"Holy Light, sotto yami wo terasu yo, asu no michi oshieru you ni.... Holy light douzo yuuki wo kudasai mirai e no..." Matt sang softly to the baby he was rocking back and forth in the cradle.
Five months had passed, and it was now summer. Yamachi looked up at his uncle and reached for him.
"No, no, you can't pull my hair anymore right now, it's nap time." He said to the tiny child. He tucked Yamachi's thin summer blanket around him and turned on the mobile that was hanging over his head.
"Yami, we just got a postcard from TK and Kari!" Tai said, strolling into the living room.
"Let me guess, Kari wrote it and TK signed it with her?" Matt said.
"Heh, yup." Tai sat down in Matt's lap and looked down into the cradle. Yamachi was still awake, gazing up at them.
"You want to hear what the letter from your mommy and daddy says?" Tai asked him. Yamachi only responded with a cooing baby sound and let his tongue stick out.
"I'll take that as a yes," Tai said. Matt wrapped his arms around the slender brunette's waist and peeked over his shoulder as he began reading.
"Dear Matt, Tai, and Yamachi, Our trip is going well, we've never been pampered so much in our lives. The ocean is beautiful and the weather has been just great, the sun's been out every day. TK was worried he'd get seasick, but he's just fine. I want to thank you two again for taking care of Yamachi while we're away, we really needed a few days alone. I hope he's not giving you too much trouble and that he's sleeping through the night. Don't forget to make sure his bottle is heated up to the right temperature. We'll see you next week, and tell Yamachi his mommy and daddy love him. Love, Kari and TK."
When Tai finished reading, he and Matt looked down into the cradle and saw that Yamachi was asleep, sucking on his thumb.
"I guess he already knew," Matt said, smiling, and leaned his head on Tai's shoulder. The post card must have been printed on the cruise ship Kari and TK were on, because there was a picture of them on the front. TK was behind Kari with his arms around her, grinning, and Kari was smiling cheerfully and flashing a peace sign. The ocean was in the background.
After five months of taking care of the baby non-stop, with no rest, their parents suggested that Kari and TK take a short vacation and relax. Matt and Tai volunteered to take care of Yamachi while they were gone, and were loving every minute of it.
Matt looked at the picture of his little brother and sister-in-law and sighed.
"Tai...I want a baby."
Tai turned around in Matt's lap so he was facing him. Matt looked up at him with his slanted blue eyes and appeared to be on the verge of tears. Tai placed his hand on Matt's cheek and Matt nuzzled against it.
"Yami...I know you do. Someday we'll have children of our own, I promise."
Matt sniffled slightly and leaned his head against Tai's chest. He clutched at his shirt and Tai wrapped his arms around his husband, rocking him slowly.
"Do you really want a family, Tai?"
"Yes...so much..." Tai held Matt closer to him. "I wish I could have a baby for you, but I can't..."
"Don't say things like that, I love you just the way you are." Matt sat up and kissed Tai's sun-sweet lips. Tai pressed his mouth to Matt's and exchanged kisses with him, long and deep.
Eventually, Tai pulled back and pressed his forehead to Matt's. He stared with his rich, cocoa brown eyes and smiled.
"I will always love you."
Matt purred.
"What do you think, would Tai like the orange roses or the yellow roses better?" Matt looked down into the baby carriage. Yamachi was making baby noises and reaching for a big purple flower in front of him, but couldn't quite get it.
"Right, orange, good choice." Matt went to reach for the flowers but had to bend down to pick up Yamachi's pacifier, which he had thrown on the ground. When he leaned over, the baby reached out and grabbed onto Matt's hair and yanked on a fistful.
"Owww!! Please, pleeeaaase let go of my hair, Yamachi," he urged, trying to pull the baby's hand away from his blond hair.
The girl at the counter of the flower boutique giggled when Matt stepped up to pay for the flowers.
"Are you having a little trouble with your son?" she smiled.
"Oh, he's my nephew actually, his parents are on a cruise for the week."
The girl smiled again and put Matt's money into the cash register. "That's very nice of you to take care of him." She sniffed the roses and handed the bouquet to Matt.
"These are lovely, are they for your wife?"
"My husband," Matt replied. The girl suddenly stopped smiling and just grinned awkwardly, it was a very forced grin.
"Have a nice day," she said, immediately ending the conversation.
Matt scowled at her for a moment and then walked away, laying the flowers on the top of the baby carriage.
Outside, he strapped Yamachi into his baby seat and sat down. He put the key into the ignition and sighed as the car started up. Reaching into his pocket, he took out his wallet and looked at the picture of Tai in his soccer uniform. He stared at it, his beloved husband. Matt was extremely sensitive when it came to people being intolerant of his lifestyle, he always worried someone would hurt Tai's feelings. People sometimes wondered if Matt was too over protective, Tai was such a courageous individual, but he never seemed to mind. That's just the way Matt was, protective of the people he cared most about. The two of them were deeply in love, and nothing could ever change that.
"Stupid girl..." Matt glared at the flower shop one last time and drove off.
"Welcome home," Matt said, looking up momentarily from his book. He was on the sofa, rocking Yamachi's cradle with his foot.
"Hey, Yami." Tai dropped his equipment bag on the floor and took off his shoes. He must have taken a shower in the locker rooms, because his hair was still wet.
"Who are the roses for?" Tai said, looking at the vase on the dining room table, filled with orange roses.
"Who do you think?" Matt said, still reading.
Tai padded into the living room. He kneeled down on the couch, shut Matt's book, and kissed his forehead. Matt decided not to try to get it back, Tai obviously didn't want him paying attention to anything else right now.
"What's the occasion?" Tai sat down next to Matt and started nuzzling against his neck.
"They're for winning your game yesterday." he nuzzled Tai back and licked the tip of his earlobe. Chills ran up Tai's back, and he could feel a blush creeping into his cheeks.
"Don't do that, you know it drives me wild."
"What, this?" Matt wrapped his arm around Tai's shoulder and nibbled lightly on his ear.
"Nng...Yami, not with the baby here."
"What's he going to do?" Matt grinned slyly, "tell our parents on us?" Even though they were adults, Matt and Tai never lost the urge to act playful.
"Heh, we wouldn't want him to do that," Tai flashed his trademark grin that Matt absolutely adored.
Matt smirked and started talking in a shy little voice.
"Taichi...have you ever...touched someone's naughty bits before?"
Tai giggled and began pretending too. "No...have you?"
Matt shook his head, "Uh uh..."
"Matt, I'm scared, what if someone catches us?"
Matt covered his mouth to keep from laughing, Tai sounded so convincing. He peeked into Yamachi's cradle and saw he was sleeping peacefully.
Matt grabbed Tai's hand and pulled him off the couch. "Shh, don't worry, nobody will catch us if we hide somewhere."
He dragged Tai into the closet and they closed the door behind them. Matt pulled the chain on the ceiling light and it flashed on. They sat down on the floor of the closet.
"I'm nervous...I've never done anything like this before, Matt."
"Come on, don't be scared. I'll let you touch first, if you want."
Tai shook his head, smiling, "No, you go first."
He unzipped his pants and slowly pulled his underwear down a few inches. Matt tried to act surprised.
"You don't look very nervous."
He reached his hand down and ran his fingers over Tai gently.
"Ooh, Matt...you make me feel so dirty."
Matt started laughing hysterically and snorted.
"Tai, you're such a dork."
Tai stuck his tongue out and crawled on top of Matt.
"Hey, while my pants are down, you wanna-" Tai raised his eyebrows up and down quickly.
"Well when you put it that way..."
They ended up waking the baby. (wink, wink)
~~~~~~~~~~
On Sunday, Kari and TK had returned home, early in the morning. Matt had cooked a big supper for everyone, and Kari and Tai's parents had come over for the evening as well.
At the dining room table, Kikoutei and Shimofuri circled around Tai's feet, meowing for some food, although Shimofuri was closer to yowling.
"Go on, get out of here!" Matt yelled, trying to shoo the cats away from the table. Kikoutei arched her back and hissed at him.
"Matt, leave them alone, they just want some food." Tai cut a little piece off his chicken and tossed it to the two felines, who gobbled it right up.
"Well just try to make them stay quiet."
"I don't think I can do that, Yami."
The meal continued, and the subject of discussion turned to Yamachi.
"Did he sleep alright for you while we were gone?" Kari asked.
"Well, yeah, except for last night," Matt said.
"Yeah," Tai grinned, "we sort of woke him up." Matt glanced over at him and smirked.
"Couldn't keep quiet, huh?" TK said. "Boy you two, your kids are never going to get any sleep."
The two sets of siblings started laughing, but Mrs. Yagami scolded them.
"Kids! Don't talk about that sort of thing!"
"Mom," Tai said, looking over at her. "We're married adults, we have sex, you know."
"A lot..." Matt added quietly. Tai elbowed him in the side but smiled anyway.
"I mean, you must know what it is, you have two kids," Tai continued.
"Really, Mom," TK said (Matt and TK had grown accustomed to calling Mrs. And Mr. Yagami Mom and Dad.) "Where do you think Yamachi came from?"
They all glanced over at the baby, who was sitting in his high chair, drooling, and had his hands buried somewhere under his lemon chicken. Kikoutei and Shimofuri were looking up hopefully, waiting for him to drop something.
"I just don't think that's table talk," Mrs. Yagami said.
"Oh, they're fine, honey," Kari and Tai's father said. "Like they said, they are married."
"I wonder what she would think if she knew we both lost our virginity when we were 14," Matt whispered to Tai. Tai just smiled slyly at Matt and squeezed his thigh under the table.
"So, what's your and Kari's favorite position?" Matt asked casually. Mrs. Yagami just kept quiet and glanced at TK, although her eyes were opened a little wider than usual.
"Well, we were on all fours a lot while Kari was pregnant."
"TK..." Kari looked up from her food and blushed slightly.
"What about you?" TK asked, taking a bite of his dinner.
"The Amazing Butterfly," Tai and Matt said at the same time.
"What's that?" TK said.
"Well, the person at the receiving end usually lies on something sort of high up, like the table," Matt started to say, but was interrupted by,
"This table!?" TK said in surprise.
"Well... we put a table cloth on it for tonight," Tai said. Tai and Kari's mother looked down at the table top like she was about to burst a blood vessel.
"You mean you, and my son, on this table!?" Tai's mother started stuttering at Matt.
"Good job, son!" Mr. Yagami said, grinning. Matt raised one blond eyebrow. Tai and Kari had such weird parents, and this was even weirder because Mrs. Yagami was usually so laid back.
Tai just giggled, "Yes mom, on this table."
"What are you going to do when you have children!?" she said.
"That's what summer camp is for," Matt said, smirking devilishly.
"My goodness..."
That night, Tai and Matt sat together in their large bathtub. It was round and had jets all around the outside. The tub was currently filled with water that had strawberry scented bubbles floating on the top.
Tai leaned with his head on Matt's shoulder, about to fall asleep. The soothing scent of the bubbles was making him drowsy.
"Taichi...are you still awake?"
"Nng..."
Matt sighed and moved his fingers around, causing ripples in the water's surface. He thought of what a big apartment they had, two unused rooms that could be bedrooms. The past week taking care of Yamachi had been exhausting, but had left him feeling so fulfilled. Taking care of someone was what Matt loved most, but Tai didn't need his constant guarding. However, there was someone who would need to be looked after, day and night. Someone Matt wanted to meet, he wanted...more.
"Tai,"
"Mm, yes, Yami?" Tai opened one eye sleepily and sat up, yawning slightly.
"I want a child, I want a baby of our own to take care of."
"I know that, Matt, we've talked about this before. Someday we'll have kids, we just have to be patient."
"No, I don't want to wait anymore."
"But..."
"Tai..." Matt put his hands on his husband's shoulders and looked straight into his eyes. "I know I should be patient, but if we're patient too long, it's going to be too late. We'll be old and dying and we still won't have any children."
"Yami...What am I supposed to do? You know how hard it is for two men to adopt a child..."
Matt pursed his lips momentarily. "There's another way..."
Kari looked down at the floor with her eyebrows upturned. She sighed uneasily and looked back up at her brother and his husband.
"Tai, I don't know what to say..."
"You don't have to decide now, just...could you at least consider it?" he said.
"I'll have to talk it over with TK..."
"Of course! What time does he get home anyway?"
"Usually around six o' clock..."
Matt and Tai had come over to Kari and TK's apartment that afternoon to ask her a very important question. They were sitting in the living room, eating some cookies Kari had prepared earlier that day. Yamachi was sleeping in his crib on the other side of the room, with baby drool dribbling down the side of his face. Kari had finally lost all the weight she put on during her pregnancy, but now faced the possibility of gaining it back again.
"This is just so... I don't know, I mean... I just had a baby, I'm not sure if I want to waste a whole year of my life having another one that won't even be mine..."
"Waste?" Tai said softly. Kari glanced up at him again. He appeared extremely hurt.
"No, Tai, I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry! Of course it wouldn't be a waste, but do you understand what I mean? Carrying a baby is a big commitment, and I can't exactly change my mind halfway through."
"Forget it," Matt said suddenly. "This was a stupid idea, I should never have brought it up."
"No! Yami, it is not..." Tai said, placing his hand on Matt's shoulder.
"Matt, I'm not saying no, but I need to think it through. And I need to talk to TK before I make any decisions."
"Kari," Matt said. "I know this is a really big favor to ask, but this might be the only way. All of the adoption agencies we've gone to don't seem to want to help us....
Kari sighed once again. "I never thought my brother would be asking me to have a baby for him."
"I know it's strange, Kari...but we don't really have a lot of choices available to us. And Matt and I really want to have children." He looked blankly at the floor as he spoke. This was so frustrating. The last thing Tai wanted was to disappoint the one who had done so much for him, now that he was finally the one in need.
Matt reached over and place his slender hand onto Tai's. Tai's stare shifted upwards and Matt's sapphire eyes met his own cocoa ones. They didn't need to speak, they could almost read each other's minds, they had been together for so long. Matt knew Tai was doing his best, and Tai could tell how strong Matt's desire was to have a child.
"I have one question though," Kari said, causing the two young men to break their stare and look over at her.
"What is it, Kari?" Tai asked his sister.
"If we do go through with this, which one of you is going to be the father?"
They both were slightly surprised by this question.
"Um, we haven't really talked that over yet," Tai answered. He squeezed Matt's hand, and added. "Although...I know he'd never say anything, but I kind of think Matt wants to be the father. Of our first baby anyway."
"You're planning to have more!?" Kari gasped.
Matt blushed slightly. "I've always wanted a daughter and a son..."
Tai started to worry that Matt might drift into some kind of depression if he never had any children. A look of determination formed on tai's tan face and he kneeled down in front of Kari.
"Kari, I'm kind of afraid I'm going to sound selfish by saying this, but... I know I've always been there for you when you needed me, and now I need you. I won't be upset with you if you refuse, but if you would help us have a baby, I'd just be so happy."
She looked down into her brother's big brown eyes and held both of his hands. She thought back to their early childhood. Tai had always taken care of her, even when they were practically babies still living in Highton View Terrace. He always made sure she got breakfast and lunch when their mother wasn't home. As soon as he started school and learned to read, he would read her bedtime stories before they went to sleep. He even used the time when he could have been with his older friends to stay home and play with her, since she was only a toddler and had no real friends of her own yet. Then when they went to the Digital World and she fell ill, he had risked his own life to make sure she got well again.
After all her brother had done for her, she made up her mind that she owed him something in return. He had never asked anything of her before, he had always just continued to give and never expected her to thank him for it, he felt it was his duty.
Now, Kari decided, it was time to thank him for everything by giving him what he wanted most. A child, and his husband's happiness.
"Tai...as soon as TK gets home I'm telling him."
"Wait, telling him what we asked?" Tai said, a tiny bit confused.
"No, I'm telling him that I'm going to have another baby. But this time, for you."