#Father s | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kennedyswhore · 6 months

Text

FAMILY LIFE WITH LEON KENNEDY!⠀

🗯. FEATURING: girl dad!leon x afab!reader SYNOPSIS: headcanons of leon experiencing fatherhood (bc capcom won’t let him) WORD COUNT: 2.7k STICKY NOTE: he holds my heart and has me wrapped around his finger!!!

WHEN LEON FIRST HEARS YOU ASK HIM TO START A FAMILY WITH YOU, the two of you sit quietly at the dinner table, his face faintly flushed a warm shade of red. He hesitates only for a moment, tapping his silverware idly against the table. You stare up at him expectantly, and with a deep breath, then a trip and stumble over his own words, he replies, I— I’d... Yeah. I’d consider it, yes, definitely. I would love to.

Honestly, he’s already considered the idea numerous times, he just never assumed it would actually end up coming to fruition. From the day he married you, and from the moment you took his last name, he thought he’d love to settle down with you, to raise a family and grow old alongside you. But, he assumed it was just wishful thinking, just a pleasant dream to fantasize from time to time— how would someone like him ever be lucky enough to live that kind of life?

Well, it seems like he is that lucky, and when it comes to raising a family with the person who makes him feel genuinely alive, with you, he couldn’t be any happier.

LEON WOULD BE LYING IF HE TRIED TO SAY HE WASN’T NERVOUS. Actually, he tries his damn hardest to make you believe that he isn’t, but you can see through him better than he thinks you can. In reality, he’s terrified. He has no idea how he’s supposed to raise a child, hell, he was hardly raised himself. What if he screws this up? What if he was never cut out for this, to be a father? Will his children meet the same fate? Will he have them one second and lose them the next? How will he be a pillar of strength? How can he tell them it’s okay to live as long as it’s not them who’s dead? How can he help them grieve when he’s always grieving himself?

Thankfully, you’re there to reassure him, to let him know that you’re a team. The both of you can do this, together, and even if you mess up, everything will work out in the end. You know it will. And when he knows that you’re there to help him, Leon feels a whole lot better.

He spends his free time reading parenting books to make sure he’s prepared. He checked out every single one he could get his hands on at the library. During your late night conversations, he tells you some of the useful things he learned from them, too. You’re not sure if they’re all that necessary, but you can’t help but admire his enthusiasm.

HE WORKS ON HIS DRINKING HABITS. Throughout his life, Leon has known only one way to cope— and honestly, it’s not like he’s proud of what he’s doing. He’s just trying to escape from the pain of the gnawing thoughts by drinking himself into oblivion. But this was the final push he needed to never drown his thoughts in alcohol again.

WHEN IT COMES TIME, HE HELPS YOU DECORATE YOUR SPARE BEDROOM TO PERFECTION. You paint the walls together, Leon reaching up to get the spots you can’t reach. You smear some paint on this focused face when he isn’t paying attention. The both of you get distracted, until your faces, hands, and clothes end up covered in more paint than what you were able to get on the walls. Leon tugs you in by the waist, placing a deep, tender kiss on your lips, before softly whispering, I’m so excited, sweetheart. We’re gonna make the best parents, I know it.

You and Leon pick out everything you need— a crib, blankets, stuffed animals, pacifiers. In the time since you’ve been married, you’ve become familiar with his real side, how his humoristic act is just a mask to keep himself sane (if you think you’re free from horrendous jokes, no. He specifically keeps the dumbest ones for you). Nowhere else is it displayed more than here, when he helps you choose the absolute cutest items. Hey, which do you think they’ll like more, the duckie or the kitty?

He spends hours putting together the crib, powering through the complicated set of instructions. He’s so proud when he shows you how he finally managed to put it together, and when you fling your arms around him and tell him, It looks perfect, I love you, he’s certain the struggle was worth it.

He also spends hours baby-proofing the entire house, to a degree so meticulous that you can’t help but giggle. He hunts down every single outlet in the house and gives it a safety cover, puts locks on each doorknob (even the cabinets), and he tests all the furniture in the house to make sure nothing will fall. You find his carefulness to be sweet, but after he’s spent hours rearranging and stressing, you wrap your arms around his shoulders and place a quick kiss on his cheek, whispering, It’s alright to take a break for now.

AND WHEN THE DAY FINALLY COMES, when the two of you finally bring your baby home, Leon is sure he hasn’t cried more than this in his entire life. His eyes are red and puffy, his cheeks tear-stained— he sticks to you like a lost little puppy, adamantly refusing to leave you or his daughter’s side, not even for a single second.

He’s so damn happy, he can’t even believe this is happening. Leon stares at your daughter like she holds the world in her itty bitty hands, like if he stops looking for even a moment, he’ll wake up to discover this was all just a dream. Just one of his many fantasies that he replays in his head as he falls asleep holding you close. But, no, it’s real, and it won’t change, no matter how much he worries that it will. When Leon remembers this, he feels a huge wave of solace, and a steady, love-sick ache settled in his heart.

You haven’t stopped holding your baby since you’ve left, so when you’re finally home and able to lower her into his crib, Leon is immediately wrapping his arms around you, pulling you into a tight hug. His tears soak your shoulder, his hands ball up your shirt, his little sniffles and sobs muffled as he buries his face into the crook of your neck. I’m so happy for us. Leon pulls apart from you then, and his hand trembles when he brings it to your cheek. Think this is the best day of my life.

THINGS ARE A LITTLE ROUGH AT FIRST, as the two of you struggle to get a handle on things. Truth is, despite the numerous parenting books and hours spent preparing, neither of you have any idea what you’re doing. For the first week, Leon thinks he got a full four hours of sleep in total, or no, maybe three hours? He was so exhausted he could hardly remember. But he tells himsef that it’s okay, it’s alright— he is awfully familiar with sleepless nights, this is far better compared to those nights of horrifying nightmares.

The baby won’t eat, then she won’t sleep, then she cries and cries and neither of you have a clue why— Leon begins to think maybe he really isn’t cut out for this. When the two of you lay in bed, the baby finally quieting for what feels like the first time in ages, he holds you close to himself. His voice is shaky and weak when he tells you how he’s worried, how he’s so scared because he has no idea what to do, and no-one to tell him. Do you think I’m doing something wrong? I really… I really don’t wanna mess this up. Sorry.

He feels the stress melt from his shoulders when you rub his back with your palms, muttering sweet words of reassurance into his ear. Just the sound of your voice, the way you promise him that you’ll be here with him every step of the way, I know the two of us can do this, Leon, it’ll be okay— He didn’t realize how tired he was until now, so it isn’t long before your peaceful words lull him to sleep.

AS THINGS GO ON, EVERYTHING GETS EASIER AND EASIER. Leon starts to get the hang of it, becoming more and more comfortable, learning techniques for every situation. He’s figured out how to handle things on his own, so you can head to work while he stays home. You were a little nervous for him at first, but when you came home from work to see him sleeping peacefully with the baby in his arms, you felt all of your worries wash away.

There was one time, though, not too long after you took your baby home, where she happened to fall ill. The doctors told you it was nothing to worry about, that this is rather normal, and she should get better soon— but that didn’t stop Leon from worrying his head off, nor from sleeping beside the crib every single night.

Your heart feels warm to see your husband fretting so much over your baby girl, but all of his worrying built up a bit of a bad habit. Your child started requiring that Leon sleep beside her crib every night if she’s ever going to get any rest.

Leon keeps his hand stuck in between the bars, so your daughter can wrap her small hands around his thumb. Allowing her to fall asleep like this seems to be the only way to get her to sleep soundly all night, so Leon props up a chair and makes himself comfortable. You can’t remember how many times you came into the spare bedroom and wrapped a blanket around your sleeping husband’s shoulders before your daughter was finally able to break the habit.

THE TWO OF YOU DEBATED PROFUSELY OVER WHAT YOUR KID’S FIRST WORDS WOULD END UP BEING, until one day, when you come home from work— Leon doesn’t even give you a chance to kick off your shoes, swiftly grabbing your hand and leading you into the hallway. He drags you to the spare bedroom, and with a warm grin tugging at his cheeks, he says, Look, baby. Look at what I taught her to do.

Leon goes on to show you how he taught her to say his name— she reaches up, gesturing grabby hands at her dad before babbling his name incoherently, Liun, until Leon finally picks her up. You give your husband a playful shove, pretending to be annoyed that it was his name your daughter ended up saying first— but honestly, the way she says it is so cute that you don’t have the heart to be at all disappointed.

Although… Leon’s teachings did end up causing one repercussion. Now, she thinks Liun is synonymous with getting what she wants, so she tends to say it whenever and where-ever. Even when Leon isn’t present, she’s gurgling his name, saying it when you give her favorite toy, or crying it when she wants you to hold her. It’s a little endearing, sure, but it takes longer than you expected for her to finally learn your name.

Her particular sort of endearment with her father is probably because Leon tends to spoil her to high heaven, buying her anything and everything she could ever want, making her whatever her little heart desires for dinner, and taking her to wherever she says she wants to go. You don’t even know what excursions they’re taking at this point, you just come home from work to Leon and her playing with manta ray stuffed animals, and he has to explain, Oh, we went to the aquarium today. I think rays are her favorite animal now, she seems to really like them.

LEON HAS NO PROBLEM TAKING CARE OF HIS DAUGHTER BY HIMSELF IF YOU’VE HAD A LONG DAY AND NEED TO RELAX. He greets you with a kiss at the door, gently pulling your coat from your arms, massaging the tension from your shoulders beneath his hands. Long day? I know, I ran you a hot bath, it should be ready in a few minutes. I’ll take care of making dinner tonight, you just relax.

Although Leon is prepared for every situation, he’s a worrier at heart, so he still tends to stress about anything related to your daughter— Is she gonna be okay to sleepover at her friend’s house? I told her to call me if she needs me and I’ll come pick her up right away. She has my number, she won’t forget it, right?— You frequently have to remind Leon that it’s okay, she is capable of handling herself, so there’s no need for him to fret so much. Just relax.

WHEN YOU AND LEON REALIZE YOU HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO GET MUCH TIME ALONE, you’ll hire a babysitter, so that the two of you can go out and spend a nice date night together. And if your daughter ever happens to go to a friend’s house, you can bet that you and Leon are going to make good use of the time you’re able to spend home alone (well, if the two of you end up spending all that time just napping or doing chores, that’s fine, too).

AT FIRST, LEON IS EXTRA WORRIED WHEN IT COMES TIME FOR HIS DAUGHTER’S FIRST TIME AT SCHOOL— but when she comes home with a huge smile on her face, excited to tell you and her father about all the fun she had, he seems to loosen up rather quickly.

He makes packed lunches for her everyday, and puts her backpack on her shoulders before she walks out the door. When she comes home, Leon is seated beside her at the dinner table, helping her with her homework. Your daughter is always telling you about how her classmates are all jealous of her fancy lunches, how she always brags to them about how amazing of a dad Leon is. You laugh, ruffling her hair, before leaning down to say, You better make sure you tell your dad that, baby.

Leon thinks he’s always gonna love when his daughter calls him dad— he never imagined he’d get the opportunity to be a father, and to such an amazing daughter, at that. You and him are the most doting parents, bragging about how much you love her to the point where other people might even find it annoying. Leon hardly cares, he feels so happy and unbelievably lucky, and he wants anyone and everyone to know it.

Whenever your kid brings home an art project from school, or a worksheet she did, Leon saves it. He saves literally everything to the point where your attic is overflowing from every sketch and every project your daughter has ever completed. And when she draws a messy stick figure drawing of you, her dad, and her, Leon keeps it stuck to the fridge forever.

NO MATTER HOW MUCH IT MAKES HIS HEART ACHE, MISSING SCHOOL EVENTS IS INEVITABLE. Even though he genuinely wants to be there, he occasionally has to skip important school days due to work commitments. Whether it’s a parent-teacher meeting, a school play, or a sports day— his job would take precedence, causing him to miss out on precious moments in his little princess’ life.

The weight of regret he carries is beyond measure, especially when he imagines her searching the crowd for his face and not finding it. The feeling of letting his child down gnaws at him, eroding his confidence as a parent. He knows some of them were memories he couldn’t get back, and he also knows that being sent to missions after missions isn’t really his fault— but still, the guilt is always fresh.

LEON TAKES HOLIDAYS EXTREMELY SERIOUSLY, always trying to make sure each one is the best it can be, especially because he never got the chance to experience his own and he certainly doesn’t want his baby girl to go through the same thing. He bakes homemade cakes for every birthday, decorating the top with frosting and numbered candles. He stays up until 2am wrapping presents from ‘Santa’, but getting to eat the cookies you baked as a family the night before, and seeing the excited look on his daughter’s face when she comes to the present-filled living room on Christmas morning makes it all worth it.

YOU AND LEON SHARE A SMILE AS HE LOOKS BACK— family, it’s what you’ve both built here. It was slow at first, and sometimes it wasn’t easy. At one point, it was just the two of you, just you and Leon, and that was okay. You didn’t think you would ever be capable of letting it be more— but it’s nice when it grows, you think. Maybe one day, you can dare to hope to grow it some more.

Leon feels fortune to call you his family, and even if he worries sometimes, or even if he struggles, he’s certain this life is how everything was meant to be. Everything flies by so fast, until days turn into months turn into years, and every day, he still thinks he’s going to wake up from some sort of dream. Well, if this is a dream, it’s certainly the best one he’s ever had, and he hopes from the bottom of his heart to never awake from it.

It’s nice, Leon thinks, it’s nice to have something worth smiling for.