Chapter Text
‘Welcome to the first young parenting meeting- class- support group thingy’, In all honesty, Mina wasn’t quite sure what to call it. She had a degree in counselling, but she had never really made use of it untill now. Her main job, was as a clerical assistant at a college, but during a conversation with her coworker (Sasha) she had realised there were other opportunities for her to use her degree. Her and Sasha had become friends not only because they were coworkers, but also because the two of them were also young parents. They found comfort in sharing their struggles with eachother and so when Sasha had suggested that they started a group with parents like them, Mina had loved the idea. She could put her counselling skills to good use. She put up posters around local nursery and primary schools, advertising the group for parents 27 and under, but she hadn’t expected anyone to show. Now that she was here in the room with all the parents, it was kind of awkward.
‘How about we start with an ice breaker, we’ll go around saying our names, how we met our partners and our kids names and ages’, Mina smiled ,’I’ll start, I’m Mina Carolina , this is my boyfriend Connie Springer. We met at a party in college and we hit it off. Then I got pregnant 4 years ago and now we have a 3 year old little girl Milly’
Connie nodded as Mina spoke. Everyone observed the couple, they seemed like an odd pairing. Connie seemed more laidback he was decked in sweats with a baseball cap covering his face, whilst Mika seemed more serious and sophisticated wearing a smart pink pantsuit. She sat up straight, as Connie leaned back.
‘Okay, I can go next’, Sasha said, ‘I’m Sasha Blouse and this is my boyfriend Niccolo. I met Nic at a restaurant and we have a 2 year old daughter Tilly’
‘I’m Hitch, I have a 4 year old Louis and this is my husband Jean, we met at college’, Hitch smiled politely, Mikasa noticed how it seemed as if none of the men in the room wanted to be here. Other than Armin and Nic, everyone else looked slightly ticked of, including her fiancé. Eren had been in a humph ever since she suggested the group. Annie had mentioned that her friend Hitch was going to be attending a support group for young parents and she didn’t want to go alone. So Annie had volunteered to go along with Hitch, however in private (away from Armin) Annie had admitted that she thought the classes would be good for Armin. Mikasa thought the group sounded amazing, she hadn’t grown up with an amazing relationship with her parents, so she didn’t know much about parenting. As much as Eren insisted he knew what he was doing when it came to parenting, he was just as clueless as her. He constantly enabled their daughter Olivia, and she was hoping the support group would help him learn to say no to their daughter.
Mikasa introduced herself next,’I’m Mikasa and this is my fiancé Eren’
Eren humphed at the mention of his name.
‘We’ve been friends since we were kids and we’re high school sweethearts, we have a 4 year old girl, Olivia’, Mikasa squeezed Eren’s hand as she spoke.
Armin was the first man to speak up,’I’m Armin I met Annie in college and we have a 5 year old Austin Arlert’
And finally,’I’m Pieck, I have a 3 year old daughter Penny’
Pieck’s partner cleared his throat,’ Oh yes and this is Porco, my boyfriend’
‘Nice, now that we’re all aquatinted maybe we can talk about what we’re all struggling with’, the group still had tension in the air but Mina was doing her best to melt the ice,’ being an unplanned parent can be difficult especially when your young-‘
‘Wait I thought this was a meeting for young parents not unplanned parents’, Armin cut in, although he was only 22 when he and Annie had gotten pregnant, it was very much planned. Armin liked to move fast in life, so as soon as he got married to Annie he felt ready to become a parent.
‘Well, I suppose thats okay aswelll’, Mina sputtered, she didn’t want to seem rude but she was surprised that people would willingly become parents so young, ‘Would you guys like to begin with talking about your struggles’.
‘We don’t have any, we’re just here to learn new stuff’, Armin smiled politely.
‘No, we do’, Annie sat up.
‘We don’t’, Armin said confused.
‘Austin is in his second year of school and ever since he joined he’s been struggling with his confidence. Making him a target for bullies’, Annie said confessed plainly.
‘I told you so’, Eren hissed into Mikasa’s ear. Mikasa gave him a stern look.
‘Thats not true’, Armin argued,’I taught Austin how to defend himself’
‘Yes, he told the girl who was bullying him that she only bullied him because she liked him and she punched him’
Eren, Connie and Porco all burst out laughing. Eren tried to cover up his laugh with a cough, but Mikasa was already shooting him daggers woth her eyes.
‘It’s not easy to stand up to bullies, what do you want him to do. He can’t hit a girl, how is he meant to stand up for himself’, Armin argued slightly embarrassed by the fact Eren had found out his son was being bullied. Eren had been Armin’s best friend ever since they were small, but he had never quite learnt how to endure his teasing. And now Eren woukd tease him because he couldn’t teach his child to stand up for himself.
‘Well, teach him how to through a punch at the other boys, if the boys didn’t treat him like a pussy then neither would the girls’, Eren said,’Thats how Livie runs her school’,Eren added proudly. Mikasa rolled her eyes at the remark.
‘Not something to be proud of’, Mikasa muttered.
Olivia was a good girl, and Mikasa loved her with all her heart. But she had a rebellious spirit, and it didn’t help when her father constantly praised her for her troublesome behaviour. Olivia commonly started fights in school and influenced the other kids to disrupt the class. Olivia had only started school that year and yet her name was infamously known amongst the teachers. At the beginning of the year, Mikasa had been called into the school office to pick up Olivia almost every day but now she tried to leave that duty up to Eren. She was his daughter after all. But Eren hadn’t done any of the pick ups. He tried, but Eren was constantly held up at med school. So Mikasa constantly found herself embarrassed when she was in the middle of a house showing and she had to leave her client to pick up her troublesome 4 year old. She was an amazing estate agent asides from her daughter’s interruptions so she wasn’t at risk of losing her job, but it was still annoying.
‘Livie tries her hardest’, Eren argued.
‘You enable her’, Mikasa hissed, she didn’t want to have the same argument with Eren again, much less in public. She loved Eren so much more than anything, but he didn’t know how to control their daughter.
‘Ooo tension’, Connie cooed snickering, Mina elbowed him on the side and Mikasa rolled her eyes.
‘Don’t tease Connie, it’s normal for relationships to suffer slightly when you have a child together. Especially if the child was unplanned’, Mina said calmly.
Mikasa was annoyed by the idea that her and Eren weren’t getting along. She had an amazing relationship with her fiancé even if he could annoy her.
‘My relationship is doing perfectly fine thank you very much’, Mikasa grumbled, moving closer into Eren to display their closeness. Eren smirked at Mikasa’s possessiveness and leaned back into her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. He continued to kiss all down her neck, not caring that they were in a group in public.
‘Must be nice’, Porco muttered.
‘Something you would like to share with the group Porco?’
‘I just wanted to say I agree with you, relationships can suffer from having children’
‘Really?’, Eren questioned from Mikasa’s neck. Mikasa giggled softly as his lips brushed her neck.
‘Yeah, do you have something to tell me?’, Pieck raised her eyebrow at her boyfriend.
‘I just think, some couples stop showing eachother affection after they have children’, Porco said snidely.
‘Well I think that affection from your partner should be the least of your problems when you have a 3 year old to look after’, Pieck sneered back.
‘Oh- kayy’, Mina cut inbetween the two before they could get into a full blown argument,’Our half hour is coming to an end, but I think bottom line is relationships between parents can be difficult, but it’s all about communication ay the end of the day’, Mina smiled. All the men sighed in relief at the news that they were free.
‘Thank God’, Jean huffed under his breath.
‘Anyone want to get a beer’, Porco wanted the opportunity to speak to the rest of the guys one on one, it was difficult to talk about his actual struggles in front of his girlfriend. However, he still wanted the chance to talk about his struggles.
‘Sure’, Connie smiled at the offer. All the guys begun to follow Porco out of the room. Eren looked at Mikasa for approval and she gave him a nod.
As soon as the guys left, Mina sighed,’ That was shit wasn’t it’.
‘No, it wasn’t all that bad’, Sasha tried to comfort her.
‘None of them wanted to be here’, Mina sighed, ‘I’m surprised Connie even came’
‘You’re telling me’, Hitch said exasperated as she pulled a flask out of her handbag. She took a sip and passed it around.
‘Jean complained on the ride all the way over here’
‘Men’, Pieck said as she eye rolled, ‘Always so needy but never willing to give anything back’
‘You and Porco don’t get along?’, Hitch asked Pieck.
‘I try, but he just always wants sex. And he gets mad when I spend all of my time with Penny’, Pieck sighed into her hands,’ I’m not even surprised, when he found out I was pregnant he asked how I can get rid of it’
‘Ouch’?, Sasha remarked.
‘Yeah Connie was that way at first, but then Milly was born and he loves her and cares for her, but I don’t know if her takes the job of being a father seriously, he always forgets to do important stuff like feeding her’, Mina went an a short rant about his boyfriends incompetence.
‘At least he cares, I swear some days Porco doesn’t even realise Penny exists and I can’t confront him because he gets so upset. And I don’t want to upset him because other than Penny he’s all I have’, Pieck began to get teary eyed.
‘No family?’, Annie questioned.
‘My parents stopped talking to me when I got pregnant, they were mad I lost my virginity before I was married’, Pieck’s head fell into her hands as she sobbed even more. Sasha rubbed circles onto her back.
‘Yeah I get that, my parents don’t even know I have a kid’, everyone turned to Mikasa in shock.
‘How have you kept that a secret for four years?’ Hitch’s jaw dropped.
‘Me and my parents aren’t close anymore. After they divorced when I was 17, my mum left to Japan and my dad moved to Germany. They only call on birthdays and holidays. They only visit occasionally and when they do, I drop Liv of with her other Grandparents’, Mikasa explained it very casually as if it were nothing that her parents didn’t know she had a child.
‘What will you do when they come to your wedding and see you have a child?’,Mina asked.
‘I’ll say we adopted, or something but if my parents found out I had sex before marriage. They would kill me and I can’t lose them, not again.’
Pieck gave her an understanding smile, it was nice to speak to someone in a similar situation to her.
‘Well my mum was thrilled when she found out I was pregnant so early, she said it would be a healthier pregnancy’? Hitch said with a sigh.
‘You regret it?’, Mina asked.
‘No but, I wish more planning went into it’
‘Well me and Armin planned everything, and it’s still difficult’, Annie added.
‘Thats so beautiful, that both of you wanted the baby, it’s going to happen again and Porco still doesn’t want this?’, Pieck was still sobbing, but her eyes glittered as she looked at Annie in admiration.
‘Oh My Gosh’, Hitch gasped, ‘Pieck your pregnant again aren’t you!’
Pieck simply nodded.
Everyone gasped.
‘I thought you said that you and Porco don’t have sex anymore’, Mikasa inquired.
‘Yes but, Porco’s birthday was last month’
‘A month!’, Sasha exclaimed,’And you haven’t told him?’
‘He hardly likes the first one, why would he want a second’, Pieck sighed,’Gosh this is pathetic isn’t it, but I really want this baby. My kids make me feel less alone.’
Everyone gave her sympathetic smiles.
‘You’ll be fine, you’ve got us now. You won’t be alone anymore’, Mina hugged her.
‘I don’t know man, it’s just not the same anymore’, Porco sighed into his beer.
‘So you’re jealous of your kid because he takes uo the time you could be using to screw your girl’, Jean questioned.
‘No, it’s not just about sex. We dont even talk properly anymore’
‘Well Maybe it’s postpartum depression’, Eren said,’Mikasa got it really bad for a while, she did therapy for like three months’
‘It’s been 3 years’, Porco grumbled.
‘It can last years if you don’t treat it, that’s whay the doc told Miki’, Eren added.
Porco hummed keeping it in mind.
‘Women are hard, bro’, Connie exasperated.
‘I’ll drink to that, I never know what Hitch wants, I thought I was doing a good job at the whole dad thing but then she suggests this group’, Jean huffed.
‘Same here’, everyone side eyed Armin.
‘Your kid is getting bullied’, Eren said plainly.
‘But I’m handling it’
‘How’, Niccolo asked, genuinely intrigued.
‘I told him what to say when kids are mean to him’
‘Give me an example’
‘One of the girls keeps calling him gay, so I told him to tell her gay means happy’, Armin smiled proudly of himself.
‘Oh my gosh, no you didn’t’, Eren sighed into his hands.
‘You set him up for failure’, Porco patted Armin on the back.
‘It’s an intellectual response’, Armin argued.
‘And those kids don’t care’, Jean contributed.
‘What would you tell your kid, and no Eren I don’t want to hear about Olivia’s violent tendencies’, Eren shrugged at Armin’s remark.
‘Tell him, to tell them to piss off’, Connie said plainly,‘teach him some swears so they think he’s cool’
‘Then the teachers will just be mad’,Niccolo emphasised.
‘Yeah but the teachers are dumb anyways’, Eren reckoned.
‘See this is why Mikasa gets pissed at you’, Armin recounted.
Eren rolled his eyes,’Miki doesn’t get that pissed, and it’s not my fault or Liv’s fault that she’s a bit hyperactive. The teachers dont understand her’
‘Eren have you ever told your daughter of, like ever’, Porco mused.
‘I would if she was wrong, but Liv is perfect’, Eren smiled, his eyes glowing with pride. Everyone eye rolled at him.
‘You need to learn how to say no bro’,Jean shook his head.
‘Okay so we’ve figured out why Armin and Eren needed this group, what about you Jean’, Connie wondered.
‘Absolutely nothing, me and Louis are perfect. I’m an amazing father’
‘Liv says I’m the best dad ever, just saying’, Eren boasted.
‘Well I’m sure Louis would love to tell me that’, Jean argued.
‘Would?’, Nic questioned.
‘Louis has trouble with his speaking’, Jean grumbled.
‘He’s mute?’ asked Armin
‘No, he can speak, he just doesn’t like too’
Everyone looked at him in confusion.
‘Well, I guess that’s why Hitch dragged you out here’, Connie considered.
‘Yeah but like theres nothing we can really do about it’, Jean sighed into his hands.
‘Maybe if you just exposed him to be around more people’, Jean considered Armins suggestion.
‘If you want, we could have a barbecue at my place on Saturday. It will give the kids a chance to socialise’, Eren added.
‘I don’t think Liv needs anymore socialising’, Armin deadpanned.