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The house had finally gone quiet.
Not actually quiet, of course.
With four children, Bakugo had long since learned that there was a difference between quiet and quiet enough that nobody was currently screaming.
This was the latter.
Ryo was sprawled across the living room floor, putting together a puzzle while Haruto sat beside him, apparently more interested in stealing pieces than actually helping.
Hinata and Akemi were curled together on the couch, arguing quietly over a stuffed animal neither of them had been interested in five minutes ago.
Kirishima glanced around the room before catching Katsuki's eye.
He smiled.
Bakugo immediately knew what that look meant, "Don't."
Kirishima's smile widened. "We should probably tell them."
"They're only seven, five, and three, they don't need to know yet."
Kirishima raised an eyebrow. "Katsuki..."
Bakugo crossed his arms, "What?"
"You said yesterday we were going to tell them."
"I said we'd tell them."
"Today."
"I know what day it is, Eiji."
Kirishima laughed softly and reached over, catching his hand, "Come on."
Bakugo grunted but let himself be pulled toward the living room.
Ryo looked up first, "What?"
"Nothing," Bakugo said.
Ryo narrowed his eyes, "You always say 'nothing' when it's something."
Bakugo stopped.
Kirishima bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
"Smartass," Bakugo muttered.
"I heard that."
"Good."
Haruto looked between them. "What are we doing?"
Kirishima sat down beside the twins and patted the space next to him, "Come here, you two."
Hinata immediately climbed into his lap.
Akemi followed a second later, abandoning the stuffed animal she'd been fighting over.
Haruto dropped his puzzle piece and scrambled over.
Ryo remained where he was.
Bakugo looked at him, "You coming?"
Ryo sighed dramatically, "Fine."
Bakugo stared at him, "What's with the attitude?"
"I don't know."
"You're seven."
"Yeah."
"And you're already annoying."
Ryo shrugged.
Kirishima laughed.
"Okay," he said, once everyone had settled. "We wanted to tell you guys something."
Haruto's eyes widened, "Are we in trouble?"
"No."
"Did I break something?"
"No."
"Was it me?"
Bakugo pinched the bridge of his nose, "No one broke anything."
Haruto relaxed, "Oh."
Kirishima looked at Katsuki.
For a second, neither of them said anything.
Then Kirishima smiled, "You're going to have another little brother or sister."
Silence.
Ryo's face went completely blank.
Haruto's jaw dropped.
Hinata blinked.
Akemi stared at Kirishima.
Then Haruto practically launched himself across the couch, "WE'RE GETTING A BABY?!"
Kirishima laughed as Haruto wrapped both arms around him, "Yeah."
"When?!"
"Sometime next year."
"Can I hold the baby?"
"When they’re born."
"Can I name them?"
Bakugo snorted, "No."
Haruto looked offended, "Why not?"
"Because you're five."
"I can name things!"
"You named your stuffed dog Stinky."
"He was stinky!"
"He smelled like your socks."
Haruto gasped.
Ryo finally spoke, "Again? Seriously? We're doing this again?"
Everyone looked at him.
Ryo stared at his parents with the exhausted expression of a child who had apparently been forced to accept that his family had no intention of ever being normal.
"Another baby?"
Kirishima smiled, "Another baby."
Ryo looked toward the ceiling, "Okay."
Bakugo's eyebrows rose, "That's it?"
Ryo shrugged, "There’s already four of us."
"Five," Haruto corrected excitedly.
"Yeah...fine...five."
"That's a lot of kids."
"Exactly."
Bakugo stared at his oldest.
There was something deeply unsettling about hearing his own reasoning come out of a seven-year-old's mouth.
Meanwhile, the twins were still trying to figure out what everyone was talking about.
Hinata looked at Kirishima's stomach, "Baby?"
Kirishima nodded, "Yeah, sweetheart. There's a baby growing in there."
She looked thoughtful.
Then she poked his stomach.
"Here?"
"Yep."
Akemi immediately leaned over and poked him too, "Baby in Mama?"
"That's right."
Both girls stared at his stomach.
Then Akemi looked up, "Can we keep it?"
Bakugo choked.
Kirishima burst out laughing, "Yes, Mimi. We're keeping the baby."
"Okay."
The twins apparently accepted this without further questions.
Haruto, however, was still going.
"Can I teach the baby how to fight?"
"No," Bakugo said.
"Why?"
"Because it's a baby."
"I'll teach them when they get bigger."
"No."
"I can teach it."
"Haruto."
"What?"
Bakugo gave him a flat look, "Leave your sibling alone."
Haruto frowned, "But-"
"Ryo’s a bad influence on you..."
Ryo looked up from his puzzle, "I didn't do anything."
Kirishima was laughing again, one hand resting protectively over his stomach as he watched their children argue.
Bakugo looked around the room.
Five children.
The thought still felt strange.
Not bad.
Just strange.
A life he never would have imagined for himself.
A life he'd once been convinced he didn't need.
Now there were tiny shoes by the door, toys scattered across the floor, fingerprints on nearly every surface in the house, and four voices competing for attention.
And soon there would be another.
He looked at Kirishima.
His husband was smiling.
Really smiling.
The kind of smile that made something warm settle in Bakugo's chest.
Kirishima caught his gaze.
For just a moment, the noise around them seemed to fade.
He reached across the space between them and took Katsuki's hand.
Their fingers intertwined.
"You okay?"
Bakugo glanced at him, "Yeah."
Kirishima's smile softened, "Really?"
Bakugo knew what he meant.
Not Are you okay with another baby?
Not Are you ready?
He was asking if he was happy.
Bakugo squeezed his hand, "Yeah, Eiji."
His voice was quiet.
"I'm happy."
Kirishima's eyes softened, "You are?"
Bakugo frowned, "Why the hell wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know." Kirishima glanced around at the chaos surrounding them. "Five kids is a lot."
Bakugo looked toward their children.
Ryo was trying to finish his puzzle.
Haruto was attempting to convince him that the pieces belonged somewhere they absolutely did not.
Hinata and Akemi were now whispering conspiratorially over the stuffed animal.
It was loud.
Messy.
Ridiculous.
Perfect.
Bakugo looked back at Kirishima, "They're ours."
Kirishima's smile wavered for just a second.
Then he leaned against Bakugo's shoulder, "Yeah."
Bakugo lifted their joined hands, pressing a brief kiss against Kirishima's knuckles.
"I'm happy."
Kirishima was quiet for a moment, then his mouth twitched.
Bakugo immediately narrowed his eyes, "What?"
"Nothing."
"Don't give me that look."
"What look?"
"That look."
Kirishima grinned; then he glanced down at his stomach, "Can you imagine if we had twins again?"
Bakugo froze.
His eyes widened slowly.
"...No."
Kirishima laughed, "I mean-"
"No."
"It could happen."
"Eiji."
Kirishima was laughing harder now.
Bakugo stared at him in absolute horror, "We already have four kids."
"I know."
"Four..."
"I know."
"We already have a set of twins."
"I remember."
Bakugo looked toward the ceiling like he was asking some higher power for patience.
“Don't put that shit into the universe.”
Kirishima laughed so hard he had to lean against him.
And despite himself, Bakugo smiled, “We'd need a fucking mansion.”