After Ignis and Prompto finally decided on a nice crib model, they began to walk further into the store. Beyond the crib section, they then came across the section that had bottles, bowls, and various other baby sized tableware. As they gathered the various items needed, Prompto came across the section that had various styles of teething rings.
His eyes lit up as soon as he saw one design in particular. "Oh em gee! Ignis! It's a chocobo teething ring!"
"So it is," Ignis said as he smiled.
"This is just so cute! Definitely getting this one for my little Scarlet," Prompto said as he held up the little ring before her. "Hey Scarlet, you like how this looks. It's a chocobo."
Scarlet tried to reach for it, giving a big smile.
"Aw yeah! You totally love it. We are going to get you so much chocobo stuff," Prompto said as he placed the teething ring into the cart.
After gathering the remaining items they needed in that area, they continued to move on. Now they were in the section that had clothes for all sizes of babies. Once again Prompto was in awe at just how cute the outfits were, and even surprised how small some of them could be.
He picked up a small set of baby sneakers, looking over and admiring them. "I never realized how small a baby could be. This is way more than I expected there to be."
"It is quite a shock to think we all once were as small as that. But those shoes may be a bit too small for Scarlet. She is eight months after all, we need something that is just a little bit bigger. Though with how quickly babies grow at this age, we should make sure to buy several things in larger sizes too."
"Right. Makes sense. So look for things that say eight months and up?"
"We will go from eight to ten months for now. When it comes time to buy more clothes we shall, but let's not go overboard for today."
Prompto nodded as he placed the shoes back down and started looking down the aisle at all the different clothes they had. He started to grin again, thinking just about every little outfit was the cutest thing in the world. There were little shirts with happy chocobos on them, which was a must to buy, and other ones that had smiley faces or little cats and dogs.
All of them were so cute, and Prompto knew that being able to buy clothes to dress Scarlet up was probably going to be one of the most fun things. The idea came to mind that he could dress Scarlet up in cute little outfits and have baby photoshoots, and he couldn't help but muse on that.
"Oh we are definitely buying baby jeans. Dude! Jeans but for babies! How on Eos did they make jeans look cute!" Prompto exclaimed happily as he tossed a couple pairs into the cart.
Ignis chuckled as he placed a few outfits of his own choosing into the cart. "I suppose when things are small, it makes them more likely to be seen as such. Let's grab just a couple more outfits and then we can move onto the bath section."
"Right! Let's see what else we could get…"
Looking through the outfits, his eyes fell over to the little onesies and dresses. There he saw something that just struck him as the most perfect outfit. Picking it up he let out another sound of awe, holding up the outfit for Ignis to see.
"It's a little strawberry themed onesie! It even comes with a little hat for the top of the strawberry," Prompto said. "And Scarlet is totally a little strawberry with her red hair! It's so perfect!"
"Then add it to the cart, no doubt it will look great on her."
"Of course it will! Everything will look great on Scarlet!" Prompto declared. "Isn't that right Scarlet?"
Scarlet giggled as she clapped her hands. Prompto smiled at it and was quick to whip out his phone to snap a couple pictures of her doing the action. "Oh so good, Scarlet. You got the clapping thing down."
Once Prompto picked out a few more cute outfits, they moved on once again to the next section. They gathered up the sundries needed, from a baby bath to shampoo and body wash for babies. There was even a little baby sized toothbrush to use since her teeth were starting to come in.
As they continued to fill the cart with items, gathering important items as well as fun ones, Prompto tried his hardest not to think about the price that they were going to add up to. He remembered what Ignis had said and tried to keep his mind from letting him feel guilty. This was for Scarlet after all, and it was important to get all of the items that they needed. He kept reminding himself that over and over, all the way until they reached the check out and he watched the numbers go up.
Ignis did as he promised and paid for the entire thing as if it were nothing. Once they were outside, Prompto loaded Scarlet back into her car seat and then went to help Ignis put all of the items into the back of the car. Though some items, like the crib, were going to have to be delivered to his house later in the day since they were too big to fit into the car.
"Um, thanks Iggy. Seriously, this is still kind of crazy for me to be doing this. And having you help… well it really does make it feel a whole lot better."
"It's no problem, Prompto. I am glad that I could be of service today. And before I forget, I have a cooler in the passenger seat. In it I have some small cups of yogurt. I figured that she would need more to eat once we were done here, so I took the liberty of bringing those along so you could feed her before we go and see His Majesty."
"Dude! You really do think of everything! I would be so lost without you!" Prompto said before he threw his arms around Ignis, giving him a large hug.
A small smile flashed across Ignis's face. "Much obliged, Prompto. Now, let's give Scarlet her snack and then we can head off to the Citadel."
"Sounds good!"
After the car was packed, Ignis handed over one of the small cups of yogurt. He also handed over a small rubber spoon, from one of the packs of baby silverware they had bought. Together the two of them sat in back with Ignis holding Scarlet upright in his lap while Prompto began to feed her the yogurt. He made little spoonfuls that he would hold out for her to eat, though a lot of it she let drip down onto her old shirt.
"Oh Scarlet, you don't wanna be messy. We're going to see the king! And you can't be covered in yogurt if we are going to do that," Prompto replied.
"We can change her into one of those new outfits before we have our audience," Ignis stated.
"Oh yes! We should do that! And okay Scarlet, open up and this time let's try to get all of it in your mouth," Prompto said as he held out another spoon full for her.
Once Scarlet was fed and had been given more water to drink, they started their way to the Citadel. Along the drive there, Prompto started to go over the outfits he had bought and tried thinking what would be the best outfit for her to wear. If they were going to be meeting with King Regis, Prompto figured she had to look proper and presentable.
Though the other side of him really wanted to dress her up in that strawberry outfit. He pouted as he tried to think what he wanted to use, having so many ideas flow through his head. In the end he figured King Regis wouldn't be too upset if he brought in Scarlet in a chocobo t-shirt and jeans, but Prompto still wanted the moment to be special.
So, as they neared the Citadel his mind settled on the adorable little strawberry outfit. It was just too hard for him to resist at this point, feeling the bubbling want to make sure Scarlet was dressed as cute as possible. That warm feeling that surrounded his heart was back, and he embraced it, letting its warmth spread throughout his entire body.
When they got inside the Citadel, Ignis led Prompto up to a floor where he said Scarlet could be changed in peace. He was led into a rather nice bathroom, Citadel bathrooms were always the most fancy, with a countertop large enough to change Scarlet on.
He took off the old clothes that she had been wearing since he found her. They were nothing special after all, just a plain white onesie and white socks. Part of him thought to throw away that outfit, to get rid of the remainder of the past, but he figured he should talk to Ignis about it first. That all could be figured out later.
Before he slipped Scarlet into her new outfit, he quickly whipped down her face, making sure she was clean of any leftover yogurt. Then all that was left was to slip her into her new little strawberry onesies and take her to see the king.
Honestly, Prompto still had no idea why King Regis ever wanted to see him. Ignis still refused to give any other info other than it was just something they had to do. It was still a bit nerve wracking, but he had come this far, he wasn't going to back out now.
"Okay Scarlet!" Prompto declared as he lifted her up. "You look most totally adorable now! Well even more adorable!"
Scarlet babbled in response, which Prompto took as her agreeing with him.
"Oh yes totally. You are so stylish you know that? You are ready to see the king!"
Prompto brought Scarlet close to his face and rested his forest against hers. That small little motion made her giggle even louder, causing Prompto to laugh back.
"Ha ha, alright we can do more of that later, but come on. We don't want to keep the king waiting, right?"
Stepping outside of the bathroom, Ignis was still there waiting for him. "Alright! We are ready to roll. Is Noct's dad… ah I mean the king, ready?"
"Yes, he is ready for us to arrive. Please follow me," Ignis said.
He led Prompto down a hallway, heading towards a set of large golden doors at the end. Prompto gasped as Ignis went to push open the doors and there was the king, as well as his shield Clarus standing behind him. He was sitting behind his desk, writing something down as Prompto came to stand in the doorway.
He looked up from the papers and smiled once he saw him. "Ah Prompto, I am glad you agreed to come and visit."
"Of course! Y-Your Majesty!" Prompto said nervously.
He had only met Regis twice before ever since he became friends with Noctis. After that it was just seeing him on the news, but never in person. Even those first two meetings were so stressful for him, but King Regis never once saw anything bad in him. Instead he only seemed happy that Noctis had found a friend he connected with so well and always wanted to thank Prompto for it.
"Please, no need to be afraid. I merely wanted to talk to you about your situation, and meet the little darling herself."
"Oh? Yeah? Well uh," Prompto started to say as he stepped further into the room. "This is little Scarlet. Say hi Scarlet to your king."
With one hand he picked up one of Scarlet's and made her wave at Regis. The man chuckled, smiling more warmly than Prompto had ever seen from him. Pushing himself up from his desk, he made his way over to the couch that was in his office and sat down.
"If I may Prompto, I would like to hold this new little baby of yours. With your permission."
"He wants to hold Scarlet? Well, I guess that isn't the weirdest thing," Prompto thought.
"Sure, that's fine by me."
Prompto came over and held Scarlet out to Regis, who took her gently into his arms. His smile seemed to grow even more as he held her in one arm and with his other hand he picked up one of her little hands, holding it lightly.
"My, what a sweet little girl," Regis stated. "And so well behaved too."
"Well she is my perfect little angel!" Prompto declared.
"Ha ha, I believe that, but do be aware when children reach the age of two. They can be quite terrible as you probably have heard."
"Was Noct like that?" Prompto asked, curious to know what his best friend was like in his toddler years.
Regis laughed. "Oh he was the most fussy toddler you could have met. If you think his disdain for veggies is childish now, it was far worse when he actually was a child."
"Geez I could totally see it. But I will make sure Scarlet eats right!"
"You already sound like you have the strength that a father should," Regis complimented. "I am proud of you for taking these steps, son."
Prompto was a little caught off guard by the 'son' bit, but he quickly figured that it was just some proper royal way of speaking. High class people were always being polite to commoners usually, referring to them in a much nicer way than expected.
"Of course! Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Regis shook his head as he smiled. "Come, sit down next to me Prompto. And please, there is no need to call me that. Simply call me Regis."
"Oh, right, uh sure I can do that," Prompto said as he sat down slowly.
He watched as Regis bounced Scarlet on his good leg, making her giggle and smile happily. Prompto pulled out his phone and was about to take a picture when he stopped. "Um, can I take a picture here? It's just that I want to capture all the smiles she has in cute pictures."
"By all means, Prompto. I don't mind at all," Regis replied.
Prompto snapped a few shots before placing his phone down in his lap. "So um… was there something else you wanted to talk about with me?"
"Yes actually. I wanted to talk to you about the arrangements to move you and Scarlet into the Citadel as soon as possible."
Prompto's mouth dropped open. "W-What?!"
"I'm sorry if I kept it from Ignis, I didn't want him to be the one to inform you. I wanted to tell you in person what plans I had to help."
"B-But I can't just move into here! I'm not royal and stuff. I wouldn't fit in."
"That doesn't matter, Prompto. If you live here, no one should treat you differently," Regis replied. "But if you do, then we can help you and Scarlet much more than if you were alone in your house. I still have plenty of workers here who can double as caretakers when you may need something, or if you are off at work and don't want to call a babysitter."
Prompto still couldn't believe what he was hearing. The king wanted him to live in the Citadel! He wanted him to move in so he could have more help in raising Scarlet and wouldn't struggle all on his own.
"But why? I don't understand why Your… I mean Regis. Why would you want to help me?"
"Because," Regis said, holding Scarlet close to his chest. "I am a father myself, and I wish to help guide you so you can raise Scarlet in the best way possible."
Prompto had to blink a few times, still trying to process the new information. "Wow, that's really kind of you."
Suddenly, Clarus cleared his throat, drawing attention over to him. "I think the part that my king fails to leave out is that his true intentions for all of this is so he can play grandfather with your daughter."
Just like before, Prompto was left confused and very lost in the conversation, now full of even more questions than he had before. He couldn't even begin to wrap his had around this, now with even more new information on the table.
Regis ended up pouting at Clarus. "I am allowed to want grandchildren! Besides, ever since Prompto befriended Noct, I have seen him as a son of my own."
"S-So you want to adopt me?" Prompto asked softly. His heart was pounding loudly against his chest at this point, he was sure everyone else could hear it. "W-Wouldn't that make me a prince?"
"I will only make things official if you wish. Otherwise we can just say it is an inside thing between those who know."
"And you're really just doing this so you can be a grandfather?"
Regis shook his head. "I am not doing it just for that. Yes, it is true I would love grandchildren. But as of right now, Noct is too young to marry and I am not sure he will want to anytime soon. I am an old man who just wishes to help, but also have a chance to hold a child again. I miss the years when Noctis was little… when I could hold him in my arms and he would smile at me. I don't get much of that nowadays, and I do miss it dearly. It may seem rather selfish of me, but I want to help be a part of your little daughter's life. To spoil her as a good grandfather would."
Prompto heard the words from Regis, and it impacted him deeper than he expected. He almost felt like he was going to tear up from the king's small speech. The more he began to think about it, the more he was finding himself liking the idea of Regis being Scarlet's grandfather. After all, back home his own parents were never around enough. Even if they did come back to discover he was raising Scarlet, he was certain that they wouldn't give her much attention, just as they did for him.
Regis on the other hand already was showing that he had an interest to care about Scarlet. Even if Regis was busy as the king, Prompto knew he always tried to make time for Noctis to eat dinner with him. There were plenty of times Noctis said that his dad had invited him to come along, but Prompto always turned it down. He never wanted to invade on the special time between Noctis and his father.
"Well I don't know about the 'adopting me' part of it yet. But can I think about it? I uh, can I still move into the Citadel even if I say no?"
"Of course!" Regis replied cheerfully. "In fact we can begin the move today if you wish."
"So soon! Well uh, we do have all the stuff in the car… so I guess we could start?" Prompto asked.
"Ah, that sounds like a plan. Now if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. But in the meantime…" Regis lifted Scarlet up, laughing happily as he looked at her. "Let us have a wonderful afternoon with this darling little strawberry!"
Prompto laughed. "Sounds like it'll be fun."
If you have any thoughts or comment, please let me know! I'd love to hear them!
