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

“Are we tired?” Andreas murmured, drawing a hand over her fluffy curls before glancing Erik’s way.


“Probably, the ducks were the most exciting things in the entire world this morning,” Erik said. “You alright?”


“Please. I might take a nap along with this one.”


He looked shattered—but he also looked better, much as Erik would only grudgingly admit it. There was a little more steel to his spine. He walked a little taller. He didn’t hunch down as if to hide when carrying Beatriz. If anything, he stuck his chest out a little more, and walked with a longer, more purposeful stride. The weight had fallen off his stomach and hips, and his thighs—while no smaller—were harder.


Give him a bit of bum fluff on his chin, Erik thought, and he’d never be called a woman again.


Chapter 35