A Pocketful of Elavan

Protective

Even if he looked strict and sombre, Avan was a pretty laid back partner. He was a peaceful person in general. In his relationship with Liz, he was always the calm one and the one to soothe her when her anger and her moods got the better of her.

No need to say but Avan was never one to get very possessive of Liz, not even when they were young and immature. He always let her be her own person. Other people would often tease him or urge him to 'go get his girl' whenever Liz would dress in something that revealed skin. To that, Avan would always laugh and say that Liz was his girlfriend but not his property so it wouldn't be right for him to get 'his girl'.

So long as Liz was safe and knew who she was going home to at the end of the day, he would simply watch and support her from where he stood in her life.

Liz was expecting his protectiveness and his alpha instincts to kick in when she got pregnant for the first time. But like he always did, Avan proved her expectations wrong. Despite his excitement for their firstborn, he was generally very cool about the whole situation. He showcased strong emotions like zealousness and overwhelming love but he still was very laid back.

Of course, he had been cautious when their little boy was born. Avan paid more attention to hygiene and the safety precautions on things but it was within the realm of normalcy.

All of this changed, however, when their baby girl was born 2 months earlier than when she was due to come. Her heartbeat was weak and the doctors all unanimously decided to induce labor on Liz. They were scared to death and tried to refuse but Liz's OB-GYNE frankly told her that the baby would die inside of her if she didn't let them follow through with the procedure. So with a million doubts, Avan and Liz let them induce labor.

It was a painful experience for Liz especially. She was scared for her baby girl's life and all the medicine they pushed into her body made her painful contractions come more frequently than they did when she gave birth for the first time. Her core had felt like coal had just burned through it the moment her girl came out of her.

The baby was born purple and not crying. They had to perform CPR on her and Avan and Liz felt their heart jump every time the pediatrician's fingers pumped against their baby's chest.

Their second-born child was diagnosed with GERD or Gastro Esophageal Reflux Diseases. In her case, the muscle that was meant to open and close at the top of her stomach to keep the gastric acids down did not develop properly and so the acid would rise to her esophagus and onto her heart. They kept her in the NICU for a month or so and it had been scary.

It was no surprise that Avan changed after that. He didn't allow anyone to see his daughter without spritzing disinfectant over their clothes and washing their hands for the first few months of her life. It was when she smiled for the first time that he finally cut some slack.

He couldn't help it. She just looked so fragile and tiny, like one wrong move and she would break.

Even their firstborn has adapted Avan's protective mannerism.

"Zion, what are you doing there?" Liz lifts her eyebrows at her three-year-old son who was squatting by his sister's bedroom door with an unopened juice box at his side.

"Dada said protect sister," he blinks his baby blue eyes at his mother.

She had to suppress an eye roll at her son's reply.

"But, honey, Lea's asleep," she chuckles.

Zion looked exactly like his father, maybe except the blue eyes he inherited from Liz. His dark wavy hair was grown long and was in a messy man bun on top of his head, baby hairs framing his handsome face. He was often bare-chested like he was right now, only dressed in his green dinosaur shorts, his paunch jutting out cutely.