i've been thinking about dad!prof!gwil again ☹️ i always imagined him living in california and whenever he can take some vacations you guys would travel to england to visit his family and he'd be over the moon that you and the kids can and have a little glimpse into this other part of his life. he'd get all emotional seeing his parents w the kids, even if max and lottie seem to simply forget you two exist when they're around grandma and grampa. he won't tell you yet, but he really wants to move back one day and have his babies grow up in the same place as he did. he might have accidentally sent his resume to a few universities there 🤭
this is making me so EMOOOOO okay. for my purposes and my daydream fuel i usually imagine prof!gwil teaching in the states bc tbh i don't understand how universities work anywhere except america and also bc. that just what i know yk but i REALLY see him being very close to his friends and family back home and i think being too far from them would be very difficult for him ESP after you two start having kids. he loves his home and wants his kids to have the same kind of upbringing so i just imagine him very much wanting to stay in/go back to england
Ellie, have you ever considered this? Prof!Gwil accidentally getting you pregnant but you still have to go through a couple of years of college/Uni with him as your prof? Like..he'd be so stressed out though..
so apparently this is A Thing for me
you insist that he waits outside the bathroom, thinking that whatever comes of the test, you’re going to need a moment before you can look at him.
but he hears you crying before you open the door, and he breathes out, anxiety roiling in his stomach as he runs a hand over his face. ”fuck.” he should have known, really. all the signs were there, but you two had always been so careful. you’d done everything to avoid exactly this, yet here you were.
when you open the door, eyes puffy and cheeks wet with tears, it’s all he can do to not burst into tears. partly because he’s scared, but mostly because he hates to see you in so much pain. silently, he opens his arms and you collapse against him, shoulders wracking with sobs as you grasped at his shirt.
“it’s okay,” he breathes, soothing a hand over your back. “you’re going to be okay.”
for the first week or so, nothing feels like it’s going to be okay. in fact, your whole world feels like it’s being dismantled, pulled apart piece by piece until it’s nothing but a mess in your own hands. you hardly talk to gwil at all—though you’re still relying on him almost entirely.
it’s not the worst thing to happen, you suppose. it wasn’t ideal in any way, but you and gwil were stable and you weren’t in a bad place financially and christ, at least you trust and love gwilym, at least it’s not some random kid from some frat party. but there are more cons than pros, it feels like. just the prospect of having a baby while you were still in school exhausted you, and there was no good way to explain this to your friends without lying, and were you ready to be a mom? really, genuinely ready?
gwilym leaves it up to you. it’s your decision entirely, of course, but he can’t deny that little seed of hope planted right in his chest. he’d thought about it, sure. starting a family with you. but in those fantasies, you were graduated, and he had whisked the two of you somewhere far away, where you didn’t know anyone. not in any of his fantasies had he still been your professor, or had you still had years to go left until your degree was completed. he knows it’s not the right time, so he leaves the decision up to you.
over dinner, one night, the two of you eat quietly, a pensive look on his face as you watch from across the table. with your chin in hand, you nudge his shin with a sock-covered foot, catching his attention, and you smile nervously. “m’gonna keep it.”
the relief that floods his face is enough to make your heart race, and it’s almost enough to convince you that things are going to work out. “really?” he asks, his voice cracking slightly, and you nod. he pushes his chair back, sweeping you up in his arms, and for the first time since you find out, you think things are actually going to be okay, because how could anything be unbearable when you had someone filled with so much love at your side?
and from then on, it’s planning. it’s all planning and trying to get through your days and preparing. he’s softened quite a bit since the two of you got together but now he’s almost unrecognizable. every night he crawls into bed and rests his head in your lap, his nose nuzzling your tummy as he talks, or sings, or rants, all to the baby—your baby—as though it’s the most natural thing in the world, and you think for him, it must be.
for a while, things aren’t even that different from your normal. sure, there are doctor's appointments and prenatal vitamins and weekly updates of the little bub from gwil and morning sickness, but things aren’t so out of the ordinary. you’re still doing homework, still coming home to gwil, and still living your life. things are a little more isolated, though. you only see gwil, really, your doctor, and your friends, though only about once a month. it’s one of the only things about your situation that you resent: normal pregnant women didn’t have to shut everyone out. they went to birthing classes and had communities, and you had gwil. perfect and wonderful gwil, but he wasn’t quite a community.
the days get cold just around the time your bump begins to show, and usually, you manage to hide it under a sweater or a warm hoodie, but maybe your bump is a little bigger than you think it is or maybe your sweater is a little less baggy than you remembered, but as you eat lunch with your friends, you catch them glancing over at you furtively.
“what?” you huff, sipping your water. you’re extra irritable these days, and gwil assures you that it’s just because of your hormones, not really something you can control, which only annoys you more.
your friends share a look before one of them sighs, leaning on their elbows to get a little closer to you. “what’s been going on with you? i feel like we haven’t seen you in a while.”
you chew on your straw, shrugging smally. “been pretty busy. sorry, i haven’t kept up.”
“that’s okay,” maddie smiles, shifting in her seat. “anything new?”
you bite your lip, pushing your food around before you look up at them. you and gwil hadn’t really told anyone yet, aside from his parents, and you had planned on telling your family, at some point, but other than that, you haven’t really talked about telling anyone else. your friends stare back at you expectantly and you know you won’t be able to hide it from them much longer, so you slink back in your chair, put a hand on your stomach (a newly formed habit), and say, “not really. oh, except i’m pregnant.”
maddie can’t help but snort and oakley cackled loudly, smacking their hand on the table. you allow a smile to pull at your lips. neither of them seems surprised, but you don’t really mind. you’re just happy to answer questions that come from anyone but gwil’s mother, even if you have to lie and say you don’t know who the father is.
when you get home, you seem a little lighter than usual, and he just smiles. he knows you need more than him, and he’s happy to see you brighten up, even if the circumstance isn’t perfect.
and as the pregnancy goes on, and your bump grows day by day and you can no longer hide it under baggy clothes, he’s more and more in love with you every single day. when you’re around the apartment, he’s always behind you, hands holding your belly while he whispers jokes in your ear and they’re moments you’ll remember forever. but his favorite is when he sees you around campus between classes; always from a distance, really, and you never usually see him, but he finds a route that passes the little cafe on campus that you often buy breakfast from, and seeing you out and about, idly rubbing your bump as you read your textbook and eat your breakfast, it nearly makes him sick with affection.
it gets a little easier to breathe once classes end, once summer comes in. you’re only a month out from your due date when you’re taking finals and he does everything he can to keep you from stressing, all the way down to tying your shoes before you leave in the morning and taking them off for you the moment you come home. you decide to take your next semester or two off, of course, when bubba is born, and gwilym wholeheartedly agrees. he’d hate to see you stretch yourself too thin—something you have a great propensity to do—so it’s a decision you make rather easily.
thankfully, when bub finally comes, he isn’t teaching for the summer, so he’s around to help for a couple of months. she’s perfect, so sweet and beautiful and mild-mannered, and you can’t possibly know what she’s like already, but immediately, she reminds you of her dad. she’s got gwil wrapped around her finger from the very second he sees her, and you’re both so in love.
he’s always been so caring toward you that he can’t be anything other than the best dad in the world, and you’re proven beyond right. he’s always the one to wake up when she cries, to kiss your temple softly and tell you to go back to sleep so he can take care of her. at a certain point, you tease that he doesn’t even know her real name, because he’s all “good morning, beautiful” and “good job, sweetness” and “big stretch, lovie!” you can’t even be upset because you love to hear how much he loves her—so much, he assures her, several times a day, it doesn’t matter that she doesn’t understand—so you revel in those pet names.
overall, she’s everything to you both, and even though she wasn’t part of the plan, you thank god for her every single day, because you wouldn’t trade her, or gwil, or your life together for anything in the world.
“max!” lottie squeals, giggling as her brother chases her around the living room, his cape fluttering behind him.
you’re all a bit disjointed, really. matching costumes had never been in the cards for your little family, not when max insisted on being a superhero and lottie had bounced between a princess and a snail for weeks (no, seriously). jack, despite his considerable upperhand when it comes to weight compared to his siblings, fits in max’s old skunk costume, something lottie had also worn when she was far too young to go door to door.
your youngest gurgles happily as you draw his whiskers on with eyeliner, and your husband finally makes his way into the living room. “hey, hey, hey. slow it down, you two. we’ve got a long night ahead, best not wear yourselves out before we’ve even begun.”
you swing your head around to look at him, snorting a laugh. “what is that?”
he raises a curious brow. “what is what?”
“why are you wearing a suit?”
lottie laughs, tugging on her dad’s hand. careful of her costume, he lifts her off the ground, resting her easily on his hip. “it’s my costume!”
“gwil, honey, you wear a suit every single day,” you laugh. “that’s your dress code.”
“i’m an fbi agent, y/n.”
“you’re a professor.”
he huffs indignantly. “and what are you supposed to be?”
you glance down at your sweater and you know that even your kids, ever leaning in their dad’s favor, would be on your side. “i’m waldo.”
“it’s a sweater!”
“a waldo sweater,” max cuts in, glancing up at gwil.
your husband waves you all off. “fine, whatever,” he finally give in. jack laughs capriciously from his stroller and you chuckle, reaching for his flailing hand. “even if your costume is a cop out,” he teases, reaching to pull you closer by the belt loops. “you look adorable.” he kisses you chastely, mindful of the little girl still on his hip. “and all my babies are looking fantastic. mum worked very hard on your costumes and it shows,” he praises, kissing lottie on the head once before he drops her back to her feet.
gwil grabs max’s hand, lotties in the other, and he guides your family out the front door, smiling back at you sweetly as you maneuver jacks stroller out after everyone. he really does look silly in that suit, sunglasses hanging from his collar, but as you watch him giggle along with your kids down every street, the silliness just makes your heart sing.
the night is long, and your kids are relentless in their attempt to gather as much candy as possible. even jack finds his way out of the stroller at some point, toddling along with his siblings and stealing the heart of every homeowner he comes across. they’re exhausted by the time you get home, jack asleep in his stroller, whiskers flaking off, and max and lottie both dozing off on gwil, one on each hip. when you had first gotten together with gwil, you spent halloween going to frat parties and showing up to his apartment wasted at 3 o’clock in the morning.
now, you both revel in the fact that all three of your kids are tuckered out before 10:30. you change them into their pajamas, brush lotties hair out, and wipe jack’s whiskers off with a makeup wipe. it’s only a matter of time before you’re both shedding your poor excuses for costumes and slipping into bed together, wrapped in one another so tightly that you can barely tell where you end and your husband begins. as you drift off, you can’t help but think you prefer this over those long-past days of partying, and gwil feels the same.
i dont remember the exact words but it was about dad!prof!gwil and his wife fighting while looking for a bigger house. and it would make sense (even more after the hc's you wrote about him being a little too serious and a perfectionist at times) that he'd think y/n doesn't have her priorities right when she just suggests a place closer to his work while all he's thinking about is a safer neighborhood for her and the children. ofc they love each other and end up figuring it all out.
dad!prof!gwil will never NOT BE my favorite
the three-bedroom apartment had been almost too much when it was just you and gwil, but when you had maxwell, it was perfect. your room, a room for max, and a home office. when charlotte was born, things got a little tighter, but not too bad. she slept in a bassinet in your bedroom for a few months before you moved her into the home office. it’s a sacrifice you hate to make, especially since it’s kind of a place to take refuge from everything for both of you, but it isn’t fair for max to have to share a room with lottie when she’s still not sleeping through the night completely.
but then jackson was born. poor lottie was old enough that you couldn’t expect her to sleep in the same room as jack, and the same went with max, but max and lottie were far apart enough that you didn’t want them to have to share either. gwil desperately missed the home office so it seemed that the next logical move was buying a house.
you and gwilym hardly ever fought, especially since you got married. there was a very basic ebb and flow between you two where you knew when to fight and when to let it go, and the answer was pretty much always to just let it go. except now.
“gwil, it’s practically within walking distance of the university,” you sighed, turning the laptop around to show him the pictures. it was a beautiful home, truly. maybe a bit bigger than you need but easily within your budget, and you could always do with an extra room or two. a playroom, maybe, but gwil took his glasses off, shaking his head.
“i don’t want to be that close.”
“what?” you laughed incredulously. “you don’t want to be close to work?”
“i don’t want the kids growing up in a busy neighborhood like that,” he said firmly. you didn’t reply, still scrolling through the photos, and he huffed. “y/n.”
“yes, gwilym, i heard you.” you glanced up at him, raising a brow, and he frowned. “i’m just thinking of you, that’s all.”
“don’t think about me, think about the kids.”
“you think i’m not thinking about the kids?” you scoffed, frustration mounting with him. finding a house had left both of you a bit more tense than you liked to admit, but nothing had come of it yet. yet.
“that’s not what i said,” he reminded, scrolling through photos on his own laptop. “i just think they should be the top priority, not my commute.”
you elected not to reply, turning your attention back to your computer. you wholly understood where he was coming from so you think it’s just going to be one of those times that you let it go rather than fight with him.
and it is. except that there’s only so often you can let go of the same conversation until you’re beyond frustrated. you’re trying to find the perfect median, somewhere safe for the kids but not too far from the university and it becomes a common topic, something that just leaves you both a little bristled for the rest of the day.
until he snapped at you. “i don’t understand what about this is so difficult,” he huffed. “something farther from the university, y/n. i don’t want them close to it. i don’t give a fuck about the commute.”
you stared at him in shock and he looks back at you, waiting for a response you can hardly begin calculating. he never snapped at you, at least he hadn’t in as long as you could remember. the snippy professor you’d fallen in love with had almost lost all that snark the moment you had max, so you can’t find the words to fight him back. instead, you said, “if you’re looking for something so specific, then why don’t you look for it instead of getting frustrated when i don’t find exactly what you’re looking for?”
“why don’t you just look for what i’m asking for instead of trying to go directly against it?”
“jesus,” you laughed, shaking your head. the kids were at school, save for jack, who slept soundly in the bassinet in your bedroom. in an effort to keep him asleep, you exited the room, making your way to the kitchen. you hope the short walk will be enough you cool you down, to clear your head a little, but he follows hot on your heels and you huff, spinning around. gwil stops sharply, his chest only inches from yours. “i’m not fighting with you right now, gwilym. go find some houses that are up to your standard and we’ll talk then.”
a cool off. it’s an invitation he foolishly refused. “just listen to me.”
“god, gwil, you spend all your time talking at me. all i do is listen to you anymore.” you snapped. it’s an undercut, the low hanging fruit and something you regretted almost immediately, but his nostrils flared.
“i talk at you because you don’t make these decisions, y/n. if i don’t tell you what to do you won’t do it because you refuse to grow up!”
it’s a conversation you hadn’t had since before max was born, but it was a topic that had plagued you both during your relationships more tumultuous days. you turned again, a frustrated groan falling from your lips. “oh, good. we’re back to this conversation.”
“make the change and we won’t have it anymore. it’s that simple!” he shouts.
down the hall, jack wails loudly and you rubbed your eyes with the heels of your hands. “nice,” you mumbled, shouldering past him to attend to your son. gwil didn’t follow you down the hall, leaning against the counter to take a breath.
it wasn’t easy for either of you to fight like this. though the small argument was the first that had happened over the situation, it had been brewing for a few weeks. you were gwilym’s best friend, his other half, and when the two of you weren’t on the same page, it killed him. he walked down the hall, his face turned down as he listened to you soothe your son.
he leaned against the doorframe, watching you rock jack back and forth on your chest. as the baby began to quiet down, his eyes fluttering closed, you caught sight of gwil in the doorway, your lips turned down slightly.
you set jack in the bassinet and turned to gwil, who pushed himself off the door. gwilym’s palms gripped your arms, rubbing your biceps softly as you dropped your head forward, pressing your forehead against his chest. “i don’t like fighting with you,” you pouted.
“i know, baby,” he sighed. “i know this isn’t easy and it’s not right for me to talk to you like this.” you didn't reply, wrapping your arms around his waist and holding him close. “i’m so sorry,” he said softly, holding your head against his chest.
“i know you are,” you replied quietly, pressing a kiss to his chest. “it’s okay. i’m sorry, too.”
“we need to just look together, okay? i’ll take a few days off and we can go look at a few houses. we’ll find something.”
you breathed him in, closing your eyes, and you know he’s right.
can we get more dad prof!gwil with his little girl
most certainly bc it’s my fave concept. (maybe i have an insta folder full of pictures and sometimes i look at them and think about how he’d be and it makes me :’) too soft)
BEST FRIENDS. they are bestbestbest friends, and from the moment she’s born you know for sure that she’s gonna be a total daddy’s girl because she has gwil wrapped around her little finger. he dotes on her constantly, and of course, you two have a special bond, but you totally understand her propensity to lean to her dad because you think he’s pretty swell, yourself. you think you could explode every time you see them together because he used to be so cold that seeing him get weepy at her accomplishments or sleeping with her on his chest almost gives you whiplash—he’s like a whole different person.
he reads a lot about development and what your parents do for you as you grow up so he’s very vocal about everything, what she should be doing and what you should be doing and how y’all should be doing it. he’s always been a researcher, but it’s on a whole different level when it comes to your daughter.
he’s definitely the type to buy her those cutesy little outfits, and you wonder how someone who wears chinos and a button-up every single day can be so fashion-forward when it comes exclusively to infants, but every time a package shows up at the door you can’t help but be in awe of it and he buys her little onesies and you two matching shirts and you’re like?? who are you???
as she grows older, they only grow closer. she’s content to spend time with him no matter what they’re doing, and when dad has to sit down and do work, she’s happy to just cuddle with him while he grades. she sits on his lap and cuddles into him and you’ve never seen a two-year-old pretend to be interested in reading an academic paper before but she DOES and they have the same concentrated face, the pinched brows, and scanning eyes and pursed lips, you could cry watching them do it at the same time.
he’s very serious about making sure she knows how much you both love her, and you think the most common phrases in your house are “good job” and “i love you” and she spouts them right back at you guys (this video will forever have my heart). when he’s struggling with getting through papers, she’ll hold his hand and say, “you can do it, dad!” or “you’re almost done!” and her bright little smile is enough to get him through it :,)
overall, gwil is a total girl power dad, and he’s so supportive and loving and he and his girl are attached at the hip. you guys are raising the smartest, sweetest, most compassionate, most polite little girl and you think she might have just hit the jackpot because she’s the luckiest girl in the world to have him as her dad, but he thinks the same about her.
okay okay i have to let this out. so, i go to tutoring, and my math teacher (who i do not have a crush on thank god) had this absolutely adorable two year old daughter. she's honestly so sassy and cute and entertaining like i could literally screech. but anyways, seeing her reminded me a lot of lottie, and then this thing happened today where my teacher was like, "hey, i'm gonna go somewhere. i'll be back real quick." and she just clung to him and would not let go just agdjsksjsjsjsjshsjsksjdjjdjdjdjdjd dear god i cannot
sssTOOOOOOOP dor i’m 🥺 ofc lottie is so used to being the center of gwil’s attention especially bc she is much more prone to seek it out than the boys are, so she’s pretty much always at gwil’s side. and when he has literally anything to do that isn’t lottie approved she gets so clingy and won’t let go of his hand, she’ll just try to keep him exactly where he is, until he swings her up on his hip and carries her wherever he’s going. he knows he shouldn’t indulge her when she’s like this—it only teaches her that she’ll always get her way—but knowing that she just wants to be with him all the time makes his heart :,) and he can’t find it in himself to let her down
it came to me while i was deboning a chicken: dad!prof!gwil & charlie. do with that what you will. the end.
don’t make me FEEL
gwilym lee is a hard worker.
he works hard to be a good teacher, a good friend, a good husband. above all, though, held with the utmost importance, gwilym wants nothing more to be a good father. he had always been devoted, that much you can admit, but it almost shakes you how much effort he puts into the relationship he has with your son.
you know it’s a little hard to put all his attention into charlie when he’s so busy with work, but it constantly shocks you how easily charlie fits into his side. the two of them are practically attached at the hip anyway, so they dont mind making some sacrifices to spend time together. grading papers now happens on the couch instead of the office, charlie and gwil sitting together. one reviews papers, the other reads, or watches tv, or works on his own homework. anything to stick by his dads side.
it’s almost hard to believe, how easily they work together. charlie’s so sweet, clings to you when the two of you are alone, so you think he’s going to be a total mama’s boy which you’re thrilled about. but the moment gwil and charlie meet, they’re ganging up on you lite they’ve done it their entire lives. it’s always, “but moooom, dad said i could!” or “actually, sweetheart, i think that would be great for charlie.” in theory, it should annoy you. but you just love to watch your husband be a father, someone you had once known to as aloof, almost cold, was now the reason your house was a home, and was the reason you were a family. it’s blessed, really, to have the two most important men in your life be the most wonderful people you know.
it’s hard to say who’s luckier, you and gwil for having such a wonderful son, or charlie for having the best dad possible. it doesn’t matter, because no matter which way you spin the situation, you’re the one who wins.
omg dad prof!gwil is my current favourite! 🥺 imagine him teaching an entire lesson with lottie on his lap (i imagine that the students can only see her hair and eyes bc she’s THAT small) bc lottie had a bad day and has been clinging onto gwil the entire day. and the whole class is like 🥺🥺🥺 how did a mean prof like him have such an angel?
“gwil, do you want me to take her?” you asked, leaning against the doorframe, and his eyes moved from the screen to you before he ran a soothing hand over her back.
“we’re fine here, love, but thank you,” he smiled smally. you felt your heart burst at the sight of your little girl, her cheek against gwil’s chest, little hands fisting his nice shirt.
his class watched on in awe, listening to the two of you speak. all they can see of lottie is the back of her head, no lower than her ears, the tiny girl curled into their professor. he hasn’t even begun talking to them yet, only on the call for a few seconds before you left your husband and daughter in the office.
he turned to the camera, seriousness masking his face as he continued rubbing her back. “good morning, everyone. as i’m sure you can see, we’ll be having a visitor today. lottie’s had a rather hard day, so she’ll be sitting in with us, but she’s well-behaved, so i don’t imagine it’ll be too much of a distraction.”
and then they were off. he was trying to teach, but he could tell everyone was focused on the little girl on his lap, especially when her head tilted back and she just watched him talk, and he swore he could hear someone cooing when he leaned down to kiss her forehead.
lottie just listened, soothed by the rumble of his chest as he spoke, and when he asked for questions toward the end of the session, she looked up at him, speaking tiredly when no one else did. “dad?”
it was the first time she’d spoken the whole session, and the class watched him look down at her attentively, leaning back to see her face. “hm?”
“i love you.”
his heart melted and so did everyone else’s, so he squeezed her and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “i love you too, lottie,” he replied, pressing her into his chest before he looked back to the camera. “sorry, everyone. no questions, then?”
when the session finally comes to a close, he’s signing off and lottie finally turned to glance back at the screen, she broke into a smile as some of his students waved at her. “bye, lottie!” someone exclaimed.
“i hope your day gets better!”
she grinned at the screen, waving excitedly. “bye!”
it’s safe to say she becomes a bit of a celebrity amongst his students.
