remember when i said i would update this over the weekend? i am a liar.
this is probably my fave chapter of this entire story
Tenten was drifting off to sleep when she heard the murmurings of conversation somewhere in the room and chose to ignore it, rolling over slightly to lay on her side facing Neji. There was a slight movement in front of her as Neji leaned over and then rotated back, scooping something small and wiggly up off the ground and putting it onto the center of the bed. The wiggly thing moved around on its own for a few seconds, getting settled, then whispered in greeting, "Hi mom."
"Hi lovie," she murmured, never opening her eyes. Hui Na crawled over to her mother and laid down next to her, blanket in hand, tucking herself to Tenten's front and slowly settling down. Tenten raised one hand and gently stroked Hui Na's hair in soothing motions until the puffs of air against her skin slowed.
Tenten cracked her eyes open to check on Hui Na. She was asleep with her blanket draped carefully over her body, nose pressed to Tenten's collarbone as she slumbered away.
After one quick half-lidded glance at Neji- laying on his back with his hands folded over his stomach, chest rising and falling rhythmically as he counted his exhales to coax himself back to sleep- Tenten closed her eyes again, her consciousness faded, and she slept once more.
Haruki's snuffling cries woke her early in the morning, and she gently nudged a floppy and resistant Hui Na over to Neji's side of the bed so she could get up to change his diaper and nurse.
His quiet crying stopped the moment he saw her face over him in his crib, and she gave him a tired smile and quiet greeting that had him grinning back up at her. She changed his diaper quickly and efficiently before bringing him with her over to the bed and laying on her side to nurse.
When Haruki had been fed and burped, Tenten rolled back over and placed the baby down at her side to cuddle him.
On the other side of the bed, Hui Na had moved to lay entirely on top of Neji, resting on his chest with her blanket tented over her head and the rest of her completely uncovered, both arms flopping at her sides. She looked utterly ridiculous. For his part, Neji had one arm resting over Hui Na's spine, a slight protective curl to his fingers, as he peered over at Tenten through half-closed eyes, checking on her and Haruki. She blinked sleepily at him with a drowsy smile, and, reassured, he turned his head back to the front and closed his eyes.
Tenten yawned and turned back to Haruki, watching his eyelids flutter as he dozed off again. It seemed like a good idea, so she followed suit.
She woke up again an indeterminate amount of time later, opening her eyes to see Hui Na's feet kicking happily up on top of the other half of Tenten's pillow as she practiced reading aloud to Haruki.
They made a very charming sight, stretched out side by side on their tummies, backs to their parents, with all of their attention diverted to the book Hui Na had opened in front of them. Based on the two stacks of books in front of her, one the "finished" pile and the other the "to read" pile, she had been plugging away for a while.
"Oh look, Haruki-chan," she said, pointing to an image on the page. "There's the kitty-cat again."
"Ah-buh buh..." Haruki reached to touch Hui Na's hand with his own, babbling away.
Hui Na snorted. "No, not buh. Kitty-cat. Kit-ty ca-at."
Haruki let out a little baby growl and drooled on the page, slapping it with his palm and trying to grab the flat surface with his fingers. Hui Na sighed and shook her head.
Tenten grinned and said, her voice still thick with sleep, "It'll be awhile before he can say something like 'kitty-cat', lovie."
They both turned to look at her, identical pale eyes pressed almost cheek to cheek and looking so round and adorable that she had to fight back the urge to grab them both and squeeze them till they popped. Haruki's eyes rounded excitedly when he saw her smile, and he rocked up onto his hands and knees to crawl determinedly over to her side. He sat next to her head and touched her cheek with a squeal.
Tenten grabbed his little hand and blew a raspberry on the palm, sending him spiralling into giggles. Hui Na flopped down on Haruki's other side and said, "Morning mom!"
"Good morning, miss strawberry." Tenten cupped Hui Na's head in her hand and drew her in close to give her a wet, smacking smooch on the cheek that had her recoiling in protest. "I see you made your way into our room again last night."
"Yep. Baba lifted me into the bed."
"He did, did he?" Tenten raised her gaze past her children to look at Neji, who was still stubbornly trying to sleep despite their chatter and movement. "And when did you go get those books?"
"A lil' bit ago. I was awake but nobody else was up so I went to get them and then I got back and I started reading and then Haruki-chan woke up so I readed to him."
"That's nice. Did he like it?"
"Yep. He really liked the pictures. And also when I said things in a funny voice, like this." She pitched her voice up high and squeaky, and Haruki swung his head around to stare at her, mouth falling open in a disbelieving O as Hui Na squeaked, "Haruki-chan!"
Haruki shrieked with laughter. Behind them, Neji's lips twitched into a smile at the sound and Hui Na grinned at her brother, pleased with herself.
"He has such a good laugh, mom."
"Mm, yeah. Babies have cute laughs. You know," Tenten grinned and rolled onto her side to prop her head up on one hand while the other reached out to rest on Haruki's back, "You had the sweetest little laugh as a baby, lovie."
"Really?"
"Mmhm. You never really laughed like Haruki did, you know how he always kind of screams a little bit when he laughs?" Hui Na nodded. "Well, you always had very defined, clear giggles. You went, 'Hee hee hee!'"
Hui Na looked both pleased and embarrassed. Tenten smiled at her reaction and told her, "It was so cute. We must have taken about a thousand videos of you laughing."
"Can I see?"
"Hm, I'm not sure if I still have any on my phone or if I moved them all to my computer, but let me check." Tenten grabbed her phone off the bedside table- along with one of Haruki's teething rings, which she subsequently passed to him, to his delight- and opened the album for Hui Na's photos. Unfortunately, all of the photos were from when Hui Na was at least four.
"No baby videos, sweetheart, but I can find some on my computer later."
"I have baby videos," Neji rumbled, finally resigning himself to wakefulness. He scrolled through his phone for a few moments before rolling onto his side and wrapping his arm around Hui Na to show her the video. She leaned back against him, hooking one hand over his forearm as they both watched.
Tenten turned her attention to Haruki, smiling as she heard the distinctive giggle of a baby Hui Na from the phone speakers.
Haruki was concentrating very hard on trying to pull the teething ring apart, though of course he wasn't having much luck. He blew a raspberry, something he'd been doing more and more lately when he was entertaining himself- which he seemed to be fine with, a striking contrast from his sister, who wanted her parents' attention on her constantly from six months to three years of age.
(The terrible twos in particular had, most definitely, been terrible.)
Haruki glanced up at Tenten and saw her attention was on him, which made him grin and present the slimy, drool-coated toy for her inspection.
"That's pretty neato, lovebug," she told him.
"Ahhh-ah." He agreed, stuffing it back into his mouth.
"I'm so cute," Hui Na announced suddenly, watching another video and grinning.
"And so modest," Neji told her, tickling her ribs with his free hand. She shrieked and wiggled away madly, leaping across the bed to hide behind Tenten's legs.
After a moment, she peeked her head up, pointed at Neji, and declared, "Youuu can't caaatch me!"
Neji set his phone aside. "Oh really?"
Seconds later, Hui Na was screaming bloody murder as she ran out the bedroom door and down the hallway, Neji close on her heels. There was a thumping of footsteps, followed by another loud screech, then Hui Na was shrieking with laughter between loud protests about being tickled. Tenten could hear Neji's deep laughter underneath the screaming, and the sound made her smile.
Next to her, Haruki somehow threw the teething ring all the way to the other side of the bed, then looked very confused.
"Good arm," Tenten remarked to him.
"Mmmmmuh!" He agreed, placing both hands on her ribcage and trying to climb up onto his knees. She let him, one hand ready to balance him if he needed it.
The sound of giggling in the hallway grew closer, and soon Neji emerged in the doorway, grinning widely, with a red-faced and hysterically laughing Hui Na clutched upside-down in his arms.
Over the noise, he asked, "What do you want for breakfast, Tennie?"
"PANCAKES!" Hui Na yelled.
"I have no idea what you're saying," Neji told her. "You're upside down, which means all the words are upside-down too."
"That's not how it works!" Hui Na wiggled furiously in his arms. "Baba, make pancakes with strawberries!"
Tenten interjected, "You can't have dessert for breakfast, lovie."
"Why not? I like pancakes!"
"How about miso soup with rice and nori?" Tenten said, mostly to Neji.
"We're out of nori."
"Oh. That's right, we didn't go grocery shopping."
"Mm."
"Well, let's just scrounge around and see what we come up with." Tenten grabbed Haruki and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, tossing the baby in the air a little and cooing at him as he giggled. Neji set Hui Na down on her feet and she raced over to the steps, sitting down at the top and sliding down them with much thumping.
Neji and Tenten followed at a more sedate pace, Tenten with Haruki propped on her hip. At the top of the steps, Neji paused and asked, "Do you want to change before breakfast?" Tenten was still wearing the velvet sleep set from the night before, and while it was perfectly sexy it was also bound to be a little chilly downstairs.
She sighed, "Yeah, probably. Here-" She passed off Haruki, who grinned up at his father and let out a little happy noise, then made to turn and head back into the bedroom.
Neji caught her by the arm before she could leave and kissed her good morning, wrapping his free arm around her waist to hold her close. Tenten rested her hand on his shoulder, careful not to squish Haruki as they embraced.
Neji slid his hand down her waist and grabbed her ass, digging his fingers in and smirking as Tenten let out a startled noise.
"STOP KISSING!" Hui Na bellowed up the steps. They parted and looked down at her, with her hands propped on her hips and a scowl on her face.
"Busted," Tenten told Neji. She gave him one last quick peck (and he gave her one last squeeze) before going to get dressed. Neji made his way down the stairs and followed Hui Na into the kitchen, placing Haruki in his high chair and kissing the baby's cheek (to his gap-toothed grin of delight) before opening the pantry to consider their options.
Hui Na plopped herself down on the seat next to Haruki and said, "Baba, can I feed Haruki-chan his breakfast?"
"Yes," Neji said absently, preparing the rice in the cooker. "One moment, let me grab his porridge."
He set the bowl and spoon in front of Hui Na, then put Haruki's bib on. "There we go. All set."
Hui Na started sloppily spooning porridge into Haruki's excited mouth (and intermittently, between sad little sobs when he wasn't being fed as fast as he wanted) as Neji heated up the last of the miso soup he and Tenten had prepared last Sunday- they made a new batch every Sunday night for the entire week and had narrowed their portions down to a precise science.
With the soup on the stove, he pulled some pre-packaged natto out and put it in a serving dish for them to eat later, calling to Hui Na, "Little bird, do we want eggs or fish?"
"Pancakes!"
"Should have seen that coming," he murmured to himself, and pulled out both.
He was putting the fish on the skillet when Tenten came downstairs and started setting the table, engaging Hui Na in bright conversation and feeding Haruki a few spoonfuls of porridge before going into the kitchen.
"Aren't you the picture of a good house husband," she teased him, pulling out one of their aprons and drawing him close to put it on him. He obediently ducked his head so she could loop it around his neck, and once it was in place she kissed the tip of his nose before turning him around and tying it about his waist.
She slapped his ass. "Back to cooking, babe."
He stood there for a moment, feeling his flush work its way from his cheekbones to cover the rest of his face. "This is ridiculous."
"Mm-hm. Next time the kids spend the night at your uncle's place, you're cooking for me wearing nothing but this apron."
Neji started adding the scallions to the miso, feeling very, very flustered and very, very pleased.
Tenten idly flipped the fish in the skillet before pulling out another pan and starting to make the eggs. "Hui Na, sweetie, are you guys doing okay over there?"
"Yep! Haruki's barely even crying."
Tenten shook her head a little and grinned in incredulous resignation. "Wow, imagine that."
"That's pretty good for him," Neji commented, adding the scallions and then going over to take the rice out of the cooker and dishing it into their bowls.
Tenten put the fish on a serving plate, then poked at the eggs a little before flipping one onto each of their rice servings. She served the miso into the bowls, then stacked them up on one arm- her waitressing in high school and college was really paying off- grabbed the fish platter in the other hand, and headed to the table. Neji carefully balanced the rice and natto and followed her.
Tenten took over feeding Haruki so Hui Na could eat, chattering with Neji between bites. She was very prim when it came to eating, chewing everything through very carefully and never speaking with food in her mouth. Neji was much the same.
Haruki, of course, was not.
Tenten fed her son the last bite of his oatmeal and he immediately began to whimper, looking inconsolable. She quickly wiped him down and settled him in her lap, which was the only real way to distract him from the tragedy of not being fed anymore.
She expertly ate with one hand while holding Haruki upright in the other, occasionally batting his curious hand away from hot bowls or non-baby friendly food. Persistently, he reached for her rice, cooing at it in an effort to make it move closer to him. (It did not.)
Once Neji had finished eating he took Haruki from her, bouncing the baby on one knee and holding a rather one-sided conversation with him.
Tenten always liked listen to Neji talk to babies or toddlers- he didn't change the cadence of his voice at all, and it really sounded like he was just trying to hold a conversation with them without realizing that all they did was babble back. His tone was often so dry that Tenten, eavesdropping off to the side, would have to fight back her laughter.
Haruki let out a squeal and nummed at his fingers. "Yes, precisely," Neji agreed stoically. Haruki chortled, delighted, and babbled away as his father continued to converse at him, most seriously.
Hui Na and Tenten cleared the dishes, and after a quick text to Lei's parents to ask if she could come over and play, started washing the dishes together. Tenten gave Neji and Haruki a considering look.
"My love, if you want to plop Haruki down in his play area and go meditate, I can keep an eye on him."
Neji glanced over from where he was bouncing Haruki in the air. "Are you certain?"
Tenten turned her head to the side so he wouldn't see her smile at his phrasing. Any other person would have said, "Really?" but Neji was far too distinguished for something that plebeian.
"Yes, I am. You haven't had the chance in a while, go ahead."
"Very well." Neji stood and tossed Haruki in the air as they made their way over to where the playpen was set up. (Haruki screeched in delight as he fell through the air and back into his father's arms, then once he was set back down he crawled madly towards where Neji had stacked away his baby toys the night before. He made short time of disassembling his work.)
Neji paused in the kitchen to kiss both Tenten's and Hui Na's heads before padding out into the sunroom and settling down onto a cushion, closing his eyes and feeling the roaring calm of winter sink into him.
He had no true concept of how much time passed, only that the sun had moved slightly in the sky, when he felt the clumsy-handed disturbance of a baby trying his best to crawl into his lap.
He opened his eyes and smiled down at Haruki, who was propping himself up with a fat baby hand on the top of Neji's legs and waving his other hand up towards Neji's face, trying to grab his hair.
Neji smiled down at his son. "Hello there, little man." He picked the baby up and pressed a kiss to his chubby cheek, then looked over to where Tenten stood in the doorway, beaming at them both. "Is this how you'll be getting my attention now?"
"Why not? Cutest, most charming little attention grabber ever. I just set him down and he books it right over to you."
"Well, aren't you just darling." Neji tossed Haruki in the air again- as of a few days ago, Haruki had started loving being tossed or swooped through the air and now Neji and Tenten both did it all the time, because his delighted laughter was the best reaction they could hope for- then rose to his feet, Haruki propped on his hip and cooing happily.
"So," Tenten began, "It's about 9:30 now, Lei is coming over to play at 10:00 and I sent Hui Na upstairs to get dressed so we won't be seeing her for the next twenty-five minutes while she picks her outfit, we still have absolutely nothing to eat and I think a grocery run is in order."
"All right. Why don't Haruki and I go shopping while you and Hui Na wait for Lei to get here?"
"Perfect. You're the smartest man in the universe." She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him.
"I don't know about that," he murmured against her lips.
"Smartest man in the world."
"Now that is true."
Tenten guffawed. Haruki, left unsupervised for a brief moment as the two of them flirted, gleefully grasped a fistful of Neji's hair and shoved it into his mouth.