Bogota, Colombia.

     It had been a year since Andres Maximiliano became a single father. His work was as stressful as always and his boss had treated his odd disappearance as a vacation which honestly he was glad for. He couldn't stand to lose his job when he had more mouths to feed.

     Pulling up in his driveway, he killed the engine then reached for the chicken teriyaki he had bought with Juan after work. He locked the car door behind him just as Pablo came out of his house with two big black garbage bags.

    Pablo immediately smiled when he saw him then came down the steps. "Hey, you home early? What's chasing you?"

     Andres held his breath as the man walked past him to the garbage bin and Andres shook his head at the man's awkward walking step. He couldn't walk properly even if they had a gun pointed at his head.

     The man followed quickly behind Andres as he said, "Nothing exactly. Thought I bring home food before it got cold."

That was a lie, but it didn't take a detective to figure that out. Pablo snickered as he caught up with Andres so he could open the door for him. "Yeah right, you just miss the little kid too much."

"Maybe."

     "Papa!" Fyodor jumped down from the couch and ran to hug him the second he stepped inside the house. The five-year-old jumped and wrapped his little arms around Andres' neck when he leaned down to pick him up.

"Fyodor, how are you?"

"Fine." Fyodor grinned at him then trailed his gaze to the take-out bag in his hand. His eyes quickly widened and he snatched the bag out of his hand. "Another teriyaki?"

"Yup." He nodded then dropped the beaming kid as Pablo appeared from the kitchen.

Andres hadn't noticed when the man had walked past him but he shrugged and closed the door behind him.

"Gala coming home today?" Andres asked Pablo as he watched Fyo run to the living room to set the plate down.

"She called. Said she'll be home soon." He answered, crossing his arms over his chest. "You should go take a shower, I'll take care of things down here."

"Thanks Pablo. I normally hate you, but right now, you're the best." Andres admitted truthfully.

     Ever since Andres returned back with the kids, Pablo had been the one taking care of them when he was at work. Pablo's boss finally got busted for drugs so he had more free time. Gala, however, started college just a few months ago and she had been really occupied with the work she had to catch up on.

And this was after they moved to a bigger and better house with the park just a couple blocks down.

     Andres was glad to see Fyodor making friend with the neighbours and Gala doing good in school. It was almost like a faint dream come true. If only it was complete.

If only he was here too.

    Andres was just about to drown in the tub when his eyes finally opened and he abruptly sat up in the tub. He gasped for air and winced in pain when it filled his lungs. This wasn't the first time he had slept off in the tub. Pablo had been the one to save him the last time and had blamed it on his work.

Andres didn't say a word. He had only sat frozen in the tub surprised that he had been so close to death's door without meeting Vlad for at least the last time.

     After then, Andres had been planning a break where he would go looking for Vlad but he knew he couldn't. The promise was that Vlad came to him and not the other way around.

     It was so hard explaining to the kids that Vlad decided to go home. The worse was explaining to Fyo that Vlad might not ever come back but the kid had hope. Boy, he had more hope than Andres and he was the one who needed him the most.

"I miss him so much." He said in merely a whisper, gripping the sink with his hands tightly. "So so much."

"Andres, dinner! Oh and Gala's home!!" Pablo's voice echoed in the big house.

Andres only nodded to himself in the mirror before letting go of the sink and looking for something to wear in his wardrobe.

     When he was fully dressed, he went to the dressing table to retrieve the socks he loved to wear around the house. That was when he saw it.

The gold band he had slid on Vlad's finger a year ago.

There was nothing else on the dresser, just the gold ring that stood out.

Andres picked it up just to be sure he wasn't hallucinating.

It was real.

It was just as cold as it was that day he had picked it.

It couldn't be, could it?

     Tear immediately rushed to his eyes for what this might mean. Was he here to return it? He didn't even say goodbye.

Andres immediately felt broken. Vlad couldn't do that to him, could he? Could he easily dump the ring and not even say a simple goodbye so Andres could stop waiting?

Andres had been waiting for a year.

Vlad couldn't do that to him. Even if Vlad didn't have a heart. Vlad could never leave him waiting for so long. He had to be close. Even if he had just dropped the ring, he had to still be close by.

     With that thought in mind, Andres ran down the stair, forgetting to put on his socks or his flip flops. He ran into the dinning where Fyo, Gala and Pablo were talking about some animation Fyodor had recently been obsessed with and felt himself die a little when he didn't see the Russian.

"P-pablo, did anyone go up the stairs?"

Pablo took one glance at him and his brows immediately furrowed. "Cuz, what's got you like this?"

"Did anyone?!" Andres didn't mean to yell but he really needed an answer.

"I went upstairs," Gala said, looking wide eyed at him as if shocked by his behaviour. "But it was only to drop my bag."

It was safe to say at the moment, he was hysterical. Vladimir had to have gone upstairs, unless how did it get there. His eyes narrowed at Gala and he visibly saw her flinch. "Did you see him?"

"See who?"

"Vladimir."

"Daddy!" Fyodor squeaked from where he had been quietly watching everybody.

     The kid beamed widely but Andres didn't understand why he was happy. Why was he calling him daddy? He had only ever called Vladimir daddy...

That was when realization struck him. His blood ran cold as he stood up straight and slowly turned around.

"Hallo Andres."

It had been only a year and to Andres it felt like it was centuries since he saw Vlad heavenly face. He felt so weak and he didn't know how to approach the man that stood right in front of him.

"Hallo?" The Russian came closer and Andres held his breath as he stared in shock at the man he had thought he would never see.

     Unlike Andres who didn't know how to react, Fyo and Gala were already rushing to him.

"Daddy!" Fyo squealed again and Vlad laughed before leaning down to pick him up.

"Oh Fyo, I missed you so much. You have grown big." He kissed his cheeks then draped an arm around Gala's shoulder. "And you too. I missed all three of you."

"I cannot believe you left me with the luggage. Do I look young to you?" Great grandma May entered into the house, basically freezing Andres in his spot.

"Great grandma." Gala gasped then ran to the elderly woman. "I missed you."

"Oh dear. You've grown taller." The elderly woman kissed the sides of her cheeks then smiled at her. "How has your papa been?"

Gala shook her head then glanced back at her papa. "Terrible. He pretends to be okay but God knows he's a walking corpse." 

"What did I tell you, Vnuk?" She gave her grandson a stern look which made Andres shiver but the other Russian only shrugged it off.

     Dropping the kid on the floor, he ruffled the kid's curly hair then said to them, "Can I have Andres alone? I promise to be quick."

"Take all the time you need to apologise. We did not just come here to say 'I'm sorry'." Great grandma May frowned at him then stretched out her hand for Fyo.

     The little kid quickly ran to her and hugged her, spilling how much he missed her from his small mouth. Even when Pablo suddenly emerged, the elderly woman drew his attention and Gala led everyone except Vlad and Andres back into the dining, locking the door after her.

     Andres and Vlad were finally alone.

     Before Andres could even mutter what to say, Vlad had already dropped on his knees with his head hung low. "I am so sorry. Leaving you was dumbest idea I had ever zought of. But I did not want to inconvenience you. I wanted to be able to take care of kids too. I wanted to be able to provide for zem so you do not get to work too hard."

"A year." Andres couldn't believe his reason. If he came, they would have searched for a job together, all the while still being together as a family. "A year?"

"That was my fault. After I had gotten job here and my work permit had gotten zrough, I zought I was too late and panicked. I was ready to leave ma and come but fact zat I took so long scared me. I zought you had moved on. When my ma found out about our promise, she made get her visa. Honestly, she was my back up if my apology does not work."

Suddenly, Vlad leaned forward that his head was almost touching the ground and said, "Andres, I am so sorry. Please forgive me."

     A year, Andres had to wait. A whole damn year of feeling incomplete. The man who could complete him was basically bowing to him. Andres couldn't say no. It wasn't like he had the choice. If he even uttered it just slightly, he might as well say goodbye to his life because dear great grandma was going to bury him alive for hurting her beloved grand son.

     Falling to his knees, Andres waited to the Russian to look up and when he could final see those lovely hazels, he pulled him in for a hug.

"I love you. My feelings haven't changed. So please," his arms tightened around the man, he could feel his heart racing, "don't leave me again. Please."

Vlad didn't answer until he pulled away and was staring straight at Andres, "I promise, zat's why I want you wearing zis." Vlad reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a small black case.

     Andres' heart drummed a beat in his chest as the ring in his hand rolled away when he saw the silver glory in the small casing. Vlad took both rings out and slid the casing back in his pocket.

     Taking Andres' hand, he said as he slid it in, "I know getting us another ring was not necessary but zis was custom made. It has Vlad x Andres embedded inside." Then he showed him the other ring with the cursive Vlad x Andres.

     It was beautiful, but not as beautiful as the man in front of him. He wore the ring on Vlad's hand and couldn't believe he blushed when the Russian encased their hands together.

Vlad placed his forehead on his and smiled. "You are finally mine, 'unny bun."

Andres finally lost all sense of decency when he heard that triggering word and he attacked Vlad's lips.

The Russian smiled against his lips.

Da, he was definitely his.

~::~

Newcastle, New South Wales.

     "Let's get married."

"Aren't we already?" Stuart rolled his eyes then turned away from him.

"You know, a bigger one where I can bring my friends and you can bring yours." Leon shifted closer to him and placed a quick kiss on his cheeks.

Leon watched it redden and the Aussie looked up at him from where he hid his face in the pillow. "Leon, no. We are already married so there's no point."

The Canadian stared at him, hoping he would change his mine but when his lover didn't even blink, he decided to drop the topic. "If you say so." He sighed then kissed him on his lips before jumping out of the bed.

     It had been a year ago since they met and only two months ago they got married. It wasn't to Leon's liking since the only two witness they had were both Stuart's female colleagues. He had been annoyed Stuart didn't want to go big but the Aussie was able to shake him out of it by doing un-Stuart like things like seducing him and being nice.

     Leon knew it was because he wasn't totally out yet. He hadn't told his family or anyone from his work except those two females. And since he was a teacher in a high school he didn't want any of his students finding out.

     Leon knew what could happen when he was entering the relationship with Stuart. One of the things he thought would happen was both of them breaking up. However, Stuart proved him wrong by being an absolute darling. In public, he was the Stuart he had known on the island but when they got home, the bloody Aussie was a savage.

That man had been piling up his sexual tendencies and when the Aussie finally got comfortable in their new home, he attacked Leon. Damn their first time was marvelous.

The Canadian could still remember the way Stuart had licked him, sucked him, kissed him and held him. It was like a sexual fantasy come true. And Leon had once thought the man wasn't sexually attracted to him. Keyword once.

     The second thing he thought of was Stuart not wanting kids anymore. Since the man still hated kids, Leon always had an earful every day he came back home from school. But that didn't change. In fact, Stuart had been expecting them for a week now. He had prepared Mariam's room just as she liked it and was completely flustered when he didn't know what to do with Faun's room.

Honestly, Stuart was more excited about it than he was and that said a lot.

     "Don't space out, Leon."

"Sorry. Was thinking about something." He flipped the pancake in the pan then left it to fetch the maple syrup.

"And what's that?" Stuart asked coolly. Leon didn't know whether he really wanted to hear or not.

He said anyways, "You'll probably brush it off."

     Leon heard the pen Stuart had been holding drop and the man didn't dare turn back, instead he busied himself with preventing the pancake from burning.

"I told my dad about us." That froze Leon and Stuart continued, "It was in my I Hate You, Dad letter. I never got a reply until a week ago when my brother called to curse at me for giving my dad a cardiac arrest. Unluckily for him, he's got lung cancer."

Leon immediately got the pancakes out and set it on the counter then frowned at Stuart. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want to talk about it at the time." Stuart shrugged then took a pancake into his plate after pushing aside the papers he was working on. "Besides, I'm in a super good mood."

     Leon knew one of the reason was because the kids were coming today but he said 'super' so... "Are you grading those papers?" Leon asked as he sat across him then dished himself a slice of pancake.

Glancing at it, he nodded and said, "Yeah, they are bloody going to fail this subject."

Leon smiled. "If so many people fail your class doesn't it affect you?"

"Yeah but it's only this class. The students are so lousy; I can't help but roll my eyes. I don't mind giving every single one an F."

"Fucking sadist." Leon snickered.

Stuart quirked a brow. "Did you say something?"

Leon swallowed down the food in his mouth before he choked from laughing then said, "Yeah, that you are the best teacher in the world."

A smile fell passed his lips. "I thought so."

     They broke into another conversation about something lighter until Leon was done eating. He waited for Stuart to finish then handed him his brewed coffee before taking the dishes to the dishwasher.

     As he leaned over the counter to turn the switch on, he sensed Stuart stand from his seat and when he stood up straight, Stuart was right behind him. The man wrapped his arms around him then leaned his forehead on his shoulder.

"Why didn't you get angry?"

"Because there was no point."

"But I didn't tell you something so important. And you still don't get angry when I reject your plans for a big wedding."

Leon exhaled then turned to him, cupping the man's face with his hand. "Because I understand. You don't want a big wedding, fine. I can deal with that. You not telling me about your dad, well that's kind of annoying because we are supposed to tell each other everything but I know you. If you don't want to talk about something I can't force you to tell me; that'll be ugly. So yes, I will be mad but I will get over it. I love you so I can."

"Thank you." He said then leaned up to kiss him.

     However, he never made it because the door bell rang and they both knew whoever was behind that door was going to complete them.

"They are here." Stuart smiled.

"Yes, they are."

The End
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Thank you all so much for all the votes, reads and comment. I appreciate every read and I am just glad you all loved my book despite the errors and grammatical mistakes xoxo.

Like TGP, there were quite a few cut scenes in this book like the rest of Daddy of the month challenge, Fyodor's birthday day, Leon and Stuart's *sexy time* and all those really good stuffs. That can now be found in the Men Love book.

It is a one-shot book that keeps our beloved characters from disappearing. Meaning, you can still hear from every single one of them. Nice huh?

Now that this has ended;
Who was your favourite and why?
What was your favourite scene and why?

Tootles✌🏾️