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“Hmm, we will need some carrots, potatoes…oh, and some coffee too!” Aiki Nakamura smiled as he placed the grocery items in the cart. His eyes darted around the aisles before settling on the person standing close to him. “What do you want in your curry, Okuto?”
“Oh, uh, I’m fine with whatever you want, Hirose.” The dark-haired man smiled back.
“Hmmph.” Hirose pouted, turning his head away from Okuto.
“What? Did I say something wrong?”
Aiki frowned and held up his hand, brandishing his golden wedding ring. “We are married now! You should stop calling me by my old name! You should call me Aiki from now on!”
“OH, S…SORRY A…AI…AIKI.” Okuto’s face burned a bright red as he shouted Aiki’s name.
“Geez, what am I gonna do with you?” Aiki shook his head and giggled as he pushed the cart toward the meat section. “Still, I do love this side of you a lot. It’s cuteeee!”
“NOT AS CUTE AS YOU! I LOVE EVERY SIDE OF YOU TOO!!”
“Tell me more about what you love about me, Okuto.” Aiki mused. “Do you want beef or chicken?”
“I-” Okuto froze as he clenched his chest and grabbed Aiki’s hands. “I love your eyes, your hair, your face, your-”
“Uh, Okuto…” Aiki chuckled as he darted his eyes back and forth. The pair looked around as a few people stared at them. “Let’s go with beef curry tonight.”
“Y…yeah…sorry.” Okuto let go of his husband’s hands and took a deep breath. His eyes wandered around the store, trying to ignore the constant staring.
‘I went overboard again…’ The taller man sighed and spotted a rattle on the floor. He looked around and spotted a baby in a stroller, crying and reaching toward the toy. Okuto picked it up and ran to the mother.
“Excuse me, I think your baby dropped this.”
“Oh, thank you so much, sir!” She bowed to him as she took the rattle. “There you go, Hachi-chan!”
The tiny baby giggled as he shook the toy rattle. Okuto let out a small smile as he crouched down to Hachi’s eye level. “You take good care of it now.”
The baby smiled and smacked Okuto on the nose, causing him to wince and laugh.
“Oh, Hachi! That’s very rude, I’m so sorry.” The mother apologized.
“No no, it’s okay.” Okuto smiled while wiping his nose. “Have a good day.” The two bowed to each other and went on their separate ways. Okuto, still wiping his nose, laughed to himself, still thinking about the exchange.
‘Hachi was so adorable…’
A voice called out, shaking him from his thought. “O…kuuu…tooo.”
“Ah, Hiros- Aiki.” Okuto blushed at his husband, who chuckled at him. “What’s so funny?”
“That baby hitting you. It was kind of cute.” Aiki giggled.
“It just surprised me, that’s all!”
“I know.” Aiki pulled Okuto’s coat and kissed him on the cheek. “You did a good thing, honey.”
“T…thank you!” He shouted but covered his mouth immediately after.
Aiki continued to push the shopping cart and looked back at his husband. “Let’s get you a new scarf before it gets colder! What do you think?”
“What about you?”
Aiki let out a sneaky and seductive smirk. “I won’t need one cause I can snuggle up next to you.”
‘1-hit-KO!’ Okuto covered his eyes and bit his lip. ‘HOW IS HE SO GOOD AT THAT! I LOVE MY AIKI SO MUCH!’
“I’m joking!” Aiki slapped him on the back, “I’ll get one for myself too!”
“Why won’t we pick one for each other, Aiki?” Okuto softly spoke, causing Aiki’s ears to perk up.
“Oh…” Aiki stuttered, his face turning a bright red. “I…love that idea.”
“There are so many choices, Okuto, look, look!” Aiki pointed out the various scarf styles displayed around them. “There’s some blues, some reds, oh look there’s some yellows too! You like that color, right?”
“Yeah, it reminds me of you cause you make me smile.”
“Oh stop, you’re too much.” Aiki giggled. “Ohhhh look, look there’s a crabby one too! You think there’s an Octobuddy one too?” Aiki turned his head and raised a brow as he spotted his husband looking at something. “Okuto?” The brown-haired man walked over to his husband and noticed him staring at baby clothes on a nearby mannequin.
‘What’s he doing?’ Aiki wondered.
Okuto stared as he held his hand up to grab onto the mannequin’s hand.
‘It’s so small compared to my hands…I wonder what that would actually feel like-’
Suddenly, the man felt something fall into his other hand. He turned his head and found a small pair of overalls.
“GAH!” Okuto yelped, hearing Aiki laugh from behind him.
“Oh my gosh, look how tiny that is compared to your hand!” Aiki kept giggling, wiping a tear from his eye. “Why are you holding hands with things other than your husband?”
“Oh, sorry I was…just thinking.” Okuto let go of the mannequin's hand, still feeling what was left of the impression in his palm.
“About?”
“Nothing, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Let’s go pick out some scarves and head home.”
“Alrighty.” Aiki looked back at the mannequin and the baby clothes and let out a small smile.
‘You’re so easy to read sometimes, Okuto. Wish you'd straight up tell me things…oh well, time to give him a push. Just like when we were younger!’
Years ago, during their third year of high school. Hirose volunteered to help out the babysitter’s club, and of course he got Nakamura to help. Well, it was more like he asked, knowing Nakamura would say yes regardless, but it would be rude not to ask his boyfriend about it.
It wasn’t a hard task to do. It was mostly to keep the kids entertained and take care of any issues that came up. Like changing diapers, feeding them, and reading to them. Hirose was able to keep up with most, but felt a bit overwhelmed with the constant barrage of playing. Well, it wasn’t as bad as what Okuto had to go through. The poor guy was so stiff he might as well have been just a cardboard cutout. He fainted at the smell of the dirty diapers, clumsily spilled food on the table and himself. And his shouting from being so nervous about playing caused the other toddlers to cry, which caused him to cry. Nakamura’s ability to handle kids got a good laugh out of Hirose. Thankfully, reading time gave Nakamura time to shine. The other kids asked him to read about sea creatures, and if anyone knows Nakamura, that’s his speciality. Nakamura carefully read each book with such a soothing and calm voice, it nearly caused the kids to fall asleep. That’s something Hirose admired in his boyfriend. He might stumble, fail, and goof up. He might be loud, aggressive at times, or even excitable, but he also has a nice calming vibe about him too. And the fact he’s so passionate about everything he likes.
‘And that’s what I love about him.’
That evening, while Aiki was cooking dinner. Okuto was scrolling through his laptop. He was writing a paper on octopuses for his marine biology thesis and ended up looking up fish tanks on a shopping site, and then found his way to the baby clothes and supplies.
‘Oh, so babies need that much formula? That’s impressive that they can drink so much…I wonder how much we would need for that? Oh maybe I should look up what kinds of beds are good for a baby…and maybe some octopus themed toys-’
“Whatcha doing, Okuto?” Aki asked from behind him.
“N-NOTHING!” Okuto quickly slammed the laptop down, “I was just working on my paper!”
“Your paper looks a lot like baby stuff, Okuto.” Aiki frowned and pulled up a chair next to him. Are you feeling alright?” Aiki put his forehead onto his own and felt Okuto’s pulse. “You seem fine, save for an increased heartbeat and look warm, but it’s not feverish.”
“I told you, I’m okay, don’t worry!” Okuto chuckled while waving his hand. But even that did not convince Aiki. In fact, quite the opposite. Aiki put his hands on his hips and glared at him.
“I know that look, Okuto Nakamura!”
“What look?”
“It’s the same look I do when I lie! You know when I look off with my eyes!”
“I- uh…uhhh.” Okuto couldn’t bear to look back at his husband, let alone argue…nothing gets past Aiki…not even him. Okuto let out a loud and deep breath and nodded.
“Well, I think I want a ba- ba-.” Okuto tried to spit it out, but his words jumbled and he couldn’t focus.
“It’s okay, Okuto, you can tell me!” Aiki held his husband's hands and gently kissed them, causing the taller male to relax a little. “Shout to me what’s on your mind!” Aiki smiled as Okuto took a bigger breath.
“I…wanna start a family with you, Aiki Nakamura!” He shouted. “EVER SINCE I SAW THAT BABY AT THE STORE I WAS WONDERING WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE FOR ME TO HOLD A LITTLE BUNDLE OF JOY WITH YOU! I WANNA TEACH THEM EVERYTHING ABOUT MARINE LIFE! I WANNA TAKE SO MANY PICTURES OF US TOGETHER, I WANT US TO CUDDLE TOGETHER AT NIGHT, I WANT TO BE THERE FOR THEIR FIRST WORDS, STEPS, FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN!” Okuto gasped for air and stared at his visibly stunned husband.
“Really? You have baby fever too?” Aiki asked as Okuto nodded.
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Wait a minute. TOO?” Okuto looked at his husband in shock, who nodded at him.
“Yeah, me too, Okuto…I’ve always wanted to have a family with you. I was going to leave you hints, but seeing you at the store really made things a lot easier for me. How long have you been having this fever?”
“I uh…it’s a bit embarrassing.”
“Come on, “ Aiki whined. “You can tell me.”
“Okay…It was when…we did that babysitter thing back in high school.”
“THAT LONG AGO??”
“Yeah…” Okuto blushed as Aiki began to laugh at him. “What’s so funny?”
“Hahaha, it’s funny cause well…I can’t believe you thought about starting a family with your boyfriend before you even thought about marriage.”
“I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT TOO, AIKI!” Okuto shouted while holding Aiki’s hands. “I already thought about our entire lives together ever since I first met you!”
“That’s a little creepy, but I’m flattered, Okuto.” Aiki chuckled. “You know, I thought about wanting to start a family with you too…seeing you hold that mannequin’s tiny hand and those tiny clothes really got me thinking how cute of a Dad you’d be.”
“Both of us, Aiki!” Okuto smiled wide. “Oh man, think about all the stuff we can get them. We can decorate the spare room into something marine life, with some cute string lights and some glow-in-the-dark stickers! Oh, I wonder if our child would love Octopuses or Crabs as their plushies…maybe we should get both just in case? Oh, and lots of formula and baby food. Babies need a lot to grow big and strong too! And-”
“Alright, alright, slow down, Okuto. Someone’s way too excited about this.”
“Sorry, sorry, I’ve got a lot on my mind right now…I got too excited about it.”
“There’s more to it, Okuto.” Aiki’s voice grew softer as he caressed his husband’s hands. “I can hear it in your voice.”
“You can??” Okuto questioned.
“Yeah, well, that and I’ve begun to notice how your face reacts when something is bothering you. You make the funniest expressions, by the way.”
“SINCE WHEN DID YOU NOTICE!”
Aiki giggled and held his finger to his lips. “Secret!”
‘HOW DARE HE BE SO SNEAKY AND CUTE AT THE SAME TIME!’ Okuto thought to himself. He didn’t want to argue with his husband. Behind all the excitement and bravado, there was something deep lurking in the back of his mind, and he couldn’t hold it back any longer.
“It’s just-” Okuto’s voice faltered slightly as he squeezed Aiki’s hands a little harder. “When I was thinking about wanting to start a family, I thought about how cute it would be to hold a baby in our arms, and then I started thinking about that babysitter’s thing we did in our third year of high school.”
“Yeah, I remember vividly; I remember you passing out a lot. You scaring the kids with your staring. It was too funny! Oh, and the time you were so overwhelmed you started to cry to-”
“It’s not that funny, Aiki!” Okuto snapped, causing Aiki to jump in his chair. “I…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.” Okuto gave Aiki a big hug and rested his head against his husband’s shoulder. “I’m worried that it might happen again whenever we have our child here with us. What if I make them cry at me, or I scare them? What if they don’t like me…what if I’m a terrible dad?”
“Okuto…” Aiki’s expression softened as he embraced his husband in his arms. “Is that all that’s been bothering you?”
“Yeah, I’m just scared…”
“You don’t need to be…well, you can be, but I’m also scared too.”
“You are?”
“Yeah, of course! I mean, it’s hard enough I have my own baby to take care of.” Aiki teased.
“AIKIIIII STOPPP I’M NOT A BABY.”
“You’re right, you’re my big baby.” Aiki laughed and gently massaged Okuto’s back. “I’m sure our child will love you a lot. You’re kind, sweet, smart, and fun to be around!”
“You think so?”
“I know so, because I married you for those reasons! If that’s not enough evidence, I don’t know what is.”
“Thanks, Aiki…” Okuto passionately kissed Aiki on the lips and held his face. “I can’t wait for us to be a family together. I’m going to teach them so much about life. I’m gonna make sure they love us both equally.”
“But, I love you more!” Aiki giggled as he gently kissed Okuto’s wedding ring.
“Right, you do…and I love you so much, Aiki Nakamura.”
“I love you too, Okuto.” The two shared another passionate kiss before parting.
“It’s going to be a tough battle, Aiki.” Okuto laughed.
“Well, if you of all people managed to get me to marry you. You can do anything, Okuto.” Aiki smiled.
“Ye-yeah, you’re right…” Okuto stood up and grabbed Aiki by the waist and gently lifted him in the air. “OH THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT! WE SHOULD START BUYING CLOTHES AND SUPPLIES AND TOYS AND-” Okuto stopped in his tracks as he sniffed the air. “AIKI THE CURRY!”
“OH CRABS I FORGOT! PUT ME DOWN, OKUTO!” Aiki scrambled to the stove and turned off the heat before a fire started, and frowned as the charred remains of the curry puffed out in a cloud of smoke in front of him. “Dang…there goes dinner. Sorry, Okuto, that’s my fault. I forgot to turn off the stove.” Aiki nervously laughed as Okuto held up his cellphone.
“That’s okay, Aiki…I can call us a pizza. I know what you want, don’t worry.”
“Thanks, honey.” Aiki laughed as he stared at the burnt curry.
‘Worried about being a bad father? Please, I think you’ll do just fine!’
Art by https://x.com/kiwujoshi?s=20 :3
