Chapter 65: The Future

Nikola was let out of the hospital when he had proven that he could walk from one end of the park to the other.

Timmy and Vera were in their stroller. Nikola was pushing it, following Bleda and Andrew towards where the two had told him their new plot was at.

The streets were busy. Some people stopped to wave at them.

Nikola had never experienced such a thing. He had always been the one who no one knew. The one who got passed by without so much as a look.

He was smiling. Waving at the passersby when they called out his name.

When they came by an empty plot of land, with a little stream passing through the property and a small pond to the right, under a whipping willow, Nikola was in love.

This was not Dimitri's cabin. But the similarities were there.

He smiled even wider, when Jack and Dimitri began making him a cooking pit. He began to cut up the vegetables and the last of the Selkie meat.

Soon, the goblins were out and looking at the plot in awe.

"This… this is like the tribe's lands!" The old goblin shaman said, as he sat by the fire. "May we visit? Even after joining the guild?"

Nikola nodded. He had no idea how he was going to persuade guild master Arnold to accept the goblins, but he was ready to make their case and argue.

Even if that meant that he would be mucking the stalls every day for the rest of his life.

When the first grilled chop was done, Nikola began to place it on the flatbread.

The goblins were sitting on the grass. Goblin children were splashing in the pond.

The willow swayed its branches gently over their heads.

"I thank you," Nikola began, as he began to give the food to the hungry goblins. "That you mined the mana stones for so long! Please, don't forget about me when you become top-shot adventurers!"

The goblin shaman chuckled.

"How could we, even?" He asked, as he began to eat his meal. "We remember how we were before you gave us that mushroom. There is no turning back to that life for us!"

"I will send my children to school," a goblin lady said, a sparkle in her eyes. "They will learn how to read and write! Yes, they will!"

Nikola nodded, handing her a plate.

"And if you need babysitters," the lady continued, as she pointed at her two sons. "My boys will be happy to spend time with the babies!"

Nikola blinked.

On the one hand, these were goblins.

But on the other hand, if he took the offer, he could start sending Andrew and Bleda on trading expeditions.

Something that would help not just him, but the entirety of Oak's Rest.

He looked at Dimitri, and then next at Jack and Jean. This was not just his decision to make.

"Ok, I like the idea," Jean said, who was glad that the babies would have someone closer to their age to look after them.

"Andrew will just have to teach them how to feed Timmy and Vera," Dimitri added.

"Oh, my boys know how to take care of babies," the lady said with a fond chuckle. "The babies of the tribe are the responsibility of the older children. The men and women have to hunt for food, you, see? Or, well, had. This is no longer so."

Nikola nodded. That sounded better and better.

"Timmy and Vera are necromancers," Jack added. Wanting to put the goblin to the test. "Do your children know how to take care of such children?"

The lady blinked.

"These two treasures can already do magic?" She asked. The four nodded. "Good! My boys were being prepared to be shamans! They can negate any spell!"

Nikola relaxed after that. He focused on the food. Making himself a plate last, as the rest of his guests had gotten their share.

It was just who he was.

****

The party was merging the day with the night. The cooking pit was no longer used for cooking, but for dancing.

Nikola was securely in Dimitri's embrace, Timmy in his arms.

He watched as the goblins jumped over the fire. How the shaman chanted and let mint boil in tea for cleansing.

If this was the future, Nikola thought, then the future was sweet like honey.

"Hey," Dimitri whispered in his ear. Nikola relaxed against him. "We have a shaman in here."

The remark made Nikola blink.

"Yes, we do," he said, his heart beating like a caged bird as his mind raced through thoughts.

"Do you, Nikola, take me for your husband?" Dimitri asked, as he kissed him on the back of the head.

The shaman began to sing something that sounded like Mongolian throat singing.

Nikola didn't understand a word, but he was certain that this was the equivalent to a marriage choir.

He smiled, hugging Timmy closer to himself.

"Yes."

The shaman let out some mana to go through Nikola first, then through Dimitri.

They glowed in white for just a second, before going back to normal.

"I didn't think you'll agree," Dimitri said, his tone teasing. "So, I decided to just spring the question at you."

"You sneaky, sneaky, man," Nikola said with a chuckle. "Using the party with the goblins as the wedding. For how long you have been planning this?"

Dimitri kissed him again.

"About a week. I just didn't have the right moment to ask you. But, hey, as weddings goes , we have checked everything out! Food, guests, you in white," Dimitri began to list.

It was then that Nikola realized why he was in a white shirt and pants.

"Didn't you tell me that the rest of my clothes were yet to be washed?" Nikola asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Dimitri said, as he hugged him tighter. "But, hey, it was for a good cause!"

Nikola snorted, swatting Dimitri on the arm.

"Just make sure you don't do something like that again. I don't like lies, even if they are white ones."

Timmy let out a defensive babble. Dimitri nuzzled his nose in Nikola's nape.

The brunette could not stay angry at him.

He melted in his embrace. Now linked with him through ring and soul.