One-Shot #13 No Chance of Link

I gazed down at the two year old in my arms. Sakura had fallen asleep rather quickly and was now softly snoring. Her hair had grown out long enough for us to be able to tell it would be just like her father's: Curly and a dark-chocolaty brown color. Her eyes had turned more brownish over time, yet never losing their grey hues.

I leaned down and rubbed my nose on her forehead. My husband's inhuman manerisms had rubbed off on me quite a bit. Speaking of him...I smiled as I heard his feather-light footsteps on the wooden floor. He placed his right hand on my shoulder, his breath sounding in my left ear as he gazed at our perfect creation.

I smirked when the infant let out a short cry, shaking her fists in the air. I looked up to my love as I heard his voice. "What do you think she's dreaming of?" I looked back down, placing a kiss on the baby's forehead. "I don't know...maybe friends..." "You think she'd like friends? If she's anything like us, she's not really going to fit in. Especially since she's a slender." I smiled sadly. "Maybe...she likes Daemon a lot, but he's still much too young to be playing with her."

I got up and walked over to the grey-pink walled room, placing the sleeping child in her tiny bed. I tucked her in and placed the small plush Pokemon Pikachu in her arms. She grabbed it instinctively and held it tightly against her, murmuring slightly. I jumped a bit when Tom spoke again. I hadn't even heard him follow me. "Do you think she would like a younger sibling?.."

My eyes widened, a tiny gasp escaping me. "You'd be willing to have a second one? Especially this soon?" He smiled down to me, letting a black tendrill extend from his back and curl next to me a bit. "I'd have eight kids, so long as they're all yours." I laughed, cuddling into his chest. His lips touched the top of my head, his skin paler than it was before. Static filled my mind with numbness, black tendrills curling around my arms and bringing me closer to the man I loved. That was when I thought of something. His static halted, a questioning look coming over his face, which was still human but white as snow.

"What are the odds of a kid born from us being a slender?" He tilted his head to the side, his skin tone slowly returning to a more human color. "Maybe...75%? I'm not sure...Why-Oh..." I looked back down to Sakura. She had rolled to the side, her back facing me. I traced the silky materials of her pyjama, thinking of the four spots that marked her as a slender. "That's...still a pretty big chance of the next one NOT being a slender..." Tom's shoulders drooped, his eyes sparking with a flicker of sadness as he obviously sensed my train of thoughts, or was likely having the same one.

"I don't...want some kind of disadvantage...One kid being born so plain and ordinary, having to watch their sibling who is, not only older, but also gifted with powers. Or the other way around...a little girl who has to deal with not being human, growing up along a perfectly normal child. I don't want...anybody envying the other."

He sighed, still holding me close to him. "The chances are three times as high of it being born a slender too..." I leaned into his chest, listening to his beating heart and gentle hum of static. "There's still that big risk there, and I don't want to take it." I looked up, seeing him smile sadly down to me. "So no more kids?" I returned his sad smile, kissing his chin. "I guess so..."

He nodded, kissing my lips. "I understand. Too bad, because I think we both feel it's people like us that should be breeding the most in society." I laughed, moving away from him and walking towards our own room. We laid down in bed, gazing at the ceiling, side by side. His fingers hovered just a fraction of an inch away from mine.

I gazed up dreamily, speaking in a nearly whispered voice. "I would actually like a son. I'd have called him Link." Tom sat up, looking to me through the dimly lit room. "You don't know how happy I feel that I married you." I smiled, turning towards him. "I can feel it in your aura, Slendy. I think you know how happy I am to be with you. He smiled and laid back down, this time holding my hand.

"So...no Link." I sighed. "No Link." I didn't want an other child. Part of me did, but I knew it was wiser not to. I sensed sadness from him, but it was followed by resolve. He sat up, extending two of his tendrills. He shifted to his true form, causing me to back up a little due to his change in height. I looked on in confusion as he passed one tendrill between his legs, curling it around his hips, the second tendrill coiling in a similar way. He let go my hand, digging his sharp nails into the blanket. I was worried. "Tom?...What are you..."

A third tendrill pushed me away, hovering about, making sure I did not try to get any closer. The lights flickered a bit, static burning the air. Not gentle static...sharp and swarming like angry wasps. I cried out when I saw Tom hunch over in pain, struggling to keep back a low and pained wail. He fell back, shaking and limp. I looked him over, my heart racing and my mind too full of concern to fully notice his strange combination of satisfaction and certitude.

"T-Tom?...What did you just...do?" A smile drew it's self on his blank face. He chuckled. I crawled back onto the bed, kneeling next to him. He tilted his head towards me, that smug grin still there. "I made sure you wouldn't get an other kid." My eyes widened. "W-what?.." He chuckled again, sounding pained this time. "A slender's aura...can kill more simple life forms. Cells...are simple life forms." My breath stopped, my eyes locked onto the place where his eyes should be. "You just...neutered yourself?!"

His smile widened, still pained. I only stared on in shock. "This is...this is a joke, right?" One of his tendrills curled around my wrist, but it felt rather weak. "Your decision about no longer having children is final, I sensed it in your mind and aura. And I agree to that decision." I somehow found the strenght in me to pull him upwards, wrapping my arms around him in a crushing hug. "You're completely insane, you know that?" He laughed, weakly putting his arms around me too. "I know. I also know it's one of the biggest reasons why you love me."

I smiled, warm tears flowing down my cheeks. We laid back down, facing each other. His exhaustion was apparent. I kissed his nearly invisible nose, running my thumb along his jaw, a gesture he repeated to me. "Now we don't have to worry about it happening anymore." I smiled sadly, cuddling into him. "There could have been other ways, but I guess this works too."

Our moment was broken by a sharp cry coming from down stairs. Sakura had woken up. I sighed and stood up, looking back to the slender who laid down in my bed. He had done so much for me. Just how much would he be willing to do? He would probably end his own life just to spare me from the tiniest of pains.

"Yes, I would." His thoughts weakly echoed through my mind. I smiled back to him, watching as he drifted off to sleep in mere seconds. I pulled the blankets over him, kissing his lips softly before leaving the room and heading down to Sakura's. She calmed down a bit as soon as she saw me. I picked her up and looked into her hazel-grey eyes, which did not actually ressemble either of her parents'.

As I held her in my arms, her smile just grew until she went from cries to happy giggles. She rested her head against my shoulder. "I love you mom." I hugged her. "I love you too."

Why would I ever need more kids when I already had all this?