"Like this, onii-chan?" Ran Tachibana asked, gently placing a bouquet of sakura blossoms in an opal vase. Her bright teal eyes looked up to her brother hopefully.

Makoto glanced up from the mackerel he was slaving over on the stove to observe his sister's work. "That looks great, Ran!" he smiled, calming the anxious twelve year old.

"How about this, onii-chan?" Ren's voice chimed. His siblings turned and watched his fingers shakily tie the last corner of the banner to a clip-on hook he'd stuck onto the wall.

Makoto stepped out of the kitchen and toward the door, the words, 'Welcome Home!' in full view.

"It's amazing, Ren!" he complimented, helping the boy off of the ladder he was perched on.

Ran sucked her teeth. "I could've done better," she murmured, crossing her arms.

"Ran!" Makoto scolded, ruffling her hair. The olive-haired girl raised her hands, apologizing to her twin.

Ren shrugged it off, moving to collect his art supplies. With peace mostly restored, Makoto picked up the retractable ladder, moving it back to the hall closet. Ran flopped on the couch, releasing a long, dramatic sigh.

"What's taking them so long?" she groaned.

Makoto chuckled. "Considering you're not even supposed to be here, you should be the last one complaining."

"Don't worry, onii-chan, mom and dad are picking us up in the morning," Ren smirked. "You guys will have plenty of time for… other activities."

The twins giggled as Makoto's cheeks reddened. "You two are the worst!"

Suddenly, Ren stopped laughing. He sniffed the air, eyes widening. "O-Onii-chan… is something burning?"

Makoto blanched, racing back to the stove, his siblings on his tail. "Shit!" he cried, not even caring that his brother and sister heard him.

He hurried back to the closet, pulling out the fire extinguisher he kept for emergencies. Running back to the stove, he found Ren and Ran beating at the mackerel with dish towels.

The result was a full-blown fire bursting out of the skillet. The twins screamed in alarm and leaped behind their older brother, who quickly aimed the fire extinguisher at the blaze. Pfffffffffffff!

The brunet sighed in relief, then immediately choked on the smoke still lingering in the apartment. He turned to check on the twins, brows furrowing when his siblings were nowhere in sight.

"Ren? Ran?"

"Geez, Mako, we can't leave you for a second, can we?" a voice teased with a light-hearted chuckle.

Makoto's face lit up when he caught sight of the redhead, a delighted Ran clinging to his back.

"A firefighter who lights fires every time he tries to cook," Haru deadpanned, walking up with a blushing Ren in his arms.

Makoto flushed, dropping the fire extinguisher. "Oh come on, I'm not that bad!"

A sudden spark reignited the flame, eliciting a shriek from Makoto and an amused laugh from Rin.

After putting out the fire, and ensuring that there were no more fire hazards, Makoto walked over to his boyfriends and pulled them into a three-way bear hug.

"You smell like smoke," Haru stated when they pulled away.

Rin snorted. "No shit, Sherlock."

Makoto shook his head, kissing each man on the cheek. "How was the competition? I'm really sorry that I couldn't go!"

Haru shrugged. "You didn't miss much."

"Haru won gold in the 100 m, I won gold in the 200 m, and we won the relay together," Rin supplied, brandishing his hardware. Two gold medals and one silver dangled around his neck.

Regardless of the repetition, Makoto applauded. "I'm so proud of you two!"

"Can I wear one of your medals, Haru-nii?" Ran asked, bouncing on her heels.

Haru slipped one of the gold medals around her neck in response, a soft smile on his face when she squealed in delight.

"It's so cool that you and Rin-nii win these at almost all of your competitions!" Ren cheered. He was rewarded with one of Rin's medals to wear around his neck.

Makoto smiled as his siblings ran off to play in the spare bedroom that they were sharing for the night.

"Why are they here?" Haru asked. There was no venom in his words; he loved the twins almost as much as Makoto did. "I thought they were supposed to be back home tonight."

"Ah, my parents' flight got delayed," Makoto rubbed the back of his neck. "Unfortunately, there's a huge snowstorm in New York right now and a ton of flights have been cancelled. They're lucky that theirs is only delayed for a few hours."

"Aw, so we have to watch them tonight?" Rin pouted. "Does that mean that we can't-"

Makoto silenced his boyfriend with a kiss. "No one said anything about after they go to bed," he whispered in his ear, blowing on it gently.

Rin groaned. "When's their bedtime, again?"

During this exchange, Haru had wandered back into the kitchen. Apparently, he had found the charred remains of the mackerel stuck to the skillet. "Mako, of all the dishes you could've messed up, it had to be mackerel?"

Rin chuckled, pulling away from the brunet to lean over Haru's shoulder. "Damn," he whistled, "that poor pan. Guess I know what I'm buying you for Christmas."

Makoto blushed, turning away. "I wanted to surprise you guys."

Rin caught sight of the sakura blossoms scattered around the room, eyes softening. Haru seemed to follow his gaze, a smile lifting the corners of his lips.

"Why don't we just cook something together?" the raven-haired man suggested, digging through the cabinets.

"Can we help?" the preteens asked excitedly, reemerging from the hallway.

"Of course," Haru replied, pulling ingredients out and placing them on the counters. "There isn't much space here, though, so you have to promise to listen to what we tell you."

Makoto and Rin watched Haru interact with the twins, loving smiles coming to their faces. Contrary to his nonchalant behavior out in public, Haru was great with children, especially Ren and Ran.

He glanced up at his boyfriends, cobalt eyes inquisitive. "Are you just going to stand and stare, or are you helping?"

Makoto had spared one mackerel, and Haru was determined to use it. After carefully scrutinizing the ingredients that his boyfriend had kept in their absence, he declared that they would make soup.

"How the fuck are we going to make soup with this?" Rin complained, immediately receiving a swat on the back of the head from Makoto.

"No swearing," he chastised, gesturing to the twins, "not while they're here, at least."

Haru sighed. "We can use the flour to make dumplings, there was a pack of noodles in one cabinet, I found some carrots, potatoes, an onion, and mushrooms in the fridge, and we have mackerel," he explained.

Four pairs of eyes watched the blue-eyed man fill a large pot with water and place it on the stove to boil. Grabbing a knife and cutting board, he placed them on one of the counters.

"Ren, Ran, I want you to wash and peel the carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms. Mako, you can cut them and a bit of the onion, not too much." The trio of siblings nodded, washing their hands and getting to work.

The water began to boil, so he broke and poured the noodles in, as they were thick and would need the most time to cook. He also threw in an array of spices, no measurements being made. After lowering the temperature, he pulled a wide bowl out and sifted flour into it, adding a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar, and some water.

"Rin, you can make dumplings," he called to the redhead, who had been sitting back and snapping pictures of his working boyfriends on his phone.

"Aw, do I have to?" he whined with a pout. When Haru didn't relent, he sighed, tossing his phone onto the couch and shrugging his jacket off.

Haru washed his hands again with Rin, then coated them in flour, doing the same to the redhead's. He roughly worked the flour into dough, drawing the attention of both of his boyfriends, who were mesmerized by the way that he worked his hands. With his sleeves rolled up, the two could see the movement of the muscles in his forearm.

Rin licked his lips, glancing over at Makoto, whose face had broken into a bright pink flush. Haru finished, completely unaware of the lust in his lovers' eyes. He quickly showed Rin how to mold the dumplings, wrapping his arms around the redhead's to help him with the first few. Even after he'd gotten the hang of it, Haru was reluctant to let go, pressing himself into the contours of Rin's back.

"Haru, if you don't back off now, I will do you on this counter, twins or not," Rin growled into his ear.

Haru considered the consequences for a moment before moving, leaving a kiss on the back of Rin's neck. He rinsed the dough from his fingers, then pulled the mackerel out, placing it on another cutting board.

"Haru, we're finished with the vegetables," the Tachibanas chorused, all smiles.

"Slip them into the pot," he instructed. "Be careful; the water's hot. Make sure that you stir so that nothing sticks to the bottom."

He took another knife, expertly scaling the fish before slicing it into small pieces.

He threw the mackerel into the pot just as Rin finished with the dumplings. He allowed Rin to throw them in, suppressing a smirk when the broth splashed up and hit his hand.

"Shit!" he cried, running his hand under the cold water.

"Rin," Makoto warned, his siblings giggling as Rin sulked.

With all of the ingredients in, Haru stirred the soup before covering the pot and turning the temperature down again.

The Tachibanas set the table for five while Rin poured drinks into various glasses, juice for the kids and champagne for the adults. A few minutes later, Haru walked over with the pot and a ladle, dishing the soup out to everyone.

While it was fun to make, everyone was a bit skeptical regarding the taste. It wasn't like they'd measured anything, and none of them had ever tried soup like this.

"Here's to hopefully not dying!" Rin raised his glass, receiving a hard kick under the table from Haru. "Fuck!"

"Rin, do I have to get a swear jar for you?" Makoto shook his head like he was disciplining a child. "Besides, I'm sure that Haru knew what he was doing with this soup."

Rin rolled his eyes, but raised a spoonful to his lips. Haru silently watched in anticipation.

Scarlet eyes widened in shock at the unexpectedly incredible flavor that danced across his taste buds. He immediately turned to the raven-haired man beside him, pulling him into a kiss.

"I still don't know what you did, but it's fucking amazing!" he declared, quickly raising another spoonful.

Makoto sighed. "That's it, I'm getting a swear jar next time. Or maybe I'll just tape your mouth shut."

Rin stuck his tongue out at the brunet. "Oh please, Mako, you love my mouth too much to do that!"

Haru seemed contemplative. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea…"

Rin paled at Haru's words, false hurt present in his voice. "H-Haru, what?"

The twins giggled at the drama playing out before them. Three pairs of different colored eyes fell on them.

"Come on, eat up, it's past your bedtime," Makoto warned.

"Aw, but mom~!" they whined between slurps. "Can't we stay up just a little bit longer?"

Makoto glanced at the hungry look Rin was fixing on Haru and shivered. When that lustful red gaze was directed at him, his pants suddenly became tighter. "N-No can do. Mom and dad will be coming for you early in the morning, and I don't need to get in trouble for letting you stay up too late."

Ren and Ran exhaled dejectedly, but complied, finishing their bowls and placing them in the sink. The minutes waiting for the bedroom door to shut were agonizing, but once they were certain that there were no more witnesses around, they attacked each other with groping hands and feverish kisses.

"Missed you so much, Mako," Rin moaned, fingers locked in brunet locks as his neck was ravished.

"I always miss you two when you go," Makoto grunted, moving his lips to Haru's.

"Then come with us next time," Haru whispered breathily as he broke from Makoto's lips.

"Can't, I've got classes," Makoto groaned as Rin straddled him on the chair, nipping at his throat. "And m-my part-time service- ah –at th-the firehouse."

Rin wanted to tell him to just quit, but he knew how important the positions were to his boyfriend. He needed to be supportive of Makoto's dreams just as much as he was supportive of his and Haru's dreams.

"We know," he murmured, trailing his lips up to the brunet's ear. "And we're very proud of you. You're a great fireman, and you'll be an even greater swimming coach!"

Haru nodded, tracing Makoto's muscles through his shirt with his fingertips. "Rin's right. No matter where we are, or how much you miss us or wish you could be with us, just know that we are very proud of what you're doing here-"

"-and that we'll always come home to you."


A/N: Yay, fluffy ending! I feel like I usually suck at romance and fluff, but I think this one came out pretty well. You may have noticed, but I kinda have a thing for Rin and his potty mouth! x3

I will attempt to post for one of tomorrow's prompts, so stay tuned for that ;)

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! *sends virtual hugs and kisses*