Zephaniah // z.m

Sixty three

Zayn

Dawn. Once it had awoken from the dark night, Zephaniah would have too. If you wanted it, or not. As a father, you didn't have a choice, at all.

Not that I really minded, though. Because although I was feeling tired due the lack of sleep, nothing made me happier than the sound of his voice in the early mornings.

I was lying on my left side, Zephaniah playing quietly behind my back with Shephy. He walked the stuffed dog over my back, singing a song I thought sounded familiar, but didn't know from where.

Eventually, I could just feel he was in one of his stare moments, as Shephy kept walking on the same spot, barely moving anymore. His soft singing didn't fade, but it became slower, replacing words for hums at times.

Turning onto my back, Zephaniah jumped a little as he was startled out of his moment, but a big smile appeared on his face soon after. "You are aw-awake, daddy."

"I am, Zeph." I mumbled sleepily, answering his smile with one of my own.

Zephaniah crawled on top of me and laid his head down on my bare chest, stuffing a finger into his mouth. "I can hear y-your heart,"

"Yeah?" I answered, playing with a few strands of his black hair with my fingers.

He hummed, sitting up. "Can you hear m-mmine, baba?" He lifted up his pajama blouse, exposing his bare upper body.

I chuckled and sat up, a few bones snapping as I stretched myself out. Pressing my ear to his chest, I couldn't help but smile genuinely when I heard it.

My healthy and breathing child.

"I can hear it, Zeph." I smiled, pulling his blue and white striped blouse down as I noticed the goosebumps on his skin.

He smiled back, his still little teeth showing as he tried to wrap his arms around my neck. "Cuddles?" He whispered.

I, obviously, agreed and wrapped my arms around his small body, rocking him from left to right. While I was rubbing his back, I pressed kisses to his hair, feeling how he relaxed into my embrace.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked as he pulled away, his big eyes staring outside the window, with a small frown formed on his forehead.

"Okay, okay, o-okay?" He smiled cheekily, moving his attention back to me. He pecked my lips and started hugging me again.

I smiled, he was happy and that was all that mattered at this very moment.

Glancing at the window, I noticed how a watery sun shined upon us, lightly warming my skin. A few lost birds were chirping and small clouds were slowly traveling to different places.

The thoughts that had clouded my mind last night had moved away as well, and instead I felt nothing but happiness to be here with Zephaniah.

It made me want to do something fun today with Zephaniah, but that was usually a difficult task as he didn't like going to places he didn't know, or crowded places, where there would be too much to see or hear.

Then an idea popped up into my mind, thinking about the small café with an outside terrace in a calm area. We had been there before, and he had quite enjoyed it, until school was out and kids came to buy quick snacks or lunch.

"Zeph?" I asked, trying to make eye contact as he was looking everywhere but me for a moment.

Zephaniah eventually looked at me, his eyes questionable. "Yes, b-baba." He whispered, pressing his small nose against mine.