There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 724: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 7

One of Zein’s habits after they had the twins was to stand on the patio, staring at the vast sea mindlessly while the boys had their nap. It always fascinated him how the sky and the water could look different every time, and he would be reminded of what a blessing it was to survive his youth.

To be able to just stand there thinking about nothing but his energetic boys and what to ask his husband for dinner...young Zein would sneer if someone ever mentioned that kind of life to him.

He truly had come so far.

It got even more perfect when he felt a pair of warm hands circle his waist, and a pair of even warmer lips touching the skin of his neck. These slow, languid kisses were also a privilege; a blessing he was grateful for every day.

"You’re back already?" Zein reached back to pat the platinum hair tickling his nape.

"I missed you," the answer came with a soft kiss on the back of Zein’s ear.

Zein chuckled. "When have you never?"

"I know, right?" Bassena laughed softly, before getting back to whining. "I miss the day when I could just go to another floor to see you."

Zein laughed and stroked the platinum hair some more. Wouldn’t it be weird if he popped up too often? He was no longer a member of Trinity, after all. Besides...now that he understood the joy of living slowly--as slow as a parent with twin boys could be--he rather enjoyed just spending time with his sons and enough time to relax without thinking too much about work or saving the world.

Truly, his life was almost perfect.

"Honey..."

"Mm?"

"Do you really, really want a daughter?"

Zein chuckled and leaned back against the sturdy chest. "I really, really want a daughter," he replied with a smile. "But it doesn’t have to be soon just because there’s a new baby in the neighborhood."

"That lakehouse isn’t in our neighborhood," Bassena rolled his eyes. If it was, he didn’t have to be so stressed about the twins asking to go there every day, commuting for two hours each time.

Again, Zein just laughed. He laughed a lot these days--he laughed a lot after the twins were born. They were indeed adorable--even while acting rowdy at times. Whether it was because of them or because of the new, more relaxed lifestyle, Zein had completely shed the rough edges he brought when he first arrived in the green zone--only bringing it back sometimes when the twins were acting especially naughty.

But it was true that he looked happier with his children around. Not to say that he wasn’t happy with only Bassena, but in a way, the twins brought back the memory of living as a family with his younger brothers.

Bassena exhaled slowly as he leaned his head on the guide’s shoulder. "I took a nap earlier."

"In the office?" Zein raised his brow. "How rare; are you alright?"

"Yeah," Bassena tightened his hug so Zein wouldn’t turn around. Well, he wasn’t exactly alright before he took that nap, but that wasn’t the point. "I had a dream."

"...what dream?"

Bassena’s dream only consisted of two things; a dark sea or a blue sky and a cliff. Zein knew this, so when Bassena said he had a ’dream’, it would mean he saw something else.

"A field of flowers," Bassena said quietly, almost in a whisper. "And a flickering flame in the middle."

"Flame?"

"A sentient one, I think. It swayed and jumped around the field of flowers as if it was dancing," Bassena almost chuckled as he recalled the weird dream. "Didn’t burn the flower though, which is weird. Even the flowers seemed to be dancing around."

Zein raised his brows. It was a weirdly interactive dream for Bassena’s standard. Almost...prophetic. It reminded him of the dream he had inside the private plane they took to the Southern Kingdom.

Oh...

"Let’s try it," Bassena whispered, this time loosening his hold so Zein could turn around and look at him with those brilliant blue eyes, prettier than the sea and sky behind them. "Let’s get this daughter you want."

It was sufficient to say that the only thing preventing Zein from dragging his baby to the bedroom was because his other two babies were finally waking up from their nap.

* * *

"They are potty trained, aren’t they?" Radia asked again to make sure.

"Positive," Bassena nodded. "Even if an accident happens, Joon should have enough knowledge."

"He’s three decades out of practice," Radia clicked his tongue.

"You have the nannies anyway," Bassena rolled his eyes. "Isn’t it too late asking about this all when you’re here already?"

Radia shrugged and sipped on his iced tea. "I can still run away through the portal."

When Zein and Bassena were trying to think of a way they could make a baby without any disturbance, Bassena mentioned that Shin refused to take any more children in his house at the moment. And so they turned toward the twins’ favorite uncles.

It took a while of planning and convincing to finally get Radia and Joon to take the twins off for a vacation. The couple was about to check the resort where they would have their fifth anniversary/wedding reception, as well as boarding a cruise for the weekend, so might as well take the twins for a spin.

Han Joon chuckled and glanced upstairs, where he could hear the chaotic sounds of the twins getting ready. "At least we can properly converse with them now," he said. "It was hard when they still talked in aliens that only Zein knew."

Oh, that period. Not even Bassena understood what the twins were saying during that period--or even the nanny. Somehow, Zein understood them well, perhaps because they had been in his belly. Maybe.

Different from Bassena, Zein was still a little bit concerned. While Radia and Joon did say they could take the twins away from home for a few days, he didn’t think these child-frew couple truly knew what they were taking on.

Taking care of twins was very different from taking care of two siblings. Their chaotic energy was not doubled--it was ten times harder. They did send the nannies with them, but Zein knew the twins would cling to the uncles all the time.

"Thankfully, they have their own favorite uncle," Bassena chuckled. "And maybe Radia will really put away his work with Asa dragging him anywhere."

"You’re sure?" Han Joon smirked. "What if your son comes back learning all kinds of questionable stuff?"

Bassena paused for a bit to think, before finally shrugging. "Eh, I’ll take the risk."

"We’ll only be in the new resort anyway. If they are being too difficult, I can just open a portal and return them," Radia shrugged.

"Don’t treat them like a retail good," Zein smiled. "And I’m not sure we’ll be available to process your return."

"Shouldn’t you be the one going to the resort, then?" Radia rolled his eyes.

"But the stone is here," Bassena grinned, glancing at the stone pedestal that could be seen from the living room’s window.

It was protected by a fence now, since it was essentially the clan’s important relic. And that was why Radia looked at him in disgust. "Don’t tell me you’re going to do it there again."

"Of course, not! But this place just feels more...blessed, you know?"

Han Joon laughed and stroked his darling back. "Well, well--we can use it as a chance to see if the venue will be children-friendly enough."

"I told you--all we need to do is set up a playground with professional caretakers to attend to the children," Radia waved his hands. "Make a little party for the children with cakes and toys and they won’t care about the adult’s party."

"Will this service be extended until the after-party?" Bassena asked expectantly.

"No, that’s your problem."

"Tsk."

At that moment, the chaos had finally subsided from the upstairs, and they could hear the twins running through the hallways and down the stairs, with Ayya and the nannies following behind.

"Uncle! Uncle!" Asa was practically dashing and rolling to the living room, tackling Han Joon who caught him well. "Ale we going to play in watel? Play with sand? Aca want to build plane!"

"Why plane? You should build a castle in the sand," Bassena tilted his head.

"Tsk! Baba not veli cleative!" Asa pursed his lips as Uncle Joon put him down. "We shud be able to cleate anything!"

Bassena the magician clutched his pained heart.

"Can we sleep with you, Uncle?" Kar held Joon’s hand and swayed it softly, staring at his uncle with sparkling eyes full of expectation.

"Sure," Radia replied, which surprised the twins’ parents. To think they would share their bed with children...how far they had come. "Let’s go right away. It’s not fun playing on the beach when it’s dark."

He snapped his fingers and a portal to the resort near the port city opened. With only a single ’bye bye’, the kids stepped into the portal while holding their uncle’s hands, followed by the nannies.

As their house suddenly became quiet, Zein blinked at the scene that reminded him of his dream. Was it Kar? The one standing in front of a dungeon gate?

"He sounded reluctant, but Radia actually pretty excited in the end, huh?" Bassena smirked.

"He’s an only child," Zein shrugged. "Subconsciously, some only child longed for siblings."

"Maybe," Bassena chuckled. "Talking about sibling--"

Before he could finish his words, Zein had already pulled on his collar and pressed their lips together.

No need for bedrooms. For the next three days, the whole house would be their bedroom.