Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

First Word

He was a first-time father to a child that really wasn't his own.

Rocinante, best known as Corazon by his elder brother's friends, was slumped on the couch sleepily. He was close to dozing off but the constant 'thump-thump-thump' on the wooden floor prevented him from doing so. A mop of raven hair darted to and fro within his line of vision, tired eyes following with their gaze where the downy locks were going. Corazon stifled a yawn and straightened up from his seat, the corners of his lips tugging up in a smile as the small face of the other occupant of his house looked at him with a frown.

"Oi, don't look at me like that, Law!"Corazon said as he stood up and approached the six month-old baby. He stopped in front of Law and crossed his arms over his broad chest. "I've washed the dishes, did the laundry, and bought you that polar bear plushie! Don't give me that look as if I'm forgetting something!"

Law narrowed his grey eyes at Corazon's last sentence. The blond blinked and knelt in front of the baby.

"What? I... forgot something?"

As a response, the baby tugged Corazon's pinky finger once before proceeding to crawl towards the couch. The blond followed Law dutifully and watched as the baby settled in front of the couch, pointed at the television and whined while doing so. Corazon ooh-ed in understanding and grabbed the remote control from the coffee table. He turned the television on and switched from the sports channel to the kiddie shows. Law whined angrily to the older male's amusement and switched to the channel showing Doflamingo's favorite anime. Law clapped his small, chubby hands and squealed happily as the hero of the show appeared on screen. Corazon watched as the hero's arm stretched meters in length to retrieve his funny straw hat.

Corazon first saw Law in front of the local church, the infant lying inside a basket and a note clutched in his tiny fist. The church was closed that day, and when the blond heard pitiful sobs from the basket, he went to investigate and saw the baby in it. It was winter, the snow falling in sheets. Who in their right minds would leave a vulnerable baby outside and exposed to the elements?

Compassion filling his heart, Corazon took the poor baby home with him. When weeks passed and no one claimed the three month-old infant named Trafalgar Law(as was written on the note the babe was clutching when Corazon first saw him), the blond decided to raise the child himself and give the little one the love he deserved.

In all honesty, Corazon had no trouble raising the baby. Law was a quiet infant, only crying when he got hurt or when his guardian's clumsiness lead to the older male truly hurting himself in the process. He almost never whined, only except when Corazon forgot something he deemed important, when he was being annoyed in purpose, or when he was not fed and put to sleep on time. When he wanted attention for himself, Law would only need to tug on whatever piece of fabric or limb of Corazon within his stubby fingers' reach. Law would only be throwing a tantrum if he did not get a good night's rest or his afternoon nap and that was rare since Corazon was trying his very best to be attentive to the baby's needs.

Like what the blond was doing right now.

Corazon chuckled when baby Law cooed up at him, short chubby arms raised as a plea to be carried. The blond grinned and gladly obliged, picking up the infant and settling him on his lap. Law immediately grasped the tassels of Corazon's hat and tugged the heart-shaped tails as he resumed watching the show. The blond bounced his knees whenever the hero jumped and ran away from the people chasing him and 'dropped' Law between his legs when the rubber man jumped from a particularly high building. Law squealed and laughed at his guardian's shenanigans happily before babbling in rapid baby talk.

"D'you like it, Law?"asked Corazon with a wide grin. The baby responded with his infant speech, the sound making no words at all. The blond chuckled and nodded as if he understood the baby's babble when the latter looked up at him.

It had been three months since Corazon took Law with him but the baby still haven't managed to make just a single coherent word. Corazon knew that he shouldn't rush for things to happen, but he was far too excited to drop the idea of the baby calling him papa or dad or some other variant of the word 'father'.

Guess I'll just have to wait, then.

And wait he did.

+.+

Corazon got home early in the morning after working graveyard shift(his workmate was sick and, being the 'kind' friend he was, accepted the order to fill up the post until his friend was fit to work again). He was very tired and wanted nothing but to flop down on his bed for a well-deserved rest. But first, he must pick up Law from one of his neighbors, call up someone willing to take care of him while Corazon rests, and make sure that the baby would be well taken care of by whoever babysitter that would come.

The blond made his way towards one of his neighbors' house and rang the doorbell, almost falling asleep on the spot due to exhaustion while he waited. The door was opened a few seconds later and Corazon was greeted by Jora who was smiling sweetly, lifting a scowling Law. The blond blinked at the sight of the baby's displeased face before looking at Jora questioningly.

"Jora, what...?"

The older woman's smile widened and kissed Law on the cheek to which the infant scowled at. "He wanted to watch that show you told me he loves yesterday, but I didn't let him! It's not right to expose this sweet little boy to violence at such a young age. How dare you?!"Jora reprimanded him.

"Doffy made Law watch it one time and since then..."

"Looks like I have to tell him off for doing it, then!"said Jora, referring to Corazon's elder brother. She then turned to Law and kissed the baby's cheeks again. "Poor little cutie, mama Jora will make sure you'll grow up to be such a sweetheart!"

Law's little face scrunched up and leaned his upper body towards Corazon, his tiny hands making grabbing motions as a sign that he wanted to be taken away from the older woman this instant. The blond grinned and gently took the baby from Jora. Law quickly grasped fistfuls of Corazon's shirt and snuggled against his chest, a contented sigh escaping his lips. The action alone pulled at the blond's heartstrings and he quickly kissed the top of the baby's - 'his' baby's - head. He glanced back at Jora who was watching the whole thing and offered the older woman a grateful smile.

"Thanks for looking after him, Jora,"said Corazon gratefully to which the older woman smiled widely at.

"Ah, no worries, Corazon,"she replied graciously. "If you ever need someone to look after Law again, you're free to come to me anytime!"

"Sure, thanks again!"

Law gave a pitiful whine as his own response, causing Jora to laugh again.

After exchanging goodbyes with the woman, Corazon headed off to his house with Law in tow. The baby clearly did not like being left at Jora's; the older woman can be irritating sometimes with her overly-affectionate gestures. He felt sorry for Law having to endure it last night.

"Ah... sorry, Law, but Jora's the only neighbor available last night. I wasn't able to drop you off at Doffy's 'cos he was so busy these past few days,"he told the baby who was looking up at him with wide grey eyes. "Don't worry, though! Bastille told me he'll be back next night, so I won't be doing graveyard shifts anymore! Besides, I'm gonna be leaving that kind of work soon. I set fire on my apron last night when I was stir-frying!" Corazon laughed, remembering his clumsiness and where it led him last night at work. He guessed trying his hand as a cook at old man Zeff's restaurant was totally not for him.

Law's brows furrowed while Corazon spoke. When his guardian reached the apron part, the baby opened his mouth and said something that made Corazon stop from speaking and walking.

"What's that, Law?"Corazon asked, his eyes wide with surprise. Did Law just say...

"Pa..."the baby repeated, reaching out a small hand and patting Corazon's cheek. Excitement filled the male and he lifted the baby up to fully meet the latter's gaze. Corazon's eyes filled with tears, his cheeks turning pink and his heart filling with warmth with the prospect of being called 'Papa' by his adopted little angel.

"...pa!"he finished for the infant happily. Corazon beamed and kissed Law's cheek. "Say it again, say it again! It's gonna be your first word, I'm gonna put it in your baby book when we get home! Say it again!"he practically begged, eyes sparkling joyfully.

Law happily squealed at the attention, clapped his tiny hands, poked Corazon's right cheek repeatedly and cheerfully said...

"Baka!"

And thus Corazon blissfully scribbled on Law's baby book the word baka, stupid in English, as his little angel's first word. Underneath it and within a parenthesis was the sentence, "Papa was a baka for setting his apron on fire".

I still haven't moved on about Cora-san's death.

Why not fill the fandom with happy Family!CoraLaw?

Aye, I'd like that. *smiles*

This compilation is open for requests. Just tell me in the review or via PM what you'd like to see between the two and I'll pick up the fluffiest and write them down. *thumbs up*

FAMILY!CORALAW FOREVER