Chapter Text
He knocked on a familiar door.
“Hunter?” Darius asked. “Is something wrong?”
“No? Yes? I don’t know? Can I come in?”
“Of course.” He opened the door wider, allowing Hunter entry.
“Thanks, Darius.” He ducked inside.
“Take a seat?” Darius said, clearly unsure.
“Oh. Thank you.” He took an awkward seat at the table. He folded his hands in his lap, looking down.
“Sooo. What’s this about, little wolf?”
Hunter still refused to look at him.
“If I talk to you, will you not repeat this to anyone? Or at least, not yet?”
Darius looked…more than a bit concerned. Great.
“Don’t worry!” Hunter said uselessly. “It’s not actually anything bad! I’m just….”
“Overthinking?” Darius provided.
“Yeahhh. That.” He let out a sigh. “Willow’s pregnant.”
Darius blinked, clearly not expecting that.
“Um, okay? Is that the problem?”
Hunter nodded then abruptly stopped. Wow. He was a total dick huh?
“Uh, oh fuck that sounds bad. It’s not–it’s–I’m just scared, okay?”
Darius hummed.
“Nervous about what? Being a father?”
Hunter nodded.
“Yeahhh. I don’t, I don’t know if I can do it.”
Darius placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Hunter, let me ask you a question. Do you want to be a father?”
Hunter was quiet.
“Hunter?”
“Ah. Sorry.”
Darius shook his head.
“No, don’t be sorry. You don’t have to have a solid answer yet.”
“…mmm. I’m not really sure. I’ve never thought about it before. I’ve never even thought that I could have children.” He chewed at his thumbnail. “I don’t know what to do. Willow’s so thrilled. I won’t make her give up her kid. But I really don’t think I’m fit to be a parent at all. What if I hurt the kid? Or yell at them? Or-or find some new way to mess them up? What if I’m just Belos? I feel like the best option would be to just…leave, so that could never happen, but that would mean leaving Willow alone with a baby. And like, she’s awesome and can handle that but she shouldn’t have to.” He fell silent, chewing more intensely at his nails.
“Hmm. That’s a lot to think about,” Darius muttered. “I highly doubt you’ll end up harming your kid. You’re not Belos.”
Hunter noted the wording. Nothing certain. Somehow that felt better.
“…thanks. But, Darius? Do me a favor?”
“Yes?”
“If I do become like Belos, keep me far far away from Willow and the kid. By any means necessary.”
Darius frowned.
“I really hope it doesn’t come to that, but yes. You’re my priority but not more than a child’s safety.”
Hunter let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank you.”
Time passed. Willow was starting to show.
“I think we need to tell our friends and Camila,” Willow said, looking at herself in the mirror. “I won’t be able to hide this much longer.”
“Camila?” Hunter repeated, tilting his head.
“Well yeah? She’s kinda everyone’s second mom. Well, except Luz. She’s her first mom.”
Hunter chuckled a bit at that.
“Yeah, I guess that’s true. Uh, who first?”
Willow hummed.
“Our friends? We can tell them all at once, maybe? At a dinner or something?”
Hunter nodded, letting out a breath.
“Yeahh. Yeah, let’s do that.”
The restaurant was buzzing.
“So,” Luz said. “You guys said you had something to tell us?”
The whole crew was here. Luz, Amity, Gus, even Vee.
“Yeah!” Willow said. “Something big!”
Luz leaned forward.
“Well what is it!”
“I’m pregnant!”
Everyone’s jaw dropped.
“What!” “No way!” “Congratulations!” “That’s great!” The chatter overlapped.
“Do you have a name picked out?” Gus asked.
Hunter and Willow both shrugged.
“We haven’t thought about it much yet,” Willow replied. “We wanted to tell everyone first.”
Hunter nodded.
“Mhm. Which, now that we’ve mostly done, we should probably get on that.”
“Yeah! We can start brainstorming after this!” Willow said, smiling wide. She was clearly delighted. Hunter’s smile was more nervous, but still genuine.
“Yeah! That’s a good idea!”
“How about naming them after one of us?” Amity teased.
“Yeah!” Vee seconded. “Vee would be a cute name!” She stuck her tongue out.
“That would get confusing,” Hunter mumbled.
Willow chuckled.
“We’ll let you know when we know.”
That had gone well! Now there was only Camila left to tell.
Hunter knocked on the door.
“Are you ready?”
“Yeah! I’m sure she’ll be delighted!”
Hunter was sure of that too. That didn’t make him any less nervous. Camila answered the door quickly.
“Oh hello! Come in, come in!” She opened the door wider, allowing them entry.
“Thanks Camila,” the couple said in unison.
“Of course, niños! Make yourselves at home!” She made a gesture for them to sit down. “Would you like some tea?”
“That would be nice,” Willow said.
“Yes please, if it’s not too much trouble?” Hunter said.
“Of course it’s not, sweetie,” Camila said with a smile. “I’ll put some on for all of us.” Once the tea was on the stove, she joined the couple in the living room. “So, how are you two? Any special reason for coming here or just saying hello?”
“Special reason,” Willow replied, interlocking her fingers with Hunter’s. “We have something to tell you. Something good!”
Camila’s eyebrows lifted.
“Oh?”
Willow turned to her husband.
“Are you ready?”
Hunter sucked in a breath.
“Yeah. Are you?”
Willow nodded.
“Yeah!” She seemed beyond ready. A wide grin spread across her face. “I’m pregnant!”
Camila’s jaw dropped.
“REALLY? I’m going to be a grandmother?” Okay wow. Willow had been exactly on the money with how she’d react. She cleared her throat. “I’m excited for you two,” she said more calmly. “Do you have a name picked out?”
The couple shook their heads.
“No, not yet. We were going to start brainstorming after we told everyone,” Willow explained. “And you’re the last to tell so….”
A heavy guilt settled in Hunter’s stomach. She was basically his mom and he’d put off telling her he was going to be a father…. He was horrible.
But, Camila just smiled.
“Got it! Well, I’m glad you considered it important to tell me.”
Hunter chewed the inside of his cheek.
“Of course!” Willow chirped. Hunter’s stomach felt even heavier.
“Do you know the gender?” Camila asked. “Ah, sex?” She frowned, looking confused. “No, that doesn’t seem right either.”
That got a laugh out of both halves of the couple.
“You’re okay,” Willow assured. “But no, we don’t. It’s not common to in the Demon Realm.”
Camila didn’t look surprised, at least. Which made Hunter wonder….
“Why do humans care about that?”
Camila shrugged.
“There’s a couple reasons.” The kettle went off. “Oh! One minute!” She disappeared for a moment, and Willow and Hunter held hands.
“You alright, Hun?”
He nodded.
“Yeah. I’m sorry I made you wait though.”
Willow shook her head.
“It’s okay. I know why you did.”
A smile grew across Hunter’s face. How had he landed such a lovely and understanding wife? Camila came back soon after, balancing three mugs of tea. Hunter leapt up.
“Oh! Here! Let me help you!” He grabbed two of the mugs while Camila chuckled.
“Thank you, dear.” She took a seat with her own mug while Hunter returned to his and passed one mug to Willow.
“Thanks, Hun.”
“Thank Camila,” Hunter said gently. “She made it.”
“Thanks, Camila!”
“Mhm! No problem! What was I saying? Ah yes, about humans and knowing their babies’…,” she waved a hand, “whatever. The most common reason nowadays is just for naming reasons, I’m pretty sure. Certain names are considered masculine or feminine so people want to plan for that. Romance countries, like where I’m from, tend to especially have those sorts of naming conventions.”
Hunter hummed.
“That sounds kinda dumb,” Willow said.
“Willow!”
Fortunately, Camila just laughed.
“I mean, she’s right. It is kinda dumb. In the past, inheritance was also a reason. In some places, only a specific sex, usually male, could inherit titles or property so people wanted boys. That’s…not super relevant to today, but for some people the attitude is still there. Some societies also believed, or in some places still believe, that certain tasks are for men and certain tasks are for women so they want a specific number of each. And some people just think they can ‘relate’ better if their kid is the same sex as them.” She shrugged. “If you ask me, it’s all kind of dumb though.”
Willow hummed.
“Hmm. I can kinda get the last one. I don’t agree with it, but I can get it.”
Hunter nodded in agreement.
“Yeah. Humans are weird.” He felt at his ears. “I guess I am one though. In a way.” Huh…. Hopefully their kid would still be able to use magic.
Camila made a so-so gesture.
“Those are all definitely—what’s the word?—societal things and not species traits.” She hummed. “Which actually just makes it weirder, honestly. But anyway! Congratulations, you two! Let me know when you have a name, if you have a baby shower, when the kid’s born, all that!” The excitement was clear across her face. Hunter felt his chest warm.
“Of course!” Willow chirped. “We want you there for it all.”
Name brainstorming was both very fun and very frustrating. They’d decided to have a plant theme to match Willow and their surname of Park, but that had resulted in them filling an entire notebook with every plant they could think of. It took a full week for them to narrow it down to five.
Marigold, Thyme, Lily, Rosemary, and Aster. They’d decide on one for sure when it was closer to the kid being born. Though, time seemed to move faster with every passing day. Before either of them realized it, Willow’s first trimester was over. Everything was going smoothly. Her checkups all came back with her and baby both being healthy, her teammates were understanding with her taking time off, her pregnancy was relatively easy so far. The only complaint was morning sickness of various levels of awful. Things were going well!
…which of course meant something had to go wrong.
“Hunter!” Willow yelped one day. “We have to go to the hospital! I-I’m bleeding! I shouldn’t be–it can’t be a period!” The worry in her voice was unlike anything Hunter had ever heard. Fuck, fuck, fuck! No, no, no! Neither of them said it, but they were both thinking the same thing as they rushed to the hospital; what if we lose the baby.