“Daawa.”

Shining’s eyes jolted open as a very familiar sound filled his ears. He stared forward, blinking and clenching his eyes open and shut until the blurriness in his eyes ceased to exist. Once everything came into focus and he became more aware, he found his stiffened neck awkwardly resting his hoof in an upright position, while a bit of drool hung from his lip.

“Good girl, you woke daddy back up,” a chirpier and very enthusiastic Twilight spoke up.

Still trying to get rid of the cobwebs, Shining shook his head repeatedly, until he was able to focus on the three unicorns before him; two of which were his colt Starry Night and his filly Twinkle Shine. Both sat upright in their high chairs, staring at him with wide and curious eyes, before he turned his attention to Twilight.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to fall back asleep,” Shining groaned as he spoke.

“It’s okay, Shiny. It was a long night for the both of us,” Twilight replied.

His sister looked as bad as he felt. Her disheveled and bedraggled mane flopped to one side, while her half-lidded eyes stared into his. Despite her messy and overly tired look, she had a big smile plastered across her face as she held a jar of baby food with her magic.

“Open up Twinkle, here comes the shooting star!” she chimed as she lifted a spoon full of greenish goop. “Say aaaahhhh…”

“Aaaaamphm,” the baby replied as it leaned forward and opened its mouth, taking the spoonful in. Shining couldn’t help but chuckle as his baby swallowed the food and scrunched up her expression for a brief second, before she opened her mouth up for more.

“Ah ahhhh.” Twilight shook her head. “It’s Starry’s turn.”

His second baby immediately let out a loud scream of excitement as his little hooves pounded against the hard plastic surface on its chair.

“Oooohhh, somepony’s excited this morning,” Twilight mused as she reloaded the spoon and floated it to him. “Here comes the shooting star!”

As Shining watched on, he curiously watched the scene play out as he started to reminisce. He found it hard to believe that two years had already passed. What was once grueling, endless months of supporting his sister through her pregnancy, quickly became days that never seemed to last long enough. It was challenging, and though there were days where he felt like he was at his limit, he pressed through it and stayed strong for both his and Twilight’s sake.

When it came time for the twins birth, all that effort came to a boiling point. Months of love and care teetered on the edge as he paced endlessly back and forth in the hospital, while his father stayed calm and collected, constantly reassuring him everything would be fine, despite complications. He heard and listened, but it never stopped him from worrying regardless. For better or for worse, his parental instincts had long since kicked in, and he could never forget the sheer amount of stress and anxiety he felt that day. As bad as it was, it all melted away when Shining was able to hold his newborn foals for the first time.

Despite the ups and downs of parenthood, both Shining and Twilight found that parenting really did come naturally to them. Sure some things took longer than other things to get the hang of, as well as the constant shifts in sleep, both found their stride. As time rolled by, parenting quickly became second nature to them.

"Shining."

Shining's ears perked up as the voice of his mother came from behind. Swiveling around on his stool, he noticed his mother busily cleaning and preparing baby bottles at the sink.

"Yes, Mom?"

"Before you leave for work, can you make sure to grab your father's lunch? He forgot it again." She replied with a motherly tone.

"Sure thing, Mom." He needed to report to him for his shift anyway. Shining hopped to the floor, noticing the clock at the corner of his vision. "I got a few minutes to spare. Would you like a hoof with the bottles?"

"I'm fine dear, thanks for asking." Velvet turned to face him as a faint smile appeared on her face.

Shining smiled back and turned towards the table, just in time to dodge a magically wrapped ball of baby food being thrown at him. He ducked and the floor landed somewhere behind him, before he pulled himself back up and stared at the colt responsible. At his back he heard his mother sigh and no doubt quickly wiped up the small mess. Focusing on Starry's stubby horn, Shining noticed it was wrapped in a dark blue aura of magic. A slight smirk appeared on Shining's face as his son's cheerful and innocent expression heavily outweighed Twilight's nervous one.

"Sorry Shiny. I thought I cast the forbearance spell on him." Twilight cringed and forced a smile.

"It's fine, Twiley. It's actually more refreshing to see him using magic anyway," Shining replied as he lit up his own horn, mentally noting the small difference in horn size between his foals at the same time.

As Shining cast a spell on his son, the magic around Starry's horn faded, and the baby looked upward, almost like he was puzzled by it. Once the spell was complete, Shining walked around the table and came close to his foals.

"You two be good for mama and nana while daddy's at work today," Shining said to the both of them as he gave both a kiss on the cheek.

Both foals cooed and giggled as they lifted their front hooves and pointed them out at Shining, a signal that they wanted a hug. Shining silently obliged and lowered his head towards Starry and then Twinkle, letting each of them hug his face.

"Give daddy a boop on the snoot," Twilight chimed as Shining pulled away from Twinkle.

Just before he could pull far enough away, Twinkle let out a giggle and pressed her hoof harmlessly against Shining's muzzle. In response his eyes crossed and his tongue rolled out of his mouth, prompting a loud squeal of delight from both foals. Twilight giggled as well, and Shining was sure he even heard his mother chuckling behind his back. He just shook his head to refocus his vision, before he looked to Twilight and gave her a warm, but unamused, smirk.

"You have a good day, Twiley," Shining spoke in a loving and caring tone as he leaned in close.

"You as well, dear," she replied, her tone matching his, as she leaned forward, letting their lips meet in the middle.

The kiss was short and sweet, but carried lots of affection between the two. Once it was finished, Shining nuzzled her cheek, prompting another giggle from her, before he pulled away and walked to the fridge. Opening it, he grabbed two cutie mark oriented lunch boxes, along with an orange for the walk to work. Once he had a hold of everything, he turned to the kitchen window to gauge what his day would be like.

The sun was shining, and he knew today would be a good day.

Author's Note

And this is where the story ends. I was asked to end the story at the reveal of the pregnancy, but ending it on a somber note just felt off to me. This chapter was essentially a bonus.

Despite this now being a completed story, I may just find myself coming back to it at a later date. Keep an open mind and keep your fingers crossed.