Chapter 10: Rogue/Sting – "Small"

A/N: Happy birthday, ThisGoldenAfternoon! (No fainting now, lovely *passes the smelling salts*)

Rogue can't believe how tiny this precious new life is. - The purest domestic fluff I have ever written. People were talking about parental FT headcanons and I just couldn't NOT do this.

"…so tiny," Rogue murmured.

Sting stepped into the room, beaming ear to ear. Rogue had this different way of talking to Ryuusei—already his parenting voice.

Rogue looked up as Sting entered, holding the infant up to 'stand' shakily on his knees.

"He's actually pretty big," Sting said, coming to stand by his chair. "For his age."

"Then all babies are small," Rogue said.

Sting chuckled, staring down into the tiny bemused face. "You haven't been around many babies, have you?"

"You know I haven't," Rogue grunted.

Kneeling, Sting kissed his head. "You make a great dad."

Rogue hummed. Then he sniffed.

"You smell different."

"New shampoo. 'Sunset masculinity' or some shi—ah, I mean, thing. I couldn't find the usual stuff at the store."

"I should never leave the shopping to you," Rogue laughed. "Also, Sunset Masculinity is the gayest-sounding shampoo."

"Well, I am pretty gay."

"Just a little gay."

"Eh, I married you. I think that makes me full-gay."

Rogue laughed.

Ryuusei kicked errantly and Rogue handed him over into Sting's outstretched fingers. Sting turned the baby around so they could both watch Rogue rise and stretch; he looked quite handsome doing it—since Sting was full-gay, he was allowed to appreciate that.

When Rogue yawned, Ryuusei's head swiveled to take in the room with the expression of one who is constantly startled. Sting figured that babies probably were constantly startled.

"What?" Rogue asked, looking over with eyebrows raised.

"Nothing." Sting grinned. "You know, I think he's gonna be like you. Contemplative. Just don't get moody, Ryuu, okay?"

Sting bobbed lightly back and forth, and Ryuusei waved a fist.

"See? He's already quiet like you are. And he watches everything."

Rogue snorted.

"You're ridiculous, Sting." He kissed Sting, then kissed their son. "You can be whoever you want to be, lovey. We'll love you regardless."

He straightened, blushing at Sting's knowing look—Rogue had used The Voice again. "I'm going to work out. See you in a little bit?"

"Sounds good, love. We'll have fun together until then. Won't we?" Sting jiggled Ryuusei some more and got a "gmmmng" in response.

"See, that's a smile," Rogue said affectionately, letting Ryuusei grab his finger. He gave Sting a grin. "That's more like you."

"You smile too," Sting pouted. "All the time."

"You only think that because I smile whenever you're around," Rogue murmured, blushing.

Sting let out a happy laugh. "Go work out, you."

Rogue left, Sting kicking him teasingly in the rear, then Sting looked down at the warmth against his chest. He liked the reassurance of that soft weight.

Ryuusei was still staring around with wide eyes, head bobbing. Yep, definitely like Rogue.

"C'mere, love. Let's go see what we can make for brunch. Food, hey?" He awkwardly signed food left-handed; Ryuu watched and then continued his survey of the room. Sting bounced him. "You'll care more about communicating once you realize our understanding means you get fed faster."

He began pulling things out of the cupboard, feeling Ryuusei's weight gradually more and more in his arm. Damn, this was why Rogue cooked with Ryuu strapped on his back.

"On the other hand, Ryuu, you are not yet a year old, so I will give you grace for not having the frontal lobe capacities necessary for complex communication." He sifted through recipes—unlike Rogue, he could not make pancakes from memory. "Now that I think about it, your temporal lobe is fully developed, yeah? So understanding should be developing fine; it's language production that has to catch up. I think. I should ask Freed and Rufus."

He'd put Ryuusei on the counter as he spoke, holding him up with one hand, and now had all the baby's concerned attention.

"I know. I'm such a nerd. It's okay, you can say it." He winked. "Actually, you can't say it, but you will soon enough. All too often, I'm sure. It'll be, Daaaaad, you're such a nerd, stop embaaaarrassing me. Wanna know how I know? Because I was a kid once too. Hard as that is to believe."

Ryuu made an unintelligible sound, then broke into a toothless smile.

"Right." Sting grinned back. "I completely agree. Let's make pancakes for Daddy-Rogue."

A/N: Of course I had to name their son after a dragon. ^u^