With Scarlet snuggled into one of the baby carriers, the type that had the baby strapped in the front of the parent's chest, Prompto walked down the street happily. He had his fingers being held on to by Scarlet and he was moving them up and down, causing her plenty of delight.

"Isn't it such a lovely day?" he asked Scarlet. "A great day for a walk and you getting to see the world! And hey, maybe we can even stop at a playground and you can get a little swing time. How'd you like that? You wanna go swing?"

Scarlet giggled happily.

"I'll take that as a 100% yes! But first…"

Slowly down his pace, he stopped to stare into a window of a bakery. "I think some yummy little snacks are in order. Sadly I don't think you can have any of this stuff, but I really think those muffins look tasty."

Opening the door, he stepped inside and headed up to the counter looking at all the pastries and fruits in the display case. Scarlet squealed, trying to reach her hands out to touch the glass.

"Hm, well they do have some fruit. Maybe I could get you a banana to munch on. How's that sound?"

When Scarlet made a happy sound again, Prompto smiled back and then went up to the worker at the register to make some purchases. He got a banana for Scarlet, and for himself he decided to get one of their tasty looking blueberry muffins along with a croissant for later.

He paid for his items and then gathered them up while turning around to pick one of the few tables to sit down at. There was only one other customer in the bakery at the moment, and it was a woman, who seemed to be side-eye Prompto from where she sat.

It wasn't something he really thought too deeply about. People all over Insomnia always gave him looks, mostly due to his bright color of hair, showing that he was not of Lucian origins. But nowadays, he began to wonder if people were going to start staring cause he had a baby with him.

Prompto tried not to pay any attention to her as he sat down at one of the tables, placing his items out before him. Scarlet immediately tried to grab the banana, babbling as she did so.

"Hey little girl, you can't go snatching up the yummy banana just yet. I gotta get it into little pieces for you," he chuckled as he picked the banana up and peeled the skin.

He broke off a small bit and held it in front of Scarlet, and she took it and brought it to her mouth to start biting it. With her new teeth, she could easily eat small portions now. It made Prompto happy to know she was going to have a full set of teeth one day, and then he would be able to introduce some of his favorite foods to her.

"Excuse me."

Prompto looked up to see the woman standing next to his table. "Huh? Yes? Something I can help you with?"

"I just wanted to ask, are you a babysitter? You seem to work so wonderfully with the little girl."

Prompto shook his head, taking everything in his power not to smile. "Oh no, I'm not her babysitter."

"Ah, her older brother? Or a cousin perhaps?"

"No, I'm not that either."

Suddenly, the woman's expression changed. She started to look less impressed and more disappointed. "Ah, so you're one of those."

Now the idea of people staring at Prompto for caring a child around didn't feel so great to him. "W-What do you mean?"

"All you young kids nowadays think it's perfectly fine to start a family so young. Don't you understand how it can affect-"

"Oh no!" Prompto nearly shouted as he cut her off from finishing. "It isn't anything like that! I'm not married! Oh gods no! I don't even have a girlfriend! But I am Scarlet's father. She's just my adoptive daughter, that's all."

The woman's expression changed again, this time to remorse. "Oh, I'm sorry. I judged too quickly. I suppose I never heard of a boy your age looking into adoption."

"Nah, it's okay. It's a bit of a long story, she needed me and I needed her. And I cherish Scarlet with everything I got," Prompto replied as he patted her head.

"It does seem like it, but I still want to apologize. I shouldn't have made such a drastic assumption. But with this new information in mind, I go back to what I said before that I think you work wonderfully with her."

"Thank you ma'am. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I'm going to keep trying."

"Well, if I may, I am a mother of three myself. If there is anything you wish to know, I may be able to help."

"Wow, really? I, um, thank you."

He knew that he already had the help of the nannies back at the Citadel, but it warmed his heart to know others were wanting to help him. He would take anything that he could get in regards to making sure he could give Scarlet the best life that he could.

"And if you want, if you are wanting to learn more on hand experience, I could invite you to my weekly get together with several other mothers."

Prompto's eyes widened. "You'd let me come to something like that? Even if it's just for mothers?"

The woman laughed. "Oh, while it is mainly just us, sometimes the husbands do come along. But I think in your case, it would be a good experience for you."

"If you really think so."

The woman gestured to the open chair at Prompto's table. "May I take a seat?"

"Oh, sure! If you don't have to go anywhere! I don't wanna keep you from anything."

The woman sat down and shook her head. "No it's alright. My husband is picking up the kids today, I've just been out on errands. My name is Irene."

"Prompto. And you've already heard me introduce Scarlet, but here she is," Prompto replied as he held one of her hands to make her wave.

"Aw, well it's very nice to meet both of you. Tell me, how old is Scarlet and how long have you been her father?"

"She's almost 9 months old now I think… I've had her for about a month or so I think, but I've honestly lost track. Is it common for things to move really quickly when you have a kid but also feel like it's so slow?"

Irene laughed. "Oh yes, it can feel that way. Just wait until she starts kindergarten, the time will move by so quickly that she'll be starting high school before you know it."

"Oh, I don't even wanna imagine that yet! But, I can't wait until she can start talking. She's babbling a lot, and makes a lot of sounds. But I don't think she is actually talking? You said you had three kids, right? So I guess you would know just when a kid is really talking or just making nonsense babbles. Also, I'm so sorry if I ramble, I just get really excited and nervous sometimes, and it just mixes together a lot," Prompto said, finally stopping to catch his breath.

"It's fine, Prompto. My three children are 7, 10, and 14, so I know what you are referring to. She probably is aware of what we are saying, but it may be a few more months before she starts talking properly."

Prompto sighed, patting Scarlet's head before feeding her a few more pieces of banana. "Guess it'll just be a little more waiting then."

"But it will be wonderful once she can start talking. Every new word spoken is a moment to cherish."

"I already cherish so much, having even more will be great!" Prompto beamed.

"Wonderful to hear that optimism, Prompto. But don't let yourself believe it's always so easy. The older a child gets, the more you'll have to learn to work with."

Prompto nodded his head. "Hm, yeah, I figured as much. But I'm ready for it!"

Irene smiled before she checked her phone and stood up. "I'm afraid I have to get going. But please, consider coming to our little gathering. It's every Thursday at the Central Insomnia Library at 4pm."

"I'll keep it in mind."

After she left, Prompto started to eat his own food he bought. Scarlet continued to babble happily, constantly trying to look up to see Prompto, grinning at him every time he smiled at her.

He thought over the offer that was given to him, reflecting how far he had come so far with Scarlet and how much more he would have to go. There was a little bit of uncertainty still in him. He already had the approval of his friends, the Citadel staff, and even King Regis himself. Having a random woman, a mother no less, approve of him, certainly came off shocking.

But to have him show up at a little get together with mothers? That was such a big leap in comparison to everything else. His original thought of not caring about the stares and judgment turned around on him, now sinking in to have him wonder about every possibility.

Then again, if Irene could come to an understanding and offer her own advice, willing to help him, maybe others could too. If Irene's friends were anything like her, they were all caring parents who loved their children. So it didn't seem too out of reason that they couldn't be kind towards Prompto, wanting to help him just the same.

With that confirmed in his mind, he pulled out his phone to make a reminder when and where the meet up would be. Once that was over, he went back to enjoying the rest of his meal with Scarlet, now with something new to look forward to in a few days.

If anyone out there is reading, please let me know what you think! Comments are always most appreciated