Happy Thneedmas @the-red-onceler ! I was your Secret Santa ! I’m sorry this is so late, but it was my first time doing this sort of thing so I was a bit nervous to post ^^; Anyway, here’s my anime-boy version of Red!
And a money version. lol.
I hope you like it! And I hope you have a great 2022!
I’m so sorry that I haven’t been around much in the last two months...it’s just...well, I shall let this story tell you:
Red placed his hand on the cold, damp window, looking out at the rain. Fall had come early this year—cold nights and grey, damp days. He was glad of it; the summer had been going on for far too long. He was ready for autumn.
The window was already fogging up around his warm hand, the satin over his palm damp from the condensation. Red sighed, and his breath finished turning the watercolor world outside into fog. He took his hand away, examining the shiny red fabric before turning back to the library behind him.
They’d started up the fire today, and it was crackling merrily in the hearth, bathing the room in warm orange and golden light. Britton was asleep in the armchair by the fire, heading tilted sideways, pink hair fluffed against the cushions, his chest rising and falling in a smooth, quiet motion. His arms, though slack, still cradled Adriel, who was curling into his chest, equally asleep. Even from here, Red could hear Addy’s breath—too harsh, too ragged, and with the occasional stutter that made Red’s heart palpitate. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been sometimes.
Oh no.
When Addy was first born, there had been nights where Red had to sit by his crib, jiggling his foot slightly about once every hour to remind the tiny baby that he needed to remember to breathe. Adriel’s first asthma attack—gasping, tortured breaths as his face nearly turned purple—it had been indescribably scary. And it hurt, too. Even on a good day, Addy would roll around, wave his arms for a minute or two, and then would lay there, completely winded and staring up with turquoise eyes that seemed too big for his body. Ad he was still too young—and not human—to find just the right thing to ease his breathing, which meant that he required near-constant monitoring.
That was why Britton had fallen asleep in the chair. Even asleep though, Red could see dark shadows under his husband’s eyes, see that he looked gaunter; some of the adorable roundness had thinned out of his cheeks in the last two months. But he still smiled, every day, every time he held their baby, despite everything—and Red loved him for it.
So, very quietly, Red retrieved their shiny new camera—bought just after Addy was born, to record everything they possibly could—and snapped a quick picture of the two sleepers. The most important people in his life.
Setting the camera back on the table, he paused. He couldn’t deny that he wanted, desperately, to snuggle into the space left in the armchair, but they were sleeping so peacefully, and they definitely both needed it.
He almost turned to go back to the window, but before he could, Britton’s one visible eye fluttered open slightly. He adjusted Addy carefully into his right arm, and reached out to Red with the left, making little sleepy grabby-hands at his husband. And Red could never deny Britton when he did that. He trotted across the room on sock feet. Britton squashed over just a little bit, and Red snuggled in next to him, reaching an arm around his waist and murmuring, “I’m sorry I woke you.”
“Mmnmm,” Britton shook his head, “S’not you.” He turned his head slightly and found Red’s lips with his own, kissing him soft, slow, and sleepy.
When he finally pulled away a whole inch or so, he smiled, and despite the rain, despite the stress, despite everything, it felt to Red like there was a little beam of sunshine in the room just for him. Britton snuggled his head back into Red’s shoulder, and breathed softly again, making soft little murmuring noises that might have been words if he had been more awake. Red expected that he would be asleep again in approximately 2 minutes flat, and he smiled to himself as he pressed a kiss into Britton’s fragrant pink hair, inhaling the bubblegum cake-batter scent that always, no matter what, made him feel better. And then Red, too, snuggled down, reaching one hand to brush against Addy’s toes—he always felt the need to make sure that their baby was truly, actually, really there—and let his eyes drift closed to the sounds of breathing and the gentle pitter patter of the rain on the window.
Red omg congratulations to you and Britton!!! Addy's so cute I wanna poke his little cheeks. Also what is the significance behind the last name you picked?
Aww thank you Arross! He’s absolutely adorable, isn’t he? I shall have to post more pictures of him soon: Britton’s been taking approximately 7000 a day, which to me seems exactly the right amount.
As for the last name; it’s based in Arabic--Al meaning “the” and Taha meaning “secure secret” although honestly I picked it more because I liked the sound of it. But since I originally came from regions that now speak Arabic, we thought it was fitting.
Yes, it is. When I asked Britton to marry me, we agreed on both taking a proper last name since neither of us had one before. That’s the one that we chose.
It’s actually rather odd to have one, after just being “Red” for so long...
Red was waiting eagerly for his best friend to come visit--after all, he had a brand new addition to his family to show off, not to mention the fact that he was finally no longer a woman.
He hadn’t had enough time for his friend recently, and he hoped that could change now.
Congratulations DADDY, I bet you're exhausted 8)c I'm just curious as to how you know that baby is Addy for sure~
While I am the happiest I can remember being, I am, indeed, also the most exhausted I have ever been in my entire life.
And...I guess we don’t? Um...he has the same color of hair Addy did, and Britton spent a long time looking for pink in his hair which we did find, although there isn’t much (yet?)...
But one way or another, even if he isn’t the SAME Addy that we met before, he’s OUR Addy, and that’s good enough for me.
Reflect: Grats, pal. ehehe, Welcome to the parent club. It's one heck of a ride. *big happy smile* Just holler if you guys need anything. We have a ton of stuff from the kids you can have for free.
Heheh thank you Ref. I’ve missed seeing you around, you know.
We have been stocking up, but I’ll definitely let you know if there’s anything we forgot–which is completely possible given how hectic everything has been recently.
She let out a breath. Ok so there were things like that for demons, she was glad. She had been extremely worried that Red going to a regular doctor might end up like something from Rosemary’s Baby or whatnot.
She absent-mindedly stroked her own stomach before continuing to sip her milk as Red spoke.
“Addy was a precious little boy, I’m sure this baby will be just as special…oh the ONLY Sin/Demon child ever? Wow” She was impressed “Guess the Sins aren’t usually into demon kind, but of course there’s no one like you Red. Demon or Human or otherwise you’re pretty awesome” she winked again.
“I do wonder about that sometimes… the offspring of the previous Sins… I wonder if they’re technically related to our kids too, maybe like half siblings or something? Mm, I don’t know, I haven’t been around that many centuries, that’s probably more something that you could figure out”
She nodded at her next words “Yeah of course. Parenthood is really… weird, especially being a mom. It’s important of course, but it does take it’s toll… I’m not sure if you’re going to go through the symptoms a human would, but for the Sin parts” she gave Red a weak chuckle “I do remember being… extremely unsatisfied ALL the time with Marie, so best of luck with that;;”
Red nodded, “Well, typically demons aren’t allowed to have children at all. I suppose the universe made a special consideration, given that Britton’s a Sin...” she stopped herself before explaining more--Zel probably didn’t need to know all the stipulations behind that particular issue.
As for the “are they related” question, “I honestly don’t know? I know a lot about ‘mythical’ beings, and even I don’t know how the Sins work when they change who they are.” She mused, more to herself than to Zel, “I suppose the library might know...but that’s something that would take a lot of research...”
Red was pulled back out of her thoughts by Zel’s next comment, though. And she had to admit, “Being a parent--well, it isn’t exactly something I ever thought would happen to me...and since it hasn’t happened to anyone else like me, there’s really no way of telling how things will go.” She was definitely nervous about that particular notion, but gave a wry smile when Zel mentioned being unsatisfied.
“I am...shall we say, certainly feeling more aspects of Gluttony than I’m used to.” She sighed a little, “And that’s probably only going to get worse.”
She was tensed at the thought of a baby (possibly Adriel?) all alone with only one parent, but Red’s words calmed her down. Slightly. And the Pride relaxed her, reminding her that everything would be alright. She just had to help them out a little bit, and everything would be fine.
She let go of Red and returned to her seat, this time her eyes boring into her friends. She absolutely knew that Red would cherish this baby, she just hoped she and Britton understood exactly what parenting meant.
“I’m really happy for you guys… I am.” she acknowledged “A baby is a LOT of hard work,especially a newborn. I think you’ll be up to the task though, you don’t even sleep at all so that part should be easy” she gave a small smile.
“So is it going to be half demon and half Sin? Do your kind have some kind of doctors or something for that? Is there some- I dunno, netherworld hospital? Or daycare?”
Red took a deep breath, glad that Zel had calmed down a bit, and smiled a little bit back at her; she also realized that she’d said the words “I promise” to keep Addy safe--and although Zel couldn’t feel it, Red felt just a tiny tingle in the air as the universe bound her to that promise.
“Thank you Zel--and yes we know.” She gave a real smile about the sleep comment, “Yes that’s true. I figure Britton can take care of him during the day, and I can at night, so neither of us ends up too completely exhausted.”
“As for the rest...” she gave a sort of half shrug, “We honestly don’t know too much. We assume that since Addy, when he was here before, was basically half demon half Sin, that’s what will happen now too. There’s not really a test you could do for that, partially because it’s never happened before.”
“But there is, in fact, a sort of netherworld hospital--we went there when I got tested, to make sure that I was actually pregnant,” she stumbled over the word a little, still not used to it. “Although it’s less netherworld and more...people who would make human doctors suspicious. There probably is a daycare somewhere too, but I don’t actually know. That wasn’t in any briefing I ever got, as you might imagine.”
She sighed softly, and looked back at Zel, “To tell the truth though...I don’t know that I was entirely aware of what I was getting into...it’s a little...” she searched for a good word, “Overwhelming.”
She felt a sour taste in her mouth but swallowed “Yeah, I’m sorry I was a downer of a third wheel that day- wait what?!”
Had she heard correctly?? Her eyes darted to Red’s stomach than back a her face, then down at her stomach again.
“Oh….wow oh my gosh I didnt think Britton had it in him, congratulations! Oh my God- OH MY GOD Roy and Marie are gonna have a cousin!!!”
She was mid happily exclaiming when she was suddenly reminded of Rabisu’s voice in her ear as well as the conversation they’d had about children a few years ago.
“Red I thought you couldnt have children…” she swallowed again “And I felt bad but I understood it was probably for the best because-”
Her eyes looked directly into Red’s with a harsh sapphire gaze “You made a choice that would lead to your eventual destruction. And… Red, you can’t-you CAN’T do that to your child! How is Britton going to handle a baby on his own?? How do you expect it survive without you- I dont know anything about demons and I doubt Britton does- Red!”
She stood up and grabbed her shoulders “How do we fix this?? Do we bring back your Once-ler?! What- what should I do to stop you from disappearing?!”
Red started to comfort her, “No, Zel--don’t you fret: it’s completely all right, you were just stressed out...” but Zel jumped right on to the next thing--the fact that Red was pregnant.
She blushed deeply, but nodded at her excitement, especially the bit about Marie and Roy (and the new baby) having a cousin. Red was so looking forward to introducing them all..
But then Zel skipped straight on from exhilaration to worry--Red was honestly having a hard time keeping up with her moods.
“I didn’t think I could...but I assume because Britton is a Sin it worked out some how...”
She tried to stop Zel’s words, but there was nothing she could do until her friend had finished--there was no stopping the Protective Mamma, “Woah, Zel, woah...” she reached up to rest her hands on Zel’s, still on her shoulders, “Britton and I wouldn’t have tried this if we didn’t have a plan.” She smiled softly up at her friend, “Because Britton is a Sin, it means that I’m more or less married to royalty--he protects me from any repercussions, okay? And he promised to keep me safe.”
Red patted Zel’s hands, “And I promise, Zel, that I will do everything I can to keep my baby safe too, okay? And...I am actually working on finding my Once-ler again too.”
Red certainly wasn’t immune to Zel’s compliments, and blushed a very nonzero amount at the praise. She’d finished her second donut, and that sated enough of her Gluttony for the moment that she could sit back and just listen to Zel’s commentary.
She could, however, tell exactly how little Gluttony Zel had–which wasn’t really surprising in the circumstances. Although she could smell the not-so-pleasant Pride smell emanating from her companion, it wasn’t as strong.
And Red couldn’t help but smile as Zel went on, obviously primping and preening herself as well as Red, but she didn’t mind, “No I don’t–not typically. Since even when looking like a human I’m…well, not.” She didn’t elaborate more, knowing that Zel was usually uncomfortable with that particular idea.
“But you didn’t answer: how you are doing Zel–after all, the last time I saw you after shopping, you did seem rather distressed.”
“Yeah. I assume your actual form is…” she stopped talking. Not because she was afraid (thanks to her womb, she definitely wasn’t) but because she didnt want to think about Red’s demonic nature. She kept her smile on however and continued to sip her milk as the other polished off the donuts.
“Me? I’m awesome, as always of course” she straightened up the way she normally did when talking about herself “I was just sorta upset about Britton’s…reservations, I guess. It was probably some leftover residue from the Zale part of me or something.” it was an uncomfortable subject so she was eager to move on from it “And it happens sometimes, getting moodswings when you’re expecting”
She gave Red a megawatt smile, beaming proudly “I’m having another one, due in summer!”
Red didn’t mind that Zel didn’t finish her first sentence–she understood. And she was happy to listen to her go on about herself, although she did smell slightly worse as she did so, and Red had to work hard to not wrinkle her nose. Fortunately, the general smell of donuts meant that she could focus on that instead.
“That’s all right–I understand,” Boy did she understand, “Ahhh congratulations Zel! I’m so happy for you. Britton and I had wondered if that might be the case,” she smiled, her eyes sparkling.
She paused, and then looked just a little nervous before staring down at the table and murmuring, “I am…too.”
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