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Byleth collapsed into bed, the twins finally — blessedly — asleep and back in their bassinet. Dóchais had woken up hungry, and of course her cries had woken her sister, Muinín. Fortunately Byleth had two breasts to feed them both at once, but that did little to assuage her exhaustion. For having inherited the power of the same goddess who had created the Nabateans, it seemed unfair that in creating her own new Nabateans, she still had to experience the same trials of parenthood as humans. For that matter, it seemed Sothis had never experienced childbirth, either.
If she ever saw Sothis again, she would have some choice words for the goddess.
She yanked the blankets up to her chin and tried not to think about how many hours might remain until sunrise. Beside her, a pair of strong arms wound around her waist and drew her close. “You’re back,” Seteth murmured.
“Sorry to wake you,” Byleth whispered, enjoying the solid wall of warmth at her back.
She could feel him shake his head as his nose brushed across her neck. “You are the one doing the real work. Allow me to take the next shift.”
Despite her fatigue, Byleth’s lips quirked up to tease him. “My love, you have a magnificent chest, but I don’t think you can make milk.”
“How can we know if I do not try?”
She huffed a laugh and turned over, snuggling her face into his soft chest hair. “Let me sleep in and then take diaper duty for the next two years, and maybe I’ll consider us even.”
“Anything for you, my love.”
He kissed the top of her head, and Byleth closed her eyes.
“…Have I told you how wonderful you are?” he continued.
Byleth frowned. She needed as much rest as she could get if she was going to be expected to be anywhere near functional for the Cabinet meeting tomorrow. “I need to sleep now. You can tell me in the morning." She yawned to punctuate her point.
“You make me the most fortunate man in the whole world.”
“Seteth…” she protested. He seemed to be ignoring her. Why was he so insistent on—
Ah.
A realization bubbled to the surface of her exhausted brain. One of the things she had learned about him only after they were married was that he had a very endearing – albeit sometimes inconvenient – tendency to spout nonsense if he was woken in the middle of the night. Sometimes he would make up stories. Sometimes he mumble-sang ancient Nabatean folk songs. And sometimes he would determinedly produce an endless stream of endearments.
It seemed like tonight was going to be one of those nights.
Byleth was very tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to do that with him talking in her ear. She considered putting her head under her pillow, or maybe moving to the couch... But she also didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He wouldn't care much now, but he would care when he woke up in the morning and realized what his semiconscious self had done.
She exhaled a long breath. Maybe tonight she’d be able to fall asleep despite his ramblings. Until then, she’d have to indulge him. “Is that so?” she asked.
“I love you so much I could weep," he said lowly, nuzzling her ear. "I never thought I would feel happiness again…and now here I am. You even gave me another child. Not one, but two…the most beautiful baby girls… You’re so tiny, but they’re even smaller. How are you so small yet so strong? I hope the girls will never have to be as strong as you.”
“That’s what we’re working for, right?”
Another nod. “We’ll make the world a better place. Whether it takes ten years or one hundred, there’s nothing you can’t do. You’re just that extraordinary. I love falling asleep with you, waking up with you, holding your hand, reading with you, working with you, training with you… You’re my whole world, my reason for living. Can I kiss you?”
Byleth hummed a sleepy affirmative, feeling her own consciousness drift. Saints, but she was tired…
Seteth’s lips landed on her forehead. “Mo ghràdh…mo chridhe…m'eudail…mo leannan…” He continued mumbling in Nabatean, and if Byleth were more conscious, she might have understood some of the words.
The mumbling eventually devolved into him humming some kind of tune. She placed a finger on his lips. “Shh, it’s time to sleep.”
He sleepily kissed her fingertip. “Am I keeping you awake?”
“Yes.”
“Oh no…forgive me. You sleep… I’ll nurse the girls…”
Byleth turned back over, and Seteth followed to resume spooning her. She planted a kiss on his arm as she brought it around herself, and his lips brushed the back of her neck as his leg entwined with hers. Soon, all was silent once more.