Chapter Notes:
Hello, everyone. I decided to make an ereri/riren fanfic and this is what comes in my mind. It's actually my first fanfic ever! Aside from this site, I posted this story on archiveofourown (ID: himawarinee) and fanfiction (ID: himawarinee). You can also hit me up ontwitter (ID: himawarinee) and tumblr (ID: himawarinee)regarding this story or just for a plain visit.
****WARNING! PLEASE KEEP THIS IN MIND BEFORE READING!This story is un-beta from chapter 12 and up. English is not my first language and I am aware of my poorly written story with my mistakes on grammars, along with the incoherent sentences, and I intend to leave it that way. I don't have time, and simply too lazy to get another beta reader and rewrite/repost the edited version. Also, please don't compare this AU into the reality, because some things won't even making any sense with our logic. That is all, thank you!c:
Contains fluff and sickly sweet romance. / Friendly reminder that this is an AU. / No smut ensues for those who wondering.
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It was a cold winter night. A young, little boy named Eren walked happily while holding hands with his caring and loving parents. Daddy held his right little hand, while Mommy held his left.
Chubby cheeks and a tiny little nose were getting red from the winter cold, but Eren felt nothing but warmth from holding his parents' hands, and also the earmuffs, scarf, layers of clothing, and cute looking boots that prevented him from getting cold.
Eren and his parents were walking back home from having an early diner out. They had eaten Eren's favorite dish, hamburgers, in Eren's favorite family restaurant, The Colossal.
It was not a big restaurant, but the food is the best in town and the atmosphere is really comfy. Plus the restaurant owner's grandchild, Armin, is Eren's best friend, and they've played together many times since they were toddlers.
The dinner at The Colossal Restaurant was nothing special, really. Grisha, Eren's father, was a busy man, rarely at home because of his job in saving people's lives as a general surgeon at Sina Hospital. So, whenever Grisha had a time off from his job, no matter if it is a day or a night off, he always makes sure to spend quality time with Eren and his wife, Carla.
Today happens to be Grisha's night off at Sina Hospital. So, being the good family man he is, he took Eren and his wife to eat dinner out.
"Today was great! Dinner was very yummy! My tummy is really full now. I never get tired of their hamburgers. Thank you, Daddy!" Eren said happily while flashing his father a beaming grin that Grisha returned with a smile of his own while Carla was giggling at Eren's childish behavior towards his father.
Eren has always been a childish boy. At the age of 5, he still acted like a 3-year-old whenever his parents are around, especially with Grisha, since the man rarely showed up at home because of his job.
But his parents didn't seem to mind Eren's childish behavior. Yes, Eren can be childish most of the time, but Eren is a well-mannered child and sometimes acts mature for a 5-year-old boy when necessary.
It's 8 pm now. The night is still young. Eren and his parents have almost arrived home, walking slowly and enjoying their time together, happiness radiating from the small family.
It's not a long walk, only 15 minutes from The Colossal Restaurant to the Jaeger's residence. And it's not a dangerous area to walk at night, so they don't have to worry about any dangerous thing like robbers, drug dealers, murderers, or something like that. Well, at least for now.
Just one more turn and they will arrive at home. Suddenly, out of the blue, Eren turned his head, his eyes wandering and glimpsing across the street at a dim alley. Eren then saw something there, something unusual, which made him suddenly shout and point at the thing that had caught Eren's attention.
"Mommy, Daddy, look! What's that? A ghost? A monster? A fairy?"
Eren, letting his curiosity get the best of him, suddenly let go of his parents' hands and started running across the street to check out the thing he thought was ghost, monster, fairy, and anything but human.
"Eren, wait! Where are you going? Watch out!"
Carla yelled in panic at her son's sudden actions and tried to catch Eren with her husband alongside. Luckily they are already in a residential area and not a single car is driving by at the moment.
While his parents run carefully after Eren who successfully reached the dim alley, Eren stood there a few moments before crouching down, making his parents question the purpose of Eren's actions.
"Son, what are you doing suddenly running away like that? That could be dangerous, you know?" His father said with a bit of anger mixed with shock, panic, and concern for his only son.
For now, it's okay for the parents to breathe because Eren is one hundred percent okay from his reckless actions.
Grisha was about to continue reprimanding his son when he heard Carla gasp, her eyes open wide in horror toward Eren.
Grisha took another look at Eren and then he saw what made Carla gasp. Eren was still crouching down, looking up at his parent with worried eyes.
"Mommy, Daddy, is he okay? He's not opening his eyes. He feels really cold..."
Eren asked and then looked down at the little boy again.
A boy with jet black hair and pale skin was curled up in the alley on a cold winter night with only a long sleeve shirt that looks already torn, sweat pants, and a pair of old boots. His clothes didn't look warm at all.
The boy's skin felt so cold when Eren touched the boy's right cheek with his hand. The boy still had his eyes closed, but his head slowly leaned towards Eren's hand as if he was seeking warmth.
"Eren, please never run away suddenly like that. That could be dangerous?" Grisha crouched down beside Eren with a stern look that Eren answered with a nod.
"That's my boy. Now, step aside, son. Let me check on him," Grisha, being the experienced doctor he was, checked the boy's temperature.
Eren was right when he said the boy's skin felt really cold. But, the boy didn't only feel cold; he was freezing to the point of pneumonia.
Grisha quickly took off his coat, wrapped the boy up in it, and lifted him up in his arms.
"We need to bring him to the hospital. I think he got pneumonia from all this cold weather and thin clothes. Wait, no. Let's just bring him home. I have my fist aid tools at home. I don't think he can make it to the hospital in this state."
Carla nodded at her husband's statement and held Eren's hand while they walked quickly to the Jaeger's residence.
Eren was confused about the situation, something was obviously wrong with the boy he found in the alley, but he kept on walking and stayed quiet, hoping for the pale boy to be okay.
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"Mommy?"
Eren tugged on his mother's skirt while Grisha was whispering something to Carla. Carla only smiled at Eren and patted his head, slightly ruffling his soft chocolate brown locks.
Policemen had arrived at the Jaeger's residence not too long ago, Grisha walked towards them and was talking to them with complete seriousness.
Eren's big green eyes shifted from his dad to the men in uniform as he peeked inside the guest room where his father had placed the black haired boy to take care of him. The boy's eyes were still closed, but the skin didn't look as pale as before.
"Eren..." His mother whispered, "Mommy and Daddy need to discuss something with those men," Carla pointed her finger towards the men in their living room.
"Policemen! Men in uniforms!" Eren said as his eyes lit up, making Carla chuckle at her son's reaction.
"Yes, Eren. You see, it's an important discussion. So, can you be a good boy and take care of the sleeping boy over there for a while? Be quiet, though. Just call for us if he wakes up or something, alright?"
"Mhm. I can do that!" Eren said in a low voice while Carla joined Grisha and the officers.
Approaching the black haired boy, Eren slowly sat beside him. Quietly, he hummed a lullaby that his mother used to sing to him before bedtime.
Eren is big enough now and doesn't need his mother to sing him a bedtime lullaby anymore, but he liked to hum it whenever he tries to calm himself down, or even when it felt too quiet for him.
Humming quietly, Eren took a good look at the black haired boy, who was sleeping. His skin still looked so pale, even though he wasn't cold anymore.
Slowly, Eren caressed the black haired boy's face that slept soundly beside him.
The boy looked so thin and tiny, but with black hair and pale skin somehow made Eren think of him as a beautiful boy. Of course, the word beautiful was meant as an appearance, there was no hidden meaning from it for a boy his age.
The thought made Eren smile to himself. Maybe when the boy woke up, they could become friends and Eren would introduce him to Armin and Mikasa so they could play together.
Being an only child, Eren has no siblings to play with and only Armin and Mikasa as friends. Armin and Mikasa were also only children in each of their families.
But where were the black haired boy's parents? Why was this boy curled up in an alley alone?
Eren heard of homeless people from her mother, who lived on the street as their home. But he never heard about little boys being homeless. Was he lost? Separated from his mommy and daddy?
Eren didn't know how long he'd been humming or how long he'd been sitting right beside the sleeping boy while studying him, but he starts to feel sleepy, eyes hardly open.
Just when Eren was about to drift into sleep and shifting from his previous position to a more comfortable one, he heard a sigh, close to a whine, coming from the sleeping boy beside him. His eyes snapped open towards the black haired boy.
"Hey..." Eren said while putting his left hand to the boy's forehead.
The black haired boy's eyes started to flutter open and Eren was caressing the boy's dark locks of hair.
Eren is a touchy person towards everyone but not to strangers, this is the first time Eren is being touchy to a stranger.
"You are awake." Eren said with a soft smile.
A pale hand slipped from the warm blanket reaching for Eren's face who had a smile that, to the black haired boy, looked so beautiful, nice and welcoming.
Still not fully conscious, the pale hand landed on Eren's cheek which felt so warm in his chilled hand.
"-el..." The black haired boy murmured.
"What?" Eren asked in confusion, his hand was reaching for the pale hand on his right cheek.
"Angel," The black haired boy answered weakly with a little smile on his face.
"No, my name is Eren. Are you okay now? What is your name?" Eren said while giggling.
The pale hand dropped slowly from Eren's cheek, eyes starting to shut, slipping back into unconsciousness.
"Levi..." the boy said and now his eyes are fully shut, sending him back into a deep sleep, dreaming of a beautiful angel with green eyes and dark chocolate hair.
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It's warm, it's comfy, it feels safe, and it's perfect.
Carla opened the guest room slowly and smiled to herself, noticing the sight inside the guest room. Her baby boy was now sleeping soundly right beside the black haired boy.
Eren looked really comfortable in his sleep even though he was sitting on a small chair right beside the bed, arms used as his pillow on the bed.
Seeing Eren's peaceful face beside the black haired boy made Carla smile.
It was a lovely sight.
Carla took a warm blanket and draped it around Eren's body. It didn't seem right to wake up her baby boy, as he was sleeping soundly.
A hand sneaked around her body, it was Grisha. He lovingly put his arm around his wife's waist and kissed her head while his eyes landed on the two sleeping boys in front of them.
"They are lovely," Carla smiled to herself with sad looking eyes.
Grisha nodded slowly.
"Is this how it feels to have another child?" Carla asked her husband.
"Mmm..." Grisha replied with a hum.
Having Eren was actually a miracle for both of them since Carla had a fertility problem.
Carla longed to have many children of her own, but when she knew about her problem she just let the thought go and shut herself down to the point that she asked Grisha to get a divorce with her and start his new life without her because she couldn't give him any children.
Grisha loved Carla so much. He didn't even care if Carla couldn't give him any children. There was always another option like adoption, but getting a divorce with Carla was never an option. So, Grisha stayed with her and planned on adopting.
But fate had other plans.
A few months after Grisha and Carla had already given up on having a biological child, Carla was pregnant. Although the doctor said the pregnancy was quite risky and it would be the first and last time Carla could get pregnant.
So, 9 months later, a baby boy with soft dark chocolate hair and beautiful green eyes was born. They couldn't be any happier; it was the best moment in their life.
Even though Carla can't fulfill her dream to have many children of her own, she didn't mind. Eren and Grisha in her life is enough. Eren is more than enough.
And here they are now, in a middle of their guest room looking at two sleeping children.
"Remember when I used to say that I wanted many children because I loved kids?" Carla asked her husband, eyes locked on her baby boy and the black haired boy.
"I do," Grisha answered, still holding his wife lovingly, "I know you still long for another child even though you said Eren is enough."
"The boy is running away from an orphanage without any particular reason we know of and no place to go."
"And the boy would have frozen to death if Eren hadn't found him," Grisha added.
"They look lovely..."
"I always wanted a twin."
"What?" Carla scoffed.
"What?"
"This is the first time I've heard you wanting twins, dear. Eren and the boy don't even look alike."
"I always wanted twins, though. I mean, it could be fun. Same clothes, same shoes, something like that," If Carla hadn't known better, she would have thought Grisha was pouting at her now.
"We used to talk about adoption."
"So..."
"Let's adopt him?" Carla looked up at her husband with a big, pleading smile on her face.
"This conversation is going fast," Grisha laughed, "But we can't jump to conclusions. As much as I want to adopt him, we still need to talk to Eren and the boy himself. So, for now, I think it's best if we let them sleep and talk later, tomorrow when we wake up."
"Shouldn't we better put Eren in his own bed though?" Carla asked.
"Yeah, we should," Grisha stepped forward and lifted Eren up to bring him to his own bed.
Just when Grisha was about to walk out from the guest room, Eren's eyes fluttered open and he shifted a bit in Grisha's grip.
"Daddy?"
"Go back to sleep, son. I will take you to your bed now. You were sleeping on a chair; it will hurt your body when you wake up the next morning," Grisha replied quietly.
Eren took a quick glace of his surroundings and his eyes set on the black haired boy on the queen sized bed.
"No, I want to stay with La... Le... Levi! It will be like sleep over!" Eren whined, releasing himself from Grisha's grip.
"Levi?" His mother asked while Grisha put Eren down.
"Mhm, he said his name is Levi. But then he went back to sleep even though I wanted to ask him more things," Eren mumbled sleepily walking to the chair next to the bed.
"But you will hurt your back if you sleep on a chair, Eren," He warned his son.
"But I wanna sleep here!" Eren whined again, looking at his father with puppy eyes.
"Eren," Grisha picked up his son again, "I am gonna stay here to keep an eye on him to make sure he keeps getting better and if he wakes up, I will go to your room and wake you up. Okay?" He assured his son, the dark haired boy is fine now, but he still needs to check on him just in case.
"Fine," Eren clung into his father and released his grip after Grisha put him down onto the bed while Carla sat down on Eren's bed side.
"Mom..." Eren looked at his mother with his big green eyes. "Is Levi lost?"
"Lost?"
"Because he was sitting in an alley alone and maybe he was waiting for his mommy and daddy to pick him up there. But, if he was waiting, then what if his mommy and daddy are going there and can't find Levi because he is here?"
Eren remembered when he was lost in an amusement park and before they got there, he'd been told that if he ever got lost, he needed to go to a very big sculpture and wait for his parents there until they came to get Eren.
So Eren thought that Levi was lost and that he needed to wait for his parents at the dim alley until they came to get him. But Eren couldn't understand why Levi was freezing and sleeping in there.
"Or is he homeless? With no home to stay, no proper shelter, like you used to say about homeless people. And, why is he alone?" Eren asked, confused.
"You see, Eren," Carla caressed Eren's cheek and looked up at her husband who gave her a nod.
"Levi doesn't have mommy and daddy like the way you have us. He is what we call an orphan," Eren's eyes widened at his mother's statement. It is the first time he heard about an orphan.
"Levi is staying at orphanage, a place where people like him stay. He's been taken care of by the people who work there. But, we've been told by the policemen that Levi had run away from the orphanage," Carla tried to make everything simple, so Eren could understand what she said.
"But why did he run away? Where will he stay then?" Eren didn't understand, his eyes getting bigger from shock.
At this statement, Carla thought maybe she can tell Eren about the adoption and worry about everything later. She stared at Grisha who was now sitting beside her and gave her another nod.
"You see, Eren. Usually, children at the orphanage can still have a family and a home. It is called adoption. If one family takes a liking to any of the children there, the orphan will get adopted and leave the orphanage to live with their new family," Grisha tried to explain.
"Adopted. So, like a new family member? Like, like siblings? Brother and sister?" Eren's eyes lit up, he always wanted siblings.
Whenever Eren asked his mother about wanting to have a brother or sister, she only smiled and hugged him while telling Eren that she can't give him a sibling and she was sorry. Then, she will make him cookies and offered to invite Armin or Mikasa to play at their house.
Armin and Mikasa were already like a brother and sister to him. But they can't stay forever at Eren's house because they have their own home which made him unable play with them all day.
So, if Levi was being adopted, then...
"Yes, like a sib—"
"We must adopt Levi so he can play with me all the time!" Eren cut his father's words, forgetting about his sleepiness that was being replaced with excitement.
"Oh, we plan to," Carla said while patting Eren's head, "But we need to ask Levi if we can adopt him and if he says yes, we can proceed with it. Now, you go to sleep so tomorrow we can talk to Levi about this, alright? Good night, Eren."
"Mkay, night. Oh, dad, make sure to wake me up!" Eren said looking at his father with a grin on his face.
"Will do, son," Grisha patted Eren's head and they walked out of the room, letting Eren get some sleep.
"So, we just wait for Levi to wake up then?" Carla asked in a low voice.
"Yeah... I'll be in the guest room keeping an eye on him," Grisha kissed Carla's forehead.
When he was about to go to the guest room, he turned to his wife who was still standing in front of the master bedroom, "Sleep, we will ask Levi tomorrow. Whatever comes tomorrow, the reason he ran away from the orphanage is my number one concern. I hope it's nothing bad, though."
"Right, yeah, okay. Good night. Get some sleep too, okay? I'll wake you up in the morning."
"Of course, good night. I am a light sleeper, if he wakes up I will know. Don't worry about it."
"Liar," Carla chuckled while going inside the master bedroom. His husband is a heavy sleeper for as long as she knows.
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Chapter End Notes:
Beta-ed by these lovelies GlaceonTheSlime (ao3) and Fallen_Nightmares (ao3), thank you for the help! c:
