Requested by MusiKuro once again, here's Parenting!

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37. Parenting

A moment before, the Pherae castle was quiet. Now, the shrill cries of a child, bawling and screaming, echoed through the hallways of the castle.

One-year-old Anri was sobbing his eyes out, tears streaming down his small face. Three-year-old Sophie, who was annoyed by her younger brother's crying, was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Marth was attempting to calm the two children down, but no matter what, the children continued to scream and cry.

The King sighed, picking up Anri and rocking him gently. However, the small toddler continued to cry. Sophie was holding her ears, screaming, which didn't help Anri at all.

"Sophie! Shhh!" Marth whispered. However, Sophie did not listen as she continued to scream.

Marth groaned. "What do you want, Anri? What's bothering you?" he asked the toddler.

Anri responded with louder bawling, which prompted Marth to shake his head.

"Gods…I didn't expect parenting these two would be such a chore," Marth commented.

That was when he heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?!" Marth called out as loud as possible.

"It's Roy," Roy called back.

"COME IN! Anri! Calm down!"

Roy opened the door, and he saw Marth struggling with the two children. "Got everything under control?" he asked.

"Does it LOOK like it?!" Marth cried, rocking Anri. Anri bawled even louder as he kicked his little legs in retaliation. On the floor, Sophie continued to scream.

Roy sighed. "Give him here," he said, holding out his hands for Marth to give Anri to him.

Marth handed him the toddler, and Roy looked down at Anri. Anri stared up at Roy, hopeless tears springing into his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Roy cooed, rocking the toddler back and forth.

However, Anri screamed and sobbed. Roy groaned loudly as he gave Marth the child back.

"What did you do?" Roy asked.

"I-I don't know. Something must've scared Anri, and Sophie just started screaming as soon as Anri started crying," Marth explained.

Roy placed his hand on his chin, humming as he tried to think of what to do.

While he was deep in thought, something sharp hit him on the head.

"OW!" Roy cried. He turned to see Sophie grabbing her toys from the chest and throwing them everywhere.

"SOPHIE!" Roy scolded. "No throwing!"

Sophie turned to her father and screamed, tears falling down her face.

Roy sighed, facepalming. "I'm such a terrible parent…"

"I feel like one too," Marth agreed. Neither of them had any prior experience on taking care of small children, since they adopted Sophie and Anri recently.

As the screaming and sobbing continued, Roy then had an idea.

"Marth, bring the children with us," Roy said.

Marth raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Why?"

"I know someone who could help."

Marth stared at Roy, but he knew that these two children had to calm down eventually. Roy picked up the screaming Sophie as he and Marth walked down the hallway.

The two approached a chamber, and Roy knocked on its door.

"Who is it?" the voice behind the door called.

"It's us, Marth and Roy," Roy called back. "We…uh, need some help, Father."

Eliwood chuckled as he opened the door. Upon seeing the two holding the children, he smiled.

"Oh!" he gasped. "Aren't they fussy today?"

"Father," Roy explained. "We're trying to calm them down, but we couldn't! We tried everything…"

Eliwood shook his head as he grabbed Anri. Anri, to Marth and Roy's shock, began to calm down, but tears were still falling.

Sophie stopped screaming, and she looked up at her grandfather.

Eliwood rocked Anri back and forth, singing a soothing lullaby. Anri stared up at him, a smile forming on his face.

Sophie also began to calm down, now that Anri's crying had stopped.

Marth and Roy watched as Eliwood rocked their child until Anri fell asleep. Eliwood chuckled as he gave Anri back to Marth.

"How did you do that?" Marth asked. "We tried everything, and you…just like that!"

Eliwood smiled. "They're probably not used to their surroundings yet. They probably lived in that orphanage all their lives, so they acted out."

Roy nodded in understanding. "Well, thanks Father."

"Let me know if you need anything else," Eliwood said as he closed the door behind him.

Roy and Marth brought their children to their room. Marth tucked Anri into bed, as Roy did the same with Sophie.

"Good night, you two," Marth whispered as he kissed Anri on the forehead.

Marth turned to Roy, placing his finger on his lips. The two quietly walked out of the room.

"I think we need to practice on our parenting skills," Roy whispered with a chuckle.

Marth nodded. "I agree. But we still love them. We just need to try harder."

Roy nodded, holding Marth close as they walked to their chambers.

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