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A soft, almost imperceptible caress on his cheek was what woke him up, with the morning sun almost blinding him as soon as he opened his eyes. He groaned, turning around to avoid the light– Lee was still tired, unable to rest because of how uncomfortable he felt the previous night and a couple of months before that.
"Love, it’s time to wake up. I made you breakfast," a familiar voice whispered near him, and soon the taijutsu master was able to smell a sweet scent near him, which was the only thing that made him turn around once more.
Neji was by his side, holding a small platter with pancakes, orange slices and a steaming cup of tea. He smiled at him once he realized Lee had opened his eyes, deciding to place the food near him as to let the taller man enjoy his breakfast– and soon a huge smile appeared on Lee's face before eating, a joyful spark on his eyes.
"Om– thank youh so much, my deah rivah!" the taijutsu master said, waiting to finish his breakfast before speaking again. "You know, I feel like training, spend some energy… But that would not be good for the babies…"
"We could go for a walk later, once I'm done with all these documents," Neji commented, yet a simple look at his partner's puppy eyes made him change his mind in a heartbeat. "... you know what? I don't really want to work on that today. Let me discuss things with Hiashi, then we can go to the park."
Lee brightened up immediately and, after kissing him on the cheek and grabbing everything he needed, the brunet went towards his uncle’s house– which wasn’t too far away from his own. Hiashi now worked more as an advisor for him than anything else, and something told Neji that he was waiting until Hanabi moved on her own to retire.
Totally not because he overheard him saying it to one of his friends one day. His younger cousin was still trying to become a Jounin, so it would be at least a couple of years before that happened.
A single knock had been enough for the older man to open his door, who already rolled his eyes at the sight of countless papers in his nephew’s arms.
“You’re spoiling him,” Hiashi complained, yet he grabbed everything Neji gave him without complaining much.
"It was hard for him to get pregnant, of course I'm going to spoil him," the brunet commented with a little smile. "It's the last time, I swear."
That wasn't a lie, yet it was thanks to Sakura and Ino that it was possible; trying to get a child of their own, they had managed to figure out how to help ninjas of the same biological sex to have kids without outside help. It was a complicated process involving jutsus and medicine that neither man wanted to repeat, hence why they were being extremely careful with everything.
Hiashi just let out a chuckle and rolled his eyes, patting his nephew on the shoulder before speaking again.
"Go with your husband, Neji. I'll take care of this."
He didn't need to be told twice, thanking the older man before leaving towards his house.
~
As soon as he opened the door, the brunet was able to see that his partner had gotten up and changed from his night clothes, for once not wearing his jumpsuit and instead something rather casual and loose.
"Hiashi agreed to take care of things today," Neji announced, and Lee let out a chuckle at hearing him, not fully believing in his words.
"Did he agree? Or did you just leave the papers in his hands like you have been doing lately?"
A smirk appeared on the brunet's face, and the questions went unanswered as he leaned in to kiss his husband on the cheek. Lee was excited to go outside with him, and so they began to walk towards the park, not quite minding the curious looks on the other Hyuga's gazes at seeing them pretty much relaxing with each other.
Without the threat of the cursed seal being activated, they were very nosy. And even if Neji would never admit it, he was the same way.
Their fingers were entwined the whole time, a comfortable silence falling between the two. No words were needed– after so many years side by side, each other’s presence was enough.
After walking for a while, the two decided to sit down on a bench, and Neji quietly rested his head on his husband’s shoulder. Lee played with his hair as usual, not minding it at all.
"How are you feeling? With… everything," the brunet mumbled, eyes closed as he talked.
"I am okay, dearest! I just hope they get here soon," his partner replied, scratching the back of his neck. "I… I feel terrible. It does not hurt too much, but… I do not like being like this."
"Of course not. But this will be the only time you'll go through this– just wait a little longer," Neji said, opening his eyes to look at his husband for a moment, not quite knowing how to help.
Lee must be feeling a lot of gender dysphoria with the pregnancy, but he wasn't good at describing it. Neji understood it perfectly and decided to give him time, not wanting to pressure him at all.
After a short silence, the taller man spoke again, looking at the ground.
"Thank you for coming with me, Neji. But I think that is enough for now– can we go back?" Lee said in a whisper, not really wanting to bother his partner. The brunet nodded and they got up after a while, holding hands once again.
As they were going back home, Lee stopped where he was with a confused expression on his face; Neji was about to ask him what was wrong until his gaze fell to the ground, where the pavement had gotten wet right under his husband's feet.
“Neji, we– we need to go to the hospital,” the taijutsu master mumbled, wide-eyed. Careful to not hurt him, Neji ended up carrying him in his arms, running as fast as he could without looking back.
~
He was nervous the whole time, barely being able to text his loved ones to tell them what had happened. Nothing could be heard, Lee could be–
Neji gulped, and he stood up as soon as he saw Sakura nearby with a huge grin on her face. She guided him to his husband's room and left them on their own, promising to check on the family after a while. Allowing to be on their own for some long minutes.
As soon as the brunet saw his sons, his worries faded away as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Lee had them both on his arms, tired yet happy, unable to stop grinning at their kids. They looked almost identical to the taijutsu master, albeit with Neji’s dark brown hair and lavender eyes– he felt his eyes itching as his partner let him carry one of their sons, who just observed him with curiosity, not pronouncing any sound at all.
"They're– they…" Neji mumbled, unable to pronounce a coherent phrase as a sob interrupted his words. And then, tears began falling and falling without stopping, worry evident on Lee’s face. “Lee, we’re parents. I never thought we’d…”
“But we did it. We never thought we would be able to stop hiding, and look at us now! I am sure Gai and your father would be proud of us,” was what his husband said, extending his free hand to dry his tears, an exhausted yet enormous smile still on his face.
Were they looking at them from the afterlife, happy to see all the progress in their lives? There was no way to be sure, but it was a comforting thought for his soul; there had been a distant time in which he was convinced that the war had killed him, yet that was nothing but a faded nightmare now. Neji had survived, married and now he was a father; he couldn’t be happier.
Some minutes after Neji managed to stop crying, a soft knock on the door made both men look towards the sound, and Sakura appeared from outside. She apologized for interrupting, but they knew she was just doing her job.
"Have you thought about their names? I need to write them down,” was all Sakura said, letting out a soft smile at her friends and showing the small medical bracelets that would soon go on the kids’ wrists. They had known the answer since Lee found out he was pregnant with twins, so it didn’t take long for them to answer.
“Metal,” Lee exclaimed in a heartbeat, his gaze falling on the baby in his arms, who had long since fallen asleep. “My family always picked music names for everyone, and I want that for him, too. Even if we are Hyuga now.”
Soon Metal had a bracelet with his name on it, and he had started to cry due to being woken up. Lee quietly hummed something for him with half-closed eyes, and that was enough to calm him down. It was time for the second baby, and Neji couldn’t help it but grin as he announced it to his friend.
“He’ll be Hizashi, just like his grandfather.”
Hizashi was just quiet as Sakura put a bracelet on his wrist, not minding it at all. After filling out some paperwork, the woman left them alone once again, promising to bring them some food as soon as she could get a break. Lee let out a yawn, getting comfortable while making sure Metal didn’t fall from his arms. Seeing how exhausted his partner was, Neji offered to carry the other boy too to allow him to rest, and it didn't take long before Lee more or less passed out on the hospital bed without saying anything else.
He had to rest, and so the brunet was as quiet as he could, whispering to his newborn sons who just observed the world with curiosity on their gazes, quiet once again and almost asleep just like their father.
"Hello there. I'm your dad," Neji said, although neither of the boys would be able to comprehend anything he said. He was too excited to not say anything, and his face hurt by how much he was smiling. "You're my children. Oh, I love you two so much..."
And if more joyful tears fell from his eyes, nobody would be able to tell.