Chapter Thirty-Seven

Haruko slowly entered her apartment. To her surprise, it was quiet and empty except for Jet, who jumped onto the kitchen counter to greet her. Smiling, she walked over to her cat and began stroking her behind the ears.

Haruko looked around the apartment. It was pretty much the same way she'd left it in. Can't have been too bad then she thought to herself. Haruko breathed a sigh of relief and continued to stroke her beloved cat.

"Hey."

The blue haired girl jumped at the sound of her brother's voice. She spun around, hand clutching her chest, "jesus Daiki! Cough, creak a floor board, do…something, just don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry" smirked Aomine, leaning against the door frame, "I got your note."

Haruko put down her bag and made her way to the couch, "so…on a scale of 1-10, how much do you hate me right now?"

Aomine laughed and sat down on the couch next to her, "I was a raging eleven at first. But now…I seem to have fizzled down to a 0.5. Although, you could've given me a bit more warning."

"I know. I'm sorry. He caught me when I was on my way out and when he eventually did leave I was already twenty minutes late for work. I got here as soon as I could though." Haruko waited a couple of seconds before asking, "so what did he want?"

"To talk."

"About what?"

"Oh you know, the usual father-son stuff; my job, basketball, my pregnant boyfriend and the fact that I'm going to be a terrible dad."

"He said that?"

Aomine nodded, "pretty much. Apparently we're too similar."

"This coming from the guy who makes Darth Vader look like Father of the Year?"

"I don't know," sighed the bluenette, "maybe he's right. Maybe I will be a crap dad… let's face it, I'm not exactly the world's shining example of perfect father material am I? I mean jesus Haruko, I had my first blow job when I was 14, got into my first bar fight when I was 15 and by the time I was 16, I was waking up in other people's beds, wondering how the hell I got there and who the hell was lying next to me. Plus, I'm lazy, arrogant, self-centred. I care about no one but myself. I'm starting to feel sorry for the kid."

Haruko waited a moment before responding, "are you done?"

"Yeah…"

"Good." Haruko sat up and placed both hands on her brother's knee, "then take the advice from someone who knows you a lot better than most. And I want no interruptions. You are nothing like him. The only thing you share with that man is your last name and the colour of your hair. You are going to be a fantastic dad. You love Kise. And Kise loves you. You worship the ground he walks on. The love the two of you share is enough to make anyone insane with jealousy. It's pure and real. And the baby…if you ask me, having this baby is the greatest thing that's ever happened to you."

Aomine looked confused. Haruko smiled and nodded, "I do. I really do. There's been this…change in you. This shift. And I'm not the only one who's noticed it. Sure you're still my punk-ass little brother but now you're my punk-ass little brother who's all grown up. And of course there will be times when you fuck up. There's no rule book on how to be the world's greatest parent you know? But you'll get through it. And you'll love it. Trust me when I tell you that you're going to be ok."

Aomine smiled and squeezed his sister's hand tight, "you think so?"

"Yeah. That baby is lucky to have you as their dad. And besides, you've got first-hand experience of what not to do as a parent…the rest should be a piece of cake."

"Ha, I hope so."

Haruko smiled, "you ok?"

After a moment's consideration Aomine nodded, "yeah. Thanks Haruko. I mean, there's still some things I've got to figure out but like you said, I just have to take things slow and learn along the way. Who knows…maybe I might actually be good at this whole dad thing?"

"Well, from what I've seen you're doing a pretty good job so far. So what are you going to do now?"

Aomine sighed, "I think I'm gonna go find Kise. Put his mind at ease. Thanks sis."

"You're welcome."

Aomine smiled and after one last look at his sister, he stood up and left the apartment.

On their way home, Aomine filled Kise in on what had happened. The pair discussed it for a while before deciding that it wasn't going to put a damper on the rest of their evening, so in order to make up for their cancelled date, Aomine went to the shop, stacked up on popcorn, ice-cream and various other snacks his pregnant boyfriend so desired and headed back to Kise's ready for their very own movie night camped out in front of the TV.

However, by the time they were halfway through their third film, Kise was fast asleep in Aomine's arms.

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"Aomine's dad huh?" said Kasamatsu, "that must have been weird."

"You have no idea" replied Kise. The pair were in the sports hall, a white board laid out in front of them on which was drawn a basketball court and several red and black plastic counters.

Kise reached forward and moved two of the red counters next to one of the black ones, "if we have Kobori and Hayakawa double team number ten that leaves Moriyama and Nakamura open to take the ball up court."

Kasamatsu considered this before nodding his head, "yeah that would work and then I could mark number five which would leave the basket open and Moriyama free to take the shot. Sounds good to me. So, what's his dad like?"

Kise waited a moment before answering, searching for the right word, "silent. Intense. Scary. Pretty much the exact opposite of Aominecchi."

"Wow. So how did he, you know…react?" Kasamatsu inclined his head towards Kise's stomach.

"Well, he's known about it for months. He just hasn't said anything. But I don't know…he seemed ok with it…"

"So what did he want?"

Kise shrugged, "I'm not sure. To catch up and see how his son was doing… But from what I gather, it didn't exactly go down too well."

"Reallly?"

Kise nodded, "let's just say that Aominecchi's relationship with his dad is strenuous at best."

Kasamatsu gave a low whistle, "wow. They're starting to make my family look really boring. The most drama we've ever had was when my dad caught my sister sneaking in through the kitchen window at three o'clock in the morning. She was grounded for a week."

"Yeah" Kise laughed, "well try getting your girlfriend pregnant and see how boring they are then."

"No thankyou. So what are you going to do now?"

"There's nothing I can do. According to Aominecchi, Aomine-san is staying here for a couple of days before flying back to America but I don't know…I feel like it shouldn't end like this you know? But of course Aominecchi has made it clear that he doesn't want anything more to do with his dad and the sooner he's out of the country the better. He's already spoken to him once…it will be hard to try and make him do it again."

"That's rough" said Kasamatsu.

Kise nodded in agreement. The doors to the hall then opened and the pair watched as two first year students entered, carrying what looked like a box of baseballs between them.

"Err, excuse me?" said the smaller of the two, his face dotted with freckles, "we're supposed to put these in the storage room, but we're not sure where that is…"

"Baseball club huh?" said Kasamatsu, standing up and jumping off the stage, "I'll show you, follow me." And with that he led the boys out of the sports hall, the sound of the double doors closing bouncing off the walls behind them.

Kise sighed, placed one hand on top of his baby bump and continued to study the board in front of him. His brow furrowed as he pondered his next move. He leant forward, reached for a red counter and moved it across the board. He then took another one and placed it under the net next to two black ones.

Just as he was figuring out his next move, Kise's phone began to vibrate. He reached into his bag and looked at the screen, not recognising the number. The blonde flipped open his phone and answered.

"One, two, three…lift…" Together the three of them lifted the heavy box onto the shelf and slid it into place.

"Thankyou Kasamatsu-senpai!"

"Now remember, small sports equipment such as balls, bats and gloves go in this cupboard and the larger stuff like football nets and punching bags go in the bigger cupboard down the hall, got it?"

"Yes!"

"Good. Now get out of here."

The two first years bowed and scurried from the room. Kasamatsu smiled to himself before following, shaking his head.

Kise was on the phone when Kasamatsu returned to the sports hall. The Kaijou captain couldn't make out what was being said at first, but the closer he got, the more he was able to understand and managed to catch the end of the conversation.

"Four o'clock? Yes, that's fine...I won't... Ok, I'll see you then. Bye…bye." Kise closed his phone and slid it into his pocket. He then turned and noticed Kasamatsu approaching, "senpai!"

"Is everything ok?" asked the Kaijou captain.

"What? Oh yeah, just a call from an old friend. I figured out a few things after you left, here take a look! I think this new formation will really help!" Kise bent down beside the board and began pointing at the counters. Usually Kasamatsu wouldn't be so bothered about such things, but the way the blonde had quickly changed the subject made him suspicious. But rather than pry he decided to let it slide and turned his attention towards the white board instead.

Yawning, Kise made his way from the sports hall to the main gate. It was half four and practice had just ended. The guys had been training every day since the Winter Cup, coming up with new formations and strategies that would help see them through the rest of the year. Even though it was never said out loud, the loss of Kise to the team had been huge. However, despite everything they had been through, Kise was really pleased with how the team was progressing and was convinced that this new formation they had come up with was exactly what they had been missing.

Another yawn crept up on Kise as he reached the gate. When he opened his eyes, the blonde was surprised to see his boyfriend waiting for him.

"Hey!" beamed Kise, making his way towards him, "what are you doing here?"

"I got out of practice early so I thought I'd come and get you."

"Got out of practice early or left?"

Aomine grinned.

"Thought so" said Kise. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend giving him a loving hug and a quick kiss.

"So, how was your day?" asked Aomine, placing one hand on The Bump.

"It was ok" replied the blonde, "nothing out of the ordinary. What about yours?"

"Same. Boring."

"Momoiichi is gonna flip if she knows you're here."

Aomine shrugged, "let her. She's off collecting data anyway. So, what do you want to do now? You hungry?"

"Not really. I am a little tired though."

"Well, an afternoon nap it is then." Aomine wrapped an arm around Kise's shoulders and placed a kiss on the top of his head before turning around and leading them both out of the school gate.

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Aomine quietly made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Hello Hiroshi-san."

"Ah! Aomine-kun, hello!" greeted Hiroshi as he closed the fridge door.

"Just got back from work?"

Hiroshi nodded, "not for long though. Got another shift in a few hours, thought I'd come home and get in some shut eye."

It amazed the bluenette how much Hiroshi-san worked and it made him feel rather guilty. Both he and Kise knew that the reason Hiroshi was working overtime was so that they would have enough money for the baby. He was bending over backwards trying to help them out while his own parents sat back and did nothing. The whole thing made him feel ashamed.

"You work too much Hiroshi-san" he joked, "you need to take a break."

"Well, it is for my grandchild after all," Hiroshi replied, "besides, Ryouta looked after me when he didn't have to, I want to return the favour."

Aomine didn't say anything but he knew exactly what Kise would say to that. He had no doubt that the blonde would tell his dad to stop being daft and that he owed him nothing. Kise and Hiroshi-san were very much alike. They had been through so much together over the years and had come through it stronger with a relationship that was worlds apart from the one he had with his own parents. Aomine would be lying if he said that he wasn't a little bit envious.

"Where's Ryouta?" asked Hiroshi.

"He's upstairs, sleeping. I heard you come in, thought I'd come and say hi."

Hiroshi smiled gratefully. He then moved towards the fridge, opened the door and pulled out two cans of beer. He handed one to Aomine and said, "I won't tell if you won't."

Smiling, Aomine took the can and the pair sat down at the kitchen table.

"So, how are things Aomine-kun?" inquired Hiroshi opening his can, the sound of the fizz filling the room, "feels like ages since we last had an opportunity to speak like this. How's everything going? You doing ok?"

Aomine took a swig of his own drink before answering, "I'm fine. Work's…work. School is still the same. We have a couple of games coming up so practice has started again. But other than that, life's been surprisingly normal. Well, as normal as it can be anyway."

"And what about home? Are you still living with your sister?"

Aomine nodded, "yeah. The couch and I have become quite acquainted."

"You know, you're more than welcome to stay here."

"Thanks Hiroshi-san" Aomine smiled, "but I'll be ok. I've actually set a little something aside so that one day I can start looking for my own place."

Hiroshi nodded his head, knowing that that would be the response he was going to get. "So, I hear your father's back in town?"

"Yeah. He's here for a few days. There are still some things he and my mum have to sort out with the divorce..."

"Yeah divorces are tough. Lots of paperwork involved. More than you would care to think. And how are they dealing with the idea of becoming grandparents?"

Aomine couldn't help but laugh, "well, my mum continues to cling on to the hope that one day she'll wake up and that all of it would have been one big rotten nightmare. As for my dad, well…once he's taken care of everything, he's flying back to America to be with his new family…there's nothing else more to say really."

"You know, when Misaki's parents found out she was pregnant, you know what they did?"

Aomine shook his head.

"They kicked her out. Cut her off completely. Said they wanted nothing more to do with her, me or the baby she was carrying. My own parents wouldn't speak to me for weeks. My mum locked herself away in her room for days and cried herself to sleep."

"What did you do?"

"We ran away."

"Really?"

Hiroshi nodded. "We were both very young. And very naïve. We felt like what we did wasn't good enough anymore and that everybody was out to get us. Just us against the world."

"Where did you go?"

"A friend's house. He let us stay in his basement. His dad owned a garage and I took on a full time job as a mechanic. We were there for almost two months."

"So, what happened?"

"Our parents."

"They came for you?"

Hiroshi nodded, "all four of them. They turned up one day unexpected and said they had come to take us home."

"Just like that?" Aomine asked, "and they were ok with everything?"

"Well, it was a little more complicated than that. It took time obviously. We sat down and talked, said everything we'd been meaning to say. They apologised for how they reacted and we apologised for not giving them enough time to adjust and deal with the situation. But you see Aomine-kun, a baby unites people, though it may not seem that way at first. When Ryouta was born, it was as if any misgivings had been forgotten and all the bad blood was pushed to one side for the sake of our son. We were all united in the love we shared for Ryouta. He brought us back together." Hiroshi waited a moment before continuing, "no parent wants their child to make the same mistakes they did. I know I certainly didn't. When Dr Suzuki told me that Ryouta was pregnant it was as if my own fears had been realised. History was repeating itself. I remember sitting down and experiencing the same emotions my parents had gone through the night I told them Misaki was pregnant. Anger, sadness and disappointment. I was worried and scared. Not for my own sake, but for my son's. I knew what it was like to be a teenage parent. I knew of the hardships he was going to have to face. And even more because he was male. No parent wants to see their child suffer. And it was then that I realised what I must do. I was going to support my son and stay by his side, just like my parents did for me." Hiroshi leant across the table, placing his hands in front of him, "it takes time Aomine-kun. A great deal of time. And patience. Some people take longer than others. But, no matter what, they're still our family. They're still our parents. They want what's best for us. Even if at times, all it feels like is you against them. They just need time. Everybody comes round eventually."

"And if they don't come round?" asked Aomine, "what happens then?"

Hiroshi sat back on his chair and smiled a sad smile, "if they don't…then they don't. It's sad and unfortunate and it's their loss. You just have to accept that and get on with your life. Treasure the family you have; the one you've made. And everything will be ok. You'll see."

Aomine didn't say anything. Is that all he needed? Time? It had been four months already, was that not enough? Wasn't he giving his parents enough of a chance? Aomine didn't know what to say. Hiroshi-san was right about one thing however; no matter what happened, he would always have Kise and their baby. As long as he had them by his side, he knew he would be able to get through anything.

A sudden thought crept into Aomine's mind, "what happened to your parents Hiroshi-san?" Now that he thought about it, he'd never really heard Kise talk about his grandparents before. And if he had, it must have been only very briefly.

"My dad died of a heart attack when Ryouta was five," replied Hiroshi, "my mum two years later. Ryouta was devastated. Misaki's parents live in Kyoto. We see them during the holidays from time to time. They often phone to see how we're doing. They're always sending Ryouta things in the mail. Spoil him rotten they do."

"That's nice" Aomine smiled. If anyone deserved to be spoiled, it was definitely Kise.

"What about your grandparents? Do you see much of them?"

Aomine shook his head, "not really. We used to when we were young. My dad's parents live in France. We see them maybe once a year. My mum's parents are still in Japan but they don't visit that often. Which is a good thing really. The house is never quiet when my nan and mum are in the same room."

"Well, that's family for you."

"Yeah."

The pair talked for a further half an hour before Hiroshi went to bed. The conversation kept playing over in Aomine's mind and the bluenette sat in the kitchen for a further twenty minutes, alone with his thoughts before putting his empty can in the bin and making his way back upstairs.

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"Yes I did…Ok…yes…Ok I will…" smiling, Kise sat down on the couch, took his mobile away from his ear and looked at his boyfriend sat next to him, "my mum says hi."

Aomine smiled and waved towards the phone, "hi Shimizu-san."

Laughing, Kise returned to the phone and said, "did you hear that? Really? Again? OK…hang on..." Rolling his eyes, Kise then put his mobile on speaker phone and held it against his stomach, "ok you can talk now."

The room was then filled with the sound of Misaki's voice, "hello baby! How are you? I hope you're not giving your daddies too much trouble? I can't wait to meet you! Nanna loves you!" Kise smiled and placed one hand on top of his boyfriend's which was resting on top of his baby bump. He then took the phone off speaker and put it back to his ear. "I think they heard you…ok…yes I will. I promise. Ok, love you too. Bye…bye." Kise closed his phone and slumped back into the couch, sighing.

"How is she?" asked Aomine, gently stroking the top of The Bump.

"She's fine" replied the blonde, "she's currently in Egypt looking for the lost tomb of some ancient Pharaoh. I just hope they warned the locals before she arrived. That woman is capable of mass destruction if left un-attended."

Aomine laughed and placed one arm around his boyfriend's shoulders, "so, what do you want to do now? There's this new Mexican place just opened up that's meant to be pretty good if you're hungry?"

"I would love to, but I have a tonne of homework to get through before tomorrow, sorry."

"Homework? Isn't there a rule somewhere that bans pregnant people from doing homework?"

"Ha, yeah and that's exactly why all the schools are overrun with pregnant teenagers. Truthfully, I'm glad they're still giving me homework. I don't want any special treatment just because I'm pregnant. I like that they're not treating me any differently. Makes me feel…normal."

Aomine reached forward and tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind Kise's ear, "being normal's a pain in the ass. So what about tomorrow? After school? We could hit the ice cream parlour afterwards?"

"I can't I'm sorry," apologised Kise, "I'm meeting a friend tomorrow."

"A friend?" queried the bluenette.

Kise nodded, "just an old friend. No one you know. But we can do something tomorrow night if you want?"

"Yeah ok…"

"Great. Right…" Kise placed both hands on either side of him and pushed himself off the couch, "that's my cue to pee." And with that Kise headed upstairs, leaving Aomine to sink back further into the couch, the thought of maybe starting his own homework not even crossing his mind.

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"Dai-chan slow down!"

"You're too slow Satsuki!"

"Well, I'm sorry if I don't have the same length legs you do. Jeez."

Aomine stopped walking and allowed a huffing Momoi to catch up.

"What's the rush anyway?" puffed the pink haired girl as she tried to catch her breath, "I thought the whole point of today was because Kise was busy?"

"It is."

"So why are we racing around town?"

Aomine shrugged. Momoi sighed. "Who's he meeting anyway?" she asked.

"Some old friend" Aomine answered accompanied with another shrug, "he didn't say who but apparently I don't know them."

When it looked like Aomine wasn't going to say anything else Momoi said, "well, this was your idea, so what do you want to do?"

Aomine shrugged. Momoi rolled her eyes. She knew the only reason he had called her out was because he had nothing better to do. Even though he tried to hide it, the fact that Kise was with someone else right now really got on Aomine's nerves. So, unprepared to spend the rest of her day with a sulking bluenette, Momoi decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Ok, why don't we head to the arcade and you can stand by helplessly whilst I destroy you at Guitar Hero?"

That at least warranted a smile.

"Ok" Aomine said, "but I won't be the one getting destroyed."

"We'll see about that." The pink haired girl then hooked her arm through the bluenette's and they both made their way into town.

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Kise arrived at the chosen meeting place on time. The Grinning Cat was a quaint bistro on the other side of town with dark wooden floors, round tables and light blue leather sofas. The bistro itself was quiet, the only occupants being a white haired man with a round stomach and red cheeks and a black haired boy with his laptop open and music coming out of his headphones.

The fact that it was quiet made it easy for Kise to spot the person he had come to meet. After taking a deep breath, he made his way across the room towards a round wooden table situated in one of the corners.

"Hello Aomine-san" Kise bowed.

"Good afternoon Kise-kun," smiled the blue haired man, "glad you could make it. Please, take a seat."

A/N

Helloooooo! Sorry for the wait! I hope everyone is well : D

Shadow of an Echo- I'm glad you liked the chapter. You're right, parenting is not the easy ride some people seem to think it is. I hope you liked this chapter : D

xx sHioN- And the tension continues to build haha. Hope you liked this one : D

BluetoYellow- Best Family Ever. Hope you liked this chapter : D

Angel yao- I love cats too! Hope you liked this one : D

- I'm glad you liked it! I love Sia too! Hope you liked this one as well : D

Blank Angel- Heyyyy! Haha I love the fact that you called Kise a Greek Gawd haha. Hope you liked this one : D

KneelingAngel- Thankyou for your wonderful words! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I hope you liked this chapter too! : D

Akasei-Tachi- Helloooo! Thankyou for stopping by! I'm glad you're enjoying it! Hope you liked this one too : D Hope your exams went ok! : D

AkashiYumii- Awww I'm glad Rosie reminds you of your twin : ) I hope you enjoyed this chapter : D

Guest- And here it is! Hope you liked it : D

Well everyone, it's almost been ONE year since Aomine and Kise's story began. And Kise is only four months pregnant haha. Thankyou so much for all of your support!

I love you all!

RH

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