#des

Bedtime Stories

Desire Doue x Author Reader

TW: none

Summary: Desire reads his daughter a bedtime story

a/n: I’m sorry it took me so long to answer your reply. I hope you enjoy!

Desire sat in the princess-themed toddler bed, watching as his daughter picked out a book from the floor-to-ceiling shelf. 

His wife had begun filling the shelves before Genivieve was even born, claiming that it was important to build a literature collection because it would set their child up for success. 

This resulted in having a toddler who could not sleep without one of her parents reading her at least one book. Genivieve finally picked out her book and gave it to her father.

“Alright let’s see what we’re reading tonight. Oh this is a good one,” Desire said, smiling as he read the title of the book. “That’s why I picked it,” Genivieve explained as she crawled into Desire's lap. 

“You’ve got good taste in books and you can’t even read yet. Here we go, ‘The Prettiest Lilly in Paris’, written and illustrated by who?”

“Mommy!” Desire chuckled at her excited tone. “That’s right. Isn't that cool? She wrote this book just for you.” 

Desire opened the book and began reading the book aloud, making sure to ask her to identify different things in the book to build her already impressive vocabulary. 

It didn't take long for Genevieve to fall asleep in her fathers embrace but Desire kept reading to her anyways. When he finished, he set the book aside and rocked her for a while before tucking her in and walking down the hall to find Y/N.

Desire found his wife in her office, outlining one of her newest creations. Her hands were smudged with graphite and paint as a result of working all evening, only pausing to use the bathroom every half hour, one of the unfortunate symptoms of being six months pregnant. 

One of the good things about being married to a children’s book author is that she has a very flexible work schedule. The bad thing about being married to a children’s book author is that she often liked to work until three o’clock in the morning instead of going to sleep like a normal person.

Desire sat down in the chair by the window and looked out at the Paris skyline. Rain tapped against the window and Desire made a mental note to go buy Vivi a new pair of rain boots.

He turned his attention back to his wife who had yet to acknowledge his presence. Y/N sat at her drawing table, brows furrowed in concentration as she sketched out characters for her newest creation.

“Taking her to the park must've worn her out. She fell asleep before I finished the book,” Desire said softly, breaking the comfortable silence in the room. “Which one?” “The Prettiest Lilly in Paris.” Y/N hummed and leaned back to examine her drawing.

“Did she cry? She’s been a little fussy lately.” Desire shook his head. “No, she went down easy,” he answered as he stood and walked over to where Y/N was sitting. 

He put his hands on her shoulders and bent down to kiss her hair. “Now I just have to get my other baby to go to sleep.” “I’m almost done, I swear.” 

Desire huffed, clearly unconvinced by his wife's words as he looked over her shoulder at the illustration. “That looks good, nice colors.” “Thanks, it should be done soon. I just need to refine a few things before I send it to my editor.” 

Desire smiled and wrapped his arms around her neck loosely. “I can't wait to read it.” 

Y/N giggled and shook her head as Desire smiled. “What?” “I’ve never seen a grown man be so excited to read a children’s book.” 

“Of course I’m excited to read it. Reading with Vivi is one of the best parts of my day.” Y/N smiled and skimmed her fingers over Desire's tattoo of their daughter's name. He’d placed it on his forearm so he could always see it. 

“We still haven't picked out a name for him,” Desire reminded her softly, making Y/N groan and lean her head back onto his shoulder. Finding a name for the newest addition to their family had been an increasingly difficult task for them.

“I know, I know. I've been looking, I swear. I just haven't found anything that sounds right.” “Maybe we should just name him Desire Junior then.” 

Y/N shot Desire a glare. “Fuck no.” Desire burst into laughter and pressed his face into her hair. “I’m just kidding. We should name him after someone strong, like a fighter.” 

“Or we can name him after someone intelligent: an author.” Desire kissed his teeth and stood up as Y/N giggled.

He walked over to look out the window and think some more while Y/N rubbed her belly and did the same. “Maybe it's like when you can't find something,” Y/N theorized. “When you can't find something and you look for it everywhere and then when you stop looking for it, it magically shows up.” 

Desire crossed his arms and looked over at her in amusement. “So we should just stop looking?” “Yeah, it'll turn up eventually.” Desire snorted and shook his head. 

He thought some more and sighed when he couldn't think of a single good boy name. “Why is this so hard? We didn't struggle this much when we picked Genivieve's name,” Desire grumbled. 

“Maybe because Geneivieve was planned and this one was an accident," Y/N said matter of factly as she pointed to her belly. 

Desire gasped in offense and quickly crossed the room to cover her belly with his hands protectively. “Don't say that, he can hear you!” 

Y/N snorted as he pressed his lips to her belly and rubbed it affectionately. “Dont listen to her. You're not an accident, you're a… surprise,” Desire admitted with a light laugh.

“But me and Mommy still love you very much,” he assured the unborn baby. “Even though you make me nauseous and kick my bladder,” Y/N added.

Desire laughed and lowered his forehead to her belly. Y/N leaned her head back and stared up at the ceiling with a pleasant sigh.

“It's okay. We still have three more months to pick a name for h-” Y/N was interrupted by a loud crack of lightning which was quickly followed by the sound of crying. Desire immediately stood up and jogged down the hallway to Genevieve’s bedroom. 

“I’m coming,” he called as he pushed open her door and flicked the light on. The toddler was sitting up with tears running down her face as her lip quivered.

She immediately raised her arms up to her father who scooped her up quickly and held her against his chest as he rubbed her back. “Ssh, it’s okay. I’m right here,” Desire cooed as he walked over to the window.

“It’s just lightning, see?” He said, pointing to the dark clouds in the sky. Genevieve sniffed and calmed at the sound of his comforting voice. 

“It’s too loud Daddy.” “I know Princess. Let’s go see Mommy.” “Baby?” Genivieve asked softly. 

“Yeah, Mommy and the baby are in the drawing room.” Desire carried her down the hall to where Y/N was wiping down her hands and arms to remove the graphite. She frowned at Genevieve's tear stained face and ruffled her curls softly.

“Aw, it's okay baby. Do you want to read a book?” Genivieve nodded and Desire chuckled. “I don't think she'd ever say no to that.”

“Take her to our room. I'll be there in a minute.” Y/N said and walked over to her bookshelf to pick out something to read. 

Desire took their daughter down the hall and tried to set her down on the bed. Emphasis on tried because Genivieve was absolutely not letting him go. “Nevermind,” Desire mumbled as he climbed into bed while Geneivieve clung to him. 

Y/N walked in a moment later and joined them with a book. Genevieve finally loosened her grip on Desire and shifted into Y/N’s embrace as soon as she saw the book in her mothers hands.

Y/N read the book aloud until their daughter drifted off again and set the book on the bedside table, then turned onto her side to stare at the child lying between them. The perfect combination of Desire and herself.

Desire wiggled his finger into the toddler's fist gently, moving slowly in fear of waking her. “She's amazing,” He whispered in awe. 

“Yeah. She is the best thing I have ever created. She’s so precious. I hope she stays like this forever,” Y/N whispered as she ruffled Genevieve's curls.

Desire snorted at his wife’s wishful thinking. “I hate to burst your bubble Darling but she’s going to be a little smart ass just like her mommy,” he corrected.

Turns out he died Because Stupid. Sorry for your loss.

I have likes turned off in my notifications so I never see them!

And yes for those wondering- Octavian died in his sleep because instead of roosting up on the big tiger perch with everyone else (and the red heat lamp! So it's not like he fell off and couldn't see to get back up!), he slept down on the floor on the freezing cement and froze to death. Head tucked into his wing and everything. He was up there safely when I did night checks, so not only did he do this at all but he purposely got down sometime after I checked to make sure no one was doing that. It remains the second stupidest death here. They get so much bedding in the winter now that even if they sleep on the floor they would really have to dig to get to the cement in that pen, and the rest of the pens have dirt floors.

The first stupidest was Des - a bird designed to eat some rocks for digestion - who ate too many rocks, impacted his gut, and passed away. You did your best buddy, but wow was that the stupidest way for you to go.

GT forty