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“Mama, mama!!” Your little boy, your little Shigeo, shrieks as he comes barreling towards you, arms flailing as he rips off his cochlear implants (which your husband is quick to catch, thanks to the other many, many times he’s done this exact same thing).
You swear a beam of light follows his footsteps where there should be a shadow. He’s a walking, talking bundle of sunshine, the kind of boy you had hoped for, had dreamed of; so hearing him, no matter how shrill his squeals, call you mom? It’s everything to you.
Shigeo crashes into your calves but the boy can rebound fast, so it’s instantaneous, the way he peels off your pants and looks up at you, chocolate eyes locked into yours as he starts to sputter, “Daddy wen'ta school!"
Oh, your boy. So quick to speak, his words mash together in that cute baby talk he still hasn’t grown out of. You don’t want to think of the day his babblings will turn into full on sentences, his stuttering and mispronunciation things of the past. So you live in the moment, always with your eyes tracing the blond locks he’s inherited from his father, the crinkle in his eyes when he’s laughing so hard you don’t know how his lungs afford so much air.
Shigeo’s hands follow his speech as he signs and god, how you love those stumpy fingers. How you love to kiss and squeeze them at any opportunity, until there’s spit flying everywhere as he cries Mama, stop! Mama, get me dirty!
“Oh I know,” You coo, “Daddy went and picked you up.” You are signing in tandem with your speech; after all, your boy can’t hear you very clearly, if at all, when he doesn’t have his ears (as he’s taken to calling them) on. It’s become second nature to you at this point. It’s crazy, how light your chest feels now when during your pregnancy, it had been knotted and taut with worry. Worry for your child.
But look at you now. Look at him now. You can’t imagine life any other way.
“Actually…” This is when Reigen jumps in, setting the cochlear implants on the coffee table as he makes his way to the two of you in the kitchen, where you’re now washing Shigeo’s hands while trying to avoid his playful splashing. He always did love the water. “I was meeting with a client.”
You nearly drop your child in surprise (but really he only left your hands for a millisecond), catching him by the armpits which only makes him giggle and squirm like the wiggle worm he is. “A client?!” You shriek, whipping your head around to find Reigen already playing defense with his palms up and a sheepish grin on his face.
“Yes but– she’s a teacher! We met at the school, that’s all.” Okay, don’t blame him for this but he can’t help but smile just a tad when relief is so evident on your face; your brows ease up, your lips pucker for a sigh, and the color returns to your face just as quickly as it had left. “Shige just happened to see me leaving the office.”
And that happened to see me turned into Shigeo following Reigen’s trail, never more than two steps behind him with a tiny fist curled into the fabric of his father’s pant leg. He almost cried when Reigen told him he had to go back to class, even though Reigen had said that there would only be 10 more minutes before Daddy would take him home. Reigen knows you would have started tearing up as well, you always do when your little boy’s face starts to scrunch up with childlike gloom.
“Let me see your hands.” Reigen had gently told his blond mini-me, resting on one knee while Shigeo stuck out his balled up hands. One by one, Reigen counted little Shigeo’s fingers until he had them all splayed out, palms out for double high fives. “See, ten minutes like your ten fingers and Daddy will come back for you, okay? But you have to be strong! Be strong for Daddy and Mama, okay?” And Shigeo nodded, eyes rubbed clear of any tears because if there’s one person he can trust, it’s his Daddy.
You set the boy down, properly this time, and give him a towel to dry his hands off. He’s clumsy about it, patting the towel between his palms– what he’s doing is more like clapping, with an added towel bumper. He never ceases to make you laugh. “Oh good. Although… I guess he wouldn’t be in too much trouble, would he?”
Because oh right, on top of your Shigeo being a rambunctious boy, he also has ESP. He’s been able to see spirits since… Well, since he could see. You know this because he couldn’t stop making a grab for Dimple when you stopped by the office one day. But you’d already known your son had powers, recalling the first time he floated and you thought you were just seeing things– sleepy mothers can never catch a break, after all.
“No, but don’t worry,” Reigen takes a step towards you, arms reaching out for you, “I would never let anything bad happen to him. Or you.” The last part comes in a whisper, one that tickles the slope of your nose as Reigen rests his forehead on yours, letting his eyes close, rest for just a moment before the rest of the world starts spinning again. His hands at your waist, he feels you relax into him, sees the adoration in your eyes glitter and glow underneath your lashes.
It’s then that Shigeo decides to cram himself between the two of you, keen on being part of the moment, whatever it was anyways. He squeezes, head first until the rest of him pops into place between your legs and Reigen’s and he giggles, squees even as if he’s just toppled the world although you suppose, he has.
Because he has your heart and Reigen’s, just like you have each others. And you don’t know what you’ve done to deserve such respite, such peace, but you’ll take it. Soak in it for as long as you can because nothing else matters.
So long as you have your family.