Work Text:
“Do you want to take a snack with you? It’s gonna be a long night.” You look through the pantry and pull out a bag of trail mix.
Yuuji yawns and takes the bag. “Thanks!”
You hum, pulling out some peanut butter crackers and handing him them, “Put these in your carry-on, airport food is way too expensive.”
Yuuji thanks you again, putting down the trail mix on the counter to open his burgundy backpack and stuff the crackers in. You wrinkle your nose when you see the state of his bag. Items are stuffed in like sad little sardines—he’ll be lucky if he can find his phone cord, let alone the portable charger you gifted him for his trip. Oh well, he’ll figure it out. You’re sure Megumi will be willing to let him borrow one. Knowing Megumi he probably brought two chargers, one to lend to Yuuji and the other to lend to Nobara while his fully charged phone sits peacefully in his pocket.
You let out a laugh at the thought, gently pushing Yuuji out of the way and helping him zip the backpack closed. You sling it over your shoulder and pat his arm, “Go use the bathroom one more time, I’ll bring this to the car.”
“Okay sweet, thanks!” he responds, scooting past you as he runs down the hall to the bathroom.
Your socks pad across the tiled floor of the kitchen to the rug in the hallway that leads to the front door. With a squeak, the door swings open and the warmish air of the midsummer night spills into the cool AC of the foyer. You wrinkle your nose with a smile, the air smells like freshly cut grass, sprinklers, and nostalgia. You remember going to Italy with some of your friends a few years ago during college, and now Yuuji is flying off for the first time to Iceland for his own adventure.
You smile, not minding how your socks get damp from the wet pavement as you walk towards the SUV in the driveway and swing Yuuji’s bag into the backseat. A whoosh of hot car air sends your bangs skittering across your forehead. With a flick of your wrist, you set them back into place and turn, stepping directly into a wall of muscle, hidden only by a tight fitted black T-shirt.
“The fuck you smiling about?” asks the wall, which is really your husband, Sukuna Ryomen, who is steadying you with a large hand as you stumble back from his chest. Despite his words, his tone is steeped with a warmth he miserably fails to hide.
Your fingers curl around his bicep as you lean into his grasp, “Nothing.” You respond, drawing out the vowel while you smile up at him. “Where have you been?”
He grunts, letting you nuzzle into his forearm for another split second before retracting his hand. His arm extends as he reaches over you, pushing the backseat door closed before casually letting his arm drop to your shoulders. “Checking the flight schedule. They pushed it back another half hour.”
An annoyed hiss passes through your lips and you look up at him, “Really? Oh no…do you think they’ll push it back further when you’re driving there? What if you have to come all the way back.”
His sanguine red eyes flick down to yours, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth at your concern. “Don’t sweat it.”
You wrinkle your nose, allowing Sukuna to lead you away from the car towards the porch. The already warm night becomes toasty the longer you’re glued to his side. You relish in his warmth and the smell of his pine scented bodywash that tickles your nose pressed against his tee.
The front door bursts open and you feel Sukuna’s fingers tighten on your shoulder before he reluctantly lets you go. Yuuji hops down the steps, grunting as he lands, “I’m ready to go!”
Sukuna steps back as you open your arms to give your nephew a bear hug and a thousand well wishes. He steps back, waving at you and hopping towards the passenger side. You wait expectantly, looking up at Sukuna who’s close enough now to the driver’s side to hop in. You narrow your eyes at him, an eyebrow raising just a hair. He huffs and steps forward again, enveloping you in a bone-crushing hug, just how you like it. You exhale, pressing your face into his chest.
“Text me when you get there,” you mumble.
“Mm.”
“And make sure you tell Yuuji to be safe and have a good flight—Nobara and Megumi too.”
“Yep.”
“Oh, and also don’t speed, you’re leaving plenty early.”
Sukuna pauses before tilting his head down, “You done yet?”
You turn your head up, chin resting on his chest as you look up at him with love in your eyes, “Are you sure I can’t come with you?”
“You have an appointment tomorrow morning.” His voice is dry, but his eyes are telling you if he didn’t have the amount of self control he carries, he’d have tucked you into the back seat hours ago.
“Boooo.” You pout and look away, resting your cheek against his chest. You can hear Yuuji watching reels faintly from the car, giving you both your moment. You feel bad making him wait so you pull back a little.
Sukuna grunts, pulling you in for just one more squeeze before letting you go. “Get some sleep.”
You fiddle with your hands, making a stink face at him. “Yeah yeah…”
He slides into the driver’s seat with a thump, pulling the door closed behind him. You motion for him to roll down the window and lean into the car. “Bye Yuuuujiii, have tons of fun and send lots of pictures and don’t do anything stupid okay?”
He laughs, giving you a thumbs up, “‘kay! See you soon!”
You turn to Sukuna and grin at him mischievously, “Bye Ryo, I love you, drive safe, and remember to text me.”
With a huff, Sukuna pushes you out of the window. Yuuji cackles behind him as his uncle’s ears slowly go red.
“Bye,” he grumbles.
“You’re forgetting something.” You sniff, looking up at him with big doe eyes he could never say no to.
He clicks his tongue, visibly embarrassed as he leans forward and gives you a quick kiss. When he pulls back he murmurs, “You too, get some sleep.”
You beam up at him and his embarrassingly deep blush, nodding as you wave at the two. “Byeee!! Be safe!”
Yuuji is still laughing as he waves and the car begins to back out of the driveway. You see Sukuna reach over and smack Yuuji, who only laughs harder. You keep waving until the car is all the way down the road, out of sight.
Once your hands drop, so does your mood. The night surrounds you, insects chittering and chirping in the trees. With a sigh, you tread inside. It occurs to you that your socks are damp right before stepping over the threshold—you opt to take them off so you don’t slip, or get the freshly vacuumed floor messy. You always use Fridays as a cleaning day and Sukuna adopted that habit, making an effort to be home early to clean with you.
You trudge down the hallway after locking the front door, already missing him. It’s hard not to be clingy when your husband is 6’5” and serves as a human heater to cuddle when the AC is too cold, or your cramps hurt, or you’re just bored and want to bug him but end up napping instead. He makes you feel safe, so safe that it’s torture to know you won’t be sleeping with him tonight.
You look at the damp socks in your hand and decide you should bring them to the hamper in your bedroom and go to sleep like he said…but an evil voice in the back of your head tells you you won’t be able to sleep if he’s not here. For a moment you try to fight the urge, but then you scoff and toss the wet socks in the direction of the staircase, opting to run to your home office and slam the door closed behind you. Your office is the safest place to be when Sukuna is away, and you’ve decided that you won’t be able to sleep tonight so you may as well work instead.
—
It’s almost 4am by the time Sukuna pulls the SUV back into the driveway. He’d texted you a few hours ago when he arrived at the airport and once more to let you know he was driving home now. You hadn’t replied and he’d rolled his eyes. All that fuss over updating you and you hadn’t even stayed awake to read his texts. He runs a hand through his tousled hair, he’d had the windows open on the highway, hoping the cool air whipping his face would help him stay awake.
Sukuna had had a hard work week, and wanted nothing more than to crash into bed beside you and sleep for at least a few hours before driving you to the clinic tomorrow to get a check up. You’ve been feeling off recently and despite the front he puts up, deep down he can’t help but worry.
The front door lock clicks and a blast of AC hits him as he steps inside. With long, weary strides he makes his way down the hall and takes a right. Directly next to the staircase is a pair of your socks. He grunts in confusion and picks them up, wondering why you’d left a damp pair of socks there. The stairs creak as he makes his way up. He’s careful to open your bedroom door slowly, so you won’t wake up and start yapping or something. When it’s fully open, he creeps inside, glancing at your side of the bed and…realizing you’re not in bed.
With a grunt, he steps forward. Maybe you went to the bathroom? Nope. The door is wide open. He tosses your socks into the hamper and turns in a circle, no sign of you. And the bedspread hasn’t been touched since it was last made.
“The fuck…” Sukuna mumbles, exiting the bedroom and jogging to the stairs. He thumps down the steps, knowing exactly where you’ll be if you’re not sleeping. And he’s not happy about it. Just as he suspected, a soft glow of light spills from your office. He clicks his tongue and shoves the door open, revealing you sitting at your desk, legs swinging as you scribble away at your iPad. Your headphones block out whatever sounds he’d made during his search, blissfully unaware of your husband’s ire. You probably don’t even care that staying up is going to throw your whole sleep schedule into disarray either.
With an annoyed huff, Sukuna flips the light switch a few times and you yelp, startled by the flickering lights. You turn around, whipping your headphones off and gaping at him.
“When did you–?”
He shakes his head, scowling at you, “What did I tell you?”
You sputter, trying to find an excuse that won’t make you look any less guilty than you already do. With quick movements you turn off your headphones and close your iPad. You apparently opt for the safest choice and make no excuses, instead hopping up from your chair to run towards him, throwing your arms around his broad torso.
“I’m sorry, I swear I didn’t mean it… it’s just I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t know what to do so I decided to draw instead.”
He grunts, catching your thighs and pulling you up into his arms, “You didn’t even try.” Despite his obvious annoyance he immediately caves to your pleas and doesn’t berate you.
Your head finds its way to the crook of his neck and you snuggle into his arms, “No I didn’t.”
He sighs, his breath stirring your hair. He would scold you or something, but he’s far too tired for that right now. So he settles for another annoyed huff and climbs the stairs. Your body is like a deadweight in his arms and he knows you’re exhausted whether you admit it or not.
“I missed you,” you mumble, tightening your arms around his neck.
“I was barely gone for five hours.” He crosses the threshold into your bedroom once again, pinching your stomach beneath your shirt and making you squirm.
“Doesn’t matter,” you reply, giggling, as he lays you on your bed, trying to wrap you up in covers and scowling when you pull away.
“Didn’t you miss me too?” You ask as you detangle yourself from the bedspread.
He flips the comforter back and lunges forward, grabbing your ankle and pulling you back to him. You screech with laughter, oversized shirt riding up as he yanks you towards him. His hands plant firmly on either side of your head and you gasp for air, your breath lost from your overtired giggles. You continue to laugh but it becomes nervous as he leans forward over you, scowl deepening. Sukuna would never hurt you, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get frustrated with you. As he scowls you realize you might be toast.
This thought quells your laughter and you gulp. Your hands reach up and smooth his shirt over his shoulders, “I’m sorry?”
His scowl falters for just a tiny moment, almost giving way to a malicious smile. Your stomach drops. “No…no, no, no!” You try to scramble away again but he’s like a lightning bolt. And then his hands are flipping up the hem of your tee and coming up to tickle your sensitive stomach.
Your diaphragm shakes with laughter and you twist, trying to get away, but you are caged like a mouse being toyed with by a tiger. A relentless tiger that hasn’t slept since 5am yesterday.
The comforter beneath you twists as you writhe, trying to get away from his searching hands. His knees lock your legs into place so you can’t squirm away. Your head is throbbing with how hard you're laughing, fingers grasping his wrists and trying so desperately to get him to let go.
“Sukuna please!” you plead, “I–I swear! I’ll go to bed right now, I promise you…please!” You manage to free your legs and push off of him, but then he’s lunging again, this time trapping you beneath his entire frame. It’s all you have to catch your breath after the onslaught, no strength left to push him off.
His breath is hot against your shoulder, he’s laughing. “You’ll go to bed right now?”
You nod fervently, wriggling your arms out to grab his face. He scowls when you squish his cheeks, “Yes, I promise.”
With deft lips, you litter his face with kisses until he pushes you off, coughing and knocking your hands away. But the smallest smile graces his lips, and he looks back down at you with a warm look in those stormy red eyes of his.
His arms flex as he pushes himself off of the bed. You sit up on your knees, smiling brightly before he knocks you sideways into your pillow, the soft cotton unable to mask your laughter. Sukuna clicks his tongue and grabs the comforter, throwing it over you and tucking in both sides, as if that will stop you from getting up the moment he walks away and following him to the bathroom.
Your steps are light behind him. When he flicks the bathroom light on and looks in the mirror he jumps in surprise. “Wha–fuck! I thought I told you to go to bed!”
“You’re not the boss of me.” You respond proudly, knowing it’ll piss him off. You slip forward, latching onto his side before he can shove you out of the bathroom. “I missed you…”
Sukuna groans, ruffling your hair, “...little shit.” The first part of his grumbling is incoherent, but you can’t hold back your grin at his endearment. You can tell in the way he tries to get you to bed how much he loves you, how much he probably worries about you at work. You wonder what goes through his head during those long hours at work, how many of them are reserved for you. Is it minutes? Hours? Maybe just seconds, he’s always been so dedicated to his passions. All other thoughts are probably sidelined when he’s in the throes of work.
Little do you know that it’s less of a question of when he thinks of you and rather a question of when doesn’t he think of you. You were dead on that he is dedicated to his passions, but maybe you didn’t realize how you were his sole, most important passion. His hand finds its way back to your hair and he spins a lock in his fingers, secretly happy you hadn’t been able to sleep because of his absence. He wouldn’t tell you that, but he won’t deny the fact it makes him proud how essential he is to you.
The sink runs as Sukuna spits and rinses his mouth. You step back a bit to allow him to lean over, but latch back on the second he’s upright.
“Go back to bed, I gotta piss.” He breaks away from you, yawning as he steps further into the bathroom. You follow him like a puppy, watching his every move.
“Can I hold–” He smacks a hand over your forehead, pushing you backwards.
“No you can not hold it while I pee. Go to bed.”
“Do you hate me?” you pout, grabbing his hand and holding it tightly with both of yours.
Sukuna gives you a look, “Yeah, actually.”
Your face falls, “Take it back! No you don’t!”
“Yeah I do, actually, I hate you so much I’m going to stuff you into the next trash bag I take out and throw you into the nearest dumpster where some other sorry shit can find you and you’ll be their problem.”
You look at him, shocked and laughing. “Fuck you! I bet they’d treat me better, make better food as well.”
“Like hell they would.” He grumbles, turning away and unzipping his pants.
You slowly pad back over to him, standing right next to him as he tries to pee. “Are you sure I can’t?”
“Yes.”
“But what if I really want to.”
He doesn’t respond and you pout. “You’re no fun.”
With an exasperated sigh, Sukuna finishes his business and turns around to the sink. He usually doesn’t sigh like that and you lean forward over the sink to wash his hands, looking up at him. “Are you okay?”
He grunts in response, drying his hands and ruffling your hair once more. He walks past you out of the bathroom and pulls his shirt over his shoulders, tossing it into the hamper alongside your damp socks. The clock reads 4:37am now and he groans, realizing it’s been almost 24 hours since he last slept.
You stand, contemplating in the bathroom doorway. Usually if he’s in a bad mood, he wants to be left alone, but just now he was laughing with you. You’re not sure whether you should approach him again or let him cool off.
Sukuna yawns, dropping his pants on the floor and kicking them to the side to fold tomorrow. He frowns and turns to the bathroom, an eyebrow raised at you. “What’re you standing there for?” With a tired huff he sits on the edge of the bed, opening his arms to you.
You grin, figuring he wasn’t mad at all and just tired. With a little hop, you race over and throw yourself into his embrace, giggling when the two of you fall backwards onto the bed. You hug him tightly with his head against your chest. His short hair tickles your nose, but it smells like him and your heart races, your love for him overflowing like a river during the spring. He relaxes, your arms wrapped tightly around his neck and head, hiding the soft smile that spreads across his lips.
After a moment of silence, he rolls the two of you over so you're cozily situated in the middle of the bed. He could fall asleep right there, but he worries you’ll get cold from the AC.
He sits up, prying your arms off of him. You begin to protest and follow him, but stop when you see him reach over and pull the comforter out from beneath you. He pulls it over the both of you, letting out a loud groan once he’s finally able to crash into his pillow. You laugh softly and crash down next to him, your head bouncing once after making contact. You reach up and brush your thumb over his tattoos, admiring his relaxed features.
“Good night Ryo…love you.”
He pries a single eye open, a pleased rumble coming from his throat.
You don’t speak again, but you curl into his arms shyly. The way your husband loves is soft and well hidden. He doesn’t speak it often, but it’s in his actions, in the way he silently sacrifices for you. He would move heaven and earth for you; you don’t need to hear that to know it…but you want to hear it. You want him to whisper in your ear and tell you how much he cares.
You’re not sure if he read your thoughts, but he leans forward. Under the star studded, early morning sky, he murmurs those three words back to you.
–
You feel uncomfortably warm and stir, rubbing your cheek with your hand. With a yawn, you open your eyes and realize you’re far too bundled up in blankets and the sun is far too bright, warming the dark hue of your bedspread. You kick the covers off a bit and shift further to Sukuna’s side where it’s not so sunny. With a sleepy little sigh you try to catch a few more minutes of rest, but your comforter is ripped from you and you groan.
“Fuck you,” you mumble, refusing to open your eyes and face your husband.
“This is what you get for staying up all night,” he responds harshly, pulling you up by your arm and practically dragging you out of bed towards the bathroom. He hands you your phone, “Twenty minutes.”
Another annoyed grumble spills from your lips, but he ignores it, exiting the bathroom in a rush and thumping down the stairs moments later.
The only reason you have this stupid appointment on a Saturday morning is because of the recurring bug you’ve had for the past few weeks. Sukuna finally had enough and made you an appointment yesterday when he got home from work. You had, of course, complained the entire time, but in reality you were relieved you’d finally figure out what was up.
In the span of about fifteen minutes you manage to get mostly ready, getting stuck only when you lost one of your shoes and then tripped over a pair of pants Sukuna had left on the ground trying to find it.
You rub your knee where it connected with the rug and grab your shoe, glaring at the garment.
Slowly, you pull your shoe on and trudge through the hall, down the stairs, and into the foyer. You swing the door open and make your way to the black car that glints in the sunlight. Sukuna is covering a yawn as you slide into the passenger seat. He hands you a tumbler and a granola bar and you mumble your thanks. The car begins to move and you sleepily buckle up. Sukuna reaches over to the passenger side, resting his hand on the back of your headrest as he backs up. The clock reads 8:15 and you mourn the sleep you should have been getting on a Saturday morning.
You sigh, opening the granola bar, pulling out half, and placing it between your teeth. You reach over and give him the other half. You both quietly eat your bars, scenery whizzing by as Sukuna drives.
You open the tumbler he gave you and the sweet scent of earl grey tea wafts up to your nose. The car is quiet as you slowly sip the hot tea.
“I’m sorry,” you murmur, looking down at the tumbler.
Sukuna glances your way, a frown gracing his lips for a moment. “For?”
“I should have listened and slept when you told me to, now I’m going to be grumpy all day on your day off…” The tumbler shifts in your grip as you squeeze it, ashamed of yourself for once again forgetting self control.
You can hear the quiet click of the blinker as he turns, not looking in his direction and instead picking at a bit of dust on the window sill. After a beat of silence he grunts, glancing over at you and catching your eye when you turn to him. “Drink your tea.”
“Okay…” You feel a little bit better getting that off your chest, but you wish he’d say something about it…reassure you that he doesn’t mind, or doesn’t blame you, anything really.
Your mind doesn’t have much more time to wander, though, since he’s already pulling into the parking lot.
—
The tires crunch against asphalt as Sukuna pulls up to the front of the clinic. He’d left you there and dropped off some packages as he waited for your appointment to finish. It was obvious your mood was down so he also picked up a donut for you and a sweet drink, the kind that always cheers you up after a rough night.
The passenger door opens slowly and you climb in, your face giving nothing away. He raises an eyebrow at you. “What did they say?”
A long pause before you look at him for a moment, then almost immediately turn away again. “Um…they’re still um…I have to wait for the tests to get back.”
“Huh…” He has a feeling you're withholding your true diagnosis, but there's no sense trying to pry it out of you right now. He picks up your drink and taps it against your hand. “Here.”
Your face lights up and you grab the drink, practically drooling when he hands you the little donut baggie too. “Thank you!”
“Eat quick, we’re going grocery shopping.” He replies gruffly, inwardly celebrating another win when he sees your excited reaction at the confection.
You nod, leg bouncing nervously as he drives. Something is definitely up, you’re probably formulating a plan in your head at this very moment on how you should tell him. He decides not to pry, knowing how overstimulated you get when you’re tired. He’s thinking after grocery shopping you should both probably take a long nap. Maybe after you’ve slept you’ll feel ready to tell him. Besides, there’s no way it’s something life threatening if you’d held it in for this long.
The paper bag crinkles as you hold it in one hand, eating your donut quietly. He reaches over to you and pats your thigh. You turn and stare at him, mouth full of donut like a greedy chipmunk.
As quickly as he reassured you, he pulls his hand away and rests it on the gear shift. He can see your head dip in his peripheral vision. Knowing you, you feel guilty for not sharing with him immediately.
The car is silent for another moment before you put your drink to your mouth and take a sip, “This flavor is good, is it blueberry?”
He nods, “And pecan.”
You hum, looking down at your drink, “It’s better than the last limited edition flavor.” The two of you often frequent the same coffee shop and you insist on trying the seasonal flavors every time. He’s begun looking forward to the updated menu every month, waiting patiently for something he knows you’ll like.
“Let me try.” He leans over to your side a bit and you put the straw to his lips. It’s quite sweet, but the nutty flavor of the pecan offsets the blueberry syrup just enough that it’s not overpowering. He could probably make a drink that’s way better, but if you’re happy, he’s happy.
With a hum he settles back into his seat. “Not as good as the May one.”
You giggle, “Nothing will ever be as good as the May one.”
He shrugs, it had been strawberry and Hello Kitty themed…what can he say?
The car is filled with a pleasant silence and you smile to yourself, looking much more relaxed. Sukuna breathes a sigh of relief and focuses on the road.
—
You lean against the cart, watching as Sukuna compares brands of pasta. He doesn’t know. How could he know? He just thinks you have a stomach bug. How could either of you have guessed this?
You certainly weren’t expecting the nurse to return to your side today and tell you you were pregnant.
Is it really true? It must be true, they’d done a urine test, and when you’d questioned her, she’d offered the option of trying an at home test yourself in the bathroom. You had and, low and behold, two lines. Positive.
You watch his back, pondering your circumstances and the test, tucked into a little plastic baggy, sitting snugly in your purse. How will you tell him about it? How will he react? It had you so unsure you’d made up a lie about tests coming back late, anything to get him off your back and give you a moment to process.
“...How about Wednesday?”
You snap to attention, realizing Sukuna had been speaking to you. “Huh?”
He scoffs and tosses a package of linguine into the cart. “I said, since Yuuji is out of the house, I’m going to try and get some days off.”
“Why?”
Sukuna gives you a look that screams “are you dense?”.
“Oh…” You lean forward over the cart and giggle, feeling a little silly. You’re so out of sorts and nervous that the giggle turns into genuine laughter and you hold tightly to the cart, waiting for it to subside.
He sighs and plants his hands on top of yours. You shuffle forward as he pushes the cart down the aisle. His chest bumps your back and you smile, skipping forward with the cart, trying to match his long strides. Your favorite part about the weekend is going grocery shopping with him. You split meal days, both of you compiling items you’ll need for the coming week and, on Saturday or Sunday, shopping for them together.
He steers the cart left and you head down an aisle with fruits and breakfast items. Sukuna is looking for canned pineapple. However, your eyes alight on the baby food section. Suddenly, an idea stirs in your mind. You wriggle your fingers, slipping your hands free of his and ducking under his arm. He raises an eyebrow at you, continuing to push the cart down the aisle towards the canned fruit. You smile at him, turning around and heading back toward the breakfast items. You make sure he’s looking away as you grab a jar of pear, mango, & strawberry puree baby food. You giggle and hop down the aisle, picking up a random bag of granola and hurrying back to the cart.
You shake the granola bag at him, “We should pick up some yogurt for this.”
He hums, barely looking as you slip the granola and baby food into the cart. Feeling satisfied that you found a way to tell him about your pregnancy when you get home, you allow yourself to relax. He grunts when you lean into his forearm.
Sukuna feigns annoyance, but only shakes his arm enough to jostle you, never enough to actually throw you off of him. You beam and the rest of the shopping passes quickly. Well, as quickly as it can with you hindering his mobility so drastically.
Once the cart’s contents are loaded, you stand at the end of the line, reading the magazine covers. You don’t notice Sukuna staring at you, a smirk gracing his lips when you giggle to yourself. The clinic is far from both of your minds now.
Your eyes catch movement and you freeze when you see Sukuna pick up the baby food. “Why is this here?”
You shrug, trying to feign ignorance. “Dunno, maybe someone put it in there accidentally.”
He examines the container and hands it to the cashier who offers to put it back for you. You stand there, trying desperately to come up with an idea for what to do to put the baby food back subtly.
You lean over, fake sneezing as aggressively as you can. The cashier jumps at the noise and Sukuna whips his head around to look at you.
You sniff and wipe your nose, pretending to sound nasally as you look up at him. “C-could you run and get me a tissue real quick?” You gesture to an eating area a few yards away, complete with napkins and a few odd customers sitting and enjoying a late breakfast. He nods and turns to walk over.
The second Sukuna is out of earshot, you turn back to the cashier. “Could you please ring up the baby food? I’ll put it in my purse.”
She looks very confused, but nods and quickly rings it up, handing it to you. You stuff the little jar into your purse and smile at her. “Thank you so much.”
The cashier nods, “Uhh, you’re welcome.”
You glance back at Sukuna who’s just now grabbing a few napkins. You hold a finger to your lips, “I’m trying to surprise him, please don’t mention it.”
She nods, lips quirking with a laugh, but quickly sobering up as Sukuna fast approaches.
You loudly sniffle, taking the napkins from Sukuna and pretending to blow your nose. You glance at the cashier and she smiles just barely. Sukuna isn’t paying attention, instead tapping on his phone before pulling his wallet out and sliding a card from it.
With nimble steps, you hop around him and try to pick up a bag, but he shoos you away. With a quick motion he jams the card into the reader and swipes the bags you were trying to pick up from your grasp. You sigh and lean against the edge of the cart, giving up quickly. You can see him smirking, see the gears in his head turning. To someone who didn’t know him, his constant need to do everything for you might seem kind of obnoxious, but to him it’s his way of showing love. In his mind, it’s simple. Why would you feel the need to do anything when you have someone as capable as him looking after you? Sure you can load the cart with groceries, but you shouldn’t have to. It doesn’t make sense when he’s there to do it for you.
Sukuna’s card beeps and he removes it from the reader. The receipt prints and you wait for him to grab it. Falling into step beside him is easy as he pushes the cart forward to the exit, it feels like clockwork now, shopping with him. However, your stomach stirs when you remember what’s in your purse, how drastically your lives are about to change.
“Hey, would you love me if I were fat and ugly?” You ask as the automatic doors whiz open and a blast of humid air hits you. It’s been so hot this week and it looks like today will be no different.
“You’re not,” is his curt reply.
“But would you?”
Sukuna rolls his eyes and pushes the cart towards the car. “Sure.”
“That’s not very convincing. What if this year I get super fat and you start to hate me.”
He straightens up, pulling the cart to a stop by the trunk of the car. “I’ve put way too much time and money into you. No way I’m wasting all of that, do you really think I’m that fucking stupid?”
You grin, taking the cart as he packs the last bag into the trunk and pushing it towards the corral. With a shove, the cart wheels into place and you turn around, hair whipping your face. You catch Sukuna watching you and wiggle your fingers at him. He rolls his eyes at you and opens the driver side, the car revving up moments later.
The drive home is a bit more lively than the drive to the store, but the both of you are still tired. The short drive from the grocery store to your house feels like an eternity. It takes all your strength not to abandon your groceries in the car and crash onto the couch for a quick nap.
The brown paper bag crinkles as you pull it out of the trunk, dodging Sukuna’s hand when he tries to take it from you.
“I can handle at least one!” you protest, backing away from him.
He carries the other two bags under each arm, the trunk beeping as it closes. You know he’s giving you a look as you scurry over to the front door, but you pay him no mind.
A familiar blast of AC hits you when you unlock the front door. It’s a feeling you’ll never grow tired of after the blistering heat of midsummer. You press on through the foyer and down the hall into the kitchen, dropping your bag of groceries onto the counter. You wait for Sukuna to pass you and drop his bags down too before skipping back down the hall and making sure the door is shut nice and cozy to keep out the sweltering heat. It only gets worse as midday draws near, and you can think of nothing other than a nice nap.
Your phone buzzes and you pull it out of your pocket. With hurried steps you make your way back to the kitchen and shove it in Sukuna’s face. “Look! Yuuji made it to the hotel!”
Sukuna turns away from the fridge and looks at the selfie of Yuuji and his friends on the screen. “Wow.”
“You could at least try for some enthusiasm, sheesh.”
“Put the pasta and your granola in the pantry.”
“Boo, you’re no fun,” you grumble, stalking over to the bags and rummaging around for things to put away.
Sukuna crumples a bag and tosses it towards the recycling bin. “What do you want to do? I was thinking of going to the gym later.”
You consider protesting him going to the gym when you could hang out on his day off, but realize it’s the perfect chance to set up a surprise. “When?”
He shrugs, “After lunch probably.”
“Okay, then let's take a nap and then we can eat and you can go to the gym and I’ll finish my commission.”
Another bag is crumpled and goes flying and he reaches over you to grab the last one. “Sure.”
You bring some chips to the pantry and slot them in between a few cracker boxes on the shelf. The pantry door clicks closed and the kitchen is quiet. Sukuna comes up behind you—it’s like your skin burns where his hands graze against the skin of your waist. You can feel your cheeks warming as he mutters in your ear. “No Yuuji around…”
Your stomach flops and you swallow thickly. His nose grazes your cheek when you turn just slightly towards him. “Didn’t you just suggest a nap?”
He huffs and leans his chin on your shoulder, “You suggested the nap.”
“Oh.” You turn away from the pantry, instead leaning against the door and slinging your arms over his shoulders. “Well I guess we could postpone it.”
He huffs, leaning forward and pressing his lips to yours.
—
Buttery yellow sunlight filters into the room through the curtains. If you had to guess what time it was it’s probably 2 or 3. You don’t care to check; you’re far too comfortable curled up against Sukuna’s chest, slipping in and out of sleep. Occasionally his thumb will stroke your arm, but you can’t tell if he’s awake or it’s just a habit.
Air leaves your mouth in a quiet sigh. Even though you’re hungry and he’s probably itching to work out, you don’t want to end this moment. The bed creaks as you turn over to face him. He opens an eye, smirking as he looks down at you. His hand lifts to your neck and brushes against it–the tender skin beneath his fingers beginning to show signs of bruising. You scoot closer to his chest and trace your finger along the pattern of his chest tattoo. You’re tempted to ask if he wants to stay here for the rest of the day.
But you have work to do, a surprise to prepare. If only you could force yourself out of bed and start on it. Your jaw cracks as you yawn and snuggle further into him.
“You want me to get a dad bod or something?”
Your body freezes and you slowly look up at him, “Huh…wh-why would you get a dad bod?”
Sukuna chuckles and gives you an odd look, “Because you won’t let me go to the gym you little shit.”
“Oh…” You giggle sheepishly, embarrassed you almost blew what little cover you have.
“Yeah, ‘oh’.” He repeats, mimicking your tone. His palm smacks gently on your forehead and he pushes you backwards. “Let’s go, come on. You have work to do.”
You groan and grip his waist tighter, “Nooo…later.”
Sukuna easily breaks free of your grip and pulls away. Cold air hits your skin when he whips the covers off and you squeal. “Please, just five more minutes, please!”
He doesn’t respond to you as he pulls out a pair of boxers and rummages around for some gym shorts. You shiver, scrambling for the comforter as he’s turned away. The bed creaks and he slams his drawer shut. “Don’t you dare.”
You scoff and roll off of the bed. You pad over to him and push him playfully as he adjusts his shorts on his hips. “Gimme a shirt.”
“Pick one.” He grunts, not even moving when you shove him.
“I want the one you were gonna wear.” You reply, opening his drawer and looking inside at his neatly folded T-shirts.
He leans over you and grabs two shirts. A plain white one for himself and a soft, dark grey one for you. Your favorite of his. You grab it and unfold it quickly, flipping the shirt over your head and shaking your hair out as it settles over your shoulders. He shoves the drawer closed and unfolds his shirt. “What do you want for lunch?”
—
Sukuna’s truck putters down the road, the radio playing quietly as the wind tousles his hair dry. He’d showered at the gym and is ready for a slow evening and early night with no distractions. You sure as hell better not complain about going to bed at a reasonable hour. Sometimes it feels like he’s babysitting his nephew and his wife.
His scoff is lost in the wind as he rolls into the driveway. The front door clicks open and he kicks off his gym sneakers, nudging them into their spot by the doorway. He thumps down the hall, hanging his keys and looking around for you. He assumes you’ll be in your office, but instead you stand by the table…staring at him.
“What the fuck did you do?” He’s already running a million scenarios in his mind.
“Nothing! Sit! I made you a post workout snack!”
“Like hell you did, what happened?” His tote bag thumps as he drops it on the ground and stalks over to you, extending a hand.
You giggle, placing your hands face up in his palm and shaking your head. “Nothing’s wrong, I swear.”
He grunts. “Okay then where’s the snack?”
“Sit!”
A grumble. Then the squeak of a chair as he pulls it out and crashes down into it. You pull something out of the fridge and hide it quickly behind your back. There’s already a spoon laid out on the table. Did you make him like…soup or something?
You hurry over and sit at the chair to his right and pull a…jar from behind your back.
He can see your lips purse to hold back a laugh as you place the jar on the table and slide it towards him.
Sukuna squints at the jar, then you, then back at the jar. “What the fuck.”
“Go ahead.” You respond innocently, pushing the jar a little closer to him.
“This is baby food. Wait. Isn’t this the shit you had in the cart earlier?” He groans and runs a hand down his face, “What TikTok trend am I doing right now?”
You break, a bark of laughter spilling from your lips before you compose yourself. “Baby, it’s not a trend.”
“Then what…” He stares at the jar then up at you, then back at the food, then back at you. “Why is this here?”
You shake your head, practically buckling over with the weight of your barely withheld laughter. Your hand presses against your mouth and you shake your head. “Why do you think it’s here?”
He picks up the jar and shakes it, his free hand carding roughly through his hair. He groans, “You…uhhh…shit…” He pauses and turns it in his hand, “Fuck, just tell me.”
You turn the jar in his hand so the label is facing him, “Who do you think…would eat something like this?”
“A baby…?” You nod encouragingly. He still looks confused and you feel a little bad for confusing him so thoroughly while he’s still so tired. With a nervous giggle, you pull a little baggie out of your pocket and slide it towards him. “Try…our baby.”
It’s doubtful you’ve ever seen Sukuna as shocked, in all the time you’ve known him, as he is now. His mouth is open with shock, knuckles white against the little jar as he stares holes into the bag on the table. A pregnancy test sits inside the thin plastic, two lines staring back up at him. You’re afraid you broke him and you opt to fill the silence, hoping it will encourage him to react more than whatever he’s doing now. “I was so nervous when I got out of the clinic…and I didn’t want to throw the news at you, so I tried to, like, make it a surprise! Are you surprised?” Your chair squeaks against the floor as you pull it towards him.
Sukuna’s crimson eyes slowly drift to you, his gaze betraying how he desperately tries to get a grip on how he’s feeling. “I thought you had fucking constipation or something like that and were too embarrassed to tell me…how the fuck did you manage to keep it secret that we’re having a fucking kid?”
“I don’t…I really don’t know.” You're laughing again now…and crying. You hadn’t even realized until this moment how badly you were shaking.
Sukuna groans heavily, as if the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders only for it to be dropped back down tenfold. He pinches his nosebridge, groaning. When his hand finally slips down his face he’s got this weird expression on his face, almost a grin, but partially a grimace too. You smile back the best you can through the fat tears that drip down your cheeks.
He shakes his head and drops the jar onto the table with a clink. His hands come to rest on your shoulders, squeezing almost painfully. You slide forward onto the edge of your seat, hands pressing on his biceps. He stands, pulling you up with him and into a hug. It starts out tentative, fragile, as if he’s afraid to hurt you and the tiny life that has settled in your womb. But his impatience outweighs his hesitation and you can feel your bones squeezing as he tightens his grasp.
“Are you happy?” You ask, bracing yourself for him to make fun of you for asking such an obvious question. You barely know how you feel about it yourself. But it’s so warm in his arms and you feel so much better having finally told him.
He sighs into your shoulder and holds you that much tighter, mumbling. “Never been happier.” You can’t tell if he’s trying to convince you or himself.
Your chest tightens and you wriggle your arms out of his bear hug to pull yourself up to his neck, squeezing your eyes shut as you wrap your arms around it. He chuckles quietly, “You’re getting snot on me.”
“I am not!” You protest, blubbering as you sniff and rub your tear-stained cheeks, noticing that you did, indeed, leave a large, wet patch on his shoulder.
“Is our baby gonna be as much of a mess as you are?” Sukuna jabs, his hands soothing and soft against your back–a stark contrast to his words.
“That’s mean!” You laugh, smacking his shoulder and grimacing at the wet feeling. “You should be nicer to me, I’m giving you a whole kid.”
Your shorts bunch up at the hip when he scoops you up and swings you into his arms. Butterflies bloom in your stomach when he nuzzles up to your cheek, suddenly sweet…almost too sweet. “You’re right, I should be spoiling you…since you are pregnant with my baby…really I am so grateful.” Is his smooth reply.
He barks out a laugh when you begin to wriggle in his arms, trying desperately to get away. “No, ew! Sto-o-op!”
“That too much for you sweetheart? You don’t like it when your husband dotes?”
“Not when you dote like that! You sound like you’re going to take me to the basement and eat me or something.” His mouth opens and you squeal with laughter, slapping a hand over it. “Don’t you dare say something like ‘that can be arranged’. Ah! No–quit it!”
The air is cool against the wet patch on your palm where he licked it, making you squirm again and break down laughing. There is so much relief in knowing that even though your life will change so much because of this, the way you feel about each other isn’t going to change into something awful. He’s still here, his death grip tells you that. The way he looks at you and holds you like you’re porcelain tells you that. The way he teases tells you he’ll never let you get in your head as long as he can help it. He’s here.
Sukuna begins to walk to the couch, taking you with him as he settles down into the plush cushions with an ‘oof’. “Do you think it’ll be a boy or a girl?” Is your question as you settle into his lap, curling up against his shoulder. You grab his hand, smoothing your thumb over his palm as you make yourself comfortable.
“Girl.” He replies shortly, relaxing his hand as you hold it, examining the callouses that have formed on the padding below his knuckles.
“So confident.”
He shrugs, “Gut feeling.”
“Says the guy who doesn’t have a baby in his gut.”
“Wow, did you hear that, I’m really laughing my ass off right now. Tell the joke again.” Is his monotone reply.
You playfully squeeze his finger, pretending to try and hurt it as if he really offended you. “I was so worried earlier, like I had no idea how you were gonna react. I almost cried three times at the grocery store.”
“Uh huh.” He outstretches his fingers and you scowl. You’d just finished curling them into a fist. “You’re such a little shit, why would you worry about me?”
“I dunno…just like…what if you didn’t want one right now? Or like…you weren’t ready? What if everything was off and like…I ruined everything.”
“How can you ruin anything when I’m the one who put it in you?” He flicks your forehead, “You gotta stop overthinking this shit. If you want it, I want it.”
You try not to melt at his words, feeling so much better now that you’ve talked it out. You’re starting to get excited, nervousness bubbling away as you imagine the ways you can decorate the baby’s nursery, or how you’ll choose the name, and all the new appointments you’ll have to schedule because somehow you got lucky enough to find someone that wants a family with you. “Can we look for nursery stuff on Wednesday?”
“Why Wednesday?” He yawns.
“That’s the day you said you’re getting off from work…duh.”
His response is nonchalant, as if he didn’t make the same mistake you’d made just hours prior. “Oh, sure.”
That launches the two of you into a debate on which spare room to put the nursery in, and then deciding how you’ll tell Yuuji when he’s home, then how you’ll tell the rest of the family. The sun dips lower, bathing the living room in the hues of golden hour, ending a nearly perfect day.
—-
When Yuuji got home 2 weeks later, you took him out to dinner, breaking the news over dessert. He cried. You cried. Sukuna belly laughed at the two of you.