"Oh, Hiro-san, this one's furnished and ready to be moved into," Nowaki said. Hiroki looked up from his Japanese-to-Swedish dictionary. He was sitting with Nowaki on the floor, nestled in the crook of his crossed legs. Nowaki had his new laptop up on a nearby footstool, where he was searching for houses in Sweden.
"Is there a slideshow?" Hiroki asked, marking his place in the dictionary and setting it down in his lap.
"Umm…" Nowaki trailed off. He nibbled his bottom lip as he scrolled down the web page. "Oh yes, it does."
Hiroki settled against Nowaki's chest and turned towards the laptop screen. Nowaki clicked the link to start the slideshow and wrapped his arm around Hiroki's waist.
"I like the siding, but it's a little too close to the road," Hiroki commented. "Oh, hold on. That backyard is nice- if we put up a fence in the front, we won't have to worry about Fuyumi running out onto the road."
"Mhm," Nowaki hummed.
"Oh! And I love that open floor design!"
"Yeah."
"The kitchen might need some updating, though."
"Mm."
Hiroki scowled irritably and glanced up at his fiancé.
"Are you just going to agree with everything I say?" he asked.
"Well, I'm fine with whatever you want, Hiro-san. As long as you love the house, I'll be happy."
Hiroki rolled his eyes.
"Eventually, you're going to live in that house, too. Your opinion really matters to me, okay?" Hiroki said, trying and failing to sound stern. Nowaki's arms tightened around him.
"Hiro-san…" he murmured. Hiroki shivered as Nowaki began suckling his neck.
"Nowaki! Cut it out!" Hiroki barked, flushing scarlet and jerking away from Nowaki's invading tongue. "We have to get this work done!"
"Just a little break," he whispered against Hiroki's skin. Without warning, the sound of crying could be heard throughout the apartment.
"Fuyumi's crying!" Hiroki exclaimed hurriedly, inwardly sighing with relief. He wrenched himself out of Nowaki's grasp and shot to his feet. He ran to the guest bedroom and retrieved Fuyumi from her crib. She squirmed in his arms in discomfort, and Hiroki sniffed the air. He wrinkled his nose. "Let's get you changed, Fuyumi."
Hiroki took the whimpering baby out of the guest bedroom and went straight to the bathroom, ignoring Nowaki's dreamy stare. He kicked the door shut behind him and set Fuyumi down onto the changing table. Keeping a supporting hand on her chest to keep her from rolling off, he stooped down to retrieve a diaper.
He hummed a gentle lullaby as he unbuttoned Fuyumi's pale yellow onesie and eased her out of it. His hands froze, however, as he came across something hard pressing into Fuyumi's side. He pulled it out, revealing a dark brown, shriveled up stub. He smiled excitedly.
"Your stump fell off, sweetie!" Hiroki praised, running gentle fingertips over his daughter's freshly formed belly button. Fuyumi flapped her lips at him in response, wiggling her arms. Hiroki set the umbilical cord stump aside and began changing Fuyumi's diaper. He worked quickly, Nowaki instructions running through his head with ease.
Fuyumi was a little restless as she was changed; opening and closing her fists, kicking against Hiroki's hold on her ankles, and panting with little baby breaths.
"You're very energetic today," Hiroki cooed as he finished up and fastened the tape of her new diaper. He tickled Fuyumi's side with the tip of his index finger, and she panted harder, shifting away from her papa's finger. Hiroki giggled and danced his fingertips up and down Fuyumi's sides, tickling her more. Her eyes widened and her lips and arms flapped harder. Hiroki snorted and tried to hold back his breathy, hysterical giggles. He flicked his gaze to the closed door.
As if he'd allow Nowaki to see him like this.
"Papa loves Fuyumi!" Hiroki sang softly in a playful voice. Fuyumi squealed, putting her hand on Hiroki's tickling pinky and squeezing. Hiroki was hiss-laughing so hard that he was nearly in tears. He stooped low over Fuyumi and brushed her cheeks with butterfly kisses. "And Fuyumi loooves Papa!"
Fuyumi gurgled and fisted a lock of Hiroki's hair.
"Don't forget Daddy."
Hiroki gasped and abruptly straightened, wincing as Fuyumi pulled out a few strands of hair. He whirled towards the doorway, where Nowaki was leaning against the doorframe with a big smile on his face.
"I-I-I-I was j-just… I was…" Hiroki sputtered.
"Don't try to deny it Hiro-san. I already knew you were playing with Fuyumi, I could hear you from the living room."
Hiroki blushed and scooped up Fuyumi, who swung her legs and gripped her papa's t-shirt. He averted his eyes and absently rubbed his daughter's back.
"Um… her umbilical cord stump fell off," Hiroki muttered. He glanced sheepishly up at Nowaki and moved Fuyumi to cradle her in his arms to show Nowaki her new belly button.
"I was wondering when it would fall off," Nowaki said, stepping forward to touch Fuyumi's bloated baby tummy. "What a cute little belly button."
"Yeah. She's really restless today. She was flapping her arms and kicking and everything," Hiroki said proudly. Nowaki glanced up at him, his brows furrowed.
"Eh? Really? She shouldn't be reacting to you so much just yet. I was surprised when she started looking at us and registering that we were her parents so fast, and I thought it was just a coincidence. But now I know that her development is way above average."
Hiroki blinked.
"Then… do we have a smart baby or something?"
"Not necessarily. But she's definitely developing much faster than most babies."
Hiroki thought for a moment.
"So kind of like the Appendix Theory?" Hiroki guessed. Nowaki nodded.
"She must still be releasing your pheromones to replace them with her own. If the theory's correct, her development should slow down once all of your pheromones are gone. By then, if I could make an estimate... in development, she should be one month ahead of female born babies. Once she gets older, it won't be as significant, but now, she's quantum leaps ahead of other newborns."
Hiroki pondered again, trying to register everything Nowaki had said in his alien doctor language.
"Amazing," Hiroki breathed, looking down at his precious daughter. "Absolutely amazing."
There were a few minutes of prolonged silence, during which Fuyumi nestled against Hiroki and began to doze again. Nowaki suddenly jerked and put a hand on Hiroki's shoulder.
"Oh! I almost forgot! Hiro-san, I found a house that I think you're going to like."
"Oh wow," Hiroki said incredulously as Nowaki went through the pictures of the house he had found. "This is perfect!"
"I thought you'd like it," Nowaki said with a smile.
They were seated on the couch, the laptop sitting in Nowaki's lap. Nowaki was up against the armrest, with Hiroki settled against his opposite side. His arm was draped around Hiroki's shoulders, and with absentminded fingertips he twirled locks of chestnut brown hair. Hiroki held Fuyumi, who was dozing in his arms, sucking a pacifier.
While looking at houses earlier that day, Hiroki had been unbearably bored. He had been tired, grumpy, and anxious to be done. Now, however, he looked on with great interest, his eyes greedily drinking in as much of the house images as possible.
"I love how white and clean the house looks," Hiroki breathed. "It's so bright, too."
They looked at several more pictures.
"Amazing! Look at how far the house is away from the road! The front yard is the perfect si- look at that backyard!"
Nowaki laughed and playfully pinched Hiroki's ear.
"Look at this, Hiro-san. This is the best part."
He clicked a link, and a room with a huge window wall was revealed. Bookshelves lined the window-less walls: huge bookshelves that had plenty of space for a book-lover's library. Hiroki's eyes widened.
"It's a library…" Hiroki whispered in awe. Nowaki grinned.
"We can replace all of the books you lost, Hiro-san. And then we can read together up there. The window faces the backyard, so you can watch Fuyumi play while you read."
"We can reserve a whole wall of bookshelves for Fuyumi, too!" Hiroki said excitedly. Nowaki turned to him, raising an ebony eyebrow.
"A whole wall? Really?"
Hiroki smiled and turned to his fiancé.
"Yes. I've had my whole life to cram in as many books as possible- and I think I've lived up to my expectations about ten times over. I want Fuyumi to have the same experience. It's hard to give up a whole bookshelf, but it would be worth it if Fuyumi could fall in love with books. Then I wouldn't have to worry about her falling in love with boys."
Nowaki tipped his head back and laughed, tightening his grip around Hiroki's shoulders.
"A whole wall of the library for Fuyumi! You really love her, don't you?"
Hiroki blushed blissfully and smiled down at his sleeping daughter.
"Of course. She's our baby."
Nowaki squeezed Hiroki's shoulders once more. He leaned into him, his lips brushing Hiroki's hair.
"What if she falls in love with another girl, Hiro-san?"
Hiroki stared down at Fuyumi, frozen. He hadn't thought about that. He pondered for a few moments, then spoke.
"Well… that'd be her decision, right? Even if I did care about her sexuality, I still wouldn't have the right to judge her and hold her back. I mean, we're a couple of homos ourselves, aren't we? Fuyumi can fall in love with whoever she damn well pleases," Hiroki said passionately. He paused for a second. "However: boy or girl, I ain't letting no fucking brat steal away Fuyumi. Why are we having this conversation, idiot? She's not even a month old! She's thirty years too early to be thinking about anyone except for her papa and daddy!"
Nowaki was snickering by the time Hiroki finished, much to his annoyance.
"What the hell are you laughing at?" Hiroki growled. Nowaki cuddled his fiancé, swaying slightly.
"Nothing. Seeing you getting so passionate about Fuyumi just makes me so happy," Nowaki cooed. Hiroki blushed and pinched his lips together. "This is exactly why I fell in love with you, Hiro-san. It's so cute when you go off on your tangents!"
"Shut your mouth, brat. You're going to wake up the little brat," Hiroki hissed, his blush spreading down his neck. Nowaki smiled widely, gentleness in his eyes. He reached up to stroke Hiroki's cheek.
"Hiro-san, let's buy this house. It's perfect," Nowaki whispered. Hiroki glanced at the image of the library on the laptop screen. A slow smile spread on his face.
"Happy New Year!"
It wasn't until those words were cheered that Nowaki and Hiroki realized that their time together was quickly fading. They had managed to finish all of the paperwork and phone calls, and Hiroki had wrapped up all of his work with M University. The baby shower gifts had been disassembled and packed away into large luggage bags. Aikawa's maternity outfits had been returned, clothes were purchased and packed, and the DVD player was charged and ready for the long, twenty-hour flight to Sweden. A huge duffel bag full of baby supplies had also been assembled, and even extras of everything were packed in case of emergency.
The hard, rewarding work had all been at the expense of not having much time to hold each other.
The fateful moment came at four-thirty in the morning on New Years Day, in a near-empty airport.
They were absolutely silent. Akihiko, Misaki, Miyagi, and Shinobu walked ahead of them, wheeling all of the luggage between the three men who were departing.
Fuyumi was snoozing in her baby carrier with her pacifier, blissfully unaware that she wouldn't be held by her daddy for four months. She wasn't aware that her daddy was carrying her in her carrier at that very moment, his eyes darkened and his grip shaking.
She wasn't aware that the tears were already starting to form in her papa's eyes.
It was too soon that the group of six men was trudging out of the gate towards the awaiting airplane. The chilled, not-yet-morning breeze ruffled their hair and nipped at their noses, but nobody had the heart or the voice to complain.
"Hiro-san," Nowaki whispered as they stood by, watching the airport employees load the luggage up into the plane. Hiroki squeezed his fiancé's hand, frowning. Nowaki trembled beside him, looking down and clenching his jaw. "God damn, this is so much harder than when I left for America."
Hiroki stood in silent vigilance, standing as close to Nowaki as his body would allow.
"I want you to do your best at the pediatrics center," Hiroki said, moving so he was standing in front of Nowaki. "Don't try to complete it in two months. Take as long as you need. I will always wait for you."
"Shit," Nowaki choked, covering his eyes with his free hand as his face contorted. Hiroki bit his lip, willing the tears to remain at bay for a while longer. He pressed into Nowaki, resting his cheek against the strong chest that he had grown to love oh-so much.
"I love you," Hiroki whispered. He buried his face in Nowaki's overcoat, frantically drinking in his scent in hopes that it would last him until the middle of April, when Nowaki would receive his degree. Nowaki wrapped his free arm around Hiroki, clutching his fiancé with as much strength as he could muster.
"I love you. I'll miss you so much," Nowaki hissed. His voice cut out and he trembled even harder, slumping against Hiroki. Hiroki burst into tears and dug his fingernails into Nowaki's shoulders.
"Nowaki," Hiroki moaned, baring his teeth and jerking as more tears rolled down his face. They stood like that for a long time, and Nowaki recovered before Hiroki could even think about stopping.
"Hiro-san," Nowaki said quietly after a moment. With a gentle hand, he pulled Hiroki away by the shoulder. He trailed his fingertips up Hiroki's neck, then reached up to cup the pale face in his palm. "I want to give you something."
Hiroki watched in confusion as Nowaki released his face and dug around in his coat pocket for a moment. He pulled out a little navy blue box.
"Don't open it until you get on the plane," Nowaki said solemnly, handing it to Hiroki. Hiroki cupped it in his hands, running his thumb over the velvety surface of the box. He gulped audibly and gingerly slipped it into his coat pocket.
"Kamijou, it's time to board," Miyagi suddenly called from the base of the steps leading up into the plane. Hiroki frowned sadly up at Nowaki, whose eyes were creasing with emotion. He reached out with a trembling arm, offering Fuyumi's baby carrier to Hiroki. Hiroki outstretched his hand to retrieve it. Within seconds of Hiroki having his hand on the handle, however, Nowaki let out a soft cry and pulled the carrier back, clutching it to him. He sobbed into his free hand as he wavered on his feet. Hiroki held onto the handle, taking off most of the weight for his weakened fiancé.
He quieted after a few moments and sniffled as he stooped his head to press a long kiss to Fuyumi's forehead.
"Goodbye," he rasped. "Daddy loves you so, so much, Fuyumi."
Hiroki's lip trembled as Nowaki slowly released the carrier and allowed Hiroki to take it. They stood there for a few long seconds, staring at each other.
As if in sync, they both flew at each other at the same time. Hiroki hooked his free arm around Nowaki's neck as strong arms coiled around his waist. Their lips crashed together so hard that it almost hurt, and Nowaki lifted Hiroki straight off of his feet with the intensity of their kiss.
Goodbye, said Nowaki's kiss. Hiroki smiled waveringly and playfully nipped at Nowaki's lip.
Don't be an idiot. Video chat, remember?
Nowaki let out a muffled chuckle, then his grip tightened on his precious fiancé.
I love you. Wait for me.
Hiroki tilted his head and pressed harder into Nowaki.
Always.
Too soon, it was over, and Hiroki was being gently led by the arm towards the plane by a solemn Miyagi. Hiroki looked over his shoulder at Nowaki, who had been joined by Akihiko and Misaki. Nowaki waved to him, and Hiroki weakly waved back as he was herded up the stairs and into the airplane. He could hardly register sitting down in his seat and fastening Fuyumi's carrier to the seat, then buckling his own buckle. He couldn't even register it when the plane started to move. All he could concentrate on was staring at Nowaki out the window before he disappeared.
As the airplane rapidly rolled down the take-off strip, Hiroki shakily reached into his coat pocket and pulled out Nowaki's box. He glanced at Fuyumi, who sat beside him, slumped over in her carrier as she slept. Nearby, across the aisle, Miyagi and Shinobu sat on either side of baby Eiji, who was also sleeping. When he was sure no one was looking, Hiroki slowly, oh so slowly, opened the box.
…and promptly burst into sobs.
It was a gold wedding band on a chain necklace.
Nowaki waved to the plane until it disappeared behind the clouds. He slowly lowered his hand, and the smile on his face faded into a dark, eerie expression. His steely gaze flicked to Akihiko, who was staring off into space, his eyes also darkening.
"Akihiko," Nowaki said, his voice low. Akihiko's violet gaze slid to him. Nowaki turned to Misaki, who was already looking up at him, the same look in his eyes. "…and Misaki."
"Yes?" Akihiko answered, closely followed by Misaki. Nowaki reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a silver wedding band on a chain. He reached up to fasten it around his neck. He gripped it briefly, squeezing his eyes shut. When he released it and opened his eyes once more, fury that had been bottled up for weeks burst forth into his irises, nearly turning them black. A wicked, calculating smile cracked open his face.
"I was wondering if you two would be interested in helping me find the bastard who dared to hurt my family."
