I'd Give Up The World For You

"Huh," Daisy said in response as she continued evenly distributing the dye. "I didn't realize that was a heritable trait. That's cool."

A small smile appeared on Rukelion's face and he spoke without thinking. "There is a chance some of our children might get it too. Personally, I'd rather they have your eyes. They're much prettier."

"Oh please. Two different eyes is way more interesting. They'd look just like you that way, wouldn't they? I read a bit about magic before—well, Ira did—and if there isn't a conflicting magic bloodline involved children will always inherit their parent's powers, right? So they would all have red hair."

"Yes. Are you alright with that?"

"Are you kidding? They'd be way better off with your color. But…um…I didn't realize you wanted kids."

Rukelion could tell Daisy was blushing using his magic. A higher concentration of heat had appeared in her face behind him. Why was that so embarrassing? She had been perfectly fine making love to him yesterday and acted like things were normal this morning!

===

Daisy couldn't believe she was having this conversation with her husband. Or that she had finally given into the madness yesterday.

Part of her felt pathetic for caving in on her principles because of being treated better than she ever had been before and another part of her was relieved. It would be much easier accepting and returning Leo's affection properly since she cared about him so deeply and wanted him to be happy.

And he had been every bit as gentle with her as she would have anticipated. He was obviously inexperienced but more than made up for it with how cherished he made her feel in the process.

Both of them had been radiating sunshine and rainbows all morning since they were finally (mostly) on the same page. Bringing up hypothetical children in the middle of a discussion on a different topic had thrown her for a loop.

When Daisy asked Leo if he wanted kids he replied with a frown in his voice. "I do. Do you not?"

"Well…honestly, I've never put much thought into it. My mom was a train wreck of a person and I don't want to be like her. I don't have much experience with families since I never stayed in one home for long so I wouldn't know where to start being a mother," she confessed.

She hadn't even thought she would find love until he suddenly told her his feelings when she came to the capital. It took her months to realize she had already found it and in a not-sisterly way, unlike what she originally believed.

They had never once talked about having children even in separate hypothetical situations before becoming at all romantically involved. She hadn't realized that was something he wanted to do, though it made sense.

Leo had a happy childhood before his family died. Of course he would want to replicate that.

Daisy hadn't. She had barely managed to survive to adulthood by some miracle and had been terrified of the thought of being responsible for another human being and failing the same way her mother had.

Since she was so single she figured she could cross that bridge when she got to it if she someday got involved with someone who wanted kids. She hadn't expected to cross it like this.

"…Daisy, you've already raised a child," Leo pointed out. "And you must have done a good job considering how often Ira writes you. He wouldn't do that if he didn't miss you and want to stay in touch."

"That's different! He's like me. I couldn't leave him to bounce around forever like I did. You have no idea what that's like," she said sadly.

When Ira first came to her he did everything he was told without a peep of protest and was afraid to show his true personality. He was willing to do whatever she wanted—be whoever she wanted—in order to not get kicked out again.

Daisy knew what that was like. She had been there herself.

"No but I know you, Daisy. Someone with as much love to give as you could never be a bad mother," Leo said with perfect confidence. "There isn't anyone I would trust enough to build a new family with aside from you."

She couldn't help but smile at his belief in her. "Thanks, Leo. I would kiss you but I'd rather not get hair dye on me."

"You can always do it once I've rinsed it out."

Of course that would be his suggestion. She barely managed to stifle a laugh. "I'll keep that in mind."

Daisy's mind wandered back to their original topic and frowned as a thought struck her. "Leo, why does someone interested in fame and fortune need to hide his identity, anyway? Aren't those two things mutually exclusive?"

Leo stiffened so briefly she may have imagined it before relaxing. "I only need the fame and fortune to help accomplish my goal. It isn't the goal in and of itself."

Hmm. He had said before it was only to regain what he had lost…but she didn't know what that entailed. He never mentioned it. "I don't mean to pry…but what is your goal? You've never said."

He went silent for several minutes. "…I want to make a difference in the world. I can't do that if I'm a nobody. I don't want anyone to ever go through what I did again. I can't prevent that if I'm not someone influential."

Daisy's eyes widened. She hadn't realized he had such strong convictions. It was yet another way they were alike. Her not wanting anyone to go through what she had was what made her take him and later Ira in. And here she thought he had wanted to have a cushy life.

There was nothing wrong with that. A lot of people she knew worked solely for that purpose both here and back on earth. She hadn't expected his goal to be so noble.

"I think that's a great goal to have," she said softly.

"Thanks."

She might not understand why he had to hide his identity until that point in time but she would support him anyway. Maybe he thought he couldn't be himself until he was powerful enough that whoever hurt him before couldn't touch him.

Daisy had wondered before if Leo was his real name, a nickname, or something he made up so he couldn't be tracked. If it wasn't the first option…did he miss having his name called as much as she did with everyone else but him? She was his wife and she had decided to spend the rest of her life with him. Shouldn't she know that by now?

"Is Leo short for something?" she asked curiously. "I know this is kind of random but I just thought of it for the first time in a while. You don't have to tell me if you really don't want to but—"

"It is," he told her in an odd tone she couldn't put her finger on.

"And you don't want to tell me."

"It isn't that I don't want to tell you…it's that no one else can know and I'm concerned if you know my name you'll start calling me that regularly like I call you by yours and it might get out. I know you wouldn't do anything on purpose!"

Leo continued floundering but Daisy wasn't mad. His identity was a big deal to him. She had always known this. Whoever he left behind must have eyes everywhere for him to be so paranoid.

"It's fine. Why don't you tell me when you don't have to hide anymore?" she suggested.

He seemed relieved. "Of course. Thanks, Daisy."

"You're welcome. But I have to ask…do you even like being called Leo? Or do you prefer whatever your full name is?"

"I do prefer my full name in general but I like the way you call me Leo so if you're more comfortable with that I don't mind. I've gone by so many names and titles at this point I'm used to pretty much anything."

"That's really sad. I've gone by fake names before the whole Veronica thing but I always struggled to respond to them since I didn't use them for long. This is my longest alias yet so I'm used to it but I'll always prefer Daisy."

"It does suit you better," Leo agreed with a small laugh.

Daisy was intrigued. "How so?"

"Out of all the flowers I've seen daisies somehow seem the most cheerful. There's just something about them that strikes me that way. You're the most cheerful person I've ever met so it fits."

Now it was Daisy's turn to laugh. She thought similarly—about the flowers though, not herself. She always thought daisies were such a friendly flower.

"Now that's a compliment! I'm glad you think so."

"You're very welcome," Leo replied.

She left the hair dye to sit and once that was done he went to rinse it off. When he came back he wanted his kiss and she rolled her eyes but complied before going to make both of them some lunch.

After they had eaten they were spooning on the couch and she sighed contentedly. This was nice. Did she wish she had a good movie to watch while cuddling like this? Yes.. But otherwise everything in the world was perfect.