The Royal Decree (Erwin x Levi)

Chapter 19

A:n hope yall babes enjoy

Days went by very quickly as little Kara grew, her genetic makeup becoming more apparent as she developed a personality: a mix between Erwin's unyielding stubbornness and Levi's knack for defying authority. Levi and Erwin started taking turns babysitting her, as the Corporal had slowly went back to training, at least part-time, in between trying to mold his daughter into a well-rounded human being (oh, the irony of him being the one to do that) and yelling at the new recruits. As winter dragged into springtime and then into summer, things within the castle grounds returned languidly to the order they had been in before: training, planning, occasional get-togethers. The only thing that was different was that there were two borderline ubiquitous infants who seemed to have conquered the hearts of the entire regiment. By the time the two were nine months old, the soldiers of the Survey Corps have taken to spending their free time playing with the children, much to the relief of their reasonably happy but exhausted parents.

Mikolas Kirschtein was surprisingly well mannered, a quiet child with a thoughtful gaze, who had inherited Eren's natural curiosity for how the world functioned. He spent most of his time giving people scanning looks and struggling in his mother's hold whenever he caught wind of anything remotely interesting. Kara was the more energetic of the two, and whenever they were placed in a playpen together, she would attempt to grab onto Mikolas' rapidly growing hair and pull him towards her with her grabby little fingers.

It came as a major surprise to her parents when she uttered her first word at nine months.

"No."

"What?" Levi turned around to look at his daughter; dropping the dish he had been holding and stalking over to her cot. He leaned over it as he stared at the baby who turned her earnest blue-eyed gaze to him and said, clear as day:

"No."

"Figures that your first word would be that," Levi said with a sigh as he picked the baby up. "Well, I suppose we'll tell your father when he's back. You'll have to make a repeat performance, you know? But keep it quiet, or he'll attempt to make you say his name or something, or recite the fucking oath to humanity."

When Levi informed his husband what had occurred after the Commander had come back from training that afternoon, Erwin was, naturally, overjoyed, but his face fell when he saw Levi's concerned expression.

"What is it?" He asked, looking down at the baby in Levi's arms. The Corporal was still slightly reluctant to let anyone else other than himself hold her, and Erwin respected the distance. Distance was another theme in their relationship nowadays, besides love, as depressingly ironic as it was. Levi could almost feel the physical miles that separated them. Erwin was kind, thoughtful, and responsive, as a husband and as a father. But ever since that talk of theirs all those many months ago, when the Commander had suddenly made a confession of his feelings for his spouse, there had been no intimacy between them. Not in the physical sense, except for the occasional comforting hug that one would give their third-degree relative, nor in the sense of just... being a couple. Levi supposed it was both of their faults. He refused to initiate anything, afraid of getting rejected or worse, hurting Erwin in the long run. Erwin, on the other hand, was too respectful for his own good as he kept his hands to himself, his words boxed up in that vast mind of his, and his eyebrows furrowed. On the outside, they were the perfect family: mother, father, child, all united in the goal of having Kara grow into a decent human being without the stress of Titan hazards. On the inside, there was nothing. Their relationship was an empty shell. Sometimes, Levi found peace in this kind of hollowness, and sometimes he felt like tearing his own hair out. He couldn't help but silently accuse Erwin of being aware of his predicament, how could he not be aware? Neither of them did anything, though, so it plundered on without any real progress. The Corporal was scared to think that one day it would just go stale and Erwin would turn elsewhere for comfort.