kid looked up at the assembled group with wide blue eyes, then glanced back at Jay for reassurance.

  "It's okay, buddy. These are my friends. They're good people."

  Luv took a breath that puffed out his little chest before stepping forward and offering his hand with the careful formality Domino had been teaching him. "Hello, my name is Luv! It means the love of both my mom and my dad."

  The warehouse went dead silent, the kind of silence that rang in the ears.

  Bobby pushed off from the counter, moved slowly, then knelt to bring himself to eye level with the child while his calloused hand engulfed Luv's tiny one. "Well now, Luv, that's just about the finest name I ever heard." His voice carried the rough edges of too many cigarettes and not enough sleep, but gentled for the kid. "Name's Bobby. Been knowin' your dad since he first showed up in here lookin' like a drowned cat."

  Luv's eyes went wide. "Dad was a cat?"

  Bobby's bark of laughter shattered the tension like a hammer through glass. "Nah, kid. Just looked scared and emo. Point is, I'm an old friend. Real old."

  Luv studied Bobby's weathered face with the blunt assessment of childhood. "You look really old. Are you older than Grandma Yao?"

  More laughter, this time from multiple throats.

  "Not quite that old, kid," Bobby said, his grin showing teeth. "But gettin' there. Few more years and I'll need a walker."

  Max crossed from the kitchen, crouching with practiced ease while his whole face transformed when he smiled, years dropping away, eyes crinkling. "Hey there, little man. I'm Max. I'm the guy who made sure your dad doesn't starve, which is harder than it sounds 'cause the man eats for a whole football team."

  Luv's eyes got even wider. "You make food? Can you make pancakes? Mom makes really good pancakes, but Dad's are kind of bad. He says 'variety is learning to accept failure gracefully.'"

  Jay groaned. "I did not say that."

  Domino's shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.

  Max grinned. "Kid, I can make pancakes that'll change your whole life. Chocolate chips, blueberries, whatever you want. Your dad's been holdin' out on you."

  Luv spun to face Jay, his expression one of complete betrayal. "Dad! You didn't tell me pancakes could have chocolate! That's mean!"

  Jay threw up his hands in surrender. "Guilty. I'm a terrible parent. Max is clearly superior in all ways. This is my life now."

  The laughter that followed felt like acceptance.

  Maria approached next, moving with the fluid grace that came from years of combat and probability manipulation as she studied Luv with an intensity that made the kid shift slightly closer to Jay's leg.

  Then her expression softened, warmed in a way Jay had rarely seen.

  "You've got your mom's eyes," she said to Domino, her voice carrying genuine warmth

  Domino's smile turned genuine. "He's smarter than he gives off. Give him a few years and he'll be running around and impossible things, and that's just...."

  "Terrifying." But Maria said it with approval.

  Linda rose from the couch, moving carefully like she was approaching something precious and fragile while her eyes were already wet, tears tracking down her cheeks unchecked. When she knelt, her hands twisted together to keep from reaching out uninvited. "Can I give you a hug, sweetheart? I promise I'm not scary even though I look ready to cry. I just... I'm just really happy to meet you."

  Luv looked to Domino, who nodded encouragement, then the child stepped forward and was immediately enveloped in Linda's arms, her embrace fierce but gentle, like she was holding something infinitely valuable.

  "Thank you," Linda whispered, so quiet only those nearby could hear, her voice breaking. "Thank you for giving our Jay something to fight for beyond just survival. For giving him a reason to build a nest."

  When she released him, Luv looked confused but not uncomfortable. "Why are you thanking me? I didn't do anything special. I'm just me."

  "Exactly," Linda said simply. "That's everything."

  Old Tom had remained silent throughout, but now he cleared his throat with a sound like grinding gravel while everyone tensed slightly. Bobby's hand moved subtly toward where he kept a knife while Maria's probability senses flared, calculating threat percentages.

  Tom's previous "incidents for science" had left everyone cautious.

  The old man fixed Luv with a stare that had made grown men nervous, his eyes carrying the weight of too many years and too much violence.

  "Boy," Tom said in his gravelly voice, each word measured. "You planning to take care of your folks? Make sure they don't do anything stupid?"

  Luv's small chest puffed out while his chin lifted with five-year-old determination. "I'm going to protect them! Dad taught me that family protects each other! So I'll protect Dad and Mom and make sure they're safe!"

  Tom stared at him for a long moment while the warehouse held its breath.

  Then the old man's weathered face cracked into something that might have been a smile, though it might have been, and was hard to tell with all the scars.

  "Good answer, kid." Tom's nod carried approval. "You remember that. Keep your folks safe. They need it more than they'll admit."

  He stood, grabbed his jacket, and headed for the door without another word.

  The tension bled out of the room.

  Bobby whistled low. "Well. That went better than expected. Tom actually smiled. Pretty sure that's a sign of the apocalypse."

  The hours went by while Max cooked, creating dishes that made Luv's eyes roll back in pleasure.

  Chicken that fell off the bone, vegetables that somehow tasted good despite being vegetables, bread so fresh it steamed when broken open, and dessert that involved chocolate in ways Luv hadn't known were possible.

  "This is amazing!" Luv mumbled around a mouthful of chocolate cake. "This is the best food ever! Can you teach Dad to cook like this?"

  "Kid, I've been trying for months," Max said with mock seriousness. "Your dad's a lost cause. Man can bend reality but can't follow a recipe."

  "I resent that," Jay protested. "I can follow recipes fine."

  "You set water on fire the first time I thought you."

  "That was... look, that was an outlier."

  Domino leaned against Jay's shoulder, her hand finding his under the table. "Admit it. You're terrible at cooking."

  "I make adequate pancakes."

  "You make disasters that happen to be pancake-shaped."

  "You're all ganging up on me. This is mutiny."

  Luv giggled, chocolate smeared across his face. "Dad's bad at cooking! Dad's bad at cooking!"

  "Betrayed by my own son," Jay declared dramatically. "This is my life now."

  Bobby told stories as the meal wound down, carefully editing out the more violent parts but keeping the humor intact while his gravelly voice painted pictures of Jay's early days in this world.

  As the sun set and Luv began showing signs of exhaustion, curling up in Domino's lap, the group's mood shifted.

  Maria settled beside Jay while Domino carried Luv to the couch for an impromptu nap.

  "You're really doing this," Maria said quietly. "The whole parent thing."

  "No going back," Jay confirmed while his eyes tracked Domino as she settled on the couch with Luv's small body already limp with sleep against her. "He's ours. For better or worse."

  "Good." Maria's voice carried weight. "Kid needs you. Both of you. And from what I'm seeing..." She paused, choosing words carefully. "You need him too."

  Jay wanted to argue, to insist he'd been fine before, that he hadn't needed anything or anyone, that he'd been perfectly capable of functioning solo.

  But the words stuck in his throat.

  Because Maria was right.

  Something fundamental had shifted when Luv entered their lives where the constant edge of paranoia had dulled, the driving need to always be ten steps ahead had eased, and the voice in his head constantly calculating threats and plotting contingencies had quieted.

  He had something worth protecting that was immediate and tangible and utterly dependent on him being better than he'd ever been before.

  And more than that: he wanted to be better, not out of necessity or strategy, but because this kid deserved parents who gave a damn.

  "Yeah," Jay said finally, his voice rough. "We do."

  Maria's hand squeezed his shoulder once, brief and understanding, then she moved away.

  Bobby approached last, his weathered face serious.

  "You're gonna screw up," he said bluntly. "Gonna make mistakes. Gonna have days where you wonder what the hell you were thinking. That's parenthood."

  "Encouraging."

  "Ain't supposed to be encouraging. Supposed to be honest." Bobby's expression softened. "But you'll figure it out. Same way you figure out everything else. By refusing to quit even when it gets hard."

  "And if I can't? If I'm not enough?"

  "Then you got Neena. You got us the inner circle. You got a whole network of people who'll help." Bobby's hand gripped Jay's shoulder, solid and grounding. "Kid's got more family than most. He'll be fine. Question is whether you'll let yourself be happy about it."

  Jay looked at Luv sleeping on the couch, small and peaceful and utterly trusting, then looked at Domino watching their son with an expression of fierce protection and endless tenderness.

  "I'm getting there," he said quietly.

  "Good enough." Bobby stepped back. "Now get your family home before the kid wakes up cranky. Nobody needs that."

  The months blurred together after that.

  Mornings with Luv demanding breakfast and cartoons, his small voice filling the cave with constant chatter while afternoons brought exploring the Savage Land, teaching the child about dinosaurs and ecology and why he absolutely could not ride a Tyrannosaurus no matter how much he begged.

  "But Dad, I could be really careful!"

  "No."

  "But I'd wear a helmet!"

  "Still no."

  "But..."

  "Not happening, buddy, and that's final."

  Evenings brought magic lessons at Kamar-Taj where Luv's skills grew incrementally while Wong had taken to supervising the child's training with stern approval, correcting his stance and form with endless patience that surprised everyone.

  "Your balance is terrible," Wong would say.

  "I'm trying!"

  "Try harder. Magic demands perfection."

  "You sound like Grandma Yao."

  "The Ancient One has wisdom. You should listen."

  Or video calls with extended family where Luv told Franklin and Nathan about his adventures through the screen while both babies watched with rapt attention.

  Or simply watching Tom and Jerry while Luv provided running commentary.

  "The mouse is so smart! The cat never wins!"

  "That's the point, buddy," Jay explained with Domino tucked against his side on the couch and Luv sprawled across both their laps. "Jerry's the underdog. Everyone roots for the underdog."

  Luv processed this with the seriousness of a child contemplating philosophy. "What's an underdog?"

  "Someone who's smaller or weaker but wins anyway through being clever."

  Luv's face scrunched up in thought. "Like how you beat Lady Death?"

  Jay and Domino both froze while Domino's hand stopped mid-stroke through Luv's hair and Jay's fingers tightened on her shoulder.

  They'd been careful, so careful, not discussing the fight, not mentioning the cosmic battle that had nearly killed Jay, not even thinking about it too hard where Luv might pick up on the tension.

  "Where did you hear about that?" Domino asked carefully, her voice steady despite the sudden spike of concern.

  Luv yawned, nestling deeper into the couch cushions with the boneless comfort of a sleepy child. "Grandma Yao told me. She said Dad fought the scary lady who tries to make everyone sleep forever, and he won because he was clever and had people who loved him. She said that's what being an underdog means."

  Jay made a mental note to have very pointed words with his teacher about age-appropriate information sharing.

  "Did she now," he managed. "Well. That's... that's one way to put it."

  "She also said you're going to teach me to be clever like you," Luv continued, his eyes already drooping, words slurring slightly with exhaustion. "So I can protect people too when I'm big. But for now I should just be little and let you and Mom do the protecting."

  Jay's chest went tight while his hand came up and rested on Luv's head with infinite gentleness.

  "That's the plan," he said softly. "You just focus on being a kid. Let us handle the scary stuff."

  "Okay, Dad." Luv's eyes closed fully, his breathing already evening out into sleep's steady rhythm. "Love you. Love you too, Mom."

  Domino's voice came out rough. "Love you, sweetheart."

  Jay echoed her, his own throat tight. "Love you, buddy."

  They sat there long after Luv fell asleep, neither wanting to move, neither willing to break the moment.

  Finally, Domino spoke.

  "We're doing okay at this, right? The parent thing?"

  Jay considered, thought about the burned pancakes and the mistakes and the constant fear that he was screwing everything up, then thought about Luv's laughter and his growing magic skills and the way he'd fearlessly introduced himself to their found family.

  "Yeah," he said. "I think we are."

  "Good." Domino's hand found his, fingers interlacing. "Because I don't know what I'm doing half the time."

  "Neither do I."

  "But we're figuring it out together."

  "Together," Jay agreed.

  He looked down at Luv sleeping across their laps, small and perfect and theirs, then at Domino beside him with her white hair falling across her face and her eye soft with affection.

  This was his life now, not temporary, not a phase, but this.

  And for the first time since landing in this world, Jay felt something he'd almost forgotten existed.

  Home.

  Bonk chose that moment to stick his domed head through the cave entrance, snuffling for Luv and looking disappointed to find the kid asleep.

  The dinosaur settled outside anyway, curling into a ball just past the waterfall's spray, keeping watch.

  Even the dinosaur had become part of this, this strange, impossible, perfect family they'd built.

  Jay let himself relax, let the tension drain from his shoulders, and let himself have this peace.

  Tomorrow he's need to move forward with his plans and fulfil his promises, since the world didn't stop turning just because he'd become a father.

  But tonight, he had this.

  And that was enough.