Who: Karl and Hope What: Tired late at night When: 1 am Where: Their room Rating: low
Hope shuffled back into their room and closed the door as quietly as she could. Her eyes were half closed as she found her way to the bed in the dark and rolled back onto the spot that was now cold from her absence. She rolled onto her back, then to her side to face Karl. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn’t asleep.
“It thought she was going to suck me dry.” She murmured half against her pillow. Nita was apparently ‘cluster feeding’ and no one told her that was a thing until it was happening. They needed to teach way more about babies than they did in school.
Karl obviously woke up when Hope went to feed Nita. The lack of his wife beside him and the incidental noises meant he wouldn’t fall back to sleep until Hope returned to their bed. He wondered, not for the first time, if they should pump so he could get up and do feedings sometimes.
“Do you want me to go get you some water or skim milk?” Karl definitely kept himself appraised of beverages that were good for breastfeeding individuals. The werewolf tried to use more inclusive language, since Nick started explaining how far LGBTQ rights had progressed.
His arm pulled Hope close to him.
“Mm..” She made a non-committal sound that sort of sounded like ‘but do I have to get up?’ because that seemed like a lot of effort to the half-demon woman. She did, however, acquiesce to being pulled closer to him and she rested her head on his chest. This was movement she could get behind. Hope had an instant smile on her face as she felt the warmth of his chest, even if her eyes were still closed.
She was quiet for a minute like maybe she fell asleep, but her breathing probably gave away she was just resting. Still, she spoke with her eyes closed. “Do you know my mother would have probably gotten up and made a three course meal and demanded me to eat it.” In the middle of the night too, she meant. Fussing over women in their ‘4th trimester’ was often a tradition. The thought of her mom brought a bittersweet smile to her lips. She banished it away by turning a little and kissing Karl’s chest lightly. “...They should make a pillow of this.” Meaning his chest.
“You won’t have move,” Karl promised with a kiss to his wife’s temple. Although now that Hope had nestled beside him, the werewolf felt far less inclined to move. He’d need to disentangle the two of them and he hated to do so.
“Your mother would be correct. Unlike your mother, though, I’m no cook.” Karl could make food for the Pack, obviously, but his talents didn’t seem to extend past stacks of pancakes or ham. “I’m sorry she isn’t here with us, Hope.” At the chest kiss, Karl sighed. “No thanks. This chest is yours only.” He didn’t want the world to see all of his battle scars, after all.
“I didn’t say I was willing to share it.” She smiled a little against him, then tilted her head up a bit to peer at him for a moment in the dark. She wished her mother was here too, but it was easier to deal without her most of the time because of Karl and the Pack House and how many people were here to help. The hard times were when Nita did something cute or had a milestone and she couldn’t send her mother the video or picture. “I’m okay, I promise.” Whether she meant because of her mother or having just dealt with a longer feed than normal was hard to say - maybe both - but she moved her head to a more neutral position again so she wasn’t craning her neck.
She was a little more awake now. Tired, but the idea of going right back to bed wasn’t as big of a need anymore. It would hit her again, but this was her eighteenth wind of the day, it seemed. “Speaking of parents… sometimes I wonder how we’re going to handle things if Lucifer ever shows up.” He’d been here a few times and while Hope thought if Lucifer did show up again it wouldn’t be her father, it would still be a Lucifer.
Karl kissed her head and listened as Hope talked. He planned on getting a mini-fridge for their room, so they could easily get her rehydrated after a longer feeding.
“I don’t know.” Karl hated to admit such a thing. “Do you want a Lucifer to show up?” He knew a little bit about Lucifer from conversations with Nick, but his Pack mate didn’t know much about Lucifer.
"Mmm.." She made a thoughtful sound. Her eyes were closed again, but her voice didn't sound as muddled with sleep. "... Maybe? You told me the one in our world almost seemed… kind?" She wished she had experienced herself and not secondhand, but she also didn't want to disappear from here to experience it now.
“But then I worry maybe he’d be a Lucifer that was mean and cruel or will hurt Nita.” She could handle herself, but the idea of their daughter subjected to that was one she didn’t like at all.
“... So I don’t know.” Her words had a silent additional question of ‘what do you think?’ to them.
Karl had met Lucifer. And the version he met? That version seemed trustworthy and like one who would like being a grandfather. Lucifer loved Hope in a way Lord Demons didn’t often love their offspring.
“If a Lucifer shows up who doesn’t like Nita or is cruel to Nita then we’ll deal with it, by avoiding him. But, maybe we’ll get lucky? It’ll be a Lucifer who doesn’t suck, like the one Sabrina and Rory mentioned?” He knew a bit from what his wife told him about her sisters.
“I hope so.” Hope had come to terms with the idea of never meeting her real father and for a very long time - up until she learned about Lucifer’s appearance to her - she had been content with the idea of never meeting him. But now the possibility seemed a lot more pleasant.
At the very least, if they had a ‘bad’ Lucifer, she hoped it was one they could ignore. She had a feeling some might make that part very hard.
Sleep was starting to take over again. She’d need to drink something, but she’d be up soon enough and she’d do it then, or so she told herself anyway. “We should go back to bed before she’s up again.” She murmured softly. “Or before I get ideas that make us both more tired.” Because that was always a ‘danger’ when it came to being around Karl, but Hope didn’t mind being unable to help herself in that way.
“Go to sleep, wife of mine.” Karl wanted Hope to get more sleep and when she got up next, Karl would return with some beverages. While he adored sex with Hope, right now they both needed sleep. He kissed her, pulled her close, and closed his eyes again.