A/N: Credit for this chapter goes to Usami-sensei, the coolest sensei I know!
DISCLAIMER: Kishimoto owns a pair of shoes and he certainly owns Naruto
"Okay Shiki. I'm going to be gone for a little while so you be good to your Papa, try not to give him a hard time." Naruto cooed sadly to Shiki. He patted the top of his head and sighed. "The formula is in the cabinet right next to the oven, bottles are in the sink ready to be used although I should have one or two already made, make sure that you exercise his legs…" Naruto informed the person in front of him.
"Dobe, I know all that stuff. Shiki is my son and I live here, I'm not a babysitter." Sasuke sighed.
Naruto was going away for a family reunion which was planned last year before the pregnancy. He RSVP'd saying that he would go alone. Normally he would be away for the entire reunion, which only lasted a weekend, but now with Shiki he was reluctant to even go.
Plus he had made an appointment that day for Shiki to get his shots.
But he already RSVP'd and he wasn't going to go back on that.
It would be up to Sasuke to get Shiki to his appointment and spend the day with him. And while he didn't doubt his husband was completely capable of spending a day with Shiki, Naruto doubted that he could spend more than five hours away from him.
"Relax dobe, both of you will be fine. You'll be back around seven and you'll be able to give him a bath and rock him to sleep. Besides, he needs to spend time with me." Sasuke assured the blonde, kissing his forehead and then a brief kiss on the lips.
Naruto nodded his head in agreement, but with a frown on his face. "I know, I know. It's just that I've never been more than a bedroom away from Shiki and today I'm going to be two cities away." He kissed the top of Shiki's head again and sighed sadly. "But I guess I'll have to deal until tonight when I come back home. I'll have to deal with a bunch of relatives that are still going to pinch my cheeks first though…"
Shiki was handed over to Sasuke, watching his mother wave at him and say something to the both of them. Then he was out of sight. He hummed and placed his head on his father's shoulder.
"Well it's just you and me today Shiki." Sasuke said out loud, feeling slightly awkward. He had cooed and talked to Shiki before but it was weird that Naruto wasn't around was all. "And it's almost ten so we better get to your appointment. Let's get you dressed."
Walking up the stairs, Sasuke talked a little about what Naruto did at his family reunions. Eating of course, he had heard how big appetites the Uzumaki family has passed down to their generations. They played games, karaoke apparently, and a sharing of embarrassing family stories.
Naruto had an outfit already laid out for Shiki to wear by the crib; a clean onesie to wear underneath a pair of black pants and an orange jacket.
Sasuke set Shiki down to check his diaper first to make sure it was clean. And as usual, the baby was uncomfortable with the sudden draft and he whimpered. Sasuke shushed him as he put the diaper back in place and went to putting the clothes on Shiki.
Shiki kicked a little, giving his papa a little bit of difficulty but the clothes were on in just two minutes.
(/ﾟДﾟ)/
"Naruto! I heard from Kushina that you and your husband just started a family! Where is he?"
"Do you have any pictures? I want to see how cute he is! He'll be cute knowing that he came from you."
"His name is Shiki right? What a darling name!"
"Wow Naruto, your ass still looks great even after the pregnancy. What's your secret?"
"You know why he looks so good after having that baby? It's from my side of the family!"
Naruto was greeted by a big crowd of his family members. He knew that as soon as he walked into the building that they would immediately rush at him. But he was prepared for all of their questions. He thanked his aunt for the compliment of his baby's name, he answered that Shiki had an appointment today and that he was going to spend the day with his dad, and he pulled out pictures for his family members to pass around to one another.
The only question he wasn't prepared to answer was the one about his ass.
"Naruto look! Tsuki baa-chan made ramen!" a younger cousin noted to him.
Immediately of hearing of ramen –especially made by his grandmother- the blonde sprinted over to the table, all family members parting to make way for him.
Everyone in the Uzumaki clan knew of Naruto's great love for ramen and it was best not to get in his way. Ever.
And for the moment, his mind wasn't focused on what Shiki and Sasuke were doing.
(/ﾟДﾟ)/
Shiki wasn't exactly happy to be at the doctor's office. Maybe he still remembered how he got his shots about a month ago. But Sasuke was able to keep him calm during the appointment and had him settled in the car seat on the ride back home.
Sasuke could still feel the unsteadying stares of some of the women admiring him when he was in the waiting room with Shiki. He did his best to avoid any kind of contact with the women in the room until his name was finally called. Didn't they see the ring?
Or was the image of an appealing man holding his son really that… arousing?
Naruto came to his mind. The blonde did admit that being fatherly was something that he quite enjoyed. Apparently being a dad gave Sasuke even more sex appeal.
He supposed that he shouldn't complain too much; none of them tried to openly flirt with him so at least he had that. That and Shiki was perfectly healthy.
Back inside their home, Sasuke set Shiki in the playpen set up in the living room so that he could get a bottle ready for his son. Like Naruto had said, there were two bottles ready for Shiki to feed from. He warmed them up for a little and then came back to see Shiki in the pen once again with his fingers in his mouth. He couldn't tell if it was a habit or if all babies put their fingers in their mouths.
"Alright Shiki, I believe that it's your lunchtime." Sasuke cooed to his son as he picked him up. He sat on the couch and maneuvered Shiki so that he could cradle his head while feeding him. Shiki accepted the bottle and began to feed.
While Shiki fed, Sasuke couldn't help but feel slightly bored. He wondered if this is what Naruto went through when he was with Shiki. Just getting to that point where there was not much else to do but just watch over their son until he returned from work. He knew he cooked and did chores but Sasuke couldn't do any of that. Their home was spotless and there were enough leftovers in the fridge.
All that there was to do was just watch over Shiki and his wife admitted to him that even got boring sometimes.
"Baby milestones don't happen every day. We just have to wait for them." He remembered Naruto saying.
The blonde had gotten very excited not too long ago about how much stronger Shiki was getting and that he was almost doing baby push-ups. Hell, Shiki even rolled to his back two or three times.
Sasuke pulled the bottle away when it was empty. But Shiki began to fuss in his arms, beginning to cry.
He set aside the bottle to wash later and put his son to his shoulder, alternating between rubbing small circles and gently patting his back to see if he needed to burp. In just a few short minutes, Shiki let out a burp and was relieved, in turn relieving his father.
(/ﾟДﾟ)/
"Hi Sasuke! How's my baby doing?" Naruto asked through the phone. He got away from his relatives long enough to finally pull out his phone and make a phone call home. "Is he doing okay? Did he have lunch? Did he have play time? You didn't let him touch the stove did you?"
Naruto could practically hear the eye roll his husband just did as he answered his questions. "Shiki's fine, he's having a nap at the moment. He had his play time, yeah. And no I didn't let him touch the stove usuratonkachi."
"Okay good, good." Naruto sighed in relief. "So… does he miss me? Does Shiki miss me?"
"I stopped in front of a portrait of you as I was carrying him earlier. He seemed happy to see you in the photograph. And then later on I stood in front of a mirror and Shiki was quite fascinated with his own reflection." Sasuke reported. He was just walking around the apartment with Shiki in his arms when he decided to point out the picture of Naruto. And when Shiki had his fill of looking at his not-moving mother, he moved on to the master bedroom and passed by the vanity.
Footsteps approached the blonde from behind. He looked behind to see some aunts and cousins behind him. From the gleam in their eyes, they obviously knew who he was talking to.
"I'll… call you later." He hung up the phone and put it in his pocket. "Hi everyone."
"Naruto-chan, you remember your cousin Haruka right? She's having her fifth child!" one aunt said.
Oh God… he knew where this was going…
"When can we expect another, cute little baby from you?"
(/ﾟДﾟ)/
Shiki was crying into the shoulder of Sasuke's shirt. He had his small hands in a fist and every time his papa tried to put a pacifier in his mouth, he'd just let it slip from his mouth. He didn't want anything in his mouth, his diaper was fine, and he wasn't hungry.
He just wanted one thing.
And unfortunately that one thing wasn't around.
Sasuke sighed to himself. His son had been crying for the past fifteen minutes and he wasn't sure what he wanted. His mother had told him that sometimes when a baby cried, it would be for no particular reason and it was best to just let them cry it out. But he didn't think he could hold Shiki while he cried for however long.
But for the meantime he would just pat and rub Shiki's back in comfort. Hopefully that would get him to stop crying eventually.
He didn't know how much time had passed but the front door unlocked and in came his wife shouting, "Tadaima! Man I don't get to say that enough!"
Removing his shoes and putting down the bags, Naruto walked towards Sasuke and Shiki. Sasuke tried to greet him over Shiki's cries but it didn't quite go through. Still, the blonde pecked his husband on the lips and cooed to his baby.
Taking Shiki from his husband's arms, Naruto kissed the top of his head. "Aww… How come you're crying Shiki?" Noticing the familiar voice of his mother, Shiki turned his head to try to look up at his mama. He continued to cry, although a little more quiet, and was burying his head into his mother's neck.
Naruto laughed and kissed the top of his head. "Haha okay you missed me! I'm glad you did Shiki! Now let's go give you a bath and then you can go to sleep."
Sasuke was relieved at the quiet when he heard Shiki finally stop crying. If Naruto was what Shiki wanted then he was extremely glad that the blonde came just in time. He glanced over at the clock on the wall, noting that his wife had come home earlier than expected. He thanked the heavens; he didn't think he could handle Shiki crying for about another hour if Naruto had come home at the time he said he would.
Half an hour later Naruto joined him at the island in the kitchen and kissed his cheek. "So you survived a day with Shiki without me around! How was it?" he asked as he grabbed a cup to get himself a drink.
"It was fine. You came home just in time though, Shiki was crying and I couldn't get him to calm down in anyway. If you were gone any longer I don't know what I would have done except hold him and try to calm him down. Still, spending time with him was great. How was your reunion."
"It was the same, only this year everyone was obsessed with asking about Shiki. You wouldn't believe how many aunts, uncles, and cousins asked me if I was going to have another baby. Oh, I got some stuff from my relatives. They said it was birthday presents for me but it looks like a lot of it was for Shiki instead. But I don't mind." Naruto walked away to grab the bag he put down and brought it with him towards the island. "Here, my aunt said that you should open this one."
Sasuke was handed a rectangular box wrapped in red wrapping paper. He tore it open and opened the box to see what was inside. "Oh… nice."
"What is it?" Naruto asked as he leaned over to see what was inside. His face flushed and his jaw dropped. "I can't believe it! That was what I got? Oh man, that's so embarrassing!"
Inside the box laid some lacy underwear and matching knee high socks.
Sasuke smirked down at the items in the box, his hand discreetly reaching out to grab his wife's ass as he continued to rant. What nice presents indeed. Those relatives must really want a second kid from them.
"Aww what a cutie!" Sakura cooed into the stroller. "You look so cute in your little outfit Shiki! Yes you do!" she talked to him in a baby voice. She felt her heart warm when Shiki laughed and smiled at her. "Where did you get that Naruto?"
"I went to a family reunion and they gave me some presents. Some of them were just for me but a lot were for Shiki. They gave me a lot of clothes that he could grow into or wear when he grows a little bigger." He explained. Naruto reached out to carefully pull the hood off of Shiki's head from his outfit. "He could start wearing them now since it's getting a little colder too."
Sakura smiled in awe of her friend. "Here, let me tell Uchiha-san that you're here."
Quickly she contacted her superior and was given the okay.
Naruto left with a wave and went to his husband's office. He parked the stroller and baby bag by the couch and took off his jacket. "Hey teme. I got your lunch." He pulled a bag out from beneath the stroller and handed it to Sasuke.
"Thanks dobe." Sasuke took the bag and placed it on his desk. Then he looked over the stroller to say hello to his son. "Hi Shiki. How are you toda-" he stopped short when he saw what his son was wearing. "Usuratonkachi, what the hell is he wearing?"
Lifting Shiki from the stroller, Naruto kissed the top of his head and giggled. "It's one of the presents! Doesn't he look cute dressed as a little panda?"
Shiki wore an outfit with black pants and a white shirt with the hoodie decorated as a panda with little ears. He smiled when he saw his papa, his arms stretching towards him. He was handed a small white blanket to put over his shoulder so that Shiki didn't drool on his suit.
Sasuke couldn't argue; his son did look cute.