warnings: you have a son together, reader referred to as mommy, Touya has feelings
notes: just a sappy little idea I had. I live for this man as a father <3 best dad, hands down. and as always, he deserves the world.
You and Touya are enjoying a peaceful afternoon on the couch, cuddled up together while watching some tv in silence for once. Your little boy is being so good right now, just quietly coloring by himself in the other room.
But then it gets a little bit too quiet, so you get up to investigate, just to make sure that he isn’t getting into anything he shouldn’t be. Lo and behold, your suspicions were correct. You find him absolutely covered in purple marker.
It’s everywhere. His arms, his neck, his face. All on his cheeks and just beneath his oceanic eyes. He’d even taken his shirt off to color in part of his chest.
“What—,” you blink, laughing and shaking your head as you walk closer to him. “Honey, what are you doing?”
You reach out to take the marker from him, but he grips it tighter and takes a step back.
“No, I’m not done yet!” He pouts, looking down at his belly to put the purple ink to his skin again.
“Not done with what? I think you’ve done enough, sweetheart. C’mere, lemme see that, please,” you say as you hold out your hand.
Touya’s sitting on the couch waiting for you to return, though his parental senses are tingling. He’s about to get up and come to check on the both of you when he hears your laughter.
“Hey, what’s so funny in there?” He calls playfully as he gets up anyway to wander down the hall, curious as to what’s going on.
He leans against the entrance to the playroom and his eyes pop open wide when he sees the mess that’s made it’s way all over your son and his tiny little activity table.
“Tell Daddy what you’re doing, baby,” you instruct the small boy with a fond smile on your lips.
“I wanted to look cool like you!” He proclaims, the most pure smile propping up his chubby cheeks.
Touya’s heart clenches in his chest so tight that he actually clutches it, wearing the same expression you’d had on just moments ago, positively endeared by your son’s ingenious idea.
He’s always thought that he looks disgusting, even with the countless amount of times you’ve insisted otherwise. It isn’t until this moment that he starts to believe that maybe you’re not entirely wrong after all, but he’s mostly just relieved that his own child doesn’t find him repulsive and touched that he actually wants to emulate him. It’s the only time in his life he’s actually felt more like a hero than a villain.
“I’m missing the shiny parts though,” your son announces, wearing a pout that’s identical to his fathers, though Touya would deny that he’s ever pouted in his life.
“Well, I think we have some staples,” Touya says casually as he looks over his shoulder.
“Absolutely not.” You shake your head, laughing. “This is good enough. You did such a good job, baby.”
“Aw, c’mon, we can use that shit that you use to put your eyelashes on or whatever. That’s safe, right?” Touya jokes as he strolls further into the room.
You roll your eyes, though you can’t help the amused smile on your lips.
“Language. And no staples. Maybe we can find some tinsel or something though,” you concede. “And some body safe paint.”
“See, that’s why it’s a good thing we have Mommy,” Touya says as he moves to sit on the floor, ruffling the tot’s white hair. “You did do a great job, buddy. C’mere.”
He extends his long arms and pulls the tike into a hug, just in time to spare him from seeing the single crimson tear slipping from his seam, though you catch it. You reach out to gently swipe it away with your thumb before you join in on their embrace, pressing a kiss to your husband’s face and then your son’s.
Didn’t see himself falling in love and being somebody’s white knight, that just wasn’t him. He was happy to ride and travel for Fatgum Rodeo’s team until his body couldn’t take it anymore. He was happy alone.
Or at least he thought he was.
But that was before he met you. He never realized how big the hole in his heart was until you were there, filling in the cracks with your love. He hadn’t been able to see it. Didn’t recognize how much he needed you until he had you, feeling happiest when you were in his arms. No, that wasn’t right. He felt the most complete when you were in his arms.
He never imagined he’d be settling down in his hometown. He never knew that one day he’d be setting down roots in that big ranch house that had been for sale since he was a kid but there he was, bringing you home on your wedding night, making love and eventually sleeping on an air mattress on the floor cause the furniture was late. Falling asleep that night with you in his arms, he realized he’d found what he never knew he always wanted.
He definitely never saw himself singing lullabies in the middle of the night, his daughter cradled in his arms, eyes that reflected his own staring back at him. He didn’t think he could love any harder after meeting you, but he knows he was wrong yet again. He’s amazed that he helped create something so sweet, so innocent, so beautiful, watching in awe as tiny fingers wrap around his index finger even as those wide eyes drift shut.
He knows down the hall you’re asleep, peacefully waiting for him to return, but in the quiet of the night, watching his daughters tiny chest rise and fall as she sleeps, he can’t bring himself to get out of that rocking chair. She’s completely stolen every bit of his heart. He knows she won’t be this little forever, knows that he has to soak it up as much as he possibly can. (At least until he can convince you she needs a sibling.)
Everytime he thinks he’s complete, you bring a new light into his life and fill his heart so much he thinks he might die. But he doesn’t mind. It’s better than the emptiness from before. And now, as he sets his daughter in her crib, he recognizes that yet again, he’s holding what he never knew he always wanted.
He’s quiet when he returns to your bed, but you stir anyways, turning towards him, your hair a tangled mess beneath your cheek, and a thin line of drool leaking out the corner of your mouth. He chuckles, wiping away your spit with his thumb and in your sleep, you give a soft sigh and a smile that makes his heart stop.
He’s gentle as he pulls you closer to him, and your hand automatically falls onto his chest, right above his heart and he sighs, content as he presses a gentle kiss to your forehead, his eyes drifting shut as he reflects on how he got here and muses that maybe, just maybe, life has a way of showing you what you need.
ANON IM SO GLAD U SAID THIS BECAUSE ITS ALL THAT ROTS IN MY TINY LIL BRAIN
i definitely see touya as being a certified girl dad—probably to one tiny lil baby girl who was an accident bc i know his damaged ass doesnt want (planned) kids. i hc him as being kinda a deadbeat dad for a lil bit, esp when he finds out ur pregnant. he just panics and ghosts you </3 he convinces himself that you and the baby are better off without him, that all he can bring to that little family of yours is pain and destruction. but he still watches over you. he sneaks into ur house when ur pregnant and after the baby is born. he looks at her lil bundled up body and if he could cry he would be sobbing because how did he have any part in making something so soft? so tiny and delicate and beautiful? that has to be all you, right?
ur probably fully aware that he sneaks in from time to time to admire ur sleeping baby over the years, but u let it continue since its harmless and u miss him. u confront him one night, talk a lil bit, maybe even give him an ultimatum—tell him its not too late to be a part of her life, but hes either fully in or fully out. and it takes a long time, like a looooooonnnngggg time for him to fully understand this and commit to ur lil family. lots of tears and back and forth. but once all of his own personal drama is packaged away into a tiny box in the back of his heart, he does.
he loves spending time w his lil baby girl, who has ur eyes but (undeniably) his natural red tuffs of hair. they play a "game" to see who can clean up her toys faster but touya goes so slow (bc hes lazy and bc he wants to see her smile when she wins). he cuts up her fruit and laughs when she scrunches up her face at the ones she doesnt like (bc shes a picky eater just like her daddy <3). he does her hair sometimes when ur busy and it comes out so bad and lopsided and you refuse to let her leave the house like that but shes so happy because he did it.
girl dad! touya is rough and lonely at first—hes petrified and takes years to understand what the actual fuck he is doing with such a beautiful lil family. of all of the horror he's seen and produced, why hes so deserving of something this sweet. its a really hard relationship and transition but he does it. and its the best thing thats ever happened to him <3 (after meeting you, ofc)
anyone else feel like dabi would have the potential to be a great dad ?? especially if he was a single dad. like i feel he’d hate to be like you know who 😐 and i just see him always protecting his kid and saying “i’m ride or die kiddo.” omg if they inherited his quirk, dabi would make sure to teach them well and tell them “your quirk doesn’t define you, it’s what you do with it.” ahhhh i am soft for dad!dabi 😩😩
