Happy Father's Day, Daddy Vessel
A/N: I just had the want and need to write a cute little Vessel post. This is just how I feel he would be if his s/o had a daughter from a previous relationship. Because this man seemed like the gentlest of giants❤️ (when he isn’t being an utter gremlin towards everyone else).
TW: None at all. Just a lot of fluff going on.
(Also, basically, there really isn’t a need to write the pairings for this, but it’s a Vessel x fem!Reader one. And reader’s daughter is named Emma.)
“Are you sure he’ll like it, mama?”
You looked down at your daughter to see that she was not looking at you, but at the handmade card her art teacher had them make for their fathers today at school, a deep frown on her usually cheerful face. Father’s Day was this weekend and you had never seen a more perplexed eight-year-than Emma. And she had been that way since you had picked her up from school.
Emma was your daughter from a previous relationship. Her father was never really much of a father, so when the relationship ended you felt relieved. Only you felt bad for your daughter because she would never have that father-daughter experience like you had hoped, seeing as she was three when you and your ex-boyfriend had split up. Or so you thought she would never experience it. When your daughter was four you met a man named Vessel, and it was automatic love at first sight. Vessel fell in love fast with Emma, and Emma to Vessel.
Vessel knew of Emma’s father after many of stories you had told him over the years. And yet, even if he was a sad excuse of a man that refused to be part of such a wonderful child’s life, there was a part of him that did not want to overstep any boundaries. Parenthood was a foreign thing to him and he never thought he would experience it, but it changed once the two of you became part of his world—his life.
Emma had never once called Vessel “daddy” or “dad” in the four years you two had been together, and she settled on “Vessie.” Being she was the only one allowed to call him that. Vessel never pushed for her to call him anything she was not comfortable with or wanted. She viewed him as a father figure and that was enough for him.
You smiled and crouched down so you were eye level with Emma. She looked up at you with her blue eyes. You cupped her cheeks gently in your hands and bent her head down some, and placing a kiss to her forehead. Emm took a step back some so she could look at you again. Your hands still holding her cheeks.
“He’s going to love it, baby,” you reassured her as you let her cheeks go. You still smiled at her. “He loves anything you make him.”
“But…what if he doesn’t love this one this time?” Emma looked at the card on her hands again. “What…what if it makes him leave like my actual daddy did?”
“Emma, look at me.” She slowly looks at you again. And it pained you to see the worry and fear on your daughter’s face. You reached out and tucked a loose strain of black hair behind her ear. “Vessel will never leave you like that, okay? Mama can promise you that. And whatever you wrote in that card, he is going to love it like any other thing you’ve ever made him. Maybe he’ll even love this more than the four leaf clover drawing you made him for when he goes on the road.”
Emma giggled at that. “I don’t think so. He got it tattooed on him, mama, remember?”
Emma had randomly drawn—more like colored—a picture of a four leaf clover one weekend. She was about five or six at the time and had been coloring and drawing that whole morning. And she had randomly crawled up into Vessel’s lap as the two of you sat cuddled up on the couch, and held the picture up to him with a wide smile on her chubby cheeked face. Vessel took it and settled Emma to rest comfortably against his chest and he looked at it, a smile on his face as well.
“What is this, my sweet girl?” He asked her. Of course, Vessel knew it was a four leaf clover but how he enjoyed allowing Emma to become excited explaining things. “You colored me a picture, did you?”
Emma nodded her head. “I did, Vessie!” She smiled bigger of that was even possible. She pointed a little finger at the picture. “It’s a four leaf clover. It gives you good luck!”
Vessel hummed in amusement. “Does it now, Bug?”
Emma giggled, “Yes! And it’ll give you good luck when you go do shows.”
“Well, thank you, Emma.” Vessel kissed the top of her head and Emma snuggled more into him. He looked at the picture some more. “I’m going to take this with me everywhere I go.”
And did that man mean that literally. Because that same day he had left for a few hours to the studio to run a few things over with II, III and IV. And when he came back that might, Emma had gone to bed by then, he showed you where he had gotten the clover tattooed on his bicep. He said even if no one else but a few knew it was there he was fine with it, because he knew it was there and it meant everything to him.
Vessel had also gotten it on his upper bicep because the jacket he wore on stage would cover it, and he would not have to cover it with the black paint he dawned himself in for each performance.
“Oh, right,” You smiled, “I forgot. Silly me.”
Emma giggled once more before you raised to full height again. You took her free hand in yours again and the two of you walked to the door of your flat. It was Vessel’s before you two had gotten together, but after a few months of dating, and several mentions and negotiations, he had you and Emma moved in.
You opened the door and allowed Emma to go in first, you closed the door as you entered. You both removed your shoes at the door and placed them on the tiny bench. The sound of pots and pans could be heard from the kitchen and you smiled. You had told Vessel you would handle dinner tonight and not to worry about it, you did not mind, only for him to firmly state he would since you had to run a few errands after work before picking Emma up.
When Vessel was home, you tried to allow him to relax much as you could. And you also tried to spend as much time with him as you could. But Vessel always had a mind of his own. Anything he thought he could help out with, no matter how tired he was, or how much his body craved just to melt into the couch, he was up doing it. Whether it was helping clean, laundry, helping Emma with her homework, helping you relax in the many various ways he knew how (wink, wink, wink) and like now, where you had told him not to worry, he is in the kitchen cooking.
Now, you would never complain about his help, you adored that he bent over backwards for you and Emma, the same as you did for the both of them, but sometimes you really wish he would just allow himself to relax.
“We’re home, baby,” You announced as you and Emma walked into the kitchen. Vessel stood by the stove and you allowed your eyes to scan over him. He was shirtless and wearing a pair of sweatpants, which hung a little low on his hips, barefoot and there was a hand towel thrown over his left shoulder. You let Emma’s hand go so you could fold your arms over your chest. “I thought I told you not to worry about dinner?”
“And I told you that I would handle it,” Vessel replied as he turned to look at you. He placed the hand towel on the counter before walking over to you and your daughter. He placed his large hands on your hips and pulled you to him gently, you unfolded your arms and wrapped them around his neck. Vessel brushed his nose against yours before giving you a sweet kid on your lips. The two of you kept the kiss going, sweet and slow, almost forgetting where you two were, until a small blegh from Emma broke you two apart. Vessel chuckled before turning his attention towards the small girl. He smiled, “Hey, my sweet Bug, how was school?”
“It was fine,” Emma answered him. She reached her hand that held her handmade card behind her back, and put her other one behind her back as well. She had hoped Vessel had seen it before she did it. You noticed but didn’t say anything. Emma would show him at her own time.
“Learn anything new?” Vessel asked as he ruffled Emma’s hair, causing a laugh and a protest from the small girl.
Emma shrugged. “I learned I still don’t like math and we learned how volcanoes are made and how they work.”
“Well isn’t that something!” Vessel leaned down and kissed the top of Emma’s head before turning to walk back to the stove. “You two go get settled and I’ll finish dinner.”
You and Emma both went ahead and did your normally nightly routine. Before you two bathed, you helped Emma with what homework she did bring home. You were silently happy it was not a lot. After that, Emma showered and then you showered. And by the time you had finished with your shower, Vessel was done with dinner.
All three of you sat together at the kitchen table, eating like the tiny family you were. All revealing what your days were like and some of the highlights of it. For you, a coworker had surprised everyone with coffee and scones this morning, for Emma, her and her best friend Malachi had managed to climb all the way to the top of the slide at recess(it was a triumph for the two eight year olds but you had to talk with her teacher about that) and finally for Vessel, the highlight of his day came from making III eat crow while playing against him. Something about III had been gloating he for a while how he beats all of them in this one game, and Vessel took up the challenge and beat him in under a few minutes. You rolled your eyes but laughed and shook your head. You knew your boyfriend well enough at this point that he would not pass up any opportunity to rub it in III’s face.
After dinner, you and Vessel cleaned up the kitchen and both tackled the dishes. Emma had offered to help, but Vessel told her it was okay, and the small girl had went to her room. Once the kitchen was cleaned, you and Vessel had retired to the living room and both sat snuggled up on the couch, a movie playing on the television as you two relaxed together for the night.
The both of you heard Emma’s door to her bedroom opened, followed by slow shuffling feet. Soon the small figure of your daughter came into view.
“What’s up, Bug?” Vessel asked her. “Everything okay?”
Emma nodded her head and said nothing. She held out the handmade card towards him and Vessel took it from her gently. Emma sighed before speaking, “We made Father’s Day cards in art today.”
Vessel looked at the card in his hands before looking over at you. You smiled softly and nodded your head. Vessel smiled back and then turned to look at Emma. “Come here, Bug.”
Emma had stated many times she was too big to sit in his lap anymore, claiming she was a big kid now and big kids don’t sit in their parents laps. But, on certain days, like when she was sick or something was bothering her she took that statement back and sat in either your lap or Vessel’s, needing that familiar comfort.
A warm smile spread across your face as you watched Emma crawl into Vessel’s lap and watched as she snuggled against him. And Vessel, on instinct, settling her so she could sit and lay against him comfortably.
Vessel looked at the card in his hands, seeing how Emma used her hands to draw handprints on the sky blue construction paper. And in a glittery font, her small handwriting wrote: “Happy Father’s Day!”
“Mrs. Cunningham helped me find a little saying,” Emma informed Vessel as he started opening the card. Inside, Emma had drawn her hands on both sides of the folded paper. And written on one side in her handwriting was the saying, and a smile spread on Vessel’s face reading it. The card read:
My Vessel’s hand are strong
And they’re big and they’re tough.
My Vessel’s hands can teach me
Right now my hands are small
And learning good from bad.
Will be just like my Vessel’s hands!
And underneath it all, a red and pink heart was there, and inside of it was something that made Vessel’s heart swell and his eyes tear up. In Emma’s handwriting read:
I love you, Daddy Vessel!
“Do you like it?” Emma asked after a few minutes. She was playing with her fingers and you could tell she was nervous. Vessel could tell as well.
Vessel placed the card on the lamp table beside the couch, and wrapped his arms around Emma, hugging her tightly to him. You watched as he took his thumb and pointer finger and he rubbed his eyes with them, wiping away the evidence of the tears that threatened to spill out. He kissed the top of her head before lifting her head up and kissing her forehead.
"I love it," Vessel told her softly. "I love it so much, my sweet girl."
Emma smiled big before wrapping her tiny arms around Vessel's neck. Vessel in turn hugged her tightly to him. And you smiled, resting one of her cheeks into your hand as you watched the two loves of your life. It made your eyes water with happy tears and made your heart swell with so much love.
The three of you sat on the couch together watching the movie, Emma still snuggled into Vessel's chest as you were snuggled into his side. And after a while, both Emma and Vessel had dozed off to sleep. His head was tilted back as his arms still held Emma protectively, and Emma was still snuggled into his chest. You smiled at them and carefully got up from the couch, wrapping them both in the throw blanket you were just wrapped up in the best you could. You placed soft kisses to both Emma and Vessel's cheeks before making your ways to the stairs, heading to yours and Vessel's shared bedroom.
You were not going to wake them, you knew at some point Vessel would and he would lay Emma down in her own room before making his way to bed with you, but for now you were going to let them be. Emma snuggled up to Vessel and Vessel holding her to him.
The image of the father-daughter relationship you thought would never happen for your daughter, playing out in front of you as you watched your daughter and boyfriend slumber. You shook your head with a smile.
"Goodnight, my loves," You spoke softly before turning the living room light off, only leaving the television as the light source, as you made your way up the stairs for the night, leaving Emma and her Daddy Vessel to their peaceful state.
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So, this was not my best, but I really just wanted to write something cute. And I haven't really written stuff in a while. This was just to get the itch off. But, um, yeah. Bye bye now!
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