Chapter Text
"Let's buy this house."
Mihawk blinks, gazes at the house in front of them, and grimaces. It's not the best option, and perhaps it's actually the worst. He looks back at his husband and can't help but be drawn to his smile. Shanks smiles as if he isn't offering a terrifying choice (though Mihawk doesn't mind, because he's always liked Shanks' smile more than he should).
"Why?" he questions. He doesn't want to appear skeptical, but he does.
Shanks, however, laughs as if he somehow expected his questioning.
"Well, I don't know," Shanks shrugs. "Maybe because we could fix it together."
"Do you want to fix a house together?" Mihawk says, softening his voice at the thought. Shanks hums in affirmation. "What about the kids?"
"Uta and Luffy will be fine. They're three months old! They'll survive with dad while we're away."
Mihawk sighs, thinking of little Luffy sharing the same traits as Roger and Uta, being their little princess. "What about our jobs?"
Shanks rolls his eyes and complains, "You're a writer; you can take a break."
"But you can't," Mihawk replies, his words punctuated with a scoff. "You have to go back to work tomorrow, remember?"
"And for the rest of my life, yeah, yeah, I get it."
"The rest of your life," Mihawk continues. "Nice to think you're not considering quitting."
"But I want to!" Shanks interrupts, dismayed. "So, is it a yes? Are we buying this house?"
"Are you sure it's because you want to fix it and not because it's the cheaper option?" Mihawk teases.
"Let me tell you I'm offended!" There's a sardonic smile on the corner of his lips before changing his expression to a softer one, more like himself. "But no, even though I can, I want to rebuild this place with you. Let's make this place a home."
Mihawk looks again at the sign indicating the house is for sale and glances back at its walls full of mold and dirt. He thinks that maybe, at some point, this dilapidated house must have been majestic. He looks at the windows covered with boards, the vines that might reach the interior, and the weeds growing around the structure as if nature had swallowed the land until it became nothing.
And against all his judgment, he doesn't even want to think about the dust.
"We'll buy this house," he replies. The redhead blinks and smiles broadly. He wishes he had brought a better camera; however, the photo he takes next isn't bad.
The picture of Shanks holding the sign that says they bought a horrible house and feeling proud about it.
Mihawk wakes up. The night before, Luffy had another one of those night terrors that leave him anxious. Uta hadn't even detached from her younger twin, as if simply doing so implied that her brother would disappear. Again. Today is going to be tough; he can feel it because the night before, he could barely sleep. Luffy usually calls these days "winter in spring," and Mihawk has always agreed.
Luffy has a lot of Shanks in him, just like Uta.
He looks at the portrait next to his alarm clock, Shanks holding the sign that says "sold"; on the other side is another photograph. This time the scene changes; it's them and the kids, two years after finishing the repair of their new house after moving. Shanks has a bit of dirt on his shirt, and Mihawk remembers him chasing Luffy. Although it's still a mystery, Shanks couldn't even tell him how he ended up covered in mud.
Mihawk doesn't dare to think about it because he knows he won't be able to have a productive day after doing so. But that dream left him in a bad position. He misses him; he misses Shanks, and it's the only thought that remains latent in his mind. Even before it's just that circling in his head, he remembers that he has to take his children to their therapist, and maybe he can visit his own.
He needs it after that dream. Besides, he hasn't slept well in days.
He really wishes he had brought a better camera.
Uta stirs restlessly, and he turns to observe her; the eight-year-old girl begins to show signs of waking up. Mihawk sits on the bed, preparing for the day and for what will come when he doesn't even have the interest to get up from it. Maybe he could call his editor, let him know the book won't be ready for another three weeks, connect via video call with the children's therapist, and spend the rest of the day in bed with them, watching some TV show that wouldn't even capture his attention.
Although Luffy wouldn't agree. Luffy never agrees to let himself be down, no matter how much he cried missing his dad.
Luffy somehow always was a strong child, even before the incident that changed everything. He resembles Shanks, whereas Uta... Uta resembles him more than Mihawk himself can believe, at least in that sense; the rest is all Shanks. (Although maybe it's just him clinging to the small memories of his husband, as if doing so tells him that Shanks existed, that there was a time when he was there).
Two years have passed since things changed, since he knew Shanks wouldn't return to the house they both rebuilt, to the house Shanks decided to call home.
"Dad, I want to have cereal."
He hears Uta's voice, and he blinks; the girl is sitting rubbing her eyes and yawning. She looks at Luffy and apparently decides not to wake him up; the boy looks peaceful, as if sleeping with them generated some comforting feeling. Mihawk doesn't blame them; he will hug his children all the time if it means erasing any negative thoughts.
But it doesn't always work that way, and he is aware.
"Then we'll have cereal," Mihawk responds in a low voice, with a slight smile growing on his lips. "Anything else you want?"
The girl looks pensive before answering.
"Waffles," she says, "Luffy will want waffles too."
"I know," he replies, remembering the times when his younger son insisted on waffles.
Uta gets off the bed, her hair now long. She said she preferred it that way so he could comb it. Although as curious as it may be, it was always Shanks who knew how to comb her hair. Somehow, Shanks always managed to know everything about their children.
"Dad?" Uta points out, calling him.
"Sorry, Uta. Dad got distracted."
The girl watches him, as if she knows his thoughts, and nods. Christmas is approaching again, another Christmas without him.
"It's okay," she says.
Mihawk understands that he has to start another day without Shanks.