Katakuri - HCs on having kids

My personal Katakuri headcanon is that he would be deeply concerned and anxious about the type of parent he'd be. I know in my heart that he loves children and would want to be a good parent, but Big Mom "loves" her children and is convinced she's a good parent. He's smart enough to recognize that trauma is generational, and he'd be afraid of passing that down unintentionally. It would be difficult for him to truly accept the idea of having his own kids, in fear of mistreating them.

However, he has PLENTY of siblings which means he can be the cool uncle/baby sitter for the rest of his life. I think he would be more than happy with that, given the fact that he's barely had any time to explore his own interests. Children are very hard work, and I just want him to be able to relax.

Not to mention, he seems like a rather humble person. I think some people view children as "passing the torch," but given his troubles and mental issues, i think he may ask, "do I really need a legacy?"

Maren - on having kids

As for Maren, he's someone who lost his parents when he was young. I don't have that story totally carved out, but "family" in the blood sense has very little meaning to him. He's been quite alone for portions of his life. However, he joined the Whitebeard Pirates as a teenager and was adopted by WB as a son, per WB's usual antics. I think this would have taught him the value of family and given him a desire to follow in WB's footsteps as a cool dad. But Maren has a lot of self confidence issues, so I think he would also struggle with having children--fearing the responsibility, and not wanting to give up his self destructive habits. He's very ready to run into danger to protect his loved ones and that's not really healthy behavior for a parent that wants to watch their kids grow up...

Kata x Maren - on having kids

So that said, it's complicated. I think overall, they wouldn't have kids even though individually they may have some desire for it. It's a very hard decision to make between them.

Ultimately though, I assume Katakuri's younger siblings have little to no parent figure because Big Mom is herself and the fathers are absent.

While im not sure who takes care of them in canon, I like to think that Katakuri is like a stand-in parent to many of them. Maren joining the picture adds an element of fun and balance to it, as he's someone with a lot of world experience who has some cool skills and gets along really well with kids. He also keeps his large pockets very full of snacks, and makes a point to remember all of Kata's siblings/nephews/nieces favorite candies to surprise them with.

So I think in that sense, they may be like adoptive parents to many of the Charlotte children, especially if something happened to their caregivers. I also think Maren would just find the snottiest punk nose little bully orphan brat and just be like My kid now 👍