Hey all!
Sorry for the delay in updates! As always, life and other things got in the way!
How weird is it that there are mere days until Christmas? Where on earth did the year go?!
Anywho, I won't ramble too much!
A big thank you as always to everyone still reading and those who take the time to leave a comment! Much love!
And as always, the lovely Lux played Ray as usual. This chapter we both bounced between Max and Tyson as well!
I hope you enjoy it!
Family Reunion
Four sets of amber eyes surrounded Kai in his hospital room.
One very close up.
For the first time in forever, Mei was getting to see her beloved uncle Kai, and had been glued in to his side since she got there.
And little Yi had no idea what was going on, or where he was, but he was quietly laying in his Aoba's arms as he, Shou and Kai chattered.
Mei lay cuddled up in to him, as good as gold and quiet. Until she had been quiet a little too long.
"Uncle Kai, is your baby okay?"
Kai looked down at her.
He thought so...but he knew it wasn't completely out of the woods yet.
At the same time, she was only four. Wasn't about to tell her that.
"Yeh, baby is fine."
She blinked her big eyes at him.
"Are you okay?"
He smirked at her.
"Yeh, I'm fine too."
She tilted her worried and confused head.
"Then why are you in the hop-sital?"
Oooooooohhhhh goooooddddd, his pregnant belly twitched at the mispronunciation. So cuuuute.
He could eat her!
Oh wait, what the hell did he tell her?
"Uh..."
Oh no. He didn't know what to tell her!
He was going to suck at parenting...
Aoba jumped in.
"Uncle Kai fell down and bumped his head, baby." he explained, "They're okay, but Tao just wants to take care of them a little longer to make sure they're all better."
Kai nodded in approval.
Yes, so simple! Why hadn't he thought of that!
He highly doubted she knew what an amniotic sac was at four. Let alone understand there was a tear.
She eyed the bandage that sat under his floppy silver bangs and climbed up, putting a little kiss on it.
"There. All better." she declared.
A pathetic noise left Kai's throat as everything went sparkly.
Ooooooh...the feels...
He grabbed her and pulled her in to a hug, vibrating in his chest kicking up.
Aoba and Shou couldn't hold in their laugh.
"I still can't believe you can purr..." Shou mused, finding the feline changes to Kai wildly fascinating, "Incredible, really."
Aoba nodded in agreement and checked the time.
They didn't have that much time left before they had to go.
"Mei sweety, why don't you let Kai have a little cuddle with your brother?"
Mei made a face that told her mom she didn't like that idea.
Aoba gave her a slightly stern one back.
"Mei...sharing is caring..." he warned.
She begrudgingly pulled herself off her favorite person, freeing him up to shower him with love that should be for her.
Kai winked at her.
"You're my number one girl..."
She tilted her head, the smugness erasing the resentment as her baby brother got placed in his arms.
"Wow, he's grown since I saw him last...getting big, aint ya buddy?" he cooed as he rocked him a little, taking in the vacant stare and loving the little noises that came out of him.
"Mmhmm..." Aoba agreed proudly, "Amazing how much they grow in just a few months. Feels like only yesterday he was a tiny, wrinkly little thing..."
As the two mommas chattered on, Shou looked at his watch.
They were due at his parents place in ten minutes...which meant they should have left five minutes ago.
But there was no stopping the machine gun talking of his husband.
Luckily for Shou, the door creaked open.
The three adults turned to look, and Kai's eyes lit up.
"Ray! You're early!"
Ray gave him a fanged smile.
"Hey...how are my boys doing?" he asked before greeting the others and the cute little girl.
Kai smiled back, his head against his pillow.
"We're doing good..." he replied in a soft, calm voice as he continued to rock Yi a little.
Ray felt his heart triple in size and almost burst in his chest.
He really did look sooo much better.
Content, calm and...and...
Glowing?
He cleared his throat before he did a Kai and started crying.
"I uh, actually I'm here early because you have visitors...are you up for seeing them?"
Kai's eyes got brighter as he nodded.
The kids! His kids had come to see him!
Ray laughed at him.
"Okay to send them in?"
"Mmhmm!" he replied excitedly as he tried shifted himself to sit up a little while his arms were full.
Ray bolted to the door, opening it up a crack and sticking his head out.
"You guys can come in..." he smirked before he held the door open.
In an instant, chairs scraped roughly.
Like a gaggle of excited puppies, there was the sound of clumsy, hyper clambering as they barrelled their way in through the door, tripping over each over and manoeuvring to get in at the same time.
"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI!" Tyson and Max's booming, screeching voices hollered in their ecstatic state.
Yi flinched, surprised by the sudden big noise causing his face to scrunch up and strain before his toothless mouth let out cries.
Kai instantly sat up and rocked a little harder.
"Oooooh, oh oh oh...shhhh. Did those big loud mouths make you jump, huh?"
The look of excitement got slapped off their faces as they spasmed in regret and guilt.
"S-sorry!" Tyson spewed out, a few beads of sweat forming under his baseball cap.
"Super sorry!" Max joined in remorsefully.
"It's all right, you didn't know he was here. Just indoor voices please..." he cooed back in the same tone he'd been using on the baby.
The two younger friends blinked.
What universe was this?
Shifting himself a bit more in the small, cramped, room Max looked around as a buzzing noise invaded his senses.
"What is that noise?" He asked innocently, it was a familiar sound, one he knew but just... Louder.
Tyson followed suit, settling himself in and straining his ears.
He frowned.
"Oh yeh...what is that?"
Kai's reddening face kept his eyes on the quieting baby and tensed up as he rocked a little harder.
Trying hard not to look smug, which was actually kind of hard since the others didn't know, Ray tiptoed his way around Kai. Standing just behind him where he could reach, he gently ran his fingers through the back of Kai's hair.
If that didn't get it going louder he wasn't sure what else to do.
A shiver went down the back of Kai's neck all the way down his spine, making it arch slightly as his eyes slowly blinked closed. The faint buzzing became a vibrant rumbling within a few breaths.
Oooooooooh, that felt nice...
Max's eyes about popped out of his head, holding in the squeal like a girl as he bounced excitedly in his seat. "You purrrr?!" He asked in a high-pitched whisper.
"His eyes slit too." Ray informed proudly as he continued to 'pet' his mate.
Kai finally realised he'd been set up, and right on cue, his pupils narrowed as he pulled his head away.
"Why you gotta be like that?" he snapped at him.
Ray just grinned at him like an idiot.
There had been something in the air since he stepped into the room.
Part of him wanted to show Kai off to the others, the other wanted to kick them all out and hide him away all for himself. For now he had to settle with sharing.
Sadly...
"That's so cool, is it going to go away after the baby is born though?!" Max asked in his weird, hyper high pitched tone.
Kai gave him a look and cleared his throat as he bounced Yi.
"Indoor voices..." he warned gently.
Aoba jumped in, he loved these guys and hadn't seen them in a while. "Can't wait to find out! We have no idea since we've never had an outsider carry...We didn't even know this would happen to him!" he exclaimed, matching Max's excitement.
"If it does, can always just pop out another." Ray chimed in as he went back to running his fingers through Kai's hair.
Max matched his grin.
More babies!
Kai blushed and jittered, fighting the coy smile.
"Let's focus on this one first, shall we?" he replied in as normal a voice as he could with the orgasmic feeling of Ray's fingers in his hair and the thought of having more of Ray's babies.
Tyson nodded, needing a moment to compute that his captain was suddenly half cat.
"Right...s-speaking of..." he squeaked nervously as his face came over worried, moving closer and scanning over the...enormous mound that lay under a thin blanket.
"Is my buddy doing okay? Any news?"
The grin on Ray's face got swiped clean off. Of course. Leave it to Ty to ruin the happy moment. Should have kicked them out two seconds after letting them in.
"Not yet. So far they've kept him up on fluids and rest. There's not much we can do for it but that, and keep our fingers crossed." Ray supplied.
Tyson nodded. That was still promising. His hand got a mind of its own, desperate to comfort his unborn nephew.
...and finally feel Kai's belly.
"Well, you just hang in there and keep on baking in there little dude, K?"
Kai gushed at the Shrimp's sweetness. Until he noticed the filthy puds coming towards him.
He frowned and did his best to turn his bump away, letting out a small hiss.
"Hey! Don't you dare! Hands off!"
Tyson huffed dramatically.
"Kaaaaai! The hell, man!? What's your deal?!"
Kai frowned, pupils threatening to slit.
"I don't want your paws on me!"
"It isn't you I'm touching! It's the little dude!"
"Uh, yeh? Who still is inside my body!"
Tyson puffed out his cheeks.
"Then how come Ray gets to have a belly rub buffet whenever he wants?!"
Kai gave him a look. One that told him he was a moron.
"He's the father!"
Tyson shifted. Fair point.
"Well, I've seen Aoba cop a feel!"
"He's the midwife!" Kai screeched more.
"And I'm the favorite uncle! I have rights!" Tyson argued back heatedly.
Ray's grin came back. His time to shine.
"Indoor voices Kai." Ray reminded in a playful scolding tone as he leaned around him, stroking Yi's little head gently.
Half draped over Kai's shoulder he went further down, finding Kai's belly just below Yi and gently rubbed.
"And no extra stress." He added, blocking his view of Tyson and the others.
Kai's eyes went big and sappy as he liquefied, forgetting the others were even there in an instant. The little head stroke he gave the baby.
The belly rub from daddy.
HNNNN...
"Yah..." he let out, googly eyed.
Max's eyes beamed.
THEY WERE SOOOOO CUTE!
His overly excited body bounced and vibrated in his chair. A tiny squeal coming from him finally. He slapped Tyson on the arm, there was his chance to feel the baby!
Tyson got the hint, an evil grin plastering across his face as his hand flew out, landing on...surprisingly firm...ground.
Huh...how about that...he was expecting it to be all squishy...
Kai's head snapped, eyes changing in a second.
"Get...off...."
"Shhhh." Ray smirked at him, shaking his head. Pulling back to stand behind him he put a hand on his shoulder, "Just let him, it isn't hurting anything."
"Can I feel too?!" Max bounced harder, on the verge of breaking the chair at this point.
Kai snapped his head to the golden boy and thought about it.
Urgh, he hated saying 'no' to that face...
But no. No. He had to be fair. He couldn't give preferential treatment to one over the other. They got the same...
"No! My body, my rules!"
Max deflated in to his seat, as did Tyson. This sucked...
"But Tyson got to feel it..." the blonde whined as he stuck his bottom lip out.
"No, he didn't..." Kai replied firmly.
Tyson let out a disappointed huff. "It's true. I didn't. Just Sourpuss' blanket. Little dude is being lazy. Seriously guys, if you want him to be a world champ, you better make sure he gets off his butt."
Kai let out a smug "Hn" with a smirk.
His kid was the best, knew not to perform for that idiot without his momma's permission. What a good baby...
"Hold on." Ray grinned broader this time.
He knew a sure fire trick to get baby moving. Worked every time.
Placing his hand back down on Kai's swollen belly he rubbed gently, his fingertips just ever so lightly tickling over the blanket.
"Bout right..." He continued, his fangs slipping out when he felt the kick. "Here."
Kai squirmed.
NOOOOO! Not the tickly thing!
As Ray's fingertips continued to tickle over the mound and down to the base, he let out a noise as, just like always.
Baby went nuts.
"The hell Ray!?" he hissed angrily but quietly, fidgeting while trying to keep his hold on Yi.
"They want to feel the baby." Ray cooed at him, "And now he's awake so they can."
Tyson drew in a huge breath of excited anticipation.
His chance!
He giggled as he leaned over his future best buddy and apprentice and let his hand hover over, wiggling his fingers teasingly just to piss off his crabby captain.
"Don't do it Tyson!" he warned with an angry hiss, a little too loudly.
Yi stirred and made a noise like he was going to cry again.
"Ooooh no no no...shhh...sorry..."
Tyson grinned.
What was he gonna do about it?
He gently ran his hand around where Ray's was, and quickly had his mischievous and defiant grin wiped off his face.
He...HE FELT IT!
"LITTLE BUDDY!" he exclaimed as tears formed in his eyes instantly.
Yes, of course he knew he was in there. Of course he'd seen the bump getting bigger, but...but... He was alive! And real!
Kai shot a filthy look at Aoba, his so called friend, who was stood back laughing. "Any time you want to take your kid back..." he hissed through grit teeth, "Annnnny time at all..." "
"Why would I do that?" Aoba chuckled, finding the whole thing amusing, "This is too funny!"
"Oh be nice." Ray huffed as he went back to playing with Kai's hair.
One reason was to try and tame the boiling lava. The other was he couldn't keep his hands off him.
Shou nudged Aoba.
"I think it's time to save him, we gotta get to ma and pa's. Already late."
Aoba sighed. That was fun while it lasted.
He manoeuvred around the still awe-stricken Tyson and furious looking Kai, flashing his friend a grin as he took back his fussing baby.
"We'd better get going, have fun!" he winked at him before getting the hell out his way.
Max's eye twitched.
"MY turn!" he cried out as he shot out of his chair and launched his hand at Kai's belly.
Tyson wasn't allowed to hog the baby all to himself.
Kai startled at the blonde blur that suddenly appeared and had his hands on him.
This was an outrage!
This was a violation!
The hand in his hair started feeling real nice...
Disobedience! That was what this...
Oooooooooohhhhhhh so did the two handed belly rub...
He sunk down in to the bed more, wobbly smile breaking out over his face as he went like a limp noodle, the purring sound filling the air again.
"Oh my gosh. She's so strong! Tyson, did you feel that one?!" Max squealed as he turned to his friend, his entire face glowing.
Ray about choked on his spit.
Oh god, Max thought it was a girl.
Not that it mattered, but last time Kai about went into a frenzy.
"He sure is." He tried to correct subtly. Max's brows furrowed,
"He?... DID YOU FIND OUT?!"
Tyson's jaw dropped.
DID THEY!?
Kai lifted his spaced out head a little and pouted.
Why'd they stop?
"No...just guessing. Aoba thinks it's a girl, too."
A rare occurrence happened at that moment. Max pouted. "Oh... Well... Didn't they find out with the baby X-ray?"
Kai suddenly woke up and slapped Ray's arms. "SEE! It isn't just me!"
Ray was too off in his own la la land with his fingers in Kai's hair to even know what was going on. "Mhmm."
Tyson cocked a dumb brow.
"What do you mean 'thinks'?! Heknows what it is! Don't ya, Aoba!"
Aoba froze, strap of the baby sling almost on.
Kai's head shot up, cricking his neck.
"Hn?!"
The strap to the sling rolled off his shoulder as Aoba gave the kids in the room a deer in the headlights look.
Oh crap. He wasn't allowed to tell, and they were all just sitting there...
Expectantly.
..Except for Ray, his head was still in the clouds it seemed. Must be nice.
The staring contest between him and the kids were broken when Mei about tripped over her own two feet as she toddled between his and Shou's legs.
"Are you okay sweetie?! Shou, can you please get her shoes on her feet?"
Shou nodded tiredly, getting her shoes on was like getting a cat to sit on command.
Here he went...
Kai's worry if Mei was all right was soon eased and went back to the topic at hand.
The huge one.
"What do you mean you know!?" He asked, hurt. Aoba told him everything!
"And how come you guys know that he knows!?"
"He told us." Max answered mindlessly as his hand followed the kicks around Kai's belly. It sure was a wiggly worm.
Kai's eye twitched. "Who!? When!?"
"Little dude's debut on screen! Aoba was there right? He and Tao saw!" Tyson explained.
Kai's head snapped back to Aoba.
"You saw its...hoo-haa!?"
"Of course I did, we wanted to make sure everything was in place. They don't mind it, trust me." He tried to reassure, finally getting the strap on over his shoulders and Yi finally settled.
He checked to see if Mei had her shoes on... And no.
"Mei, sit still so daddy can put your shoes on. We have to go and we're already running late."
"Oh, you're leaving?" Ray questioned as he came back to the room from wherever he had gone off to earlier.
Kai looked at Aoba, to Shou, to Max, Tyson and back to Ray.
He smacked his arm again.
"Did you know about this?!"
Ray jolted at being smacked.
What'd he do wrong now?!
"Know what?!" He whined as his arm throbbed.
That hurt.
He thought he was being a good boy.
"That apparently Aoba and Tao know if we're having a son or a da-ughter...." Kai spat out, voice cracking completely at the end as his chest constricted on him and his eyes welled up.
"Well yeah... Why wouldn't they know?" Ray answered as he tilted his head to the side.
Kai sniffed stubbornly. He'd be damned if he cried in front of these guys.
"I di-dn't see a dick or a...a...you know!" his voice continued to wobble.
"That's because we weren't showing it to you. And it's not as simple as just seeing it right there, you have to know what you're looking for." Aoba explained quickly. "But everything did check out fine. Everything is fine." He quickly added once he saw the tears coming.
Kai turned his watery gaze to him with his lip wobbling.
"So what is it?!"
Before Aoba could answer one way or another Max but in with a pitiful whine.
"Rayyyy. The baby stopped moving!"
Aoba took that as his cue to slip out as Ray moved in to save the day.
"Have a good night guys!"
Kai sat up in frantically.
"AOBA!" he shrieked.
Aoba wiggled his fingers at him as the door slowly closed, the baby and diaper bag strapped to him in a heart beat. "Byeeee!"
And with that the door was shut.
Kai let out a frustrated growl as his eyes slit. How dare he?! He was growing it, was his baby! He had a right to know!
Ray went back to quickly rubbing his belly. Once more in an attempt to calm his hormonal mate. The other so Max and Tyson could feel their little bundle of joy again.
"Have you thought of names yet?" Max asked as he gave Ray an appreciative smile for starting up the wiggly worm again. Already a daddies girl! How sweet.
Kai squirmed again as the little one starfished and swam around his insides.
"How can we have names if we don't know what it is..." he pouted, settling back on to the bed feeling like a victim.
Max looked between the two proud parents.
"You pick one for each? One girl name, one boy name, that you both like and whatever it is then you already have the name." He answered them like he was talking to Mei.
Kai shook his head. "Either way, I don't want to set a name. Won't know if it suits them til they're born." he huffed.
Tyson was lost rubbing the bump. Now he was shook. It never occurred to him that his nephew might actually be a niece.
"Aw, I wonder who it will take after...like, will it look more like Ray cause of the White Tiger genes or will it look more like Kai?" he asked to no one in particular before he got himself excited. "Or like, took after Ray with the hair and the fangs but had Kai's eyes! OR! Had Kai's cool hair and Ray's eyes! I can't believe we have to wait two more months before we find out!" he fired out before he shrunk and rubbed the belly faster, "But no rush dude...dudette! You come see us soon, but not too soon! Not before you're ripe and ready!"
Kai blinked as the Shrimp went on his little ramble. And then felt funny.
Like, sad.
...He wanted to hold his baby. Look at 'em. His eyes brimmed up and his lip trembled dangerously as his own hand slid over the free space on his belly.
Max smacked Tyson's arm, hard.
"You made him cry!"
"It's okay, that happens." Ray explained as he pat Kai on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort. "He'll be here soon, and he'll be beautiful either way. Right?" He asked in a soft, loving tone as he kissed the top of Kai's head.
Kai nodded, turning his head to Ray and straining out something completely incoherent before the floodgates opened.
Ray stared back for a moment.
The hell did he just say?!
"I know baby." Ray said sympathetically back, patting his shoulder again for him.
Max welled up at seeing Kai shed tears.
NO! He wasn't allowed to cry any more. Even if they were happy tears!
He didn't know what he said either but he launched forward and wrapped himself around Kai's neck.
"It's gonna be okay."
Kai stopped crying for a split second in shock of having sunshine wrap around him.
And then he was more moved than he ever had been and hugged him back.
Maxie! He was such a good boy! Made him so proud!
He could only hope his own baby would turn out like him!
With another set of incoherent stabs at words, he squeezed harder.
Ray welled up a little at the sight, resisting the urge to put a hand to his heart and go "awwww" at the two of them.
Kai was gonna be such a good daddy.
They had plenty of practice with these three the past years, that was for sure.
"Can't breathe." Max gasped as his neck was constricted and he pat Kai on the back for him to let go.
Even with him being benched for a while because of the baby, he still had his strength.
Kai loosened his grip just enough to let his golden boy take in some oxygen.
Did he just pat him on the back? Ooooooooh, and there he was thinking he couldn't be sweeter!
He was so lucky to have him!
He got a weird sensation in his neck and an overpowering urge. One that he'd only felt once before. Recently. With Ray.
With the monster truck revving up and the urge taking over, his head pushed hard against Max's, rubbing against it.
Max's eyes bugged out of his head at the nuzzling, Kai's hair tickling his face and he squealed again.
"OH MY GODDDDD!"
Ray on the other hand quickly turned green.
Max didn't notice, nor would he care at that moment even if he saw.
Quickly petting Kai like he were an ordinary house cat, making noises that were unhuman even for himself.
"This is so weird, but so cool!" He squeaked in his weird high pitch.
Tyson shifted in his seat, turning green as well.
Clearly Max was the favorite...
Kai suddenly realised what he was doing. Just like last time, he felt like the hypnotist had snapped his fingers and brought him back.
He turned purple and let out an embarrassed chuckle automatically.
"Haaaaaaaa...sorry about that! Don't know where the hell that came from!" He squawked.
Max looked ready to pull his head back to his chest, like a grandmother who hadn't seen her grandkids in ages, though just pat him back on the head.
His hair was so soft.
"It's okay." He giggled as he pat him a few more times, turning his big blues to Ray.
"Why haven't you ever done that before?"
Ray about choked on his spit, pulling at the collar of his shirt as he avoided eye contact.
Oh he had, and did.
But only with one out of the three in the room.
"I'm not carrying a kid, not as hormonal." He explained.
Kai arched an unimpressed brow.
Oohhhhhh no. He was gonna take him down with him.
"You've done it to me before..."
Ray's face got hot instantly.
"Weren't you guys wanting to talk about party planning?" He diverted.
Kai's brow got higher.
"What party?"
Tyson's brow twitched.
Ray, you idiot! The baby shower was supposed to he a surprise!
"You mean the party to celebrate Ben being gone?" He said pointedly as his eyes drilled in to him.
Mentally kicking the shit out of himself Ray nodded furiously.
Whoops.
"Yeah, since he's gone now we thought why not celebrate?"
A light bulb went over Tyson's head.
One that would push Max off the pedastal of favorite and allow him to slip right on to it.
"Yeehhhh! Celebrate our true captain taking his rightful place!"
Max started vibrating again.
"We can have a mustard party!"
Kai's eyes grew and shined.
A party!? For him!?
He was captain again!?
"Really!?" he choked out, emotional and excited before he latched on to Max again and nuzzled.
"I love mustard!"
Tyson pouted and glared at Max.
Dick.
Ray gagged a little, the aftertaste of pickles and mustard coming back to haunt him.
It took brushing his teeth that night five times to get the taste to go away!
He'd never be able to look Kai in the face the same again after this.
"I have all kinds! If you ever want to try new just let me know!" Max squealed as Kai latched to him again, like a drug dealer trying to sell him the goods.
"Have you ever had honey mustard?! It's amazing!"
The monster truck went berserk as he pulled his head away, still latched on.
"I haven't! I've only ever tried that yellow stuff you had!" He squealed as his legs kicked a little.
There were more kinds of mustard!?
This party was going to be amazing!
He remembered the other point.
"And you guys are making me captain again!?" He screeched, overly excited.
His power! His precious authority!
Tyson froze.
Uh oh...
Ray saw the look in Tyson's eyes as he felt the punch to the gut.
He put a hand on Kai's shoulder gently.
"Not fully yet, at least until the baby is born. But you can still give orders."
Kai put on his captain's face and folded his arms.
"Good! Cause you guys have gone completely downhill since he took over!" He began to ramble.
Ray's fingers launched to Kai's hair.
He was about to go off again.
God, why couldn't he just stay overly happy about mustard instead?
"You look so good today. Practically glowing when I walked in." He said as he stroked his hair.
Tyson hurled himself right on that bandwagon.
He wasn't leaving without his brownie points!
"Took the words out of my mouth! Lookin' fly, Captain Kai!"
Kai blinked and relaxed in to the hair stroking as a small, coy grin started to break.
"Oh...stop it..."
Max bounced in with the other two.
"You look amazing! Your skin and eyes are so pretty, must be some of the hormones from the baby! They say that some genes can transfer into the mother."
Tyson glared.
MEGA DICK.
"And your hair looks amazing!" he chipped in, trying to get a swing in.
"And it's sooooo soft!" Max squealed as his fingers joined Ray's back into the two-toned mess to pet him again.
Steam shot out of Tyson's ears.
ULTRA DICK!
"And you're clearly still ripped! Felt the muscle over the baby bump!"
Ray cocked a brow at him.
The hell was Tyson hitting on his man for?
If he wanted one, there were plenty around the village!
"I hate to do this to you guys, but there's something Kai and I still need to discuss about the baby and everything. And you have that mustard party to plan." He said as casually as he could.
Tyson sank in to a sulk.
"Fine, whatever. Was my idea to start with and now its a mustard party..." he grumbled.
Max gave his best buddy for life a questioning look.
Why did he look like someone just stole his baseball cap?
"What's the matter Ty?"
Tyson growled, feeling himself about to blow.
"Uuuurghhhhhh...YOU'RE what's the matter!" He growled as he pointed dramatically.
Max and Ray just stared.
"What'd I do wrong?" Max asked as Ray just stood back.
He wasn't about to run his fingers through Tyson's hair and tell him how he was glowing to calm him down.
Tyson frowned.
"You've always gotta try and outdo me! And you always gotta kiss ass! It's gross!"
Another rare occurrence happened that day...
Max's face twisted and turned red as his cheeks puffed out like an angry blow fish.
"What're you talking about?! I have never tried to one up you in anything! And you're always the one trying to kiss Mr. Dickenson's butt when it comes to getting the best locker rooms and first class tickets when we go on tour!"
Tyson's hands balled in to fists.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you not benefit from that!? Typical Max! Acting all high, mighty and perfect!"
Kai glanced between the two of them and frowned.
He clapped loudly a few times to get their attention.
"Hey! Knock it off you two!"
It fell on deaf ears
Tyson puffed his cheeks back.
"He started it!"
"What do you mean I started it?!" Max squealed in a defensive high pitch, "You're the one who has a problem with me apparently, all I've been doing is talking to Kai and keeping him happy! He needs rest, not to be stressed out!"
Ray waited patiently for his chance to jump in, palming at his face with a groan.
Max was right, but if they kept up like this Kai's blood pressure was going to skyrocket which wasn't good for anybody involved.
Kai's face darkened.
"I said knock it off! Giving me a damn headache!"
The two of them turned away from each other and sank, anger still written on their faces.
Hearing the little grumbles under their breath, Kai's ears perked and his eye twitched.
"You need to apologize Tyson, Max wasn't doing anything wrong." He stated calmly and firmly.
Tyson's jaw dropped.
Oh. That sounded about right. It was all his fault!
His hands clenched to fists.
"I aint apologizing! He's been a huge jerk!"
Max scoffed and snarled at him.
"I didn't do anything!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice as low as he could without throwing fists at his asshole best friend.
"If you can't stop this then get out." Ray instructed before Kai held a hand out to stop him, overriding his command. His eyes narrowed harder at the two, wanting to bash their heads against the other. "Exactly what did he do wrong Tyson?" He asked in a softer tone.
Tyson's rage filled expression dropped a few notches as he took in Kai's question, shifting his feet and averting his eyes to the floor. "He's always gotta rub in that he's better than me..." he muttered as quietly as he could under his breath.
Kai turned his eyes to Max next. It had been a while since he'd been around them. Maybe Max had done something during his absence. "What happened?"
Ray just looked on in stunned silence. Scoffing quietly to himself.
Max gave him a look too. Sure. It was him that walked around letting everyone know he was the best... Tyson kept his eyes on the floor.
"I fucked up, okay? I never thought it would all end up like this! I just wanted to do what was best for the team..." he muttered even more quietly.
The quiet scoffing stopped and a brow raised into Ray's hair line. Kai exchanging a quick look over his shoulder at Ray who shrugged back. Until his face dropped a little as realization set in.
"This wasn't your fault Ty."
Kai just looked more confused. First it, whatever it was, was Max's fault and now it wasn't but was Tyson's. So far this wasn't making sense, but he could practically see the dark cloud hanging over Tyson's head now.
"Why don't you just start from the top, tell us what's actually wrong?" He cooed in a tone most of them had never heard before.
Tyson shifted more uncomfortably as the floor started to blur with a stinging in his eyes.
"I just thought it was the best for everyone. We needed to get ready for the tournament and you needed to stop and get ready for the baby. If you had your way, you'd be out trying to train until your water broke..."
Kai's mouth opened to speak before he shut it again. He was right. But he still didn't quite catch what he was talking about. Wasn't this about Max? How did it get about him and the baby?
"But how does this tie into you fighting with Max?"
The feet-shifting got more aggressive.
"Because its so obvious you hate me for it!" he burst as he finally lifted his fiery, watery eyes. "I'm sorry, okay!? I'm really sorry! But I didn't do it to hurt you! I just wanted to make sure we could win this so we could have you tag back in the next one! Just because it was me who brought him in doesn't mean I didn't miss you too!"
Max's brows didn't know what to do. He felt the guilt and all, but still...the hell did that have to do with picking a fight with him?!
Kai and Ray exchanged another look during Tyson's blow up. Ray getting hit with a pang of guilt again and a little sympathy.
Kai on the other hand... His face twisted momentarily as his eyes fired up. He hadn't thought of /him/ for a good while. It was water under the bridge. He had more important things to he concerned with now. So he thought.
"So you go and pick a fight with Max becauseeee?" He stressed in a more annoyed tone instead of his motherly one.
Tyson's teary eyes got mad.
"Because this is bullshit! I ask to feel your belly and get growled at, Max does it and you purr like a kitten! Was my idea to do something nice for you and have a party and he just had to go in and outdo me! You've barely said a word to me without being pissed off while the Golden Boy over there is getting all...cuddled and...nuzzled or...whatever the hell it is you're doing! And since when can people touch your hair?! If I did that, you'd have my hand! What gives, huh?! I care about you as much as /he/ does! I love the little guy as much as he does too!" he spewed violently.
Kai's face fell a little. He really hadn't wanted Max to touch him to start with. Ray had made it where he could. It was more on Ray than on him. He was a little torn now. Give in and let Tyson touch him, or blow it over.
"You think I'm mad at you over what happened and that's why I wouldn't let you touch me?" He asked carefully. It had been a while since he'd seen Tyson blow a fuse like this.
Tyson squirmed and huffed even more. "What other explanation is there?! Haven't seen you in weeks and its like I don't exist! You're only in here because of Ben, who got in because of me...I'm not stupid, ya know...I see what this is..."
"Tyson, that's not-" Ray started, only to get stopped again by Kai holding a hand up.
"I don't like being touched, you know this. Max only got to because of Ray. It has nothing to do with the other. But if you want me to be honest with you then fine." He paused for a second, shifting himself slightly to get more comfortable. Which was always a feat in of itself now. Ray could hear his heart in his ears as it kicked back up. Great. Just what they needed. For Tyson to come in and screw this all up again by bringing up Ben.
"It was all of your faults, for letting him come in and take charge the way he did. It wasn't one over the other here, you're a team and as a team you let this happen. To me, to you, and to us. I'm not thrilled, will never be thrilled, about how he came in and corrupted my team but it's done now. We move on." Kai continued in a more calming tone than Ray had been expecting. It was calm, which was nice, but he heard the slight rumbles and growls in the back of his throat here and there.
Tyson rolled his eyes a little.
"...'cause you made it so easy..." he let out under his breath.
Kai frowned at him, his face contorting again. "I can hear you, you know."
The younger let out a quiet, drawn out growl from the back of his throat. Part of him wanted to answer back, just to enjoy the bickering that was such a part of their relationship.
...But, little dude...
"Good...but yeh, move on and whatever..."
"What else do you want me to do Tyson? I have other things I need to worry about, but in no way have I tried to make any of you feel guilty here about what happened."
Max and Ray held their breaths as Tyson's face looked geared up to start something...
Ray would kick his ass in to next year...
But instead, he threw his arms out and held them there, waiting for the other to either accept or deny him.
Kai stared and blinked. Ray doing the same beside him for a second before he nudged Kai in the shoulder with his elbow.
Kai rolled his eyes, though part of him was alright with the connection this time. If it kept things from getting worse. Really pushed the bad under the bridge for good. He held his arms out like Tyson had. He was the pregnant one, Tyson would have to come to him.
"Just watch the baby." He reminded in a softer tone.
The fire in Tyson's eyes burnt out, lighting up instead.
Finally! It was happening!
He leapt over to the side of the bed, adjusting himself to achieve the maximum contact without touching the bump. He got right in there wrapped himself round his neck. "I missed you, ma-n!" his voice wobbled.
Truth be told. He had missed him too. Without hesitation Kai put his arms around Tyson's back. He was hardly the one who gave words of love and speeches about friendship but he felt it needed to be done. "I don't want to lie to you, but I was hurt. But more importantly I want this to be done with, it's over now and we're going to kick ass at the tournament. I know you had the teams best interests at heart, and I can't be mad at you for that." He said as he squeezed a little and pat Tyson on the back. "Just next time, use your head when picking a replacement."
Tyson nodded in to his shoulder. "There is no replacing you!" his cracking voice blurted out. This was amazing! Oh, god, the feelings!
"And there won't be a next time!"
"Better not be." Kai warned in his usual tone despite feeling himself well up unexpectedly. "And... If you really have to..." He stuttered some, shifting in Tyson's hold as his stomach squirmed. "He's awake at the moment."
Tyson gave him one more tight squeeze before threw himself on to his belly and doing what he really wanted. He rest the side of his head on the mound and grinned idiotically as he felt it moving around.
Kai's face went red.
"T-thats not what I meant!" He yelled in a weird high pitch.
Ray wanted to laugh, holding it back best he could.
Tyson ignored him, despite the weirdly pitched yell almost deafening him with his ear to his belly. "Sup, budddddy! You all cosy in there? Or Momma's cold heart keeping you chilly?"
Kai rolled his eyes at him.
Oh har, har. What a comedian.
Shouldn't quit his day job for it though.
He sat there and pouted. Letting Tyson just lay his head on his stomach. Ray on the other hand had a light bulb go off over his head. The need to be a dick and or show off his baby momma coming back. Teasingly he put his fingers back through Kai's hair gently. Scratching his scalp with his nails gently.
Tyson jumped a little when little buddy started growling at him. He lifted his head off and blinked at it. Geesh, really was his momma's son...what a grouch- No wait...
Kai pouted even harder.
If Ray wasn't already banned from sex, he sure was now.
Ray smirked as the truck started up. Feeling the slight vibrations running under his fingertips as he scratched around the base of Kai's hair. The truck got louder and the vibrations stronger.
"You dick..." Kai growled through the purring, distorting the noise slightly.
Tyson burst out laughing, both at Ray, Kai's annoyance and how funny it felt having both the purring and the baby moving against half his face.
"Yo Max! Come try this!"
Kai let out a loud, audible, sigh and motioned for Max to come forward. Ray would more than likely make him anyways. Might as well get it over with.
The sooner the better.
Ray just kept smirking and scratching. This was the funniest thing ever.
Max grinned like a madman and dashed to the other side of the bed where there was enough space for him as well. The moment his ear pressed against his belly, he started to giggle like a little girl as well.
Kai rolled his head back, meeting Ray's eyes.
"I hate you..."
"I love you too." Ray cooed as he kissed the top of his head.
End of Chapter!
Thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed the family feels, just in time for Christmas!
Would love to know what you thought!
Happy Holidays one and all! See you soon, I hope!