In the days that had passed, Bel hadn't found it easy to look after Cappi; the boy seemed terrified of everyone, and no matter how hard Bel tried, it wasn't easy to calm his child down and keep him relaxed. He was glad that Chiara was as easy as always and was accepting of having a big brother, but the only problem was that she always wanted to play with Cappi, and it always upset the boy whenever she tried to get too close. Bel was worried his son wasn't acting this way just because of trauma; he had a feeling there was something deeper to the behaviour – but no matter what, he was going to love and care for his children as best he could.

Breakfast time always seemed to be one of the harder parts of the day for both Bel and Cappi, especially since Takeshi was still in the infirmary and he and Bel hadn't crossed paths since the whole Verde incident. Takeshi had always been the one to get up in the mornings and prepare breakfast for the three of them since Bel never had motivation to get out of bed until afternoon, but now with him gone, it was up to the blond to set an alarm and force himself from under his blankets, no matter how badly he wanted to curl up and sleep.

Forcing himself out of bed was one of the hardest things he had ever done, but he had to do it; his children deserved their breakfast, even if the thought of eating would only make him nauseas.

"Chiara, please don't play with your food." Bel sighed as he flicked the crumbs from his daughter's croissant off his blankets and onto the floor. He was glad that supervising breakfast was a little easier than he had anticipated; at least he could rest against his pillows and close his eyes for a few seconds every now and then. "It's for eating; not picking apart."

"Takeshi lets me pick it!" Chiara cocked her head to the side. "When is Takeshi coming back?"

"I don't know…" Bel sighed. He looked down at the bowl he was holding as he dipped a spoon into the porridge Lussuria had helped him cook that morning for Cappi; it had become only too apparent that the boy had been badly starved during his time with Verde, and because of the neglect he could only eat small amounts of soft foods until he was able to gather more strength. "Cappi, are you still hungry?"

Cappi shook his head. He had not said a single word since Bel had gotten him back, which was another factor that made his parent so worried; surely by now the boy should have said something…

"Well… Takeshi liked for us to have baths after breakfast, so…" Bel scratched his cheek nervously; it was true he had always left the bathing part up to his boyfriend as he found it too much to put his daughter in the bath, so how was he going to do this? "W-well… Maybe we'll wait another day and see when Takeshi comes back…"

With that said, Bel dropped the spoon into the bowl so he could put them on the bedside drawer. He yawned as he laid down and pulled the blankets over him, and once he was comfortable, he reached out to gently lay Cappi next to him; he hadn't realised until now just how crucial Takeshi was for his motivation. "Let's lay down for a bit longer, Cappi… Chiara, are you almost finished your breakfast?"

"Yes, daddy."

"Good… I'll take you to pre-school soon; Tsuna said he'll drive us after he finishes his paperwork." Bel tried not to let it get to him when Cappi put up a small fight against being held in his father's arms, but he quickly tired himself out; he just didn't have the energy for it. The older blond sighed, but he didn't say anything; Cappi didn't need to be scolded for something he couldn't help.

While Bel tried his hardest to stay awake for his kids, he couldn't help but begin to drift off as he waited for Tsuna to come and get him; he was exhausted, and his eyelids were just too heavy to hold open any longer. But before he could start to doze, his bedroom door opened and upon cracking his eyelids open, he found Takeshi standing in the doorway. He sat up quickly, his breath catching in his throat; what was going to happen now…?

Nothing was said for a few moments until the Rain Guardian started to close to the distance between them, but even with Takeshi walking closer to the bed, Bel was still worried; would the other never love him again for what he had done…? He hoped not.

"Hey, Bel…" Takeshi sounded as tired as he looked, and Bel couldn't help but flinch; it was all his fault… "Tsuna told me they found one of your kids… Is this them?"

Bel nodded. He placed a gentle kiss on his son's head before he said, "His name is Cappi… I don't know if he can understand Japanese, though; he doesn't talk at all…"

A small, sad smile crossed Takeshi's face. "He just needs time to settle in and get to know you, Bel-chan. I know why you did what you did; you just wanted him back… It's okay, Bel-chan; I'm not mad at you. You were… just hurting… That's all."

"…I love you, Takeshi…" Bel closed his eyes. "I love you so much…"

"I love you, too, Bel." Takeshi knelt down so he could kiss his boyfriend's lips. The kiss lasted for several seconds before they broke apart for air, and when they did, the Rain Guardian said, "I'm going to go for a drive with Tsuna to take Chiara to preschool. Stay here with Cappi; it might upset him to be dragged around so soon."

"It will… He's… always so scared, Takeshi…" Just thinking about the way his son would cower at everything broke Bel's heart. He wished there was something he could do that would take Cappi's pain away forever, but he knew it was hopeless; what could he do to save his child when he couldn't even save himself…?

"I know, Bel…" Takeshi shook his head. He gave a sigh of sadness before he stood up and moved to Chiara's side so that he could pick her up and give her a hug. "Hey, Chiara-chan; long time no see."

Chiara smiled brightly as she wrapped her arms around Takeshi's neck. She snuggled in close as she said, "I missed you, Takeshi! Daddy missed you, too; he kept crying for you in his sleep."

"It's okay, Chiara; your dad and I are going to have a talk about things today. It'll be alright, though; I'm not going to leave him, so don't worry; I'm not going anywhere." With that said, Takeshi turned back to face his boyfriend. "Bel-chan, you should get some sleep; you're really tired. It's too early for you."

Bel hummed. He didn't argue; he was too exhausted for that, so instead he closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off into a fitful sleep as he listened to the sounds of Takeshi getting Chiara ready for preschool.

~~XX~~

Takeshi loved to see how gentle his boyfriend was with Cappi; it was clear that there was something more to the boy's damaged behaviour, and though he knew it must be very taxing on Bel to be dealing with it, he was glad that the blond's love and parental instincts were enough for him to be able to remain so patient with his child.

The only problem was, though Takeshi could see that Cappi was slowly settling in with Bel, the same couldn't be said for anyone else; whenever he had tried to approach Cappi, all it had resulted in was tears and screaming. Takeshi hated to see how the child's reaction brought tears to Bel's eyes, but he couldn't blame either of them; they had both been through so much...

"Are you going to put him in Chiara's room, Bel-chan?" Takeshi was seated at the desk in the corner of Bel's room as he watched his boyfriend rock his child to sleep.

Bel shook his head. "Not yet… I don't want to separate with him until he's better. He's been sleeping with me since I got him back."

Takeshi smiled. "You're a wonderful parent, Bel. Your kids are lucky to have one like you."

The older male nodded. "Takeshi.. I want another baby…"

The Rain Guardian frowned; he knew Bel wouldn't be able to cope with a third, much less another pregnancy at this stage in his life… Hell, they hadn't even made up yet for what had happened in that hotel…! "Right now, Bel-chan?"

"No… I have to look after Cappi first… But I do want another baby soon… Can we have another one…? I mean…Cappi and Chiara are my kids… I really want to have a baby with you…"

"Bel, you know I'd love to have my own kid, but I don't think having another one so soon is going to be a good idea. I think we should hold off for a few years first. Okay?"

"Alright…" The Storm Guardian pulled back his blankets so he could lay his now-sleeping child beneath them. He tucked Cappi in tight before he stood up from his bed and walked over to his boyfriend. He sat on the younger male's lap and whispered, "I love you, Takeshi… I'm so sorry… about what I did to you…"

Takeshi shook his head. "I understand. I still love you, Bel. So, so much."

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Bel's lips. "…If… If it weren't for Cappi, I'd… We could… You know… Make up…"

Takeshi chuckled. "Maybe. But I'm out of condoms, and you know it's too risky for you without them."

"Shishi~ Takeshi should get some more… Mmm, forget that; I wanna… I wanna go on a date with Takeshi…"

"I don't think a date would be a great idea at the moment, sweetheart, but we could certainly go and have a nice lunch downstairs together."

Bel smiled. "Will you make us sushi?"

"Of course I will; whatever you want, honey."

The smaller male felt so warm inside; he loved whenever his partner would use pet names for him because they always made him feel special. He kissed the cut on his boyfriend's cheek. "I love you..."

"I love you, too, Bel-chan. Come on; I'm rather hungry myself."

Bel felt his lips twitch into a smile, something that happened so rarely these days, it was a foreign feeling for him now. "Takeshi makes the best sushi… Ne, Takeshi, did Lussu let Squ out of the infirmary yet?"

"Not yet, but he'll be okay. And before you worry about it, Squalo understands, too. So don't stress, okay?"

Bel nodded. He reached out for his lover's hand as they walked through the long corridor towards the staircase. He felt so safe listening to his boyfriend humming on their journey to the kitchen, and all he wanted in that moment was to stay by the younger's side forever, to be with someone he knew loved him so much and would do anything for him and his kids.

"Takeshi…?"

"Yes, darling?" Takeshi kissed the smaller male's cheek.

"I… Thank you… for everything… I love you so much, and I… I couldn't thank you enough…"

"There's no need to thank me, Bel-chan; we love each other and that's all that matters. But if you really want to thank me, then come watch me play baseball every now and then. Sound good?"

Bel nodded, even if he weren't interested in sports – if it were what Takeshi wanted, then it was what Takeshi would get. "Don't you dare lose in front of me, then."

Takesh laughed. "When it comes to my beautiful Bel-chan, I won't lose anything for him."

The blond's smile slowly grew until it was a sincere, happy smile that stretched across his face. He didn't know what to say back, but he knew no words were needed anyway; Takeshi always seemed to know what was on his mind anyway.

With that thought, Bel let go of his boyfriend's hand and instead wrapped his arm around the other's waist. He purred in contentment when he received the same embrace, and for the first time in his life, he was filled with hope; with Takeshi by his side, life didn't look so bleak for him or his children.

A/N I'm thinking of ending this here, but if you guys want it, I can do one last chapter that will be set five years ahead to canon TYL!Bel TYL!Yamamoto. It's up to you guys, however; I am happy either way. I've really loved and enjoyed working on this story and I hope you all had as much fun with it as I did; I really want to thank every one of you as when I uploaded the first chapter, I truly didn't expect for a story such as this to get so much attention; I believed I would be lucky to get perhaps even ten favourites considering what the story is about. But instead I am very happy with the support I have received for Split Second, and it's thanks to you all that I even got this far with it.