The Ereri Project!

Hospital

The waiting room was tense and quiet.

Eren held Levi's hand for support, it had been a long night and everyone was tired but no one wanted to leave or go to sleep until they knew what was going on. Hanji and Erwin sat on Levi's other side and across from them Nanaba had fallen asleep leaning on Mike's shoulder. Of the six of them here, Eren was the only one who hadn't been from their group of friends as kids, and he as much as he almost wanted to feel left out, he would need to be strong for the rest of them if this turned out bad.

The call had come in five hours ago. Levi and Eren had been getting ready for bed when the phone rang; Levi's younger, adoptive sister had been hospitalized after a shooting at the mall where she worked, she'd taken three bullets.

On his and Eren's way to the hospital Levi just kept shaking his head, muttering things to himself. "I can't believe this. And right after Auruo just passed too. She's gonna be too stressed to function after this."

Eren remembered when she'd told them she was pregnant months ago, Levi had been so excited to be an uncle but now... now they would have to think about losing his sister and his sister's baby in the same night.

A nurse came over to them around the sixth hour. "Are you all here for Petra Ral?"

Mike shook Nanaba awake and they awaited the news. Levi clutched Eren's hand a little tighter. "I'm sorry but-" Hanji's face immediately went into her hands and she cried. "Miss Ral lost too much blood and we couldn't do anything to save her."

Eren could tell Levi was fighting back tears, his voice rough as he asked, "What about the baby?"

"Are you family?"

"I'm Petra's brother."

"Then you can come see her if you'd like." Levi stood and Eren got up with him. "I'm sorry, newborns in intensive care only get one visitor at a time outside of parents, hospital policy."

Eren let go of Levi's hand and nudged him to go. "Go on, we'll be right here when you come back."

Levi took a deep breath and followed the nurse. Eren didn't know how Levi was going to react looking at the baby knowing it had survived and his baby sister hadn't. They'd been incredibly close growing up, both adopted into their family since their new mother was unable to have kids of her own. Petra had been his best friend until meeting Erwin and Hanji at the later end of elementary school, even then they were close.

Up until last week they still made a point of calling each other every few days to catch up, much to Eren's jealous chagrin.

Mike and Nanaba both stood after that. Mike leaned a hand on Eren's shoulder. "Make sure you call us if Levi needs anything, okay?"

Eren nodded and said his goodbyes. Hanji left as well so Erwin and Eren just sat and waited for Levi to return. "I wonder what's going to happen to the baby," Erwin mutters.

"What do you mean?"

"Levi, you know how close he and Petra were, he might not be okay ever seeing that baby again after tonight. I know their parents are too old to take care of a newborn and most of their extended family is estranged. That baby might never know anything about her roots."

Eren frowns and sighs, sinking into his seat more. "I know I didn't know her as well as you guys but I miss her already," Eren says.

"Hm," Erwin hums.

It's almost an hour before Levi comes back out, actually smiling a little bit. Eren sits up and stares at him in confusion. "Levi?"

"Eren, you and I are officially parents."

Eren just stares in mild shock. Erwin looks between, even more shocked. "You're kidding," Erwin says.

"Nope," Levi says. "I signed her birth certificate and everything." He picks up Eren's hands and tugs him out of his chair. "Come on, you have to sign some things and they'll let you see her too."

"It's a she?"

Levi nods. "She's early, so she has to stay here for a while but once she's cleared we can bring her home with us."

"Levi we don't have anything for a baby, neither of us know how to take care of children."

"That hospital offers basic lessons for new parents."

"Levi, hold on," Eren says and pulls him to a stop. "Can we think about this for a little bit, please?"

Levi's expressions drops immediately. He sighs. "I don't want to think," he says. "My sister just died, Eren, the only person who could share ninety percent of my childhood memories with as an old person no longer exists. I need to hold onto as much of her as I can while I still have the option. Please?"

Eren sighs. "You're absolutely insane."

"I've never done anything this impulsive before, I'll owe you big, okay?"

"You're lucky we're married 'cause if we were dating I'd break up with you for this."

"Is that a yes?"

"It's not a no."

Levi grins at him and kisses him hard on the mouth. "You won't regret this."

Eren just shakes his head. "I'll be holding you to that when she's a teenager."

Eren filled out more papers than he honestly had the concentration to read before Levi dragged him, very excitedly, over to see their new daughter.

Eren fell in love immediately. He grinned at the baby girl staring up with him with wide, brown eyes. "I am going to have a lot of fun dressing you up baby girl," he coos at her. He looks up at Levi. "I'm assuming you've already picked a name."

Levi nodded sheepishly. "Sorry I didn't wait for you but it seemed appropriate anyway."

Eren already knew where he was going with this. "Hey there Petra," Eren says. "I really hope you like your name when you grow up 'cause you're named after someone very important to your daddy over there."

It's only three weeks before little Petra Jaeger is allowed to go home for the first time.