"Kolyaaa!"
Aki burst into the car after school, practically flinging her small body across the baby carrier.
Victor laughed. "Hai, he's very happy to see you too, printsesa. Now shut the door and buckle up."
Aki looked up at her papa, and he was startled to see tears coming out of her dark eyes. "You don't understand, Papa! You meanie!"
His heart sank. Yet again, he had somehow failed his family. He glanced in his rearview mirror and prodded, "Akiya, close the door so I can start driving." Sniffling, she obeyed as Victor continued, "Why are you crying, rodnaya? What don't I understand? Ah, don't forget to buckle."
The tears started falling in earnest as she buckled in. "Papa…I was so worried all day at school. What if Kolya forgot about me?"
If Victor hadn't spent most of the day soothing his spouse, he probably would have found this worry much cuter. As it was, he merely gripped the steering wheel tighter and encouraged her, "Why don't you see? You haven't even said hi to him."
Wiping her eyes on the back of her hand, Aki looked down into the carrier. In an uncharacteristically meek voice she greeted her brother. "Hi, Kolya. How was your day?"
There was a tense moment of silence in which Victor felt he might never breathe again. Then there was the small sound of a gurgle. He looked into the rearview mirror to see Aki's eyes opening wide.
"Papa! Papa, he said hi to me! Did you hear that? Kolya talked to me!"
The knot in Victor's stomach loosened as he smiled. "Da, I heard. He sure does love you, doesn't he? There's no way he would forget about his sister."
Aki gave him a watery smile, then went back to staring at the baby next to her.
"Aki, is it okay with you if we make a stop on the way home? I want to get a shopping surprise for Otousan."
She waved a hand at him, seemingly unconcerned. His grip loosened a little as he relaxed. It seemed that Aki was settling down. He didn't attempt any further conversation until they reached the florist, content to let his children bond. When he shut off the car and opened Aki's door, she glowered at him in a way that made him let out a puff of laughter. "Akiya, it's not my fault that the car stopped."
"It kind of is," she grumbled, unbuckling her seatbelt. She scurried out of the way and stood by anxiously as her papa undid the baby seat. When he had it out, she took a firm hold on the bar next to his hand.
He looked down at her. "Are you going to help me with your brother, Aki?"
She nodded once, firmly, as if daring him to resist.
"Thank you." He began walking towards the store, making sure to match his pace to his daughter's smaller stride. "What flowers do you think would be good for Otousan?"
"Something pretty."
"Ah, good plan. Well, let's go see what they have that's pretty." He held the shop's door open, twisting his body awkwardly to get his children inside without losing a grip on either of them. Somehow he managed to successfully maneuver them all inside. Aki strode confidently to stand directly in the center of the shop, free hand on her hip as she surveyed the choices around her.
A worker appeared from the back and approached them. "Hello there! Can I help you find anything today?"
Aki looked at the man with the same scrutinizing glance that she was directing at his wares. "Yes. We need something pretty for my dad."
The clerk's eyes darted questioningly to Victor. He recognized the look that he had been given many times in the past. Before the store worker could ask any questions that Aki might take loud offense to, Victor said, "Yes, we are looking for something for my husband. Can you help our daughter choose something? Whatever she likes is fine, we don't have any particular budget." He added a smooth smile onto his words, the one that Yuuri called his podium smile. Most people couldn't tell that this smile was incredibly fake, and accepted it at face value.
This clerk turned out to be no different. He turned to Aki and said, albeit a little stiffly, "Why don't you come with me and I'll show you what we have."
Satisfied that his daughter wouldn't be subjected to any unsavory comments, Victor looked around and located a bench where he could relax and watch the proceedings. He sat Nikolai's car seat down next to him and angled it so he could face his son. He remarked conversationally, "You know, your sister is a bit of a spitfire sometimes. Well, all the time, really. And since she loves you so much, I'm sure you'll never have to worry about anyone hurting you. If it was me, I wouldn't want to mess with you and risk making Aki angry." He smiled as he saw the little girl shake her head and turn away from a display dismissively. "It would be great if you grow up and love her, too. Although you already seem to love her, don't you, my handsome Kolyatchka?"
He reached out and wiggled Nikolai's toes, mourning the fact that he was wearing socks for this outing. With a contented sigh Victor said, "Ahh, baby toes really are the best. But you know what's just as good? Baby fingers!" He moved his grip up to the tiny little hands poking out of Nikolai's sleeves. He grasped each finger one by one using his thumb and forefinger, giving each a slight wiggle as he went. Nikolai watched his papa with wide eyes, kicking his feet slightly and working his mouth into little shapes.
Enchanted, Victor continued to play with his son's fingers, cooing over the baby's reactions until their play was broken up by a triumphant Aki. She marched over to them and said in an authoritative voice, "It's done!"
"Ah, good. I'm sure you picked out some lovely flowers for Otousan. Will you show me?" He stood up, scooping the baby carrier onto his arm as he went.
"Da, Papa!" She went to the counter and stood off to one side, looking very proud of herself.
Victor surmised that he was supposed to ask the shop attendant for the preview. He gave his smooth smile and said, "May I see?"
"Of course." The florist showed him the order form they had filled out, marked with the flowers Aki had chosen.
Victor scanned it, then leaned in and said quietly, "Is it possible to get a smaller version of this tucked inside the bouquet? I'd like to take it out when we get home and give the smaller one to my daughter."
The worker looked surprised, then nodded. "I should be able to do that for you. Let me ring you up, then it will take me about 20 to 30 minutes to complete."
"Thank you." Victor followed the man to the cash register and paid. When he had finished he looked down at Aki. "Well, printsesa, should we go get a snack while we wait for the flowers to be done? It looked like there was a bakery a couple doors down. We should probably let Otousan know that we're going to be home a bit late, too."
"Okay." Aki reclaimed her grip on her brother's carrier and practically dragged her papa out of the store. Once outside, she began to pull confidently, but Victor laughed and held her shoulder.
"It's the other way, malyshka."
Without a word, her little feet turned in the opposite direction. Victor did his best to suppress a smile as she led the way to the little bakery and confidently navigated their transaction with the man behind the counter. She even picked out a cookie for Yuuri and asked for it to be wrapped separately so they could take it home. As they were sitting at a table munching on their own cookies, he gazed lovingly at his daughter. "Akiya, when did you get so grown up? When I wasn't looking?"
She sat up a little straighter, her nostrils flaring. "Yep. I have to be a big girl now to take care of Kolya, so I'm practically a grown-up."
He nodded gravely. "Ah, yes. That makes sense. I was so busy watching his cuteness that I missed you growing up. Now how am I going to watch your cuteness?"
"Papa! Grown-ups aren't cute!"
"I disagree. Have you ever seen your Otousan? Adorable. Unforgivably so."
Aki rolled her eyes. "Papaa."
"Hey, I'm just telling the truth. Also, I have some secret advice just for grown-ups. Do you want to hear it?"
She leaned towards him. "Yeah!"
Victor made a big show of looking around, then covered up Nikolai's ears with his hands. As the little girl giggled, Victor said, "When you're thinking of getting married, you should only marry someone if you think they're special. Like if they're just irresistibly cute. Don't marry someone just to get married, or so that you won't be alone."
She stared at him suspiciously. "So you really mean it that grown-ups can be cute?"
"Absolutely."
She pondered this as she took another bite of her cookie. "Then I guess it's okay if you still call me cute. And I'll make sure I only marry someone if I can find a cute person."
Victor took his hands off of the baby's ears, satisfied. "Good. Do you want to play Will You Go to the Ball?"
"Sure!"
"Okay. You can start."
They passed their waiting time pleasantly after that until Aki was in stitches from trying to trip up her papa with their game. Victor was enjoying his daughter's delight so much that he hardly noticed when it was time to pick up their flowers. He herded his children back to the florist and then bundled them into the car to head home.
As they drew nearer to their destination, he felt his anxiety grow. After he had texted Yuuri that they would be a little late coming home, he hadn't received a reply. Before departing, he had made sure that his husband was awake and knew that he was leaving to pick up Aki. At that time Yuuri had seemed to be feeling better…but the memory of his tears from earlier in the day wouldn't go away. Unconsciously, Victor increased his speed.
When they arrived, he hustled his children out of the car as quickly as he could, nearly frantic now because he still hadn't gotten a reply to his earlier text. They practically burst into the apartment, with Victor calling out before the door was even open, "Lapochka, are you here?"
Yuuri looked up at them from his chair. "Of course. Where did you think I was?"
"Oh. You just never answered my text." Seeing his spouse in front of him did a lot to undo the knots of fear that had been winding through his body. He set down his son carefully and shifted his grip on the flowers.
"I saw it. I just thought if you were busy, you wouldn't read it anyway. I didn't want to bother you."
He approached his husband and knelt in front of him, catching up Yuuri's hand in his free one and planting a kiss on the back of it. "You're never a bother to me, dusha moya. You're the only thing that's important."
From behind him, Aki squawked, "Hey, what about me and Kolya?"
Victor turned his head quickly. "Ah, of course I meant you two as well! You're all the most important!"
Aki puffed up her cheeks at her papa as Yuuri asked, "What's with the flowers, Vitya?"
He turned back around, a smile spreading on his face. "We brought them for you! Aki picked them out all by herself. Didn't she do a great job?"
He watched, enchanted, as his husband's face was dusted with a rosy blush. "Yes, they're beautiful. Thank you, Aki." Looking past the kneeling man in front of him, Yuuri smiled softly at their daughter.
She lifted her head proudly. "I made sure to get the prettiest flowers they had for Otousan!"
"Oh, that's right." Victor reached inside the bouquet, separating the smaller bunch and holding it out to Aki. "These are for you! Since you did such a good job, it only seemed fair if you got some flowers, too."
Yuuri made a small noise behind him, and Victor tried his best to ignore it as he offered the flowers to his daughter. Her dark eyes shone in appreciation, but she remained seated in front of her brother's carrier. "Thank you, Papa!"
He held his arm out for a few more seconds, then asked in confusion, "Aren't you going to come take them?"
"But I don't want to leave Kolya."
Now Yuuri laughed outright. Victor turned back to his spouse to see Yuuri standing up. He gently took both bouquets from Victor's hands. "It's all right, Aki. I'll put your flowers in a vase, too." He paused, and kissed his husband on the top of his head. "Thank you, Vitya," he whispered.
Victor watched with loving eyes as the other man went to the kitchen, a small smile on his face and surrounded by a halo of flowers. He decided that this was how Yuuri should always look, instead of the tear-stained face he had seen earlier. Victor's jaw clenched.
It was his job to make sure his husband was happy, and he refused to fail.
