Chapter Text
When Mari’s second Christmas and second birthday passed in a blur, Oikawa allowed himself to freak out.
He felt like the last year passed faster than he could even process, and now he was preparing to leave for Argentina in September. He was excited for what Argentina had to offer for his career, but the closer the day of his flight became, the more panicked he felt inside.
Was he really ready to leave his mate and child in a different country? Did he have enough connections over there to support him? How was he gonna handle the time difference, not to mention the 28 hour flight each way? He just didn’t know. He was getting cold feet.
Today was the last time he was seeing Takeru before his flight and the young alpha was not taking it well. To be fair, neither was Oikawa, but he needed to stay strong for his nephew.
The two were curled up on Oikawa’s couch. Aimi still didn’t allow Oikawa to babysit Takeru at Iwaizumi’s place. Takeru was thirteen and didn’t even really need a babysitter anymore, he just liked spending time with Tooru when his mom went out for mother-daughter days with his sister.
“I don’t want you to leave,” Takeru mumbled through tears. Takeru almost never cried, and Oikawa was way out of his depth on how to handle it.
“I know, but I’ll be back,” Oikawa assured, smoothing his hand over Takeru’s head. His hair was due for a shave, but it wasn’t long enough for Oikawa to run his fingers through.
“Ever since you moved out, I barely see you,” Takeru complained. “If you move to the other side of the world then I won’t see you ever ,”
“RuRu, you have a phone now, yeah?”
“Yeah,”
“You can call me whenever you want,” Oikawa kissed the side of Takeru’s head. “And you can call Iwa whenever you want too,”
“I know, I just…” Takeru trailed off.
“What’s really bothering you, bud?” Oikawa asked, knowing this was about something deeper.
“This is embarrassing,” The young boy mumbled.
“Feelings aren’t embarrassing! Tell your favourite uncle all your woes,” Oikawa noogied his nephew, who flailed his arms and pushed the older man away. “Seriously though, RuRu, what’s wrong?”
“You’re the only older male figure I’ve ever had in my life,” Takeru started, a classic Oikawa pout on his face. “You’re like the dad I never had and you’re leaving, ”
“RuRu,”
“I’m sorry, I never told you that I see you as a dad cause I thought it’s weird,” The young alpha rambled.
“It’s not weird, don’t worry. I understand how you feel,” Oikawa cupped Takeru’s cheek. “I love you, RuRu, and that’s not gonna change just because I’m far away. You can still call and text me whenever you want and I promise I’ll answer,”
“I just don’t want you to leave,”
“I know,”
“But I know you have to,”
“I do,”
There was a pause before Oikawa spoke again.
“Can I ask you to do something, RuRu?” Oikawa asked, smiling softly at his nephew.
“Yeah,”
“Can you take care of my girl for me?” He asked, blinking slowly at his nephew. “Make sure she’s okay for me when I’m gone?”
“Can’t Iwa do that?”
“He can, but I also want you to do that. I want you to feel connected to my family while I’m gone, and if you spend time with Mari, I think you’ll feel a little better,” Oikawa pulled his nephew closer to him again. “You’ll be around people feeling the same feelings about my absence as you,”
“That makes sense,” Takeru looked down in thought for a moment before nodding.
“So you’ll do it?”
“Yeah,”
“Good,” Oikawa hugged Takeru tight. “I love you so much, RuRu, now let’s have fun today, okay?”
Takeru giggled, “Okay,”
~~~
“What are you doing, baby?” Oikawa walked into Mari’s room to see the little girl standing on her chair. Mari was in her independent phase and would often kick and scream until she was left alone, which led Oikawa and Iwaizumi to buy a video baby monitor to make sure she wasn’t getting into anything. Usually she just played with her stuffies or read her books, but today she was being dangerous.
“Sheep!” She cried, pointing at the shelf above the chair where a decorative sheep plushie sat.
“You want the sheep?”
“Yes, daddy,” She continued pointing at the stuffie. “Sheep please,” Oikawa smiled, grabbing the sheep off the shelf. Mari had developed a love for farm animals recently, abandoning her previous love of fish.
“Can daddy play farm animals with you?” Oikawa asked in a soft voice, following Mari to the corner of her room where she always played with her toys.
“No, daddy,”
“How come?”
“I play,” Mari pointed to where she was sitting, “You sit,” She said, and pointed to where Oikawa was sitting.
“Okay,” Oikawa smiled, watching Mari babble and play with her plushies. She was wearing little pink overalls. She insisted on wearing them because farmers wear overalls. Iwaizumi put two french braids in her hair as well to keep it out of her face while she played. It was her favourite hair style, but Oikawa couldn’t figure it out for the life of him.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Dinosaur,” Mari pointed at the brachiosaurus figure on her dresser. Her room went from a cohesive cat and duck themed nursery to Noah’s arc. She had animal figures and plushies everywhere . Every time Iwaizumi or Oikawa cleaned her room, it took her all of two hours to fling her toys all over the place again. To be honest, keeping her room clean was all about finding a healthy balance between dangerous mess and chaotic organization.
“You want the dino?”
“Yes,” Mari nodded. Oikawa shuffled across the floor, grabbing the dinosaur from the dresser. He shuffled back over to the corner, holding the dinosaur out to Mari. “No, daddy. You dinosaur,”
“I get to play with the dinosaur?” Oikawa questioned, smiling.
“Yes,”
“And what does Mari want the dinosaur to do,”
“Be friends with farm,”
“Of course, farmer Mari,” Oikawa passionately played the part of the dinosaur, doing funny voices and making Mari laugh.
After an hour of playing, Mari got bored and decided to move onto something else.
“Daddy, park please,” She requested, crossing her arms over her chest. Oikawa chuckled. Mari’s blunt sentences made him smile. She reminded him so much of Iwaizumi.
“Of course, princess,” Oikawa picked Mari up, heading down the stairs. “What park do we wanna go to?”
“Blue please,” Mari answered. The omega kissed her cheek, causing the toddler to push Oikawa’s head away. “No kiss please,”
“Sorry, princess. No more kisses,”
Oikawa and Mari spent a few hours at the park. Mari had fun running around the play structure, and she especially loved the swings. Her love of motion never really went away and now that she could speak, she always requested (nay demanded) that Iwaizumi take her on drives.
She giggled profusely as Oikawa pushed her on the swings.
By the time she was bored of the park, she was covered in dirt and her hair was all over the place. She looked thoroughly played out.
“Tired, honey?” Oikawa asked, smoothing his hand over the top of her head.
“Yeah,” Mari whined, tucking her face in Oikawa’s neck.
“Can daddy give Mari a kiss?”
“Yes please, daddy,” Mari lifted her face from Oikawa’s neck momentarily, letting the omega kiss her cheek.
“Better?”
“Nap,”
“Yes, nap, and then dinner with papa,”
“Mmm, papa,” Mari tucked her head back into Oikawa’s neck for the final time, drifting off into sleep as Oikawa walked home.
~~~
Later that night, the little family was curled up in bed with the tv going in the background. Mari insisted on sleeping in their room that night, as she did at least 3 days a week. She looked just like Iwaizumi but her personality was basically just mini Oikawa. Iwaizumi bathed her when he got home from work and dressed her in the cutest little cow onesie for maximum comfiness during their cuddles.
Oikawa and Iwaizumi were lying side by side on their backs, with Mari sitting on top of Oikawa’s chest.
“Papa kiss,” Mari requested, reaching her little hands out to Iwaizumi. The alpha obliged, kissing her cheek before wrapping an arm around his omega to pull his mate and pup closer. Mari leaned into Iwaizumi’s touch, mumbling, “Tired,”
“Go to sleep then, baby,” Iwaizumi rubbed Mari’s back.
“Lay down, princess,” Oikawa suggested, shifting Mari so she was laying down on his chest instead. “Do you want a lullaby?”
“No, daddy,” Mari whispered. “Just cuddle,” Oikawa wrapped his arms around Mari loosely, leaving space for Iwaizumi to continue rubbing her back. Oikawa looked up at his alpha with a silent request. Iwaizumi smiled in response, leaning forward to give Oikawa his desired kiss.
“I’m gonna miss this,” Oikawa mumbled sadly.
“Shh, don’t think about that. You still have a few weeks,” Iwaizumi responded, silencing Oikawa with another kiss, his hand still rubbing his daughter’s back.
“I just can’t believe that two years have passed so fast. I wanna stay here with you and Mari forever and forget about everything else,” Oikawa admitted. “I remember when she was still in my tummy and I miss it,”
“Everything will be okay, Tooru,”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I know you,”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’ve been through shit, and you overcome any obstacle that comes your way, and I know you’ll be just fine in the end here, too,” Iwaizumi rested his head on top of Oikawa. “You’re destined for greatness, Tooru,”
~~~
It was officially the night before Oikawa’s flight. He was leaving the next afternoon to Argentina. He spent the entire week beforehand in a packing frenzy because he didn’t wanna forget anything. Oikawa even made Iwaizumi wear a hoodie for a day and scent it before putting it in an airtight plastic bag so the scent would stay on it on the flight over. It wasn’t his proudest moment, but he was going all the way across the world here.
Once he had nothing left to pack, he was at a loss on what to do. How should he spend his last moments with his mate and pup?
They mostly went business as usual. They had dinner, gave Mari a bath and tucked her in together before curling up in bed together.
“Haji, I’m fucking terrified,” Oikawa admitted once they were alone.
“Me too,”
“You’re not supposed to say that,” Oikawa pouted, punching Iwaizumi’s chest weakly. “You’re supposed to say that I’ll do fine and everything will work out.”
“I can say that while also being terrified,” Iwaizumi stated, a gentle smile on his face. “Tooru, you’re my rock as much as I’m yours. I don’t know what I’m gonna do without you, but I have faith that you’ll be just fine in Argentina,”
“You’re going to California next year,”
“Only for a few months,”
“Still,” Oikawa shifted in Iwaizumi’s hold. “Mari’s gonna be all alone,”
“Mari will have both of us on video chat, and she’ll have my dad and Suga, and Makki and Mattsun,” Iwaizumi assured, holding Oikawa tighter like he desired. “She’ll be just fine,”
“I’m just worried this will change us,”
“It is gonna change us, but not in a bad way. The dynamic has to change because you’re across the world, but I’d never let our relationship change to be worse, Tooru. I love you way too much to ever let us fail,” The alpha kissed his omega’s head gently.
“I love you too much to let that happen too,” Oikawa said wetly, tears forming in his eyes. “I’m gonna miss you guys so much,”
“And we’ll be here missing you too, baby,” Iwaizumi responded, his eyes also teary. Oikawa sniffled.
“Haji?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we switch rings while I’m gone?” The omega asked, looking fondly at his promise ring.
“Yes, of course,” Iwaizumi slid his ring off his finger, watching Oikawa do the same. They gently put their rings on the other’s fingers, sniffling softly. “Now I’ll always think of you when I see it,”
“Me too,”
“Remember what I said when I gave this to you?”
“That it’s a promise that you’ll always be here to come back to,”
“Exactly,”
“Haji, can I ask something?” Oikawa pulled away from the alpha slightly so he could look in his eyes. Iwaizumi nodded in response. “Are we engaged?”
“Technically?”
“Explain,”
“I consider it an engagement, but I wanna do it properly one day,” The alpha started to explain, holding their left hands together tightly. “Take you somewhere nice, not in front of my dad during Christmas, and this time not forget my entire speech the second you see the ring,”
“So we’re engaged but you want a do-over,” Oikawa clarified, a smile on his face.
“Yes,”
“We’re engaged,”
“We are,”
“Haji, we’re engaged,” Oikawa repeated, tears streaking down his face.
“You’re gonna be my husband one day,”
“Mari can be the flower girl,” Oikawa laughed, still crying.
“She’ll be the cutest flower girl ever,” Iwaizumi laughed along with Oikawa.
“I don’t wanna sleep,” Oikawa admitted after a bit of a pause. “If I sleep, it’ll be tomorrow, and I’m not ready to leave you,”
“We can stay up. Probably not a good idea, but I’m not ready for you to leave either,” Iwaizumi hugged Oikawa tight.
“Talk to me about anything, Iwa-chan,”
And so he did. The two talked about anything and everything until the sun peeked through the clouds and Mari eventually barged into the room, as she did every morning around 8am.
They went about their morning activities normally, but they couldn’t shake the somber mood. Mari didn’t really pick up on it, though, continuing to demand Oikawa do things for her like always.
When it was time to leave for the airport, Oikawa couldn’t hold his tears in. He spent the whole 5 hour drive there crying his eyes out with one of Iwaizumi’s hands gently squeezing his thigh. Mari was in the back babbling, holding her sheep plushie.
Oikawa’s tears only got worse at the gate.
“I love you,” He cried, wrapping his arms around Iwaizumi and Mari as tightly as he could.
“I love you too,” Iwaizumi murmured, kissing the taller man’s cheek.
“Why daddy cry?” Mari asked, confused.
“Daddy’s leaving for a little while, princess,” Oikawa explained, a sad smile on his face.
“Why?” She tilted her head in confusion.
“Daddy’s gotta go play volleyball somewhere else for a bit,” Iwaizumi explained, bouncing Mari on his hip. The toddler looked down for a minute, seemingly pondering something before looking back up at her omegan dad.
“Daddy, kiss,” Mari requested, reaching for Oikawa. The omega took the toddler in his arms, squeezing her tight as he kissed her head.
An announcement played over the speakers.
“That’s me,” Oikawa mumbled sadly, gently handing Mari back to Iwaizumi.
“Baby, how about we give daddy your sheep?” Iwaizumi suggested.
“Why?” Mari asked, taking her sheep back from her papa.
“So daddy won’t be lonely when he’s gone and he’ll think about you every time he sees it,”
“I’ll take good care of him, baby,” Oikawa smiled, holding his hands out.
“Okay. Daddy sheep,” Mari handed the sheep plushie off to Oikawa.
“Thank you, baby,” He held the sheep close to his chest. “I gotta go now,” Iwaizumi nodded sadly.
“I love you,” He said, leaning forward to kiss Oikawa.
“I love you too,” Oikawa kissed Iwaizumi again. “Bye, bye, Mari. I love you, baby girl,” He kissed Mari’s cheek before stepping away from the both of them. He took a deep breath before grabbing the handles of both his suit cases, turning around and heading for the gate.
He looked back at Mari and Iwaizumi one last time, seeing Iwaizumi wave for both of them with tears in his eyes. Oikawa gave him a weak smile and turned back around, walking through the entryway.
Here goes nothing , he thought as he got closer to the plane.
It was now or never. Everything he ever worked for in volleyball came down to this, but was it really worth it if he had to leave his family behind?
He wasn’t really sure of that yet.