Thin Lines - A Markiplier Fanfic

Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Mark’s POV

Becoming a parent was a huge change. It gave Claire and I a whole new lifestyle. It made us both busier. It eliminated most of the free time we had. It decreased the amount of sleep we got every day, and at times, it stressed us out. A lot, sometimes. But, it was worth it. It was so, so worth it.

Persephone was a good baby. Of course, she cried, she fussed, and she was ornery, but overall, she was good. My mom said it, my brother said it, Claire’s parents said it, and even Claire and I agreed. I had expected parenting to be extremely difficult, especially with the first child. It was hard so far, but it was very much doable. I knew we would face more challenges as Persephone got older, but we just focused on the present.

“Hello everybody, my name is Markiplier…” I started to record a video one morning, about a month after Persephone was born. Almost as soon as I started, I heard her crying. I knew Claire was with her, but I couldn’t help myself. I stopped recording, removed my headphones, and made my way into the living room. Claire walked out of the kitchen with a bottle in her hand. Persephone was in her swing. It appeared that she had just woken up from her nap and realized that it was time to eat. All was well.

“I thought you were recording,” Claire said, setting down the bottle so she could get Persephone out of the swing.

“I was, but I heard her crying and I wanted to make sure everything was okay,” I explained. “It’s not like I was completely in the middle of something. I had barely started, anyways.”

“Go make your videos, Mark. I’ve got this. You know I’d tell you if I needed help with her,” she reminded me. Now she was sitting on the couch feeding Persephone, who was content again. She was definitely on a schedule - she knew exactly when she was due for a bottle.

“I don’t have to do anything right this second. I’ll take her if you want,” I suggested.

“I can handle it. You can have a turn the next time she’s due for a bottle, though. I’ll probably need a break then.”

“Okay. You know where I’ll be if you need something.”

I went back to the office and finished the video. I got done editing and uploading it by the time Persephone was hungry again. At exactly 1pm on the dot, she began crying. The bottle wasn’t heated up completely yet, so I held her and bounced her. She calmed down a little bit, but she still wasn’t satisfied until she got the bottle. When she was done with it and had burped, she was as happy as ever. She smiled and laughed and made noises. She loved it when I acted silly. It almost always could cheer her up. I didn’t hold back around her at all anymore. Claire was pretty accustomed to my shenanigans, but I noticed her watching me play with Persephone and she was grinning ear to ear.

“What are you smiling at?” I inquired.

“You! And her. You’re so good with her,” she answered.

“I didn’t think I would be,” I admitted.

“Well, sometimes I think she likes you more than me.”

“And sometimes I think she likes you more. But none of that’s true, Claire. She loves us both, for different reasons. She’s so young, she just wants someone to care for her. I think we’re both doing a pretty good job with her.”

“Yeah, I guess we are,” she decided. It was silent for a moment, but then she spoke again. “Maybe the reason she likes you so much is because you always steal her away from me,” she laughed.

“I do not!”

“Yes you do! You always try to take her when I’m feeding her or putting her to sleep or whatever I’m doing. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I can tell that you really care a lot, though. Pretty much anytime she’s crying, you make sure she’s okay, even if you know I have her. You stop anything and everything to be with her if you need to. It’s a good thing, Mark.”

“I do care a lot. I can’t help but care. When people said we’d fall in love with her, they were on point. It happened so fast and I already worry about her,” I said.

“I do too. What are parents for?” Claire laughed.

“Good point,” I chuckled.

Claire and I had to sacrifice a lot of time when Persephone was born, of course, but I felt so lucky that I was still able to make time for my Youtube channel. When I could, I would do mass recordings to that I could have backup videos in case I had a really busy day or night with Persephone, but I almost always uploaded two videos a day still. It was difficult at times, but I did everything I could to keep things at the same rate and quality for my fans as it had been before. I didn’t want to have to change things for them just because I had a new addition in my life, but at the same time, I always put Persephone before any of my fans. That was just the way it had to be. Fortunately, my fans understood that, and they made it known that it was okay if I uploaded less on some days or if lifestreams were shorter or if I had to make other changes or sacrifices. They were mostly mature and understanding about everything, which was wonderful. I couldn’t ask for a better fan base than the one I had. There was still drama and problems occasionally, but it didn’t usually compare to other fan bases out there. My channel and subscribers were, no doubt, the first love of my life. When I was younger, I might have argued that it was a girl instead, but now I knew that I had been wrong. My channel was my first love, Claire was my second, and Persephone was my third, not that order mattered. All three meant the world to me, and I could never explain how grateful I am to have them in my life. They are my everything. I hope to God that I never have to go through losing any of them.

Hey guys! I hate to say it, but I'm going to write an epilogue for this story, and that's it. It's almost the end of Thin Lines! And please don't even try to convince me to write more for this story, because it's not going to happen. I appreciate that you want more, but unfortuntaely I am not going to write any more than an epilogue. Don't worry, though, I know you're going to love the epilogue! And I'm sure I'll write more Markiplier One Shots once this story has ended, because I'm going to miss writing about the King of the Squirrels! Well, anyways, please vote if you enjoyed the chapter and let me know what you thought of it! Thanks for sticking with this story, and I will see YOU in the epilogue. Bye bye! :)