Chapter Text
You shifted slightly in bed, grasping the sheets of the empty spot next to you. You sat up abruptly, realizing that your husband was not in bed with you. You checked the time, and seeing that it was around three in the morning, you knew Atsushi wouldn't or shouldn't need to be anywhere else other than this bed. Unless your 18 month old baby girl, Mariko, had woken up and he went to tend to her; but you hadn't heard anything from the baby monitor and Atsushi rarely got up to care for the baby. You sighed, swinging your legs over the side of the necessarily large bed and beginning your search for your purple-haired man.
She checked the kitchen first, for obvious reasons. You expected to find Atsushi with his back turned to you, rummaging through his designated snack drawers and humming lightly as he usually did when he was choosing his snacks. But he wasn't there. You then checked the study, where Atsushi would sometimes fall asleep reading the latest basketball magazine. He liked to follow Aomine's and Kagami's journey in the NBA world by keeping up with the latest updates on their respective teams. But he'd never admit his interest in his former colleagues if the question arose.
With no luck, you decided to check on Mariko, and moved to your room, yawning and attempting to push open the door to the baby's room, but already finding it open. You rubbed your eyes and blinked, thinking it was just your imagination that Mariko's crib was empty. You thought it was just your imagination that the door to Mariko's room was already open, when you always kept it shut. You hoped it was just your imagination that both your husband and your daughter were missing at three in the morning.
You became fully alert as you frantically searched the house for your family in the final hours of dawn. You ran past the study again and again, double checking to make sure that Atsushi and Mariko weren't curled up with a book or magazine or anything, to make sure that you hadn't missed anything. You ended up in the study, feeling as though you were definitely missing something, when something caught your eye outside of the window.
The window that looked out to the backyard was where she'd sometimes spot Atsushi lazing in the hammock whenever it was warm enough outside to lay out comfortably. You never ceased to be amazed at how Atsushi's large body could fit inside the flimsy hammock and not topple out or fall right though the fabric. You moved closer to the window and instantly relaxed upon seeing both your daughter and husband snoozing in the hammock.
Mariko was snuggled up to her father's chest, one of her chubby, little cheeks pressed against Atsushi's firm chest and one of her small thumbs in her mouth. Atsushi's long arms were around Mariko, one supporting her tiny body and the other laying gently on her back.
You made your way outside with a smile on your face and stopped next to the hammock. You placed a hand on Atsushi's shoulder and gently shook him. When that didn't work, you gently pulled on his ear. The next line of attack was a gentle kiss on his lips, combined with your fingers running through his purple locks.
“Atsushi.” You cooed when you pulled away from your husband. He slowly opened his eyes and yawned.
“What? Is y/n-chin okay?”
“I'm fine. I'm just wondering why you and Mariko are sleeping outside in the cold instead of in the house.”
“Marichin woke up and was crying and she felt really hot so I decided to take her outside where it's nice and cool.” Atsushi pressed Mariko to his chest; she was still sound asleep due to her father's heavy sleeper genes, even when Atsushi carefully sat up in the hammock. You moved in between his legs to take Mariko from him, all the while he gazed up at you, feeling eerily content on this quiet early morning with his wife and his daughter by his side. As you were about to take Mariko, Atsushi grabbed your hand and pulled you down so that your lips met for a moment or two.
It was at this time that Mariko decided to wake up and break up the display of affection between her parents.
“Okay, okay, Marichin.” Murasakibara bounced the whining baby up and down with his arm while standing up from the hammock. “Geez, you're so annoying sometimes.”
“Atsushi! That's our daughter you're talking about.” You scolded, taking Mariko from your husband and leading your family back into the house.
Once Mariko was returned to her crib and covered in her blanket, Atsushi spoke once again as he watched his little girl sleep.
“Do you think it's a problem that I can't leave Mariko alone?”
“What do you mean?”
“I think about her all the time, and I don't ever wanna be away from her. When I'm at work, I can't stop wondering if you guys are okay.” Atsushi folded his arms on the railing of the crib closest to him and rested his head on them. His gaze never left Mariko.
“I think it's sweet. I always knew Mariko would be a daddy's girl, but I never thought you would be so in love with her.”
“Eh? I'm not in love with Mariko, I'm in love with you, y/n-chin. That's why I married you.” Atsushi glanced up at you in confusion and you just giggled lightly and leaned on his back.
“That's not what I meant. You've become...like Mariko's best friend.”
Atsushi stayed quiet as he contemplated what you had just observed, smiling every once in a while when Mariko gurgled in her sleep or wiggled her toes. He liked the idea of being his daughter's best friend, it meant being able to protect her from harm as her father, and also have fun with her as her friend.
You tugged at the hem of Atsushi's shirt and yawned.
“C'mon let's go back to bed.” You yawned. Not long after the words left your mouth, you were being lifted up into the air by your husband and carried back to bed.
The time to wake up came sooner than you would've liked, seeing as you lost a couple hours of sleep from the early morning events. You rolled over to face Murasakibara only to discover that his side of the bed was once again vacant.
This was uncharacteristic of the lazy, seemingly fatigued basketball player. This was the second time you had found his side of the bed empty when it would usually be occupied by him; he never gave up an opportunity to eat or sleep, it was just who he was.
“No, Marichin, you don't have your baby teeth yet, so you can't try my mauibo.” You heard Atsushi's voice coming from the living room; a sense of pride for your husband swelled inside you at his ability to stand his ground against Mariko's pleas. It was silent for a moment before he spoke again. “But I guess you can have some nerunerunerune.”
At Atsushi's conclusion, you shot up out of bed to stop your husband from feeding their daughter such a sugary concoction before her actual breakfast.
You followed the sound of shuffling into the kitchen and couldn't keep your smile from spreading across your lips at the sweet sight that graced your eyes. There was Atsushi, fitted with one of those around the neck baby slings, so that Mariko was secured to his chest while he rummaged in the spice cabinet. The scent of eggs and fried rice reached your nose, making you forget what you had come to scold your husband about in the first place.
She sighed loudly at the delicious smell that surrounded you and everything in the house, making Atsushi turn toward you with a maiubo in his mouth.
“Morning.” He said, glancing at you before turning back toward the stove to finish up his cooking. You kept silent as you moved over to your husband and daughter, wrapping your arms around his waist and kissing her tiny forehead.
“Hungry?” He asked, setting the stove plates to low so he could pay attention to his wife, leaning down to kiss you. You quickly dodged his lips and held out your hands like a child, motioning for him to give you Mariko. “You can either have Mariko or the omelette, y/n. Not both.”
“That's cruel, making me choose between your cooking and our daughter, Atsushi.” You pouted, folding your arms across your chest. Atsushi smiled a little and thought for a moment.
“Or, you can give me a kiss and then you can have both.”
You mock groaned and stood on your toes to place your lips against your husband's for a couple seconds, reaching for your daughter once you had pulled away.
“Satisfied?”
“Mm, not yet. I will be once I eat breakfast.”
“So you're saying that Mariko and I aren't enough?” You teased, cradling your daughter against your chest and giving Atsushi a smug look. He moved from the stove to your position in one step and placed his forehead against yours, looking down at his daughter.
“You guys are more than enough.” He said quietly. You could only smile at his sweet words while you watched him rub his finger against Mariko's cheek, making the baby fidget at the tickling. He smiled when she cooed at him, then he pulled his finger away and moved back to the stove.
“But I'm starving.”