Since the car ride, Zoro was actually awake for a few short periods of each day. Each time Mihawk found him awake he would quickly feed him .
Though he was absent for most of Perona's early years, he managed to see a few times how his wife fed the bottle to Perona. The task didn't look that hard ,but for some reason whenever he picked up Zoro ,the child would scowl and squirm, making the feeding almost impossible. That was his situation right now.
"Hold still Roronoa." He growled at the infant. His addressing his son by his middle name was becoming a habit. He remembered his wife saying that middle names were the names parents called their child when they were upset with them. He had been calling his son Roronoa for a few days now.
The main reason why he was upset was because Zoro wouldn't hold still. Right now he was holding his son and trying to feed him some formula. The baby would constantly move in his arms and Mihawk was terrified that he would drop him.
He stared down at his son with sharp golden eyes and said in an affirmative tone "Roronoa you shall hold still and drink this bottle."
He was a little surprised when brown eyes glared back at him. It was rare occasion when someone met eye contact with him. He was secretly glad that both his children were capable of not only meeting eye-contact but also glaring their eyes at him.
Before he could continue his thoughts, a loud and long knocking erupted from the door. Only one person would come to his house unannounced. He hoped the man would think he was not home and would go away. But the sound of a key being inserted deteriorated his hopes. He didn't know even know how the man had gotten a key to his house, but now he was here. Mihawk hoped he wouldn't be too annoying this time.
"Hawky I'm HOME!" The man hollered from the front door.
"Oh no." The father groaned.
Before he could say another complaint, the doors to the bedroom flew open and let in a red haired young man. With a wide grin he looked at his friend and said "Well look at that handsome fellow right there, oh and his father is here too!" The man laughed at his own joke and strolled his way to his silent friend's side. He peered down at the small body and with the large grin still on his face said in thrilled voice "Hawky can I hold him?"
"He doesn't like to be held, he doesn't even like it when I hold him." He muttered with an annoyed tone. He looked at Shanks and to his horror the man was giving him a look that made his stomach churn. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm giving you a puppy eye stare, so I can hold the baby." Shanks explained in an exasperated tone.
Hawk stared at the twenty-one year old and wondered how the hell they became friends. Before he could think too long, he cursed and readjusted the holding on his son when he started to furiously squirm. Shanks watched the whole time and when the baby finally stopped squirming, he held out his hands.
"I promise I won't drop him, I only dropped Luffy the first couple times." The man promised with a smile on his face. The smile only got bigger when Mihawk quickly held the baby to his chest and away from Shanks offering hands.
"I'm just kidding….kinda." Shanks muttered the last part.
Seeing as his chance of holding the new baby was diminishing, he decided to take matters in his own hand. "You're holding the kid wrong."
"No I'm not." Mihawk tried to deny the fact but Zoro chose that moment to squirm. The father quickly changed his holding and his face visibly paled when for a fraction of a second he thought he would drop his son.
Shanks decided at that moment to intervene and carefully picked the infant out of the father's hands. Mihawk watched the entire time and his eyes caught every movement the idiot made. Shanks held the child's body with one arm while his other hand kept a constant support on his head.
To Mihawk's horror, Zoro immediately stopped squirming. He opened his eyes and they roamed the room until they landed on Shanks. The redhead smiled and looked at Mihawk with an arrogant smile on his face.
The father ignored the smile and instead watched the way Shanks arms were positioned. When he was sure he memorized the holding, he carefully took Zoro back into his arms.
"There you go, much better holding."
Mihawk ignored the comment because immediately Zoro clenched his eyes closed and started to squirm.
"What am I doing wrong now?" Mihawk exclaimed.
Shanks looked at the father and son and with a hand on his chin he took a few steps back. He stared at the two until he snapped his fingers and said "I know what's wrong." He paused for a few moments and with a nod of approval he continued "You have no confidence."
"What did you say?" Mihawk growled. He kept a firm hold on Zoro so he wouldn't punch the idiot in the face.
"What I mean is that when you're holding your kid, you're unsure of yourself. I'm pretty sure your kid can sense that and its making him uncomfortable." Shanks explained. To prove his theory he took the child in his arms and both men saw the difference. Zoro looked relaxed in Shank's arms while in his father's he looked uncomfortable.
"See you have to be confident in yourself when you hold him" Shanks said as he gave back Zoro to his father. "Just remember that this is your kid and while he's in your arms he is the safest he could be"
Mihawk listened to his friend and while he made a replica hold, he reminded to himself that he was strong. He was a man of strength and he would always protect his family. No danger would come to his family because if he was capable of stopping that danger he would. If he wasn't capable of stopping it, then he would die trying.
"There you go"
Shanks words snapped him back to reality and he saw that Zoro was lying still. The baby was staring at him with a curious gaze. When he returned the gaze, a smile spread across Zoro's face. Mihawk gave out a short laugh and he gave a small smile to his son.
Though he wouldn't ever admit it to anyone, this was a proud moment for him. He was sure he would always remember this moment.
He was about to turn and thank Shanks for the help but a weight on his shoulder told him that the man's head was leaning against it. The redhead looked down at the baby and said with a laugh "Man your kid has some freaky hair"
A/N: So I took note of Pandore's advice and added the "?". I don't usually do them because to me they always look odd but if a reviewer finds them a tad disturbing then I shall add them! Also I love endings like the this one because prefer funny abrupt endings.
Thank you to everyone who has alerted and favorite this story. Also thank you to Kitsumi-san, Pavelius, Naomi-Nami-16, Pandore, Princess Darkcloud, trunksfan002, MissDilemma, KyokoRenea, triple baka for the reviews! I treasure each and every one of them!
Alright so in this story Mihawk was absent during Perona's baby years making his adjustment to a single father EVEN MORE difficult! HAHAHA alright please review and now I'm going to eat a cookiebrownie!
