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"Oh Nissy, look !" Sir Pentious said, pointing at the 6 month old Agnesina who was using her tail to help her stand up. "Agnesina learned to ssstand with her tail !"
"Wow, look at her." Arackniss said, from the kitchen, looking over the kitchen island. He had cooked dinner for himself and Pent and was now fixing their plates. "Should she be doing that for her age ?"
"I guess she's just advanced." Pent said. "But she's still my little genius !" He went over to Agnesina, picking her up and nuzzling her cheek. "I'm so proud of her !" He said before taking her to the island and putting her high chair, a bottle of formula waiting for her. She sat quietly and watched her parents.
"Dinner's ready Pent, come and get it." Niss said, putting two plates of shrimp pasta on the island.
"Ooh, it sssmells delightful." Pent said, slithering over. "I just adore your Italian cuisine Nissy."
"It's my Ma's recipe. I'm the only one who could learn to cook her recipes right." Niss said. "It's shrimp linguini with parmesan and fresh bell peppers, oh and home baked garlic bread."
"It looksss heavenly." Pent said, practically salivating as he began to dig in. As he ate, he moaned. "Oh Nissy, your cooking is surely a way to my heart !"
"Heh. Glad you like it." Niss said as he started to eat his food.
"Ah !" Agnesina yelled, opening her mouth as she tried to grab for Pent's pasta.
"No, this is for us. You have formula." Arackniss said. He could have sworn that Agnesina was glaring at him. "You don't have to teeth yet, you can't even chew."
Agnesina continued to glare and reach for the pasta. Pent relented and held his fork out to her, letting her taste some of the sauce. She giggled, before going to drink her formula.
"She just wanted a little taste." Pent said. "She gets that glare from you."
"I don't look like that when I glare." Niss said.
"Oh yes you do." Pent said. "She certainly doesn't get it from me."
"Alright fine, but she gets her hissing from you." Niss said.
"I know. And I'm so proud ! I would never deny that she gets it from me !" Pent said. "It's just so cute ! She'll be hissing at her enemies in no time."
"She won't have any enemies to hiss at. I'll kill them all." Niss said.
"Oh Nissy, you can't always protect her." Pent says. "She hasss to learn how to protect herself. What if you're not around one day and she gets attacked because she's a weak demon ?"
"I guess you're right." Niss said. "But I'm still gonna protect her for as long as I can. She's my little girl."
"I know, darling. We'll both protect her for as long as we can. But she has to learn how to fend for herself when the time comes." Pent said. "She's our daughter. She'll be able to."
"Yeah, you're right." Niss said, letting out a sigh as he watched Agnesina. Agnesina was biting the nipple of her bottle.
"Look, she's starting to teethe." Niss said. "Maybe we can introduce her to solid foods soon."
"I've been giving her those baby cereals that melt in her mouth so she doesn't have to chew much. She seems to like those." Pent said. "So we're off on a start."
"You think her teeth will be sharp ?" Niss asked.
"Most likely." Pent said. "Which means I'll have to modify teething rings so that she doesn't bite holes in them."
"It'll be a pain to replace them." Niss said. "Thank God you're an inventive genius."
"Oh ! Why thank you Nissy." Pent said, blushing at the compliments. "I am quite the genius."
Niss grinned. Pent was finally starting to act like his old self again. The postpartum depression seemed to be very mild, but he always kept an eye on him, just in case it flared again and he had a moment. But he had been pretty good and there hadn't been any breakdown that Niss had seen, unless Pent was hiding them but Niss trusted him not to keep them from him and he and the Egg Bois always had eyes on him.
"Ah !" Agnesina squealed, throwing her empty bottle at a nearby Egg Boi.
"Agnesina, don't bully the Egg Bois." Niss scolded. Niss looked at the Egg Boi. "Can you get her some more formula ?"
The Egg Boi only picked the bottle up, saluted and skipped off.
"My dear little Agnesina, she's already giving orders !" Pent said. "She'll be ruling people before we know it !"
"You influence her too much." Niss joked. "I think she just likes to have things her way."
He chuckled, watching Agnesina grab the bottle of formula from the egg boi with her tail before drinking it.
"I hope she doesn't turn out spoiled..." Niss said. "She's our little girl but we have to set boundaries."
"I know... it's just hard to sssay no to her cute little face." Pent pouted. "It breaks my heart that I can't give her everything she wants."
"Do you want her to turn into a bratty hellspawn who throws tantrums whenever she can't get what he wants ?" Niss asked. Pent sighed and shook his head.
"Of course not." Pent said. "It's just hard to say no to my little princess..."
"You're gonna have to learn." Niss said. "I've already started setting boundaries with her. I'm sure she'll learn in no time that she can't always have her way "
"You're ssso good at this parenting thing, Nissy." Pent said. "I'm still struggling..."
"Hey, hey, none of that." Niss said. "You're a great parent, Sina and I can both see that. You always know what to do when I have no frickin clue." He grabbed Pent's hand. "What I'm tryin' to say is that you're one of the best parents I've ever seen. You came up with that teething ring idea in seconds and you're always tinkerin' and makin' her new toys and you're the first one up when she fusses at night, stayin' up with her just to keep her company, which she loves because she loves you and I love you too."
Pent didn't say anything. Niss looked his husband in the eyes, seeing that they were full of tears.
"P-Pent are you alright ?!?" Niss asked, panicked. Pent shook his head and wiped his tears.
"I'm fine Nissy, I just got ssso overwhelmed with emotions at your statement." He said, sniffling. "These are tears of joy... you really make me feel special."
"I'm glad I can make you feel special." Niss said. "You deserve it. I love you."
"I love you too Nissy." Pent said with a grin.