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Shinya hadn’t been around babies since he was one - minus some potential babysitting for the Old Hag’s kids back in high school that he’d intentionally blocked from his memories - and that became very apparent in the first few months of adjusting to having a chick of his own.
Tomie was practically old hat at the adjustment, for all that she was still learning and growing as a new parent just like him. She’d had the entire pregnancy, and the first six months of Keigo’s life to grow accustomed to the kind of chaos a baby could bring into life, and to read up and talk to others about advice. Shinya, on the other hand, had been abruptly shoved into new parenthood and was constantly half a beat shy of panic that he was about to do something wrong and damage his chick forever.
For the normally laid-back Thief, it was a new and unwelcome feeling that brought back too many memories of growing up under his abusive father and flighty, neglectful mother. His grandparents - with hearts of gold and warm hugs whenever he needed them, and honest to god he had no idea how such kind people could’ve produced his Ma - gave him what they could when they could, and it was that he drew on for his own chick.
Still - there was only so much memories of old warmth could do when the immediate problem was much more… problematic.
For example -
“I’m begging you baby feathers,” the Thief pleaded, “stop moving.”
Keigo ignored him entirely, wriggling excitedly in his father’s hold, prompting Shinya to tighten his grip on the practically bouncing baby. Keigo whined at him, and Shinya was torn - he was almost petrified of holding the baby too tight and hurting him, but if he loosened his grip, Keigo was going to fall.
God, why was his son such an adorable little menace? What had he done to deserve -
Uh, wait. Don’t answer that.
Keigo whined at him again, cheeping indignantly as if to demand they resume the fun time, and Shinya let them both fall back down onto the bed with a groan as the baby started wriggling anew. Wrapping an arm around his squirming nugget to keep him secured to Shinya’s chest and not tumbling off of him, onto the bed or beyond.
That way lay some of Shinya’s nightmares. Especially with how mobile Keigo was becoming.
Keigo was not quite crawling yet, but he could pull himself upright, and had a particular fondness for staring at Shinya, patting at his face when he was settled onto his father’s chest for tummy-time. He knew Tomie found it absolutely adorable, especially when Shinya would doze off along with Keigo. Many a video of the snoozing, cheeping father and son pair had been sent to the damned Hag. The all-too-amused smiles he got when he paid a visit to the bakery had confused the fuck out of him until Yuri had caved and shown him the stash of pictures and videos Tomie had been flooding them with.
He was never, ever going to live this down. That’s what parenthood was - sacrificing all your dignity to make your child smile.
Keigo’s indignant chirp and accompanying poke at his face - with all the force of a downy feather - brought him out of his thoughts and he sighed, staring at the determined pout on his chick, who’d pulled his head up to stare at Shinya.
“Alright, alright,” he grumbled, “why don’t we try something else today, yeah?”
He shifted a bit to get his arms mostly free and reached up to grip Keigo tightly. Keigo, thank fuck, was staring at him curiously and had forgotten his quest to wiggle and make his daddy’s life so much harder. Making sure he had a sure hold on his son - a supportive hold - he pushed his son up into the air.
Keigo warbled in confused surprise, but there was a rapidly growing glee in bright gold baby eyes. Baby wings twitched, and Shinya didn’t bother to hide a smile.
He didn’t know too much about how to raise babies with Avian quirks - especially when his own childhood had been so fantastically screwed up in how he’d viewed his own quirk for the longest time - but Fukuoka had the largest number of Avians per capita in Japan. He didn’t know why - maybe some quirk theorist would know, spout something about geological and geographical patterns influencing quirk development to follow historical evolutionary patterns, but Shinya hadn’t the slightest clue - though it definitely came in handy. There were more than enough people he could have a casual conversation with - at the park, or in line at the konbini, or even while catching the train - to give him a good sense of what to look for in terms of baby milestones of the avian kind.
One of which, he’d been told, was how important it was that babies learned how to use their wings.
Oh, it’d take years before Keigo would be able to more than just twitch or flap them. Years before it was possible for Keigo to learn how to glide - and at least a decade before it was remotely safe for Keigo to test out flying for the first time. A decade, a molt, and the onset of puberty, many parents had told him firmly. But it was incredibly important that, when babies started moving, they learned how to move their wings as well.
Getting Keigo a little bit of airtime should help that, even if it was not even a foot in the air, with his father holding him tight so he could learn how the big, feathered fluffy things on his back worked.
He hummed a bit as he secured his grip, moving Keigo through the air slowly and in little zooms. Keigo’s little wings twitched, and his little face scrunched up, as if he was concentrating on something. Shinya recognized it from when Keigo had first learned how to roll over - that concentrated determination Shinya had a feeling he’d be seeing a lot more as Keigo continued to grow. He hummed a little louder, adding lilting coos and chirps as Keigo seemed to grow more comfortable in the air.
He could vaguely remember some parents doing the same thing with their kids in the park, making airplane noises to accompany their child’s shrieking joy. Keigo didn’t seem to mind his humming though, letting out cheerful little cheeps as if he was trying to sing along while his little wings twitched and tried to flap. Just another limb Keigo had to get used to using, the muscles ready and waiting for him to try.
It was almost soothing, actually.
So, of course, that’s when Keigo started squirming again. Squirming, wriggling as he chirped in excitement at the new fun, and startling the hell out of Shinya when Keigo’s little wing twitched almost violently against his grip. Just enough that it loosened.
And Keigo wriggled right out of it.
Shinya yelped, startled, and Keigo dropped squarely onto his chest, knocking the wind - and panic - right out of him. Keigo seemed almost stunned for a moment, but Shinya didn’t have much more than a moment to process the abrupt impact and start panicking before Keigo started wriggling again. This time, if it was even possible, more excited, and cheeping too gleefully for a baby who’d just been dropped for the first time.
Granted, he’d been dropped all of a foot from the air straight onto his father’s poor chest, but you’d think it would be more stunning than exciting.
And then, Keigo stared at him, an expression he’d been growing more than familiar with in the recent months.
It all but shouted again, and Shinya felt the dread flood him.
“Oh no,” he told himself more than the baby who had no idea what he was saying, “I’m not doing that again on purpose, chirps. Nope.”
“Ready, Kei-chan?” Tomie beamed. Keigo chirped excitedly, sensing his mother’s excitement and outright ignoring his father’s growing dread.
Shinya really should know better by now.
You can do this, Shin, he told himself, an out-of-character pep talk that was unfortunately necessary as his wife settled their gleefully squirming chick in his arms, rearranging them so they were ready for liftoff.
Liftoff, he thought faintly. He was actually going to be throwing his chick. His very fragile, very baby, little chick.
Yeah, he was going to catch the chick, too - but Shinya was still concerned. And concerned that Tomie was not concerned. Even if she’d been the one to suggest using his feathers as spotters just in case he was too slow to catch the nugget.
Although, to be honest - Shinya was a professional Thief. He’d handled packages way more delicate in the physical sense, and he’d gotten through countless situations like this. His skills were something he didn’t question. He was confident, and he’d earned that confidence.
The nerves were a little harder to placate. Mostly because the instinctual parental panic was completely irrational and Shinya couldn’t get rid of it.
“Ready, Shin-chan?” his wife’s amused smile cut through his thoughts.
“No,” he grumbled under his breath, even as he shifted into the proper position and Keigo squirmed with excitement. Tomie huffed a light laugh, before she waved him on.
“Alright then,” she said, “then it’s time for liftoff,” she cheered, Keigo echoing her a beat later with a warbling chirp.
Alright, you’ve got this Shin. Shift, lift, aaaand…
Launch.
The moment Keigo left his arms felt like he was paralyzed with terror, even as a part of his mind noted the joyful cheeps and startled but excited coos coming from the lil’ nugget, and it was only when Keigo started descending that Shinya snapped out of it. Reaching up, shifting his stance, and bracing for the -
Caught. Oh thank fuck. You know what, Shinya might need a moment….
Keigo squealed in sheer glee, wings flapping as best they could as if he could re-create the brief moment of freefall with the wind rushing through them before he’d been caught. His mama cooed at him warmly and Keigo chirped back to her, bubbly and excited, before looking back to his daddy, and cocked his head to stare.
Why were he and daddy on the floor? It wasn’t night-night time, the warm brightness was out, and it was fun time! He chirped, curious, demanding his daddy’s attention. Daddy didn’t move. Not fair! He chirped, indignant this time, and pushed himself up to poke at his daddy’s face.
“I think he wants to go again, Shinya,” Tomie’s voice broke through the haze of of the last five minutes and Shinya groaned, right before Keigo chirped at him, indignant, and poked at his face with all the force of a flower in the breeze.
“Not on his life, Nesty,” he groaned, “I think he took ten years off of mine with that…”
A curious baby coo answered him, Keigo moving on from being indignant to being curious. Was this a new fun thing his daddy was going to do?
Defeat by chick. It was a concept Shinya supposed he was going to have to get used to.
“...gimme ten minutes.”
Tomie’s bell-like laughter eased the sting of it and he sighed, pushing himself up and wrapping an arm around the chirping lil’ nugget so he could stand back up. And, of course, Keigo seemed very interested in the direction they were moving in and started wriggling again.
“Baby feathers,” he said, knowing the lil’ thing wouldn’t have the slightest clue what he was saying but hoping at least the tone would go through, “if you want to go flying again, you gotta keep still.”
Keigo warbled, and stared.
Oh, for fuck’s sake. Fine.
“Ready for liftoff, then, eyas?” he asked, rhetorically, smirk curling on his lips as he shifted into the same position from earlier and Keigo stilled, eyes going wide in delighted glee.
Shift, lift aaaand launch -
Every single nerve he had was on edge, even as Keigo shrieked in sheer glee, launched in the air, before dropping straight back into Shinya’s arms. His feathers - ready to spot and catch the bean if he hadn’t gotten there in time - fell away, darting past Keigo to catch his attention and avoided an inquisitive grab before they tucked themselves back into his wings.
And then, Keigo - he laughed.
It was light and high pitched - shades more avian than the sounds that would normally come from a human throat. Bubbly and full of joy, something warm and delicate and precious that had Shinya’s heart melting. Light and airy and delighted, like a sprig of baby’s breath dancing in the wind.
“Did you enjoy that, Kei-chan?” his wife cooed at their bright, bubbly, laughing little chick, who cooed right back to her, interspersed with warm little chirps. “My baby likes to fly~,” she beamed.
And, well - it wasn’t like she was wrong. Keigo’s first laugh after his first time in the air. Their lil’ baby wings born for the sky.
Ah damn, he thought ruefully. He was going to have to do it again, wasn’t he?
Well, might as well get some practice in
“Baby birds should get some practice, yeah?” he said, and without any warning, launched his chick back up. Keigo’s surprised delight - and the almost comical expression on wide baby gold eyes - was well worth it.
Keigo shrieked in joy, Tomie’s warm laughter echoing in the background, and Shinya smiled.
omake.
“Daddy, daddy - Kei-chan can fly!”
“Eyas, what are you - DON’T JUMP FROM THE -”
“Awwe, nice catch, Shin-chan.”
“Daddy, why are you on the floor?”
end.