Peace.

**Bella's POV**

I watched as Birger and Chel spoke. They both had a mischievous glint in their eyes, as if they were both teasing each other.

"Wow… the big, bad construction worker is gonna bully a bunch of kids?" Chel asked him.

"Damn right I-" Birger was cut off with a smack to the head.

"Not in front of the baby, Birg!" Chel reprimanded him.

"Ah… my bad." Birger nodded like he'd been enlightened. "Inner peace…"

"You're a fool, Birger Age!" Chel giggled.

Birger laughed. He was smiling with a serious look in his eyes. "Only a fool for you, Chelsie."

"My, my… Mr. Age, are you flirting with me?"

"That depends, Mrs. Age. Is it working?"

The woman, Chelsie, Laughed as well. "Yes… yes it is…"

She leaned in and kissed Birger softly. They both enjoyed it for a few moments before the baby giggled and interrupted them.

"Sorry, buddy. She's all mine." Birger said as he leaned down and tapped Ford's nose with his forefinger.

He looked up at Chelsie with a glint in his eye. "How about we call a babysitter, tonight? We haven't had time to ourselves in a while…"

She scoffed. "Always thinking about sex!"

"I saw you clench your legs together, Chel…" Birger smiled.

Chelsie blushed and smacked his shoulder. "Fine… tomorrow night I can ask Donna to watch him for a bit."

Birger looked down at ford again and lifted him high up in the air. "You hear that, Little man? You're gonna have some siblings!"

Chelsie's jaw dropped before she started giggling. "Already? Ford was bad enough! You want me to go through 9 months of torture again?"

Birger dropped his arms and cradled Ford as he tilted his head in thought. "Well… the chocolate covered pickles were definitely odd… and the-"

Birger gagged suddenly. "Why tuna with chocolate milk? Uck… the smell!"

Birger bent down to duck a swing at his head. "Birger Age, I swear! It's a pregnancy craving! And it was only like…" she trailed off.

"7 and a half times." He said seriously.

"What? Where did the half come from?"

"You asked for tuna and chocolate milk and I threw it all out the second you did. It was the last time."

"You! You said the store was always out of tuna!"

Birger grinned. "I lied- OW!"

Chelsie had thrown a book at him and it had struck him in the shoulder. "You rotten fu… freaking dummy!"

Birger started laughing as he swung Ford away from the books as he dodged. "Careful, baby!"

He spoke in a baby voice. "You awmost swaid a bad word in fwont of da baby~ ACK-"

Bullseye. Chelsie hit him right in the forehead with the corner of a book. He sat on the ground heavily with Ford on his chest.

"Hah! Not so funny now, is it?" Chelsie stood over him with an evil grin.

Birger had a similar expression as grabbed her ankle and yanked it so she fell on top of him. He caught her deftly with his free hand and held her close as he kissed the top of her head. He swung Ford in front of her and they both held him up together.

"You see him, Chel? That's our boy. If you don't want to have any more, that's fine. He's enough for me." He kissed her head again. "I just want him to have someone that he can grow up with. Side by side."

Chelsie pouted as she stroked Ford's cheek. She huffed briefly before looking up at Birger.

"…fine." She held a finger up. "But only one more!"

Birger looked at her with wide eyes. "For real? For real, for real?"

Birger kicked his legs like a child as he shouted. "Hell, yeah! You hear that, Ford?"

He lifted him up like he was Simba from the lion king. "You're gonna have a sibling!"

Chelsie sighed and shook her head. "I swear, I just don't get you sometimes."

I jumped when Clair spoke. I was so focused on seeing such a… new side of Birger that I'd never seen before.

"He feels angst. It seems like he is hiding something from her."

"You can't see his thoughts? What he's thinking?" Nathaniel asked.

"I could, but…" she looked at me.

"Do it. This may not be what we're looking for, but I'd assume it has something to do with it." I told her.

She nodded as sweat started forming on her brow. Suddenly, Birger's voice filled the room.

𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬, 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘭… 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

My eyebrows rose. He 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 lies. He doesn't even withhold things. He was always straight-on with what he says.

𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴…

"Huh? Rogues?" I exclaimed.

So it had something to do with rogues? And she fears them? Ah… she was attacked by rogues. Poor girl.

3 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵. 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵.

I turned to Clair as I heard the broken sentences.

"People don't think like they talk, Bell. It's usually just snippets of thought that form in order to have something it relate to." Sweat dripped from her face. "I'd assume something happened with rogues 3 years ago and he killed them. Judging from his anger, they were probably attacking the woman, Chelsie."

I nodded in thought. "Nathaniel? Can you go ask Holland if he can find out anything about a rogue werewolf attack around 3 years ago? I doubt anything would pop up, but it never hurts to be thorough."

"𝘚𝘪́, 𝘚𝘦𝘯̃𝘰𝘳𝘢. I will ask." He stepped out of the room as I continued to watch Birger and his family.

The two of them stood up with Ford and walked to the kitchen table. When Chelsie sat down, Birger handed Ford over to her and walked to the counter to grab the plates he had prepared earlier. He sat a plate down in front of Chelsie before taking his own seat.

"Smells great, Chel!" Birger said in a happy tone.

Chelsie cut a small piece of scrambled egg off and picked it up with a plastic baby spoon. She held it in front of Ford and he reached out to grab it before putting it in his mouth.

"Good." She smiled. "I wanted to get Ford to eat some real food and it seems he likes it."

Birger huffed. "What's not to like? Good food, good family, and a beautiful woman to feed him? He's living his best life."

"…he's a baby, Birger." Chelsie said with narrowed eyes. "Are you really getting jealous over your own son?"

I turned to Clair with mischievous eyes as I heard Chelsie speak. Clair looked back at me and sighed for a moment before speaking.

"Yes, Bell. He does feel i tinge of jealousy."

I giggled softly at that. Birger Age, the unknown blood and the man who single-handily stopped the V/W war getting jealous of his son? Unbelievable.

Birger puffed his cheek out.

Oh. My. God. He could make that expression? Did hell freeze over? Moon Goddess, Birger was so much different than when I had remembered him!

Birger grunted and picked up a piece of bacon with his fork. He chewed on it for a moment before his eyes lit up with understanding.

"Chelsie..?"

"Yeah, hun?" She asked with a smile as she fed Ford.

"You… slept in too, didn't you."

Her head shot to Birger's. "How did you- I mean- no. Unlike you, I'm a responsible mother!"

"So… you're making breakfast… at noon? You just felt like eggs and bacon for lunch?" Birger grinned at her.

"I hate you." Chelsie huffed and blushed.

Birger laughed. "You little rascal!"

"Well, it's the weekend! I was just a little tired, okay?"

Birger smiled again, gentler this time. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask you…"

He shook his head.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦.

"Nah, never mind." Birger chuckled. "Hey, let's go on a family trip."

"A trip?" Chelsie blinked at the sudden change in conversation. "What? I mean, where would we go? What about work?"

"We can go visit my family in Scandinavia? I haven't… seen them in a while. I can just ask the boss for some vacation days! I'm his best worker, so I'm sure he'll be accommodating."

Birger scratched his beard nervously.

"Are you… sure? I mean, I'm totally up for it, but…"

Birger shook his head. "It's all up to you, Chel. I grew up there, you know? I can show you around! They got some great mead! We can go see the sights!"

Chelsie smiled in defeat. "Okay, okay. When should we go? I'm worried about money, too. Isn't it expensive?"

"Nah, I got a buddy that can give us a flight for free!" Birger laughed and kissed her cheek. "You're gonna love it, Chel!"

"Ugh… shave your darn beard, Birger!" She shouted at him softly.

Ford grabbed his beard suddenly and yanked down. Birger flinched for a moment and untangled his hair from the child's fists.

"Ow! What, neither of you like it? I've been growing it for years!" He said in a dejected tone.

"You look like a Viking, hun." Chelsie said with a blank face.

"Well I am from Scandinavia?"

"Okay, mister Viking." Chelsie laughed. "Go ahead and set up a flight with your friend. Ask him if next month is okay. We still have to go to Raymond's wedding on the 14th."

"Oh, shit… I forgot about that." He jumped suddenly and backed away from Chelsie. "Yeah, sorry. Language."

She nodded stiffly. "I'll forgive you this time, since you're taking me on a vacation."

"Raymond's getting married… Man, that guy is…"

Chelsie giggled and hit his arm playfully. "He's just quiet! Besides, he's your best friend, isn't he? I can already imagine Ford in a cute little tuxedo~"

"He'll have all the 6 month olds drooling over him, Chel…" he said in a sarcastic tone.

"Will you shut up? Gosh…" she sighed. "Ask Raymond if he wants us to bring anything, will you?"

"Sure, baby. I'll ask him at work tomorrow."

Moon Goddess… he looks so alive! He was like this with Ashina, too, but… with the war going on he couldn't be so relaxed, like he is now.

He said he was from Scandinavia? What did he mean? He'd never spoken of it when he was with us…

I turned to look at Birger's sleeping face. He was still laid down on my bed as we looked at his memories. He had a calm smile on his face, as though he was re-living everything.

I suddenly thought of something. Birger was always… accurate, with his words. If he said he trusted someone. It had to be completely. Trust for him was always something that involved life or death and he never gave someone empty titles.

He'd said that Raymond was his best friend? It meant something. He doesn't just call someone a friend because they get along…

I turned to Clair. "Can you find the moment where he met Raymond?"

She closed her eyes for a moment before nodding. "Yes, but… it was a while ago. About 2 years and 7 months from what we are seeing currently."

I stared at Birger's relaxed face. The gentle smile that I'd never seen before. The clean shaven face that was so different from the beard he'd always had.

"Do it."