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When Yondu stepped in to the room, after pushing passed several nurses and even security staff who insisted on not letting him in without a shirt on under his coat (though Yondu still got in anyways, because Yondu always gets what he wants), he took in the sight of Peter, looking drained of every last drop of energy.
He was leaned back, one arm tossed across his face, covering his eyes. The other secured the infant dressed in green against his chest.
"I'm here to see my new grandkid," Yondu declared, taking a few strides to come nearer.
"Shhh," Peter removed his arm from his face and his usually bright green eyes are shadowed by bags and lines of stress. "Be quiet Yondu."
The older man seated himself in the chair beside Peter's bed and motioned toward he child in Peter's arms. "Lemme see 'er."
Peter sighed and forced himself to sit up, huffing out a breath as he did so. Yondu wanted to reach over and steady Peter with a hand on his shoulder, but he figured Peter didn't need him to.
"Please be careful with HIM," Peter reluctantly handed the infant to Yondu, who took him with a gentleness Peter didn't know he possessed. From the babe's flushed pink face, Yondu could see that the child would take after Peter more than his other sire, which was good. The dark mop of hair on his head came from the other end of the gene pool, though.
Yondu wasn't too fond of Ronan. He wasn't fond of any kind of kree, really, but he'd learned to tolerate Ronan for the sake of his boy's fragile, sentiment-filled heart.
"His name?" Yondu questioned, leaning back with the child against his warm chest.
"Samuel Alexander Quill," Peter sighed tiredly, slouching forward. Yondu had noticed that the normally goofy and dork-ish grin that was usually plastered on Peter's face hadn't made an appearance at all yet. Not even well he briefly criticized Yondu's tacky outfit. He just looked tired, like he needed a break, like he was ready to fall over at the slightest breeze. Yondu felt bad for him. His boy just didn't look right this way.
"How are you feelin', boy?" Yondu asked in a softer tone, scooting his chair closer and reaching a hand out to brush back Peter's hair. He knew Peter liked the massaging feeling of Yondu's fingers lightly brushing his scalp.
"Everything hurts," Peter's eyes slid closed. "And I want to sleep for a billion years."
The younger man's lips formed a pout. "You go on and get'chu some sleep, boy," Yondu advised, giving Peter's head a light pat.
"But–"
"I'll take care of little Sammy while you sleep."
Peter gave a curt nod and settled back down in to the bed, and Yondu mused his hair for a moment more before finally letting his hand retreat. He watched Peter until he drifted off in to sleep, then switched his gaze to the newborn in his arms.
The child was staring up at him with Peter's eyes. The same squishy little baby-face Peter marched aboard the elector with, but softer...
"You're a cute lil bugger, ain't ya?" Yondu cooed softly, using one finger to gently poke at the babe's much smaller hand. Sure, Yondu had dealt with his fair share of kids, but this was different. This was Peter's kid. This child was more dear to him than any other pudgy little brat in the universe.
He glanced at Peter, who finally looked at ease now that he was asleep. Personally, Yondu didn't think Peter was ready to have kids. Peter was still a kid himself (in Yondu's eyes, only because he'd always be Yondu's boy), and a sometimes irresponsible one at that. But then again, this was Peter he was thinking about. Peter, who was probably the smartest, strongest, most pure-hearted boy he'd ever met. Something special.
He thought about taking Sam and Peter back to his ship. He felt like they'd be safer there, even though this Nova hospital was probably one of the safest places he could be. But this place wasn't comfortable. Peter looked uncomfortable, Yondu felt uncomfortable, and he was sure when the others returned, they'd feel uncomfortable too. At least back on his ship he could give Peter his bed. Make sure his boy slept somewhere warm and soft, where he could rest for as long as he needed, and then some.
He'd never seen Peter look so drained of energy, not even on the days where the boy would only catch a few hours of sleep due to staying up playing with his stupid video games. It concerned him, as much as he would hate to admit that he actually cared.
"I'll make sure the both of ya don't have no troubles, kid," he promised, giving the child in his arms a soft pat as he took in Peter's sleeping form. It dawned on him that neither of these two seemed to be cut out for the harsh reality of space at the moment.
One of them, a baby. The other, someone dumb kid who had only just began the long road of stress of having a kid of his own. Both too dear to Yondu himself (though he'd never tell either of them.)
"Even if it kills me."
Luckily, he'd finished his vow before he was interrupted by a Nova officer (one he was pretty sure had arrested him several times before.)
"Peter's sleeping," Yondu said, propping his feet up on the bed while leaning back with Sam against his chest. "Come back when someone here actually cares about what you have to say."