Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as he worked away. Welf swiped away the liquid with the back of his hand as he continued to heat up the piece of steel in the burning forge. He was covered in dirt and grease, but a smile was plastered on his face nonetheless.
Blacksmiths had a difficult and strenuous job, yet Welf wouldn’t give it up for the world. The heat of the fire, the swinging of the hammer, the awed expressions on people’s faces when they saw his weapons; he loved it all. The hard work made it all worth it.
The piece of metal held in place by the tongs he used began to glow a bright yellow, indicating to Welf that it was time to start forging it into another one of his gorgeous swords. He removed the burning metal from the forge and absentmindedly extended his free hand to grab the hammer, only to find it missing.
“Now where did I put that damn hammer,” he muttered to himself, averting his gaze from the metal in hand to have his eyes land on his son with the hammer in hand standing feet away from him.
Yuuko was beaming up at his father, admiring his handiwork as usual. Welf wasn’t surprised to see the young boy in his shop. After all, Yuuko had become a master at sneaking away from you to watch his father hard at work.
“Here you go, daddy!” the boy exclaimed with a grin, showing off his missing teeth.
Welf chuckled at his son’s excitement and ruffled his hair, leaving Yuuko just as greasy as his father. Not that either of them cared, though. The boy wanted nothing more than to be just like his father, even if that meant becoming just as dirty.
“Can I use the hammer this time?” Yuuko asked eagerly, only for his smile to disappear when Welf shook his head and took the hammer from his son.
“Just wait until you’re a little older, son. You’ll be the best blacksmith of your age, I’m sure of it.”
Those words were all that was needed to spark the boy back to life. He eagerly watched Welf forge the metal into the shape of a sword. It was a time-consuming process, but Yuuko never grew bored or tired. He was an unusual child; one who would rather spend his time helping his father rather than playing with the other kids. This wasn’t something you or Welf were concerned with, though. Yuuko did have Crozzo blood, after all. You and Welf knew all too well that he would be just as talented as his father once he grew older.
Hours passed by until the sword was finally finished. Somewhere before then, you found yourself inside the shop as well, smiling adoringly as you watched your husband and son working so hard together.
“Mommy!” Yuuko exclaimed when he finally noticed your presence, running over to you to greet you with a hug. You placed a soft kiss on his forehead and smiled at your husband as he turned to face you, his hair damp with sweat.
“I see you two were working hard,” you observed, your voice soft.
Welf raised up the newly finished sword and closely examined the beautiful weapon. “I think this is one of the best swords I ever made. There’s no doubt our son has a gift in blacksmithing.”
Welf walked over to where you and Yuuko stood and bent down so he was eye-level with his son. He extended the sword out to him for him to hold and grinned. “I want this to be your sword when you’re older, Yuuko.”
The boy gaped at the sword in hand and looked up at his father with wide eyes. “If it’s a good sword, why aren’t you selling it?”
With one quick motion, he easily picked the boy off his feet and swung him around, causing a fit of giggles to erupt from the boy’s mouth. Welf wrapped his free arm around your waist and pulled you in closer to them before placing a quick kiss on your lips.
“We want you to have the best of the best, son. One day, you’ll be old enough to forge and you’ll have to make your old man a new weapon.”
Smiling, you looked down at your belly and gently rested your hand on it. It was obvious that this was as good as of a time as any to announce the news. “And it’ll be up to you, Yuuko, to make your sister a weapon when she’s old enough.”
Welf’s head shot up immediately to look at you, shock evident on his features. He didn’t think he heard you properly until he noticed the tears of joy in your eyes. You nodded at him, reassuring him that what he thought was correct.
You barely had time to process when he connected his lips to yours once again for another kiss. At that moment, he never wanted that kiss to end and he probably would’ve gotten that wish if it wasn’t for the squirming Yuuko struggling to get himself free of his father’s arms to escape the show of affection he didn’t understand.
Welf finally pulled away from you to put down Yuuko who scrunched his eyes closed and stuck out his tongue in distaste of the scene before him. You and your husband laughed but ceased the kissing. Yuuko had the right idea; there was no need for any affectionate acts to express how close the three of you were.
There was no doubt you were all one small, yet happy family.
