Baby Daddy. {Thatch x Reader}

Shopping With Shanks.

"Ace, stop grabbing stuff." You half-heartedly scold your baby as you pluck a packet of cookies out of his little hand, placing them back on the shelf. You've got to keep an eye out for that with this little thug, he'll be stealing things if you don't watch him closely. 

"Is this why you tried to get pops to babysit him yoi?" Marco questions quietly from behind you, his eyes skimming the list of songs on a CD he's planning to buy. Thatch and Shanks are around the store somewhere, probably looking at the drinking games at the back as usual. 

"Yeah but he had work so looks like Acey's gonna join us for some shopping fun~!" You playfully grin, looking down at the little brunette. "You like shopping don't you, baby~?" 

"He's always working recently..." Marco murmurs with a concentrated expression suddenly taking over his features, his brows knitting together slowly. "Even late at night...it doesn't make any sense."

Well, now that he mentions it... 

"You think pops has a girlfriend or something?" Thatch's voice reaching your ears as the man comes up behind you holding a bunch of baby toys. Heaven knows how long he was stood there for, the man is stealthy without even meaning to be. 

"Nah," Marco answering abruptly, seemingly not surprised by his brothers sudden appearance at all, perhaps he noticed the handsome bastard before you did. Marco does have sharp vision after all. "He isn't a teenager, he wouldn't keep that secret yoi."

"Maybe she's younger than him?" Thatch ponders playfully as he crouches down beside Ace's stroller, fiddling with the boy's tiny hand as he shows him the toy he has picked out for him. "Look, Acey~! Crocodile, can you say croc~? Croc~?"

"Coh~?" Not a bad response for a baby, he's slowly getting there. The daddy's boy just giggling wickedly as he reaches desperately for the soft toy. "Coh~!" 

Good thing he isn't saying cock, that would be mortifying...

"I don't know yoi," At this point Shanks has even found his way to you, eating some cotton candy and quite frankly, you don't even want to know where the hell he got that. That man can make finding a needle in a haystack look easy. "Vast sums of money keeps disappearing from the family savings and pops just says not to worry about it so I guess it's possible..."

"You think he has a gold digger girlfriend?" Thatch questions with a brow raised in disbelieve, his dark eyes staring up at Marco questionably. He doesn't seem like he's buying that at all but he also has that tiny hint of concern in his eyes, as if he's not entirely sure what to think.

Honesty, do these boys have no faith in their father?

"Ooooh, you wanna watch out for gold diggers." Shanks warns as he stuffs some cotton candy in his mouth, the sweet treat muffling his voice only slightly. "Especially at his age, she'll kill him if she thinks it'll get her into that inheritance."

"I'll kill her." Both Thatch and Marco rasp at the same time, their eyes looking dark all of a sudden and their bodies noticeably tensing. If there is a woman, she better watch out for his sons, they take no prisoners. 

"Pops isn't that stupid though, is he?" You decide to defuse the situation before they wind themselves up and ruin their good moods. Thatch immediately calming down when Ace leans forward and boops his nose.

Yes, clever boy, Ace. You know you're cute. 

"Acey~!" In fact, you're pretty sure Thatch just melted on the spot. A large smile gracing his lips as he gently taps the baby boy's nose back, an adorable chuckle escaping his lips. "You're so cute, you know that~? Just like your mama~!"

"Coh~?"

"No, mama~! Say mama~!"

"Moh~?"

"...Close enough."

A groan suddenly leaving Marco's lips as he receives a text, his brows only furrowing more when he actually reads it. "Great, Sabo wants me to pick up some paint from the DIY store." The blonde grumbles, gesturing toward the elevators outside the store you're currently in.

The DIY store is upstairs and you have a stroller...and the elevators are glass. This is fine for you but you're aware that Thatch has a crippling fear of heights. There is a metal elevator in this mall too but that's out of order today, you didn't think much of it at the time because you weren't originally planning to go upstairs.

"Away you go then Marco, we'll wait here for ya~!" Thatch chimes with a forced smile plastered across his face, the fear evident in his eyes. He really isn't planning to go on any elevator today it seems. 

"Yeah, nice try yoi. You're the one who knows what color Sabo's room is, so you're coming with." Marco retorts monotonously, clearly not in the mood to be dealing with any bullshit. This is what you tried to avoid, he's clearly annoyed himself with this whole gold digger ordeal.

"It's cream, magnolia." Thatch answers quickly, his hand motioning for Marco to run along but of course, it's not that easy. The blonde shrugging his shoulders lazily and Shanks' brow quirking as he watches on curiously. 

"I don't know how it's spelled yoi so you'll have to--"

"Wait, wait. Thatch." Shanks beginning to speak now, a cheeky grin slowly beginning to spread across his face. "You're not...scared of heights, are you? What are you trying to teach your son here? How not to face your fears?"

Wow, now you've done it, Shanks.

"I'm not scared of heights!" Thatch yelps with a blush rising to his cheeks, Acey laughing at his father's misfortune as he waves the toy crocodile around in the air. "I just can't be bothered to go all the way up there for something that I don't even need!"

"Suuuure, you keep telling yourself that, Thatch~! Nobodies judging you harshly or anything~!"

Shanks is officially the worst friend.

As you had expected, the poor brunette was teased into coming with and so you tagged along so that Acey can experience the beauty of glass elevators. Hopefully he isn't scared of them like his father. 

As the elevator starts to rise, you notice Thatch looking down at his son with intensity, clearly trying to take his mind off of the ride. His face looking sweaty and his body trembling slightly, his skin suddenly going as pale as snow.

"Why does he need paint anyway?" Shanks questions calmly, gazing out of the window and watching the other shoppers grow smaller and smaller by the second. "Did the baby put handprints on the walls~?"

Not as far as I know. Although, it wouldn't surprise me if he did, Sabo lets him get away with murder.

"Nah, some blu tack pulled the paint off so he needs to redo that part." Marco answers with a slight smirk on his face, his orbs watching his brother suffer the highest stages of distress. At least he's lightened up a little now. "These things look like they're leaning forward the more they go up...do you think so yoi~?"

Marco, you evil bastard.

"Whoa, shit! It does!" Shanks blurts with eyes the size of whale pools, his expression suddenly falling both amused and slightly worried. This moron clearly believes him. "You think this is gonna break?" The redhead chuckles giving Thatch's shoulder a rough pat and boy, doesn't he wish he hadn't.

The brunette finally losing his cool and throwing up all over the elevator's floor, both Shanks and Marco immediately throwing their hands over their nose and mouths as they inch closer to the doors. The two whining about the smell although their voices are muffled. 

You're laughing however, so is little Ace. Apparently your son takes after you with the dark sense of humor. Although, Thatch would undoubtedly be laughing too if he wasn't the unfortunate one. 

Oh, these boys...what ever would I do without them?