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Miri was full of even more excitement than usual when Kazuki picked her up from preschool. "Papa Kazuki, guess what?"
"What?" he asked, taking her hand as they walked towards the school gate.
"Kotori is going to have a little brother or sister! Her mama is reeeaaally big and the baby will come out soon!" Miri gestured with her free hand to indicate a round belly as she spoke.
"Oh, wow, that's pretty exciting," Kazuki said, smiling. "Is she looking forward to being a big sister?"
"Yeah! And she promised that when the baby comes, she'll bring it to school for show and tell so we can all see it!" Miri's eyes were bright with the prospect of seeing a real live baby.
Kazuki lifted her up to buckle her into the seat on the back of the bike. "Well, that should be fun for your class," he said cheerfully, getting her ready for the trip back home.
"Papa Kazuki?"
"Yeah?"
"When are you and Papa Rei going to have a baby, so I can be a big sister too?"
Kazuki managed to keep from sputtering with laughter, or going wide-eyed with shock, but his smile did take on a certain glassy, frozen quality as his mind ran through and discarded a variety of possible answers. "Ah, well, that's a complicated question," he said at last, and then hastily got on the bike. "Ready to go home?" he said, and took off at a rapid pace before she could ask anything else.
He hoped that by the time they got home, Miri would have forgotten about the question of baby siblings. He distracted her with some TV, and made a production of serving her favourite meal of hamburger steak for dinner, which was always a good distraction.
Rei got home from his physiotherapy appointment just as Kazuki was getting everything on the table. "How did everything go?" Kazuki asked him, concerned. Rei's arm was still not back to normal, and maybe never would be, but Kazuki hoped that at least the appointments helped with regaining some of his strength.
"Mm," Rei grunted noncommittally. He didn't like going to the appointments, but he did, because Kazuki would pester him about it otherwise. "It was fine."
"That's good," Kazuki said, encouragingly. "You'll be back to playing video games in no time."
Rei gave a thin smile. "I can still play games just fine. I just don't win as much as I used to."
"Papa Rei!" Miri ran over to greet him enthusiastically as always, throwing her arms around his leg. "I wanna know when you and Papa Kazuki are going to have a baby!"
Rei's face screwed up like he had eaten a lemon. "What are you talking about?"
"Ahahahah," Kazuki laughed nervously. "One of her friends at school is going to be a big sister soon, and Miri was asking some questions..." His eyes made a plaintive plea for Rei to solve this problem.
"Miri, Kazuki and I can't have a baby together," Rei said, regaining his usual calm.
Miri looked crestfallen. "Why not?"
"Well, there needs to be a mama to make a baby. Two papas can't make a baby on their own," he said, ignoring Kazuki's increasingly frantic waving hands.
"Oh," Miri said, brightening immediately. "So when my mama comes back from her trip, then you can make a little brother or little sister for me!"
Rei realized too late the error of his answer, which would not only require a basic biology lesson but would also involve talking about Miri's mother and her increasingly prolonged absence, always an uncomfortable conversation. "Ah," he said slowly, trying to figure out how to backpedal. "Hm. I don't know..."
Kazuki swept in briskly to announce, "Okay everyone, dinner's ready! Come on, let's eat, we don't want it to get cold!" He gave Rei a stern look over his shoulder as he brought Miri to the table.
Fortunately the meal served as a distraction from the awkward subjects at hand. Miri chattered about her day at school, and neither the topic of babies nor her mother came up again until they were getting her ready for bed. Kazuki had given her a bath and gotten her into her pyjamas, and Rei was just finishing reading her a bedtime story when she said, "I need my baby doll."
By now Rei was used to these tactics for delaying lights out, and rose to get her the requested toy. Miri tucked the doll snugly into bed beside her, saying, "Night night, baby sister."
"Miri, why do you want a baby sister?" Rei asked, curious but keeping his tone even.
"Because then I'd always have someone to play with," she said, lying back down on her pillow next to the plastic baby doll. "An' I can take them to show and tell, an'..." She paused, yawning, her eyes beginning to close. "An' they'd always have to do what I say."
Rei frowned slightly. He didn't have any siblings, but he was pretty sure that last part was far from correct. "You want someone to take to show and tell," he said, since that was the easiest part of what she'd said to address.
Miri nodded drowsily. "Yeah, Kotori's mama is going to bring in her little brother or sister and let everyone see."
"Hm," Rei said thoughtfully. "Let me talk to Papa Kazuki about that, okay? Maybe there's something we can come up with. But now it's time for you to go to sleep."
After they'd showered and were getting ready for bed themselves, Rei said, "Miri's still talking about a little brother or sister. I'm not sure how to explain to her that that's not going to happen."
Kazuki nodded. "Shouldn't we worry, though, about raising an only child, that she'll grow up to be spoiled and selfish and..." He registered Rei's darkening frown and a playful little smile rose on his lips, unable to resist the opportunity to tease his partner. "You know, like you."
"You don't have any siblings either," Rei countered.
"Not that I know of," Kazuki agreed. "But growing up in an orphanage kind of means you don't have a chance to develop the stereotypical only child personality."
"I don't think Miri's selfish," said Rei, sliding under the covers.
"Neither do I," Kazuki said, turning off the light as he joined him. He nestled close to Rei in the warm bed. "She gets plenty of chances to learn how to interact with other kids - sharing, taking turns, resolving arguments - at school. She's doing fine."
"Mm," Rei murmured. "Miri probably just wants something impressive to take to show and tell. I don't think she really means she wants a baby sibling. She doesn't even know what that would mean."
"No longer being the centre of attention, for one thing," Kazuki replied. "A baby would change so many things..." He sighed almost wistfully. "I always imagined having a big family someday."
"Do you want a baby?" Rei rolled over to face him, looking more serious. "Because if you really want one, we could figure out a way to get one." His tone suggested that he knew exactly which laws he would have to break to make that happen, and would gladly do it if Kazuki asked him to.
Kazuki smiled, tracing his hand along Rei's cheek. "I love when you offer to commit multiple felonies for me, it's incredibly sexy of you. No, I don't want a baby - we have enough on our hands with taking care of Miri for now, and we don't need the extra attention focused on us either. One kid acquired under suspicious circumstances is enough."
"That's probably true," Rei said quietly. "Maybe a pet, though..."
"Oh, I see how it is," Kazuki smiled knowingly. "You're still thinking about getting a cat, aren't you?"
"Haven't I proven I can take care of someone?" Rei asked, his expression serious as ever. "I take care of Miri, I take care of you..."
"Mmm, you do," Kazuki agreed, nuzzling into his neck, his hands venturing further down to Rei's hip, pulling him closer. "You take very good care of me."
"So, I could definitely handle a cat, then," Rei continued, seemingly undistracted despite Kazuki's efforts. "It would give Miri something to play with, and she could bring it in to show and tell to impress her friends, and I'm pretty sure it would stop her from asking for a baby sibling, at least for a while."
"You know, you make a compelling argument," Kazuki told him, and gave him a kiss. "You wouldn't even have to commit any crimes to get a cat."
"Unfortunate, but I'll live," Rei said drily.
"Good, I've gotten very attached to you," Kazuki chuckled. "Maybe this weekend we can go and pick one out at the pet store. But in the meantime," he said, his voice growing more suggestive, "you know, just because we're pretty sure we can't produce a baby together doesn't mean we shouldn't try our best... who knows what could happen?"
Rei gave a little huff, the closest he ever usually got to laughter, and rolled on top of Kazuki, pinning him down with his one good arm. "Oh, I see how it is."