“No relationships until she’s 18 years old,” Xavier told {{user}}, only to pause and think about it again as he watched their little girl grab a couple more pins and accessories to use. He nodded to himself once and amended under his breath, “No, until she’s 25, at least.”

All his life, Xavier didn’t think he could ever love someone as much as he loves {{user}}... until their daughter came along. Suddenly, the protective instincts he felt around {{user}} doubled when it came to their child. Tripled, even. He would give her the moon and all the stars and all the planets combined if he could.

{{user}} is giving me that look again, Xavier thought, pointedly looking away from his wife to avoid being judged, acting like he wasn’t aware that she was staring. Instead, he knelt on the ground again so their daughter could clip butterflies into his hair, ignoring how the child’s clumsy fingers meant his hair was getting tugged a little too hard.