Took me a long time to put this up for some reason. I run chrobinprompts on tumblr, and this is by far my favorite thing I've written for the blog. An anon asked, "Can you write a prompt where Chrom is holding his new born children Morgan(s) (twins M!Morgan and F!Morgan). But then realizes that Robin has passed away due to the exhaustion of child birth?" You can find this on tumblr at the above url in /tagged/mod_rose's_faves

Fly Away

Chrom puts his hand on Robin's large, hard stomach. He can feel little feet kicking from inside. "There are two in there."

"It definitely feels like two," she says, staring at her belly. "Together they're heavier than Luci."

It's been awhile since Robin's nurse gave them a definite number, but neither the husband nor wife can really grasp the idea of twins. "Robin, there are two."

"I know, Chrom."

"Two," he repeats. "Any day now."

She groans a little. "Any day now. And I thought Luci hurt."

He kisses her cheek. "Have I ever told you how brave you are? And strong?"

"You can stand to say it more often," she teases.

"You're the bravest, strongest woman I've ever known," he says, giving her another kiss. "And our twins are going to be beautiful."

She smiles. "Have you thought of any names?"

"I honestly can't think of anything but 'Morgan,'" he says, laughing.

Robin chuckles. "Me, too. But I don't want Morgan to feel like he's being replaced, or for these two to feel like they're…copies."

"I know." He rubs her stomach. "Let's name one Chrom."

She bursts out laughing this time. "'Prince Junior' just doesn't have the most elegant ring to it, I'm sorry."

"'Prince Chrom the Second,' Robin. Don't you know how titles work?"

"Of course I do," she says, but before she can say anything more, the door to their bedroom opens a crack and a tiny head pokes in.

"Mommy," Luci says, her voice wavering. Robin tries to sit up, but Chrom beats her to it and rolls out of bed.

"What is it, Luci?" he asks, and their daughter runs across the room to throw herself into his arms. "A nightmare?"

She nods, her long blue locks swaying and shaking with the movement. She clings to her father. "Mommy got hurt."

"Mommy's all right," Robin says.

"She's just fine," Chrom agrees, putting Luci into the middle of the bed. She immediately latches onto her mother, and Robin strokes her hair.

Chrom slides back into bed, already sure that he and Robin will indulge to let their daughter sleep between them. Usually after a nightmare Luci calms down quickly once she comes to them, but the little girl is shaking.

"Was it a really bad one this time?" Robin asks.

Luci nods and sniffs. "'Cina told me that getting baby brothers and sisters is really hard. And when Mommy went to go get them she got lost and fell down."

"It was just a dream, sweetie," Robin says, kissing her daughter's forehead.

"Mommy's really strong and brave," Chrom says, pulling his daughter close to kiss her hair, and though she's still scared she lets out a little giggle. "And when she goes to get your siblings, Daddy's going to go help her as best as he can. Mommy's going to be just fine, I promise."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm always sure, aren't I?" He tickles her cheek a little.

Luci giggles. "I guess."

Robin lays back down and takes Luci's hand. "Don't worry about a thing, sweetie. Just get some sleep, okay? Things will be just fine."

"Okay…"

She closes her eyes, and Chrom and Robin share a smile before they settle down to sleep.

()()()

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Chrom wakes up instantly, his eyes wide. Luci is shaking him, her expression frantic. "Mommy's hurting!"

Chrom sits up and turns to his wife. She's sitting up and taking deep breaths, clutching her stomach and contorting her face in pain.

"When did it start?" he asks, holding onto Luci so she won't accidentally hurt Robin.

Robin grimaces. "Just now."

Chrom turns to his panicking daughter and tucks her hair behind her ear. "Luci, Mommy's going to get your siblings now. It might take a while. Can you be brave and wait while Daddy goes to help her?"

She hesitates, tears blurring her big blue eyes. "I - I think so…"

He pecks her forehead. "Give Mommy a good-luck kiss, then go find 'Cina and Morgan, okay? They'll wait with you."

She nods and hurries to embrace her mother, though Chrom is careful to make sure she doesn't fall on Robin's stomach. Luci wraps her arms around Robin's neck and kisses her cheek, and Robin strokes her face and kisses her forehead.

"Be careful, Mommy."

"I will, Luci. I love you, okay?"

"I love you, too." Luci holds on for a moment longer, then scrambles off the bed and runs to the door. She hesitates, looking back, but leaves to go find her future siblings.

Chrom hurries to his feet and goes around to Robin's side. "How are they?"

She grabs onto his hand. "I don't remember the early ones being so painful."

"Do you want to go to the nursery, or do you want to stay here?"

"Everything's in the nursery, anyway." She laughs a little through the pain. "I don't want to get our bed dirty."

"That doesn't matter, Robin."

"Oh, I know that." She slides from the bed and stands, and though she's steady Chrom puts his arm around her.

"Milord?" The door opens, and Frederick stands in the doorway. "The young lady was just - " He registers what's happening and backs out of the room. "I'll fetch the midwives."

"Just knowing Frederick's around makes me a little bit calmer," Robin says as they walk out of the room, albeit slowly, and Chrom frowns indignantly.

"And having your husband personally escort you doesn't?"

"You are quite likely to break things," she says, but stops when they get to the doorway and clutches onto him as she experiences another contraction. She's probably bruising him, but he just strokes her hair and kisses her forehead.

"You doing okay?" he asks when the pain appears to pass.

"I'll be okay once this is all over," she groans.

Chrom gives her hand a gentle squeeze. "Then let's go meet our new children."

()()()

"Chrom…!" She squeezes his hand but there's hardly any force left in her fingers. She's sweating, panting, and sometimes crying. Her voice is rough and quiet. "Gods damn you for giving me twins."

He brushes her wet bangs out of her face and kisses her cheek. "I'm sorry, love."

Robin moans, and he tries to ignore how worried he feels because she sounds so tired and weak, the midwives said something about a lot of blood, and she hasn't even -

She suddenly screams, and there's a flurry of activity and prompting from the midwives, and mere moments later a loud wailing is added to the air.

"There's one, Robin," Chrom says, quickly kissing her lips even though she's so out of breath. "You're so strong and brave. Just one more."

She closes her weary eyes and leans her head back. Her chest is heaving. "I want…to stop…"

"Don't you want to meet them?" He strokes her cheek. "Just one more, you can do it."

"Prince Chrom," one of the midwives says, and he turns to see the woman holding a bundled blanket with a baby inside. "A boy."

Emotion swells up inside Chrom and for a moment he can hardly speak as he takes his son into his arms. The baby's face is ruddy and scrunched but Chrom can hardly care less. He sits down beside Robin and gently angles their son's face toward her.

"See? A boy. And he has some of my hair already, too!" He grins at Robin. "Chrom Junior, right?"

Her eyes flutter open and she smiles softly. She's so pale that Chrom wants to cry. "No… Ren. Like…the bird 'wren,' without the…" She can't finish her sentence.

"You just want to spoil my fun," he says, trying to keep up a sense of joy, and kisses her cheek. "That's a beautiful name."

She smiles, but it turns into a grimace and she lets out a soft cry. "It hurts…"

Tears prick at the corners of his eyes. "I know, Robin. It'll be over soon, okay?"

"Okay," she says, but it's more of a whimper than anything else.

Chrom holds their son so that he can be near Robin's face, and with his free hand he strokes her cheek. It's a bit of an odd angle for him, but right now he couldn't stand to not be touching either of them.

"Ch-Chrom…"

"What is it?"

"I - I don't think I can - " Her wavering words break into a scream, but even that is pathetic. The moment passes and she closes her eyes. Her pants are shallow. She's shaking.

"You can do it. I know you can, Robin."

"I…" She can't even say "can't."

"I know you can do it, Robin. I'm right here with you, okay? Just breathe."

She inhales through her nose and opens her eyes. They're hazy and darker than normal.

Robin grunts, grunts, and tears spill out over her cheeks, but finally another cry fills the room.

"A girl!" the head midwife calls.

"A girl, Robin!" He kisses her lips and she barely responds. He swallows a lump in his throat, trying to force down his worry. His apprehension. "I'm so proud of you. I love you so much. You were fantastic."

She's already closed her eyes again, but the smallest of smiles appears on her mouth.

The midwife comes over to Chrom, but this time she's silent as she waits for him to prop Ren against Robin so he can take his daughter. He kisses the baby's forehead and she wriggles in his arms.

"Robin!" He stares at the baby's head in wonder. "I think - I think she has your hair!"

There's no response, and Chrom suddenly remembers standing high in the air, feeling helpless and angry and alone and despairing. The air from his lungs leaves him, and he turns to look at his wife.

She doesn't breathe.

He stares at her. "…Robin?"

She doesn't answer.

"Robin." He moves closer to her, careful not to jostle either of their new children. "Don't you want to see your daughter?"

She doesn't move.

"You've got to be the one to name her - I'll just pick something stupid, right?" he says, trying to laugh. "I'm a little hesitant to name her 'Morgan.'"

"Y-your Grace," the midwife says, but Chrom ignores her and puts a hand on Robin's cooling cheek.

"W-wake up, Robin." His voice is wavering. "What am I going to tell Luci?" He kisses her lips and they're cold. "And Lucina and Morgan?" Drops of water leak from his eyes and fall onto her skin. "H-how am I going to raise these two?"

She gives him no answer.

Chrom's fingers tremble against her face. "I can't do this without you. I can't…"

"The children will need to feed soon, milord," the midwife says, and this time Chrom knows he can't pretend he doesn't hear her. "We'll have to take them to the wet nurse for now."

"…Right," he says at last, handing his nameless daughter to the woman. The other midwife comes to take Ren, and as Chrom passes him over he begins to wail. Chrom's vision blurs and tears pour from his eyes. He watches his new children be carried from the room, and he finally lets out a sob, and it's only followed by many, many more.

He turns back to embrace his wife and she's even colder than before. He kisses her cheek, trying to wake her up, and starts babbling into her ear.

"W-we faced Grima together. And even after that…y-you came back to me." His fingers knot into her freezing, sweaty hair. "I - I need you, Robin. I need you. C-come back to me…!"

She doesn't.

"Mother?"

Chrom lifts his head and looks toward the door. Morgan and Lucina stand stock-still, expressions of horror on their faces. Morgan lets out a sob and hurries to grab Robin's hand, frantically trying to coax her awake. Lucina puts her hand over her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks and fingers.

"W-where's Luci?" Chrom demands, but his voice breaks. "She can't - she can't see her mother like this - "

"She's with my wife and daughter," Frederick says, appearing behind Lucina. For once his posture isn't straight, but he doesn't cry - like he's trying to keep himself strong for Chrom and his family.

"Thank…thank you, Frederick," Chrom whispers, his voice nearly drowned by Morgan's sobs.

"No need to thank me, milord," Frederick says softly.

()()()

Nothing is the same.

Morgan and Lucina are distraught beyond belief, but they band together their strength to keep watch over Luci. The little girl's too afraid to even sleep, and she cries almost nonstop. Chrom tries to sleep next to her at night to comfort her, but her sobs only break his heart into further pieces. He only stays with her if she asks him to, because sometimes she looks at him like he's a liar and he can't bear it.

He's too lost to even do anything for himself. Frederick helps him clean up for the funeral, but afterward he doesn't bathe and merely lays in bed, trying to fall asleep so he can wake up out of his nightmare, beside Robin. It never works.

"Milord," Frederick says one day, and Chrom looks listlessly at him.

"This is all my fault, Frederick."

"Do not say such blasphemous things."

"But it's true. She would still be here if I - "

"If you what, milord? Did not desire to have more children with your wife, who wanted the same thing as well? Robin would not permit you to be acting in this way, you know."

He swallows a lump in his throat and looks away. "She's gone, Frederick."

"But your children are all still here. And you have yet to go see your twins. It's been a week."

He's silent for awhile. "I'm too afraid."

"Of what?"

"One day they'll ask me about her, Frederick. They'll want to know about her and why she's not here anymore. And I can't… I don't think I could ever answer that."

"It will be difficult, milord. But you have Lucina and Morgan to assist you. And all of the Shepherds. You are not alone, even when you feel that you are."

When Chrom finally goes back to the nursery, he shudders before knocking on the door. It opens a moment later, and the nurse's eyes widen in shock. "Milord?"

"I…" He hesitates. "I'd like to see my children."

After a moment, she steps back to let him into the room. "Of course."

Chrom steps inside and slowly walks over to the cribs. The children are swaddled and sleeping. Ren's in the crib on the right; his blue hairs poke out from his blanket. Chrom puts his finger against the baby's cheek, feeling his warmth.

His daughter lets out a little displeased moan from the other crib, and Chrom goes over to her and picks her up. She squirms, and he gently bounces her, like he once did so often with Luci. He kisses her forehead, and her little white hairs tickle his nose.

He smiles.

"Hi, Robin," he whispers. "Sorry it took me so long to find a good name for you."