The Choice We Make
Chapter 13
Levi and Eren weren't supposed to leave Shiganshina anymore. Their baby was due any time now, and if they left there was a chance, they wouldn't make it to the hospital in time. Time was passing very slowly for the pair of them as they awaited the arrival of the newest member of their family. Eren spent a lot of time making sure everything was in place and that they had everything they needed to take to the hospital. Levi spent his time trying to finish the last piece of music for his new music book, knowing he wouldn't have time to do it once the baby arrived.
Scout, being the good boy he was, followed Eren around all day until he got sick of getting up every three minutes to follow Eren into a new room, then would lay near Levi by the piano, hoping to be petted by the raven-haired man. Levi started to feel bad for the dog. They had focused so much on the baby that Scout had suffered for it. They didn't go on walks anymore, and they didn't throw the ball. He was probably starting to feel a little lonely.
Deciding it was time to get both himself and Eren out of the house, Levi stood from the piano bench and called Scout to him. The pair of them went to find Eren, who had taken to re-organizing the baby's socks. "Hey." Levi called to him from the doorway of the bedroom.
Eren looked up and smiled at him. "Hey. Everything okay?"
Levi nodded. "Come on. Let's go take Scout for a walk. We've neglected him for long enough, I think, and it's only going to get worse once the baby comes."
Eren looked around the nursery, then down at Scout. The dog was looking at him from his place on his haunches, and Eren could have sworn the dog was pleading him through his eyes. "Alright. Do you want to go for a walk, Scout?"
Scout's tail started swishing quickly back and forth, then he stood up and stretched. When Eren made no move to leave the room yet, Scout barked once, then turned to lead the way downstairs.
Eren and Levi followed him downstairs. Scout went ahead of them and met them in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs with his leash in his mouth. Levi hooked the leash to his collar, and they went out the front door.
They decided to take Titan to a dog park down the street where they could let him off the leash and throw his ball for him. They were just thinking about heading back to the house when Eren's phone rang. He reached out and grabbed Levi's arm in a vice grip when he saw that it was their agent calling.
"You're going to cut off my circulation, Brat. Why don't you answer it instead of injuring my arm?" Levi suggested.
Eren answered the phone quickly, putting it on speaker. The agent told them that Jessica had gone into labor, and she was on her way to the hospital now. She told them to be there within the next hour or so, so Levi and Eren left the park immediately with Scout.
When they got home, they left scout in the back yard and prepared to head to the hospital. They had made a checklist of things they would need to take with them, including the car seat, blankets, clothes, formula, bottles, and all of the other diaper bag necessities.
Eren became so anxious that Levi had to grab him and make him take a few deep breaths to calm down before they climbed into the car and backed out of the driveway and onto the road. Eren texted Julie to ask if she could go let scout back into the house in a couple of hours before it got too cold outside.
Julie seemed to know right away what was happening, so she wished them luck and promised to watch over the house and the dog while they were gone.
They arrived at the hospital right on time and were met in the front by their agent. She took them right back to a small, private room. They could see Jessica through a window and see everything the doctors did. They were told it was one-way glass and that Jessica couldn't see them, but she was aware they would be there, watching. To protect her privacy, a screen of sorts was placed around her lower regions.
The agent explained that they had arrived with plenty of time to spare, and that Jessica wouldn't deliver for a few more hours at the rate she was progressing. They would be informed the second anything more happened. So, Eren and Levi sat in the chairs provided, talking quietly among themselves while they waited. They also took the extra time to keep everyone updated in a group text. Even Kenny was an active participant, asking for news every half hour or so.
After what felt like an eternity, the agent came in the room, saying it was time. Eren sat up straight in his chair and grasped Levi's hand in a firm grip. Levi returned the hold just as fiercely. Eren turned a set of wide, green eyes toward his husband and paused. Levi looked slightly pale, and he had a white-knuckle grip on Eren's hand.
"Levi…" Eren said.
Levi interrupted "I'm fine, just let me be nervous."
Eren nodded and looked away slowly, not wanting to miss the birth of their daughter, but also worried that Levi would pass out any second.
Eren was amazed at how quickly the birth happened. It was only minutes before there was a screaming baby in the other room being wrapped up in a towel by a nurse. Before they knew it, the nurse was walking their way with the crying bundle in her arms. The door opened and both Levi and Eren stood to watch her walk through the door and straight over to them.
"Congratulations. You have a daughter."
Eren's breath caught in his throat and his hands reached automatically for the little girl who was placed gently in his arms, towel, and all. A silent tear ran down his cheek as he looked down at his daughter. She had a head of thick, black hair, and she looked so much like Levi it was astounding. When Eren looked up to where Levi had been standing next to him, he found that Levi wasn't there. Instead, he found him sitting back down in the chair, looking as white as a ghost, his eyes as wide as saucers, and his hands were shaking.
Eren sat next to him, baby still in his arms. "Levi. Do you want to hold her?"
Levi's eyes got impossibly wider, and he shook his head quickly. "I can't." He whispered, barely audible.
"Why not?"
"What if I drop her?" Levi mumbled through pale lips.
"You won't."
"But what if I do?"
"I'll help you. I promise you won't hurt her. She's stronger than you think." Eren said in a soothing tone, giving Levi a confident smile. "Take a deep breath, honey. You're going to do great."
Levi swallowed thickly and took a deep breath, attempting to calm his racing heart. Once he was ready, Eren handed the baby to him, and Levi took her gingerly. Eren instructed him on how to hold her and once Levi had a good hold on her, he backed off a little, but stayed close to ease Levi's nerves.
After a few minutes Levi started to relax into the chair and worked up the courage to hold her with one arm and stroke her tiny cheek with his free hand. He held his breath, feeling Eren do the same as her eyes opened, revealing blue eyes, making Levi sigh and immediately he knew that he would do everything in his power to protect his beautiful baby. It felt like a small eternity, sitting there holding his daughter, but not nearly long enough as he tore his eyes away from her to look up at Eren, who was crying watching them.
The brunet used the pad of his thumb to wipe away a few tears from Levi's cheeks that he hadn't even known were there. Levi took Eren's hand and pulled his husband closer to pull him in for a sweet kiss. It was a kiss unlike any they had ever had. Levi felt like he would burst from the amount of love he felt in that moment for his little family.
When they parted for a moment to rest their foreheads together, Levi let out a soft sob. "She's so beautiful."
Eren nodded. "I know. She looks so much like you."
"I hate to interrupt your moment, but we need to fill out the birth certificate." A doctor spoke from close by. "She also will need to be fed and cleaned up in a few moments."
Levi and Eren both nodded at the doctor, signaling for him to continue. "I've filled out almost everything. We just need to fill out the name portion. Have you decided on a name for her?"
They both looked down at her then looked at each other and shook their heads. "Unfortunately, the name we had picked out doesn't seem to fit…" Eren replied.
"That's alright. You technically have a few days to name her. Why don't you two go with Carol here to learn how to bathe her, and she will also teach you how to make her bottle and anything else you would like to know. Maybe you'll come up with a name once you've spent some time with her. We will come back to that later." The doctor suggested, and Levi and Eren agreed.
Levi made Eren carry their daughter, still too timid to try walking while carrying her. They followed the nurse, Carol, to a connected room with a little sink and a few other things that would be used to take care of a baby. She showed them how to bathe her, then took her vitals while Levi toweled her dry gently. She helped Eren dress her in a warm outfit and taught them how to swaddle her in the blanket provided by the hospital.
They returned to the room with the chairs not long after, waiting for the doctor to come and look over the baby before they would be cleared to go home. Levi was feeding her the first bottle, watching her suck on the nipple in awe. She looked warm and healthy, and her skin was already a perfect, pink color, and she fell asleep in his arms as she finished the bottle.
"What do you think? Any name ideas?" Eren asked quietly.
"It's too bad Isabel doesn't fit like we had hoped. How about Abigail?"
Eren gazed down at the sleeping baby and smiled. "I love it. Do we want to give her a middle name?"
Levi shrugged minutely, trying not to wake the sleeping baby. "Ideas?"
"I'm coming up blank. Maybe it's a sign that she's not meant to have one." Eren said, resting his head on Levi's shoulder.
"Have we decided then?" Levi shifted his gaze to Eren for a moment and they came to a silent agreement. "Abigail Ackerman, welcome to the family." He said, speaking quietly to his daughter.
The door opened, revealing their agent, who had been with Jessica. Levi and Eren had been so engrossed in their new baby that they hadn't even noticed she had left. "Have you decided on a name for her?"
The pair of them nodded in tandem and Eren spoke for them. "Her name is Abigail. Abigail Ackerman."
The doctor walked in right as Eren said that and smiled at them. "It's perfect. How would you like to spell that?" Eren walked him through the spelling of Abigail's name, and with that the birth certificate was complete, and the doctor moved on to check Abigail's vitals and make sure everything seemed to be going well. He gave them the all-clear once he verified that they had a car seat to put her into to take her home.
Even after the doctor told them to go home, it was still a few hours before they were finally able to get out of there, especially after they finished filling out paperwork with their agent and all of the release forms at the hospital. Once everything was settled and Abigail was officially their baby, their agent saw them out, wishing them the best of luck and letting them know they could call her if they ever had any questions. She would be happy to help. They thanked her and turned for the parking lot, Abigail being carried in the car seat, snoozing her afternoon away.
Eren texted everyone on the way home to let them know that everything went smoothly, and that they would be home shortly. Carla sent back a picture of herself, Grisha, and her mom all sitting in their living room with a background that suspiciously looked like balloons. The photo was accompanied by a text that said: we'll see you soon.
Eren snorted and told Levi, who just rolled his eyes and continued to focus on the road ahead, driving far more cautiously than normal, acutely aware of the precious cargo in the back seat.
Levi pulled the Audi into the garage when they got home, and Eren hoisted the car seat out of the base to carry inside with him, Abigail still sound asleep inside of it. Levi held the door for him as they entered the house, half expecting to see a giant group of people in their living room. Levi was honestly dreading it. He was already exhausted from their long day at the hospital and the stress of suddenly caring for a new life.
Surprisingly, they were met with only Grisha, Carla, Ella, and Mikasa. There were a few pink balloons and a small pile of presents on the coffee table. The sight made Levi relax a little. He could do this. At least Hanji and Erwin weren't around for the time being. He didn't want to deal with them just yet.
Carla rushed up to Levi and Eren, almost completely ignoring them as she took the car seat from Eren and retreated quickly to the living room where she could place the car seat on the floor to unbuckle the baby and lift her from it. "Oh, my goodness." She whispered as she lifted Abigail into her arms. Abigail still wasn't awake, and she scrunched up her little face as she left the warmth of the car seat.
Carla held the little girl to her chest and laid a blanket over her back to keep her warm, then Carla looked at Levi and Eren with a grin on her face. Eren and Levi had moved to the living room to collapse on the love seat together, watching Carla interact with the baby. "She looks just like Levi." She said, trying not to wake her up.
Eren nodded. "Yeah, I think so, too."
"Poor kid." Levi responded, and Eren hit him playfully, telling him to shut up.
"Oh, my beautiful grand baby. I'll babysit any time. Date night sometime soon?" Carla asked, and Eren just rolled his eyes, not wanting to respond. Eren already knew it would be quite a while before he would want to leave their baby.
"You know you can come visit any time, right? We live five minutes away from you." Levi said, and Eren decided that was a good response.
Their conversation was interrupted by Abigail starting to fuss, and Carla stated that she thought she could smell poop. Levi's nose scrunched, and Eren laughed at him. "It's just baby poop, Levi. Come on, I'll show you how to change her." Eren stood up and reached out a hand to help Levi up. Levi took the hand reluctantly and stood with Eren. Carla gave up the baby after some coaxing from Eren, and Levi followed Eren upstairs to the nursery and the changing station.
Eren showed Levi how to do the diaper change while Abigail cried the whole time, making Levi anxious. "How do we get her to stop crying?" He asked, stroking her black hair and looking down at her with concern.
"She's probably just not a fan of getting her diaper changed. It's a new experience for her. She'll probably quit once she's all wrapped up again." Eren said, wrapping up the diaper to throw in the waste basket next to the changing station. "Do you remember how to swaddle her?"
Levi nodded, so Eren encouraged him to do so. A few minutes later, Abigail was swaddled and calming down quickly in Levi's arms. Eren had Levi carry her downstairs again and she was swept away from them again, this time by Mikasa. She took the baby to the armchair close by and sat with her in her arms, cooing over her and running her fingers over her little baby fists.
The family stayed over for a while until Eren and Levi were yawning, nearly falling asleep, and Abigail was sleeping soundly in Grisha's arms. Carla ushered everyone out, and told Levi and Eren to call if they ever needed anything. Then she left with a promise to come back to visit very soon. It wasn't hard to believe.