Erik has wanted to be a father for as long as he can remember -- but now that the day is finally here, he's terrified. Surely a ham-fisted Viking of a man like Erik shouldn't be allowed to handle things as tiny and delicate as his new baby girl?<br><br>But it's not just his daughter that's come into Erik's world. His partner has finally returned too. After nine months of watching Andreas struggle with the mental and physical toll of being a man and being pregnant at the same time, the birth of their daughter is both a beginning and an ending.<br><br>Erik is a father for the first time -- but not everything that comes next is new.

Erik the Pink

“And I know we can’t have another bundle that way, but I do want more.”


“I do, too,” Andreas said, shuffling sideways to lean his cheek on Erik’s shoulder as he kept raising and lowering Beatriz. She began to get the idea and flail her limbs around.


“What do you reckon? Two or three?”


“I want three,” Andreas said. “It’s a good number. Four is getting a bit too much, I think.”


“Three it is,” Erik said, sticking his tongue out at Beatriz. “What do you think, love? Two baby brothers or sisters?”


She yawned widely, and made a familiar grasping motion with her stubby hands.


“Okay, we’ll ask again when you’re a little bit older,” Erik said, and stood up to get her situated back in her pram. She was little more than a nose and a pair of mittens sticking out of her parka, and it looked absurdly sweet as he juggled her and the contents of the pram. He passed the butterfly to Andreas as he worked her back into her blanket nest, and Andreas turned it over in his hands thoughtfully.


Chapter 28