The apartment was unnervingly quiet when they finally got home late the next afternoon.

It was to be expected to some extent-- no matter how well behaved the Pokemon were, the safe thing to do was keep them in their pokeballs until it was time to introduce them-- but ran so counter to all lived experience here that it was honestly a little off-putting.

Admittedly, though, Ingo was already a bit anxious, so that observation might have been unique to him.

At times, it was difficult to believe it was finally over. This had been such a distant station for so long that sometimes he didn’t believe it unless he had one of the passengers in his arms, physical evidence that no, it wasn’t just his tired mind. They really were here.

While he didn’t particularly relish revisiting their arrival, that also served as a useful reminder; there was no way that kind of all-encompassing pain could have been a figment of his imagination.

Regardless, it was real and the trouble-- while unasked for-- had been worth it in the end. Rael and Kari officially existed, and they were finally allowed to take them home.

With an entire host of lingering aches peeking through his prescribed pain regimen to remind him just how real it had been, he didn’t fight against being steered to his bedroom first thing, but only fully relaxed once his sons were set down in their bassinets where he could keep an eye on them.

“You’ve already learned to watch them like a Braviary, have you? Good. It might save you some trouble in the future.” Drayden mused, stepping back so he wouldn’t obstruct the line of sight. He only briefly lost contact with his own son, hand raising to make the short commute from a shoulder up, letting his knuckles carefully trace the younger parent’s cheek. “Still doing alright?”

“The trip up was a bit much.” Ingo confessed, perhaps a bit more bluntly than he ordinarily would, but there was little reason to hide the truth; if he wasn’t honest with what with what he was feeling, it might cause something to go overlooked, and nobody wanted a return visit to the hospital.

Drayden gave a low, acknowledging hum and stepped away from the bed entirely. “See if you can’t get some sleep. If that isn’t enough, you should be able to take another dose of your painkillers soon. Resting would get you through the bulk that wait easily enough.”

“I wasn’t aware I had a choice in the matter.” Ingo said dryly, gingerly maneuvering himself to where he could lay down in full. At best, his initial position could be called a dramatic lean against his headboard-- difficult to maintain given his currently-shaky core strength-- so the change was a welcome one.

There was a brusque “You don’t.” from the opposite side of the hallway, perfectly clear through both of the open doors as Emmet rummaged around in his own bedroom.

He appeared in the doorway several seconds later, a set of pokeball lock boxes tucked under one arm, “We’ve discussed this. 5-5-5. That begins with five days in bed.”

“I wasn’t threatening to get up and begin roaming.” Ingo said, and nodded to the storage boxes to signal the change of topic, “Would an hour be fair? I don’t want to leave them locked up for too long. However, we won’t be ready to introduce them immediately after. The passengers will need to eat. You’re well aware of how long that can take.”

Eyes roving over the pair in question, Emmet snorted, though a sharp rebuke from the living room precluded any further commentary. With a guilty duck of his head, he stepped aside so Drayden could pass him, then turned his attention back to his twin. “Then the itinerary will remain subject to change until you are able to accurately determine your condition.”

“Can I save you the trouble and offer ‘less than ideal’?” Contrary though it was to the point he was trying to make, he closed his eyes. “I understand what station of thought you’re coming from. But I can handle the Pokemon.”

“Under normal circumstances, yes. But they will be verrrry excited. I want to ensure that you are prepared for that.”

“So long as I’m able to rest for a short while beforehand, I will be. They’ve been waiting. There’s no reason to put it off.”

Emmet hummed, dissatisfied, but was willing to do him the favor of not arguing for now. “We will see.”

He heard the overhead light click off and, without opening his eyes, said into the darkness, “Give me just an hour and I’ll manage.”

“Okay.” His twin echoed back, voice low, “One hour.”

And, with that, he eased the door shut, leaving Ingo alone with the gentle wisps of their sons’ breathing.

--

It was early evening when Ingo did wake up-- not because his brother had followed through, but because Rael was starting to fuss. His actual waking point wasn’t so much later than it should have been, but the delay was undoubtedly a lot for the newborns, given that neither had even forty hours of lived experience yet.

He might have been annoyed, but then he’d heard snoring through the door and any of the slow-to-condense irritation evaporated. No harm done; he could feed the boys without too much trouble, and it would give him the chance to gauge just how soon he needed to take his next round of medication. There was no need to disturb anyone else.

His brother had made sure he was able to rest, so the least he could do was return the favor.

In its own way, it was nice to have a quiet moment alone with his sons. Much as he loved Emmet, he had a tendency to distract everyone involved, which made the already-tricky process of getting the two to eat that much harder. Now that he had the chance to try it absent that diversion, he could verify that the difference was… slim, but there.

Okay. So his twin had something resembling a point. There was something funny about the fact that the passengers simply didn’t know anything yet.

Rael nuzzled into his chest, the tips of the infant’s ring and middle finger trapped in Kari’s mouth, and he was forced to amend the thought: they did know how to be cute. And how to scream. Fortunately, they only chose to apply their knowledge of one such art for the time being.

Allowing the two to nap there undisturbed would only benefit them, and so-- after a moment to remove Rael’s hand from Kari’s person-- he settled back down.

Maybe it was just a matter of perception, but they seemed smaller now than they had while he was carrying them. What he’d once described as a Roggenrola or Lechonk now felt more akin to a pair of Pidove roosting together to preserve warmth in the harsh outside world.

He’d nurtured them this far. It would be harder from here on out, but he would do his best to keep them safe and happy beneath his wing.

Eventually, there was a break in the snoring across the way, followed by a series of hurried thumps and a hastily-opened door, confirming that yes, his brother had been audible through two separate walls. He breathed out a laugh, but was unable to redirect it in its entirety; Kari protested the minute disruption with a wet coo that could give Eelektross a run for his money.

A hesitant knock connected with the door, and he wasn’t surprised that Emmet admitted himself without waiting for a response, likely in the hopes of providing a softer wake up call.

Ingo resisted the urge to chuckle at the look on his brother’s face as a tired mind connected the dots.

“Good—” He paused, shifting only enough to sneak a glance at the clock, “Evening. How can we help you?”

“You’re awake.” Emmet said, somewhat unnecessarily, followed by, “How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough to see these two fed.”

“Ah.” Something displeased pulled at his expression as he turned to rifle through the-- admittedly now somewhat disorganized-- hospital bag, rooting around for the bottle of pain relievers. “What do you need right now? It should be time for more medicine...”

Watching him over their sons’ heads, Ingo leaned back into the angle he’d found most comfortable thus far, short of laying flat on his back. “It would be prudent to stay on schedule, you’re correct. After that, however, I’d like to begin acclimating the Pokemon to Rael and Kari’s presence.”

Back still turned, Emmet paused, cocking his head to one side. “Are you certain? They will behave. But they are still a lot to deal with.”

“I need to be realistic. While I’m able to take care of the passengers, in this state, protecting them is… a stop beyond my capabilities for the foreseeable future.” He bit back a sigh, channeling that energy into mussing the fuzz atop Rael’s head, “If it comes to it, I know you’ll do everything in your power to ensure their safety, but wouldn’t it help to have nine more sets of eyes watching out for them, just in case?”

As he turned, Emmet scoffed, “That would not be a multi battle. That would be a free for all.”

When he drew nearer, he wasted no time in setting the bottle of painkillers onto the night stand, freeing his attention up for the passengers instead-- and after a moment to run a hand over either of their heads, he glanced up to his yet-unofficial co-parent. “If you are sure, I will go get them.”

Unable to incline his head under the current arrangement, Ingo settled for, “I’m sure.”

Emmet nodded in his brother’s stead and slinked away to fetch the boxes.

It gave Ingo a few extra minutes to prepare, though, admittedly, that mostly consisted of steeling himself for various expressions of excitement.

Truthfully, he didn’t have the energy for much right now, but Elesa’s concern from months prior buzzed at the back of his mind, urging him to make sure precautions were in place. As weak as he was, he had no reliable way to personally defend his sons should Arceus set hoof in their lives; if anything, as he recovered from their arrival, he was a liability.

This was the culmination of what he’d been taught over and over in the time that led here: he could lean on their family when his own strength flagged.

And flag it had.

It was a massive relief when, in addition to the lock boxes, Emmet returned with a newly-filled water bottle.

Once medications were taken and all humans were arranged accordingly, Emmet opened the first container. To their Pokemons’ credit, each of the pokeballs remained closed, though the vast majority showed signs of movement.

“Galvantula first.” Ingo decided, anticipating the question almost before his twin turned to consult him. She would be the most enthusiastic, but also the best mannered-- a good metric from which to judge behavior and to ensure the passengers were still doing well, “We’ll set a pace from there, depending on how they react. As much as I’d like to introduce everyone tonight, that may not be feasible.”

“They will manage for one more night.” Emmet said, voice characteristically blank, but expression sympathetic as he extracted Galvantula’s pokeball. He made sure to release her on the floor, where she was able to get a sense for what was going on without immediately being in the thick of things.

As she set her forelegs on the edge of the bed, Ingo secured his hold on Kari and Rael, insulating them from the mild jostling.

Galvantula went still for several seconds-- eyes working furiously as she studied the tableau-- and then backed off, turning each of those eyes to Emmet, pleading.

“Be gentle.” He told her, which she correctly took to be permission, and scurried under the bed to scale its other side. She made a spider-line over, confident that her tracks wouldn’t cause harm while on the empty portion of the mattress, but slowed as soon as she drew nearer, placing each leg with a painstaking deliberateness.

Unlike when they’d been introduced to Chandelure and Eelektross, neither baby seemed inclined to pay her any attention-- soothed back to slumber by a full belly and familiar heartbeats-- leaving Galvantula to observe them in a resting state. And observe she did. She watched for a full minute, unmoving save for her searching eyes, and didn’t make any attempt to establish contact.

When she finally did flex her pedipalps, it was to shove them into Ingo’s face, relaying her feelings to someone who was both awake and mature enough to appreciate them. He spent a second sputtering around the haphazard mouthful of fur, which convinced her to back off by the smallest margin; the limbs still wandered, affectionately running over the side of his head.

Watching from the corner of his eyes, so as not to incur another overeager nuzzling, he asked, “I take it they pass inspection?”

She chittered, soft and excited, next to his ear.

“Good,” He said, teasing, “I’ll have you know I worked quite hard on them.”

Her next noise was hard to interpret; resolute, but content. Pride, perhaps? Pedipalps stilling, she set her head down on Ingo’s shoulder to resume watching, breathing out a long, sustained trill.

She stayed right there as first Crustle, and then Excadrill were given the chance to investigate. The former set his rock down right next to the bed and climbed atop it, giving himself a unique vantage point, and the latter, while far more curious and less collected than Galvantula, was achingly gentle as she padded to and fro. Taking a cue from the bugs, she hadn’t made any move to encroach on the infants’ space, and like Galvantula, turned her enthusiasm elsewhere. She gave one of her trainer’s hands a tentative little lick before backing off and begging for Emmet to pick her up, where she snuggled in and set her chin on his arm to keep an eye out.

“I think that is enough for tonight.” Emmet said over her head, scratching idly through the fur of her neck, “We will tackle the rowdies another time.”

Part of Ingo wanted to argue, but it was drowned out by the parts that were thoroughly exhausted in spite of how little he’d done since waking. He tried to remind himself that it was ridiculous to expect more from his body right now. The bruises from being grabbed by Cofagrigus had taken days to heal, so even if the pain had been dulled, how could he possibly have recovered from giving birth less than forty eight hours after the fact?

When he didn’t raise an argument, Emmet set Excadrill down on the foot of the bed, brushed any lingering fur from his person, and laid a hand on Rael’s back. It was the precursor to asking permission to pick him up, and while Ingo took no issue with the request, he dipped his head and pressed a kiss to the baby’s crown before allowing it.

With the boy tucked securely for the incredibly short commute to the first of the bassinets, Emmet mimicked the gesture, lingering for just a moment to tell Rael, “You do not even know what is coming tomorrow.”

Wrapping his unoccupied arm around Kari, Ingo rolled his eyes. His son continued to drool against him. Under different circumstances, it might have bothered him-- and it likely would if given the chance to dry-- but, for now, he ignored it and slowly ran a thumb back and forth against the base of the newborn’s skull. Once their respective brothers had parted ways, he moved to give Kari a kiss as well, and let him be ferried to bed, too.

In the time it took Emmet to get the both of them settled, Crustle relocated his rock to watch over the two more effectively, and Excadrill picked a path up to the head of the bed, where she took up the younger set of twins’ place flopped on Ingo’s chest. Carefully maneuvering her crest so as not to poke him, she too offered a goodnight kiss, eliciting an involuntary laugh as he instinctively raised his chin to get away from her tongue. When he did so, he got another face full of yellow fuzz.

“Good girls.” He heard Emmet mutter, and risked turning his head to look. When his brother noticed the attention on him, his hand stilled in the middle of petting down Crustle’s carapace, standing sentinel over the bassinets. “You were correct. It will be verrrry helpful to have the extra eyes onboard. I can be certain they will tattle if you get too ambitious.”

“I’m afraid I left my ambition at work.”

Emmet scoffed and stepped nearer, this time placing a hand atop his twin’s head and, with the other, motioned toward the passengers. “You cannot lie to me. I was at the hospital. I saw how much effort it took to get them here.”

Ingo went quiet for a moment, thoroughly pinned, and eventually said, “Thank you. I know it must have been… unpleasant, but your presence meant a great deal.”

The hand on his head curled, nails scraping lightly-- affectionately-- against his scalp, “I wanted to be there. For you. For them.” There was a beat of silence, “Also for me. I am unsure what I would have done if you had not wanted me with you.”

“Ah. Then it’s fortunate you won’t ever have to find out.”