Anonymous asked:

Duke Universe prompt. When Rose is pregnant. It is Duke's baby and she choses to stay with Duke.

I set this a little bit after that decision so if you'd rather me backtrack, totally happy to do so! I just thought that going from Duke's point of view would have more impact!

Warnings for this one: infidelity mentions, mostly written on my phone

Duke stared down at his daughter. She was beautiful, with his dark skin and curly hair and brown eyes. She had the biggest toothiest smile and it was so hard to imagine that she was going to be a year old tomorrow. One year of her. She slept peacefully, unaware of the fact that it was the middle of the afternoon and her father was standing there, watching her, full of thoughts that were so deep and heavy that he felt like he was going to be ripped in half.

Gabrielle turned over, grabbing onto her bright pink bunny and pulling it toward her. Duke held his breath for a moment, hoping that she didn't wake. He knew what she would be like if she woke before her naptime was over.

He knew everything about Gabrielle. He knew her better than he had ever imagined he could know another human being. He had said that once, about Rose, but it couldn't compare to the way that he knew his little girl. He knew every inch of her. He would know her for the rest of his life. He knew how she giggled and he knew her first word had been "Dada". He knew what each of her cries meant. He knew that she would be waiting at the door when he came home from work because she had missed him so much.

Duke knew all of this and his biggest burden was that he didn't love her back. He hoped that one day he would. He hoped that one day he would unlearn hatred and just open his heart to her. He hoped that she never knew the difference because it wasn't her fault and she still deserved a good and loving father in her life, just as she deserved a good and loving mother in her life. Gabrielle hadn't chosen this world or this lot in life and it was Duke's responsibility to make sure that she never knew anything other than that she was wanted, even if it hadn't necessarily been true.

She squirmed in her sleep and let out a small cry. Duke reached down into the crib and rubbed her back gently until she fell back asleep in a moment of peace.

"It's okay," Duke said, soothing her, "It's okay. Daddy's here. Daddy's got you."

Gabrielle was quiet.

Duke padded down the hall quietly, hardly daring to let out a breath until he was far enough away from Gabrielle's room that he wasn't worried about making a noise. He could hear Rose in the kitchen and he wanted to swerve away from her, go into the living room instead, maybe turn on the T.V. They hadn't spoken much today but that was more normal than it wasn't. It weighed on Duke, sometimes, that they had ended up like this. It wasn't what he thought would happen, when she confessed to an affair and told him to move out. He hadn't thought they would live together again. He hadn't thought that they could even think about fixing it, because who wants to be the man who stays with an adulterous wife? Duke had to forgive her and he probably would, someday, but a year and a half after her confession, he wasn't there yet.

If she hadn't found out she was pregnant, if the child hadn't been his, they probably wouldn't be here. She might even still be with him. The thought pressed on Duke too much. Duke had seen the man upon occasion. Too many occasions. Duke looked down at his hands. He had betrayed himself, punching the other man in the face. It was deserved and Duke knew that he was in the right but it still wasn't who he wanted to be. He wanted better of himself and where Rose had failed him, he had failed his own truth, and he wondered which was worse.

Duke stepped into the kitchen. "Hey."

He was the bigger man. He was always the bigger man. It killed him inside, slowly, that he had to be the bigger man.

"Hey," Rose said, and she smiled at him.

Duke used to light up at the sight of her smile. He spent his days planning on how to make her happy. This was his whole heart, in a person, and she deserved nothing less than he could give her. Now, Duke didn't care if she was happy. Rose felt removed from him, at all times. They didn't love each other the same. Duke knew that as much as she hurt him, he would always have love for her, but he didn't know if they were really in love with each other anymore, and that was slowly killing him.

But he couldn't admit it.

Because he was the bigger man.

He had a wife, a daughter, a family. He had standards for himself and morals. He wanted to hold his head high and he had a lot to repent for in that regard. He swallowed his pride.

"How was your day?"

"It was good," Rose said.

Duke sat in the kitchen chair and listened to everything she had to say with the attentiveness of a good husband.

And he wished that he wasn't a good husband anymore.