Manning Thorsen believes in (othala) wrote in repose,
Thorsens at home
As brutal as it had been for Iris and TJ, it'd been bad for Manning as well. What he remembered about his temporary deaths was always the same, but this one had been different. It had been blackness, and cold, and nothing at all what he was used to. The time he was down was longer too, thanks to whatever it was that affected Repose.
It had been hard on William and his family too. They all knew -- it wasn't a secret that Manning or William kept from them, and they had all wondered if this would be the time the magic ran out.
It wasn't.
Light and life had come searing back. It was a relief to leave that emptiness, but there was always the bitter strike that came with the knowledge that he would never go on. This was it. There would be no Valhalla, no feasting, no stories of old told in his honor and as much as that loss left him hollowed out and aching, he'd reached for Iris and TJ first, then little AJ while William had folded around them.
As much as they hated for him to be out of their sight, he hated it too and in silence until his hands could cradle heads and sneak around waists and heft little bodies high in the air. And while the town thought he was taking a paternity break, he needed it more to be around his family, not just his newborn.
And when little TJ went missing after they'd finished up breakfast, he went in search of her. The door to their bedroom was open, and he hovered in the doorway once he saw all of his girls inside, together. It'd taken Iris a while to manage breastfeeding, especially if anyone else was around, but somewhere she'd realized it wasn't shameful.
He'd never been prouder. Slipping in nearly silently, he butted his nose against TJ's head as he crawled onto the bed and gathered his family into his arms. He made a low sound that could have been a greeting as he pressed a kiss to the top of Iris' head, and hooked his chin over her shoulder to watch AJ with her fat little cheeks. They made a cute ass baby.