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“Can’t believe I’m actually gonna be a tío,” Kel muses for what must be the tenth time since he came in and saw Mari’s now visibly obvious baby-bump. She smiles at him, and Kel smiles back, looking a little embarrassed like he hadn’t entirely meant to say it out loud.
“You don’t have that much time left to get used to it,” Mari teases. She nudges Kel’s arm. “Are you worried about meeting her?”
“What? No way!” Kel shakes his head fervently. “She’s gonna love me!” He hovers his hand over Mari’s stomach but doesn’t touch, looking to her for permission—which she gives with a nod, smiling amusedly as she’d already told Kel he could touch earlier, but he’s just being mindful of her boundaries which she appreciates—before he rests his palm, gently, against her shirt. His eyes widen slightly at the feeling of the baby kicking. It’s a lot less mystifying to Mari these days—Hero keeps saying their daughter has Mari’s spirit, which makes her feel a little better about it—but she likes that Kel can still get excitement out of it.
Speaking of Hero, Mari glances towards the kitchen, where her husband and her little brother are hard at work putting together lunch. Or probably more accurately, Hero is hard at work putting together lunch while he lets Sunny taste test everything; Sunny has never particularly enjoyed cooking, but he does like to eat.
Asking Hero to make lunch for four people alone is always something Mari hesitates to do. He’ll do it happily, of course, and cooks for even more than that on a regular basis—but that’s actually part of why Mari doesn’t like to expect it of him. He shouldn’t have to worry about work while he’s at home. But while Hero respects Mari’s agency and doesn’t fuss over her (much), she can always feel his eyes on her when he thinks she might be overexerting herself. The way his lip twitches like he’d like to say something before he clamps them shut.
Mari values her independence and all, but privately she thinks Hero might as well just say it if he’s going to do that. His puppy dog eyes, however unintentional they might be, will always be more efficient than anything he could possibly say to chastise her.
Regardless, that’s not why Mari is seated now. She’d be in the kitchen if her dizzy spells weren’t getting worse these days. Her doctor has said she doesn’t have anything to worry about, and Mari has chosen to believe her (because otherwise Hero will run himself ragged worrying) but it does mean that she needs to spend more time off her feet. Annoying, but doable. That’s part of why Kel and Sunny came over today in the first place, to feel the baby kick and keep Mari company while she can’t be up and about.
She looks back at Kel after her ineffective check on her husband’s progress on lunch, smiling at him. “She will,” she promises, resting her hand on top of Kel and squeezing. “I bet you’ll be one of her favourite uncles.”
“Only one of ‘em, huh?” Kel pouts before perking back up immediately. “I mean, I guess I got pretty strong competition in Sunny!” His expression melts into that familiar gooey look he gets whenever he’s thinking about the man in question. Mari brings her other hand up to squeeze Kel’s shoulder. It’s funny how things worked out, really. You’d expect Kel to relax a bit with age, and he has, but he’s just as smitten now as he was when they were kids… Right down to that exact face. Mari can’t help but grin back.
“It’s true, he’s hard to beat,” Mari agrees fondly. “But you’re still going to be up there.” Her honest opinion is that Sunny and Kel together are both so nurturing and kind—albeit with Kel being more obvious about it—that she knows without having to see it that they’re going to be great with her daughter. They’ll probably spoil her, too, but Mari isn’t going to complain about that. She looks wistfully down at her stomach, imagining that she can see the little feet currently drumming up against her abdomen. More than anything else, she wants to give a good life to the little one inside her. A really good life.
The smell of hot chicken noodle soup announces Hero’s presence before he even calls out to them. Kel pops up with an excited grin and bounds over to help carry stuff out, dropping a kiss on Sunny’s cheek as they pass each other on the way. Sunny carries napkins and utensils, and he passes a set to Mari before he sits down on the floor on the other side of the coffee table, folding his legs. There are other chairs, but none are quite close enough to the coffee table to eat, so Mari doesn’t question what Sunny is doing. She appreciates him yielding her and Hero the couch.
As Kel comes out carrying a tray stacked with four steaming bowls of soup, Hero follows closely behind, juggling plates with lightly buttered toast to pair with it. He is only in the living room long enough to deposit his load and plant a quick kiss on Mari’s cheek before flashing the group a quick smile and slipping back into the kitchen. As Mari accepts her warm bowl from Kel, she glances up again to watch her husband return, carrying another tray, this one with their drinks. Just water for now, but for Mari he has a glass of hibiscus juice; she’s been practically living off the stuff since she got pregnant. It helps that Hero makes it better than anyone she knows.
Mari smiles at Hero as he puts the glass down in front of her and earns another kiss on the cheek for her troubles. He drops into the couch at her side, close enough that their legs touch, sliding an arm around her back and starting to massage her shoulders. It feels nice, really nice, enough so that Mari decides to temporarily ignore the fact that it’s Hero who was just in the kitchen doing all the hard work of preparing their lunch to enjoy the touch.
Kel is beaming, already trying to talk through an ill-advised burning mouthful of food, “Tastes great, Hero!”
Can you even taste it? Sunny signs with a knit brow, picking up a napkin to dab a little dribble of broth from the corner of his boyfriend’s mouth. Kel grins at him with a large swallow, and Sunny sighs, but his lip quicks into an endeared smile before long.
Mari takes her time with her own bowl, picking up her spoon and letting the noodles and veggies slide back off into the broth. Hero’s eyes soften a bit as he watches her, and he squeezes Mari’s shoulder, leaning closer and lowering his voice so as not to draw a lot of attention.
“Feeling okay?”
“I am,” Mari promises. She isn’t currently nauseous, or even particularly dizzy. In fact the salty smell of the broth is making her mouth water a bit. “I’m just letting it cool off a little. Kel’s not going to be able to feel anything with his tongue for the rest of the day.”
“Not true!” Kel protests, though his nose is already scrunched up slightly. “I can usually still feel!”
Hero scoffs out a laugh and shakes his head. “Just be careful you don’t actually hurt yourself,” he warns. His eyes drift back over to Mari afterwards, and he smiles, leaning in close again. Mari thinks he’s going to whisper something else, but instead he just brushes his nose against her cheek, gently touching his forehead to her temple. Mari leans into him, and Hero adjusts so she can properly rest against his shoulder, albeit remaining upright just enough so that she doesn’t pour burning soup over both of their laps.
When Mari is situated, she glances up at Hero, still twirling the spoon between her fingers. He has an odd look on his face now, lips parted like he’d been about to speak and eyes unfocused, but he hasn’t said anything yet. Mari puts her spoon down and lifts her hand to twine her fingers with his, squeezing gently to grab his attention.
Blinking, Hero seems to come back to her in real time, a caught-off-guard smile on his face. “Oh, sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Mari rubs her thumb over his knuckles. “What’s eating at you, gorgeous?”
Hero’s ears are faintly pink as he responds. “Nothing, really. I’m happy.” His eyes crinkle gently at the edges, and he leans his face back against Mari’s. She can feel him sigh against her skin. “I mean… I’m nervous to do this, but… Still, I’m happy.”
He doesn’t have to overstate it, especially not with Sunny and Kel sitting across from them. Mari shifts to pick up her spoon with her other hand, mostly just so she can thumb the handle. She gets it. Their own parents created brilliant, shining examples of loving homes—but there was still a learning curve to it. Mari has nothing she would change, going back in time, and she feels nothing but warmth and appreciation for her upbringing… Yet simultaneously, there are so many things she wants to do differently. The pressure can be almost crushing at times.
Despite it, she’s happy too. She brings Hero’s hand to her lips. “I get what you mean.”
“Yeah.” Hero stretches his index finger to brush Mari’s jaw and smiles a little wider. “Your soup is going to get cold if you let it sit for so long.”
“You’d just give me yours then, right?”
“I—of course, but if both of our bowls are sitting out then they’ll both be—” Hero blinks, then breaks into a flustered laugh. “Mari.”
“What? Just making sure you pass the husband test.” Mari pulls off Hero’s shoulder and picks up her spoon, humming appreciatively as she finally takes her first bite. Hero’s always been such an excellent cook. Not due to his technical skills, though those are sound as well, especially so after culinary school… But because Mari can taste it, the heart and the love he puts into his cooking. Eating a bite of his food tastes just like his lips do after a long, hard day of work. The effect on her is roughly the same as well, the way the tension automatically starts to leave her shoulders.
Next to her, Hero is still complaining, a bit of a whine in his voice. “You can’t just say that and not tell me if I passed.”
“Mm, Sunny, what do you think? Does he make the cut?”
Sunny studies Hero thoughtfully, then wiggles his hand in a so-so gesture. Hero makes an offended noise.
“Sorry, Hero,” Kel says, seeming genuinely contrite to contrast Sunny’s cold neutrality. “If it helps, you’ve passed the brother test ten times over!”
Hero sighs, but smiles anyway. “Thanks, Kel.”
Giggling, Mari leans over to press a kiss against Hero’s cheek. She doesn’t say it, but she hopes the gesture conveys that he does pass, even if she has to give him a hard time every now and again. In fact Mari couldn’t imagine being with a better person—a better group of people overall, even.
She reluctantly lets go of Hero’s hand, only to slide her palm along the curve of her stomach, waiting to feel her daughter’s next kick.
It’ll be nice, Mari thinks. Less like starting a family, and more… bringing in a new member. Mari glances sideways at her husband and catches the knowing smile on his face, feels the grin on her own start to widen.
Yeah, exactly like that.