#the beloved daughter || ilia sung newton

[abracaxfuckxyou]

@anthologyoflucas​ || because we like upsetting the baby child

Duck had told Ilia he was going to step out for a moment to talk with Leo, their next door neighbor. Once outside they each lit up a smoke, taking the first drags in a quietness of their town. It was a dreary grey day, but this kind of weather always made Duck feel at home for some reason.

“So how’s the kiddo doin’?” Leo began.

“She’s getting along great actually. Her teacher at school says she’s a delight and even some of the kids are starting to warm up to her, but she’s still a bit shy sometimes with them. Though we’re still trying to work through some stuff.”

“Like what?”

“Well, she still has some bad reactions when she accidentally breaks something and gets herself all in a panic. I know the lab shit was really hard on her but she always feels like she’s more trouble than she’s worth. It’s like she’s scared I’m gonna get rid of her.”

“I mean that’s gotta be tough on a kid like that. But I know you’re doin’ your best. She’s in better hands now.”

[abracaxfuckxyou]

Well that's just too darn cute. He can't make her stay awake. And besides he wasn't much of a party guy anymore. So instead he scooped up his little girl into his lap and wrapped her in a blanket as he sat on the couch.

@abracaxfuckxyou

Ilia tried to stay up for New Years in the lodge but she has drifted to sleep on the couch while the adults and teens partied.

[abracaxfuckxyou]

@anthologyoflucas​ || from X

“Easy, kiddo, I’m okay, it’s okay...” he said, moving into the apartment. Usually his natural Chosen One armor would stop him from getting hurt this bad, but he didn’t realize how strong that thing was...

Duck tried to be careful not to drip blood everywhere as he went to the kitchen to try and clean himself up. He turned on the faucet and tried to gently wash away the blood on his forearm. “Got in a bit of a fight, but I’ll live.”

God he wanted a nap right about now. Maybe that was the blood loss and shock talking.

[abracaxfuckxyou]

I just have a lot of strong feelings about my Papa Duck verse and I wanna cry over how much he loves and cares about his baby girl.

[abracaxfuckxyou]

“What’s this?” Duck said as she handed him the drawing. It put a smile on his face when he looked it over. “Wow! This is great, honey. It’s going up on the fridge.”

[abracaxfuckxyou]

“Dad? Are fish kind?”

Nothing he'd read in any of the parenting books he'd gotten from the library had prepared him for any of these kinds of questions. Sure he knew a lot about the forest's flora and fauna, and to be quite honest, a lot of animals out in nature were dicks. But he wasn't going to tell her that.

"You know, I don't rightly know sweetie."

[abracaxfuckxyou]

Jake returned the hug, rubbing her back gently. "Then how about next to a fluffy warm seal?" he asked with a giggle.

"Maybe you could sing her a lullaby? I heard you singing the other day and it sounded real nice," Barclay said.

Jake's face flushed a little in embarrassment. "I didn't think anyone was listening... But yeah. I can sing." The selkie took the time to tuck Ilia into bed and lay beside her. He ran a hand through her hair before he started to sing softly.

"I remember tears streaming down your face When I said I'll never let you go When all those shadows almost killed your light I remember you said don't leave me here alone But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight."

"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound."

"Don't you dare look out your window, darling, everything's on fire The war outside our door keeps raging on Hold onto this lullaby even when the music's gone, gone."

"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound."

Barclay noticed that Duck had already settled back into a light sleep. He smiled at Jake and Ilia as he leaned back in his chair. He'd probably stay up the rest of the night to keep an eye on the three of them. Part of him was worried that since Duck was sick that Ilia might have caught whatever it was.

Ilia hadn't thought about Iggy yet, too worried about Duck to really think about anything else until it's brought up and she looks unsure. She hasn't slept without Iggy since she escaped the lab. It was a reminder of her freedom and helped fight the nightmares that constantly threatened her.

When Jake promised to stay and help comfort her, she smiled a bit and hugged him gently in thanks. He was a good big brother figure. Always there when she needed him if Duck couldn't be there.

"It's been a while since I tried to sleep without Iggy.." she sounds a bit nervous but she's willing to try sleeping without the little frog.

[abracaxfuckxyou]

It’s storming and Ilia comes to Duck’s room holding Iggy, “Can I sit with you till it stops…?” She was scared of the lightning, it reminded her about certain things.

He picked her up and sat with her on the bed, holding her gently in his lap. "Sure, sweetheart," he said softly. Jane hadn't liked storms all that much either. It reminded him of her coming to his room in the middle of the night so he could protect her from the storms outside. A hand ran through his daughter's hair. "I'll keep you safe, just like I promised."

[abracaxfuckxyou]

"Ah jeez... I went overboard didn't I?" Duck asked as he took the chocolate. At least he could recognize the slight discomfort in his daughter. "I just... I just want you to have a good first Christmas as a family and I wanted to spoil you a little. I... I never had children before you and I want you to have all the things you never got before and I guess I did too much, huh?"

"Next year I'll just have you make a list, how about that?"

Under the tree in the apartment has several gifts all wrapped up just for her. Most of them say from dad. There's one or two from Aunt Jane, who hasn't quite gotten a chance to meet her yet but reached out to give her new niece something nice for the holidays. Her stocking is filled with little trinkets and candies and even a wind-up toy frog. The gifts under the tree are books and puzzles and even a nice dress from Aunt Jane.

"Merry Christmas kiddo," Duck said with a warm smile.

Ilia felt a bit overwhelmed by all the gifts but was grateful nonetheless. Holidays were still new to her and she wasn't sure if the little origami animals she made were enough, compared to the gifts everyone had gotten for her.

"Merry Christmas Dad." Ilia smiled back at him offering him one of the candies from her stocking.

[abracaxfuckxyou]

"I'm glad you're enjoying it, kiddo. You know when your Aunt Jane was a kid she loved going to see the lights too. She'd ride like this on my dad's shoulders while we went and looked at all the cool lights n' stuff too."

Papa Duck has her all bundled up in snow pants, puffy coat, hat, mittens, scarf; riding on his shoulders as they walk through the small town's neighborhood light festival. It's snowing lightly and all the bright displays are lit up brilliantly in the early evening darkness. There's other folks out with their families enjoying the festivities too. "Whatcha think kiddo?"

"It's so pretty!" Ilia loved all the lights and feeling the snow. She'd been so excited hearing about the festival, happy to celebrate her first holiday season with her family and friends.

[abracaxfuckxyou]

"You did the right thing going after him. Who knows where he could have ended up," Jake said trying to reassure her. He helped get her shoes off and set them on the floor at the foot of the bed. Then he took her coat and draped it over the back of a chair and returned to sit on the bed with her.

By the time he was done, Barclay returned with a few items including the first aid kit. He got Duck to sit up long enough to take something for the fever. Then he got to work making sure there wasn't any debris or dirt in the cuts on his feet before cleaning and wrapping them.

"I'll have Aubrey take a look at them in the morning," Barclay said as he grabbed a cold compress and applied it to the ranger's forehead. "But I think you'll be alright, Duck."

"Thanks, Barclay," he said, his tone sounding sleepy. "Sorry for the trouble."

"Nah, it's no trouble at all. We all look out for each other around here, remember?"

"Yeah... Hey, Ilia? You gonna be alright without Iggy tonight?" he asked his daughter.

"I can stay and keep her company," Jake said, going into big brother mode.

"We both probably should. I want to keep and eye on you Duck just to make sure you don't get any worse," Barclay added.

"Fine by me," he said.

She sat on the bed when she was set down, watching Duck with concern as Barclay goes to get the first aid kit. "He was sleepwalking and I followed to make sure he would be okay.. I should have gotten his phone but I didn't want him to get too far and get lost." The child explains, playing with her zipper on her coat.

[abracaxfuckxyou]

Duck seemed relieved that she wasn't too shaken by the experience. Though he hoped that wasn't just her putting on a brave face not to worry him. The ranger got to his feet and scooped up his little girl, carrying her close. He made sure she was holding on before he started to walk from the clearing towards the lodge. He at least hoped someone was awake.

Ilia would be able to feel that his skin was fairly warm to the touch despite the cold and his lack of appropriate weather gear. He hadn't been feeling all that well earlier so he'd gone to bed almost immediately after getting Ilia tucked in for the night. Maybe his nightmare had just been a really bad fever dream.

It didn't take them too long to get to Amnesty Lodge. His feet hurt from having walked a few miles in bare feet. Duck knocked on the front door as it was locked. It wasn't long before Barclay and Jake made it to the lobby, turning on the lights to see who would be at their door at this hour. He supposed they might be used to it since they likely had others from Sylvain that crossed over in the middle of the night like this.

Barclay seemed both shocked and concerned when he saw the two as he unlocked the door. "Duck? What on Earth are you doing outside the lodge at one am with your daughter and no shoes on?" the sylph asked as he let the two inside.

Jake seemed to catch something in Duck's expression and quickly took Ilia from him. Barclay came to the same thought just a moment later and reached out to steady the ranger.

"Easy there, Duck. I gotcha. Let's get you two to a room so y'all can get some sleep, okay? Jake can you-"

"Yup! On it!" he said, leading the little group to a room he knew was empty that had two beds. Jake smiled up at Ilia. "It'll be like a sleepover."

Ilia was still in her frog pjs under her coat, having no time to get dressed before running after him. She happily hugged him back, just glad that he's okay and awake now.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.." they had walked pretty far so it was better to get a ride back if they couldn't get a room.

She gave a small smile to reassure Duck, "it's okay, I just didn't want you to be alone out here.. or get lost.." she didn't know what she'd do if they had both gotten lost but at least then they wouldn't be alone.

[abracaxfuckxyou]

Duck looked startled when he heard her voice. He turned his head to look at her, seeing her in her coat and shoes. She followed him out here? Maybe that was the small voice he heard call out to him?

"Ilia? What are you... What happened?" he asked, unsure if she even knew. Finally he sat up and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks for lookin' out for me kid. But we should get back home, okay?"

Taking another look around he realized he was exactly where his dream had taken him. "On second thought... The lodge should be close to here. Maybe we can see if Barclay or Mama can give us a ride home or a room to stay tonight?"

He paused a second and focused on his daughter. "Hey... I'm sorry if I scared ya. Usually I only end up in another room. Not... You know, here," he said as he gestured to the woods around them.

Ilia heard shuffling and woke up, peeking out of her room to see Duck wandering out the front door. She knew he had a habit of sleepwalking, and was worried about if he got lost out there. She slid on her shoes and coat and followed after him concerned.

As he walked into the woods she kept close but not too close in case he acted out in his sleep so she wouldn't get hurt. When he fell to the ground her eyes widened and she ran over trying to find a way to safely wake him up.

"Duck? Duck!" She was concerned, wondering if she should have looked for his phone or called someone, maybe knocked on a neighbor's door, then he jolted awake and she jumped back startled, "You're awake! You're okay!" She tried to reassure him and herself. She was just glad to see he wasn't hurt.

[abracaxfuckxyou]

Jake continued to run a hand through her hair as he sang another round of the song. Towards the end he slowly trailed off until he was fast asleep with an arm around his little sister to keep her safe and warm.

That got another small smile from Barclay. He got up from the chair and tucked the two kids into the bed and gave Duck another quick check over. Satisfied that they would all be okay come morning, he settled back in his chair and drifted off to sleep himself.

Barclay did however wake up a couple hours later to a soft distressed sound. Getting up he checked on Duck again, rousing him from another strange fever dream. He changed the cold compress that had gotten too warm to be of any real effect against the fever and soothed the ranger back to sleep, trying carefully not to disturb the sleeping children.

Ilia hadn't thought about Iggy yet, too worried about Duck to really think about anything else until it's brought up and she looks unsure. She hasn't slept without Iggy since she escaped the lab. It was a reminder of her freedom and helped fight the nightmares that constantly threatened her.

When Jake promised to stay and help comfort her, she smiled a bit and hugged him gently in thanks. He was a good big brother figure. Always there when she needed him if Duck couldn't be there.

"It's been a while since I tried to sleep without Iggy.." she sounds a bit nervous but she's willing to try sleeping without the little frog.

[abracaxfuckxyou]

Barclay looped one arm around Duck, his other hand pressing to the man's forehead. Definitely seemed like a fever.

"He'll be okay, just a little sick. He just needs some rest. Pretty sure I've got some medicine for this," he explained as the two followed the younger pair.

"Yeah, we'll get him all fixed up, don't you worry," Jake said, trying to reassure the girl. A moment later he opened the door to a room that had two regular beds and moved to place Ilia on the far bed.

Barclay helped to guide Duck to the closer one and lay him down. "There we go, Duck. Nice and easy," he said. He then took a moment to look at his feet to see how bad the damage was. "I'm gonna grab the first aid kit. He scratched up his soles pretty bad."

Ilia was still in her frog pjs under her coat, having no time to get dressed before running after him. She happily hugged him back, just glad that he's okay and awake now.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.." they had walked pretty far so it was better to get a ride back if they couldn't get a room.

She gave a small smile to reassure Duck, "it's okay, I just didn't want you to be alone out here.. or get lost.." she didn't know what she'd do if they had both gotten lost but at least then they wouldn't be alone.