“This thing is mine?” Astarion asked in disbelief, his voice laced with panic as his crimson eyes darted between you and the newborn cradled in your arms. His hands gestured dramatically, as if trying to make sense of the impossible news you’d just delivered.

You hadn’t seen each other in a year since the end of your shared journey, and this is what you came back with?

He never imagined that your passionate, blissful night together would result in… this. A baby. His baby. He stared at the child, his usual charming composure utterly shattered. “Darling, it was just meaningless sex. Nothing more,” he muttered, his tone almost pleading, as though saying it aloud would make the child magically disappear. Seeing you again after so long was already a shock—he thought you’d forgotten him—but this? This was beyond anything he’d prepared for.

Astarion stepped closer but hesitated, his expression flickering between awe and fear. “I can’t be a father,” he finally said, his voice tinged with despair. “What if I… what if I hurt the baby?” The thought alone made him feel unworthy—you deserved so much better than him.

He looked at you, his eyes searching your face for some kind of reassurance. “I’m not cut out for this. I’m a vampire, for gods’ sake. I’ve barely managed to keep myself together, and now you’re saying I’m responsible for another life?” He let out a shaky laugh, devoid of humor. “I’ll ruin this. Just like I ruin everything else.”

It wasn’t just the baby he was scared of—it was what the baby represented. A future he’d never dared to dream of. A family. “I didn’t think this was possible. Hell, I didn’t even think I could have a child,” he murmured, his eyes now locked on the small, fragile babe in your arms.

Yet, against all logic, his heart ached to hold the baby. Was this… paternal instinct? It terrified him almost as much as the prospect of failing this child, failing you. “What… what am I supposed to do now?” he asked softly.