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-Aria and the Ghosts
Up to that point, it had been a rather average day; Levi had awakened at dawn to have a meeting with Erwin and some representative from within Wall Sina and Eren had risen with effort and gotten the kids ready for the day. Eren and the kids got breakfast brought by some cadets to their suite on base - where Hanji had ordered them to stay since the baby could come any day.
Everything was fine, the kids were actually eating a lot and his body no longer felt hot as it had the entire night prior… and then there came a sharp pain from his stomach. He audibly gasped and bent a bit at the sheer force of it. Luckily, he managed to reign in the cry of pain that wanted to escape. The feeling was eerily familiar, though he hadn't felt it since the twins had been born.
The baby was coming.
He heaved a few breaths, desperate to keep himself quiet so as not to startle the kids. "Hazel, Cayden," he called stiffly when he felt able.
They looked up from their food, still chewing absently.
"I need you to go get Papa," he told them, beginning to feel sweat collect on his brow. The amount of effort it was taking to silence the noises of discomfort he wanted to unleash was frankly ridiculous.
Cayden's brows furrowed, "But we're still eating, Daddy."
Another wave of pain coursed through him, he bit down fiercely on his lip in response. "Babies please, please go get Papa for me." He leant forward on the table, gripping its edge painfully hard.
Hazel lowered her fork, "Daddy are you okay?"
He wanted to simultaneously praise their consideration and yet yell at them to go. The baby could easily go into distress as it had nowhere to go, yet his body was screaming at him to allow nature to take over. It was painful and probably the worst part of his pregnancies.
More contraction pains brought him to his knees, his hands still clutching desperately at the tables edge.
"D-Daddy!?"
The alarm in his daughter's voice immediately distracted him from his pain. He looked blearily to his side where his children were closing in, they were calling to him - they were scared. Eren let out a groan of pain, couldn't they see he needed Levi? When still they didn't go, he finally snapped.
"Hazel Grace, Cayden Lee."
They were immediately silenced by the use of their full names.
He looked over at them with a sweaty and furrowed brow, " Go get Papa ."
Seeing their daddy in such a state scared them into quickly leaving the room in search of their other parent. But as they entered the hall, they realized how hopelessly lost they were.
"Hazey," the raven called in a trembling tone, "where is P-Papa?"
She grabbed his hand and looked around with fear, "I don't know…. PAPA!" The girl shot off down the hall, calling for her other father the whole time.
They followed the various twists and turns of the hallway, getting more frantic as they still didn't lay eyes on their Papa.
At one point, Hazel stopped and turned all the way around, looking for anyone. "H-Help," she cried, tears welling up in her eyes. Beside her, Cayden chanced a look into some of the rooms in the area.
Daddy was acting weird and Papa was nowhere to be found.
"Hazey, this w-way," the boy said, tugging her onwards.
They kept wandering through the corridors, not being able to tell where they were as every turn looked the same. They clung to each other as their hunt continued, though it wasn't looking good.
As they rounded the corner, they bumped into Uncle Jean.
"Whoa hey, what are you two doing on this side of the building?" He asked in confusion.
"W-WE NEED PAPA," Hazel blurted tearfully, looking in earnest to their uncle.
The two hair toned man nodded and started down the hallway, "Alright, alright. Come this way you two, I think I just saw him."
They followed behind closely, both crying by that point. As soon as they laid eyes on the familiar form that was their Papa, they bolted forward with loud cries.
Levi was instantly alert by the sound, flinching when his two children rammed into either of his legs. He stumbled a bit but looked down to them in concern. They were practically sobbing into him, and given how tightly they were clinging to him, they were scared. "Easy," he said, patting their heads, "what's going on?"
Erwin and Jean looked on curiously, both mystified as to what had caused the two to freak out so badly.
"N-Needed to find you," Hazel gasped roughly between sobs.
His sharp brow furrowed, "Why?"
"Daddy," Cayden whimpered, "s-said he needed you.. Was acting weird Papa."
"It was scary," the girl called shakily.
His blood ran cold. The implications behind those words held endless possibilities but he didn't have to time ponder it. He pried them from his legs and bolted off without a word, knowing the other two men would watch his children. Right now, Eren was his priority.
As he burst into the room, he immediately located his lover who was screaming into a pillow he had apparently pulled from the loveseat they had. "Eren," he called, grasping his shoulders, "what's wrong?"
He reluctantly pulled the pillow away from his face to reveal his wrecked appearance, "B-Baby's coming."
Levi swore loudly and snatched up the other male, nearly kicking the door off its hinges on his haste to leave the room. Internally, the feeling of his spouse's sweaty clothing made him shudder with disgust - but he dared not show it outwardly.
"W-What took you so long?" was Eren's biting question.
The raven went to give a sarcastic response, but realized that probably wasn't in his best intentions at the moment. "You overestimate our children's ability to navigate through a place they are still unfamiliar with, Eren," he told him.
He groaned loudly, hand fisting at his husband's shirt as waves of pain shot through him. A particularly sharp bolt of pain brought forth a strangled yelp from his lips.
Seeing his lover in such a state made him feel powerless. He could do absolutely nothing in attempt to abate the terrible pain he was feeling. The fact tormented him as he stormed into the infirmary.
"HANJI! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"
Levi easily settled Eren onto the designated cot, grabbing up one of his hands as he did so.
Hanji rushed over and started pulling various items from drawers - no doubt from weeks of stocking up for this very moment. "I need you to go get the nursemaids down the hall, I'll need their help."
He hesitated for only a moment, planting a kiss on the hand in his hold before going on his way. It was so very difficult to ignore Eren's pained cries as he left the room.
By the time he had returned with the nursemaids in tow, Eren was unconscious. He could only presume Hanji's sleeping serum was at work, though it obviously didn't help much with the pain he was feeling as his face was still scrunched up.
"Okay Levi-"
"I'm not leaving."
The brunette blinked at him with an unreadable emotion in her eyes. "Levi…this won't be pretty to see."
Levi glared at her, "You act like this will be the first time I'm seeing such things. Eren needs me. I'm not going."
She huffed a sigh, "Fine.. Fine . Get him one of our aprons."
One of the nursemaids went to a nearby cupboard and pulled out a white apron that would cover the majority of his front. He pulled it on easily and moved out of their way as best he could, hand finding one of Eren's.
They began moving swiftly, yanking up the long shirt he had been wearing and pulling down his loose trousers a bit. One nursemaid sanitized where they were going to cut, while another prepared blankets and towels of various sizes.
He did his best to keep his eyes away from the surgery in process as they began. Though the fact that they were cutting open his spouse bothered him greatly, he couldn't help but be grateful that Hanji's movements were precise and sure. He could trust her. She was the only one he would ever trust to do such a procedure.
"Alright," Hanji spoke at one point, "let's bring out this baby."
Levi cringed as she and the two nursemaids all but wrenched Eren's insides open and began carefully pulling out their child. His gaze left the rather gruesome scene to observe his lover who was breathing heavily and crying a bit. He stooped down and kissed his forehead firmly, wiping away the tears.
Finally the infant was pulled free, bloodied and oddly colored.
There were no cries.
His head snapped in that direction, alarmed to be hearing nothing but silence. "Hanji?"
The woman's brow was furrowed deeply as she used some odd tool or other and stuck it down the baby's throat. "Come on, baby, come on," she murmured lowly. A few more coaxes and suddenly the little being erupted into loud cries.
Levi heaved a shuddery breath, hand clenching tightly around his spouse's.
Hanji beamed, tears sparkling in her eyes, "There we go!" She looked over the baby once, then handed it to another nursemaid. "You have another daughter, Levi."
"It's a girl…" He breathed, sinking into the chair beside the bed. "Hazel's going to be fucking ecstatic."
She laughed heartily and began to work on Eren again, but Levi paid her no mind. His gaze was instead focused on his wriggling child across the room.
There was no feeling that could quite compare with beholding your child for the first time. Even he, being the stoic man he was, wasn't immune to the utter majesty the moment held. He couldn't help the small smile that worked onto his face as his new daughter grunted and wiggled, small cries escaping her here and there.
A low groan from the bed broke his trance. He looked back to the bed and was a bit surprised to see Eren's eyelids fluttering slightly.
"...Is he waking up?" Came Hanji's unsure call.
Levi smoothed out the other's brow which earned him another groan, this one clearly of pain.
" Shit ."
"Just give him more of that damn serum," he scolded, feeling wary. It would not be anything good to have Eren wake up before Hanji could finish.
She didn't even look up from her work, "I don't have anymore. That was the same dosage I gave him when he had the twins. I don't understand why it didn't keep him under longer! Shit shit shit !" Her hands were working furiously in the shifter's still open abdomen.
Levi scowled in response, once more deliberately keeping his eyes off of her work. "Won't he just start healing? Shouldn't his titan healing kick back in?"
"That serum has a slowing agent in it to stave it off, plus the last time his healing abilities didn't kick back into gear for hours."
"Fuck," the Captain growled, running his free hand through his hair.
Eren's head lolled on the pillow, a low whimper working past his lips.
"Just keep him calm, I've got most of the womb out, I can start stitching him back up here soon." Hanji continued working flawlessly, though a bit hastened given the current situation.
For a while, the air in the small infirmary room was tense, broken only by the soft cries of Eren and Levi's newborn. Levi was otherwise preoccupied speaking to his lover who remained in a semi-unconscious state.
"How is the newest Ackerman, Marie?" Hanji questioned randomly as she and one of the nursemaids were beginning to suture the wound closed.
"Very healthy, all ten fingers and toes," the woman relayed, "she's breathing fine and took the first partial bottle well."
She smiled softly, "Good."
Levi kissed Eren's sweat dampened forehead lovingly, "Hear that brat? Our kid's healthy. You did good."
Those brilliant eyes, fogged over with pain and confusion, opened to him. He blinked owlishly, mind evidently sluggish with the aftereffects of the serum Hanji had given him. "..Levi.."
He did his best to block the view, even though Hanji was beginning to stitch him up. It still wasn't a pleasant sight. "I'm here," he assured him.
"Wha' happ'nd?"
He was unsure which part Eren was referring to, so decided to breeze over it all. "You went into labor, sent the kids to get me, I brought you here and Hanji got the baby out."
Eren winced, but nodded. "She 'kay?"
Levi could only momentarily ponder how his lover knew the gender of their newest addition. "She's fine," he affirmed, "everything is as it should be. She's got a set of lungs on her."
That earned him the smallest of smiles, one just big enough for him to pick out. Though in seconds it was gone and replaced by a look of agony, "Nnngh hurts.."
A quick glance let him know that Hanji had nearly finished stitching the brunette up. "Well, you did just have a baby pulled from you," he muttered. "Hanji might have some medicine for you, try and hold on." Levi tossed her a meaningful look.
Hanji grimaced, "I might have to knock him out anyways if he doesn't pass out."
"Do it then, he's in too much pain."
She huffed with disbelief, "Part of why I'm surprised he hasn't passed out yet."
Eren's breathing quickened into pained gasps as he came further out of the sleepy haze he had been in. "...Le'i…." came his pathetic whimper.
"Jenni," Hanji spoke out, "give him heavy painkillers, just enough to knock him back out and settle him."
The nurse did as requested with a bit of haste, obviously having sensed the low lying urgency in the woman's tone. She carefully injected the shot into Eren's arm, wiping away from blood that arose after the needle was removed.
Levi continued to hold his hand, relieved to feel the grip slackening with inevitable slumber. "Rest, Eren," he soothed the younger, "she'll still be here when you wake up."
"Izzy…" came the delirious murmur, "we should name 'er Izzy…."
"Alright, now rest," he agreed easily to appease his lover. The last of Eren's grip slipped away as he fell into a deeper state of unconsciousness. His brow smoothed as some of the pain abated. It was a definite improvement.
Hanji eyed her friend warily, "He wants to name her Isabel, huh?"
He nodded, though it seemed to be an absent minded motion. "I suppose so.." Thinking on it, Levi realized that it was fitting move.
Isabel had been a huge part of his life, no matter how brief their time together seemed. Between her and Farlan, he had learned to hold compassion to those who truly earned it from him. She had given him a new view on his desire to escape the dreary Underground City, like a breath of fresh air. She had also taught him that he was capable of love, even if just on a familial basis, after he had spent years hardening himself away from such 'weak' feelings. Then, even in death, Isabel had apparently hung around and had been the one to tell Hazel and Cayden of their growing sibling.
The memory of his fallen family still haunted him, but the thought of having one of their children being named for one of the most important people in his life brought him some solace. He could practically see Isabel's beaming face as they told her their new child was named after her.
Levi rose reluctantly from Eren's side and peered down at their newborn. A small hat had been procured and put on her equally small head, the blankets were wrapped firmly but not tightly around her tiny form. "Isabel," he tried softly.
It was almost like a puzzle piece clicking into place. It fit perfectly.
Yes , he decided, I like the sound of that . "Isabel it is," Levi conceded.
Hanji watched him with a smile.
"Isabel Renee Ackerman."
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