Dawnlark Plains and she's buying a stairway to heaven

Sweet boy. He pulled Radcliffe into his embrace, heart melting like ice in March as the little guy said his name--or, at least, his name to his children. Da. And Timberlake had called him Daddy. No one had ever called him those names before. Jack and Liam, Dove, Poppy. . .they had all died before speech. It was something that filled him with awe, and his eyes welled with tears; he shut his lids to dam them, lest they spill over and dampen his son's fur.

"I love you, Cliffey," Shale murmured. "Love you, Daddy!" Timberlake cried out, having made his way to the front of him, nuzzling in beside Radcliffe (and behaving, for once). "I love you, Timmy." Shale grinned, cuddling them both together. He would take heart in this golden moment, where they laid together without fighting.

But it was only puppy wrestling, after all. He hoped they would grow to be as close as him and Day, someday. He saw a lot of his brother in his eldest son--bravery, tenacity--and a lot of himself in Radcliffe, the sweet, reserved second child.