***Hello, everyone! I'm sorry about the hiatus. Writer's block, and then I had to deal with something personal for a week. Anyways, I wrote this for the anniversary of prismtheartweirdo on Tumblr's Circus AU that my other story (Come One, Come All) was based on. The anniversary isn't until 5/15, so happy early anniversary, friend. I don't own the characters or the AU, and let's go!
Keith woke up halfway on the foldout couch and halfway on the floor. He stood up and stretched, refamiliarizing himself with the room. The room where Cherri was recovering after having their first child.
She was fast asleep, and she deserved the rest. She'd only been awake long enough for her parents to come in and meet the baby girl in a small bassinet next to the bed. Baby Rei Mari Dearest.
Keith's heart melted all over when he looked into her bed, and she began making grabby hands at him. "I'm here. Daddy's here," he whispered, picking her up. Her eyes were the same blue as his, and her hair was already clearly the same auburn as her mother's. Keith sat down on the foldout couch and saw Rei struggling to keep her little eyes open.
He smiled, gently stroking her head. "You can go to sleep. Here, how about we lay down for a little while?" he said. He laid down on the couch, supporting Rei as she laid on his chest. Right as she began to lose her fight against sleep, there was a knock on the door, and Amara poked her head in.
"Mama...?" came Cherri's exhausted voice. She rubbed her eyes as Amara came in. She'd been present for the birth, having been through the ordeal herself. "How do you feel, honey?" she asked. "Like a train hit me," Cherri said. She looked over and saw her husband lying on the much-too-small couch, a newborn on his chest. "Do you want her?" he asked the women.
"Actually," Amara said as Cherri was allowed to hold Rei once again, "you have some visitors. Your father ran into them on the way to bring you some breakfast. Do you want him to send them up?" Keith and Cherri could only assumed that a few of their friend were coming by. After all, it was two days before a show. "Sure, they can come in," Cherri said.
After Amara sent Lucifer a text, it was fifteen minutes until Lila, Skid, and Pump came in. Followed by Pico, Cassandra, Nene, and Darnell.
And they were followed by Selever, Rasazy, Senpai, Hex, Whitty, Carol, Annie, and Garcello, with Lucifer shutting the door behind them.
"When you said visitors, I was expecting a few people!" Keith said to his mother-in-law. Amara only shrugged. "We couldn't wait to see the new friend!" Skid said, peering over the bedside rail. "The new baby!" Pump chirped. Lila gently guided the kids back. "Give them some space, you two," she chided.
"Nene and I pretty much dragged Pico and Cass along," Darnell clarified. "I haven't seen a baby that small since I first saw Rasazy!" Selever commented, also leaning over Cherri's shoulder until his sister yanked him back by the collar. "Well, show us the little one. What's her name?" Senpai asked.
"I chose the name Rei, and Keith chose the middle name Mari," Cherri said. She felt slightly more secure when Keith sat next to her in the bed.
Hex's computer screen pinged. "The name Rei means lovely, and the name Mari means truth," he recited. "I doubt you could get any truths outta this little gremlin," Annie said, reaching over to touch the baby's cheek. "She is cute, though," Garcello commended. "Maybe we could try for one of our own," Carol teased, bringing Whitty to blush and murmur something about his asexuality.
All of the noises scared Rei. Who were all of these people? Her mommy and daddy were trying to keep them at a distance, but a few tried to touch her hair, belly, and face. At last, she had enough and let out a wail. "Oh, honey..." Cherri cooed, holding Rei close and trying to soothe her.
The rest of the circus was silent. Their reactions varied from guilt to indifference to annoyance. Once Rei was calm, Keith sighed. He got up and put on his work voice.
"I know you guys are excited. I'm excited too. After all, we've all been looking forward to this. Contrary to what some of you feel, we are like a big family. And we're welcoming someone new to the family. But," he said, "you guys have to keep in mind that Rei's just a baby. A newborn baby, at that. So you guys are going to have to be careful with her. Really, really careful. And also, Cherri and I decided that... once she's released from the hospital, the circus will be taking a two-week break from shows. I have to take care of them, and adjust to being a parent. It's effective once they're released from the hospital. Long story short, things are going to change."
The room fell silent for a few moments. After those few moments, Rasazy shuffled over to the bedside. "Can I hold her?" she nearly whispered. "Sure. Just support her head and her bottom. Keith, can you help her?" Cherri asked.
With a few adjustments, Rasazy was safely holding Rei. "Welcome to the freak show," the introvert said. In response, a small smile crossed Rei's face.
"Hey, I still remember how to hold babies. Let me hold her, sis," Selever insisted. "Me too," Senpai chimed in. "Everyone who wanted to hold Rei, please form a single-file line behind me," Hex instructed. As the members of the troupe lined up to hold the baby, Keith tried to show each of them how to hold a baby.
Cherri smiled and shook her head. "You found yourself a good one," Lucifer said. Cherri looked at her husband, who was awkwardly trying to bed Hex's mechanical arms to hold Rei.
"Yeah, I did."
***And there you have it. Be sure to leave a review on the way out, and I'll see you all in the next one! Bye!
