Chapter Text
His chest felt warm by how joyful he was, a feeling that hadn’t faded away in the years after Shikamaru had accepted to date him. They had even moved in together to a house in the Nara compound, big enough for the two and their kids– his partner had actually gotten married to Temari and had Shikadai with her, but it… wasn’t the healthiest of the relationships.
It was bad enough for the boy to not want to see his mother ever again. Lee decided not to ask why, knowing just by how both of them flinched instinctively whenever his movements were too sudden or his voice was too loud. He could only imagine what Temari did to them, yet he wasn’t too surprised; her brother had been violent in the past, too. Perhaps it was a family thing…
Shikadai wasn’t anything like that, though; at most he would curse with words no eight year old should know, but he would just do pranks to try and get a reaction from either Metal or him. Never with harmful intentions.
He was sweet when he wanted to be. And with time, Lee had grown fond of him and even considered him his own kid, albeit he didn't say it out loud– he didn't want to upset Shikadai by accident. Instead, Lee limited himself to taking care of him when his partner couldn't, and the boy seemed to be happy with him.
Slowly losing all that accumulated fear. Years had passed since he began dating Shikamaru, but the two Naras still had issues to take care of. He still had to convince them to at least ask Ino for some help, but they were getting there. Kinda.
Lee didn’t need to take as many missions as in the past, and could choose the better-paying ones thanks to being a Jounin, albeit longer and harder– in turn, he had more time between requests and could do other things, like picking up his kids from the academy to not make Shikamaru worry about not being able to. Being the Hokage’s advisor usually meant having to stay late to do whatever Kakashi didn’t feel like doing that day.
Shikamaru tended to end up too exhausted to do much afterwards, and probably would forget to even eat if Lee didn’t remind him through phone messages or notes. He had been forgetful lately, but there was one thing that the Nara always remembered; dates.
Metal’s birthday had been a couple of weeks ago, and Shikamaru had managed to find time to buy him a small present– a gorilla plushie, which he carried around everywhere he went now, except the academy. He wanted to look cool for the other kids, although he always went for a hug whenever he saw Lee going to pick him and his stepbrother up. Like he did that day.
Shikadai just walked towards him, taking his time as it was usual for him.
“Hi,” was all the boy said, lazily waving. They began the way home then, chatting about what they had seen in their classes, the usual.
It was then that something… clicked, somehow. Both of them were his children, even if there was no blood tying them– he had adopted Metal when he was a baby, and Shikadai was his boyfriend's son. They were his family; what if he went one step further? Only if Shikamaru wanted to, of course.
They could get married, and his chest felt warm just by thinking about it. Shikadai looked at him with squinted eyes, confused as to what he was so blushy about yet asking nothing at all.
Once the three arrived at their destination, Lee prepared some snacks and shared them with the kids, noticing that Metal had begun doing his homework without saying anything, while Shikadai preferred to play with his Ninten as they ate. Lee knew that he still did his tasks in time, so he didn't say anything about that.
His mind was busy with another thing; how would he propose to Shikamaru? How would he react? So many things could go wrong…
He had to ask someone for permission first– well, he didn't have to, but Lee preferred to ask and avoid surprising him.
“Hey, Dai… what would you say if I married Shikamaru?" he said, and his kids left what they were doing to look at him with surprise and annoyance.
Shikadai rolled his eyes before replying, shrugging him off.
"I thought you were married already," was all he said, pausing his game to look up. Metal chuckled and nodded in agreement, and Shikadai went on. "I see that dad's happy with you. We're not afraid of you, and… I wouldn't mind having two dads."
Lee felt himself grinning after hearing him talk, and soon he spoke up again.
“I will ask him to marry me, then,” Lee announced to his kids, feeling how a blush appeared on his cheeks as he talked. His heart beat quickly on his chest. “Please do not tell him about this! It will be a surprise.”
“We won’t, papa,” he heard Metal reply, speaking for the first time in a while– he even got up to hug him, though Shikadai limited himself to smile in response.
He had to prepare everything now! It had to be special, and so he began to brainstorm in silence– and maybe ask his friends for advice, too. Maybe not Tenten, but Neji and Sakura had gotten married… Lee still had a lot of time to think about it.