Hey guys! I won't hold you up too long, but I just want to give a quick heads up that today is National Parents Day! And a better day could not have been chosen for this update.

Also there was no beta, so if there are any mistakes please let me know!

So, onwards with our favorite pineapple dad! Enjoy!~


"And this is your new office, we do hope you find it to your liking." Ms. Boa said as she opened a door inset with small panels of decorative rain glass.

"Your email has, of course, been transferred from your previous network and you can find your extension displayed on the screen of your phone. The office was of course cleared of any clutter, feel free to add any personal items to on the desk and bookshelves, and if you need any picture frames on the wall we advise against hammering nails into the wall. Please be civilized and use the command strips that peel off of the walls when you are done with them. The blinds I am sure you can figure out. Ah, and as for music; please keep it at a reasonable volume and for the love of Enel nothing too obscene." Ms. Boa finished curtly, head raised exaggeratingly so.

As far as first impressions went, Marco was not too thrilled to be escorted around by Hancock Boa, sure she was beautiful. Drop dead gorgeous if Marco was honest with himself, Marco was no fool, he knew beauty when he saw it, and he could definitely see how attractive Ms. Boa was. But that was never an excuse to look down on people, which was exactly what Hancock tended to do. In the small span of ten minutes that Marco had spent with the woman, he could already tell that she was very much aware of the fact that she was beautiful and used that as much as she could.

When they had first met, she had worn a sly little smile and a look that was meant to look down on Marco. She had approached him slowly, confidently, her hips moving in what he could only guess was supposed to place him in a sort of trance or at the very least capture his full attention. Marco had taken a deep breath and straightened himself, keeping his eyes on the only respectable place he could.

Surprise had shone in those dark eyes the moment Marco's gaze landed on hers and her smile only widened. Marco was not deterred by her looks, and he most certainly was not going to be taken in by her appearance, he had learned long ago that anything between coworkers never ended well, and office relationships were meant to be kept as impersonalized as possible.

When she introduced herself, Marco remained visibly unruffled, his smile was polite and his handshake firm enough to let her know that he was not one to fall for whatever game she was playing. If she had meant to intimidate or even ensnare Marco under that gaze of hers, she was sorely mistaken. Marco spoke smoothly as he introduced himself and as she returned the favor, her gaze darkened slightly.

Marco could only guess that she was not too pleased he had not commented on her appearance or was the slightest bit starstruck when they had met. That small action could have explained why her attitude had chilled only seconds after their meeting.

That isn't to say that she still didn't try to rouse a comment from Marco, because try she did, it was almost laughable, the way she took extreme care to always show Marco her right side, and the way she pushed out her chest, she was definitely trying her best to catch Marco staring at her at the beginning of their tour. But as time progressed, her annoyance became apparent in her speech and her efforts plummeted.

At the end of their tour, she seemed to be sulking, speaking tersely to Marco as she was no doubt itching to head back to people that actually fed her compliments on her appearance. The moment Marco expressed his gratitude to Hancock, she flipped her hair, muttered her goodbye and stalked away briskly.

Not even seconds later, Marco heard the distinct sound of someone complimenting how beautiful her hair was that morning.

Sighing, Marco entered his office, and took in the space. It certainly was larger than his previous one, then again most spaces were bigger than a 4x4 cubicle.

Throughout the day Marco was visited by a variety of people who stopped by to introduce themselves and offer him to help should he ever need it. Marco of course greeted each and every one of them with a polite and welcoming smile before offering them the same, he knew he was the new person in the office, but that did not mean he couldn't offer any help.


"The big hand is not where it's supposed to be." Haruta was the first to notice that the clock hand had moved away from the 12 and was inching towards the one.

Sabo hummed as he followed her gaze and smiled at the small child, "You can read the time Haruta?"

"Yes!" The small girl's puzzled frown lifted into a bright smile as she bounced with pride. "Papa taught us that the big hand counts mities and the bigger one counts owls."

"That's very good Haruta, but don't worry your dad will be here soon. Why don't you and Thatch go play with the other kids while your dad gets here?" Sabo suggested, gently guiding Haruta to where a small group of children were playing on the hopscotch mat.

Sabo couldn't help but be impressed at the level the two kids were, yes Haruta had essentially mispronounced both time measurements, but the concept of it had still been taught to the point where they could recognize what each of the hands meant. Sabo wondered what other pieces of information the kids had been taught under their father.

Before meeting him that day, Sabo hadn't known what to expect. From what Sabo had heard from Robin the man was an interesting fellow, after all how many parents went the extra million miles to actually background check a day care center? Sabo wasn't sure, but the fact that this man did so was heart warming. If Sabo hadn't seen the display of adoration for the twins firsthand that morning, he would have just pegged the man as a paranoid parent. Instead Sabo saw him in a new light of overprotective, but in a well meaning way.

"Bye Mr. Kakumei! I'll see you tomorrow okay!" a voice shouted towards the entrance and Sabo was pulled from his musings to see Holy and his older sister Amanda waving to him.

"Have a great day you two, be safe!" Sabo called back with a wave of his own.

Usually the pickup process lasted from four in the afternoon until five and very rarely did parents or designated caretakers take longer to arrive at the Daycare. However, it was still the Ohara Daycare's policy to not close the center until every last child was picked up. So it really didn't surprise Sabo that he was still there, all other staff members had said their goodnights and gone home, Robin included.

"Thatch, why isn't Papa here yet?" Haruta asked as she clung to her brothers sleeve, her blue eyes trained on the clock, watching as the time ticked by.

Sabo turned in time to see Thatch shrug a shoulder helplessly before he confessed, "I dunno. The small hand is moving away and the big one is at the bottom."

It really was remarkable how well the twins could read the face of a clock, especially an analogue one. Sabo was so used to seeing children unable to recognize the shape of certain numbers, but he supposed that their dad had his own reasons for teaching Haruta and Thatch so early. Still, he shouldn't be dwelling on questions he would most likely never know the answer to. Sabo needed to calm his two charges down before giving Marco a call to see if he would be out longer.

"Hey now you two don't look so glum." Sabo knelt next to the children and gave them a reassuring smile, "your dad's probably stuck in traffic and a few minutes away, c'mon let's–"

"I'm sorry I'm late, yoi!" the front door opened with the help of a distraught looking father.

"Papa!" two voices cried out in unison and Sabo's heart tugged at the sight of the two children rushing at their father and jumping into his arms.

"I'm so sorry Haru, Thatch. There was this meeting and… I'm sorry, yoi." Sabo could hear a small tremble in the man's voice and his heart went out to the small family.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Mr. Newgate." Sabo said lightly whilst a warm smile came to his face. "Would you guys like to tell your dad what you did today?"

Marco blinked in Sabo's direction, almost as if surprised that he was there. It was strange, but Sabo found that he really didn't mind, after all he could only guess that the relief of seeing his children again was much more important than a daycare employee.

But before Marco could comment on the situation, Thatch had already gained wind.

"Dad! Me and Haru made this!" Thatch's hands pulled away from Marco to stretch his arms out as far to either side as possible. "Many friends! And we played many games, right Haru?"

Next to Thatch Haruta nodded, though still sniffling.

Sabo watched as Marco gave his kids another warm hug and set them down before rising from his kneel, his hand securely holding each of his twins as he finally looked to Sabo.

"I don't have the words to express just how grateful I am to you, Mr. Kakumei, yoi." Marco started and bowed his head. "Please accept my deepest apologies, I was unable to call you and let you know that I was going to be late. There was a meeting I was unable to get away from and what I have done is inexcusable, yoi. Thank you so much for looking after Haruta and Thatch."

From the moment Marco bowed his head, Sabo became flustered, not really used to having people apologize so seriously to him. Sabo laughed nervously as he waved his hands while rushing his words trying to appease the worried parent, "Ah, no. No it's fine Mr. Newgate really, you don't have to bow. These things happen every now and then, it was no trouble at all looking after these two, they're actually a pleasure to have around."

Marco rose from his bow, but his shoulders still slumped with guilt. "Thank you all the same Mr. Kakumei, I will do my best to call you in case this happens again, yoi."

Sabo still felt bad for the poor guy, normally he would suggest if there was an alternative person who could pick up the children. But after he had read the man's application and noted that his emergency contacts were out of town, Sabo supposed that that option was not the best.

So Sabo took matters into his own hands and walked over to the desk. "Sometimes these things can't be helped, and I get that some bosses can be," Sabo glanced to the children and smiled, "difficult, but maybe you can send over a text instead of a call, do you think that would be able to work?" Sabo asked as he extended a sticky note with his number written neatly on it.

"Normally we don't hand our personal cell numbers for certain reasons," Sabo chuckled, "but I'm sure Robin will agree with me that in this case a little bending of the rules will be for the best."

Marco looked stunned to say the least as he looked to the paper and then to Sabo, but he accepted the paper nonetheless. "Thank you very much Mr. Kakumei–"

"Call me Sabo," Sabo cut Marco's sentence off. "We don't need to be so formal, and it's after work hours, besides Mr. Kakumei sounds so impersonal." Sabo said with a chuckle.

Marco gave the barest of smiles and nodded, "Thank you for everything, I'll be sure to let you know next time M–Sabo, yoi."

Sabo beamed in the man's direction, there was something endearing in the way Marco said his name right before his verbal tic sneaked into his sentence. Moments later Marco had signed off on his pick up of his twins and all of them said their goodbyes, leaving Sabo to a last round of checking the classrooms before locking up for the day.


"There you are, Bo. Get lost on your way home again?" A voice asked from the kitchen entrance where an amused man grinned devilishly at Sabo.

"Good to see you too Ace, my day went pretty well thank you for asking." Sabo rolled his eyes as he kicked off his shoes and hung his coat on the rack. "And for your information, that was one time!"

Ace laughed as he crossed the distance and pecked a kiss to Sabo's cheek. "I know, that's why I said 'again'. But it's been awhile since you were this late, is everything okay?"

Sabo leaned against Ace, wrapping his arms around his bare chest. "Yeah, everything is fine. We had a new addition today, and the dad was held up at work."

"And he didn't think to call?"

"That's just it." Sabo hummed. "This guy is more than invested in his kids, remember when I told you someone was digging into the Daycare's background and running all sorts of checks? This is our guy. He cares alot about his kids, but for whatever reason he wasn't allowed to make a phone call."

"Sounds sketchy to me." Ace grumbled.

"Considering he works for Baroque Works, I don't think so." Sabo answered.

"Wait isn't that where Robin used to work? Isn't that place supposed to be hell on earth?" Ace asked rather surprised.

"The very one." Sabo confirmed. "I think that's the main reason Robin has taken such an interest in this family."

"And no one else could have picked them up, where's the mom?"

Sabo shrugged, "As far as we can tell not in the picture, she's not listed in any of the paperwork."

"I see." Ace mused and took Sabo's hand, "let's get you fed and you can tell me all about your awesome day down at the daycare."

Sabo smiled as he was lead into the kitchen, though a small part of him nagged for him to ask. "Please tell me nothing went wrong for you today, you didn't burn anything down did you?"


"Are you absolutely sure you don't need me to come down there? I have a weekend suitcase all ready to go, just tell me and I'll get down there within the hour."

"I'm positive, yoi. It was just a bumpy start on the road. Besides Oyaji needs you there to look after him and the house." Marco assured his sister knowing very well that her 'weekend' suitcase was meant for anything but a weekend stay. Izo tended to pack for more than a weekend, and if Marco's hunch was correct, which it usually was, then Izo would plan to spend around three weeks to a month at his house.

Marco appreciated the gesture, he honestly did, but he couldn't very well ask his sister to drop everything and come to his rescue whenever things got tough. Marco had to figure things out on his own before he asked for help.

"Marco dear, you and I both know that Oyaji will be fine, if anything he would support one of us being there, but I understand. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now, but the moment I hear that something is off, I will personally march down there and help you out, okay?"

Marco knew Izo's statement was not a suggestion in the slightest, but a very real promise. "What would I ever do without you Izo, yoi."

Marco was warmed by the peels of laughter that sounded off on the other end of the phone. "I think it's safe to say no one wants to find out, wouldn't you agree love?"

"Wholeheartedly." Marco agreed and joined in on her laughter.

"I need to put the twins to bed Izo, wish Oyaji a good night for me, would you?"

"Of course, and you do the same with those two, Marco, I can't even begin to tell you how much they are missed here, now who am I going to read bedtime stories to?" Marco could practically see his sisters pout over the phone.

Marco promised he would do a story for each of them and that it wouldn't be long before they stopped by for a visit, possibly that weekend.

"Papa, are you okay?" Haruta's hand held onto Marco's finger and he almost jumped from his seat at the table.

"Of course I am sweetie." Marco said softly as he lifted her and settled her on his lap.

"Me and Haru were worried." Thatch spoke up next, climbing onto Marco's lap as well, looking down and suddenly much smaller than he had back at the daycare.

Marco heaved a sigh and pressed a kiss to the crown of both of their heads. "I know." he whispered.

"I was too." Marco confessed, "And I'm sorry I made you worry." The only thing he could do was hold his children tightly, reassure them that he was there now and that he was not going to abandon them.

"If I'm late again I will let Mr. Kakumei know."

"Promise?" Haruta's words were almost silent against the fabric of Marco's shirt, where her face was buried and her small hands were bunched into small fists.

Marco's heart broke at the sight of his little girl and even more so when Thatch sniffled in agreement.

"I promise with all my heart, I may be late again, but I'll forever be there for you both."


And on that note, we will end the day.

Thank you so much for the amazing guessed in the last chapter, I assure you that their mother will be made known at some point in the story, but not in the foreseeable future. And as you can see, Hancock is not the mom, so who else could it be?

Please let me know your thoughts! I love hearing back from you guys, and I promise I'll try to get to the next chapter sooner.

Till next time!~