Chapter Text
Gou was cutting vegetables for the evening’s dinner when she felt the familiar tug on the hem of her shirt.
“Mama?” Her son stepped back as she looked down at him, his green eyes thoughtful. Gou knew to put the knife aside. She knew that look from her husband, and it was one her son replicated perfectly when he had been pondering something. Whatever was coming could not be answered with a simple yes or no.
“Yes, baby?”
“Why don’t have a brother? Or a sister?”
Definitely not a yes or no question.
“What do you mean?” Gou crouched down to look the boy in the eye. Her son had always been a tall child for his age, and at five, he was starting another growth spurt. He was already the tallest child in his class.
“Papa said Uncle Rin is your brother. And Uncle Ren and Auntie Ran are Papa’s brother and sister. Why don’t I have a brother, or sister?”
Gou smiled, amused. “Well-would you like to be a brother?”
Her son furrowed his brow and grasped his chin in a perfect imitation of his father. “I think so. Sayuri has a little brother and she says it’s fun because she always has someone to play with at home.”
“But I play with you,” Gou pointed out. “And so does Papa.”
He looked confused for a moment. “It’s not the same, though,” he insisted. “Sometimes you’re busy. And sometimes Papa says he has to grade the papers.”
She laughed. “I see. Well, I think having someone to play with is a good reason.”
“So can I?”
“Can you what, baby?”
“Can I be a big brother?”
Gou opened and closed her mouth, speechless. Finally she sighed. Time to pass the buck. Poor Makoto…
“Go ask your father.”
~
“Your son and I had a very interesting conversation today,” Makoto snuggled up to his wife, slipping his hand under her shirt to caress her stomach. Gou sighed happily as he curled his body around her back.
“Why is he my son and not our son whenever you have these ‘interesting conversations’?” she feigned exasperation. Makoto chuckled against her hair.
“He gets his curiosity from you.”
“And his charm from you,” she twisted her head and clumsily kissed the tip of Makoto’s nose. “We’re doomed.”
“He’s just so…observant.”
“Another trait from you.”
“Do you know what he said? He asked me why I have a brother and sister. How do you answer that for a five year old?”
“How did you answer that?”
She could feel his embarrassed smile against her neck. He planted a kiss there and Gou felt the heat of his cheeks. “I didn’t. I changed the subject.”
Gou scoffed. “That doesn’t work well with our son.”
“He definitely has his mother’s persistence,” Makoto earned a halfhearted elbow in his side for that remark. “You know I think it’s cute.”
“So what did you say to him when he asked for a sibling?”
“I told him I have to talk to you. Adding someone to the family is a big deal. Just like when we got him Suki.”
Gou laughed outright at that. “You compared having a baby to buying our child a cat?”
“What? It’s the best I could do. I wasn’t prepared for this, you know!”
“Didn’t you ask your parents for siblings when you were younger? You’re the oldest!”
“No! I was happy alone! Besides, Haru lived next door. I always had someone to play with anyway,” He ran his hand along her stomach, playing with the waistband of her sleeping shorts. “When Ren and Ran were born, I was happy, but I don’t remember ever asking my parents for a sibling.”
“That’s very like you,” Gou hummed happily at his attentions, slipping her leg between his.
“So,” Makoto whispered, his breath tickling her ear. “What does Mama think? Do you want to have another?”
She turned in his arms to play with the collar of his shirt. “You know what I think. What I’ve been thinking.”
He smiled gently. “What have you been thinking?” She groaned in mock annoyance, wiggling in his hold. Their foreheads leaned together, and Gou was amazed at how he still took her breath away with the clear green of his eyes.
“Makoto.”
“Gou.”
She giggled. “Let’s make another baby.”