Make your choice - Hawks
“You’re pregnant?” The pregnancy test you threw away yesterday was suddenly thrusted in front of your face. With Keigo so busy with hero work, the thought of disposing of the test outside of the house didn’t even dawn on you.
The question didn’t even click right away, more importantly.. “I’m sorry. Did you dig in the bathroom trash?” You were baffled to say the least trying to imagine why he’d be fishing around the trash like some racoon.
“Don’t avoid the question.” The blonde wagged the test in your face again, irritation clear in his gesture. “Are.” wag “You.” wag “Pregnant.”
It wasn’t even a question that time, he knew it was yours. He hadn’t taken one and he was on top tier birth control provided by the Commission. Pregnancy wasn’t an option or risk for him, but you on the other hand..
“Did you stop taking your birth control?” The scent of bitter, rotten apples wafted off of the omega, of what you could only describe as being anger.
He waved the test again, irritated at his persistence you slapped the test away until it clattered to the ground. “I didn’t fucking stop, what you think I stopped taking them conveniently on the days you wanted to top? That’s pretty fucked up you think so poorly of me.”
Keigo’s disinterest in having kids wasn’t new, despite wanting to have a family of your own one day, you were content to wait. Both of you were still young, even if Keigo was younger between the two of you. The work he did kept him plenty busy, plus there was also no guarantee the two of you would be together that long to even think of a future with kids.
“I didn’t fuckin say that.” he hissed, pearly whites on display.
Flashing your own teeth back with a snarl, he refused to submit to the alpha in front of him. It had been one of the many reasons you fell for him, his dislike of the shitty hierarchy only further gained your interest when the two of you had met. “And you didn’t answer my question, why were you digging through the bathroom trash. Lose something that you should be worried about?”
Arguments weren’t uncommon between the two of you, whether it be because of the age gap or his job with the commission, but those arguments you could see both sides of the story in question. This one though? There wasn’t a single reason for him to dig in the trash, nothing for him to lose or accidentally toss in the bathroom of all places.
His lip curled in disgust at the idea of fishing through the trash. “I’m sorry..” he laughed. “Were you trying to hide this? When the fuck did you take this?”
“Yesterday.” Leaning over to pick the test up you aimed to toss it into the trash but Keigo’s hand grabbed onto your wrist, removing the plastic stick from your grip.
“And you weren’t going to tell me?” A tinge of burnt cinnamon hit your nostrils, why was he feeling anxious if he was pissed off? The question implied he was hurt that you kept it a secret, but his words showed he was angry with the thought of you being pregnant.
Was it because you were an alpha?
“God Keigo it’s been one fucking day, you were busy with work. What was I supposed to just call you up and say ‘hey so turns out all that switching in bed led me to getting knocked up’? Yeah cause that’s what I wanted, I wanted you to have that swirling in your head all day preventing you from focusing on work.” Finally standing from your spot at the table you stared him right in the eye. “I know you Keigo, that would’ve distracted you.”
Keigo bit his lip, unable to deny that fact. It definitely would’ve taken his mind off his hero duties, he’d make more then enough fuck ups that could risk lives with info like that swarming in his head. And the higher ups would have a field day ripping into him about how he was slacking.
“Get rid of it..” he paused and turned away, unable to look you in the eye before tossing the test in the trash. “If not, then we’re done..” Keigo didn’t even give you a chance to reply before storming to the balcony and taking off.
With him gone you sat down roughly, face buried into your hands. The ‘if you're gone when I get back, I’ll know your answer’ went unspoken. You had tried multiple times to find out why he was just so against having kids, or at least why he continued to date you, knowing that having a family was your end goal. Maybe not with him, but with whoever you planned to settle down with.
There was a chance that if you put distance between the two of you, maybe he’d come around to it. Though part of you doubted his behaviour was from shock.
Going home wasn’t an option, your parents would be thrilled to have their first grandchild, but they wouldn’t like you being a single parent. There were also the health risks that came with being a pregnant alpha, your father would without a doubt try and talk you out of keeping it.
You could almost hear him. “You can find a better omega, one that’ll be more than happy to start a family with you. They can carry the baby much more safely.” A laugh tore itself from your throat picturing it. He’ll have to get over it, you weren’t going to get rid of it, and you weren’t going to just find someone at random to settle down with.
After lazing around for what felt like hours of listening to the obnoxious clock ticking, you finally got up and moved to the bedroom to start packing. There wasn’t too much to pack fortunately, aside from clothes and a few toiletries, everything else was replaceable. Not that much in the condo was yours, everything belonged to Keigo before you moved in.
A few calls were made in the attempts to find at least a couch to sleep on for a few days before a permanent solution could be made. You came to a stop over a particular name in your contacts, thumb hovering over the call button. He’d give you a room no questions asked, he was your kohai from high school, more importantly he was still your best friend. Even if it had been awhile since the two of you really sat down and talked.
Clicking the green icon you sat and waited.
Ring, you could back out. It was only the first ring after all.
Ring, ring. Two rings, you could back out still, claim you hit the wrong contact.
Ring, ring ring, too late to back out, you could lie though..say you butt dialed him.
Ring, ri--”Senpai?”
Well shit.
“Hey, long time no talk Sho.” Smooth. The other end went silent, double checking he didn’t hang up, you tried talking again. “Hello?”
“What do you want?” he tiredly asked.
“What, can’t a senpai reach out to their kohai and see how they’ve been?”
“Not you.” he yawned. Shouta could hear the nail clacking that you did when you were nervous and decided to re-worded himself. “What can I do for you, senpai?”
Your gaze flickered occasionally to the packed suitcase beside you. He’d say yes, you knew it. “Mind if I steal your couch for a few days?”
His side went quiet, you could hear the squeak of his chair when he finally moved and heard him standing. “Yeah, I’ll text you my address. Give me an hour to clean up.”
Your thanks was short lived, Shouta ignored it and simply gave a curt goodbye, likely to start readying for your arrival. Well that was easy, step one of god knows how many down.
Pushing yourself off the bed, you took your time putting your shoes and coat on. This would be the last time you’d see the place you called home, the last time you’d get to smell Keigo this intimately. Leaving the suitcase at the door, you made one last visit through the condo, which quickly turned into a mistake.
Every room held memories, every surface the two of you could fuck on held one hell of a memory. There were mornings you couldn’t stand at the kitchen counter without thinking about the times you had Hawks pinned to the counter, making an utter mess of him.
A heavy sigh left you, the memories would be erased within time. Someone else would take your place and dirty those happy memories from these spots.
Without giving it another thought you removed the house key from your key ring and set it on the counter, grabbed the handle to your suitcase and let it drag behind you as you left.
The taxi trip to Shouta’s was uneventful, no villains, no heroes, no thoughts. You disassociated most of the trip, making it feel like only a few minutes had passed since you climbed in.
Upon reaching the apartment building there was no surprise at the security, you were ID’d after entering, stating you were visiting the pro hero Eraserhead. After a quick check in from the man himself, he let you through.
“All that damn security, you’d think security would be a little easier given no idiot breaks into a pro hero’s house not expecting to get their ass beat.”
Shouta closed the door behind you and crossed his arms. “Some of them have families, children who can’t protect themselves. As well as material items that hold value to the individual.”
“Ah yeah, I guess that’s true..” The male took your coat and set down a pair of guest slippers before stepping inside, dragging your suitcase behind him. “Thanks for this by the way.. And thanks for not asking why.”
Abandoning the suitcase, Shouta sat on the couch in front of a pile of papers. After a quick glance you noticed he was grading papers, fun. Plopping beside him caused the couch to jostle, he shot you a quick glare before lowering his hand back to the paper he’d been grading. “You’re my senpai, I know if the roles were reversed, you’d do the same.”
“Eheheh.. Correction, I have done the same.” You snickered.
The memory of a young second year showing up at your apartment late at night, silently questioning you if he could stay the night. There were no questions asked, all you asked was that he let his parents know he was safe. The couple knew you and therefore knew their son was safe and not wandering the dangerous streets.
Shouta gave a tired grunt, swapping out the finished paper for another one. The stack of non graded vs graded papers caught your attention, without permission you grabbed one of the non graded sheets and glanced between the questions and the answer sheet.
You felt him occasionally stare at you as you worked beside him, it was clear he wanted to ask why you were there.
After grading a few more sheets in silence, you gave him the answer he didn’t dare ask for. “I’m pregnant.” The raven went stiff beside you, but not from disgust, you knew him better than that. If anything Shouta was simply caught off guard by you just dropping such sensitive information.
Once the initial shock went away he hummed and continued grading papers.
With the two of you grading, it turned his usual two hours into a simple hour. With that distraction finished, Shouta crossed his legs, hands resting on his knee. “And the other person?”
Your nose scrunched up with distaste, making the omega nearly second guess asking such a thing. “They didn’t want it, the whole--”
“Get rid of it or we’re done.” he finished. You quietly nodded, sinking into the plush couch. “Coward.” he mumbled, uncaring if you heard him or not, you did. You had nothing to say on the comment though since you really had no clue why Keigo was so against it.
“How far along are you?” Shouta gave the air a subtle sniff, unable to pick up the scent of a pregnancy. You hadn’t been expecting yourself to produce a scent, pregnant omega’s were very distinct, but you weren’t an omega. Neither of you knew what a pregnant alpha would smell like, or if they even did.
“No clue.” he gave you a confused look. “I took a basic pregnancy test yesterday, I haven’t seen a doctor yet.” He gave a silent ‘oh’ and faced forward, crossing his arms as he slouched back into the couch with you.
Shouta didn’t ask any more questions on the topic, instead he moved the topic to food, asking your thoughts on dinner tonight. “We can order something, I haven’t had the time to go food shopping.”
“You, shopping for food? That’s hard to imagine.” he shot you an annoyed look, one that you simply brushed off and scampered off to the kitchen to find he was indeed correct. Aside from some weird pouches in the fridge and some things that were more than likely expired. He had a whole lotta nothing.
Shouta leaned on the doorway as you ransacked his kitchen. “Guess it’s take out.” He pulled his phone out to browse and you ignored him in favour of trashing the expired stuff, less he accidentally ate it.
-- Fast forward --
After the initial week you asked to borrow his couch, Shouta never kicked you out. After the week was over he cleaned out the spare room he was using as storage and let you indirectly move in.
Everything went smoothly. He gave you a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in, in return, he got to eat a home cooked meal practically every night and you were there to feed his cats when he was away for longer periods of time.
It had been roughly three months since then, three simple months of living despite the new pregnancy obstacles. In those three months you had finally worked out visiting the doctor and verifying that you were indeed pregnant. In those three months you had already visited the doctor a number of times, every check up mainly for your own health since this was new territory for your doctor.
It had been three months of semi-decent living, until it wasn’t.
Shouta was an omega, one of the fortunate ones to have a heat every three months compared to omegas that had them every other month. Three months of living with him right after his previous heat ended, meant treading into the situation of him going into heat again.
He claimed time and time again that you didn’t have to leave, stating he wasn’t expecting you to take care of him or anything along those lines. You were single now though, you could sleep with whoever if that’s what you really wanted.
Omega’s in heat often sought out strong alpha’s, one’s with scents that spoke to them as well as ones that smelt virile. Ready to pup them at a moment's notice. While Shouta’s omega would notice you as a likely strong alpha candidate, you wouldn't however smell virile. Or at least you thought that.
Despite not being able to help him sexually, you set out to at least help him be comfortable. You’d be the only person keeping him fed, hydrated and comfortable. Plus part of you found it hard that Shouta kept himself taken care of, given back in high school it took your entire little circle to keep him fed during lunch.
Shouta claimed he was very conscious during his heat, that he wasn’t going to fall into some lustful state just to sate the urges. Only a tinge of you hoped to see a side of him that nobody else got to see, it would be nice to tease him, like old times.
That morning Shouta called off work for the week. You had just finished stocking up the fridge with water before moving to get the snacks more readily available. He sat on the couch, leg impatiently bouncing up and down as he watched you come and go. He’d been on edge since yesterday, his confidence in how he’d behave during his heat seemed to waver.
“Are you sure you’ll be fine here? I can see if Hizashi will let you stay with him.” You placed a hand to his knee to stop it from shaking, and took a seat beside him.
“I’ll be fine, you won’t hurt me. And I won’t hurt you, besides while I’m like this,” you gestured to your swelling belly, “I won’t go into a rut, and nothing will trigger one.” he hummed and you raised your hand off his leg. It began to bounce and you placed your hand back on it to still him. “Actually I talked to my doctor the other day, he said it should be completely safe. If anything, having someone pregnant around you might tame the urges.”
“You told your doctor about this?” his brow raised in confusion, he didn’t know you talked about him during your visits.
“Of course, I wasn’t really worried to be honest.. No offense, but I was curious how, or rather if the pup would react.” he watched your hand rub circles onto your swollen tummy. The doctor and you both assured him the size was normal for the end of your first trimester, but he couldn’t help but instinctively worry.
He lost track of how long he simply sat there, watching you rub at your stomach. If he noticed you watching him he didn’t say anything, more particularly you didn’t say anything less to embarrass him. When your hand fell to a stop he snapped out of his trance, he shook it off with a slight blush.
Being the little shit you were, of course you’d have to say something. “It’s okay to stare you know.”
“Shut up.” he buried his face into his hands, hair falling like a curtain to further hide him.
“Did you wanna feel it?”
“Feel..it?” he glanced at you through his hair, even though you couldn’t see that.
“Yeah, I mean it’s not much to feel. But the presence is there.. It’s hard to explain, I guess.” You removed your hands from your stomach and gave him free range to touch, part of you hadn’t expected him to take you up on the offer.
But he did, his pale, battle worn hand reached out slowly as if approaching a spooked animal before finally making contact with your stomach. You were right, there wasn’t much there, you were only at twelve weeks after all, but he quickly understood what you meant by feeling it.
For once you didn’t feel the need to tease him as his scent and body visibly relaxed. Shouta shifted in place to face towards you before his other hand joined your stomach. His pupils grew, indicating his shift in his state of mind. His heat was slowly kicking off, likely triggered by the pup inside you.
Teasing went out the window the more invested he got in your stomach, he was in a sensitive state of mind after all. The omega slid off the couch to the floor between your legs, at first you tensed up, painfully aware of the situation. Shouta shot you a few quick glances upward before shifting forward again, hands still firm on your sides. You moved your hand ready to push him away at a moment's notice, but rather than aim for between your legs, his head aimed for your stomach.
A croon slipped past his lips, muffled but you heard it clear enough. He was crooning to the pup in your tummy, head lying against it so softly as if you were made out of thin paper mache.
Well that wasn’t what you expected, but that was definitely the better outcome then possibly stressing out the omega if he wanted something you wouldn’t deliver on.
Both of you lost track of time as he sat there, at some point you’d wondered if he fell asleep he was so still. Eventually the urge to pee won, sitting still was no longer an option. Shifting caused the omega to stir from his comfortable position, shooting you a confused glance he reluctantly pulled back.
“Gotta pee..”
Shouta seemed to sober up at that, he pulled away clearly ashamed at his actions. Before he could beat himself up over it though, you let out a soft purr to ease his thoughts. “How about you go lie in your nest? When I finish, we can lie back down and you can do that again. Okay?” Still too embarrassed to talk he nodded, moving aside for you to get up.
After going to the bathroom and making sure the cats were fed, you made your way to Shouta’s bedroom. He did as you asked, he got in his nest with plenty of extra space for a second person. For you. There was no panting, no whining and demanding you knot him. He simply lied there like a tired, docile kitten.
The moment you set foot into his room his eyes shot open, he sat up and moved the blanket he had on him off. You stopped just outside of his nest, it was a particularly intimate thing to allow someone, especially an alpha into an omegas nest. The raven seemed conscious enough to seriously consider the situation, you were friends since high school, you were his upperclassman. Not his mate, not his love interest, just his pregnant friend.
He shifted some things in the nest to make it more cushioned where you’d lie. The gesture was sweet but unnecessary, the nest was for his comfort, not yours. “You don’t need to do that silly, I’m not that fat yet.”
He let a huff out through his nose, taking your hand to allow you into his safe space. It took a few minutes of moving around for the both of you to get comfortable before Shouta’s inner omega surfaced again. The usually reserved man was all over you now, hand back on your stomach as his head made home on your chest.
Lying there, you wondered if Keigo would’ve done this. If his omega would drive him to fawn over your stomach the way Shouta was. Knowing what a brat Keigo could be, his omega would probably get snippy, huffy that they weren’t the one with pup instead of you.
From there the thoughts shifted to what the baby would look like. Who’s quirk they would take after? How would they smell? Would their scent be similar to his, or yours?
The omega noticed your shift in scent, the spike of acidic panic had him instinctively reacting to sooth you. A low, husky purr rumbled in his chest accompanied by a warm lavender mahogany scent filling your nostrils, grounding you.
You crooned back an unspoken thanks, hand gently petting and playing with his hair as he continued to purr. Almost as if he was trying to keep you grounded from your thoughts. Shouta was smart, he could easily thumb through the reasons why you might be upset. As if to further keep your mind off the topic, he seemed to try and lull you into napping with him at least until his heat completely kicked in.
The remainder of the week was tame, after the first twelve hours lying together his heat officially kicked off. Taming a horny omega that you weren’t intimately involved with was definitely an interesting experience. By the end of the week you had more than enough material to embarrass him for life, not that you would.
-- Fast Forward to Month 4 --
Initially there was no plan to delay the talk with your parents about the pregnancy. In fact for a while it had slipped your mind, between everything falling in place and setting up a routine living with Shouta, the fact that they didn’t know you were carrying their grandchild went completely forgotten.
After spending Shouta’s heat with him, the friendship shifted. The two of you weren’t simply senpai and kohai from school, but the two of you weren’t romantic partners either. If anything it just felt like the two of you had grown closer, a familial bond. A packmate.
At the moment you sat on the couch, the phone laid on the table before you with the number to your parents staring back at you. Shouta left whatever his task had been to sit himself beside you, hand resting loosely on your knee. “You can do this on a different day, you know.”
“Yeah.. but if I do I’ll just keep putting it off. They deserve to know they’ll have a grandchild later this year.. I’ll never hear the end of mom crying on how she “missed out”.”
He chuckled at the air quotes and gave your knee a firm squeeze. “Then better hurry up, sure she’ll still complain that you took this long to say something.”
You let out a sigh, sinking into the couch. “Yeah, it honestly just slipped my mind for a while.. But then I thought about it..” he hummed for you to continue. “Fifteen weeks along.. There’s no way dad could try and push me to get rid of it. It’s a whole ass apple now.. Well give or take a few centimeters..”
He didn’t even want to question why your parents were so chill with their only child, an alpha, bottoming of all things. Not that he was one to judge someone’s position in bed, he had no room to talk. He barely remembered the couple from the few times he’d met them as a teen. “If he did, I’m sorry but I’d have some choice words for him.”
The mental image of Shouta using his capture scarf to tie your dad up and yell at him caused you to chuckle. Somehow you wouldn’t put it past him to do that given the way he’s talked of having to do that to some of his students.
“Be nice Sho, dad’s old you might give him a heart attack.” you teased. He must’ve taken your words seriously though for the brief look of fear crossed over him. “I’m kidding, he’s a former pro hero. You know this, I’m sure he’d easily evade you or something.”
Former pro hero, the words sparked a question he’d been dying to ask since you graduated. “Speaking of pro heroes..” he laced his fingers together and leaned on his knees, purposely avoiding your gaze. “What happened.. After you graduated you had all these plans..”
After graduation you did become a hero, but it was short lived. Nobody knew why and you never told them, the only people who knew were those that needed to know.
“Actually, never mind, forget I asked. This isn’t the right time.” Shouta nodded his head towards the phone.
You were grateful for the out, that was a subject for a different time. Right now the task at hand was to contact your parents, break the news and hopefully not have to worry about them starting anything.
Shota tapped the call button for you, something he knew you wouldn’t have been able to do yourself. In almost no time someone answered.
“Honey! It’s been ages, I thought you’d never call us!” Your mother wailed.
“Phones work two ways mom, you can call me too you know.” You rolled your eyes and Shota stifled a chuckle, leaning back to simply listen.
The woman huffed, noises on the other line indicated she was playing with the phone to put it on speaker. “You hear the way your child speaks to me?” she asks who you can only assume is your father.
“They aren’t wrong though.” he chuckles.
His voice sounds distant from the phone causing you to lean forward some despite the obvious bump preventing it. You make a quick attempt at getting the pleasantries out of the way before hitting them with the heavy topic. Shota never presses you, in fact he’s stayed so silent the entire time your parents thankfully don’t even know he’s there.
“So, what are you really calling about sweetie?”
Smart woman, leave it to your mom to see right through you even at her age. “I have some news.. Can dad hear me?”
She hums and you can hear your father clear his throat loud and clear. “Is something wrong?”
You reach for Shouta’s hand, who happily takes it in both of his hands and lets his fingers massaging into the flesh to try and calm you. “I’m pregnant.”
There’s silence to no one’s surprise, then there’s a baffled laugh. “You’re pregnant? As in.. we have a grand baby?”
“That’s usually what being pregnant is mom..” Shota silently chuckles, eyes closing to focus on keeping you relaxed. So far so good.
“I heard that right though, you said you’re pregnant?” Here we go.
“Yes dad, that’s why I said ‘I’m pregnant’.” you paused. “I’m carrying the baby..”
The two of you can hear your mom’s excited babbling about being a grandma, but your father is still silent, either in shock or--
“You can always get rid of it, it’s dangerous, you know. For alpha’s to be pregnant it’s a whole other matter. I’m over the moon for you my little one, but shouldn’t you consider letting your partner be the one to carry?”
--there he goes.
Your hand leaves Shouta’s and you strangle the air in front of you, resisting the urge to groan. He simply slaps your arm and points to your phone to get it over with. “Dad, I love you.. But I’m keeping it. I’ll be a single parent and it’ll be difficult, but I’m keeping it.”
The words “single parent” don’t slip by either of them, your mother’s excited ramblings go silent and you can picture them staring at each other trying to figure out what’s going on. Before they can think up wild ideas however, you aim to be straight forward, or at least partly.
“We broke up, I’m keeping the baby. I understand it’ll be difficult but I’m ready to face those obstacles, besides I’ve got my friends I can lean on as well.” Which was true, while Shouta was the one you spent most of your time with, your friendship with Hizashi had rekindled. And through those two you made new friends who inadvertently became your little makeshift pack.
“Honey.. I know you want to settle down and have a family at your age.. But--”
“Mom,” you snapped, “I’m fifteen weeks in, I’m not getting rid of the pup. Now you two can kindly accept this fact and get over it. Be happy that you're going to be grandparents, or you can be as unhappy as you want but I will be happy and content with my damn pup regardless of whether or not you accept it.”
Nobody had expected you to snap, especially not Shouta. Even back in high school he’d never seen you snap at anyone like that, and you were far more hot headed back then. Shouta ignored the soft chattering between your parents and moved to his knees in front of you. “Hey look at me, breathe..” When you didn’t he placed his hands to your cheeks, forcing you to make eye contact with him. “Breathe, you need to calm down.. Now.”
Your eyes watered, everything hit you like a truck, you did not mean to snap like that. It was obvious they were just worried, if it was your child in your position you’d worry as well. Shota pressed his forehead on yours, intent on calming you down he slid one of your hands to his chest. “Breathe with me.. In..” he took a deep breath in and you followed suit. “Out..” he exhaled and repeated that with you until you calmed down.
After several minutes of silence you simply leaned against the raven, he kept you up right but relaxed, your weight nothing compared to him. Your mother was the first to break the awkward silence. “Who’s that?”
“Ugh,” you groaned and buried your face in Shouta’s shoulder, taking in the familiar scent of your packmate. “Shouta mom, you remember him right?”
“Mm, that tired looking little boy who used to follow you around a lot?”
Shouta groaned, that’s how they remembered him? How embarrassing..
You chuckled and lightly tousled his hair. “Yes mom, except now he’s a tired looking grown man who’s been taking care of my ass. Oh how the tables turned.” It was meant as a tease, back then you looked after the omega all the time, now it felt so weird being on the opposite end.
“Taking care of you?” It was clear what she wanted to ask. Is Shouta your new partner?
“Yeah, I was living with my previous partner and Shouta’s letting me live here.”
Shouta pulled away despite your whines for him to keep still. “Before you say they’ll be imposing on me, they aren’t.. I’m stable enough that there’s no worry about money. And on top of that, they do their own share of work around here, so they aren’t mooching.”
That seemed to set her at ease since it came from Shota himself. “If you're sure, it'll be cramped at some point. It doesn’t hurt to look into moving later on.”
“If it comes down to that, as long as they're comfortable with it, I have no issues finding somewhere bigger. Raising a pup alone is no joke.” Shota took his seat back on the couch, his full focus was on the phone as if it was a person in front of him. “I refuse to let them do it alone, and I know three others that would agree.” he paused and took your hand in his. “We’re packmates after all.”
Your mother let out a loud, emotional croon before squealing. “My baby has packmates!”
“Raising a pup with packmates is different then raising them with your partner.” Your father suddenly chimed in. “But to try and find the right partner to love your child as their own can be difficult..” he continued. “A child raised by packmates is an entirely different experience, that child will know ten times more love.”
Shouta quirked a brow in your direction. “He’s saying he approves, and that a pup in a pack is a pup to everyone in the pack.” Seeing the confusion still on his face you nudged him. “Meaning that they’ll be just as much your pup as mine, as well as Hizashi, Nemuri, Shaun and Oboro.” God this was a wild nightmare of a pack, and you were bringing a pup into it.
“Oh..” He’d never been part of a pack before, so that was all news to him. Shouta shot your stomach a few quick glances. You trusted him that much to allow him to be that close to your pup? To help take care of them, look after them? He’d definitely have his work cut out for him if Hizashi and the others were included in this. Babies raising babies was bound to cause chaos.
From there the call went smoothly, your mother demanding to be kept up to date more regularly as well as any progress pictures from doctor visits. Despite your father’s usual indifferent tone, you could tell he was just as excited as your mother about being a grandpa.
-- 5 Months --
A week after the call with your parents you picked up a part time job as a means for additional income. While yes, you had plenty of money in savings, and yes Shouta made more than enough to cover the two of you. With the pup coming up it meant a lot more additional goodies. None of which you began to buy, it took a few more weeks before you could set a day aside to make the trip. One that Shouta and Hizashi had off so they could accompany you.
“You guys really don’t have to come with me, I’m pregnant, not fragile.”
Hizashi hopped excitedly in place while Shouta went to park the car. “We know that! I’m just excited!” he squealed. “But all the little itty bitty baby clothes are too cute to not see! Plus, this pup is gonna need some daddy Hizashi style swag.”
You shot him a mildly disgusted look, groaning at one of your least favourite words. “Say “swag” one more time and I’m locking you in the trunk..”
“Careful with that kind of talk, might have to take you in.” Shouta playfully droned, you jumped slightly and spun around to see him shove the keys in his pocket.
“Take me anywhere as long as he’s not saying the cringey words.” he chuckled and led you into the store.
Hizashi already had a cart waiting for you to lean on, practically radiating to look at the clothes already. “You,” he pointed to himself curiously, “yes you, stay by the cart. Actually, hand on the cart.”
“Wh-what? Why?” Hizashi laughed nervously, hand ghosting over the side of the cart before grabbing onto it. “Why am I being treated like a child?” he pouted.
“Cause you're gonna toddle off out of my field of view and end up dumping a bunch of junk in my cart.” He couldn’t even be mad, the two of you knew it was true.
“Look at you, pup isn’t even born and you're already a mom.” The two of you shot him a look of confusion, to which he only responded by gesturing between the two of you, then to the cart.
“Oh bite me Sho.” Hizashi groaned and looked away, gently tugging the cart along to get the three of you moving.
“Kinky.” You murmured, Shouta slapped your arm and the three of you finally got moving.
First aisle was for formula and diapers, there was no such thing as having “too many” diapers. The blonde browsed the various brands and whistled. “Lots of fancy packaging for somethin’ that'll just get shat on and tossed.”
The omega groaned in disgust at his friend's language, but not surprised. Shouta spotted a good brand hefted up one of the large bulk boxes.
“Whatcha got?” The blonde let go of the random item rack in the aisle and peeked around you into the cart. “This supposed to be a good brand or somethin?”
Shouta hummed. “Saw an ad about them last week.” He tucked the box under the cart and grabbed a second one. “It’s a ninety pack, so two of them should be enough to start with.”
You whistled. “Look at our little Shouta, I never thought I’d live the day to see him picking out baby stuff.” Hizashi snickered before the two of you leaned on one another, fake crying. “He’s grown up so much, I miss my little Sho!”
The omega in question flushed heavily and yanked the cart along to get away. “So embarrassing..”
“Waah, wait I need that to lean on..!” The two of you chased him slightly, the raven stopped at the formula section and the three of you whistled, impressed or horrified at the variety of options.
“This.. this part I don’t know about..” Shouta mumbled.
“Um, my doctor did recommend a few brands in particular.. Since my body can’t produce milk..” Your eyes scanned the shelves before spotting a few of the brands, plucking one of each off the shelf to look at the backs.
“Why don’t we just get one of each?” Hizashi squinted at the backs of two of them, not really finding a difference. “That way if they don’t like one, they have options.”
“How rich do you think we are to do that ‘Zashi?” That said, you didn’t really know what you were looking for either. Did taste really matter to babies? Did any of these actually taste that different? “Look we’ll just get this one, it’s affordable but has more in it.”
Hizashi grumbled still reading the packaging as he put the others away. He spun around with a soft gasp, with that done it could only mean.. “Clothing!” Completely forgetting the hand on the cart rule you placed, the blonde took off out of the aisle to the baby clothing.
When the two of you found him he already had a few little items draped over his shoulder. “Hizashi.. You know that’s the section for six to twelve months right?”
“No such thing as getting larger stuff too early, what if the pup grows fast?!” He pulled back once the two of you got closer and showed off the onesies in question.
“They are pretty cute..” you mumbled, examining one of the yellow duck print onesies. “Okay, but only a few, I doubt the pup will grow that fast.”
The beta showed you his findings and upon your approval they were put in the cart. Shouta took Hizashi’s hand and forcefully led him to the proper month area for clothes searching.
The three of you browsed the section, a few tears shed primarily between you and Hizashi at just how tiny everything was.
A particularly bright yellow sleeping back was nearly slam dunked into the cart, startling you. “It matches Sho!” The two of you inspected the item and it indeed did match Shouta’s yellow sleeping bag. “We have to get it now, that’s the rules!”
Shouta was silently staring at the sleeper when you looked at him. To the untrained eye he probably seemed uncaring, completely disinterested in the fact it “matched”. However he was clearly happy, a faint but low purr emitting from him. “Yeah alright, the pup can match his dad.”
Hizashi and Shouta both shot you a confused look, both knew damn well Shouta wasn’t the father. Was that a slip up or?
You turned away and ignored their confused looks to thumb through another section of clothing. “Go find something so the pup will match you too ‘Zashi. Gotta match both daddies. I’ll see if there’s anything for Shaun, Nemu and Oboro as well.”
The blonde flushed and shot his friend a look. “Do you know what they're talking about?”
Shouta rubbed his flustered face remembering the conversation from when you had told your parents about the news. “Since we’re all uh.. A pack.. I guess they're including us as parents..” he coughed into his hand and looked around at nothing in particular. “When they told the news to their parents.. Their dad said something along the lines of the pup being ours just as much as theirs.. Cause we’re a pack.”
Hizashi’s lip jutted out with a quiver. “Aw shit.. I got a baby!” he sniffled and shuffled over to you unannounced. You didn’t flinch when his arms came around you, hands lying on the baby bump. The mix of his scent and cologne told you who it was without even having to look, what did make you look was why he was sniffling.
“Hey hey, what’s wrong?” You laid a hand over his and used the other to pat his head.
“Our baby..” he mumbled through sniffles.
You shot Shouta a look, brow raised, hoping for some context. “I mentioned what your dad said. Guess he’s just a little.. Emotional?” Shouta sighed, awkwardly patting his friends back.
You let out a low rumble from your chest, which immediately soothed the beta latched onto you. He simply purred in return, hands still never leaving the baby bump. “Lil shit’s gonna be so fuckin spoiled.. So spoiled..”
There was no denying that, a birth parent and five pack parents? Regardless of gender there was no way anyone was breakin that child’s heart when they got older.
Ignoring the height difference your thoughts went to Keigo, no, Hawks. After you left there was no attempt at contact, he never tried to reach out, but you never got rid of his number. There were nights you simply just stared at the numbers, almost hoping that they’d just pop up with his name and icon. But there was no reason for him to call you anymore.
It was dumb to think about, if he hadn’t tried to reach out after a month, there was no way he was going to reach out at five months.
At some point you stopped looking through the clothes and started staring into space. Hizashi had let go of you by then, Shouta snapped his fingers in front of you a few times and you snapped out of it. “Sorry, I lost myself for a minute.”
The two shared a look as you simply laughed it off, neither bought it, Shouta could take an easy guess at what though. He’d have to remember to talk to Hizashi and the others about it later.
With the mood dampered Hizashi shuffled uncomfortably in place. Diapers, formula, clothing.. Right! “Hey let’s go look at cribs and all that! I’ll go grab another cart!” He shot off before either of you could say anything.
“Might as well, I think this is the basics.. Aside from well.. Bottles, wipes.. Toys..” You looked over the mess in the car and internally dreaded how expensive this would be. Maybe a baby shower wouldn’t be such a bad idea.. Even if it would just be the pack, if this was going to work out they’d have to chip in at some point anyways.
“I can grab the first two, you go meet him over there before he starts going crazy.” Shouta gave your arm a gentle squeeze and left to pick up said items.
You slowly made your way to the cribs and changing tables, fortunately there weren't too many to pick from. That would make this easy, right? Wrong.
Hizashi was already there with a cart, lifting the sides up and down for whatever reason. It took him a minute to notice you, and when he did he quickly waved you closer. Abandoning the cart to tug it behind you, you stopped at this specific crib he was focused on.
“I vote this one, I don’t know shit about cribs, but this has these cool swinging doors to open up.” He unlocked the top latch and the side opened for easier access. While yes it did look nice, it seemed almost--
“Dangerous, no. We’re getting a traditional one, no doors.” Shouta smacked Hizashi on the back of the head with the pack of bottles before putting them in the cart.
“Oh c’mon, live a little!”
“I agree, it doesn’t seem safe..” You sighed. “Actually, it kind of makes me feel like it's a pet cage more than a crib..” The wooden slats and door did look awfully familiar to a large animal cage, just with an open top.
Hizashi whined but nodded. “I mean babies are kinda like animals,” he teased. “Eat, poop, sleep, scream, be cute.”
“I think you just described yourself.” the omega snorted.
Hizashi gasped dramatically before throwing his arms around the male. “You think I’m cute?”
You gripped tightly onto the cart and your stomach with laughter. Shouta’s face grew red as he tried to hide it, eventually just shoving it into the blonde’s shoulder. When the giggles died down you gestured to a particularly nice crib, it was easy to reach over even with your stomach.
“I think I like this one.. In..” a quick glance of the colour options only had you mildly disappointed. “Dark brown..”
The boys wasted no time finding it and hauled it into the second cart. Next to the cribs were changing tables. Your nose scrunched up. “Do people even still use changing tables? Pretty sure my parents just used whatever surface they had to change me.. Which was usually the floor..”
“We can always worry about that later, I think we’ve got enough for now. Any other stuff can wait, we’ve still got time.” Shouta slapped Hizashi’s not so stealthy attempt at taking the second cart for a spin.
The beta pouted and simply hung himself on the front, nearly knocking the cart over in the process. Shouta panicked and put his own weight onto the other side of the cart to stop it from tipping.
“Children..” You rolled your eyes and snorted, pushing past the two to check out.
The total was what you expected, expensive. Shouta was right to stop the three of you when he did. Hizashi tried paying two times but was denied both times. “You can buy us lunch in the cafeteria instead.”
“Fiiine, then while we take this to the car, you head over there. Find a table and we’ll all eat!”
“Sho, please make sure he doesn’t get himself or others killed..” the male shot his friend a glare. “And you, off the cart, now.” Hizashi whined but got off with a soft “fine”.
With those two gone, it was time to hit the cafeteria. The only upside to a mall was never having to leave it for other stores, or most importantly, food. The cafeteria wasn’t as packed as you were expecting it to be, it was easy to find a place to sit and stare at the various options. Mid pondering what you wanted, one of the display TVs caught your attention.
It was live footage of a villain attack, the exact location eluded you but the heroes in question didn’t. Hawks was there, half his feathers missing and clothes covered in dirt and debris. Everything was drowned out by the chatter around you, making it hard to guess just who or what was happening.
A hand on the shoulder snapped you from staring hypnotized at the TV. “You okay?” Shouta glanced at the TV before giving you a more worried look.
“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine.” You sat up straight as the two sat down, Shouta beside you, Hizashi across from you. “That was fast.”
Hizashi reached across the table to take your hands in his. “Was eager to come back and eat with ya.”
Not that the blonde couldn’t be serious, but it was weird to see him so touchy and focused. Giving Shouta a quick glance confirmed he must’ve told Hizashi about who the “father” was. Which was probably why the blonde opted to sit in front of you to block the TV. Unlike Shouta though, Hizashi seemed less frustrated at Hawks than the omega.
“Alright!” The beta shook your hands to draw your attention back to him. “Figure out what you want? My treat!”
-- 7 Months --
With half of the spare room Shouta had given you, now lies a newly made dresser and crib, it left you with the closet of stuff that belonged to you, now on the bed. Cramming everything to fit was proving to be a task and a half.
“Are you sure you don’t want to just move into my room?” Shouta leaned on the doorway, staring at the mess you created.
Tossing one of your shirts into the folded pile you sighed. “Look I know Hizashi bought that huge ass king size bed for all of us, but I’d still feel bad invading your space like that..”
“You won’t be, besides if they come over again and your scent isn’t there, we both know they’ll all flip.”
While Hizashi did buy the bed, everyone had chipped in for it. While Shouta’s apartment was too small for everyone to live in, having a large bed made it easier for pack nights. And ever since the thing was brought in, you had yet to lie on it let alone sleep in it.
Shouta pushed off the doorway and steered you out of your room and towards his. “Go, lie down. Your feet must be killing you.”
While true, you were still grumpy about the whole thing. You had every right to be, even if it was just you being confused on how you felt about the whole thing. The last time you shared a bed with someone after all was with..
“Oh wow this feels amazing..” Sprawling out on the bed you quickly forgot about the bed sharing thing and got comfortable.
“Here.” You looked up to see Shouta tossing a C shaped pillow onto the bed. “Nemuri got it.”
A gasp tore itself from your throat. “Bless her, no more sleeping with shitty pillow set ups!” The omega helped you get more comfortable and watched you quite literally pass out. The stress and being on your feet so much lately clearly got to you.
Shouta let you sleep and worked on making space in his own closet and dresser. The rest of the gang had already made themselves at home, various underwear, socks and even a few bras were shoved into the dresser. Various shirts and pants hung in the closet, mixed recklessly in the jumble of his own.
Sliding the closet doors open hit him in the face with a mix of scents, a little smokey from Shaun, something sweet from Nemuri and Oboro, and that unavoidable leathery scent from Hizashi. Now all that’s missing was your scent.
He carried everything from your closet over to his and carefully organized it. The closet had been primarily empty before you had showed up, slowly filling up with shirts gifted by the pack as well as their own clothing being tossed into the mix. It was quite the interesting first few weeks when it happened. Reaching in to grab a shirt that was two sizes too big, or three sizes too small or clearly not a shirt he’d be caught dead wearing.
The second trip was for things to go in the drawers. You had never been private about your undergarments, while a few choices were questionable, he never particularly cared. Underwear went in the mixed underwear draw, anything else went in another drawer.
Of course however you began to stir when he had a handful of your underwear to try and cram away. He stilled and listened to you mumble in your sleep before he felt it was safe enough to move again. He sighed heavily before closing the door and took a seat on the floor. Any other storage boxes could stay in your closet for now until more baby junk could take its place. Shouta got up and quietly closed the closet before crawling into bed, a nap couldn’t hurt.
Later that month saw the Aizawa apartment a lot busier and messier than it had ever been prior. The group had initially set up rotating days to come stay and keep you company, especially on days where Aizawa was gone for missions. Which eventually turned into anyone showing up whenever they weren’t working or busy.
By that point practically everyone had a key and even the security guards had recognized them out of hero costumes with how often they visited.
At the current Oboro, Hizashi and Shaun sat in the living room. While Hizashi bordered on basically living there, the other two were free and keeping you company for the weekend with Shouta gone.
“Did you mail that letter I gave you?” Pinning stray hairs from your face as you cooked, you shot Hizashi a quick glance.
“Yeah yeah.” he waved his hand before turning back to the TV. “You send those out like once a month, who’re they even going to? Parents?”
Technically you did send them letters too, but not nearly as often. Shouta had questioned you once before but found your lie acceptable. “Yeah, gotta keep them updated on their grandson after all.”
“But the address was Japan, aren’t they out of the country?” Oboro chimed in.
“I didn’t even notice that..” Hizashi mumbled.
“Yeah no brainer.” Oboro snickered. “But for real, who are you mailin? Or is this some snail mail tinder?” he teased.
Shaun looked away from the TV long enough to shoot you a look, the conversation sparking interest in everyone now it seemed.
“Oh uh..” you shuffled uncomfortably, three sets of eyes on you made it hard to talk. “J-just a friend..”
Shaun squinted, the other two might’ve been easy to lie to, but he wasn’t buying it. “Just a friend? I didn’t think you really had any friends out of our circle, no offence.” he quickly tacked on.
“Ouch.” one of the other two snickered.
You huffed and tossed the hand towel at Shaun who simply caught it with ease, throwing it back it hit you dead center on the ass. “Ow!”
“Shit! Sorry!” Shaun shot up off the couch and came to your aid, not that you particularly needed it. The brunette picked the hand towel up and you swiped it up to gently hit his arm with.
“It’s just my ass, I’ll live. Go sit back down.” You smiled and tried to push him out of the kitchen. Shaun hesitantly left to sit back down, it wasn’t the first time he’d accidentally hurt one of you guys by throwing stuff at you. Usually it was fine, but every now and then it’s like he honed in and shot shit at you guys intentionally.
Oboro cooed at the alpha who seemed to still be feeling guilty. “It was just their ass, the pup is fine.”
“Yeah, I know..” he grumbled.
The thought didn’t even hit you that he was worried about that. You had turned when throwing the hand towel at him, if you hadn’t it would’ve hit you on the side of the stomach. While again, it didn’t actually hurt, everyone had still been so careful of your stomach.
“I didn’t even think of that.. Shaun..” Abandoning the food you wobbled over and put the alpha’s head and hands to your stomach. “He’s fine, see?”
Apparently one set of hands meant it was zoo time, the other two quickly joined in, shoving their hands onto any spare spot they could. This little boy was going to be spoiled like crazy.
“I know he’s fine..”
As soon as the pup developed enough the doctor had broken the news that your son seemed special. While the gene had skipped you, it would seem it did not however skip your son. Akin to your father it would seem little Fumi inherited his “mutant” like head. While you wanted to punch the doctor for his poor choice in wording, this information had been crucial as it decided how you’d newly approach feeding him once born, as well as how you’d give birth. C section was always the plan being an alpha, but this just made that choice the only option.
With that news the pack seemed to change, treating little Fumi even more gently. Or rather they treated you more gently.
“Alright, hands off, the petting zoo has to finish dinner.” You swatted their hands away but gave Shaun an extra few seconds to calm down before he pulled away. “Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, clean up and come set the table up boys.”
-- 9 Months --
You groaned in discomfort, while the medicine was doing its job it didn’t change the fact all of you still ached and the room was freezing cold. Nemuri laid a blanket from home over your legs and gave them a gentle rub to try and warm you up. “I wish we brought another one, I didn’t think it’d be this chilly.”
“I don’t think any of us thought it’d be this chilly though.” Oboro took your free hand and quickly warmed it up with his own.
“Ugh all of you are smothering me..” You slapped Hizashi away with your free hand and wormed the other out of Oboro’s grip. “Let me breathe!”
“Oh, here comes the moody phase.” You reached out and slapped the back of Hizashi’s head.
“You shut it.”
Shouta pushed the blonde to sit by the other alpha on the couch. He wasn’t about to deal with security because of Hizashi’s silly ass. “Everyone step back, let them breathe.”
Nemuri and Oboro stepped back some but you whined and made grabby hands for Nemuri. “No not you, keep rubbing my feet..” The woman laughed before returning to your legs.
“Sucks we’re gonna miss out on the halloween party..” Everyone shot Hizashi a glare.
“We’re literally having a baby..” Nemuri shot.
“Wait, who's “we”? You guys aren’t doing shit.” You hissed.
“Fine, you're having the baby, that’s beside the point.” She replied.
“If you want to go to the party tomorrow you can go, alone.” Shaun tacked on.
“I don’t wanna go alone! I mean I don’t plan on going, but I can be sad about the party!” The beta whined.
“Would all of you just shut the fuck up!” You buried a pillow over your face, muffling a yell. When the pillow came off the group had gone silent, sitting down aside from Nemuri who still worked on rubbing your feet.
A sigh left you, finally some silence. Which was only short lived when the doctor had finally come in to tell you it was time.
-- Fast Forward a Month --
The pack rarely left Fumikage alone after he was born, in fact ever since then entire group temporarily moved into Shouta’s apartment. That way help was available round the clock by someone when you were resting.
Feeling suffocated you set your foot down, dressed your son up and told them the two of you were going on a walk. Alone. To which none of them were happy about, but were forced to accept regardless.
While the walk to clear your head was the main goal, there was actually a meet up you had planned behind their backs. After the incident in the kitchen a few months ago, nobody had brought up the monthly letters you were mailing out. In fact it wasn’t even letters you were sending, simply photos with dates on the back. Photos of Fumi’s growth while he was inside you.
At the moment you sat on a bench, Fumi cozy and tucked away, napping in his stroller. Under the blankets beside him was a plush of Hawks, the group had seemed less than happy at the purchase but you intentionally bought it, refusing to leave the omega out of your child’s life.
Which leads you to the situation at hand.
Every month when you got photos, your parents got a set, and Keigo got a set. Whether he read the short letters with them or not you didn’t know, but you held onto the hope that he did. Opting out of sending newborn pictures, you instead sent him a text with a date and time.
Foolishly you continued to hope that Keigo might change his mind, or at least upon seeing Fumikage he might change his mind. Shouta was the only one from the pack that knew you still held feelings for the blonde, and initially didn’t talk to you for a week when that happened.
Shouta didn’t think he deserved to be part of Fumikage’s life, didn’t think he deserved you. And at first you had to agree, but if Keigo wanted to know his son he had the right. Just like if he didn’t want to meet his son, he had the right to ignore him, even if it led to questions down the road when the boy got older.
Despite the fact Keigo wasn’t there a single time during the whole nine months, he was still there in your day to day life. Whether it be on TV, or in person passing by a few meters away. Every time you saw him on TV there was this subtle look of sadness, especially so during a particular Q&A where he’d been asked if he had plans to have a family one day. Although short, the time you spent together with him when dating showed you a lot of him. Making it easier to pick up lies and his whole hero act.
Keigo seemed to still be bothered by what happened. Whether it was true or not, only could be told if he showed up or not.
Your thumb mindlessly rubbed over Fumi’s sleeping face, he shifted in his sleep but didn’t wake up, merely taking the arm of the Hawks plush into his chubby hand. The tree’s rustled, child laughter echoed in the nearby park.
“I wonder when it’ll snow.. We’ll have to see if we can take some cute little snow angel pictures to send to mom and dad. Grandma is so excited to meet you..” Fumi shifted in his sleep again as you spoke to no one in particular.
“I dunno if it’s wise to let him out when it’s that cold, don’t wanna get him sick now.”
You flinched and sat up right, turning towards the sudden voice. “Hawks, you came..”
“Was I not supposed to?” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, eyes flickering to the back of the stroller. “I can go if--”
“No you idiot, I invited you for a reason.” you laughed.
“Eheh.. right.” He had no clue how you were so calm, so inviting to let him in after what he did to you. Well not that he hurt you, not, physically anyways.
Fumikage shifted, letting out a wobbly chirp in the process. Keigo’s eyes grew at the sound before giving his own little bird chirp back. To both your confusion Fumi let out another weak chirp.
“The hell?” You looked at your son and watched him wake up with a big stretch. “You chattin with daddy?”
Keigo watched you smile and resisted the urge to clench at his chest. Slowly he approached the two of you and peered into the stroller. Big crimson eyes stared curiously up at him, one fat chubby arm reaching up.
“Hey chickadee..” Without even thinking about it his hand went forward, Fumi’s fingers quickly grabbed onto the omegas pinky. Several unidentifiable baby noises left him in the process, almost as if trying to get Keigo closer.
“Seems like someone’s happy.” You chuckled, pulling Keigo closer to look at the baby. Part of you wondered how he’d react given his son wasn’t exactly normal looking. But so far he seemed confused?
Keigo crouched beside the stroller and the boy played with his fingers. “So uh..”
“That’s from my side.. The gene skipped me but..” You gestured to your son's head, giving the short feathers a stroke. “If you say the “u” word I’m sorry but I’m gonna have to fight you right here.”
He shot you a confused look. “What? No, I'd never say that!” Keigo huffed and turned his attention back to his son, he removed his glove and let the pup play with his hands directly. Fumi must’ve found them warm since he chirped up a fit to try and get it closer.
“I wanted to ask how you’ve been..” he cleared his throat. “He’s beautiful, I’m not going to insult my own kid.. I’m not that big of an ah--jerk..’
“Oh so he’s your kid now?” The tone went over Keigo’s head, you were merely teasing but he took it as being upset if the twitch in his wings were anything to go by. “I know I should be mad..” you paused, frowning. “But I’m not..”
“I mean, I can’t blame you if you were.. I was quite the prick..” You watched Keigo entertain Fumi, the occasional finger roaming to his squishy cheeks.
It was hard to place if he was so enamored because it was his son or because his head was different. The morbid part of you wanted to make a bird joke, now you just needed another one with bird feet to complete them. Maybe that joke would be appreciated at a later time.
“You never did tell me why.. I knew you didn’t want kids but that.. Really hurt..”
“Not here..” Keigo stood up and gently pulled his hand away from the fussy pup. “Let’s talk somewhere private.”
“Fine, but we’re walking.” You got up and tucked Fumikage’s hand back under the blanket, keeping him snug before following.
“So what’s his name?”
“Fumikage, dad came up with it.. I’m no good with coming up with names..” The two of you shared a chuckle.
A warmth tickled your back, something you’d come to know as Keigo’s wing. Although not completely covering your back he kept it open, likely noticing your shivering. Fumi was toasty warm but you were far from it, the cold sucked.
You said nothing though as he did it, part of you missed being wrapped up in them after all.
Keigo led you to a hole in the wall cafe, as soon as you stepped foot into it he changed the sign to “closed” and took a seat. “People rarely come here, found this cute little place after saving the owner once.” He gestured to the middle aged man behind the counter dozing off until he spotted the two of you.
“Oh! Hawks!” He shuffled over and set two menus down, giving you plenty of time to flip through it. “I see you changed the sign.”
“Ah yeah, private talk with my friend here.”
The two of you gave your order and the man nodded before turning away. “Talk away~”
Keigo took his gloves and visor off before getting more comfortable in his seat. “Where do I even begin..”
“Why you told me to get rid of him is probably a good place to start…”
“Right..” he rubbed his face and leaned his arms on the table. “First off, I don’t hate kids.. Not in the slightest.” he jabbed a finger in Fumi’s direction. “Especially not him.”
All you could do was nod, Keigo always seemed to enjoy chatting with kids on patrol. Even if it was just to scold them for reckless behavior.
Keigo shifted again in his seat and ran a hand through his hair. “I never thought I’d have kids…You know how busy the commission keeps me.” he whispered. “We both know the risks that would come from being involved with me.. If the public knew I had a son? Frankly I don’t give a flying shit what they think, fu--frick ratings.” he shot a glance to the sleeping child and exhaled.
As much as you were glad Keigo tried to censor himself, your son would pick up cursing regardless due to the idiots around him at home.
“So what, you were worried about the villains taking advantage of it?”
“No, well yes maybe..”
“Then what?” you pressed on. If he wasn’t worried about the villains then what else was there to worry about?
“The commission itself…” he sighed. “I can’t go into details, hell I’m treading on thin ice right now by talking about it..”
“Would they.. Really do something like that..?” Keigo nodded. “I dare them to put their hands on my child, label me whatever you want I’ll mur--”
“Woah there.” he chuckled nervously and put his hands on your arms. “Relax, ain’t nobody hurtin lil Fumi.”
“Is that why you pushed me away? What so the two of us could just live a “peaceful” life without the commission on our ass? Keigo,” you leaned in and whispered. “If you seriously thought I’d be happier without you, your fucking wrong. I was a pro hero myself, I can protect myself and our son.”
“Not from the commission, I can only do so much myself.” he paused and gave you a not so subtle sniff. “Why do you smell like that?”
“What?” Pulling back you gave yourself a quick sniff. “Hey I showered for the record.”
“No not that.” he pulled you in again and gave you another sniff. “You smell like an omega..”
You stopped sniffing your arm and rolled your eyes. “Really that’s what you wanna bring up? Me smelling like an omega? Where do you think I’ve been living?”
“Excuse me.” The owner carried your drinks over and carefully set them down.
“Oh thank you.”
As soon as the owner left Keigo snapped his eyes back to yours. “Hell if I know, your parents?”
“Out of country, I’ve been staying with a classmate from high school.”
“Are you..”
“If you ask if I’m fucking him I will lean over this table and pluck you like a turkey.”
Keigo slumped forward and chewed on the straw of his drink. “So..?”
“He’s my packmate.. Anyone else you're smelling on me is also my packmate..” You sighed and rubbed tiredly at your eyes. “Fumi smells the same as me, they’ve all crammed themselves in the apartment since his birth.”
“Sounds chaotic..” he grimaced. No wonder Fumikage seemed so confused on trying to stay asleep rather than look at stuff like any other curious baby. Or maybe it’s just because he was a baby and tired.
“You don’t know the half of it.. I love all of them but I really need to move out..”
“Come home then..”
You pulled your hands away and stared at the blonde. Home. Home? “Are you.. Asking me to come back..?”
“Yes? Well.. trying to.. I don’t expect you to forgive me right away..” Keigo nudged the drink away, mindlessly playing with the straw. “Even if you don’t forgive me.. You know I’ve got plenty of space..” he swallowed hard. “Everything feels so empty and bit since you left..”
“You.. never had anyone over?” Did you sleep with someone else?
He shook his head. “No and no, the place smelt like you.. Bringing anyone else in would’ve gotten rid of it faster..” Keigo looked at Fumikage with the softest expression you’d ever seen. “I couldn’t sleep with anyone else, they weren’t you.. You don’t know how badly I wanted to find where you went and try and get you back.”
“I wasn’t very far.. I actually saw you once.. Though I was in the crowd so I’m pretty sure you didn’t notice me.”
Keigo pushed your drink aside and cautiously took your hands into his, they were just as soft as you remembered. Just as warm and big, no wonder Fumi showed such interest in his hands earlier. His hands moved from yours to your cheeks, closing your eyes it was easy to remember the late nights in bed with him.
“You don’t have to say yes right away, just.. Think about it..”
Shouta was going to hate that, he was the only one with a personal grudge against Keigo after all. If you moved back in with him all of them would be upset, but he’d probably get upset at you directly for agreeing.
“I do miss you.. I do still love you..” you mumbled, hands resting atop his.
Keigo choked out a small laugh, bringing his forehead to yours. “I still love you too baby bird.. Or should I call you momma bird?”
You chuckled and gently bumped your head against his. “I might’ve carried him, but if anyone is a mother hen that’s you.”
“Haha ouch, not wrong I guess.” The two of you pulled apart, keeping at least one of his hands in yours.
“The real baby bird here is Fumi.” The pup in question slowly woke up, kicking his little limbs in a stretch. Another chirp left him and Keigo leaned forward, eyes full of love and chirped back which seemed to set Fumi into a few more chirps.
“You speak bird?” The omega flicked his wing out to hit your shoulder, attention all on his son. “Bird brain.”
“You're never gonna stop with bird jokes are you?” He looked out the corner of his eye at you before reaching his free hand out to Fumi’s stroller. “Also don’t think I didn’t see this. You got him a little me.”
“You started the bird jokes when we met, and yes I did. On the off chance you didn’t show, I still wanted him to grow up knowing who his bird brain of a dad is.”
Keigo crooned and shifted in his seat to get a better look at his son, letting go of your hand in the process. “Can I hold him?”
Standing up you pushed the cover of the stroller back and made work of his blankets and little seat belt. “Oof, up we go.” Without even needing to be directed Keigo held his arms out perfectly as you placed Fumi into them. “There we go, my two little birdies.”
Keigo crooned again, shifting the wide eyed pup in his arms to get a better look at him. “He’s so tiny.. And his feathers are so small.”
“There still growing, the doctors say he may or may not be like a bird in that sense that it might take a long time for them to fully grow in.” You sighed and crossed your arms, leaning back. “I wonder if he’ll have to preen them.. I planned on asking my dad for advice when they came for Christmas.”
“I can teach him!” You jumped slightly at the sudden enthusiasm that came from the omega and stifled a laugh at his embarrassed expression. “Shush..”
“You know, I’m surprised you're taking this so well.. He’s barely taken after you.”
“I think you mean he’s taken after me more than you.” he teased.
“Oh haha.” It was now or never, guess he deserved to know at least. “Actually.. There are a few spots where some feathers are growing in.. they aren’t exactly black..” Keigo watched you shift across the table and gently turn Fumi’s head slightly. “Doctor’s think they might turn red when he gets older.”
Keigo let out a laugh before chirping up a storm, the owner peeked his head over as if expecting to see a flock of birds in his cafe. The two of you ignored his curious stares to watch Fumikage kick his legs with excitement, sloppy chirping coming out to “chat” with his daddy.
It would take a long time to make up for the pain he caused, but it wasn’t impossible to try and make this work out for good. Even if it was a little scary, the both of you could experience this together. Parenthood, pack mates, family, it was only just the start of the long road ahead.