A/N: This story was requested by makoharuheartandsoul for my 200 follower fic giveaway on Tumblr (which was forever ago T^T I'm just slow)
Original Prompt: fluffy makoharu putting their little toddler to sleep and kissing each other in the doorway as they watch their child cuddle into his/her teddybear and babble sleepily :3 3
Makoto carefully placed the bottle down on the end table next to the couch, unable to look away from Kuniko cradled in his arms. Her delicate eyelids had drifted closed nearly ten minutes earlier, but only now had her pudgy, beautiful face finally become completely relaxed, tiny lips parted ever so slightly as she slumbered.
Makoto bent his head down and placed a ghost of a kiss on her forehead, her small wisps of hair tickling his lips. This close, he could smell the lingering scent of formula on her tiny breath-a sickeningly sweet smell that bordered on rancid, given the baby puke she had produced earlier. Somehow, it was the most comforting scent Makoto had ever smelled, and he cradled her closer in a gentle bear hug, carefully tucking his face between her head and shoulder.
After another deep breath, Makoto sat back up, pausing as he noticed Haru watching them speechlessly from the kitchen doorway.
Caught in the act of staring, Haruka quickly pulled off his apron and folded it up, as if he needed an excuse to stand by and watch him family. emHis family/em. The thought tugged at Makoto's heart, causing it to swell with happiness.
"Is she asleep?" Haruka asked quietly, watching her with a tender look.
"Yes." Makoto looked down on her once more, marveling for the millionth time at the tiny perfection nestled in his arms. He looked back up at Haruka, face dominated by a goofy grin. "Should we tuck her in?"
Haruka nodded silently, softly padding across the room and offering to take her. They carefully maneuvered Kuniko between them, moving with exaggerated slowness-which was, perhaps, a touch unnecessary-to avoid waking her. Once Haruka had her safely nestled in his arms, he shifted, placing his weight on one leg and swaying back and forth, watching Kuniko as if his entire world consisted entirely of her. Makoto swallowed back on the lump that was slowly building in his throat, convincing himself not to cry. Still, his joy was overwhelming-who would have thought that Haruka, of all people, would have picked up the parental sway so quickly? Makoto had assumed that it would take Haruka some time to adjust, given that he had been an only child. Yet Haruka had picked it up like a natural.
With a silent chuckle, Makoto revised his opinion. Honestly, it wasn't surprising at all. When it came to being a parent, gentle, careful Haruka emwas/em a natural.
With a sigh, Makoto pushed himself up from the couch, nodding for Haruka to follow him down the hall. He pushed open the door to Kuniko's dark room, flicking on a small dolphin night light while Haruka laid her in her crib with exaggerated care. After fussing for a minute, Haruka finally placed a delicate kiss on her forehead and took a step back. Makoto leaned over the open crib, placing one last kiss of his own on her brow before pulling back.
"Here," Makoto said, picking up the fluffy stuffed mackerel that Rin had picked up for his goddaughter. (Rin had grumbled about Haruka's weird obsession the whole time he had presented it to her, while simultaneously wiping at the tears in his eyes-for some reason Makoto had the distinct impression that Rin had special ordered it just for her.) He tucked the fish next to Kuniko, holding his breath as she sleepily reached out toward the toy, her impossibly tiny fingers curling with halting movements, not quite grasping the soft material.
Satisfied, Makoto slid the crib wall into place, checking to make sure it had clicked securely before heading toward the door. Haruka followed after, but paused in the doorway, watching the crib with a worried look. Even in the dark Makoto could see his gaze rest on the stuffed animal.
"Is it really okay?" Haruka asked, lips tightening. "We left the crib bumpers off, and I tucked the blanket so she can't get it anywhere near her mouth or neck, but maybe we should move the fish as well?"
Without a second thought, Makoto wrapped Haruka into a bear hug, gently pressing his lips into Haruka's hair. "She'll be fine," Makoto murmured reassuringly, heart warming as Haruka wrapped his own arms around him in return. "With the wedges she won't be able to roll over."
They stood there for a moment, drawing strength from each other despite their mutual exhaustion. After a minute Makoto shifted, laying his cheek on the top of Haruka's head to look at Kuniko. He felt Haruka shift against him, turning to watch her as well.
"I love you, Haru," he said, tightening his grip. Haruka took a deep breath and sighed with so much happiness that Makoto's head spun. "I love you, too," Haruka replied quietly.
Slowly Makoto let go of Haruka, taking a step back. "Ready for bed?" he asked, managing to smile as the exhaustion hit him full force.
Haruka went onto his toes, pressing a gentle kiss to Makoto's lips and taking him by surprise. With a satisfied, tired smile, Haruka gently closed Kuniko's door and pulled Makoto down the hall toward their bedroom.
A/N: Part of the reason that it took me so long to get around to this was because this is actually REALLY close to my heart. I just… There's something about watching your child sleep from the doorway–there REALLY is. There were times when my son was young that I did this too. But at the same time, I didn't have a wonderful partner, unlike Makoto and Haru. I did it alone. (Well, not alone-alone, I had help from family and friends, but I wasn't living with my son's father when he was born, and things between us fell apart relatively quickly.) Anyway, the idea of writing this story where Makoto and Haru have each other, and have such a loving family together–I love it, but it was also a little difficult ^^ Happy difficult, if that makes sense.
Rather than having their daughter be a toddler as mentioned in the original request, I made her an infant here–pretty much newborn. Somehow it just felt right, especially because I wanted Haru to be overly-worrying about her, which makes more sense if she's still an infant. Also, I have NO IDEA where the name Kuniko came from xD I started writing, then was like, "Shit! I need a name!" And suddenly Kuniko popped into my head, so that's what I went with. I looked it up afterwards (I wasn't even sure if it WAS a legitimate name, in all honesty xD) and apparently it means "Child from the country." Which, actually, is fairly accurate if they're still in Iwatobi once they get married ^^
As always, feel free to come hang/chat/gush with me on Tumblr (Konekat) ^^