The bonding process took days, not the instant connection Luv had imagined, but the slow building of trust between boy and prehistoric creature.
First came the feeding where Luv gathered ferns under Domino's supervision, learning which plants were safe and which weren't. Bonk accepted the offerings with cautious sniffing before eating, always keeping one eye on the humans.
"Here, Bonk! I got you the good ones!" Luv would call, arms full of vegetation.
Bonk would approach, eat, headbutt gently, then retreat.
Then came the touch where Luv spent hours sitting near Bonk, talking in that constant stream-of-consciousness way kids do, letting the dinosaur get used to his voice and presence.
"So there's this cat and this mouse, right? And the cat is always trying to catch the mouse but he never does because the mouse is really smart. And sometimes there's a dog..."
Bonk would listen, or at least tolerate the noise, while methodically working through whatever ferns Luv had gathered.
By the end of the first week, Bonk followed Luv everywhere, slept outside the cave entrance at night curled into a surprisingly compact ball, and greeted the child each morning with enthusiastic headbutts that somehow never hurt.
Jay watched it happen with a mix of wonder and concern.
"The kid's bonding with a dinosaur."
Domino settled beside him on the cave's ledge, her shoulder against his. "He's building connections and learning to care for something. That's not a bad thing."
"What happens when Bonk grows up? Adult Pachycephalosaurus can be aggressive."
"Then we'll deal with it." Her hand found his. "Same way we're dealing with everything else. Making it up as we go and hoping we don't screw up too badly."
Jay's thumb traced circles on her palm, a habit he'd developed without noticing. "You're better at this than you think."
"So are you." She turned, meeting his eyes. "Stop waiting for the other shoe to drop. We're allowed to be happy."
"Are we?"
"I'm going to say yes." Her free hand came up, cupped his jaw. "Because I'm choosing to be. And you should too."
Jay leaned into the touch and let himself have this moment, this woman, this life they were building.
"Okay," he whispered.
"Okay?" Her eye searched his face.
"Yeah." He kissed her lips. "Okay."
The call to Kamar-Taj happened in the third week.
Jay stood in their cave with Luv bouncing excitedly beside him and teleported with practiced ease. The golden sparks of dimensional magic crackled, forming a circle that opened onto the training courtyard.
The Ancient One waited on the other side, her expression carrying warmth that still surprised him every time he saw it.
"Jay," she said, but her attention fixed on Luv. "And how have you been Luv?"
Luv peeked out from behind Jay's leg, his blue eyes wide with that mix of shyness and curiosity unique to children. "Grandma Yao! I missed you so much. Did you miss me?"
The Ancient One's smile deepened, reaching her eyes in a way Jay had rarely witnessed. "I did. And I was hoping you might want to learn something special. Would you like that?"
Luv looked up at Jay, then at Domino, then back to the Ancient One. "What kind of special?"
"Magic," the Ancient One said simply while raising her hand. Golden light bloomed in her palm, spinning into geometric patterns that rotated through impossible dimensions. "Would you like to learn how to make the pretty lights yourself?"
The child's face lit up like someone had turned on a spotlight inside him. He nodded so enthusiastically his whole body vibrated, nearly losing his balance.
What followed became more than just weekly training but routine, structure, something Luv could count on.
Every few days, Jay would teleport them to Kamar-Taj where Luv would burst through already talking, already excited, already ready to learn.
The Ancient One had infinite patience with the child and taught him to sense mystical energy through games that looked like play but carried serious instruction beneath the surface.
"Close your eyes, little one," she'd instruct, her voice carrying that ageless quality that made it impossible to tell if she was amused or serious. "Feel the energy around you. It moves like water, flows like air. Tell me where it gathers most strongly."
Luv would scrunch his small face in concentration, his hands waving in the air like he was conducting an invisible orchestra. "Um... there! No, wait. Wait wait wait... there!"
He was wrong the first dozen times, got frustrated, and stomped his foot. "It's too hard! I can't feel anything!"
The Ancient One never showed impatience. "Then we try differently. Magic is not the same for everyone. Some feel it as warmth. Some as light. Some as sound. What do you feel when you close your eyes and think very hard?"
Luv scrunched his eyes shut so hard his whole face crinkled. "Like... like humming? But not in my ears. In my tummy?"
"Excellent." The Ancient One's approval carried genuine pride. "That is your connection to the mystical. Now, follow that humming. Let it guide you."
It took three weeks of near-daily practice before Luv managed to create his first spark.
A mote of golden light, smaller than a firefly, flickered in his palm for maybe three seconds before winking out.
But it was real, genuine magic, not inherited power or genetic gift, but skill he'd learned through effort and practice.
Luv stared at his empty palm, mouth hanging open, then looked up at the Ancient One, at Jay, at Domino.
"I did it," he whispered. "I made magic!"
His shout of joy echoed through the entire monastery, probably startling novices three courtyards over. He bounced on his toes, jumped up and down, spun in circles. "Did you see?! Did you see?! I made the light! It was right there!"
Jay and Domino, watching from where they'd been pretending not to hover nervously, felt pride crash over them like a tidal wave.
Jay's throat went tight while Domino's eye got suspiciously bright.
"Our son just cast his first spell," Domino said quietly, her voice rough with emotion.
"Kid's going to be a sorcerer," Jay agreed. His hand found hers, squeezed hard enough to ground them both. "Among other things."
"That doesn't terrify you?"
"Everything about this terrifies me." He turned, met her eye. "But I wouldn't change it."
The Ancient One approached them while Luv tried desperately to recreate his success, his small face scrunched in concentration, golden sparks sputtering in and out of existence. "He has extraordinary potential as we assumed."
"Is that safe?" Jay asked. "With his other abilities still dormant?"
The Ancient One's expression turned thoughtful, almost calculating. "Actually, this may be the wisest path." Her gaze remained on Luv, who'd managed to create another spark and was now trying to make it dance. "Magic demands discipline, focus and understanding that actions have consequences." She paused, choosing her words. "Teaching him these principles now, while his reality-warping abilities remain suppressed, gives him tools and a framework. When his other powers manifest, he will already understand the weight of what he can do."
Jay processed that, and it made a disturbing amount of sense.
"You're teaching him restraint before he has the power to need it."
"Precisely." The Ancient One smiled, but it carried an edge. "The most dangerous sorcerers are those who gain power before wisdom. Your son will have both, in the correct order."
Wong chose that moment to stride across the courtyard, his expression carrying its usual stern disapproval. He stopped, regarded Luv with the intensity of someone examining a particularly interesting specimen.
"The child has potential," Wong said flatly. "Also terrible form. His stance is completely wrong."
Luv looked up, confused. "What's a stance?"
"The foundation of all spellwork." Wong moved with surprising speed for someone so solid, adjusting Luv's feet with precise taps. "Feet shoulder-width. Balanced. You cannot draw from the earth if you are standing like a drunken crane."
"I'm not a crane! I'm a boy!"
"Then stand like one." But Wong's mouth twitched, almost smiled though it didn't, but almost.
Mordo observed from a distance, arms crossed, expression unreadable. When he finally approached, his voice carried skepticism.
"Teaching one so young is dangerous. Especially one with his... genetics."
The Ancient One's response was mild. "All teaching is dangerous, Master Mordo. That is why we do it carefully."
"And if he loses control?"
"Then we will be here to guide him back." She turned, meeting Mordo's gaze with calm certainty. "Just as we were for you. And Wong. And every student who has walked these halls."
Mordo's jaw worked before he gave a curt nod, then stalked off.
Luv, oblivious to the adult tension, tugged on Wong's sleeve. "Can you teach me more? I wanna make bigger lights!"
Wong looked down at the child and sighed with the weight of someone accepting an inevitable burden. "Patience comes before power, young one. First, you will learn to maintain your stance for one hour without moving."
"A whole hour?! That's forever!"
"Then you will have time to contemplate why discipline matters." Wong's expression remained stern, but his hand rested on Luv's head with surprising gentleness. "Begin now."
The transition to introducing Luv to the wider world happened in careful stages.
First came the video calls with Sue and Jean.
Sue's face appeared first, her expression already emotional before anyone even spoke.
"Hi, sweetheart," she managed, her voice thick.
Luv waved enthusiastically from Jay's lap. "Hi! Mrs Richards? Dad said you wanted to talk to me!"
Sue's hand came up, pressed against her mouth briefly. "I wanted to see how you're doing. How's your week been?"
"I rode a dinosaur!" Luv bounced with excitement, nearly headbutting Jay's chin. "Well, Bonk let me sit on his back for like two seconds before he shook me off, but it counts! And I made magic! The light came from my hand and everything! And Dad makes really bad pancakes but they're still good because Dad made them!"
Sue's laugh came out wet as she wiped at her eyes, not bothering to hide the tears. "That definitely all counts. Every bit of it. You're having such adventures."
Jean's face appeared beside Sue's, her own expression carefully controlled but her eyes suspiciously bright. "Hi, Luv. Do you remember me? I'm Nathan's mom. He's still too little to talk, but he likes meeting you. I can tell."
"When will he be big enough to play?" Luv tilted his head, curious.
"Not for a while yet." Jean's voice cracked slightly. "But when he is, I bet you two will be great friends."
"And Franklin too! We can all be friends together!"
The calls continued weekly where sometimes Sue and Jean asked questions about his life, sometimes they just wanted to watch him play, to see him exist and be happy, and sometimes they couldn't talk at all when emotion overwhelmed them too quickly.
Jay and Domino gave them space to feel whatever they needed to feel since this child carried the genetics of their sons, and that meant something, even if the relationship was impossible to define.
The in-person visits started in the fourth week.
Jay portaled them to the Baxter Building on a Sunday afternoon where Reed and Scott wanted to see Luv in person again, to understand how the genetic combination had stabilized.
They'd barely materialized before Reed started talking.
"If we could just run a few non-invasive scans, purely diagnostic, just to map the neural pathways and genetic expression patterns..."
Jay's expression went flat. "No."
"But the scientific implications..."
"He's five." Jay's voice carried an edge that made Reed pause. "You're not running tests on a five-year-old. He's a kid, not a science experiment. That clear enough?"
Reed flinched with actual shame crossing his features. "You're right. I'm sorry. Sometimes I get caught up in the puzzle and forget there's a person at the center of it."
"Yeah. Don't." Jay's hand rested on Luv's shoulder, protective. "Forget again and we'll have a problem."
Luv, who'd been watching the adults with wide eyes, tugged on Jay's sleeve. "Are they mad at us?"
"No, buddy." Jay knelt, meeting his eyes. "Just making sure everyone understands the rules. That okay?"
"Okay!" Luv's attention immediately shifted to the massive windows overlooking the city. "Whoa! You can see everything from up here!"
Franklin and Nathan were there, both babies regarding Luv with that same intense focus from their first meeting, the connection still undeniable and still impossible to explain.
When Luv approached, both infants reached for him while Franklin cooed and Nathan kicked his legs.
Luv knelt between them, carefully like he'd been taught, and let them grab his fingers. "Hi, Franklin. Hi, Nathan. I learned new magic! Wanna see?"
He created a tiny spark of golden light in his palm that flickered weakly but held.
Both babies' eyes tracked the light with laser focus while Franklin made a happy gurgling sound and Nathan's little hands opened and closed like he was trying to grab the magic itself.
Sue watched with her hand over her heart while Jean's arm wrapped around her shoulders, both women processing something too complex for words.
The afternoon stretched into evening where Luv played with the babies under supervision, showing them his magic tricks, telling them about Bonk and the Savage Land and how Dad makes really bad pancakes. The infants couldn't understand the words, but they listened anyway, rapt.
When it came time to leave, Luv hugged both babies carefully.
"I'll come back soon," he promised. "And when you're big, we'll play together. Okay?"
Franklin cooed agreement while Nathan grabbed a fistful of Luv's hair and refused to let go until Jean gently extracted his fingers.
As blue light built around them for departure, Luv waved enthusiastically.
"Bye, Franklin! Bye, Nathan! Bye, Franklin's mom and Nathan's mom!"
The portal closed, leaving Sue and Jean standing in sudden silence.
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