"Where do you want to go today?" Hiroki asked from behind Nowaki, craning his neck to look over the broad shoulder and see what was being made for breakfast.
"I don't know, what would you like to do today?"
"Mmm," Hiroki hummed as he pondered, putting his hands on Nowaki's black t-shirt-clad back and absentmindedly tapping his fingers on the powerful shoulder blades. "Well, it's snowing and cold, so probably something that isn't too far away. We could call a cab and go downtown; the sidewalks there are heated so we won't have to worry about walking through too much snow. Plus, the buildings could protect us from the wind."
"Okay, that sounds fine to me," Nowaki said, turning around with Hiroki's breakfast in hand. Hiroki's eyes lit up hungrily as his eyes rested on the rice and pork dumplings. Nowaki chuckled at him and handed him his breakfast. Hiroki kissed the side of Nowaki's mouth in thanks and cheerfully went to the kitchen table.
"Oh yeah, there's a new café down there that I'd like to try. I heard that they have great hot chocolate," Hiroki said, eagerly digging into a pork dumpling. He put it in his mouth, but whined as the hot food scalded his tongue. Nowaki laughed and leaned up against the counter, crossing his arms.
"Okay, we can try it, but you better let your hot chocolate cool before you drink it," Nowaki teased. Hiroki sucked in air to cool his mouth as he frantically chewed the molten food. Unable to speak, he settled with flashing Nowaki the middle finger and narrowing his eyes at him. Finally swallowing, Hiroki sighed in relief. Without prompt, Nowaki got him a glass of orange juice. Hiroki drank it greedily, cooling his poor tongue.
"Hey…" Hiroki said slowly as he put his orange glass juice down. Nowaki, sensing the sheepishness in his little lover's voice, paused from his chore of wiping the counter down and looked over his shoulder. Hiroki looked down and ringed the lip of his orange juice glass with his index finger. "Do… Do you think it's time to start um… thinking about building the… n-nursery?"
Hiroki glanced up at Nowaki, a blush on his cheeks. Nowaki stared at him, his eyebrows furrowed. When he didn't answer, Hiroki laughed nervously.
"Uh… yeah, I was just kidding, um… we…" Hiroki pursed his lips and looked down at his rice, taking a sudden interest in the number of pieces of rice there was in the bowl.
"No, it's fine, Hiro-san. I just think we should wait a little longer. I was thinking we'd use the guest room for the nursery, so we need to clean that out first. We don't want to have a bunch of supplies for the nursery out in the living room and stuff, right? Also, you have the choir concert coming up in only three weeks. You need to concentrate on that before the nursery," Nowaki said gently, coming to Hiroki and apologetically stroking his hair. "Okay?"
"'kay…" Hiroki said, frowning. Nowaki paused.
"Oh Hiro-san, you're killing me with that sad look on your face," Nowaki groaned. He knelt beside Hiroki's chair and pressed kisses to his shoulder. "Please show me your beautiful smile. How about we buy some toys today for the baby? Maybe a baby clothes? It'll be a little hard not knowing the gender, but I'm sure there are neutral baby clothes."
Hiroki perked up and looked down at Nowaki.
"Can we get a big panda teddy bear?" Hiroki asked excitedly. Nowaki chortled and looked up at him, resting his chin on his little lover's elbow.
"Of course. Anything you want."
Hiroki smiled and flushed scarlet at the thought of the baby snuggling with the leg of a large stuffed bear.
"There's that gorgeous smile," Nowaki murmured, kissing his way up Hiroki's upper arm. He ended at Hiroki's cheek, where he pressed his lips to the soft flesh.
"Oh come on, it's not that great. I probably have pork in my teeth," Hiroki said, rolling his eyes as he swept his tongue over his front teeth.
"Pork in your teeth or no pork in your teeth, either way, seeing your smile makes me the luckiest man in the world."
"The snow is really beautiful," Nowaki said in a gentle voice as he and Hiroki strolled down the busy sidewalk of downtown. Hiroki glanced up at his tall lover, who was looking up at the large, cascading snowflakes. Snow decorated his black hair and ebony lashes, creating perfect contrast. His cobalt eyes, glimmering and crisp, told of unmatched joy and pride. He wore his trademark grey scarf and the black overcoat Hiroki had gotten him for his birthday on the nineteenth of September earlier that year. It suited him perfectly, and the thought of Nowaki wearing the coat Hiroki had chosen for him made butterflies flutter in his heart.
"Yeah. Beautiful," Hiroki echoed dazedly, still shamelessly staring up at Nowaki. Nowaki turned to him, and Hiroki looked away, blushing. He heard Nowaki chuckle knowingly beside him, and Hiroki clenched his mitten-clad fists.
They continued down the sidewalk, keeping their eyes peeled for a good store. Hiroki wasn't looking nearly as hard as Nowaki was, however, as he kept flicking his gaze down to Nowaki's bare, reddened-by-the-cold hands. He wriggled his fingers uncomfortably in his mittens, thinking of an old trick Akihiko had taught him long, long ago.
"Um… aren't your hands cold?" Hiroki asked slowly. Nowaki looked down at him.
"Mm? No, I'm fine," he replied, smiling.
"But they're red…"
"It's fine, Hiro-san. Just being with you keeps me warm."
Hiroki pursed his lips, scowling in response to Nowaki's goofy grin.
"You're an idiot. You should have brought your gloves."
"I know. Sorry, Hiro-san."
Hiroki sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Honestly, do I have to take care of you all the time? Learn some responsibility, you big dummy," Hiroki ranted as he peeled off his left mitten. He roughly handed it to Nowaki. Nowaki stared down at his outstretched hand, furrowing his eyebrows.
"But now your left hand will be cold, Hiro-san. I don't want you to get-" Nowaki began.
"Take the mitten!" Hiroki barked. Nowaki hesitantly took the mitten and slipped it onto his left hand. Hiroki flushed crimson and reached out with his bare, still-warm hand. He very hesitantly hooked his hand on Nowaki's, interlacing their fingers. Nowaki stared down at their joined hands.
"But… Hiro-san, we're in public, aren't you…?"
"If you get a cold and then pass it on to me, I would never forgive you. I already feel uncomfortable enough as it is, so getting sick would be miserable," Hiroki rambled gruffly, shyly taking interest in his shoes. "Besides, I don't care anymore. Let those bastards look. It's already obvious that I'm pregnant. Just… d-don't stare at our h-hands, alright?"
Nowaki squeezed Hiroki's hand, his fingers quickly warming up and, in turn, heating up Hiroki's hand.
"Alright, Hiro-san."
They continued their trek down the bustling sidewalk. They had to walk slowly, due to Hiroki's inability to walk without waddling. He felt impossibly bloated, the weight in his belly pressing hard against his bladder and making him feel like he had to go to the bathroom. The only thing that kept him optimistic was the thought that the baby was coming soon, and he'd have a beautiful baby to coo over and his body back. Although Hiroki thought everyone was staring at him, in reality, nobody paid the two lovers any attention as they hurriedly shopped for the holidays.
"Hey Hiro-san, how about that store over there?" Nowaki asked, breaking the comfortable silence between the two. Hiroki followed his pointing finger, his eyes resting on a large toy store with a big stuffed bear in the window.
"Okay," Hiroki agreed. They made their way across the street and into the moderately busy store, where children and overwhelmed-looking parents milled about. It was a huge toy store, complete with train sets, building blocks, dolls, books, crayons, and anything a child could ever dream of. Hiroki gazed up at the ceiling, where model airplanes, rockets, stars, and moons hung from the rafters. The carpet was dark blue with bright, neon green stars, and cheerful children's music played over the store radio.
Hiroki felt like a three year old.
Hiroki released Nowaki's hand to rush forward to a huge stuffed animal bin. He excitedly picked up two stuffed animals, a teddy bear and a giraffe, and squeezed them in his hands. The fur was almost unbearably soft on his bare hand, and Hiroki dropped the stuffed animals to eagerly take off his mitten and shove it in his coat pocket.
"Nowaki, feel how soft these are," Hiroki chirped, looking halfway over his shoulder as he dug through the impossibly deep pile of stuffed animals. Nowaki chortled behind him and walked up to his side, where he picked up a stuffed dairy cow.
"Yes, they're very soft, Hiro-san," Nowaki said gently. Hiroki looked up, spotting a hanging mobile display. He grabbed Nowaki by the elbow and dragged him to the display, staring up at floating stars and moons, astronauts and rocket ships, clouds and suns, and teddy bears and baby chicks.
"Oh, look at how colorful these are!" Hiroki cooed, his eyes shining as he stared up at the mobiles.
"Yes, Hiro-san, they're very colorful."
Hiroki turned on the spot, raking his eyes over everything that he could in the toy store.
"Nowaki! Look, they have little tricycles over there!" Hiroki squealed, tugging on Nowaki's sleeve. "They're so tiny!"
"Yes, they're very tiny, Hiro-san, but don't you think we should slow down a little?" Nowaki asked, chuckling and laying a hand over Hiroki's baby bump. As if on cue, the baby kicked irritably at Hiroki's ribs, regaining its mother's attention. Hiroki blushed and apologetically patted his belly.
"Oh yeah. Sorry, baby. Papa just got a little excited," Hiroki said sheepishly. "I didn't forget about you."
Nowaki laughed and lowered his head to nuzzle his nose in Hiroki's hair and tickle the top of his ear.
"You're so cute, I could just die," Nowaki murmured. Hiroki stuck his tongue out at him and slapped him away, only earning another goofy grin.
"I don't know where to start looking," Hiroki breathed, looking around the giant store. He cupped his hands under his heavy baby bump and swayed, rocking the precious bundle inside. "Seeing all of these toys… I want to buy every single thing in here for our beautiful baby."
Hiroki smiled as he felt the baby flutter and press against his forearm.
"I feel the same way, Hiro-san, but I'm afraid we'd lose the baby in that pile of stuffed animals alone."
Hiroki and Nowaki laughed at their own idiocy, playfully bumping into each other.
"This is so much fun. This is definitely the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon," Hiroki admitted shamelessly as he and Nowaki made their way back towards the stuffed animal bin. The baby kicked him unexpectedly, making him gasp. "The baby's having fun, too."
"The baby sure is hyper for, you know, being an unborn baby," Nowaki commented, trying and failing to suppress his giggles.
Hiroki laughed.
"I think we're going to have an Olympic champion on our hands, Nowaki. These are some powerful legs in here," Hiroki said proudly, patting his belly.
"The baby got those legs from me," Nowaki said, pointing to his chest with his thumb. Hiroki cackled.
"No, these are definitely my legs in here. You know I could kick you to the moon if I wanted to," Hiroki chuckled, patting Nowaki's shoulder. "Sorry though, kid."
"They're my legs for sure, Hiro-san. Look at how long mine are. The baby would need long legs to reach all the way up to your ribs," Nowaki countered.
"No way! They're my legs, you brat!"
"Nope! They're mine!"
Nowaki stopped in front of Hiroki and pressed into him, staring him down with a smirk on his face. Before they could continue their argument, though, the baby kicked and pushed against Nowaki's abdomen, making him jump and look down in surprise. Hiroki laughed hard, leaning clumsily against Nowaki's chest for support.
"Oh, God… your face! Ha, ha! The baby thinks you're an idiot!"
Nowaki laughed with Hiroki, wrapping his long arms around Hiroki's shoulders and playfully rocking back and forth.
"Don't be silly, Hiro-san. The baby thinks we're both a couple of idiots."
