Forever and Always

Chapter 54 - Reconnecting

The rest of the school day went by slowly, just like every other day that school happened to rain shit on my head. People tended to avoid me more than usual, and the invisibility was a nice relief to the argument I had just had with my fiancee. I spent the rest of my day in a daze, trying to formulate what I would say to Armin, and then to Levi after that, but I was coming up blank for both of them. I knew I needed to reach out to Armin. He had been my best friend for nearly a year, and I felt terrible for not keeping up with him.

The final bell rang and I caught a ride to my house with Ymir and Christa, since Mikasa had the car. I let myself into the empty house, holding the door open for Poppy to step inside. I flopped onto the couch in defeat, emotionally drained from the lunchtime therapy session I had had with Christa.

"Daddy?" Poppy asked once we were alone, climbing onto the couch and snuggling her tiny body next to mine. I looked down at her, hugging her tightly in return, petting her soft raven hair while I looked down at her big grey eyes.

"Yeah?" I asked, leaning down to plant a kiss on her head.

"Why are you mad at Dad?" she asked. "Do you still love him?"

"Of course I still love him. I'm not mad at your Daddy. I promise. I just got upset. But I'm gonna say I'm sorry to him later on tonight. I was mean to him and he didn't deserve it. I just have to also call your uncle Armin."

"What's uncle?" she asked, and I realized that it was likely she had never had experience with uncles either.

"It's your mommy or daddy's brother. And an aunt is their sister."

"Oh. So is Mikasa my aunt?"

"Yeah. She's your aunt. You're so smart, Poppy. Good job," I grinned, holding my hand out for a high five. She giggled and slapped my palm.

"Is Petra my aunt? Is she Daddy's sister?"

"Kind of. She's your aunt like Armin is your uncle. They're your father and my best friends, so they're like our brothers and sisters."

"Am I gonna get a brother or sister?" Poppy asked. "Cuz you and my daddy have one. Can I please?"

"Um, we'll see. It's a little more complicated than it would have been with your mommy and Farlan."

"Why?" Poppy asked.

"Well, because I'm a boy, and your daddy's also a boy, so we wouldn't be able to have kids together."

"But, why?" Poppy was thinking hard, struggling to understand everything that I was trying to explain to her.

"Because girls are the ones that have the babies, and since neither of us is a girl, that makes things a little harder."

"But- but- how come you or daddy can't just be a girl?!" Poppy exclaimed, exasperated and frustrated by my apparent stupidity. "Can't we just go to the store and get me one?"

"Poppy, have you ever seen little babies for sale at the grocery store?"

"No, but, ugh! Daddy needs to be a girl! He's so mean for being a stupid boy that can't get me a brother or sister."

"Don't say that. Maybe when you get a little older we'll look into adopting a little brother of sister for you. I'll talk with your dad about it. How does that sound?" I asked, knowing it was probably not going to happen with Levi's lack of tolerance for most babies and small children. I thought into surrogacy, but, again, Levi wasn't exactly keen on doing the crying, screaming monster phase over with any kid other than his own.

"Okay. Thanks, Daddy! You're the best!"

"Something like that," I chuckled, ruffling her hair and standing up again. "Thanks, Princess."