And for someone not naturally gifted with patience (to say the least), Satoru nearly goes mad in the meantime while waiting for her to awaken. A handful of times, he considers trying to wake her up subtly — maybe if he sneezes a little too loudly, or tickles behind her ears — but ultimately, he withstands, his concern for her wellbeing outweighing his childish attention-span. And, come to think of it...it's not only out of concern for her wellbeing anymore, is it? But also for...
For their child. Their child. A little spark of light all their own. If he thinks about it for too long, his heart threatens to twist and tear, and he can't let that happen until Sumina awakens. How would it look if she woke up and saw him with a tear-stained face? Hah, she really would think she's gravely ill...
So instead, he goes through all five stages of impatiently waiting for someone to awaken: pacing, staring, more pacing, superficially organizing things in the room, and yet more pacing.
...Until ultimately, he returns back to watching her, kneeling at the side of the bed with his head resting on his crossed arms, so he can keep a close eye on her slumbering form, for even the slightest change in her breathing. Thoughtlessly, his hand moves over her stomach, protective, yet also...a little uncertain. They've talked at length about their desire to start a family, they'd made plans to do so, had even been trying to get pregnant for a little while now, and yet faced with the reality of it...is he ready for this? Is he enough of his own person yet? Is he too reckless? Too selfish? What kind of father is he even going to be?
...Too bad the only person who can tell him is still fast asleep. ]
[ Not for much longer, at least. Soon enough, he'll have the chance to inform his wife and hopefully voice all of the thoughts that have already been racing through his mind, too.
Though she teeters between wakefulness and slumber, that tentative yet gentle touch over her stomach stirs her well enough. Eyes fluttering open, it takes her a moment to realize where she is, and who she's with. Hadn't Satoru gone out with Taichi? And hadn't she been in the middle of dusting shelves when she...
When she felt a dizzy spell (non-literal) wash over her... Oh, no. And now she's here, in their room, with Satoru kneeling at their bedside like a worried-sick husband would be. ]
Satoru...?
[ Ah... he's going to give her an earful, she's sure— ]
[ Oh, he's going to give her an earful, alright. Because no sooner does Sumina wake and speak his name, than is his head lifting, lips parting, and he exhales: ]
You're pregnant.
[ Oh.
You know, he had all this time while waiting for her to wake up, maybe he could have thought about how to deliver that news with some decorum. But as soon as Sumina is awaken, his lack of patience slips free of its leash, and he can no longer hold the words back on his tongue. He's been going crazy possessing this knowledge alone while she slept, and now that she's awaken, he can no longer keep it to himself.
At least he didn't have the wherewithal to be a shithead about it. Surprise!!
There's a brief moment where the world seems to fall out from underneath her, when she awakens only to be faced with words strung together into a statement that she knows the meaning of, yet somehow cannot understand the meaning of. ]
...Huh?
[ —is all she manages to voice. Her eyes have gone wide, any lingering sleepiness in them so thoroughly dispelled by this... new truth that Satoru has so suddenly given her, and her lips quiver as she searches for words, yet none come.
They're having a baby. She's pregnant. How... is he so sure, how does he know, when she hadn't even— oh. Pieces of the puzzle slot together, then, when Sumina considers all of the oddities she's experienced over the last few weeks, and especially so over the last few days. All things that she might have brought up to her husband, but she had considered each in isolation instead of realizing they were all signs pointing to the fact that she's pregnant. They're having a baby! ]
S-Satoru...?
[ Still dumbfounded, all she can do now is search for some kind of sign from him. This... is good, right? This is what they have wanted for so long, and what they have been trying to accomplish, but she needs to know that the joy she feels beginning to burst through her heart isn't hers alone, for how suddenly and nonchalantly he's delivered this news. ]
[ Of course it's good, but good in the sort of way that also implicitly means nothing will ever be the same again. For all the change he's experienced in his storied life, it's never been something that has been easy for him, and living simply as Sumina's husband, as a part of her life here at the Elderflower Inn has been fulfilling in its own right. Fulfilling in a way that never should have been his to begin with, and even as sure of their path together as he's ever been, at the precipice of moments like these, he remembers just how painfully human he is, how broken and dysfunctional and messy.
And now he's bringing a new life into the world. Sure, he has nothing to worry about as far as Sumina is concerned, she's got this in the bag, but he...
...he's left her hanging for too long. Whistling out a long sigh between pursed lips, he then buries his face against her stomach, where even now, their child is growing. Their child—
He already loves them so violently it hurts. ]
T-tch, leave it to me to tell you, after you go passing out while I'm away...y-you owe Tai-chan an...apology...
[ He can really hold it in, now. The torrent of emotion rushing through him, stinging his eyes, rubbing his throat, curling his fingers against her. Oh, it's a lot to feel, isn't it? ]
[ It's so very much to feel, and it doesn't even truly occur to Sumina until she sees how thoroughly overtaken her husband has become with emotion as his eyes glisten with tears that cling to his lashes before he curls in over her, burying his face against her stomach, his voice quivering. Only then is she faced with the enormity of their new reality - that this burgeoning, blooming joy is sure to be accompanied by so much else, especially for Satoru's part.
But that's... the beauty of it, too. They have so much to celebrate, to be happy for, and to be afraid and worried, too. But now, they will face it all as a family. Sumina, Satoru, and their unborn child, along with their friends and family and Tai-chan, too.
Gently, she reaches over to thread her fingers into his mess of hair, stroking consolingly as she hums, reiterating her immediate apology. ]
Mm, I really am sorry, honey. And to Tai-chan, too.
[ And then, as a soft laugh bubbles out of her chest, when the relief that they've finally gotten their wish and the joy of this news and her overflowing affection for her husband and their baby can all at last shine through: ]
Shouldn't you be the one comforting me, though? Our child is already being a little troublemaker like their papa, and I'm the one who has to deal with it...
[ Our child. Their papa. Each combination of words hits him like an engulfing wave, overwhelming — yet in a euphoric way he doesn't know how to name. As far as he has come, and for as acquainted with his own fears as he has allowed himself to grow, it's still so new, so surreal to feel such a surge of affection for a life that was not there before, that was only a thought the day before. For as fiercely as he loves, he is still so picky about who wins his unrestrained affection, but if there's anyone he could love as intensely as Sumina...
It would be their child. Their family. It's growing once more, encompassing and even brighter light that floods him from head to toe, within and without, blinding, yet brilliant.
His fingers curl around her wrist when she strokes his hair, and his chin tips up to press feathery kisses to her skin, his breath stuttering. ]
Taking after me already, eh? W-wouldn't have it any other way...
[ A sob rubs against a laugh in his throat, raw and joyful. ]
...But they ought to take after their loving, attentive mama instead.
[ Sumina may not have Six Eyes, but she doesn't need vision better than what she already has to see so very plainly how joy and affection engulfs Satoru so fully, how full his heart must feel, after everything the two of them have endured to arrive to this point. From falling in love with one another slowly and then all at once, to not knowing if they would have a future together, to chasing and holding fast to it against all reason and fate, across worlds, to bind themselves together with their most sacred vows, and now to this... She knows how it must feel like his heart is fit to burst, because she feels it, too.
With her free hand, she frames the side of his face. ]
Come here...
[ She would sit up and lean over herself if not for how tired she still feels, so instead she is urging him to move so that she can kiss at the beads of tears at the corners of his brilliant blue eyes. ]
If we're any good at this, then they'll have both of our best qualities. I... I already can't wait to meet them, aha...
[ Oh, now she feels her own throat growing tighter, her eyes blurring with her own joyful tears.
This, among countless others, is yet one more moment with him that she never, ever wants to forget. A moment that someday, she'll tell their child about, too. To remind them of how much their mother and father have loved them from the very moment they came to know of their presence... She'll tell them everything, from how she'd foolishly let herself work even while feeling unwell, how papa had to rush back home with Tai-chan, how he shocked her with the revelation himself the second she'd woken up, how he then wept so joyfully on her stomach... all of it. ]
Satoru... We're having a baby. [ It bears repeating. ] Our baby...
[ They're having a baby. Hearing it from Sumina's lips, even when it was he who delivered the news to her himself, is another thing entirely, and as he slips up onto the bed next to her so he can gather her up in his arms, it's those words, spoken in her own voice swelling with warmth and emotion, that does him in.
It isn't often that Satoru has occasion to cry, and even less often that he cry tears of joy. It's still an unfamiliar concept in many ways, a shock to his system that he can cry because he's happy, but with how full and overflowing his very soul feels, there is nowhere else for his emotions to go, than to be shed as tears. Dragging in a shuddering breath, he cradles Sumina close, so very close, his entire body curling around her as he holds not only the most precious person in his life, but the two most precious people in his life, now. ]
We are. [ It bears repeating, again and again. He chuckles, before it dissolves into a sob. ] Damn right we are!
[ He's...waited his whole life for this. For love, for family, for a life that was never meant to be his — and yet despite everything, it is. Made from their hands, from their love, and it is...infinite. ]
I love you. [ He murmurs after a moment, fingers carding through her hair, as he kisses her brow, her temple, her brows and eyelids. ] I love you so much...
[ Though in many ways, Satoru has always been considerably more expressive than Sumina is, it's rare that his emotions burst forth like this, like a dam collapsing against all that he has held within his heart, flooding his eyes with tears and choking his words with sobs. She has no choice but to be swept by the torrent, too, as she presses her face into his collar when he draws her near, heedless of how messy she might make his clothes with her crying.
Within her womb is the very fruit of their love, the unmistakable proof that their bond can overcome barriers that most mortals wouldn't even think of, their baby - whom she will proudly bear and birth and raise to be the very best of them both. Who, like Satoru, she already loves so very fiercely. Within her womb is the very beginnings, twinkling of a bright, shining star, their little star.
Her fingers curl tightly into the fabric of his shirt as she tips her head up for each and every one of his sweet, wonderful kisses, and though she weeps with him, the warmth and affection on her features are unmistakable, unshakeable. ]
I love you, too. So very much...
[ She seals her words with a kiss to his lips. ]
You're going to be— [ her words are stifled by another sob, ] Just wonderful. I know it. I'll... make sure that they love their papa as much as mama does... Ahaha, and as much as Taichi, too.
[ He is their eldest, after all, and a fey hound who is very in tune to emotions around him besides. Needless to say, they'll soon be joined by the blink dog himself, who draws up to the side of the bed with his front paws on top of it, his tail wagging furiously while he yips as if to remind them that he's here, too, and he hates to be left out! ]
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no subject
And for someone not naturally gifted with patience (to say the least), Satoru nearly goes mad in the meantime while waiting for her to awaken. A handful of times, he considers trying to wake her up subtly — maybe if he sneezes a little too loudly, or tickles behind her ears — but ultimately, he withstands, his concern for her wellbeing outweighing his childish attention-span. And, come to think of it...it's not only out of concern for her wellbeing anymore, is it? But also for...
For their child. Their child. A little spark of light all their own. If he thinks about it for too long, his heart threatens to twist and tear, and he can't let that happen until Sumina awakens. How would it look if she woke up and saw him with a tear-stained face? Hah, she really would think she's gravely ill...
So instead, he goes through all five stages of impatiently waiting for someone to awaken: pacing, staring, more pacing, superficially organizing things in the room, and yet more pacing.
...Until ultimately, he returns back to watching her, kneeling at the side of the bed with his head resting on his crossed arms, so he can keep a close eye on her slumbering form, for even the slightest change in her breathing. Thoughtlessly, his hand moves over her stomach, protective, yet also...a little uncertain. They've talked at length about their desire to start a family, they'd made plans to do so, had even been trying to get pregnant for a little while now, and yet faced with the reality of it...is he ready for this? Is he enough of his own person yet? Is he too reckless? Too selfish? What kind of father is he even going to be?
...Too bad the only person who can tell him is still fast asleep. ]
no subject
Though she teeters between wakefulness and slumber, that tentative yet gentle touch over her stomach stirs her well enough. Eyes fluttering open, it takes her a moment to realize where she is, and who she's with. Hadn't Satoru gone out with Taichi? And hadn't she been in the middle of dusting shelves when she...
When she felt a dizzy spell (non-literal) wash over her... Oh, no. And now she's here, in their room, with Satoru kneeling at their bedside like a worried-sick husband would be. ]
Satoru...?
[ Ah... he's going to give her an earful, she's sure— ]
I'm sorry...
no subject
You're pregnant.
[ Oh.
You know, he had all this time while waiting for her to wake up, maybe he could have thought about how to deliver that news with some decorum. But as soon as Sumina is awaken, his lack of patience slips free of its leash, and he can no longer hold the words back on his tongue. He's been going crazy possessing this knowledge alone while she slept, and now that she's awaken, he can no longer keep it to himself.
At least he didn't have the wherewithal to be a shithead about it. Surprise!!
Slower, then: ]
You're...pregnant. We're having a baby.
no subject
You're...pregnant. We're having a baby.
There's a brief moment where the world seems to fall out from underneath her, when she awakens only to be faced with words strung together into a statement that she knows the meaning of, yet somehow cannot understand the meaning of. ]
...Huh?
[ —is all she manages to voice. Her eyes have gone wide, any lingering sleepiness in them so thoroughly dispelled by this... new truth that Satoru has so suddenly given her, and her lips quiver as she searches for words, yet none come.
They're having a baby. She's pregnant. How... is he so sure, how does he know, when she hadn't even— oh. Pieces of the puzzle slot together, then, when Sumina considers all of the oddities she's experienced over the last few weeks, and especially so over the last few days. All things that she might have brought up to her husband, but she had considered each in isolation instead of realizing they were all signs pointing to the fact that she's pregnant. They're having a baby! ]
S-Satoru...?
[ Still dumbfounded, all she can do now is search for some kind of sign from him. This... is good, right? This is what they have wanted for so long, and what they have been trying to accomplish, but she needs to know that the joy she feels beginning to burst through her heart isn't hers alone, for how suddenly and nonchalantly he's delivered this news. ]
no subject
And now he's bringing a new life into the world. Sure, he has nothing to worry about as far as Sumina is concerned, she's got this in the bag, but he...
...he's left her hanging for too long. Whistling out a long sigh between pursed lips, he then buries his face against her stomach, where even now, their child is growing. Their child—
He already loves them so violently it hurts. ]
T-tch, leave it to me to tell you, after you go passing out while I'm away...y-you owe Tai-chan an...apology...
[ He can really hold it in, now. The torrent of emotion rushing through him, stinging his eyes, rubbing his throat, curling his fingers against her. Oh, it's a lot to feel, isn't it? ]
no subject
But that's... the beauty of it, too. They have so much to celebrate, to be happy for, and to be afraid and worried, too. But now, they will face it all as a family. Sumina, Satoru, and their unborn child, along with their friends and family and Tai-chan, too.
Gently, she reaches over to thread her fingers into his mess of hair, stroking consolingly as she hums, reiterating her immediate apology. ]
Mm, I really am sorry, honey. And to Tai-chan, too.
[ And then, as a soft laugh bubbles out of her chest, when the relief that they've finally gotten their wish and the joy of this news and her overflowing affection for her husband and their baby can all at last shine through: ]
Shouldn't you be the one comforting me, though? Our child is already being a little troublemaker like their papa, and I'm the one who has to deal with it...
no subject
It would be their child. Their family. It's growing once more, encompassing and even brighter light that floods him from head to toe, within and without, blinding, yet brilliant.
His fingers curl around her wrist when she strokes his hair, and his chin tips up to press feathery kisses to her skin, his breath stuttering. ]
Taking after me already, eh? W-wouldn't have it any other way...
[ A sob rubs against a laugh in his throat, raw and joyful. ]
...But they ought to take after their loving, attentive mama instead.
no subject
With her free hand, she frames the side of his face. ]
Come here...
[ She would sit up and lean over herself if not for how tired she still feels, so instead she is urging him to move so that she can kiss at the beads of tears at the corners of his brilliant blue eyes. ]
If we're any good at this, then they'll have both of our best qualities. I... I already can't wait to meet them, aha...
[ Oh, now she feels her own throat growing tighter, her eyes blurring with her own joyful tears.
This, among countless others, is yet one more moment with him that she never, ever wants to forget. A moment that someday, she'll tell their child about, too. To remind them of how much their mother and father have loved them from the very moment they came to know of their presence... She'll tell them everything, from how she'd foolishly let herself work even while feeling unwell, how papa had to rush back home with Tai-chan, how he shocked her with the revelation himself the second she'd woken up, how he then wept so joyfully on her stomach... all of it. ]
Satoru... We're having a baby. [ It bears repeating. ] Our baby...
no subject
It isn't often that Satoru has occasion to cry, and even less often that he cry tears of joy. It's still an unfamiliar concept in many ways, a shock to his system that he can cry because he's happy, but with how full and overflowing his very soul feels, there is nowhere else for his emotions to go, than to be shed as tears. Dragging in a shuddering breath, he cradles Sumina close, so very close, his entire body curling around her as he holds not only the most precious person in his life, but the two most precious people in his life, now. ]
We are. [ It bears repeating, again and again. He chuckles, before it dissolves into a sob. ] Damn right we are!
[ He's...waited his whole life for this. For love, for family, for a life that was never meant to be his — and yet despite everything, it is. Made from their hands, from their love, and it is...infinite. ]
I love you. [ He murmurs after a moment, fingers carding through her hair, as he kisses her brow, her temple, her brows and eyelids. ] I love you so much...
no subject
Within her womb is the very fruit of their love, the unmistakable proof that their bond can overcome barriers that most mortals wouldn't even think of, their baby - whom she will proudly bear and birth and raise to be the very best of them both. Who, like Satoru, she already loves so very fiercely. Within her womb is the very beginnings, twinkling of a bright, shining star, their little star.
Her fingers curl tightly into the fabric of his shirt as she tips her head up for each and every one of his sweet, wonderful kisses, and though she weeps with him, the warmth and affection on her features are unmistakable, unshakeable. ]
I love you, too. So very much...
[ She seals her words with a kiss to his lips. ]
You're going to be— [ her words are stifled by another sob, ] Just wonderful. I know it. I'll... make sure that they love their papa as much as mama does... Ahaha, and as much as Taichi, too.
[ He is their eldest, after all, and a fey hound who is very in tune to emotions around him besides. Needless to say, they'll soon be joined by the blink dog himself, who draws up to the side of the bed with his front paws on top of it, his tail wagging furiously while he yips as if to remind them that he's here, too, and he hates to be left out! ]