A BROKEN MAN [open] DOING THE BEST HE CAN

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    He still couldn't make sense of it. Of Lucy being pregnant. Of the kits being his. Of his impending fatherhood. God, he couldn't be a father. He shouldn't be. Anyone that had spent five minutes with him could tell you that Ryan was not parent-material. But in nine - no, they were cats now, it'd be far less than that - months Lucy would give birth. It wasn't enough time to prepare. But... he was still gonna try,

    "Hey guys?" He called out tentatively, standing in the shadow of the tavern, his goroo beside him. It still needed a name, but that was the last thing on Ryan's mind right now.
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    Tags | Updated 6/18

    Xylia had a pawful of sugar cubes laid out on a table in the tavern, and not because she intended to eat them. She was going to bring them back for Shadow to try, and she'd already eaten two herself. Trying to break a habit she'd started several weeks ago was more challenging than she imagined, but she wanted it to stop. Distracting herself in a good way rather than a bad one was a start, and snatching a few sugar cubes from the storage area in the tavern did that beautifully until Ryan's voice dragged her gaze away from the sugary sweets. Leaping off of the table and scrambling to the feline and his goroo, her head tilted to the side and she offered up a half smile. "Hi Ryan! What's up?"

    She'd done all this before - the morning sickness, the announcement, the pregnancy overall, giving birth and of course raising the kids. And while she'd always let the kits know their father, she'd never actually raised them with the father in the same Clan.

    They all also had some desire to be parents, with the exception of Bill who hadn't cared. They hadn't understood why she felt the need to inform them of the litter.

    So safe to say, Ryan was a whole new ballgame.

    He was taking it as well as he could, though. She could appreciate that... a little. It seemed now he was up to something though, what with the tentative call meant to draw the Clan's attention. Well, he had hers and Xylia's, at least.

    //what even is this
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    Tags (Updated 6/18/17)

    Lucy and Xylia. Well, Lucy's dad had been a manipulative, genuinely horrible person, and from what he knew Xylia didn't know who her father was. Both were girls (one quite young), therefore neither would have personal experience as one. So... great people to give him advice. "I wanted to ask about being a dad." Did he have any idea how to phrase that in a way that didn't sound helpless but still got the point across? Nope, but he tried.
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    Tags | Updated 6/18

    Yeah, Sel had plenty examples of how not to be a father, that was for fucking sure. All but one had sucked, but Neptuneblue soared miles above the admittedly low bar she had for parents. He genuinely cared about her, which was a rarity.

    She was kind of surprised by Ryan's words. He wanted to ask about being a dad? That was... out of character for him, at least the version that she knew, the one that had barely let himself accept help from her, and literally no one else. But this wasn't exactly asking for help... it was just a close cousin, close enough that she had to ask. "Why Ryan, are you asking for help? For advice?"
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    Tags (Updated 6/18/17)

    Being a dad? Didn't that kind of question have a lot of answers? Did Sel have any advice on that? Xylia had a comment or two that swam around in her thoughts, but she didn't consider them to be advice in particular. "Don't abandon them." She couldn't offer much given that she herself was still a kit, far from a parent, and had no prior experience to being raised by her parents. Sel felt something like a mother to her sometimes, but a fatherly influence? All she could say was to not do what she believed her parents had done. Was Ryan asking because of Sel's pregnancy?

    He gave Lucy an irritated glare. "I'm doing this for you and our kits - don't have to be so condescending." He snapped, wishing she didn't have to be so frustrating, now of all times. He was making an effort here, why couldn't she?

    "Don't abandon them." That was Xylia's advice, huh? Not really surprising, since it seemed that's what her parents are done. It was simple advice, really, advice that should be obvious. But whether or not to stay, whether he should try and remain and be a father to his children and a man (... tom?) for their mother, it wasn't such an easy choice. He'd never wanted kids, in fact had vehemently been against the idea for as long as he could remember, and every day all Lucy did was show him that she didn't want him in her life. Walking out would be easier, solve all his problems.

    But giving up, walking away... that wasn't in his nature.

    He shrugged. "Yeah..."
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    Tags | Updated 7/23

    Sel was now even more surprised, replacing the mocking. He really was trying to make an effort here, wasn't he? Her gaze softened a little, and she glanced down at her belly. Their kits. Honestly, she didn't even usually see the kids she had as hers and someone else's, despite trying to make the fathers play some role in the lives of their children. Really, with the exception of Deathstroke's, in her mind they'd all just been hers. But this time, the father was right there. And he was claiming them. Theirs.

    "You be there for them." She said softly. "You help them learn and grow, you take care of them. You protect them. And yeah, you don't abandon them." She paused, thinking. "And don't do what our parents did to us."
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    Tags (Updated 7/21/17)