bigger family

Chapter 1

I reference their baby sometimes in Medical Malpractice OTP, so I figured it was about time I actually crossposted the fic about her.

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The baby in Emilia's arms feels too small to be real. It's far from her first time holding an infant, and she's even held a newborn before, but somehow, it still seems much too small. Maybe it's just the whole situation that doesn't feel real; maybe it's the fact that she's holding her own daughter, that she's really a mother now, that's throwing her off so much. Maybe it's just her own exhaustion making everything feel so surreal and maybe the size of the baby has nothing to do with it at all.

But, exhausted or not, she can't imagine sleeping any time soon. If she could stay in this moment forever, she would, and she can't stop smiling, can't stop staring at the tiny face and taking in the features, picking out her own and her husband's. Their daughter. She hasn't got a good look at her eyes yet, but there's a bit of sparse, black fuzz on top of her head. Right now, she is asleep, her lips slightly parted.

A hand rests on Emilia's shoulder and she looks up at her husband with a smile. "Isn't she beautiful?" she asks. It's about the fifth time she has, but his answer has been the same every time.

"Of course she is," says Shingen, and every other time, he's added something about her taking after either one of them, as if it should all be obvious, but this time, he doesn't. All he does is repeat himself. "Of course she is."

It's been a long day for the both of them, and he's just returned from calling Shinra to let him know that everything went well. Now is the first time they've been able to be alone with their daughter, and perhaps the first chance he's really had to let it sink in. They don't speak for a very long time, and even when Emilia feels close to falling asleep, she manages to fight to keep her eyes open. She's been thinking a lot recently that she's the happiest she's ever been, and she is so very glad that things just keep getting better and better.

~X~

"That was my dad," Shinra says when he hangs up the phone. "Everything went really well, and Emilia had the baby with no complications."

"That's great, I'm glad everything was okay for her," Celty types in response. "What was it that they named her again?"

"Shinkei," he replies. "I wonder when it's going to be okay to go visit them. I really want to see her!"

"Is it weird thinking of her as your little sister?"

"Honestly, it's not the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me, but it definitely rates." He laughs, shaking his head slightly. "Really, though, when I think about how the marriage was sprung on me...it's almost weirder that this isn't the first I'm hearing about her."

"Do you think they're all going to be okay?"

"Aw, of course they will. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I'm not sure I even want to know the answer to that."

~X~

Emilia is able to go home the next day, and so, a few days later, Shinra and Celty go to pay them a visit. Celty doesn't want to admit how absolutely terrified she is of the baby, but she is. She's never had to hold an infant before! In fact, she doesn't know anything about them, and she isn't sure what she's going to do if someone tries to hand Shinkei off to her, or asks her to help out with something.

However, she forgets most of her concerns as soon as she's let in and sees the way Emilia is beaming. The woman has always been an incredibly cheerful person, but this is different. Her eyes are brighter, somehow, and her smile softer; the word radiant comes to mind as Celty watches her with the baby. It almost seems like she won't want to let her go, but when Shinra sits down beside her, she offers to let him hold her.

"Support her neck," she says, and he nods, saying that he knows about that. When he takes her into his arms, he rests a hand on the back of her head. Still, after a moment, Emilia repeats it. "Make sure you support her neck." She looks so concerned that it's almost comedic, and it's the clearest Celty has ever heard her speak, meaning she must have put a lot of work into learning that specific phrase.

"I know, I've got her," he says, trying to sound reassuring. Shinkei looks up at him sleepily with bright green eyes. "Look at her, she's not even crying! She's so good, isn't she, Celty?"

"Just please support her neck," Emilia says again.

"I am, see?"

"Listen to your mother," Shingen scolds.

"But I am! See? I've got her neck!" says Shinra, and then he sighs. "Do you want to try holding her, Celty?"

Celty jumps, and waves her hands in front of her before pulling out her PDA. " I couldn't! I've never held a baby before, so I'm afraid I might do something wrong. "

"Well, you're never going to learn if you don't try."

"Don't worry about me! Spend as much time holding your sister as you want."

"But I want you to hold her too," he replies. "After all, she's your little sister too, right?"

Even after all this time, talk like that still gets Celty a bit flustered, and in order to distract herself from that , she ends up letting Shinra pass the baby into her arms while he explains how he was holding her. Celty cups Shinkei's head in her hand as Emilia reminds her to support her neck, and brings the baby up a little bit closer to herself.

Just like with Shinra, she doesn't protest or cry at all and just stares up, slightly curious. Even the helmet in place of a face doesn't seem to bother her- though, given her parents, that isn't actually all that unexpected. It's a strange experience, and Celty isn't sure how to describe how she's feeling about this, but, even though she's nervous, she knows that she's happy.

Maybe, she thinks, this might not be as hard as it seems, and maybe she'll be able to get used to this, maybe even become good at this. Eventually, she hands Shinkei back to Emilia because she can tell the mother is getting restless and because she's still afraid of accidentally hurting her, but the rest of the afternoon, she has a hard time looking away, even when Shinkei eventually drifts off to sleep. When it's time for them to leave, she finds herself looking forward to when they get to visit again.

But she doesn't consider the possibility of being left alone with Shinkei, or the fact that she and Shinra are going to be the go-to babysitters, despite neither of them having any relevant experience.