a month later

There was one morning ritual Sasuke needed everytime to get out of bed. He cannot do without it.

It was utmost necessity, especially when work could be stressful and he's not looking forward to starting the day.

If Hinata forgets to deliver it, he will lie in bed all day just to get her to bring what he craved every morning. Yes, he was spoiled, but he absolutely needed it to gain the energy to get up. Even if he misses breakfast, he was determined to go through the morning ritual.

And it wasn't a warm cup of coffee or sencha green tea. Or even Hinata's soft kiss on his forehead slightly covered by his dark strands of hair. It was...

"Ring, ring, ring~" Hinata slightly giggled as she spoke in a melodic tone.

Still closing his eyes, Sasuke smiled underneath his covers. Hinata always managed to sound like a shy but cheerful little girl. It was adorable. He knew it was a sappy feeling, but he could imagine her still giggling sweetly when she turns eighty. But he waited patiently for the best part of the morning.

"Daddy, daddy, please wake up. It's Sayu chan alarm!"

As a signal, he switched his position to sideways. He felt something heavy press on the mattress in front of his bed. He tried to cover his stupid smile with his bed cover and he slowly opened his eyes in excitement.

But instead of Sayu's sweet innocent face, he saw a glum, 7 year old reflection of himself locking eyes with him.

When he saw his father's dumbfounded expression, Fugaku made a smug grin. He obviously saw through his father's ill concealed gleeful face. And he relished the fact that he tricked his stoic father.

But Sasuke wasn't so amused. He sighed and sluggishly rose fron the bed.

Then suddenly he tackled Fugaku, throwing his upper body over Fugaku and slamming him on the bed.

"Fa-Father!"

Fugaku yelled for help but there was obvious mirth in his face. His entire face just seemed sparkling with joy and mischief. Hinata giggled in the backdrop, happy that she and her son got to loosen up Sasuke. Morning Sasuke tends to be grumpiest.

"Mom, mom! Dad is squeezing me, ow!"

Even though she was part of the ploy, her delicate sensibilities caused her to worry about her son,

She reached her hand, "Anata, be careful!"

"Mom, dad is —wahaha, stop!"

She frowned at his hand that grabbed the end of a battered pillow and said "Fugaku, no pillow fighting!"

But as if he didn't hear her, he lifted the pillow above his head.

Finally Hinata put both hands on her hips and put her foot forward.

"Boys, boys! Please!" Hinata raised her voice with stern authority. "I already have my hands full with Sayu! You need to get ready yourselves or you'll both be late!"

Both "boys" obediently detangled from each other.

"Hai..."

With her white eyes firm on them, Hinata said, "make sure you two make your beds," and walked out of the room and headed to the nursery.

"Hn," Sasuke looked down at his son when Hinata left to fetch Sayu, "Thanks a lot."

Fugaku almost chortled, "what are you, my age?"

He looked at his father as if he was out of his wits and turned his face away haughtily, "Hn!" Then he marched out of his parents' bedroom with bedraggled dignity. He pretended to not have heard his dad's deep chuckle.

Sasuke shook his head and got up from the bed. When he placed his feet on the wooden floor, the thought of collapsing back to the bed swept him over like a wave.

But when he thought of his month and a half old daughter's face, he started to beam like a lovestruck fool. His son accused him of being a "daughter's fool," but he didn't care. He hoped he could see his daughter's awake face before he goes to work. So Hinata could hold her and wave her baby's hand to her daddy outside the door. At such moments, Sayu was too young to understand the concept of someone waving good bye, so she would stare at the green shrubs in the garden or just stare at her father while her mother shook her wrist playfully. But at the same time, he loved seeing Sayu fast asleep. Sayu was, for all his dry, cut throat vocabulary, just a marvel to look at. Her big light lavender eyes that catch the light as she daydreams and gazes at others, her small broad shaped nose, and her cheeks, her chubby thighs and little porky feet. She was a little girl in her little world—simply adorable. He knows it is dumb but when he sees her face, he couldn't help from saying aloud, "aren't you a little, pretty thing?"

Feeling fluttery, he went to his daughter's nursery as quietly as possible. He suddenly felt lighter in his steps and his heart started beating as his feet padded on the wooden floor. As he got closer to her nursery, he smiled, 'Fugaku is right. I am a daughter's fool. She got me wrapped around her little finger." But the scariest part was... he hardly minded. If it was for Sayu, he could look ten times stupider than he does now.

When he rested his lean, rough hand on the door frame and peered in, he saw Hinata looking over the crib. Sayu must still be fast asleep.

When Hinata turned around, she saw Sasuke and headed towards him, "Could you please try to wake Sayu? It's time for her breakfast, but she's sleeping in."

Sasuke frowned, "She's just a baby. You should let her sleep in."

Hinata locked eyes with him and rested her hands on her hips and took in a deep breath. Sasuke suddenly felt a little nervous even though his face didn't show.

"Sasuke, Sayu is almost two months old, and she has to have her own sleeping and feeding schedule or else it would be too hard to get her to sleep during night and eat during day. Fugaku was a easy baby, but Sayu needs structure. While you were in a field trip, Fugaku would come up to me and say he couldn't sleep because of her crying. Now I don't work as much, but when I get back to work, she might miss meals or get si-"

"Tsuma, you wanted me to wake her up, right?" Looking a little dazed and intimidated by his wife's fiery nagging, he hurriedly walked towards Sayu's crib.

Hinata secretly smiled and went downstairs to have just a few bites of breakfast with Fugaku.

When Sasuke saw Sayu's face though, he felt his resolve to wake her up melt away like snow. It felt like an unbearable act of cruelty to wake his baby up, as she looked like an absolute angel. He who used to maurade hundreds in a blink of an eye, felt intense guilt at the idea of waking his infant daughter. Her plump cheeks, softly closed eyelids, and translucent dewy skin were all so delicate. The way she breathed through her dewy nose and her pouty red lips all melted his heart and made him want to lie down by his daughter and watch her sleep. The cupid bow of her upper lip and the curve of her plump pouty lower lip made her lip look like a rosy heart, an infant replica of her mother's. He wondered if it was true as the neighbors say, that Sayu has taken after her mother completely. But she was still so young, and maybe the eye color played a large part. Sasuke felt a little pang of jealousy when he remembered the neighbors all agreeing that Sayu took after Hinata. But he had to admit that between the two of them, Hinata was definitely the cuter one. But surly some would recognize this adorable creature as his child.

But whether that was true or not, didn't seem to matter. He can't believe that such a cute creature could exist, let alone be his daughter. She was a sleeping beauty.

But wake her up, he must. It's not like he could take a break from his job to take care of Sayu, or Hinata could take a longer break. He would love to work at home with Sayu, but grand scale projects like kimono tailoring requires working in his studio. He felt bad that he had to wake her up because of the necessity of a nap and feeding schedule. He leaned over the crib and spread his strong lean hand over Sayu's breathing chest.

He gently shook her and whispered, "Sayu..." his hand was very gentle but there was no denying that his hand made him capable of many skills—including violence. But he touched his daughter as if she was made of porcelain.

Sayu looked like a perfect sleeping doll as Sasuke shook her. Her lashes were astonishingly long and lips red and cheeks damask rose. Sasuke called her name slightly louder, "Sayu-"

"Oohh" Sayu's fine brows furrowed, and her closed eyelids squinted, and her ruby lips went upside down.

Sasuke bent his legs and picked her up gingerly in his arms. He gently bounced the irritated baby up and down.

"Ooh-weh!" Sayu protested and started her morning fussing.

Then he placed her on his chest, the way he saw Hinata do it, and patted her little, soft back.

"Shhh..." he hushed and patted her back gently.

"Ooh...oom..." she rubbed her cheek on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke felt his daughter's little fluttery heart and her baby breath fanning his neck.

"Gomen," Sasuke spoke in a husky, soothing voice, "but mama said that it's time to wake up."

Then he went to the bathroom with Sayu.

Sasuke gazed at their reflection on an oval shaped mirror hung on the bathroom wall. The baby kept rubbing her little nose against his shoulder as if her nose was itchy. She looked like a bunny rabbit grooming its face with its paws. Then he went out and walked across the hallway.

Sasuke made a subtle smile, gazing at his lean callused hands holding her up in his arms. His eyes looked downward and his black lashes softly fluttered, "so don't be mad at me. Be mad at your mother." That was his best attempt at a dad's joke.

But it seemed Sayu liked it. She stopped squirming and whining and surveyed her surroundings beyond Sasuke's shoulders with her big light lilac eyes.

All she could see was the view beyond her daddy's shoulder. But she seemed so entranced by the sudden elevated view that her irritation melted away. She gazed at everything with wide eyes. She was in wonder of the world.

He felt proud of himself for soothing his baby without Hinata's help. He held the back of her neck and her bottom and carefully went down the stairs.

Hinata was slowly stirring the miso pot with a ladle, and she looked at Sasuke and Sayu with surprise, "Sayu is so calm!"

Fugaku was sitting on the dining table and sipping on his soup. He looked up from his bowl and automatically grinned when he saw his dad holding Sayu.

Sasuke pretended to not be so proud. But he unconsciously straightened his back and lifted his chin in pride.

Hinata knowingly smiled and approached Sasuke, holding out her arms, "Sayu~ are you not cranky today because father woke you up?"

Sayu was sucking on her red thumb as she was delivered into Hinata's arms. Sasuke suddenly felt a slight pang of emptiness when he no longer felt her palpitating heart and warmth.

Tucking Sayu beneath her chin, Hinata looked at Sasuke, "Sasuke, breakfast is set. You should join Fugaku."

He nodded quietly and headed to the dining table and sat at the opposite side of his son.

As he ate his breakfast, miso soup, rice, and fermented beans, something on Fugaku's face caught his eye.

He reached his index finger to Fugaku's cheek, "where did you get this scratch?" He asked in a calm low voice and his dark hair fell on his cheekbones as he tilted his head to see the scar better. The pad of his index finger gently caressed his son's soft round cheek. Hie skimmed his cheek with his fingertips.

Fugaku froze at first. His father was never this touchy feely. Didn't he wake up yet? To be honest, when he pulled the prank of being Sayu alarm, he didn't think his dad would react much. He was pleasantly surprised when his dad tackled him, but that time was rough manly wrestling, not touchy feely yucky like this one.

Then he kept his eyes glued to his rice bowl and casually swiped the scratch on his cheek with the back of his hand, showing Sasuke that he was a tough guy and it wasn't such a big deal, "I don't know. I don't remember."

And he voraciously ate his rice to gulp down the awkwardness.

Sasuke hummed and said in a flat tone, "ask for your mother's paste. You don't want to get a scar."

"Yes, dad," Fugaku couldn't keep his mouth from crinkling into a smile. He didn't know his dad could nag like mom sometimes.

Sasuke smiled too.

After they finished breakfast, big Sasuke and little Sasuke took their plates and utensils and saturated them with water.

Sasuke decided to take just a few minutes looking at Hinata and Sayu. He was stalling going to work and he knew but he just wanted to see Sayu wide awake for once. Since he succeeded in waking her up without annoying her, he was feeling more confident and wanted to hold his pretty daughter before going to the shop.

And he was thinking all of this with a straight laced impenetrable front of an ice king.

But to his disappointment, Sayu was in a foul mood, crying in her mother's arms. Hinata was sitting on the rocking chair, her light lavender eyes rimmed with dark circles and looking exhausted. Sasuke felt a pang of guilt at seeing Hinata's obvious exhaustion. He made her pregnant and he is having her make breakfast for everyone in the family, and he was just too busy basking in Sayu's cuteness to realize that his wife was tired.

"Ooh-aah! Ohh-aah!" Her face was turning beet red as Hinata held her close to her nipple. Sayu got quieter a while when she pressed her gummy mouth to her mother's dark brown nipple but then turned her face away and started crying again.

Hinata rocked and cooed, "There, there...aww, poor baby..."

Sasuke's brows knitted in concern and his face darkened, "What's wrong?" It frustrated him that he couldn't provide much help when Sayu is bringing down "melt-down city," as his wife called it.

Hinata kept rocking their baby and looking down, "Sayu has been having a hard time latching onto my nipple. The doctor arranged us to visit her in a hour."

He almost gawked, "Is she not eating well?" No wonder, the baby was furious. She was hungry.

"I tried feeding her from the bottle like before, but she's really resisting it today. She much prefers the teat, but she has hard time latching."

Sasuke was baffled by this "infant mom" language. He realized that Fugaku was a very easy baby as he was never picky and he wanted his hands on everything. He wondered if it was a gender matter.

Hinata sighed and stood up from the rocking chair and went to the nearby closet door and pulled out a baby wrap to swaddle Sayu with.

She has given up trying to feed Sayu even just a little bit with the bottle and her teat.

As she got herself ready to get out, she told him, "Today we are going to see a nurse named Yamashi Miyuki. She is a nursing coach."

Sasuke couldn't help, looking confused. Having finished breakfast and wanting to see what's up, Fugaku spoke Sasuke's thoughts, "A nursing coach?"

Although she was tired, and Sayu was still crying, Hinata couldn't help but look at Fugaku lovingly, "Isn't it interesting? A nursing coach helps babies latch properly."

Sasuke took the baby wrap from Hinata's hands and adjusted it over his shoulder, "You should've told me about this earlier. I will carry Sayu to the hospital."

Fugaku looked up to his mom with hope glittering in his grey eyes.

"Can I go too, mom?"

Hinata shook her head, "No, Fugaku. You're not skipping school."

Fugaku bowed his head and his shoulders slackened, "Darn it..." Sasuke ruined his hair.

In front of the hospital

After handing their crying baby to Hinata, Sasuke told her firmly,

"Let me know how it goes. I want every detail." He hates it when Hinata tries to keep certain details from him, because she didn't want to quote on quote, "trouble" him. Her excuse was that she could handle it on her own, but Sasuke wasn't having any of that.

Hinata apologetically smiled for her awful habit and promised, "I'll send you a photo." And she tip toed and kissed Sasuke on his cheek.

Sasuke didn't leave until he saw his wife and daughter enter the glass door in hurried steps and was ushered by a nurse.

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Neverkarma: I am back!!! I finishrd my first grad school semester and I am back to write more! Please review, lovelies!