"michael?" luke asked, walking into the older boys office at home.
"yeah, sweetheart?" he asked, continuing to type.
"um.. i just got off of the phone with ms. landing. she said we can go pick up ariel tomorrow at 4:30." luke whispered.
"awesome. are you excited?!" michael asked, and luke nodded, nervously playing with his fingers.
"hey, what's wrong?" michael asked, noticing luke's hesitation. "we're bringing our baby girl home tomorrow, luke."
"i'm happy, but i'm scared." luke said, and walked over sitting on michael's lap.
"me too, but why are you scared?" michael asked.
"i was just thinking about when she grows up and goes to school. she's going to be beautiful. she will hear boys make jokes and say words that she won't think are funny. she's gonna believe them when they call her awful words. she's going to wear a skirt one day, and have more attention than she wants. i'm scared, especially with kids these days, they don't know how to treat a girl. they're not being taught anymore. i'm scared that she's not gonna be respected and she's gonna grow up thinking she's a slut for wearing a crop top or showing her legs. i'm scared that she's going to need a mom, and i can't do that." luke cried, and michael wiped his tears away.
"i want to know what it's like, maybe even just for one day, what's it's like to be a girl so i can protect her from everything she might face. i don't want her to feel like i won't talk to her about it because i'm a boy. i want her to be able to shit talk the entire male species to me and tell me how awful they are when she feels like it. i want her to feel like she's not by herself." luke went on.
"luke, baby, calm down. we can worry about this when she gets there, okay?" michael said, trying to get him to stop crying.
"even little baby girls are taken advantage of. i know boys are too, but this is our baby, michael. i want to be able to protect her from everything, but i can't." luke sobbed.
michael hugged him tightly and just let luke cry.
"you're gonna do great, luke. i know you are going to do everything you can to keep her safe. you will not let her get hurt. you will be the best dad she could ever have." michael whispered, rubbing luke's back.
"i know it's scary. girls are not treated right, but this little girl is going to be the strongest little girl in the world. she will know she's beautiful because i know she won't be able to leave the house without us telling her, and she will always know that she is priceless. count on that, okay?" he said, and luke nodded.
"okay.." he whispered, sniffling.
"we're gonna do great. we will mess up, but we will never stop protecting her, right?" he said, and luke nodded, pressing his forehead to michael's.
-
"how is she doing?" michael asked, walking into the nursery.
"she's doing okay." luke whispered, rocking her back to sleep.
michael wrapped his arms around luke's waist in the dim room. it was a little after 3 a.m., so he rested his head on luke's shoulder and smiled down at the two angels in his arms.
"see. you're doing great, baby." michael whispered, kissing luke's cheek.
luke smiled, and looked down at the little girl wrapped in pink.
"she's so beautiful.." luke said softly.
"you and ariel tie for the most beautiful person in the world." michael said, making luke smile and blush.
"were a little family." luke giggled.
"the cutest family in the world, no doubt." michael said as luke laid her back in the crib.
luke leaned back on michael's chest, and felt the older boys arms wrap around him.
"she's gonna be okay. we're gonna be the best dads we can be, okay?" michael reassured him.
"yeah. we're gonna do good."
