"Daddy!" A small voice shouted from across the hall.

"Coming!"

"Coming!"

Both males shouted. The white-haired male sat up to stare questioningly at the rat, who returned the same stare. It was night, nearly 10 o'clock, and all three of the family members were snug in bed; Shion and Nezumi shared the double sized bed in the main bedroom, and Little Nezumi occupied his own room.

Since Nezumi's return, he decided to brush up on his reading; it's only been six months, and he has already read through twelve of Shion's medical dictionaries by choice, and a handful of other classics. Every night, he would sit up in the bed at night, the light on the nightstand on as Shion rolled over on his side and tried to sleep. Such a luxury of reading before bed was nice, then snuggling up close to the warm body of his partner…

"I got this one," Nezumi smiled willingly, patting Shion's shoulder and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Clad in nothing but a pair of black pajama pants, he waddled his way down the hall tiredly and rapped lightly on the Child's door.

"Aw, baby Rat, What's wrong?" Nezumi cooed, scratching his head, followed by a yawn.

Five years ago, Shion saved a child from the manhunt, selflessly risking his life for an innocent child, prying his mother's dead hands from the living body of the infant. He took the child in, raising it has his own until Nezumi returned, adopting the child as his own, too. The two automatically had a connection, even though Nezumi believed he didn't have the parenting skill. He surprised the hell out of Shion, constantly playing with the child, reading to him, taking him to school and picking him up, cooking and working to bring in an income. Shion was grateful, and Nezumi was happy.

"I had a bad dreaaaaammmm!" Little Nezumi sobbed, wiping his red hair from his face as he cried. The child was named after Nezumi, when Shion was desperately mentally and physically sick from missing the love of his life. He couldn't help but to name the one thing keeping him alive, after the same man who saved his life so many times.

"Baby rat, C'mere." Nezumi stretched, putting an arm around the sobbing child, and shoving him over gently to climb into bed with him, "I know you're getting a bit old, but I can sing for you, Hm? Would that help?" Rat smiled, pressing his nose in close to the child's. The child automatically stopped crying, and nodded his head, his lungs trying to catch air.

"No one's too old to hear your lullabies." A soft voice called quietly from the door way. It was Shion, of course, wrapping a blue robe around his body as he came in to lean on his knees, his head against Nezumi's legs as he awaited the performance.

And then angels sounded; Nezumi's deep voice carried softly across the acoustics of the room, his eyes closing in the dark to count measures. He sang of the sky, as it turned from a light blue to a dark navy. Dark skies brought little monsters, and nasty elves. But Mischief makers bring helpers; little golden men with nothing but a smile on their face to chase away the bad dreams, called sand men.

And soon, Little Nezumi was fast asleep, fast asleep in a deep slumber that would be fueled by dreams of beautiful little sand creatures and an angelic voice of a rat.

Shion reached a hand up, tugging on the bare foot of Nezumi, who jumped slightly, then raised his head to look down at the white head of hair.

"Come back to bed when you're done," Shion smiled briefly, before standing up and returning to the bedroom.

Several minutes later, Nezumi returned, shadows crossing his face from the dim light on the left side of the bed. He yawned and shut the door behind him, sitting on the edge of the bed. Shion occupied the other side, his robe now hung orderly behind the door, now clad in a pair of his form-fitting black boxers. He rolled over, the satin sheets rustling beneath his body as he did so.

"Nezumi," He greeted, reaching up to rub a hand down the crevice of his partner's back, fingertips stroking the keloid burn scars that occupied a pink hue in the shade. "I appreciate you being here, I enjoy it, so does Little Nezumi, He enjoys you, too. We all benefit from it," He sat up, resting both his hands on his partner's shoulders, and his head against the top of his spinal cord.

"No, thank you, Shion." Nezumi chuckled, reaching a hand up to caress Shion's, "I love being here. I missed you, and these past six months have been everything to me; your mother is an absolute delight, I get to read as much as I like, I learn so much from this child every day, and I get to be around you." Nezumi slowly turned around, Shion's hands finding their way to his chest as they both lay down. Shion's legs wrapped around Nezumi's fleece covered ones, cold toes meeting warmer ones. "Shion I—" He yawned, "I love you,"

Shion smiled as the rat yawned once again, his eyes quickly shutting before his muscular arm reached up to extinguish the lighting.

"I love you too, Nezumi."