Work Text:
Wille loved being a father.
He spent so much of his life so sure that he didn’t want children at all. And then almost as much time feeling guilty about it, as he knew he was expected to have kids to preserve the royal bloodline. He never had a very good relationship with his own parents. Definitely not his mother, and he was always distant when it came to his father. Wille wasn’t sure he would make a good parent. He didn’t think he would know the first thing about how to go about raising a child.
And then Simon happened.
Simon, who came into his life by happenstance. A whirlwind of laughs, losses, lies, and love. Simon, who stood by Wille’s side when things got tricky, who always laughed at his jokes no matter how terrible they were, who cared more than any person Wille had ever met.
Wille knew a little bit about love. Wille knew what love felt like because of Simon. He loved Simon with everything in his chest. He didn’t think there was room for more love. Not when so much of his heart belonged to Simon.
Something shifted, though, when Wille learned about what a real parent actually looked like. It wasn’t like the relationship he had known growing up. It could be something more genuine. Something unconditional.
It had something to do with Linda. When Wille had first met her, he felt this warmth and welcoming that he never quite felt with his own mother. Linda was so gentle and loving. She showed him kindness and affection. From the moment they first met, Linda treated Wille like he was one of her own. Wille instantly knew that that was what a parent was supposed to do. Love their children, all of them, unconditionally.
It was years of conversation. Wille and Simon had always been very good about communicating in every part of their relationship, and this was no exception. Early on in their relationship, Simon had asked Wille if he wanted kids. Wille said he didn’t know. Wille asked Simon if he wanted kids. Simon said that he did. They thought about it, talked about it, waited, and talked some more. When Wille asked Simon to marry him, he still wasn’t entirely sure if he did want kids, but he told Simon that he would give him a thousand children if it meant they could spend their lives together. He did mean it. Simon laughed and said that they would start with one.
Even after they were married, it took some convincing. Simon didn’t want to force fatherhood on Wille, but he had always known he wanted a family, and he couldn’t picture a future without one. Wille wondered if this meant that he wasn’t enough for Simon–if Simon was always going to be wanting more.
Besides all of that, Wille was also worried about the immense pressure his potential children would be born with being a part of the royal family. He knew his own struggle with the title well, and he didn’t want anyone to have to go through life feeling that weight of expectation on their shoulders–especially not any child of Wille’s.
Simon was unwavering with his certainty that their children would grow up with all the love and support in the world, and they would have the freedom to explore their identities and be whoever they wanted to be. Simon and Wille would both want that for them, and would move mountains to make that happen, tradition be damned. Wille trusted Simon with his whole heart. If Simon was so sure they could do this, then maybe they really could.
So, Simon and Wille began the surrogacy process. Wille was more nervous than he had ever been in his entire life. He barely slept most nights, his mind racing imagining every which way his child would grow up to resent him.
And then Kathleen happened.
Simon always joked that he and Wille had all of their firsts out of order. They got to know each other before Wille introduced himself. They started dating before they met. They fell in love before they kissed.
Kathleen Erika seemed to fit right in. Born premature, she was brought into this world before she was ready. Simon and Wille spent the first three weeks of her life in the NICU, simultaneously the happiest they had ever been, and the most terrified. Their little Kat was a fighter, though, overcoming every obstacle her teeny body threw at her.
Kathleen had spent one week in the world before her fathers got to hold her. The moment she was placed in Wille’s arms, he felt his heart triple in size. His heart now exploded with love, more than he knew how to handle. The tiniest little hand wrapped around Wille’s finger and Wille was a goner. He would do anything in the world to make this little girl smile.
It was kind of like it was with Simon. Wille lived every moment of his life with the goal of making Simon happy. He wanted to make him laugh. Wille wanted Simon to be comfortable, for him to be able to live his life without all the bad parts. He wanted to do everything in his power to be enough for Simon. Now, he would do the same for Kathleen.
She was a wonder. So small, so beautiful. A miracle. Wille looked at her and saw a future so bright, he was nearly blinded by it. He looked to Simon and saw the same thing. They were a family.
One of Wille’s favorite parts of it all was how in a matter of a moment, he saw Simon, his Simon, become a father. It made him fall in love with him all over again. Wille understood why Simon wanted kids so much. He was meant to be a father. Wille had first fallen in love with Simon when he got to see how much he cared about everything. Even in the early days when they barely knew each other, Wille saw how much Simon loved his family, how he would do anything in the world to protect them. The way Simon looked at their baby girl when he was holding her, tears streaming steadily down his cheeks… Simon would do anything for her, too. Wille couldn’t imagine anything more right.
The first few months with Kat were pure bliss. They were difficult, of course. Wille and Simon had no clue what they were doing most of the time and spent an embarrassingly long time on the phone with Linda asking every question under the sun. They barely slept. Wille joked that Kat must be a singer, too, having inherited Simon’s strong lungs that she now uses to scream bloody murder at all hours of the night. Simon would roll his eyes, insisting that despite the fact that Kat was biologically his, her lungs were instead the same ones Wille uses to whine incessantly all the time. Wille agreed to disagree.
Things got trickier once Simon had to go back to work. Wille was able to stay home with Kat during the week, but it was definitely an adjustment to learn how to care for an infant on your own for that long. Simon would primarily be the one caring for Kat on the weekends when Wille typically had more responsibilities as Crown Prince. They didn’t spend as much time together with her, which was hard on both of them.
Wille missed the first time Kat started crawling. Simon missed the first time Kat stood up on her own. It killed both of them to miss out on her firsts, so they made sure to cherish the ones they did get to witness together.
Eventually, they found their rhythm. It was hectic at times, but Wille wouldn’t have it any other way. It was always special, because no matter where the day would take them, the family of three would always get to spend the mornings and the nights together.
Simon loved their bedtime routine the most. Wille would cook and clean up after dinner, and while Wille tidied up, Simon made Kat her bottle and brought her up to her nursery to feed her before bed. By the time Wille would make it upstairs to join them, Kat would be fed and changed and ready to sleep. They would put her in the crib together, and then Simon would sing. Wille would watch with his heart bursting at the seams with love, unable to hold back his tears night after night. It never got easier. Then, they would each kiss Kat goodnight, and right before they tiptoed out of the room, Wille would lean in to whisper, “stardust in the eyes, rosy cheeks, and a happy girl in the morning”. Sometimes, Simon would follow up with a teasing “can I keep you?”.
There was a reason Wille and Simon named their baby girl Kat.
Wille’s favorite part of the day was the morning. Wille had always been a morning person. He associated mornings with his brother–bright and early in the palace with Erik making pancakes and Wille brewing coffee, a morning song sung off-key to start off the day. The world felt so optimistic in the morning. They had the whole day ahead of them. Endless possibilities. Wille wanted mornings to be just as special for his little family.
Simon was decidedly not a morning person, however, so Wille was always the one to kick things off. Waking before the sun, he would roll over in bed to press a soft kiss into Simon’s curls. He’d climb out of bed and hop into the shower. Dressed and ready to start the day, Wille would then make his way into the nursery, where Kat would more often than not already be stirring. Wille had a good feeling that Kat would be a morning person too–she was always the most giggly first thing in the morning, greeting Wille with a radiant smile that made his heart triple in size every time he saw it.
Wille would scoop Kat up and get her changed and dressed for the day, and then he would take the next few precious moments to just spend time with her and play with her.
Kat had a stuffed animal that she took everywhere with her. It stayed in her crib with her every night, followed her around the house room to room, and was never out of reach with Wille and Simon ventured out with her, as it was necessary to calm her during meltdowns. Simon had tried to replace it with other toys–other stuffed animals, toys with buttons and lights and colors, really just anything else–but this was it for Kat. It was a toy gifted to her by Felice for her baby shower–a little brown stuffed horse. Felice had a little nametag sewed around its neck with a name embroidered: Rousseau.
Most mornings Wille would take a seat on the rocking chair in the nursery, sitting Kat up on one knee and holding her close to him with one arm. The other hand would hold Rousseau, and Wille would make the stuffed horse gallop around, all the while making silly horse noises. Kat would giggle all the while, delighted to see her favorite toy come to life in front of her. Each “neigh!” Wille would exclaim would result in another loud fit of laughter, which was just about Wille’s favorite sound in the entire world. He wanted to be able to hear that laugh forever.
Once it was what Simon would deem a “reasonable human waking hour”, Wille would scoop Kat back up into his arms and carry her into his and Simon’s bedroom. Wille would then toss Kat onto the bed to wake up her Papa. Simon was not particularly fond of mornings and typically did not react well to being woken up, but it was hard to be mad at someone as precious as little Kat.
Wille and Kat would wait as patiently as they were able for Simon to get up, and then the little family would make their way downstairs to the kitchen. Wille would start to make pancakes while Simon prepared a little breakfast for Kat as well as some coffee for him and Wille. All the while, Wille would be singing “Good Morning Starshine” wildly out of tune. Simon would occasionally chime in for the “gliddy gloop gloopy” part if he was awake enough.
It was always a slice of their day that Wille could look back on and feel content with when things felt a little out of his control. There was no telling what the day would bring, but in the mornings, he would always have Simon and Kat there to sing their early morning singing song. And life was good.
Wille loved being a father.
Sat 23 Aug (11:23 AM)
Are you gonna be at the stables today?
(11:27)
probably? why, do you need me to stay home with kat? i don’t have to ride today
(11:33)
no you’re good i just thought i’d bring kat over so she could see you and the horses
(11:34)
and then we could go straight to felice’s from there instead of making another trip
(11:36)
simon my darling my love my light
(11:36)
tell me i read this right and that you are really going to bring our daughter to come see the horses
(11:38)
well if you’re gonna be weird about it i’ll leave you to find your own way to felice’s
(11:29)
weird about it??? weird about it??!!
(11:30)
bring me the baby i want to see the baby
(11:32)
weird way to refer to your 11-month-old daughter but ok
(11:34)
Simon Eriksson, would you kindly deliver Kathleen Erika to his loving father who would very much like to show her the horses?
(11:36)
we’ll be there around 2:30, you weirdo
(11:36)
<3333333333333
Wille heard his family before he saw them. Kat’s baby babble had been getting louder and more frequent as she struggled to figure out what talking actually was. She had yet to manage to say anything coherent, but she was getting very close. Simon had been adamant that her first word had to be “Papa”, and he spent a good portion of their time together lately just trying to get her to say it. Wille kept telling him that if he wanted their daughter to say his name so badly, he should’ve chosen to call himself “AAAAAAH”. She would’ve gotten that one on day one.
Wiping the sweat off his brow with his sleeve, Wille set down the shovel he had been using to clean up after his horse, Plato. He looked over to the entrance of the barn and saw his husband enter with their daughter on his hip. Simon took one long look at Wille, who was still dressed in his riding clothes and rolled his eyes, a knowing smile on his lips. Wille was covered in dirt and sweat, but that wasn’t about to stop him from running up to Simon, grabbing his face with both his hands, and kissing him forcefully. Simon was smiling into his mouth as he tried to push Wille away.
“Wille!” Simon yelled, laughter in his voice. “Wille, sweetheart, you’re filthy.”
“And?” Wille laughed, still peppering Simon’s face with kisses before moving on to cover Kat with dozens of little kisses as well. Kat squealed with delight at the attention.
“And we’re going to dinner with Felice after this and we need to look and smell presentable,” Simon pointed out, shifting his weight to allow Wille to scoop Kat up into his own arms.
“Well, whose idea was it to come and visit a bunch of horses, huh?” Wille sang teasingly, more to Kat than to Simon as he played with her hand that was wrapped around his finger.
“Just please tell me you have a change of clothes,” Simon sighed, stepping over to wrap an arm around Wille’s shoulders, hand settling on the back of Wille’s neck.
“Your Papa thinks your Daddy is incompetent. Isn’t that right, sweetpea?” Wille cooed to Kat, who was still smiling, just happy to see Wille again. “Can you say that with me? In-comp-e-tent.”
“Don’t listen to Daddy, Kit-Kat. He’s off his rocker.”
“Wanna see the horsies?” Wille asked Kat, who had no clue what he was asking her but looked enthusiastic nevertheless. “Come on, let’s go meet the horsies.”
Wille led them back outside the barn over to where Plato was grazing in the sun. Plato was a beautiful horse, brown with a large white patch around his nose and a long, sleek black mane. Wille had gotten him after he graduated from school and had put his heart and soul into caring for him. Simon was happy Wille was happy but liked to keep his distance. He was still afraid of horses. Some things never change.
“Have you brought Kat here before?” Simon asked, stopping several paces behind where Wille was headed. Wille frowned, considering the question. He didn’t think he did have a chance to bring Kat here. She had never gone with Simon before, and normally Wille wouldn’t be able to multitask well enough to take care of horses and an infant as well, so he would only go when he knew Simon or Linda would be able to watch Kat.
“I don’t think so, no,” Wille answered, surprise evident in his own voice. He looked at Kat excitedly. “Your first time seeing a horse, my darling! Simme, you have to get this on video.”
Simon rolled his eyes but immediately took out his phone and opened his camera to record.
Kat had seen horses before, sure, but never in person like this. Never this close.
Wille took a couple of steps closer to Plato, bringing Kat in close to his head so they were face to face. Her eyes wide, her mouth hanging open, Kat stared at the horse, transfixed.
“Neigh!” Kat said, clear as day.
Wille immediately froze. He stood there in shock for a moment before he broke out into a grin, ecstatic.
“Did you hear that, Simme? She said ‘neigh’.”
Simon shook his head, a frown on his lips. “No. No, she did not, Wille. That’s just baby babble. She chatters like that all the time.”
Wille was unconvinced. He grabbed Kat’s hand in his own and brought it out to rest gently on Plato’s nose.
Kat squirmed and once again exclaimed, “neigh!”.
Wille was over the moon. Beaming, he bounced Kat on his hip excitedly. “That’s right, sweet Kathleen, it’s a horse. And horses say neigh.”
“Neigh!” she said again, crystal clear and unmistakable.
“Wilhelm,” Simon hissed, still several paces away recording the whole encounter on his phone. “What did you do to our daughter?”
“Her first word, Simme. Our baby is talking to us.”
“She’s neighing to us,” Simon corrected. “You taught her how to neigh?”
“Well, I didn’t think she’d actually say it,” Wille shrugged, before turning his attention back to the babbling baby in his arms. “You are so smart, Miss Kat. I am so proud of you, baby girl.”
“She was so close to saying Papa, Wille,” Simon whined, finally stopping the recording on his phone and pocketing it. “Her first word was going to be Papa.”
Wille laughed, turning away from Plato to walk back toward Simon. When he started to move, however, Kat started to squirm in his arms and cry, demanding to see the horse again. Simon’s eyes widened in horror, and Wille laughed harder.
“Well, it’s clear she has a calling.”
“Why is it horses, babe? Why does it always have to be horses?”
<<the revolutionaries 🔥>>
(4:11 PM)
katsfirstword.mp4
(4:13)
I’m so proud :’)
(4:15)
oh my GOD
(4:16)
simme you have been betrayed by your own daughter. that must hurt.
(4:19)
ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
(4:22)
I can’t believe I’m outnumbered already. I thought I had a little bit more time until Wille forced the horse agenda on her too.
(4:25)
the horse agenda is too strong
(4:28)
this was seriously her first word??? Forever and ever when people ask you what your daughter’s first word was, you’ll have to answer “neigh”?????
(4:29)
YES
(4:30)
this is the best day of my life
(4:32)
mine too :’))))
(4:35)
omg do you think she’ll say it again for us at dinner if we show her pictures of horses??
(4:38)
please felice i need time to emotionally process this
(4:40)
she has rousseau with her so she’s been saying it this whole car ride
(4:41)
simon is questioning his abilities as a parent
(4:42)
idk, personally I think he’s doing great
Wille loved being a father.