Well, this kind of snuck up on me, but this is the last chapter! I honestly didn't expect it to be the last chapter, but I realized while writing it that this was all it needed... It's perfect just like this. Anyways, enjoy it! I hope you all have enjoyed this journey as much as I have, from chapter 1 of Never Regret to now. It's kind of hard to believe it's over, but here we are. Don't forget to follow me so you can read more of these two lovebirds, and I promise there will be a lot more! I have a few in the works, so stay tuned! Happy reading! ~HeartQueenVivaldi

The Choice We Make

Chapter 14

Life at the Ackerman household had changed significantly with the arrival of Abigail Ackerman. Though not as much as Levi had thought it would change. There were still so many parts of their routine that stuck around, even though the piles of dirty diapers and constant presence of dirty bottles was now included in it.

They still went on their Sunday walk every week with Scout, who adored Abigail and was her constant protector. He had only ever been totally gentle with her, and if he wasn't outside, he was sure to be found wherever Abigail was.

Levi still woke early in the morning to do a workout in his home gym downstairs, and he still made breakfast. They still watched tv in the evenings, and Eren still worked on art pieces, sitting on the couch listening to Levi play the piano.

While the routines stayed the same, some parts of those routines changed. While Levi played the piano, Eren would work on art, and feed Abigail, then would have to leave to change her diaper, or her or his outfit because she spit up on them, but then they would fall back into place and continue the way it was supposed to be.

Levi now pushed a stroller on their walks instead of helping control Scout, which didn't seem to be a problem anymore, since the dog would stay close to the stroller.

Their sleep was now interrupted by the crying baby in her small crib in their room every few hours, and Levi could start to feel exhaustion creep into his bones from a lack of sleep. Abigail was a good baby, and only ever cried when she needed something, but that was very frequent.

They did become more efficient in taking care of her after a few weeks. They started to be able to tell the difference in her crying. A hungry cry was very different from a dirty diaper cry, and it certainly helped to be able to tell the difference between the different things she needed.

It also helped that she loved taking a bath. On the rare occasion that she did become colicky, Levi or Eren would simply put the little bathtub in the kitchen sink and let warm water run over her bare skin to help calm her down, which almost always did the trick.

There were a few extremely rare occasions, though, when she couldn't seem to be helped. It didn't matter what they did, Abigail would cry her little eyes out, and she wouldn't stop until she fell asleep from exhaustion.

Levi was currently in one of those situations, and he didn't know what to do. Eren had gone to the store. They were almost completely out of diapers and formula, and he was going to do some grocery shopping while he was there. But that left Levi alone, and he had never dealt with this by himself before. Whenever Abigail was colicky, Levi would let Eren take care of her, because he seemed to know how to help her the best. But Eren wasn't there, so he was going to have to figure it out.

He had already tried giving her a bath, but she only screamed harder when he put her in the tub, and he couldn't put her down for even a second, or he thought she might scream out a lung. She wasn't even a month old, so her cries still weren't super loud or shrill, but there was definitely a difference.

The only thing left he could think of to do was stand in the middle of the living room with Abigail's head on his shoulder and gently bounce and rock back and forth, patting her back and singing to her softly. At first, he didn't know what to sing to her, so he just hummed random notes until the soft melody of You'll Be In My Heart from "Tarzan" came to mind and his humming started to make more sense until the words flowed softly from his lips. Then he transitioned smoothly into Days in the Sun from "Beauty and the Beast", and when he stopped, Abigail was asleep on his shoulder, and he had a new idea.

Itching to play the piano, Levi placed the sleeping baby in her bouncy chair and carried her and the bouncy chair into the piano room. He placed her where he could see her easily and started to quietly play the piano to a melody that he had never thought he would make a cover of.

After over an hour of playing the piano, Abigail started to fuss again, so Levi had to lift her from the bouncy chair again and take her to change her diaper. She continued to fuss, so Levi went back to singing to her until she went back to sleep, then laid with her on his chest on the couch while he watched criminal minds on Netflix.

Eren came home not long after to his husband and daughter both asleep on the couch with Netflix running in the background. After taking a quick picture and sending it to their family, Eren removed Abigail from Levi's chest to put her in her swing to continue sleeping, then joined Levi on the couch for a nap.

Levi unconsciously made room for the taller male and woke up a while later to find his nose in Eren's hair, and he could hear gurgling noises coming from the direction of the swing. He looked over his shoulder to see Abigail awake and looking around the room, blowing spit bubbles and drooling all over herself.

Levi tried to remove himself from Eren's hold without waking him up, but failed rather miserably, and Eren sat up with him to stretch and rub the sleep from his eyes. Eren went to pick up Abigail and Levi asked, "how was your trip to the store?"

Eren nodded and replied, "it was good. I got us a rotisserie chicken for dinner with a salad kit. We will just have to heat up the chicken and put the salad together." Eren kissed his daughter's head, and now that she had one of her dads' attentions, she started to fuss and Eren chuckled. "I'll go make her a bottle."

Levi shook his head. "I'll get it. You sit with her."

"I can multi-task, you know?" Eren teased but sat down anyways. Levi didn't argue and went to make the bottle.

He came back and handed Eren the bottle and watched him feed her while he told Eren about the new medley he had come up with for the two lullabies he had sang to Abigail. Eren suggested he write a whole collection of Disney songs for their daughter, and Levi silently agreed.

They talked quietly while Abigail drank her bottle until the doorbell rang. Levi went to get it, and he was surprised to see Julie on the other side of the door.

"Hi, Levi! Is Eren here?" the woman asked enthusiastically, her own, much larger baby on her hip. The little baby, Sarah, he had held at the barbeque when they first moved in was now over two years old, and Julie was expecting yet another baby, though she was just barely showing.

Levi looked at Sarah, who was pulling her mom's hair and squirming in her arms, obviously wanting to get down, but Julie ignored her in expert fashion. "Yes, he is. He's feeding Abby right now." Sarah's closed fist came down on her mom's head, and Julie scolded her before asking to come in.

Levi gestured for them to come in, and he led Julie to the living room once he had closed and locked the door. Eren was now burping Abby, and he smiled up at Julie as she approached them. Julie made Sarah sit on her lap, and the two year old made a reach for the younger baby and said "bebe".

Eren laughed, and Julie said, "Yeah, that's a baby." She turned back to Eren after explaining to Sarah that she needed to keep her hands to herself, and that they had to be gentle. "So, how's being a parent? I feel like I've hardly seen you since she came along."

"We're exhausted, huh Levi?" Eren looked over to Levi for confirmation. Levi nodded from his place on the couch, proving his point with a big yawn as he leaned back into the cushions. "But I don't think either of us would trade her for anything."

"It's an amazing experience, isn't it? It only gets better as you go; I promise."

"Really?" Levi asked sarcastically. "Because it looks rather painful to me."

Sarah proved Levi's point by grabbing a chunk of Julie's hair in her tiny fist and yanking on it hard enough to pull Julie's head to the side. Julie grabbed Sarah's wrist and pried tiny fingers from her hair. "Point taken. Yes, it can be very painful, but every drop of blood and every tear is worth it in the end."

"How about every minute of sleep lost?" Levi said exaggeratedly but emphasized his point with a yawn.

"Totally worth it" Julie stated with a laugh. "I just wanted to see if you would all like to go to the park with us. You can bring Scout, and it would give you an opportunity to get out of the house for a bit. It's a nice day today."

"That sounds lovely." Levi said and got up to go retrieve the stroller from the garage while Eren went upstairs to put Abigail into a warmer outfit and wrap her tightly in a thick blanket to prepare her for the chilly fall weather.

Eren came out to the garage as Levi was opening the big door and waved at Sarah as she walked up the driveway, pushing her own stroller. Levi went to take the baby from Eren so that his husband could go get Scout's leash and retrieve the dog.

Soon, the four of them were ready to go on their walk, and they made small talk as they walked to the neighborhood park. It only took them a few minutes to get there, and Julie let Sarah out of her seat so that she could go play on the little playground.

Eren let Scout off his leash so that he could play fetch, and Eren threw a frisbee for Scout as they walked laps around the playground and kept an eye on Sarah. It was a welcome break for all of them to be out of the house for a while. Levi was particularly relieved that the walk seemed to put Abby to sleep, and she didn't mind the stroller, either.

They stayed at the park for about an hour until Sarah came back to her mother, crying that she was cold and tired. So, they started the trek back to the houses, and they parted ways at Levi and Eren's driveway.

When Eren took Abby from the stroller, he put her on his shoulder and he could hear her grunting in her sleep, then caught a whiff of fresh poop. So, he made the trip upstairs to change her diaper, then they joined Levi and Scout in the living room for their nightly routine of watching tv and winding down for the evening.

Levi and Eren cuddled on the couch, and Levi couldn't help but smile as he looked around him.

Eren noticed. "What's that smile for."

"I'm just happy." He looked at their dog, their baby, and his husband. "I'm so content with life. Five years ago, if you had told me this is where I would be, I would have laughed in your face. But I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Eren grinned at his husband and pulled him into a kiss. "Me either."

Ten Years Later

"Abigail Ackerman!" Levi yelled up the stairs, then he could hear quick, light steps on the floor above him before a head of black hair poked around the corner, blue eyes wide and fearful as crying could be heard in another room upstairs. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, dad!"

"Abby…" Levi said, a warning tone in his voice.

"He fell! I didn't do anything!"

Levi sighed and started up the stairs. He went to find his son, and found him in Abby's room on the floor, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. "Come here, Gray."

Grayson was one of Levi and Eren's two sons. Grayson and Alex were twins, and just about four years old now. They were perfectly identical and looked just like Eren. Those green eyes would melt Levi's heart even on the most difficult days. "Where's your brother?" Levi asked as he put Grayson on his hip and the young boy snuggled into his shoulder, breathing heavily from crying.

Levi went to the twins' room down the hall and saw Alex asleep on his bed. "Alex has the right idea, Gray. I think it's nap time."

"No…" He heard the young boy whimper as Levi tried to set him down.

"Yes. Come on, you're so tired, baby."

"Daddy…" Levi sighed. He wanted Eren.

"Daddy's feeding your baby sister right now. He can't come. Your dad isn't good enough?"

Gray thought about it for a minute, but must have settled on just having Levi, especially once he had mentioned their new little sister. So, he gave his dad a hug, and Levi laid him down and tucked him in for his nap, then turned to cover Alex with a blanket. By the time he was at the door to the bedroom, Gray was already asleep and snoring softly.

Levi smiled and closed the door behind him, leaving it cracked so that the boys could get out easily if they needed to.

He turned to the hallway to see Abby standing in the doorway to her own bedroom. At ten years old, she was a sassy pre-teen, and still their spoiled little princess. She was cute, and she knew it, which was a weapon in her arsenal that she used often to get what she wanted.

"Come here, you little brat. Let's go downstairs so your brothers will sleep." Levi said, ruffling her hair as they went.

"Can I watch tv?" She asked him.

"Yes, you may." Levi answered, and she ran ahead of him to choose what she wanted to watch. Levi entered the living room in just enough time to see her snatch the remote off the table and plop onto the couch.

Levi turned away from her to go to the kitchen and find his husband and their newest family member. Gabriela was barely a week old, and very much still a handful, as she would be for a long time still to come. Eren was bouncing the fussy baby up and down while he simultaneously tried to make her a bottle.

Levi took the baby from him so that he could finish up with the bottle. The younger man sighed in relief. "Thanks. What happened with the boys?"

"Grayson tripped, but he's okay. I put both boys down for a nap, and Abby is watching tv."

Eren sighed and leaned against the counter. He looked exhausted. "I'm so tired."

Levi nodded in agreement. "No more babies, yeah?" Levi asked, and Eren nodded in agreement.

"They're just so cute, but I agree. Four is plenty." Eren said with a yawn.

"But you know what?" Levi started, patting Gabi on the back. Eren looked at him curiously. "I still wouldn't trade it for anything."

Eren grinned at him. "I agree." Levi pulled Eren in for a quick kiss before Eren had to go back to preparing the bottle. Levi could truly say he would never regret this choice he made.