Will hadn't stopped smiling since he'd arrived. "I think I like this," he said, gently bouncing little baby Liam in his arms.

Cassandra watched them with a smile. In the few weeks since Liam had been born, she'd been told by multiple people (mostly older women) that she had a certain 'motherly glow' about her. She didn't think that anything about her was particularly 'glowing', but when he glanced at her, Will understood what the other women must've meant.

"Well, don't get too used to it, because I'm not letting you poison his mind before he can even walk or talk properly." Horace said as he came into the room. He turned to his wife, "Cassie, your father wants to speak with you for a minute – he's in the next room."

While Cassie rose and left after one last look at her son, Will was scoffing at Horace. "Me? Poison? Honestly Horace, it's like you don't know me at all. I'm an upstanding citizen – a hero, to some. I would never poison your son's mind. Would I, Liam?" He looked down to the small baby in his arms. For his part, Liam stared up at Will, blank-faced as he sucked on his fist. He blinked two big green eyes. "No, I wouldn't." Will said, "You see? He agrees with me."

Horace rolled his eyes with the smallest of smiles and lowered himself into a seat across from Will. Looking at the pair of them, his oldest friend and his baby son, Horace had to admit that Will looked completely natural to have a child in his arms.

"You look comfortable," He said. Will smiled at him.

"I am comfortable. And your son seems to like me quite a bit."

Horace snorted derisively. "Will, he's four weeks old. He likes everyone."

"He doesn't like Darius." Will retorted quickly.

Horace rolled his eyes once more. "Darius is giant guard dog that never stops barking. Of course he doesn't like Darius – neither do I."

Will squinted at his friend. "Touché."

It was a few minutes more when Liam's face contorted up into a pitiful frown.

"Oh, no," Will said apprehensively.

"What?"

Liam started to cry, quickly rising in volume.

"And here is where I hand him back to you," Will said, suddenly uncomfortable with holding the child. He never knew what exactly to do when a baby began to cry. He wanted to console the child, but was unsure how he should go about it. Horace didn't know all the specifics either, but at least he'd had four weeks to experiment. Gently, he took his son and held him against his chest.

"Did I do something wrong?" Will looked concerned.

"No, Will – he's a baby, this is what they do."

Will blinked. He supposed that made sense.

After another few minutes, Liam slowly quieted down and nestled into his father's shoulder.

"See? Now he's fine. It just happens sometimes." Horace said, bouncing his now complacent son to calm him down. "He may be hungry, though." His theory was confirmed shortly when Liam began to pull down his father's neckline. Horace frowned down at him and gently moved his small hand away. "There's nothing for it; I'm not mummy. Besides that, she's busy at the moment."

As if he understood, Liam scrunched up his face again, but instead of crying, he maintained his look of distress for a remarkable amount of time. Horace wondered if his muscles would start to hurt.

"Quite expressive, your son." Will said.

Horace chuckled. "I don't know where he got that from. Perhaps you're rubbing off on him prematurely. Here, hold him a moment, will you? I'll go and get Cassie."

"Oh, it's all my fault, is it?" Will said, taking Liam easily. Horace only smiled as he left. With daddy gone, Liam looked even more distressed.

"Hey," Will peeked down at the little face just as it was about to break into tears once more, "It's alright. Just gone to get mummy, is all," He said. In response, Liam began to yank on Will's collar insistently as he had with Horace's. "I don't know what you're looking for," Will said, "but you definitely won't find any milk. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that's a female thing." He moved the baby from his chest and held him upright up against his shoulder. "I thought you'd be able to tell the difference, but then again, you've only had four weeks to figure it out, haven't you? It must be strange, surrounded by so many giants like me. Though I'm afraid once you're old enough, you'll realize that I'm no giant at all – your daddy may be, though."

Liam blinked at him.

"Though I suppose you can go on thinking that I am a giant for a while yet." Will smiled. "I think I'll enjoy getting to know you, William. You and I share a name, you know – well, sort of – and you know that means that we must be a very close pair… An uncle and nephew, I'll say. What do you think?"

Liam grinned toothlessly, and Will beamed back at him.

"It's settled then, little nephew. Horace may regret the day he ever introduced us. We'll have great fun together, you and I."

The door opened. "Well, he seems fine to me," Cassandra said as she entered the room, followed by her husband.

Will smiled over at her. "That's just because he likes me so much. Look at him, practically splitting his face smiling."

Cassandra rolled her eyes fondly before taking her son from Will's arms.

"If he is smiling at you, it's probably because of all those ridiculous faces you were making at him earlier."

Will didn't know what to say to that, so he wisely didn't try.

"Well, I think it's time for a meal and a nap, so you'll have to say goodbye for now, Will."

"Aw," Will said, rising from his seat, "Well then, I'll see you two at dinner this evening. As for this little fellow, Goodbye, Liam," Will said, planting a kiss on the top of his fuzzy head, "Uncle Will has to go now."

"Uncle?" Horace asked incredulously. "How is it that you became his uncle?"

Will frowned. "Well, what else would I be? I'm as good as brother to both of you, aren't I?"

For some reason, the way Will had said it, in such a matter-of-fact tone deeply touched both Horace and Cassandra. Horace smiled. "Of course. I suppose it's only fitting – though Liam and I might have to come up with some suitably hideous nicknames for you, 'Uncle'."

Will smiled mischievously. "Oh, I've already got some picked out for you, 'Dad'. I'll be sure to teach them to him first thing." Ignoring Horace's slightly alarmed expression, Will hugged Cassandra around her son.

"Congratulations again, Evanlyn – you're an amazing mother already." He said in her ear. She smiled at him and looked fondly down at Liam.

"You too, Horace. Well, not the mother thing. But you know what I mean." Will gave the other man a slap on the back. "I'll see you later."

The three exchanged some last smiles before Will walked out the door.

That night, in their allotted visitor suite in Castle Araluen, Will lie in bed next to his wife, still not quite able to wipe the happy grin from his face. He hadn't realized how exciting it would be to meet his best friends' baby. He and Liam had had a grand time together, regardless of the fact that Liam was only a month old.

"I take from your smile, you had a good time today." Alyss said, setting aside the book she'd been reading.

"I did, in fact."

"And did Araluen's newest royal have something to do with that?"

"Yes. He's quite a fun chap, for being only a few weeks old. It'll be fun to watch him grow up."

Alyss laughed. "Cassandra told me that you were quite the natural babysitter with him."

"Did she? Well, we did get on well. I enjoyed it." There was a pause in their conversation, and Will's face grew a touch more serious. After a few moments of thought, he turned his head toward his wife. "You know, Alyss… I don't think I'd mind having children of our own, one day." He said sincerely.

If Alyss was surprised at what he'd said, she didn't show it. "Well that's good," she said.

Will frowned. What an odd answer, he thought, and so casual, too. Unbidden, a thought began to creep into his mind. He couldn't have known it, but his expression suddenly turned very nervous. "What do you mean, 'good'?" He watched Alyss' face keenly.

She said nothing, but raised her eyebrows and failed to conceal a fine smile.

"Alyss?" Will asked, "What are you saying, exactly?" Of course, she hadn't said anything, but over the decades he'd known her, he'd learned that she could say a lot without actually using any words.

She continued to smile. Then she gave him one look, and his expression registered pure shock.

"You… You mean that…" He couldn't finish.

Alyss laughed at his gobsmacked expression and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Congratulations, dear. I'm sure you'll be just as natural a father as you are an uncle."

Then, after a few more moments to process what he'd just learned, Will smiled larger than he had all that day with Liam. Love and joy written all over his face, he turned to his wife.

"I think I'd like that very much."

(BONUS: two days later…)

Alyss made the announcement later that week to their friends and family, most of whom were present at Araluen to visit the new young prince. (As was his tendency, Will started running at the mouth when he tried to tell anyone, because he was so excited) Alyss explained to Cassandra later that she' d known for some time, but wanted to wait and see how Will warmed up to the idea of children when he met William. After his purely positive reaction, she'd decided to tell him. Of course, everyone had been overjoyed to hear the news.

Everyone except, that was, a certain gray-bearded ranger.

It wasn't the child that upset Halt – he'd always wanted Will and Alyss to one day have children. Halt thought his former apprentice would make a fine (if not excitable) father, and Alyss would assume her role as mother gracefully, as she did everything else in life. Besides, the softer part of him had always loved children, and the idea of becoming a grandfather had been growing on him ever since Will and Alyss were married. There was only one thing that bothered him.

It was the stupid timing of it all.

"You said two." Pauline teased him as she sat down with her tea.

"You said three," He retorted.

"True. It all went a bit faster than either of us thought it would." She handed him a mug of coffee.

Halt snorted, but said nothing.

"But I'm sure I'll be right next time around," Pauline said at length.

Halt nearly choked on his coffee. "Next time? Aren't you getting just a little ahead of yourself?"

Pauline smiled knowingly. "I'm a woman. It's my job. Now if you'll excuse me, I promised Alyss we'd talk baby names this afternoon. I hear they're interested in naming it after you, should it be a boy."

Halt was slightly touched by the thought, but not enough to show it. "You're crazy, both of you."

She smiled. "Perhaps." Then, in a certain tone, "I do think it'll be a boy, though."

Halt swiveled in his seat to look at her, and she raised her eyebrows high in a challenge.

"Well I say it's a girl, then. Five silvers."

She smiled. "Be prepared to lose, dear, I'm never wrong."

"There's a first time for everything."