Taking care of one baby and a little kid was not easy. Both wanted and needed attention and sometimes they wanted and needed it at the same time. With a baby and two children it got a little bit easier, as long as the older ones were getting along. With two babies and three other children the world was hell! While his three other children could play with each other or their friends, which often were much older than them, because the palace somehow lacked children, the conflict potential was higher and when five children demanded attention Hakuryuu wanted to cry. When it only had been two kids he and his wife could share. It was even possible with three children. One took care of the baby, the other one played with the two older ones. Theoretically, this was also possible with five children as long as not both babies needed immediate attention. A lesson Hakuryuu still hadn't learned by then was to accept that he could not and did not need to fulfill all his children's desires immediately. He was the adult and had to set priorities. Further, differently than others, he had many servants that could help out with the kids, but he refused to ask for help, because it was important for him that his kids were raised by their family! He wanted his children to remember their parents not just as some distant existences, to whom they happened to be related to, but as parents, as family, as people who loved them and were loved by them. Therefore, Hakuryuu did not allow "outsiders" to handle his kids.
At least his wife always had a good laugh when she watched her husband trying to change both babies' clothes at the same time or their diapers. For him it wasn't funny at all, because he did not want his babies to feel bad and hence he tried to attend to their needs as soon as they arose.
As stressful as it may sound – it was stressful indeed – he loved his little ones and they were asleep for most of the time, especially his third son slept through most of the day, anyway – and most of day his wife took care of the babies, so he could do is job as emperor – he wished he could help out more.
Changing his third son's clothes? He was asleep. Changing his diapers? Sleeping. Attempted conversation between father and son? If the little one would snore, one could pretend he was awake. Hakuryuu was sure his son would even sleep through feeding time as well, if he could. However, eating was something no one could do for him, so he had to be awake and do it himself. This did not change the fact that he still felt asleep while eating and so it took longer until he was sated. The only time when that tiny boy got active on his own, was when someone dared to separate his sister and him. They always had to be in the same room or else hell would break lose! When Hakuryuu once took his second daughter out of bed to get her changed and therefore left the children's bed room with her, his son was not pleased at all. The boy started to cry and tried to throw something. Luckily, there wasn't much inside his bed to be thrown around. His parents were worried that he might choke, because of any unnecessary thing inside his bed.
Hakuryuu, of course, had immediately returned to his son's side to see what was wrong. Even Hakuryuu's wife had come and looked scared – usually she looked calm no matter what was going on, but this time this hadn't been the case. They both weren't used to their son throwing such a fit. But soon after his sister was back at his side, the young prince was happy again. Besides his sister he loved his mother very much as well. At first Hakuryuu had been worried that he had done something to his son, until he understood that he was just overreacting and he was loved as well, just not as much as mommy. Everyone had their favorite. His second daughter loved him more than her mommy. He was her favorite parent. And this was totally fine. Hakuryuu himself also had preferred his mother over his father – what probably was also due to the fact that he barely had had any contact to his father.
His second daughter came after him in regards to her appearance. His first son also look a lot like him, but one could still see his wife in the boy. Their first daughter, however, came after her mother, the mole on the left side of her left eye was all the girl had gotten from him – the mole was just a little bit misplaced. The third child neither came after any of his parents, at least not at first glance. The hair and eye color of the boy were neither from his father nor his mother, but he got his soft features from her and the little split at the end of his eyebrows from Hakuryuu. However, Hakuryuu's second daughter looked like an exact copy of her father. His wife thought it was the cutest thing ever and teased her husband with it. She even searched for old clothes of him, so she could put them on her daughter, when she was a little bit older. The little girl loved to look and be like daddy. Over the years she got more her own style, but still looked a lot like Hakuryuu and was happy about it. In regards to her personality, she was a nice mix between her parents, still her childself reminded everyone of the emperor. On the other hand, no one knew how the empress had been as a child.
Hakuryuu was a lucky man with his wife and his children. His wife was so kind and understanding. His children were so well-mannered and cheerful. They were a happy family. Something he had missed for so long and had lost faith in.
Now he was here, holding his little baby girl who tried to grab his hair, so she could play with it. Now he was here, listening to the babbling of his little baby boy, who probably tried to tell his sister to play with him instead of daddy. Now he was here, feeling the warmth of his wife next to him. Now he was here, with his children next to him, observing their little siblings, while subtly trying to impress them.
Of course, not everything was fine and dandy all the time, but the times it was outweighed every obstacle they had faced and would have to face in the future.
There was that one time, when his youngest daughter got horribly sick. It was a really tough time, because she demanded her parents at her side and his wife, naturally, couldn't be there all day and night, so they had to take care of her in shifts. His son was so far away from being pleased with leaving his sister alone and was throwing a tantrum. Back then Hakuryuu had been so happy with Judar taking it upon himself to distract the little boy and it worked. Whatever the Magi had done, it had worked. No one wanted to endanger the boy to get sick as well. It was painful enough to see one child suffering, a second one was not needed! But knowing that the boy was suffering from being separated from his sister, was not pleasant at all as well.
The third son was a master in tripping over his own feet and therewith hurt himself on a daily basis. It was rare to see him without a bandaged or a patch. So, he caused enough stress without having an illness and he had to go through enough pain.
As soon as his daughter learned how to walk on her own, she followed her father most of the time. She even took part in his meetings. There she would sit on his lap overlooking the happenings and sometimes suddenly start to babble something no one understood, but it sounded very important and meaningful! His son would mostly sleep through it. As long as his sister was there, nothing else mattered. Well, food mattered! And so he would only wake up around lunch and dinner time to make sure, he and his sister got up and get to the dining room, where he would then occupied his mother, in case she was already there and tell her something no one understood, but it sounded very important and meaningful. It was just too cute!
But before they reached that point, there were years filled with a lot of crying. His second daughter easily cried. Mommy or daddy leaving the room, she cried. A servant or guard entered the room, she cried. A stranger came near her, she cried. Something did not go as she wanted, she cried. She did feel unwell, she cried. And sometimes she cried without anyone knowing why. She cried a lot. Luckily that changed over the time, but it had been pretty annoying and stressful back then. Her brother had been different – maybe she had cried so much to make up for her brother?
It had been her, who spoke first and translated the babbling of her brother. Whether she was right or just said whatever had come to her mind, was another story.
Her favorite toy, was the stuffed bunny, which she carried around all day long. No one besides her was allowed to touch it – it was always such a drama, when someone else touched it! This included her siblings, but excluded her parents.
One could only image the horror everyone had to go through, when she lost it inside the palace – running around also meant being able to lose her beloved bunny everywhere.
However, she was a smart girl. She never had any problems with the school work she had to deal with later on and she got more confident as an adolescent. She was always so quiet – only around her family she showed her cheerful and cheeky self – and it appeared as if she had a low self-esteem. Mommy and daddy worked hard to ensure that she got a good self-esteem, since both had problems with it in their youth and still suffered from it.
Her brother was a bit different. He was always so quiet that it was worrisome in itself. After his sister started to walk and speak, he did the same. But it seem like he did not really liked or wanted it. Often he had hide behind his mother and pushed questions on to her or his sister. Strangers seemed to scare him – something he shared with his sister.
Funnily, when he got older he totally changed. Like his sister he was quite cheerful and maybe due to Judar's influence – the back Magi loved to interact with Hakuryuu's third son –, he also got very cheeky. The difference between his cheekiness and the one of his sister was probably the fact that he had no problem with hurting others with it, while his sister felt sorry, in case she had hurt someone with her words or actions. Also he had no problems with crossing boundaries of others, but woe someone dared to cross his boundaries! It was not easy to handle him, if one did not know how to or how to take him in general. Apparently his third son had some problems to understand others and why some things shouldn't be said or done or when things should be said or done and when not.
Nevertheless, it became a habit to the children that the oldest of them read a story to the rest of them, while mommy and daddy were sitting on the couch, snuggling with each other and observing their little kids, after dinner. There was also a ritual for going to bed – no sleeping without a goodnight kiss and the right order of who was put into bed by whom. When the kids got older this ritual got a little bit loose, but a goodnight kiss was never forgotten! Goodnight kisses included the stuffed animals of the youngest family members as well – until the small ones were "too old" for it! Another important ritual was "holding hands". Hakuryuu's third son and second daughter always hold hands, when running around and it was important that, in case they were with another family member that said family member had to hold their hands as well. It got a bit difficult, when the youngest ones had their stuffed friends with them, since they had to hold them with one hand, while at the same time hold hand with each other and for example their father. A human only had two hands. However, it was somehow manageable. And they all got older and changed.
The two youngest ones were everyone's sweetheart and those two knew, how to use that to their advantage. Though it was hard to be angry with them for that.
Fortunately, for Hakuryuu's heart, those two were more cautious then their oldest brother and sister, which however did not mean that they were not exploring the palace and got lost thereby. It happened a lot, yet it was easy to find them, because a certain someone could not stop her crying.
So, whenever Hakuryuu thought about his family or talked about them to other, he felt like he had one right out of a book. A happy family that never faced any hardship. Which wasn't true at all, they had faced many in the past and there would be many in the future. He just couldn't care less about the hardship, because in the end it didn't change the important fact that he loved all of his family members and was loved by them. There was no perfect family, there was just his family and it was the right one for him – the perfect one for him. A family that taught him that even someone like him was allowed to be happy, that even someone like him was allowed to feel happiness. A family that helped him to trust others again, a family that taught him that being weak was not a crime and that everyone made mistakes. A family that he would be sure of never betraying him!
He was happy and he would never ever let anyone destroy his family's and his happiness!
_____________________________________________
So, this is the last chapter. I hope you liked this little one shot collection about Hakuryuu, his wife and their children. I really wanted to write something about Hakuryuu having a wonderful and big family and is happy. He deserves it so much!
In case you liked this one shot collection, you may also like my one shot collection "Moments like this": https://www.wattpad.com/story/75500258-moments-like-this
- I have posted a question for you on my profile and would very much appreciate it, when you would write me your opinion on it.
- Please be so kind and write a review after reading! (Reviews are extremely important for an author! Don't be afraid of telling me your honest opinion.)
- If you like stories about Hakuryuu and Judar, you may want to read my one shots "It took me by surprise" (Chapter 2), "In retrospect"or my short fic "Secrets".
If you want to read something about Hakuyuu and Hakuren, you may want to check out my long fic "A reality based on fantasy".
If you want to read something about Gyokuen (and Hakutoku), you may want to try out my one shots "Change" and "It took me by surprise" (Chapter 1).
- https://www.wattpad.com/forums/discussion/1149780/magi-the-labyrinth-kingdom-of-magic-fanfiction-writer/#Item_8 (Let's talk about Magi!)
- Thanks to everyone, who wrote a review and/or left a vote. And thanks to everyone, who read this one shot collection. I hope, all of you could enjoy the chapters. (I know, I make a lot of mistakes in regards to the tenses, but I am trying my best to improve.)
Feel free to write me, if you want to fangirl over Hakuryuu! (Or want more Hakuryuu/wife stories.)