Dragon Age: Inquisition series

Children are Distracting

Summary:
Her daughter was fast asleep, nestled against her chest, head on her shoulder.

Notes:
My personal Headcanon is that my Inquisitor and Cullen eventually get married, during their engagement they have a child, a girl they named Mihel. Meaning Spirited. And because of duties Anea couldn't stay at Skyhold for her final trimester and had to leave. Of course, the strain of fighting and having to close rifts would cause either a miscarriage or a premature labour.

Anea is pronounced "Ah-Nn-yey"
Mihel is pronounced "Mee-Elle"

Cassandra looked up from her reading spot near the sparing dummies to see Iron Bull exiting the Tavern and heading her way. She closed the book in anticipation of their conversation when Bull caught sight of Anea walking across the courtyard, Sera in tow.

Bull tracked her movements with his eyes till she climbed the stairs to the great hall, talking with Sera the entire time and holding something bundled in her arms.

"I suspect you wanted to talk, Bull, but you seem very distracted once the Inquisitor appeared." Cassandra complained, opening her book on the spot she left off.

"Forget feeble conversations, have you seen the Boss's child?" Bull asked, setting himself down next to her.

"I have. She's cute isn't she?" Cassandra replied.

Bull nodded. "But she seems a bit small. Smaller than other children I've seen born, human, elf or dwarf."

Cassandra hummed in agreement.

******

"Sera let Solas know of your plans before you go galavanting off again. I can't afford another incident so soon after the last. Solas can help you get your head around this problem. I'll be in the war room if you need me." Anea dismissed Sera with a quick wave of her arm before placing it back under the bundle on her shoulder.

"Can't I at least take her?" Sera held her arms out.

Anea stopped, a few of the Orlesian's raised their heads before returning to their conversations. She looked at the bundle in her arms. Her daughter was fast asleep, nestled against her chest, head on her shoulder. She had come early into the world. Very early. Anea was lucky she and the child survived, if Dorian and Solas hadn't insisted on accompanying her to the Exalted Plains for the fifth time in three months she would've been in deep trouble.

Not that she wasn't. She was in the middle of closing a rift when a wraith had struck her, shocking her into early labour. She had closed the rift in time and knew she'd have a few hours before she really needed to worry, but Dorian's fussing made her slow down enough to reach a camp, where Dorian and Solas stayed with her in order to monitor her progress and when bad took a turn for worse they stepped in to help.

It was a week before she was well enough to travel, and another month before they finally arrived back at Skyhold. Anea was tired, sore and sick and barely had the energy to greet Cullen when he came running from the ramparts.

Anea looked up at Sera. The girl was certainly capable of looking after a child, but she didn't want to part with her for too long. She shook her head. "No, after I'm finished in at the war table." She left Sera in the Great Hall.

Cullen, Josephine and Leliana were already in the war room. Anea locked the door behind her, as was their custom.

"Inquisitor, here are the reports from scouts on the Storm Coast." Josephine handed Anea the reports, there were a few of them. "Scouts have written to tell about the appearance of a number of bears up Long River. The animals haven't bothered the scouts yet, they're keeping a close eye on them."

Anea nodded as she skimmed the reports. She and Josephine began to talk meetings and bargains amongst nobles in Val Royaux. Anea shifted her daughter around till she was lying in her arms, her hands curled close to her chin, her mouth open in sleep.

"Commander?" Leliana's voice was heard over their conversation. Anea ignored it.

Cullen found himself watching Anea hold his daughter. It amazed him how Anea never slacked in her duties. She often came to watch the troops train, offering advice here and there. She kept up her meetings with Dorian and Solas, kept tabs of Bull and his chargers and spoke with Cole and Cassandra and Sera, all the while never ignoring the child in her arms.

He knew Anea wasn't going to be leaving on any rift closing missions soon, Faervel was still too small to accompany her, and Anea couldn't leave her.

"Commander?" Leliana asked again.

Cullen turned slightly in the direction of his title, but he still couldn't take his eyes off his beloved and their child.

"Cullen!"

"Huh!?" He snapped back to earth.

Leliana just laughed, as did Anea and Josephine who had stopped their conversation.
"Shall we continue to discuss the progress of troops on the Western Front?" Leliana asked.

"Uh, yeah, okay, sure." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Anea snorted and he looked up. "You want to hold her?"

Cullen nodded quickly. He'd held Mihel plenty of times before, but he still felt a pang of nervousness and pride when Anea handed her over, tying the nursing cloth around his shoulders and showing him, again, how to tuck her in. He stood rigid for a few moments before he relaxed and returned to Leliana.

Anea watched him for a few more moments before she turned back to Josephine.

*****

"She's so small!" Sera exclaimed, holding Mihel carefully under Anea's watchful eye. They were sitting in the library, Cullen and Dorian close by.

"We were lucky she survived." Dorian said, walking over to Anea's shoulder. "We almost lost her and the Inquisitor."

"I was there Dorian, no need to retell it." Sera snapped. She handed Faerval back to Anea. Mihel was awake, green eyes wide and searching. She had Anea's tapered ears and green eyes, and had Cullen's light blonde hair.

"I don't know why you even agreed to leave when you were that far along." Cullen complained.

Anea looked at him and held up her marked hand, covered by a leather glove. "Rifts don't close themselves, Commander."

Cullen rolled his eyes. He smiled as he watched Anea nurse Mihel, rocking slightly in her chair, making sure she was covered as much as possible so she could continue with the conversation without unwanted staring. Yes they were lucky, but Cullen doubted Dorian and Solas, and even Sera, would let the Inquisitor leave them so soon.