Thursday came before Prommpto even realized it. It was weird how the days sometimes went by in a blur and others went slowly now that he had a kid. Now Thursday had come, and he still felt a little bit of hesitation towards the idea of going to a gathering of mothers.

The idea had still piqued his interest, knowing that he could meet other mothers and learn more firsthand. Sure, he still had already learned a lot from the nannies in the Citadel, but he was still open to more.

Besides, he figured it would be good to find mothers with children Scarlet's age. If he could befriend them, maybe he could arrange playdays in the future. He definitely wanted Scarlet to have friends to play with, so this was the best opportunity that he could get.

"Yo Noct! What are you doing here? Well, I know this is the Citadel and you grew up here, but you got your own apartment and stuff."

"Had some meeting stuff Ignis wanted me to go over, but also thought to stop by to see you," Noctis said as he caught Prompto walking down the hall. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, uh, going on another walk with Scarlet," Prompto said, patting her head as she sat snuggly in her carrier.

"Another one? How many walks do you need to take a baby on when she can't even walk yet?"

"It's good for her to get fresh air!" Besides, I was going to stop at the 's, um, an event I wanted to see."

Noctis raised an eyebrow. "An event…? At the library?"

"Yeah… just a thing I heard about," Prompto replied.

He had no idea why he was avoiding telling Noctis the truth. Noctis already supported him greatly in his choice to raise a child, so it wouldn't make sense he would judge Prompto's choice to go to a mothers gathering. If anything, Noctis would probably find it strange, but he wouldn't judge Prompto for it.

"It's just something I discovered," he finally answered. "A bunch of mothers meet up there with their kids or something. Thought I could go and, you know, learn some stuff."

"Need anyone to come with?" Noctis offered.

Prompto thought about it for a moment, but then he started thinking about how it would look if he was seen with a baby and the prince. People would totally stare and start whispering to one another. And on top of that, the papers would definitely find a way to twist the truth, and he wasn't ready to handle something like that.

Prompto finally shook his head. "Nah. I'll be fine. I'll text if I need anything. Okay?"

"Okay, but you'll be back later, right? I wanna do some video gaming tonight if you're available."

"Yeah! For sure! That sounds fun!"

"Then see you later, have fun at your mom thing," Noctis replied.

Prompto waved goodbye to Noctis before he headed out of the Citadel, walking in the direction of the library.

"Okay, Scarlet, we're going to go meet some nice ladies, and maybe even some kids your age."

"Ahh gaaa," Scarlet babbled.

"Yeah, that's right, it's at the library. Maybe we can even read some books later! How's that sound?"

Scarlet laughed as her response, bringing a smile up to Prompto's face.

"You are just the happiest baby ever! I love you so much," Prompto cheered. "I'm sure everyone is going to love you!"

When he arrived at the Central Insomnia Library, he first handed Scarlet her chocobo themed teething ring, hoping that it would keep her quiet for a while. Then, he stepped inside and started to look around. He wasn't exactly sure where a bunch of mothers would be meeting up at such a place, but he was sure he could figure it out on his own. He knew there were lounge areas and even rooms reserved for meetings, so if he had to take a guess he would check those areas first.

Thankfully, it didn't take long to find the longing area, immediately spotting a group of women sitting around a table. With a deep breath, he started walking towards the table, his eyes shifting between all of the women until he noticed the woman he saw the other day.

He watched as Irene stood up once they connected eyes. "Ah, this is who I was talking about. This is Prompto and his little girl, Scarlet."

"Um, hi?" Prompto asked as he waved.

All of the women were staring at him, but he watched as their expressions seemed to soften. It helped some of his own tensions to finally wash away from his body and mind.

"Hello, Prompto. Lovely to meet you."

"Welcome, please sit down and join us."

"And hello to Scarlet as well! What a sweetie!"

"Make yourself comfortable, we've just been chatting amongst ourselves."

Taking in another deep breath, Prompto sat himself down in one of the open chairs. He looked carefully at the women, seeing that out of the five women, two of them were holding small infants. One of them had one of those tight wraps, keeping the baby close to her chest, while the other was bouncing the child on her leg.

The others, including Irene, didn't have children around them, leading Prompto to figure that the children either weren't there that day or somewhere else in the library.

"So, um, what were you all talking about?" Prompto asked.

"Since we had just started, we were going over how our weeks have been," Irene said as she sat back down. "Care to give yours?"

Now with all eyes on him, there was no way he could back down. He had always hated being put on the spot, especially back in the days of school, but if he wanted to make an impression he needed to try.

"Oh me? Well, I don't have a full-time job yet. Working towards getting a part-time job while I wait for my college stuff to start."

"And what are you going to go to college for?" one of the women asked.

"Photography. It's something I've been very passionate about since I was a kid," Prompto explained.

"It sounds like you have your life planned," another woman added. "I wish I could've been that prepared at your age."

"Speaking of… Irene mentioned that you were young, but just how young are you?"

"I uh… 17," Promtpo answered softly.

The woman who had the baby wrapped against her chest let out a loud hum. "And raising a child too?"

Prompto held his breath, unsure if this woman was just asking a question, or if she was secretly judging him. All of the eyes were on him, and he couldn't help feeling a little intimidated by it. He wished that he could feel less pressured by being there, knowing this was just something he had to overcome.

Then, he glanced down at Scarlet, happily chewing on her teething ring. His heart felt warm again, and he found his usual bout of confidence. If he could express himself, telling the truth to these ladies, maybe they could better understand him.

"It was just a strange set of circumstances, but I wouldn't give her up for anything. I'm kind of… My parents weren't around a lot when I was younger… Always off on trips for work and stuff. I want to give Scarlet what I didn't have, caring for her in a way I wish I had."

"Aw, that's incredibly sweet!"

"Such a mature thing to say for a young, growing man!"

"I can see what you meant, Irene, he certainly knows what he is doing."

All of the women started to shower him with compliments, causing the blush to rush to his face.

"T-Thank you, all of you. It means a lot. I hope I can come and visit again after this, and maybe Scarlet can meet all of your kids. It'd really be nice to have her have some playmats. Uh, if that's okay with any of you!"

The little girl on her mother's leg started giggling. "Play! Wanna play!"

Her mother smiled. "Well, I am not opposed to it if my little girl isn't."

Prompto smiled slightly. "Thank you."

"Oh, I'm sure we can work something out," another of the women said. "I'd be glad to, and I could give some tips if you'd like."

With more of the mothers chiming in, Prompto started to feel his smile grow wider. Once again he was being shown that small sliver of kindness that he felt like he rarely ever got. Through so many years of people looking down at him, kids making fun of him, and his parents never being around, he felt like he was finally being accepted somewhere.

Sure, he still had a lot of anxiety over it, knowing he was still just a young kid in their eyes, but he had hope now. He had hope that these mothers could help guide him to be the best parent that he could be.


I forgot to post this chapter a while back, but here it is.

I still hope to anyone out there reading this, that you are enjoying. Thank you to anyone who is reading.