Without You (Eren x Reader)

Meant To Be [37]

Six weeks have passed since Carla was born. The new parents both relished in this new journey with their daughter.

Carla was a good baby. Being a newborn she did sleep quiet a fair bit. During the day she was active and happy watching her parents, and still easily fell asleep when she was tired. Her hair had slightly grown in and the color resembled that of Eren's. She was essentially a mini female version of him.

She loved being held by Eren. He relished in the big happy smiles his little girl would give him. It brought about a new joy to his life he didn't think would be possible to feel.

Y/n loved seeing him smile when he played with Carla. It warmed her heart to see how much he was transitioning into fatherhood. The second weekend home Y/n had caught the two sprawled out on the couch together. She had just come in from hanging the laundry to find Eren lying on his back across the sofa with Carla lying on top his chest. His hands wrapped around her tiny body forming a protective cocoon while his head turned slightly to the side as he softly snored. Y/n chuckled seeing the two all cozy together.

Y/n was also getting along splendidly with her newborn daughter. While Carla loved being held by Eren, she equally if not more than wanted to stay with her mother. If Carla was being passed to Eren or other visitors, she would let out loud high pitch cry being taken away from her mother. With Eren, she would calm down upon seeing or hearing her father. With others. she would cry for a short period of time.

When Carla would hear Y/n's voice nearby her little eyes would shift to look for her mother. She was constantly wanting to be with her, and Y/n wanted the same. She loved her daughter.

Wyatt had given Eren the two weeks off, but soon had to return to work. Eren was disappointed to go back. He had grown attached to being with his girls every day, and didn't want to leave them. He transitioned back into his job nicely though. Wyatt treated him the same even though he now was aware of Eren's true identity.

The first week without Eren was fine for Y/n. Carla had slept regularly and Y/n had no problem feeding her. But into the second week Carla had started waking up multiple times throughout the day, which was tiring for Y/n who was trying to get everything else done. Since Y/n was also breastfeeding she had to be the one feeding her baby.

Y/n still enjoyed her time caring for her daughter though, but some days she felt like she was running on autopilot. Aside from caring for the baby all the chores were piling into one massive layer for the mother. She should be used to the lack of sleep from being in the Survey Corps for years, but being a mother and wife was change for her; a different kind of exhaustion.

Eren started noticing around the end of the third week since he returned to work the dark circles under his wife's eyes. He could see the tiredness written all over her face. How quickly she would pass out at bedtime, then immediately jumping out of bed when she hears Carla crying in the middle of night.

Eren was beginning to feel useless because of how tired Y/n had become. He decided to help more when he is home so Y/n could get some sleep, but that wouldn't change anything during the day when he went to work.

One night he was lying wide awake in their bed. To one side he could hear Y/n's soft snores. He laid his back, hair sprawled out on the pillow with one arm propped above his head and eyes staring at the ceiling. He was thinking of ways he could do more. He knows Y/n hasn't gotten much sleep of late and wanted to help.

He lets out a sigh and decides to get up knowing he isn't going to fall back to sleep anytime soon. Quietly he sits up, reaches for a hair tie on the night stand next to him to tie his hair into a bun. He slowly gets up heading to the drawers to throw on a t-shirt over his upper body. He was still wearing his boxers when he was in bed.