Iris liked being carried. She liked it a whole lot, evidenced by the fact that she refused to settle down after feeding until someone carried her around the apartment like a million times. Mirror had been forewarned by well-meaning responsible adults like Mrs. Taylor-Cervantes and Ms. Morris, but really no advice measured up to the actual real thing. Suddenly, Becca and Mirror were left alone in an apartment with an infant, apparently the whole world just... trusting them to keep said infant alive.
Who came up with this idea?!

Gawain hummed softly as he carried the little bundle against his shoulder. Iris had stopped fussing a few minutes before, and now she was beginning to drool on the cloth draped over her father's shoulder. She was not exactly the easiest little bundle to carry today, as a few sharp crystal growths were jabbing the mirrorwalker in the ribs, but... well, she was darn cute. She had red hair coming in now, and she smelled like... well. Cheese. But cute cheese. Like, kawaii cheese.

Finally, after an amount of time that seemed safe, Gawain walked over to the crib, leaning over with the measured movements of someone trying to defuse a bomb while also being severely sleep-deprived. Deposited into her bed, Iris made some sleepy noises and scrunched up her face; Gawain froze, hovering, but the wail did not come. Instead, there were little glimmers of crystals as Iris huffed in her sleep, settling down.

Slowly walking away from the crib, Gawain kept an eye on the baby until his legs hit the edge of the bed, then he managed to flop down without making much of a noise, burying his face in the covers next to where Becca was lying. "I win" he declared in a muffled voice. He already felt like falling asleep. Lifting his head, he tried to take a look at the clock through the hair in his face "We have... eighteen minutes till midnight...?"

That was eighteen whole minutes of sleep! Gawain rolled over, snuggling into whatever part of Becca was within reach under the covers (it might have been a knee). "Becks?... We have the best baby."

Rebecca and Gawain had a baby! It was an entirely new experience for them. The pair may have had a daughter, but raising an adopted adolescent did nothing to prepare them for the joys and challenges of raising a newborn baby.

It felt like days ago when Becca was a twenty-something self-sabotaging her own life. How did they even get here?

Together. They got here together, which was important. It meant they were a team figuring their way through this. They could take Iris shifts when necessary, which was a gift when they had a baby who was still learning what a “sleep schedule” was.

Rebecca yawned as she stirred from a brief nap Gawain afforded her. She turned to her fiancé joining her in the bed and smiled sheepishly as his hand found her hip. She carefully touched a crystal jutting out of Gawain’s temple. Evidently, it had been just long enough that her own growths had passed. ”Yer right. She’s sae considerate wi’ gifts. Minutes ay sleep, crystal accessories. Truly generous.”

Kissing Gawain’s cheek, Rebecca nuzzled under his chin (after making sure he had no particularly pointy clusters there.) ”Ye sleep. Take mair ‘en eighteen minutes. Ah’ll take care ay Iris through th’ transition unless she throws us a curveball. Mah payback for this wee blessed nap.”