Finding Your Family

Spike slammed his rock-hard shaft into Scootaloo one last time, letting her clamp down on his knot. The barbed tendrils just below the tip stretched and wriggled, pressing against their rubber cage as Scootaloo's interior milked out the fluid into the reservoir tip.

As soon as she stopped convulsing, she lowered herself onto Spike's chest, panting. "You win again," she gasped. "Best of five?"

Spike looked over at the three tied-off condoms they'd already filled. "I think tied at two and two is good for now," he huffed back. "Let's take a break and rehydrate."

He reached down into the small cooler he had brought up after their second time and pulled out a couple of juice bottles. "What do you want? Pineapple? Grapefruit?"

"Do we have any white grape?"

Spike dug around for a bit until he found one. "Here we are."

They sat there for a moment in silence, simply enjoying each other's embrace as they drank their fruit juices and waited for Spike's knot to shrink. Every so often, Scootaloo would feel him inside her and spasm with pleasure.

"What do you think the kids are up to?" asked Spike, wrapping his claw around her shoulder. "You think they're having fun?"

"I hope so," smiled Scootaloo. As she thought about it, the smile faded away. "Hey, that thing with Aunty Lofty... How long has her health been that way?"

Spike shook his head. "Not that long. She was fine a month ago. And you know, like she said this morning, it's benign. Sure, it's something she has to look out for, but she's pretty tough." He clapped his claw gently against her back. "I have it on good authority that her whole family is pretty durable."

Scootaloo blushed.

"Still, I'm glad she took Twilight's advice and double-checked it. I'd rather know for sure that she's okay than live in ignorance."

"I'm glad she had someone like you to help keep an eye on her."

"And now she has someone like you to keep an eye on her," smiled Spike, booping her snout with his claw. "If I haven't said it yet, I'm glad you're back."

Scootaloo curled up on his chest, listening to his heart beating. "I'm glad to be back."

After a few minutes, she let out a groan, and Spike's knot slipped free of her grip, sliding out smoothly. With practised claws, Spike gripped the tip and slid the rubber sleeve off, tying it deftly in a knot while Scootaloo leaned down and licked him clean.

"Are you still nervous?" asked Spike as she came back up to snuggle with him.

"A bit," answered Scootaloo. "But I am feeling better. You know what I think it is?"

"Tell me."

Scootaloo gestured around. "The place is a little too bare. Doesn't quite have that "lived-in" feel, you know?"

"I know what you mean," nodded Spike. "One of the reasons I didn't do that was because I wanted you to be here for it. I mean, I already decided the layout, the materials, I even decided that we were going to be sharing a bed, when you might have grown used to sleeping on a rock. I know I had trouble sleeping when I changed from a dog bed to a regular bed. I thought you might want to pick what goes on the walls, since you're going to be looking at them." He looked around. "We can even repaint, if you want. We'll just have to wait for a bit before we can do that."

"Why's that?"

Spike cleared his throat, slid out from under her, and walked over to the cardboard box that was currently serving as his wardrobe. He was silent for a moment, then started digging. "I kind of spent all of my pay from the last ten years building this place. Plus some money I took from your aunts that I need to pay back." He pulled out a smaller box and grasped it firmly in his claw. "Holiday told me I don't have to; that the money they spent was for the well-being of you and the kids, and myself as well, eventually. Lofty just said not to worry about it. But it didn't feel right."

"Can't you just leave it alone?" asked Scootaloo. "I mean, they're right. If you spent the money building this place, tending to the garden, setting all of this up without me around to help you out, all so that we could have a nice place to come back to, then they have what they wanted."

Spike shook his head. "It's part of my code of honour. A dragon should be strong enough to, under his own power, provide for his family. Having friends is great, but... I feel like they've done me a huge favour; one which I should repay. Friends are a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours," sort of thing, but they've been scratching my back for awhile, and I don't know if I've scratched theirs enough. It feels icky to just take without giving back."

Scootaloo smiled. Spike's selflessness was what drew her to him in the first place. He'd taken some time out of his day just to make her feel better all those years ago, and she'd felt the same way about stealing his wings, something she hadn't actually done. "You'll manage, Spike. They're practically your family, now."

"That makes it even worse," answered Spike. "Disrespecting your family like that is a terrible thing to do. And yet, I have taken their help without returning the favour. I have only five gemstones remaining."

"Why don't you give them those?" suggested Scootaloo. "It's a start, at least."

Spike shook his head as he brought the box to her and kneeled down next to the bed. "Because I saved them, so I could give them to you."

Spike opened the box and pushed it forward. Inside was a silver ring. On the face of the ring, two semicircular gems, one tourmaline and the other amethyst sat on either side of three smaller squares, one tourmaline, one amethyst, and in the middle, a garnet. The symbolism was not lost on Scootaloo. The large semicircular gemstones were meant to be herself and Spike, matching their colours perfectly. Between them, each square was one of their kids, embraced between them.

"Scootaloo, I don't want to lose you again," said Spike. "You don't have to answer now, but I want to know if you'd consid--"

He was cut off as Scootaloo tackled him, knocking him to the floor and kissing him as deeply as she could. "Yes," she breathed. "Of course I'll marry you! You even have to ask?!"