"I'm sorry," He breathed softly, hunched over as he sat in the chair. No one heard him, he was alone. Well, mostly…
Next to him, a crib sat, a bundle of blankets inside to keep it soft and warm for the tiny beings that slept. Three babies, barely two weeks old, were now orphans. It was his fault; he couldn't protect his squad because their enemy was too powerful. Among the four, two of them were the parents to these tiny infants.
Parents that were now deceased.
His hand tightened on the two wings of freedom symbols. The bloody patches were the only indication that his squad existed. He knew these sort of things happened, because they all lived in a world of fear and death. Plagued from it since he was young, it usually didn't falter him. But the guilt was eating away at him, so in favor to Auruo and Petra, he cared to their children. He couldn't do much anyways, rendered useless as a soldier by an ankle injury, he was in the medical bay all the time. If he was to heal, he needed to heal correctly.
A whimper caused him to look up and to the crib, blinking as one of the infants squirmed and whined. Under normal circumstances, he would've called for a nurse, but he kept silent as he stood up and limped over to the crib. He gazed settled on one of the little boys, still squirming while his siblings lay quiet. Sighing, he reached down and grabbed the small bundle. Standing back up, he pressed the child to his chest, cooing softly to settle the baby.
"I heard goat's milk makes a good substitute," A voice spoke out from behind and he turned to see his subordinate standing in the doorway.
"Now what is it?" He scowled and turned to put his attention back on the child. She chuckled and walked in.
"Erwin thought you'd be getting bored while you wait for your ankle to heal, do he asked me to deliver some paperwork," She replied, setting the handful of papers on the desk.
"I already have my hands full, Shitty-Glasses," Levi responded, and she huffed.
"The babies? Levi, if I didn't know any better, I think you're getting attached to them-"
"No, I am not," Levi cut her off, proving her point.
The infant settled by then, falling back asleep from warmth. Levi set the child back into the crib with his siblings, before rising again.
"What's going to happen to them when you get better?" Hanji asked, watching as the man before her flinched in response. They would be taken to an orphanage, but Levi knew space was tight with recent casualties within the walls. The three of them would certainly be separated. An awkward silence followed as they stood there. Finally, Levi relaxed, still gazing at the babies.
"I'm adopting them,"
It's been awhile since I last uploaded! Anyways, I finally found something I'm mildly interested to continue working on so stay tuned!