for gg!!!!!

They get permission to take her home a day and a half after she’s born, late at night when the moon is high in the sky.  Vasha holds her, and Bug is glad for it;  his hands have been shaking since they got word that she was coming, so scared and relieved that it’s hard even now for him to get the key in their front door.

“’S alright,”  Vasha coos, and whether it’s for Bug or the baby, Bug doesn’t know.  His soothing rumble has the right effect on him regardless of the intention, and soon they’re in the hall of their little home, magicked sconces still burning bright as if to greet them in celebration.

“Welcome home, little baby.”  The fact that Bug can say it without sobbing is one of the day’s great many miracles.  In the comforting surrounds of his home, with all the little preparations they’ve made for her arrival and all the familiar smells, he feels instantly better inside, a calm focus washing over him like the tide.  He knows this space, he /made/ it, and unlike in the infant care building where he could do nothing save for wring his hands and wait, Bug has so much power within these walls that nothing seems quite so terrifying any more.

He turns to Vasha and is struck by the beauty of him;  strong arms holding their daughter close against his chest, his stern brow wrinkled handsomely as he checks her over, gold eyes darting between her ten little fingers and her ten little toes and her two stubby tusks, just dimples against her bottom lip.  /Orc men make good fathers/ – Bug has known the old wives tales since his sisters had first gossiped with him about the boy he liked – but it feels more like a truth that he holds in his bones now, and looking at the two of them has the tension melting from Bug’s muscles, the ache for sleep finally catching up with him.

“Let’s put her down.” Vasha glances up from their daughter for what feels like the first time since they met her, his gaze meeting Bug’s and holding it tight.  Bug nods his head yes, and starts towards their bedroom, leaving the door open for Vasha as he prepares the special little pillows they’d gotten for her, a safe little island between her two daddies.  She’s a good baby, so far;  alert but not wiggly, with bright, bright yellow eyes, so clear that Bug can see his reflection in them when he leans down to kiss her tiny head.  She fusses for a second when the scruff of his beard rubs her skin, but then her chubby hands reach up to tug at the fuzz on his neck, and all is forgiven.

Vasha turns the lights down and lies on the bed, toeing his shoes off slowly and stiffly like how all of Bug’s joints are feeling.  Bug smooths his pillow with his eyes stuck on their little girl, her fingers spread in her mouth all shiny with spit as she discovers the tiny nubs of her tusks.  Before he can lie down, Vasha beckons him, and despite so much having changed, the pull in his chest like a string is tied from his heart to his husband is just as strong as when they were only the two of them.

“Let me hold you, darlin’.”  Vasha’s eyes stay on him as Bug walks around the bed, his arms unfolding to allow him in once he’s near.  Bug lowers himself down with his shoes still on;  he wants to be changing the sheets every morning now, to keep her clean, so it doesn’t bother him too terribly to indulge this one time.  His face fits perfect in the space between Vasha’s chest and his arm, so familiar and comfortable that he thinks this could be any old day if he kept his eyes closed.  It’s a special one, though, and tired as he is, Bug doesn’t want to miss a moment, so he opens one eye to check on their girl, now stilled in sleep save for the rise and fall of her moss-green chest.

“I love you.” Bug whispers it into the room, for both of his darlings to hear.