#womprat

Time had seemed to fly by quickly for the Mandalorian while he was caring for the child. It seemed to pass by without a care, as he spent each day ensuring the safety of the little one to the best of his limited parenting ability. At first, he struggled with his new fatherhood task, never having to tend to the needs of someone so small and young. The skills he had honed and developed didn’t include looking after others. He had learned to shoot a blaster, not how to rock a child to sleep. So, he had to quickly develop his parenting skills, something he never thought he would have or even get to do.

  The idea of him becoming a dad was something that didn’t seem to be in his future, as it didn’t look like his life would ever involve being a parent. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t able to have children due to his religion or way of life. Many Mandalorian had their own families and it was considered quite a happy affair in their culture. Din still remembered how excited the others in the covert had become when one of the couples there had announced that they were expecting a child. 

  The biggest celebration he had seen in a long time had occurred from the news, and it had been the talk among everyone for months after the child had been born. So, the idea of a Mandalorian having a child wasn’t the problem for him, rather it was the thought of him having his own child that was the issue. Him having a child just seemed like a fairytale and it was something he thought he would never have for himself. 

  This wasn’t because he did not want children or even a family. In fact, Din Djarin had always been fond of children and had wanted to have a family of his own someday. There were many nights where he would be in his cot, wrapped tightly in his thin sheets to keep warm, dreaming of having a family to care for and love. The idea of having a family was something he held dearly and close to his heart. 

  So, him thinking he wouldn’t become a parent wasn’t due to any dislike of children, instead it was due to his struggle with building relationships. He had always found that he had problems with creating connections and bonds with other people. He even had trouble forming close relations with other Mandalorians, making him feel quite isolated from the rest of the convert at times. The type of life he lived wasn’t an easy one. It didn’t leave a lot of room for very close relationships with other people to form easily. Thus, he figured that he would have to accept that the likelihood of him forming a family was slim to none. 

  Then, of course, he met the child. 

   The child becoming a part of his life was an unexpected blessing that had instantly changed it all in one go. Suddenly, the possibility of him being a dad and having his own family was right before him. The little green womprat with large ears and round eyes was the whole reason it had happened. Din wouldn’t trade his adoptive child for anything in the Galaxy.

  After it had become apparent that he had officially become a father to the child, he had noticed that more people had taken an interest in his little clan of two. People of all sorts, from other Mandalorians in the convert to random merchants on various planets, had asked him many things in regards to the child. They were all interested in his adoptive son and his newly obtained status as a parent. One of the few common things being brought up was if the child had said his first word. A question that now brought annoyance and unease when asked to him. 

  When Din would bring up that the child still couldn’t speak Galactic Basic, he would receive a few concerned looks and the odd nod of understanding. He would usually tell them that it didn’t matter that much to him and that it wasn’t too great of a worry. He was more occupied with making sure the child stayed alive and healthy. Whether or not the child spoke wasn’t the greatest concern for him at the moment, which seemed to both shock and confuse many of the people he spoke to.  

  If he was being honest with himself, the Mandalorian didn’t even realize that a child’s first word was something a parent was supposed to be looking forward to. Only once had it been brought up to him for probably the fifth time did he realize that most people held it in great importance. Being new to this whole parenting thing meant that there were many things he didn’t know in regards to raising a child and this happened to be one of them. In his defence, it wasn’t like anyone had taught him these types of things while training to be a Mandalorian. 

  He did his best to act like he didn’t care when the child would say his first word. He would usually try to say that it didn’t bother him. The Mandalorian didn’t ever need to hear the child speak, as long as the child remained safe and well. At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself and others.

  Contrary to what he wanted everyone to believe, the idea of being able to hear the child’s first word actually sent a jolt of excitement and joy straight to his heart. Din had found himself looking forward to the day where the child would first speak. The Mandalorian oftentimes wondered exactly what the child’s first word would end up being. He had even begun to hope that his first word would be something along the lines of ‘Dad’. 

  However, more and more days would pass by without the child ever saying a word. Beginning to make it feel like the child would never say anything. 

  The Mandalorian knew, deep down, that there was a huge possibility the child may never speak. He had very little information regarding the child’s species. For all he knew, the little one’s kind didn't speak at all or didn’t have the ability to speak Galactic basic. It wouldn’t be the first time he had met a species that couldn’t. So, the chance of him never hearing the child speak was there and he honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if it turned out to be that way. 

  There were some days while travelling through hyperspace, watching the stars dash by the Razor Crest’s windows, where Din would just sit with the child, trying to coax him into speaking. The hope of the child being able to speak, though small, still remained within him. 

  The bounty hunter would often first watch the child play about the area from where he was sitting in the pilot's chair. The little green child would usually end up mumbling at him in gibberish between little fits of giggles while playing with whatever new thing he could find in the cockpit. 

  Eventually, he would maneuver himself so he was sitting across from the child on the floor. Sitting on the floor was a bit strange in the beskar armour that he wore. It made him awkward and stiff while he sat cross-legged on the metal flooring of the ship, but he put up with it for the child’s sake. 

  “You know, every child has their first word eventually,” Din had said one time, thinking back to the couple at the covert fawning over their own toddler’s first word. “It’s kind of a big deal for a parent to hear their child's first word.” 

  He wasn’t particularly talking to the child about it, he was more talking to himself, allowing the child to continue whatever game he had entertained himself with. Like most days, the child had decided to roll one of the control panels knobs around on the floor, stopping to pick it up with glee each time he had managed to catch the knob as it tried to escape. 

  “Do you want to try speaking again?”

  The child had decided to roll the knob towards his adoptive father as he spoke, his little face glancing up at the man before him as he babbled happily in his baby gibberish. In return, Din had rolled the nob back to the child, causing another flurry of happy gibberish and giggles to sound throughout the cockpit. The little one had once again picked up the knob, holding it up in delight towards his father.   

 “Buir,” the Mandalorian said softly, his gloved hand coming to rub gently along the child's ear. The child beamed up at the older man in response, “Try saying that. Buir.”

  Not a word left the child's lips. His only reply to the man was to stare up at him still, the starlight causing for a twinkle to appear within the dark depths of his round eyes. The child’s hands had dropped the knob, reaching up towards the chin of his helmet, attempting to grab onto his father’s metal cheeks. 

  Leaning downward more, Din allowed for the child to grab onto him. The child’s hands instantly tried to pull and squish at his face in excitement, though the beskar would not budge under his tiny grasp. The little one's giggles had increased from the happiness he felt at the attention he was once more receiving from his favourite person in the entire galaxy. 

  “Hmm… what about dad?” Din asked, pulling back to once again sit up properly, his hands picking up the child to sit him in his lap. “Can you say dad?”

  Din had spent the majority of hyperspace travel that day attempting to coax his tiny green son into uttering a word. However, all he received was joyful giggles and more chattering gibberish before the child’s attention had once again been overtaken by that of the knob. Leaving the Mandalorian feeling disheartened at once again failing to get the child to speak. 

  Thinking back at the failed attempt that day, along with all the others before it, had made the Mandalorian sigh bitterly as he washed his face with a wet cloth. The frown he wore was evident in the mirror as he took a closer look into his reflection. He took note of the wrinkles which had begun to form at the corners of his eyes and his fingers lightly scratched at his stubbly chin. 

  His tired eyes had roamed over to where his razor was kept, its blades glistening in the dim light of the refresher. The thought of shaving the thin hair there made its way into the Mandalorian’s mind. He decided against it for now though, as he was tired from the job he did earlier that day. The feeling of fatigue made itself quite apparent, signalling that the Mandalorian desperately needed to get some sleep. 

  Setting the cloth aside, he flicked off the light before leaving the refresher with a yawn and stretch of his back. His gaze scanned the area looking for the child, only stopping when his eyes had finally landed on the sight of him playing with his helmet, unaware that his father had returned. Din had left it laying out in the hull after cleaning it with the rest of his armour when he had gone into the refresher to get himself ready for bed. 

  The Mandalorian smiled softly at the sight of the child playing, before going to get the cot where the child slept most nights ready for him. It was the only thing left to do for his nighttime routine, as the child had already been changed into his night attire long before Din had even gone to get himself into his own sleepwear.

  Opening the hatch with a lazy press of a button on the side panel, Din was met with the sight of the cot and its tangled sheets within. He first removed the blankets from the previous nights, changing them out with some thicker ones to fend off the colder nights of the new planet they were on. Afterwards, he replaced the pillowcase with a fresh one, fluffing the single pillow before finally setting it at the head of the cot. The last touch was the stuffed frog, something he had gotten for the child from a market not too long ago. 

  “Dada!”

  Hearing the child, Din had jumped, the patchy frog in his hand dropping onto the cot below. He stared at the frog for a moment, before snapping his head to the child now next to him. The child’s little green hands had grasped onto the bottom of his left leg, gripping the fabric tightly and pulling on it excitedly. Giggles had followed soon after, light and as bright as any burning sun he had ever seen.

 The child stared up at the man with the purest of expressions, innocent and sweet, his eyes filled with a fondness for his father. The child was seemingly happy to finally discover that Din had returned from the refresher.

“What did you say?” Din croaked out, his voice suddenly sounding very hoarse.

  “Dad!” The child babbled once more, much louder for him to hear. The word itself ringing in the Mandalorian’s ears, leaving a permanent echo within his mind. 

  The Mandalorian had stiffened when the realization of the word had, at last, sunk in. His body felt numb and a strange bubbly of emotion had settled in his chest. His lip quivered as if he was scared, though he knew that was far from the case, and he chewed it lightly to cease its movement as his vision had suddenly become clouded. 

  The bounty hunter’s hand had come up to his face at this point, his fingers lightly brushing at the salty tears which had now begun to roll down his cheeks in waves upon waves. This discovery was both shocking and confusing to him.

Din Djarin, one of the fiercest warriors in the Galaxy, was crying. 

  Many years had passed since Din had last cried, but hearing such a simple thing from the small child had managed to make his eyes water and heart crumble. He was crying tears he didn’t even know he possessed. Tears that Din thought he would never shed again, all thanks to one little word from an even littler child. His child. 

  One of the Mandalorian’s hands rubbed at his tear-stained eyes. The child had tilted their head in wonder at him, confused at seeing the rivers which continued to etch across his adoptive father’s cheeks. The child let go of his pants legs, opting to make grabby hands in his direction once more while babbling incoherently. 

  “Buir,” Din said before picking up the child to hold him in his arms. “You could also call me that.”

  The child looked up at him with their round eyes, his little green hands placing themselves on his father's chin. A giggle once again left the little one, the sound of it ringing out through the Razor Crest as the child smiled brightly at the bounty hunter holding him. “It means father in Mando’a...” 

  Din trailed off as he sniffled quietly to himself. He smiled softly at the child as his vision remained blurry from the tears which continued to overflow from his dark hues. The tears never ceasing their roll down his cheeks and leaving salty trails in their wakes as he did his best to blink away their assault  No matter how hard he tried though, they only seemed to increase the more he thought of what had just occurred.  

 “Can you say that?” He asked as the child continued to stare at him. His large, pointed ears having perked at hearing Din speak again. The child’s smile vanished briefly from his cheeks in a small sense of confusion settling in him at seeing that his beloved father still had tears coming from his eyes. “Buir. Try saying Buir.” 

 The child had blinked slowly at him, almost as if the little one was attempting to process what exactly the man holding him was asking. His eyes filled with wonder and affection for his Mandalorian father as a toothy grin had spread across his little cheeks once more. 

“Brr!” 

 The Mandalorian chuckled at the child’s attempt, a feeling of warmth and happiness intensifying in his already overflowing heart. “Close, but we’ll need to work on that.” 

  Din cradled the child into his chest, his one hand gently rubbing the child’s back in soothing circles. He held the child like that for a while, rocking him and humming a tune he remembered from his own childhood. The tears running down his cheeks not stopping as his mind replayed the sound of the child’s first word within his now exhausted mind.

  The Mandalorian’s tears did eventually dry, the only evidence of their existence being the trails they left on his cheeks and his red-swollen eyes. The child now slept soundly in his arms, nuzzled into his chest and gripping tightly onto his undershirt. Small puffs of breath had left his tiny form as Din continued to cradle the child close when he began to slowly, and carefully, lay the child down in his cot. He tucked the child in next to his frog, trying to not wake him from his slumber. 

  Being a father was something that Din had never expected he would ever become, and for the longest time, he believed he would never get the chance. Looking after the child could definitely be difficult at times and even emotionally draining, but being a parent was something that Din Djarin wouldn’t trade for anything else in the Galaxy.

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