Shoto jolted upright in his bed, sweat covered his forehead. His eyes focused on the dark of the room for a moment before glancing over at the rustling sounds by his side. Laying in the sheets against him was Momo, his high school sweetheart turned wife of a year now.
"Mmmm-Shoto?" She asked with her eyes still mostly shut as she sat up, exposing her red nightgown to the cool bedroom air.
"It's nothing." He replied, turning his head the other way.
Now her eyes were open as she put her arm against his back, her other hand touched his head. "Bad dream?"
Shoto nodded silently.
"Well, it's okay now." She assured him as she hugged his chest from behind. "Would talking about it make you feel better?"
He winced. It was just last week that they found out she was pregnant, and it scared him. It terrified him.
Shoto was always a man of few words. And Momo would always listen, regardless of whatever it was he had to say. She knew the day the pregnancy test was positive, that he was scared. Deep down, they both wanted to be parents. Shoto wanted it more than he let her know.
"Tell me." Momo insisted. She was well prepared to be a mother, already having the proper voice and attitude for it. Her demeanor was demanding but also kind and full of love. Her ears ready to listen and her hypnotic grey eyes focused.
Her husband sighed. "It was about the baby. Or me, I think."
Having known Shoto since their first year of high school, she assumed what he was so worried about, although they haven't actually talked about it. It doesn't matter. What's important now is open communication.
"Tell me." She repeated softly. Her hand reached around his arm and gently brushed the scar on his face.
"I-It was like a memory. But the roles were switched... You were here, with our baby, but when I came in... the look you gave me reminded me of my mother's look to my father. A-And our... H-He was so scared of me..." Shoto's voice broke and he trembled.
Momo pulled him down, reclining on their bed with his head on her chest. She hugged him firmly and kissed his cranium. She didn't speak at first, just let her body do the talking. When Shoto's breathing slowed down again, she spoke. "Do you remember what Midoriya did for you in the Sports Festival our first year at UA?"
Shoto briefly chuckled. "How could I not?"
"Do you remember what he said?" Momo asked further.
He nodded against her.
"It's the same thing." She confirmed. "It's your power. It's your choice. Not your father's. You choose whether you want to be like him or not. You have that choice."
Shoto looked up at her.
"You are not your father. And I know you won't be because you are humble. You have made your own path and that path is good." Momo assured him. "I know you will be a good father, because you're a good husband to me. And a good friend to others. And a good hero."
Shoto sniffed and dropped back into a hug with her. She could feel her bare shoulder grow a little wet from his tears, but she didn't mind it now. All she did was hug him back and hold him close.
"...Thank you, Momo." He said.
Pulling away, she kissed him on the lips. He kissed back. They lingered for a moment before pulling away. "Always." Momo smiled in the very dim light that was the moon peeking through the blinds of their windows.
The bad thoughts didn't go away overnight. Shoto still had a bit of a journey to complete in preparing himself to be a better father than his was. But for the rest of that night, his dreams were much sweeter: visions of he Momo, and their child running together on a beach, having a picnic, playing with the Midoriya's.
"It is my power." He thought. "And I will use it to be a great father."
