The first few weeks or so after Joaquin's birth, he had been somewhat touch and go. The nurses worked hard to ensure his survival, but that meant Jean wasn't always able to be with him. Most of the time, Jean had to settle for staring forlornly through the window of the NICU.

This, of course, made the moments they did spend together far more special.

Jean remembered the first time he'd changed Joaquin's diaper. When the nurse handed one to him, he was dumbfounded at just how utterly tiny it was.

"You sure you didn't hand me something meant for a doll? Or a Chihuahua?" Once reassured that he was indeed given a diaper for his son, however, Jean quickly got to work.

Naturally, things didn't go completely smoothly at first. Jean was afraid that he was hurting Joaquin when the fussing and noises of discomfort persisted. Despite managing to clean him up and getting his diaper under his bottom, Jean was at a loss then.

"Uh..." He glanced over at the closest nurse. "How do I wrap him up now?"

To his embarrassment, Nurse Petra stepped in and showed him the proper way to get it on Joaquin correctly. To try and calm the baby down, she instructed Jean to gently touch him on his head. That way he knew he didn't go far.

Regardless, Jean was thankful to get back to administering kangaroo care. Next time he changed a diaper, though, it went much better.

...

"Lookit you, Keeny!" Jean was outside right now, laying on the ground with his legs up in the air. On his feet he was carefully balancing his son, who was shrieking with laughter. "Lookit you, you're flying! You're flying!"

Joaquin loved it when he got to fly with his daddy. The moment Jean returned home from work for the day, Joaquin was always there to greet him. The sight of a giggling little boy stumbling towards him for a hug always put a smile on Jean's face.

At that moment, Armin came out of the house, holding his wallet and counting the bills in it. He looked a bit too focused on them, until he looked up towards his husband and son.

"Jean!" He cried out now. "I'm going over to Eren and Mikasa's place. Dinner's in the fridge for later."

Jean didn't say anything, he simply watched Armin leave. He watched as he got into the front seat of Mikasa's new car, and drove off. Once he was gone, Jean reached up and plucked Joaquin up off his feet.

"I gotta get ready for work now, Joaquin," he said to his son as he stood up. "We'll fly some more later."

"Fwy?" Joaquin asked as he looked up towards his father. He then reached up to tug at the hem of Jean's shirt. "Fwy."

"Later, alright Keeny? Now come on, I'll take you to Grandma's on the way to work."

Joaquin's desire to fly some more vanished once he heard 'Grandma'. Now he was squealing with delight as he let Jean pick him up and carry him inside.

...

Back in high school, it had been Armin who brought Jean's homework for him as he recovered from his suicide attempt.

Much of the time, Jean was quiet due to still having his breathing tube down his throat. Even though he tried to write down his answers and show his work, Jean's hand kept trembling a little too much.

"Do you need me to write down your answers for you?" Armin inquired, to which Jean shook his head. While he continued to try, Jean took his other hand and lay it on top of Armin's slightly protruding tummy. Armin paused for a moment, before setting his pencil down and readjusting and pulling his shirt up to just below his chest.

He also lay his hand down palm side up in case Jean wanted to say anything.

"It was kicking some more last night."

'Really?'

Armin nodded. "I let Marco feel it, since he was there when it started up.

"I'm a bit surprised that I'm feeling it so early in pregnancy. That's probably because I'm a relatively small person myself, though."

Armin leaned back a little more, letting Jean now place his other hand onto him to let him feel anything. Sure enough, the kicking began after he'd felt around enough.

"...I think it knows who you are, Jean," he whispered. "It doesn't actually do it this much with anyone else."

'Not even Jaeger and Mikasa?'

Armin shook his head. "It doesn't kick at all with either of them. It's as if the baby doesn't like them."

Here Jean snorted in place of actual laughter, finding this hilarious. He stopped when Armin gave him a look of annoyance.

He then continued to feel around the belly that carried his child within. As he did this, Armin tried not to look at the rigid bump underneath the hospital sheets indicative of an erection. That was embarrassing and worrisome enough as it was.

...

Jean's mother ended up not being home, leaving him with really no other choice besides either taking Joaquin to Marco's, or bringing him to work.

Marco was glad to take him in, though.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Jean," was what he said as Joaquin toddled in and looked about the apartment, dragging his favorite blanket behind him. "I don't have anything else to do today anyway."

Joaquin still looked confused, wondering why his father brought him here instead of to Grandma's.

"Ga'ma?" He said when looking over to the other two for answers.

"Grandma isn't able to watch you right now, Keeny," Jean tried to explain. "So Uncle Marco is going to keep an eye on you instead. All right?"

Despite this, Joaquin still looked sad and crestfallen, like he were on the verge of bawling his little eyes out. In turn, Jean could feel his heart breaking to pieces.

"I can't be that bad to spend time with, am I, Joaquin?" Marco tried to ask with a reassuring tone of voice as he walked over to pick the little boy up.

"No..." It was hard to figure out what way Joaquin meant that answer.

Jean tried paying it no mind, and gently kissed his little boy on the forehead, before leaving for work.

...

"You'd think she was just sleeping."

From the moment the nurse placed her into his arms, Armin held his daughter close to his chest. Next to him, Jean sat on the bed and smoothed her golden hair on top of her head. He also gently dragged a finger down one of her chubby cheeks.

"I know we're teenagers, and we aren't anywhere near ready to be parents," Armin said while trying to keep himself calm, "but it still hurts. I wish I could do something, anything, if it meant she could be alive..."

Armin trailed off, letting tears overcome him. He then held their baby closer to his chest. Jean could see Armin beginning to shake with sobs, before breaking into flat out wailing.

At that point, Jean carefully pulled Armin over and held him close. He let him bury his face into his chest, while embracing him.

"I'm sorry," Armin cried, his voice muffled. "I'm sorry, Jean."

"Just let it out, okay?" Jean now gently rubbed in circles against Armin's back, murmuring into his hair and kissing the top of his head. "You've got nothing to be sorry for."

This didn't placate Armin; if anything, it just made Armin cry harder.

...

With help from one of his co-workers, Jean finished up a few vital repairs to the truck he'd been working on. The entire time, however, his mind was occupied with thoughts about his current life issues.

"Hey Gunther?" He asked of his co-worker when they were taking a short break. "How do you know if your relationship is in trouble?"

Gunther stopped wiping off his hands and looked up at him. "Uhhh, well it mighta had to do with him cheating on me with one of his students. That may have been a factor."

Jean looked at him with a nonplussed facial expression. "Student...?"

"Oh, yeah. He teaches shop class in high school. Dunno how he didn't get fired."

Mister Jinn didn't seem like the guy to do such a thing, at least not when Jean had him as a teacher in school.

"Well, anyway, to answer your question..." Gunther sat next to Jean now, as he tried to think of the best way to explain things.

"From what I've been seeing and hearing, Armin doesn't spend time much at home anymore?"

Jean looked down at his feet, shaking his head slowly. Right now he just wanted to cry.

"Well, then ask 'em if he can spend time with you and the kiddo instead. You don't tell 'em, he ain't gonna think he's hurting you."

Here Gunther scratched the top of his head with a wrench he'd been using. "So, practice communication I guess, is what I'm trying to tell you."

That sounded like decent advice. Jean nodded, and was about to say thanks when his phone rang.

"Hold on a sec." Jean turned and walked out of the work area to try and hear better. "Hello?"

It was difficult to tell who he was talking to from his side of the conversation alone. Whatever it involved, though, it quickly sent him into a panic.

"No, it's okay Marco. I'll be there as soon as I can." He hung up, only to suddenly clutch his head and proceed to shout cuss words in rapid succession. He then started running off, encountering Mike on the way to the entrance.

"Mike, tell Mister Erwin something came up and I gotta go now!" He took off faster before Mike had a chance to ask what was happening.

When Jean was gone, both of his co-workers stared off in the direction he'd been going.

"Wonder what that was about..." Gunther said, to which Mike just shrugged and made an "I dunno" sound.