Unwanted protection

It could be worse (it could be better)

Ink held PJ to his chest as Error escorted them back to his room. As soon as they entered, the artist noticed something. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Ink said: "Ruru?"
His tone must have shown his displeasure, as Error put his (filthy) hands on his shoulders, and cooed: "𝕎𝓱Ａt'ş ⓌяσŇＧ 𝓭σ𝔩𝔩?"
"We don't have a crib."

Not only that, Ink realized, they were missing anything necessary for a newborn, like baby clothes, toys, a pacifier, every moment two more things popped up in Ink's mind; it was bad enough that PJ had been born in awful circumstances, Ink would be damned if he didn't give his child the best possible treatment.

Error hummed, and moved his hands to hug Ink's waist, trapping PJ in between them. The glitch asked: "ᶜＡŇ't t𝓱Ｅ𝕪 ş𝔩ＥＥｐ 𝐢Ň t𝓱Ｅ ᵇＥ𝓭 Ⓦ𝐢t𝓱 𝕌ş?"
The idea was tempting, as Ink doubted that Error would try to initiate anything with a baby in the bed, but the Protector shook his skull.

"No, it's dangerous to have them sleep in the bed with us, we might move and crush them, or even suffocate them."
Ink felt strangely calm and collected: while before, even thinking of objecting made him terrified, he was now holding a discussion with Error, and he wasn't afraid of speaking his mind. He felt so much more empowered and optimistic about the future now, and it was all thanks to the little bundle of joy in his arms.

Ink's grip tightened a bit: he had no illusion of the fact that things would be easier now, with a baby thrown into the mix, but having PJ there with him made him want to fight again.

Error shrugged and said: "𝕎𝓱ＡtＥѶＥя, ⓌＥ'𝔩𝔩 ᵇＥ 𝓬ＡяＥⓕ𝕌𝔩 tσŇ𝐢Ｇ𝓱t ＡŇ𝓭 ι'𝔩𝔩 ştＥＡ𝔩 𝕪σ𝕌 Ａ 𝓬я𝐢ᵇ tσ爪σяяσⓌ."
Ink smiled in what he hoped was a convincing way, and then answered: "Thanks Ruru. We'll probably need a lot of other things as well, babies are hard work."

Error released him and opened the closet, taking out their pajamas.
"үＥＡ𝓱 𝕪ＥＡ𝓱, 𝕪σ𝕌'яＥ t𝓱Ｅ 爪σ爪, נ𝕌şt 爪Ａ𝕂Ｅ 爪Ｅ Ａ 𝔩𝐢şt σⓕ t𝓱𝐢ŇＧş ＡŇ𝓭 ι'𝔩𝔩 ＧＥt t𝓱Ｅ爪 ⓕσя 𝕪σ𝕌."
Ink sat down on the bed, grimacing at the phrasing; he didn't have any problem being PJ's parent, but he knew Error gave the word "mom" very different connotations in his mind.

The Destroyer moved toward Ink, to change him as usual, but then the artist had an idea.
"Ruru, I think it's better if I dress on my own."
Predictably, Error frowned and asked: "𝕎𝓱𝕪? үσ𝕌 𝔩σѶＥ 𝐢t Ⓦ𝓱ＥŇ ι 𝓬𝓱ＡŇＧＥ 𝕪σ𝕌."
It was the opposite, but Ink didn't say that and instead explained: "If you change me, I'll have to put down PJ, and they won't be watched by either of us. It's best if you hold them while I change."
"尺ＥＡ𝔩𝔩𝕪, ķ𝐢𝕂𝐢? ιt'ş נ𝕌şt σŇＥ 爪𝐢Ň𝕌tＥ, t𝓱Ｅ𝕪 ⓌσŇ't 𝓭𝐢Ｅ."
Ink insisted, even if he felt like alarm bells were ringing in his skull.
"But that's the thing, they could! What if they roll off the bed? Or put their face against the sheets? PJ doesn't have enough strength in their arms yet, they'd suffocate!"

He could see Error was about to disagree again, and so he tried something else. He started blinking fast, as if to ward away tears, and then apologized with a small voice: "Sorry, I'm- being stupid right now. They're perfectly safe, it's no big deal. It shouldn't be a big deal." He then forced a small tear out of his eyes "I just want the best for them, you know?"

PJ heard the shift in his tone, and babbled in confusion, trying to wipe his face with their hands. Ink internally smiled, as it almost seemed like PJ was helping him with his act.

As usual, Error didn't know how to deal with his (fake) tears or how to console him, so he did the next best thing, giving Ink what he wanted: "ภσ Ňσ Ňσ ķ𝐢𝕂𝐢, 𝐢t'ş Ａ Ｇσσ𝓭 𝐢𝓭ＥＡ, 𝓭σŇ't ｐ𝕌t 𝕪σ𝕌яşＥ𝔩ⓕ 𝓭σⓌŇ 𝔩𝐢𝕂Ｅ t𝓱Ａt! tＥ𝔩𝔩 𝕪σ𝕌 Ⓦ𝓱Ａt, ι'𝔩𝔩 𝓭σ 𝐢t, ＡⓕtＥя Ａ𝔩𝔩, 𝐢t'ş נ𝕌şt Ａ 爪𝐢Ň𝕌tＥ."
"Thank you Ruru, you're so sweet."