Her mouth pops open in a nice little yawn with soft petal lips, and Gamora's heart clenches because even their daughter's yawns sound cute.
She's two days old, and all she does is sleep (which Gamora totally understands). Sleep and eat, really. Or mindlessly smack her lips in her sleep, like she's doing right now. She's so cute it's almost unbearable.
Gamora is an assassin, she does not squeal. But she's come awfully close just looking down at her child's sleeping face.
To be fair, Peter has squealed many times (not just at their cute daughter, but throughout the many years she's known him). But yes, their daughter is no exception for his propensity to make high pitched sounds. The past two days have been filled with smiles and laughter and the occasional squealing (the last one is always from Peter. Like she said, Gamora does not squeal).
"You look so happy," Peter states almost dreamily from where he's laid out beside her on the bed. She's had this soft smile of wonder on her face ever since their daughter was born, and he's never seen her look more beautiful. He thought he couldn't possibly love her more, but then Elspeth was born, and seeing Gamora cradle their little baby in her arms- it's like falling in love all over again.
She looks up at him and sees her expression mirrored in his. Peter has this dreamy contentment on his face, and she knows exactly how he's feeling. This is unreal. Almost too good to be true.
They are parents, and their daughter is absolutely perfect.
"Have you given any thought? On what you'd like to do with the name Meredith?" She asks him, worming her finger into their daughter's palm, her face lighting up at the way her tiny green hand grasps in her sleep.
When they decided on naming their daughter Elspeth after Gamora's mother, it was only after Gamora had suggested Meredith for the first name of their as-of-yet unborn daughter. Peter had said that he thought Meredith would be a good middle name, or saving it for the 'next round'. He hadn't told her which he would like to do yet.
But he was 100% sure that Elspeth for the first name was the right choice to go with, and that was only solidified by how Gamora kept saying their daughter's name to her in a sing-song voice, again and again, as she cradled their newborn in her arms. Gamora kept murmuring the name over and over, whispering it like her own personal lullaby as she brushed the full head of hair Elspeth Quill was born with.
"Do you actually wanna do a round two?" Peter asks, somewhat surprised. After the two days of labor Gamora had to go through (that she made it through like a champ, by the way) he wasn't so certain she'd know so soon that she'd want to have more than one child.
"Maybe," Gamora says with a sly smile.. "Possibly. Eventually. Maybe. Definitely. Yes. In a few years. At least two or three, but… yes…"
Her smile only grew, looking down at her baby's sleeping face.
How could she not when she knew what their perfect little family felt like?
"So would you like to save the name for a little bit more down the line?" She turns back to him.
Peter thinks for a moment, then nods. "Yeah, I think Meredith is a better sibling name than middle name for Elspeth."
"I agree. Two pods of peas," she says, and Peter chuckles at her butchering of earth idioms.
He scoots closer to her then, laying his head on her shoulder, just to get closer, because Gamora had totally been hogging their baby for hours.
He can't bare to try and lift her up after she's fallen asleep in Gamora's arms, no matter how much he wants to hold their baby girl. Elspeth just seems to conk out after snack time, and unfortunately Peter doesn't have boobs, so when their daughter is hungry and wants to nurse, and then immediately falls asleep in the arms of whoever's holding her, those arms tend to be Gamora's.
He's not really complaining though. Cause then he gets to snuggle up next to Gamora and wrap one arm around the love of his life, and wrap the other around the baby girl bundled up in her arms and he gets to hold them both at the same exact time. So yeah, life's pretty good.
"I would like to see a smiling Meredith Quill one day," Gamora confesses, feeling it must be a beautiful sight, if the smile of her son was anything to go by. There are a lot of things Peter has gotten from his mother- his love of music, his propensity for dancing, his kind heart, and Gamora suspects his smile is more of the same.
Peter swallows, his throat suddenly thick, cause he couldn't agree more. He'd love to see that again.
Gamora places a soft kiss on the crown of his head, and he tightens his arm around her.
"Is Meredith a strictly female name on earth?" She asks out of idle curiosity.
Peter just shrugs- he's never really thought about it before. "I unno. The only person I knew named Meredith was my mom. Yeah, I think it was a mostly girl name."
"Oh well," she shrugs in return (but only the shoulder he wasn't resting on). "Even if that's so and our next child is a boy, we can still give it to him. No one will know in space," Gamora says, winking at him like it was their little secret.
Peter couldn't help but laugh, burying his face in Gamora's neck. Things couldn't get more perfect.
When he hears babbling, Peter immediately pops his head up, smiling so wide that their daughter was awake.
"Gimme gimme gimme," he says, already grabbing for her. "You've been hogging her all morning."
He's been waiting for her to wake up ever since she last fell asleep, cause he couldn't risk moving her when she was just a sleeping little angel in her mama's arms. But she's been asleep for hours, even though she slept all night, cause all she does is eat and sleep and smack her little baby lips and look adorable.
Gamora affectionately rolls her eyes as she passes their daughter over to him.
That's what the past two days have been. Them mostly laying in bed and passing their daughter back and forth.
"She always wants her papa when she wakes up anyways," Gamora mutters, jokingly begrudgingly. Peter absolutely glows at the child in his arms, and she doesn't have a word for how heartwarming the sight is.
Peter grins, making a happy face at the wide eyed infant in his arms as he teases Gamora, "Yeah, cause I've got the voice of an angel and can sing her back to sleep."
"Do you think her skin is always gonna be this light? Or that it'll get darker?" Peter asks idly, brushing his fingertips along Elspeth's arms as if he needs to be in constant contact to reassure himself that this is real, that she's real.
While their daughter was much greener than he was, she wasn't the same tone as her mother.
No, Gamora's skin color was green like the typical depiction of green alien space babes from Terran pop culture. Their daughter's skin was a pale green, almost like a fairy. She looks ethereal.
"I think it's likely. If her skin is anything like mine, it will darken with exposure to the stars," Gamora responds, equally taken with Elspeth's unique coloring. She's made of beautiful shades, like a mix between her and Peter, skin tone, hair color (definitely brunette, but much darker than Peter's). She has Peter's eyes, though. They're beautiful.
"Me too!" He exclaims. "Oh, I wonder if she'll get red like me if she gets a sunburn."
"With my genes, ultraviolet radiation won't be a problems," Gamora proclaims quite proudly. Totally bragging.
"She looks so much like you," Peter breathes in wonder, surprised by how much he can recognize Gamora in their daughter's features and even mannerisms. "Like the way her mouth pops open as she snores when she's asleep- that's 100% you all the way," he tells her, and Gamora laughs.
"Well, she has inherited your Terran ticklish response," Gamora smiles, because she thoroughly enjoys the way their daughter squeals with laughter when tickled. Little baby laughter and little baby smiles have become the light of her life these past few days. All she wants to do is hear their daughter laugh.
"I don't know where the heck that nose came from," Peter says all of the sudden, pursing his lips and mock serious.
"Yes, it is disconcerting," Gamora agrees with a straight face.
It's about 0.5 seconds before they both break out laughing.
When both parents get the giggles out, Gamora tips her head onto his shoulder.
"She's so beautiful, Peter," she murmurs, fawning over their daughter in his arms.
"Yeah, she is," Peter can't help but smile, nodding his head. 100%. No doubt about it. "She's perfect."
AN: This follow up has been requested in reviews, hope you liked it!