"Hey, Larkin!"

Larkin was one of the top guards in Hyrule. It wasn't a shock to see him heading up to the top of the ranks. But he refused to become the Captain as he preferred following orders instead of giving them. Recently, however, he had been off of his game due to his wife being so close to giving birth to their unborn baby. Both wanted the gender to be a surprise, so whenever the doctor offered to tell them; they shot her down.

All he wanted was his baby to be healthy and strong.

"Captain, what can I do for you?"

The Captain was an understanding man. But he was also one that was strict and wanted his soldiers to be pure perfection in their duties. Larkin was his favorite amongst them and he made sure to always keep his eyes on him; his skill was beyond everyone and the way he obeyed orders without thought was amazing.

"How far long along is your pretty little wife?" he asked as he swung his arm around Larkin's shoulders. Larkin felt a stab of anger at his boss' comment, he never liked people calling his wife pretty.

"She's due to give birth any day now. Forgive me if I'm on edge, sir."

His boss shook his head and held up his hand as he smirked. He gave a hearty chuckle as he patted his shoulder. "Larkin, anyone with a pretty wife like yours would be damn well nervous about the upcoming birth," he replied.

"Sir with all due respect, please don't call my wife pretty. I'm only allowed to call her such things."

"If that's what you wish for, Larkin," his boss grinned as he moved away from his favorite guard to fold his arms, watching the others work. He clicked his tongue with distaste as he narrowed his eyes. "Johnathon! Give me fifty more push ups!"

The guard in comment stopped sparing with his buddy as he looked at his boss with wide eyes. Shock written all over his face and Larkin swallowed at it. "What!?" he gasped loudly. "But, sir, I didn't do anything!"

"You nearly slammed that spare of yours into Charles."

"Sorry, sir."

Larkin watched in discomfort as Johnathon dropped to the ground and started on his push ups while Charles stared in loss. The Captain wasn't one to ever mess with and this was why; his punishments could be cruel whenever he wanted to. Larkin always made sure to do his duties before the Captain got to him with his anger.

After Johnathon finished, he and Charles resumed their sparring session while the Captain watched with glowing eyes.

"He didn't do anything wrong, sir."

The Captain's gaze was instantly on him and he swallowed thickly.

"He almost stabbed Charles, Larkin."

"Sir, I saw the spare; it wasn't even near Charles."

The Captain frowned heavily at his favorite and watched as the man stood tall. Larkin was only a few inches shorter than him. "Don't argue with me, Larkin. I'm the captain here, aren't I?"

"Yes, sir," Larkin replied, a bit sheepishly too.

"Larkin!" a new voice called out and the guard's eyes widened when he saw the brunette haired King coming towards him. "There you are; I was looking for you."

Larkin quickly went down into a respect bow. "Yes, your majesty?"

"None of that, boy. Just Rhoam is fine."

Larkin stood up after a sharp nod. "Forgive me your— I mean, Rhoam."

"Anyways, I came to tell you Dovina is in the middle of the birth. You're about to become a father, my friend."

"Dovina's in labor!?"

Rhoam chuckled as the sunshine blond knight's blue eyes widened in shock as his jaw dropped, he could see the panic in his eyes. He placed his hand on the man's shoulder, trying to make him snap out of the shock.

Larkin got his breathing under control after a minute. "I'm okay, I'm okay."

"Good man. Now, take the rest of the day off and head to your wife. Julia is with them at the moment."

At the mention of Rhoam's wife, Larkin nodded as he dashed off, dropping his spare in the process. The King chuckled before picking up the weapon, jokingly at the Captain before heading off to place the spare away on the weapon rack before heading back inside the castle.

Larkin rushed all the way home until he shoved opened the door to see Julia coming out the master bedroom while wiping her hands. Her own baby bump visibly being seen, and Larkin breathed out in relief at the sight of Dovina's childhood friend. The Queen Consort laughed at his expression.

"Hello, Larkin," Julia greeted with a nod of her head.

"Hello, your highness."

She gave him a look that made him feel like a child being scolded by his mother and he gulped. She's going to be one hell of a mother, he thought before correcting himself, "I mean— hello Julia."

Julia smiled. "That's better," she said. "Dovina and the little one are doing just fine. She's just in the middle of feeding the little one; I hope you've picked out a good name for my little one's friend."

"Depends if the little one's male or female," Larkin winked.

"Oh, just go on in and see your child, will you?"

"You got it," Larkin winked again, making his way to the door.

Dovina was laying on the bed, perched up against the headboard. Her dirty blond hair was messy, and sticking in places, but Larkin couldn't care less as he made his way towards her; taking off his gloves and ensuring he washed his hands before sitting down next to her to look down at the bundle wrapped in a white cotton blanket in her arms.

A tiny pinkish face was sticking out as they lazily fed, tiny hands curled up by their face. When the little one was done feeding, they gave out a yawn and it warmed Larkin's heart to the max as he watched his child. His and Dovina's child; the one he had been eagerly awaiting for the entire nine months.

Larkin could see a barely visible patch of golden hair on the child's head, and he nearly laughed because how blad it made the child look. But he didn't because the sight in front of him was too perfect to ruin.

"Dovina," Larkin breathed out in pure happiness. "You did such a good job, hun. I'm sorry I didn't make it beforehand."

"Don't be," Dovina replied sleepily. "You were at work and we thought it was just braxton hicks. Thankfully, Julia was here with us. At least you made it in time to meet your son."

Larkin's eyes widened at the gender. Male. He had a son. He was a father to a baby boy. His heart grew in size as he took his son into his arms, allowing him to take his giant finger into his small one.

"A son… I'm a dad… I've got a son…"

"What do you want to name him?" Dovina asked, smiling at the sight of her husband with her newborn son. "You always did say you wanted to pick out a boy's name and put me in charge of the girl names."

"Link. His name is Link."

Dovina arched an eyebrow at the name choice. "But isn't that—?"

"Yeah," Larkin nodded. "It's kinda like mine, but it's also the name of a few Heroes who went down in history. I want him to be named after them in hopes that he shares their bravery."

"But didn't they all marry into the royal family? Are you planning a wedding already with Julia and Rhoam's child?"

Larkin chuckled. "Not all of them married into the royal family, hun," he stuck his tongue at his son, earning a giggle from the infant. "And na, I'm not planning a wedding! Link was just born after all."

"Good."

Larkin leaned forward and planted a kiss on his wife's head. "Get some rest," he ordered softly, standing up. "I'll put him into some of the baby clothes we've got from your mum."

Dovina nodded as she nuzzled down into the bed, smiling softly. Larkin was going to be an amazing father and she could already see Link following in his father's footsteps on becoming a knight. Shortly after she fell into slumber, Larkin had just finished putting Link into the clothes they had and smiled happily at him.

"Y'know," he joked. "I wouldn't mind if ya romanced Rhoam's kid if it's a girl. Your namesakes' did it with their princesses too. Well, some of 'em. But, it's your choice. You could marry a Goron and I'd be proud."

Link giggled at his father, showing his turquoise eyes.

"Such bright eyes…"

Link giggled once more at his father's reaction.

Larkin smiled brightly as he kissed his son's head. "Aye, you'll be a bright one. A tough, courageous one, and one that'll stand up for the right thing…"

He couldn't wait to start training his son with a sword on his days' off. He had to teach his son how to protect his family and the woman he would come to love after all; perhaps he would even be a knight like him too.

Link had grown into a playful infant, and he adored watching his father practice with a sword whenever they were outside. On his days off, Larkin would make sure to keep practicing while watching his son while Dovina tended to their horses. He couldn't afford to be caught off guard for anything especially with an infant son with the famous Hero name.

One day, while he was training, Dovina came back from receiving the mail from the postman and picked up Link while calling out his name to stop him from practicing any further.

"What's wrong?" he asked with a huff, out of breath from hitting the dummy.

"Julia's given birth. She wants us to come and say hello."

Larkin's eyes widened as he nodded, strapping his sword to his waist before following his wife, grabbing the horses and helping her own while she carried Link in her arms before climbing onto his own horse.

When they arrived at the castle, the guards opened the door and led them down to Julia and Rhoam's room where they found the happy couple cooing over a small bundle wrapped in blue.

Rhoam noticed them first as he welcomed them with a nod before his eyes widened at the sight of Link. Julia's reaction to the little boy followed suit at how big her best friend's son was and smiled softly.

"He's gotten bigger," she whispered out so she wouldn't disturb her child.

"He's growing faster," Dovina noted with a bright smile. "But, forget that for now! How's your little one? Male or female?"

Julia smiled as she kissed her baby's head. "Female."

Rhoam held a proud expression. "We've named her Zelda."

"She looks like you, Julia," Larkin said as he took a closer look at his friends' daughter, smiling softly when Zelda yawned, rubbing her eyes with her tiny fists.

"And Link looks like you," Rhoam shot back.

"Fell right into that one."

Dovina rolled her eyes as she slapped Larkin on the shoulder before moving to show her son Zelda, watching as he stared down at her with his wide eyes. The two men smiled at the sight when Link reached down, trying to get a closer look when his mother pulled away.

He gave off a whine.

"It's fine, darling," Dovina cooed.

Julia giggled at Link's reaction before glancing down at her daughter, she was staring at her with blue eyes. She knew for a fact it could change to either her green eyes or stay as Rhoam's blue eyes. But she truly hoped Zelda and Link would be friends like her and Dovina were.

"She'll be a heart breaker," Larkin commented as he took his son into his arms.

Rhoam smirked. "And Link will be a womanizer like his old man is."

"I'm not a womanizer," Larkin replied, narrowing his eyes. "Am I?"

"No, you're not," Dovina cut in before Rhoam could say anything. Her tone was already one a mother would use to make sure the child knew who was in charge. "End of story right here and now, do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am!" both Rhoam and Larkin yelped.

Julia chuckled as she kissed her daughter's head before whispering to her, "Never be like your father."

"Better start to teach her not to listen to her father," Dovina winked. "It's better to save her from a protective father now."

Rhoam sent a glare. "I won't be that protective."

Both girls gave him a look, even Larkin gave him a look.

"Okay, so maybe I might be that protective… but she's my only daughter. Can you blame me?"

"Well…" Larkin hummed. "I'd probably be the same with Link if he was a girl."

The women rolled their eyes before turning their attention back to Zelda. Link ignored how his father spoke with Rhoam as his eyes landed on the newborn princess and titled his head. To him, it was a new playmate and he wondered why she was sleeping so much.

But she probably had a good reason for sleeping, and sleeping was a great pastime. He smiled; maybe they would be good friends in the future.

He was sure of it.

Note: Link is a month or so older than Zelda in this, just to be clear on their ages