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Rin had only been gone for a couple of hours. Three max. He thought he could trust his husband and son to not make a mess of the entire house when he was gone. Okay so he supposed that while it wasn’t the entire house, having the entire kitchen covered in rainbow sprinkles was not exactly what he expected to come home to.
Stepping over the tiny pile of sprinkles by the entrance to the kitchen, Rin frowned as he walked in, looking at his crouched over husband hastily trying to sweep up a second pile of sprinkles, to his son, who was more than content not to help in any significant way.
Rei was seated at the kitchen table that was similarly covered in sprinkles, watching a video that was playing on Seishiro’s phone as he licked his finger before chasing down a red sprinkle. He was too busy making his hands sticky with the sugary lumps and licking them off of his fingers to notice he was standing there until Rin was standing right behind him, casting a shadow over the Let’s Play video he was so carefully watching.
“What happened?”
Rei jumped in his seat, bumping the table and knocking more of the loose sprinkles to the ground. Rin heard Seishiro groan as the sprinkles rained down on the floor he had just swept, and he almost felt bad… because he knew their son always jumped when Rin snuck up on him with how engrossed he got into his games and videos.
“I think you should help your Dad finish sweeping,” Rin stated sternly, watching as Rei quickly slid out of his seat, holding out his hands for the broom and dustpan that Seishiro was holding. Rin grabbed a bowl while supervising, knowing Rei liked to be lazy with his chores, scooping the table sprinkles into the bowl before dumping them into the trash.
Seishiro busied himself with what was clearly the cause for this big mess. The simple double layer cake that sat in the center of the table, a small mountain of sprinkles sitting right in the center with very few creeping up the vanilla icing on the side. Seishiro’s bottom lip stuck out in a pout, clearly disappointed with how the cake turned out, but fixing it seemed like a task Rin didn’t want him to take on right now. It was still a nice cake, just… the sprinkles were quite uneven and barely even covering the top. It seems most had fallen all over the floor, and were now raining down in their kitchen trash can, making the garbage just a little bit more festive.
“Now, go wash your hands,” Rin instructed their son once he placed the broom and dustpan back into the closet. He groaned in frustration, but stomped off to do what he was told anyway, dragging his feet as he left the kitchen. Seishiro still sat at the kitchen table, picking up the few sprinkles that had fallen as he tried to fix the cake. Rin walked up behind him, placing his hands on Seishiro’s shoulders and giving them a good squeeze before leaning down to wrap his husband up in a hug.
“You’re too soft on him sometimes, Seishiro.”
Seishiro sighed, leaning into the hug as he gave up on fixing the cake any further. Rin was sure it was fine, and sometimes, it really was the thought that counted. It felt nice that his husband had tried to do something for him, even if it ended up being more of a headache than a gift.
“I know, I know…. But, it was my fault this time. I didn’t realize the bottle didn’t have the little inner lid with holes until Rei had dumped the whole thing right in the center and after that…I was just trying to clean until you got home.”
Rin rolled his eyes, having known it was probably just the pair of them being casually careless again. This time, it was just sprinkles. But next time… who knows what it could be.
Rin supposed that it was partially his fault… Seishiro had always been very soft and easy on their son because he wanted to make sure Rei loved him and trusted him and wanted to be around him… Rin knew that that came from his issues with his own parents, so he allowed it to happen most of the time. But, sometimes that led Rei to being just a bit too much like Seishiro. Luckily, Seishiro already knew how to take care of himself due to living alone, even if he didn’t like doing it. But Rei… it was honestly a marvel that he had managed to sweep the floor so quickly, because they very rarely made him clean up after himself.
Rin made a mental note to move out the refrigerator that weekend to check for sprinkles Rei had swept underneath on accident so that they wouldn’t get ants.
“Did he help you before the sprinkles?” Rin asked, wanting to at least know if Rei had been trying to help his father, or if he had been trying to get out of helping by making a mess. Rei wasn’t usually prone to tantrums or anything like that, but deliberately making a mess just so he didn’t have to do something was not out of the range of possibility.
He was smart, but he pretended not to be.
He was strong and athletic, but he was also lazy and pretended he couldn’t even lift his backpack so he would get picked last for games at school and preferred to stay home and play games than go out and actually try at something.
He looked just like Rin, from his blue eyes to his face to his stature, but staring at the back of his fluffy white hair as he hunched over his game or phone really felt like looking at a younger Seishiro.
His stubbornness. His desire to always be right and get things his own way and do what he wants.
Their spoiled rotten only child, who they surely wouldn’t stop spoiling any time soon because they both wanted him to have the world and do whatever he wanted in life. Even when what he wanted so far was very lackluster and simple and didn’t live up to his potential.
“He actually helped bake the cake… He was really excited about doing something nice for you, but he lost interest by the time it was baked and cooled and ready to ice, but he asked if he could do the sprinkles. So of course I said yes…” Seishiro sighed, closing his eyes as he leaned his head back against Rin’s chest. “So don’t be too mad at him… you know how his attention span can be, and he did really well while making the cake… I just didn’t know what else to do besides sitting him in a chair when the sprinkles went everywhere …”
Rin shook his head, smiling to himself as he knew both of his boys had actually tried to do something nice for him. He could easily make the mood even more terrible than it already was, but he could just as easily fix it.
Rei wandered back into the room, hands tucked into the sleeves of his shirt and head hung low as if he were expecting a scolding. His eyes lit up as he saw Rin now sitting at the table next to Seishiro, plates and forks set on each of their places, and sparkly blue candles from Rei’s last birthday stuck into the top.
“Cake before dinner?” Rei questioned as he slid back into his chair, directly across from Seishiro who was lighting the eight candles. Which was only a few years short for Rin’s age, but they would probably have to scrape up all the candles from all of Rei’s previous birthdays to make enough.
“It’s my birthday, so yes. I want cake before dinner.” Rin nodded, looking out of the corner of his eye at his son who shot back a skeptical look.
“But you’re always the one who says we have to finish our dinner if we even want to think about dessert…” Rei mumbled, still not believing that this was real, even as Seishiro nodded, setting the matches aside as he pushed the cake closer to Rin.
“That’s because it’s better for us. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to eat dessert first.”
Rei still didn’t fully believe him, and crossed his arms over his little chest as he leaned back in his seat, waiting to see if maybe this was real life, or some big, convoluted joke.
“Don’t you have something to say to your Dad, Rei?” Seishiro asked, holding on to Rin’s hand under the table so they didn’t make their son comically gag. Rin almost wanted to tease him a bit by placing their hands up on the table as Rei was fully in the phase of being grossed out by seeing his parents being affectionate, but decided not to as Seishiro squeezed his fingers hard to warn him against it. No more fighting tonight, the squeeze said, so Rin listened, and waited for Rei to answer Seishiro’s question.
“I’m sorry for making a mess… I didn’t mean to…” Rei hung his head low again, his hands clasped together on the table as he asked for his forgiveness. Rin nodded, indicating it was alright, before turning his attention to the quickly melting candles.
“Do you want us to sing to you?” Seishiro asked, only out of courtesy and not for a genuine offer. They definitely weren’t a family of singers, and he didn’t want to torture himself any more that day.
“I’m okay if you don’t,” he quickly responded, instead just closing his eyes, putting on a show of making a wish, even though he couldn’t think of anything he actually wanted.
“Happy Birthday, Rin…” Seishiro’s voice had a smile in it as he squeezed his fingers again, holding him securely as he inhaled.
“Yeah, happy birthday, Daddy…” Rei’s soft little voice followed, and Rin could have shouted when he felt his son’s hand touch his own, grabbing his hand like he used to do when he was much smaller.
He blew out his candles before he could even think of something to wish for.
He had everything he wanted. Everything he needed.
It wasn’t a wasted birthday wish, even when Rei complained that it was and insisted that they relight the candles so Rin could make a real wish this time.
So, the next time he lied as he blew out the candles, stating that he wished for his team to win their league this year, and that Rei and Seishiro would be there to see it.
But no wish, real or fake, could ever beat out what he already had. The things that made him happiest in this world sat around this table, ruining their dinners with chocolate cake and ice cream.
Indeed, a very happy birthday to him.