Hiyori smiled as she lay in bed, watching Yato cradle their very new son, Shion. They had just come home from the hospital a few days ago, and her husband still didn't seem to quite believe that the tiny little person they had made wouldn't shatter like a porcelain doll every time he was held.
As she quietly contemplated the two loves of her life, Yato's face screwed up in thinly veiled disgust. "Um, Hiyori, I think he pooped again." He darted a quick glance at his wife. Something in her weary gaze halted his passive cry for help, and he quickly added, "Ah, I'll just go change him." Slowly, he stood up and made his way to the little mat they had put in a corner of their room as a changing area. As Hiyori watched him gingerly lift Shion's legs to wipe him, she tried to suppress a sigh. This was her first baby, so she wasn't sure if her recovery time was normal or not, but her father had told her that she had a small blood clot near one of her labia, and that she had to try to lie down as much as possible until it reabsorbed back into her body. She didn't pretend to understand it all. She simply was left feeling frustrated at her immobility.
If it had been up to her, she would have been out of bed, going about her life as usual. Well, except for taking care of the new baby. But thanks to her mother's frequent visits and her extremely overprotective husband (and his almost equally protective shinki), she was kept carefully confined to strict bed rest.
Which would not have been a problem, if that same husband hadn't been so terrified of damaging their little son. Whenever he lifted Shion, he held his arms stiffly, unsure of how to best protect his tiny head from damage. All traces of his ease and composure on the battlefield were gone, failing to translate over into this new. It was all Hiyori could do not to scream and snatch the baby away from him sometimes. Instead, she patiently rearranged his awkward arms time and time again, demonstrating how to properly hold a newborn.
She couldn't understand it. For all his centuries of life before she was even born, for all his random babysitting experience, he still wasn't nearly as capable as his young wife at handling Shion. And, quite frankly, it was starting to get very aggravating.
As she was musing over these thoughts, she felt Yato's weight sink into their bed, and looked over at him. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight that greeted her. Shion was clutching Yato's scarf tightly in one of his little pearly fists, mouthing at the corner as he gazed up solemnly at his father. Yato smiled back, swiping a wispy tendril of dark hair across their son's forehead. Hiyori's breath hitched, the sound drawing the attention of her husband. His eyes widened in alarm, and he reached a hand over to swipe at a tear that she hadn't noticed on her cheek.
"Hiyori, what's wrong?" Yato demanded. "Are you hurting?"
She shook her head. "No. I just feel so happy seeing you two like this. I can't believe you actually let him have your fluffy fluff scarf."
He grinned sheepishly at her. "Well, he kept grabbing at it while I was changing him."
Hiyori let out a little giggle. "I'm just glad to see you finally holding him naturally."
He gave her a surprised look. "What do you mean?"
"I know you've had plenty of experience with babies and kids, and I've actually seen that you're quite good with them. So I've just been so confused about you treating Shion like he's made of glass. It's been a bit maddening."
Yato's ice-blue eyes bored into hers with stern earnestness "He's our son, Hiyori. He's not like any other baby I've held. I only get one chance at this, at him, at our life all together. If I could, I'd put him in a bubble until he was old enough to live on his own, and even then I don't know if I'll be ready to let him go. I want to cherish each second that I get with both of you, to make sure I don't miss anything." He ducked his head and looked away from her. "And to make sure both of you...don't forget anything."
Hiyori's heart ached at that last mumbled sentence. She sat up and encircled her boys gently in her arms. Shion squirmed a bit between his parents, but Hiyori ignored him. Finally, when he started to fuss, she drew back and met her husband's fear with her own unwavering gaze.
"Yato. I will NEVER forget you. You are the one person in the world that I love more than anything. There is no way I could forget about that. And you're Shion's father. How could he possibly forget about his parents?" Seeing a bit of his distress abating, she continued with a gentle smile, "Besides, aren't you missing something?"
He frowned at her in confusion. "What's that?"
Hiyori carded her fingers into Yato's hair. "Your son is a half-god. I don't think that there's going to be any problem with him being able to tune into you and the other gods. Besides, he'll grow up surrounded by all the immortal godfathers and godmothers that you could imagine. He was born into your world, Yato. We both belong with you, and we won't forget that."
Now it was her husband's turn to have a small trickle of wetness wiped off his cheek. He leaned in and kissed her firmly, desperately, as if reassuring himself that what she said was true. Finally, he pulled back, blinked rapidly, and rewarded her with a soft smile that made her heart melt. "Thank you, Hiyori."
Shion suddenly let out a loud hiccup, startling both of his parents. They looked down at him, back up at each other, and laughed. And, finally, their little world felt natural again.