Ocii99: Thank you! That's so sweet! Sadly, this is the last chapter, but thanks for reading it to the end!

And here we are, the end of my most popular fanfic. :( I just started posting another one that has heavy Marco/Ace in case this one was too one sided. Thank you for all of the views, reviews, favorites and follows. I hope you enjoy the last chapter.

Also, readers in countries where coronavirus is running rampant, be safe. Take care of yourselves.

With everything with Teach being over, and the crew being themselves again, Luffy was practicing more. He was determined to make people, but they were unable to stay too long, so he started making babies and toddlers. Of course, they couldn't function correctly because Luffy's anatomy of them was so off, but it was practice nonetheless.

Luffy's babies' heads were too big for them to stand, and it was annoying that they cried a lot, but the brothers convinced themselves that it was progress, even if it was annoying, and so progress should be encouraged. The babies and toddlers lasted for fifteen minutes, more than the versions of Luffy had been. So, age mattered in this department.

Aggie 68 had made a comment that got the brothers wondering if Luffy's powers could better help the pirates, if they stayed, of course, which they weren't sure of yet. But, if Luffy was able to create full human bodies, the medical staff could practice things. If Luffy's people creating became so good and accurate, then it was possible that they could become dummies, and the nurses could test out medications on them instead of only doing it for Marco, who could heal if any of the drugs did something bad.

It was hard, though, to make new medications using Marco as the test subject, as he wasn't human and had a devil fruit, but it was the best they had. So, Luffy's powers could become very valuable to them.

Thatch also had the idea that Luffy could help him with creating new dishes. He wouldn't need to waste food trying out new things. It wasn't known if Luffy's creations were edible, as in if they did anything to the body after they vanished, but taste testing would be convenient.

The more mischievous pirates thought about the fact that they could have Luffy make some money, buy something and ditch before the money vanished, effectively robbing someone without them knowing. This was looked down on by Marco, but it was a good idea.

The pirates were sure that if they brought up these thoughts to Ace and Sabo, they would have enough trust in the crew that they wouldn't assume that they only wanted to keep Luffy so he could do services for them. Well, hopefully.

The pirates had gotten used to floods of animals, sometimes puppies and sometimes other things, so they weren't shocked or freaked out about their appearances. There had been one more nightmare, but it was handled well. Everyone just ignored them, and they were gone early, with someone going to wake the boy up.

Luffy's happiness seemed to be infectious, and could now get away with anything. Thatch and Haruta looked forward to them joining -because they had to! - so that little Luffy could help them play pranks on their family. After all, dumping temporary paint on someone didn't warrant punishment, right?

On the fifth night of Luffy practicing babies, help from Sabo from an anatomy book and a pediatrician's encyclopedia, he finally made one that functioned. They were on the back deck, and the baby was good enough to crawl. Luffy has scooped it up and started running around the ship and showing people his baby.

They were very confused unless they were those who were awake when Luffy was and knew what he'd been practicing lately. Luffy knew it was only a matter of time before the baby disappeared, as it cooed and giggled at running around. The boy zipped inside, too fast for his human brothers to follow, and shoved the sudden baby into Marco's back as he sat at the table.

Izo said, "Uh, why do you have a baby, Luffy?"

"I made him! Watch!" and the boy set the baby down, who started to crawl around. Luffy looked up to the pirates, his favorite ones, with a grin, expecting praise, which was what he got. It disappeared, and Luffy felt very accomplished and successful. Ace and Sabo had caught up, and Ace threw Luffy into the air.

"I'm so proud of you," he said and hugged Luffy. "Why don't we ask Thatch and Jojo for some celebratory sweets?"

"Yeah!" Of course, Jojo and Thatch were glad to help celebrate Luffy's progress. He got chocolate-blood lava cake. Jojo was spending more time with Thatch and his sou-chefs, learning and teaching. There were multiple dishes that only came from Jojo's home island, and she was more than happy to teach Thatch how to make them and was happy to have the human pirates taste them. She smiled when her home island's food was praised.

-x-

The first marine attack they'd had since the Spade's had boarded was over quickly. It was during the day, and making quite the ruckass. No one wanted to wake Luffy, so they defeated them as quietly and quickly as possible. It must have seemed weird to the marines that none of the pirates shouted or said anything. They were all silent besides the clangs of swords and sounds of gunfire. Luckily, nothing happened to the ship attached to the back of the Moby. it was untargeted, but did get the marines curious. Too bad they were dead before they could report anything unusual with the Whitebeards.

Marco personally inspected the Spade's ship for any marines. He didn't need to go inside because he could use his haki to tell instantly, but for once, his curiosity got the better of him, and he went inside. It was dusty from being uninhabited for so long. It was much smaller than the Moby Dick, and there were only a few bedrooms. One was Ace and Sabo's, which they shared, though it didn't look very lived in. He had gone inside briefly weeks before, but he hadn't allowed himself to explore and there had been no reason to the last time.

Another bedroom had hammocks for the six Spades that weren't brothers. Seemed Jojo had been sharing quarters with her crew long before they were forced into one bedroom with a bunch of bunk beds.

It was clear which bedroom was Luffy's, as it was the most detailed and lived in. There were many books on a big shelf, the bed was clearly expensive, and much nicer than the ones the brothers shared now. There were toys scattered about, some of them old enough to show chew marks on them from when Luffy was very young. There was also an expensive looking nightlight that projected stars around the room.

Some clothes were on the carpeted floor, not just Luffy's, showing that at least one of the older brothers had slept with Luffy on his big bed.

The further he got into the ship, heading towards the galley and kitchen, the more lived in it looked. There were photos stuck to the wall, many of them photos of Ace and Sabo with Luffy at various ages. It warmed Marco's heart with how much love was in each group photo. The earliest was one dated over four years ago, titled, "Luffy's first bath" with the baby looking sleepy in a floaty in a nice sized tub. It wasn't the tub on the ship, so it must have been from their house back on their home island.

There were a couple photos that took place before Luffy was born, with the older two holding up dead animals, probably things they had hunted, and there was even one of Ace and Sabo when they were children. Ace looked very similar to Luffy back then, while Sabo was the odd one out with the blonde hair.

Marco noticed there were no photos of their mother, or any woman besides Jojo. The pirate chuckled when there were drawings on the refrigerator in the small kitchen that were just scribbles or messily drawn shapes.

You could tell that it wasn't a rich crew based on the furniture in the galley, which also had an area to just chill. A ratty couch and a coffee table that didn't match any of the other tables. Everything was bolted to the ground for good measure. By now, Marco was just being nosey when he looked in the kitchen cupboards and saw almost everything was plastic.

There were more photos in here, as well, though it wasn't just the brothers. There were group photos, one picture that was clearly taken without Ace's will, as it was a photo of him retching into the toilet, trying to shove the camera away. Marco could only assume Luffy had taken the photo as it was both upside down and at a low height perspective. Marco chuckled again at a photo of a younger Luffy looking proud and pointing to a kid's toilet. It read, "Luffy's Successful Potty Training!"

All of these photos warmed Marco's unbeating heart. He didn't think it was possible, but after all the photos, he liked the Spades even more now. He loved how much Ace and Sabo cared about Luffy. He was clearly their whole world. It was still amazing that two fourteen year old kids raised a baby that had never existed before. How many failures did they make to learn the right?

Suddenly, he was immensely curious about their past lives. Not just what happened to their mother, but their childhoods. Maybe, once they joined the crew for good, they would share their pasts. Marco wouldn't bring this up, not wanting them to be upset with him going through their ship.

He left the ship quickly after that, and hadn't told anyone he was checking it out, so no one saw him enter. Whitebeard asked him why he was smiling when the vampire saw him later that day. "Pops, I really want the Spades to join," he confessed. Whitebeard looked at him curiously. He already knew Marco wanted them to join, but right now he sounded insistent.

"Did something happen?" the captain asked curiously. Marco nodded.

"I went on their ship. Pops, they're such a close family. There are photos of Luffy everywhere, his first bath, his first successful potty training, photos of them and their growing crew. I just… they're good people. I know you already know that. I really hope they choose to stick around," Marco said. "I'll be very sad if they don't."

"I think most of your siblings will feel the same. Why did you go on their ship?" Usually Marco wasn't a very curious person, was usually chill.

"Well, there was a marine attack, and I wanted to make sure none had snuck onto the Spades' ship. I got a bit nosy, but I didn't dig through drawers or anything. Jojo's kitchen was very small compared to ours. Honestly, their ship is a lot more warm and cozy feeling than ours." He sounded surprised with the fact as well. "It's much too small for you to go on, though."

"Do you think their ship will be a deciding vote? If it isn't fixable, that they'd choose us because they have no other place to go? Or if the ship is able to be repaired, would they choose the ship over us?" Whitebeard asked curiously. Marco shrugged, and didn't know what the outcome would be. Again, he hoped the outcome would be him gaining nine new family members.

-x-

Luffy laid in bed, extremely sleepy after a long night of practicing with older toddlers now. He was determined to be able to make people. He had his thumb in his mouth, eyes droopy and closed quickly.

"...Ace… Sabo… can we stay here...?" he mumbled before falling asleep, not getting his answer. The Spades had all heard him, and shared a look.

There was silence for a moment, before Sabo said, "Let's talk about that tomorrow night." They all agreed, most of them already had an answer and were looking for the opinions of their captains. It was their vote whether they stayed or not. And like they'd made clear, the crew would follow their captains and their sunshine anywhere.

The next evening, after Luffy woke up, he had forgotten about his question he'd asked last morning. Ace and Sabo had been awake before Luffy, talking to each other in whispers. Everyone else was still asleep, but both teens had had a lot to think about and lost some sleep because of it.

"Mornin'," Luffy said and hugged Ace and Sabo's arms tightly. Ace ruffled his hair and Sabo smiled.

"Morning, Lu. Do you remember what you asked last night?" Sabo questioned. Luffy shook his head and popped his thumb in his mouth, expecting to be told what he had forgotten. Instead, Sabo asked him a question. "Would you like to stay with the Whitebeards, and not return to our ship?"

Luffy looked uncertain. He did miss home, but he really liked it here. He got to be with both of his brothers at the same time, there were lots of people to play with, the food was delicious and his family seemed happy. Jojo and Aggie 68 were always smiling and had good friends here. Plus, Ace liked Marco, and Luffy wanted Ace to be happy.

He listed all of these reasons, making Ace a little embarrassed that his fantasy romance was a factor in Luffy's decision. "Lu, it'll probably never work out with me and Marco, so don't make that one of your deciding decisions."

"You don't know that," he chirped brightly. Ace just smiled and humored him, wanting to move on from that subject.

"Everyone, wakey wakey," Ace said loud enough for the others to wake up in a startle. "We have some talking to do before we leave this room." Everyone knew what conversation they'd be having, and gathered on the bottom bunks or on the floor and leaning against the bed frames.

"Some pros and cons about staying or leaving once our ship is fixed, or if we have to have it replaced," Sabo instructed. "Deuce, what do you think?"

"Hmm, well, I like the people on this crew. There's good food, protection, and chances to become even stronger with this crew. Less responsibility, y'know, not having to help run the ship ourselves. We're in the Grand Line now, and won't be leaving any time soon, so I think it's pretty safe to stay here.

"My biggest pro, is that I've gotten to spend time with your three that I haven't been able to when we were on our own."

"Cons?" Ace prodded.

"Loss of freedom of choice of when and where to go. Loss of status, having a different captain. That's all my cons." Jojo was next, and mostly said what Deuce had.

"Plus, I would miss Thatch if we left," she said with a smile.

"We both really like the people we've met here. Being able to drink some booze again is nice, to be honest. Hadn't known I've missed it until now! A con for me is also loss of status and importance. I don't want to just fade away into a nobody in this crew," Zeno said.

Sparky agreed, and added, "I love our home ship, but I do enjoy the space here. And there's a training room and weapons room. I think Deuce is right; that we can get a lot stronger while being on this ship."

Sabo and Ace turned to Aggie68. "My biggest pro would definitely be the medical equipment available here. Plus, there's still more to learn about vampire anatomy and such things that could help Luffy.

"I don't hang out with everyone like many of you do, but I do enjoy being around other health practitioners and learning more. And my size is accommodated here. I honestly don't have any cons. Jojo already makes us fantastic food. And I think that having this family would be good for you and Ace. I really do. Just in the last couple of weeks, you've grown trust in others that you didn't hand pick and I think that says a lot about the emotional environment here."

The crew were surprised to have him say such a long monologue. Usually, Aggie was one of the more quiet ones. Ace and Sabo couldn't help but have their cheeks turn pink slightly. But he was right, though they didn't voice that.

Saber was next. "I can't, in good faith, navigate the Grand Line yet. I will need much more practice and hands on training. That overrides all of my negative thoughts. I won't let it be my fault we all die in this sea." He sounded very serious. "However, if we do choose to not join, I want to spend more time on an island studying about weather and sea patterns here."

Everyone then turned to Luffy. "I wanna stay!" was all he said, throwing a hand up like they were taking a vote already. "Does Ace and Sabo?" he asked, holding onto their arms.

"I will miss being a captain, but nothing is more important to me than spending time with Luffy and Ace, together with the rest of my family. I'll also feel so, so, much safer here, knowing that Luffy can be protected and have his power nurtured someplace safe. And he finally met some good vampires. I know we would all miss some on this crew as well," Sabo said.

Ace was last to say anything, and instead of saying his pros and cons, which had been the same as many of his family, he said, "All in favor of joining?" Everyone raised their hands, Luffy's having already been in the air.

The freckled teen hadn't said his main con: he felt he needed to at least share what he'd done with the captain, and was scared that he wouldn't accept him. But he needed to share it with him. Before he called the man father, he had to tell him the truth.

"What do we do about home?" Luffy wondered.

"Well, we'll have to go move all of our things. We can donate the ship for scraps, or sell it, or let it burn and end our journey as we start on another," Deuce said.

"Didn't know you were a poet, Deuce," Ace teased. Luffy giggled. Everybody was gonna be so happy that they were staying, since people kept saying they wanted them to stay. Luffy heard them all say it multiple times, but his family might not have been able to hear.

Jojo spoke, "Luffy, make sure you don't tell Thatch what I said about him. I want to see how long he'll continue to flounder around before asking me out." The others chuckled, but hadn't expected any different.

"Kay, I won't tell. Let's go tell everyone we are staying," Luffy said excitedly.

"Why don't you do the honors, Lu?" Ace offered. Luffy cheered and accepted.

"I have to dress nice for the ocajin," the boy announced. He went into the trunk that had all of the outfits Izo had made a couple weeks ago. He threw the outfits he didn't want out until he settled on the little tux, but with the child captain's coat on as well. "How I look?" he asked, putting his arms out. He'd needed help putting the tux on.

"You look ready for a good announcement. C'mon let's go make everyone happy," Sabo said with a grin.

-x-

The vampire commanders, captain and just a few human commanders were in the galley at the moment. The Spades came in later than usual due to their vote. When Luffy came zipping inside in a cute costume, all fond eyes turned to him while he made a beeline for the captain. He patted his leg twice.

"I gotta tell you something!" he shouted. Whitebeard laughed and picked Luffy up, the little boy sitting in his palms.

"What is it?" Whitebeard asked with a grin.

"We want you to be papa!" Luffy announced, throwing his hands up. Whitebeard made sure that Luffy was speaking for all of them, which he replied with a vigorous nod of his head. The room erupted into cheers, making Luffy giggle happily. "I had to dress up for the special annoucment," he explained.

The rest of the Spades - former Spades - came in and were hugged by the pirates they'd made friends with. It turned out that when Luffy was feeling extremely happy, his signature puppies were formed and ran around, soaking up the room's excitement.

-x-

During everyone's immediate celebration and cheering, the commanders all the happiest of the pirates, Ace walked up to Whitebeard, looking significantly different than his family. He looked scared, and Whitebeard was worried about what was wrong. Had he changed his mind?

"What is it, Ace?" Whitebeard asked. Luffy was running around a few yards away.

"Before we officially join, I have to tell you something. Ju-Just you and me," Ace said nervously, his eyes flicking to Marco uncertainly. He didn't want Marco to hate him for what he did. Whitebeard nodded sagely, having a feeling Ace was too nervous to eat any breakfast.

"Alright, why don't we go now?" Whitebeard offered kindly, knowing Ace was stressing about whatever he felt he had to tell the captain. There was no need to worry, nothing of Ace's past would make him reject the teen. Not after everything and that all of the commanders, who had great judgement, trusted him. Well, Teach was the only exception.

Ace and Whitebeard walked to Whitebeard's room, a place no one went to besides the commanders and himself, so they wouldn't be overheard. Ace walked inside first, and was clearly very nervous, something Whitebeard hadn't seen of him before. As he stood now, wringing his hands, he looked so young. "Now, what is it, son?"

"I have to tell you about what happened about my m-mom," Ace replied. Whitebeard gave him a reassuring "go ahead" smile, and listened as Ace confessed what he'd had to do and what had lead up to it. And they had all been right. The experience the boys, especially Ace, had to go through with their mother was horrific, and it was a wonder that Ace trusted any of the vampires aboard the Moby.

"I… she would have killed Luffy, and never would have forgiven herself if she did that, and she didn't want to be a vampire," Ace stuttered, expecting Whitebeard to shun or shame him for the desperate actions. Whitebeard stood and walked to him, and kneeled down in front of his new son.

"You did what your mother begged you to do. You saved Luffy, and you didn't kill her because some sick part of you wanted to. It was a horrible, horrible situation, and you saved Luffy. No one on this ship would shun or shame you for what you had to do. I swear, none of us would see you any different, but I will not tell anyone else unless you want me to," Whitebeard said emphatically.

"You won't tell Marco?"

"No, this is business between you and me. If you ever want to tell Marco, he won't see you any different than he already does. Now, will you take my mark and join my family?" Whitebeard asked with a grin. Ace nodded, tears down his cheeks. "Welcome to the family, son."

-x-

Just the next day, even before anyone had moved the former Spade crew's things, they had decided to take the marks. Luffy, of course, was too young for a tattoo and instead had Izo and Deuce embroider the mark onto his clothes. He'd be going shopping with them on whatever island they arrived at next, as they were no longer needing to go to Water 7 to repair the ship that Ace and Sabo had decided to burn. Send off their good memories and previous adventure, like Deuce had said.

Ace, already walking around shirtless normally, chose to get the jolly roger on his back, where everyone can see it. Since Sabo wore long sleeve clothes most of the time, it was difficult for him to choose, but he chose his chest, and would just keep a few of the top buttons open on his usual dress shirts. Jojo and Deuce got theirs on their shoulders. Aggie 68 got his on his arm, while Zeno, Sparky and Saber chose to have theirs on one of their calves, since they all usually wore shorts or short pants.

The Spades had already assimilated easily, so the only step that was left was changing their titles. They were all sons, brothers and a sister now. Luffy didn't call Whitebeard Pops, but instead papa and no one tried to get him to change. It was too cute. Aggie68 got to officially join the medical division, which the nurses had been wanting since the beginning. He was very happy about that. Jojo insisted that she still be a chef, and didn't like being called the sou-chef, so Thatch agreed to let them share the duties. It was hard for him to decide, but after he did it felt nice knowing that not everything was on him to do.

When it came to what division they would be divided into, they had requested not all in the same, which surprised the other pirates. "We want to integrate more into the family. We may share rooms still, but we want to be a bigger part. We've all decided. But me, Sabo, and Luffy will be in the same division no matter what you say."

Whitebeard laughed. "I wasn't planning any different, my boys."

So, Aggie 68 went under Marco, who had the nurses in his division as he was technically a certified doctor as well. Jojo was under Jozu (much to Thatch's annoyance), Zeno and Sparky were under Fossa, Deuce was under Izo, and the three youngest on the ship were part of Vista's division.

Ace and Sabo's main duties given to them were to teach Luffy control, and they'd be with him everywhere because they were both basically his parents, and he was only four. He still needed constant supervision and the older brothers would not have been happy if they were ordered to separate.

Literally, two days after the newbys had their tattoos, or new clothes in Luffy's case, Thatch and Haruta stole Luffy away for an hour to go around pranking everyone. When Luffy was asked to take part, the boy had said, "I did a prank before! One time, it was Sabo's birthday and we were making a cake and I put a estra candle in it and he didn't notice," the four year old bragged, proud of his "prank".

Thatch cooed about how cute it was, and replied, "Well, that is a very serious prank. I don't think any of ours have been that good. For now, we're just going to dump some temporary paint on some unsuspecting pirates." Luffy cheered, and from then on was the pranksters' supplier. But, no one could get mad at Luffy. It was just wrong, so he was safe from rage. After all, his creations were never harmful and always disappeared after a certain amount of time.

Ace and Sabo adored Whitebeard, like many of his sons did. After Ace told Sabo about the captain's reaction to their very tragic story, they couldn't admire anyone more than him. And the man soaked up the attention.

Ace and Sabo had always felt bad for Luffy not having a mother, but now they were at peace knowing he had a father and a loving, very large family to protect and nurture him. Ace and Sabo had also had their dream fulfilled, even if it wasn't how they thought it would turn out. They were pirates, just not captains anymore. It was hard to get used to being under someone else, but they did. There was no going back, not that they wanted to.

Everyone agreed to transform one of the extra storage rooms into a bedroom for Luffy and his two brothers. The vampires and former Spades renovated the room to match Luffy's completely. They moved all of the furniture and belongings, along with all of the photos that the newbys still didn't know Marco had seen.

The Moby Dick quickly became home. They said goodbye to their old home by sending her off in fire. An honorable end for an East Blue ship that managed to get itself stuck in the Grand Line and survive being towed for over a month. But, they had a new home and bigger family now, and so didn't miss their old ship as much as they thought they would.

-x-

Ace and Sabo had only had one goal after Luffy was born: raise him and make sure he's loved. They hadn't ever put themselves in a goal. Their goal was never for themselves to be happy. It was all for Luffy. But, on the Whitebeard's crew, they were able to have both. They were raising Luffy, still his big brothers, but they could now be happy themselves. It worked out for everyone, and Ace would always be grateful for the stupid dolphin that destroyed the ship's rudder.

The End