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Author Notes: Hello, loves. Sorry for the delayed update. But here is the new chapter. Since we're so close to finishing this story, I will only focus on chapters surrounding Sasuke's pregnancy and the couple as they prepare for the twins to be born. I will also add a few tidbits for the other characters, but they will no longer get their chapters unless I decide otherwise. Thanks to everyone who is sticking with me as I finish this large and long project. Also, sorry for the somewhat short chapter.
Warnings: Cute Uchiha-Uzumaki family moments.
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Chapter 117: Routine
Normal P.O.V.
Naruto and Sasuke have officially had the infant for about a month and settled into their new daily routine. The couple wakes up at about the same time every morning: 6:30. While Sasuke makes breakfast, Naruto cares for Kawaki by changing his diaper, washing, and dressing him. At 7:00 am, they trade so Naruto can eat and get ready for work while Sasuke breastfeeds and eats his breakfast. After Naruto leaves for the day, Sasuke cleans and cares for the baby. Every now and again, he'll get a visit from one of their friends, mostly the girls who have become obsessed with their new addition. Then, he takes the baby to be checked out by Sakura and Tsunade, a requirement from Kakashi and Shikamaru until they feel it unnecessary. The rest of the day is filled with playing with Kawaki, organizing their home, shopping for baby items, and resting. Because of his pregnancy, Sasuke is forbidden from helping with anything around the village, including the rebuild of the Uchiha Compound; or more correctly the Uchiha-Uzumaki compound.
Yes, thanks to many meetings, and much convincing on Naruto's part, the project was finally approved, with a price. Naruto's Hokage training was put on hold during the rebuild, but he got to lead the group. After hearing about his idea, the rest of his male friends wanted to help, which was allowed as long as they were not on a mission. To speed things up, and save on paid labor, Naruto used his shadow clones. At the same time, the females in their friend group spent most of their free time making sure that the couple had enough stuff for both Kawaki and the twins, effectively filling their house with baby items much to Sasuke's annoyance with the clutter. At the end of the day, when Naruto returns home, he takes over watching and caring for Kawaki so Sasuke can have a break and enjoy dinner. Sometimes the raven finds amusement when an active Kawaki coos and entertains himself while Naruto takes a nap on the couch or the floor. At about 9:00, the couple baths their adoptive son before putting him to bed and retiring themselves. Unfortunately, they have to get up at least once throughout the night to care for the irritated infant, like right now.
It was 2:56 in the morning when they heard Kawaki cry in the next room. Both men groaned and rubbed their eyes as they sat up and turned the light on.
Sasuke was about to get up but was stopped by a tired Naruto.
"I'll get him. You stay here," the blond yawned as he got up. Naruto dragged his feet toward the infant's room as his cries got louder. "I'm coming, I'm coming,"
The lights flicked on before Naruto made his way to the crip and gently picked up the baby.
"What's wrong, buddy? Why are we upset tonight?" he asked as he turned the crying infant over and sniffed his behind. "You don't need a diaper change, so you must be hungry. Is that what's wrong? Are you hungry? Come on, let's give you to mommy so he can feed you,"
The blond left the light in the room but turned on the one in their room as he reentered. Luckily, a tired Sasuke was up and waiting for them.
"Hungry?" Naruto nodded, causing the raven to sigh. "Give him here,"
Sasuke yawned as he held out his arms and took the baby. He carefully lifted his tank top, exposed his swollen breast, and held Kawaki close. The raven adjusted the baby until he finally latched on and sucked the milk from his adoptive mother.
"You're getting better at that," the blond chuckled as he sat beside them in bed.
"Yeah, but that does nothing to ease the pain from his gums. Remind me to pump more milk for him later,"
"Hmm," Naruto mumbled as he started to nod off.
"Hey, dobe. Stay awake. He'll need changing soon if you can go grab his stuff," The blond fox nodded before he used two of his tails to grab the set of wipes and diapers from the side of their bed and handed them to Sasuke. "Show off,"
Both men stayed quiet as the raven finished feeding the baby. As predicted, while he was fed, Kawaki soiled his diaper and need changing. Once he was done eating, Sasuke changed their son and rocked him back to sleep. After they heard the infant's snores, Sasuke laid the boy down between them and rolled onto his side.
"Don't want him back in his crib?" asked Naruto.
"Naw. I'd rather have him here in case he wakes up again,"
"Fair enough. I'm going back to bed,"
It didn't take long for the tired parents to follow in their son's footsteps and fall asleep themselves. Luckily, the three of them were asleep until Naruto's alarm went off a few hours later.
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Once the three of them were awake, they began their normal routine until breakfast was finished. Just as Sasuke set their food on the table, Naruto came out of Kawaki's room with an alert and awake baby looking around the room. The blond handed him over to his mate to feed before he sat down and ate himself.
"He's such a good baby, even when he wakes up in the middle of the night," said Naruto.
"Yeah. I guess we got lucky,"
"I only hope the other two are as easy as him,"
"Knowing that they each have your personality, I would guess not," smirked Sasuke.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said. Take it as you see fit,"
"Fine, I'll just take it as one of your annoying, twisted ways of saying you love me," smiled the blond as he kept eating.
"Whatever you decide, dobe,"
Both the males were quiet as the three of them finished eating. While Sasuke burped Kawaki, Naruto took their bowls and washed them in the sink.
"You know, I was thinking something; we are rocking this parenting thing,"
"How do you figure, we've only had Kawaki for a month and the twins aren't even here yet. I think we have to wait at least a year before we can say that," chuckled Sasuke.
"Maybe, but at least we can agree that we're handling things well so far,"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. By the way, how's rebuilding the compound coming?"
"Slow. Even though it's spring, it's still cold out and we're still getting some snow, which doesn't do us any favors. I didn't realize how much work goes into rebuilding an entire compound, even with our friends and my shadow clones,"
"I told you that it's going to be a big project. You saw how long it took us to rebuild half the village after Pain's attack,"
"Yeah, but I figured that with it being on a smaller scale, it wouldn't be so bad,"
"Well, you also have to remember that it's only been a month and you just started working on it about two and a half weeks ago. There's still plenty of time to get everything finished. Just be patient,"
"I know, I know. I'm just so excited. We're gonna finally have a home for ourselves and our kids. And little Kawaki and the twins will have their own room too while we get the floor plan we've always wanted,"
"It does seem… unreal. It'll be nice to live in a real home again, no offense to this apartment,"
"Naw, we both knew that we weren't going to be here forever. Our year is almost up anyway, so hopefully, everything will be ready by then,"
"Yeah, and today should be Kawaki's last appointment,"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. What are they saying at his appointments?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary. He's a healthy baby body that's going to get fat at the rate I feed him. Otherwise, he still poses no threat to the village,"
"Do you think that they'll come back for him?" asked Naruto.
"Probably, but as I said earlier, we'll deal with it when the time comes. For now, let's focus on taking it one day at a time, and raising him the best we can,"
"Yeah. I guess you're right," the blond said as he yawned and stretched out his muscles. "All right, it's time for me to leave," he said before he kisses Sasuke and Kawaki and left to get ready.
Sasuke finished getting Kawaki. Since the two finished at the same time, they walked out together and split up to go their separate ways.
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At Kawaki's check-up, Sasuke couldn't help his smile as he watched Tsunade, Sakura, and Karin fuse over and play with the infant. A sense of jealousy rose within him, but he quickly quieted it by convincing his omega that they were not threats.
"He's getting so big, and he's so alert. He's definitely going to take more after you, Sasuke-kun," giggled Sakura.
"I hope so. I already fear for the twins taking after Naruto," he joked.
"Well, hopefully, there'll be enough of your influence to counter some of Naruto's… more endearing qualities," smiled Tsunade as she handed the infant back to Sasuke. "Good job so far, Uchiha. I'd say that you and the brat are doing a decent job for the time being. The real test will come when the twins are here,"
"Oh, I can't wait to meet them! They're going to be so cute!" squealed Kari.
"Do you have any names picked out yet, Sasuke-kun?"
"Not yet. Between Naruto rebuilding my clan's compound, caring for Kawaki, and preparing for the twins, we haven't had time to sit down and think of names. We will soon though,"
"Well, I hope you two pick good names. The babies will be here before you know it," said Tsunade as she wrote in the infant's chart. "And now you don't have to worry about bringing him to any more appointments unless you bring him to yours,"
"So, he's all set with appointments then?" asked Sasuke.
"Besides his regular appointments, then yes. I will talk to Kakashi and Shikamaru. That baby is no more a threat to this village than Naruto is with his head trapped inside of a box," she chuckled.
"But don't be afraid to ask one of us to babysit if you need a break," said Karin.
"Or if you need help with decorations and baby shopping," giggled Sakura.
"Yes, I think we're all excited to see the compound completed. I think having a small community for every one of your friends to live in is a wonderful idea,"
"Lady Tsunade, are you and Master Jiraiya moving into the compound too?"
"Yes, we are, Karin. In fact, Jiraiya has been occupying his time by helping the guys work on our house now,"
"Man, it'll be nice to have everyone close by. Hopefully, our homes will be complete before or by the middle of summer,"
"Probably, especially since you have Suigetsu and Jugo working on yours,"
"Yeah, but those two idiots don't even compare to Lee's "youthful spirit"," laughed Karin. "Which by the way, I can't believe you guys have decided to move in together. Aren't you nervous at all?"
"Not necessarily. We've been spending a lot of time at each other's apartments a lot. It's only natural for us to take that next step. Although, I do think things are moving a little fast. What do you think, Sasuke-kun?"
"You're asking me?"
"Yes. You know I value your opinion more than most. Tell me, do you think we're moving too fast?"
Sasuke thought about it for a little while as he rocked and cradled Kawaki. "Not necessarily. I mean, Naruto and I were practically living together when we were younger. I often wonder if we would have moved in had I not left the village,"
"I knew it! Kakashi-sensei and I figured it out with as much time you two were spending together,"
"So, you managed to figure that out, but couldn't figure out that we mated?" he teased.
"Kakashi-sensei did, but I don't think I wanted to," shrugged Sakura.
"Hn. Of course, well it's been fun, but I need to get Kawaki home. It's almost nap time, again,"
"Of course. Please call if you need anything," waved Tsunade as he walked out of the examination room.
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On his way home, Sasuke stopped and grabbed a few groceries for dinner. Once home, he continued his normal routine. He laid Kawaki down for a nap, cleaned and organized the babies' items, made lunch, played, fed, and changed the baby, put him down for another nap, and started dinner. By the time he was finished, Naruto dragged his tired body into the living room and plopped down on the couch.
"Welcome home," greeted Sasuke as he rubbed Naruto's greasy, sweaty hair.
"Thanks, babe," the blond mumbled into the cushions before rolling onto his back and taking Kawaki from his arms. "How was your day, buddy? Did you have fun with mommy? Was he grumpy? Did you make him smile?"
"Stop calling me his mommy. I don't want him nor the twins to do that,"
"Why not?"
"For one, I'm not a woman. And for two, because it's demeaning,"
"Says the male who's breastfeeding," teased Naruto until he was met with an angry omega. "I'm sorry, but it's true,"
"Don't remind me," Sasuke sighed as he calmed himself. "How was your day?"
"Good but tiring. It was one of the rare days we had all the guys on the job, so we got a lot of work done. At this rate, even if I don't have the guys there every day, we should be done by the middle of summer or sooner. What about you? How was Kawaki's appointment?"
"It went very well. In fact, Lady Tsunade said he doesn't need to come for anymore except his normal ones. She's going to talk to Kakashi too,"
"That's awesome. I told them that he was not a danger to anyone. And now he can start to live a normal life," smiled Naruto.
Sasuke smiled back as he poked his mate's forehead. "Come on, let's eat,"
The couple ate their food with playful conversation before it was bath time. Naruto went first but didn't stay too long so Sasuke and the baby could relax a little bit. As the raven feline and Kawaki bathed and played in the bath, Naruto sat on the edge and watched in amazement at Sasuke's round belly and the baby's amusement at his own tail. Neither the blond nor Sasuke realized how much joy they were missing until Kawaki entered their lives. It only increased their excitement as they waited for their twins to be born.
At the end of bath time, Naruto took a sleepy Kawaki and got him ready for bed as Sasuke prepared himself. It didn't take long for the blond to put the baby down before he turned off the light and slipped into his shared bed with Sasuke. Both whispered and kissed goodnight as they drifted off to sleep. Later in the late evening, and early morning, Kawaki's cries were heard from his crib. And, much like the night before Naruto got up, checked on their son, changed his diaper, and brought him into their bed. They laid him between them and waited for the active infant to drift back to sleep before they did the same. Sweet dreams of three children, a large house, and a proud Hokage, mate, and father danced in each of their heads. However, none of them were aware of the pending doom that awaited them in the very near future.
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To Be Continued…