Together Again

Chapter 2: The First Birthday

It was March and signs of spring were beginning to show. The grass was starting to come in green again, birds were beginning to fly in from the south, and the first spring buds were emerging, although those were from some of the hardier plants admittedly.

"Come on Levi, you can do it," Carla said, staring deeply into Levi's eyes, "Say it now; 'mama.'" Grisha laughed from beside her, "What are you talking about, he's obviously going to say 'papa' first, just you watch!"

Carla playfully smacked Grisha and rolled her eyes, "Yeah right Grisha, keep on fooling yourself. Why don't you go get Levi's bottle? It's almost time for him to eat after all." Grisha snorted, "You just want a few more moments with him to see if he says 'mama' first," but Grisha turned to the fridge anyways and got out the bottle that Carla had prepared half an hour ago. He grabbed the green-tinted bottle from the fridge and handed it to Levi.

"I suppose we should start weaning him eventually," Grisha said, "After all, he's almost six months. That's when most people start weaning their children... at least I think they do." Carla nodded in agreement, "We can start tomorrow then."

They watched as Levi picked the handled bottle up and began to drink the pseudo-mother's milk that the pediatrics people had advised them to get. They had already started working on getting Levi to eat solid foods; he certainly wasn't a picky eater for sure.

"Well Carla" Grisha said softly as they watched Levi drink, "Maybe in a year or two we can try and get Levi a little brother or sister…" Carla no-so-discreetly stepped on his foot, making Grisha wince. "How about we get married first and then we can start talking about babies." Grisha smiled and his wince eased as Carla lifted her foot from his. "Sounds like a plan darling."

Carla turned to Grisha, smiling gently as she looked up at his eyes. "Sometimes it amazes me how your intellect is so high in some areas yet completely lacking in others." Grisha frowned, "I can't help that I never found it necessary to watch non-documentary movies while I was in med school!" Carla rolled her eyes, "Yes, but that was quickly fixed."

Grisha smiled and lowered his head until his lips brushed Carla's forehead, lingering there for a moment before moving to her eyes, then to her nose, and finally to her mouth. Their mouths moved slowly against one another's; it was simply a kiss of love and affection, not white-hot desire. Having Levi in the room helped Carla and Grisha learn how to keep things PG and under when around him.

"Eren," the voice was new to Carla and Grisha, and while it was soft, it seemed to lack the childish pronunciation they had expected. Both turned to Levi, who was staring off into space at the beige kitchen walls. "Eren," he said again, a word so simple yet brimming with so many emotions that Carla and Grisha blinked in confusion, first at Levi and then at each other.

Levi turned his head back towards Carla and Grisha and he smiled; a broad, genuinely happy smile that could brighten the room in an instant. Both smiled back at him and Grisha swept him up, tossing the boy carefully in the air, "Eren, eh?" Grisha said with a grin. "Maybe you'll have a little brother Eren one of these years, right Carla?"

July was unusually hot and dry; the grass was starting to turn brown and there were droughts cropping up across Europe. Thankfully, a break seemed to be coming soon because some of the reporters had been talking about a forming hurricane off of the coast of Great Britain.

Carla gently held Levi's hands as she led him around the living room. He was still getting used to walking, but he was a swift learner, although it could have just been the stubborn mindset that the child had. Carla slowly let her hands slip from his and Levi stood in the center of the carpeted living room, standing more or less steady on his own.

Levi looked up at her, his gray-blue eyes so focused, so clear. Carla couldn't help but wonder sometimes if a child's eyes were supposed to be quite so focused, so… empty. Grisha said that it was probably trauma from the death of his parents; trauma could affect anyone of any age and mental state.

Carla took Grisha's word on the matter and kept on smiling and loving her adopted son, whether he smiled and cried or not. Levi looked around the living room for a moment before taking slow, wobbling steps over to where Carla had sat down. He kept going till he was standing in front of her, his small hands holding onto her knees as he looked up at Carla.

He pulled the green pacifier out of his mouth, "Mama, where Eren?" Carla smiled at Levi and picked him up gently, setting him down on her knee. "There's nobody named Eren," she said in amusement as she gently bounced him up and down. He blinked, his big gray eyes looking despondent, as if he had been expecting a 'yes' instead. Carla smiled softly, you're a strange one Levi, but I still love you.

October brought with it the cold and the ground was frosty on the morning of the third. There was no sign of snow yet, but one never knew when the weather would be just right. While outside might have been cold and windy, with orange and gold leaves being tossed through the air, inside was warm and cozy, filled with the rich scents of hot chocolate and cinnamon.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Levi, happy birthday to you," Carla and Grisha sang as they watched the blue-and-white candle slowly melt, the orange-gold flame licking at the air. They blew out the candle for Levi and cut him a small piece of the small square cake, taking turns feeding bites to him.

They laughed as he got icing on his thin, pale cheeks and even in his black hair, which was due for a trim anytime. Levi smiled with them, even laughing when Grisha stuck his finger into the icing and swiped it across Carla's face, which led to a playful shoving match and Carla smearing icing on Grisha's glasses. Levi smiled as he watched the two, laughter bubbling at his lips. This was noted by the ever-watchful eyes of Carla and Grisha and it made their smiles grow even bigger. Perhaps Levi was finally starting to open up.

When Carla went to tuck Levi in that night she pecked him on the forehead. "Goodnight Levi dear," she whispered softly, "We love you." Levi blinked up at her, his gray eyes now dark from the lack of light aside from the small nightlight. "Love you mommy." Carla smiled and stroked his hair for a few moments before quietly leaving the room and cracking the door as she left. Levi stared at the door for a few moments before looking at the ceiling, "Goodnight Eren."

When will I see you again? It's been so long already.

Chapter 2: End

Wow. I'm actually kind of shocked at how I'm already getting responses and it's been less than 24 hours. Now I normally don't upload chapters on back-to-back days but that one was kind of short (don't worry they'll get longer), and I had already written this chapter. Sometimes I'm a little worried that everybody is gonna hate what I write so I spend ages on it.

Aaaaaanyways; you're obviously noting the time skips that I'm putting in. That's going to happen for a few chapters and then the skips will start closing in on each other and the chapters will be longer.

Also, I'm a bit clumsy with writing a baby's progression (probably because I don't have any younger siblings and because I'm a bit young to bear children).

But yes, many thanks to all of you wonderful readers, and I sincerely hope that you continue to enjoy my story! The next chapter will be up sometime in the next few days.