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When Izuku got home from his month-long mission abroad, it was with the anticipation of being able to drop all his things by the door, strip down to his boxers, and crawl into bed with his husband and daughter to finally get some sleep. He craved his husband's warmth and the sound of their daughter's snuffled breaths. He hadn't slept in complete silence since he'd moved in with his husband and it had been the roughest adjustment abroad. Not to mention, their baby was only eight months old when he left and his paternal instincts had been shattered to leave at such a crucial time during his daughter's development.
However, when he opened the door, he was not greeted with a silent, dark apartment. He was greeted by the sounds of a crying baby and the lights dimmed throughout the house. Izuku immediately dropped his bags and kicked off his shoes. One-For-All was sparking on his skin as he skidded down the hall to the master bedroom. The door was wide open, revealing a blonde splayed out on the bed with their beautiful baby girl sobbing on his chest. It tugged at Izuku's heart strings.
His poor husband looked exhausted . Blonde hair was in complete disarray, red eyes bloodshot and puffy. His nose and cheeks were also flushed red. Dark circles had bloomed beneath those eyes Izuku knew and loved. Izuku could see a thin sheen of sweat on his husband’s brow. Not necessarily unusual but paired with the way his husband was slumped in defeat with their daughter, he had his suspicions. Katsuki was humming a lullaby while one hand patted their baby girl’s back to the beat. Clearly, it wasn’t working.
“Hi Kacchan,” Izuku murmured as he fully stepped into the room. Katsuki flinched slightly, narrowing his eyes to peer over at Izuku. Recognizing the look, Izuku immediately went to his husband’s side. He sat on the edge of the bed to give himself ease of access. Their precious little one didn’t let up her sobs one bit despite her other father’s entrance. Izuku carefully scooped up the crying baby. “Hello to you too, Kimiko,”
The sobbing reduced to whimpers at the sudden position change and revelation of Izuku’s presence. A quick brush of his fingers over Kimiko and Katsuki’s forehead confirmed Izuku’s suspicions: His family was sick. Clearly, Katsuki had deemed it unnecessary to share that information with him during his mission. Izuku didn’t blame him. Knowing his husband and daughter were sick while he was in a different country would have driven him insane.
“Shh, no more tears Princess,” Izuku cooed. “Papa looks very tired. I think he deserves some rest, hmm?”
“I-I’m,” A cough interrupted Katsuki’s protest. Izuku shot his husband a stern look while he slowly stood to round the bed. Kimiko’s co-sleeper was already set up against Izuku’s side, as Katsuki tended to sleep on Izuku’s side of the bed when the greenette was abroad on missions (Izuku did the same thing when Katsuki was gone, though this was their first abroad mission with Kimiko). Izuku began to hum as he lowered Kimiko into the co-sleeper. Her beautiful green eyes fluttered shut with Izuku’s large hand rubbing her stomach and his humming soothing her.
“There,” Izuku whispered. “Now, you close your eyes. I’m going to start some laundry then come to bed as well,” Izuku banked on Katsuki being too tired to detect the lie on his tongue. Sure enough, Katsuki succumbed to sleep with just a few swipes of Izuku’s hand through his sweaty hair. Content that both his husband and daughter were actually asleep, Izuku slipped out of the bedroom. Now, the laundry part wasn’t a lie. He didn’t miss the abysmal pile of laundry outside the laundry room door nor the overflowing basket outside the bathroom. Kimiko must’ve been puking and Katsuki always got extremely sweaty when he was sick. Tomorrow was definitely going to be a laundry-sick day.
Once the washer was started with a mixture of Katsuki’s favorite comfy wear and Kimiko’s good onesies, Izuku went into the kitchen to start some prep work. It was nearly four in the morning now and Katsuki would probably wake up around nine. He always preferred soup when he was sick, so Izuku set about preparing some. They had a wonderful pressure cooker he could set to have the soup ready when Katsuki woke up. Kimiko would have her formula and some okayu, but those were easy to make when she woke up.
The soup recipe was one of his mother’s and Izuku knew it by heart. It was one of the few things he could actually cook without burning the house down since he could make it in the pressure cooker. It only took roughly twenty minutes to get all the ingredients prepped and into the pressure cooker. He made sure to do a few extra veggies for Kimiko's breakfast, then tucked everything away. Izuku made sure to use one hand as a silencer for the beep of the pressure cooker. His husband looked as if he hadn't slept a week and the last thing they needed was Kimiko crying.
Izuku could only imagine how Katsuki was holding up with a sick baby while being sick himself. He'd need to reach out to the squads to see if they were helping. If they hadn't offered any help (whether or not his stubborn husband accepted it) they were in for a world of hurt. He had been the only one away on a mission so there was no excuse. Unless Katsuki didn’t tell them. Though Izuku couldn’t see Eijirou leaving Katsuki alone enough to not know.
A quick check in the group chat gave Izuku a lot more insight. Supposedly, one of Shouto and Momo’s children caught a cold and spread it to the rest of the group during Kyouka’s birthday party. Neither parent picked up on it as little Yuuta was still adjusting to his ice quirk and often had the sniffles. Both were extremely apologetic and no one could really be angry at them. Izuku sent out a quick sympathy message as well as an ‘I’m back’. He received a few replies from the overnight/early morning heroes immediately.
Hitoshi informed him that Katsuki hadn’t been sick the previous night. Mina said that Kimiko had some bad congestion and was struggling to keep food down. Izuku’s heart ached for his daughter and husband. He did a quick scour of their medicine cabinet for the baby basket his mother had made them. Due to being a nurse, Inko had taken it upon herself to supply them with every possible baby-safe medicine and first aid item possible to ease their concerns, along with a handy chart that told them proper measurements.
It only took a few moments to have the medicine measured out for Kimiko and Katsuki. Mina had given a few recommendations based on what worked for her and her kids that Izuku took to heart. He grabbed a cool soaked cloth for both patients then trailed into the bedroom, Black Whip assisting with a tray of tea for Katsuki. His husband was beginning to toss and turn in his sleep while Kimiko was letting out little whimpers again. Izuku cooed and lifted his baby girl from the co-sleeper again, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. He took the syringe of medicine and pressed it to her lips, slowly injecting it so she could swallow. He thanked whatever gods were out there that Kimiko took things so easily.
She went down just as easily. The wet cloth went straight to her mouth, an easy teether that was simple to disinfect. Izuku took a moment to just stroke the blonde curls on her head, watching as her eyes slowly drooped. The cloth definitely helped some of her pain. Her jaw was working it slowly and Izuku could see her nuzzling the coolness of it.
Katsuki, on the other hand, was going to be difficult. Izuku stripped off his clothes and changed into some pajamas consisting of a pair of gray sweatpants. He gently maneuvered Katsuki against his chest while gingerly rousing him. Confused, tired crimson eyes blinked up at him. Izuku couldn’t resist pressing a kiss against Katsuki’s damp forehead.
“Hey baby, I got something to make you feel a little better. You might sleep easier,” Izuku tried. Katsuki groaned and twisted away like a cat eager to escape.
“No Zuku,” The blonde whined. “No medicine,”
“Kacchan,” Izuku hummed. “You need to take this. You’ll feel better,” He tried bringing it closer to Katsuki but the blonde covered his mouth and shook his head. Izuku sighed and unfurled Black Whip. The tendrils pried Katsuki’s hand from his face and pinned both wrists above his head. Izuku straddled Katsuki’s hips, glaring the man down. “Open your mouth,”
Katsuki shook his head. Izuku scowled and grabbed the blonde’s jaw. Katsuki began trying to thrash against the grip the greenette had on him but it was fruitless. Izuku eventually got Katsuki’s jaw open enough to force the medicine into him. Katsuki hacked and gagged, tongue sticking out at the awful taste. Izuku just shook his head and gestured toward the cup of ginger tea on the nightstand.
“Fuck you,” Katsuki huffed hoarsly, taking the tea to down a gulp. Izuku snorted and leaned over to kiss his husband’s forehead.
“When you’re better, sure. Just tell me when and where,”
“Oh fuck you!” Izuku chuckled, taking the mug from Katsuki to set aside before wrestling the blonde back down into their bed. Katsuki relented easily, accepting that he was sick and exhausted.
“Go sleep, baby. Our Princess is sleeping too. I got her for the day. You just need to rest,” Izuku kissed Katsuki’s forehead one more time before draping the cool cloth over his head. Katsuki groaned and snuggled into Izuku’s side while being mindful of the cloth relieving the ache in his head. "I love you,"
Katsuki sighed into Izuku's chest, hands curling up to his own chest as he got comfortable against the larger man. "I love you too, Zuku,"
Izuku pressed one more kiss to Katsuki’s hair before relaxing into the bed himself. Kimiko was passed out now, head tilted towards them with the cloth clenched in her tiny fists. Izuku reached over to place one palm over her, the other arm winding around Katsuki to hold him. With both of his precious people secured in his grip, he could finally get some sleep.