A/N~just a warning: please don't sexualize the word daddy if it's a little kid saying it please and thanks in advance
Also!!! This oneshot will be from a bit of a different perspective. Idk what motivated me to do so, but I ended up writing a LOT of it and I actually quite like the way it turned out. I hope you guys like it too :3
Father, Part One
It was not my idea to have a child. I was intently focused on my job as a writer, and if it had not been for my new husband's persistence, it would have never crossed my mind.
It all started one fateful day in February, when my husband, Erwin, on our two-year anniversary, made quite a presumptuous suggestion.
"How would you feel if," he began, pressing the tips of his fingers together in anticipation, "I found a surrogate mother to carry a child for us?"
I sputtered and choked on the food I was chewing. "What?" I laughed. "Erwin...we don't have time for kids."
"Sure we do!" the blonde man insisted. "You'll be at home. And besides, I don't want kids, plural, but...one would be nice."
I sighed, putting down my fork and knife. "Listen, Erwin...I just don't think it's the best idea right now. Okay? You're twenty-eight, there's still plenty of time to have a kid in the next couple of years."
Erwin was sulking for the rest of the evening, but I just rolled my eyes and waved him off whenever he tried to sway me. I would not be swayed. I didn't want children, and that was final.
However, the blonde pressed on. Everytime we passed a baby in public, he went out of his way to interact with the family, asking questions and playing with their kid. I just stood off to the side, refusing to give in. He would call me into the living room when diaper commercials came on just to tell me how cute the babies were, and he sent constant streams of articles my way by email, trying to convince me of how beneficial having a child was on a relationship. A month into this, I caved, just wanting it to stop. "Okay," I agreed. "We'll have a kid."
A nice lady named Hange agreed to be our surrogate. She was a quirky, outgoing biochemist who did not particularly want kids of her own, but was willing to carry a child for the benefit of another. "But I do want to get to know the kid," she stated, when we made the agreement that March. "If they're half my spawn, I get to see them whenever I want, okay?"
Erwin was delighted with things. "So, it's settled!" I was not nearly as enthusiastic as he was, but I did have to admit that it could be fun, raising a child. Maybe it would be a learning experience for myself, too.
Our time during Hange's pregnancy was spent reading up on parenting books and searching for baby names. She worked all the while, and we took her to her appointments dutifully. It was on a rainy day in November, a month before our child was due, and we were at lunch with her, when the lady doubled over in the middle of the restaurant, groaning. "Uh...it appears that I may be going into labor," she said, as calmly as one could.
Our son was born five pounds and three ounces, which was perfectly healthy, just tiny. His name was Armin, and he was fair-skinned, with a blonde wisp of hair, and bright cerulean eyes that matched his father's. Erwin wept with joy upon holding him and seeing him for the first time. When he was passed to me, I cradled him in careful arms, studying his round face and peaceful expression. He was beautiful, more beautiful than I ever could have imagined, breathing soft and eyes trained on me in wonder, and it was in that moment that I truly became his father.
Hange spent some time with us to care for him, and though he was not at all a fussy baby, he did have his moments during the night where he needed attention, and so we took shifts as to who would deal with him. In the end, Hange's help was a lifesaver. She was naturally good with him, despite her "non-motherly tendencies," as she called them. She rocked him and changed him and breastfed him, and did a damn good job with all of it. Each day caring for him was exhausting, but we were happy. Despite my initial protests, I was truly content with having a new human in my life.
Armin was highly intelligent. He hit all of his developmental milestones early—standing, walking, talking, potty-training. Hange became affectionately nicknamed "Han-zee," as that was the way Armin pronounced it. He was a very curious toddler, especially when I was writing. He would tug on my leg and ask to go up, and I would sit him on my lap while he watched attentively as new words continually appeared on the screen.
We didn't enforce any rules on how he expressed himself. Armin played with both dolls and toy trucks, liked the color pink and the color blue, and so on. Erwin and I thought it important not to place a gender on any of the things he liked.
By age three, Armin had a good enough sense of who he was, having adopted the skill of reading quickly. We wanted to enroll him in kindergarten at a young age since he was so advanced, but the administrators insisted that he be socialized with other children first. Admittedly, that was the one thing we hadn't done the greatest job on, having no other friends who were young parents with a young child or children.
We enrolled him in preschool instead, and he was not particularly delighted about leaving the comforts of home each day to interact with kids for a couple of hours. He cried when Erwin and I dropped him off that first day, clutching Erwin's leg and sobbing. "No, Papa, don't leave," he begged, but the taller man coaxed him off of his leg, saying that he needed to go to work, and that I would be back to get him later. We left the boy in a Miss Petra's care, and she smiled and waved and assured us that he would be fine.
After a few days, Armin was suspiciously excited to go to preschool one morning, tugging at my hand to get me out to the car, and bouncing in his carseat as I strapped him in.
"What is it?" I quizzed, as I pulled out of the driveway and started down the street. "You're happy, huh?"
"I see Ewen today," he replied, clapping his hands together and smiling brightly.
"Eren?" I quirked an eyebrow. "Who's Eren?"
"Ewen's my fwend."
When I unstrapped the boy from his carseat, he took off running towards the playground, and I assumed he had spotted his friend. The friend in question was a small, unruly brunette with angry, almond-shaped eyes and dark tan skin. His mother was almost his mirror image, in female form, but with soft, hazel eyes and a kind smile. Upon seeing Armin, Eren's scowl faded, and he displayed a toothy grin. I headed over to where the two boys were chattering, Armin waving his arms animatedly about, deciding to introduce myself to Eren's mother.
"Hi, I'm Levi, and that's my son," I said awkwardly, pointing to Armin on the ground, playing in the sandbox with Eren.
"Nice to meet you!" The woman smiled, clutching my hand briefly before proceeding to introduce herself. "My name is Carla. I noticed these two together and just thought it was the cutest! Eren hasn't made any friends here, since he has such a temper. But Armin seemed to be drawn to him."
I watched the boy, with his tiny blue overalls and wavy blonde hair, showing Eren how to build something in the sandbox. Seeing Armin so happy was my weakness, I admit, and I couldn't help the small smile that bloomed on my lips upon watching the two play together.
"Well, they'll have each other," I remarked, just pleased to see Armin socializing so well with someone his own age. Little did I know then, this new friendship would bloom into something much, much more.
• • •
Being the parent that worked from home, I was the one who was dragged as a chaperone on field trips and who primarily attended silly parent-teacher conferences where all they did was praise Armin's abilities. This was no exception at the beginning of Armin's year in second grade, when his class decided to take a trip to the science museum. Armin loved science, and was delighted. Hange had nurtured this love well over the years, so it had only grown with his enthusiasm. Of course, Armin implored Hange to attend, but she was very busy at work and wasn't able to. In his disappointment, he turned to me, and I agreed.
Eren and Armin had attended the same school since their first meeting. This was majorly due to the fact that Carla, Erwin, and I had very similar views on what we wanted for our children in terms of education. So it just worked out that way, and the two boys were never apart. It also worked out that they lived a block away, and so Eren and Armin could play together whenever they wanted. They took advantage of this nearly everyday, visiting each other's houses after school each day and spending hours of time together on the weekends. They were as close as two friends could be, even though they were so different.
I sat in the back of the bus across from them. They were talking amongst themselves. Armin had his favorite book stretched over both of their laps, which was a giant book with amazing pictures of different things in nature, all around the world. It was his favorite thing to show Eren, who loved it as well, listening attentively as Armin pointed and explained things with vast hand gestures. "I really wanna go there," he'd say. "Will you go with me someday?" Eren would nod, smiling earnestly. Eren promised Armin the world, despite only being seven years old.
We arrived at the museum in less than an hour, and Armin was bouncing in his seat excitedly, thrilled to be there. Eren just scoffed shook his head, not sharing the enthusiasm but knowing Armin's interests well. They stood, both clad in shorts and sneakers, and I followed them out of the bus. The teacher did a head count of everyone, and then we proceeded inside. Eren and Armin joined hands, which was something they mainly did to stay together in public, but also something they liked to share and had never questioned before. I was keeping an eye on them and the other kids around them, when one kid's voice asked, "Why are you guys holding hands?"
The two boys froze, mostly in confusion. "I-I dunno," Eren managed to stammer, a scowl forming on his brows. "Who cares?"
The kid speaking to them shrugged, a strange kind of sneer on his face. "It's just weird."
With those words, Eren dropped Armin's hand like it was contaminated, instead crossing his arms over his chest, scowl not fading. I saw Armin stare unsurely, but then he tucked his hands into his shorts pockets and continued walking.
I assumed the incident had been forgotten, as Armin thoroughly enjoyed his time at the science museum, and the the two boys sat and talked together on the bus ride back. However, later that night, after Armin had gone to bed, as I sat in the computer room and typed away the storm of ideas that were raging inside of my mind, I heard soft footsteps tiptoeing towards the door. I spun around in my chair to see a distraught Armin in a blue, space-patterned onesie, clutching his stuffed rabbit to his chest and pouting unsurely.
"What's the matter? Can't sleep?" The boy shook his head, and I beckoned him to me, hoisting him into my lap.
"I have a question," he began, his s's having a slight lisp as he was currently missing his two front teeth. He studied the stuffed animal in his lap. "Is it weird for me and Eren to hold hands?"
I was surprised at this question, since I knew the context and thought it was an issue resolved. But since he didn't know I possessed that knowledge, I decided to further question him. "Who told you that?" I inquired.
"Um...just a boy in my class...Eren won't do it anymore, so I just thought...it was weird."
I sighed. "That boy just doesn't know what he's talking about," I told him. "It's not weird. It's not weird at all. You and Eren are friends, and you're close enough that you're able to share that. It's not weird, okay? Just because kids at school say something you do or you like is weird doesn't mean it is. Okay? You just be yourself and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
Armin nodded, staring at me with big eyes. I wasn't usually the one to give pep talks, since it was more Erwin's thing, but if Armin needed me, I wanted to be there to help him, particularly since I had experienced the incident firsthand.
"Okay. Thank you," he answered, laying his head on my chest. "I love you, Daddy."
I smiled, hugging him close to me. "I love you too, Armin."
Eventually, the blonde dozed off where he was, and I scooped him up in my arms and carried him back to his room, safe and sound.
• • •
During the summer between third and fourth grade for the two boys, Eren came by one day, and next to him was a girl of his height, with striking indigo eyes and a crimson red scarf wrapped around her neck, covering her mouth.
"This is Mikasa," he told Armin and me. "She's my new sister. She's not from here, so she doesn't speak English real good. But my mom's teaching her."
Armin was shy around new people, and so he could barely say hi, let alone shake her hand or make conversation. Eren smiled fondly, ruffling Armin's hair. "That's okay, you'll get used to her," he reassured the blonde. "She's gonna play with us sometimes."
Contrary to Eren's promise, however, whenever the raven-haired girl was included in a game the two boys would play, she would remain aloof, finding a spot to sit alone and observe the flowers that lined our garden or to sit under the shade of the tree that Eren and Armin loved. One day, I could see Eren getting frustrated with her always trying to be alone, attempting to drag her over to where Armin stood awkwardly in the middle of the yard, but the girl resisted, yanking her arm from his grasp and dashing off towards their house down the street.
"Mr. Smith, why doesn't my sister like me?" Eren inquired of me that same day, as the two of them sat at the kitchen table and sipped lemonade. "I did what Mama said, I made her feel welcome."
I sighed, taking a seat across from them both. "I don't think she dislikes you. But you need to give her time to warm up to you. This is new for her, a new home, new surroundings, new family. That's a lot to take in. Let her have some time to adjust, okay?"
So Eren stopped bringing her along to play for a while. It wasn't until one day towards the end of the summer, that she showed up alone, in her little pink dress and red scarf, and offered up a soccerball for them to play with, that she returned. Upon this peace offering, Eren's face lit up in a grin, and the three of them played outside for hours until it was time for the new siblings to return home, waving to Armin and me as they started to walk down the street to their home.
Erwin's car pulled up soon afterwards, and he greeted me with a kiss and Armin by lifting him up into a giant hug and spinning him around as the blonde giggled uncontrollably. It was something he had done since Armin was a baby, and something he could still get away with since Armin was small for his age of nine.
"How was your day?" the older blonde asked the younger. "Did you and Eren have fun?"
Armin shook his head. "It wasn't just me and Eren, Papa. Mikasa played with us too! I think that maybe she could be my friend!"
And with that statement alone, Armin had a new friend in his life.
• • •
It was during Armin's eleventh year that the real problems started.
Armin had always been teased and pushed around, for being intelligent and having different interests than the other kids, but it was never anything that caused him any real pain. He knew who he was, and was willing to stand by it. Besides, he had Eren by his side, and with Eren by his side, he felt stronger. But now that they were entering the sixth grade, there were new things to tease him about: his high, squeaky voice, his small and boyish appearance, even as the others were starting to mature a bit, and the way he dressed, more femininely, along with his hair that reached his chin. There was a new set of bullies in junior high, who were larger and meaner than Armin had ever known before. Coming home after his first day, he was grumpy and hardly touched his dinner. When Erwin inquired what was wrong, Armin simply stated, "Eren isn't in any of my classes. His teachers are different than mine, since I'm in the advanced classes. And I don't have Mikasa, since she's a year above us."
"This might be a good opportunity for you to make some new friends," Erwin tried, hesitantly, knowing he had to be careful around Armin when he was in one of his moods.
"I don't want to make new friends," he whined. "I hate this year already. Everything is awful."
Ignoring his flair for drama, I remarked flatly, "Armin, he's practically across the street. Don't get so upset, alright?"
The blonde boy just huffed, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.
When Eren and Mikasa came by to walk with Armin to school the following morning, Eren swept the pouting boy up into a hug. "I'm sorry, Armin. I wish I was as smart as you, so we could be together." Armin instantly smiled, eyes lighting up in the special way that only Eren could bring about. As the three of them headed on their way, I assumed the issue was resolved, and that Armin would be okay.
Then I got a call. It was around one o'clock that day, from Armin's school. I sighed, more than a little annoyed at being interrupted from my writing, as I had a deadline to meet very soon, and grabbed the phone. "Hello?"
"Hi, Mr. Smith? An incident has occurred with Armin and a group of his classmates, can you please get to the school as soon as possible?"
My mind immediately assuming the worst, I slammed the phone down without answering and jumped into my car, speeding down the street and around the corner until I reached the building. After I was let in by the front office, I was directed to the principal's office, my whole being trembling at the thoughts of what could have possibly happened.
"Thank you for coming," the principal greeted me in a hushed tone, opening the door wider for me to step inside and assess the situation before me. She took a seat at her desk, adjusting the tight bun on her head, and shuffled some papers before her.
Armin sat, slumped over in his seat, and Eren knelt on the ground next to him, arms curled around his small frame, whispering things I couldn't hear as the blonde whimpered softly. Three other boys, too tall and muscular to possibly be in sixth grade, stood on the other side, nudging each other and snickering, snarls curling on their lips. Their similar outfits and expressions made them look like a giant, three-headed dog, tearing up everything in their paths. Most frightening of all, I noticed a streak of blood on one of their fists.
"What's going on here?" I finally spoke, my voice rising with panic at the scene before me. "Armin, are you okay?" I immediately flocked to his side, and Eren moved away, allowing me to see that Armin's eye was a bit swollen, and so was his lip, a purplish bruise starting to form around the edge. I winced, having never seen such damage done to him, and proceeded to ask him, "Who did this to you?"
Armin, who was a sniveling mess, couldn't properly answer, and so I continued, "Can I ask Eren what happened?"
He nodded at this, wiping at his eyes, and I turned to the brunette, whose turquoise eyes were filled with concern for his friend. "What happened?"
"Um, well...at recess, Armin was looking for me, 'cause we didn't see each other all day," he began, his voice quiet. "But the problem is, there's these really big eighth graders and they saw Armin and started to make fun of him. I was across, like, far away, but then I saw them starting to push him around. So, like, I started running. But I was too late, 'cause they already hurt him. I was gonna beat 'em up for him but Mikasa told me not to and then she said to take Armin to the nurse. So I did and it turns out that a teacher was trying to stop it too, I just don't remember. So they called all of us in here. My mom's coming. I dunno about those guys though..."
I patted Eren on the shoulder. "Thanks for helping Armin. And thanks for telling me." He nodded in reply, expression solemn.
Carla walked in then, and Eren jumped to his feet, running over to her and grabbing her skirt. "Mama, I'm not in trouble, okay?" he exclaimed, and she just chuckled, tucking back a stray lock of hair that had fallen in her face. "I believe you," she replied, gently. "Not to worry."
"But even if I was, it would've been for Armin," he went on, looking back at the blonde. "'Cause he got hurt and when he gets hurt it hurts me too."
Carla smiled sadly at his simplistic way of explaining his empathy for Armin. "I know, honey." She smoothed his hair down, hugging him close to her.
Of course, one week of suspension was earned by the group of bullies, whose behavior was not tolerated. They didn't look particularly unhappy, however, and I couldn't help but feel concern about what this would mean for Armin.
"I don't want him to be hurt again," I spoke up, my eyes trained on the principal carefully, waiting for her reaction.
"Since this wasn't a repeated offense, I can't warrant it serious enough to merit an expulsion. So for right now, this is all I can do."
This news was disappointing, even as the principal assured me that she wouldn't allow something of the sort to occur again. I brought Armin home and nursed his wounds even further, apologizing profusely that such a thing had happened to him. Armin just shrugged, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on top of them. "I kind of just want to stay home tomorrow," he mumbled.
I didn't object to his request this time, figuring he had experienced enough for one day.
Armin was reluctant to emerge from his room at all the following day, but I fed him and took care of him regardless.
At around three o'clock, the doorbell rang, and I greeted a rather disheveled Eren, wearing a t-shirt and shorts and a sheepish smile. "Hey...is Armin around?" he quizzed, his eyes scanning behind me for any trace of the blonde.
I nodded. "He's in his room. Nice of you to come by. He needs some cheering up."
Although Eren knew the way there perfectly, I still led him to the blonde's bedroom, opening up the door and taking a peek inside. Not surprisingly, Armin was reading, the blankets covering him almost completely. Eren slipped inside, making his presence known by hopping up onto Armin's bed and tackling the blonde in an embrace. He was not shy, by any means whatsoever.
Armin was laughing, the sound muffled in Eren's shoulder. "What are you doing?" he asked, when the boy emerged, rolling to the side and giving the blonde his space again.
"Helping you feel better," he answered. "You weren't at school today. I missed you."
"I know..." Armin shrugged. "Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize." Eren rolled onto his side, snaking an arm around Armin's waist. "If you come back to school tomorrow, I promise I'll protect you. 'Cause I love you and I don't want anything to happen to you."
Armin smiled, his eyes falling shut. "I love you too, Eren."
"Is that a yes?"
The blonde giggled. "Yeah."
Smiling fondly upon the two, I shut the door as they curled up together, eyes closed and content. Somehow, I could always count on Eren to take care of his best friend.