Hey all~ If you missed it, last weeks updates was a porn story over on AO3 B)
This week is another chapter of mushy family goodness, but I'm trying something new, so we've got a series of short vignettes, sort of like a montage as we cover a lot of time/ground and fast forward through the infant stage. I hope it's not too unusual and you all enjoy it nonetheless.
Thanks as always for reading.
And Time Marches On
When Ryuuji arrives home the smell of dinner greets him in the hallway—the new routine. He's not sure why he ever resisted this… Well, he knows. You don't get paid for work done at the dinner table, but the extra time spent with family is worth it.
He's fully prepared to unload his briefcase and get the last of the day's work done and out of the way, even if he knows Rin will scold him for doing so, but when he enters the kitchen he takes a brief moment to breathe and plant a kiss on Rin's cheek in greeting. Lily is bundled up like a little burrito and slung against Rin's chest as he cooks. She peers up at him with a toothless smile. He'd kiss her too if he could reach from this angle.
"How's my little woman?"
"Oh, Fuck off."
"Language!"
Rin raises a brow and peers at him as he keeps cooking, thoroughly unimpressed.
"It's not like she understands."
"No, but better to break the habit now. Besides, I could have been talking to her."
"Were you?"
"No."
Rin brandishes the spatula like a weapon and Ryuuji laughs as he's chased from the kitchen.
Lily's cries sound through the apartment late in the night and Ryuuji rolls over to nudge Rin.
"Your turn," he mumbles. The only response is a groan.
It takes him a minute, but Rin does eventually pull himself from the bed to stumble off in to the darkness and see to their daughter's needs. A short while later the crying dies down and Ryuuji drifts back to sleep. He's not sure how much time passes before Rin returns to bed, but he's instantly wide awake; a less than masculine sounding noise escaping his throat the moment cold feet touch his back.
Revenge.
It starts quite seriously. The temperature has to be perfect and no matter how much the shampoo bottle says 'no tears' Ryuuji doesn't trust it to actually get soap anywhere near Lily's eyes. It's almost nerve wracking at first, and Lily isn't always happy to be bathed, but Ryuuji's happy to help. Rin spends the entire rest of the day with her and does virtually all the other chores on his own now, so it's the least he can do. But it doesn't feel like an obligation. It feels like home.
Rin is hoofing it through the snow, his breath puffing out in clouds of mist as white flakes dance down around them. Lily's eyes sparkle as she takes in the transformed world, blanketed in snow she's never before seen.
She looks like a little round snowman all bundled up in her thick winter clothes and strapped to his chest in the baby carrier. Her rosy cheeks are the only outward sign of the cold. Rin was hesitant to bring her out, but they've both been cooped up for the past few days and the nursery rhymes and toddler TV is making him batty, so a little fresh air will do them both good; never mind that the air is especially fresh and crisp, like the inside of a freezer.
If it was anyone else they might worry about slipping in the snow, but Rin's feet are as sure as ever as he rounds the hill bringing Futsumaya in to view. A bell above the door rings and they both flush as they enter the slightly too warm exorcist supply shop.
Shiemi's mother sits behind the counter and her eyes light up as she sees them. She puts out her pipe and then holds her hands out for Lily as Rin unstraps her and hands her over before heading in to the back of the shop to find Shiemi. They're family now, and the time spent living there makes him far too comfortable for standard formalities so he doesn't bother to knock or wait for an invitation which is why he's surprised when he finds Shiemi and Yukio sitting at a small table in the back of the shop.
"I was just leaving," Yukio says as he stands and offers his hand to Rin in a much too formal handshake, but Rin pulls him in for the hug he knows his brother won't initiate. A few slaps on the back and a reminder to not be a stranger sees Yukio take his leave. They hear him spare Shiemi's mother a polite farewell and then he's gone and Rin's smile fades.
"Everything alright between you two?" Shiemi asks, her eyes lingering on the door, but the tone of her voice tells him she already knows and is just being polite. She always was particularly perceptive when it came to Yukio.
"He's… still weird about it, you know?"
"About?"
"About Lily. And you and me."
"I'd wondered. He treats her like a stranger."
"More like…" Rin trails off. He doesn't say it, because it sounds worse when he's talking about his daughter instead of himself, but it's the way Yukio's always been. "Well, he always liked you."
And Shiemi giggles which has Rin turning to stare at her, but she's hiding a shy, yet playful smile behind her hand.
"What?"
"He asked me to dinner."
"Oh, no way!"
And before either of them realizes it Rin is pulling her in to a hug and making her swear she'll tell him how it goes before he catches himself and backs off slightly, putting the brakes on his own excitement as he asks whether or not she even agreed to go.
Of course she said yes.
Old habits die hard, and though Rin tries, Ryuuji can see the toll it's taking on him. Getting up too early leaves him a groggy, barely coherent mess in the morning. Rin tries. He wants to be good at this. He wants to do it right.
Comparatively it's not that much harder for Ryuuji to get up a half hour earlier, tacking it on to his normal morning routine once they settle back in to a regular sleep cycle. More and more frequently Lily sleeps through the night and sometimes, but not often, Ryuuji finds her quietly awake in her crib when he goes in to check on her.
So he feeds her, and he changes her, and he sits with her in the quiet dark of the morning before she falls back asleep and before he carries on with his regular routine, going for a run before getting ready for work, all in the hopes that Rin can get a few more minutes of uninterrupted sleep.
Rin walks in to the living room only to stop when he catches sight of Ryuuji. He's lying on the floor with his head underneath their coffee table, crawling around as if looking for something out of reach.
"What'cha doing?" Rin asks and Ryuuji jumps, cracking his head against the bottom of the table before curling in to a ball and clutching his head as he hisses in pain. Rin tries very briefly not to laugh before giving in to the temptation, and he's wiping tears from his eyes as Ryuuji peers out from underneath the table to glare at him.
"You done?" he asks, his voice dry and not at all amused as Rin shakes with little aftershocks of laughter.
"Y-yeah," Rin says, wiping away a tear, "So what were you doing down there?"
"Lily's going to start crawling soon. I was making sure the apartment is fully child proof."
"Oh," Rin smiles, then hides it behind his hand as if Ryuuji's said something immensely funny. "Using your own head to check for potential danger?"
Ryuuji grumbles, still rubbing the goose egg on the back of his head as he glances back at the table.
"Kinda'…"
Ryuuji walks in to the kitchen one day to see a rainbow's array of fruit and vegetables sitting on the counter, some of it still spilling out of grocery bags having just arrived from the store. Rin wrestles the food processor out of a high cupboard he can barely reach while Lily sits in her high chair, banging her bottle against the table and swinging her feet.
"Need some help?"
"Nah, I got it," he says, finally getting the appliance set up on the counter.
"What are you doing?"
"Making baby food. Store bought has too much sugar in it."
The answer is so simple and so "Rin" it doesn't even come as a surprise, but it doesn't quite explain the vast array of produce that fills their kitchen. Ryuuji approaches the counter and grabs a bright pink fruit covered in fleshy spines.
"Dragon fruit?" he asks, "Does she need this?"
Rin shrugs. "I thought it'd be a little more fun than peas and carrots."
"Fair enough, but… Don't you think this is all a bit much for her? She's barely started on solid food."
Rin's shoulders sag and he sighs, taking in the mess on the counter as if seeing it for the first time.
"…I guess."
It's fine though. Food is still food, and they eat the things she doesn't, even as Ryuuji tries to rein him in so as not to stress Lily's tiny developing stomach.
Ryuuji thinks letting his tail hang loose is a bad idea—has told Rin so on more than one occasion. Rin shrugs him off each time, saying his concern is misplaced, and so they sit in the kitchen together; Ryuuji finishing some last minute paperwork from the office while Rin washes the dishes after dinner. Lily sits in a baby walker in the middle of the room behind him, alternating between babbling and trying to see which of her toys will fit in to her mouth as she bounces on tiny legs.
A tuft of rough black fur sways back and forth, just out of her reach. And she does reach for it. Even if its movements didn't taunt her, she's eager to get her hands on anything and everything, to explore, to experience, and to learn. Part of learning means putting things in her mouth.
"Mother fucker!"
The curse has barely left his mouth as Rin's legs give out and he collapses in front of the sink even as Ryuuji leaps from the table to pry his tail from Lily's mouth. The moment its freed Rin curls it around his stomach, clutching the tender appendage close with a whimper.
"Her teeth are coming in," Ryuuji says, eyeing Rin out of the corner of his eye. He doesn't have to say any more. The look says it all. I told you so.
Instead he just tells Rin to watch his language, and all Rin can do is whimper and nod.
Rin sleeps on the couch—a much needed nap—as Shiemi sits on the floor with Lily, handing her toys and talking to her. Lily babbles away happily as Shiemi makes quiet meaningless comments of affirmation—"You don't say," and "Well, isn't that interesting," all in an attempt to illicit further 'conversation' from her—when Lily says something that sounds suspiciously like "mama".
Shiemi quietly decides not to tell Rin about that, instead coaxing Lily on her P and D sounds.
It's a while before Rin wakes to the sound of Lily's crying. Noises alone don't normally do it, so he's not sure how long she's been fussing. It's not supposed to be Rin's night so he rolls over to nudge Ryuuji only to find open, empty bed, cold from lack of body heat. It takes his mind a moment to catch up and remember that Ryuuji was called away on an emergency overnight mission, and he sighs as he drags himself from bed.
He tends to Lily, then returns to collapse in to bed, bundling himself up in the blankets he doesn't have to share, before peering at his phone in the dark.
It's not like he normally tracks him, it's just that at times like these he can't help but worry.
The Find Friend's App says Ryuuji—or at least his phone—is at a hotel. Probably sleeping. Probably safe. Good.
Rin breathes a sigh of relief and lets the phone fall back on the nightstand before drifting back to sleep.
It becomes a routine he looks forward to, despite the necessary clean up afterword. The puddles on the floor need mopping up and Ryuuji's soaked shirt usually goes right in to the laundry hamper the moment Lily is dried, clothed, and put down for bed, but he doesn't mind.
It starts quite seriously, but it ends with laughter and tiny soap bubble mohawks in dirty blonde hair.
As far as Rin knows Lily's first word is "Dada", which brings joyful tears to his eyes, even though it could be referring to either him or Ryuuji, or probably neither, given that Lily is unlikely to assign proper meaning to words at this age. He'd like to think she means him though, and Ryuuji doesn't argue. Her next word is "Doggy" which she calls Kuro despite constant correction.
Her vocabulary steadily grows and they've stopped counting words by the time she's sitting in her highchair, banging her sippy cup against the chair only to have it slip from her hands and fall to the floor with a clatter, when she utters her first curse word.
"Damn."
Rin is biting his lip, trying to fight back frustrated tears. He shoots a worried glance at Ryuuji, expecting another "I told you so," only to see him struggling to hold back laughter. Rin does not think it's very funny.
On sunny days Rin likes to take Lily to the playground, even though it's more for him than her. The fresh air is good, and so is a chance for her to interact with other children, but it's mainly so Rin can get out of the house and see other adults. Sometimes Shiemi comes with him and sometimes not, but the other mothers are always excited to see him.
It's strange how being a parent can be such a complete chick magnet.
It's a lazy Sunday afternoon filled with laughter and the sound of Rin blowing raspberries on Lily's stomach when someone unexpectedly rings their door buzzer. Rin thinks nothing of it as Ryuuji goes to answer the door while he stays with Lily, but he grows concerned when Ryuuji doesn't immediately return and the silence stretches on.
He peeks in to the hallway to see Ryuuji standing motionless by their front door.
"Who was it?" he asks and Ryuuji starts slightly before looking up at Rin. He's white as a sheet of paper, but a smile slowly makes its way on to his face.
"It's Shima."
"Oh, shit!" Rin says, but quickly catches himself, covering his mouth as he glances back at Lily, hoping she didn't hear him. "Is he coming up?"
"Y-yeah. Of course."
So Rin fetches Lily, who's slightly annoyed at having her play interrupted, and they're standing at the front door, ready to receive him when he arrives.
They're almost shocked to see him. His hair is its natural black now—pink would stand out too much, make him too recognizable—and he's sporting a goatee similar to Ryuuji's. They silently wonder just how long it's been as Shima claps Ryuuji on the back in a half hug without hesitation, only to stop short when he sees Lily in Rin's arms.
"You guys babysitting?" he asks.
They share a stunned look before Ryuuji speaks. Has it really been that long?
"N-No… She's ours."
Shima blinks, his eyes widening.
"No way," he says, but when Rin and Ryuuji just nod a smile breaks out across his face and once again he's clapping Ryuuji on the back.
"Oh my god, you guys! Hang on," he says, and he digs through his bag to pull out a small rectangular cigar box. "I know I'm a little late, but this calls for a celebration."
Rin makes a face, but Ryuuji shakes his head as he leads Shima over to their tiny balcony, a barely 2x5 foot patch of "outdoors" where Rin tries to grow some herbs that Shiemi gave him as a gift, and shuts the door behind them.
"I didn't know you smoked," Ryuuji says as Shima hands him a cigar.
"Technically these were a gift for my dad, but…" He shrugs, "I can't think of a better use for 'em."
Despite his previous comment he bites the tip off and lights the cigar with practiced ease, puffing on the cigar and creating a small cloud of white smoke. It's like this every time now. It has been ever since highschool. Shima goes away and does his own thing and when he returns Ryuuji's left wondering how well he actually knows his old friend, and yet Shima acts like it hasn't been more than a year than the last time they saw each other; like he doesn't disappear to get involved with who knows what, potentially getting himself killed and leaving his friends and family never knowing what happened.
Ryuuji twirls the unlit cigar between his fingers as he leans against the balcony railing.
"Shima… You ever think about-"
"Do not say 'settling down'. I'm gonna' get enough of that shit from my old man when I go home. I'll leave that stuff to Juuzou and Mamushi."
Ryuuji shrugs and a silence passes between them as Shima continues to smoke, occasionally tapping the ash off the end of his cigar, letting it fall off the balcony and disappear in to the wind.
"How old is she?"
"Fourteen months."
"Where'd you two even get a kid?" Shima asks with a laugh.
"Shiemi's the mother."
"Father?"
"Me."
"Oh?" Shima smirks at him and Ryuuji scowls.
"Don't be a perv. All I had to do was jerk off in a cup."
"Fair enough." He takes a long drag on the cigar, doesn't question that Ryuuji hasn't lit his yet, and they simply stand there, enjoying the silence. Ryuuji knows well enough not to bother asking where Shima's been or what he's been doing. It's all top secret undercover stuff and neither Ryuuji nor Rin have the clearance for that kind of thing. Surprisingly Shima takes it pretty seriously.
Before long Shima's cigar has burned down and they go inside to say their goodbyes. It's a long trip back to Kyoto.
They take a moment to formally introduce him to Lily as an uncle, even if it's unlikely that she'll remember him when he'll probably disappear again on another mission for months, if not years at a time, and they make casual plans to meet up again for the few weeks he'll be in the country. It's a good excuse to go spend time with family anyway.
They say their goodbyes and tell him to be safe, and then he's gone.
Later that night, after Lily's been put to bed, Ryuuji ventures back out to the balcony and pulls the cigar from his pocket and lights it. Not for Lily, or the fact that he and Rin are fathers, but for Shima.