Work Text:
5 hours old
Stelle woke up that morning to the sound of gentle humming.
Blinking her eyes open, she looked around the hospital room for the source, only to melt upon seeing it: Dan Heng cradling their newborn daughter to his bare chest, a gentle smile on his face.
Just 24 hours ago, he had confessed to her that he was worried about being woefully unprepared to welcome their baby into the world. Yet you wouldn't be able to tell with how he was looking at the little girl now. Heck, Stelle could tell something had changed the minute their daughter was placed on Stelle's chest; he had held the two of them like he wanted to freeze that moment forever.
Stelle couldn't blame him. Watching him now, she almost wished March was in here with her camera. Alas, their daughter had made her debut in the middle of the night, and Stelle was sure that March hadn't seen the announcement text yet (if her silent phone was anything to go off of).
She almost didn't want to interrupt the scene in front of her, but she knew there was something they needed to discuss; they still hadn't picked out a name for the baby yet, having wanted to meet her before they chose.
(Kafka had complained, wanting to make personalized gifts for the little one, but she had backed off after the couple explained their reasons. Plus, it wasn't like she couldn't make things to give to them later.)
"Good morning," Stelle croaked out, her voice rough from sleep (or from screaming in pain from labor, but what could she do).
Dan Heng looked up from their daughter to check on his wife, a smile appearing on his face. "Good morning, Starlight. How are you feeling?"
"Sore," she started, pulling herself to sit up straighter, "and tired. But I'm ready to see my little girl." She scooted over on the bed, patting the space next to her. "Get over here."
His smile widened as he moved to sit next to her in the bed, giving her the baby so he could snuggle up behind her to hold them both. In response, the newborn blinked her eyes open.
"Look at her, Dan Heng," Stelle whispered in awe, her eyes not leaving the baby's face. "We made this."
"She's perfect," he agreed, his hand coming up to rub the baby's cheek. "I still can't believe she's here. You did a good job."
"Couldn't have done it without you," she said as she turned to face him. "How's your hand, by the way?"
He held up his hand, bruised from her squeezing it during her contractions. "It's fine. Nothing compared to what you went through."
The baby chose the next moment to start fussing, to which Stelle started bouncing her to try and sooth her. When that didn't work, Stelle figured that she might be hungry, as it had been a few hours since her last feeding.
"Shhhh, it's okay, little one. Hey, can you-"
Dan Heng reached up to help her unzip her maternity top with no other words needed. Somehow that simple act gave her butterflies like they were still in the early stages of their relationship. Stelle felt incredibly lucky this man was her husband and father of her child.
Once she got the baby settled and feeding, Stelle leaned back against him.
"We still need to pick a name for her. The doctor is going to come back soon to help us get her records sorted out."
Dan Heng hummed in agreement before moving off the bed and grabbing the small journal they used to help keep track of potential baby names from their overnight bag (he also decided to put a shirt on, much to Stelle's disappointment) before moving back to his spot on the bed. He opened it to the bookmarked page, where they had put their top contenders for both first and middle names.
Stelle ran her fingers across the page, running through the list in her head, imagining her little girl responding to each name. While she had liked them all at some point or another, one combination stuck out.
"This one."
Dan Heng looked between the page and the baby. Stelle could almost hear him running through the same process as her, before he nodded. "I think it suits her."
By this point, the baby had finished eating, so Stelle propped her on her shoulder to burp her. "In that case," she gave a quick kiss to the top of the baby's dark hair, "welcome to the world, Nova Aurora Lunae."
"We are so excited to have you," Dan Heng added before he also planted a kiss on Nova's forehead.
2 months old
Going back to work after his paternity leave almost made Dan Heng consider quitting his job. Alas, with Stelle not returning to her teaching job until the next school semester started, someone had to make sure they had money.
But damn, working in the museum archives was rough on 4 non-consecutive hours of sleep.
He thought that after 2 months, he would have gotten used to functioning while sleep deprived, but every time he tried to translate a new sentence from the ancient text in front of him, the words turned into gibberish. Luckily, they kept a coffee machine on standby in the break room. Dan Heng felt like he was abusing his coffee privileges, but surely his boss would understand.
(There was also the fact that he missed his daughter, but that was a whole other issue he didn't want to think about right now.)
On his way to get his 4th cup of the day, he felt his phone buzz three times. Opening it, he saw 3 messages from his wife.
Stelle: DAN HENG
Stelle: LOOK AT HER
Stelle: * image attached *
Upon seeing the picture, he froze, his heart fluttering in his chest.
Because there was Nova, wide awake, a bright smile on her face.
Taking a moment to collect himself, he saved the picture onto his phone, immediately changing his lockscreen from one from her newborn shoot (that March had insisted on doing) to that picture. (March would hopefully forgive him. Eventually.)
Who needed coffee anymore? That little face was enough to get him through the rest of his day, if only so he could go home and shower Nova in affection.
4 months old
"Dan Heng, we've been over this."
"I know, but-"
"I get that you're worried," Stelle reassured him. "I am, too. But this needs to happen."
She heard her husband sigh as he continued bouncing their almost-sleeping child in his arms. Tomorrow was the day that Stelle would go back to work, and because of that, it was also Nova's first day of daycare.
She had spent months researching daycares in their area, trying to find the one that best met their expectations and needs for Nova, and finally settled on one with excellent reviews and great ratings from childhood associations. Realistically, they had nothing to worry about, but she knew that it wouldn't stop the anxiety of leaving their child in a strange place for the first time ever.
She would have loved for one of them to stay at home with Nova, but it wasn't something that could feasibly happen.
"She will be okay, Dan Heng," Stelle continued. "They will take good care of her."
"I know, but still."
Nova chose that moment to peek her golden eyes open. Dan Heng kissed her on the forehead as he continued to bounce her, hoping she would soon fall asleep again. Stelle resisted the urge to coo at the sight. She loved watching Dan Heng loving on their daughter. It made her realize just how lucky she was that he was her husband.
Nova decided that sleep wasn't necessary anymore. Stelle watched as she looked up at Dan Heng and smile upon seeing her dad.
"Nova, sweetie," he lightly scolded her (even though Stelle could tell he didn't mean it), "it's bedtime. We need to be ready for tomorrow."
Nova responded by grabbing his nose.
Stelle laughed. She felt some of her worries go away at the sight, and she could tell Dan Heng felt the same way.
They dropped her off together the next morning. Based on the updates from her teacher throughout the day, Nova seemed to be having a great time. The teacher even told them how much of a joy their little girl was to have in the class.
Their worries might never go away, but they had at least diminished to a barely noticable degree.
7 months old
"And this picture is from when your Uncle Cae and Aunt Firefly finally decided to get married. Look at how cute your mom and dad were at the wedding," March explained, pointing to the picture in the scrapbook. Nova was perched in her lap, and despite knowing it wasn't exactly possible, Stelle thought her daughter might actually be listening to her aunt's stories.
It was one of the rare weekends that Stelle, March, Dan Heng, and Sunday were all available, so they were together in the Lunae's home. March had pulled out the scrapbook she had made of all the photos of Dan Heng and Stelle over the years to celebrate Nova's birth and decided she needed to teach her niece about her family history. And based on how thick her scrapbook was, there was a lot of stories to tell.
"Oh, and here's one from our last group trip! That's where Uncle Sunday and I found out you were coming. We were very excited."
"Excited doesn't exactly cover it," Dan Heng deadpanned from the kitchen. "Didn't you scream?"
"Shush, Dan Heng."
"It's okay, March," Stelle said as she sat down next to her best friend. "I'm glad you were happy for us."
"I know." She turned back to the baby. "But you see, Nova, your daddy is mean to me."
Dan Heng didn't respond right away. Rather, when March gave him a pointed look, he simply just threw up a peace sign and smirked.
"Anyways, look, Nova! There's a picture of us! Do you see your mom and dad there?"
"Dada!"
Everyone in the room froze. Stelle and Dan Heng looked at each other with wide eyes before they turned to the baby. She had been vocalizing more over the past few months, but this was the first time it sounded like an actual word.
"Did she just-"
"Dada!"
Stelle carefully grabbed her daughter from March's lap and hugged her.
"You know, I should be mad that I spent 9 months carrying you in me only for your first word to be Dada," she whispered, "but I'm just too darn happy."
Dan Heng walked up to them and wrapped his arms around them both. "I'll rub it in your face later."
"Hey."
"I can't believe we were here to witness this," Sunday told March as they looked at the happy family.
"I know, right?" she replied before snapping a picture of them. This was going in the next scrapbook for sure.
11 months old
"So you know how we've been worried about how Nova hasn't started to properly crawl yet?" Stelle asked him one day as he walked in the door after returning from work.
"Um….yes?" Dan Heng responded as he put his shoes away. It was true, after all. Nova was 'army-crawling' and scooting just fine, but she had yet to properly push herself into the proper position. The doctor had said that it was fine, especially since she had started pulling herself to stand, but it didn't stop Dan Heng and Stelle from worrying.
"Well….."
Stelle put Nova down on her feet, making sure she could balance on her own before letting go.
"Go see Daddy, Nova!"
Nova looked at her dad with her brilliant smile and….. slowly took a step forward.
And another.
And more until she tripped on one of her toys near her dad's feet. Luckily, Dan Heng had been there to catch her.
He wasn't sure what emotion he was feeling at the moment. Pride? Ecstasy? Grief that his little girl wasn't so little anymore?
Whatever it was, he was just so damn happy.
"I caught her doing that after lunch today. Did you not see the video I sent you?" Stelle asked.
"I haven't been able to check my phone all day," he muttered, his eyes not leaving Nova's golden ones. She was babbling at him now and reaching for his hair, but he was just so in awe of her that he didn't exactly notice.
He just felt so incredibly lucky that he was her dad, and he knew Stelle felt the same way about being her mom.
1 year old
"Say cheese, Nova!" March said as she pointed her camera at the toddler in her high chair. It was her first birthday, so the girl had what was left of a cake in front of her while her family watched her destroy it.
Stelle and Dan Heng were both right next to her, with Stelle encouraging Nova to continue smashing the cake and Dan Heng holding his phone, recording the sight.
"I can't believe she's a year old already," Kafka said from her spot at the table. "It feels like only yesterday you were telling us she was coming."
"She's growing up fast," Welt added from the other side of the room.
"I know," Stelle said. "She's not our little baby anymore."
"She will always be our little baby," Dan Heng reassured her. "Her growing up doesn't change that."
Nova started whining, so Stelle took her out of her high chair, not caring about getting cake on her clothes.
"Alright, let's get you cleaned up, sweetie."
After cleaning up, the party moved to the living room, where March insisted on taking more pictures. Not that they minded; they wanted to remember this moment.
Dan Heng picked Nova up as Stelle moved to stand next to them. She leaned up to kiss Nova's cheek as Dan Heng did the same thing.
"Happy birthday, Nova," Stelle whispered.
"We're so lucky to have you," Dan Heng added.
The flash of March's camera went off, immortalizing the moment.