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Years after Tony’s defeat Kim thought they were done with earth shattering revelations. It seemed at one point every member of the pack had to learn new things from the man who apparently raised over half the pack (which in and of itself was a heavy revelation). Honestly Kim probably got off easy all things considering with; Pete’s secret child (which may have also been Way’s, Kim still didn’t know that), the whole impregnate Babe plan, trafficking children with special powers, a whole host of weird powers, and a family tree that he never wanted to see mapped out.
Sure the guy he had been sleeping with had two pups, but Kenta hadn’t actively hid that information from Kim and the kids were cute. Kim’s world hadn’t been rocked more than the average person.
He should have known.
It had started innocently. Pete had come by the garage with a stack of documents for Kenta. Apparently there had been a whole pile of documents tucked away in who knows where that no one had bothered to properly examine after they’d been thrown to the side after Tony’s defeat.
Kim braced his arms against the back of the couch to peer over his mate’s shoulder. With both boys at school Kenta had opted to come to the garage for a change of pace (not that it was all that interesting). Kenta’s work was mainly remote; convenient when Taro was home schooled and Buddy was a pup, less so when they were usually out of the house. He eyed the stack the same way that Kim did, hesitantly and with a strong desire to set it on fire.
“And this was found where?”
Pete, sitting across from them, sighed, “In a box that had been in storage.”
He raised a brow, “And you were looking through Tony’s things because…?”
“Not me, a new team member got tasked with cleaning up the mess and found it. They brought it to my attention immediately. When I saw Kenta’s names on the files I figured I’d bring them to you directly, let you decide what to do with them. I don’t know what’s in any of them, I swear.”
That was a relief. Kenta and Pete had actually worked to build some tentative…relationship but Kim still didn’t like Pete poking too much into Kenta’s life. Years later he still didn’t like the idea of Pete being too close to his family.
He leaned down, dropping his voice for only Kenta, “It's your choice. You don't have to look at them if you don't want to.”
Kenta hesitated, “Let's take it home, I don't-”
He didn’t hesitate, “Whatever you want.”
***
The box was left in a corner of their room, nearly forgotten. Nearly because Kim would see it every day but Taro had started his first year of university and it was causing a lot of stress for Buddy who didn't like the distance it was causing between them. This meant that Kenta and Kim were trying to deal with an emotionally turbulent preteen and an emotionally vulnerable young adult, leaving the box more than just an afterthought but in a whole other continent that they did not care about.
Kim was changing when Buddy threw the door open and dramatically flopped onto Kim and Kenta’s bed.
Kim chuckled at his son’s actions. Buddy was really growing into himself, taking on little traits from each of his pack mates. Sonic and North had definitely fed a bit of a dramatic habit (and if Kim was being honest so had Babe and Way).
“What’s going on with you?” He asked, tugging his shirt fully on.
“Taro’s being mean.”
Taro actually had a night class that was mandatory for his degree which Buddy hated and complained about like clockwork.
“He’ll be back in a couple hours,” Kim laid down next to his son, “like every week. He’s already said he doesn’t want to do night classes again.”
Buddy huffed. At his age he was beginning to experience mini-ruts and changes in his instincts that Kenta was having a hard time dealing with since Buddy was no longer a perfectly cheery clingy pup and instead turning into a proper teenager, mood swings and all. Though he was still Buddy, when he rolled over to plant his face in Kim’s chest, seeking out comfort, Kim easily wrapped his arms around him knowing the pup still loved cuddles.
They just laid there, Kim running a hand up and down his son’s back, letting the pup deal with whatever he was feeling in his own time. While not biologically his, Kim tried his best to pass along what he hoped were some of his better traits. When the pups had first fallen into his life, Kim had painstakingly taught them to take moments to regulate their emotions before acting. Being a race car driver forced Kim to learn how to remain calm under pressure, and it was a valuable skill. Buddy, filled with constantly burning energy, was learning to take those moments. Kim figured it was because the pup was eyeing a motorsports career and not all of them could be as hot headed as Babe and still come out on top.
Buddy jerked his head up, propping his chin on his chest. Baby fat still stubbornly clung to his cheeks, Kim would greatly mourn the day that they fully disappeared. His big eyes, so like Kenta’s, were wide, “Am I being stupid?”
He brushed Buddy’s bangs to the side, “About?”
“Nii-san? It can’t be normal to get upset about your brother moving out. When Ming’s brother moved out he was ecstatic.”
“Ming also didn’t have the same childhood that you and Taro did. Growing up at the Foundation with Tony? Buddy you’re allowed to be scared when Taro isn’t around. Do you think your dad doesn’t get nervous when you’re at school? Or when Taro’s away? You all went through a lot.”
Buddy groaned, dropping his face back down, “I don’t want my entire life defined by something I barely even remember.”
“I know,” it made Kim’s chest ache because he wished he could wave a magic wand or something to take away his family’s pain. In the back of mind he always wished he’d somehow found out about Kenta years earlier so that he could take him away faster. The only problem was Buddy had been three when they’d met, meaning for Kim to have his youngest, Kenta and Taro would still have to experience almost a decade more of abuse. If only there had been a way.
“Oh.”
Kim tilted his head to see Kenta in the doorway. His mate was wearing one of the sweaters he’d specifically bought to ensure that it would be oversized on Kenta’s frame.
“Hey, did you need anything?”
Kenta shook his head as he took a seat on the edge of the bed, “I was wondering where you both went.” He leaned over to try and get a look at Buddy, “You okay?”
“Fine.” He grumbled, voice muffled where it was still buried.
Kim huffed, he wouldn’t push Buddy to talk. Glad the pup had at least said something to him. Kenta shifted, lying down next to Kim. Their bed wasn’t really a nest, Kenta’s instincts didn’t quite do that, instead it was piled with pillows and blankets and looked more like an amorphous mess, but it was cozy and the pups found safety in it.
Drowsiness began to tug at his senses, the warm weight of his overgrown pup, the presence of his mate, and the intermingling of calm scents, pushed him down. He didn’t hear Buddy at first.
“What?” he muttered, the vibrations alerting him to words.
“What’s with the box?”
And then he remembered the box that Pete gave them. Kenta stiffened, reminded of whatever horrible thing Tony had inevitably hidden from him and would probably shatter their lives.
“Pete gave it to us,” Kim admitted, "apparently he forgot about it.”
“Grandpa?”
Kenta hummed in affirmative.
Buddy rolled off of him, making him let out a small pained groan. Kenta sat up, not stopping Buddy as he reached for the box. It was a standard banker’s box, white with a removable lid, the kind you put important documents into and then forgot about. It shouldn’t be this sink of mental energy, but anything related to Tony that wasn’t his family felt like it had been coated with a toxic sludge. Even as Buddy flicked through some random folders, Kim wanted to tell him to leave it, but the pup had just as much right to this information. Technically it was Kim that didn’t have the right to look, which is why he’d left it to Kenta.
“Oh,” Buddy stood up holding a manila envelope, “this one has my name on it.”
That got Kim sitting straight up, Kenta following. Of course the boys were a part of the foundation, but they thought they’d found all the files related to the pups. Kim had a faint urge to strangle Pete because while he could understand things with Kenta, the pups were always non-negotiable. Everything should have been brought to them.
Buddy sat between them, staring down at the unbroken seal, his full name written in black ink.
“You don’t have to open it.” Kim offered.
Buddy opened it.
Inside was a series of medical files. Doctor’s notes and reports and a lot of things that Kim didn’t fully understand.
“These are from when I was pregnant," Kenta realised, pulling free a series of black and white fuzzy images that Kim belatedly realised were ultrasounds.
Buddy frowned, “Is that me?”
“Yeah,” Kenta’s eyes softened, “this would have been towards the end of my pregnancy. I think Taro had realised before the end of the first trimester but I hadn’t known for a while later.”
How would Kenta have realised? Tony had artificially inseminated him without Kenta’s consent or knowledge. Kim knew that while Kenta would never give up his pups, the idea of being pregnant again sent him straight into a panic. Once, after Way’s and Pete’s first child together was born (because Martin was both of their kids, genetics be damned) Kenta had apologized for not being willing to give Kim one of his own.
Kim had balked, he’d never want Kenta to be pregnant again considering the trauma he’d already experienced. Taro and Buddy were his on paper and that was the end of it.
More pages revealed the same information they already knew. Basic medical details, check ups, all things that stated Buddy had been healthy as he incubated inside of Kenta.
Kim figured there was nothing of consequence, a rare treat, until they got to the last page.
“Donor?” Buddy cocked his head.
Kenta took the sheet from Buddy, it was impossible, they didn't know who Buddy's other biological parent was, but apparently Tony had kept note of it.
“It doesn't say.” Kenta admitted handing the sheet back, “it just gives some basic information on them.”
“Let me see.” Kim took the sheet. Age, sex, designation, blood type, nationality-
“They were Korean?”
Buddy and Kenta both leaned in to look at the paper with confused noises. Kim pointed to the section where the donor was listed as Korean/Thai.
“So I’m like what, a quarter Korean?”
Kim kept reading, stopping at a note. Specimen collected when the subject was admitted for appendicitis.
It couldn’t be…
“Kim?” Kenta asked as he roughly stood up.
“Appa what’s wrong?”
“I-” where was his phone? -“a couple years ago I was hospitalized while in Thailand for a race-” there it was, “they had to remove my appendix, routine stuff.”
“And…?”
The file was easy enough to find, he stared at the date and then back at the date on the page.
“They match.”
Kenta jerked, “What?”
“All the information,” he shoved the page towards his mate as if Kenta hadn’t just looked at it, “the dates match and all that biological information. It’s the same.”
“Wait,” Buddy jumped up, “are you saying-” He cut himself off, “There’s no way,” he looked to Kenta, “right?”
Kenta stared at Kim like he’d grown a second head, face pale and eyes sparking with some unreadable emotion.
“There is some logic,” Kim rationalized, “if Tony didn’t want the chance of the bio dad somehow finding out, pick someone overseas.”
“But you don’t have powers.” Kenta rebutted.
“But Tony does. And we know he was already messing around with genetics before you got pregnant-” Way was proof of that, “-who says he didn’t when Buddy was in utero.”
“Sorry,” Buddy cut in, “is this saying I’m appa’s kid?”
Kim looked at Kenta, he really didn’t know how to answer. What were the chances that someone with the same information as Kim went into the hospital at the same time for the same procedure. It didn’t make a lick of sense and yet Kim had been drawn to Kenta in a way he’d never felt before.
“I-” Kenta swallowed, “I think so.”
Buddy was frozen for about five seconds before launching himself at Kenta, tears streaming down his face. Kim was struck by the realization hard enough to steal his breath. Both pups were his, biology didn’t change that fact, and yet the knowledge that for once Tony’s fuckery hadn’t ruined another part of their life was beyond relieving.
“I’m glad Tony’s dead,” Kim wetly joked, “cause I don’t think I could stomach thanking him.”
Buddy’s wet snort was a great reward.
***
Later after Taro had come home, Buddy had loudly proclaimed their find, showing the files (there had been a file about Taro but hadn’t listed any of the mystery parent’s information), Kim found himself waking up to the soft footfalls.
Kenta was sound asleep, a more common -but still rare- occurrence, allowing Kim to sneak out of the bed.
Taro stood on the balcony, a silhouette that Kim often portrayed himself on sleepless nights, a soft breeze ruffling his sleep shirt.
“Hey bud,” his voice barely above a whisper as he stepped onto the balcony, “what are you doing up?”
Taro shrugged, “Couldn’t sleep. I’m fine, you can go back to bed.”
Kim could spot the lie off his oldest a mile away, “How about you tell me what’s up instead?”
“I’m fine.”
Kim leaned against the railing, mirroring Taro’s position, “And it has nothing to do with the information that we found out today?”
Taro ducked his head, “No.” He lied.
“I never really thought about having kids,” he started, staring straight ahead, “I was a racer and travelled a lot. Never really felt strongly for anyone enough to want something permanent. And then I met your dad and he was nothing I thought I wanted. When I realized I wanted him I figured it’d be just me and him, and then I learned about you two. Yes Buddy was cute and all that, but he was three. I’m not some heartless monster, babies need protecting but you-”
Taro looked towards him.
“You were scared but so protective of Buddy. I could see the way that you loved him and your dad despite Tony's best efforts, and I knew I'd do anything to protect you.”
“I was Grandpa's pet freak-”
“You're not a freak Taro,” Kim would remind both his pups about this until his dying breath, “you're a kid who went through a lot and was forced to grow up fast. I couldn’t be prouder to be your dad.” Taro dropped his eyes, “Buddy’s parentage doesn’t change any of that. He’s my youngest and you’re still my oldest who loves plants, and still sleeps with his Pokemon plush, and loves his family more than anything in the world,” He tugs him closer, “The only way I stop being your appa is if you stop wanting me,” he tilts Taro’s head to meet his eyes, “and even then I won’t stop.”
Water gathers in Taro’s eyes making the green more vibrant. Taro drops his head onto Kenta’s shoulder, tears soaking through his sleep shirt.
“I’m always going to be our parent Taro, blood has nothing to do with it. Okay?”
He gets a slow nod which he takes as a win.
“You want to come back in or stay out here for a bit longer.”
“Can we stay out here a bit longer?”
Kim smiled, “Of course, whatever you want.”