Acceptance And A Year Old

A/N: POVs will be aplenty in this story, at least, until Asul starts his sea-faring journey.

Enjoy~

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___Garp's POV___

When things got settled down a bit, everyone was relaxing after the baby slept again. With a momentary hesitation, I breached the topic to Makino:

"Umm... hey Makino... you were pretty good in handling the child... haha..."

"Thanks, Garp-san, and it wasn't that tough... hehe... you just have to remain calm and show no kind of frustration... I read somewhere, that babies can subconsciously perceive their environment and react to it likewise... so you know calm environment equals calm baby..." Makino replied with a shy undertone and a little sprinkle of smugness.

"Yeah... haha..." I don't know why, but I was feeling pretty nervous, and it sure is not my style to beat around the bush, so I decided to come clean on the spot, plus I think Makino also thought that I was going circles around the main point...

"Garp-san, do you want to say something? If so please do freely... it's not like you to shy away like this!" Makino.

"Fuuu... You are right kid. Well, I was wondering if it would be ok for you to take care of Asul- the child, for at least a year, you know, instead of Dadan. Although Dadan is very dutiful and mindful, after all, she brought up Ace for a year by herself, but this child is a newborn... and after observing you take care of the crying baby on the go, without any assistance and having prior experiences, you see, I thought maybe it would be better if he grew up under your care. Also, I will make sure that Dadan is always present from morning to evening accompanying you, so you aren't too burdened. But worry not, if you feel uncomfortable or simply do not wish to do it, I or anyone else could not blame you or despise you, this I can assure you on my name Monkey.D.Garp!" I said all there was to say in a single breath.

Waiting and seeing her fidgeting her fingers, with her head bowed down, I guessed that maybe she was feeling uncomfortable and would want to deny it, but couldn't find the words to say it out loud, hence, I took it on myself, and:

"Bwahaha... It's ok kid, this was just a query and suggestion, no need to worry too much, Asul is my responsibility far more than it is anyone else's. So, I will see to it that he grows up healthy mentally and physically... Now, let's cook up the feast, as I have brought the Sea King meat... Bwahaha!" I hurriedly cleared any kind of future misunderstandings and tried to change the topic, when all of a sudden:

"Garp-san! I would like to take care of Asul for a year, and maybe by that time I might adopt him forever..." I could see strange determination and pure care in Makino's eyes. Still, I thought to reconfirm, maybe it was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, who knows:

"Makino... kid! listen, I want you to be sure of yourself if you are going to take this kind of responsibility. That's why, let's all first enjoy the feast, and then, tomorrow we will finalize upon this topic... ok?"

___Dadan's POV___

Seeing Garp stuttering away, felt amazing at the start of the conversation, but soon my gloating mood turned sour as the conversation flowed. I know that I am not the best mother figure, and the baby absolutely needs someone apt in situations such as the one where I was fumbling over milk, while Makino, even though a kid, showed far more mature behaviour, but... dammit it hurts.

Well, at least, Garp had the decency to allow me to stay with the kid together with Makino, although, it made me happy, I would never confront Garp about it...

As soon as the conversation ended, I walked outside with Garp, who provided me with the Sea King meat, and told me he will return by the time we are ready to dine.

"Ace! Run and fetch the others from the group, and tell them to bring lots of ale" I instructed Ace and with the help of Makino, started preparing for the dinner...

___***___

With ale and cow-like Sea King aplenty, the feast went on till the late hours of the night. Makino after taking Ace to bed and placing Asul next to him, went down the mountain to her house, for the purpose of waking up earlier than usual, so that she could come and bring milk in the morning before her shift starts at the bar. Garp stayed a little later than her, but he too seem like had too much to think about, therefore, with a big piece of seasoned meat and some ale went on his merry way. At last, just before dawn, Dadan and her group retired for the night, or more accurately, for the day...

___Makino's POV___

Early in the morning, a few hours after sunrise, while I was coming out of Dadan Nee-san's cottage, after feeding Asul, Garp-san was waiting for me, I guess this is the moment of truth:

"Hey! Kid, did you bring milk to feed little Asul?" Garp.

"Yes, Garp-san, I woke up early to do that, after this I will get ready for my daily shift..." Makino.

"Hmm... you are an amazing and hardworking child, Makino. And, I am not saying all this to butter you up, so that you accept my previous proposal, but from the bottom of my heart, I genuinely believe so; when I first brought you to this village, I never imagined that such a young girl will soon gain massive respect and love from the villagers around her... Bwahaha!" A proud feeling welled up inside me, hearing Garp-san's praise, after all, I do see him as a father figure...

{A/N: Makino's origin and family have yet to be announced by Oda, hence, I took some liberties in regard to her background. Well, enjoy!}

"Do not worry over such silly things, Garp-san. Also, if you know me so well, you as well might know that I do not half-ass my decisions. Hence, I am adopting Asul from now onwards!" I confidently stated.

___***___

Quite a few months have flown by since Garp left for his duties and Makino brought Asul back to her house. Dadan and Ace, come by daily to look after Asul and play with him respectively.

After the initial few days, Ace has become too attached to little Asul- he even stated to the full bar once, that Asul is his dear little brother, and if anyone made Asul sad, he would beat up that guy... children... While Ace plays with Asul, Dadan simply observes them, sitting by the ledge of the window in Makino and Asul's room, smoking her hand-made cigarette.

___Makino's POV___

December has half passed, and soon Asul would be celebrating his first birthday. Haa... time sure does pass quickly; the little child with those serenely deep blue eyes and wind chimes-like giggles, has grown up, and once again I would have to make a decision- if I want to send him to Dadan nee-san, or keep him with me as usual...

Let's think about such grudgingly deep and sad decisions later; first of all, I have to prepare a fitting gift for my little brother/son...

Wait... did I just subconsciously accept Asul as my son/brother...

While I stood frozen outside the bar, our village's head Woop Slap shook me out of reverie:

"MAKINO! Kid! Are you feeling alright?" He shouted and introspected "Is someone making you worry or harassing you, child? If so, let me know and I will make that bastard pay!"

"Uhh... no village head, thanks for the concern, but no such thing has happened. I... I was just lost in some thoughts, I am deeply sorry about that. How may I help you!?" I hurriedly cleared any misunderstandings and thanked him for his concerns.

"Oh! ok then!" shaking his head with a sigh, he continued "I don't need any help right now child, I just came to you to inform that Garp called and said he will be arriving latest by tomorrow morning"

"OOH! Thank you village head, for relaying it to me. Also, I would like to inform you in advance that the bar would be closed for two days, starting tomorrow." Taking advantage of the village head's presence, I informed him about the bar situation and the reason for it.

___***___

Asul was celebrating his first birthday- the bar was full of Dadan's group, the Garp-Bogard pair, Ace and Makino. After the initial celebration and feast, everyone... well not everyone, but most of the people present at the party, gave Asul gifts, that they thought suited him... every gift was full o love and care from every person present there, as all of them loved the little kid...

First to gift was Ace- he brought a self sharpened and made wooden pole for Asul.

Second, came Dadan and her group's gift- it was a beaded neckless, similar to what Dadan wears, except it was dark blue instead of red.

Then it was Garp's turn, who before presenting the gift, loudly stated that it was only from his side and Bogard didn't do shit... his exact words. While Bogard was mumbling that, he would bring far better gifts next time and show off in front of Garp, in the corner of the bar.

Garp's gift- he said he brought the world's best sweets for his grandson.

Lastly, it was Makino's turn; she first hugged and kissed Asul on the forehead, then presented him with a self-knitted black sweater and a pair of white shirts and light blue shorts.

After enjoying a little more of the party, Makino took sleeping Ace and Asul to their room and kissed them both goodnight.

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A/N: That's it for this chapter folks, next chapter will start the training arc of Asul and some other weird shit.

If there seems any kind of discrepancies and faults in the way I wrote this chapter, please do mention them in comments or reviews.

Marvel will re-start soon.

Dosvidaniya~