AN: Hello everybody, this is GroundZeroFirework with the promised Finetta One-shot collection. Now I have to warn all of you that this fic consists of the standard family fluff, romance and occassionally, angst (yes, angst; everyone who knows me knows I can't go writing a fic without angst). Another thing y'all have to know, the character of Katrina, who (as all of you will come to know) is the Finetta child, comes from a previous fic of mine (read Purest Form for Katrina's first appearance). However, the conception of Katrina from Purest Form and the Katrina of this fic happened differently as this one-shot collection mostly takes place in a Modern setting and as such, how Katrina came into being for this fic is purely up to the reader's imagination. Yes, we are going for a Modern AU so enjoy it while it lasts, everyone. But fear not, there will still be elements coming from the anime that will be retained in this fic. One last thing, almost all prompts for this fic come from otpprompts dot tumblr dot com. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this fic like you guys have with my previous ones. So, let's begin.
PROMPT #1: IMAGINE YOUR OTP LOVINGLY READING "LOVE YOU FOREVER" TO THEIR CHILD (MODERN AU)
When you're expecting a child, people tend to tell you so many things that they start to get mixed up in your head. They tell you babies are expensive (and they are); babies are crying, screaming poop machines (and they are); that your entire life changes when you have kids (and it does) and most importantly, that you'll lose a lot of sleep when you have a child.
Now for a couple like Fine and Izetta, money isn't an issue; being the two core members of Eylstadt's Royal Family solved that problem for them so despite knowing that children are expensive, they knew that they can still afford to have a child with little to no problems. The others concerns are miniscule compared to that. But there is one thing that they found out was true the hard way; that they were going to lose sleep.
If Fine thought running a country was difficult, clearly she was wrong. Because juggling that AND a colicky five month old really upped the ante. Both her and her wife haven't gotten much sleep lately; with Izetta handling their little baby, Katrina, and she to the political matters of the country. Whenever they try to catch some sleep, on the other hand, Katrina decides to wake up and cry her eyes out. By the time, they actually get some, the precious sleep they get would only be for a maximum of two hours before Fine would have to go and get ready to be an Archduchess again and Izetta would have to care for Katrina. They supposed it was the price they paid for deciding to be hands on parents but if it would allow them to spend time with their precious daughter, it would be a small price to pay.
"There, there, Katrina…it's alright. You can go to sleep. It's alright. You're safe here." Fine gently whispered to the crying and squirming baby in her arms as she tried to read through the documents in her desk before stealing a glance at the clock. It was 1AM. It is 1AM and little Katrina was yet again refusing to sleep. She didn't need to get changed or fed but she was still crying. Fine offered to care for their child for the night, allowing Izetta to catch up on some much needed sleep. Izetta voiced her concerns but Fine reasoned that she would be also spending time with Katrina; something that the blonde Archduchess thought she needed to do immensely if she wanted to be as good a parent to Katrina as her father was to her. Fine felt something hit the crook of her neck for a moment before it retreated and saw that little Katrina seemed to be attempting to sneeze…but ultimately failing. They've seen it happen before and of course, after every failed attempt at sneezing, a new set of cries would follow.
"Oh…sweetheart…no need to be upset. It's alright." She said as she tried to comfort the child, her attention now completely focused on her but still, the young princess cried as every minute seemed to only add to her grumpiness.
"She still won't sleep?" A tired voice asked. Fine turned around and saw Izetta standing by the threshold of their bedroom in her nightgown. Fine could see the exhaustion in her eyes and it worried her.
"Hi. No, she won't. You can go and rest though. I got her."
And as if to showcase just how grumpy she actually is, Katrina decided to wave her arms a bit too wildly and hit Fine square in the face. Izetta came to her aid immediately and gently took the child from her while Fine nursed her aching cheek.
"Come back to the room, Fine. You need your rest as well." Izetta requested of her. Fatigue suddenly washed over her and she couldn't find it in herself to resist such an offer and immediately, she stood up from her chair and followed them to the bedroom. While Izetta tried to get Katrina to settle down and sleep in the bassinet beside the bed, Fine instinctively walked over to the bookshelf in the room and pulled out a thin book.
"Oh, my. Look what I found." She said as she turned to her wife. Izetta flashed her a sincere smile before speaking.
"That's nice, Fine. But you really need your rest. Why don't you sleep while I handle Katrina for now?"
The young blonde shook her head before sitting beside her with a small smile on her face; her wife always was a hard worker. It's one of the things she loved the most about her.
"It's fine. I'd like to read to her for a moment; like my father used to do for me." She said with a wistful tone. Her father was all she had when her mother died and he did his best to be there for her. That included reading to her to sleep almost every single night. It was something she always wished she could do for her own child someday.
"'Love You Forever'." Izetta muttered as she read the title of the book.
"Yeah...father used to read it for me when I was a child." She said in a somber tone. Neither said anything for a moment and Fine turned to Izetta and held the book up.
"Shall we?" She asked. Her wife merely nodded with a small smile before turning her attention to the fussy baby in the bassinet. Fine turned to the start of the story.
"A mother held her new baby and very slowly, rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang: I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be..."
The next morning, the sun rose over Eylstadt and her people started to go on with their routine for the new day. Bianca was not an exception. As Captain of the Royal Guard, she made sure that her first task every day was to check on the Archduchess and her family. She knew that none of them have been getting any actual rest; between running the country and raising a colicky five month old, she guessed that even that would take its toll on them. She just hoped that they actually got some rest for once. Bianca cautiously walked towards the room the Archduchess shared with her wife and daughter and slowly opened the door. Much to her surprise, the pair was actually sleeping soundly on their bed. Unlike Izetta, however, who was wearing a nightgown, Fine was still wearing the clothes she wore the night before. And she had a thin paperback book beside her. The little princess, on the other hand, was still sleeping soundly.
"Sleep well..." Bianca whispered before gently shutting the door and walking away. She knew that she should have woken Fine up...but after seeing how tired she's been these past few days...she figured that Fine would appreciate the extra hours of sleep.
Besides, after how she's been handling everything like a champ, they definitely deserved it...
AN: Alright. That's the first chapter. Fun fact: the book was supposed to be "Go the Fuck to sleep" but my friend and I decided that it's too...well...modern and mature for this fic since we wanted a fluffy one. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it and please leave everything you want to say in the reviews. I will greatly appreciate them. Dunno when I'm going to update again since I'm failing two classes right now (Ugh...end me and my suffering...please...plox) but...we'll see...hopefully soon. Again, I hope you all enjoyed.
Firework out!