Work Text:
July, 2000.
It's nearing midnight when the cellphone on Yukichi's desk starts to ring. It does so for less than a second before he snatches it with enough force to make Haruno jump; she has been sitting here in his office with him for "moral support" (her words, not his) after everyone else went home hours ago, knowing he needs the company without him so much as needing to hint at it. It's more obvious than ever before, considering…
"Ougai?" He says immediately after picking up the phone. "Is something wrong? Are you alright? Do you–"
"I believe it is considered impolite not to let someone answer a question after you've asked it, my dear."
Ougai's words are spoken in a gentle tone – one clearly meant to tease him, but gentle, and loving nonetheless – and Yukichi can tell from his voice that nothing serious or terrible is going on, so he breathes a little sigh of relief and leans back in his chair.
"You're right. I'm sorry, my Dove."
"Don't start apologizing for things that don't need apologies, darling." His husband exhales a soft laugh, then says, "It's fun getting to say that to you, you know?"
Yukichi smiles; it's audible in his voice as he replies, "I'm sure. That said… I would still very much like to know why you called me."
"Mmm, yes…" Ougai sighs heavily, and Yukichi can practically see the exhaustion and exasperation on his face. "I need a bit of long-distance help from you, I'm afraid. I know you aren't supposed to come home just yet, so I–"
Feeling a cold jolt of adrenaline and fear pulse through his chest, Yukichi puts one hand on his desk and leans forward, as if preparing to stand up, as he says "Don't worry about that, if you need me at home, I'll–"
"Easy, Papa Wolf," Ougai chuckles again. Yukichi turns his face away in a half-hearted attempt to keep Haruno from noticing as he feels heat rush to it. "Like I said, this can be done long-distance. I just need you to do it, since nothing I do is working."
Settling back in his chair as the adrenaline fades almost immediately, he asks quietly, "What could I possibly do for you from here?"
"I can't sleep," Ougai begins. Yukichi can hear him shift uncomfortably (he does just about everything uncomfortably these days, so that's not anything new, and he can't help but feel guilty every time he notices it), before continuing, "because your son won't stop kicking me wherever he can long enough for me to fall asleep."
"My son?" Yukichi huffs softly, only playful offense in his voice, "It seems he's mine more often than ours these days."
"When he decides to behave, then he's ours. For as long as he's chosen to be a menace, though, he's yours. Especially when that involves him kicking my spine with all the force one would only expect from someone already trained in martial arts like his father."
Caught off-guard by the statement (and the way he can hear the pout on his beloved's lips from here), a true laugh spills from Yukichi's lips before he can stop it, and not even noticing Haruno's shocked little sound and expression at the edges of his sight is enough to stifle it prematurely.
"How cruel of you, to laugh at my suffering! I ought to lock you out of the house for the night, and our bedroom for even longer," Ougai whines. There's a childish petulance in his voice, and for a moment, Yukichi reflects on how something he used to find so off-putting at first has become yet another part of his husband that he finds so precious now.
"I would never laugh at your suffering, my Dove," Yukichi says once he's regained enough of his composure to do so. "Your words simply caught me off-guard. That's all."
He takes a little breath, reaches across his desk to take a sip of the tea he made hours ago that's long since gone cold, then says, "I suppose it's my voice you want, then?"
There's a quiet little breathy sound on the other end of the line, before Ougai murmurs, "Yes. He only stops when he hears your voice." A pause, then he mumbles once again, that petulant tone shining through, "I would have called sooner, but it took a while to convince my stubborn pride that this was the only way."
Yukichi snorts a little good-naturedly. "That's alright. I know firsthand how difficult you and your pride are to convince to accept help."
"You're really pushing your luck, you know," Ougai grumbles. There's no real threat to his words at all.
"Alright, I won't tease you anymore, my Dove." He pauses, listening to the quiet sounds of shuffling on the other end (no doubt from his love getting a bit more comfortable as he settles into the little nest he's started to fashion on their bed). "Has my voice helped as you thought it would?"
"Mhm… a bit, at least. I was worried it wouldn't work at all, since putting your voice on speaker makes it quite a bit softer than in person, but… so far, he hasn't kicked at all. Just shifted, and moved a bit."
Yukichi feels the upcoming shift in Ougai's tone before he even starts talking again, because he lets out a hesitant-sounding sigh right as he begins:
"I wouldn't be telling you the whole truth if I pretended I only called for the baby's sake, though. I, of all people, understand how you must feel right now, between the stress and worry over your people and getting the Agency's affairs in order before your leave, and I'd never want you to choose between being here with me or your duties to them, but I…"
He's silent for a moment, as if thinking about how to word what he wants to say. When Ougai speaks again, his tone is quieter, more reserved, as he murmurs softly, "I know it can't be helped, but when you are at your office, or off meeting with someone somewhere on the Agency's behalf during the day, I feel so alone, even when Kouyou, or Hirotsu, or anyone else is here with me. I'm… I'm used to loneliness, you know I am, but this is… it's different, because…"
This time, in the pause between his words, Yukichi can hear a soft little sniffle and rapid shuffling of cloth, and now he feels his heart ache as he realizes what his husband feels before even he does.
"Because I want you here. On nights like these, I miss you, so much, and I just want you here. Even now that the baby's calm and I'm physically comfortable, I know I still wouldn't be able to sleep as long as you aren't here."
Yukichi swallows down the lump in his throat as Ougai does the same. "Gods, that's so selfish. I shouldn't–"
"Shh. None of that," Yukichi murmurs. "You have every right to be twice as selfish as you are, right now. No one with any sense would deny you that right." He notices Haruno nodding resolutely in agreement, and offers her a little half-grin of silent approval.
"But–"
"Ougai." Yukichi's voice is firm, yet impossibly soft. Once again, he can perfectly see his love's face in his mind, hesitant and nervous and afraid all at once as his expression reflects every insecurity about the love they share in that tender vulnerability he only ever lets Yukichi see and soothe. "I need you to answer my next question honestly. I also need for you not to worry about anything aside from what you feel that you need from me, and what you want me to do. Can you do that for me, my Mourning Dove?"
There's a few beats of silence as Ougai swallows audibly. "I can do that." Another few beats of silence pass, filled only by another quiet shuffle of cloth. "I'm afraid I already know what you're going to ask, though."
Yukichi's tone lightens a bit at that, as does his expression. "I'm sure I've made it quite obvious, haven't I?" He stops to take his own little breath, exhaling softly afterwards. "Do you want me to come home?"
Silence stretches for a good ten or fifteen seconds after the question as Ougai no doubt fights with himself on how to answer. Fearing he may be too overwhelmed to answer, Yukichi speaks again: "All that matters is how you feel, and what you want, my darling."
"Yes."
Ougai's voice is barely above a whisper, and Yukichi's earlier concerns are somewhat confirmed by the loud sniffles he hears next, no doubt indicative of tears streaming down his face. Yukichi feels his own resolve to not cry wavering as well, but manages to push that down for now (at least until he gets home, and doesn't have to worry about the way Haruno looks at him with concern all over her face).
Unexpectedly, he continues, a little louder this time: "I- I want you to- to come home, here, right here, with me, a-and– I– I w-want–"
"Easy, Dove, easy, easy," Yukichi coos, shushing him gently as he does, trying to make sure his husband doesn't spiral into hysterics while he isn't there physically to hold and comfort him, "Just breathe, it's alright. I'll be there as soon as I can. You can hear me, right?"
"I– I can hear you," Ougai murmurs miserably, his voice thick with tears. "Can– can you, just– stay on the line, with me?"
"Of course I can."
"And– you're leaving– when are you leaving? I don't– don't mind, if you– I understand if you can't leave right now, but I…"
Yukichi hesitates. The stack of reports – all of them needing to be reviewed and followed up on if necessary before the next twenty-four hours – still left on his desk he had been looking through prior to the phone call seems more mountainous than it did before. His expression is stormy, as if fighting with himself on what to do.
"I–"
"I'll finish up here tonight. You should get home to him as soon as you can."
Yukichi hadn't noticed Haruno crossing the room until she speaks and rests a hand on his shoulder before he can finish answering, but he shows no sign of that as he tilts his head up at her. He glances back at his desk, weighing her words against his thoughts, then…
"Yukichi?"
At his husband's prompting, the smile on his face previously returns, just as soft and gentle as it was before, as he nods, relenting without any fight at all.
"I'm heading out right now. The words on these papers were starting to blur into nonsense, anyway."
Words on paper hardly mean anything to Yukichi as it is, and they mean even less about thirty minutes later, when he lay curled up with the love of his life and their child he carries in his arms, hands rubbing gentle circles on the curve of his belly, murmuring sweet nothings into Ougai's ear alongside the kisses he presses to the crook of his neck to soothe him further, holding him as close as he can as they both drift off to sleep.