Chapter Text
The first week Oakley and Noelle had been a part of their family, everyone in the house had been smacked with a level of responsibility previously unheard of. Panda and Charlie bore the brunt of this responsibility as the new parents of these two, with Grizz, Ice, and Leena helping out whenever they could.
Charlie had been the first to notice Oakley had been having some trouble sleeping. The cub would twitch in his sleep, rubbing his little mittened paws over his eyes (mittens, of course, to prevent him from scratching his eyes in a situation exactly like this) during his midday naptime, a time that was originally intended to be for Oakley to be calm and quiet and peaceful-- none of which appeared to be happening.
As if Charlie wasn’t already worried enough, the moment Oakley began whimpering in his sleep Charlie was already removing him from the crib.
“We don’t need none of that, now…” Charlie soothed, taking the cub into his arms. Surprisingly, he stayed asleep. Charlie sighs, sitting on the edge of the bed he shared with Panda. Oakley squirms, on a mission to find a more comfortable position to lay in. The whimpering doesn’t continue, though, and Charlie’s just relieved he was able to stop it before it got worse.
The cub is a warm, comforting weight in Charlie’s arms. It’s been close to seven years since he’s been able to experience this, and everything comes flooding back at once. It’s a good feeling, a really really good feeling; he wants to live in this moment forever.
For now, though, papa’s here, and he’ll fight off any monsters Oakley or any of his kids encounters.