They had two boys; Evan and Otto. Evan was the oldest, but only by a year. Originally Shane only wanted one, but after experiencing parenthood for the first time with Evan, he knew he couldn't stop there, and that's when Otto came around.
Evan and Otto were a lot like Shane and Ryland were when they were young- Evan being a lot like Ryland and Otto being like Shane. It sort of freaked Shane out to see how much the boys reminded him of himself and Ryland, but it was also very fascinating to watch and he enjoyed seeing himself and Ryland in their boys. It was like he was watching himself grow up all over again.
He left the flower shop where he had worked when Evan came around, wanting to put all his effort and time into their newly born son, and not have to stress about raising a child and having a job at the same time. And he definitely didn't want to have to hire a nanny to raise his kid- that was his job to do. So Shane took on the job of being a full-time stay at home dad, while Ryland continued to work at the bakery. If he could, Ryland would stay at home too, but one of them had to bring in the income for the family.
Though the bakery had been going really well the past couple of years so Ryland was bringing in more money and working less time, (thanks to his father for hiring more staff), than he was before, so he could spend a lot more time at home with his family which he appreciated, and so did Shane and the kids.
Raising children wasn't as hard as they had first anticipated, and maybe that was because their boys were just well behaved, or maybe it was because Shane and Ryland were just big kids at heart so they connected pretty deeply to the little ones. Either way, it was a lot more enjoyable and a lot less stressful than they thought it would be. And maybe that would change in the years to come, but they hoped that if it did, it wouldn't change too much.
They also recently added another furry friend to their family. It was a little ginger tabby cat. Ryland and Uno weren't too pleased with the addition to the family, but the little ones wanted it; so just as Ryland caved in to Shane to getting Uno, Shane caved in to his boys and got them a cat. It was a sweet kitten so Ryland would warm up to him in no time, just like he did with Uno. And Uno, well, as long as they stayed away from each other they were on good terms.
They still went to the meadow as much as they could, which wasn't often, but they tried. They would be able to go more if they took the kids with them, but they liked to keep that part of their life to themselves for now. The meadow was theirs and theirs alone. And maybe that was a little selfish of them, but sometimes you need to be selfish. And maybe they would all go up there as a family one day, but till then, it was Shane and Ryland's place- their home.
They agreed to not have any more children as it wouldn't be the best for their financial state at this point in time, but if it improved, which wasn't highly unlikely for the way things had been going at the bakery lately, they would possibly have another. But they hadn't completely made their mind up yet. They still had a few years to think about it- they were only in their early thirties so it wasn't like they were running out of time any time soon- but for now, it was just Ryland, Shane, Evan and Otto. The family they had always wanted.
Shane had never felt a love like this before. It was almost as strong as his love for Ryland, which was incredibly hard to match up with- though of course he loved Ryland and the kids in different ways. He knew a parent's love for their child was intense, but he never realised how intense it was till he had some of his own. Before, Shane could only say he'd take a bullet for one person. But now he can say, without a shadow of a doubt, he'd take a bullet for three.
He would do anything in order to keep his boys- Ryland included- healthy and happy. Even if it meant risking his own life. He always told himself he would- could- never love another human as much as he loved Ryland, but he was wrong. However, in this instance, he didn't mind being wrong for once.
