Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Heaven
Carlton had just begun to relax, thinking that Alaric had finished expressing his thoughts for the night. He started to settle into bed, preparing himself for sleep. However, Alaric remained unmoving, his intense gaze fixed upon Carlton’s form.
The sudden stillness and scrutiny caused Carlton’s body to tense up once more, his muscles locking in place as he braced himself for whatever might come next. After a long moment of hesitation, Carlton finally turned his head to face Alaric directly.
"Do you have something else you wish to say?" Carlton asked cautiously, his voice tinged with a hint of wariness.
Alaric seemed torn, as if wrestling with some internal dilemma before finally voicing the question that weighed heavily on his mind. "You... don’t feel anything right now?"
Carlton was taken aback by the query, confusion etched across his features. It took him a moment to process the implication behind Alaric’s words - that perhaps he was referring to the near-death experience Carlton had endured earlier at the hands of their son, Austin.
"I feel fine," Carlton replied tersely, not wanting to dwell on the harrowing incident any further.
Alaric seemed to ponder this response for a beat before sighing heavily and reaching for the blanket. With gentle motions, he carefully tucked it around Carlton’s body until only his head peeked out from beneath the covers. He patted Carlton’s stomach gently through the fabric, a gesture that seemed to hold more meaning than it should have.
"Alright... if your body starts to feel anything, let me know as soon as possible," Alaric said, his voice laced with an undercurrent of something Carlton couldn’t quite place.
Carlton frowned, feeling a growing sense of unease at the strange turn in their conversation. "What do you mean...?" he began to ask, but the words died on his lips as Alaric suddenly leaned in and wrapped his arms around him in a tight embrace.
The unexpected hug caught Carlton off guard, leaving him momentarily stunned. He could feel the warmth of Alaric’s body seeping into his own through the thin fabric of their sleepwear. The steady thrum of Alaric’s heartbeat against his chest was strangely soothing even as it stirred up a maelstrom of confusing emotions within him.
But Carlton’s initial shock at Alaric’s sudden embrace quickly gave way to a surge of resistance. He began to struggle against the tight hold, trying in vain to push Alaric away.
"What are you doing?!" Carlton demanded, his voice rising with a mix of confusion and annoyance. However, Alaric seemed to have anticipated this reaction, tightening his grip around Carlton’s body as if he were a lifeline in a raging storm.
"My love... please stop resisting," Alaric pleaded softly, his voice taking on a plaintive tone that sent shivers down Carlton’s spine. "I only want to sleep while holding you close. For eleven long years, this has been our nightly ritual - your warmth beside me, your steady heartbeat lulling me into peaceful slumber."
Alaric gazed up at Carlton with wide, imploring eyes that held an almost childlike vulnerability. It was an unsettling sight for Carlton to behold; he had grown accustomed to seeing Alaric as the picture of maturity and self-assurance.
"I beg of you," Alaric continued, his voice dropping to a near whisper, "if you deny me this simple comfort, I fear the nightmares will return to haunt me. You are my anchor in the darkness, darling. Please... say that it’s alright for us to sleep like this."
Carlton felt a wave of exasperation wash over him. He knew Alaric well enough to recognize that stubborn glint in his eye - once he set his mind on something, there would be no dissuading him. And frankly, Carlton was too exhausted from the day’s events to engage in a prolonged argument.
With a heavy sigh of resignation, Carlton ceased his struggles and allowed himself to be enveloped in Alaric’s embrace once more. A small triumphant smile played at the corners of Alaric’s mouth as he tightened his arms around Carlton possessively.
"You’re truly the best thing that has ever happened to me," Alaric murmured against Carlton’s hair as he pressed a tender kiss to the top of his head. The gesture was achingly familiar and yet somehow foreign all at once.
As they settled into their new position, Alaric couldn’t help but marvel at the feel of Carlton’s body against his own. He had missed this closeness more than he cared to admit, even to himself. The way Carlton fit so perfectly in his arms, as if they were two puzzle pieces finally reunited...
Alaric knew he had to be patient with Carlton’s amnesia-induced aloofness. But oh, how he longed for the days when Carlton would return his affections without hesitation! For now, Alaric vowed to cherish every stolen moment like this one - a silent promise that their love would endure no matter what challenges lay ahead.
Carlton, already weighed down by the day’s events and his own exhaustion, felt his eyelids growing heavier by the second. As he teetered on the brink of slumber, Alaric’s muttered words cut through the haze of his mind like a knife.
"Odd... the side effects should be manifesting by now," Alaric’s voice tinged with confusion and a hint of concern. "Is it going to be delayed like last time when he first ingested it?"
Side effects? What could he possibly mean by that? And who was Alaric referring to with such cryptic remarks?
Carlton’s curiosity piqued, but try as he might to focus on unraveling the mystery, sleep seemed determined to claim him.
Alaric’s voice drifted over to Carlton once more, softer this time - almost tender. "Sleep well, my love," he whispered into the darkness. "Tomorrow will be a new day."
But even as those words registered in Carlton’s mind, they were drowned out by an overwhelming tide of fatigue. He had endured countless sleepless nights before, powered through them with sheer force of will. Yet now, in this moment, it was as if every ounce of his energy had been sapped away.
Carlton’s last coherent thought before succumbing to the depths of slumber was a simple one: Today has been the most exhausting day of my life... And with that final realization, he surrendered himself to the embrace of sleep...
***
As the first rays of dawn crept through the curtains, Carlton remained lost in the throes of a most peculiar dream. The scene began innocently enough - a grand celebration after a victorious battle, with Alaric and Carlton at the center of it all. But as quickly as it had started, the joyous atmosphere took a dark turn.
Alaric extended his hand to Carlton in an invitation to dance, but before they could even take their first steps, an earth-shattering tremor tore through the palace. The roof caved in with a deafening crash, leaving behind a gaping hole that seemed to swallow up the very sky itself.
And then... then came the giant. A towering behemoth that stood at least ten meters tall - a colossal toddler looming over them like an angry god. Carlton found himself frozen in place, sword clutched uselessly at his side as he stared up at this monstrous apparition.
"Dance with me!" The giant demanded in a voice that shook the very foundations of Carlton’s mind. Before he could even process the absurdity of the request, a single massive finger descended upon him, pinning his body to the floor with an impossible force.
Carlton struggled and thrashed beneath that oppressive weight, feeling his lungs scream for air as he was slowly crushed. But even as darkness began to close in around him, the giant’s voice rang out once more - a simple command that shattered through the haze of Carlton’s nightmare.
"Wake up, daddy."
With a gasp that bordered on a shriek, Carlton’s eyes flew open... only to find himself face-to-face with not one but three tiny tyrants. Three two-year-olds sat perched atop his prone form like conquering generals surveying their domain. The smallest of them grinned down at him toothily and patted Carlton’s cheek with sticky fingers.
"Dada awake now!" she declared proudly.
Carlton groaned as he sat up, the weight of his three little bundles of joy finally lifted from his body. He had hoped against hope that upon waking, he would find himself back in the blissful ignorance of bachelorhood. But no such luck - there they were, grinning up at him with all the innocence and mischief only toddlers could muster.
"You three..." Carlton muttered, feeling more exhausted than ever despite just having woken up. "I swear, this married life with seven kids is going to be the death of me."
He sighed heavily and fixed each child with a stern glare, trying to impart some semblance of wisdom into their tiny minds. "Listen here," he said seriously. "Next time you decide to use someone’s body as a trampoline, remember that it can actually hurt them if you sit too hard or too long. You don’t want to send anyone flying off to heaven before their time, do you?"
The children giggled and cooed at Carlton’s words, clearly not grasping the gravity of what he was saying but enjoying the attention nonetheless. They rolled around on the bed like playful puppies, their chubby limbs flailing in delight.
And then there was Cristian, Carlton’s youngest and perhaps most precocious little troublemaker. The boy climbed onto Carlton’s lap with all the ease of a seasoned mountaineer and fixed his father with an adorably earnest expression.
"But Daddy," he said, his tiny voice ringing out like a clarion call in the quiet of the bedroom. "We saw you sitting on Father Emperor’s body without any clothes on! Father said it was a special game you were playing... a game to go to heaven together."
"We want to play that game too!" Cristina and Crystin chorused, bouncing excitedly on the bed. "We want to go to heaven with Daddy and Father!"
Carlton’s mind raced as he tried to process what exactly it was that their children had witnessed between him and Alaric. He took a deep breath, struggling mightily to maintain some semblance of composure in front of the kids. But inside, one question burned like a brand:
What in the world did he mean by "going to heaven together"? Heaven seemed far too good for Alaric; I would be much happier sending him straight to hell!!!
