Mending Mistakes and Patching Broken Hearts

Chapter 2

When Dream woke the morning after all his reminiscing, he was not expecting to find Death hovering over him. He yelped and scooted backwards, more frightened by her sudden appearance than Kristin herself. After realizing who she was, Dream relaxed and slumped back against the wall.

"Hello, Kristin," He murmured, smiling slightly.

"Hey Dream." The goddess frowned at his state. She had known that the prison wasn't treating him well. but she hadn't been expecting to find the mess of a man in front of her.

His hair had grown out, shoulder length and horribly tangled. Blood caked his orange prison jumpsuit, and his mask was missing. His usually bright green eyes seemed dull and lifeless.

"So," She continued, getting right to business. "I sensed that if I didn't do something about you being stuck in here soon, you would die. and as much as I love caring for him, growing up in the Underworld would not be good for your son."

Dream perked up at this. Did she mean what he thought she meant?

"So I am going to interfere." Before Dream could speak, Kristin snapped her fingers and light flooded his vision. Squinting, he let his eyes adjust to the daylight before opening them fully. The bedraggled man gasped at the sight before him. 

He and Kristin stood on a hill overlooking a bright, grassy valley. On two sides, the east and west, the valley was sheltered by tall rolling hills. Dream and Kristin were standing on the west hills. On the other two sides, forests of oak trees blocked both entrances to the valley. The soft grass beneath their feet and the sunlight was a rather harsh contrast from the jagged obsidian and dull orange glow of the lava in the prison. 

For a few moments Dream simply stood, taking in all the sights. Along with the light, the sounds and smells were assaulting his senses. Birds were chirping, cows were mooing, there was a brook gurgling somewhere in the south woods. A light wind, bringing with it the scent of recent rain, caught Dream's nose. He breathed it in, basking in the wonder of the outside world. 

Soon, though, he remembered more urgent matters. "Why did you bring me here?" He asked, turning to the woman beside him. She smiled gently.

"This can be your new home, if you wish. I will teleport your son here so you may be reunited, and together you can start a new life. I will provide you with starting tools, but otherwise it will be as if you just created a new world. What do you think?" 

The man's eyes filled with tears, but refused to let them fall. "I- think that's a wonderful idea. Are you sure?"

"Of course. Would you like me to bring him now?"

"Please!" Kristin snapped her fingers again and the baby appeared, Dream hurrying to catch him and cradle him close. The tears he had been holding back were finally released, as he sobbed holding his baby for the first time in weeks. 

The baby cooed, looking up at his father with bright eyes. He made soft burbling sounds, and reached up to Dream with his tiny hands. The small fingers held the sides of Dream's face, and the child laughed with delight.

Seeing that her friend was now completely occupied with his son, Kristin summoned a chest full of supplies and slowly returned to the Underworld. Death smiled as she faded away, watching the two old each other close. And she vowed that it would be a long time before she came to claim either of them, even if she had to break a few godly rules in the process. 

======

After realizing Kristin had disappeared and a chest full of supplies had taken her place, Dream got to work. His first order of business, creating a sling to carry the baby in. If Dream was going to be starting completely fresh, he couldn't be worrying about holding his son. And he certainly couldn't put him on the ground, XD knew that child loved to crawl away as soon as his dad wasn't looking. 

So Dream set out to look for cows. After somehow managing to collect a few pieces of leather while holding a baby, he took out the crafting table provided by Kristin. As far as he knew there wasn't a recipe for the thing he had to create, but the table would provide a good work station. 

Dream cut, sewed, and knotted strips of leather, and after an hour had finished the baby carrier. He looped it around his chest, and settled the child into the front. Now his back was against Dream's chest, held securely in place by leather straps. The child cooed, inspecting the odd contraption encircling his father's torso. 

Now that he was secure, the second order of business was to stop calling him 'the child' or 'the baby'. See, Dream had never named his son. At first he wasn't sure it was really his, and as soon as it had been confirmed Haws had shown up. After that, Dream was never sure if the baby was going to survive.. So he didn't name it, as an attempt to distance himself from it and not allow it to be used against him. That had been in vain, of course. 

But now they were out of danger, and he needed a name. Out of nowhere, a name popped into Dream's head. He wondered where the idea came from, but despite his confusion, the name seemed to be perfect. He said it out loud, and the newly named child looked up at him, seemingly happy. 

"Alright," Dream smiled, glad that his son liked the chosen name. "Welcome to the world, Connor Wastaken."

~~~~~

Soon, a middle name was added. Occasionally, Dream would set Connor down on the ground as he worked, being sure to keep an eye on him. When Connor wasn't trying to crawl away and get himself killed by various mobs, he was sitting right next to Dream's legs. 

He would grab his dad's leg...

Bring the pants to his mouth...

And chew on the fabric. 

Dream caught him soon enough, but nothing he did would get Connor to drop the new habit. So he decided nothing could be done, and instead made the odd habit into an opportunity. And thus, the child was dubbed Connor Eatspants Wastaken. 

Dream: Connor stop chewing on my pants!

Connor: NOM

Dream: *removes his pants from Connor's mouth*

Connor:

Dream:

Connor:

Dream:

Connor: WAAAAHHHHH 

Dream: I'M SORRY I'M SORRY HERE HAVE IT BACK

Connor: *tears miraculously disappear* *smiles happily and goes back to eating*

Dream: You little shi-