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"You know," Hajime trailed while looking at the brown headed male for the last time before he makes his leave out of the penthouse, "you could've texted me to give you another hour or so."

"We did no such thing!" defended Tooru with a red face.

His friend only tattered and draped his arm over the Oikawa's shoulder to prowl a sly comment that is out of your ear shot, fixating the mess that Tooru made in the kitchen earlier. "As disgusting as you are, Tetsu is free to stay over at my place if you want to do the hanky-panky."

"What's a hanky-panky?" his brow arched.

"It's a dance!" the voice of Tetsu made the two men jump, not realizing that he overheard the conversation over at the dining table. "[Name] said her friend and Ushi did it together and it sounds like fun!"

"How-... When did she say that?!" the news made the brunette raise a mystified expression and shot his curious gaze toward your way who paid no heed of the conversation until you turned with plates in your hands.

You paused, confused at what's happening but ignored it to set the table up.

"That's my queue to leave," Hajime added and turned to the door with a simple wave above his head. "Good luck, you two. Glad to see you made up already."

"Bye-bye, Iwa!" called the small child before the door closed, now the three of you were left in an awkward spot despite Tetsu humming to himself - clueless of the atmosphere.

Tooru has a lot to catch up on.

As you flashed the big plate of food on the table, big and youthful brown eyes widened at the bed-full of rice drenched in yellow gravy and potatoes. "It's katsu! It looks yummy. Did [Name] make it?"

"I sure did," you enlightened while giving him his plate of pre-cut chicken.

When you confirmed his question, you noticed his toothy grin stretched wider, growing ecstatic at the thought of you cooking, not only his lunch, but dinner for him. You watched him quietly giggle in his fists and smiled gently at his bubbly form.

The kid knows how to show appreciation over the littlest things.

Joining the toddler at the table, you also arranged a plate for Tooru who maneuvered to take a seat in between you and Tetsu.

"You should've seen your dad cook earlier," you said with a smug face.

"Hey, I wasn't that bad," he argued timidly, trying to tuck his bandaged hand in between his legs. It was the only evidence he had of the mishap.

Tetsu unknowingly blurted out at the mention of his dad's cooking and pointed at him. "Sometimes Daddy's food make me go poo poo."

"Tetsu, that's not appropriate while we're eating," Tooru scolded firmly which made the boy stiff at his command.

However, you minimized your stare at him for knowing that fact. His son's honesty made you advert your attention of the passing thought. "Do you put laxative in his food or something?"

"It's not my fault he's a pooper," the man turned quickly but said it in a whisper, but you knew he was trying throw a bit of authority to cover up his embarrassing lack of skill.

"If you can't cook, then what do you even give him?"

"I don't know... The Quick and Ready meals?" He shrugged nonchalantly but asserted. "But it's not just that, I make sure he eats his fruits and vegetables too."

Mouth gaping, you easily gave a disapproved look. If this was your own son, you would never feed him things like that unless it is necessary or an emergency. "Tooru, he needs to eat better than that. No wonder you're still a terrible cook."

"I have two jobs, sweetie," he began while cutting up Tetsu's chicken in bite sizes for him. "At least, they taste good. They're better than the ones you get for a dollar in America. Iwa-chan had his fair share eating instant all throughout college and he had a stomach flu."

"That's not the point!"

While the two of you bickered, Tetsu only stared wondrously at the new dynamic he never discovered before. He realized it was a fight but a different kind of fight, seeing now that the tension is finally eased and the tones are oddly serene in a way compare to that night.

So he spoke. "Is Daddy and [Name] happy again?"

Stopping in the midst of the argument, your and Tooru's head swiveled to give a similar reaction, brows raised at him by his little observation then you two glanced back at each other. At the same time, you both tweaked a smile.

"Yeah," you answered shyly. "I guess we are."

With that little reply, it seemed to please Tetsu immensely as he gasped in exasperation and aimed his widened eyes at his father.

"Daddy! I helped [Name] like you again," the boy exclaimed, proud of his achievement today in making his mission to reconnect you with his dad.

Baffled at his delight, Tooru only peered at him questionably but a smirk stuffed itself on his lips as a teasing idea made its way to his head and looked back to you, setting his spoon and chopsticks down on the table.

"Is this true, [Name]?" He wanted to hear it out of you. "Do you like me?"

You weren't blind to his act, huffing your cheeks at the thought of giving him your response. Instead of succumbing to your pride , you said so confidently.

"He's right. I do." Truth is; you've been wanting to say this, although it is embarrassing enough to say it in front of his kid.

"Yay! Daddy and [Name] are together again!" The boy applauded with hands flying up, cheeks blushing at his accomplishment. You even wanted to congratulate him for inserting himself into your relationship with Tooru - the most involved out of everyone you knew and that included Naomi.

Tooru was relieved, more assured now that you came clean about your feelings for him. You flinched at his sneaky hand underneath the table, brushing your thigh with the tips of his fingers and petting it before giving you a firm squeeze.

Gulping at the action with clenched jaws, you hid your reaction well at his fingers coming too close to your inner thigh as he left it there for a second before drawing back to eat his food. His face stayed stagnant as he did so which made you piss.

What a sly dog.

"So Tetsu," you started with a clear of throat, attempting to collect yourself. "I didn't forget. Is there anything you want for your birthday?"

Tetsu seemed surprised. "You remember!"

"Of course, I do," you laughed. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Tooru started to feed him his katsu when Tetsu contemplated his present from you. By that offer, he would ask for a million things and he felt powered by the question. But his innocence narrowed his mind.

After he swallowed his bite, he blinked. "Can you make a cake?"

You nodded, unaware where it might lead. "Sure I can."

"Can I bake a cake with [Name] for my birthday?" Out of all things he could've wished for, that wasn't what you expected. Normal kids would ask for the biggest and coolest toys, maybe imaginary things that are impossible to get, but Tetsu is far from those kids and better.

He just wanted to spend time with you.

The excitement flickered in his deep pools couldn't be any more obvious.

"Of course you can. We just gotta buy ingredients so we can make it before your birthday," you advised with a grin. "We have a full day with rollercoasters, remember?"

Tetsu nodded at your reminder, even more eager for the day to come but most of all, he was more excited to celebrate with someone new.

With a stifled chuckle, amazed at the new profound bond of you two, Tooru aimed the curry-smothered katsu to the boy's mouth. "Okay, okay. Finish up before it gets cold. Don't want [Name]'s food go to waste."

Just when he ordered that, Tetsu denied his request and went forward with the conversation, missing the spoon that Tooru offered.

"Is [Name] sleeping over tonight, too?"

You felt like it was deja vu again. Lately, you've been spending so much time with them, you were becoming absent in your own place. But that's the privilege of the life of an adult, you can do whatever you want. At the same time, you also don't want to overstay your welcome in Tooru's home. You also want to be courteous.

By the looks of his appearance, he doesn't mind the idea but his expression shown anticipation for you to say 'yes', although he wouldn't admit it out loud. He gave an buoyant nod.

"Yeah, I don't see why not," you said after, "if you eat all your food, especially your veggies."

"Okay!" The boy saluted, suddenly opening his mouth for Tooru to feed him like a baby bird, earning a touching laugh from his dad who pampered him with spoonful of rice.

You couldn't get enough of their typical feeding as it reminded you the first time you witnessed such a scene from the two. The 'choo-choo trains' and the lengthening 'ahh's filled the air while Tooru fed him, until Tetsu suggested to feed you too.

Smiling, if anybody were to take glimpse of this setting, anyone would think you're part of the family and the most crazy part is; you definitely feel like you are.

>>>

"Why does Daddy sleep on the couch when [Name] sleeps over?"

This kid is asking a lot of questions today.

When you were about to head way to Tooru's room, you stopped midway when you heard the small child giving him the questionnaire. Even he stiffened at the mature question, contemplating whether he should say it honestly or make up a lie.

"Because," Tooru turned to his son with a lingering stare - a question he never thought he had to explain. There were a lot of reasons why, but he only appointed the most simplest one. "She needs her privacy."

"What is 'privacy'?"

You had to pinch your eyes at this unknown conversation. Despite his explanation, it didn't convince Tetsu to drop the subject.

"But Daddy's back will hurt," Tetsu pleaded with concern. "He needs to sleep in bed! And protect [Name] from the monsters!"

"Okay, okay..." Tooru piped the boy down, knowing if he'll refuse, Tetsu was going to make a fuss.

Your mouth gaped at the easy submission. Not only you two act like parents, but you will be sleeping like parents. At the same time, you were secretly both excited and anxious to share a bed with someone. The last time was your mom but that was when you were eight. Oh - the innocent memories.

"It's bedtime for you," Tooru said to your way. "You can go ahead, I'll tuck Tetsu to sleep."

"Goodnight, [Name]! Don't forget my alien!" The boy evoked, bringing the plush doll into your hands. He didn't forget.

>>>

After a short series of 'good night's and 'sweet dreams', you plopped yourself on the bed after switching out of your clothes to wear Tooru's large tourist shirt from Argentina that hung so lowly over your hips, hiding his brief shorts that you're wearing underneath. Awaiting for the Oikawa man from his night routine in the bathroom, you anticipated his return.

A minute later, he entered the room in his sleepwear with a fresh face and blown dry hair. Once he spotted your image on his bed, he swallowed nervously by the sight of you in his baggy shirt, probably wearing nothing under to what he assumes, sitting so prettily in the middle of his king-sized mattress over the plush comforter. To his amazement, you looked like a trophy on a pedestal the way the blanket cushioned your body. Even in your night attire, he still found you beautiful.

You may have concluded what he's thinking about in that dome of his, seeing this as a first for him to share a bed in so long.

"Hey," he brought your eyes up at him with his silky voice, "if you're not comfortable, I'll just take the floor."

He acted as if he didn't just do a hot make out session with you hours before, yet he still wanted to be proper. Obviously, you knew he wanted your permission.

Your face soothed at his sweet gesture and then your hand patted at the cold spot next to you for Tooru to take.

"Just get over here," you smiled gently, not purposely trying to seduce him. With a snap of a finger, he didn't hesitate to maneuver at the opposite side of the bed with sheer confidence.

You try not to watch him for the sake of the embarrassing and awkward yet hot tension, but you can't help yourself from gawking when he started to peel his sweater off of him. His hand grabbed at the back of his collar to pull the piece of fabric in a swift motion, making the shirt he was wearing underneath rise a bit to show off a peek of his glorious abdomen and V-line. You were breathless.

The band of his sweatpants didn't help to hide the sharp kind as it draped so loosely over his hips. Through those pants, you can also scope something that could also be glorious. His show of skin wasn't the only thing that took your breath away.

Is he not wearing briefs under?

But your indecent mind was cut off when the brunette sunk himself on the bed, pushing the comforter off to tuck himself next to you. He even assisted fixing the blanket over your body for you to adjust in your comfy position, sealing the warmth between you two. Once you curled, you met his eyes glowing straight at your fixated stare. The light from the window wall reflected those mocha eyes of his.

"So what was that all about earlier?" Tooru asked, starting a civil conversation fill the silence. "Tetsu said that he helped you liking me again."

You almost forgotten about today's evening with Tetsu's visit. Huffing an entertaining breath, you faced up the ceiling.

"About that," you started. "He came to see me at work with Iwaizumi and Hanamaki."

"He did?" With his arm propped on the pillow, Tooru quirked his brows in wonder. "Is that how he learned the word 'hanky-panky'?"

"Sorry. I swear, I thought he wasn't paying attention," you chuckled. "Maki is the one who made it worse by saying it was a dance. Hopefully he'll just forget about it."

"At this rate, I don't think he will soon," the athlete laughed back. "So did your friend and Ushiwaka really..."

By his trailing thought, you predicted what he was going to assume and just nodded. His expression shown pure disbelief at the fact but never foresaw it happening.

"Really," he depicted with a pondering face. "Now that I think about it, they look good together."

"Funny, she said the exact same thing about herself," you contented. You just knew Naomi loves to fathom about her appearance with another person's looks. She knows her worth. Then your lips widened to release a yawn before contributing. "I wish them luck though. I know she's been wanting to have a boyfriend for a long time."

Tooru took notice of your exhausted state. After a long night of cooking and cleaning for the two boys, he felt guilty for keeping you up so he began to pull the covers over your shoulders.

"You should get some rest."

"You're right." Another yawn broke out of you while snuggling yourself deeper into the pillow.

"Sweet dreams," he muttered lowly, petting the side of your face.

"Yeah," you answered shortly, lost in his gaze.

But neither of you batted a wink or even looked away from each other until Tooru gave an appeasing smile. His arm sneaked under your side to pull you close to his chest. The intimacy in his eyes didn't go unnoticed as you inhaled his scent that matched with his bed - a mixture of laundry and crystal water.

His hands were a perfect distraction, caressing your back up and down as you sighed deeply against his muscular arm, completely baited into the therapeutic moment. Just when your eyes closed, his hands lowered to your hips to brush his fingers underneath the shirt to touch the skin of your waist.

At that point, you were more than awake now. The goosebumps tingled up your spine as he does this.

Tooru's head lowered to steal a kiss from you and you easily gave in to him. His hot breath hovered your lips after a few more enticing kisses and smiled.

"Still tired?" He hummed curiously with a light, fluttery tone. "Do you want me to put you to sleep, too?"

His flirtatious comment teased you as he chuckled at your little slap to his chest.

"Have some manners," you scolded.

"Relax, darling. As long as Tetsu is here, I can't do much to you," he said with a grin, holding your waist tighter. But he fixed a strand of your hair and tucked it pass your ear, lowering his head close to your ear and murmured. "But if we were alone, I'll be the one teaching you some manners."

The raspiness of his voice covered the intent in them and you felt your heart stop for a mere second. His innocent smile blinded you the allurement on his face and pulled you deeper into a warm embrace underneath the blanket - his heat surrounding you so welcomingly.

Before he began to drift into a slumber, Tooru lowly whispered. "Can't wait to spend my son's birthday with you."

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Posted: 05-14-21