When Anya tells him that he is going to be a father, he very nearly runs away. He hardly considered himself a good enough husband to his more than perfect wife who deserved the world and more. This child though...they deserved the same, the perfect life that he couldn't offer. He hardly remembered his parents and didn't know the first thing about being a parent. He tells Anya that he can't be a parent, that he doesn't want to risk messing up the responsibility that he knows is so fragile and can be messed up so easily. Anya just pulls him down into a long and tender kiss, telling him to shut up and stop being such a baby, that they would go through all this together. He tells her okay and that ends the discussion. Through the whole pregnancy though, he worries and stresses.
When his son was finally born, he gets to hold him. The tiniest bundle of blankets and cloth is placed into his arms and he watches as the small human yawns, eyes still shut in sleep. At first, Dmitry is confused, unsure what to think or do here, so he stares and watches, observing to try and form an opinion. Then he opens his eyes, his son opens his eyes for the first time and gazes up at Dmitry, his father, with gorgeous blue eyes that are as brilliant as the sky. Dmitry swears to the grave that the next thing that happened was his son formed the tiniest little smile while Dmitry himself was tearing up from joy. His son is deemed Alexander Dmitryevich Sudayev, they call him Alexei though for short. Named for Dmitry's father and for Anya's little brother all in one name.
Alexei is one years old, and Dmitry decides that babies are hard. Anya handles most of the tasks sometimes, like changing diapers, feeding, and waking up through the night to check on Alexei. They switch though occasionally, but Dmitry doesn't mind all too much. His favorite moments though are when he takes Alexei for a walk, he doesn't take the stroller, but instead walks to the park with Alexei in his arms the whole time, they do a lap and then will walk home. Dmitry tells Alexei about the stars and planets, about the trees and the flowers, describes all the creatures they see in whimsical detail. Sometimes Dmitry will tell Alexei the story of the princess and the conman, he believes that story is Alexei's favorite, due to how wide and intrigued Alexei's eyes will grow. Dmitry loves to hold Alexei and walk with him. Alexei always nested into the arms of whoever was holding him, cooing and giggling at what was always the right moments. Dmitry has never felt so peaceful.
Alexei is two and has begun to learn how to walk. Dmitry holds his arms out from across the room as Anya releases him and Alexei slowly tries to take a step, tripping and tumbling as his mother catches him and they try again. After several rounds of trying, Dmitry hears a knock at the door and stands to go answer it. As he converses with the arrival, he feels something tightly wrapped around his leg suddenly, looking down to see Alexei staring up at him whilst hugging onto his leg. Dmitry looks over to see Anya smiling with pride, Alexei had walked all on his own. Dmitry bends down to pick Alexei up, spinning him around whilst Alexei laughs in amusement.
When Alexei is three, he gets sick. Not common cold sick, but scary sick. So sick that he wakes Dmitry up late one night, screaming and crying. Dmitry takes Alexei's temperature and doesn't like the result one bit, the constant violent coughing doesn't help either. Dmitry wakes Anya and they rush their baby to the hospital as quick as they can manage. The doctor informs them after a time of waiting that Alexei has pneumonia. The word strikes fear through Dmitry, setting off every alarm of panic in his mind, he knows that whatever this pneumonia is, it's bad, it's really bad. Dmitry waits by his son's side every second possible until Alexei is better, doing everything to make sure Alexei is happy despite the circumstances. Anya brings a couple books, which Dmitry would read aloud. They solved a puzzle once too while Alexei was starting to recover. When Alexei is finally cleared to go home, Dmitry is cautious around him for some time until he is absolutely sure that Alexei is healthy and safe.
Alexei is now four and all he does is talk. Before he would come up and lift up his arms to indicate he wanted to be picked up, but now he commands it in the cutest voice Dmitry has ever heard. Dmitry simply listens as Alexei becomes the storyteller on their walks together, stories that combine fiction and reality, stories with confusing and exciting turns and ending on notes that usually don't make sense, but Dmitry merely smiles and tells Alexei that he is proud of him. Dmitry's favorite story though is when Alexei tries to retell the famous princess and the conman story that Dmitry has always told. Alexei brings magic, sorcerers, and animals into the story because, as Alexei says, it's better that way. Dmitry couldn't agree more, because he loves every story that his son tells.
Dmitry has another scare when Alexei is five years old. Dmitry brings Alexei with him to the store to buy a new pair of shoes for the upcoming school year. He sets Alexei down for a second to grab a pair and when he turns around, Alexei is gone. Dmitry drops the shoes in a panic, every worst possible scenario running through his head and he runs through the store looking everywhere for him, Dmitry races outside and sees a car pull out and speed down the street and he chases after it, losing the car quickly. He remembers the plates and returns to the store to find a phone and call the police, he is about to frantically ask for the nearest telephone when he notices a familiar face in the arms of the cashier. Alexei clearly indicates that he knows Dmitry by stretching out his arms and smiling, and after a few minutes of confirmation, the cashier hands Alexei over to Dmitry who hugs his son tightly and takes him home, deciding they can get shoes another day.
Alexei is ten and growing to look more and more like his father. Vlad and Lily come to visit and Dmitry lost track of the amount of times that Vlad marveled how Alexei was nearly a carbon copy of his father. Alexei does nearly everything Dmitry does on top of that. If Dmitry decides to go left, then Alexei would be right behind him going left. Dmitry learns to be more careful of what he says and does around Alexei, not wanting to lead him astray. The only real incident is when Dmitry punches a man, who had been drunk and frightening Anya by harassing her and trying to grab her and kiss her. Dmitry finally decides that he is done ignoring the problem and turns around to clock the man across the face, sending the man to the ground nearly unconscious. Alexei watched the whole thing in clear horror from the violence, but seemed to respect it as his father was the one who did the punching. Dmitry sits him down when they get home and explains to Alexei just why violence should never be the answer, admitting his mistake and letting Alexei see that even the people you admire the most can still make mistakes.
Alexei is thirteen and Dmitry realizes that Alexei is a gentle and artistic soul. Dmitry finds notebooks full of brilliant drawings and sketches done by Alexei, he approaches Alexei about his art and is surprised when Alexei becomes suddenly shy. Dmitry hugs Alexei and tells him that he is proud and asks if he could frame one of the drawings for the house, to which Alexei smiles and agrees. Dmitry loves the smile on Alexei's face as he admires the drawing hung on the wall each and every day. There is a day when Dmitry picks Alexei up from school, and notices his son sitting under a tree, patiently sketching a bird that sits in front of him. Dmitry stands nearby to give Alexei some time when he sees a pair of older kids scare the bird away intentionally, watching as the kids tear the notebook from Alexei and throw it aside. Dmitry runs over when he sees fists started to fly, pulling the older ones away and seeing no injuries on either of them, Alexei had refused to fight back, curled up on the grass shaking, his face cut up and bruised. The bullies run away and Dmitry helps Alexei to stand and hands back the sketchbook, telling his son that he is proud of him for choosing peace over violence, assuring him he wouldn't have been mad though even if Alexei had decided to defend himself. When they get home, Dmitry teaches Alexei ways to handle and deal with bullies.
Alexei is sixteen and growing up fast, much too fast in Dmitry's eyes. He's already had his first girlfriend, a girl that Dmitry decides immediately that he isn't fond of her. She seems nice at first, but he can tell Alexei is uncomfortable when she forces him to let her sit in his lap, or forces Alexei to kiss her far too soon. Dmitry listens to them fight, the girl yelling over something small like bringing the wrong color flower while Alexei apologizes in the softest voice through tears. Dmitry tries to explain that this isn't love but Alexei comes up with excuses to stay with her. When Alexei finally does though, he walks into the house quietly, tears streaming down his face as he runs to Dmitry and embraces him, eventually opening up about everything that ever happened between him and the girl. Dmitry has a long conversation with his son about love and heartbreak, and knowing when you're with the right person and when you're with the wrong. This time, Alexei listens and takes every word to heart.
Alexei is eighteen, finally an adult. Dmitry sighs with relief when the day comes for Alexei to turn eighteen, finding it hard to believe how far they had come in life, that him and Anya had managed to grow their tiny baby into a grown adult. Dmitry helps Alexei pack a suitcase as Alexei prepares to leave for university. The two talk and laugh over old memories, reminiscing about the past that once was and speculating on the future that was to come. Alexei gives Dmitry all of his old sketchbooks and tells him to frame whatever he would for memories to hold onto while he is away. Dmitry takes a good long look at Alexei, finding it hard to believe that he once wanted to walk away from all this, grateful more than ever that he decided to stay. Dmitry looked at Alexei and all he could think was that he didn't want this to end, he wanted to keep being a father, he wanted to go back and relive everything again. Just before Alexei goes out to leave, after bidding his parents goodbye, he hugs his father again.
"Thank you dad, for everything. And hey, just because I'm an adult now and all grown up, it doesn't change a thing. You're still my dad and I am always going to need you, I am never going to stop needing you because I'm terrified right now to be on my own, but I know I can always come to you with whatever I need. I love you." Alexei told him smiling. Dmitry smiled back, feeling tears pool up in his eyes, wishing his son good luck and standing arm in arm with Anya as they watched Alexei drive away from their house to begin the next adventure in his life. Dmitry has never felt happier.
