Dedicated to the lovely Miharu is Haruka's Love Child! I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed yours.

1:00 PM

Busy, busy, busy. He had to keep himself busy. There were so many things to do! A cake was already in the oven, but dinner had to be prepared and then the cake would need to be decorated. More than the food, though, he had to rearrange the living room to be better suited for a birthday party, finish wrapping the presents, set out said presents, get the cameras ready, and then sit and wait.

Gritting his teeth, Mello tried to distract his mind from that horrid thought. Wait around? It was those moments that drove him to near insanity, especially on this day. October 13, the day that his precious child had been born into this world by his mother. No, Mello didn't have the privilege of birthing his adopted son, but it didn't make this day any less important. Lawliet had been a ray of sunshine in the blond's life, always making each day special, but now…now he was all grown up. A young man.

Trying not to tear up, Mello forced himself to attack his chores aggressively. 'I will not cry, I will not cry…'

But even as he carried on with his duties as the housewife and mother, he couldn't keep his mind from straying to thoughts of his little baby. Pictures of that smiling face were everywhere, reminding him of every precious moment. There was that time they vacationed at the Grand Canyon and nearly died of dehydration trying to climb back out of the oversized ditch. Then, there was the wedding; Lawliet had been so cute with his little tuxedo, and the picture of L holding the child as the wedded couple assaulted the wedding cake was too much to look at now. He would break down. Over on the television, there were photos of his first day of school and the first computer he ever hacked. By the door…

"I can't do this to myself!" Mello hissed, wiping at his eyes. Children grew up and it was time for him to acknowledge it. Suck it up, that's what he had to do.

But it wasn't easy.

1:16 PM

It was a good thing that both Lawliet and Matt were out of the house, because Mello wasn't sure if he could live down crying like a baby in front of them. Sitting on the couch, he was surrounded by pillows and Kleenex while he sobbed and hugged a picture of Lawliet as a baby. How could he have grown up so quickly? What happened to the days that he needed help brushing his teeth? Or when he used to wet the bed? Or even the damn nightmares? Why couldn't he have nightmares and crawl into bed with his parents anymore?

"H-he's (sob)…all…g-grown…" Mello couldn't even finish the statement to himself. He didn't want to admit that Lawliet wouldn't need them much anymore and he probably hadn't needed them for a while now. Did all parents feel like this? Did L?

At the moment, it was quite tempting to grab the phone and call his mentor. True, L wasn't really his father, but it was close enough. Even though he was only ten years senior to Mello, he had always been a father-figure and treated all of the kids at the orphanage like his children. Sometimes, Mello would wonder if L really did feel as if he was the father of all of them. Did he get sad when the kids moved on? Did he fret and worry over them when they got sick? He had always been a rock to them, but that meant that they never got to see his emotions. Sure, he would take them soup and pat them on the head if they were ill, but did he actually worry? Pulling his hand away from the phone, Mello decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to call L. He didn't want the older man hearing him so weak and pathetic. Children grew up. It was logical.

To hell with logic, he was going to try and cry it all out before the boys got home. They were out for some man-time, and he was left alone to prepare things. "I'm a man too, damn it!" he yelled at nothing in particular. The outburst still didn't make him feel better.

2:30 PM

Rushing around, Mello cursed under his breath. He had spent far too much time weeping like a little girl and now he had to speed through everything. The vegetarian meal of stir-fry noodles and salad wasn't particularly challenging, but wrapping the presents was. Paper was his enemy.

"Damn it!"

Another paper cut added to his martyred hands before he decided that stabbing the stupid paper wouldn't solve the problem, but it sure as hell would make him feel better. A few rolls of mutilated wrapping paper later, and all the presents were nicely wrapped and stacked on the table in the living room.

"Hmmm, what else did I—shit!"

Leaping over the couch and sliding into the kitchen, Mello yanked the oven door open and pulled out the nearly-burned chocolate cake with his Pac-Man oven mitts. It was actually the second attempt at a cake since the first one resembled more of a brick than anything else. A sun-baked brick.

Once the dessert was out of its pan and placed on the pedestal thing he could spin around to make applying frosting easier, he examined it for any imperfections. Extra frosting could fix anything. With a glance at the clock, he whipped out his spatula and added the necessary layers of the sugary concoction. Vanilla wrapped the cake in a sweet cocoon and some chocolate frosting was shoved into a zip-lock bag before the corner was cut and the make-shift tube spelled out "Happy Birthday" on top. The candles were placed into their positions, and then the cake was delicately placed in the center of the table. Trying to find something else to busy himself with, Mello set the table and began the arduous task was washing all the dishes and utensils.

Tears welled up in his eyes. It seemed like yesterday that little Lawliet was standing on a stool next to him and drying the dishes. Such a good boy, a precious little angel. He honestly didn't want to torture himself like this, but how could he help it? It didn't take long before he was crying again, wiping at his nose with his forearms and miserably washing the dishes.

3:03 PM

Matt was super excited. Today couldn't have gone any better! Speeding down the asphalt road, he hummed along with his music as he thought of how excited Lawliet would be with all of his presents. His son had always been a grateful receiver of gifts and this year would be no exception. Checking his rearview mirror, Matt chuckled. "Grandpa L" and Watari were probably several minutes behind him considering that Watari always drove the speed limit. Thankfully, Lawliet since went with those two, he would be able to share a few minutes in private with Mello before the others arrived.

With music blaring, he skidded into his driveway and pulled the car into their organized garage. Matt had always been impressed by Mello's cleanliness, and their garage was his greatest success. What once had been boxes and boxes of random things was now a clear space with cabinets, wall hooks, and rarely used tools. The blond's motorcycle was sparkling clean in a corner standing proudly in front of bicycles, skateboards, and other outdoorsy stuff Lawliet had gotten into.

Leaving the garage door opened, Matt made his way into the house, whistling at how clean it was. After living in such a clean state for years already, he should have been used to it, but he wasn't. It was impressive no matter how many times he looked at it. Most families gave up the notion of cleanliness once children were in the equation, but if anything, Mello had gotten more obsessive compulsive about his cleaning. Even chocolate bar wrappers had no place other than on the expensive candy or in the trash.

"Babe, I'm home!" Blinking in surprise, he didn't hear a response. "Mello?" Walking around curiously, the sound of a sniffle caught his attention. Was Mello…crying? "Honey? Are you okay?" he whispered as he peeked into the kitchen. The blond had his back to the doorway, so Matt couldn't see his face. However, another tremor of the shoulders and hiccupped sob had the recently turned red-head hugging his husband. "Awww, what's wrong?"

Mello tried to shake his head in denial, but he couldn't hold it in anymore. Not with those strong comforting arms wrapped around him. Setting down the dishtowel and the bowl he was drying, the blond turned around in his arms and sobbed into his chest. "M-matt…" he stuttered, clenching the younger man's shirt tightly.

"Did you miss me?" Matt tried, patting the blond's head affectionately.

"It's j-just Lawliet," Mello replied sadly. His tear filled eyes looked up pathetically at his husband nearly making Matt melt into a puddle of goo. It was a rare sight indeed to see Mello crying at all, much less crying so wretchedly.

"You're upset that he's a year older?"

Nod. "I…I don't w-want him to g-grow up! I want him t-to be my baby…forever…and now, and now, he's…turning into a man today!" Another round of sobs wracked his body and he held more tightly to the chuckling hacker.

"But, honey, he's turning ten. That's hardly an adult."

"Ten!" Mello groaned unhappily. "He's at the double digits already Matt! There's no going back!"

"Awww, you poor thing," Matt giggled as he hugged his dramatic lover more tightly. "But you should be happy! That means no more changing diapers, spending hours awake to rock him to sleep, or blending all our meals so that he could digest it. It gets better from here on out."

"But I liked blending his food, and spending nights up with him, and cuddling him, and holding him, and feeding him, and…"

"Hon, you're going to love riding motorcycles with him, carrying on intelligent conversations, exploring the world, and a great deal of things that only a growing up boy can do."

Looking up into the sparkling blue eyes, Mello could understand what his husband was saying. For all the things that he was going to lose, he would get many other things. "Can't he still sleep with us?" he begged.

Matt outright laughed before pressing a kiss to Mello's forehead. "Hey, if he's not on the bed we can have naughty games more often."

"Pervert."

"Yup!"

Holding each other, the two men enjoyed each other's presence for a little bit. Raising a son was a full time job and having time just for each other was rare. When they had moments like this, Matt had time to remember why he married Mello. The blond was overly dramatic, emotional, clingy, and a host of other adjectives, but all of them combined to make this perfect creature who loved him back. They could argue, fight, or call each other names, but they could never stay separated. Like pet hair to a black sweater, they continued to attract each other. Now, they were going to celebrate another year of life for Lawliet, the son that they raised together."

"I need to wash my face," Mello grumbled in embarrassment. "Lawliet doesn't need to know that his mommy was crying like a little schoolgirl."

"Hurry up!" Matt chirped. "They'll be here soon. I'll finish up these dishes."

3:30 PM

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

The raven-haired boy beamed at all his party guests as they congratulated him on living one more exciting year. Grinning widely to proudly show off the gap in his teeth where a front tooth had been yanked out by his Mama with a pair of pliers, Lawliet looked over at his parents.

"Blow out the candles!" his Daddy encouraged. "And don't forget to make your wish!"

Scrunching his face in thought, Lawliet silently wished that this coming year would be even better than all the other ones and that his Mama would finally let him ride on the motorcycle. Sucking in a deep breath, the boy proceeded to expel all the air in his lungs and most of the spit from his mouth in one fell swoop. Applause rained down as the last candle's fire flickered away.

"Mama? Can you help me cut the cake?" he begged excitedly. If he didn't get to cutting soon, Grandpa L would try to eat the whole thing by himself.

"Sure thing, luv," his Mama said, easily stepping behind the boy with the sharp knife that had nearly killed his father early in the week. Daddy had made the mistake of saying that Mama's new pants made him look fat.

Pictures flashed as Watari immortalized the moment with a brand new high resolution camera. Grandpa L was sucking on his thumb with a hungry glint in his eye, Uncle Near was standing awkwardly between the other guests, Aunt Halle was whistling encouragingly, Uncle Gevanni was trying to keep the presents from toppling over, and Uncle Rester was patting Daddy roughly on the back in congratulations for raising such a fine boy. Even Neighbor Dan was at the party today with a wrapped box in his hands.

Once the pieces were cut and distributed, Lawliet turned around and held a plate towards his Mama. "Wanna share with me, Mama?"

Strong arms lifted him up effortlessly and placed him on the most comfortable lap in the world. Other kids didn't have a Mama like Mello and sometimes that made Lawliet sad. They were missing so much! Mama had the most comfortable body in the world that was just made for cuddling. He had strong, lean muscles and could beat anybody up. He was a great cook, a great storyteller, a great monster chaser, and best of all, the greatest Mama in the planet. And Daddy was the greatest Daddy in the world for dealing with the blond.

Now, if only Mama would let him ride the motorcycle…