This one is not a prompt. It's also AU, which isn't something that I've done a lot of recently, so I may be a little rusty. x.x
Feel free to drop a review at the end with your thoughts. ^^
Disclaimer:I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything associated with it. All rights to Kingdom Hearts and affiliated characters belong to Disney and Square Enix.
Summary: He did not envy Riku his carefree bachelor's life one little bit; given the opportunity, he would make all of the same decisions all over again. He couldn't imagine a different life for himself, and felt wrong every time he was asked to.
Rating: K
Genre: Family/Romance
Pairings:SoKai
World: Alternate Universe. Sora and Kairi are in their early 20's.
Little Feet
The shrieking of a three-year-old little girl greeted Sora as he closed the front door behind him. He caught a glimpse of her as she streaked through the hall and disappeared into the kitchen, laughing as her five-year-old brother chased her with a murderous look on his face.
"Kids, no running in the house!" Kairi called from the bathroom. "Go play outside if you want to run around!"
Sora adjusted his backpack on his shoulder and followed his wife's voice, wrinkling his nose against the strong smell of ammonia that permeated the hallway. It wasn't an unfamiliar smell by any means; Kairi's preference for cherry red hair over her natural blonde had seen to his acquaintance with the scent of her hair dye over the years, but it was still unpleasant.
Dropping his gear just inside the door of the bedroom he shared with his wife, Sora came to rest against the frame of the bathroom door, taking in the scene. His wife was perched on the edge of the bathtub, head bent forward as she applied a bottle of dye to the roots of her hair. Sora breathed through his mouth to avoid the worst of the smell. "Hey."
Kairi turned her head a little to glimpse him, what he could see of her lips curling into a smile. "You're home early."
"Not early enough." Sora shook his head with a sigh. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there today. How'd it go?"
"Fine." Kairi finished applying the dye and straightened, rubbing it into her hair as she did so. "Everything's coming up normal. How was work?"
Sora shrugged. "The usual. Riku wants us to come over for lunch tomorrow."
"Mm," Kairi piled her hair on top of her head, covering it with the swimming cap she used to keep it out of the way while the dye took effect. "We'll have to ask your mother if she minds watching the kids, then."
"The kids are invited." Sora pushed off the door as Kairi stood, stripping the thin dye-stained plastic gloves off her hands and tossing them in the trash with the dye bottle and box. She'd done it so many times she didn't even need the instructions anymore. "Terra and Aqua are coming too, and I'm pretty sure they're bringing Ven."
Kairi chuckled a little, washing her hands. "Doesn't Riku get tired of being the only bachelor in a group of married couples with kids?"
"You'd think so, but apparently not." Sora stepped back into the hallway, allowing Kairi room to exit the bathroom and head toward the kitchen. "So, are you gonna tell me, or not?" He asked, trailing behind her.
Kairi threw a grin over her shoulder as they entered the brightly lit kitchen. Sora peered out the window at their two fair-haired children, Roxas and Naminé, playing in the back garden. It appeared that they had forgotten their squabble; Roxas was waving a stick around as if it were a sword, fighting invisible enemies, and Naminé was on her hands and knees, tongue between her teeth as she drew patterns in brightly coloured chalk on the cement patio.
"Another girl."
Sora's grin stretched across his face as he bent down to kiss his wife on the cheek, conscious of the strong smell coming from her hair. "Terra owes Riku fifty munny." He remarked, eyes dancing.
Kairi rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "I should smack Riku and Terra for betting about our baby." She sighed.
Sora shrugged again. "Well it's not like they didn't bet on the other two—or Ven." He reminded her. "You can't say you weren't expecting it."
Kairi made a noncommittal noise of agreement. "I need to start dinner." She changed the subject absently. "Go spend time with your children. They've been driving me crazy all day."
Sora raised an eyebrow. "Hardly all day." He argued. "Roxas has been at school." He pointed out as he headed for the back door. Kairi said something that he didn't catch as he shut the door behind him, garnering his small daughter's attention.
"Daddy!" She dropped her chalk without a second thought, scrambling over to meet him as he took a seat on the steps and held out his arms for a hug. She all but climbed into his lap, the chalk dust all over her hands staining his shirt where she grabbed fistfuls of the material. Sora didn't mind; it would come out in the wash.
Roxas came trotting over, stick in hand. Sora looked between them, taking in Naminé's chalk-streaked face and Roxas' slightly dirt-smudged cheeks. "And how are you two?" He asked, patting the spot next to him for Roxas to sit down. He wrapped his arm around his small son as he settled, using the stick to make patterns in the dirt at the base of the stairs. "Were you good today?"
"I was very good." Naminé announced. "I drew a picture and gave it to Mama and then we went to the doctor's." The smile on Naminé's face was so reminiscent of Kairi when she was younger—small and sweet—that it made Sora's heart warm. "He didn't even give me a check-up but I got a lollipop anyways."
"And how was school?" He asked Roxas.
Roxas shrugged. "We had a subsi—stubsi—stubstitute," he stumbled over the word, "teacher today. She let us play games outside all day after she read us a story."
"And what did you play?" Sora asked.
"Me and Ven played catch."
Sora grinned. Roxas and Ventus were practically brothers, with how close they were. Aqua—Ven's mother—was Sora's older sister, and their sons were together almost constantly; Kairi, who had left work when Roxas was born and had yet to go back because of her under school-aged little girl, often minded Ven for Aqua and Terra when they were caught up at work. In fact, Sora reflected, if he didn't know better, he'd swear they were twins, with how alike they looked. "Did Ven come over after school today?" He asked. It was after six; plenty of time for Ven to have spent an hour or two over before Aqua had finished work and come to pick him up.
Roxas shook his head. "Aunt Aqua got him from school today." He sounded as disappointed as he looked, pouting down at his feet.
"Well, we're all going to Uncle Riku's house tomorrow, and Aunt Aqua and Uncle Terra are gonna be there. Maybe Ven will be there, too." He ruffled Roxas' hair.
"Really?" Naminé's eyes were round as saucers.
"Yup."
Naminé scrambled off of Sora's lap. "I gotta draw pictures for Aunt Aqua and Uncle Terra and Uncle Riku!" She declared, reaching up to open the back door and disappearing into the house to collect her paper and crayons.
"Daddy, how come we're going to Uncle Riku's tomorrow?" Roxas asked, blinking up at his father. Over the years, Sora had come to see just how much his son resembled him—they had the same big, blue eyes, and the same smile, in particular. He wondered who the new baby would resemble more—him or Kairi?
"Just to visit."
"Oh."
Sora tilted his head at his son's thoughtful frown. "Why?"
"Nothing!" Roxas suddenly brightened. "Daddy, play catch with me?"
"Sure, go get the ball. Just let me go change clothes." Sora stood and headed inside, holding the door open for Naminé, who had emerged with her arms full of her crafting materials. He watched her dump her things onto the small children's table they kept on the patio and climb onto one of the chairs, setting about drawing something.
He shucked off his work clothes in the bedroom, changing into a plain t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, not bothering with a belt. He dumped his sweat- and chalk-stained uniform into the laundry basket, knowing Kairi hated it when he left his dirty clothes on the floor, and headed back into the kitchen. "I saw Naminé tear through here with her crayons." Kairi remarked mildly.
"She wanted to draw something for Riku, Terra and Aqua." Sora explained, snatching a piece of the carrot that she was chopping and popping it in his mouth. He ignored her irritated sigh; she knew he did it to annoy her. "I'm gonna be outside with Roxas. Shout if you need me."
"Have fun."
Kairi had washed the dye out of her hair by the time dinner was ready. Sora dropped a kiss on the crown of her head now that it was free of dye, ushering the kids into the bathroom to wash their hands before eating.
Sometimes, he thought, it was incredible how much his life had changed since he had first asked Kairi to be his girlfriend ten and a half years ago. He and Kairi had married young—just out of high school, after three solid years of dating—and had both foregone college in favour of joining their respective family businesses. Kairi's mother owned a flower shop in town, at which Kairi had worked for a year and a half before Roxas was born. Sora had gone to work with his father, only just learning the ropes of his shipping business before his father had died.
Technically, he and Aqua both owned the company equally, and Sora got a cut of the profits, but he let Aqua run the show behind the scenes while he did the physical work on the shipyard with the other guys. Aqua's husband Terra and Sora's best friend Riku were both assigned to the same boats with him, making things smoother for them when it came to situations that required teamwork and cooperation. They'd all known each other for years, and got along well.
But the work was taxing, and Sora was tired. He knew that Kairi was just as exhausted, with Naminé to care for all day and Roxas to see to in the mornings and after school, not to mention the new pregnancy making itself known in her system. He helped her where he could in the evenings; entertaining the children while she got along with whatever she needed to do. The only thing she would never ask him to do was the cooking—she flat-out refused to let him anywhere near food while she prepared it, because unless he had strict supervision, he would get distracted and ruin whatever he was cooking.
He flaked the fish on Naminé's plate while Kairi did the same on Roxas', neither of them really trusting their children with knives yet. They picked the bones out where they found them, and served their complaining children within moments of each other, gratefully sliding into their seats opposite each other and digging into their food.
Sora joined in the chatter as Kairi peppered Roxas with questions about school—what did he learn today? Did he play with the other kids at recess, or just Ven? Did he have fun?—and asked Naminé how her drawings were going. Everyone had said that he and Kairi were crazy, starting a family at nineteen and then having another child at only twenty-one, but Sora knew they were wrong.
He did not envy Riku his carefree bachelor's life one little bit; given the opportunity, he would make all of the same decisions all over again. He and Kairi both lived for their children, and their family was Sora's life. He couldn't imagine a different life for himself, and felt wrong every time he was asked to.
After dinner was finished and Sora started on the dishes, he could hear Kairi put a cartoon on in the living room for Roxas and Naminé. Assuming that she would sit and watch it with them, he was surprised to feel her arms wind around his waist. "What's up?"
"Nothing." She sighed, resting her forehead against his back. "I'm just tired."
"You can go lie down if you want." Sora offered. "I can bathe the kids and put them to bed."
Kairi shook her head. "I promised Naminé I'd read her a bedtime story tonight."
"We don't have to go to Riku's tomorrow if you don't feel up to it." Sora offered. "He'd understand."
"No, I want to go." Kairi argued. "I feel like I haven't seen him in ages."
Sora raised an eyebrow, though Kairi couldn't see it. "He was over three days ago." He pointed out, putting a dish on the rack to dry.
Kairi hit him on the chest with a balled-up fist. "Shut up." She ordered. "You know what I mean."
Sora nodded. The last time Riku had been over, he'd stayed for maybe half an hour, only really talking to Sora about work while Kairi ran around after the kids. She'd barely gotten a chance to say 'hello' before she and Sora had been forced to separate a fighting Roxas and Naminé and Riku had had to leave. "I guess." He agreed; he had the advantage of seeing Riku at work every day, and sometimes forgot that Kairi didn't see their best friend nearly as often.
"I'd better go run the bath." Kairi sighed again, pulling away from Sora. "Try not to break any of my plates." She warned, only half serious.
Sora rolled his eyes. "I dropped one." He complained. "Three weeks ago."
"Yeah, and I'm still finding shards of it under the sink." Kairi kissed his jaw and then moved away, making for the door. "You didn't sweep it up properly."
"It was the middle of the night." Sora scoffed, but she was already gone. A few seconds later, he heard the pipes groan as she started to fill the bathtub.
Naminé complained all the way to the bathroom, though she followed her mother obediently, the threat of not receiving her bedtime story hanging over her head. Sora was just finishing drying and stacking the dishes away when Kairi called for Roxas to take his bath.
He turned off the television and made his way into Naminé's room, sitting on the edge of her bed while she got comfortable with her pillow. Her hair was in two braids, still damp. "Where's Mama?" She asked as Sora pulled up her blankets, tucking her in.
"Helping Roxas take his bath." Sora answered. "Do you want the nightlight tonight?"
"Yes please."
Sora reached over and flicked on the small nightlight at the outlet near his daughter's head. "I hear Mama promised to read you a story."
"Yes." Naminé answered, snuggling down into her pillows, her little hand balled up by her mouth. With the way her eyes were drooping, Sora wondered if she'd be awake long enough for Kairi to arrive and read to her.
"Well, since Mama's busy, do you want me to read to you instead?" He offered.
"No." Naminé shook her head. "Only Mama does the voices right."
Sora laughed lightly, far from offended. "Okay." He leaned over and pressed his lips to Naminé's temple. "Good night."
"'Night Daddy."
Sora turned off the light and pulled the door over, leaving it open a crack. He could see the faint glow of the nightlight and grinned to himself, stepping into the hall as Roxas and Kairi headed out of the bathroom. "I'll be five minutes." He promised Kairi, collecting his pyjamas from the bedroom and shutting himself in the bathroom.
In reality, he was about ten, but Kairi didn't comment as he emerged, fully dressed in his pyjamas and ready for bed. "Roxas wants you." She said instead, slipping by him to take her turn.
"Hey, kiddo." Sora entered his son's room, not bothering to turn the light on. Like his sister, Roxas used a nightlight; it cast a strange glow through the room when combined with the light from the hall. "Mama said you wanted me."
Roxas wordlessly held out his arms in a silent request. Sora bent down and gave his son a hug. When he withdrew, ruffling his son's hair and planting a kiss on his forehead ("Daddy!" Roxas whined), he took a seat on the side of the bed. "Did you want something else, or just a hug?" He asked.
"Can you turn the light off?" Roxas asked, surprising him.
"Okay." He leaned over and turned the nightlight off. He hovered for a moment, hesitating. This would be the first night Roxas had ever slept without the nightlight, and while he was proud of his son's decision, he was worried that he wouldn't actually be able to sleep. "Okay, Mama and I will be awake for a little while. If you change your mind you can call out and I'll come turn it back on."
"Okay." Roxas settled back, curling up on his side.
Sora felt his son's eyes on him as he moved toward the door. "'Night, Roxas." He heard his son's faint chorus as he closed the door over and headed out to finish tidying up.
Because she'd showered earlier, Kairi was already back in the kitchen, hair tied back in a braid and face and hands washed. "Hot chocolate?" She offered, spooning chocolate powder into her own mug.
"Sure, thanks." He nodded, taking a cloth and setting about wiping down the table and counter.
By the time he was finished, Kairi had finished and was seated at the counter, watching him. "What did Roxas want?" She asked.
"To turn off the nightlight." Sora answered, wringing out the cloth and hanging it over the tap to dry. He kissed Kairi as he passed her, taking his mug and wrapping his hands around it before he took a mouthful. It was going to be a cold night.
Kairi's eyebrows were travelling up her forehead in surprise. "Huh." Was all she said, sipping at her drink.
"So did you tell them they're getting a little sister?" Sora asked.
Kairi gave a small smile. "Yeah. Naminé is excited, but I think Roxas was hoping for a brother."
Sora shrugged. "He's practically got one in Ven. He'll get used to the idea."
"I know." They lapsed into silence for a few moments, before Kairi took a deep breath. "I was thinking," she started stirring her hot chocolate absently, "I have a name in mind, if you don't mind."
Sora blinked. They hadn't settled on names for Roxas and Naminé nearly this early—with Naminé in particular, it had taken forever to come up with a name for her. "What did you think of?"
"Xion?" She suggested.
It was Sora's turn for his eyebrows to rise. "Your birthmother's name?" He blinked.
Kairi starting fidgeting, playing with the hem of her pyjama shirt. "I know you didn't like her." She said in a rush, "But whether we like it or not, I still come from her, and she's their biological grandmother, even if my adopted Mom—"
"I just didn't think you liked her." Sora cut her off, sipping at his hot chocolate thoughtfully. "I guess I don't really have a problem with it, since I didn't know her all that well."
"Well, it's just a thought." Kairi pursed her lips, staring into her drink. "We don't have to call her that."
Sora drained the last of his mug in one go, wincing as it burned his throat on the way down. "It's a nice name." He allowed. "If you decide you really want to use it, then we can use it." He came to stand behind her, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist, leaning down a little to busy his nose in her neck—the stools they kept at the counter were so tall that Kairi's leg's didn't touch the ground, and it left her at the perfect height for Sora to hold her like that.
They were silent for a while, Kairi sipping her hot chocolate and Sora simply holding her, breathing in the slight chemical smell left over from the dye. His thumbs drew small circles where they rested on her stomach, right above the baby; he could practically feel Kairi's smile radiate off of her. "I love you." She heaved a sigh, relaxing against his chest.
"Love you, too." Sora answered, lifting his face and pressing his lips to her temple. "I'm gonna lock up and head to bed." He yawned, drawing away and locking the back door. "Aqua worked us like dogs."
Kairi drained her mug, rinsing both of them out with water and setting them down in the sink to be washed the next day as he headed into the living room to lock the front. "You were home early." She pointed out.
"I was up early." He reminded her. "And we only got out early because one of the ships had a problem and had to have a layover somewhere overnight. It's gonna be waiting for us on Monday morning."
"Poor baby." Kairi mock-pouted, flicking the lights off and holding the door to the hall open for him to follow her into the bedroom. "I'm sure you'll survive."
Sora shook his head as he climbed into bed. "You are a pain." He informed her.
She settled in next to him, flashing him a cheeky grin as she pulled the covers up. "But you love me."
Sora heaved a long-suffering sigh, reaching for her and pulling her against him, burying his face in her hair. "I suppose I do." He agreed.
Kairi shifted a little to get comfortable, relaxing after a moment. "Lucky me."