Shouto wakes to the sound of Zara crying. He yawns and stretches going over to his daughter's crib, "Good morning grumpy cat." He teases and she coos reaching for him clearly hungry. He picks her up and nurses her sitting in the rocking chair in the guest room he'd turned into a nursery. The bedroom remained untouched as it had since the night is life fell apart at the seams. He received the news right after being told he's with child. He feels Zara stop nursing and gently burps her before getting her nappy changed. He burned the old diaper dressing her in her favorite rebel jumper. He sets her in her playpen with a monitor going to take a shower. He lathers up his throat tightening as his mind drifts back to the night his life fell apart.
"Ochako?" He says groggy having fallen asleep his phone waking him up as it blasted walking on sunshine. "No I'm home why? I got the most amazing news...why are you crying…?" His eyes widen as she chokes out that he needs to come to the hospital right now. He gets there in 15 minutes flat running to the waiting area. "What happened?!" He says alarmed his hand on his belly protectively. "Where's Izuku and Tenya?" Ochako shakes her head and pulls him into a chair and says they're in surgery. "Surgery?!" He exclaims."D-drunk driver...they were on the way back from p-patrol...T-Tenya refused to leave Izuku so he went in for the surgery….Z-Zuku got hit head on…" She stammers through her tears. "It was the stolen fright truck cab we've been t-tracing…." Tenya comes back in scrubs and looks pale as a ghost shaking his head before either of them say a word. Ochako breaks down sobbing into his chest as he holds her. "I'm s-so sorry Shouto…" She wails."They couldn't….he…" Tenya couldn't form sentences through his own shock and grief but, Shouto tried anyway wanting it to be a lie. "He...his heart….gave…" Tenya managed to choke out. Izuku's heart had stopped on the table.Shouto had cried and screamed holding onto his belly with a gentle hand. The others cried even harder when they realized what his news had been. They all cried together until Bakugo showed up to take them home. He and Enjiro insisted Shouto stay with them for the night offering a watery congratulations and even more watery condolences for his loss.Tokyo as a whole wept that day.
Shouto is brought from his reverie by a crash that has him out of the shower and dry immediately. He finds his daughter is gone and panics until he sees the door to the bedroom open and his heart sinks. He hasn't been in there since Izuku...He sighs going after his daughter and finding her looking at his husband's picture. She looks up at him with wide eyes and opens her mouth, "D-dada?" She says waving her mist at the picture. Shouto's heart swells and breaks at the same time,
"Y-yea that's dada...I j-just wish he could have met you…" Shouto chokes up and starts crying, "I miss him s-so much! It hurts!"
"Mumu!" Zara stands on weak legs and wobbles over to him hugging his arm tears in her eyes.
"Y-you have his hair you know?" He sobs hugging his daughter, "A-and one of his eyes…" Shouto pulls the picture down, "S-see?"
"M-m-mumu!" She sobs hugging him tighter. "Dada…" She adds touching the picture with Shouto. They cry together one for the pain of missing his husband and the other from the overwhelming emotion coming from her mother. They cry themselves to sleep. Ochako stops by after her shift. Her eyes widen when she sees the bedroom open and Shouto in it with his daughter holding a picture of Izuku. She realized that Shouto had cried himself out along with Zara who is too young to understand grieving. She picks them up and tucks them into the king sized bed using pillows to protect Zara.
"Sleep tight." She whispers as she leaves the room. She leaves dinner on the counter and leaves the flat hoping Shouto will finally take the first step towards healing. The next day Shouto takes Zara with him to the cemetery before he meets up with Fuyumi and Touya. He sets his three month old in the grass and watches her toddle through the dewy grass toward the statue at the centre of the graveyard.
"Shouto-" Fuyumi is cut off by her brother who sighs,
"No Fuyu let him do this...it's his first step toward healing." They watch their brother go toward the memorial following their niece.
"Dada?" She asks pointing at All Might. Shouto lets out a watery chuckle.
"That's All Might…" He leads her to his husband's grave where his statue stands shining in the early morning light, "That's dada." She makes grabby hands saying up. He picks her up and lets her touch the statue,
"Oyasu dada…" Shouto sniffles more tears falling as his daughter wishes his husband goodnight. He chokes and cries with a smile on his face because he knows that Izuku wouldn't want him to mourn. He's want him to go on.
"You were always a hypocrite…" He chuckles as he stands in the shadow of the statue. "You cried over Toshinori for months." He pulls flowers out and goes to the grave setting them down as Zara sets down a daisy she picked.
"Oyasumi Izuku."