Parenting Headcanons - Mona, Yelan & Shenhe
CW: Male!Reader, angst in Yelan's part.
It was only a matter of time before Mona's curiosity got the better of her, making her look into the scry glass of your future.
She expected to see you die, break up, get sick or something. Good endings are rare, right?
Well, they are indeed, but she had one right before her eyes. She saw you two, sitting on a couch, the ringfinger of each occupied. Mona's stomach was, surprisingly, bigger than usual.
Her first thought was she got fat, which worried her a little. But when she looked closer, her belly was suspiciously round.
Then she understood. At first she got completely red in the face - how will she be able to look at you the same way ever again?
It was tough the first week, but after a time Mona managed to contain the sudden blushes and bursts of flusteredness. At the end of the day, the scrying eased her relationship anxiety, and opened her up more.
Obviously, it lead to marriage - just as the stars predicted.
When the relationship reached the right state, Mona made a promise to you to never look up the future of you, herself, and the child, or children. As hard as it was at first, she overcame the urge to see what's in store for her family after a time.
Mona never thought of being a mother, truth be told. Her mind was too busy on astrology to consider such things. Actually, she never really expected to have a partner anyway.
Mona gave it some thought since then, and she decided that the sex of her child doesn't matter. She would prefer to have a single heir, however. She's not very good at the whole 'taking care of kids' thing, you see.
She's quite awkward at first, but she'll get used to it at some point.
Since Mona doesn't need to leave the house for work, she'll have a lot of time to take care of the child. She also works at night (combined with the need to get up early it will make her extremely exhausted), letting her tuck her kid in, and maybe read a bedtime story.
She's quite good at those, as the stars carry many tales from every corner of the universe.
Her horrible habit of overspending was 'tamed' by you in the early stages of the relationship, but you still have to fight her at times.
"No, Mona. You can't buy that textbook. If you do, we will probably have to eat its leather cover at the end of the month."
Mona's signature is her pouts and theatrical frowns, and her little one will start to mimic those behaviors. And honestly? Seeing the two of them be overly dramatic is really cute!
Oh, right. She stopped overspending on herself, but the habit returned - in the form of soiling her kid. Her wallet can't get a rest, can it?
Mona has her issues, but overall she’s not a bad mother. 7/10.
It's not because she hates the idea, or she has something against small humans of her own.
Yelan actually wants to be a mom. The thought of spending quiet evenings with the love of her life and the cute little person, the fruit of your love, makes her sigh dreamily.
That makes the reality of why she doesn't want her dream to come true even more soul crushing.
Yelan knows that an agent never stops being one. No matter the time that passes since her last assignment, her work will constantly follow her wherever she goes. And the most important factor is that some people, very dangerous people, know who she is, where she lives and who she loves.
She's balancing on the edge even now, with you by her side. The uncertainty of whether they will come and hurt you one day or not makes her restless at times. Loving her is a risk, one that you took with full responsibility.
Even though you agreed, risking your life on a daily basis is not something Yelan enjoys. And risking the destruction of an entirely new, innocent human? It's too much.
Yelan has not given up on her dream, however. She has some plans and ideas that could work.
Adoption is out of the question, since the paperwork required for it is easily traceable back from her child to herself. Perhaps an enemy of hers will decide that the kid has some priceless information about her, and abduct them? The thought makes her skin crawl every time.
The second one is having a child herself and hiding them away with her family. That would have its own struggles, but those would be entirely about her behavior - something she could easily manage. She trusts you to act responsibly as well, no problem with that.
The issue comes with upbringing. No matter how hard everyone tries to hide it, the atmosphere of slight fear and stealth present will give the kid ideas. Yelan really, really doesn't want her child to live in secret, in the shadow of some unknown, but very real threat.
Her time is also running out. Yelan is painfully aware of the fact that with age pregnancy gets problematic. The child could be stillborn or miscarried, have health problems, she herself could get sick and die. The chances are not very high, yes, but they are still there.
Having kids is a hard decision, and one she has yet to make.
Rating Yelan is a hard thing. Of course, no kids means a 0/10. But if she would have them, her great sacrifices would only be recognised much later. In contrast she would rather not spend much time with her child, if any at all - making it a tough nut to crack when it comes to score on the scale.
As one might expect, Shenhe got 'the birds and the bees' talk from her adoptive mother, Cloud Retainer. The Adepti finished her explanation with one line that stuck in her head through all the years of training.
Surely, she said, surely one day you too will get to experience the wonders of motherhood. One would be very glad indeed.
Ever since that time, Shenhe began playing with her dolls more often (yes, Cloud Retainer gave her toys), imagining herself as a mom. Every time she would play out the scenario Shenhe forgot all about her predicament, the harsh training and the monsters she saw regularly in her dreams. She never imagined herself as a child in some fictional family. She liked it under Cloud Retainer, and she came to like her care after time. It's not like she remembered much anyway.
It lasted until she slipped into her rage, and started wearing the ropes. The new, dulled Shenhe was just that in her character and way of being. However, Shenhe still had her human side within, just carefully tucked under the tight ropes.
Ever since she met you, her mortal self was slowly being pulled into the light again. It was only a matter of time for her motherly instincts to come back. It was just a simple evening of cuddling when she realized you were the one. Not that she didn't think that when you started dating. Just the thought hit her hard at that moment.
When Shenhe wants something, she'll just voice her needs. So, out of the blue, she declared her desire for making kids. Right there, right now.
You had to hold her horses a little, and explain in depth how parenthood works. Cloud Retainer's ideas are very outdated and plainly strange at times, so you had to go through all the strange ideas she put into your girlfriend’s head. It will take some time, sure, but Shenhe will understand.
Preferences on the sex? Well… when you asked her, Shenhe replied that she would really like her offspring to be human. That’s all there is to say.
She is obviously quite new, lightly speaking, to the whole parenthood thing, so for safety, she would like to have just one kid. At least for now.
Of course the second being to get to know about the pregnancy is Cloud Retainer. The Adepti got some sort of verbal zoomies after hearing the news, spurting words of joy incomprehensibly, even stepping out of her speech patterns at times.
Everyone will know. Moon Carver will know, Mountain Shaper will know, Morax will know, Ganyu will know, Streetward Rambler will know, even Xiao will hear the news (whether he likes to or not).
Honestly, Cloud Retainer’s joy was quite overwhelming, and Morax politely explained the situation to the bird at your and Shenhe’s request. After that the Adepti toned down her behavior a fair bit, just keeping to daily visits and acts of service. Like building a crib, making toys, educating Shenhe about the entire caretaking process.
Childbirth will be no issue when she has the Adepti on standby, ready to help in a moment’s notice.
Shenhe generally has no plan when it comes to upbringing, except for one thing - to not make the child into an Adepti super-soldier like herself. Shenhe decided that the role of the parent is not to force a fate upon their child, but show them possibilities and support their choices instead.
Shenhe feels at peace when in the presence of her child and you. Up to the point that, during Cloud Retainer’s weekly check up, she discovered that, ever since having a child, Shenhe’s aura was completely clear of the disruptions suppressed by the red ropes. Very, very carefully, Cloud Retainer started removing the ropes over the course of a few months. Nothing happened, except Shenhe getting more assertive and much more human.
“No, master. A flying crib is not a good idea. Also… I doubt the herb diet would be a good choice either.”
Shenhe will not hesitate to die for her child just as she won’t when your life would be threatened. She can get possessive at times, but it’s all harmless.
She has a lot of friends, so the kid will get plenty of interaction. Ganyu will generally care for them, taking them on walks in the mountains or picnics when they get older. Yanfei will put an eye on the education (as an assistant to Zhongli himself) and behavior in public, though she won’t hesitate to cover up the child's misdeeds at times. And Cloud retainer, well… Everything at once, simply put.
Lucky you, actually. You two can just leave the little one with the bird for a whole day and get well deserved rest.
With friends and family galore to help her along the way, with you to offer a second opinion at any time, and with her dreams and determination, Shenhe is nothing short of a 10/10 mother.
