Family Ties(Erwin x Levi)

Birthday

"I'm all done in here. Erwin! Come vacuum!"

Erwin put the last of the paper plates on the counter and walked into the living room. "I'm just getting the paper goods out," he reminded Levi. "Can you take care of vacuuming while I finish organizing those?"

Taking the mask off from his nose and mouth, Levi leveled a glare at Erwin. "I told you to get the vacuum ready for when I was done. The goddamn paper goods can wait. I'm already going to have to deal with birthday shit all over so I'd rather get the house looking good before."

At this moment, Erwin was regretting holding Mikasa's first birthday party at the house. Then again, where would they have held it? They didn't see the point in spending thousands of dollars on a kid's entertainment venue when it was only a first birthday party and barely any other kids were coming. Nile and Marie's kids, sure, but they would keep mainly to themselves. But as he watched his husband shoot daggers at him with his eyes, Erwin was starting to think he should have overruled Levi's cons when he'd had the chance. At least at a venue they wouldn't have to worry about keeping their space tidy. Then again, Levi would have made comments the entire time and Erwin didn't want the day to be ruined by a poor worker falling short of Levi's cleanliness standards. It was easier to keep it personal and cost-effective by having their friends come over their house. At least they all knew the rules and were prepared to receive Levi's ire if even a picture frame was touched with unclean hands.

Giving in, Erwin put the paper plates on the counter and went over to the hall closet to get the vacuum. He undid the cord and brought the machine to where Levi was. "What's the next room you're doing?"

"I need to wipe down the bathrooms. Then I can help with the little things." Levi crumpled the cleaning wipe into his gloved palm. "Mikasa still asleep?"

"Surprisingly, yes," Erwin responded. For about a week, Mikasa had been sleeping in by an hour. It made things a bit tricky on the daycare end but at least her sleep schedule seemed to be normalizing. It had been very up-and-down for the past month which was normal, apparently, for a baby nearing the one year mark.

One year. Erwin and Levi had only been a part of Mikasa's life for a little over nine months but they still felt as if they'd been there from day one. They'd been there through the first nights adjusting to their home, all-night feedings and sickness. From Mikasa learning to hold up her neck to her first steps and words. They had pictures and videos detailing all of it and they felt truly lucky. Neither of them would dismiss how the day, on their part at least, was marred with the tragedy that Mikasa's birth parents were denied the chance to see their daughter reach these milestones. Erwin had found a subtle way to pay tribute to them. He kept their pictures in Mikasa's nursery on a shelf with other relatives as well as one of their first photos as a family. It was important to him Mikasa know she had birth parents who had loved her. It was a conversation for years from now, but at least their memories would be honored.

Levi took off his gloves and wrapped them both around each other. "Good. Hopefully she'll be asleep through the rest of the vacuuming. At least we can have the majority of it done before we have to set up the little things."

Erwin began unraveling the cord. "Are Farlan and Isabel coming to help?"

"They are," confirmed Levi. "Isabel is bringing the cake and Farlan'll come after he gets the catering. They're coming after 12." He took off his mask entirely and put it in his pocket, giving himself a chance to breathe and to talk. "Kitchen's just going to be the way it is. At this point, I've given up on it being entirely clean all the time."

"Concessions, concessions," Erwin teased. Levi hated when the kitchen wasn't clean. He often complained they should just order out their meals because that would be the only way it was clean for longer than five minutes. Between Mikasa's transitioning off formula to food and their own individual meal preferences, it was always always in a state of disarray. It was something Levi constantly fumed over and Erwin wasn't pleased about either, but they both had to deal with. Their house would never be entirely spotless now.