Chapter Text
It had been two weeks since they had had the children talk. In the meantime, Grace was busy with his lessons, Rocky had been pulled away by their city government to provide feedback on some new construction that was being planned, and two of Adrian's siblings were visiting, so they were off with them. However, they knew they couldn’t delay a very important conversation much longer.
Which was exactly how they ended up here, clad in their EVA suits on Grace's couches, with their sweet little Athos in Grace’s lap. They had been growing so fast recently, now almost the size of Rocky, although not nearly as heavy, still on the skinner side and not as dense due to their young age.
“We had a question for you, kiddo.” Grace says, idly tracing the recent carving on Athos’s leg. He still found it a little wild that Eridians got their first markings so young, then again, he had multiple students who got their ears pierced as infants, so he guessed that he wasn’t one to judge. It was the first of no doubt many, and one of Rocky's close friends had been the one to carve the little tattoo. It sat where a family crest normally would, but, Athos was strongly against getting their real one tattooed on them forever, and instead opted to get Sol and Eridani spelled out instead in the old, ritualistic alphabets of Eridian tattoos, in honor of the star that brought their adoptive parents together.
Athos responded with a short trill of meaningless notes. They were currently messing with a tinkering kit Rocky had brought home with him. They would have to decide soon what they wanted to specialize in, and so Rocky and Adrian had both been doing their best to expose them to a variety of paths and endeavors- some more creative, and others more physical.
“We… We wanted to ask how you would feel about maybe having a sibling?” Grace asks, hoping that would grab their attention.
Sure fire it did. Athos perked up, a second meaningless trill turning quickly into words. “What? What what what?” They had gotten better at not parroting the Eridian-English pidgin that Rocky and Grace frequently slipped into, instead they had started picking up Adrian's dialect, instead of Rocky’s that the pidgin built from. “I… I do not know.” They say, putting the little tools in their claws down to curl up into a tight little unsure ball.
“Which is why ask.” Adrian says. “We want to make sure you feel okay.. Happy.. Excited, even.”
Athos shrugs a little, tilting their carapace to borrow into the blanket Grace had over his lap. “Do not know..”
“Can tell family how you feel, question?” Rocky asks, tapping his claw twice against the stool he sat on.
“Why want another? Am I not enough?” Athos asks in a small, unsure, anxious melody.
Immediately, their parents scrambled to disagree. Grace’s heart broke at the idea that Athos would feel like they weren’t enough. “No.. No no no, kid, you’re enough. We’re not- we’re not replacing you. You’re our kid, no matter what. Nothing can change that.”
“But… But if new sibling.. Then no want Athos anymore..” Athos trills softly, quickly reverting to the simpler pidgin as they hurry to express whatever was going on in their head. “Will want new baby. Biological baby. Not Athos.”
“Thats not how that works.” Adrian says calmly. “Our love is not a finite resource. You do not have to fight for it.”
“Thats’s right, Athos,” Grace says softly. “Sure, we might need to spend a little more time with a new baby, but that doesn’t mean we can’t or won’t set aside time for you.”
“Can still find many ways to include Athos!” Rocky says, shifting his weight back and forth a little in an excited little wiggle. “Can sneak Athos from class to take to work.. Or take to museum.. Or wherever Athos want to go.”
“You know, Rock, calling your kid out sick for a fun day when they’re the teachers kid doesn’t really work.” Grace says fondly. “Thats valuable learning time.”
“Exactly! Athos live with us! Grace can teach Athos later. Athos smart smart smart.” Rocky says.
“Mm.. Athos is smart smart smart.” Grace says. The not-so-little one gives a happy sound, wiggling a little.
“Maybe a sibling is not so bad…” Athos settles on. “Can teach fun games… Can watch sleep..”
“Thats the spirit.” Grace says, giving their carapace a little pet.
“But.. But only if you promise that I will get to still be here..” Athos suddenly interjects.
God that Really Hurt. Grace remembered back when he was getting his teaching license. Education was not the first plan, and he was quietly humiliated, going back to school with a PHD in a completely different subject for a bachelor's alongside fresh college students. He remembered half-listening to his developmental psychology teacher explain how some children might exhibit regressive behaviors when there's a new sibling in the home, or might express feeling left behind, being abandoned, or overlooked when a sibling is born. He remembered one of his students in his first year of teaching having weekly bouts of crying at random intervals when her little brother was born. He had to sit in his Calming Corner a lot that month with her. Not that he would ever trade it for anything, he felt honored that his students felt safe enough to cry in his classroom, just… by then his back was not made to be hunched over in middle-schooler sized chairs.
“Of course you will still get to be here. You will always have a place here. We’re not getting rid of you.” Grace says when he finds his words. “This is your home, and no amount of siblings will change that. And if you ever feel like you need more attention, or whatever, if there ever is a new baby, all you have to do is tell us and we will make sure you have what you need, kiddo.”
Athos gave a little half-purr, pressing again into the blanket. They sat in quiet for a while before they shifted off the couch, gathering their little tools and kit. “Will think about it.” They say before scurrying through the airlock in the bedroom to the Eridian half, disappearing into Rocky's workshop, leaving the adults alone.
“You guys still think this is a good idea?” Grace asks as Rocky and Adrian move closer to him.
“Yes.” Adrian says. “We will just need to be attentive to their feelings, which I know will be no issue. Is very common for Eridian hatchlings to be raised in group, multiple parents, to help care for all children. Is no problem.”
Grace still couldn’t wrap his mind sometimes around how… Normal it was for Eridians to have multiple partners, to raise children with multiple parents.. Sometimes he forgot that he was the alien here. They welcomed him so easily, accommodated his needs and wants, and once he learned their language near-fluently, the rest was history. He felt so out of depth with this though. He never planned on being a parent, and now he was and he loved it, but another? He would just have to trust Adrian and Rocky on this one when they said it could be done.