Rin again. This was written directly after Smoke and Ashes. I had several ideas that day.
Smile
Tezuka Kunimitsu and his husband, Shusuke, had recently adopted a child. Her name was Ayana, and she was about two months old.
They had already put her to bed for the night, and were relaxing before going to sleep themselves. Tezuka was sitting on the couch reading a book, and Shusuke was curled up next to him watching tv.
But their quiet evening was not to be. Soon Ayana began crying from her bed. Shusuke moved to get up, but Tezuka put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll go. You can stay here." Shusuke nodded gratefully and settled back in to finish his show.
Tezuka went to the nursery and pushed the door open quietly. Ayana was crying loudly, her face beginning to turn red. Tezuka moved to her crib and picked her up, rocking her gently. She just kept wailing.
He made quiet shushing noises, but she ignored them. He tried giving her toys, but she pushed them away. Tezuka was at a loss as to how to soothe his child.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Shusuke wondered if he should go help. But Tezuka had wanted to do it, so he would wait.
Back in the nursery, Tezuka was talking to Ayane, asking her what what was wrong, telling her it was okay. After racking his brain for some way to quiet his small daughter, he remembered that she liked silly faces.
He sighed and held her so she could see his face, sticking his tongue out a little and crossing his eyes. Ayana stopped crying and stared at him. He had her attention. Tezuka shifted her to his left arm and used the other hand to pull down on his bottom eyelid, pursing his lips at the same time. Ayana giggled.
Encouraged by this small success, Tezuka continued to make silly faces for Ayana. Unnoticed by either of them, Shusuke stood in the doorway, camera in hand, documenting the events for the future.