Work Text:
It had been a long night. It had been a long week, actually. The first week Kabal had left since the baby was born. Sure, you were on maternity leave. But that didn't stop you from being exhausted from worrying, taking care of the baby, and trying desperately to get her to sleep.
Gods, you just needed her to sleep.
She missed her Dad. So, so much. Ever since she was born it was like she was only ever content in his arms. With him gone, she had been restless. Crying so much, never sleeping. Never wanting to settle. It was so, so exhausting. On your emotions and your body. You felt like a failure of a mother. The phone calls with your husband were few and far between, but at least he was there for you. He was always there for you.
Every time, he would tell you how wonderful you were doing. How beautiful you were, how it was normal to feel this way. That the baby loved you. That things would get better. But it was so hard. Without him it was so, so hard.
After finally getting the little girl to finally, finally sleep, you had settled into bed. Glancing at the clock, it read 2:37AM. Shit. You really had gone all night without sleep. After a moment of checking your phone for calls or texts, you closed your eyes and sighed. Rolling over into the cold side of the bed that still smelled like Kabal.
The click of the nursery door was what woke you up, sending you into a panic. You shot out of bed, ripping the covers off of you when you noticed the cellphone and bag by the nightstand. Kabal's nightstand. Panic instantly cooled, and you ran a cold hand down your face. He was home. Thank the gods it was only him. The clock read 3:22 when you silently inched your way over across the hall.
You silently opened the nursery door, greeted with the sight of Kabal facing away from you, holding the baby in the pitch black darkness with slumped shoulders. A twinge of worry flooded your heart.
"Kabal?" You whisper, eyes adjusting to the dark as he leans down to press a kiss to the babe, still facing away from you.
"Go back to bed, babe." His whisper was groggy and rough, like he had been crying. He shushed the baby as she began to stir, effectively luring her back to sleep with a small coo. You ignored your flash of jealousy, and approached the figure in front of you.
His scarred face had been looking at the child with such a sorrowful face, his respirator left somewhere else so that the baby could see him. Really see him. Something he always did.
"What's wrong?" You whisper, running your hand underneath his locks and through the shaved sides of his head. He leaned into your touch, but said nothing. You press yourself closer to him, resting your head on his shoulder, and moving your hand away from his face to caress the cheeks of the baby in his arms.
"Did something happen at work?" He nodded at your horse whispering after taking a moment to himself. You pressed another kiss to his shoulder, fully understanding what he meant.
When Kabal had to do something he wasn't proud of at work, he always came home sad. Worried. Touch-starved. He only ever wanted to hold you, or your pregnant tummy at first, but now that the baby had been born, he had one more thing to worry about. To hold and kiss and protect. You always knew what had happened when he came home like this.
"Let's go to bed, hun." You whispered again, reaching forward to take the sleeping baby from his arms. He let you do so without resistance, stopping you so that he could press one last kiss on her head before you set her back down in her crib.
You took his hand in your own after taking one last look at the baby, slowly leading him across the hall and into the bed. Kabal didn't say a word as you did, curling around you the moment you both got settled. He pressed kisses to your eyes, cheeks, your chin. Stopping to kiss you slowly on the lips. A kiss that you reciprocated softly.
"I love you. Both of you. You know that?" You nodded, kissing his forehead.
"We know, Kabal. We love you too."