Work Text:
Levi lay there in bed, his mind slowly waking up from its sleep-induced haze. He had been tossing and turning for the past five minutes, wondering why his sleep had been disturbed at this hour. Sleeping problems seemed to be an old tale for him now. As he opened his eyes, he saw Mikasa lying too close to him, sleeping serenely. She had practically taken over the middle of the bed, occupying his pillow. This was nothing new; she always moved around a lot in her sleep. And it seemed like all three of their children had inherited this trait.
Ah, the children! Suddenly, Levi realized the reason for his sleep disruption. The left side of the bed felt unusually cold. For the past few days, they had been trying to get their youngest son, Nimo, to sleep in his own room. Since they moved into this seaside house two years ago, Leo and Lana had been sleeping in their respective rooms. It was Mikasa's idea because she felt safer in this house. She rarely gets paranoid about the safety of their family now.
Levi abruptly stopped his train of thought and decided to go check on the children. As he opened the door to their bedroom, his legs got entangled with something—or rather, someone. Nimo was innocently sleeping outside their door. He must have gotten frightened and wanted to sleep with his parents, but Levi had locked the door. Mikasa had initially left it unlocked, but he remembered locking it afterwards. Guilt and sadness overwhelmed him.
He quickly picked up Nimo and placed him on the bed, planting a gentle kiss on his forehead. Then he went to check on Leo and Lana. When he returned to his room, he settled himself between Mikasa and Nimo. This arrangement had been decided ever since Leo, their oldest, was born. Mikasa had never slept between him and the children because she had heard stories of sasha's village during her Survey Corps days. Sasha had told her about infants who had tragically died because their mothers had accidentally rolled onto them in their sleep. Due to Mikasa's tendency to move around a lot during sleep, she developed a phobia that she might harm her children unintentionally. So Levi always slept in between them.
His train of thought was disrupted again as Nimo threw his leg over him, and Mikasa settled even closer, placing her hands on him. Levi chuckled inwardly, thinking, "Like mother, like son." He couldn't continue with his thoughts any longer as sleep washed over him—a long, peaceful sleep at last.