Yuri sat on the couch with Aki in his lap as she pored over a board book. Disinterestedly, he watched Aki's papa rush around the apartment in a tizzy. Yuuri made slight efforts to calm his spouse down, but mostly looked resigned to the insanity that Yuri was sure was a daily occurrence in the Katsuki-Nikiforov household.
"Vitya, can you please hold still for two seconds? I'll help you with your tie."
"But, lapochka, I can't find my cufflinks! The gold ones that are my favorites, have you seen–"
"I'm pretty sure they're on the dresser," Yuuri cut in smoothly, reaching out and snagging his husband on his wild path around the living room. Pulling Victor in front of him, Yuuri began doing his tie, speaking to Yuri as he did. "We shouldn't be out too late today, just going out to dinner. Some anniversary again."
He finally had Victor's full attention as he turned the power of his puppy dog eyes on his husband. "Muzh moy, what do you mean by that? How could you forget what day it is today?"
Yuri saw the Japanese man's eye twitch at the corner, and he smirked as Yuuri replied in an overly-patient voice, "Then you'll just have to remind me when we're out for dinner, won't you? Now come on, why don't you go start the car and I'll bring you your cufflinks." He patted Victor's chest as he finished off the tie, turning around and striding down the hall.
For a long moment, Victor stared forlornly after him, and then sighed. Turning to Yuri, his expression evened out almost instantly. "Thanks again for watching Aki, Yurio. She always has so much fun with you."
Yuri felt his face redden, so he ducked his head down, allowing the curtain of his hair to fall over his cheeks. He grunted noncommittally.
He heard the grin in Victor's voice as he asked, "Aki, isn't that right? Don't you just love your uncle Yurio?"
The little girl looked up at her papa, scowling. "Papa, I tryna read. Leave me 'lone."
Yuri snorted. Lifting his face, he grinned. "Yeah, Papa, leave us alone. We're busy here."
Victor sputtered as Yuuri appeared from their bedroom. "Vitya, you're still here? Come on, we're going to miss our reservation." Pulling his husband's arm, he paused at the door to tap his shoes on before waving at Yuri and dragging Victor out.
The quiet that settled over the room after they left was nice. Yuri sighed into the now-peaceful air. A few moments later, however, Aki's little voice broke the silence.
"Papa's name isn't Papa."
Yuri raised an eyebrow at the little girl, who turned herself around in his lap. "Oh? Then what is his name?"
"Vitya!" she declared, proud of her worldly knowledge at the wisened age of three.
Yuri's lip twitched as he realized that he could have some fun with this. Pulling out his phone, he flicked the camera app open and swiped to the video function. Pushing the record button, he asked, "So, Aki, can you tell me again what your papa's name is?"
Happily, she chirped, "Vitya!"
"And what's your otousan's name?"
Aki thought about this for a moment. Her little brow dented as she tried to come up with an answer. Finally, she asked tentatively, "Lapochka?"
Unbidden, a puff of laughter escaped his mouth. "Are you sure that's his name?" he prodded.
She ventured another guess. "...Dorogoi?"
This time the laughter was a snort. Aki looked at him with slight indignation now. "Lyubimiy?" she guessed again.
Yuri lost the battle to suppress his laughter. "Look what you've done to your daughter, old man," he cackled, doing his best to keep the phone steady as he recorded. Chuckling, he stopped the video. He almost sent it right away, but decided to hold off on it for a little bit until he was sure they were seated at the restaurant. He was certain that Victor would open anything from him, since he was with Aki, and he was looking forward to hearing about Yuuri's reaction.
With another chortle, he put the phone away, and looked down at his little charge. She was staring up at him suspiciously. "Did I get it right?" she asked uncertainly.
Patting her on the head, Yuri assured her, "Yes, those are all good names for your otousan. You did a good job. Would you like some ice cream?"
Her face brightened, and she scrambled off his lap, dashing into the kitchen without waiting for him. Laughing, he stood and followed her, hoping that there was ice cream available in the apartment. After all, his good name was at stake.