L'aire (BoyxBoy) (Watty's 2018)

Thirty-Four

'Single quote' = signing

"Double Quote"= speaking

Bold = writing/typing

Italics = native language

Just like Sky and his brothers, River decided to give his daughter both and English name that everyone in his new world would call her and a name in their native language that would be used by his family back home. In their language her name was Fleurielle translating roughly to "flower gift", and he would call her Florette, or Flo for short. The moment he decided, Sky went with him to the hospital to get a birth certificate for his little girl. Sky wasn't sure what kind of fuss the doctors would make over the little girl, but he didn't think that letting them asking questions about what kind of oddities she may present was smart so they made sure to request a clan affiliated doctor to check her out and get them a certificate. Flo was the first child to be born of a human and their kind, so they had no idea how her immunity would work. They decided it was probably safer to get her immunized anyways, and keep an eye on her as she grew up. The injection site closed up almost immediately, but not as quickly as if she had been full blooded. If there was any doubt that she was his child, River couldn't deny it after witnessing her heal on her own.

Much to everyone's surprise, fatherhood looked good on River. He always looked exhausted, his clothes were perpetually dirty, and his pristinely done up hair had grown out into a messy, greasy top bun because he'd missed too many showers, but his eyes were always shining with elation. He got a job as a waiter, and kept his availability strictly to nights so he could be home to take care of his baby girl during the day. Sky, Dominic, and Elijah cared for her while he was working, and made sure that she was fed, bathed, and dry before they went to sleep. He originally wanted to move out of their house so he wouldn't disrupt their lives too much, but he was eternally grateful that they forced him to stay. He essentially had live-in babysitters who treated his baby girl as well as they would their own, and the money he saved on rent could go directly into caring for her.

Raising a child was expensive, and even with the tips he earned he barely made enough to make sure that they two of them were all right. He didn't want to take advantage of his little brother more than he already was, so instead Sky made him a deal. Sky would pay for anything River needed for himself, including food, a car, and work clothes, as long as the money that River was saving each month would be put away for Florette's future. River had already decided that it would be easier for his girl to grow up in their new world where she could pretend to be human. The people of their home world were generally open minded, but they had no experience dealing with people that were different. As a mixed child, Flo would run the risk of being made an oddity. Just like Sky she would be one of a kind, but he wouldn't be able to shelter her in the way that Sky was. She didn't have siblings that could be around her at all times to make sure that she would be treated right or threaten anyone who could possibly try to harm her. She didn't heal as quickly as the rest of their kind, and River just didn't want to risk it. If it were up to him, she would be hidden away from everyone except his family for her entire life. They were the only ones he could trust.

River had absolutely no time for women anymore, and to his own surprise that suited him just fine. He missed the feel of a soft body writing below him, but nothing could ever compare to the feeling of contentment he got when holding his daughter. His priorities had shifted overnight. He had a sweet little girl to care for, and she would forever be more important to him than getting off. It was a shame that more women seemed to want to be with him now that he was a single father. They thought it was sweet the way he changed his whole life to accommodate her, and somehow the idea that she resulted from one of his hook ups never crossed any of their minds as they tried to convince him to take them out on a date. Some even stopped by his place of work to flirt and offer him drinks. As attractive as it was that he loved his daughter, they all hoped he'd forget about her long enough to spend the night with them. Before he would have loved all the attention, but River found himself getting more and more annoyed with the constant hounding of his former sex partners. When would they realize that when he was done working he wanted literally nothing more than to go home and watch his daughter sleep.