miller

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JOEL MILLER

🝮 SHORT DAYS, LONG NIGHTS @frannyzooey

Series. Joel + Lady reader on their own in post outbreak world, settle in a remote cabin… relationship grows… pregnancy

UNFORGIVABLE MISTAKE @lionlena

Series begins with Joel having a one night stand with the reader then rejecting her. She leaves the next day… a few years later Joel arrives in Jackson where he discovers the reader and her son with brown curly hair…

REFLECTIONS OF THE MOON @chloeangelic

Joel arrives in Jackson + teacher start an affair, she gets pregnant…

SLICE OF PARADISE and FROM LOVE AND LIFE @bubbles-for-all-of-us

All fluffy fluff- Joel and reader + Ellie have a farmhouse in Jackson and life is good. Reader is 5 months pregnant. A medical emergency a town over sends the reader on a trip at 8 months pregnant and the trip back does not go as planned…

JOEL’S CHILDREN @absurdthirst

Single story. Joel + reader from Kansas City travel to Jackson with Ellie and on to find the Fireflies. On the way the reader discovers she is pregnant and like Ellie, also in danger of experiments…

AND THEN IT HAPPENED @supernaturalgirl20

You tell Joel you’re pregnant and he doesn’t take it well. Relationship is angsty if not over. With support of others in Jackson life goes on. Until Joel comes around…

THUNDER ROLLS on AO3

Short story- Reader reminisces about life with Joel, comfort during a storm, pregnancy

DARLIN ID WAIT FOR YOU @cowgurrrl

In labor at home and Maria and Ellie are helping you through it while Tommy finds Joel

NEVER FELT SO LOVED @alwaysmicado

Plagued by anxiety and doubt, you’re 6 months pregnant and you and Joel are new to Jackson, it’s safety, his family. You worry about becoming a mother, if Joel will survive and return from patrol duties, etc. Soft, supportive Joel makes something for you…

SAFE AND WARM @alwaysmicado

Single story. Stopping for the night, you need to tell Joel you’re pregnant. He promises to protect and care for you

SHOOTING STARS @randofantfic

Single story. You and Joel have been trying for a baby for 3 years and 2 miscarriages. Your doctor calls and has you come in for test results. Not suspecting anything, you’re shocked to find out you’re 17 weeks pregnant. You tell Joel while decorating for Christmas

STEPS @miller-lookforthe-lite

Series. You’re in a truck headed to Wyoming with Joel and Ellie. You’d been in the Boston QZ and that’s where you met and worked with Joel and Tess, your brother and sister. You’ve had bouts of vomiting and dizziness, your breasts are tender when Joel caresses them, he takes notice of it all, but neither of you speak about what you suspect to be true. Besides, your periods haven’t come because your underfed right?

AFTER BIRTH @joelslastofus

Joel takes care of you and the baby after you’re home from the hospital fluff

CARING HAND @kkcauseway

Single story. You and Joel are on the road driving to your vacation when you become sick and overheated. Joel takes care of you fluff

Many other stories here!

ONE DAY AT A TIME @sixhours

Series. A drunken night in patrol results in an unplanned pregnancy. Joel and Charlie coming to terms with it and their non relationship

DIN DJARIN

SUNSHINE @zialltops

Post Mandalorian series, Din settles on Navarro and enrolls Grogu in school. And falls for the teacher hard. Reader is a teacher with glasses who loves gardening… secret past. Din has a glorious breeding kink, possessive/protective, pregnancy…DARK LUKE…

BESKAR DOLL @justagalwhowrites

Din + ex Naboo handmaiden who is wanted by the Empire. Cargo to much much more. So prolific and exciting! Slow burn, eventual pregnancy

BEST KEPT SECRET @lincolndjarin

Bodyguard Din + unhappily married princess on Naboo… her husband is to be king, is a monster, but luckily not yet interested in her. She and Din grow closer, rules are put in place, being found out would be deadly…

SECURITY @dindjarindiaries

Prolific series of Din + princess of destroyed planet, marriage, pregnancy, adventures…

KEEPING SECRETS @drewharrisonwriter

Din + lady reader discovers she is pregnant and fears telling Din thinking that he’d leave her. Cara helps talk her through it, adventure forces the truth to come out…

NOTHING IS WRONG and NOTHING IS WRONG: IN ABSENTIA on AO3

Din + lady reader who he discovers injured while collecting a bounty, bring her aboard the Crest so she can heal… quick and fun read through chapters, slowish burn, Mandalorians are all about reproducing, eventual pregnancy…

MY GODS ARE NOT KIND TO LONELY MOTHERS @fanfreakinfiction

Din, during a difficult time, spends a night at a brothel with a virgin woman. Months later he has a dream of her, pregnant and in distress. Grogu helps lead him to her, finding her on a backwater planet climbing up a mountain to give birth…

WRITER SPOTLIGHT! @charnelhouse

YOU BECAME ALL THE THINGS I WISHED FOR, ALL THE THINGS I HOPED Short of Din + Lady reader who discovers she’s pregnant.

YOUR HEART IN MY HANDS Birth of the baby, domestic life with new baby, Din, and Grogu.

THE REST. Twins! And a sprinkling of reality with a house full of babies

LITTLE CLAN @unofficial-writing

Short story of realizing and telling Din you’re pregnant

PAZ VIZSLA

PAZ + PREGNANT RIDUUR @sprout-fics

Just a short and sweet snapshot of Paz as an adoring father and his pregnant wife.

JAVIER PEÑA

COMATOSE @absurdthirst

Javi + DEA partner reader have a fling but break it off, reader is shot in action, placed into a coma, and Javi learns she is pregnant… Series

PERFECTLY INTOXICATING @gracieispunk

Reader arrives in Columbia for a 12 month job assisting the DEA agents in handling mountains of paperwork after Escobar. Steve and Connie are already friends with a past, reader meets Javi and “casual” relationship begins… unplanned, but wanted pregnancy… Steve is her best friend, Texas, Miami, job stresses… Javi grows leaps and bounds

STUFFING @palioom

Javi settled in Lerado coming home to his pregnant wife. He does the thing where he stands behind her and lifts her belly to hold the weight for her…

AGENT WHISKEY

UNWILLINGLY BONDED @absurdthirst

Agent Whiskey is on a mission to recover a hard drive when he stumbles upon an Omega in heat… A/B/O dynamics, breeding, pregnancy, birth, dumbass Jack.

MARCUS MORENO

YOURS @radiowallet

Reader tells Marcus she is pregnant and he is thrilled…

CAPTAIN JOHN PRICE

BRIEF INTERRUPTION @ghostheartfelt

Price and wife struggling with infertility find out she’s pregnant while he’s in a meeting. Just happy fluff

BABY TALK @the-froschamethyst4

Price has the baby all to himself for the weekend while mom is away with friends. He tries to teach her to say dada, 141 friends come over

NEWBORN SON @ghostlywhiskey

Price holding his newborn son for the first time

I’M HERE NOW @unreliablesnake

You find out you’re pregnant but John is deployed. You send him an image of the ultrasound to see when he can and you wait for a reply

KÖNIG

KÖNIG HEAD-CANON @bimbodoggie

König as an expectant father

SIMON GHOST RILEY

SLEEP @lethalchiralium

How Simon sleeps best

SURPRISING GHOST WITH A PREGNANCY @nsharks

Ghost arrives back from a long deployment and you’ve been together 5 years. You meet him in the shadows outside the base and tell him the news…

WRITER SPOTLIGHT @babygirl-riley

SMALL TRADITIONS Simon passing on traditions and memories of his beloved mother with your 3 daughters. Fluff

IN SICKNESS AND HEALTH Really hard pregnancy and delivery and Simon is there every step of the way

GHOST AND PREMIE DAUGHTER @stargirlrchive

The baby comes early and he’s there every minute for his girls

WRITER SPOTLIGHT @midnightcrw

PREGNANCY RISK After hearing news from the doctor that it would be dangerous for you to have a baby, Simon is terrified to even try

MOOD SWINGS, CRAVINGS, AND MELTDOWNS Being Simon’s hormonal pregnant wife

SIMON AND YOUR BELLY @sunsetsimon

And your cravings

SIMON LOVES MILFS @simonrillleyyysss

Home from deployment, Simon wakes to you breast feeding the baby. Once the baby is asleep he has his way with you

FAMILY @albanskikoks

Simon arrives home and is so moved to see his family fluff

GROWING PAINS @oceantornadoo

Going out for the first time as a family is stressful and he helps you through it

UNEXPECTED, PART 2 @dammn-dean

You’re in a relationship with Simon, but he’s acting distant and short with you… but you have news to tell him. It doesn’t get told until you’re in labor

BABYS FIRST FEVER @certifiedcodbabygirl

Your daughter has a fever and Simon knows just what to do

ONE NIGHT STAND @cmncisspnandmore

Series. Having just moved to London, knowing no one, you head to a bar. Overwhelmed by your past you take a moment behind the bar to breathe and meet Simon who you go home with…

Let’s spice things up!

🌶️ BREEDING, LACTATION, AND PREGNANCY KINKS REC LISTS:

Joel Miller

Javier P and other Pedro Characters

Din Djarin, Paz Vizsla, Bobba Fett, Thrawn

Call of Duty

She’d made her entrance into the world early.

About four or five weeks, the commune’s doctor thinks.

Without ultrasounds, it’d been a guessing game.

And a fucking terrifying guessing game at that.

For several months, all you could do was hope.

Hope for a smooth pregnancy.

Hope for a safe labor and delivery.

Hope for a strong, healthy baby.

When you went into labor earlier than the doctor had predicted you would, all of your hopes shattered, the pieces falling around you like shards of broken glass you couldn’t put back together even if you tried.

“No! No, it’s too soon! It’s too fucking soon!” you’d cried out, the sheer panic setting in and seeping into your bones as a warm, clear liquid dripped down the insides of your legs and pooled around your bare feet. You had been in the kitchen making Ellie breakfast and packing her lunch for school—one second you’re standing there in front of the food pantry debating with yourself on what vegetable to throw into the kid’s lunch bag with her sandwich and the next you’re calling out for help as an intense pressure nestled itself between your hips. It wasn’t until you heard a faint popping sound and then felt the gush of fluid between your thighs that you’d realized what was happening. An unmistakable first sign of labor, you’d experienced your water breaking. “This can’t be happening, it’s not time yet!”

Joel, who by some stroke of sheer stupid luck had the morning off from patrol duty, instructed Ellie to run upstairs and gather some clean clothes along with a pair of boots and the warmest coat you owned that still fit. November had brought along the first snowfall of the season—the frigid temperatures outside were anything but kind and the clinic was on the opposite side of the commune, a fifteen minute walk he wished you didn’t have to make in your condition. “I know this is real fuckin’ scary darlin’ but y’need to stay calm. I need you to stay as calm as possible. Y’think that you can do that for me, sweetheart?”

He’d been just as terrified, but he masked it well.

On the outside, he kept a calm, collected composure for your sake and for Ellie’s too, shoved aside his own fears so he could be the support you both needed, act as the glue that held yours and his little family unit together should anything were to happen. But on the inside, he was scared shitless, to say the least. He couldn’t be certain he would have the strength to hold himself together if something went wrong, if he lost you—or his unborn child.

Admittedly, it had taken him a few months to come to terms with the fact that he was going to be a father again at this stage in his life. The thought of him changing diapers at his age was one he couldn’t quite wrap his mind around—but the moment he felt that first little flutter of movement one night as you lay curled up against his side fast asleep, something shifted. That night, he had stayed wide awake, his large hand splayed over your bare belly in hopes he would feel that little flutter again.

“Joel, I’m really fucking scared. What if it’s too early—”

“Baby, look at me.” He reached up and gently took your chin, holding it between his thumb and index finger as he coaxed your gaze to meet his own. “S’gonna be okay,” he’d assured you, softly. “If this is happenin’ now, it’s because she’s ready, alright?”

For a split second, that panic had ceased.

“She?”

Confused, Joel’s brow furrowed. “Huh?”

“You just referred to the baby as a she, Joel.”

“I did?”

“Yeah—just now.” You’d stared at him with curiosity and took a step back, cradling your belly in both of your hands. “Do you think we’re having a girl?”

Sheepishly, he had shaken his head at you.

“No, I just—m’sorry. I ain’t all too sure why I said that.”

He truly, honestly hadn’t.

It’d slipped before he could even think about it.

But his accidental slip had been right.

After thirteen hours of grueling labor in Jackson’s small clinic, you’d given birth to a little girl, the sound of her loud wailing filling the whole room like a sweet melody eliciting a sob of joy from you and a shaky sigh of relief from Joel.

“Holy shit, she’s here! She’s actually fucking here,” Ellie breathed, her eyes going wide. Her arms were still wrapped around one of your legs—despite you warning the teenager about what she would see, it hadn’t stopped her from volunteering her assistance in the childbirth process. She watched on in a mix of both fascination and disgust as Dr. Porter, a woman in her sixties who served as Jackson’s sole physician, lifted the infant and immediately placed her onto your bare chest to clean her off. “This has gotta be the grossest, most amazing fucking thing I have ever fucking seen in my life.” Gently, she set your leg down onto the bed before walking around it to stand beside Joel. His hand was stroking your hair, his dark eyes trained on his crying newborn daughter. It was the perfect moment for Ellie to run her mouth and tease, “You’re not gonna cry, are you, Joel? I’d think you’re a lot fucking tougher than that, old man.”

“Shut up,” he’d muttered under his breath, putting an arm around her and pulling her against his side. He almost couldn’t believe this was now his life—a life he would have never even known if he hadn’t flinched twenty years ago when he had pulled the trigger.

Though she’d been born a few weeks prematurely, Rosemary Miller was deemed to be healthy—a tad underweight, but nothing to be worried about just yet, according to Jackie, the commune’s nurse. At about four pounds, eleven ounces, Rosemary was the tiniest thing you’d ever seen and somehow even tinier when Joel would cradle her in the palms of his large hands. Despite the fact that you’d been reassured that the baby’s low birth weight was nothing to be alarmed about, you and Joel had been advised it was best if you didn’t take her home until she gained a few more ounces and tipped the a scale at what the books state is a normal birth weight of five pounds, eight ounces.

“We just would feel better if she were here at the clinic where we can closely monitor her weight,” Jackie had said upon seeing the crestfallen look on your face. “Besides, you tore a little and you need time to heal as well, you know.”

Left with very little choice, you’d agreed to it.

“I’m losing it,” you say with an exasperated sigh as you stare up at the drab, gray ceiling. It’s been three days since you had given birth and all you want to do is take your daughter home. In an effort to lift your spirits, Maria had tried to warm the place up and make it feel more comfortable for you. She had swapped out the rough, scratchy bedsheet the clinic provided for you with a soft, knitted blanket she had made herself. She also took it upon herself to pack you a bag with your own clothes, a couple of books to read, and your favorite polaroids of Joel and Ellie. While it had been incredibly sweet of her to do for you, you still wanted out of that clinic sooner rather than later. “I miss our house. I miss our bed. I miss our kid.”

Joel, who’s sitting in an old, worn leather armchair tucked over in a corner of your room next to the frosted window, raises an eyebrow at you and then juts his chin towards Rosemary, who is swaddled up and sleeping soundly in the plastic bassinet beside your bed.

“Our kid’s right there, darlin’.”

You lift your head off your pillow and glare at him.

“I’m talking about Ellie, Joel.”

He chuckles and leans forward in his chair. Next to him sits a brown stuffed bunny rabbit—Ellie had traded a precious comic book for it and gifted it to the baby the same afternoon she was born. 

“She’s been comin’ to visit every day after school.”

“It’s not the same,” you pout, shaking your head.

Joel sighs and glances at the cot that he had been sleeping on for the last few days—truth be told, he misses the house too. His back certainly misses the bed. “It ain’t the same,” he agrees, tiredly. His face is worn with exhaustion. Despite you insisting that he go home and get some proper rest, he’s too stubborn to listen and only leaves the clinic to take a shower and change his clothes—and to check on Ellie, who’s got a bad habit of not doing her homework unless you or Joel nag her to get it done. “M’real sorry, darlin’. But you heard what they said. Baby’s gotta gain a little more weight before we can take her home.”

Even from where he’s sitting, he can see your eyes glaze over with tears of frustration. Since the baby was born, you’ve been very sensitive, more so than when you’d been pregnant—something he didn’t think was even possible.

“If she keeps on eatin’ the way she’s eatin’ we’ll be home by the end of the week,” Joel adds in an effort to cheer you up. “Besides, you need to heal before we make that long walk across town and back to the house, sweetheart. S’not like I can just pull up the fuckin’ minivan and drive you girls home like back in the day, y’know?”

You wrinkle your nose at him. “Ew, Joel. We would not have a fucking minivan.” Dabbing at your eyes with the back of your hand, you can’t help but laugh at the thought of Joel Miller behind the wheel of one of those things. Then, you realize how endearing it would be to watch as he’s loading up Rosemary’s car seat into the van, the muscles of his broad back flexing underneath his shirt as he pulled on the straps to make sure it was safe and secure. You’d climb into the backseat with her and on the way home, you would ask Joel to swing through the nearest burger joint drive through because you’re fucking starving and in need of a proper meal after being subjected to boring, bland hospital food. You shoot him a small smile. “On second thought, that doesn’t sound all that bad. Maybe we would.”

Suddenly, there’s a light knock at the door.

“Come in,” you call, careful not to be too loud.

Dr. Porter walks into the room.

She had been a primary care physician prior to the world ending, according to Maria, who a couple of months ago had given birth to her son while under Dr. Porter’s care. Maria had assured you that, even though the woman never trained in obstetrics, she always went above and beyond for all the mothers to be in the commune. She dedicated her spare time to studying, lost herself in medical books she found on the shelves of the town’s library—kind of like the one that’s currently tucked underneath her arm.

“Hi there mama,” she greets, her eyes shining brightly behind her coke-bottle glasses. Wearing jeans and a sweater, she doesn’t quite look the part—maybe she’d worn a white coat once in her life, but now it was only the old, silver metal stethoscope she had draped around her neck that gave her profession away. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“I’m okay,” you say with a shrug. “Can’t complain.”

Over in his corner, Joel can’t help but snort.

Ignoring him, you add, “Bleeding’s slowing down.”

“Good, that’s good,” Dr. Porter tells you. “And how about this sweet little girl?” She smiles and makes her way over to the bassinet, keeping her voice low. “She eating well?”

“She is. Her last feed was about two hours ago.”

“How’s she sleeping?”

“Like a rock.”

“And you’ve been doing skin to skin as well?”

You nod. “Yes, before and after her feedings.”

“That’s perfect.” Dr. Porter beams at you with pride. “Keep it up and do it as often as possible. There are a ton of benefits of doing skin to skin with her. It’s one of the most incredible things that a mother can do for her baby. Actually—” She pauses for a moment and pulls the book out from under her arm. “I have been doing a bit of research and as it turns out, there are also benefits if dad does skin to skin with baby as well.”

Joel stiffens slightly in his chair. “S’cuse me?”

“I found this book in the library. It talks about all of the benefits of fathers doing skin to skin with their newborn. It was written some time in the nineties and studies were still being conducted, but I really believe they were onto something.” She hands you the book. “For being preterm, Rosemary’s healthy, but it doesn’t do any harm to try whatever you can to make sure that she builds up that immune system and stays healthy, especially now that winter’s here.” Flashing you a smile, she informs you, “I went ahead and folded the pages for you and made some notes. There’s a few benefits in it for Joel as well. Could be worth a try.”

After telling you she’ll be back in a couple hours to check on you and to weigh the baby, Dr. Porter excuses herself from your room, quietly closing the door behind her.

Curiously, you open the book to the first page that she’d folded for you and start reading the first passage out loud.

“Ongoing studies have found skin to skin between father and child have similar benefits to those that come from skin to skin between mother and child. It regulates the baby's body temperature, blood sugar, and stress levels.” You pause and look over at Joel, who appears thoroughly unimpressed. “It also helps to regulate the baby’s heart rate and breathing rate. Joel, this is incredible! I think you should—”

“No.”

Joel winces. He doesn’t mean to sound so curt.

Your face falls. “Why not?”

“That’s for mothers,” he grumbles. “Y’know, for feedin’ the baby.”

“It’s for much more than just that.” You shake your head and flip over to the next page, scanning both the text as well as Dr. Porter’s notes. “It says here that it also helps the baby pick up their father’s natural scent and promotes bonding.”

“Sweetheart, I can bond with her just fine with my fuckin’ shirt on, there ain’t no need for me to—what in the world are you doin’?” Perturbed, Joel watches you as you take a handful of your blanket, throwing it off yourself. He jumps up to his feet the second he realizes that you’re about to get out of bed. “Don’t—”

“Oh relax, Joel. I should be moving more anyway,” you say, wincing as you sit up and swing both legs over the side of the bed. It isn’t so much pain as it is discomfort—everything had been shoved up and out of place for months, after all. As soon as you stand, Joel’s there at your side, one hand on your arm and the other on your back, trying to guide you back onto the bed. You lightly swat him away with your hand. “Joel, stop fussing over me! I’m fine!”

“Baby, y’need to lie down right now—”

“Take off your shirt.”

His hands fall away from you and his eyes widen.

“What?”

“Take off your shirt and go sit down in the chair.”

The blood drains from his face and he pales. 

It’s not that Joel doesn’t want to do it. He does.

He’ll do anything if it’s for his daughter’s benefit.

Still.

The idea of laying his innocent little baby girl on him without his shirt on—it’s uncomfortable. His chest and stomach are littered with several scars. Rough, raised patches of skin that serve as reminders of a brutal past he doesn’t want her finding out about, not for as long as he can fucking help it.

Rosemary deserves to be wrapped up in softness.

The softness of your smooth, blemish free skin.

The softness of the blankets you’d knitted for her.

The softness of the stuffed bunny Ellie had given her.

Joel?

He isn’t soft.

Nothing about him is soft.

Even holding her in his hands for the first time had been something of a battle. Hands that once snapped necks and slit throats didn’t deserve to hold something so pure and innocent.

“This sounds really promising, Joel.” Slowly, you make your way over to the plastic bassinet, ignoring the dull ache between your thighs. With your back to him, you carefully begin to unswaddle the baby. You try not to wake her as you peel off her warm, knitted onesie and matching socks, leaving her in nothing but her teeny, tiny cloth diaper. Gingerly, you pick her up and turn around to face him. “If Dr. Porter thinks we should try it, then it’s for a good reason, don’t you think so?”

Joel swallows harshly.

“What is it?”

“S’just that I—I’ve got scars everywhere, y’know?”

Your expression instantly softens for him. “Joel, you’re her daddy,” you remind him, gently. “She’s not going to care about things like that.” Pausing, it suddenly occurs to you that it’s not just about his scars. It’s about something else, something that runs so much deeper for Joel. He’d done what he had done in order to survive, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t live with the shame—the guilt and the regret. Rosemary begins to fuss awake and you lightly bounce her in your arms as you assure him, “She isn’t going to care about your past or what you’ve done. Her love for you is going to be as unconditional as yours is for her. She’s going to love you no matter what, Joel. I can promise you that.”

His jaw clenches and his lips press into a tight line.

Rosemary starts to cry—she’s cold, no doubt.

The old heater in the clinic hardly runs.

And when it does, it breaks down.

“Joel, please,” you beg over her wails. “Just try it? For me? For her?”

Sighing in defeat, Joel shrugs out of his jacket and he tosses it aside. With trembling fingers, he begins to unbutton his green flannel shirt—his long sleeved thermal henley comes off next and then he takes off the cotton t-shirt he wears underneath for an added layer of warmth during the winter season. As he stands there shirtless, he shivers and his flesh erupts with goosebumps. “Wait,” he mutters as he watches you take a step forward. He drags the armchair away from the window. He then sits down, his heart racing and the anxiety flaring as he gives you a subtle nod of his head. “Okay.”

You walk over to him and place her on his bare chest.

The second he feels Rosie’s soft skin on his, there’s a shift.

It’s similar to the one he felt when he first felt her move in your belly.

He calms and his heart slows—his nerves dissipate. 

And Rosemary stops crying.

She scrunches, curls up on his chest, and yawns.

Grimacing, you lean over and pick up his flannel shirt. “Here,” you say, draping it over them as a makeshift blanket. “How’s that feel?”

“Think she likes it, darlin’,” Joel murmurs, his fingers delicately brushing over her soft tufts of dark brown hair. His touch causes the newborn’s lip to curl and he catches a glimpse of the prominent dimple in her left cheek—the same dimple Sarah had inherited from him, Rosemary had inherited too. There’s a dull ache in his chest, but somehow, he still smiles as she peers up at him with sleepy eyes. “Hi, Rosie Posie. S’me, babygirl. Your daddy.”

Rolling your lip between your teeth, you stifle a giggle.

“What?” he asks, arching an eyebrow at you.

“She’s not the only one who seems to like it.”

Joel chuckles, admitting, “S’pretty relaxin’.” He presses his nose into his daughter’s curls and inhales deeply, relishing in the warm, sweet milky scent of her. After a minute, his smile falters slightly. “Baby?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you really believe it?”

Your brow furrows. “Believe what?”

“That she’s gonna love me no matter what.”

“Of course I do.”

“How can you be so sure ‘bout it?”

Carefully, you perch yourself on the arm of the chair and press a gentle kiss against his right temple, your lips brushing over his scar. “Because I just am, Joel.”

Somehow, he believes it—he believes you.

Joel tilts his head back, puckering his lips.

Grinning, you give him a chaste kiss before standing. “I’m going to see if I can get a nap in before her next feed,” you tell him, padding back over to the bed. “Do you think you’ll be okay with her for a while, just the two of you?”

“I think we’ll be just fine,” he murmurs, gingerly stroking Rosemary’s silky cheek with his finger. “Yeah. We’ll be just fine, won’t we, babygirl?”