Ch. 2--Pancakes
Thank you so much to everyone who submitted names for Riku and Sora's little girl; I loved all of them and will probably use them for different things later in the story. Keep reading to find out which one we named her!
Riku woke up the next morning to a smallish, spiky-haired head lying on his chest, and for a minute he thought it was Sora. "Sor..." he mumbled, and a muffled noise came from beside him. Riku jumped up, almost knocking the baby on his chest off of the bed. "Oh, god," he gasped, catching the girl before she hit the floor.
"Sora!" he said, shaking the boy awake as he held the child in the other hand, and the brunette boy sat straight up in bed. "What is it?"
Riku laughed and handed the girl over to Sora. "Take the kid," he said good-naturedly, "i'm gonna fix breakfast. Pancakes sound ok?"
Sora nodded, his brown spikes swaying. "Yeah, sounds awesome," he murmured distractedly, rubbing noses with the little girl. "Hey, sweetie, did you sleep okay? Yeah? That's good," he cooed to her.
A sunbeam came in through the dusty window and illuminated the back of the girl's head, the golden light surrounding her like a halo; and Sora gasped. "Riku!" he yelled, and the boy came dashing in, an apron covering his bare chest and a bowl of pancake mix in his hands.
Sora was temporarily distracted by his hilariously adorable boyfriend; but he shook himself back to reality. "I have a name for her!" he said, bouncing up and down with the child on his lap. They both sat there in silence for a minute, before Riku said, "Well? What's the name?"
His brunette boyfriend took a deep breath. "Akiko." he said confidently. "It means 'bright light'. Don't you think it's perfect?"
A smile came onto Riku's face, and he leaned down and touched his lips to Sora's, then to Akiko's hair. "It is perfect, Sor."
"Do you like that, princess? Aikiko?" he whispered to her, and she gurgled in delight. Riku picked her up and she buried her precious face into his ruffly apron. He waltzed out of the room with her and into the kitchen to finish up the pancakes, leaving Sora alone in the bedroom.
"Oh yeah, just leave me here." Sora called after them playfully, a smile still on his pink lips as he followed the two into the kitchen, to find Akiko sitting on the countertop and Riku flipping pancakes, getting a gleeful laugh from her each time he missed one.
One of the missed pancakes flew throught the air and hit Sora square in the face, and Akiko nearly fell over laughing, nibbling on a half-cooked pancake. An amused Sora pulled the doughy mess off his forehead and flung it back at Riku, starting a pancake fight. The burnt flapjacks on the platter were the first to be flung, getting everywhere, until Sora picked up the mixing bowl and shook it all over his boyfriend and Akiko.
Sora ran off to get his and Riku's 35mm camera, then set it on a table, set the self-timer, and jumped back into the dough-fight. Riku, having another idea, put a pancake in his mouth and tackled Sora to the floor. "Come, Sor, you know you want it," he cooed, dangling the doughy mess over his boyfriend's face.
Sora grinned and put his mouth around the entire pancake so his lips were touching Riku's, right as the camera flashed. Riku pulled away, leaving Sora with a pancake in his mouth, then nibbled around the edges. Akiko, however, seemed to have a different idea. She squealed, and picked up a glob of dough that had landed on the counter, throwing it all over the two boys.
A knock on the door interrupted their pancake war, and Sora picked up Akiko and twirled her around, heading towards the door; followed by a very messy Sora, who was busy attempting to pick the sticky mess out of his hair. "Roxas!" he exclaimed, rushing to his brother and pulling him into his arms.
"Hey, Sor," Roxas mumbled, his voice muffled because the brunette was squeezing him so tightly. "Sora. I can't breathe." he choked out after several seconds, and his younger brother released him quickly. "Sorry," he grinned apologetically, looking over Roxas's shoulder to see the tall redhead behind him. "Hi, Axel!" he greeted Roxas's boyfriend enthusiastically.
Axel enveloped all three of the boys in his arms, grinning at Akiko. "So you finally decided to get yourselves a kid, huh?" he asked, tickling the baby and Akiko giggled and reached her arms out to him.
"You think we should get a kid too, Roxas?" he asked thoughtfully, kissing his boyfriend on his spiky blonde hair, and Riku grinned. "She's a lot of work," he told them, "but well worth it. I'm still looking for another job...got anything for me?" he asked, the question mainly directed at Axel.
The redhead dug in the pockets of his long black coat and pulled out a Blackberry, flipping through files on it. "There is one...a night job, if you want it. This cafe downtown...if you want to work there." Sora wrapped his arms around Riku's waist, gently handing Akiko over to his brother. "I think it sounds good, Riku," he murmured, kissing the boy's cheek. "It might even be somewhere where I could work too, if it came down to it. And I'm sure Roxas and Axel wouldn't mind looking after Akiko for a while if I do need to."
Riku grinned, and picked a bit of dough out of Sora's hair. "All right, I'll take it, then. When do I start?" he asked Axel, and the man pulled away from kissing Roxas long enough to say, "Next monday. I'll text you the address and other info when I get home."
Akiko gurgled and swatted at Axel's face, and he crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at the child, who squealed in delight. "Anybody want some pancakes?" Sora asked randomly, holding up a platter of very misshapen, but cooked, pancakes.
Roxas trotted over to his brother, taking a smallish, circular pancake from the top of the stack and popping it in his mouth. "Mmm..." he said, surprised. "Not bad." the blonde admitted, reaching for another one, but Sora pulled the platter away. "Use a plate," the younger boy scolded his brother, and Roxas rolled his eyes before sauntering into the kitchen and rummaging through the dishwasher for a clean plate. Finding none, he called Riku in to help.
"Don't you ever do the dishes?" he teased, watching as Riku reached into a bag and held out a paper plate. "Nope. That's another reason I wanted Aki. When she's older, she can do the chores--I mean, help us do them," he corrected himself, glancing at Roxas's pursed lips.
"That's right," the blonde approved. "We won't have little....wha'd you call her, Riku? Aki...We won't have her doing everything by herself, no we won't," he said, voice turning into a coo as he looked at the baby, kissing her milky white forehead, and Axel made a face. "What, Axel?" Roxas asked playfully, and Axel grimaced. "Too mushy for me." he decided, rolling his eyes.
Roxas chuckled and kissed baby Aki's forehead again. "Well, I could be plenty mushy enough to a baby for both of us," he sang to the little girl. "Hey, quit hogging her," Sora complained playfully, picking his baby up and swinging her around. Ooh, we should go buy her some cute baby clothes!" the brunette gushed, getting gently smacked on the head by his brother.
"You're such a mom sometimes, you know that?" Roxas teased, hugging him, and Sora squirmed out of his brother's embrace. "So?" he asked defensively, still cuddling Akiko. "There's nothing wrong with that!"
"Quite right." Riku agreed happily, placing his arms around his lover. "And I think you're a great mom." he told Sora seriously, earning himself a quick peck on the lips from the boy.
Axel strode into the room with the rest of them, resuming the forgotten quest for clean dishes as he picked through the empty cupboards in an attempt to find something. "Ax, just use a paper plate like the rest of us." Roxas told his boyfriend, holding one out as Riku had done for him earler.
The misshappen pancakes sat in a heap on yet another paper plate on the counter, and they each took turned heaping their plate full and drizzling melted butter and syrup all over them, resulting in a gooey mess. "It might be strange-looking," Riku commented, "but they actually taste pretty good."
Roxas mumbled his agreement around a mouthful of pancake, swallowing and then looking for something to wash the lump of dough out of his throat. "Got any milk?" he asked, his voice coming out funny as a result of the doughball stuck in his windpipe, and Sora wordlessly held out a bottlefull of milk that he had prepared for Aki. His brother took it and raised it to his mouth to take a drink, then realized that it was a baby bottle and frowned.
"Ha ha." he complained sarcastically, before taking a long swig of the warm milk. "Ew." Roxas complained, making a face at the milk. "How does she drink this?"
He slammed the bottle down on the counter, leaning over so his mouth was underneath the sink faucet and turning it on. Axel quietly crept up behind him, turning the faucet on full-blast when Roxas was trying to drink. "Axel!" he complained, smacking the redhead.
Axel laughed and put his hands up defensivley, the hugged the blonde. "You're cute when you're wet," he told Roxas, who's blonde hair was dripping in his eyes. Axel kissed the water droplets running down his boyfriend's cheeks, then his lips which were cool from the icy water he'd just drank.
"Ah, crap." the pyro complained, pulling away from the kiss so that he could answer his ringing phone. "What? Whaddya mean, I've gotta come in now?" he snapped, waiting for a response, then rolling his eyes and snapping the phone shut. "Sorry, guys," he said, hugging Riku and Sora in turn, then picking up Akiko and kissing her alabaster forehead. "Luxord called, and I've gotta go into work."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Riku interrupted. "Luxord's your boss?" he asked increduolusly, and the redhead nodded. "Yeah, why?"
Riku shook his head, his arm wrapped around Sora's waist. "No reason, it's just...weird." he murmured, and Axel hugged Aki once more before handing her to Roxas, who also hugged and kissed her. "Alright, guys, I guess we'll see you later..." Roxas called after them as they walked out the door.
"Oh," Axel added, poking his head back around the doorframe. "Thanks for the pancakes."
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