Hiroki (shakkun) wrote in candypop, @ 2009-05-17 19:25:00 |
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Current mood: | content |
20th of March 2009, Junichi, Yoko, Ryo, Hiroki and Miyuki
Hiroki looked at the cement wall he saw before him and let a light sigh escape his lips. Inside it felt as if everything was in chaos but because he wasn’t the one who was going to take the worst of this, it sort of felt as if he wasn’t allowed to feel like this so he had to act as if he wasn’t.
Hearing how Miyuki whined in the backseat woke the younger parent up from his thoughts and he then turned to look at Ryo who was sitting in the passenger seat right next to him. It was easy to tell the older one was nervous and to Hiroki it wouldn’t be surprising if he honestly just wanted to run away, but knowing Ryo by now that wasn’t even an possible option but merely a thought as impossible as saying that humans could fly.
“Are you okay?” Hiroki finally asked then, figuring he and Ryo should at least talk a little before they got out and dealt with it.
Not taking his eyes off the window, Ryo hummed low as he sat there still, trying to collect his thoughts. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t nervous, but on the other hand most people were when they had to meet their lover’s parents, and while Ryo had met Hiroki’s mother many times by now, he and the younger one’s father had always stayed at a safe distance from each other, nearly ignoring the other one. The feeling of determination was standing stronger inside him though, as it really was about the time to get this to work, he had been together with Hiroki for nearly four years now, they had a beautiful daughter now and it could only get better from here on, so it was about the time to have the younger one’s father approve of him – for Miyuki’s sake at least.
“Should we go?” he said then after a while, turning to look at the younger one. There was a slight frown on his face, as Ryo tried to tell himself that he could do this, that he could make this work, they were all adults now, they should be able to deal with this the adult way… Hopefully Hiroki’s father thought so too.
When Ryo looked at him like that, there was no way that Hiroki could not find it adorable and somehow cool at the same time. Ryo really could be cool when he wanted to be, when he wasn’t the adorable, clingy boyfriend who just never would let go if he got things his way. Not that Hiroki minded though – he was quite clingy himself but Ryo was a little bit more.
Leaning in to claim his boyfriend’s lips in a quick kiss, Hiroki whispered a small word of encouragement before he leaned back again. Both of them had agreed early on that being too close in public and outside wasn’t allowed, especially not in broad daylight but this right now was an exception in Hiroki’s eyes.
“You take Miyuki?”
Relaxing a bit at that, Ryo nodded once before getting out of the car. Opening the back door and getting Miyuki out as well, Ryo followed Hiroki as the younger one walked towards the small house that belonged to the Uchi household. It was really scary actually, to face Hiroki’s father like this, to actually have to talk to him and have him realize how serious he was, how hard he would work in order to make Hiroki happy – just the thought of how badly his father had freaked out before made him want to turn back and drive back to Tokyo right away.
Ignoring how the little girl in his arms kept playing with his hair, Ryo just stared at whatever was in front of him as he stood still, waiting for the nightmare to begin.
Hiroki wanted to help Ryo somehow, wanted to tell him that it was okay and that way make him feel much better somehow. But he knew that no matter what he said, he wouldn’t be able to make things better. Hopefully Ryo knew though that no matter what, even if his father would end up furious and all of this would go to hell, hopefully Ryo knew by now that Hiroki would still stand by him even if that meant that he would get disowned.
“We’re heeere,” Hiroki called out as he entered the house and once Ryo had closed the door behind them, he took Miyuki so he could take off her small shoes and then put her down on the floor. “Grandma, grandpa~?”
Taking a deep breath, Ryo watched how Miyuki quickly walked further into the house, cutely calling out for her grandparents. Looking at Hiroki, he tried to smile at the younger one, though it probably was easy to tell from the look on his face that he would rather be anywhere else than here.
“Let’s do this then…,” the older one mumbled and with that started walking after his daughter, squeezing Hiroki’s hand gently as he passed him – why was his father so scary?
Letting out a high-pitched giggle as she saw her grandmother, Miyuki walked as quickly as she could, hugging her grandmother’s legs as she reached her.
“There’s my favorite granddaughter!” Yoko said happily, lifting Miyuki up in front of her before hugging her tightly. The little girl was growing up so fast and even though it hadn’t been too long since she had visited them last time, it already felt like ages away.
“Hello boys,” she greeted the two young men that had finally found their way into the living room. Walking up to her son, Yoko gave a light pat on Hiroki’s cheek as she studied his face.
“How are you doing, have you been eating enough?”she asked, not waiting for an answer as she turned to look at Ryo, giving him a gentle smile.
“Are you okay? Don’t look so stiff, it will be alright, come in, lets get you two something to drink!” she cheerfully said, smiling at the couple before turning around and heading towards the kitchen.
Hiroki loved his mother so much, definitely loved her more than anything but right now he couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed. Ryo had seen her like that many times, seen her ask if he was doing okay if he ate enough et cetera, but sometimes it was just more embarrassing than others and now definitely was one of those times.
“We’re fine…,” Hiroki said at that, smiling in a way that easily gave away that he was embarrassed. Though he quickly managed to get that expression off of his face as he looked at Miyuki in her grandmother’s arms, she looked so happy when she met her relatives like this.
As his wife, granddaughter and his son and Ryo entered the living room, Junichi looked up from the newspaper he was reading. Yoko had informed him of that the couple would arrive today but now that they were here, he couldn’t help but feel awfully uncomfortable. Looking quickly at his son – the boy he had had a hard time accepting for a very long time despite it being his own flesh and blood – Junichi then looked at the cup of tea that stood before him, trying not to think of what his son and Ryo did. Men weren’t supposed to be with other men after all, neither was women supposed to be with other women. Men were supposed to find a woman they loved and then create a family with her the natural way and the only way which was acceptable and normal. To think that his own son had decided to go another way and behave like this, it was still difficult to accept sometimes.
“Good day,” he greeted strictly, this nothing too weird though as Junichi had always been the strict and rather formal type when the situation called for it. He could of course be more relaxed, but with Ryo present there was no way that Junichi could relax now.
“Hi dad,” Hiroki greeted cheerfully as he grabbed Ryo’s hand simply because he could and wanted to show his dad that things were this way. Moving to the couch the couple sat down and Hiroki glanced at Ryo as he waited for him to say something. Yoko had returned to the kitchen, probably preparing some tea and Miyuki had grabbed the newspaper simply because it was an item that was okay to take. Cups and glasses she had been yelled at for taking after all, and she didn’t like being yelled at so the paper had to do.
Feeling oddly awkward as everyone suddenly fell silent, as if expecting him to speak – which he probably should since that was the reason they came here in the first place – Ryo squeezed Hiroki’s hand once before sitting up straight. Taking the newspaper from Miyuki as she was about to put it into her mouth, Ryo lifted the girl up to sit on his lap, feeling a bit more comfortable that way. He didn’t say anything just yet though, as it felt like he would just interrupt the man as he was still reading his magazine.
Luckily it didn’t take long for Yoko to come back from the kitchen with a tray full of sweets and of course cups of tea for all of them, along with a smaller cup of juice for Miyuki.
“So,” she said cheerfully as she sat down next to her husband, pushing his magazine down so that he would get involved in the conversation as well, it was his son and his boyfriend that were here after all, and surely it was important for Hiroki too that they would all get along.
“How are the concerts going?” she asked, smiling at Hiroki – the sigh that left Ryo’s lips not going unnoticed from her though.
Hiroki couldn’t help but smile as he too noticed Ryo’s sigh. He didn’t make a comment though, but instead just looked at his parents.
“They went just fine! The next ones are here in Osaka in a few weeks,” he answered cheerfully but didn’t get to say much more than that before Miyuki let out a small giggle, causing everyone to look at her.
As her second father leaned a bit closer, Miyuki reached out her hand to poke his face and there was no way that Junichi could deny that it was adorable. Seeing his own son with a little girl that was his daughter; the way it made him feel proud couldn’t be described in words. But because of the situation and how it was a man and not a woman that Hiroki was with, it made everything really complicated and a bit difficult.
Unable to keep a small smile off of his lips though, Junichi cleared his throat and leaned forward to take his cup again. He knew that Ryo wanted to talk, that that was the reason for why they had gotten here, but as it seemed right now the boy couldn’t even say a single word. He wasn’t very respectable right now.
Smiling down at the little girl, Ryo pet her hair softly before she climbed to sit on Hiroki’s lap instead. Taking a sip from his cup of tea, Ryo then straightened his pose again, clearing his throat a bit as he set his eyes on Hiroki’s father.
“Junichi-san,” he then started, nodding slightly to show the older man some respect, Hiroki’s father had always been rather strict after all.
“You probably know why I wanted to come here and talk with you,” he continued shortly after, not taking his eyes off the man as it was important to show him that he really was serious about this, because he was. “Miyuki will turn two years old soon, and I think that as her family it is important that we get along – and I know you aren’t too fond of me, but please do listen to me for this once?” Swallowing once, Ryo fell silent, subconsciously holding onto Hiroki’s hand, he waited for the younger one’s father to voice his thoughts.
Hiroki squeezed Ryo’s hand in return as he looked down at Miyuki. If he could he would have praised the older one for being so forward and so honest, but right now wasn’t a time for him to talk so he would just have to save it for later. Ryo definitely would get to hear how great he was though, because he was without doubt… the best ever.
Junichi looked at the two men before him, one of them being his son and then at his grandchild. Of course he knew that for Miyuki it would be bad if the whole family wouldn’t get along and apparently Ryo’s parents had accepted this a long time ago. Yoko used to call him old fashioned and maybe he was, maybe he was still stuck in the times when he had grown up, but he just wanted the best for Hiroki and Junichi still strongly thought that would be to have him be the head of a household with some girl. Not to be with this guy that once had only been his best friend.
“I’m listening,” he said though, leaning back in the armchair as he looked at Ryo. He suddenly looked rather serious and for that Junichi had to give him some credit. He looked just like he wished that Aoi’s future boyfriend would look like – determined and firm. If the boy would just find a girlfriend, he would easily make her parents happy.
Swallowing nervously as all the attention was on him again now that Junichi had fallen silent, Ryo took a deep breath as he thought of what to say and how to phrase his thoughts, how to convince Junichi that he was good enough of a husband for his son. Honestly? He probably hadn’t been this nervous in years.
“Thank you,” Ryo eventually said though, showing his gratitude towards the older man. Taking a quick look at the small girl that sat on her father’s lap, Ryo then turned back to face the man sitting opposite to him.
“We have been together for nearly four years now, and I apologize for the way you found out…,” he started then again, feeling rather awkward for mentioning such an unpleasant memory, but somehow it felt as if he should apologize for it.
“But I hope you realize that I…” he went on, suddenly falling silent as he felt Miyuki touch his hand. Turning to look at the little girl, Ryo forgot all about what he was to say as she smiled up at him. Looking up at Hiroki before turning back to face Junichi again, Ryo looked the father of his husband with honest eyes.
“I love your son very much,” he then simply stated without even thinking of what he said and how Junichi probably did not care to hear that. “I respect him more than anything and I will work hard to bring him the happiness he deserves. I hope you understand that there is nothing that could change how I feel about this and I truly hope you could accept us as we are.” Falling silent again, Ryo closed his eyes for a few seconds. He wanted to say so much more, wanted to tell Junichi how beautiful his son was and how good of a father he was and would be, wanted to tell how much this meant to him and how many sacrifices he would be ready to do for his family’s sake, but it felt as if he had said enough already, too much even and perhaps the wrong things even but these were his honest feelings and if it wasn’t enough for the older one then Ryo was at a loss of words. Brushing some hair behind his ear, Ryo looked down at the floor as he waited for Hiroki’s father to say something.
Hiroki had no idea of what to say, feeling as though he should say something even though he knew he shouldn’t. He knew of course that Ryo loved him, one would have to be really blind to think anything else, but to hear him talk about it like this somehow made it even stronger. He was after all sitting here, telling Hiroki’s parents just how much he loved him and while Hiroki could take confessions without crying and without making too big of a deal out of it, this time it was so much bigger.
Blinking a little as if that would make the tears in his eyes go away, Hiroki looked down at the little girl in his lap and attempted to pull her slightly closer. Honestly he wished he had a teddy bear or something instead though, so he could squeeze it as hard as possible.
Junichi just looked at Ryo then and let out a heavy sigh. Noticing his son’s reaction, he couldn’t help but think that Hiroki was acting like a girl and then ask himself what he did wrong during his upbringing. What he did wrong to make his son turn out like this. Exactly what was it that had made him like this, when had it happened?
Glancing at his wife, Junichi was surprised to see such a content smile on her lips and it immediately had him look back at Ryo who avoided his eyes. No matter how much he wanted to, there was no way that Junichi could hate this guy. He had known him before he and Hiroki got together after all, he had seen him be a great support of his son through hard times and for that he was forever grateful. He really liked Ryo; he was a nice guy, but even so…
“Don’t have me regret this,” he finally said then though, right before he got up from his seat and instead headed towards the office, which really was just a small room with a desk, a chair and a lot of old books and such he had collected over the years.
There was no way he could have said anything else though, was there? Ryo had promised he would bring Hiroki happiness and while Junichi definitely had a difficult time understanding how Hiroki could be happy in a relationship like that – how they could feel the way they did about each other – the expression on his son’s face had been one of pure happiness and if that had been because of what Ryo said…
All he really wanted was for his family to be happy, after all. He wanted nothing more but for Yoko, Hiroki and Aoi to be truly happy and if Ryo could make Hiroki feel that then what reason did he really have to be against it? He really didn’t understand though, hopefully Yoko could explain it to him at some point.
Slowly rising his head as Junichi passed him, Ryo blinked a few times. That was it? Just like that? Everything was okay now and no one had gotten angry? Honestly it was rather hard to realize that… that Hiroki’s father had listened to him and even accepted all of it…
Turning to look out of the window, Ryo stayed silent for now, just holding onto Hiroki’s hand as he let the situation sink in.
Turning to look at his family as he felt someone thug on his sleeve, Ryo let his lips form a small smile as he watched Miyuki hold onto his sleeve, struggling to get free now that no one was talking anymore. Removing Hiroki’s hand from around the small girl, Ryo lifted the younger one’s face up, smiling at him softly as he wiped the traces of tears away from his cheeks.
“Hey…,” he whispered, not really realizing that Yoko was still in the room and honestly he didn’t care much right now either. “It’s alright, don’t cry…”
Hiroki looked up then, not quite sure of what to do. He didn’t mean to cry – even though he sort of wanted to, what with this having gone smoothly and all – but when Ryo looked at him like that and spoke to him like that, he couldn’t help but allow a few tears fall down on his cheek.
“Sorry…,” he whispered, grabbing Miyuki’s shirt just because as he then looked down again. If anyone should cry, it should be Ryo, right? He was the one who had been beyond words nervous and been the one to say those things… surely he was relieved that everything had gone well? Hiroki knew for sure that had it been him then he would have broken down in tears of relief immediately as soon as Junichi had left the room.
Hiroki probably didn’t realize how right he was with that; the feeling of relief that washed over him had really been strong enough to have him in tears, but as there were other people in the room – women even, and Hiroki’s father wasn’t too faraway either, Ryo could only hold his emotions together, he wouldn’t want to give a weak impression to Junichi after that.
“It’s okay…,” he mumbled though, softly running his thumb over Hiroki’s cheek before reaching out take Miyuki up in his arms from the floor as she had found the magazine again.
Watching the two boys, Yoko could only smile sweetly – the sight before her eyes was so beautiful in its own way after all, and no matter how much some people disapproved of it, she was truly happy for her son to have found happiness like this.
“I’ll go and make us dinner,” she announced cheerfully then, getting up from her seat, patting Hiroki’s shoulder as she passed the two young men on her way to the kitchen. “You boys take a breath and enjoy your time now, there are some toys for Miyuki in the box under the table.”
When they had finally been left alone, Hiroki dared to relax some more and with that another few tears escaped his eyes. Quickly drying his cheeks though, he looked up at Ryo and shook his head slightly. What for he didn’t really know, but probably at himself for being so silly.
“It’s okay, right?” he asked then, his voice low as it just… seemed somewhat a bad subject to talk about when it in fact was one of the best things that could have happened.
But it was like that, wasn’t it? It was okay for them to be together now, wasn’t it? Of course Hiroki knew that it always had been and he knew that people would always be oppose of it, but this meant that his family accepted them after all and to Hiroki that was all that was needed really. Other people’s opinion didn’t matter as long as his and Ryo’s family supported them.
Smiling at his husband, Ryo nodded once, pulling Hiroki into an embrace, holding him tightly in his arms.
It felt so good right now, to know that he had been given a chance, to know that he had been accepted, they had been accepted just the way they are.
It didn’t take too long until Yoko appeared in the doorway of the living room again, smiling at the couple that had by now calmed down; Hiroki sitting on the floor with his daughter, playing with a ball while Ryo sat on the couch, following the two with a smile on his face.
“The food is ready!” she announced, smiling widely at the little girl who immediately looked up at her, forgetting all about Hiroki and the ball that she had in her arms.
“You three go ahead, I will go and get your father,” Yoko said to Hiroki as she passed the boy, walking towards the office where her silly husband most likely was still locked up. “Junichi, darling come have dinner with us!”
If there was one thing, aside from such things as homo- and bisexuality, that Junichi didn’t really understand in this world, it was women and especially his own. Yoko could never let him be alone and while he knew that she appreciated that he didn’t work as much as he had once upon a time, she was almost getting to be a bit too clingy. At least today, she asked him to be at home and have tea and now she wanted him to eat with those two. While he had… accepted Ryo simply because he had no other choice, how was he supposed to eat with them?
“I’ll be right there,” he mumbled in reply though, getting up from his chair once he had put down his book. As he rose and looked up at Yoko however, he froze on the spot as he saw her wide smile. For a few seconds he simply looked at her, but then finally looked away as he then headed towards the door and followed her out of the room.
As his father came back, Hiroki’s smile grew slightly and he leaned back in his chair. For some reason it didn’t feel weird or awkward at all to be around his dad now, not now when they had had half an hour or so to deal with this whole thing. Maybe it was weird, that one would need time to deal with something that was so positive, but Hiroki had definitely needed that but now it was all okay. Question only was if Ryo felt the same – hopefully he did.
Unlike Hiroki, Ryo still felt rather awkward, not as awkward as he had felt about half an hour ago though, but it would probably take some time for it to pass – for both Ryo and Junichi to feel normal in each other’s company like this.
Smiling politely as Hiroki’s parents sat down as well, Ryo glanced at his husband. Hiroki looked happy at least, and the little girl sitting next to him looked even happier as she got a small bowl of food in front of her, it had been a while since they had eaten after all so it was no surprise that Miyuki was hungry. Thanking Yoko as she served the food for him as well, Ryo looked down in order to hide his smile as Miyuki started to stuff her mouth with the food already, still too young to care about being polite about it.
The family started eating then, acting like any other family out there. Miyuki of course made some noise and just like any other kid she made sure to mark both the table and the floor with food while she put some of it in her mouth. She was getting better at it though, sometimes Mie even had made her eat with chopsticks.
Yoko talked cheerfully about Aoi and about how well she was doing lately, and as that reminded Hiroki of that he had to talk to his parents about the birthday party for Miyuki, he looked up and just managed to catch his father’s eye.
“Now that we’re here,” he started, smiling softly at Junichi before looking at his mother as well. “You are both coming to Miyuki’s birthday party, right?”
Junichi looked down then, not thinking much more about it as it was a given that he and Yoko would come to Tokyo to celebrate Miyuki whenever it was asked of them. He didn’t however get to take another bite of his food as something caught his attention and he looked up again.
“What-“ he let out, coughing a little in surprise as it showed that it wasn’t just him imagining things; Hiroki did have a ring on his left ring finger. “What’s that ring!?”
His eyes widening as he heard the words, Ryo quickly looked up from his plate, first facing a rather shocked looking Junichi and then the surprised expression on Hiroki’s face as he turned his head to the right – now this was bad.
Clearing his throat, Ryo tried to wipe the worried, but at the same time fond smile from his face - this wasn’t the right time to be smiling after all, but he couldn’t really help it what with the memories of that day coming back so vividly.
“Ah,” he then let out, realizing that he would have to say something, in fact, he wanted to say something. Looking at Hiroki’s father, Ryo licked his lips nervously. “Junichi-san, we should have told you earlier… I proposed to Hiroki last October…”
The older man’s eyes instantly widened as he looked at Ryo, ignoring the smile the words seemed to put on his son’s lips. Of course he wanted to yell at both of them for not telling, but at the same time he wanted to tell them to stop being stupid and realize that there was no way they could ever get married. Looking at his wife, hoping that she could help, Junichi was surprised to find her sitting there with a smile on her lips as well.
“Did you know about this!?”
Smiling happily at her son and his husband, if she dared to call him that, Yoko then turned to face her own partner.
“Now, now darling, calm down,” she said, patting Junichi’s shoulder calmingly while winking her eye to the boys, she would deal with this. Poor Ryo looked rather worried though, he would most likely need a good full eight hours of sleep tonight – good thing they were here!!
“See, this is exactly why we didn’t tell you!” Yoko told her husband, scolding him with her words before leaning closer, a sweet smile taking a place on her lips as she put her hand or his arm. “Now, who was it that did not want to tell my father anything either, hm? I had to do quite some talking you over, and my father is a sweet man!”
“Eh!?” Hiroki immediately let out then, judging by his father’s expression that the story was true. “Really?” he asked though, smiling widely as his mother gave a short nod in reply. “How long, and how did he talk to grandpa about it?”
Without noticing that he might have gotten a bit too excited about this, Hiroki leaned forward towards the table as if that would have his parents tell the story faster. It was rare that he got to hear things like this though, his father liked to keep things about him and Yoko private and whenever Hiroki or Aoi had asked they had been told that they were too young to understand.
Junichi cleared his throat then and leaned back in his seat as he shook his head.
“Stop it Hiroki,” he firmly ordered then and shook his head as he shook Yoko’s arm off of him. “There’s nothing to talk about on that subject,” he continued, managing to keep the embarrassment away from his face but it was probably obvious anyway. “I would however appreciated it if you would have told me sooner about your engagement.”
As those words left his lips, Junichi couldn’t help but notice how weird it sounded. This time not because he was talking about Hiroki being engaged to another man, but because this meant that his son was engaged… he had grown up, hadn’t he?
Trying to keep the grin away from his face, Ryo nodded apologetically at Junichi, agreeing with his opinion, it would have been smarter after all.
“I apologize we didn’t tell you sooner,” he said then, wanting very much to grab Hiroki’s hand just because, he didn’t dare to though, afraid it would be a bit too much for Junichi to deal with, he would probably faint would Ryo do something like that now… which actually had him want to do something outrageous just because the image of Junichi fainting was rather funny.
“It’s okaaay,” Hiroki said then, suddenly not feeling very much as if he had to be super serious or grown up about things. “Right dad, it’s okay isn’t it? At least you know now?”
Smiling widely, Hiroki nodded and then leaned back in his seat so he could grab his chopsticks again. Right now life felt kind of awesome. Of course it would have been better had they been able to tell his dad about their relationship and engagement in a proper way but now all cards were on the table and Hiroki couldn’t help but feel that everything was perfect. He knew that Ryo’s parents and his own got along really well already after all, so everything was definitely settled now, wasn’t it?
Junichi looked at Hiroki for a while, wanting to tell him to stop acting dumb and behave when they had guests, but knowing very well that Hiroki wasn’t a little 10 year old boy anymore, he remained silent and just ate his food. Of course, had Hiroki been that little then there wouldn’t have been any guests right now but those things aside this was just a situation like any other when Hiroki had been acting too bold when they had guests.
“This food was great,” he commented then, hoping that the subject would be change to something more normal where he wouldn’t be the center of attention.
Nodding once, Ryo smiled at Hiroki’s mother as well, taking a sip from his glass.
“It was delicious!” he agreed then with Junichi. It really was delicious – home made food always was. Looking at Miyuki, the smile on his face widened, the girl was so cute, holding her glass with both of her hands as she drank what was left of her milk.
“Miyuki…,” Ryo called her once she had put her glass down and not so neatly wiped her face onto a napkin. “Miyuki, what do you say when you’re full?”
For the longest time, at least it felt like a very long time to her, Miyuki just looked at her father as she tried to remember what he was talking about. She knew of course that you were supposed to say something once you had finished eating but sometimes she forgot and now was a moment like that. She soon remembered however and thus she smiled widely before speaking.
“Thanks food!”
Hiroki couldn’t help but laugh shortly at that, nodding approvingly as he then looked up at his mom. She often visited – compared to Junichi at least – and thus she had seen some of how Miyuki had grown up at least, but he wasn’t sure of if she had heard her thank for the food before.
It was in moments like these that Hiroki felt really proud to be Miyuki’s father. The rest of the world could never find out of course, unfortunately, but then again that was something that made him and Ryo somewhat normal. Normal couples never got to expose their family to the world unless they used a blog and far from everyone did that. The only difference was that Ryo and Hiroki couldn’t very well walk around with Miyuki everywhere… but for some reason that was okay too. As long as they got to be together it felt a little as if everything was okay.
Junichi kept looking at Miyuki. She was without doubt the cutest little girl ever and her voice was just as adorable. It was high-pitched, but not too much so and the small flow of giggles that followed the small expression of gratitude for some reason reminded him very much of Aoi. Of course Junichi was very well aware of that Miyuki really wasn’t related to any of those present right now but that didn’t matter at all. That little girl was his grandchild and he couldn’t help but feel really proud to think so.
Smiling warmly at Miyuki, Yoko nodded at the little girl.
“That’s right!” she happily told her before turning to look at Hiroki – she was so proud of her son, Hiroki was working so hard and surely didn’t have it easy, but still he got to be one of those lucky people that found true love and got to build a family. All this went for Ryo too of course, and she was equally proud of him too – and now the couple had finally gotten accepted by Junichi too, she couldn’t possibly get happier!
“Now you boys go and us girls will do the dishes~” Yoko said, standing up as she started to pile the dishes. “You remember how we do dishes, Miyuki? We’ll have lots of bubbles!”
Watching how Hiroki helped their daughter down from her chair, Ryo couldn’t help but to smile, Miyuki looked so cute following her grandmother around the kitchen. Standing up as Junichi did, Ryo waited for Hiroki before leaving the room, taking the younger one’s hand as they walked. Junichi had disappeared, most likely into his office, and so for the first time since they had gotten out of the car, Ryo dared to actually act like this, a bit more casual and affectionate.
Wrapping his arm around Hiroki’s shoulders as they sat down on the couch, Ryo pulled the younger one closer to him as he idly played with his hair.
“It feels good to be like this…,” he mumbled then, not really thinking of what he said as the words just flowed out of his mouth. It felt good to be like this, it felt good to be away from everything and know they were accepted here as they were, a couple. It felt good to sit on this couch in this house – it was a nice house, maybe someday they would live in a house like this too.
Smiling softly, Hiroki hummed lowly in reply. It really was nice to be able to be like this in this house without having to be scared that the wrong person would walk in. Now they could be like this no matter who would come in, be it Yoko, Aoi, Hikari or Junichi. It was okay because everyone knew and while Junichi might have a hard time getting used to it he had still accepted it so he could expect it… at least a little.
Hiroki leaned against Ryo then and even went so far as to close his eyes. Not because he was tired or anything, but he was really, really full and right now he felt way too comfortable to not be lazy.
“Don’t fall asleep there,” the older one mumbled then, brushing a few strands of hair behind Hiroki’s ear as the younger one lowered his head, instead resting it on his lap while Ryo remained sitting, smiling down at him.
“Are you happy?” he asked then, fondness audible in his tone. Had someone asked him, Ryo would have definitely used that world to describe their life right now; they were a happy family weren’t they? The love between them was as strong as ever, they had a beautiful, healthy daughter and their parents’ blessings over them, it felt like a complete family now, a family with lots of happiness in it, and a lot more to come, hopefully. Leaning back on the couch Ryo closed his eyes, letting his head fall back on the headrest while slowly combing the younger one’s hair with his fingers.
For a few moments Hiroki just remained silent and thought of the question, asking himself over and over again. Of course nothing was perfect, there were flaws and negative things with everything but right now he saw no big ones. In his eyes everything was kind of how a great life was described in fiction.
“I am,” he finally whispered in reply, opening his eyes as he’d closed them and looked up at his husband. There was no way one could not be happy with a guy like Ryo after all; he was without doubt the best person once could end up with.
“And Ryochan?”
“…Took you so long to answer…!” the older one immediately teased his husband, poking Hiroki's side gently as he smiled down at him again, leaning closer as he kept stroking Hiroki’s hair.
“No…,” Ryo then answered though, for a moment keeping a serious expression on his face before a smile made its way on his lips.
“How could I not be happy when I have you in my arms?” he then asked, sounding perhaps a bit too sweet to his own tastes, but it was nice to say such things every now and then – and how could he not be happy, when he had all this really? To him this was definitely where the true happiness lied, in simple, ordinary things.
Running his thumb over Hiroki’s lips once, Ryo slowly lifted his gaze back to the younger one’s eyes. There was of course one thing that could have perfected this moment of happiness.
For a moment Hiroki forgot all about where he was and that there were more people in this house, had he thought about it, there was no way he would ever have done what he would do next.
Smiling softly, the younger one sat up just a little bit so that Ryo could press his lips against his. It was such a small thing to do, but even so the importance of it and the feeling it came with, was so huge it was impossible to describe with words.
Gently placing his hand behind Hiroki's neck, Ryo deepened the kiss just slightly - as much as he enjoyed it, the older one still had some sense of reality in his clouded mind not to get too carried away, there was the right place and time for everything after all.
Looking around though, Junichi was out if sight and he could clearly hear the water still running in the kitchen, which meant they had some privacy for a bit longer. Moving so that he could lie down on the couch as well, Ryo smiled at Hiroki.
"You're the most beautiful thing in my life," he whispered into the younger one's ear then, chuckling quietly as he hid his face in the crook of his neck before lifting his head to look into Hiroki's eyes again. They stayed like that for a moment, but as it often turned out, soon enough their mouths were mere centimeters apart and with a gentle move Ryo closed the distance between them. It was nothing suggestive, nothing provoking, but just a kiss between two lovers lost in the moment of happiness.
Yoko couldn’t help but smile softly at what she heard as she had quickly turned her back at the two lovers as she realized that she had almost walked in and disturbed an intimate moment. Next to her stood Junichi, who wasn’t enjoying this in the slightest but only looked as if he just had seen a ghost.
A pat on the shoulder from his wife made Junichi wake up from his thoughts and he looked confused at her face. He could immediately see that she didn’t think of this as wrong or anything but possibly adorable and great. Of course Junichi too was happy, he was happy that his son was happy and so on but then he got reminded of the fact that it was with a man and that… while he did accept it, it was still difficult. For so many years he and Yoko had expected him to end up with a pretty woman after all and become the father of a family like that. Not… not the way things had ended up now. It was quite a lot to deal with after all.
Opening his eyes as the kiss parted, Ryo smiled at Hiroki - though the smile died for a moment as he registered someone moving away from the doorway that led into the living room. Turning to face Hiroki again, after he had caught a glimpse of Junichi's shocked expression before the man had turned around, Ryo tried to look as innocent as he could before cracking up. Hopefully Hiroki wouldn't ask his father's help with beating him up...
Watching how the little girl that had previously clung onto her leg now let go and instead of following her grandparents ran to the two men on the couch, Yoko smiled before gently pushing Junichi's shoulder with her own.
"Darliing," she said, wrapping both her arms around her husband's arm as she lovingly teased him. "When have I last heard you say something like that to me~?"
Junichi froze then and he looked down at Yoko with a stiff expression on his face. What on earth was she saying?! They had been married for over 20 years; surely there was no need for him to say things like that to her even now? Surely she knew what he felt for her by now?
“Wh-what are you talking about?” he answered after a while, feeling too embarrassed to look at her for long and thus shook his head as he continued to walk towards the kitchen. Why were women such difficult people?!
In the other room Hiroki had still not figured out what it was that Ryo found so hilarious. As Miyuki had suddenly found them, she had gotten all attention for a while but then when she seemed to be happy with just sitting in her father’s lap, Hiroki looked up at Ryo and tilted his head slightly to the side.
“What… is so funny?” he asked, knowing that there was something that apparently was ‘funny’ considering the smile on his husband’s lips. Ryo didn’t need to answer though, before Hiroki realized that there was only one thing that could make Ryo grin like that…
Immediately looking at the doorway where he saw no one, he then looked back at his lover before hitting his arm a few times and then eventually leaned forward to rest his forehead against his shoulder.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid….!”
Grinning down at the little girl who sat in his lap, Ryo pinched her cheek lovingly, she seemed to be amused by Hiroki’s acting as well and that if nothing made the grin on Ryo’s face grow even bigger.
“Who’s stupid?” the older one of the two parents asked then, shaking his shoulder lightly to get Hiroki’s attention. It was really nice to sit like this, whole family together, though Hiroki would perhaps rather be elsewhere right now, judging from his behavior – hopefully Junichi wasn’t too shocked though, Ryo really didn’t want to piss him off now that they had finally made up. It was amazing how much time had passed and how they had all grown up so much, he had known this family for such a long time after all, never had he back in the days thought that he would become a part of the family in this kind of way…
Looking at Miyuki, and then around the room they sat in, Ryo eventually leaned his head against Hiroki’s.
Sighing heavily as he felt how Ryo leaned against him, Hiroki turned his head slightly and looked at Miyuki who was reaching out her hand so she could poke his face.
“You are Ryochan,” he finally answered then though and let another heavy sigh escape through his lips. This was just his luck really and he had no one to blame but himself for falling for someone like Ryo in the first place. Ryo had always been like that after all – he had never been too bothered by if people saw them or not, while Hiroki couldn’t help but think of it as embarrassing. They were being intimate after all and that was a private thing, wasn’t it?
“Right?” he continued as he looked at Miyuki. “Daddy’s stupid, isn’t he?”
Watching how Miyuki giggled, perhaps just for the sake of giggling rather than agreeing with Hiroki (or so he hoped at least), Ryo smiled gently.
“Don’t lie to the girl,” he said then, letting Miyuki grab his pinky finger as her hands were too tiny to hold an adults hand yet. Letting his gaze wander around the room again, Ryo then sighed as well.
“Do you think we’ll move into a house like this someday?” As scary as it was, he couldn’t wait to see what was awaiting for them in the future, right now he felt really positive about things, right now there was nothing that could get on their way, the world of entertainment and work didn’t exist, the sounds that sneaked in through the open windows didn’t exist either, there was nothing else but -this-, everything else had vanished into the air.
Hiroki fell silent then, just blinking for now as he really didn’t know how to reply to a comment like that. Of course he wanted that just as much as Ryo did, but somehow it felt a bit scary to talk about as he had no idea of what the future had in store for them. Everything felt kind of perfect right now… sort of as if they had reached some point in life when their life was complete. Of course, there was no way that life could be complete already – they weren’t even 30 years old, but this feeling that he felt right now was… surprisingly relaxing. But even so, just thinking about how things might be one day…
“I want to…,” the younger one whispered in reply as he realized he probably should give Ryo an answer. Smiling faintly at their daughter, Hiroki then lifted his head to look up at the other one.
“And a dog, right?”
“Yeah,” Ryo said, grinning at Hiroki. They’d definitely get a dog and a big house with a big backyard, and a big car. Everything would be big, not over the top, but big enough for what would hopefully grow to be a big family. Maybe it was a bit silly to think and plan so far into the future, and normally Ryo hadn’t really bothered with it – but maybe that was because he hadn’t had anything to make plans about before, his work wasn’t one where you could plan long ahead after all, and even then it wasn’t really him who did the planning. Silly or not though, it did feel good, and if nothing, it gave him something to look forward to, even though for now they were just plans that waited to be carried out.
“A dog,” he repeated shortly after, lifting Miyuki up in his arms. “And couple more of these.”
“A couple huh…,” Hiroki said then, for the moment not thinking of how or when that would happen. Just the thought of being with Ryo and having a family and a house that was his… and would be with him until forever ended. Somehow it was difficult to imagine how he would feel then, what he would be thinking about things and where he and Ryo would be in their relationship. Surely as the years passed by they would get closer, but somehow it was difficult to imagine that they could get any closer than this.
“Sounds good.”