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Sekh couldn't tell what stirred him from sleep- maybe the wind outside, as it whistled through the trees surrounding the cottage. Maybe a subtle ache, along his pelvis still. Maybe his subconscious realizing he couldn't feel Gohma's body heat next to him.
He opened his eyes slowly- the bedroom still dark, lit only by the moon and starlight coming in through the window. The curtains were drawn back to allow for the natural light that burst in soft spots across the sky. The bed next to him was indeed empty, the blanket tossed back from where Gohma had been laying next to Sekh, when he'd first drifted off.
He rolled onto his other side, saw through his curtain of hair his partner standing only a few feet from the bed. Sekh's face broke into a soft smile, when he could see the smallest shape in Gohma's arms, bundled in a soft blanket and cradled as if made of precious jewels. As if made of the stars themselves.
Sekh pushed himself up, careful not to make a sound, as he watched Gohma simply hold their son. He marveled still, a week after the birth, a week into little Sea'an's life, how utterly small he was compared to Gohma, how he seemed to disappear in his hold.
How Gohma seemed more than pleased, to envelope the boy, shield him. Protect him.
Love him.
Sekh licked his lips, his throat feeling dry, and asked in a voice hoarse from sleep, "Did he wake up?" Gohma glanced back at him, those gorgeous, deep red eyes shocked to hear his voice.
Eyes the baby in his arms had inherited. Red as the blood beating in Sekh's heart, for both of them. His very life, right before his eyes.
"No," Gohma said after a moment, turning to face Sekh properly. Sea'an was nestled into the crook of Gohma's arm and his chest, sleeping soundly. "I…" He cleared his throat. "I just…"
"Wanted to hold him?" Gohma nodded, and Sekh's smile grew. He pushed the blanket off his legs, but before he could even swing his legs over the bed, Gohma had quirked a brow at him, a silent question. "I'm just going to get some water."
"Let me." Gohma was moving before Sekh could argue- taking a step towards the door, then pausing, because he still had the newborn nestled in his arm.
Sekh chuckled. "Give him to me." Gohma turned, walked back to the bed, gently passing the baby into Sekh's arms. Sekh settled him against his chest, in the perfect curve of his arm, and Gohma lovingly tucked some of Sekh's hair back behind his ear, looking at him with all the adoration, the longing, the sheer devotion the moon had for the sun. Looking at Sekh like he was everything.
Well, a part of everything, now.
Sekh looked down at Sea'an as Gohma stepped from the room, his face lax in sleep. His cheeks were round, soft- perfectly pinchable if one was careful. Sekh shifted him a little so he could reach one hand to brush back the soft strands of white hair atop his head, that he'd been born with.
The healer from the closest town that they frequented, who had come for the birth, said it was a sign of good luck. Sekh wasn't sure about that- but it was a sign of being very handsome, and getting his father's snow white hair. Sekh wondered if any of it would come in ginger, like his. Or if he was holding a tiny version of Gohma, in his arms.
The thought had him grinning so hard his cheeks ached, little crinkles showing along his eyes. He heard the subtle creak of the door then, Gohma's footsteps as he walked back, sat on the edge of the bed next to Sekh. "You're smiling," he said, very softly- deep rumble of a voice more a vibration in Sekh's bones and blood than a sound itself.
Sekh managed to take the offered glass of water in the hand that had been stroking his son's baby hair, and Gohma carefully took the baby back, settling him right back where he had been.
"Wondering if he's just a little version of you," Sekh teased, before he took a long drink. The water felt like heaven, on his throat. He had no idea why he'd been so thirsty after having Sea'an- it wasn't like he could feed him. He supposed it was just his body trying to recover.
Gohma only shook his head, waited until Sekh had drained the entire glass and was setting it on the bedside table. "With how loudly he cries, he's you, alurlssrin." Sekh reached up to stifle a laugh, before he leaned forward, rested his cheek on Gohma's solid shoulder. Wordlessly, Gohma leaned over, kissed his bed-tangled hair.
"Loud as the sea waves," Sekh whispered, thinking the name was fitting- even if he hadn't been named for the sea that was leagues away.
Sea'an. Hero. He was, indeed, a small version of his father, in Sekh's eyes. And the only other person he felt deserved the name, aside of Gohma.
Sea'an fussed slightly, making a displeased little noise. Gohma gently rocked him once, before he stood up, walking around the bed towards the window, looking out at the night. Sekh stood up himself, walking over, wrapping his arms around Gohma's waist and leaning against his bicep, looking up at the sky.
Didn't matter that Sekh had spent the majority of his life on the surface- the stars would always be a wonder. His mother had talked about them, had wished for them so badly.
He'd tell little Sea'an about them, for her. It was the least he could do, for the family lost. Tell him about the mother who would clean her sword and tell Sekh she had heard the stars shined like nothing else- not even a perfect blade.
He mourned, silently, that she never saw them. That he couldn't share that moment with her. That she couldn't be here-
He felt Gohma's hand- the one not holding their perfect little darling- reach down, and gently tap at the back of his, locked around his waist. Three soft but purposeful taps.
I love you.
As if he knew something was aching inside Sekh. Sekh swore he always knew, seemed to understand Sekh down to a level within his marrow that no one had ever achieved. No one had ever tried. And, gods below, he wouldn't have wanted anyone else to.
He gave Gohma's waist a squeeze, kissed his arm through his shirt, whispering so softly against him that the words were nothing more than subtle movements of his lips.
Thank you.
Thank you for giving him the family he had thought long gone, long forgotten- so impossibly out of reach he had stopped dreaming. Thank you for making sure he wasn't alone.
Thank you, for loving him- loving Sea'an, and loving the life they were slowly carving, out of this waking dream.