Work Text:
“[Name]! [Name]!”
Even though Hana was sitting on your lap, she still called out to you to catch your attention. You hummed in response as you sorted the money in the cash register. You smiled at her, “What is it, Hana?”
“Does [Name] love Shin?”
You were taken aback by her random question.
You glanced at Shin, who was restocking in the snack aisle, not too far from you. His back was facing you and Hana, but you could tell that he was eavesdropping on you with the way the back of his neck blushed, a habit that was triggered whenever he was embarrassed.
Still, he acted like he didn't pay the two of you any attention by making himself look busy with lining up pocky boxes on the shelf properly after a naughty kid knocked them down to provoke him for fun.
You coughed a little as you regained composure before answering, “Of course I do, Hana.”
The young girl pondered a little at your answer. She tilted her head as she asked you another question, “like… Mama and Papa?”
It made you flustered a little at the way she compared you and Shin's relationship with her parents. You saw how Sakamoto was always ready to do anything for his wife, while Aoi loved and doted on him unconditionally. You had never met a more romantic couple than them.
“Erm… Yes?” You answered, still surprised by her query. When you realized you unintentionally sounded ingenuine, you corrected yourself. “I mean, yes. We love each other a lot, just like Mama and Papa.”
Hana cheered at you as she kicked her feet excitedly, “Yay! Hana is happy!”
She went back to playing with the cash register by pushing random buttons and talked with herself, pretending that she's the boss who ran the store and handling a fussy customer.
You adjusted her in your lap. “But Hana,” you began to ask your own question, interrupting her roleplay. She didn't mind. She looked up to you and tilted her head, waiting for you to continue. “Why did you suddenly ask about that?”
Even though you were curious, you were not prepared to hear her answer.
The girl gave you a bright smile. If her smile was the sun, then you would had been blind right away. “Because Hana wants [Name] and Shin to get married so they can have a loooot of kids!” She exclaimed cheerfully. “Then Hana can have a lot of friends too!”
“What!?”
Shin was the first to react, he didn't care that he was caught eavesdropping anymore. He didn't notice the last pocky box that slipped out from his grip and fell to the floor with a thud as he whipped his head around towards Hana, who was still smiling innocently in obliviousness.
Shock was written all over his face. You didn't know that it was possible for someone to turn red from the bottom all the way to the top of their head, you could even see the invisible steam coming out from his ears. You guessed it was an Esper thing.
He stood there, frozen. He was still processing her words. He only snapped out of his trance when Hana continued to demonstrate her genius idea.
“When people get married, they can pick a baby together at the hospital! Just like Mama and Papa. But you can get more than one baby.” She explained with full confidence. “If Shin and [Name] get married, then they can have babies too! That means Hana gets new friends, and she can show them off to her other friends! Hana is smart, right, Shin?”
“O-oh!” Shin widened his eyes slightly. Although his face was still flushing red, he managed to calm himself down from his overreaction. He then smugly rubbed underneath his nose with his index finger, “Heh… You think I'd be a good dad, Hana?”
He never thought about it before, he believed that even marriage was something that's too early for the two of you to think about. But he suddenly found the idea of having children, adopted or not, and starting a family of his own with you didn't sound too bad.
A certain red haired girl popped her head in from behind the other aisle. Her face grimaced at the young man in disgust, she couldn't help herself from crushing his dreams to brought him back to reality. “No one said that, you weirdo.”
“Grkh! Lu…!”
“And I'll be the fun uncle!” Heisuke chimed in. No one noticed the energetic man had already entered the store five minutes ago, everyone was too entertained with the idea of your (possibly future) kids. “I would spoil them rotten, yo! I'll buy them tons of toys and snacks~”
Lu raised a brow at the spiky haired man and crossed her arms, “You can barely afford to feed Piisuke by yourself.”
Heisuke turned around to face a corner, away from everyone, and slumped his shoulders disheartenedly with Piisuke joining him by his shoulder. You could feel the gloomy aura radiating from the both of them. The small bird let out a depressing “Pii…”
Shin put his hand on his hip and used the other to point at Lu in annoyance. “And you think you're better than us!? How would you take care of our kids, then? Making them drink canned beers every morning for breakfast?”
You couldn't help but blush at how he emphasized the kids that belong to you and him. You were thankful that everyone was too busy arguing to notice your face heating up. Hana already lost interest in the scene before her and went back to playing pretend with herself, already used to seeing the two quarreling.
A vein popped on Lu's forehead. “I won't feed them with just any beer, dumb ass! I have good taste!” She rolled her eyes and scoffed, as if Shin just said an unfunny joke infront of her. “I'll teach them to drink good liquor from my homeland at their early age so they can be strong like their auntie!”
“That's even worse!”
You watched them argue with Heisuke and Piisuke still brooding in the corner. Lu and Shin were completely lost in their own world as their arguments shifted to insults and name-calling, completely unrelated to the topic.
They didn't even give you a chance to voice your opinions, but you were thankful as you didn't want to be involved in their childish conflict. You hoped they could quickly move on and forget about the talk of your non-existent kids with your boyfriend so you could go on with your day without your friends embarrassing you, unintentionally or not.
“I hope what they said is true,” A voice spoke up. Aoi was already beside you with her elbow on the counter and her chin rested in her hand. You didn't know how long she was already there, and how much she heard. She gave you a closed eye smile, “I always wanted to have grandchildren. I look forward to it, [Name]~”
She only giggled at your stunned, embarrassed face.
Oh, boy.
bonus:
[ Later on that night, when the family was eating dinner: ]
“Papa, how do people make babies?”
Aoi awkwardly laughed at her daughter's curious question as the lenses on Sakamoto's glasses cracked. “Oh, dear…”
Shin jumped out from his seat in panic as he looked at Sakamoto in fear and confusion.
“Gah! Why did you imagine stabbing me with a chopstick!? I didn't even do anything!!!”