Daddy

The covered hand of the king ran slowly over the pages of a book, his head held down with the weight of worry. He sighed a heavy sigh, glancing at the words on the page as if hoping they would sap away his anxiety. There was barely a moment of reading before he looked back up, off to his bedside...

Resting in the newly-built crib, bundled in a blanket was a baby boy hedgehog. With violet spines and black markings similar to his own, it was an eerie similarity between the two of them. The child toyed with the blanket, kicking it off and tugging it to his mouth, gnawing on the soft fabric. It was enough to give Lyger a slight smirk to his face as he slowly stood from his desk and made his way over to the crib's side. But in the few seconds it took him to arrive, Lyger was once again somber, his fingers curling around the crib.

It hadn't been that long since Lyger had found Danny lost, alone, and scared, abandoned by someone and left to die. The crying infant was just happy to be held by someone, and had clung to Lyger. The elder hedgehog just wanted to get him out of the rain and return him home, but found no takers. For all intents and purposes, that was the day that Lyger became the boy's father, taking Danny in and raising him as his own.

Even so, that hadn't stopped Lyger from being steeped in worry from time to time over raising Danny. At first, he attributed it to nothing but parental worry as he grew more attached to the bundle of joy he'd come across. But it was so persistent, so agitating, that he finally was left to wonder why his heart was so filled with doubt.

“Danny?” he said quietly. The kid looked up at him, his eyes momentarily meeting those of the king. In came Lyger's hand, rubbing the quills on top of his head, met with a pleasant coo. “What am I going to do with you...” he said, thinking aloud, as if the answer would jump from thin air. Lyger's hand was suddenly held hostage by Danny, his finger grabbed and tugged into the crib, leaning him forward.

His arms reached down into the crib and lifted Danny over the bars, cradling him. The boy turned towards Lyger and rested relatively still there as he looked up. Lyger's eyes were only about half-open.

“... Do you even remember your real father?” said Lyger, knowing Danny couldn't understand nor respond. His arms rocked slowly from left to right, taking a seat on his bed.

His words were quiet. “And if you don't... by the gods, what do I tell you? I don't know. I wanna be there for you, Danny, but... damn. I wish... why is this so hard?” His words reflected his random thoughts and his torn heart, coming in short bursts.

“What do I do?” he said, lifting him up closer. “I mean... If I tell you I adopted you, does that make me less of a father? If I don't, does that make me a liar? What would you do if I told you? I'm just so worried you'll hate me.”

And with that, another sigh, his face drifting off to the side. “Some father I am. Can't even decide on one simple little thing. This oughtta be easy. They left him, right? He's... gah. Fuck...”

Lyger finally went quiet, once again turning inward to try and find the answer. Danny reached up and tugged on part of Lyger's hair, which snapped him out of it... to say the least. “Hey, hey, take it easy...!” he said softly with another smirk.

Danny opened his mouth for a moment, cooing again. “Daaaaahh...”

Lyger turned to face Danny again. “What's the matter, little guy? Huh?”

Danny raised his hands up, trying to touch Lyger's face. “Dahh... da-ddy?”

Lyger's eyes opened again, his jaw hanging slack. He struggled to say something, but nothing came. He even felt his lungs tense up with a sudden sharp inhale.

Danny managed to put one hand on Lyger's chin. “Daddy! Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” he said over and over with a laugh, a smile on his little face.

Lyger felt a lump in his throat, gritting his teeth as he fought back tears that were welling up hard. He clutched Danny hard to his chest, sniffling and hiccuping for a few moments. Danny batted innocently at the quills behind Lyger's head a few times as the king fought not to cry.

There it was. That was the answer.

A few more sniffles and a wipe of his eyes on the palm of his hand, and Lyger smiled down to Danny. “C'mon... you must be hungry, huh?” He slowly stood up from the bed, pulling his son up with him, cradled safely in his arms.