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For ten long, prosperous years, the morning routine remained largely unchanged. Wake up beside one another, share a kiss or two accompanied by some sweet nothings, get up, help each other dress, then Shiro would walk into the kitchen to start the water for Adam’s tea before he prepared the coffee maker for himself. Sometimes they’d shake things up a bit and stay in bed a little longer, and other times Adam would be the one to set up the coffee maker. Then there was the mornings where they decided to shower before moving on with their day. Their mornings were a systematic constant, and neither of them had any desire to change them. For ten rich, fulfilling years, their mornings remained the best parts of their day.
A lot has happened in the ten years since the end of Galran oppression. The paladins of old grew older and chose to pass their torches to a new generation of equally brave and noble heroes who took over to maintain order and peace throughout all the liberated galaxies. Several of the retired paladins started families, and Uncle Shiro and Uncle Adam were as fond of the children as the children were of them. Shiro’s head of vibrant white hair had begun to gray, as had Adam’s head of chestnut, mature tuffs of silver lining their temples. They liked to joke around about their aging bodies, but they never once found the other any less enchanting at this stage of their lives than they had at the beginning of their reformed relationship.
Every morning for ten years Shiro awoke before his husband and often kissed him awake, feather-light smooches placed along Adam’s pleasantly aging face. Sometimes, Adam would admonish Shiro and turn back over to sleep. Other times he would return the gestures tenfold. They thrived in each other’s company, in the warmth of arms wrapped around one another. When they woke up together, they never left their bed unsatisfied.
The day of their tenth wedding anniversary is fast approaching. In one week they will celebrate ten full years of marriage, a milestone neither of them expected to have the pleasure of experiencing. Shiro often woke up with the pleasant buzzing in his veins, the reality hitting – nearly ten full years had passed since rekindling their relationship had led to the best day of Shiro’s life, and he fell more in love with the sunrise that signaled each new day. Sunrise meant waking up beside his loving husband, and Shiro looked forward to it every night before he drifted off to sleep in Adam’s embrace.
Adam stirs quietly behind him, his arm still around Shiro’s waist. Shiro grins genially, taking Adam’s hand and kissing his knuckles, “good morning, gorgeous.”
Though he can’t see it, Shiro knows Adam is smiling at him, and he’s soon rewarded with a kiss to the back of his neck. “Good morning, Takashi. Sleep well?”
“Of course, did you?”
“After you were done crushing me at two in the morning, I slept fine.”
Shiro chuckles, turning his head to gaze at Adam with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, “I wanted to be close to you.”
Soulful brown eyes stare back at him disapprovingly, a clear indication that the early morning shenanigans were not as humorous to Adam as they were to Shiro, “you wanted to annoy me.”
“Payback for your bold rendition of the Moana soundtrack two days ago.”
Adam knows it’s a fair trade, and his frown lifts. He kisses the crease in Shiro’s forehead, “what are we having for breakfast today, Takashi?”
“Waffles?” the man asks hopefully, knowing that the combination of his charming smile and pleading eyes is a double whammy that Adam won’t be able to win against. “I know they’re messy, but you always make them perfectly.”
Adam is no stranger to losing against Shiro’s puppy eyes, and he sighs, “waffles it is. Are you showering first or am I?” Shiro kisses Adam quickly and wiggles out of his grip to sit up and stretch. Adam takes that as his answer and follows, leaning over to gently kiss Shiro’s shoulder with a loving smile. “Go for it, champion.”
Shiro’s showers never last long, and when he comes out of the bathroom surrounded by steam with a towel around his neck, Adam already has his clothes waiting for him. Dressing without Adam’s help was a chore before the Holts banded together to give Shiro a better, more functional arm roughly a year after the fall of the Galra Empire, but Shiro is a lucky man to be blessed with such an amazing husband. Even after dressing was no longer difficult, Adam chose to assist Shiro every morning, and it soon became a key part of their daily routine. Adam is patient, moving slow as he helps Shiro dress, the tender grin never leaving his face. With the final slip of Shiro’s head through the hole, Shiro is dressed in his comfortable clothes and kissing Adam as a thank you.
Adam’s showers have always been longer and it gives Shiro plenty of time to set up the coffee maker and kettle. He’s waiting patiently on the bed when Adam slips out of the bathroom, drying himself. There’s a smile on Shiro’s face as he helps his husband dress, occasionally pressing kisses to the marred, innocuous patches of Adam’s skin. The kettle is singing by the time they enter the kitchen, the steam clouding in the air and mingling with the strong scent of freshly brewed coffee. Adam and Shiro share a grin and take their respective mugs, one of which reads #1 Space Dad in bold white lettering. Shiro still grins at it each time he picks it up. “What kind of waffles do you want, Takashi?” Adam asks, reaching into the cabinet for the tea.
Filling his coffee mug, Shiro considers his options before settling on his choice, “chocolate chip.”
“Your guilty pleasure,” Adam muses, preparing his tea while Shiro grabs the bowl and waffle iron. “Do we have all the ingredients?”
“Yeah, I picked up everything when I went shopping yesterday,” Shiro informs him, sipping his coffee. Given that his previous experiences in the kitchen all resulted in utter failure, Shiro has entrusted Adam with the preparation of meals, an arrangement they both agreed on as early as their Garrison days. They drink from their mugs for a bit, reveling in the quiet domestic solidarity before Adam sets his mug down and gathers what he needs. While Adam busies himself with whisking the ingredients together, Shiro downs the remainder of his coffee, lingering by the coffee maker to watch Adam work. Adam is humming an old rock song, the melody of which Shiro is familiar with, and preparing waffles like he hasn’t a care in the world. Though that’s far from true, Shiro finds that carefree Adam is the best to observe so early in the morning. Shiro’s arm finds its way around Adam’s waist, curious brown eyes peering over Adam’s shoulder to watch his hands.
Adam instinctively stops humming and smiles, pouring the chocolate chips in, “if you’re hoping to charm your way into licking the whisk before I’m even done, you can forget it Takashi.”
“I would never,” Shiro fibs, kissing the spot just below Adam’s ear. The action causes Adam to smile and turn his body so he can capture Shiro’s lips with his own. The perfect distraction. Shiro seizes his opportunity and dips his finger into the batter before Adam can register what’s happening. Shiro removes his arm from Adam’s waist with a smirk and Adam opens his eyes just in time to see Shiro smiling around the finger in his mouth.
Adam crosses his arms over his chest, expression annoyed, “Takashi.” Shiro shrugs innocently, reaching for the bowl again before Adam chases him away and demands he go sit until they’re done. There’s no need for Shiro to argue; Adam’s wrath is nothing to be trifled with, and Shiro obeys without so much as a groan of rebuttal. The mouth watering aroma of waffles cooking soon pervades the air around them, and the more time that passes the more eager Shiro becomes. Soon enough Adam is setting a plate topped with a small stack of waffles in front of him, along with a second cup of coffee, and Shiro declares his love and appreciation for him once again. “I love you too, ‘Kashi,” Adam responds fondly, kissing Shiro’s temple before taking his place across from him.
While Adam digs in, Shiro takes time to ponder over something that had been on his mind for a while, cutting his waffles into pieces while he thinks of the best possible approach. Ultimately, he decides that just going for it is the best possible method, and after taking a few bites he looks up at Adam, who’s busy chewing away, “Adam?” The man hums in response, looking to Shiro with a questioning glance. “Let’s renew our vows.”
Adam’s eyes widen over the rim of his glasses, and he swallows his bite a little quicker than intended in his rush to answer his husband. “Excuse me?”
“I mean it,” Shiro presses, leaning in to take Adam’s hand with a patient smile, “we’re celebrating ten years in a week. That’s a huge milestone, and I think we should christen it by renewing our vows.”
Adam blinks once, twice, still absorbing the weight of Shiro’s suggestion. After a few moments of silence, he speaks, “I would love to renew our vows, but where would we get the money for a ceremony like that?”
Shiro shakes his head like he already thought it through. To a degree, he has. “Adam, we don’t have to have a big ceremony like our wedding. We can do something smaller, with our immediate family and friends.” What follows is more silence, and Shiro knows that Adam is thinking it over. As if to sweeten the idea, Shiro lifts Adam’s hand and kisses his knuckles for the second time that morning, “I love you, and I’m prepared to spend the rest of my life with you. I have traversed hundreds, if not thousands of galaxies in the time it took me to come home to you, and I’d do it all again without question. So what do you say, will you marry me again?”
The grin on Adam’s face widens, his eyes alight with glee. He squeezes Shiro’s hand, “of course, Takashi.”
In the moments that follow, Adam and Shiro are pleased to relive the euphoria they first felt years ago with the first proposal. Their kiss is equal parts hopeful for the future and delighted for the present, and they unknowingly share a sense of relief. After a long period of uncertainty, devoid of the hope that they would ever find one another again, Adam and Shiro have never been so enthusiastic. The future is vast, bright, and full of infinite possibility, and together they will explore the stages of their life as they come, savoring each day in each other’s arms, just as the universe intended. Adam is the first to pull back, still tingling from the elation. He sits back and grips his mug, raising it with a content expression, “to the future.”
Shiro returns the gesture with his own mug, clinking it against Adam’s with a similar expression, “to the future.”