Chapter 1 - Normal Breakfast

The sun obnoxiously announced its presence as light shimmered through the curtains. It couldn't be six already, it just couldn't be.

I snuck a glance at the clock and, it did in-fact, read six o'clock on the dot.

Sighing, I rolled over, my back facing the window. I had barely gotten five hours of sleep, an extra thirty minutes wouldn't hurt.

It was a soft giggle that forced me to assume responsibility for my five children. As much as the thought of sleeping in pleased me, I didn't have the luxury to do so.

People have work, children get hungry, food must be made, a hungry child equals a crying child and one crying child will soon lead to two equally-loud crying children. I was wide awake now.

I sat up in bed, wincing at the shuffling noise of the bed sheets. Now I was faced with a silent dilemma. How would I get up and exit the room without waking them?

If the floors could've spoken, they would've said, "We're going to creak Levi!"

Another light giggle turned my attention to the three cribs parallel to my dresser. The light shining on them illuminated them like a holy object. All I needed was some heavenly music and the scene would've been complete.

From my angle, Eren seemed to be the one having the dream of a lifetime, as his left arm was curled up towards his face.

There's no time to dilly dally, I reminded myself. If the floors creaked, it was just a course of life. But if they didn't, it was a plus for me. I slid off my bed and lowered my foot onto floor

As I had predicted, the floorboards creaked and in response, I received three light coos from my infants. But I had to get through it if I wanted to get downstairs.

I sprinted across the room as quietly as I could and jumped out into the hallway, shutting the door silently.

I wiped my brow, "Levi, you quick son of a gun, you sir, have managed to pull off the impossible. This calls for a drink once the kids get settled."

"Who are you talking to?"

I jumped at the sound of another voice. I would have shrieked as well, but with the thought of my sleeping kids in mind, I stifled the scream. Turning around, I almost shouted again in recognition of the voice's owner.

"Erwin!? How did you get inside my house!?"

"The front door was unlocked." Erwin replied, casually, tucking his hands in his pockets.

"Don't..." I hesitated, glancing at the bedroom door before continuing, "Don't bullshit me. There's no way I'd leave my front door unlocked for the criminals and kidnappers of the world to waltz in."

"Don't believe me?" Erwin put his hands up, "Go check. I only opened the door and closed it. Didn't do anything other than that. We can even call a forensics guy to check it out if we need to, you won't find any of my prints."

I tiptoed down the stairs and check the door. He was right. The lock didn't show any signs of forced entry.

I scratched my head in shock, "How could I forget to lock the door? That's a basic survival step in this house."

"Don't be too hard on yourself." Erwin handed me a cup of coffee as he steered me away from the door, "You've got five kids. Three of them are infants. With all the commotion, it's no wonder you'd forget to lock the door."

"That's the thing." I said to him, still not convinced that I had forgotten to ensure the safety of my home, "I have five kids, you said it yourself. Their safety is my priority so there's no way I'd just forget something as important as this. Even the thought of forgetting is so...so..."

"Appalling?" Another voice finished.

I looked around and my eyes landed on a wild mahogany mane on my sofa.

"Hanji!" I stomped my foot, "What are you doing here!?"

She put a finger to her lips, reaching for her glasses which rested on the coffee table, "Don't stomp now. The kids are sleeping."

"They're my kids!" Nevertheless, I complied. She was right. It would do no good to wake them up now. Especially when I had company. Still, that didn't mean she was going to get away with being in my house, "How the hell did you get in my house?"

Hanji stretched her arms, patting down her clothes in a failed effort to smooth them, "I've been here since yesterday night. I don't think my means of entry would particularly please you so, I'll keep it to myself."

"AH HA!" I almost screamed, having an Oprah moment, "See Erwin?! I knew I didn't forget to lock the door! This nut job broke into my house!"

"But with good reason!" Hanji intervened, trying to justify her crime. I had half a mind to shoot her with my, but Erwin's presence made me mull the thought over.

I put my hands on my hips, "Oh really? Elaborate. What reason could possibly justify picking my house lock, endangering my life as well as my kids and then staying here over night?"

"I wanted to tell you that my work grant arrived and show you the check." Hanji pushed her glasses back up onto her nose, as they had slid off as she sat up on the sofa.

"Work grant?" Erwin asked, intrigued by the two words,"What do you need that for?"

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, shutting my eyes. "Wait, wait, wait. So you're telling me that you broke into my house, just to show me a check?"

"Oh hush Levi. If you saw the amount you would have broken into my house too." Hanji waved me off, turning to Erwin.

"No! I wouldn't have!" I argued, "I might have called you in the middle of the night, but I wouldn't have BROKEN into your house!"

"I do this one time and you can't let it go." Hanji shook her head.

"No, I can not let it go! I could have died!" I hissed, "Also, this is not the first time you've broken into my living area. Remember college?"

"Oh yeah, your dorm room. Sorry about that." Hanji laughed, "How was I supposed to know you'd be-"

"Enough!" I put my hand up, not wanting her to say anymore, "Erwin, you're a police officer! You hear her confessing to the crime. Slap some handcuffs on her wrists."

Hanji stuck out her lip like a little kid, "What? Arrest lil' ole me?"

Erwin sipped his coffee, "How much was the check?"

"Erwin?!"

"$50,000." Hanji smiled, her brown eyes shining as she revealed her amount.

"Holy-" Erwin almost spit out his coffee, "Hanji, what do you do again?"

"I work as a biochemist. That's fancy talk for medical guru." Noticing the confused looks on our faces, she dumbed it down even further, "Basically I sit in a lab, mix different elements together and hope to discover a cure for something."

"What the hell do you need almost 50K for then?" I crossed my arms, curious as to what she had to say.

"I'm not supposed to tell anyone this, so if word gets out, it wasn't me." Hanji winked, "But while testing cancer treatment substances on lab mice, I administered the wrong element during a test and when the mice took it, their cancer cells started dying."

"Hanji." Erwin stood up and you could see his brain going to work behind his calculating light blue eyes, "Are you telling me you've cured cancer?"

She put her hands up, "That's why I said I'm not supposed to tell anyone. Remember, these are just mice, they're not people. The lab wants to mass produce the combination, but I can't seem to get the right mix no matter what I try. So, they're telling me to get every element under the sun and reproduce the same effect at home."

"You're getting a private lab?!" I clapped my hands, impressed, "Wow. So not only will you get the Medal of Freedom, you'll also be remembered as the woman who single-handedly cured cancer. Damn, when did you get so smart?"

"I've always been smart." She flicked my forehead, "You've just never noticed."

"Do that again four eyes." I grabbed her right hand, "Watch what happens."

She flicked my forehead with her left hand and looked me in the eyes, "Whatcha gonna do, Ackerman?"

I stared back at her, trying to muster my most dangerous face. But it was all a bluff. As long as the kids were asleep, I couldn't murder her. It would wake them up.

I exhaled, "You're lucky the kids are fast asleep. Otherwise I would have cursed you out so loud, the whole world would be covering their ears in shock."

"I can only imagine the phrases you would come up with." Erwin stirred his coffee with right index finger, "But, seeing as how you hesitated to say bullshit a few minutes earlier, I can tell that these kids are really influencing you."

"He's had 'em for two years." Hanji chipped in, "I'd be surprised if he was still the same."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned, a little offended.

"Well, some things are still the same." Erwin smirked, "He still gets upset over the littlest things."

"Ain't that the truth." Hanji nodded.

"I'm right here bastards." I muttered, shaking my head. Before they could continue teasing me, a door upstairs creaked open. I stood up and walked out of the living room to look at the landing. Standing there, a few inches short of the railing was my oldest son Eld.

"Daddy?" He rubbed his eyes, "Daddy where are you?"

"Right here son." I started up the stairs and when I reached the top, I scooped him into my arms, "What's wrong?"

"Daddy I'm hungry." Eld frowned, burying his face in my chest.

I couldn't believe I had forgotten. My conversation with Hanji and Erwin had led me to stray from my most important task: making breakfast for my kids.

I entered Gunther's room to find he was already awake, in the middle of getting out of bed. Holding him by the hand, I exited the room.

"Don't worry Eld, Gunther," I took them downstairs with me, "Daddy's gonna whip up something really tasty so you just wait here with Aunt Hanji and Uncle Erwin, alright?"

"Okay." They both nodded, climbing onto Erwin's lap, "Hi Uncle!"

"Hello there boys!" Erwin smiled down at him, "How was your sleep?"

I tuned out their conversation as I made my way to the kitchen. What could I make for them? Well, for my two boys.

Eld and Gunther were the only ones old enough to eat food on their own, the three babies would live off the bottle formula.

"It has to be something quick..." I muttered to myself, as I opened the fridge, scouring the different shelves for something to toss into a pan. "What cooks fast?"

"Egg? Pancake?" Hanji popped up above the fridge door, "You're making for me too, right?"

I clicked my tongue. "I don't have time for your antics Hanji. Tryna whip something up for my boys. I'd appreciate it if you restrained from distracting me."

"I won't distract you." Hanji lied to herself, "I can help! What do Eld and Gunther like to eat?"

"Anything I give them, so your cooking won't be necessary." I shut the fridge and went into the pantry.

"Aw come on Levi." Hanji followed me into the food store, "I won't mess anything up, I swear. They're practically my kids too."

I gave her a look and she tilted her head, stuck out her lip and pouted like a begging dog. I had to give in. "Fine." I threw my hands in the air, "But if any of my boys start coughing, you're in for some deep crap Zoe."

"There you go with the censoring." She rolled her eyes, "They're not even within three feet of us. Curse a little. It's good for the soul."

"Good for whose soul? Yours or mine?" I scoffed, "Whatever, just hand me those three baby bottles in the fridge."

Hanji complied, handing them to me with care and I popped them into the microwave for a solid thirty seconds. By the time I took them out, Hanji already had a plate of scrambled eggs and was working on waffles.

"Whoa." I looked at her in awe, "How'd you do that so fast?"

"Turned the fire up as high as possible and flipped away." She smiled, "Who made all their own breakfasts in college anyway?"

"You did." I mumbled, "Can I trust you to bring out two appropriate plates and set the table?"

"Of course honey bunny." Hanji said in a cartoon-ish way, "Want me to mop the floor too?"

I shoved her lightly, "Get out of here." With the three baby bottles in hand, I quietly went up the stairs and into my room. The first to be fed was Oluo.

I gently woke him up and lifted him into my arms. He started to wail, which disturbed Petra and Eren, but as soon as I put the tip to his mouth, his cries ceased.

"There you go." I said to him, "Drink up." Once he had filled up to his heart's content, I wiped his mouth with a paper towel and set him back down in his crib. He was now up and active, smiling at me as he jammed his fingers in his mouth. Next was Petra.

Out of all my infants, when it came to feeding, I liked Petra the best. She didn't cry when she was woken up, she ate silently and she never gave me any trouble.

The downside was Petra could be starving and wouldn't complain. I had to set a timer to remind myself every six hours to give her something to eat.

She always had her eyes shut while drinking, which was a change, compared to my other kids. They always had their eyes wide open, as if looking at me would make their food taste any better. But Petra, she was calm and relaxed.

Feeding her took twenty to thirty minutes, while the others wolfed theirs down in ten.

As soon as she finished, I put her back in her crib and she went back to sleep.

Last, but not least, I picked up my youngest infant Eren. He was a rare one, that was for sure. A cross between the loud Oluo and the calm Petra, feeding him could be as easy as pie but also more difficult than solving a Rubik's Cube.

As I lifted him out of his crib and onto my lap, he cooed as he looked at me and I knew today would be one of those calm days.

To my surprise, he attempted to hold the bottle on his own, although his hands couldn't support the weight so I held it to his mouth. He finished quickly and burped, some of the milk dripping down his cheek.

"Come on Eren." I used my hand to wipe the drool, "Swallow."

He laughed at my apparent disgust at the stain and I sat him down in his own crib. His was right next to Oluo's, so the two communicated and interacted through the bars, speaking in whatever language babies spoke in.

I quickly ran to the bathroom and washed my hands furiously. You'd think that a germaphobe like me would be used dirt, what with the kids and all, but nope.

When I returned to the room, Oluo and Eren were engaged in a game I called, "Who Can Get Their Head Stuck The Farthest." Quickly, I removed Eren from between the crib bars and held him to my chest.

Lifting Oluo up, I set him down outside of his crib and he teetered back and forth before finally steadying. As he placed one foot in front of the other, he looked back at me to make sure I was watching.

I nodded, "Go ahead buddy." I lifted Petra from her crib and held her in my free arm as I addressed Oluo, "I'm watching you."

The three of us carefully made our way down the stairs, Oluo taking extra care to stay by the railing, just as I'd taught him.

When we reached downstairs, I set both Petra and Eren down on the floor, allowing them to crawl to Erwin, who was happy to greet them.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Erwin smiled, "Wow Levi, at this rate I'll be a great father without having any kids."

"Oh shut up." I rolled my eyes, the corners of my lips threatening to twitch up into a smile.

I reentered the kitchen to find Hanji sitting at the table with Eld and Gunther, chatting with them about something funny, as they both laughed while they stuffed cut pieces of pancake into their mouths.

The way Hanji looked with her back to me, hair shaking ever so lightly as she turned her head from each child, engaging in conversations with them, it felt...natural.

She used her hand to wipe away a bit of pancake stuck to the corner of Eld's mouth, for which he smiled at.

"Thank you Aunty Hanji." Eld remembered to mind his manners.

I was now peeking in from the kitchen doorway, interested as to how my boys interacted with other adults when I was not around.

"Me too!" Gunther demanded, "My face too!"

"Okay, okay!" Hanji laughed, tearing off a sheet from the paper towel roll. She dabbed around Gunther's lips before finally using it to swipe at his mouth.

"Thank you!" Gunther grinned cheekily.

"You're welcome, both of you." Hanji folded her hands under her cheeks, "Does Levi do this too?"

"Sometimes, usually we don't have time to eat breakfast." Eld looked down.

"Mm." Gunther nodded in agreement, his eyes drooping like they usually did when he was sad, "When Daddy went away for a week to Hamamama…Hamamama-"

"Hamamatsu." Eld helped him out.

"There," Gunther nodded, "He asked if I wanted anything and I asked for a Mommy but he said he couldn't get me that."

"Well, maybe one of these days I'll be your Mommy." Hanji smiled, tilting her head as she ruffled their head, "So make sure to eat lots and grow strong, I won't tolerate any slacking from you two."

"Okay!" The two said in unison.

I'd heard enough, "How's everything in here boys?" I asked as I officially entered the kitchen, "You already got something to eat?"

"Daddy!" Gunther pointed excitedly, "Aunty Hanji says she's gonna be our Mommy!"

"Did she now?" I turned to her, raising an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that Hanji?"

"Oh, you know, whenever you get called out for work in another town, I'll come watch the house and we can be a family." She did not make eye contact with me as she said this.

Well, at first I'd suspected her of plotting some kind of prank, and though I was still wary of her due to the lack of eye contact, I dismissed my suspicions.

"Fine by me." I shrugged, taking a seat diagonally to her right, "Any leftovers?"

"I made more." Hanji stood up, going over to the stove only to return with a plate full of pancakes, "Help yourself."

"Daddy, you didn't run off to work today!" Eld told me, eyes shining in realization, "This is just like a normal breakfast."

"Yeah." I nodded my head as I cut into the warm pancakes, "A normal breakfast."

Hey! A fresh cover for a fresh start! I've had all summer to get chapters ready so I hope to have chapters published every week!