"Come on, Scarlet! Come to dada!"
"Dada!"
Prompto grinned as he watched as Scarlet waddled her way over to him. She staggered a little as she came to his legs, but she was quick to grab his pants, helping steady herself.
"Aw great job!" Prompto shouted as he scooped Scarlet into his arms.
"Hehe, ya dada!"
"Your walking is getting so good! I bet Grandpa Regis is going to love it when you go walking up to him next time he visits."
"Gapa Wegis!"
Prompto laughed. "Aw yes, that's right. Good old Grandpa Regis."
"Yaaa," Scarlet said before she sneezed.
"Oh, bless you, little girl."
Scarlet sneezed again, this time her nose started to run a little after.
"Oh geez, let's get that nose cleaned up, shall we?"
"Noo," Scarlet replied as she pointed to her nose.
"That's right, that's your nose. And right now your little nose needs to be cleaned up," he said before he wiped her nose with a tissue. "There. All better?"
Scarlet nodded before immediately sneezing again. Prompto frowned as he grabbed another tissue. "Is the room dusty? Maybe we should open a window…"
Prompto tried his best to not let the little voice in the back of his head grow any larger. He didn't want to jump to the worst possible answer, but his mind was already kicking into overdrive with worry.
"You aren't sick or anything are you, Scarlet?"
Scarlet just looked at him before smiling, trying to grab for his face.
"Guess you couldn't really tell me if you are or aren't," he sighed.
He held his breath, hoping it really was nothing. It was nothing more than just random sneezing, and there wouldn't be anything else to come of it.
But unfortunately it seemed fate wanted to be cruel to him. A day later Scarlet still had a running nose, but on top of that she now had a running fever.
He patted Scarlet's head as he tried making her drink water from her sippy cup.
"Easy does it, Scarlet. Drink up all your water, it'll make you feel better."
Scarlet complied, but not without occasionally whining and sneezing. It didn't make Prompto feel any better, watching his little girl being sick and having nothing he could do to make her instantly better.
"You're going to be okay," Prompto said as he wiped a few tears from his eyes, "Everything's going to be just fine."
He heard a knock at his door suddenly, distracting him from his stresses. He put Scarlet down in her crib and walked over to the door, opening it up to see Ignis standing there.
"You texted about Scarlet being under the weather?" he asked.
Prompto nodded. "Yeah, and I don't know what to do. I already talked to the Citadel doctors and they were going to reach out to a pediatrician to get some baby medication. But I'm still really worried, and was wondering if you knew any safe food for a little toddler that could help make her feel better."
"I'll do what I am able."
"Thanks Iggy, you are a lifesaver, literally!"
The older man smiled. "Well, I'll get started and you can resume tending to Scarlet."
"Hm yeah, I was going to let her rest. Might as well see if she's finally getting some Z's."
Prompto headed back into the bedroom, finding Scarlet rolling back and forth in her bed. He sighed, sitting down in the chair opposite of her bed, watching as he hoped she could find a moment of rest. After several minutes, she still seemed to be uncomfortable so Prompto picked her up, moving over to the rocking chair.
"You gotta get better, Scarlet," he whispered as he began to rock.
He waited to see if she would try to say anything, but all she seemed intent on doing was clinging to him as she sniffled.
"I had all these great plans for us this week, but guess I gotta push them back until you're better… Promise me, you will get better. It's just a little cold, right? Everything's going to be fine. You'll see."
He knew he was starting to ramble too much at this point, not that it probably mattered to someone like Scarlet. But he knew himself, when he was nervous he would start to ramble with no end in sight. It was out of habit for fearing something would go wrong if he stopped. If he stopped talking about good things to come, then only bad things would follow. The last thing he wanted was for things to get worse, but this was some form of cold, and he knew all too well how a cold would work.
'It's only going to get worse before it gets better,' his thoughts hissed at him.
He tried to ignore those thoughts, trying his hardest to push them out of his mind. All he needed now was good thoughts. Happy thoughts he could keep for himself and also send to Scarlet as well. It was all he had that he could do at this point…besides waiting.
But as he had unfortunately predicted, things did get a little worse. Scarlet's fever went down and up depending on the day, and she cried so much more. Prompto felt like he was losing sleep at this point, spending most of his time trying to watch over and tend to his daughter if she needed anything.
His head was starting to throb as he finally set her down in her crib. She had fallen asleep, and for once she seemed to be rather peaceful rather than stressed. He sighed with relief as he walked towards the kitchen, where he found Gladio and Ignis sitting at the kitchen table.
"Gladio… Ignis…?" he asked slowly, his head aching at every word he spoke. "What are you guys… doing here?"
"We came to check in on you and Scarlet, what else would it be?" Gladio asked.
Ignis nodded his head in agreement. "We know you have been working so hard by yourself, but we still wish to lend our own hands to help."
"Noct would've been here too, but he got stuck in another meeting. Probably will be here later though," Gladio added.
Prompto felt like smiling, comforted to know that his friends wanted to come to his aid. "Thanks guys. I just put Scarlet…" The room felt like it was starting to spin. "... down for a nap and…" His entire body felt warm.
"Prompto?" Ignis asked him. "Are you alright?"
He nodded slowly, taking in deep breaths. "I'm… fine. Just a little… tired. No biggie…"
The spinning only grew more severe, and before Prompto could hear if Gladio or Ignis were replied, he felt his body falling. His vision blurred and started to fade to black as he felt himself hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Ignis jumped to his feet the moment he saw Prompto collapse. "Prompto!"
He ran to the blond's side, reaching a hand out to place against his neck. He sighed, turning to look at Gladio who had bolted out of his seat. "He's fine. Still breathing but…" Ignis placed a hand against Prompto's forehead. "It seems all the time he has been spending around Scarlet, he may have caught her cold."
Gladio gave a short hum. "Blondie also hasn't been eating or sleeping much I bet. He looked pretty worn out the way he staggered into here."
"Yes, I fear the same. Prompto dedicated himself so much to tending to Scarlet, that he forgot to care for himself. Would you mind helping carry him to his room?"
Gladio nodded as he walked over, picking Prompto up into his arms. "He is looking pretty pale. How long do you think he's been like this?"
"Scarlet has been sick for almost a week, and with the way Prompto has been running himself ragged, it probably wasn't too hard for him to catch what she has."
Gladio shook his head as he stepped into Prompto's bedroom, setting him gently down on the bed once Ignis pulled the covers back. "The kid's gotta learn how to not overreact to things."
"He's young and a parent, Gladio. I think a little overreaction is warranted for someone his age as it comes from a place of genuine care," Ignis replied as he tucked Prompto in.
"Still pretty crazy to think that he is a parent," Gladio said before they both stepped out of the room.
Ignis walked ahead back into the kitchen so he could wash his hands. "Yes, I know. I still find it hard to believe at times. I remember when he first called me about the situation, and I almost dismissed him into trying to be a father to Scarlet."
When his hands were washed and dried, he started looking around the cabinets for where Prompto kept the soup broths. If he didn't find anything suitable, then he was going to have to ask Gladio to go out and get what he needed.
"Yeah, but somehow he convinced you to listen and here we are," Gladio said as he leaned against the counter.
Ignis adjusted his glasses, turning his attention to Gladio. "Yes, I know that. But Prompto has done a good job so far, so I don't regret that I listened. In fact, I am more than relieved that I did, now knowing what Scarlet and Prompto's situations would have been if they had continued without one another."
Gladio's expression darkened a little. "He would have been living alone still… Parents nowhere to be seen."
"And all without letting us know if he needed anything… Which I'm still afraid he has a habit of doing right now. Had I known how little sleep he was getting, I would have been here more often to make sure he took care of himself."
"Iggy, he isn't your responsibility like Noct is."
"Yes, but I feel as if I must help. It's just how I am, and I hate to see Prompto suffering the consequence of overworking himself."
Gladio stepped closer to Ignis, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He's going to be fine now that you are here to play 'mom'."
Rolling his eyes, he lightly swatted away Gladio's hand. "Very funny, Gladio."
The bigger man laughed. "Yeah, I know. You're more like the grandma anyway."
Ignis huffed. "If you are insistent on cracking jokes, then I request that you help 'grandma' with cooking up some soup and go out to the store to gather more items."
"Guess I walked right into that one," Gladio laughed. "But you'll be fine on your own?"
Ignis stopped looking through cabinets and grabbed a piece of paper, starting to write down what was needed. "It won't take you long I assume to gather these items. So be a good boy and help out dear, old 'grandma'."
"Okay, don't rub it in," Gladio grunted as he took the paper from Ignis. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Oh, and don't let Noctis start to freak out if he comes and hears Prompto is sick."
Ignis nodded. "I'll do my best to keep all of the children in check."
Gladio grinned. "Whatever you say… grandma."
"Just get out and get the items I asked for," Ignis sighed.