Chapter Text
Shuzo smiled at the chatter that surrounded him. Happy, expectant chatter, waiting for him to take the stage. Waiting for him to give the signal. He stepped forward, awarded by a round of applause that died down along with the chatter as he made a small drumroll using his hands on the smooth surface in front of him. He stopped drumming and was met with complete silence. Now for the most exciting part. “Ladies and gentlemen!” he announced, giving his most convincing smile. “You all know what we’re here for, so I say we get right to it! Is everyone ready?” He nodded approvingly at the excited shouts of yes before he bowed his head and lifted his hand, dramatically counting on his fingers as complete silence fell again. “One... twoooo……” He glanced up at the eager faces opposite him and grinned. “Still twooooooo… Three!”
The eager shouts and scraping of plastic cutlery was music to his ears. Shuzo looked on with pride as the four toddlers worked through their piles of cooked vegetables with determined faces, trying their best to maneuver their spoons into their mouths. He reached forward to stop a stray broccoli from rolling off the table, smiling at the concentrated silence that had fallen over the kitchen.
When all vegetables had disappeared from the bowls, though not necessarily into a mouth, it was time for the next part of the ritual. Shuzo caught the attention of the four little girls by placing both his hands on the table. They all copied him, and looked at him expectantly. He started drumming his hands on the table again. “Ooooooooh…” Yuzu, Ruri, Serena and Rin joined in the chant and threw their arms into the air in synch as they shouted the joint ‘YEAH!’. Now all that was left was… As one, the little girls started clapping their hands together and giggling uncontrollably, giving small woops as Shuzo applauded too, praising their skill in the art of handling a spoon.
A small laugh came from the other end of the table. “Must you do this every day?”
Shuzo turned his head and flashed a winning grin. “It works, so why not?”
Leo’s amused smirk grew wider and he filled in a couple of blank spaces in a crossword puzzle. “Fair point. Shun has hidden his peas underneath the napkin again”, he added as an afterthought and looked over at the slightly older, suddenly very guilty-looking child. Leo raised an eyebrow, and Shun stared stubbornly down into his lap. Leo sighed. What was it about five- and six-year-olds and peas? Ray had been exactly the same when she was that age. Speaking of which… “Ray, no phones at the table, please”.
His… their oldest daughter looked up, incredulous. “How’d you notice?”
“I guessed your knees weren’t interesting enough to stare at for fifteen minutes”. Shuzo gave a small, amused snort and Leo smiled reflexively. Shuzo’s laugh was almost scarily contagious. “And Shun”, he added and glanced back at their second oldest, “there really is no use hiding your peas. I will know”.
Shun threw him a last defiant look before resigning to his fate and somehow managing to shovel three mouthfuls of peas into his mouth at once.
Shuzo reached over to ruffle his hair proudly and turned back to the girls. “Let’s cheer for Shun, are you with me?” The girls nodded and threw their little hands in the air with another ‘Ooooh YEAH!’ before they applauded again. Shun smiled as he chewed, and Leo turned back to Ray. “Still no phones”.
Ray gave a dramatic sigh and looked about to protest, but yelped as a cup was knocked over and half the table was flooded with milk. With unimaginable speed, Leo grabbed a dish rag and threw himself forward to contain the flood before it affected the - newly cleaned wooden - floor. He placed a hand on the table to support himself, and heard a questionable sound. Sighing, he inspected his hand. As he had expected, his palm was crowned by the remnants of a squished broccoli. Taking a deep breath, he turned his eyes upward. “If anyone deserves applause today, I’d like to think it’s me”.
He swore he could hear Shuzo’s smile. “Well, that can be arranged. Alright then, let’s cheer for Daddy!” The drum roll started again, followed by the familiar ‘Ooooooh YEAH!’, as well as Leo’s well earned applause.
Leo looked at Shuzo and shook his head in mock exasperation, but he was betrayed by his huge smile. And possibly by the adoration in his eyes.