Charlotte was still holding the baby in her arms when she arrived at Yami's home. The large double doors intact for once. She knew how his squad tended to destroy things. Speaking of: For their own safety Yami had send all of the Black Bulls member away on a useless mission. Some chase after a villain that didn't exist.

She felt grateful for it. She didn't want to explain why she had agreed to raise a baby with the man she claimed to hate every day of her life. But she would like to go to bed herself right now. It was still the middle of the night. The meeting had lasted longer than she had thought.

But she hadn't thought to stay with the Black Bulls for a while either.

Everyone she knew was sleeping right now, and knowing the way babies were supposed to be, she wouldn't get much sleep tonight. But she would force Yami to help is she had to. No, she would not do this alone.

And later, Charlotte had to explain this to her own squad. Great, she thought, the only woman claiming to hate all men was stuck with one, taking care of homeless baby that was being hunted by a demon.

She still didn't know what to think about this part. None of them really knew what the demon wanted from the kid. But he did promise to come back to get him. Now it was her job to make sure it wouldn't happen.

Charlotte looked down when she felt the little boy squirm in her arms. He needed a better bed. She was sure that sleeping in someone's arms wasn't comfortable all the time. Then again, it would surprise her if Yami had a proper bed for a baby. Why would he even need one?

Yes, all of his members were stupid and reckless sometimes, but not babies. The blond woman sighed. Where was she supposed to place him? He needed a save place where he wouldn't be in danger of accidentally hurting himself.

"He needs a bed" she whispered, hoping Yami would be quiet as well. Asta had been woken up enough tonight.

Yami hummed. "I don't really have a baby bed" he whispered back.

Charlotte stopped herself from groaning out loud. He was not helping. She knew very well that he didn't have one, but she was hoping for a helpful solution. Something make-shift. If he didn't have anything to place him in, then she had only one option left.

"Fine, we'll get something in the morning. Do you have a spare room?" she asked.

"Sure. Up the stairs, second door on the right" he replied.

Well at least something. He was probably just as bad at this as she was. Why did she even agree to any of this. It was ridiculous. She couldn't take care of a baby. But now she was stuck with it.

"You're really going to go through with this?" Yami asked, as she began to walk up the stairs.

Charlotte nodded. "Children need someone to look after them. Aside from the fact that you would probably kill him within ten minutes, they need a mother and a father" she explained.

"Alright. But you can't stay forever. You have your own squad to worry about" as rude as it sounded, Charlotte knew how he meant it.

"I'll find a solution. Besides, I will only stay so long as he needs me" she said sternly.

Yami hummed in thought, looking over at the couch in the main room. He could barely admit it to himself how he missed the others. How he didn't like it when it was so quiet in the base. He just wasn't used to it anymore.

"Children will always need their mother" he reminded.

Charlotte huffed, looking down at the squirming baby in her arms. She knew that, because how long had she been going to her own mother when she felt distressed. Children always seemed to have a special connection with their parents, especially their mother.

"But I'm not his mother" she muttered. "I'm just the woman that is going to look after him the next few years."

"From now on you are. Maybe you didn't give birth to him, but I know that in time, you won't be seeing him any other way. So Charlotte…" Yami drifted off, hoping to gain her full attention again.

And she did look back at him.

"How long will you stay?"

She sighed. How right he was. Most of the time, Yami seemed to be a complete jerk. Someone that couldn't give a damn about other's feelings. But then, in other moments, she saw how careful he was when talking to his squad members. Sometimes she was asking herself if she even knew the man properly.

"Probably until he's five. When he has learnt to take care of himself for the most part. Then I'm leaving him in your care. I'll go to my own squad from time to time, to make sure everything is alright there" she finally said.

"Alright. But you'll still visit right?" Yami raised an eyebrow.

Charlotte felt her face go pink. Why was he interested in that? Did he want her to stay? No, Charlotte told herself. It was probably something else. So just ask him. What did he mean? Like a normal person. It was a normal question, so she could give a normal answer.

"Of course I will" she scoffed. Damn it!

"Good, because he will grow up thinking that you are his mother. Leaving and not coming back would be bad for him. Would be for every kid" the man explained.

"And you'll be his father. What will we tell him when I go?"

Yami shrugged. "That we broke up. And decided he would stay with me, but you promised that you would visit now and then" he suggested.

The blond woman nodded. Yes, that sounded good. She had to look down yet again, when Asta opened his eyes and began crying.

"What now?" Yami groaned.

Charlotte shot him a look. So much for being a father. She was sure that he would mess it up but tried to have faith in him. It would be fine.

"He`s probably hungry. He wasn't eaten something since we left his home. Babies need to eat more often than adults" she explained, rocking the baby up and down, trying to calm him.

"And what do they eat?"

Charlotte would love to strangle him right now. What did that man even know? He seemed to know nothing about babies. Still, she tried to stay calm. Screaming at him what an idiot he was, wouldn't help right now. She could do that later.

"Normally mothers breast-feed their babies for some time until they can eat solid food" the blond woman explained.

"Easy enough. You're a woman. Problem solved!" Yami exclaimed.

"Ugh no. Do you know anything about this? That is not how this works. I would explain it to you, but that would be useless. Do you have any milk?" she asked.

"Probably in the kitchen" Yami shrugged.

"Great! Hold him" Charlotte pushed the boy into Yami's arms, who in reaction began holding him under his armpits. He didn't really know how to hold a baby.

The baby gave him a weird and maybe even a bit confused look.

"What?" he asked sutpidly, raising an eyebrow.

Asta's crying began to intensify because of the way he was being held. He didn't like it one bit. It was more than just a bit uncomfortable.

"Charlotte?" he nervously called for the woman, eyes not daring to move from the child but holding him just a bit further away. God, why did he have to do this? Why couldn't someone else look after him? He was so not made for any of this stuff.

"Coming!" she called back.

She ran back with a make-shift bottle. It was just a small cup with heated milk. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The cup was deep enough to make sure she wouldn't spill anything while feeding Asta.

She took him back from Yami, properly holding him in one arm, elbow steadying his head. Slowly, she brought the cup to his lips, making sure that he was drinking the milk slowly. And he was not being careful, gulping the milk down rather greedily.

"You must be pretty hungry, huh?" she cooed.

Asta just let out a squeal, finishing the last drops of milk. Charlotte smiled, handing the cup to Yami. For the first time in her life she was grateful that her mother forced the information about childcare into her head. She remembered how she had gotten a headache just from listening to all of this. Bringing Asta up, she lightly patted his back until she heard the satisfying sound.

Nodding to herself, she let Asta down a bit again.

"You know a lot about babies" Yami observed.

"And you still have a lot to learn" she retorted. "I mean really Yami! Holding him under his armpits? That's uncomfortable."

"How am I supposed to know?" the large man tried to defend himself.

"By thinking for a minute" she sighed. "No matter. I have a lot of time to teach you about those things" she grinned.

Yami was surprised himself. Charlotte didn't even smile often, but that satisfying grin told him everything. He had made a big mistake, agreeing to all of this.

"Tomorrow we have to buy a lot of stuff."

"Like what?" he didn't like where this was going. Shopping with a woman could be horrible.

"Oh you know the usual" she shrugged, adjusting Asta in her arms so she could count on her fingers.

"A bed, clothes, blankets, bottles and proper baby food. And we should probably visit Owen to make sure he's alright" she looked pretty amused by Yami's look.

"Oh god" Yami groaned, making Charlotte actually laugh.

"But now we should both go to bed. It's late and we still have a lot to do tomorrow" Charlotte gave him one last glance, before turning to the stairs, this time actually climbing them.

Second door to the right he said. When Charlotte opened the door, she didn't expect to find a room that was actually pretty nice. The bed would be big enough for two people. The walls painted a deep shade of blue, a soft rug in front of the bed.

She didn't think Yami would actually care how any of the rooms in his hideout looked. The main room looked so shady and old. Stone walls everywhere that gave of a cold feeling.

"I think this will do, right?" she smiled down at the baby, tickling his stomach. Asta gave a laugh, green eyes shining with glee.

Maybe Yami was right. In the end she wouldn't be able to just see him as some random kid.

She layed Asta on his back on the bed, hoping he would hold still long enough for her to take her helmet off. Which she did, putting it on the nightstand. She allowed her hair to fall down past her shoulders. While it got in the way during any fight, she hated the feeling of it tightly wrapped up in a bun while sleeping.

Charlotte picked the small boy up once again, pulling the covers back to lay down herself. She layed Asta on top of her chest again, covers coming over both of them. Hopefully, they could both sleep like this for the night.

She had a feeling that she would want him to sleep in her room while she would stay. And why not? There was no way in hell she was going to share a bed with Yami. That would never happen in her whole life.

She was only staying for his sake. Just long enough until he knew how to keep himself away from danger. Which she hoped wouldn't take too long.

When Charlotte looked down, she found Asta sleeping already. How many times had he woken up and fell back asleep again tonight? Often enough, she thought.

She sighed.

"Well Asta. Looks like I'm your mother from now on" she closed her eyes.


Chapter 3 everybody. Charlotte'S gonna be a Mom from now on. The next few chapters will be abot Asta's childhood. It will be a bit different from what we're used to after all.

If you liked it, let me know and leave a comment. ;)

Bye