"How can every one of you ruffians suddenly become shy all of a sudden? You've all seen his pictures and read his letters. Come and meet your father."

For a certain reformed Big Bad Wolf, this event had been five years in the making. Five horrible years of loneliness, five horrible years of absence, five horrible years of having a void where his heart should have been.

Five horrible years of not being with his cubs, his own children, save Ghost.

But now, as if all his prayers had finally been answered by whatever merciful God there was, here they were, not five feet away from him. His children, his cubs. His precious baby boys and his sweet little girls.

The gentle summer breeze brushed gently against him, swaying blades of green grass below him and the branches and leaves of the oaken trees in the near distance as it kissed his cheek and those of Snow, her sister Rose (who now had a great big grin) and of course the young cubs.

It wasn't deathly silent, but he could hear his own heart, beating wildly in his chest, excited not only by the sight of his children, but of their scent as well. Like Snow's the aroma of his children were logged in the deepest parts of his memory, impossible for him to forget for even the slightest moment. They each had their own distinctive scent: Darian, Ambrose, Conner, Therese, Blossom and Winter. Even though he hadn't seen them since their birth he recognised every one of them clear as day, their truffles of blonde, brown, red and raven hair, their pale skin – like their mother, and various other features inherited from both him and their mother. Their mother who now stood in front of them encouraging them to step forward to meet him, their father.

His heart sank a little.

Of course they were shy, they wouldn't remember him they were too young, and here now he was, just another stranger, some odd guy who claimed to be their father.

Despite coaxing from their mother, they were still too shy to step forward from the van they were up against and he was too scared to step towards them, lest he scare them off. No matter how non-menacing he desperately wanted to be right now, he was afraid that his gruff appearance would always send that vibe.

But then an amazing thing happened. His eldest child took a step towards him. Then another and another. Her raven hair, just like her mothers' glittered in the sunlight, though it was done up into two little pig tales. She was a little chubby, but adorably so and his heart melted at the sight of her bravely approaching him, with her thumb still in her mouth.

He knelt down to her level and reached an arm out to her cautiously; afraid she would suddenly vanish into thin air if he touched her. Everything else didn't matter now; all he could register was his daughter stepping closer towards him, slowly but surely. She stopped in front of it and glanced nervously to his outstretched hand and glanced back to her mother, who made a 'go on' gesture with her hands. She placed her little hand on his and leaning towards it, sniffed it a couple of times.

The smile on his face grew wider as realisation overtook him – she was smelling him, trying to see if she remembered his scent.

She was her father's daughter.

She looked up at him and took another cautious step forward as his arm dropped slightly. She leaned closer to his face, and with the fiercest determination of a four year old, sniffed just in front of his mouth. Waiting with baited breath, he saw an inquisitive expression overtake her.

She sniffed a couple more times and recognition lit her features, her eyes widened and a huge smile overtook her.

She remembers me! She remembers me!

"Daddy!" She called out with her sweet little voice.

She leapt into his waiting arms, wrapping her own around his neck so tightly and burrowing her chin on his shoulder, giggling and crying all at once. He could do little else than sob and laugh with her, peppering her adorable little cheek with fatherly kisses and enveloping her with his big arms.

Sure enough, the other cubs ran up to him as well, and soon enough he was wrapped around six adorable cubs. The quiet of before was now replaced with numerous "Daddy's" and laughter and happy sobs and it was absolute music to his ears.

He showered each of them the same treatment he had spoiled Winter with, pressing loving kisses to their cheeks and foreheads and almost smothering them with the mother of all bear hugs whilst they gleefully did the same to him.

He glanced up at snow who stood before them next to Rose, with the biggest heart-warming smile he had ever seen her wear. He hastily whispered something to Winter, who nodded eagerly at his proposal.

Breaking free of the mass of father and children, she ran over to her mother and eagerly grabbed her by the hands before turning back to the group hug, a surprised Snow stumbling along after her.

He too broke free and standing up caught Snow in his arms, wrapping them around her slim waist, all the while the little hellions grabbing at their shins, still desperate for their attention. She laughed in merriment along with them and Bigby swept in for a long loving kiss. She responded in kind and curled her arms around his neck, prompting several 'ewws' and 'gross's'. They soon broke their loving embrace and their attention now turned back in full to their children, their family and they kneeled once more to fully embrace them.

Come what may, they were a family now, and God help whoever tried to ever drag him from his children ever again.

Soooo, I'm just gonna pretend issues 114-121 of Fables never happened… we all good with that? Ya know living in my own reality where nothing ever goes wrong and the good guys actually get a happily ever after? Excellent, glad we're in agreement!