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Kravitz stares down at the bundle he holds in his arms in awe. His eyes are misty with tears of joy. He can feel everything; the soft blanket rests against the bare skin of his arm, his toes press into the bedroom’s plush carpet, the little bundle swells and sinks with the tiny breaths of a living creature. He doesn’t know whether he’s going to laugh or cry, but the welling in his chest needs some outlet before he explodes. Bending down, he presses a soft kiss to chestnut skin and tight curls.
As he draws back, Kravitz sees the baby’s small mouth open in a big toothless yawn and hears a faint squeak of breath. He can’t help the giggle that escapes him. The light rumble of his chest seems to stir the infant, and she opens her eyes slowly, curiously looking up at the strange creature holding her.
“Hello there, little one,” says Kravitz in a soft whisper. “Hi. It’s me. I’m your daddy. Yeah.” His lips curl into a wide smile as he speaks the words. This child is the most precious thing he’s ever encountered, and he’s so blessed to be holding her.
“I wish your papa could see you right now. He did so well. It was perfect. You’re perfect.”
Kravitz turns his gaze to his husband, lying dead asleep on their bed, snoring lightly. He could never thank Taako enough for this. The thought of raising a child together had been in the back of both their minds for a long time. Kravitz’s perhaps more than Taako’s. He would never push the elf, but he knew then that Taako had very little faith in his own parenting ability no matter how much he might want a child. He was so very afraid of any offspring turning out like him. Kravitz would forever disagree with the notion that that was something negative, but he could understand why Taako was hesitant.
•••
It wasn’t immediate. It was as slow as anything had ever gone for the pair, really. Lup and Barry were the first to have a child of their own. And then another, along with a third at the same time (twin genetics are powerful things). Their children grew up with a family like none other. Not one of the children ever had reason to feel unloved, unwanted, or alone. They never went hungry, and never needed to learn the lessons of their mother and uncle. Never had to grow hard. With eternity on the line, the Raven Queen was more than willing to give the couple time to raise their children and live the settled life that had been robbed from them for one hundred long years.
The children grew up. They had an education. They had passions. They found and lost love and gained it again.
•••
As Kravitz stands in the bedroom, he thinks of his niece and nephews. They’ve travelled far; his niece now resides in Rockport, his one nephew travelling the world looking for adventure and his twin settled in Ravensroost where he found love just like his uncle once did. They’ll be returning soon, to greet the new member of the family with gifts and affection.
•••
It was over twenty years from the day of Story and Song when Taako asked Kravitz what he wanted out of their time together.
It was one night when they were both half asleep in front of the television with a casserole dish of nachos three-quarters munched through. Kravitz felt Taako looking at him and turned to see his husband staring pensively, his face half-lit with the blue glow of the screen.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I’m going to die someday.” Taako said blandly.
Kravitz started a bit. “Well, um… yes. You will. That’s the order of things. But not for a while now. Not yet.”
Taako turned to watch the TV for a minute and Kravitz almost thought the line of questioning was done when he started again. “Do you ever… think about leaving something? Like, making some sort of impact on the world. A good one.”
Kravitz frowned in confusion. “Taako… you saved the world. You… everyone on this plane knows you and what you did. More than that, you’ve been doing so much with your school and… Taako you’ve done so much good for this world.”
Taako sniffed, shrugged, and still wouldn’t look at Kravitz. “Yeah, ‘course. Natch. The world ain’t never going to forget Taako™™™ but like…”
It was at this point Kravitz realized Taako was using one of his patented techniques of “awkwardly trying to make Kravitz bring up a specific topic that Taako wants to talk about because he doesn’t want to be the one to bring it up but there’s something specific he’s afraid to ask”. Unfortunately, Kravitz didn’t have many options in this situation besides making sure Taako knew he could open up to him. Or pretending to go along with it.
“Mhm, I totally understand what you’re talking about, love.”
Taako’s awkwardness was immediately overpowered by his need to be right.
“You do not! You liar!” He sat up and poked Kravitz in the chest accusingly and his next words spilled out of his mouth almost involuntarily. “Krav, I want to have a kid.”
Kravitz didn’t say anything. He immediately knew he was letting this silence stretch for too long, but he couldn’t think of what to say first. Taako’s face took approximately 2.64 seconds to fall into a forced look of blank indifference.
“Fine,” he said, drawing his legs away from Kravitz and pulling a pillow to his chest. “Forget I said anything it’s cool. All chill in Taako town. No need to-“
“Taako, I- yes! Um! Whe- how- we… If you… Me too?” Kravitz managed to push something out of his mouth, but was apparently unable to make that something a coherent thought. Taako seemed to get the gist, though. Enough that he scooted back over and threw his arms around Kravitz, holding him close.
•••
It took a few more months from that night to gather everything necessary. They didn’t tell anyone, lest their plan fall through. Both Kravitz and Taako were equal parts terrified and thrilled, but Taako was especially overwhelmed with anxiety at the thought of telling everyone to expect something only for him to fail.
They were going to make a wish.
When it was time to cast the spell, Taako was seated on the bed, a soft grey baby blanket laid in front of his crossed legs. He kept fiddling with his jewelry and his hat. Kravitz saw the way the elf was breathing, the way his hands trembled, and came to sit next to him.
“It’s going to be okay, love,” said Kravitz.
“Yeah, sure, yup, of course. Yeah, it is. Gonna go great. Mhm. Cha’boy’s not going to mess this up. We’re good. We’re primo.”
“Breathe, Taako.”
Taako forced a deep breath in and held it as long as he could before releasing it slowly.
“And again.”
Kravitz led him through more breaths until the shaking in Taako’s hands had subsided.
“I love you no matter what happens.” Kravitz assured.
“But what if I mess this up?” Taako said in a small voice. “What if I mess up this chance and I can never cast it again? With my luck you know I’m never going to manage it, and… I want this so bad, Kravitz.”
Kravitz gently turned Taako’s face towards him with a hand on his cheek. “If you mess up we’ll find another way. There are infinite options. We’re going to have a child whether by Wish or some other means. It’s going to work out, I promise.”
Taako looked into his eyes, seeking resolve. “Okay. Yeah. Fuck this shit we’re going to have a baby!”
Kravitz ducked his head in laughter. “We’re going to have a baby,” he affirmed.
•••
Kravitz comes over and sits on the bed and brushes a stray lock of hair from Taako’s face. He’s so proud of him. So in love. As he tucks the strand behind his husband’s ear, he sees his long ears twitch and his eyelids flutter. He hears Taako take in a deep breath and sees his eyes open lazily and unevenly.
“Hello, love,” says Kravitz. Taako smiles.
“Hey there good lookin’,” Taako croaks back in response. “Whatcha got there?”
Kravitz bends down and passes their daughter into Taako’s waiting arms. He can see the tears welling up in the elf’s eyes as he looks down at the child.
“What’s up, little person? You’re a Taako original. I gotta say, though, you’re infringing on the brand a little with those looks of yours. Gotta start looking more like your daddy soon or your papa’s gonna have to start writing up a lawsuit.” He wiped some of the tears from his eyes as he spoke with a smile.
Taako grabbed one of her fists in his fingers and looked up at Kravitz with awe. “She’s… she’s so tiny.” he whispered.
“I know,” Kravitz whispered back in a similar tone.
They sat in reverent silence for a while, listening to their daughter’s breaths gently slow as she fell asleep in Taako’s warm arms. It was a full five minutes before the realization hit either of them. It came to Taako first.
“Shit. Did we actually tell anyone we were doing this?” Taako suddenly looked down at the baby like she was a bomb waiting to go off.
Kravitz blanched (as much as a dead man could). “…Fuck.”
Taako flopped his head back into the pillow and groaned. “Lulu’s gonna kill me.”