Chapter Text
They had talked about wanting another child. So this was somewhat intentional, though Levi hadn’t been very optimistic about their chances. After all, having Kuchel had been a one-in-a-million chance due to his neglect of his own health. So the discussion had happened, and the decision to stop taking birth control had been purposeful. Nothing that would come of that should come as a surprise. Yet, Levi found himself in disbelief that he was yet again, staring at a bunch of positive tests.
It had happened so fast. He and Erwin had made the mutual decision to start trying. Or as Levi had called it, stop the drugs and see what happens if anything happens. He had very much been aware that his fertility had been shot and greatly wounded in his early adulthood. Much to his surprise, he had found Erwin pestering him about his unusually sweet scent after his very first heat off birth control. And related to that, had seen Erwin go into his second rut ever. That had confirmed his suspicions even more than the morning sickness that had followed. Now that it had been a few weeks, he had gotten the tests to confirm.
“Lee?” Erwin’s voice came from the bedroom.
Levi took the tests and walked out of the bathroom to show him. Still experiencing some disbelief about the situation.
Erwin’s face lit up with a wide smile as he came close enough to read the tests. “It’s real.”
Of course, Erwin had known already that it was real, the change in Levi’s scent being eerily similar to last time and not to forget his rut. Only this scent had been able to trigger it before.
Erwin enveloped the omega in a tight hug against his chest. After a while, he pulled back and peered down at Levi’s solemn face.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, “You look pale.”
Levi shook his head slightly, “I just threw up.”
Erwin gave him a questioning look. The man knew him so well and there was no hiding from him.
“It’s just… I didn’t think it would happen right away”, Levi said.
“Isn’t this a good thing?” Erwin asked. Last time they had been in this situation Levi had been devastated. This time they were older and much more prepared. Now Erwin was involuntarily thinking back to those first moments when they found out that he was pregnant with Kuchel. Things hadn’t been that great then.
“No. I mean yes it is a good thing”, Levi was stumbling with his words. “I’m happy. But… I just have been preparing for disappointment to the point that… that I think I had already given up on this ever happening again.”
Erwin was surprised at how honest Levi was being. “Love, You’re not broken. You came back from it.”
A tear fell down Levi’s cheek. His heats had been quite erratic for a while after Kuchel was born and he finally got his natural cycle back. Though they usually came around once a month, much to Levi’s dismay. But as he got older, his heats had become much more predictable and steady, now coming every three months. He was still very salty about the fact that during a time of his life when heats had been most inconvenient, they had also been most frequent.
Erwin gently took hold of his face, wiping the tear with his thumb. “You’re strong. You overcame it. Let the past stay in the past and enjoy life with me. With us.” He lowered his hands to rest on Levi’s hips, thumbs now stroking his still flat abdomen.
“I’ll try”, Levi’s lip curled up slightly. “I love you.”
“I love you more.”
Once Levi had started to show to the point that regular shirts did not hide his growing bump, Kuchel had started to stare at him. For several days now, Levi had caught her just looking intensely at his abdomen, as if trying to figure out what was going on.
“Kay?” Levi said one day, as he caught her doing it again while he was cooking.
“Huh?” She said but kept staring. She was hovering near the kitchen aisle a few feet away from Levi, a stuffed animal clutched in her hands.
“Is something on your mind?” Levi asked. They had been wondering about when and how to tell Kuchel about the pregnancy. Levi was just past his first trimester, so now would be as good a time as any. They hadn’t dared to tell her sooner in case she would blab about it to others who they hadn’t revealed it to yet. They planned to start telling people now anyway.
She tore her eyes up from Levi’s midsection and to his eyes and nodded slowly.
Levi found her calculating and careful demeanor amusing. “Tell me.”
She furrowed her brow. The gesture being very cute on a seven-year-old. “What is that?” She asked, pointing at his still quite small bump.
“That is your little sister or brother”, Levi said, deciding to tell her straight up.
Kuchel’s eyes widened as she went back to staring. “In there?”
“In here”, Levi confirmed, putting his hand on the side of his stomach.
“How is that possible?” She asked in awe.
“Before babies are born, they are too tiny for this world. They need to develop inside the belly for a while before coming out”, Levi said. “You see how small it is right now?”
As Kuchel was still staring at his midsection, she nodded.
Levi reached to the counter to take a lemon from a bowl and showed it to her. “It’s about the size of this right now.”
Kuchel took the lemon in one of her hands and examined it, comparing it to Levi’s bump.
“Have you ever seen a baby that small?”
“No”, she said. “It’s tiny.”
“Yes”, Levi confirmed. “It needs to grow for a few more months to get big and strong enough.”
Kuchel pondered the new information for a bit before asking, “When is it big enough to come out?”
Levi did quick math in his head, “I think near Christmas time.”
She looked up at that, “That’s so far away!”
Levi nodded, “It takes time to grow. You can’t double or triple your size in a few months either, can you?”
She furrowed her brow again, “I guess not.”
Levi thought the conversation might have been over as she was quiet for a long while. But eventually, she asked with genuine curiosity, “How did it get in there?”
Oh fuck .
At that moment, the front door was opened and Levi heard Erwin's voice from the foyer.
“I’m home.”
“Ah great”, Levi sighed, “Go ask your papa.”
Kuchel looked like she was having a hard time breaking eye connection to the bump, but she did manage to turn around and sprint for the foyer.
When nearing the end of his second trimester, Kuchel was enthralled. Levi was a very small person and was showing quite a bit by now. The baby was definitely not the size of a lemon anymore, but the reference had stuck with Kuchel. To her, the baby was still known as lemon. Kuchel was basically attached to him at all times. She was hell-bent on being the first one to feel lemon move from the outside. Levi had felt subtle movement for months now, but so far even Erwin hadn’t been able to feel her movements. Lemon was a very calm baby. By now they had found out that it was in fact another girl and Kuchel was very excited.
On a chilly fall evening, Levi was curled up on the couch as much as his growing body would allow, leaning against Erwin’s side. Kuchel was naturally right next to him, a hand splayed on his bump under the blankets. One of Erwin’s arms was thrown across Levi’s shoulders, hand gently stroking Kuchel's hair. Both Erwin and Levi were reading, Erwin balancing a book with Levi’s name on the cover of it in his free hand. Levi reading a book by one of his favorite authors. Kuchel liked to read too and usually participated in their own little evening book clubs with her storybooks. Now though, her book lay forgotten on the couch cushion next to her, and her attention was wholly focused on Levi. This was how it had been for a while now and Levi admired the sheer determination she had.
For around thirty minutes, everything was peaceful and quiet. Then, as Kuchels bedtime began nearing, Levi laid a bookmark between the pages and set the book aside, preparing to have the same discussion they had had every night for weeks. The one where he told Kuchel that she would have to sleep in her own bed and not be attached to him at night too.
“Kay”, he began softly.
She looked up at him with pleading eyes, “Not yet, pleeease.”
“It’s late already”, Levi told her. “Maybe you’ll feel it tomorrow.”
She pursed her lips but made no attempts to move.
“Hey-” But before he could finish or register feeling it himself, Kuchel interrupted him.
“Ayah!” She gasped, eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. “I felt it! I felt lemon move!”
Sure enough, Levi had felt an unusually sharp kick himself. He quickly pulled the blanket aside and put his own hand over Kuchel's small one.
There was another kick and Kuchel squealed in joy.
Erwin had laid his book down too, now wanting to feel the movement as well. Levi took his hand and guided it to where his own hand had just been. When another kick came along with Kuchel's squeal, Erwin smiled widely and kissed Levi’s temple.
During the last few weeks of the pregnancy, Levi had been ordered on bedrest by Rico due to his blood pressure skyrocketing. It was an order which he frequently disobeyed much to Erwin’s dismay. But after he had gone past his due date, he did stay in bed for the most part. Only insisting that he would use the bathroom on his own. He could work from bed just fine as long as he had his laptop and Kuchel was happy to accompany him as often as she could. She had started preschool that fall and went with Erwin every week morning and Levi had walked to pick her up as long as he could manage it. Now due to his bedrest, Kuchel was picked up by her favorite person in the entire world after her parents, her aunt Hanji.
Levi had been working on his latest book project when they came home.
“Ayah! Is lemon here yet?” Kuchel's voice carried as she ran upstairs.
“Yea, is she here yet?” Hanji echoed her, probably as excited about the new baby as Kuchel was.
Levi waited until she appeared in the doorway of the bedroom before confirming, “No, not yet.”
Kuchel looked very disappointed, but came into the room anyway and jumped onto the bed, snuggling next to him.
Hanji appeared in the doorway a moment later, “She is really taking her sweet time isn’t she.”
“Uhuh”, Levi huffed. “I gave her an eviction notice last week and still nothing.”
Kuchel giggled next to him.
Hanji came further into the room but stayed away from the nest, sitting in an armchair at the side of the room instead. “How you doing?”
“Bored, mostly.” Levi didn’t mind that she stayed for a while when she brought Kuchel. But he did know that she stayed mostly because Erwin had asked her to. So that Levi wouldn’t have to be alone with Kuchel in case something finally happened. Erwin had been a big ball of nerves for a few weeks now, only very reluctantly going to work once Levi had promised to inform him of anything and everything right away.
Hanji laughed, “You won’t be in a little while, just enjoy this now while you still can.”
Levi snorted, “Sure. How’s work?”
“Good”, She said, “But you know I’m still pissed that you won’t let me be your OB.”
“You might be a fancy doctor nowadays, but to me you’re still the same person that didn’t know you’re supposed to boil spaghetti before eating it.”
“Hey! Not fair”, Hanji exclaimed, “I was just out of foster and they never let me cook anything in there! How was I supposed to know?”
“Even I know that”, Kuchel said.
“Well little lady, that’s cause you have the best parents in the whole world to teach you these things”, Hanji smiled at her.
Levi found himself smiling as well as he started to finger-comb Kuchel’s long black hair.
They chatted for a little while before Levi started to visibly squirm a bit.
“Something wrong?” Hanji asked, noticing his discomfort.
Levi winced a bit, “Just my lower back. It’s been acting up today.”
“That could mean something’s happening”, Hanji said.
Levi tried to find a more comfortable position, propping himself to sit higher against the headboard. “I’m sure it’s nothing”, he said but let out an involuntary gasp right after.
Hanji sat up straighter at the sound, “That doesn’t sound like nothing.”
“Aah, nope”, Levi confirmed, face a bit tight.
“Is it starting?”
Levi waited for a while, not daring to say anything before being sure. When another wave of pain eventually came, a bit stronger this time, his hand flew to the underside of his stomach and he nearly managed to bite down the noise that came from him.
“Ayah?” Kuchel asked, her voice concerned. She was still near him, just sat up fully as well now.
Levi placed his other hand over her’s on the bed, “It’s okay, your sister is just telling me she’s ready now.”
Kuchel nodded slowly.
“Could you give me the phone?” Levi said, nodding toward the nightstand.
Kuchel reached for it and handed it to him. Levi opened the contacts and quickly called Erwin. He picked up on the first ring.
“Levi? Is everything alright?” Came Erwin’s concerned voice over the phone’s speaker.
“Yeah, don’t panic now but I think it’s finally time.”
He could already hear keys in the background and a momentarily distant voice as Erwin had most likely lowered his phone to dismiss his class. When he came back on the line his voice was just as concerned as before, “Are you alone? Is Hanji there, and Kay?”
“Calm down, they’re both here. Everything is fine”, Levi assured him, motioning for the slightly alarmed looking Kuchel to come back to his side where she’d been before.
She did, relaxing a bit against his side as Levi brushed his wrist against the scent gland on her neck.
“I’m coming home right away”, Erwin said over the phone.
“Yeah, you do that”, Levi said as he winced due to a new wave of pain, hissing a bit despite his best efforts to stay quiet, “Don’t rush.”
Levi knew how hot-headed Erwin was when it came to his and Kuchel’s safety. He would have a very hard time sticking to the speed limits on the road.
“I won't”, Erwin tried to sound convincing, “See you soon, I’ll call Rico now.”
“Good”, Levi said and they ended the call.
Hanji was sitting on the edge of her seat now, “Is there anything I can do?”
“I don’t think you should”, Levi said. “I know Erwin’s better about these things now than he’s been before, but I can’t be sure if he can handle your scent on me right now. Or as a matter of fact, you being here, in this room right now might already be enough to set him on edge.”
Hanji looked like she wanted to argue, but she was well aware of Erwin’s weak tolerance for anything and everything potentially threatening his mate in need.
“Should I go then?” She asked.
“No, don’t go. Just… remember what I taught you after the last time you were accidentally in the wrong place at the wrong time?” Levi used vague words due to Kuchel’s presence.
Hanji nodded. A few years ago, she had come into the house with her spare key while Levi was in heat. Beta’s sense of smell wasn’t usually that terrible and could definitely sense a full-blown heat easily, but she had been sick with the flu that day and had just come to borrow some of Levi’s herbal tea to try to cure it quickly. She had tried to call beforehand, but for obvious reasons neither Levi nor Erwin had answered and she had thought they were out when nobody answered her knocking either. The knotting had ended prematurely due to the threatening presence in the house and Erwin had nearly lost it. Had Hanji been an Alpha, she would have been dead.
After that incident, Levi had taught her how to act if that ever happens again and how to safely diffuse and exit the situation. To his credit, Erwin had actually calmed down over the years, though after Kuchel came he’d taken a few steps backward again.
“I’m sure that after everything calms down, he’s going to be glad you were here with me”, Levi assured her.
Hanji smiled a bit.
“Why wouldn’t papa want aunt Hanji here?” Kuchel asked, squeezing his arm for comfort in the strange new situation she was in.
“It’s complicated honey”, Levi said, and right after that, he let out a brief litany of curses.
Kuchel’s grip tightened on his arm as Levi’s mixed scent of pain, nervousness, and stress filled the room.
“Okay fuck I can’t stay still”, Levi said, starting to shuffle to the edge of the bed as the wave of pain subsided a bit.
Hanji was about to jump up and help, but caught herself at the last minute and instead asked, “What about your bedrest?”
“Fuck the bedrest, this is happening now anyway”, Levi managed to say. “Help me up Kay?”
Kuchel jumped off the bed, taking Levi’s hands and Leaning her whole weight backward to pull him up. “Ayah you’re swearing a lot”, she said, “I’m scared.”
Levi took a step and gripped the dresser near the bed. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing to be afraid of. It just hurts a bit now but it’s supposed to do that.”
“I don’t like it”, she said, still gripping one of Levi’s hands tightly.
He gently squeezed her hand back, “It’s gonna be okay. You’re gonna meet your sister soon.” He straightened as the last of the pain from his latest wave subsided. “Let’s go downstairs.”
It took him a while to get there, stopping twice on the way to just breathe through the quickly escalating waves of pain. Kuchel walked next to him, holding on tight and trying to believe Levi’s words that it would be okay. She had never seen her ayah in pain like this.
Hanji trailed after them, going straight to the far side of the kitchen table and sitting down while Levi began walking around the kitchen aisle with Kuchel. The movement made it better, staying still had worsened the pain quickly but now it became more manageable. He was secretly applauding himself over how calm he was in this situation, whereas last time he’d been a mess from the start.
Eventually, they heard a car pulling up, and soon after the door opened, “Lee?”
“In here”, Kuchel called as Levi was currently leaning on the countertop, head hanging between his arms and focusing only on breathing.
Erwin rushed to them, still in his coat, and came straight to Levi’s side. He brought his wrist up to Levi’s neck and rubbed the scent gland there. As he did it, the tension in Levi’s muscles slowly melted away and he leaned heavily against the man.
“Glad you could join us”, Levi said in between deep breaths, now lifting his head to rest against Erwin’s chest.
“Glad you waited for me”, Erwin said back, smiling faintly in his hair. His smile faltered soon though, as he picked up Hanji’s scent in the room. He looked up and saw her at the table, head low and eyes fixed on her hands before her. As Levi had taught her. Erwin’s protective waves rose fast and spread in the room.
Levi gripped his sleeve, “Get it together”, he breathed, “It’s just Hanji.”
Levi’s words seemed to ground him surprisingly well, as the overpowering scent faded quite quickly. “I apologize”, Erwin said, “I knew that she was here.”
“Uhuh”, Levi let out.
“I can go”, Hanji called from the table, “If you want me to.”
Erwin was about to say yes but remembered that they did in fact need her there. “No it’s alright, please stay. We need you to stay with Kay downstairs.”
“What? No!” Kuchel exclaimed, “I wanna stay with ayah!”
Levi pulled her gently close to him, feeling much better now due to Erwin’s presence and his wrist still at his neck. “I know you do, but you have to stay down here.”
“No!” She whined against his shirt.
Levi smoothed his hand down her back, “Baby I promise you’ll be the first one to know when she’s born. You just have to be brave now and wait for a bit, okay?”
She didn’t seem at all happy with the situation but finally said, “Okay.”
When another knock came from the door, Erwin’s scent rose up again on instinct before he could calm himself.
“Hanji, will you let her in”, Levi said, not wanting Erwin to leave his side again.
“Yeah”, She seemed glad to finally have a concrete task.
Once Rico had removed her jacket and shoes, she came into the kitchen but stayed a healthy distance away from the couple.
“So, are we ready to do this?” She smiled.
It was much faster than the first time. But just as painful. Though Levi was in a much better physical shape now than then. He was actually taking care of himself these days and working out regularly to keep fit. A few hours later, she was born.
Levi kept true to his promise to Kuchel and asked Erwin to get her as soon as Rico deemed the situation stable and was ready to leave them.
When Kuchel came in, she stayed in the doorway, unsure of what to do with herself.
Levi was lying on his side, the baby sleeping against his chest. He was really tired but smiled when he saw her. “Come here Kay.”
She stayed put, looking at Levi with worry in her eyes. Erwin came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay, go ahead.”
Kuchel slowly approached the bed, now looking at the sleeping baby. She still seemed frightened.
“What’s wrong?” Levi asked her.
A few tears fell down her face. “It sounded really bad”, she whispered.
Levi’s heart broke at her words and he found himself fighting his own tears as well. His hormones nearly getting the best of him. “Oh baby I’m okay, everything is fine.” He motioned for her to climb into the bed next to them. Once she did, he brushed her hair back from her face and swiped his wrist over her neck to calm her before continuing, “I’m sorry if I scared you love. I won’t lie to you, it did hurt. But it’s over now and everything is okay.”
Erwin came after her and sat against the headboard, “Ayah is strong and he did amazing tonight. Everything went as it should.”
Levi nodded, “And look. It was worth it, wasn't it?” He brushed the baby’s cheek with the tip of his finger. “We finally get to meet lemon.”
Kuchel sniffed and giggled a bit, “Ayah you’re silly. She’s not lemon anymore, she’s a baby.”
“Oh, I’m the silly one?” Levi asked.
She giggled again.
“Well, if we can finally retire the name lemon, how about we start calling her by her actual name?” Erwin asked.
“What is it?” Kuchel looked up from the baby.
Levi smiled again, “Zoe."