"DADDY! Daddy, Daddy, DADDYYYYYYYYYY!"

The child ran down the stairs as fast as his little legs could carry him, making a sharp turn once he landed at the bottom and rushing towards the kitchen. At last, he spotted his daddy, who was standing over the stove stirring their breakfast in a large pot. Eren turned at the sound of the excited voice, and he grinned as he knelt down to swipe the child up into a big hug, complete with plenty of kisses.

"Good morning, baby!" he greeted between those kisses.

The boy giggled and squealed, wrapping his arms around Eren's neck. "Good morning, Daddy! Happy Birthday!"

Eren couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips, but he quickly went back to showering his son with kisses and the occasional little nip at one of his chubby cheeks. The boy just hugged tighter, now kicking his legs on both Eren's sides.

Soon Eren stopped his onslaught of affection, and the child calmed down, resting his head on Eren's shoulder while still hanging onto his neck. Eren turned back to stirring the food, a pleasant smile now gracing his features. "Thank you, baby, what a greeting."

The boy giggled quietly as he felt a sense of pride well up within him. "I was looking for Papa so we could greet you together, but I can't find him."

"Have you tried using the magnifying glass?"

"Not funny!"

The two looked at each other with serious eyes until the boy's offended facade broke and restrained laughter left his lips. "Okay, maybe a little funny."

Eren's grin returned. "Papa actually went out early this morning. He said he had an errand to run before the day got started. Heh, even though he's all better now, I can't help but worry a little still. Or maybe I just want him all to myself on my special day."

"Is he gonna give you a special birthday kiss when he gets back?"

"I hope so!" And maybe some other special birthday thing later…

As if magically summoned, the front door opened and Levi walked into the house, carrying a hefty bundle at his side. "Good morning, Papa!" he heard his son say, and he looked up with a smile.

"Good morning," he replied, walking into the kitchen and holding out the bundle for Eren. "Happy Birthday."

Eren grinned and set their son down so he could kiss Levi and get a better look at what the shorter man was holding. His eyes widened when he saw the large bouquet of colorful flowers wrapped in old newspapers. "For me? Really?" he asked, disbelief in his voice and on his face. "Oh my gosh, Levi, you didn't have to do that. This must have cost a fortune since the wildflowers aren't blooming yet."

Levi shrugged. "You're worth it."

A giddy feeling of love burst throughout Eren's chest, and he immediately swooped down to capture his husband's lips again. They both smiled into the kiss when they heard their son giggle, so Eren quickly tipped Levi over backwards as if they had just finished a ballroom dance number and kissed him even more passionately. Their son squealed and hid his blushing face behind his little hands, peeking between his fingers every few seconds.

Levi broke away first. "Okay, that's enough, birthday brat," he chided, gently smacking the side of Eren's head and standing up straight. "I gotta put these in water. Sorry I wasn't here to make you breakfast."

"Oh no, it's fine!" Eren replied as he reached up into the cabinet and brought a vase down for his husband. "I don't mind. I mean, I can cook and all-"

Levi shook his head as he filled the vase. "Nah, that won't do. I'll make you whatever you want for dinner."

Eren's face brightened a little. "…Beef and vegetable soup?"

"Whatever you want."

"You're the greatest!"

"You're damn right I am."

"Meat for dinner!" their son cheered, bouncing in his spot. "Can we play until then, Daddy?"

"Daddy's going out with Aunt Mikasa for lunch today," Levi called from the dining room as he set the vase on the table. "He goes out with her for lunch every year, remember?"

"But we'll play until she comes to pick me up!" Eren agreed, taking the pot off the shove and carrying it into the dining room. "After I get back though, we have to take care of something. Then we'll play again until dinner."

The boy looked at his parents, confused. "What do we have to do?"

Eren grinned. "Take a picture."

Around noon there was a knock on the door. Eren got up from playing with his son in the middle of the living room floor to answer it, smiling when he saw his sister. Mikasa threw her arms around him and smiled back as she felt her brother embrace her. "Oh, when was the last time I saw you that wasn't work-related?" she asked. "Connie and Sasha's wedding?"

"Too long," Eren replied, pulling away so he could pull his spring jacket from the closet.

Mikasa looked into the living room and smiled slightly. "How are you feeling, Levi?"

"Much better, thanks," the older man replied, looking up from his book. "Aside from one little switch-up incident, Eren did a good job taking care of me."

Mikasa suddenly frowned. "Did it leave scars?"

Levi nodded. "That's nothing new though. Oh, and…thank you. You saved my life."

The woman's smile returned. "As long as you're okay, that's all that matters."

Eren smiled at seeing the two of them get along. After all, Mikasa's first impression of Levi hadn't exactly led to a rousing endorsement of the captain being put in charge of keeping Eren under control. She had also been the first person Eren told when he realized he had feelings for the older man, and her initial reaction had been an odd mixture of confusion, happiness, and a strong desire to protest. However, she had just wrapped her arms around her brother and said, "If he makes you happy, then that makes me happy." And the relationship, Eren guessed, had grown from there.

"Alright, let's go," Eren said, and Mikasa stepped outside. He looked back at his family and added, "I'll be back later, around the same time the photographer is supposed to arrive."

Levi nodded. "Have fun."

"Bye-bye, Daddy!"

"See ya!" Eren waved to his husband and son and then closed the door behind him.

After a few minutes of quiet, the boy grew tired of playing alone. He didn't mind it, but he much preferred to play with his daddy since Eren was such a great playmate. The boy sighed and set his toy soldiers aside, turning to Levi to see him fully absorbed in his book. The child hesitated for a moment, not wanting to annoy his papa, but his curiosity was eating away at him.

"Papa?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are we taking a picture today?"

Levi didn't look up from his book. "It's Daddy's birthday present. He wants to take a family portrait."

"Oh."

Silence.

"Papa?"

"Hmm?"

"When I found your letters that one time, there was another box near them, but I didn't look inside it. What was in that other box?"

Now Levi looked up, his face slightly paler than usual. He was quiet for a few seconds before saying, "You found that box, too?"

A nod.

"I'm guessing you want to know what's inside it."

Another nod.

Levi sighed and stood, setting his book down. "Alright, I guess there's no point in hiding it. C'mere, let me show you." He opened the cabinet underneath the nearby table that held the two boxes. He pulled the mystery box out just as his son came to stand by his side and opened it to reveal a paper-wrapped package. His son watched carefully as he carefully set the paper aside and held up the box's contents.

Photographs.

"These are the photos we've taken over the years," Levi explained. "Photos are expensive so Daddy and I have only had a few taken at major points in our life together. Here's the first one." He passed it to his son, whose eyes immediately lit up.

"Is this…?"

Levi nodded. "Our wedding photo."

A huge smile spread across the boy's face as he noticed every little detail the picture held. It was better than what he had imagined. His daddy and papa were standing with their bodies facing one another and their heads tilted towards the camera. Their hands were held up between them, their rings visible and shining. Eren was dressed in his black suit with a white shirt, and Levi was dressed his white suit with a black shirt. Both were wearing their flower crowns, and both looked like they couldn't be happier.

But one little thing was bothering the child. "Papa, why didn't you just show me this picture when you and Daddy were telling me about your wedding day?"

Levi flushed slightly and hoped the boy wouldn't notice. "Well, we were at Uncle Connie and Aunt Sasha's wedding, remember?" he asked back. "Besides, you were already asleep by the time we made it home, and it was past your bedtime, so we weren't going to wake you up."

The boy shrugged slightly, somewhat accepting the answer, and then smiled. "You and Daddy look just like how I imagined you did," he said. "Better even."

Levi also wore a gentle smile. "Thank you." He pulled out the next photo, this one more wide than it was long. "This one is from our first anniversary. Your daddy wanted a big party, so we invited all our friends and took one big group photo."

"Hee, everyone looks so silly," the child giggled as he held the picture up.

And it was true. No one in the picture was standing normally, and a few weren't even perfectly clear. Sasha, Connie, and Ymir had all moved, making them appear blurry. Jean was pulling one of his stupid facial expressions while Reiner was laughing. Bertholdt and Annie were on the opposite side, the former looking distressed while the latter looked completely uninterested. Mikasa's look mirrored Annie's. Historia was trying to get Ymir under control. Next to them was Hanji wearing a big grin. Eren and Levi were in the center of it all, the brunet trying to smile for the camera while the raven looked like he was about to kill someone.

In short, they all looked exactly how they usually looked.

"We wanted a nice, normal picture, but we knew there was no way we'd get all of them to stay still at once," Levi explained. "So this was close enough."

The boy giggled again and handed the photo back. "What about that one?" He pointed to the last photo in the pile."

The faint flush returned to Levi's cheeks, and he placed the other two photos back on top of the third one. "Ask Daddy when he gets home."

"But-!"

"Ask Daddy."

And that was that. Levi rewrapped the photos, placed them back in the box, and shut the cabinet.

Eren and Mikasa returned from their lunch about an hour and a half later. "We're back!" Eren announced. By this time, Levi and his son had eaten their own lunch, and they were both calmly sitting back in the living room as if they hadn't moved the whole time.

Levi looked up from his book. "Welcome back. You have a nice lunch?"

Eren nodded. "Yeah, it was good. Oh, um, Mikasa is gonna join us for the photo, okay? I did say I wanted it to be a family portrait after all."

Levi glanced at the woman standing next to his husband, and his eyes narrowed slightly. Mikasa's eyes were slightly pink as if she had been crying, but the smile she wore was genuine. She seemed to be okay overall, but Levi couldn't help but think that her lunch with Eren had been about more than just the man's birthday.

Regardless, Levi shrugged and stood. "Fine by me. The photographer isn't here yet, so we have some time. Make yourself comfortable, Mikasa, I'm going upstairs to change."

"Hmm, thank you," the woman replied, shyly bringing her scarf up over her mouth as she sat down in an empty chair. Levi walked past her and up the stairs just as Eren hung up his coat and started making his way towards the kitchen.

"Wait, Daddy!" the boy called, jumping up and tugging on the end of his shirt. "Papa told me to ask you about something when you came home. There's a picture in the box underneath the cabinet that he wouldn't tell me about. What's it a picture of?"

Eren grinned at the question, piquing both his son's and Mikasa's interests. He walked into the living room, his son tailing close behind, opened the cabinet, took out the box, and unwrapped the photos inside. He set the first two aside and then held up the third one for his son to see. Mikasa angled herself so she could see the photo, too, and, oh, was it a sight to see.

Levi was sitting in a plush armchair holding their son, who couldn't have been more than a week old. Eren was standing, leaning over him, and the two were caught in a loving kiss. The infant in Levi's arms was staring at the two of them, his eyes wide open in wonder.

Eren spoke when the boy did not. "It was actually an accident. Papa wouldn't let me take any photos of him while he was pregnant, so we agreed that we would take a photo after you were born when he had recovered enough. We were supposed to take a normal family portrait, but we ran into a few problems…"

Eren opened the door to the master bedroom and smiled. Levi was sitting up in bed, lovingly cradling and feeding their infant son. Levi seemed at peace, as if this life was the life he had always wanted. The question of how the little boy had become part of his and Eren's lives remained a mystery, but neither parent really cared by this point. Their son was happy, healthy, and adorable, and that was more than perfect.

"Hey," Eren said quietly, not wanting to disturb meal time.

Levi looked up with a tired smile. Neither one had really gotten much sleep over the past week, but, again, neither one really cared. "Hey."

"The photographer will be here in a few minutes," Eren continued, kneeling down next to his husband. "We should get you downstairs."

"Eren, do we really have to do this?" Levi almost whined.

The younger nodded. "I heard that babies grow and change really quickly. He looks different than he did a week ago, and he'll probably look different next week! I want to have a permanent reminder of how we all looked at this point in our lives."

Levi rolled his eyes. "Like a baby, a brat, and a tired mess."

"Oh, come on, you don't look bad."

"Eren…"

"Just the opposite. You look like a papa, and that's the best look you've ever worn."

Levi turned his head towards Eren with a grateful smile, and the two gently pressed their noses together. "When did you learn to say such wonderful things?"

At that moment, the infant pulled away and started making soft whining noises. Meal time was officially over, so Levi propped him up against his towel-covered chest and gently rubbed his back, only stopping when he heard a small burping sound. The infant drooled a little, and Eren quickly wiped the mess away. When he was set, Levi brought him back into his embrace, and the baby's eyes began to close.

"Aw, I wanted his eyes open for the photo," Eren complained quietly.

"I'm just glad he's not crying," Levi sighed. "Alright, help me get a bathrobe on or something. I'm not taking a photo in my pajamas." He handed the infant to Eren and eased himself out of bed. He was still sore a week after giving birth, so he needed his husband's help for even the simplest tasks. Eren didn't mind at all, loving that he could spend so much quality time with his little family.

With his free hand, Eren helped Levi slip the bathrobe on and gently held his husband close to his side. Slowly but surely, they descended the stairs and walked to the living room. Levi sat in one of the plush armchairs and then took the infant back in his arms.

Just then there was a knock on the front door. Eren opened it to reveal the photographer, a sweet-looking young woman with a messy mop of dark hair. She smiled brightly as Eren greeted her, and she stepped inside with her camera. She made some comment about how the living room actually had great lighting, but Levi was barely listening, too wrapped up in gently stroking his son's cheek. Maybe the infant would wake up long enough for the photo?

Before Levi knew it, Eren was standing at his side, and the photographer was instructing them on where to move and how to look. Eren took a few more small steps towards Levi, and Levi slightly tilted his head in Eren's direction. Eventually the photographer nodded at their positions and said, "Alright, ready? Three, two, one!"

…Nothing.

"Eh?" The photographer ducked out from underneath her cover and tapped her camera's side. "Ugh, I'm so sorry, I don't know why it's not working. Gimme a sec." She opened the latch and started fiddling with the machinery inside.

Levi sighed heavily and turned back to his son, who was still sleeping peacefully in his arms. Eren leaned over to get a better look at the infant and smiled wide. He reached out and tapped the boy's nose, making Levi turn back towards him and smile back. They thought the same thing: "We're so lucky," and they celebrated that fact with a kiss.

FLASH!

The photographer jumped back, and Eren and Levi immediately separated and stared at her. She stared back and quietly laughed, embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I'll take another one for you, no charge."

"No," Eren insisted, laughing along with her. "Develop that one."

A week later, they received the photo.

"…His eyes are open."

The child looked up at Eren, a giddy smile on his face. "Maybe that's why I get really happy when I see you and Papa kiss."

Eren grinned back at him. "Maybe."

But then the child's face fell. "Wait…it's such a nice picture. Why did Papa tell me to ask you about it? And why aren't any of these pictures out?"

Eren's grin widened. "I'm going to tell you a secret, okay?" He glanced back at his sister. "This is between the three of us." He turned back to his son. "Papa is really shy. I mean REALLY shy. For him, this is something very personal, something he doesn't want to share with the world. So this is a Jaeger family treasure, okay?"

The boy pointed to the other two pictures. "But can we put these out?"

"If you want to."

The trio looked up to see Levi coming down the stairs. He was dressed in nice clothes, and a tiny smirk was tugging at his lips. "If you like them, baby, we'll put them out on the shelf over the fireplace."

Just then, there was a knock at the front door. Levi opened it and greeted the photographer, the same woman who had photographed the treasured picture years ago. She smiled the same bright smile and set up her camera in the living room. With the pictures put up behind them, the flowers brought in from the dining room, and the entire Jaeger family instructed on where to move and how to pose, the woman ducked her head underneath the cover. "Ready?" she called. "Three, two, one, Happy Birthday, Mr. Jaeger!"

And, this time, the camera worked properly, capturing the celebration, the family, and the moment just as planned.

FLASH!

END