😱 Okay that’s fair!!

Yessss they do! :D ANd since I cannot be concise here is an essay about it!!!

I agree about birth control being hard to get in the apocalypse and probably also very unsafe or unreliable to use. But fertility would be absolutely wrecked by radiation/poor nutrition/etc so accidental pregnancies are very rare anyway. The real struggle would be having a kid on purpose for the vast majority of folks. 

I headcanon Piper’s upbringing and lifestyle reflects that reality pretty squarely and she believes herself completely infertile. Which she tells Nate before any intimacy between them occurs. Ergo, they don’t worry about being safe or having a plan for if a pregnancy were to occur because… it’s not supposed to be possible. In any other situation I think they would’ve been much more careful about it. Nate learned that lesson with Shaun being a surprise, and Piper grew up in the Commonwealth countryside where bad harvests could mean starvation. The Wasteland is not a good place for Oops Babies. … tbh if they’d actually thought it was a possibility I’m nooot sure they would’ve ended up having children xDD

BUT. A few years post main quest, as the Commonwealth starts to stabilize, better nutrition is easier to come by. Medicine, too. Nate’s a healthy partner, comparatively untouched by the radiation that plagues the general population. And the two are, to put it lightly, not shy around one another. All combined, it’s enough to tip the scale. Piper goes to Doc Sun complaining of radiation sickness one day only to get the bombshell that it’s not radiation sickness at all. ( I actually have a fic about this on ao3, it’s a personal fav :D )

Piper’s most pressing fear is that Nate might be upset, either at her or the situation. She has a hard time believing he could want to open his heart to the possibility of another child after everything he’s lost. Infants are susceptible to all manner of tragedies, not to mention the high-risk lifestyle she and Nate both lead to complicate things. Whether she wants the kid or not doesn’t matter, because it would be irresponsible to even consider the idea, and cruel to throw such a heavy emotional burden on Nate out of the blue.

But when he finds out, Nate’s… ecstatic, actually. He would never have asked her for it; trying to plan it would have scared him to death. And it’s still scary. Terrifying. But he loved being a dad. And having the chance at a baby practically dropped in their laps feels like nothing short of a blessing to him. Piper has to be honest, she does want this, in spite of the risks. His confidence in the possibility gives her courage. So they go into it together, committed, their love for each other stronger than their fear for anything else.

[Nate actually goes MIA (and is presumed dead by the Railroad/Minutemen) about halfway to term for Piper, which spurs a very fierce pregnant reporter to go tramping across the Commonwealth and drag her wounded lover home, because hell if she’s going to raise their child alone, and you, jumpsuit-wearing-dumbass, are not allowed to die thanksverymuch. But that’s,, another story]

Aside from that it’s a fairly uncomplicated pregnancy. Except that in the postapocalypic world, some things, like diagnosing twins, are a bit harder to do and so you don’t find out about them until the delivery. Yes. Twins. And yes. When he heard the news, Nate, who insisted on being present when Piper went into labor, fainted. Fell right onto the floor. He comes back around with a lump the size of a mirelurk egg on his forehead and two healthy baby girls to meet. 

They name one Glory, after their friend who fought so hard to free her people. The other they name Adlevia, after Nate’s mother. ( There is some Nate & Glory art here too c: ) I alsooo have a bunch of really rough sketches of the fam that I hope to finish someday xD

Aaa this is a good question thank you! C: Love talkin about these beans 💜

They have Shaun Ronan, of course. For the first several years he doesn’t know he’s the synth replica of Nate and Nora’s original child - and Nate tries to give Shaun as much of a normal childhood as possible, for as long as possible. He’s good at tinkering, good at reading people, a lot like his dad. He looks like his dad, too - with charcoal hair and blue eyes. Shaun is quiet, introverted and introspective. He doesn’t call Piper ‘mom’, but she’s been there for him the same way she was there for Natalie growing up.

A few years down the line, Nate and Piper are surprised by a pregnancy they didn’t think was even possible. And several months later, they’re surprised again by twins.

Adlevia Wright & Glory Wright, are two black haired, hazel eyed trouble-magnets. Bold, curious, absolutely inseparable. They’re quick to laugh, quicker to smile. They were talking before they could walk - and boy do they have a lot to say. Though most often compared to their mother, Nate’s influence shows in Glory’s exceptional patience and awareness, and Adlevia’s penchant for music, ventriloquy, and tongue twisters. Natalie Wright is their idol. (Nat takes her role as ‘the cool aunt’ very seriously.)

If you wanna learn more about the circumstances around the twins conception or see some doodles, you can read all about it (here!)