The Homemaker [Spy X Family fic]

The Basics of Raising a Child

You were in the middle of cooking while humming along a song that was being played in the radio when you heard the door to your apartment clicked open.

Turning off the stove, you stepped back into the living room.

"Welcome back," you greeted with a smile, only to blink at the sight of your husband carrying a sleeping Anya, the groceries and a bunch of books in his arms. "What-?"

"I stopped by the library to get some child-rearing books for reference," was all he could say about his circumstance.

Again, you blinked at him. "Oh. Well, it can't be that easy carrying all that at once. Here," you stepped closer to him, your arms reaching for Anya, "Give her to me. I'll tuck her in."

"Thanks." Passing her to you, you carried your tiny cargo straight to her room.

Once you had placed her in the bed, you remembered to fetch her doll by the nightstand before tucking them both under the blankets. With that done, you stepped back to watch for a few moments, eyes softening at seeing your daughter sleeping so comfortably despite her new environment.

You paused.

Daughter, huh?

You never thought you would have one. In fact, not once did it cross your mind that the opportunity will come after receiving the news of your infertility. And now here you were - the mother of one little Anya Forger.

Unconsciously, a smile slowly spread on your lips.

Shaking those thoughts off, you made sure to leave the door slightly open before heading back towards the kitchen, intending to finish cooking lunch. However, you paused when you saw your husband, now dressed down in shirts and loose pants, sitting by the living room as he began to read on the books he brought home.

"The basic of raising a child is trust," he said, "Accept them rather than scold them, and have the same perspective as them. A child cannot express their feelings through words as well. We should take a hint." Closing the book, he replaced it with another one from the stack on the coffee table.

"So in short, we shouldn't interrogate her?" you summarized, walking over to take a seat beside him and taking a book for yourself out of curiosity.

"That seems to be the case," Loid replied. He stared at the books before him and sighed heavily. "Do the parents of the world normally have to deal with all of this all the time? Seems complicated."

You chuckled at that. "Well, that's parenthood in a nutshell. There's no such thing as easy mode when it comes to raising kids."

He hummed and started reading again. "Develop their self-esteem for their future by helping your children to learn to think for themselves one day..."

"Sounds about right. Kids should learn how to be independent after all," you remarked as you flipped to another page. Eventually, you gave up and placed it back on the table, prompting Loid also gave up on reading.

However, seeing him looking so troubled bothered you leaned your head to his shoulder and rubbed his arm in comfort.

"Don't stress yourself much about it, okay? As long as we have each other, I believe we'll be able to do her right and raise her into a properly well-adjusted kid. Besides," you continued, "They say that raising kids are all about trial and error. It's supposed to be something a parent have to experience in order to learn."

"I guess you're right." Gazing at you with a fond smile, he then reached to caress your cheek. "How on earth could I ever be so lucky to have married such a wise woman?"

You giggled as you let you him pull you to a kiss.