I wish I could play your father (1)

Author: simph8
Rating: G
Warnings: AU, KidFic, Childcare
Characters: Yabu Kota, Inoo Kei, Takaki Yuya, OMC (Yabu Kyohei)
Notes: Story is set after 'Hakanai Yubisaki'.

I wish I could play your father

Kei fidgeted a little in his sleep, murmuring words that no one but him could understand. Kota, still awake because of work, laptop with him, glasses on his noise and a strong wish to go to sleep, stretched a hand toward his boyfriend’s face, caressing him softly.

The younger writhed for a short while longer, grabbing his boyfriend’s hand as if it was an anchor, holding it tight. Kota slowly wiggled out of the hold, but he kept caressing his face and his hair until he was absolutely sure the younger was serene.

He yawned, stretching. He wanted to sleep, but he knew that Yuya would’ve gotten seriously mad if he hadn't finished his work.

Yabu didn’t care too much. He needed to get this done though, even if it would’ve meant staying up till sunrise.

He yawned again and went back to work, hoping he could manage to get at least a couple hours of sleep. He doubted it, though.

He was almost finished checking all the data and trying to put it neatly on the page, when he caught a glimpse on the intercom. Kota too it and put it to his ear, listening for a moment Kyohei crying.

He put it back on the nightstand and then, sighing and yawning again, he dragged himself to the other room.

He leant down on the crib to pick up his son; the baby wasn’t crying too hard, he was moving his small arms, his fists clenched. He started rocking him and Kyohei calmed down almost immediately, though he kept mumbling the whole time. Kota checked the time, and decided he could’ve given him some milk.

He turned the lights on in the kitchen and used one hand to heat up the milk and pour it in the bottle. He then went back to Kyohei’s room, dimming the light coming from the star-shaped lamp, and fed the bottle to the baby, still rocking him. If he would’ve gotten lucky, he would’ve been asleep in half an hour tops.

Once he finished the milk the baby stopped whining and looked around, much too awake. Kota sighed again and started rocking him again and, without knowing when or how, he fell asleep with his son tight against his chest.

The following morning Kei woke up early, as he had gotten used to the past three months. He hadn't slept too well, complicit the ticking from his boyfriend’s laptop, but at least he hadn't had to get up for Kyohei.

He felt exhausted, but every time he woke up it was like he was on full charge and, once he laid eyes on his son, nothing could stop him.

He walked inside the baby’s room, while Kota ran around the house, apparently late. Kei smiled, intercepting him in the kitchen.

“Your necktie’s a mess. You’ve got to look good when you have a meeting, don’t you?” he whispered, his voice always a little childish.

Kota smiled back to him and tried to calm down, letting Kei fix whatever was out of place, then he grabbed his laptop and his papers and rushed toward the door.

Kei stared at him, sleepily, and saw him walk back. The elder wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him closer, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

Kei blushed and kissed him back, willingly.

He felt good, now. He wasn’t scared of Kota anymore, he could stay out the whole day, his crisis long gone. He hadn't taken his meds in months, and he was never going to be able to convey to his boyfriend how grateful he was.

He loved him, and he was going to do anything in his power to show him they could get back that complicity which had been crushed ten years before. He was going to fight everything and everyone, himself first. Kota and Kyohei were his family, and nothing was going to take that away from him.

Once Kota had closed the door behind him Kei started tidying up. Kyohei was still sleeping, and he planned to take advantage of those moments to clean up a little.

Since Kyohei had arrived, he and Kota had been thrown in a world made of naps, bottles and baby food on every surface of the house.

But despite it all, he was happy about his new life. He was happy about every little thing, because they had opened his eyes on all that he had lost.

He was filling the dishwasher when his phone buzzed, abandoned on the living room’s table. He quickly dried his hands, reading Yuri’s name.

“Yuri!” he greeted him, trying to keep his voice low.

“Hi, Kei. I'm going grocery shopping, do you and Kyo-chan want to come with?” he asked.

“Sure. I've got to buy a lot of stuff. I just need to wait for Kyohei to wake up.”

“Good. I can come there, so we can go out together. See you soon.”

Kei hung up and look around; the house was a mess, but he was going to think about it later. He really had to go grocery shopping, but it was also true that he wasn’t feeling much like spending the whole day inside, trying to clean.

Some time with Yuri might’ve definitely helped.

When Kei collapsed on a bench at the park, lunchtime had come and gone a long while before.

He put the stroller in front of himself to check on his son. Yuri sat next to him, and looked just as tired.

They had eaten some ramen at a shop close to the supermarket, then Yuri had fed Kyohei and in the end they had headed toward the small park. Kei was eating an ice-cream, while Yuri seemed to be completely focused on Kyohei, who was about to fall asleep.

“He’s beautiful.” he whispered after a while.

“I know.” Kei confirmed. “He’s mine, of course he’s beautiful.”

Yuri chuckled.

“You and Kota are so lucky. You give a nice family portrait.”

“I really feel it. I'm happy, and every bad thing becomes easy, because I’ve got them.”

Yuri nodded, biting down on his lower lips and staring at the baby, who was getting agitated.

“Is my baby hungry?” Kei asked, picking him up. “Yuri, can you take the bottle from the bag please?” he asked, then he focused back on his son. “My little prince’s hungry, isn't he?”

He made Kyohei sit up on his leg and gave him the bottle, looking at him eat. “How beautiful my prince is today. Look at that, you really were hungry.”

Yuri laughed, getting close to them.

“Can I try to make him sleep?” he asked, when he saw Kei put the bottle away.

“Uh... yeah, sure. You’ve got to rock him for quite a while. He doesn’t give up easily.” he pinched Kyohei’s nose. “He’s a little scamp, just like Ko-chan.”

Yuri smiled again, rocking the baby.

He wasn’t surprised to find out it felt beautiful.

When Kota got back home, Kei put Kyohei in the playpen with his toys and ran toward his boyfriend.

“Kota!” he uttered, grabbing his hands. “Today something incredible happened!”

“What, hon?”

“I was putting away some clothes I bought for Kyohei and...”

“More clothes?” the elder interrupted him. “Yuya already bought him a ton, he’s going to have clothes up to his coming of age!”

“Don’t be so dramatic. Don’t you want your one and only son to wear something nice?”

“Yes, but...”

“Anyway.” Kei ignored him. “There was this contest at the supermarket, all I needed to do was send an e-mail with a number from the receipt and guess what? I won one day at an onsen for two people! I can't wait to go and spend some time with the two of you.”

“At an onsen?” Kota asked, following him to the living room. “Kyo-chan’s too little, they wouldn’t let him in.”

His boyfriend turned to look at him.

“Oh? Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Kei shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I guess we’ll go on our own once Kyohei’s going to be old enough.”

“I... I guess.”

Kota watched him pick their son up and bring him to the bathroom; he followed, hesitating.

“How about you go with Yuri?” he suggested. “It’s just one day, I could stay with Kyohei.”

“But Ko, I want to be with you.”

“I know, but you could use it. You haven’t stopped for a moment since Kyohei’s been with us.”:

“I don’t mind. I like everything I do.”

“Yes.” the elder nodded, hugging him from behind and softly kissing his cheek. “But you deserve it. I’d be happy if you went. And I could spend one day with my son without him pointing at you and laughing.”

“You’re just jealous.” Kei grinned, turning in his embrace and kissing him. “Fine, fine. Once I’ll be done here I’ll call Yuri and ask him if he wants to come, alright?”

“More than alright.” Kota murmured, without loosening the hold on him and seeing that, even like that, Kei managed to do everything he needed with Kyohei.

The day they were supposed to be away Kei, with a backpack on his shoulder, kept looking around, lost.

“So, the phone numbers are near the telephone. If you need more diapers, they’re in the cupboard, and yesterday I’ve bought some more baby food. His favourite toys are in the playpen, and all his clothes are in the closet. If you have some problems, call me right away, okay?”

“Yes, of course my love. But don’t worry, I can look after our son.”

“Of course, I know, but... it’s the first time I'm away for so long. I suppose I'm a little anxious.”

“You just think about having fun.” the elder tried to reassure him, Kyohei in his arms waving his hands at him. “Today me and Kyo-chan are going to spend a big boys day.”

“Okay.” Kei bit his lower lip, then he picked his son up and held him tight. “Bye, my little prince. Papa’s going to be back soon, I promise.”

“Come on, go, or the bus is going to leave without the two of you.”

“Ok. Fine. See you later my loves!” he murmured, then left in a rush.

Kota went back to the living room, putting Kyohei in the playpen and starting to make coffee, without losing sight of his son. Yuya was going to be there soon to keep him company, and he wasn’t going to stand him without a nice dose of caffeine.

As the hours went by though, Kota started regretting having sent Kei away for the whole day.

Yuya did his best not to interfere, he had to give it to him, but Kyohei had been crying for almost an hour and Kota couldn’t understand what he was doing wrong.

He had tried to change his diaper, then he had tried feeding him, but he had actually made things worse; he was about to have a panic attack, and he wondered how Kei managed to do this even when their son had no intention to cooperate.

It was then that Yuya chose to take the reins of the whole situation. He grabbed Kota’s shoulders, staring straight into his eyes.

“Kota, calm down. You must’ve spent a whole day with Kyohei dozens of times, how come you can't now?”

“Kei isn't here! Every time Kyohei throws a tantrum he always manages to calm in down. He picks him up, cuddles him a little and he calms down. I can't! Perhaps I'm not cut out for it!” he complained, collapsing on the couch, desperate.

“Well, try to do what he does. He doesn’t have any magical power, he must do it somehow, right?”

“Well, I guess I could lay down with him and try to make him sleep. He looks tired.”

“Good. I'm going to watch something, in the meantime. Pretend I'm not here.” he picked Kyohei up and put him in Kota’s arms. “Now go, before I go completely deaf.” he said, pushing him toward the bedroom and hoping that, if he had ever chosen to do this, his son was going to be less challenging.

Kei got back a short while after dinnertime. Yuya and Kota were watching a movie with the volume kept low, and Kyohei was peacefully sleeping in his crib, unaware of the world around him.

The apartment was surprisingly tidy, there wasn’t any dirty dish around, nor the remains of any meal, and the living room was just as tidy, all of Kyohei’s toys in place. The only hint they had been there were a couple of bottles of beer on the coffee table, next to the baby bottle.

“We’re back!” the youngest two whispered.

“Kei! Back already?” Kota asked, getting up and hugging him. “Everything’s fine, Kyohei’s sleeping. I’ve been good, right?”

“Very much so.” the younger confirmed, smiling. “You must be magical, I can never make him sleep so early.”

And Kota felt like the best man on earth. He held Kei tight, throwing a quick look at Kyohei.

That was his family. He was going to be there for them for the rest of his life.