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Tōji was sleeping on his futon and Shiu was sleeping on his own. It just so happened though that in the last months, Shiu’s futon slowly migrated from the living room over to Tōji’s room and then from one corner of that room right beside Tōji’s own. Now their futons were -2cm apart from each other, meaning they overlapped just like Tōji’s and Shiu’s limbs. Soon though, those limbs started moving and rearranging themselves from sleep-induced chaos…
…to purposeful groping and grabbing while they pressed their mouths and chests together. It started slowly while they woke up from their slumber, but soon, their ministrations took on heated dimensions, and their upper bodies weren’t the only things pressed together anymore. Just a little more, and those two old friends would start losing their clothes, then they would silently go to the living room to finish their business…
“Waaaaaahhh!”
…if not for the fact they forgot to ask the one person who dictated their lives for permission to have sex this morning.
“Augh…” Shiu’s groans went from lustful to defeated in an instant; defeated by none other than Baby Fushiguro and that not for the first time since he came back into Tōji’s life.
“Megumi, what it is?” Tōji asked after he turned around to his son who was sleeping on his own futon right beside his father. The 13-month-old baby wasn’t lying down though as Tōji had expected, Megumi was already sitting up while wailing for attention. Tōji realized that meant only one thing: the boy woke up, sat up, and looked around at what his father and his pseudo-housemate were doing, and only then did he decide he didn’t like it.
The end result?
Incessant crying to stop Tōji and Shiu from being close.
The moment Megumi saw that his father’s attention was back on him, he stopped with that immediately of course. Then the toddler decided on his next move which was to climb over Tōji to squeeze himself between him and the other man who was constantly bothering them (him, Megumi, specifically) every day.
Now the newly minted lovers had a cute little barrier between them (again) which meant they could forget about having sex at least until Megumi’s midday nap. Shiu tried to deal with that situation constructively and smiled and cooed at his boyfriend’s child while trying to tuck him into his blanket but that evil baby had other plans and rejected his efforts vehemently by kicking the blanket away and resolutely putting his tiny feet on top of it.
Shiu gave up and laid back down to stare at the ceiling while Tōji laughed from the side before going back to sleep; something someone who cared for an infant since birth was able to do easily which was a category of human Shiu didn’t belong to. Then tiny feet and hands kicked and pushed him until he was at the edge of his futon and that was how most of his interactions with Megumi went.
You’d think Tōji had a better relationship with his son if you looked at the scene that just unfolded in this bedroom… but you’d be wrong. If Shiu wasn’t there, little Megumi’s aggressions and disdain for physical contact would be directed at his father. Like just now when Tōji tried to put his arm over his son for some cuddles which was vehemently rejected by the tiny human until Tōji gave it up for the hundredth time.
“Give me dog!” Megumi said to end the charade of who was allowed to cuddle with him and who definitely wasn’t. Tōji groaned while he turned around again to get his son his plushie while Shiu wondered once more why a toddler so young was able to use 3-word sentences already. Whatever; it wasn’t like he knew anything about child development or raising children for that matter.
The only thing he did know was that Tōji and Megumi sleeping together on the same futon and on the same pillow looked adorable. That was a sight he could wake up to every morning… well, maybe not every morning. Some mornings he wanted to wake up to the sight of naked skin but unless they moved out of this tiny apartment so Megumi would’ve his own room and unless Megumi decided he wanted to sleep in his own room, that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.
Until then Shiu finally tucked Megumi’s legs into his blanket and tried to go back to sleep like the Fushiguros beside him.
Tōji came home from his job to find Shiu sitting on the couch, still at work on his laptop. Tōji had takeout with him because of their rule that no one was obligated to cook if they didn’t have the day off. Megumi rounded a corner just then, ignored his father’s outstretched arms for a hug, and ran past him toward the kitchen.
A normal welcome home greeting for them.
“Did everything go well with him?” Tōji asked his lover. He hadn’t used that question in months but returned to it because of a new development.
“Everything’s fine. He went to the pot without trouble.” And that new development was Megumi learning to go to the toilet instead of filling his diapers every few hours. “But he did decide that sitting on those bedwetting sheets was beneath him. He told me so with the confidence of a salaryman.”
“That’s because my son’s a King,” Tōji said while walking towards the kitchen himself to get some plates and proper chopsticks. “No other child can beat him! There are 4-year-olds out there that can’t do half the stuff he can do!” Tōji watched with amusement as Megumi tried to climb the cupboards to get something from the kitchen counter. Try as he might, being just one and a half years old wasn’t enough to beat a four-year-old in that particular exercise, however.
“What do you want?” Tōji asked his son.
“Big roll of paper towel!” Megumi answered with his slightly unusual grasp of the Japanese language this early in his life. Tōji couldn’t be prouder.
“Here ya go!”
“…this just is one!” Megumi said in his typical defiant tone and cute pout, perfectly cultivated throughout all the months he’s been alive.
“Here, a second one then. Come we’re going to eat now.”
Megumi was, of course, still not satisfied with only two sheets of paper towels but Tōji didn’t see a reason why he should give his son the entire thing. The boy probably wanted to unroll it across every floor, something he had done multiple times in the last month. And Tōji wasn’t wrong, Megumi did want to do exactly that but this time Tōji would regret not having given him what he wanted.
“Megumi, come. We’re eating,” Shiu said after a while, the third time they called for Megumi to get out of the kitchen to join them. But it hadn’t been long since he had eaten last so the two boyfriends let the boy play with his two sheets of paper towels.
Until they heard wet splashing noises.
Tōji and Shiu slowed their eating and chewing until they were able to make sure but yes, Megumi seemed to be hitting wet kitchen tiles in the other room out of their sight.
“Probably spilled his water bottle. At least he has something to clean it up with,” Tōji remarked happily.
“Sounds more like he’s having fun instead of cleaning,” Shiu said after which both men started to laugh at the cute image of Megumi flopping around in his water. They went back to eating their dinner but Shiu froze instead because something about that situation was nagging at him. Something didn’t seem right here…
“Hey, Tōji…” he said with trepidation after having found the source of that nagging which turned into panic with every following second. “Did you give Megumi a new water bottle in the kitchen?”
“No, why? He already has the one from breakfast.”
“Because… that water bottle is right here.”
And to the equally growing horror of Tōji, that water bottle with rocket motives was really there with them on the coffee table where they were eating their dinner. This meant Megumi had found another water source to be able to play around in but there was none in a place he could reach!
Except… one…
Tōji and Shiu threw their chopsticks on the table and rushed forward to the kitchen area just to have their greatest fears confirmed. Megumi was indeed (happily) hitting the wet tiles with his hands to splash a liquid around, two utterly soaked sheets of paper towels to the side. The liquid he was playing in though? Nothing other than his own urine.
“Oh my…” Shiu said, eyes wide while fighting the urge to flee the disgusting scene where more than just towels were soaked through. Megumi heard and answered him with big innocent eyes: “Big roll of paper towel!” he said after which he splashed around some more.
“Yes… yes, big roll of paper towel we would’ve needed here. You’re so right my baby, I should’ve listened to you!” Unlike Shiu’s, Tōji’s shock wore off pretty fast because Megumi had already and in big quantities pissed, shat and puked on him since his birth. This was nothing. “And good thinking not doing this on the rug!”
“Ääähhh… how do we deal with this?” Shiu asked, realising that the nitty-gritty part of being a parent wasn’t conducive to his hygienic sensibilities.
“Bath and clean-up of course, what else?” was Tōji’s simple answer but Shiu found that he definitely preferred doing one of those things more than the other. “Let me guess,” Tōji asked him amused after seeing his face that was still frozen in shock. “You want to be the one to bathe him?”
“I already did that a few times… so I’ll be good at it,” Shiu promised with half a plea in his voice. Tōji didn’t object to his new lover’s wish and told him to wait and watch Megumi until he prepared the bathroom for him. Shiu breathed a sigh of relief before letting his feelings of disgust slowly out. After he managed to do that, watching baby Megumi play around in his own mess didn’t seem so bad anymore.
“Having fun, Megumi?” he asked the toddler.
“Need more big roll of paper towel!” Megumi answered before drawing circles on the wet tiles with his hands.
“And that will be your father’s job, thankfully!”
Now that the scene before him had reached a good level of adorableness, Shiu pulled out his phone to take some cute pics of the kid. He already had a small folder of him with the threat of death to never send or publish them anywhere. Shiu wouldn’t do that of course but in this particular case, Tōji added a new rule about the photos Shiu would take – or better said, was allowed to take in the first place.
“Do not,” Tōji said after taking Shiu’s phone away before he could take a snapshot of that moment. “Ever take an undignified photo of my son. Understood?” Tōji’s voice was firm and without room for argument, so Shiu simply accepted the boundary he was given which he found was not only reasonable but should be enforced by every parent.
“Megumi, do you want a bath now?” Tōji asked next but his voice was back to being cheerful to entice Megumi to cooperate with them; a request that wasn’t always granted.
“Okay!” This time it was thankfully. Megumi understood that he did something dirty in the wrong place so he was agreeable to stop with what he was doing. Tōji went into the wet kitchen and undressed his son right there before taking him to the bathroom and leaving him in Shiu’s care. While Megumi had a fun time splashing around in real water now, Tōji had fun cleaning up after his son.
“Fun” was probably not the right word there but it also wasn’t the wrong one either. In the end, cleaning up tiles was 1000 times better and easier than cleaning a rug. Megumi was a smart kid.
“Tōji,” Shiu asked while reluctantly and with much willpower putting his tie down. They wanted to have fun as a family today and for that, Shiu needed to leave his work persona at home. “Do we want to be discriminated against for being gay or for being trans today?”
“Haven’t been called tranny in a while so trans.” Tōji was debating himself which shirt to wear in this early spring weather. Black? Or colour-coordinated with Megumi? Or maybe… a shirt with the same motif? Would his petulant two-year-old finally allow for that? Probably not so he needed to trick his deceptively talkative son into wearing the same thing with him.
“Megumi, do you want to wear your wolf shirt?”
“Yes!!” was small Megumi’s immediate answer but then – as expected – his eyes narrowed down and he pointed an accusing finger at his father. “But you won’t wear my wolf shirt!” (Every other child at his age would’ve only said “No, no!” and some might’ve been able to add “Not my shirt!” but Megumi was special like that.)
“Of course not.” It was adoringly frustrating how much ownership Megumi held over a simple design just because he liked it. It was as if he lost all the joy from his shirt when Tōji dared to wear his own. “Look, I’m wearing my black shirt.”
“Hmpf!” the boy grunted to show displeased acceptance. “Okay! Give me my wolves!”
Ten seconds later, Megumi had his jacket over his wolf shirt and promptly forgot about it because of that. Now Tōji only needed to wear his own with a good distraction the moment he showed it to Megumi. Then they would be set for the day as a father and son with matching shirts. (It would’ve been good if Shiu had the same shirt but… they weren’t quite there yet with being a complete family.)
“Everyone ready?” Tōji asked after hiding his wolf shirt under his own jacket. Shiu had won his battle against wearing a tie but he was about to lose the one against bringing his work phone with him; luckily for him and his work-life-balance though, Tōji had a fast hand with which he took that phone away, and a mean streak for violence with which he threatened Shiu while throwing the phone behind the couch.
Which was an improvement from the other time when he straight up broke his flip phone in two… or Shiu’s arm when they were teenagers.
“…I guess I’m ready now… Megumi come.”
“Do not patronize me!” came the immediate reply that had Shiu look at Tōji askew. Not only did the young father constantly complain (but out of sight of small eyes) about his son talking back and being standoffish, he also taught his son grownup words (the boy used wrongly) to cement his standoffish nature. Just because he could… Shiu had to admit though the looks on everyone’s faces when they saw a toddler talk in complete sentences and with such a vocabulary were worth it.
“I’m not patronizing you. I just want to help you with your shoes.”
“Hm… okay. You may help me with my shoes.”
Their family trip was now about to start but an unforeseen yet common occurrence put a momentary stop on it: Megumi fell.
On the step to the engawa, the entranceway where they put their shoes, Tōji and Shiu were putting on theirs while Megumi came and fell from that step. Normally, the boy would sit down there and wait for someone to put his shoes on but on this day his feet happened to be in each other’s way which caused him to fall forward over the step down to the ground.
Tōji and Shiu stilled to see how Megumi would react; with crying? Or would he stand up and sit down on the engawa to wait for his shoes? It looked like the latter at first; the boy pushed himself up with his hands and sat on the ground, a little shocked but otherwise okay. Tōji was just about to talk calmly to him and take his hand to help him up but then Megumi rubbed his nose because it was tickling him.
His tiny fist came away with blood which he stared at for two seconds before his eyes watered and his face turned red while he started crying.
“Papa!” Megumi wailed, huge hiccups about to start but Tōji was ready with a handkerchief the second he saw that nosebleed.
“Shh, I’ve got you Memi. Let’s clean that up, okay?” He put the handkerchief under Megumi’s nose while hugging him around his chest and waist to lift him. Megumi grabbed his arm with all his might through his crying while they went to the bathroom to get that nosebleed under control.
Shiu meanwhile had nothing to do except wait.
He had actually been closer to Megumi after he fell, he was even the first to stretch his arms out and take Megumi to the bathroom but… as was completely normal for a young child like that – even for a child who liked his personal space – he turned towards his actual parent for comfort and safety. Shiu wasn’t even an afterthought in this mishap.
He knew that. He understood it. He… was okay with it…
Soon, their family trip started for real and they had a good time with each other despite Megumi’s massive five-minute-pout when he saw his wolf shirt worn by his father.
Having small accidents here and there was common for children; everyone knew that especially Shiu after he witnessed it a few times. Turned out though, much to the shock of a two-and-a-half-year-old boy, that talking like an adult didn’t preclude one from losing your balance like a child after climbing on the coffee table to build a bridge of pillows for your plush dogs to traverse.
There wasn’t any blood this time but Shiu heard that painful head bump from the kitchen. He grabbed his phone while taking huge steps towards Megumi, ready to call Tōji to help the boy calm down while his first cries started to come already.
“You want me to call Papa? I’m calling Papa, okay?” Shiu said, not asking because, in this distressed state, Megumi couldn’t talk or react properly anymore. He loosely held Megumi around his elbow but before he could flip his phone open to speed dial Tōji, Megumi turned around to him and buried his face into Shiu’s chest which froze the man’s fingers.
That… hadn’t happened before, at least not in this kind of situation. Shiu started to softly rub Megumi’s back to help him calm down while his sobs got quieter. He realized with a sudden burst of warmth in his heart how much he liked being needed like this and how much he loved being able to give comfort to the small child he had known since he was a baby.
He wondered if he should still call Tōji for help at all but he found that to be a selfish and bad thought so he still dialled his number. But before he did that, he took Megumi into his arms and went with him over to the couch. There he hugged the boy some more and calmly talked to him until his crying subsided completely and he actively asked to talk with his father.
“Of course! Do you want to dial his number?”
“Yeah…” Megumi sniffed one last time before wiping away his tears with the tips of his fingers. Then he pushed the two buttons to call his father.
“Is something, Shiu?” Tōji asked but Shiu let Megumi answer him.
“Papa… I fell…”
However much he had calmed down at that point, the moment Megumi heard Tōji’s voice and talked to him, his emotions came up again and the boy started to sniff and cry once more.
“I’m sorry, Memi. Does it still hurt?”
“Ye–yeah…”
“Should I come home?”
It wasn’t the most practical thing for Tōji to call off work and come back. It took so much time that it didn’t matter anymore when he did; most of the time Megumi was completely calm again and had forgotten that something like that even happened. Tōji still made the effort though because he didn’t want to be someone like his own father who never cared for his son’s wellbeing.
This time though it wasn’t needed. Megumi declined Tōji’s offer.
“No… I’ll stay with Shiu,” he said while he was already buried deep in Shiu’s dress shirt, smearing his tears and snot all over his tie. “It doesn’t hurt that much anymore.”
“Good. Tell Shiu to read you your new book, okay?”
“O–okay.”
“All right. Want to give him the phone?”
“Okay.”
Megumi did as told but he really didn’t have to, Shiu heard everything Tōji said, his phone wasn’t even 10cm away. He still took it of course because Tōji wanted to say something personal to him; something Megumi didn’t need to hear because he would be barely able to understand it.
“Everything good on your end?” Tōji asked.
“Yes… I’m good, we… we’re good here. He’s still in my arms and calming down.”
“Glad to hear that, Shiu.”
“Yeah… me, too.”