First Time

Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Kombat or any of the characters.

Summary: When you're a newlywed and a first-time parent, people come crawling out of the woodwork to shower you with their infinite wisdom.

Author's Note: So here I am, back with another Cage-family fic except this one doesn't quite fit into Parental Bond so I decided to post it separately. This takes place way before MKX, right after Cassie is born. Hope everyone enjoys it.

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"Trust me, he'll change. No matter how well you think you know your husband, once that baby gets here he'll turn into a petulant, needy child. Mark my words, he'll be jealous."

Sonya had heard it the entire time she'd been pregnant, long before Johnny even knew about the baby. She'd heard it from her mother, her friends, other women at the base, soldier's wives: the general consensus was that husbands were always jealous of babies and how much time and care they required. She'd even looked it up online and in parenting guides.

She supposed it made sense that with a new baby there would be less time to devote to being a loving wife. That date night, and a couple's sex life, would suffer. She could also take a step back and see how that would make a man feel, especially a man like Johnny.

Johnny Cage was, on the one hand, a strong, confident man who was borderline arrogant about his numerous assets and general attractiveness to the opposite sex. On the other hand, however, he was also a very emotionally dependent and needy little bugger. He wasn't above letting her know, sometimes in the most pitiful little ways, that he needed affection or that she wasn't showing him enough attention. She always assumed that it was because she was a strong, independent woman and he wasn't used to being with someone who didn't just fall at his feet in complete awe of his masculine prowess.

As a result, she had prepared herself and was totally ready for the loving, caring, compassionate man that she had married to become even clingier than he already was after the birth of their baby. She was willing to dig deep inside herself and muster every bit of maternal instinct, every ounce of nurturing nature she possessed, which wasn't much to be honest, to take care of not only their brand new little one, but him as well.

They would get through the new baby jealousy, she had been sure of it...

Until the baby had been born and she'd realized that everyone's advice and all of her worrying and researching and preparations had been for naught.

The moment little Cassandra Cage had been born Sonya started to have her doubts that her closest friends and family knew what they were talking about. Anyone that could look at her large, lovable husband with their newborn baby girl and think, for even a second, that he was capable of being jealous was an idiot. He was positively smitten by their daughter. Love at first sight truly existed and, while Sonya felt it herself, it was a completely different experience to watch it play out over another person's face.

Still, her mother insisted that it would happen; he would be jealous, she'd just have to give it time. When they were sleep deprived and the nights seemed to last forever; between calling her for diaper changes and waking her up because the baby was crying, it would happen.

So Sonya waited...and waited...and waited.

"He hasn't started whining and complaining that you're not spending enough time with him?" her mother asked one day.

Shaking her head, Sonya replied in the negative. "He's been great," she assured, singing her husband's praises with a tired smile. "And not once has he ever woke me up to get Cassie if he heard her first."

Her mother's eyes narrowed and she huffed. "It will happen," she insisted. "Maybe he's just good at hiding it, he is an actor."

Sonya had laughed heartily at that. Apparently her mother had never seen any of his movies.

Still, the older woman's absolute confidence on this subject irked the new mother and so she continued to wait for the storm to descend upon their pleasant little home until one night she just confronted him about it.

They'd been getting ready for bed, mindlessly maneuvering around each other in their bathroom like a well-oiled machine. He needed the shower, she'd stick to the sink; he needed the sink, she'd go to the shower; he would go to the closet, she would return to the sink until they were finally done and ready to retire.

She broke their comfortable silence and synchronized motions with a soft 'hey' as he slipped into bed. "Can we talk for a second?"

He looked up at her, eyes narrowed in confusion before folding his legs and patting the space in front of him. "What's on your mind?"

Plopping down with a sigh, she thought over her words carefully. "Nothing, I was just wondering how you're dealing with the whole father-thing?"

He raised a brow, motioning for her to elaborate.

"I just...I want us to be honest with each other about how we're feeling." Her tone was strained and she attributed it to her unease with issues of the emotional variety.

"Well," he began slowly, leaning forward to drop a sweet kiss to the end of her nose. "I feel like I love you and Cassie and I wouldn't be caught dead anywhere but here."

She smiled and put a finger to his lips as he swooped back in for another kiss. "That's not what I meant," she murmured as he settled for pressing his lips to her finger. "I mean do you feel like everything has been okay...between us since Cassie was born?"

He grimaced, puzzled as to where she was headed with this. "Everything's fine on my end. Are you not happy?"

She immediately shook her head. "I'm happy. I am more than happy." Her tone was earnest in an attempt to assuage the hurt and doubt he was now feeling because of her lacking communication skills. "I just wanted to make sure that you were happy. Being a father agrees with you," she confided, lightly stroking the bridge of his nose with her fingernail. "I was just wondering how you were taking me being a mother. I hear new fathers are jealous and I want to make sure that I'm giving both of you the attention that you need."

The smile that he flashed her as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and hauled her to her feet was genuine and just this side of heart-stopping.

He was so attractive.

"Come here," he commanded, guiding her out of their bedroom and down the hall. "I want to show you something."

She humored him in silence, cherishing the feel of her small hands encased in his much larger ones. She grew confused, though as he pulled her into the nursery.

He slowly guided her to the crib where their little angel was fast asleep, settling in behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "How in the world could you ever think that I would be jealous of that little girl?" he whispered beside her ear as Cassie sleepily sighed and cooed her contentment.

Well when he put it like that, it did sound stupid.

"Look at her." His voice was full of wonder and she turned her head just so, catching the sheer amazement etched into his profile. "She's ours," he went on quietly, eyes shining with an emotion she couldn't quite put a name on. "She's you and me and she's gorgeous. I'm behind you and whatever you have to do as her mother to take care of her, even if it takes you away from me sometimes."

Sonya turned in his arms, bringing her hands up to cup his face. He tore his eyes away from the crib and turned to look at her at the light touch. "You are amazing," she stated simply, pulling him down for a kiss. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

He beamed and tucked her into his side, slowly walking them to the recliner in the corner of the room. "Not today," he returned playfully as he sat down and pulled her into his lap.

Leaning her head on his shoulder, she curled up against him, staring at their angel through the bars on the crib. "I love you."

He tightened his grip on her, sighing happily. "I love you too, babe."

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