Strength In Our Bonds (The Strength in Generations Accompanying Book)

Ten Little Fingers, Ten Small Toes

Few men became more excited over the position of fatherhood than Gale Villiers. He was already eternally in love with his wife, had been glued to her side throughout her pregnancy. And on December 15, when their beloved Alexine Natalie Villiers was born, the love that Gale had for both her and Leviesse only grew from there.

"Gale, why do you insist upon staring at Lexi when she sleeps?" asked Leviesse.

"Levi, Levi..." He waved her over. "I think I've found out how to determine when she's gonna wake up."

"By standing here and talking?" asked Leviesse sarcastically.

Gale frowned at her, but then said, "There's always this face she makes right before she starts making her stretches. I can't really describe it, but I know it when I see it. It's kinda-"

Gale's sentence was interrupted as Alexine woke up and began to cry.

"I didn't see a face," Leviesse said, as she reached to pick her up.

"Maybe I was wrong about it then..." Gale said to himself.

Alexine was a healthy baby, chubby like Leviesse, and with black hair like her grandfather, but with Gale's blue eyes. She also seemed to be inheriting her father's tallness; she was three months old now, already wearing clothes for a nine-month-old. The Villiers couple had decorated her nursery the way that Leviesse's room with her parents had looked- lots of pink, lots of frilly things, but with a hardwood floor. Gale refused to have a carpet, in case of "accidents."

"Is she okay, Levi?" asked Gale.

"She is. You know babies just get frightened when they first wake up."

"Oh, okay. Let me hold her!" Gale was grinning excitedly.

"Maybe a little later, Galey. She needs to be fed." Leviesse took a seat in the cushioned chair of the nursery and shifted into a comfortable position, ready to begin nursing Alexine.

Gale sat in the not cushioned chair opposite the cushioned one. "You know," he said to Alexine, "those were mine way before you were even thought of."

"Oh, my Hyne, Gale, shut up," Leviesse said, laughing.

"What? It's the truth." He shrugged.

"How would you feel if your father would have said that to you?"

After thinking about that for a second, Gale shuddered. "Ew..."

"I don't even want to imagine that between my parents. Not that they left much to the imagination... especially my mum." Leviesse sighed. "So much mental scarring." She then looked down at her daughter. "I promise to try my very hardest to not do that to you, Alexine," she said in a cutesy voice.

"You promise to try?" asked Gale with a laugh.

"Nothing is guaranteed." Leviesse smiled.

Gale laughed again before leaning over and gently touching Alexine's tiny toes. "She's so small, Levi," he said.

"Small in comparison to you?" asked Leviesse. "Because, you know she's actually kinda huge for her age."

"Just like her dad." Gale smiled. "But look at these little toes. Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that I'm half of the team responsible for creating this little bundle of cuteness."

"I know, I feel that way occasionally as well."

A few moments later, when Alexine was done feeding, Leviesse handed her to Gale. "Could you watch her whilst I shower?" she asked.

"Of course," Gale nodded.

Leviesse smiled, and gave Gale a kiss before giving Alexine a kiss on the forehead. "Mummy loves you, Alexine."

She just stared at her, the way babies did.

When she left, Gale smiled down at his daughter. "I still wish you would've gotten my hair. I guess Laguna's hair is okay too though..."

This time, Gale was the one to receive the baby stare.

"Why are you so cute?" Gale was almost fangirling at this point. "There should be rules against being this cute; it's not fair to the rest of us."

Now, sh was squirming a little.

"Sometimes I have to sit and remind myself that I'm a dad. It's the most amazing thing. I like to just sit and remind myself that your mom and I created this adorable little life. It wasn't easy, you know, but we did, and I'm glad we did."

Gale offered his finger, and as usual, Alexine wrapped her tiny hand around it.

"Your mother has end... endo... endo-something and that makes it hard for her to get pregnant. It's likely you'll be our only child. I hope not, though. Miracle babies happen. I know I'm getting ahead of myself here..." He laughed softly, "But, I want you to have siblings. I only have one that's a lot younger than me, and Levi... we're not even gonna get into her family. But there are signs, Lexi, that you'll be able to live a normal, easy life. That's what I want for you."

The corners of Alexine's mouth turned up, and she smiled for a second, before going back to her regular facial expression.

"She smiled!" Gale grinned. "Levi is gonna hate that she missed that."

Gale sat, smiling in admiration at his daughter, before starting to doze off. When Leviesse returned from her shower, she found both Gale and Alexine asleep in the chair. She smiled, shaking her head; she knew parenthood was wearing Gale out as much as it was her, but he'd never admit it. Besides, it was worth it for moments like these.

_
{a/n}: Alexine is pronounced exactly how you'd pronounce "Alex" (with the emphasis on the first syllable) and with an "een" at the end.