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Kenta didn’t have pets growing up.
Not a dog to roughhouse with around the garden, nor a cat that would curl up on his lap and sleep or even a goldfish that mindlessly swam around in a bowl.
His father considered pets a waste of time and a nuisance to deal with. So he settled for petting the street dogs and feeding the stray cats when Tony wasn’t looking.
It’s a different story now.
He’d been rooming with Babe and Charlie when the two lovebirds had adopted their first dog Yoko, a loveable, scruffy stray that had hung around their street for a few weeks before Babe gave in to the puppy eyes Charlie had subjected him to for months on end.
It seemed like the floodgates had opened and before Kenta knew it, the lovebirds had somehow managed to acquire another dog (Sunny), a stray cat, Mrs.Willow and her two very adorable kittens, Lilly and Daisy.
The apartment got crowded after that and it inevitably led to Kenta finding an apartment for himself.
It’s almost fate really, that he finds her just when he’s missing the presence of other people, sitting all alone in his new living room. She curled up in between the plants in his balcony, a ball of black. Kenta squats down in front of her as she blinks her copper eyes up at him.
She stretches her head up when he extends his hand out, bumping her head against his knuckles. He lets out a startled chuckle before scratching the soft fur of her ears.
The rest is history.
***
Between all the knick-knacks and trinkets he’s bought as decorations, Aster’s cat toys and towers slowly find their space in his home. Babe and Charlie are relentless in their teasing, referring to him as the “cat dad to end all cat dads” and “a single father working to make ends meet” when he buys her yet another toy.
Aster is a sweet little thing, always curling up on his lap as he watches TV and lounging by the window and people watching when he’s at work. But she hates Babe with a ferocity Kenta finds hilarious much to the other man’s displeasure.
“It’s like you specifically trained her to attack me,” the man complains as he cuddles into Charlie’s side, nursing yet another scratch.
“She’s just a good judge of character,” Kenta snorts.
***
Aster’s a welcomed change in his life and he loves her to bits.
It’s why he’s immediately concerned when he notices her eating less and less.
“C’mon Aster,” he cajoles, pushing her food bowl closer to her, “It’s tuna, you love tuna,”
Aster whines so pitifully Kenta feels like his heart is physically breaking. He shuffles closer and waits until she crawls into his lap before burying his hands into her soft her, “What’s got you acting up so much hm?” he murmurs, “Are you sick?” Vines of worry started creeping in, he’d noticed her appetite had decreased and she seemed to be sleeping more and more these days.
He calls in sick from work and schedules an appointment at the vet.
***
“It seems your cat is pregnant, Mr.Kenta,” The vet announces, “Around two weeks or so,”
Kenta frowns at the black and grey blobs on the screen and then looks down at Aster who blinks innocently, “I thought I taught you better than this,” he scolds, “And now you’re a teenage mom?”
She meows at him.
They leave the vet’s clinic with instructions to come back in a month for a checkup and a prescription for supplements he can give Aster to make up for her lack of appetite.
Aster sits on his lap the entire ride back, ever so demure like she hasn’t just given Kenta a life crisis at the thought of becoming a grandfather in his mid-twenties.
“You are in big trouble ma’am,” he says sternly as he opens the door to his apartment. Immediately Aster’s pouncing out of his arms and curling up on the sofa in her spot. He sits down next to her, crossing his arms.
He’s aware he’s being ridiculous, talking to his cat as if she’s a particularly rebellious teenage girl in the throes of puberty and teenage angst.
“So do you know who’s the father?” he asks casually as if she’s capable of answering him.
Aster stares at him.
“Didn’t think so,”
***
Babe and Charlie say it’s only fair they get godparent privileges after he was anointed godfather of their last two adoptees and Kenta’s head is filled with too much information on cat pregnancies to dispute their claim.
He’s also curious about the identity of the father but it’s clear that whoever he is, is a deadbeat seeing as he hasn’t even been back to check on Aster.
“You see how men are?” He lectures his cat, who’s currently grooming herself, “They want one thing from you and the second they get it, they leave you to deal with the consequences. And now see what’s happened, I’m going to be a grandfather before I hit thirty,”
Aster purrs in response and he’s helpless to do anything but give her a treat.
It’s not until a few days after the visit to the clinic that he finds out who the father is.
He wakes up on a Sunday morning and walks into the kitchen, intent on making some coffee when he sees a hideous orange monstrosity humping his beloved Aster right on the balcony.
“Yah!” he shouts, startling the pair as he stomps over to the balcony. Knockoff-Garfield hisses and then immediately makes a break for it, jumping off the railing off his balcony right onto the one next door. Distantly Kenta hears a panicked shout of “Tango?! What the hell are you doing?!”
“So it’s your cat that knocked up my baby!” Kenta yells at the unknown voice.
There’s the sound of something crashing followed by a string of curses but Kenta’s too hellbent on confronting the owner to care much about any of that. Instead he picks up Aster, cradling her in his arms and marches over next door, furiously banging on the wooden door.
“What the hell is your problem?” Kenta is treated to the sight of an unfairly attractive, mildly disgruntled man answering the door and had he not been filled with righteous rage on behalf of Aster, he probably would’ve done something stupid like ask for his number.
“My problem?” Kenta laughs, “My problem is that your cat is a deadbeat bastard that knocked my baby up and then left her,”
Handsome man squints at him, “What,” he says.
“I just saw your cat humping my cat to kingdom come on my balcony,” Kenta says flatly. Handsome man sighs, “It’s too early for this shit,” he mutters.
“It’s nearly 11am,” Kenta points out huffily.
“Whatever,” the other man replies, “I’m going to get some coffee and then we can discuss whatever,” he waves his hands vaguely, “”This” is” he pauses, “You want some?” he offers, “Consider it a truce on behalf of our cats?”
Kenta considers it,“Sounds good to me,” he says and steps in when Handsome man opens the door a bit more to let him in.
“I’m Kim Minsu,” Handsome man says, running a hand through his hair.
“Kenta,” he replies, feeling slightly awkward now that he can feel his annoyance dissipating, “Sorry about banging on your door, I got kinda carried away,”
Kim waves off his apologies, “Don’t worry about it, how do you like your coffee?” he asks, moving towards the kitchen.
“Black,” Kenta replies. Aster starts wiggling in arms and he lets her go, watching as she trots off to a cat tower in the corner like she’s been here before, it seems she’s been leading this double life for quite a while. Traitor.
“I didn’t know she was yours,” Kim said, motioning for Kenta to take a seat at the kitchen table, “She shows up sometimes during the day and I just assumed she was a very well-taken care of stray since I never saw a collar,”
“Yeah Aster doesn’t like them,” Kenta replies, “I have her microchipped though in case anything happens,”
“Smart,” Kim pushes a mug towards him and takes a seat across from him, “Now what’s this about Tango being a deadbeat,”
“He knocked up Aster and left her to be a single mother,”
Kim blinks, “Ah,” he takes a sip of his coffee, “That’s not good,”
“Of course it isn’t,” Kenta replies, “I’m going to be a grandfather. I don’t think you realize how heavy that responsibility is,”
Kim chuckles, “Do you always take things this seriously?”
Kenta flushes, feeling his cheeks warm, “Only when it comes to Aster,” he mumbles.
“Cute,” Kim teases and Kenta is sure his cheeks are flaming red now. God Babe would never let him hear the end of this if he found out.
“So how many weeks along is Aster now?”
“Three weeks as of tomorrow,”
“And how many days are they usually pregnant for?”
The conversation continues for a while and a question from Kim has Kenta going off on a tangent of the best kinds of food for pregnant cats. It’s only when he’s emphasizing the importance of adding calcium rich foods into cat’s diets that he realizes he’s been talking non-stop for fifteen minutes that he starts stuttering out apologies for boring Kim.
The other man, who seems to be on a mission to single-handedly fluster Kenta waves him off again, “Don’t be sorry, you’re cute when you’re passionate. Even if it’s about mineral-rich diets for cats,”
Kenta sputters but can’t come up with any sort of retort.
“So what do we do about the kittens?”
Kenta shrugs, “I don’t know, I thought I’d put them up for adoption once they’re ready after they’re born, maybe keep one or two of them,”
“So what do you want me to help with? Adopt half the litter? Child support?”
Kenta’s gonna choke at this rate with how many times Kim’s flustering him, “No!” he says a bit too loudly before reconsidering, “Well actually the child support idea might not be too bad, her checkups at the vets are expensive and it’ll only get more expensive once the kittens are born,”
Kim hums in agreement, “I agree, I don’t mind paying for half the expenses, it makes sense. Besides,” he smirks at Kenta, “I don’t like to disappoint my partners and I’m sure as hell not going to let my cat do so either,”
Kenta looks away at the pointed comment and watches as Aster hisses at Tango who’s slowly been inching towards her. Attagirl.
Kenta smiles at the sight.
Kim offers breakfast but Kenta’s sure he’ll do something stupid if he stays any longer so he bids goodbye but not before allowing Kim to give him his number to text him whenever he needed.
“Anytime you want” Kim had said with a wink as he handed the phone back to Kenta, his fingers lingering. It’s driving Kenta crazy and he’s only known this man for a few hours, god help him if this ends up going somewhere.
“I don’t know whether to scold you more for letting that cat near you or thank you for introducing me to that Adonis,” he tells her seriously as they return, “If I die from being flustered, I’m blaming you,”
***
Kim becomes a permanent member in their lives after. As does Tango. It seemed Kim was just as determined to make sure his cat wasn’t a deadbeat as he said. He brings Aster extra treats, the gourmet ones that Kenta can only afford to splurge on once a month and joins them on the vet checkups.
Those visits usually end in trips to the ice cream shop down the street or walks in the parks (Dates, Kenta’s mind traitorously whispers). Kim’s fun to hang out with, barring the way he’s dead set on flirting with Kenta until he’s a blushing puddle of mush.
Aster sits peacefully in her carrier, content with the snacks they feed her periodically.
Kim also becomes a semi-permanent resident in his apartment, showing up with takeout for dinner and a list of movies to watch when Kenta texts him saying he’s bored. Those nights usually end up with them sprawled across the couch, a cat curled up on each of their laps.
“What do you think the colour of kittens will be?” Kim asks Kenta on one such evening, stuffing his face with a slice of pizza.
Kenta shrugs, “Depends on Aster’s coat colour genetics,”
“How so?”
“Well the orange gene is only found on the X chromosome and seeing that Tango is orange, the only conclusion is that he has the dominant Orange gene in him. But Aster’s genes are a bit more tricky,”
“How does it make a difference?” Kim asks, adorably confused as he shifts closer.
“Well she’s got no orange patches anywhere which rules out the presence of any orange colour alleles , nor is her coat diluted which is just a fancy word of saying her coat is dark and solid but since she’s got a fully black coat it can either mean she’s got the dominant homozygous allele for black pigment or she’s got a heterozygous—oomf!”
He’s cut off at the as a warm pair of lips press against his. Instinctively his hands come up to clutch at Kim’s shoulders, the other man’s a long line of warmth against his body as he presses Kenta further against the arm of the sofa. A few seconds pass before Kim pulls back and Kenta’s left panting for breath.
“You are way too cute when you talk about cats. And when you talk about science. And just. Talk. In general.” Kim manages to get out, still hovering above Kenta, “Sorry I sprung that on you, I should’ve said—”
“I’m not complaining,” Kenta breathes, pulling Kim in by the collar for another kiss.
“I’ve been wanting to do that ever since the day you nearly broke my door down,” Kim sighs, collapsing on top of Kenta as they pull apart for air. His lips are red and swollen and Kenta’s under no illusion that his is probably in a similar state.
“I thought you were doing it as a joke,” Kenta admits and Kim lifts his head up from where he’s resting it on Kenta’s pec to glare at him, “I don’t joke about those kinds of things,” he says, emphasising his point by leaning to peck at Kenta’s lips once again causing the other man to chuckle.
“So…” Kim begins after a few moments of silence, “What does this mean?”
Kenta swallows, “What does this mean to you?”
Kim sits up then, eyes determined, “I like you, a lot. I have since you accused my cat of being a deadbeat father. I want to date you, be your boyfriend, do cute cheesy shit and be insufferable cat dads together,”
Kenta laughs in disbelief, “I want that too,” he confesses and watches as Kim’s face lights up in delight.
“You know if you weren’t such a devoted cat dad, I’d call you a golden retriever with the way you look right now,” he teases, one hand coming to ruffle Kim’s hair affectionately.
Kim laughs and moves forward to kiss Kenta again. They end up getting carried away and it isn’t until a mournful meow pulls them back to reality and they turn to see Aster sitting on the coffee table, tail swishing behind her as she stares at them. Tango is lying down next to her, licking his butt.
“Oh my god,” Kenta mutters horrified, burying his face in Kim’s neck “My baby’s too young to see this kind of thing,”
Kim snorts, “Your baby has seen and done a lot worse, remember?”
“Shut up,” Kenta mumbles, poking Kim in the ribs.
“Alright,” Kim laughs, “How about we move this to the bedroom, hm? For the sake of your baby?” he smirks down at Kenta.
“Sounds good to me,” Kenta shoots back, letting Kim pull him up and in the direction of the bedroom.
***
A week and a half later,in the safety of Kenta’s linen cupboard, Aster gives birth to 4 tiny baby kittens in the middle of the night and Kenta calls Kim sobbing, prompting the other to practically bust his door down in a panic only to find out that Kenta was crying from happiness.
The kittens are tiny, wriggly things, barely the size of his palm and they stay up the whole night making sure that they’re all healthy and getting enough food from their mom.
By morning they’ve decided on names and Kenta can’t help but feel proud as he watches Eenie, Meenie, Miney and Meow squirm around in their nest. He video calls Babe and Charlie who coo at the screen and waggle their eyebrows suggestively at him when Kim pops into the video to say hi and Kenta hopes the two of them don’t get to meet his boyfriend for the foreseeable future.
Kim smiles at him like he can tell what Kenta’s thinking before turning back to the kittens while Kenta flips off his friends. He cuts the call with promises from them to come by later and turns to Kim, “So we’re granddads now,”
Kim groans, “I told you to stop calling us that. I’m twenty five, you’re twenty three, we’re not grandparents,”
Kenta scowls but says nothing.
Kim plants a kiss on his cheek, “You’re adorable. Have I told you that before?”
“Several times actually,” Kenta says, rolling his eyes, “It’s almost like it’s the only adjective you use to describe me,”
“It’s the only one that matters baby,” Kim pairs the words up with a squeeze to Kenta’s ass that has him squawking and smacking at Kim’s hand, “Behave yourself, there are babies around!” he hisses.
“The babies haven’t even opened their eyes,” Kim says dismissively, drowning out the rest of Kenta’s protests with a kiss.
“So,” Kim says once he’s satisfied with the way he’s turned Kenta’s brain to mush, “How do you feel about becoming a grandparent so young?”
Kenta stares at him in a daze before words click in his head, “I knew you agreed with me!” he shouts, only for Kim to groan and bury his face in his hands.
“You’re insufferable,” he says.
“But you’re dating me,” Kenta points out, grinning.
Kim beams at him, “Yeah I am,”
Kenta lets himself be pulled into Kim’s arms and they sit there on the floor, watching Aster and Tango groom their kittens and bathe in the warmth surrounding them.
“I could get used to this,” Kenta sighs, feeling a pair of lips press into the crown of his head.
“Me too, baby, me too,”