Archive of Our Own

It hadn’t been something they planned — Luca’s pregnancy.

No, that was a rather unfortunate result of one of their condoms breaking, and his birth control failing due to his own stupidity — he accidentally left his birth control in his hot car during practice, rendering them useless, and in turn learned why that was a bad idea. And if anything, he’d argue that they were trying their damn hardest not to get pregnant in the first place, by always practicing safe sex, and doing everything they thought was right.

This was going to be their first full season in the NHL, so they were doing what they could to be extra cautious as to not jeopardize such an incredible opportunity. But sometimes things just happen without a rhyme or reason, and difficult decisions have to be made.

The night that their condom broke, Luca decided against taking the morning after pill, assuming he’d be safe with just his birth control. Besides, it’s not like they haven’t had risky sex before. Actually, they’ve spent the better part of their year together really testing those limits, and his birth control never failed. There was no reason for him to even think it would fail in the first place. So they thought they were in the clear.

Until the fatigue came.

It hit him like a semi-truck one day. He began to struggle to stay awake for longer than a few hours, and the thought of practicing was too much for him to even bear. Followed by a sickness he couldn’t seem to shake — anything and everything was making him nauseous, even smells he previously loved, especially meat. Only a week before, Misa shared that he was pregnant, so they figured taking a test couldn’t hurt. At the very least it would put their minds at ease, and then they would figure out what was actually wrong with him.

Not even for a second did they think those two little lines would appear, and at first, they were so faint he could hardly see them. But the test he took two days later came back a lot darker, and something much harder to deny. He had his own doctor confirm it for him, and though it kills him to know he won’t have a chance to play this year, they are more than ready to have this baby. They’re young and dumb and so stupidly in love and raising a tiny human of their own will only make their lives even more complete.

They’ve spent hours already combing through baby books and name blogs and debating what naming convention they were going to follow. In those hours where they were the only two who knew, it created their perfect little bubble.

Until Toff called a baby sharks meeting at his house a few days later.

They didn’t know what to expect because the message was vague, but they all complied and arrived before seven pm. When they wandered into the house, shoes kicked off at the front door first, they found Toff scribbling on a large white board in the middle of his living room, not paying anyone else any attention. Luca squinted his eyes to try and read it better, but he’d be lying if he said it looked like anything other than gibberish. When he turned to Cherny with a questioning look on his face, he was meet with a shrug in return, neither of them able to read his chicken scratch.

When they rounded the corner, they found Cat busy away in the kitchen, and they both called out to her with a soft greeting. Her face lit up in a smile, before waving them back off towards the couches in the living room. Easily taking their cue, they settled beside each other on the couch facing towards the board as quiet conversation from the other baby sharks filled the room around them.

Luca spies Dickie fairly easily, noticing the back of his head before the man turns around with a large smile plastered on his face, yelling his own hello. Misa, on the other hand, is nowhere to be seen. He thought about asking Dickie, before remembering Misa’s own words about how the pregnancy has been kicking his ass. Headaches have been keeping him bed bound most days since the medicines don’t seem to be working. He feels bad, knowing his friend is struggling so much when the worst he’s felt so far is tired, even his morning sickness has faded a bit. And there’s very little he can do other than making sure to be there for him.

Toff claps his hands together causing, the room to quiet as he turns around on his heels, looking them all over slowly. He seems to be taking them in, or perhaps he’s counting to make sure they’re all present, before he begins speaking.

“Right, we’re gonna talk about safe-sex so that you guys don’t get pregnant accidentally,” he starts, turning back around to the white board to circle… something.

Hesitantly, he raises his hand and throws a cautious glance in Cherny’s direction. If all they’re going to talk about is safe-sex, then he’d much rather go home and sleep. Besides, the talk won’t do him anymore good anyways.

At the sight of his hand, Toff’s eyebrows crease and a frown tugs on his lips.

“Yes?” he asks, causing all the eyes of the baby sharks to turn and look at him. His cheeks warm at their attention and he shrinks inside of himself just a little.

“Can I be excused then?”

“Why?” He sounds skeptical as his eyes narrow.

“Because I’m already pregnant,” the words slip out, before he can put them back in.

Silence hangs heavy in the air as the other baby sharks turn to look up at Toff, waiting with bated breath for his reaction. The older man stands motionless for a long moment, eyes blinking rapidly a few times, before sighing dramatically as he throws his expo marker over his shoulder.

“I give up, get out of my house,” his words lack venom as he buries his face into his hands, but it gives him pause.

Nervously, he picks at a loose string on his pants and turns to look at Cherny with wide, terrified eyes. His boyfriend frowns back in response and shrugs his shoulders, before his warm hand begins to rub soothingly along his back. Neither of them really know what they should be doing, so when it feels like the silence might never end, he begins to stand up to leave. In that moment, Toff’s head snaps back up, and he doesn’t look mad, just tried.

“Wait, don’t actually go,” he says softly, motioning for him to sit back down again. “But before I move on. Tell me, at the very least that this didn’t happen as a result of using the pull out method.”

Luca’s face scrunches up as he shakes his head.

“No, nothing dumb like that.”

“Oh,” Toff says, seemingly taken aback. “Was the pregnancy planned then?” He asks hesitantly, seeming a bit unsure of his own words. The question causes his face to warm as all of their eyes are on him once again.

“No,” he swallows, trying to bat down his embarrassment. “But can we possibly stop talking about how I might’ve gotten pregnant, please?” He becomes increasingly more shy as he keeps speaking, causing him to bend forward and clutch at his stomach, almost like he’s trying to protect his baby from prying eyes.

“Sorry.”

His cheeks are still warm as the eyes fall away, but he can feel a few who linger. Beside him, Cherny raises his own hand, causing his face to scrunch as he looks back at him. Toff lets out another dramatic sigh, before motioning for him to speak.

“I am not pregnant, and will not become pregnant, can I leave?” Cherny asks, causing the sides of his lips to turn up into a smile as a few other baby sharks snicker beside them.

“You and Luca are dating?”

“Yes.”

“Then no, you can’t leave, you’re the one who got Luca pregnant in the first place.” Cherny grumbles beside him as his eyes roll. Luca softly chuckles as he sits back up, curling into the warm side of his boyfriend and feeling his eyelids grow heavy. A warm hand snakes around his waist, before gently resting against his middle. Toff begins to drone on, and whether or not he notices that he falls asleep, Luca doesn’t get disturbed until it’s over.

When he wakes with a soft jostle from Cherny, he finds two hours has lapse and feels bad for those who couldn’t escape this as easily as he could. He asks Cherny how it went, but was meet with a head shake as they headed for the door. Dickie intercepted them, before they could make it too far, large smile spreading across his face.

“Yo, congrats man, now little Dickie will have a friend to play with.”

“Little Dickie?” Cherny asks before he can say anything, still fighting off the last remnants of his nap.

“Yeah dude, my son. Misa hates it, but what else am I supposed to call the little dude?” His tone is bright and cheerful, fatherhood is already beginning to look good on him. Thank god that baby has Cat and Toff though, or he’d fear they might turn out a little stupid like their fathers.

“You already know what the baby is?” Luca asks, thick brows threading together.

“Nah, not yet. Well, Meese wants to wait until the baby is born anyways, but I got a good feeling that he’ll be a little boy like I’ve always dreamed of. Oh man, I can’t wait to like teach him stuff and play sewer and show him how to skate. He’ll be the coolest.”

He and Cherny chuckle a little, before his face begins to fall and worry begins to chew at his insides.

“Is Misa gonna be mad?” He can’t help but ask, beginning to feel a cloud of insecurity swirl around him.

“‘Bout what?”

“Me also being pregnant?”

“Nah dude, don’t know why you’d think that. At least it’ll take a little attention off of us. You know, Toff was pissed at first, but he’s come around. Plus the team has been like cooing all over him and shit and he’s not big on all the eyes like that. Especially while he doesn’t feel good. So no man, you’re all good, we’re both happy for ya,” he says, gently tapping the back of his arm with his hand.

“Thanks man,” he smiles, before it falls a little, “Did you already tell him?” He asks, proceeding his use of we a little late.

“Nah, he heard ya,” he says, pointing over his shoulder to a door he hadn’t noticed before, or the way that it’s slightly ajar. “Heads still killing him, but he’s happy for you, trust.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize his room was down here,” he says, motioning towards the door.

“Yeah, he wanted the door open to hear what was happening, but leaving the room would’ve been too much. He’s sleeping now, or I’d let you go say hi.” He says, lowering his voice like he’s suddenly afraid that he’ll wake Misa back up.”

“We should be on our way, anyways. Tell him that we hope he starts feeling better.”

“Will do, night boys,” he waves, turning away from them.

They make sure to say goodbye to the remaining baby sharks that are seeming to linger in the living room, along with Cat and Toff. Both of them congratulate him, and Cat even squeezes him in a tight hug, saying that he can always call her if he needs anything. He can’t keep the smile off his face as he heads out the front door.

The night’s cool air licks at their slightly overheated skin as they make their way down the driveway towards their car. Their hands find one another, allowing their fingers to interlock, before their arms begin to swing.

“He will be upset when he have daughter,” Cherny says, breaking the silence between them and pulling his eyes up.

“I don’t think that’s the right word.”

“No?”

“Upset? No. Maybe a little disappointed, but he’ll quickly come around to it. Girls rule the world after all,” he smiles, knocking their shoulders together playfully. “What about you?”

“Me?”

“Daughter or son?”

“I will be happy with whatever.”

“Liar,” he chuckles.

“Ah, you have caught me,” he chuckles, pale eyes glowing in the moonlight. “I have always wanted little girl. But I really want anything, as long as I have them with you,” he says, sending warmth creeping back up Luca’s cheeks as he can do nothing but smile back stupidly back. His nose scrunches as they come to a stop, and he leans up on his toes to kiss his boyfriend’s soft lips.

“I love you,” he whispers.

“I love you more.”

Luca can’t get Toff’s reaction to his pregnancy out of his head. It plays over and over for the entire night, keeping him from closing his eyes for longer than a few seconds. He doesn’t know what reaction he was expecting, but that look of disappointment and his exasperation on his face worms itself deep inside his brain matter, gnawing at him. It doesn’t help him any that Misa is also pregnant. Down two players before the regular season will even begin, and they’re going to be out for the entire season — at least he will be. And it’s not like he’s Macklin Celebrini. Macklin’s pregnancy was a hard hit for the team, but at least he was able to keep playing until the end of March, and it’s just different for him.

Who is he even kidding, he’ll be lucky if he doesn’t get sent back down once he tells them, and there’s no way he’s getting a lick of ice time now that he’s pregnant. This was supposed to be their year. The team was finally finding it’s footing again, and others feared the reign of terror Mack’s captaincy would bring. And he was going to be a part of making the difference, of taking his team to the cup. But now, he’s not sure if he’s worth keeping around if he can’t play for the team.

He’s ruined everything.

Hot tears bubble up in his eyes and blur his vision as his fingers grip on the blanket tightens, yanking it closer to his chest for a modicum of comfort. The warmth of Cherny’s body presses against his back, but he can’t bring himself to wake him up, so he struggles to remain quiet as tears trickle down his face. He muffles his sobs against the back of his hand as he trembles, choking on his tears as his throat begins to ache.

“Солнышко (Little sun), you are crying,” Cherny’s croaky, tried voice spills through the room, causing him to squeak since he didn’t realize he woke him up.

The lamp on his boyfriend’s bedside clicks on, flooding the room with it’s soft glow. A breath catches in the back of Luca’s throat as he feels Cherny shuffle around on the bed, before he’s leaning over his body and looking down at him with concern. Gently, his index finger tucks under his chin, and turns him to look up at him, forcing their eyes to meet.

“Why are you so sad?”

The ache in his throat only worsens as he pitifully shakes his head, unable to say anything as more tears roll down his cheeks. Cherny frowns, eyebrows threading together as he brushes them away with his thumb, before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. He pulls back a little, keeping one hand on him as he lays back down on the mattress, before Luca is being rolled over and pulled into his warm arms. Luca lays with his head on Cherny’s chest, ear pressed against his heart and listening to it beat, before there’s a low rumble as he begins to hum an unfamiliar lullaby, and rub soothing circles against his back.

Other than the faint humming, and his occasional sniffles, the room remains quiet. A few more tears fall down his face, dampening Cherny’s night shirt, but he finds himself already cried out as the sadness begins to fade. In the warmth of his boyfriend’s arms, he finds himself without anything more to worry about, at least not for the time being.

“Are you okay?” Cherny murmurs, chest rumbling as he speaks.

“‘M okay,” Luca’s saddened voice comes out no louder than a whisper, cracking at the end.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” he sighs, wiping his hands across his face.

“Okay,” he says, matching his own tone, and arms tightening around his waist when he tries to pull away. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

It takes a couple of days, but they inevitably tell Grier and Warso. Luca asked for a meeting with them both, and Cherny went along with him for the emotional support. As the words trembled from his lips, the warm hand of his boyfriend squeezed his own. And while neither of them yelled or told him off outright, they were clearly both disappointed and irritated. Grier congratulated him, albeit stiffly, but he can’t get Warso’s words out of his ears — “you let your team down.”

Since then, he’s not been able to face any of the other guys.

He’s not been able to practice recently anyways, so he now just skips them all together so as not too have to face the music and see and feel the disappointment radiating from the team. Warso’s right, he let his team down, and now he’s taking the cowards way out.

Besides, the newest baby sharks already know anyways, so he’s sure the rumors are already spreading like wildfire. It’s only the vets and a few older baby sharks that didn’t hear the words come out of his own mouth.

Not only is he letting the team down, he’s creating a massive burden by leaving another hole in their already weak defense. So, their growing hatred for him is only natural, and he probably won’t be welcomed back on the team. He doesn’t deserve his spot; he’s proved them all right.

There are a million things that he wishes he could have done differently. He could’ve been safer, or smarter, or even tried to plan things out. Now he’s left in a perpetual free fall waiting for the call to finally happen.

The hair on the back of his arms begin to prickle as he continues to pace around his bedroom, probably annoying and frustrating his downstairs neighbors. But he can’t help it, he’s unable to remain still for longer than a few seconds, and his mind has been racing a mile a minute since Cherny left for practice a few hours ago.

He can only begin to imagine the types of things that Cherny must be hearing from the others on the team. All the cruelty and vitriol that must be spit around the locker room as Grier is left to scramble to find someone to replace him. Maybe it’ll be a sign of good luck to be sent down so he never has to face any of them again.

“Солнышко (Little sun),” Cherny calls out, the sound of the door softly shutting and locking behind him reverberates through their apartment. “I am home!” His voice is cheerful, and soft, and warms the part of him that is beginning to freeze over.

“Bedroom,” he calls back weakly, not even sure he heard him, as he continues to pace.

A few minutes later, Cherny pokes his head in with a playful glint in his eyes, before his face falls at the sight of him. He must look a mess — dried tear stains still fresh on his cheeks, his fidgeting hands plucking at the hem of his shirt, and his disheveled appearance from his late afternoon nap. Without saying a word, Cherny opens his arms for him to walk into, and he’s quick to accept the comfort.

“You have been crying,” he says, frown evident in his voice, as they softly sway together.

“‘M okay,” his words are muffled from being pressed in Cherny’s shirt.

“You have said same thing for three days now, you lie,” he chides, concern lacing his soft voice more than the anger does. “Солнышко (Little sun), tell me what is wrong.”

“The team hates me,” he whispers, fingers twisting into the fabric of Cherny’s shirt and pulling taut.

“That is not true.”

“They have to hate me. I let them all down,” his voice comes out in a small whine as fresh tears begin to cloud his vision.

“You have done no such thing.

“But Warso—”

“Fuck Warso. He is not team, he is not guys. No one hates you, Солнышко (Little sun). All guys worry that you miss chance at playoff run, but you will always be shark. That I can promise you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Oh Macklin make sure everyone know. You are shark, and I will win cup for you and our baby.” As he says the last part, his hand moves to rest against his still flat stomach.

“Our baby,” Luca whispers back, face lighting up in a smile. “You will win the cup for me and our baby.”

“I promise you.”

Cherny was right, no one on the team hates him, not in the slightest.

Anxiety bubbles up in his gut as he walks down the long hallway towards their locker room for the first time in weeks. Both the having the thought that his team hated him in the back of his mind, and the constant fatigue from the baby, he couldn’t muster up the courage to come back before today the start of the season, and especially for their first home game of the season.

The room is alive when he pushes the door open, the team chattering away, all of them excited and pumped for the game tonight. The SAP center feels electric, and he can hear the fans cheering and chanting from down the hall. It makes the tips of his fingers tingle, and a teeny tiny part of him wishes he was gearing up to go out tonight too.

“Солнышко (Little sun),” Cherny calls out, causing the eyes of the room to find him.

“Cags!” Multiple voices ring out as a few guys abandon their gear in favor of coming over to greet him. Their faces are bright and they all beam down at him, asking where he’s been and how the baby is doing. He feels a bit dizzy from all of the attention, and pulls himself away a little bit to steal Cherny’s seat at his stall.

Mack weaves his way through the dying crowd to meet him, smiling brightly and flashing all his shark teeth. “It’s good to see you back in the locker room,” he yells, talking over the noise of their teammates who have gone back to making. “We’ll miss you on the ice.”

“Don’t miss me too much,” he jests, hearing a few chuckles and gaining some eye rolls as the few remaining teammates around him walk back to their stalls.

“Luca!” Dickie calls, waving him over.

He lets out a small sigh before he pushes himself up and walks the short distance. Dickie is sitting down, lacing his skates, when he begins talking.

“We all miss having you around you, dude,” he smiles. “Sorry me and Meese haven’t called, he’s still not feeling all that good. He won’t be in the box tonight, but I’m sure you won’t get too lonely.”

“You say that like you know something other people don’t.”

“Nah, just saying you won’t be lonely,” his eyes sparkle with mischief.

“It is good to see you man,” Muk says, hand gently tapping his shoulder to get his attention.

“Thanks dude, missed being here.”

“Good luck with kid, is brutal,” he says, causing Luca’s eyebrows to scrunch in confusion, “Pregnancy,” he clarifies. “Wife had hard time. So is Misa I hear,” he casts a glance over in Dickie’s direction, who only nods in agreement.

“Fuck em up tonight man,” Luca says, offering a fist bump.

“Always do,” he smiles, walking away.

“What do you know?” Luca asks in a hushed voice, sitting down beside him and stealing someone’s stall.

“I don’t know nothing, as Toff keeps saying anyways.”

“Is he still mad at me?”

“Mad at you? Please not a single soul in existence has ever been mad at you Cags,” he tells him, pushing him himself up and patting Luca’s head gently before heading towards the middle of the room.

Cherny runs over to him really quickly to press a kiss to his lips, before they gather in the middle of the room for their pregame huddle. They begin chanting, arms raising up and down slightly, before they stop. His brows thread together as he looks between the players and their hands, before he catches the eyes landing on him.

“Join us Cags!” They call, and his cheeks warm as he stands up and puts his own hand in. He meets eyes with Mack, the C freshly on his chest, and he smiles even brighter.

“Always a shark,” Mack smiles, getting loud murmurs of agreement before their hands are moving again.

There is a chill in the nights air that nips at Luca’s nose as the stands on the front porch of the Toffoli’s house, and waits for the door to open. It’s early January, and as the sun tucks itself to sleep, the temperature begins to drop. He bounces on his toes as a shiver rakes down his spine, and he curls himself tighter into the fabric of Cherny’s hoodie. California winters are wildly different than the ones he’s used too back home, but that doesn’t stop the chill from finding him the longer he stays in the state and adapts. He doesn’t like admitting that he’s losing his tolerance to the cold, so he refuses too.

It’s only a few more seconds before the front door is swinging wide open, and Cat greets him with a large smile. Warmth radiates out, licking at his cold cheeks and kissing his numb nose, while light spills out across his feet. She waves him inside, and quickly shuts the door behind his back.

“Luca, how are you?” Her voice is cheerful as she pulls him down into a hug.

A smile plays across his lips as he quickly complies and soaks up all the comfort he can get. The team is currently on a roadie, and tonight is their last away game until their break starts. And he would be lying if he said the apartment hadn’t been a little lonely without his boyfriend. Though baby has done a good job of reminding him he isn’t alone, kicking him whenever he stops paying her the attention she desires.

“I’m doing okay, still a bit tired,” he smiles, and as he pulls back he rubs his hand against his swollen stomach.

“That’s so good to hear,” her eyes sparkle as she speaks. “Michael’s on the couch. But he’s still not feeling the best, my poor darling, so he might not be as talkative,” she tells him, motioning towards the living room where he can hear the tv playing faintly.

With a curt head nod, he toes off his shoes and puts them in a line, before padding the short distance into the living room. Misa lies propped up on the longer couch, gel eye mask covering his eyes, and a frown tugging at his lips. Instinctively, his eyes travel down to where his stomach is protruding and touches his own. Misa is farther along than himself, so while his stomach has become hard to miss, he just only began to show. Cherny thinks his little bump is cute, so he’ll probably go crazy over how big it’s gotten while he’s been away.

Luca’s eyebrows quirk as he settles down on the couch that faces towards Misa, watching as his friend moves the mask just enough to peek out at him.

“How are you feeling?” Luca asks softly, scanning over his face and not missing the small wince he makes as he moves slightly, one hand settling under his bump.

“Been better,” he mumbles, pulling the mask back down. “You?”

“I’m doing okay,” he repeats, smiling even though Misa can’t see him anymore.

“Lucky you,” Misa’s tone isn’t sarcastic or even bitter, but rather exhausted. He’s clearly over being pregnant, and has been for a long time. He can’t blame him, if he was being put through half the hell Misa is, then he wouldn’t want to be pregnant for longer than he has too either.

“Michael,” Cat chides from somewhere farther in the house, causing the man’s frown to deepen.

“Sorry Mama,” he says back, though neither of them can be sure that she heard him. “I’m never getting pregnant again. If Dickie wants another kid, then he better be ready to get pregnant himself and go through this.”

Luca bites his bottom lip as Cat wanders back into the room with Stella hot on her heels, the little dog yips in excitement as she runs over to greet him.

“Oh, hello there little miss,” he smiles, petting her as she jumps around.

“Stella, come,” Cat calls as she moves to sit down in the open spot of the couch where Misa’s feet are lying. She throws a blanket over herself and pats the space beside her, Stella steals a few more pets from him before she goes running over and settles down beside her mama.

A faint whimpering sound crackles across static, causing his brows furrow as he looks around, before he spies the baby monitor Cat must have just set down. He can only see a little bit of the screen, but when he sees the tufts of brown hair sticking up and her chubby little cheeks, he can wager exactly whose baby he thinks that is.

“Oh, do you have Willmack’s daughter?”

“Yeah,” she says excitedly, “Mack’s parents and I take turns caring for her during their roadies. Unless they’re headed for Boston, the Colleen whisks her away instead. I’m soaking up all the time I can get right now, because I don’t think I’ll see her as much once Misa’s baby is born.”

“Why?” Misa asks in a mumble, pulling her attention towards him instead.

“Because I’ll be taking care of you silly.”

“You don’t have to do that Mama,” he says, his frown deepening. “Me and Dickie will be fine.”

“You say that now baby, but you’re gonna need the support. I’m going to be there for you every step of the way,” she says, and Luca can’t help but smile.

He’s known since Misa moved in with the Toffoli’s that he’s been like a son to them, but he hadn’t quite realized how much Misa thought of them being his parents. Or that his baby, and even Mack and Will’s baby, would have gained an extra set of grandparents.

“What about you Luca?” Cat asks, suddenly turning towards him.

“Me?”

“Do you and Igor have anyone in San Jose who can support you?”

“Oh, no. I don’t have family out here or anything, neither does Cherny. But we’ll be fine on our own.”

“Listen to me,” she says, pulling his eyes to her. “You will always have me and Ty. And don’t let Ty scare you into thinking he won’t be there to support you or to love your baby. He’s just as excited as I am.” As she finishes talking, tears cloud his vision. “Oh sweet baby,” she coos, standing up and pulling him into a tight hug.

“Thank you, Cat,” he whispers into her shoulder.

Cherny is so excited to see just how much his bump has grown in the time that he’s been gone, that the first thing he does when he gets home is he asks to see it. Luca lifts up his hoodie to show off where his skin has begun to stretch out, and just how much bigger he’s gotten in such a short time. Cherny’s hand rests protectively over their child as he leans down to kiss him, savoring every single one, before he pulls away. His face lights up as Luca realizes what he felt, the baby has been kicking him for weeks, but now his boyfriend can also experience it.

Later that night, while they’re lying in bed, Cherny softly hums a lullaby to his stomach and rubs his soft skin. The lullaby is one that he’s only ever heard a single other time; the night he woke him up crying.

“What are you singing?” he asks, fingers musing through his boyfriend’s soft hair.

“A lullaby to help baby sleep,” he smiles, pale eyes glinting in the faint light.

“You sang that to me. Are you calling me a baby too then?” His words have no bite to them as he smiles playfully.

“You are my baby.”

Luca finds himself staring at him for a long moment, before tugging on his bicep to pull him back up the bed. Their lips meet a few times until Luca grows a little dizzy and breathless. Then their foreheads touch and he stares up into those beautiful pale eyes that he loves so much.

“If I wasn’t already pregnant than I’d make you put a baby in me.”

Cherny just smiles at him mischievously.

Their daughter is born at the end of May, just a few days before the team advanced to the finals, causing Cherny to miss a single playoff game. She came quick and fast and ready to grace the world with her beauty, her face carries so much of Cherny in it, but their eyes are matching. So dark and deep and worthy of getting completely lost in.

Although she was born full-term, she’s still a bit of a tiny thing. At least that’s what Dickie said upon seeing her, saying she was much smaller than when her own daughter was born. Misa smiled weakly and apologized, but he didn’t mind much.

Both Cat and Toff also came to visit them, they walked in quietly with a basket full of goodies and the biggest smiles in the world. While Toff whisked their daughter away, cooing over how little and adorable she is, Cat stood beside him, brushed his dirty hair out of his face, and asked how he was feeling. All over he felt dirty and sore, but all he could think about was his daughter, and all the things she might need. And Dickie is right, she is a very tiny thing in his arms who’s so sleepy and peaceful.

When they’re all alone again and the world becomes quiet, Cherny sits in the bed beside him, and Luca rests his head against his shoulder.

“Солнышко (Little sun), how are you feeling,” he whispers, looking down at him.

Luca’s eyes stay on their daughter who sleeps peacefully in her bassinet, before he turns to look up at him with a smile.

“Like the luckiest man alive.”