Work Text:
There was a nasty hurricane outside. Rain was coming down with the force of bullets and trees were being uprooted by the wind. Absolutely miserable weather. Which also happens to be the perfect weather for staring out the window depressingly with a glass of wine in hand, pretending like you are the main character of some movie. Mihawk thinks to himself, Finally I can enjoy my bottle of wine with some peace and quiet.
Of course this lasts only two seconds, before a small tuft of pink hair pokes out from the doorway to the living room, where Mihawk is sitting in his one-of-a-kind, custom design, hand-crafted, velvet arm chair that he imported from Romania. Shanks makes fun of him every time he sees it but he just doesn’t understand. The long curly pink hair that comes up to the armchair is matched with an equally pink nightgown with a Monster High skull printed onto it.
“Daaaad.” The little girl whines.
Mihawk gently places down his wine glass, the liquid still regrettably untouched. “Yes, Love?”
“Zoro got out of his crib again.”
“...”
I am never letting Shanks look after him ever again. Ever since that good-for-nothing babysat Perona and Zoro, he has been finding ways to escape every. single. night!
When Mihawk and Perona march upstairs to Zoro’s room–or rather, the crime scene–he is sitting on the floor with his wooden play swords in hand, battering a stuffed animal on the floor.
“Zoro!” Perona flys over to the beat up stuffed bear, ripping it away from Zoro’s swings. The poor thing has stuffing oozing from its back and one of its ears is falling off. How does a 2-year-old even get the strength to do that?
Perona clutches the bear to her chest and lets out a muffled sob into the plush fabric.
“Zoro you idiot!” She screeches. Zoro begins to cry too, adding to the searing headache.
Mihawk was never the parenting type of guy and still struggled a lot with it, but he had recently learned a thing or two from Rosinante at the All Blue Daycare. He had finally reached out to him after dropping them off last week–deciding he didn’t want to end up like Shanks. Also, with Zoro starting to grow more mischievous as he grew older, he really needed some guidance.
“Perona didn’t you learn that word isn't nice?” Mihawk scoops Zoro up into his left arm and Perona in his other, rocking the two of them to calm them down.
“But Uncle Shanks says it!”
Yeah, I’m going to kill him.
“And what did I say about Uncle Shanks?”
“No matter what he says, pretend he doesn’t exist and erase his words from my mind.”
“Precisely.” Mihawk holds back a chuckle. Zoro is already a bit calmer now, lightly sniffling into his shirt, pulling at the fabric with his small fists. “Zoro, can you say sorry to your sister please?” Zoro doesn’t remove his face from Mihawk's shirt. “How would you feel if Perona took your swords and broke them?”
This immediately garners a reaction and new tears begin to well up in Zoro’s eyes. He quickly looks at his sister and then reaches towards the bear in her hand, giving it soft pats, then leans forward and blows on the part where it is torn.
“Sowwy,” Zoro almost whispers.
Mihawk lets out a breath, thankful that this won't take the whole night when they have daycare bright and early tomorrow morning. This parenting thing really was difficult and not getting enough sleep didn’t make it any easier.
“Can you say sorry to your brother too? He didn’t mean to make you upset, you know that.”
Perona sniffles, “But my Kumacy…”
Mihawk looks at the stuffed bear in her arms. To him it always looked more like a potato with some patchwork, but it was a bear that Perona was never seen without since the day he adopted her.
“We can have Bell-mere fix it tomorrow, hm?”
“…Okay.” Perona wipes the remaining tears onto Mihawk's shirt.
“Now, say sorry for saying a mean word.”
“Sorry Zoro, I didn’ mean it.” She leans forward and gives her brother a hug.
Despite Mihawk’s muscular strength he finds himself struggling to hold them and bounces them twice in his arms to make sure they don’t fall. He quickly gives up and places the two of them down on the ground, breaking them apart from their hug.
Mihawk takes a look at the clock, it's already almost 12:30 in the morning well past their bedtime. He picks Zoro up and places him into his crib.
“Let’s stay in bed now okay?” Mihawk pats Zoro’s stomach lightly and covers him with his blanket.
Perona fiddles with the hem of her nightgown until her father finishes wishing Zoro a good night. Once he’s finished he lifts her up and carries her to her own bed. He pulls the covers all the way up past her chin and tucks her in from her head to her toes, not missing a single spot.
Mihawk can’t help but let out an exhausted sigh now that they are safely, and quietly in bed again. Perona peeks her eyes over the covers and pulls them down from her face. “Sorry papa, I know you are doing your best too, I love you.”
Mihawk feels an indescribable warmth spread through his body. He smiles down at his daughter and brushes her bangs back from her forehead and gives her a light kiss.
“Can you promise we get it fixed tomorrow?” She holds out her pinky and Mihawk hooks his large finger around her own small one and gives a firm tug.
It was moments like this that despite all the hectic work days and very late nights he was so happy to have become their father. Even though he might seem frustrated at times, before adopting the two of them his days were a bit too quiet and lonely. Shanks did always like to tell him that some chaos and laughter in one's life is good for the soul. Everyday he wishes nothing more than to bring smiles to their faces and fill their days with pure happiness.
“Of course,” He places another soft kiss on her forehead, “I promise. Cross my heart and make a slash across my back if I dare break it.” Perona giggles at that and pulls the covers over her head.
“Night Papa.”
“Good night, Love.”