Prompt Request Post- Zelink Baby
Summary: Zelda and Link take their baby girl to an aquarium
~Modern AU. Zelink. They're still rulers, but that's not important at all to the story lol~
Prompt: please please please I need a zelda and link with a small child. you choose the name and everything i dont care I just need a child. or children
for nodos-still-breathing
and thank you zeldaelmo for looking it over and saving me from several silly mistakes
Word Count: 2931
"Oh, look at that! Look at the little fish!"
Link tapped his finger against the glass, earning the attention of everyone around him.
First, the fish. A school of greengill fish swarmed at his hand, mouths bobbing against the glass.
Second, his wife. Zelda crossed her arms and raised an accusatory brow at him for tapping the glass after reading a sign not three minutes ago that asked not to tap the glass. But her disapproval melted away in an instant.
Because the third person who's attention he'd gotten had been that of the giggling baby in his arms. And that was the only one who mattered to him.
Tufts of blonde hair sat short on the head of a blue-eyed baby girl with an infectious laugh and a grin spotted by a single growing tooth in her otherwise toothless mouth.
"Oh, you like papa's finger being eaten?" Link asked, tapping the glass again, bringing the fish straight back as if in a feeding frenzy.
The baby girl let out an excited screech and looked at Link's face before staring at his hand once again.
"But what if the fishy's… get you!"
The Claw, Zelda called it, reached around and began relentlessly tickling the small girl until she was a fit of laughter and squeals. Eyes scrunched shut, she began to worm her way out of Link's arms.
"Link," Zelda chuckled, plucking their daughter from his hold and into the safety of her embrace. "We're in a public aquarium. We don't want her to scream around others."
"You're right," he conceded, his blue eyes staring devilishly into hers. "But you're an adult and should control yourself!"
Throwing himself into Zelda, one hand tight on their girl in case Zelda flinched more than he anticipated, he dug his finger into her armpit, and she let out a shriek that disappeared into laughter as she squeezed their girl.
"Is papa being bad?" Zelda asked, her voice sweet, but her eyes shooting playful daggers at the overgrown child in front of her.
Link fixed his tussled hair and moved behind Zelda to wrap his arms around her waist. "I'm never bad."
"You are so."
He kissed her neck with the quick discretion of a public kiss and rested his chin on her shoulder. "I can be, I guess. But you like me like that."
"Obviously," Zelda teased, leaning her hips back into him. It was only recently she'd started feeling like herself pre-pregnancy once again, though the continued lack of sleep and busy schedule had her dark-eyed and groggy. "You remember… the night we made Teagan, don't you?"
Link chucked low in her ear. "Okay, so we like each other bad. Problem solved." One more quick kiss and he spun around her with the fighter's precision and speed he was known for. "Papa's turn," he said, plucking their girl back into his arms, wishing that the aquarium had allowed an exception to their stroller parking outside rule for the royal family. But no, it was a safety hazard. Though they had a baby carrier in their bag that Link could toss on, he and Zelda figured it wasn't worth the effort and he'd just have to take it off outside when they got the stroller back.
"Papapapapapapapa," Teagan breathed out, drool dripping down her chin and onto her bib.
Link wiped it and kissed her cheek. "Papa is having more fun than Mama. Because Mama wants to take notes and study every fish in this aquarium even though she knows that her two favorite people don't have that kind of patience."
"Don't pit her against me," Zelda snorted, glancing up from the notes she was jotting down in her tablet, looking Teagan over affectionately before Link took off to another tank.
"Look, little bird," he whispered, excitement rising in his tone. "A Cuccofish. Can you say that? Can you say 'Cuc-co-fish?"
Teagan turned to him, almost a question in her inquisitive eyes. She was always alert, always listening… always trying to learn. Link often joked his praise that she only inherited Zelda's brain.
He pointed at the white fish, it's red fins sticking up like the bird. "Cuccofish."
Teagan turned and her eyes followed the fast fish as it darted around the glass. It looked her in the eyes and Link shuddered on her behalf. Teagan squirmed in his arms again, her whole body resting on his chest, cowering away from the fish.
"Yeah, you're right," he said, adjusting his grip and heading away. "We don't need them."
"Co," she whispered.
"Ah!" Zelda cried, moving in front of Link to stop him. "She wants to see the fish again. She wants to study it."
"Co," Teagan said again, her fist clenching and unclenching in the direction of the fish.
Zelda plucked her from Link's arms and returned to the tank. "Just because Papa has a fear of cuccos doesn't mean we have to!"
"Papapapappaa."
"Exactly!"
"Don't you turn her against me," Link groaned, though he rested himself against the wall far from the tank.
He could hear Zelda explaining something to Teagan, something that had her attention on Zelda; on her lips, her mouth, her hand, the tank. In truth, Link could watch them all day. Watch Zelda talk about the things she loved, and watch Teagan learn about the world with every new word out of Zelda's mouth.
When she'd been born, he'd been a wreck, staying up for days at a time, relying solely on his training so he could keep an eye on her without blinking. He'd been in a state of panic almost constantly, watching her chest rise and fall and panicking if it took too long. He listened hard, trying to tell if his girl was sick, or if babies just breathed that strangely. He'd pulled Zelda from bed more than a few times to double check, and they'd both rushed to the infirmary multiple times only to be told to rest easy.
The day Zelda had to take Teagan from his arms as he swayed with exhaustion had been the day they'd finally begun to divide their tasks more evenly. Zelda had those helping her with her duties, but motherhood was something she refused help on. Not because of pride; it was just something she never thought she'd get to do.
And Link knew that. Watching them now, months after they'd struggled, months after sleeplessly worrying, months after wondering if Teagan would grow an extra toe for no reason at all, they were settling in.
And he could see it now.
Zelda's excitement was coming back. Her eyes had more life, despite the exhaustion that encircled them. Her bounce with Teagan on her hip had more pep and was no longer less of a sway.
Goddess, what he wouldn't do for those two in front of him.
Zelda turned to him, as if sensing his thoughts, and her entire expression softened in an instant. There were no thought lines, no pensive wrinkles.
"What?" she asked.
He shook his head nonchalantly. "Nothing. I just love you both."
Zelda hummed happily and her smiled widened. Link blushed, and her teeth showed. They were like bashful teenagers all over again.
"What do you think, little bird?" Zelda asked the fussing bundle. Teagan was already reaching for Link, whining to return to him. "Do we love papa?"
Teagan whined, but the word 'pa' was somewhere in her string of incomprehensible sounds. Zelda rolled her eyes and handed Teagan off once again.
"My girl," Link said proudly, fixing Teagan's shirt as she calmed.
"Take her into there," Zelda said, pointing to a small, aesthetic cave. "You're the shorter one of us anyway so you'll fit better than me."
Link scoffed and headed for the cave. "You just want to see…" he hesitated and cut his words off, mouthing: "my ass."
He'd barely gotten the word out before he felt Zelda's hand give him a soft smack, though it was loud enough to flush his face instantly.
He spun on her. "I thought you said to behave!"
"You said you liked me bad, so…"
"Join me in my dark cave, Zelda."
"Go look at the fish with her, Link."
"Spoilsport."
"We are in public. Find us a dark corner back home and that's a different story entirely."
Link grinned. "Oh, you want to find a dark corner when we get home? Well… it's time to leave, right? We can leave now."
Teagan whined, turning toward the cave.
"The sooner you get in that cave…" Zelda chuckled before taking a seat on the bench.
Link crawled into the hole and set Teagan down to let her crawl around the enclosed space. Jellyfish glowed in the dithering light of luminous stones spotting the ground of the tank.
He watched her, a proud smile tilting his lips upward. She was clumsy, her hands hitting the ground hard, her breath huffing out with eagerness to move, her legs thrown out like a frog one at a time, while and chaotic and learning.
"You're going to be a little runner one day, aren't you?" he said, grabbing her and holding Teagan in a standing position so she could see . He cautiously let her go to let her try to stand, his hands barely moving away from her. She was as athletic as him, it seemed, and he curiously wanted to give her encouragement to stand. But she wobbled, and her foot slid back as she started to fall. Link caught her quickly and pointed to a jellyfish that was particularly lit up, distracting her immediately as he held her closer, tighter. He'd… have to pick up a book from Zelda's library to see when she'd be able to stand so he didn't hurt her.
Teagan was… not quite interested in walking just yet. Or standing. Or sitting up, for that matter. She enjoyed her hands and feet to everything else, and both Link and Zelda tried to help her toddle around as often as possible.
When it was clear the lights no longer amused the baby, Link pulled a clean wipe from his pocket and scrubbed Teagan's hands from the dirty floor before she could shove them into her mouth. He helped her out and lifted her into his arms to find Zelda.
Her head was leaning back against the wall, her mouth slightly parted, her chest rising and falling deep and slow.
If they weren't in a public place, he'd have just let her rest.
But eyes were on them, always on them, and he kissed Teagan. "Silly mama fell asleep." He knelt down in front of Zelda and gently placed a hand on her knee. "Hey, love, we're back."
Though she startled awake as she often did even in the peace of their bedroom, Zelda's eyes settled on her two favorite pairs and she grinned. "Did I doze off?"
"You did."
"Thanks for waking me," she whispered, taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet.
He didn't let go, swinging their arms as they continued on. "You're okay, right?"
"Just tired. Too much stuff; I still can't get it off my mind. We're leaders, you know? It's hard to turn all of that off even for a vacation."
"I understand. I…" Link felt Teagan pulling in his arms, and he craned his neck over his shoulder, Zelda's gaze following. Her hand was submerged in a tank, and in a panic, he jerked them both away from the water. "No! Teagan, no, we don't put our hands in the tanks." Teagan's lip trembled and phantom tears were in her eyes as she started to cry. Link kissed her again. "I'm sorry."
Zelda moved behind him and took Teagan's hand, calming her quickly with a simple smile as she wiped the girl's hand dry with her shirt until they could properly clean her off. "We don't want you or the fishy's to get hurt, okay, little bird?" She pulled the girl from Link's arms. "Alright, let's go see the turtles."
Zelda pulled the wipe from Link's hand and rolled her eyes in exasperation as she cleaned Teagan's hands once again while they walked.
Tanks of swimming turtles were surrounded by tortoises, and Goddess, did Teagan screech. Zelda flinched at the octaves in her ear, but with the grabby hands and wriggling for freedom, she could tell Teagan was not unhappy with this animal friend.
"Turtle." Zelda said, pointing at them both. She wasn't even going to try for 'tortoise'. "Turtle. Tur-tle."
The giant land walker took no obvious notice of them, but the turtle in the tank swam into the glass straight at them.
"Tuh. Tuh! Tuh!"
"Good job, little bird! Turtle!"
"Genius, like her mama," Link chimed, though his attention was on the apathetic tortoise. "I like this guy."
"Tuh!"
"You're right, little bird," he said, bending beside it as it continued a slow, unfazed walk. "We should get a little turtle.'
"Tortoise," Zelda corrected quickly. "And no. We already have a dog and a cat."
"She's an animal lover!"
"Her, or her weak parents?"
Link grinned as he followed them to the next turtle. "Why not both?"
"Did you just call me weak?" Zelda chided playfully, bouncing Teagan on her hip as the baby cooed in excitement, a joyful stream of drool escaping her mouth again.
Zelda moved closer to the tortoise and knelt beside it, setting Teagan down, holding her by the waist.
"Whoa," Link said, hustling over to them as Teagan reached towards the monster-sized turtle. "Wait, what if it bites her?"
"This species has no teeth."
"But what if she—"
"Link, trust me. Let her have some fun with the turtle."
"Tortoise…" he muttered, sitting beside her on the ground. He let his head droop onto Zelda's shoulder, one eye closing to rest while the other remained on their daughter as she gleefully banged an open palm against the shell, giggling all the while. He leaned into her a bit closer. "I miss you."
"I'm right here, Link."
"I know. I just do. I'm tired, and I miss you. You're busy at work, I'm busy at work, then we get home and we're with Teagan. Which, I love, Goddess, but I miss you."
She leaned her head on his. "I miss you too, Link." Silence fell between them, broken only by the contagious sounds of joy. "How about we let my father have her for a while when we're done, and we can spend some time together when we get back?"
Link pushed himself to his feet and grabbed Teagan, roaring like a lion, his hands like the grip of an animal. She shrieked into a laugh as he lifted her and blew a raspberry onto her cheek. And as he walked by, he plucked Zelda up with his other hand, holding hers firmly with a promise and excitement.
Like teenagers, Zelda dragged Link to their room, her hand tight in his, her fingers squeezing his with excitement.
As soon as they were inside, her lips were on his; his hands were in her hair, on her back, around her waist. She touched his skin for the first time in what felt like forever.
It was…
Exhausting.
"I love you, you know," Zelda said, kissing Link's neck, his ear, his jaw.
Link grinned, sliding his hand up the back of her shirt before running back down once again.
And with that, for the first time since Teagan's birth, Zelda and Link were curled up in each other's arms without the worry of waking up to a harsh cry in the night, a desire for food, or boredom.
Zelda's father was in the same building as them, and he was more than happy to spend time with his granddaughter. Especially in the middle of the day.
Link's arms were tight around Zelda, and she leaned in for another smothering kiss, only to be met by Link's wide open mouth.
"Link!" she giggled, pulling away.
He was mid-yawn.
Softening immediately, Zelda ran her hand through his hair. "Tired?"
"A little. Not too tired for you, though. Sorry."
He caressed her cheek.
His hand followed her jaw as it gaped, loudly yawning herself.
"It's contagious," she countered at his judgmental look.
"You know," Link muttered, looking wistfully at the bed. "Your dad has her for a few hours. We can put them all to good use."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
It took Link no time to throw the blankets over himself, and Zelda kicked her shoes off before diving into the bed, curling up against Link, listening to his easy heartbeat and steady breathing. He tried to kiss her hair, but it was more of a bump from his nose in his delirium.
"Link," Zelda muttered groggily, barely coherent.
"Mmmm."
"Did you see her smile?"
"Hmmm," he laughed out, though it was more of a hum.
"We're getting her a turtle, aren't we?"
"Absolutely."
Zelda snorted and made herself more comfortable. "Tomorrow maybe…" she whispered, her heavy eyes drooping.
"We could take her later…"
And that was all that was said between them before they had passed out on their pillows and in each other's arms, sound asleep. Childless, adult fun was no longer a romp in a bedroom, simply a nap in one.
A/N: I know I'm super rarely posting on FFN anymore (go Ao3 readability lol sorry FFN), but this was done as part of my 300 followers on Tumblr prompt requests! If you want to give me a prompt, you can totally feel free to drop one here, in a DM, or on tumblr! I have anon open too on there, so I think if you don't have a tumblr, you can still do that. You don't have to, I just had fun with this, and I have two others I'm working on (but I'm super slow with them), and I kinda want more hahahhhaha! If you want my tumblr, it's in my profile all spaced out so FFN doesn't have a fit about the link lol
