WHOOSH! I have been up writing this since...uh...10 30, but heck, you don't care do you? I was always wanting to write a small little story about Kratos and baby Lloyd, since they're so cute! So yeah, other than that, that's all I will say! Oh...j/k. This is also the first piece of writing that I wrote and added/based it off a song. Hope it makes since and it fits in well!

Disclaimer: Not only do I NOT own Tales, but I do not own the song, "Thank God for Kids." Even though characters from Tales don't worship "God", but they do worship some "Holy Being." Happy now?

The Fear of a Father
The Love of a Son

"Thank God for kids there's magic for a while. A special kind of sunshine in a smile. Do you ever stop to think or wonder why…the dearest thing to heaven…is a
child?"

For one person, a child was not something he wanted around. The constant crying, yelling, and cleaning was a challenge all in its own. He put his hands to his face, trying to get his mind set on his work, something he had been slacking off on, thanks to that "blessed" child. After a good fifteen minutes of crying, he stood up and walked to the hand-made crib behind him.

"Shut up. I have to do my work!" The infant looked at his father and immediately stopped crying. His chubby baby hands flew into the air, demanding to be held. He was laughing and talking a way any three month year old child would. He stared at the child, then, feeling satisfied with his work, walked back to his desk. Seconds after he left, the baby cried again.

"I cannot believe this. What does it take to shut that kid up?" he whispered to himself. He stood up, but this time, he walked into the hallway and to the door leading outside. Once he stepped into the dark night and the autumn air hit his face, he looked around. A few seconds later, he spotted his pet and wife, sitting next to each other. He walked over to her and glared.

"Shut him up! I have work to do!"

She laughed. "I'm sorry, but tonight you said you would watch him. That means you have to shut him up."

He wanted to explode, but he kept calm and looked at her. "Anna, I am serious. I am about to kill this kid! He shuts up when I am around him, but the second I am gone, he screams again! Do that thing you do and shut him up!"

Anna smiled. "You had best get used to it Kratos. He'll be doing that for a while. It's a baby's way to get attention. He just wants you to hold him. Perhaps you should pay attention to your son instead of your work for a few hours. I think you will find your son to be more pleasant to be around."

"I doubt that."

"Try it, you might like it."

He angrily turned his back and walked into the house. He knew Anna; she would never change her mind. He walked into the room where the yelling child was and slammed the door, causing him to yell louder. He walked over to the child and looked down at him, his tear-filled brown eyes reminded him so much of his own. For once, he felt all the anger he had escape his body as he formed a smile on his face. The child smiled in return.

"So Lloyd, what do you want me to do? Do you want to help finish my work?" He thought about that. Maybe if he held the child, he could do his work at the same time. He carefully placed one hand under the baby's back and the other under his head. He pulled him up out of his bed and carried him to his desk. He sat down and began to think again, without Lloyd interrupting. As a matter of fact, he looked thrilled to be on his father's lap as he watched him work.

It was another hour before he looked down at his son, who looked at his writing, trying to make out what it said. Kratos laughed; he knew he would never be able to read what he wrote, until he was older, but by then, this would be long gone. He decided to go ahead and finish since he was almost done. While he was writing one of the last things he needed to talk about, someone reached over his shoulder and took the paper away.

Kratos didn't turn around. "Anna, give it back."

"No. You are supposed to be spending time with your son…"

"I am. See? He's happy, and I am getting work done."

Anna slapped him. "Kratos, when he grows up, I don't want him to say, 'The only thing I did with my father was watch him work'! Tomorrow, you are doing something with him, even if I have to plan it out."

Kratos rolled his eyes and stood up, holding a near-sleeping child in his right arm. "Anna, I don't want to spend what you call 'quality' time with a crying child. I have more important things to do."

Anna looked out of his eyes and at the floor. She didn't say anything for a while, but when she looked back up at him, he could see tears coming to her eyes. "Kratos, if you don't want to spend time with our son, then you don't want to spend time with me."

Before he could reply, she turned her back on him and left. He looked down at the sleeping child and walked over to his bed and carefully tucked him in. After he knew he was still asleep, he knew it was safe to leave. He quietly shut the door to Lloyd's room and walked down the hall to his. He entered his room and found Anna lying on the bed, eyes closed, but he knew she wasn't sleeping. He walked over to her and sat down on 'his' side of the bed.

"Anna…I didn't mean it like that. You know that I love you, more than anything in this world. I don't know how to handle children Anna. I never cared for any of them, and they never cared for me."

She turned over and sat up, placing her back on the wall and looked at Kratos. "If you just show Lloyd the same love you show me, you'll have nothing to worry about. You put up with my crap all the time and you don't yell at me to shut up. Why do the same to Lloyd?"

Kratos brought his hands to his face and shook his head. "I don't know."

"I do." she said as she brought his hands down from his face. "It's because you have power over him and he has to obey you. He doesn't have the nerve to fight back. I do." He lowered his head again, knowing that what Anna said was more than likely true. He expected her to scold him more, but she didn't. She reached out and took him in her arms and placed her head on his shoulder. "But I know as time goes on, you're going to make a great father Kratos. Lloyd is going to make you see so many things you didn't even think about. And, after what I saw tonight, no matter what you do with him, he's going to love you; he's just not old enough to tell you that."

-----

"Daddy how does this thing fly? A hundred other where's and why's. You really don't know but you try thank God for kids."

-----

The sun had shown its rays through the small window and onto his closed eyes, causing him to wake up. When he did so, Anna was sleeping peacefully next to him, a hand thrown over his waist. He was about to fall back asleep when he heard crying coming from another room; Lloyd. He sighed, then carefully removed his wife's arm and stood up. He walked to Lloyd's room and over to his bed.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked as he looked at his crying son. When he saw his father, he stopped crying and giggled. Kratos picked him up and held him against his chest. Noishe walked in the room and Lloyd went crazy. He loved Noishe, probably more than anything else in that household. Kratos put him down on the ground and watched from a distance as Lloyd played around with Noishe. He laughed when Lloyd's hand caught Noishe's fur; at least it wasn't his hair. That child may be small, but he had a powerful tug once he had something in his grasp. Anna said it was a sign that Lloyd would be strong; Kratos saw it as a sign that he would be bald by the time Lloyd was three.

Noishe walked over and hide behind Kratos after Lloyd had finally let him go. Lloyd sat up and frowned, knowing Noishe abandoned him and left him alone. Kratos got up off the floor and walked over to where Lloyd was sitting, on the verge of tears.

"What do you want to do Lloyd? Your mother is making me and you do something. What should that be?"

Lloyd smiled, but that was his only reply, that Kratos understood anyway. He talked in some language that apparently he wasn't fluent in, nor would he ever be. He bent down so he was closer to his son. Unfortunately, Lloyd grabbed some of his bangs and yanked on it. Kratos grabbed his hand before he could do another tug and Lloyd let go.

"You know, I can never get enough of that."

Kratos looked up into the doorway and smiled at Anna. "You're up early. Did I wake you?"

She shook her head. "No. I don't know why I woke up, I just did. Is that a problem?" Kratos just smiled and Anna sighed. "So, what are you going to do with Lloyd today?"

Kratos stood and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. If you can decipher what he said, then perhaps you can tell me."

Anna laughed and walked over to Lloyd. "What do you want to do today Lloyd?" He looked up at her, but she got the same response Kratos did, a smile and a bunch of words thrown together. She smiled and looked back at Kratos. "Well, it seems he wants to do anything, just as long as you go with him."

Kratos was impressed. "How did you know what he said?"

"Motherly instincts. Women have them, men don't." She laughed at the face he made and placed a kiss on his cheek. "But I'm sure you have something that I don't, other than the negative."

After seeing his mother laugh, Lloyd began laughing just like she was. Kratos glared at the small child, who saw the look on his father's face and stopped. Anna smiled and turned to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going? I don't know what I am supposed to do." Kratos said, hoping to get something from her.

She turned and smiled. "All you have to do is spend time with him. It doesn't matter if you stay here or travel all the way across the world. Take the whole day if you have to Kratos. I don't want to see you back here for a while."

He rolled his eyes, then picked Lloyd up off the floor. "I guess I'm just going to go walk with him. Come on Lloyd. Something will spark your interest while walking."

Anna smiled. "Have fun."

-----

The moon had appeared in the night sky; the stars helped light the dark blanket with the light they gave off. Kratos was a few steps from entering his house, and since it was late, no one would be awake. Lloyd was asleep in his arms after all the things they did that day. They both walked down to Luin, which was a good five or seven miles away from where they stayed. Lloyd picked out more toys to play with while they were at one of the stores. While they were there, Lloyd demanded ice cream, and Kratos loved when he shoved his face into the small bowl he had. People were looking at them, wondering why he wasn't stopping his son who had bad table manners. Kratos ignored them; it was moments like this that brought out Lloyd for what he really was. Plus, he would always remember his giggling son as he lifted his face out of the bowl dripping with the frozen dessert.

After their time in Luin, they walked back to the small house at Lake Umacy. Lloyd wanted to take a break, so they stopped a few steps away from their house. Lloyd sat in front of the water at the Lake for a few seconds and the look on his face was priceless. He pulled his head back and looked at Kratos like he was confused, then back at the water. Kratos guessed he was trying to figure out who that person was staring back at him in the water and that thought made him laugh. Lloyd pointed to the water and spoke his favorite lines to his father. Kratos got up and walked to where he was pointing, and sure enough, it was his reflection.

He walked the dark, quiet house and to Lloyd's room to put the child to sleep. He didn't want to admit, and he wasn't going to tell Anna, but he was happy that he took time off from his job to get to know his son more. There was so much about Lloyd that reminded him of himself. The eyes, the attitude, and certainly the table manners, had proven to him that Lloyd was really his son. He walked over to the crib and carefully placed the sleeping child in. However, during the process, Lloyd woke up. He put him down anyway and Lloyd grabbed one of his fingers and held it tightly, as if he was afraid to let go. Kratos smiled and rubbed his head, causing Lloyd to giggle and smile. He reached over and kissed his forehead and Lloyd laughed again. He finally let go of his finger and knew that the best thing to do was watch him as he fell asleep.

After an hour or so, Lloyd's brown eyes began to close. He looked up at his father and smiled, happy to know he was still there and going to watch over him as he fell asleep. At that moment, the only thing that Kratos seemed to care about now was the safety and well-being of his son. As he looked back at the time he spent with him that day, he would do anything to keep him safe. He had to admit, he loved his son. When he was born, he wasn't too excited and didn't seem to care. However, over the span of three months, one day seemed to make up for everything. Today was the day that changed him forever, and in a good way. He wouldn't have it any other way. He loved his son and he knew that Lloyd did as well though his smile. Kratos wondered if he was showing that love through his eyes, like Lloyd was doing through his.

-----

"When you look down in those trusting eyes, that look to you, you realize there's love you just can't buy thank God for kids."

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He was once afraid of raising this child as his own son, but now he knew that he had nothing to worry about. His fear of being a father was gone; thanks to the love of his son.