Sorcery (Louis Tomlinson)

• Extra: New Responsibilities •

Just the same with Mother's Day, I felt I had to shine a spotlight on the amazing person that is Mira's dad since it's Father's Day. Hope you enjoy, and be sure to tell your fathers how much you appreciate them today!

Mark Lane was exhausted.

It had been a long day, too long. He had been running around the house the whole time: finding a toy, finding the pack of clean diapers he had just bought, finding his daughter's bottle. He was a tiny boat in a stormy ocean, completely at mercy of fatherhood's twists and turns.

He had thought everything would be easy and downhill from here. It was a few months after he had left He had found a nice little home in a remote little town by Santa Fe, managed to keep Nox off of their trail, and also somehow managed to get his newborn daughter to go to sleep in her crib just down the hallway. How wrong he had been.

Still, Mark was taking this one day at a time. He had promised Amelie he would protect his baby, and he wasn't about to break his promise.

He had changed into some comfortable pajamas, brushed his teeth, and finally prepared to get some sleep after a long and tiring day. Mark knew he would need his full strength the next day, his daughter deserved it.

Just as Mark had turned the lights off, yawning and struggling to keep his eyes open, he heard the loud wail of a baby crying from the little baby monitor on a side table next to his bed.

Without a second thought, Mark took off in a full sprint towards the room next to his, heart pounding with fear.

What if Allister found her?

What if the curse didn't work?

What if the curse worked too well?

All kinds of questions were running through Mark's head as he raced to the white crib inside the nursery, closing his eyes and sighing in relief when he saw his baby girl safe and sound, just a bit fussy.

"Shh, Mira, it's ok. Daddy's here." He whispered to his daughter as he reached into the crib and pulled her out, cuddling her into his chest to calm her down. Mira's tiny fists clenched her father's t-shirt as tightly as they could, blue eyes closed as she kept crying.

"Shh, don't cry. It's okay." Mark kept whispering, trying to get his daughter to bed so he could finally get sleep. Just a few hours of rest, that's all he needed. He could live with that.

Mark let out a groan of frustration as Mira kept crying loudly, nowhere near sleepy like he wanted her to be.

Fatherhood was kicking his butt if he was to be perfectly honest. He didn't know the first thing about parenting, he even bought one of those parenting books from a Terran bookstore to make sure he wasn't feeding his daughter too much or too little or doing something else that would harm her. That would be the last thing he needed. Sure, he had brushed over childbirth and healing children when he was still in school, but Mark never really gave any of those a second thought. He had always figured his child would be easy going and calm like him.

Of course, as Fate would have it, instead he got the most stubborn and headstrong baby ever.

Mira only ever ate when she wanted, which was usually late at night or whenever Mark had just laid down for a quick power nap. She only ever fell asleep whenever she was held, and at times it seemed like she cried nonstop.

Mark would've never imagined raising a baby to be this hard.

If Amelie was there, he was sure Mira would be better taken care of. From day one Amelie seemed to have a connection with Mira that Mark could never understand. Mira always behaved for Amelie, and Amelie always seemed to know when Mira needed something.

Mark hadn't even mastered changing a diaper before Amelie had passed, what kind of father was he?

There were times when he had self-doubt, when he truly believed he wasn't strong enough or smart enough to properly take care of his little girl. He was trying his best, but he always lived with the fear that he would end up harming her more than helping. He had already cursed her heart, what greater harm could he do to her?

"Come on Mira." He murmured to his still-crying baby, carrying the tiny child out of the nursery and into the living room.

His limited knowledge about why babies cried made him believe Mira may be hungry or just afraid from being alone. After heading into the kitchen and setting a baby bottle in the microwave, Mark carried his daughter over to the couch and sat down with her in his arms.

He kissed her on the forehead to try and comfort her, and his vision changed.

All the images were blurry and distorted, but Mark could see his wife and him preparing to leave their other home the night when Nox was coming for them. He sensed the fear in the tiny baby as she watched her mother prepare to fight, her father preparing to run.

Even at a very young age, Mira knew something was wrong.

Mark came back into reality with a sudden understanding. Mira wasn't hungry or tired, she missed her mother.

"I miss her too, baby girl." Mark whispered to Mira, whose cries had lessened as she was held tight by her father. Mark kissed her on the forehead again, trying to show her she wasn't all alone. She still had him. "I miss her so much."

When the microwave beeped loudly, Mark got up and took Mira to the kitchen. He tested the bottle with baby formula inside to see if it was too hot before holding it to Mira, watching as she drank it hungrily.

"You were hungry too? You're just never satisfied are you?" Mark teased, walking back to the living room and sitting on the couch. His eyes looked over his beautiful girl with extreme adoration, his arms careful to keep her tiny head up and keep her safe.

"You always keep me on my toes." He whispered, finding irony in his current situation.

He remembered thinking how delicate and helpless babies were once he first held Mira. They were small and completely dependent on someone else for everything: safety, comfort, food, love. They needed someone to look after them all of the time, and rewarded that person with unconditional love and care.

Now take him: before he met Amelie he was independent and completely capable of taking care of himself. If he got hurt, he could heal himself. He could get himself food or drink or anything else he needed and he there were times where he could be all alone and not really care.

But now? Now someone completely helpless and innocent needed him to take care of them, and he admitted it was a hard change to get used to.

Still, through all the hardship, he didn't regret anything. He would be there for his little girl no matter what.

She had been brought into this world and already threatened by an uncle she didn't even know she had. To Mark, Mira was the epitome of innocence and all things good, and that was something he needed to protect in the increasingly darker world he was living in. Mira was his light, and he would keep her safe and glowing bright.

Mark had smiled faintly when Mira's tiny arms pushed the bottle away when she was full, her mouth yawning.

"Ready to go to sleep, baby girl?" He asked softly, rubbing her back gently as he watched her tiny eyes close. They weren't grey anymore, having long ago turned his wife's dark blue. Just when Mark thought she couldn't look anymore like Amelie, Mira proved him wrong.

"Let's get you to bed." He whispered, carrying Mira back to her nursery and placing her on her back in the crib. Mira's tiny fingers had latched onto his as he laid her down, and it took some wriggling to get her to release them. Mark chuckled as Mira finally let go, falling asleep peacefully a few moments later.

"Goodnight, my little protector. Daddy will be here when you wake up in the morning." Mark promised, casting a spell of good dreams for his daughter. The glittering purple sparkles fell onto her and disappeared when they hit her skin, a soft sound being heard from baby Mira as the dreams began.

"Daddy will always be here for you."