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Nova was barely two weeks old, but she was already such a daddy’s girl. If she was crying, the sound of her daddy’s voice calmed her instantly, and anytime he picked her up, she was immediately snuggling into him. It warmed your heart to see your riduur and your ik'aad together - your little family was the most perfect thing in the whole universe.
The first few weeks Nova had been home were hard, but you were starting to somewhat settle into a routine, and everything felt like it was falling into place. Until another bounty called him, Din was with you, taking care of you and the babe, spending his limited time with his aliit. And in those moments you and Din would trade-off, one of you going to shower while the other watched the baby, one of you would eat while the other would keep Nova occupied.
One evening, while you were in the fresher, Nova started to cry from the bassinet. Had taken shower, Din was still in the middle of getting dressed, only wearing his sweatpants, when she’d started crying. Din was across the room without a second thought, scooping his baby girl up to hold her. Just like always, her cries quieted as soon as she was picked up by her dad.
Before your little girl was born, Din had read a lot of stuff about skin-to-skin contact and how it was beneficial for both the baby and the dad, and he had taken it upon himself to do as much of it as he could. He already wasn’t wearing a shirt, so it made the process that much easier as he carefully removed Nova’s tiny onesie and took a seat in the rocking chair that was positioned in one corner of the room. She was still fussing as he sat down, but the second he got comfortable, placing his little girl against his warm chest, she went quiet, comforted by her dad.
Din pushed off of the ground gently with his feet to rock the chair, his hands cupping his baby’s tiny body as he held her oh-so-carefully against his chest, just above his heart. To calm his tiny baby, he whispered against her daughter’s little head, "Ni cuy' olar, ner verd'ika" and gently kissed her.
He hadn’t been a father for very long, but these moments were already his favorite. He could never get over the fact that the two of you had made this tiny little human. A tiny baby girl who he was certain was perfect in every single way. Everything about her, from the noises she made to her delicate features, was perfect. She had Din’s brown eyes and your lips, which you claimed was “the best thing that could’ve happened to her.” Even though she was brand new, little wispy curls -just like his father’s- were already starting to form on her head.
It wasn’t long until the rocking of the chair put Nova to sleep, her little fist curled up against her daddy’s chest. And it was only minutes later that Din was asleep, too. As much as he loved being a dad, it was tiring, and he wanted to get as much sleep as he could.
This was how you found them when you exited the fresher not long later; your baby girl sleeping comfortably on her sleeping dad’s chest. This was the first time the two of them had passed out at the same time, and something about it made you happier than you’d ever been. You watched them for a few more moments, the way your two cyare’se slept together in the rocking chair, and your heart swelled in your chest.
Before leaving, you take a thin blanket out of Nova's closet and silently and carefully drape it over them to keep them warm. Not wanting to disturb more the two, you flicked off the lights and climbed into bed, knowing Din would join you when he realized he’d fallen asleep in the chair. If this was what parenting was like, you couldn’t wait to experience more of these sweet moments.