#npq

·         So in my last post, I didn’t give the baby a name because I was torn between a bunch, and also was unsure of what name would fit her best

·         They decided to name her Thalia, but they call her Lia for short

 ·         They also give her a Faerie name, even though it doesn’t hold any power over her

 ·         Her faerie name is Tallulah (which means jumping waters, or river, and is a slight nod to Kieran’s nixie heritage)

 ·         Anyway, she’s now three, and starting to look more and more like her (biological) father

 ·         When she was born, her ears were relatively rounded with only tiny indication of being pointed, but now they’re full on pointy and adorable

 ·         She refers to both Mark and Kieran as “daddy”, but sometimes refers to Mark as “papa” to differentiate

 ·         One day when Mark and Cristina are out doing work with the Alliance, they decide she can tag along with them because it’s small work and they’re missing Kieran because all three of them have been so submerged in their work

 ·         So, in the middle of a meeting little Lia’s just hanging out, sitting on Mark’s lap and idly playing with a fidget toy that her uncle Ty gave her for her birthday

 ·         It has all different parts on it that she can chew on, or spin, and even buttons that make different clicking noises

 ·         She’s just enjoying herself and then she hears someone at the table mention the idea of sending a team to Unseelie to investigate a Seelie knight that’s been taken

 ·         She looks up to Mark and asks if she can go, because she “wants to go see daddy”

 ·         He and Cristina smile at her, sadly saying that it’s an adult mission, but she will be able to go with them to see Kieran another time

 ·         She gets frustrated by this, and her hair flairs a bright green, before returning to its usual black

 ·         Cristina and Mark are stunned but this, they had only seen this happen once when she was only a few months old, but they thought it may have just been a trick of the light, or something she quickly grew out of

 ·         They also hadn’t really thought she had inherited many traits from Kieran aside from her looks, but now this opens up the possibility of having other fae magic

 ·         It was so wholesome for them, and everyone else at the meeting just stared at her, some a little bit freaked out by it

 ·         It wasn’t a new thing for them to bring her with them, but this was the first time she showed that she had inherited any powers from Kieran

 ·         Skip ahead a few weeks, and Cristina has to head on a mission for the Alliance, and can’t bring their kid, so obvs she leaves Lia with Mark

 ·         Mark was so sure he would know how to take care of her, he’d been doing it for two years and this wasn’t the first time he was left alone with her

 ·         But it was the longest, and one day she said that she “missed mommy, and daddy” and Mark just looked and said “me too”

 ·         So, in an attempt to distract themselves from feeling lonely, they decide to make an impromptu trip to the cabin

 ·         Since Tina’s away, they don’t have the Eternidad for smooth travel, so they decided it would be totally fine to try and portal there

 ·         Lia’s only ever travelled by portal a few times, Mark carries her, just to make sure there’s no off chance of a mishap of them being separated

 ·         When the step through, they can only get as far as the forest that surrounds the cabin

 ·         Their entry to the Unseelie land so suddenly sets off some warning alarms, and before they know it, they’re surrounded by redcap guards

 ·         Lia just wraps her arms tighter around Mark’s neck, staring at all the guards

 ·         The guards recognise them, but they still alert Kieran that there is a visitor for him and have him greet him at the edge of the forest before they even consider letting them pass

 ·         When Kieran comes out, Lia smiles, her hair flaring up bright green again, and reaches her arms out to Kieran, “daddy!” she exclaims, a huge smile on her face

·         Kieran walks over and takes her from Mark, kissing her forehead, ruffling her hair before making his flash a blue-green

 ·         The guards are sort of still standing there, weapons not yet drawn, but hands on hilts, still surrounding them

 ·         Kieran looks at the guards with an incredulous look

 ·         “This is my child,” he’s dumbfounded that they made such a big deal about their arrival

 ·         He gestures to Mark next, “and my partner whom you all should have been aquatinted with before”

 ·         The guards look down as awkwardly as fearsome warrior fae can, letting Mark and Lia pass through to Kieran

 ·         They get to the cottage, and the first thing Lia does is ask to go sleep

 ·         Portal travel is exhausting and nauseating

 ·         Mark and Kieran tuck her in, Kieran brushing her hair back from her face, staring down lovingly at her

 ·         “She’s starting to look a lot like you, you know,” Mark comments

 ·         “When did her hair start doing that?” Kieran had a sort of sad look on his face

 ·         “Only recently, it happened three weeks ago during a meeting,” Mark had said

 ·         He hated missing milestones for their kid

 ·         He missed a fair amount of her firsts

 ·         Luckily though, he had been there for her first word

 ·         They had been trying to teach her colours and letters and numbers, but nothing really stuck

 ·         Until one day when Kieran was playing with her, he was flaring his hair all colours of the sea, letting her play with it as he did

 ·         Out of nowhere, she just said “blue” while watching it go from black to blue to green and back

·         It went to a very pale blue when she said it, but that wasn’t voluntary, he was just super happy and excited

 ·         All three parents lowkey cried a little because it was so cute

 ·         Anyway, back to Kieran, Mark, and Lia at the cottage

·         So little Lia is put to bed, and Mark and Kieran are just kind of chilling, sitting out in the living room area by the fire

·         They talk about the Alliance, the courts, catching up with each other as it had been almost two weeks since they had seen each other

·         They talk about Lia, about how big she’s getting every day, all the changes

·         Mark brings up the idea of more kids, and Kieran stops him

·         “We cannot discuss this, not without having Cristina here,”

·         “I know, of course, but just the idea of another…”

·         Mark and Kieran reluctantly talk for a tiny bit about the idea of a kid before Lia wanders out, a blanket draped around her shoulders

·         “I want a baby too,” she adds in, coming to sit between her dads

·         They smile at her, her bright brown eyes just like her mother’s, radiating such love and warmth

·         Skip ahead a few days later, and Cristina arrives at the cottage, tired af from the mission she was on

·         Lia runs up to her and is all like “daddy and papa said we should have another baby!”

·         Cristina goes wide eyed and looks at Mark and Kieran, both of whom are just looking at Lia with an expression of “oh god why”

·         They can’t be mad at her though, she’s too sweet and is just saying what’s on her mind

·         Cristina smirks, “oh, is that so?”

·         Mark nods awkwardly, a half smile on his face

·         Kieran bows his head, “if it is not what you wish, we will cease any conversation of the matter, my Lady of Roses”

·         Lia just kind of watches her parents, laughing at the formality in Kieran’s tone as he addresses Tina

·         “You know what? I don’t think I’d be against another little one,” Cristina says, picking up little Lia

·         Later that night, when Lia is put to bed (she now has a little toddler bed in the other room in the cottage, though she often will sneak out of it and join her parents for cuddles) 

·         The three parents are enjoying just a soft wholesome night, Mark is in the middle (which has become a common occurrence as he is the last person to wake in the morning)

·         After some time of them just enjoying each other’s company, talking a bit more about another baby, Mark sheepishly asks, “do you think that…” but he trails off, too embarrassed to ask

 ·         Both Kieran and Cristina give him this look that encourages him to go on,

 ·         “Maybe this time…” he keeps trailing off

 ·         “Mark, speak your mind, you are at no judgement between the three of us,” Kieran says, trying to coax the question out

 ·         “Do you think I could be the father for our next child?” he spits out the question quickly, his face donning an unusual look of worry

 ·         Cristina gives him a sort of sad look, not because she doesn’t want that, but because she didn’t really consider much that Mark might not feel as connected to Lia because they aren’t biologically related.

 ·         “You know you’re Thalia’s father just as much as Kieran is, Mark”

 ·         “I know, but I just…” he’s at a loss for words, he feels bad for asking, but he still feels as though there’s more to experience being biological parent

 ·         Kieran leans over, resting his chin on Mark’s shoulder, his eyes understanding, “if it’s any consolation, I feel as though it would be lovely to see a little one much who bears resemblance to you as Thalia does to myself,”

 ·         Cristina smiles at this, seeing them both so fully immersed in the idea of a tiny Mark-lookalike

 ·         Mark looks over to Cristina, “would you be okay if we did it this way?”

 ·         She smiles at him, cuddling herself up closer to him, “I wouldn’t mind that, of course not,”

 ·         By the end of that night, they agree: her and Mark will start trying for a baby soon

 ·         As they all lull off to sleep, there’s a scream from the other room

 ·         Everyone is immediately alert, Kieran on his feet and already moving to the door

 ·         Mark follows him, and so does Cristina, the latter two standing in the doorway watching Kieran sit at the edge of Thalia’s bed, holding her to him tightly

 ·         When she notices her other parents in the room, she reaches out an arm, asking them to come over with the gesture

 ·         The four of them sit on the tiny bed together, listening to Lia tell them about a bad dream where a big scary thing came and took her daddies away from her and her mommy

 ·         They bring her with them back to their room, Thalia going to lay between her two dads, holding on to each of their hands, telling them to not go away as she falls back asleep

 ·         It breaks their hearts a tiny bit, just the idea that she may even have seen a shred of truth in the nightmare she had