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If there was one thing Satoru and Kento’s youngest son loved, it was food. Sukuna had joined Kento as a fellow foodie in the house. From the second he was onto solid foods, he had always been inquisitive about the food that others had on their plates that was missing from his. Sometimes he would ask nicely to share food from the plates of others, sometimes however, tiny hands would dart out to snatch food away.
It had led to an interesting adventure in babysitting for Suguru who’d had to snatch a spicy chicken wings out of Sukuna’s hands while he was distracted. Satoru had laughed hysterically when he’d been told about the way Sukuna screamed as Suguru had washed his hands before the boy was able to try the sauce that had covered them.
“Kid screams like a demon when he’s pissed off.” Suguru had groaned as Satoru had knelt to take the sulking Sukuna back home with him.
“You have no idea.”
-
Kento liked to think that many years of being a mostly stay-at-home parent had made him immune to almost anything. Embarrassing meltdowns in public places? He could handle that. If anything Satoru himself had more than prepared Kento for dealing with children. This is why when he decided to stop allowing Sukuna to go grocery shopping with him Satoru raised an eyebrow at the news.
“What do you mean you can’t take him anymore?”
“Satoru, he screams at all the food he sees and tries to grab things off the shelves if I take my eyes off him for a second. I was checking the list and when I looked up he was eating a carrot! I don’t even know where he grabbed it from.” Kento sighed, exasperated by his troublesome shopping adventure.
“Okay, we’ll figure it out. Maybe I can go after work to collect what we need? Or maybe distract him with a snack while we’re in there?”
“Snacks don’t work, he’s more interested in what’s on the shelves.” Kento dropped onto the sofa, slouching down to rest his head on Satoru’s shoulder. The white-haired man turned his head to kiss Kento’s wrinkled brow.
“Don’t stress, it’s just a phase and I’m sure we can work around it for a few months until it passes or we can reason with him a little more.”
“I hope so,” Kento sighed, running his hand over Satoru’s thigh before looking at his husband. “We’ll just take precautions for now.”
-
Satoru was a man who took pride in his appearance, which is why everything that he used for his children was always top of the range for both safety features and design. The stroller Sukuna was inside had been Yuuji’s before and was sturdy enough to contain the toddler, currently on a mission to age his father. It was also sufficiently stylish that Satoru felt he could stand out compared to the run-of-the-mill strollers.
Their trip to the park was meant to be a break for Kento after he had fallen down the stairs of their home. Sitting at home all day with a bad ankle and a fractured wrist, meant that having a toddler full of energy was impossible. After endlessly insisting that he could do it with no problem, Satoru was tempted to let him learn his lesson. But he had been the bigger person and just said he wanted to be there the first few days to make sure Kento could handle it.
It took only four hours for him to admit that he couldn’t chase after a Sukuna. Sukuna didn’t want to sit and quietly watch TV, or play with the toys within reach. Hell, Kento had even tried getting the boy to sit and colour with him but that had been completely useless. So Satoru looked into seeing if they could book him into the daycare full-time for a few weeks.
That had been a total bust, all they had managed was a third day each week.
This is how they ended up at the park. Kento was too stubborn to take painkillers while the kids were in the house. He also wasn’t sure about taking them before bed. So the man had had such little sleep this week he was worn down, emotional and exhausted. So Satoru dragged Sukuna out of the house, begged Suguru to pick up Yuuji and keep him a few extra hours. His plan all came together, but it didn’t account for how much trouble Sukuna could get into.
Sukuna had been sitting down with a snack when another child approached him. Satoru couldn’t believe how the boy had screamed and thrown a nearby toy at the approaching child. Satoru appropriately scolded Sukuna, taking away the toys while the boy ate and apologised to the child and their parents. After letting the toddler run around at the park until he was exhausted, he decided it was time to go home once he saw a few yawns escape his youngest child.
As Satoru took the long route through town back to their home, hoping that Sukuna would settle down for his nap in the stroller, his phone started to ring. Satoru stopped digging inside the diaper bag for his phone and was surprised to see Kento’s name.
“Hello handsome,” Satoru answered, upping the charm for his husband. “What can I do for you?”
“Silly Daddy. It’s Yuuji.”
“Oh, how silly of me. Of course, it’s my darling Yuuji,” Satoru laughed at his eldest son's giggles, noticing how Sukuna perked up at his brother’s name. “What can I do for you, my angel Yuuji?”
“Papa asked me to ask you to go and pick up dinner. I want noodles!”
Satoru laughed again, hearing Kento in the background gently chiding Yuuji for shouting. Satoru realised they would stop by a convenience store on their route home, the diversion wouldn’t be an issue.
“Of course. Is there anything else you or Papa would like?”
Satoru waited as the boy conversed with his other parent, hearing as Kento asked for some fruit for the children the next day. Satoru mentally wrote a list of all the demands, including Yuuji asking for something for Cookie so she wouldn’t feel left out. Satoru agreed to all requests asked of him and promised to be home soon.
“Well, Sukuna, we have our mission”
The boy gazed up at his father with wide eyes and waited for the man to continue moving them onwards, aggressively kicking his legs hard enough to shake the stroller, as if doing the toddler version of yelling ‘charge’ on a battlefield. Satoru shook his head and took the hint to continue to the store.
The amount of time it took Satoru to realise the terrible error he had made while playing with Sukuna by dramatically veering the stroller around corners, creating sound effects and shouting about incoming dangers wouldn’t hit him until he was inside the store. Once inside Satoru remembered that he had been trying to get the boy to sleep. So now, he was shopping with a tired toddler who had experienced a fresh wave of energy from overstimulation.
The second error he made was forgetting about the issue of shopping for food with Sukuna. Something he hadn’t experienced for himself but had heard Kento describe the impressive meltdowns the boy was capable of having. As they approached the produce section, Satoru stopped the stroller too close to the display. So while Satoru was selecting the best packages of strawberries, Sukuna’s tiny scheming hands were reaching out for a pack of blueberries.
Satoru caught him in the act just as he was picking them up. Instead, he walked around to the front of the stroller and placed his hand on the packet of blueberries. He gently tugged it away from his son while crouching before him to make eye contact.
“Sukuna, if you want the blueberries we need to pay for them first. If you ask Daddy nicely I will get the blueberries for you, okay?”
There is a consensus among parents and parenting advice, that the second child is easier than the first and following that logic each child after that. Satoru had believed this when they planned to have another child. He and Kento believed that all the lessons they had learnt with Yuuji had prepared them and set them up for success with the next child.
Except Yuuji had been a little angel.
Satoru was pretty sure Sukuna contained demonic inclinations some days and today he was in true form.
“No!” The boy screamed, clutching tightly to the packet with surprising strength. He snatched the whole thing out of his father’s gentle grip. “My boobies!”
Satoru bit his lip, desperate not to laugh at the toddler irrately screaming for ‘boobies’. It had completely slipped his mind that Sukuna’s pronunciation was still a work in progress. Determined not to completely lose it at the way his son said the word blueberries the man continued to attempt to retrieve the packet.
“Okay. I understand. I will buy you the blueberries, buddy. But I need you to let me put them in the basket, okay?”
“No!” Sukuna held tightly to the package, staring daggers at his father.
Satoru sighed and hung his head, he tried to avoid having to be too forceful with his children. But there were times when he was left with no choice. Satoru reached his hand out and tried to take the packet from Sukuna. The toddler screamed once again, starting to shriek in his desperation to keep hold of the blueberries. Just as Satoru managed to get the package of blueberries away from Sukuna, the toddler swung his arm out and knocked the package out of his father’s hand.
As the package hit the floor it burst open and the blueberries spread across the entire aisle. Satoru sighed and ran a hand over his face. Satoru fixed Sukuna with a look, just in time for him to start crying loudly and inconsolably. His face which was red from screaming, was now red and covered in tears.
“My boobies, Daddy!” Sukuna wept, his tiny hands reaching for the blueberries scattered over the floor.
“I know buddy. Daddy will get you some new boob-blueberries but I have to clean this up first, okay?”
Satoru reached for Sukuna’s plushie from under the stroller, tucking it in next to the boy’s face. Sukuna buried his face into the soft fur, as his father gently stroked his head. Satoru used his sleeve to gently wipe the tears off Sukuna’s cheeks before leaning down to leave a soft kiss on the forehead of his youngest child.
“It’s gonna be okay, Sukuna.” Satoru soothed gently, waiting for the boy’s emotions to calm down.
Satoru manoeuvred the stroller to face away from the display as he got on his hands and knees, gathering all the loose blueberries into the package. He placed the package along with another into the basket that rested between the handles of the stroller, Satoru ignored the stares of the other shoppers as he cleaned up the mess. No doubt Sukuna still whining tiredly about his ‘boobies’ was also enough to get Satoru a few additional looks.
Satoru grabbed a second packet of blueberries to place alongside the exploded packet, guilt meant he would buy both packets and ensure the damaged one was washed before it was eaten. Satoru gathered the rest of the shopping list with little issue but made sure to keep an eye on Sukuna at all times.
Thinking that the worst was behind him, Satoru made his way to the checkout lane. As soon as he placed the two packs of blueberries on the belt, Sukuna whined even louder. His tired face lifted out of its place of being half buried in a plushy, and he leaned forward to grab them from the edge of the conveyor belt. Satoru wrapped his hand around Sukuna’s tiny one.
“Just a couple more minutes buddy.” Satoru reassured the boy, gently wriggling his hand before going forward to pay for their items.
“Please, Daddy. Want my boobies.”
Satoru kept a straight face as he paid, despite the cashier’s head whipping towards the toddler talking about ‘boobies’. The only conclusion was that the universe was punishing him. Sukuna was his divine punishment for his misspent youth, that was the only logical explanation Satoru could come to.
It made perfect sense to him at that moment.
Satoru placed the bag of groceries into the basket beneath the stroller and made his way out of the store with his head held high and a toddler still whining about his much-desired blueberries. As soon as they were a few feet away from the store, Satoru pulled out the blueberries that hadn’t been launched around the store. He carefully opened the packet and popped a few of the berries in his mouth, he deserved a reward for making it through that with his sanity intact.
“Here you go, buddy. Thank you for waiting.” Satoru spoke softly as he handed the opened tray to the toddler.
Sukuna took the package and started to eat, silently sitting in his seat as Satoru resumed their journey home. Once or twice Sukuna lifted his hand with an almost crushed blueberry between his fingers and offered it to his father.
“Boobie, Daddy?”
“Thank you, Sukuna.”
He’d accept the blueberry each time, glad that Sukuna was at least open to sharing his food. As soon as he arrived home, the toddler was starting to drift off for his nap, though a little late. Satoru looked down at the boy, his face and hands now sticky from the berries. His eyes struggled to stay open as he lazily forced more blueberries inside his mouth.
As he walked inside the house, Yuuji ran out to greet them both but at the sight of his baby brother drifting to sleep halted in his loud excited greeting. Instead, he opted to wave and rush to hug his father. Satoru returned the hug tightly and watched as Yuuji crouched down in front of his brother in the stroller.
“Yuuji, boobie?”
Yuuji’s eyes widened at the word, looking up at his father before back down to his brother. Satoru couldn’t help but smile, he as such a sweet child that his concern for his brother getting in trouble for saying a rude word was the first thing on his mind.
“It’s okay, Yuuji. He’s trying to say blueberry. He’s not doing it on purpose.” Satoru spoke softly, watching as Yuuji accepted the offered fruit, ruffling the toddler’s hair with his empty hand.
“Thanks, Sukuna. Wanna go see Papa?” Yuuji held his arms out for his brother and watched as the toddler started to wriggle for freedom for his brother.
Satoru smiled as Yuuji set Sukuna loose and picked his brother up with a struggle, carrying the smaller boy into the living room. Satoru watched the pair leave and set about gathering the groceries. When he walked into the living room, he saw Kento lying across the couch with Sukuna curled into his side. The toddler buried his face in his father’s chest, and Yuuji gently stroked his brother’s hair as he drifted to sleep.
“How’s the most gorgeous man in the world feeling?” Satoru asked as he leaned down and kissed Kento’s forehead.
“Better.” Kento replied softly, running his hand over Sukuna’s back as the boy finally drifted to sleep.
“Want me to let him sleep there?”
“Yeah. Did you guys have a good day?”
Satoru snorted, beginning to tell Kento about his day out with their youngest. Kento shook his head softly, unable to suppress his smile as Satoru told him of the misadventure inside the convenience store. Yuuji hid his mouth behind his hands to hide his giggles at the tale.
“So, no more trips to the store with this one?”
“Not for a while yet. I think the poor lady at the checkout was going to burst into flames with how many times Sukuna said the word boobie.”
Yuuji continued to giggle, before climbing over Kento and into Satoru’s arms for a hug. The white-haired man accepted the hug and squeezed the boy back tightly. He looked over at Kento and Sukuna, almost entirely forgetting about the harrowing shopping experience he’d had just moments before. The toddler was so small and innocent as he slept against his other father’s side.
Satoru’s eyes drifted to Kento, the blond still looking pale and washed out. But at least his smile was back as he snuggled with his family. The bags under his eyes had faded a little and Satoru felt a small weight lift off him. If he had to repeat this adventure with Sukuna every day for Kento to get some rest, then he would. Satoru stood with Yuuji in his arms.
“I have a sneaking suspicion that this one wants the noodles he requested,” Satoru picked up the bag of groceries in the hand that wasn’t holding Yuuji. “You take care of our resident blueberry fiend and I’ll have dinner ready for you in moments.”
“Thank you,” Kento spoke softly, sinking back into the sofa with Sukuna secured at his side. “Yuuji, are you going to help out in the kitchen?”
The boy nodded eagerly, and Satoru cheered quietly walking into the kitchen with his son.
-
Satoru bent down to pick Kento off the sofa but the blond placed his hand on his husband’s chest and pushed him.
“You don’t need to carry me, I can walk.”
“Baby, you fell down the stairs. I’m just glad you’re healthy, but your ankle can’t support your weight much right now. So just lean on me instead okay?”
Kento’s eyes softened at those words, before sitting himself upright. He held his hand out to Satoru and the other man took it. He helped his husband onto his feet and lifted him into his arms. Kento yelped at the sudden movement, wrapping his arms tightly around Satoru’s neck to keep from falling.
“Satoru, you can’t carry me! You’re not exactly young yourself!”
“Nah. I got it. I’d never drop you.”
“Idiot,” Kento muttered as he was carried upstairs and into their bedroom. “I guess I should just be grateful you didn’t do a fireman carry with how my ribs are.”
Satoru set Kento down on their bed and instantly set himself off to go and find the man’s sleep clothes and medicine. Once he had everything he helped undress Kento gently, the sight of the bruises and scrapes the man had suffered from his fall hurt his heart. Kento watched silently as Satoru gently rubbed the bruise cream into each mark.
“You’re doing too much.”
“You look after everyone here day in and day out, Kento. Let me return the favour.”
Satoru pulled Kento’s t-shirt over his head and kissed him as soon as his head was free. Kento pressed his forehead against Satoru’s, holding onto the other man’s shirt to keep him still for a moment.
“Thank you.”
Satoru smiled, kissing his husband one more time before helping him get a clean shirt on.
“Anytime, now come on. Gotta cover up your boobies.”
“Ugh. You had to ruin it.” Kento pushed Satoru away and settled into his spot in bed. “Go do your hour-long skincare routine and come to bed.”
Satoru snickered as he passed Kento the book at the top of the pile on his bedside table. The man accepted the book before shooing his husband off to the bathroom. Satoru rushed off, sparing one more look back before he left, the sight of Kento warming his heart.
“Satoru? Thank you for letting me rest today.”
“Anything for you.” Satoru spoke softly, watching Kento blush from sweet words like he always did. Satoru stood in the doorway to the bathroom for a moment staring at his husband, the way the t-shirt showed off his collarbones. “I love you.”
“I love you too, hurry and come to bed.” Kento replied, Satoru rushed off knowing that’s the closest he would probably get to being asked to come snuggle.
Satoru rushed the skincare routine, not wanting to make his beautiful husband wait. Once he was finished he ran back to the bed, jumping in beside Kento who scolded Satoru for his sudden disruption. Satoru lay his head on Kento’s chest, an arm wrapping around his husband’s waist. Kento forgot about his book and let his arms come to squeeze Satoru tightly.
Satoru grinned as his face was pressed into Kento’s chest, as he was about to open his mouth to speak he looked up to see his husband glaring down at him.
“Say ‘boobie’ and you’re trading places with Cookie.”