The Newest Addition

(Another) Nightmare

*January 23rd, 3:16 a.m.*

Once again, it was pretty late... Or early, technically. Mathilda woke up with a start once again. Instead of just crying, she screamed fo Eren.

"DADDY! Daddy no go!"

He jumped out of bed, waking Armin in the process, and ran over to her.

"What's wrong, what happened?" He asked worriedly, picking her up from her crib.

"Don't wan Daddy go! Stay Daddy!" She yelled, crying harshly as she gripped onto his shoulders. An odd sense of deja vu washed over the taller man, and he sighed and held her close to his chest. Armin sat in their bed, watching in confusion and rising panic.

"Baby, calm down. Daddy's not going anywhere, I'm right here." He whispered and rocked her side to side. She was shaking as tears fell from her eyes like a waterfall.

"Shhhh, it's okay. Daddy will never ever leave you, okay? I love you too much to leave." She cried still, a death grip on his skin. But he didn't really care or notice at the moment.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Armin asked, standing up from the bed. He could hear Mathilda's muffled cries and yells for Eren while watching the silhouette of the taller brunette rock her side to side.

Speaking of Eren, he turned at the sound of Armin's voice.

"She keeps having nightmares. She was screaming and I thought something was going on, but that must've been how she woke up." He told the blonde. Mathilda looked petrified, holding tight onto Eren and still loudly crying.

Armin walked over and pet her hair, making her look up without moving from Eren.

"Shhh, you're okay lovie. You need to calm down."

Eren nodded and placed a kiss to her hair.

"Yeah, you've gotta calm down so you don't throw up. It's okay."

"B-But scary, Daddy! No find you and scary!" She cried more, shoving her face in between his neck and shoulder.

"It's okay, Daddy's here babygirl. I'll always be here, no matter what."

She looked up, still crying, but trying to wipe her eyes and calm down. Armin reached his hand down from her hair to dry her tears, and she finally looked back at him.

"Mommy..." She rasped out. Armin smiled sadly at her, wiping under her eyes and then moving some of the unbrushed curls from her face.

"Do you need some water?"

She nodded, sniffling and still crying.

"Okay, I'll go get you some. Try to calm down with Daddy, okay?"

She nodded and watched him walk out of the door. Eren was patting her back and rocking her to get her to calm down. But, it wasn't until he pat her bottom that he noticed her diaper needed to be changed.

"Let's change your diaper, okay? Do you want new jammies or just these ones?"

"No."

He chuckled, but nodded. She'd definitely be sleeping with him and Armin tonight anyways, so she'd be fine in just a diaper this once.

"Okay, you don't have to wear any this time."

He tried to set her down on the changing blanket (that was left laid out), but when he tried to pull her off of him, she whined and shook her head no, refusing to separate from him. Maybe that's what she meant by 'no'.

"Baby, Daddy has to change you. I'm not leaving." He told her. And yet, she still tried desperately to hold onto him.

Eventually, he slipped out of her grasp and laid her down. But once he was out of her reach, she cried and tried to get up. He just shushed her and gently pushed her back down.

"No, lay down. We have to change first. Then I'll pick you back up." He told her firmly. But she didn't like that. She whined and tried to fight him, still trying to sit up and wiggled everytime he tried to undress her.

"Tilly, baby, please stop. Let me change you-"

"No! Daddy no, wan up!!" She yelled. He gave her a stern look and kept her laid down.

"Mathilda, stop. Now. I have to change you. I promise I'll pick you up, but you have to get changed first." He told her, keeping his voice firm.

She stopped and slunk into herself, letting him change her. Once her new diaper was on, instead of slipping her clothes on, he just let her be. He helped her stand up and pulled her into a hug.

"Sowwy, Daddy..." She mumbled. He kissed her hair before resting his head against hers.

"It's okay, babygirl. I know you're still scared, Tilly, but you know I would never let anything bad happen. Right?" He asked softly. Fresh tears sprung into her eyes as she nodded.

"See? If leaving makes you sad, then I'll never do it. So you'll be stuck with me forever." He told her, tickling her sides. She giggled and pulled back, leaving her hands on his shoulders.

"Wuv you, Daddy" 

He smiled at her and she smiled back; making Eren happy that she was finally relaxing.

"I love you, too."

Just then, Armin snuck through the door, and saw them sitting (Eren's sitting, Mathilda's standing) by the bed, the moonlight lighting up both of their faces. Their foreheads were pressed together, Eren's eyes were closed with a relaxed smile on his face. Mathilda's eyes were wide open, scanning over his face while her hands sat on his shoulders.

When the door shut, they both looked towards it, and saw Armin.

"Hi, Mommy." Mathilda said as she tried to sit in Eren's lap. But before she could, he instead picked her up and stood up to rest her on his hip. Armin walked over and gave Eren a peck on the lips before turning and kissing Mathilda's cheek.

"Got you water, lovie." He smiled and handed her the bottle. She grabbed it from him, and said thank you. She rested her head on Eren's shoulder and drank some of her water. While Armin remade their bed, Eren grabbed her things from her crib.

'She must've been really shaken. She didn't even grab her teddy bear this time.' He mentally noted, while grabbing it and her pacifier.

"Dada, I go Mama."

He nodded and set her on the bed for her to crawl over to Armin. He grabbed her blanket and her new stuffed bunny (from Christa), and then made his way over to the two. Mathilda was draped horizontally across Armin's chest and he patted her head. Her bottle laid forgotten and still partially filled in the middle, so Eren picked it up and set it on his nightstand. He set all of her things on the bed before slipping into the covers. Armin looked over and saw how tired he looked, and that he was already nearly asleep. He sat up, sitting Mathilda on the bed, and collecting her stuff.

He laid on his side, facing the girl who was now laying down in the middle of them. She was also on her side, and they faced each other. He smiled and put her stuffed animals in between her and himself, and popping her pacifier into her mouth.

"Do you want your blanket, angel?"

She nodded, letting Armin drape it over her. The blonde kissed her head and settled next to her. He pet her hair and watched her eyes slowly drifting closed. Her blue eyes were trained on his own, despite their droopiness. He just smiled and pet her hair, hoping she would finally get to sleep and stay asleep. As much as he loved the girl, he also loved his sleep.

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1265 Words