Free! doesn't belong to me. Neither does High Speed!
For sakuraweek, day 1 (welcome home).
Hypothetical scenarios
.
Sakura Matsuoka came home on a rainy evening.
She slept through most of the trip; she only awoke on the last train ride, almost causing both her parents a panic attack when she pouted and teared up. They realised that the baby was hungry quickly enough, thankfully; they were prepared for such an occurrence, and soon she was eagerly drinking from the feeding bottle under Rin's amazed gaze.
Haruka couldn't help a little huff.
"As if you had never seen a baby."
Rin looked up.
"It's different!" he replied, pulling Sakura closer defensively. "What if she cries?" He didn't wait for an answer; soon all his attention was back on the baby.
Not bothering to hide his smile, Haruka leant his temple on the cool window, trying to relieve his dull headache; Sakura's big, round eyes were focused on him as she fed, stopping grabbing the bottle to clap over it every now and then. He wondered if she was doing it consciously.
"She'll cry eventually," Haruka muttered.
"Not with me."
"Sure." Haruka's smile grew as he tentatively reached for one of Sakura's hands. Tiny, chubby fingers clasped around his index, and milk spilt down her chin as she gurgled happily, little white teeth showing between her lips. "Kiyoko used to cry a lot with you," he gently reminded him.
"Because you and Nagisa scared her," Rin replied. He wasn't quite over how much his niece had cried whenever he held her at first.
He handed Haruka the bottle when Sakura stopped drinking and gently wiped the milk off her face as his husband put the bottle into a bag and pulled out a little towel. Looking back, they really had to be glad they had practised those things with Gou's daughter.
Rin threw the towel over his shoulder, but stopped before holding Sakura so she could burp.
"Don't you want to hold her?"
Haruka shook his head. "I like watching you better."
Rin was flustered when he started patting Sakura's back.
"You haven't held her yet," he commented.
It was true. Haruka hadn't really interacted with Sakura –with their daughter– yet. He hadn't lied, though; he was enjoying seeing how Rin handled her, how he hummed quietly as he waited for her to burp. How her eyes were fixed on the window, perhaps awed by the twilight reflecting in the raindrops running down the glass.
.
Neither of them had really brought the issue up, even though they had been asked about the legalisation of adoption by same-sex couples in several interviews. Haruka wasn't really informed about laws, and Rin had just given his trademark smirk and said something about equality. They were content with seeing their niece grow up, with bringing her souvenirs from all over the world and defying Gou's wrath when she accused them of spoiling her daughter.
Haruka had realised that wasn't exactly true on Rin's birthday, and had just blurted it out without stopping to think that it wasn't his time to demand things. Instead of laughing, though, Rin had admitted he understood him. And they had talked about hypothetical scenarios that night. And another, and another, and then their daydreaming filtered into their breakfast. They spent that morning learning about the adoption process on the internet; before they were aware of it, it was more of a plan than a wishful thought.
They had been suggested to have a surrogate mother, but Rin had refused even before Haruka had had the time to process what that meant. Biology made impossible for them to have children together, and Rin didn't want to make a child, to bring another life into the world when there were so many children without a family. He, who had grown up without a father, wouldn't miss the chance to give a home to someone who already needed it.
.
"Haru, hey. We get off on the next stop."
Haruka blinked up at Rin, who had already stood up. Looking around, he found Sakura asleep on her stroller, and supposed he had fallen asleep too. He yawned as the train stopped at the station, making sure the baby was properly covered before they walked out the train.
It had stopped raining, but the air was thick with humidity; Haruka sniffed at it, noticing his headache was gone. He walked beside Rin, who was still humming and couldn't help but grinning whenever he looked down at Sakura.
"Do you want to carry Sakura or the stroller?" Haruka asked when they got to the stone steps that lead to his grandmother's house.
He took the baby in his arms before Rin could answer, though. He did it carefully, hoping not to disturb her sleep, and let Rin help wrap the quilt around Sakura. She was heavier than he had anticipated, a warm, comforting weight that breathed deeply and clung to Haruka's shoulder without waking up.
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other when Rin kept staring, though.
"What?"
Rin leaned close, landed a kiss on his lips.
"You're really beautiful. Both of you."
Now was Haruka's turn to blush.