Chapter Text
One day there was a knock on the door to the Vantas home. Dolorosa stood with a surprise swaddled in a red blanket in her arms. The babies had finally come. Dolorosa, being the nuturing type, was assigned to deliver the little ones to their families. Kankri was astonished to find his had not been culled. At the same, he knew there had been issues with the hemospectrum and such acts would not be tolerated. But still, he never expected to meet his little one. This little one needed a name and after arguing with Crabdad in hushed tones while the baby Vantas slept, they finally settled on Karkat. Karkat Vantas.
Like the other babies, Karkat mostly slept and ate when he wasn't needing changed. Unlike Kankri, he was terrified of their crustacean lusus, who seemed to be a meshing of a lobster and a crab, rather than just a crab. Perhaps it was the claws or the pincers. Whatever it was, Karkat would have nothing to do with Crabdad. That's how Kankri got roped into caring for him. Somehow, Kankri couldn't resist his tiny little face and the fact that Karkat needed him.
It wasn't complicated, unless you counted the fact that lowbloods weren't ordinarily allowed to care for their young. It was supposed to be a punishment for lowbloods, a lusus rather than a blood relative caring for the new generation. It was a ploy to kill off the lowbloods, seeing as how the lusi were often not as well suited anatomically for caring for them. It would leave lowbloods in lower numbers, reducing the chances of rebellion and keeping them in manageable numbers in general.
Kankri knew these laws, but looking at Karkat's rounded little face, he couldn't bear the thought of him dying. So he managed to ensure Karkat was sleeping every time the highbloods came for a visit. Crabdad was a little hurt by the baby Vantas' rejection, but seeing that he was still being taken care of, the sting was lessened.
The first stormy night with Karkat was quite the test of Kankri's nerves. The storm struck around midnight, just as Kankri was nodding off into a deeper sleep with his book splayed open on his chest. It was like waking from a nightmare the way he jolted awake. Unsurprisingly, it was not the thunder crashing and booming outside that woke him, but the heart-wrenching cries of Karkat.
Kankri was always quite jumpy and defensive, which were qualities that were exercised to a neurotic point if he was awake during a storm. However, this particular night was one where he managed to throw his own fears aside and tend to Karkat's. He quickly made his way to Karkat's room and took the crying infant into his arms, inserting Karkat's crab pacifier into his tiny mouth. He swayed back and forth to comfort him, kissing the top of his head.
Kankri was a little disappointed that night. Karkat refused to sleep any where but in Kankri's arms and that stormy night, Kankri thought he could get away with tucking him into his crib, a place where all babies should be sleeping. He couldn't stay disappointed for long though. After waking early in the morning to give Karkat his bottle, Kankri's heart melted as he saw one of the first and most precious milestones in a child's early years. Once Karkat had finished his morning feeding, he stared up at Kankri and then it came after an impressive yawn for eight month old child.
"Oh my, that was quite the little yawn, kitten." Kankri cooed, feeling himself on the verge of yawning. "You're still sleepy aren't you? Yes."
With a little cough and a adorable flexing of his vocal cords resulting in a little whining sound, Karkat looked up at Kankri and smiled.
"Oooh, aren't you precious? You're trying to butter me up after last night aren't you? Yes, you are!" Kankri smiled in response. "Well, I suppose I can forgive you for wearing my arms down. I can't stay irritated with you. You're too sweet."
The years afterward would prove as much.