Chaoter 25
"Oh, you're back," Aomine's mother greeted them, from where she'd practically been pacing at the door waiting for them to return, "You left your coat; aren't you cold, Daiki?"
"I'm fine," Aomine muttered exasperatedly, brushing off her concern like he had every time she'd asked the exact same thing when he was a kid, and letting the door click closed behind him. He shot a quick glance at his father beside him and noted the tension stiffening his posture and clenching his jaw, as he shed his jacket with brusque, mechanical motions and hung it up. Sighing, he kicked off his shoes dismissively and turned back to his mother, "Um...Mom, there's...actually something we need to talk about. All three of us. You might want to sit down."
"Hm?" she asked, blinking owlishly, "S-sit down, why's that? Is something wrong?"
"Yes," Aomine said, at the same instant that his father's lower, gruffer voice said "no".
Aomine blinked, and looked over at him in surprise for a moment. He was still lingering in the doorway, retaining his air of dignity and composure, but with an underlying hint of hesitation below the surface.
"There are…" he began slowly, redirecting his gaze once again, "Some things you've been kept in the dark about for awhile now, maybe one...major thing…"
The unusually dead-serious tone of his voice must have caught his mother's attention, because she stepped back and slowly sat down on one of the cushions of the living room sofa, never taking her eyes away from him.
Aomine joined her, though he remained standing directly across from the sofa, and he started to open his mouth to go on, but was cut off, as his father drew up silently alongside him.
"First and foremost," he said sleekly, placing a hand that gripped a little too much like a steel trap on Aomine's shoulder, "It's about time you were made aware of the fact that...you're going to be a grandmother before the year is up."
Feeling the assurance and confidence he'd mustered drain from his face - along with the color, surely - Aomine swallowed and glanced nervously between his parents, biological and otherwise. He had planned to get around to that particular announcement, yes, but he'd intended to lay it out delicately, at the proper moment. His father's choice of exactly which moment that was seemed almost...diversionary. Like he was stalling for time.
His mother went rigid, shock transforming her expression and widening her eyes to near saucer-like proportions, and her gaze snapped from Aomine's father to Aomine himself quickly, searching his face and gradually filling with a mixture of dismay, worry, and sheer astonishment.
"Wh-what? A...a grandmother? You…" she reached out, snaring one of Aomine's hands between her much smaller ones and drawing him closer, lips trembling, "Daiki…? Is it true?"
Aomine let out a low sigh, shoulders slumping, and then offered her a tight, wavering smile, "It's true. The baby should be due in about five m -"
He didn't get to finish, because all at once her arms had shot out to wrap around his shoulders, pulling him down into the same snug, surprisingly fierce bear hug he remembered vividly from his childhood. Startled, he floundered awkwardly for a moment, a good deal taller now than he'd been the last time he'd received one of these, and his knees almost knocked against the couch as he reflexively bent down to accommodate her. His throat felt thick, inexplicably, as the gentle warmth and familiar smell of home washed over him, and he drew a shaky breath, banishing the sting from his eyes as one of his mother's hands smoothed through his hair; suddenly he was nine years old again, instead of nineteen, seeking the comfort and security only her sheltering arms could provide.
"Oh, Daiki…" she murmured after a moment, releasing him and sitting back to look him over again, with a mix of admonishing and concern, "What have you done?"
"I-it was an accident," the strained, pitiful plea was out of his mouth before he could stop it, and he looked up at her from where he was now practically kneeling on the floor, struggling to keep from avoiding eye contact as if she were scolding him for breaking something expensive, "I didn't mean to…"
"Of course you didn't," she crooned, softening in an instant and tracing her thumbs along his cheekbones in a soothing gesture, "Why didn't you tell me, before now? You used come to me for everything..."
Aomine sat down, legs crossed, right there on the floor, and released the air from his lungs in a slow whoosh, shaking off the remnants of the past; the emotional ties to a time when things were so much simpler.
"I didn't want you to know," he said at last, softly. Then he hesitated, sensing the fragility of the ground he was about to tread, and moved his hands into his lap, glancing down at them as he wove his fingers together, "K-Kagami and I...found out we were gonna have a kid about a month after the fall semester started, while we were still roommates sharing a dorm room."
"Wait...hold on," his mother said slowly, and Aomine could just about hear the pieces falling together in her mind, "Didn't you...say...isn't Kagami the one who beat you in the Winter Cup during your first year at Touou?"
"Yeah."
There was a moment or two of weighty silence. "You never mentioned he had a sister..."
Aomine looked up perplexedly, before shaking his head once, "He doesn't."
"Then…?" she prompted, apprehension and confusion emanating from her voice and her expectant posture.
Leaning his head back slightly, Aomine rubbed the back of his neck and squeezed his eyes shut, swallowing the frustration that caught him every time he had to actually say all the words out loud. It didn't seem to be getting any easier with practice.
"I got him pregnant," he got out at last, rather hurriedly, but still as calm and matter-of-fact as he could manage, "Somehow..."
"Y-you what?" she stammered, looking more bemused than completely shell-shocked, as Aomine might have expected, as if she simply hadn't heard him right.
"Kagami. My roommate. He's pregnant." Aomine enunciated, more for emphasis than clarity; he was pretty sure she had heard him right the first time, though obviously it hadn't fully sunk in what he was saying.
She looked at him for a long moment, and then started to shake her head slowly, eyes wide and disbelieving, "That's...impossible."
"It's not," A deeper, rougher voice chimed in, for the first time in awhile, and Aomine's father crouched down at his side, scanning over his wife's face cautiously.
"What?" she asked, lifting her gaze from Aomine to look at him, though she didn't seem any more convinced, or any less shocked, "What are you talking about?"
"I've seen it for myself," Aomine's father went on, deliberately avoiding Aomine's eye and focusing on her, his face a rigid mask, "I've met with Kagami-kun, and I can say with absolute certainty that this is all too real. He and Daiki have also been in to see an expert, who has confirmed it several times over."
Aomine noticed he completely avoided mentioning his own experience, which would surely have led much more credence to what he was saying, and narrowed his eyes slightly. He had seemed pretty certain before, that if his mother found out this kind of thing was possible, it would be all too easy for her to piece together the rest...namely, where the toddler she'd claimed as her own son all those years ago had come from. He wondered if, since Kagami's only option was to be cut open to have the baby, his father might have a noticeable scar from going through the same thing. He wondered if his mother had ever asked about it, and what he might have said to try and gloss it over.
"...You're really serious, aren't you?" his mother said eventually, disbelief still stretching across her face, hands tightened into fists on her lap.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Aomine's father retorted without heat. Aomine expected him to get back up and regain his height advantage, but he stayed put. "It's no laughing matter. Hard to believe or not, in a few months our son is going to have a child of his own, and when that day comes you and I can either come to terms with that and support him, or not. Either way, it's still going to happen."
Aomine shifted where he was sitting on the floor uncomfortably, very aware that while neither of them were looking at him or addressing him directly, all of their combined attention was on him just the same. He wouldn't usually feel self-conscious about that, but he was having trouble picking up what either of them might have been feeling as they talked this out right over his head. It was a little awkward to be talked about instead of talked to, especially being caught in the middle of a parental discussion, and not having the slightest idea where he stood was a little bit nerve-wracking, to say the least.
"Kagami's your age, right?" His mother finally asked, tentatively, a direct question for him at last, and he found himself automatically sitting up a little straighter as he nodded in response. "...You're both still so young. You seem pretty certain, but have you considered all of your options at this point, Daiki?"
Aomine blinked, and then nodded again. How many more times are we gonna hear that one? "Yeah. Kagami and I talked it over a couple times, and he's not backing out, so...I'm gonna stick with him."
"I'm not talking about getting an abortion," his mother said bluntly. A little too bluntly, and Aomine realized that despite himself, he might have winced. "I mean after it's born, if this...really is happening, you know you don't have to keep it, don't you? You could always find a family who would…"
"No," Aomine interrupted, crossing his arms over his stomach that was suddenly, inexplicably churning, "I'm not putting my kid up for adoption. That's not even a possibility. Kagami and I agreed, we're gonna take care of it together."
"But you're still just kids yourselves," she argued, much more quietly. She didn't sound angry, or even sternly disapproving anymore, just worried and sad, "Neither one of you is in any way ready to raise a child, you shouldn't have to take on that responsibility."
Aomine sighed. She was right, of course, it was completely insane for he and Kagami to try to tackle this alone, at their age, with exactly zero experience handling children between them, but that wasn't reason enough to consider giving away the baby, provided they did make it to that point. After everything they'd already gone through, all the work they'd both put in to make this work somehow, he didn't think either of them would be willing or able to give up now.
"...I had my chance to be careful and think things through before," he muttered, lowering his head to look at the floorboards below, "And I blew it. We both did. Now we're both gonna have to grow up and deal with the consequences."
For a long moment, it was silent, and neither of his parents said a word. Unable to bear the tension hanging in the air, he looked up uneasily to see both of them watching him with an almost identical expression on their faces. One he didn't recognize. There was still worry there, yes, and some dismay, but beneath that he thought he might have glimpsed a flicker of startled pride.
"What?" he asked, scooting back away from the couch slightly.
"You sound different," his mother replied, a small, affectionate smile crossing her face, "More mature, and...serious, or something."
"Hm," Aomine muttered noncommittally, pushing off the floor and getting to his feet, keeping his gaze averted to try to hide the sudden surge of embarrassment that was probably, almost definitely causing his face to flush, "Guess I've kinda had to be, lately."
His father rose as well, brushing imaginary dust off his pants absently, "I'm proud of how well you've been handling all of this," he added, "Both of you. Tell Kagami-kun that, for me."
"You can tell him yourself," Aomine shrugged halfheartedly, "Unless...is he still banned from coming here or whatever?" I swear to God if you say yes...
"Of course not," his father shook his head immediately, "That was never the case, I only ever said I can't allow both of you to stay here."
"Why not?" his mother broke in abruptly, getting up from the sofa and facing them with a frown, "Don't you and your Kagami need all the help you can get?"
"I dunno," Aomine mumbled, shuffling his feet and sure he was only turning redder when he was unable to get the words 'your Kagami' out of his head, "Right now I think we've got it pretty under control, and we just got settled in his old apartment...but I dunno how it'll be later..." he trailed off and shrugged again, meeting her gaze rather helplessly.
His parents exchanged a brief glance, and then a shadow of his mother's smile returned to her face, "I'd like to meet him."
"Who, Kagami?" Aomine asked, though there was really no doubt who she was referencing, "I'm sure he'd...like to meet you too." That might not have been entirely true; Kagami had seemed rather awkward and uncomfortable whenever he talked to Aomine's father, and seemed to have trouble talking to adults, especially women, in general. Aomine wondered fleetingly if it had anything to do with the alleged situation with his own mother.
He heard his father sigh, and a frown settled on his own face as he turned to face him. Immediately, his father's expression turned defensive, but there was a softer edge to it this time, "Like I said, you are both welcome here. You're free to bring him along the next time you drop by, if you want."
"I won't be 'dropping by' very often anyway," Aomine said dismissively, "My schedule's been kind of freakish since I've been working most days."
"You got a job?" his mother gasped, "Daiki, that's so exciting! Why didn't you say anything?"
"It's not a big deal," Aomine muttered under his breath, dropping his gaze again, "I just work the register at Maji Burger, honestly it's a pain in the ass."
"Language," his mother reprimanded gently, but Aomine could still hear the smile in her voice, "And that is big deal, it's your first time working! We'll have to celebrate."
"Mom, seriously…" Aomine protested, holding up his hands in refusal, "It's nothing."
Honestly, he thought with a strange blend of fondness and annoyance, he wasn't a little kid with a loose tooth or whatever, he didn't even live under her roof anymore, and yet she still seemed determined to play the tooth fairy and make everything into a freaking occasion. He'd almost forgotten that about her, and strangely, for all his objections...after the lapse he'd almost come to miss it.
.
.
"You didn't tell her," his father said softly, approaching him as he crouched in front of the door, reaching back to slip his heel into his other shoe, "About me, I mean."
"Neither did you," Aomine pointed out, tapping his foot against the ground once and standing up straight.
"I thought for sure you would say something, after the subject of you and Kagami was put to rest."
Aomine hesitated a fraction of a second, and then shrugged, "Whatever. Maybe she'll figure it out on her own, maybe she won't. Either way, why should I care? It's ancient history, and it's between the the two of you. If you ever feel like telling her, go ahead, but it's not really my business anymore. You already told me."
His father said nothing for a few moments, while Aomine slipped his arms through the puffy blue sleeves of his jacket and pulled the zipper up to his throat.
"You really have grown up," he murmured at last, "Very quickly, over the last few months."
Aomine allowed a grim smile, and slipped his hands into his pockets, "I guess finding out you're gonna have a kid in less than a year'll do that."
"It certainly will," his father agreed flatly, "You will keep me updated, won't you?"
"...Sure," Aomine said slowly, drawing the word out, "Did you mean what you said about Kagami being welcome here too?"
"Of course. Though I suppose the next time we meet it could be with my new grandson or daughter in tow."
Something lurched violently in Aomine's stomach, hearing it phrased that way, and he cleared his throat that had just closed on itself into his fist before straightening and turning to go.
"Yeah, don't go getting ahead of yourself, old man," he threw over his shoulder, attempting to regain his composure, "We've still got a ways to go before Daiki Junior comes along."
TBC