The next morning, Hiro groggily opened his eyes and looked over at papa, who was still sound asleep next to him. Not wanting to wake up just yet, the toddler snuggled up closer to papa and shut his eyes again.
Tadashi, after having silently cried himself to sleep the night before, wakes up a little while after his son does, feeling like he has a really, really bad cold. For a minute he can't remember why it feels like there's a grey cloud hovering over him, but then everything comes back to him and all he wants to do is just curl up into a little ball and just disappear from the world until 24 hours later and things were back to how everyone said they were "supposed" to be. Anything would be better than spending the next seven hours dreading the inevitable. He knew-or at least seriously hoped-that he was doing the right thing. But that didn't mean it wasn't going to hurt like heck. However, when he tries to make good on his "curling up into a little ball of oblivion" plan, he finds that he's being prevented from doing so by the toddler who's currently nuzzled up against his chest. "Good morning," he says softly, unable to keep from smiling when he looks down at the adorable little boy, even if it feels like his heart's currently being ripped out.
Hiro looked up at daddy and realized he looked really sad again. Why was daddy always so sad? He wanted to help, but he didn't know how. What if he was the reason daddy was sad? Maybe he could do something to make daddy less sad... The toddler's eyes lit up as he climbed out of bed and ordered, "Stay here daddy! I'll be back!"
"Hiro..." Tadashi starts to call out to the little boy, but unfortunately he doesn't have the energy to follow after him. So, instead, he just hopes and prays that his musuko will be okay even as depression keeps him pinned to the mattress.
Hiro didn't know how to make much, but he hoped daddy would enjoy not having to make any breakfast. The little boy pushed a chair over to the cabinet and used it to climb onto the counter so he could grab a bowl. Once he had it, he carefully climbed down and set the bowl on a tray. He then put two slices of toast into the toaster and ran over to grab daddy's favorite cereal. He filled the bowl with it before running over and grabbing the milk and jam, carefully pouring the milk over the cereal. Hearing the bread popping out of the toaster, he grabbed the toast and spread the jelly on it before carefully placing them on a plate and adding it to the tray. For a moment the toddler frowned at the breakfast, thinking it was missing something. Then, grinning, he grabbed a juice box and set it on the tray as well.
"Perfect!" he declared, picking up the food and carefully making his way up the stairs. Once he reached daddy's room, the little boy announced, "I made you breakfast! I hope you like it."
"Oh my gosh, Hiro, you made breakfast... for me?" Tadashi manages to force himself to an upright position and stares down at the tray. Hiro had actually done this just to make him feel better? With slightly trembling hands, he accepts the breakfast, only to put lay it aside in favor of smushing his son into a hug and starting to cry uncontrollably.
Hiro felt tears welling up in his eyes. He had only made daddy sadder. Why couldn't he make daddy happy again? "I'm sorry I made you sadder daddy…" he whispers. "I just wanted to make you happy..."
"No, Hiro, you didn't make me sad!" Tadashi hurries to reassure him, hugging him closer and trying to form coherent sentences through the tears. "These-these are happy tears, bud! This is seriously one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me! You are the best musuko ever, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise!"
"People don't do nice things for you? But... you're the nicest daddy in the universe!" Hiro exclaimed, nuzzling against papa
"Well..." Tadashi can't help but turn slightly red as he considers the little boy's question. "I mean, I guess that maybe people would do nice things for me, but... let's just say that I've always had an easier time helping others than accepting help from others, if y'know what I mean."
Hiro didn't really understand, but he says determinedly, "Well... I'll do enough nice things to make up for everyone else, then!"
Tadashi can't help but smile down at the toddler when he says that. "How do you always know just the right thing to say?" he asks, reaching down and ruffling the little boy's hair.
"I don't know..." Hiro admitted. "I just love you, is all..."
Tadashi can't tell if that just made everything infinitely better or worse. "Hiro, I hope you know just how much I love you too..." he finally manages to get out, nuzzling his nose into the toddler's soft thatch of hair.
"Of course daddy!" Hiro assured. "Now, eat your breakfast!"
Tadashi honestly didn't feel much like eating anything, but at his son's urging, he does start nibbling on a piece of toast.
"Do you like it?" Hiro asked nervously. He hoped he got stuff daddy liked.
"It's the best toast I've ever had," Tadashi tells him, meaning every word of it.
"Yay!" Hiro exclaimed, throwing his arms around papa.
"You think you can help me eat some of this?" Tadashi asks once he and the toddler have gotten in a suitably long snuggle period.
"But I made it for you daddy!" Hiro exclaimed. "I can't take your food!"
"It'll make me happy if you'll share it with me," Tadashi responds, gently tucking some hair back behind the little boy's ear.
"Okay..." Hiro agreed, reluctantly taking the second slice of toast.
Tadashi smiles as he sees his son eating-it honestly made him feel better knowing that his musuko was getting some food into his system for once, and he actually found that he did have at least a bit of an appetite.
"So what do you want to do today papa?" Hiro asked after he'd finished his toast.
"Honestly?" Tadashi answers. "Just... just being here with you is more than enough right now."
"Well, we can stay here all day if you want!"
"That actually sounds pretty nice," Tadashi admits with a slight smile.
"Do you want to build a pillow fort?" Hiro asked, eyes lighting up. "We could make the biggest pillow fort ever with lots of comfy pillows and stay inside it all day!"
Tadashi momentarily wonders if he even has the strength at the moment to build a pillow fort. But then he considers the possibility of getting to just snuggle with his musuko all day and he makes the mistake of looking into the little boy's adorable brown eyes and his mind is made up for him. "All right, sure, let's do this!" he agrees with as much enthusiasm as he can muster.
"Yay!" Hiro shouted running out of the room and gathering as many blankets and pillows as his tiny arms could carry. He then dumped the blankets in daddy's room and ran out to grab more.
Tadashi can't help but chuckle at the toddler's enthusiasm and he starts making efforts to at least try to begin constructing some sort of semblance of a structure from the soft and plushy materials.
Once Hiro had collected every pillow and blanket he could find, he started helping daddy put the fort together. As daddy hung blankets, the little boy started throwing pillows into the fort.
"It's looking pretty good," Tadashi says with a smile a few minutes later when pretty much everything was in place. Maybe this wasn't the most epic fort the two of them had ever built together-there weren't any stuffed animal launching cannons or bottomless pits of old t shirts and socks-but to him, it was perfect.
"Only pretty good?" Hiro asked, pouting. "I think this is the best fort ever!"
"Yes, yes it is," Tadashi agrees with a chuckle. "Because we made it together. Now, c'mere you!" He reaches out and grabs the toddler, happily snuggling the little boy close.
Hiro giggled and started trying to tickle papa.
Tadashi knew that he could totally win any tickle fight with the toddler, but he decides to let it go, allowing Hiro to tickle him unhindered and just laughing like crazy.
"I am the tickle monster!" Hiro declared, giggling like mad.
"Yes, yes you are!" Tadashi agrees, fully submitting himself to the adorable form of torture.
"Do you accept defeat?" Hiro asked, momentarily stopping.
"Absolutely," Tadashi agrees, putting his arms up in surrender.
"Good!" Hiro laughed, stopping to kiss papa's cheek.
Tadashi enjoys the kiss for a moment and then, suddenly feeling mischievous, takes advantage of the toddler's proximity to start tickling the sensitive spot behind the boy's left ear.
"Daddy!" Hiro squealed, laughing and trying to squirm away from him.
"Payback time," Tadashi laughs, pulling the squealing toddler up close to his chest but keeping the actual tickling mercifully short. When he's done, he lets out a long, wistful sigh, resting his chin on the top of his musuko's head. "Man..." he whispers. "I wish things could always stay like this... That we never had to leave this fort-just forget the rest of the world and be happy like this forever."
"But we can!" Hiro exclaimed, snuggling up against papa. "We can be the kings of this castle! And never ever have to leave it! It will just be you and me, papa!"
"Y-yeah," Tadashi agrees, trying to smile for the little boy's sake even as his heart's dying on the inside. "Anything you say, kiddo." Let the toddler have his dream for as long as he can. There isn't much time left, and he isn't going to ruin the little bit that they have.
Hiro could tell daddy was getting sad again, and he had no idea why, so he tightly hugged papa as best he could, hoping that maybe he could hug the sadness away.
"Thank you, Hiro..." Tadashi whispers after laying there in silence for probably a good half an hour. "For being my musuko. It's seriously the best gift that you've ever given me."
"You're the best papa in the world..." Hiro mumbled, nuzzling against his daddy.
"I hope you remember that when you go back..." Tadashi says, so quietly that the toddler can't hear him. Not wanting to ruin their fragile little fantasy, though, he pulls the little boy underneath a blanket with him and allows himself to sort of float off into a dreamy state of semi-consciousness.
Hiro shut his eyes and snuggled up against papa, hoping this would make his daddy happy again.
Tadashi isn't sure how long they've lain there, just enjoying being in their father and son embrace, until hours later he finally checks the clock. His heart sinks down in his chest. 4:30 pm. It's almost time. "No... Please, no..." he whispers, tears filling his eyes as he hugs Hiro closer. "Please... not yet... I'm not ready to let go yet... I... I need him."
"Papa, what's wrong?" Hiro asked, starting to shake. "I-Is someone going away?"
"Not-not exactly, buddy," Tadashi answers, trying but failing to put an actual smile on his face. Without explanation, he gets up from the bed, and, still holding his musuko, heads over to the boys' combined closet. At least his brain's working enough to remind him that, based on the first transformation, he needs to get the toddler into teenage sized clothes before the boy changes back-or, maybe it's just his mind trying to find things to keep him occupied while he waits for the inevitable to happen. Picking a shirt and a pair of shorts at random, he carries the little boy back to the bed and starts dressing him in the larger garments, carefully folding and laying aside the smaller ones, knowing that he might need those for emotional support later.
"Papa...why am I wearing these?" Hiro asked, glancing at the very large clothes papa had put him in.
"Just... for reasons," Tadashi responds, hating to be vague but not wanting to scare the little boy. It would probably be better if he didn't know what was coming. Certainly it was a kinder thing to do than to have him completely freaked out for the last thirty-no, wait, make that twenty five-minutes that they still had together.
"Papa... what's going on?" Hiro asked, getting scared.
"Hiro..." Tadashi looks down at the little boy, feeling his heart breaking even further to see him so upset. Again he has the overwhelming desire to not do this-to just keep the boy as a toddler, leave everything behind, and just be happy together as father and son. But no. He forces away those thoughts. He can't do that to his otouo. He has to do the right thing, no matter how badly it's ripping his heart out. "H-hey, little guy?" Tadashi finally manages to get out, gently stroking the younger's hair and trying to find something to kill the last twenty minutes with. "Did I-did I ever tell you that I actually had a brother?"
"No..." Hiro mumbled, looking up at papa in confusion. "What was he like?"
"Well... let's see." Tadashi leans his head back picturing the teenage version of the boy in his lap. "He was smart-I mean, extremely smart. A genius, really. And he loved to invent things-he could make just about anything he put his mind to. And he was funny-he loved playing pranks on me, and even if he got on my nerves sometimes, he was the best otouto in the whole world. I-I knew that he'd do anything for me... Just like I'd do anything for him."
"He sounds like a nice brother!" Hiro exclaimed. "How come I've never met him?"
"Because... because something happened to him..." Tadashi responds with a sad smile, looking down at the little boy. "Something that took him away from me. And... and I almost did something which would have caused him to never be able to come back... Because I was afraid of losing you."
"What do you mean, daddy?" Hiro asked. "What happened to him?"
"There... there was an accident," Tadashi answers, grappling for an explanation. Fifteen minutes left. He just had to keep going for fifteen minutes. "One of our inventions went wrong... The beam hit him instead of the cat and it... well, it changed him."
"How did it change him?" Hiro asked curiously.
"It... It sort of turned him into a different person," Tadashi answers after a taking a moment to carefully think over his answer. "Or, at least, it showed a side of him that I hadn't seen in a long, long time. And I thought that I liked him better that way. But then I came to realize that I didn't just want one part of him. What I wanted-what I really needed-was all of him."
"So...what happened to him?" Hiro asked. "Did you get him back?"
Tadashi has to look away for a moment to hide the tears in his eyes. He happens to glance at the clock-ten minutes left. "I think..." he finally says in a shaky voice, looking back at his musuko and gently stroking the little boy's hair. "I think that we're about to find out."
"What do you mean, daddy? Why are you crying?"
"Hiro..." Tadashi tries form a coherent answer, but he just ends up breaking down and he has to hug the toddler close to his chest as silent sobs wrack his body. He rocks the little boy back and forth for a few minutes, unable to speak. Finally he manages to pull himself together, at least for a moment, and he loosens his grip on his musuko enough so that he can look down into the toddler's concerned little face. "Hiro..." he says softly, stroking the boy's hair."We're going to find out because he's you."
"W-what do you mean, daddy?" Hiro asked, looking up at papa in confusion. Papa was really sad and saying things that didn't make sense. What was wrong with daddy?
"Hiro, you are my brother," Tadashi replies gently, feeling a sob trying to force its way out. "And you're going to be going back to normal in about five minutes here." He squeezes the toddler as close as he can. "As much as I love you as a teenager, I am going to miss you being my musuko so, so much. Thank you for letting me do this... For letting me be your otousan, at least for a little bit. It's been the best three days of my life, and I'll never forget them."
"No daddy, I'm your son! Do you not want me to be your son?" Hiro asked, tears filling his eyes.
"More than anything," Tadashi replies, letting his own tears fall unchecked. "If I could, I'd keep you like this forever. But that wouldn't be right-it wouldn't be fair to you. I can't take away the last ten years of your life and expect you to be all right with it!"
Hiro couldn't stop the tears from flowing, so he just buried his face into papa's chest and started crying. He didn't know what was going on and he didn't like it at all.
"I love you, Hiro," Tadashi manages to get out, snuggling the little boy close for one last time. "Don't ever forget that."
Hiro shook his head, shaking uncontrollably. "I don't understand papa..."
"Hiro... I'm sorry..." Tadashi whispers, also shaking. "Please... Can I hear you say you love me one last time?"
"I-I love y-y-you..." Hiro stammered uncertainly. What was going to happen to him?
"I love you t-too, H-Hiro..." Tadashi manages to get out, before a blinding light forces him to close his eyes.
Hiro was confused, his brain was fuzzy and he couldn't quite figure out why he felt like he shouldn't be sitting in his room with his brother tightly clutching him. And for some reason he was crying. Hiro looked blearily up at him and mumbled, "Dad... what's going on...?" Wait, why had he said dad?
"H-Hiro?" Tadashi looks down at the teenager, feeling his heart lift for one moment. Had the boy actually just called him "dad"? Maybe there was still hope! He quickly takes a swipe at his own tears before forcing a smile onto his face and asking tentatively, "H-how are you feeling? A-are you doing okay?"
"Y-ye,a Dashi..." Hiro mumbled. "But, where are we? What happened? Everything's kind of fuzzy..." He tried to think of the last thing he remembered, but all he could recall was the pair doing something in the garage.
Tadashi instantly feels his hopes dissipate. The boy had said "Dashi" this time. And apparently his memories of what had happened were also not intact. "You-you got hit by a beam from the machine that was supposed to turn Mochi into a kitten," the older boy finally manages to get out. "You've been stuck as a toddler for three days. Do you-do you remember any of that?"
Please remember, please remember, he silently pleads.
Hiro shut his eyes and tried to remember something—anything-from the past three days. A tickle fight, cuddling, a trip somewhere, everything seemed to blur together. "I...sort of? I remember...I think I remember a zoo? We...I feel like we did a lot and..." Hiro froze when he felt an icy dread wash over him. Nearly getting taken from Tadashi forever by the robber. He involuntarily let out a shutter and wrapped his arms around himself.
"Hey, hey, it's okay!" Tadashi says, feeling a stab of fear as he sees his brother shaking. He involuntarily hugs the younger boy closer and asks, "What is it? What's wrong?"
"I-I-I don't k-know..." Hiro stammered, trying to control his shaking. He was filled with an irrational fear that someone would come and take his brother from him. "Please don't go..." he weakly whispered. He didn't feel safe, he was sure someone would come in any moment and hurt his brother, or worse.
"Hiro, I'm right here! I'm not leaving you!" Tadashi cries, hugging his otouto even tighter and desperately stroking the boy's hair to try to calm him down. No! Changing his brother back was supposed to fix this!
Hiro wrapped his arms around his niisan and buried his face in his chest, instantly feeling a little better. Very quickly his shaking slowed and completely stopped, and he weakly slumped against his brother, holding onto him as tightly as his physically exhausted body would allow. "What's wrong with me...?"
"It's okay," Tadashi answers, gently beginning to rock the younger boy back and forth. "You're going to be okay now. I've got you. Pa-Dashi's got you." He forces himself to change the name at last second. He's not sure how much his brother remembers, but the last thing he wants to do is scare the teen even more by bringing up the niisan/otousan thing right now.
Hiro felt tears continue to stream down his face, he felt empty and drained. He felt so cold, and he didn't know why. Was it some strange side effect of the ray? He wasn't sure, all he knew was that he needed his niisan to stay with him. He wasn't sure if he could handle being alone right now.
"Sh, sh, it's alright," Tadashi reassures the boy, trying to do everything he could think of to comfort him. Almost at his wits end, he finally remembers something his father had sometimes done for him when he'd been little and scared by a storm. It was a long shot, but he'd try almost anything at this point. Continuing to stroke his otouto's hair, he begins to sing softly, "Nenneko shasshari mase, Neta ko no naku ko no..."
Hiro curled up against his brother, and focused on his singing. He let his eyes drift shut, feeling warmth slowly spreading back into his limbs. He didn't understand most of the words his brother said, but the song was so soothing he felt his tense muscles start to relax- it almost felt like he was floating.
"There we go," Tadashi coos softly as he finishes the song, seeing his sibling relaxing. "That's my good little guy."
"I'm sorry..." Hiro mumbled, not opening his eyes. "I love you..."
"There's nothing to apologize for," Tadashi replies, a warm smile crossing his face. "And I love you too, otouto."
Otouto. In everything that had happened, he'd almost forgotten how much he loved that word. Honestly, looking down at the teenager in his arms, how different was this from what he'd been doing only minutes before when Hiro had still been a toddler? Maybe everything would be okay after all...
As he thinks this, he's suddenly startled by the sound of a phone going off. He starts to jump up to answer it, but just in time he's reminded that Hiro's still in his lap. Not knowing what else to do, he scoops the teen up in his arms and carries him with him as he hunts for the phone. Finally he manages to find the cell inside of his bag and he quickly answers it. "H-hello?" he says, trying to balance the boy in his arms while also holding the phone.
"Tadashi? Is that you?" he hears a voice on the other end answer.
"A-Aunt Cass!" Tadashi cries, his eyes going wide.
"Well, 'hello' to you too!" his aunt replies with a laugh.
"O-oh, s-sorry," Tadashi replies. "Um, hey! How-how's everything going?"
"Great!" Aunt Cass answers cheerfully. "I'm actually on my way home right now! I'll probably be there in about twenty minutes."
"T-twenty minutes?" Tadashi repeats weakly, feeling his heart sinking.
"Yeah! I can't wait to see you guys!" his aunt answers cheerfully, completely oblivious to her nephew's panic. "See you in a few, okay?"
"Y-yeah, s-see you then," Tadashi agrees. As soon as Aunt Cass hangs up, he looks down at his brother and cries, "Oh my gosh, Hiro, Aunt Cass is going to be here in twenty minutes, and we still have to clean up the whole house!"
Hiro's brain was still feeling sluggish, but he nodded his head and awkwardly wiggled out of his brothers arm and started numbly cleaning whatever he found. Something about not being right next to his niisan set him on edge, though, and he found himself glancing over at his brother to make sure he was okay. The teen tiredly shook his head, trying to focus on what he was doing, but it felt like he was crawling through deep sludge though.
Tadashi, for his part was freaking out, trying to clean absolutely anything and everything that was even vaguely messy. He lets his slightly ocd nature take over and he manages to take care of the majority of the messes in the house. As soon as he's done downstairs, though, it occurs to him that he needs to check on Hiro and he hurries back up the stairs to find the teen. He discovers the poor kid half-asleep bent over the bathroom counter. Obviously he'd been trying to help, but he was so knocked out that he hadn't been able to do much. Smiling, the elder sibling scoops the boy up into his arms and carries him back out into the main bedroom. At first, he starts towards his brother's bed, but then, thinking better of it, he heads over to his own part of the room and lays him down on the bed there. Gently, he starts tucking blankets in around the boy, wanting him to feel safe and secure. "Love you, musuko," he whispers, risking the word as he softly caresses the little face.
Hiro wasn't sure what he was doing anymore. All he knew for sure was that somehow he was moving, but he wasn't quite sure how. He was pretty sure he wasn't walking... That's when he registered the warm fabric that was pressed against his face. Tadashi must be carrying him-that made sense. Soon Hiro felt his niisan setting him down on a bed and sheets being tucked around him. It took a minute for him to register that he was being set in his brother's bed. He wasn't sure why his elder sibling was doing this, but he wasn't complaining. After a few minutes of silence, though, he remembered his aunt was coming him and that she would not be happy if he didn't greet her when she got home. But he was so comfortable and tired… Why was he so tired? As much as he wanted to stay here in the warmth, he needed to get up. Slowly he dragged himself out of bed and stumbled down the stairs to the front door.
Tadashi, who had been waiting in the front entryway for his aunt to arrive, is somewhat startled to see his otouto blearily coming down the stairs. "Whoa, hey, what are you doing?" he asks, feeling greatly concerned as he hurries over to stabilize his little brother as he almost stumbles on the last step. "You shouldn't be up right now! After everything you just went through, you should be in bed, resting!"
"Aunt Cass 'll be upset if I'm not here..." Hiro mumbled, swaying slightly.
"I think she'll be even more upset if she finds you passed out on the floor," Tadashi counters gently. He reaches down and scoops the boy up into his arms, starting up the stairs. "C'mon, back to bed with you," he says in a tone that's kind but that also says he isn't going to take any arguments. "Aunt Cass will be able to figure out where we are when she gets in."
"I'm fine..." Hiro tiredly mumbled, head falling against his brothers shoulder. Aunt Cass would not be happy if they were in their room sleeping when she got home. "Don't need rest..." His brother was so comfy, though...
"Sure you don't," Tadashi replies with a bemused smile as his otouto nuzzles into his shoulder. Once back up in the bedroom, Tadashi again decides to bring the boy back over to his own bed-partly because he knew that he'd have an easier time keeping him there since there was a sliding partition which could keep the younger boy held in if necessary, and partly because he'd honestly just gotten used to Hiro sleeping with him over the past few days and he wasn't fully ready to let that go yet. He lays his otouto down onto the mattress and smiles as the boy curls up around his arm. A moment later, though, when he tries to leave he realizes a slight problem. "Um, bro? I'm going to need my arm back..." he says, trying to gently pry the teen off of him, but to no avail.
"Noooo..." the younger boy groaned, clinging onto his brother's arm. Nope, his brother wasn't going anywhere. If he was being forced to stay in his room, then his niisan would be stuck with him.
Tadashi rolls his eyes but can't help but smile lovingly down at the younger boy. "All right then, scootch over," he says, nudging his sibling over to the other side of the bed and getting in next to him.
Hiro grumbled but complied, grateful he wasn't going to lose his pillow.
"There's my good little guy," Tadashi says softly, stroking the younger boy's hair.
"Not little..." Hiro mumbled, curling up against his niisan. "Stay pillow..."
"Okay," Tadashi agrees with a slight chuckle, enjoying the feeling of his little brother cuddling up against him. "I'll stay right here with you for as long as you need."
He's enjoying the safe feeling so much that's he's honestly a little freaked out when he suddenly hears a voice saying from the doorway, "How did I figure I'd find you guys up here?"
"Aunt Cass!" he cries happily once he recognizes the source, grinning as he sees the older woman smiling at them from the top of the stairs. He tries to sit up to greet her, but his brother's keeping him weighted down.
Hiro hears his Aunt and weakly opened his eyes and slowly sat up, tiredly waving and mumbled, "Hi..." He should say more, but he just has no energy.
"Goodness sakes, Tadashi, what did you do to him?" Aunt Cass asks, bursting out laughing. "Usually this kiddo would be bouncing off the walls! Tell me you didn't slip him some benadryl in his dinner because he was being too hyper?"
"What? No!" Tadashi cries defensively. "I'd never do that!"
"Just checking," Aunt Cass returns with a teasing grin. "Well, I was going to tell you two all about my trip, but it looks like you're a little... tied up at the moment. Maybe this would better wait 'til morning?"
"Sounds good," Tadashi agrees, feeling slightly relieved even as Hiro slumps against his shoulder, obviously going back to sleep.
"All right then." Aunt Cass comes over and gives them both a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you in the morning-and you'd better be bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to listen to all of my stories after going to be so early tonight." She waggles a warning finger at them as she reaches the door, but Tadashi can tell that she's joking again (or, at least, he hopes that she's joking.)
"Yes, ma'am," he agrees with a warm grin. "Good night, Aunt Cass. It's good to have you home!"