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The crisp night air combed through the curtains. Windchimes in the distance wafting in as well as the breeze cooled off the room that seemed to be getting warmer & warmer these days as summer creeped in. Crickets starting to practice for their soloistic performances. Chirping now & then, but not to the crescendo they would be in a few months.
The peaceful sounds of night was broken at the sharp, sudden cries of a baby. Your baby. Newborn, but still somehow seemed to have the lungs of a 4 month old, they had no shortage of wind power of their own when they needed it.
“Oh no…” You detangle yourself from your husband again. Moving to get up and rock them back to sleep, for the third time tonight.
“No. Stay here.” Benimaru muttered, seeming to be half asleep himself, as he rolled out of bed. “You need to get some sleep. I’ll get them this time.”
“But what if they’re hungry?”
“You just fed them.” He reminded you.
“Yes, but it is your child.”
Benimaru nodded with a shrug. Seeming to realize that if it was his child, being hungry again in an hour was a definite possibility.
Still, he got up and put on his robe before walking over to the crib in the corner. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong.” The baby seemed to sooth almost instantly when they were picked up. Still sniffling with tiny hiccups, but much less vocal. “Were you just lonely? I get that. Mommy needs to rest though. So let’s go outside where it’s quieter.”
You smile softly at Benimaru’s natural parent skills. He took to being a father like a fish to the sea. Calm, patient, compassionate. You know you shouldn’t be surprised, as he had been nothing but that to you, but it still warmed your heart to see him hold your child and speak softly to them.
“There. That’s better, isn’t it.” You could faintly hear him outside on the patio through the window. “I get it. I don’t like being inside either. When you’re older, we’ll play outside all the time. I’ll show you how to track deer. How to climb trees. Gods, I have climbed a tree in eons. I hope I still remember. Shuna and I used to climb trees all the time. Us and the others.” You feel your eye lids grow heavy as you listened to Benimaru, and the faint sound of chimes in the background. “You’ll get to meet them soon. You have a lot of people excited to meet you. A lot of people here to protect you. Your mother and I…we’ve worked really hard to make this place somewhere safe for others. I want to make it safe for you to. A place you can grow up. Have friends like Shion and Souei. A place you can call home. So I’m gonna do that, ok. That’s gonna be my gift to you. So make sure you grown up soon, so we can show you all our hard work. And how much we love you.”