Title: Three of Pentacles

Author: Evil Day

Fandom: Death Note

Pairing: Raito x L

Rating: let's say T or PG13 to be safe. It is yaoi.

Spoilers: Oh, yes. Everything up to…chapter 58. But that didn't happen in my world.

Disclaimer: I own many things. Death Note is not one of them.

Summary: The Kira investigation continues…and Raito is still without his memories. When something happens to Misa, Raito is left with something he never wanted. Thankfully, that something is what might bring he and L together. Raito x L yaoi. Slightly AU, only because half of the stuff in the manga ain't never gonna happen in here. But you won't want it to.

Raito was quite used to waking up alone. He was also used to falling asleep alone. There was a point during the night he knew of, however, when he was not alone. It was the peaceful moment when all of the night owls of the world had finally fallen asleep, and the early risers weren't quite awake yet. There wasn't a definite point in time that this occurred each night, but that was the time when L finally came to bed. Raito was not consciously aware of it when he crawled in under the covers, and L was always gone by the time Raito woke up, but if L had not been there at all during the night, Raito would know it. He never spoke of it, and L never asked, but it could be said that they shared a bed together.

L had not slept in it that night.

Raito was already aware of this as he neared consciousness, his own precious sleep being interrupted by an unsettling sensation that overcame him, as though he were being watched. Or…

"Raito-kun."

Raito lifted his eyelids and took in the sight. He was far too used to this sort of thing to jump or be startled.

L's feet were on the mattress on the opposite side of the bed from Raito, what Raito would call "L's side". Perched like a blackbird on a fence, he hovered over Raito and attempted to poke him awake by means of his exposed shoulder.

"Raito-kun. The appointment is very early. Please wake up."

"Hhnnnn…" Raito knew he had been forgetting something. Oh, right…he had a child. What a wonderful realization to wake up to. He pushed his face further into the pillow, willing the world away.

"Raito-kun."

The younger man brought his face out of the pillow and stared at L sleepily. If he didn't respond, L would continue to say 'Raito-kun' over and over again in that dreary voice until Raito wanted to scream. It had happened far too many times for Raito to make that mistake once more.

"Yes, Ryuuzaki?"

L, visibly brightening at the response, lifted up something held between his thumbs and his forefingers delicately, as though it might burn him.

"What do you think about this?" L kept positively still, despite sitting precariously on the mattress, and waited for Raito to respond.

He held a tiny outfit that was no doubt meant for Tsuki. It was a white, two-piece set made from fuzzy material that looked like wool not yet shorn from a sheep. The bottoms were long and had feet, and the top was built like a hoodie, with little ears on the top of the hood.

"What is that, a bear outfit?" Raito rubbed at his eyes, wondering where it had come from.

"Yes."

Raito smirked.

"I think it might be a little small."

L stared at Raito, his slate rimmed eyes drifting up to the ceiling for a few seconds before he responded.

"That is very funny."

Raito muffled a grin into the pillow. He knew that the detective meant it honestly, despite how much he reeked of sarcasm. That was just how L laughed.

'This man is 26 years old' Raito thought to himself, rubbing the smile out of his face and onto the pillow. Raito had always thought that L looked his own age, and possibly just a little younger. But sitting on the bed as he was right now with an almost animate expression, Raito thought he looked more like 16 than 26. Maybe even 6.

"If Raito-kun wants me to wear a bear outfit, all he has to do is say so."

"Very funny. Is it time to go yet?" Raito pushed himself out from beneath the covers, wondering if it had been the best idea to lift the ban on speaking.

"Soon. You have half an hour before Watari will be driving you to the appointment, at which time he will wait for you outside until you are finished."

Raito began to search for something to wear, but before he could get very far, he could feel those two maniacal eyes on the back of his head.

"What is it, Ryuuzaki?" he asked, rummaging around in a drawer for something appropriate.

"I think that Tsuki-tan should wear this to the appointment. What are your thoughts on the matter?"

"I don't care what you put him in, just make sure he's ready. I don't want to spend a lot of time on the matter."

L disappeared, leaving Raito to his preparations.

The car ride was more than silent. It was empty.

Raito sat in the back, the baby in his car seat and strapped to the seat opposite him. Just as he'd suspected, Tsuki had arrived dressed in L's chosen attire, although it wasn't as strange as Raito had originally thought it might be. He remembered seeing numerous babies dressed similarly when he used to go out more often. It was some kind of popular fashion. Raito was more shocked that L found such a thing appealing. For someone who had worn the same outfit almost indefinitely, he sure did seem to know what was popular in infant fashion.

In his hand he clutched the manila envelope that L had given him just before he left. There were papers in there necessary for identification and registration with the doctor's office, since L had chosen the doctor Raito was on his way to see as Tsuki's primary pediatrician.

The doctor's office was located in a medical building not more than fifteen minutes away from L's headquarters, and Raito found the correct room without trouble. He put the baby down immediately on the soft carpet of the waiting room near a play area that was set up to entertain children who were waiting to be seen. Leaving Tsuki to play, he signed in at the window and then sat down in a chair to wait.

As Raito sat in the chair, the same uncomfortable one they use in all waiting rooms, he looked at the white walls and smelled the sterile air and felt as though everything around him were…surreal. He felt as though he'd walked into someone else's life and was expected to just pick up where whoever it was left off. He supposed that person would have to be Misa. Did she do this? Did she take Tsuki to doctor's appointments, enroll him in daycare, feed him and take care of him?

Raito shook his head at his own stupidity. Of course she did, she was his mother.

Tsuki's mother.

It was an odd thing to say, or even think, but Misa was a mother when she died. And he had been a father all this time, unbeknownst to him. He'd never even thought to get a paternity test, and even now he knew it would be useless. Not only did everything add up just too well to question, there was a tiny part of him that knew, just knew that this baby was his. Perhaps that was what made him so angry.

Raito wanted children of his own. Not now, and most definitely not with Misa, but he had always assumed someday he would have them. But not like this.

Having children didn't mean someone showed up one morning with a baby that was almost a year old and left it on your doorstep. Having a baby meant being in love with someone and taking care of them while they were pregnant. It meant staying up all night in the delivery room and holding someone's hand while they screamed from the pain. It meant holding your own baby the moment it was born, knowing that it was yours and looking into its eyes for the very first time. It meant all that and more…didn't it?

Raito felt that was the only proper way to raise a child. You couldn't call yourself a family without those things, not a real one, anyway.

He also felt slighted that Misa hadn't told him anything. He wasn't sure what he would have done upon hearing it from her mouth, but he hadn't even been given the chance. He felt as though she'd stolen something away from him, something he could never get back.

Sitting alone in cold and soundless waiting room, Raito hated Misa twice as much as he'd ever done while she was alive. But Misa was dead and probably cold in the ground by now, and the only thing left for him to hate of hers was this baby, the one she'd hidden from him.

"Amane Tsuki?" A short, black haired nurse opened the door, shaking Raito from his thoughts. "The doctor is ready for him."

There was a heavy weight in his heart, and it held Raito down as he scooped up the baby and followed the nurse into one of the many empty rooms waiting for patients to be seen in.

The nurse closed the door behind them and Raito gave Tsuki to her. She stripped him down to his diaper, weighing him and measuring his length and the circumference of his head. She wrote everything down on a chart and then gave Tsuki back, assuring Raito that the doctor would be in shortly.

Raito looked around the room, taking it in for the first time. He was seated in another waiting room style chair, and on the other side of the bleach white room there was a waist high examination bench covered in a sheet of thin paper. The floor was hard; there was no carpeting so he couldn't put Tsuki on the ground, and he'd fall off the bench in an instant. Raito resigned himself to holding his son.

A loud knock sounded on the other side of the door before it swung open slowly, revealing an older man in the standard white coat, most likely in his early fifties.

"Amane Tsuki?" He asked, a kind smile spreading across his face. Raito couldn't help but be polite and return it as he brought the baby over and deposited him in front of the doctor on the bench.

"Okay, let's see…" The doctor laid Tsuki back on the table. "What's this appointment for?"

"Oh, he needs this form filled out, he's starting at a new daycare tomorrow." Raito fished through the envelope until he came up with the correct form. "Also, I think this information needs to go to the front desk, since this is his first visit."

The doctor took the form, but waved his hand at the rest of the paperwork. "Just take it to the front after we're finished here, they'll take care of everything for you."

Raito nodded and sat back down, watching the doctor work with a mild interest. He checked Tsuki's ears and eyes, all his joints and his feet, marking things down on the same chart that the nurse had used.

"All right…what's his diet like?"

Raito's mind hit a speed bump, and quickly he thought back, trying to remember.

"Um…I'm not really sure. I haven't really…uh, been the only one taking care of him."

"That's fine…the mother isn't here with you?" he asked, feeling Tsuki's stomach.

"No, she…she actually died not too long ago."

"Oh, my apologies." The doctor smiled at Tsuki and lifted him by his arms into a sitting position. He brought out his stethoscope and listened to his chest. "How are his sleeping habits?"

"Well…I think they're fine." Raito felt oddly about not having any of the right answers. Did it reflect badly upon him?

"How many naps does he take during the day?"

Raito looked up at the ceiling, hoping in vain that the answers would be there. Why didn't L tell him all these things before he left? He didn't know anything about his son.

The thought of that struck him hard in the gut. He was a very bad father…wasn't he?

"…I'm not sure."

"That's fine," the doctor gave him another warm smile as he checked Tsuki's back. "He seems well enough, he's very happy and he's developing normally. Who is it that takes care of him for you?"

There, finally a question that Raito could answer, but it wasn't as though he could tell the truth. 'L, the man with Interpol, the FBI, the CIA, and the world's police force in his grasp, is taking care of my son.'

"I live with a friend of mine. He's watching him for me until he starts daycare tomorrow."

"Well, the only thing we need to talk about here is his weight. He's just a little underweight for his height and age. Otherwise he's fine. And it's nothing to worry about since most children his age lose weight when they start to crawl. Make sure he keeps drinking formula until his first birthday, even if he's eating other food."

"Oh, I know for sure that he's crawling," Raito told him confidently, glad to finally have a piece of information to give to the doctor.

"Perfect. Everything looks fine here. I'll finish this form for you and leave it with the receptionist. Just pick it up on your way out, all right?"

Raito nodded and took the baby, watching the doctor leave the room. Wordlessly he redressed Tsuki and dealt with the receptionist, making sure they had all the information they needed before he left.

"…Ryuuzaki." Raito was trying to enjoy his dinner, but he knew that the older man's plan was going to end very badly.

"Yes, Raito-kun? The doctor advised that he needed to gain weight, correct?" L sat in the chair next to Raito's, enjoying his own dinner of strawberry shortcake and triple fudge brownies.

"Yes, but…cake? I don't think he should…" Raito paused, thought about what he wanted to say, and decided against it. However, L was already threading the rest of it together for him.

"You don't think he should have cake? I though Raito-kun had decided he wanted nothing to do with this baby?"

Raito stabbed at his dinner with a fork. "I don't."

"That is still all right, but if you will not make the proper decisions that Tsuki-tan needs you to make, then I will be forced to make them for you." L took a good-sized piece of yellow cake with white frosting off of one of the plates on the table and slid it onto the high chair tray. "I have decided that he needs cake."

Raito watched the two of them tiredly. He didn't feel like arguing with L.

Tsuki stared at the cake, which was almost as big as his own head. He reached out hesitantly at first, not sure what he was supposed to do with it.

"Tsuki-tan, you are to eat that cake. It will help you think."

Tsuki looked at the cake, and then looked back up at L

"Ba!"

L nodded his head slowly in response, keeping his gunmetal eyes trained on Tsuki's big blue ones.

Raito buried his face in his hands. He felt like he was lost on another planet.

"There…you see?" L's throaty voice pulled Raito from his temporary refuge. "He likes it."

Raito dared a glance in Tsuki's direction. The baby had his hand in the very center of the cake, and he was pushing his fingers around in the frosting. Evidently, he had tried to taste it upon L's encouragement, and now was trying to grab a large handful of it.

"Wow…" Raito forgot about his baby stalemate for the moment and stared. "He understood you?"

L nodded without taking his eyes of off Tsuki, watching his progress with a calculating eye.

"Yes…I believe so."

Raito gaped at Tsuki. He had assumed that since he looked like Misa, then he'd most likely be like Misa, something Raito wanted nothing to do with. But Raito wasn't even sure if Misa was as smart in her adulthood as Tsuki appeared to be right now.

"It appears as though Misa's level of intelligence did not affect him in the womb." L mused, voicing Raito's thoughts.

Raito sat back in his chair and continued to eat his dinner, keeping one eye trained on L and the baby.

Tsuki had grabbed a fistful of cake and was now attempting to stuff it into his mouth. He missed the first time, smearing a few inches of white frosting across the side of his cheek. On his second try he fared a bit better, and using his bottom teeth he scraped some of the cake off of his hand, since it was now stuck in-between his fingers.

The clean hand went into the cake next, sufficiently coating it in a yellow and white paste that the cake was beginning to become. That hand went to his mouth and this time he shoved his fingers in, as well, and sucked on them for a while. He smiled at L around his fingers, apparently enjoying the cake.

"Raito-kun, would you like some cake? You seem to be interested in it."

"No, thank you," Raito mumbled, pushing the rest of his dinner around on his plate with his fork.

Tsuki threw his hands over his head in elation. Raito thought maybe the sugar was getting to him. The baby let out a loud, high-pitched 'Ooooh!' and brought his hands down on top of his head, smiling so hard his eyes closed. When he brought his hands down to the cake again for more, there were two very sticky and very sugary white and yellow handprints on both sides of his head.

"Ba ba ba ba…" Tsuki got louder, and he began to slam his palms down into the cake, laughing at the sounds it made.

Raito watched it all in silence, slightly mortified at the sight of such a mess. If L thought he was going to clean it up, he was sadly mistaken.

L had been watching everything in earnest from his station at the edge of his chair. His toes crossed and fidgeted with each other, his mouth working on his thumb in the same manner. As Raito watched him carefully from the corner of his eyes he saw L smile, just a bit on one side of his mouth.

"Hmmm…" That deep, guttural sound rose up from the back of his throat. Raito took his dinner plate to the sink, knowing better than to interrupt the older man when he got like that. He wasn't interested in hearing any of his theories. He rinsed off his plate and slipped quietly out of the room.

L felt his phone beginning to vibrate, and he snatched it up out of his pocket and answered it in a flash before the unit had a chance to ring.

"Watari."

"L…the NYPD have responded to your request pertaining to Amane Misa."

"Oh?" L reached out with a fork, stabbing a piece of cake that was nearly out of his reach. "What did they say?"

"They will agree to your request, in exchange for your silence. They do not wish for the public to become aware of the situation."

L nodded; American police never wanted to get their hands dirty with anything they deemed foreign.

"That is fine. Please let them know. Also…" L glanced over to Tsuki, who was happily shoving frosting inside his ear. "We have a bit of a situation in the dining room."

End Part Four

Ha ha. Babies and cake are funny. Ah, I'm having so much fun writing this. It's very nice. Incidentally, my son is the 'muse; if you will, for baby Tsuki. He's the same age, and he looks the same. Hooray for young parents! If you want a visual, please follow the link on my author page.

OMG thank you so much for all your awesome reviews! I truly do appreciate each and every one of them, they only make me write faster, I've found. I'm so glad everyone's enjoying the story, and please, if you haven't reviewed, send me one and let me know what you think!

THE LIST OF TREASURED REVIEWERS HAS GROWN QUITE LARGE!

Copperdrops

Mikanis

JediMasterWithAPen

Allaboutcontests

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Honor

Shadows (clever, clever reader, you…you saw right through my plot like a screen door, lol. But I won't say which parts)

LightxL

Kaesaku

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Thanks, you guys, you are my super special awesome lovelies!