AN: Last chapter, hope you all enjoyed, and thank you for all the reviews!

Nico was in a slump for days. The only things that seemed to help were snuggles from both Will and Bianca. Family. Family always made Nico feel better.

And that's what first got Will thinking.

The third day after that night, Bianca and Will surprised Nico with breakfast in bed. Will helped her carry that tray upstairs, making sure nothing spilled on the steps as they walked.

"Did you make his coffee right?" Bianca asked.

Will nodded. "You watched me make it, remember?"

Bianca skipped up the rest of the steps and turned to face him. "But you're bad at making stuff. Daddy's the best."

Will couldn't help but smile. "True, but I'm sure he'll love it."

He led her to the master bedroom and threw the curtains open, leaving the sunlight and Bianca to wake his husband up. And that task was done quickly enough.

"What's going on?" Nico groaned, sitting up. "What's all this?"

Bianca jumped on the bed beside him. "Breakfast! I helped dad make it!"

Nico looked between them. "Why?"

Will set the tray on his lap and kissed his cheek. "Cause, Bianca noticed you've been down and asked me if we could do something nice for you."

"I made sure he made your coffee right," Bianca insisted.

Nico kissed his daughter's head and pulled her close. "Wanna share with me?"

She nodded. "Pancakes!"

Will watched them share the meal. Nico always lit up around Bianca, and this proved that yet again. His daughter made his world go round.

Nico was a family man, whether he wanted to admit it or not, even though Bianca was conceived the way she was.

It was a week later when another idea popped into Will's head. He had been watching TV with Nico, cuddled up in his side as Bianca colored at the table. Nico was almost asleep, but Will was wide awake as he watched the commercials.

Only one stuck out, the one about the need for foster parents. But then he thought about all the horror stories you heard from those who were in foster care. Leo Valdez was a prime example.

The day after, the newspaper story he was reading mentioned adoption, and for the first time, he felt like the universe was trying to point something out.

But he didn't act on it for quite some time, because court days were here and there, his father was finally getting arrested, Naomi was finally getting her own place and her own life and she looked completely free.

And yet, her leaving the house didn't make the idea go away. Instead, it only strengthened it. Because he didn't want to make her previous room back into a guest room, but into a nursery.

Will could picture it clearly. He could see where they'd put the crib, where the changing table could go, the closet doors that could easily be painted whatever color he wanted.
Then he pictured them with a little boy, and he almost bolted to the adoption center then. But he had to talk to Nico, he had to. But how?

Nico hadn't forgiven himself for that night, and Will wasn't sure if he ever would. He continued to go to work, go through the motions, but something was off about him that Will thought would never come back.

Maybe adopting would help. Maybe...

Will Solace loved his husband more than anything. He always would. But he thought of his daughter, how he'd do anything for her, and he knew that she was one of the most important things in his life.

Would Bianca be okay with them adopting? Would Nico even agree? Did Nico ever honestly want children? Bianca hadn't been a choice.

But Will finally found it in himself to sit across from Nico after he put Bianca to bed, his eyes on Nico as his husband sipped from a wine glass. "We need to talk."

Nico gestured to the bottle sitting between them. "Want some? Just opened it."

Will hesitated but soon poured himself a glass. "I have a question. And I want honest feedback."

"Okay...?"

"I want a son," Will blurted. "I want to adopt."

Nico froze with his wineglass halfway to his mouth. "What?"

Will blushed at himself. "Sorry, didn't mean to just say it. But...I want to adopt. I thought it'd help you feel better, and I'd love it, and Bianca deserves a sibling if she wants. I love having siblings, even though the circumstances of them were sketchy. Mary and Milo, Austin and Kayla. I really think Bianca will love to have a sibling. And I...I thought we could adopt a boy if that's okay with you. I really want a boy."

Nico stared at him some more before downing his wine. When the glass was empty, he held it out to Will. "Refill this and tell me how adoption works."

Will froze. "Wait...you want to?"

Nico nodded. "I've been thinking about it, too. But...but I don't want to adopt a baby. I want to adopt a kid that's going through shit, like Jacob." Jacob, the boy that had jumped. "We can save a kid, give them a good family, a good life. We can save one."

Will refilled Nico's glass before drinking from the bottle. "What age are you thinking?"

Nico shrugged. "I just...want to save one. Can you ask that, say you want a kid that's troubled?"

Will couldn't help but laugh. "We'll see."

Nico grinned and held his glass out for a toast, and Will happily tapped his bottle against it.

They ended up adopting a sixteen-year-old named Kenny. The first week was hard, but it leveled off from there. Kenny hadn't been schooled, had seen his dad murder his mother then kill himself. They started homeschooling him every other day, and he practiced his reading by reading to Bianca at night. When the nightmares came, either Nico or Will went to sit with him.

But they didn't stop there. It was only a year later when Nico came to Will, his eyes already pleading before he spoke. In his hands, he held the picture of another kid he wanted to save.

Ginny, age nine. She had survived the car accident that took her mother, had no dad on file. Will agreed simply because of the look on his husband's face.

When he finally graduated, he finally hesitated when adoption was on the table. Nico had come to him with another sad story, another picture in hand, those pleading eyes.

"Neeks...we can't adopt every kid you find," Will reasoned. "We're still getting used to Ginny, and Kenny's going to be moving out soon-"

"Exactly!" Nico stressed. "We'll have room because Kenny's moving out! And until he does, Jennette can share a room with Bi. They're close in age."

Will looked down at the picture of Jennette, and he knew right away he'd never be able to say no. "Her story?"

"Dad's in prison for rape, mother died in childbirth," Nico explained. "And her brother, Justin-"

Will put his head in his hands. "Nico..."

"What?" Nico asked. "You know I like helping kids, you know. And we can't adopt her and not her brother."

Will reached for the bottle of wine. "This is it. No more after them."

Will finally became an attending, he was making more money than he could imagine, Nico was smiling every day, Kenny had gotten a job and a nice apartment, Bianca was excelling in school. Everything was perfect.

It was a Saturday when he came home to Nico's pleading eyes for the third time. As soon as he saw him he dropped his bag and sighed. "Nico...We're getting too old for this."

"Just hear me out," Nico insisted. "I already asked Hazel and she said no, and Percy can make his own kids, he doesn't want to adopt, but we love adopting, right? We can save a kid."

Will banged his head against the wall. "Nico, having a house full of kids is going to drive me insane."

Nico snuck the picture under his eyes. "Maryanne, six years old."

"Six years old? Nico, that's young," Will protested.

Nico kept the picture where he could see it. "Her father tried to sell her to human traffickers."

And that's how they ended up having to buy a bigger house.