#ohmydaddycollab

She was trying her best to keep biting her lips, not let her cries out but her heavy tears didn’t stop to fall from her eyes. His thumb caressed her plump soft cheeks as he wiped her tears away.

“Mister Oikawa?”, he heard a voice call him from behind and he turned to look at the principal. Looking at her, the little brunette hugged him tightly but still not breaking her gaze from her.

“Hi, yes I’m Oikawa”, he replied back while his grip on his daughter tightened. But it was as if… he was making sure the kid new that now, he was with her. It was his way of letting her know that ‘Daddy will take care of this’. She instantly recognised his assurance.

A few times at home, when she broke your favourite cups and plates, he took the blame for them and winked at the kid. But she wasn’t crying at home during those times. She loved you, her mommy. She was sure scared of you but never to the point of crying. Now the situation was different because the person who was angry at her was the principal. Not her mommy, who would bring her ice-cream whenever she cried after a bad dream. But… yes, her daddy was there. He will protect her.

“I don’t think you should be punishing my daughter like this”, he caressed the brown hair of his daughter, “I don’t think it was such a big fight. She is a small kid. What could have happened?”

“The boys nose was bleeding”, the principals words made him to gulp. He looked at his girl in his arms. She looked so adorable with her puffy eyes and red cheeks. How could this angel beat someone to the point they bled? Then he remembered the time you punched him in the face and his nose bled… ‘Ah… so you get that from your mother’, he took a deep breath. Well, we all know the saying of Love at first punch right.

“I will not escalate this situation if you make her apologize and make sure she never does this again”, the principal adjusted her glasses while he sighed.

“Can I know where the little boy is?”, he asked and she took them to the nurse’s office. There he saw a little boy, maybe a bit shorter than his girl but surely was of the same age. He wasn’t crying and was having a tissue up his nose to stop the bleeding. As soon as the father and daughter duo entered the room, he turned towards them.

“Sweetie, say sorry to him”, he caressed his daughter’s cheek as she nodded. He let her down to walk towards the boy and tell him sorry. He smiled at her and talked to the teachers for some time and brought her back home. On the way, making sure to tell her that she shouldn’t punch and kick others just because they made fun of the princess she liked in her favourite cartoon. They made a deal to not tell you if she listened. The duo sealed the Pinky promise with a kiss on each other’s fingers before getting down the car.

That evening when you came home, your daughter was happily drawing in her book as your husband greeted you with a kiss on cheek.

“Babe, how was your day~”

“It was good. But don’t you think you are not telling me something?”, you raised your eyebrow as you pulled him in a hug. He laughed awkwardly and asked, “Whatttt babe? I don’t think so”.

“Nah… I know… I know what she did in school. Even I got a call. But as they informed me that you had already met the principal and I didn’t need to meet them”, your grip tightened in around him in a threatening way. Your lips were smiling but your eyes weren’t.

He let out a defeated sigh and pulled you into the kitchen, away from the living room where your daughter was. “Babe~ Don’t be angry at her. It was a fight between kids”

“She gave him a nose bleed”

“She gets it from you”, he said making you to pinch his cheek. “Ow Ow Ow! I know that’s wrong but I made sure she said Sorry”. You let him go as a smile formed on your lips.

“Tooru~”, you said as your hands tugged on his Tee. He seemed so adorable while he was being a dork but he didn’t let his responsibilities aside. That made you to fall in love with him more and more every time.

“I love you”, your words made him crazy. With one swift move he pinned you to the kitchen counter and placed a kiss on your lips. His left hand travelled in your hair as his other hand gripped your waist. He was too strong of course. His daily workout and the practice he did as a professional Volleyball player wasn’t not seen. Especially it made a huge impact when he was alone with you.

“No, we cant. She is in the living room”, you tried to push him away but he wouldn’t budge.

“But-”, he stopped mid-sentence when he heard the little footsteps approaching. He let you go as quickly as he had previously pinned you.

The little girls giggled while she showed her drawing to you both. And… for the first time in his life, Oikawa’s heart was broken by his little angel. But you were so thrilled looking at her art. You awed as you sat infront of her taking her book in your hand.

“Tooru look at this, she drew herself and who is this?”, you asked as she told the name of the boy who she punched that day. As they say, love at first punch.

Thanks for reading!

copyright © vemuabhi

Likes, Comments and reblogs are always appreciated.

Over the monitor, you can hear Toshi coo at your little bean and soon enough, her cries are settled.

You must have dozed off at some point, because the next time you are awoken by a slight shaking of your shoulder.

You rub the sleep from your eyes only to see Toshi kneeling by the bed with your baby swaddled to his chest. The sight fills you with an immediate warmth. How did you get so lucky?

“Love, sorry to have woken you,” he whispers as his left hand continues to rub circles on your baby’s back.

“S’alright,” you respond with a small smile. “How’s our little bean?”

His fingers go to rub just above his left eye, an action that you know signals that your husband is perplexed at a situation. Finally, he sighs. “I gave her a bit of a bottle to drink, burped her, changed her, and rocked her, but she’s still not falling asleep. Is there something that I may have overlooked?”

Your smile grows wider at his words. “She’s being a tough little bean, isn’t she?” you say.

“Yes, I do not think that there is anything else I should have done,” your husband responds in his typical statement-of-fact manner. “Maybe she just wants me to hang out with her?”

Then, he turns to your daughter. “Do you want your papa to hang out with you?” he asks. Your baby giggles and you can swear both you and Toshi’s heart have melted at the cuteness.

A wide grin threatens to split his face into two as Toshi brings his head down to plant messy kisses on your daughter’s face. Her giggles continue as you sit up to grab your phone and record this precious moment.

“Pa!” she squeals. Toshi abruptly stops.

His eyes are comically wide as his eyes dart between you and your daughter. “Did you -?” the question doesn’t even leave his lips before you’re nodding excitedly.

“Say it again, darling,” he coos at her.

“Little bean please,” you join in.

“Pa!” she shouts again with an accompanied giggle.

Even in the dim light, you can see your husband’s eyes well up with tears. Suddenly, you’re overwhelmed by emotions and a tight embrace.

“Thank you,” his voice sounds tight and you know that he’s trying to keep more tears at bay.

Taking the hand that’s not rubbing circles on your daughter’s back, you entwine your fingers together. “Thank you,” you say to him as you lean over to place a soft kiss on your daughter’s head and then on Toshi’s.

You and your husband continue to stare lovingly at your daughter as she continues to babble with intermittent exclamations for her dad thrown in-between.

Toshi’s hand squeezes yours. “You know, it wouldn’t be fair if only I was the one given our child’s first words,” he states.

You look over at him. “What are you trying to say, Toshi?”

if it weren’t for your husband giving you a heads up, you would’ve let your son close it on bokuto for showing up at your doorstep at this time of the day and have your husband deal with him. 

you also don’t because bokuto’s holding his son, who happens to have a bouquet of flowers in his arms. “shoji’s going to play with you today.”

upon hearing shoji’s name, kiyoshi stops pushing against the door.

bokuto bounces his son twice in his arms to say his greeting.

“morning, anty!” with a huge grin mirroring his dad’s on his face, shoji’s high-pitched voice makes the sleeping baby strapped to you move slightly, causing her to let go of the bottle she’s holding.

with a finger to your lips, you bend down to catch the bottle, but another hand reaches out catching it in time.

omi ends up bumping into you, making you almost lose your balance. his arm encircles your waist to steady you. “next time put her down before you answer the door.”

setting the bottle down, he helps you up. you don’t have a chance to say anything as he unties the baby sling around you and takes misaki while handing you the baby bottle. “trade-off.”

since when is this a fair trade?

he pulls you away from the door to allow the guests to step inside. “i’m putting her in her room.”

bokuto lets his son down who offers you the flowers.

“we come in peace,” bokuto adds, seeing the expression on your face.

it’s not that you don’t want to watch his kid. you want to relax, but sometimes shoji is a little… on the active side, like his father. 

you’re about to reach for the flowers, but bokuto asks for them instead, noticing the bottle in your hands. “give them to dad.”

“kiyo, why don’t you bring shoji with you to the living room?” you give your son a little nudge, who doesn’t say anything, turns around, and walks away.

shoji kicks his shoes off and follows along and the two of you watch them go off.

bokuto is the first to break the silence. “i can’t say thank you enough, y/n.”

“yeah, no problem.” you shut the door.

“do you have a vase? so i can put these away?” he’s already gone, not allowing you to answer him.

“there’s one on the kitchen counter.” you follow him, but stop halfway.

your husband is still nowhere to be seen.

“you know you should take her with you guys. i’m sure you will all get a kick out of her,” you shout towards the bedrooms.

she needs fresh air and light. she’ll probably sleep through the whole meeting.

“we don’t want to scare her,” bokuto joked.

misa’s bedroom door opens, omi steps out and closes the door.

if bokuto weren’t here and you knew any better, your husband would’ve called out today and stayed in his daughter’s room with her on the rocking chair.

when you step in the kitchen, bokuto is finishing up rearranging the bluebells. “aha! done!”

“you really should bring the baby with you,” you suggest again, heading to the sink to clean the bottle and put it aside. 

the only visitors she had so far are those at the hospital and those who dropped by.

“i don’t think omi wants to show her off yet.” bokuto shrugs. “i’m going to say bye to my boy.”

you wave at him, opening the pantry to find a snack. 

nothing in there looks remotely appetizing. 

another reason you agree is they only have a meeting in the morning and are free for the rest of the day.

while you’re still raiding the pantry, omi wraps his arms around you. “you’ll be fine. misa sleeps. just make sure they don’t tear the place apart.”

you turn your head in the direction of the living room where bokuto and the two boys are playing blocks. there’s sound of blocks toppling over. “are you sure you’ll make it in time for the appointment?” 

a family photographer is supposed to come by in the afternoon to take pictures of misa. 

“yes, don’t worry.” he kisses your forehead. “i’m going to go talk to kiyo.”

bokuto pops his head inside the kitchen. “i’m going to use the bathroom real quick.”

omi walks out to the living room and squats down next to his son. “behave, okay?”

shoji is sitting on the sofa watching pokemon on tv.

kiyoshi looks up. “yes, daddy.”

“watch out for misa.” kiyoshi nods and omi ruffles his son’s hair.

so you end up with three kids in the house, two of them being yours and a vase full of bluebells.

the least bokuto could’ve gotten you was coffee. 

“where is my tumbler?” you yell out, opening all the wall and base cabinets. 

so much for making coffee.

omi rushed back to put your tumbler in your hand. he planned on giving it to you earlier, but the bottle fell and he left it at the table near the front door. “do not let kiyoshi have any.”

kiyoshi has a habit of sneaking sips when you’re not looking.

“i didn’t make yours as strong, but don’t let him have any,” he repeats.

when you take a sip, it’s just the way you like it.

after setting down the tumbler, you take your husband's face in your hands before he leaves and plant a kiss on his lips. the sound of footsteps coming closer makes you end the kiss and push him away from you. “bye.”

“i’m leaving. thanks again, y/n.” bokuto walks into the kitchen and ends up walking out when your husband exits. “let me give you a ride, omi.”

he’s not drunk. 

he’s not injured. 

he’s not tired.

if any of the above does not apply, he’s not going to let someone else sit behind the steering wheel. 

it’s not a fear for his life.

he doesn't like being driven around by others

because.

he doesn’t make for a good passenger. 

he doesn’t like it when you drive either. the only exception to him approving of your driving is when it’s you, and you only, shuffling the kids around.

but if he’s there, he’s driving.

your husband is about to pick up his keys, but looks bokuto in the eye. “i can drive myself.”

“then let me ride with you,” bokuto pesters.

the front door closes and you can’t hear the rest of their conversation.

taking another sip of your coffee and placing it on the kitchen counter, out of reach, you walk out to the living room. 

one’s watching tv. 

the other’s playing blocks. 

this isn’t playing together. 

you go retrieve the box with the materials from their hiding place and come back.

“both of you are going to paint now.” hoping they don’t take too long while misa’s still sleeping. you lay the newspaper down on the coffee table. "then both of you are taking a nap.” 

kiyoshi immediately starts cleaning up the blocks and walks over to the remote on the sofa to turn the tv off.

shoji pops up and cries out, “hey!”

your son looks at you and back at shoji, then says, “that’s not nice.”

“hay is for horses.” taking two old shirts of yours out of the box, you hand one to your son. “come here, shoji.”

you decide against the thumbprint glass magnets. there will be fingerprints all over the place. the other is to make air fresheners, but the scents are what you and your family likes. you need another adult present to help out with both.

those can be saved for another day or next time.

maybe kiyoshi can set an example for this one.

he has to. 

shoji slides off the sofa. when he walks over, you hold the shirt up for him to place his arms through the armholes then slip the shirt over his head.

“are we making trees?” your son questions, eyeing the shirt and taking it. kiyoshi puts on the shirt with no problem. 

“no, we’re not because they may not like the scents you picked out.”

he wanted to make air fresheners for his dad and saw you put the materials away the other day. he only got a glimpse of tree wooden cutouts and pieces of fabric. the scents were picked out all at the mall, everything he’s familiar with: cinnamon, jasmine, lavender, rose, sandalwood. 

he chose it all by himself.

he knows you changed your mind because shoji’s here.

seeing the crestfallen look on his face, you add, “dont worry. we’ll make it next time.”

he rolled out the clay into circles and the pieces were baked the other day.

it just requires painting now.

a trip to the kitchen for a small bowl of water and back to set it down in the middle of the table. you squeeze a little bit of paint from each bottle onto two plates and divy out the brushes and baked pieces. they both get two each. “you can use a little water to help.”

as you’re about to sit down, you hear faint crying coming from the bedroom closest to the kitchen. your son does too.

“misa!” kiyoshi pops up.

the doorbell rings.

“door!” shoji shouts.

“i’ll get them,” you tell them both. “start painting first.”

when you check the door, it’s your mother, standing on the other side of it. you step over to usher her in. “hi, mom.”

she visits every few days, ever since misa was born. 

“kiyoomi asked me to drop by to make sure you’re fine.” 

of course, he did. in other words, he didn’t think you could handle it. “i’m fine. we’re fine.”

you shut the door.

“then why do i hear the little one crying?”

you strain your ears to hear she’s still at it.

“grandma!” kiyoshi runs over and hugs his grandmother.

your mother returns the hug. “how’ve you been?”

“good.” kiyoshi tugs his grandmother into the living room.

shoji’s still painting when you take a peek, but you leave them to attend to the one crying. 

when entering misa’s room, she’s fussing in her crib. tiptoeing over to her, you find her sucking on her fist. you gently stroke her cheek and she stops. her head turns and a pair of eyes, the same as yours, color too, meet your gaze. 

it’s as if you’re looking into a mirror and see the same eyes looking back at you. 

it’s in all the pictures your parents have of you when you were a child and the same ones they took of you for school. 

it’s in all the recent ones your husband and you have as well.

it seemed both kids inherited almost everything from your husband, from the mix of curl patterns starting to form on what little hair she had. 

a reflex smile makes its way onto her face when she recognizes you. 

she’s also not wearing what she had on earlier when she was taken from you.

“daddy will be home soon.” you wrap her up in a blanket and pick her up. before heading out, you stop to grab the infant floor seat at the opposite end of the room just as the door creaks open and kiyoshi enters. 

“i’m done. can i watch her?”

he can’t be. 

you glance at him and he has smudges of paint on his face. some on his hands and arms. a few specks on the old shirt he’s wearing.

or maybe he is.

“kiyo, you’re supposed to play with shoji.”

he gives you a blank stare. “grandma’s there.”

“grandma is not shoji’s friend. you are.” you drop the seat and turn him around, lightly pushing him towards the door. “i’ll bring misa outside, okay?”

he reluctantly goes back to the living room.

if it were you, you’d take forever.

you kneel down for the seat again and go out.

your mother’s sitting on the sofa, continuing to wipe the paint off your son’s face, who no longer has the old shirt on him and is giving shoji the evil eye. bokuto’s son is still painting, paying no mind to his surroundings.

kiyoshi sees you and hops off to go to the kitchen to wash the paint off his hands, with your mother in tow. 

“i’m done, anty.” shoji drops the brush on top of the newspapers.

the seat is placed in an open area and you go examine their masterpieces, making a mental note of the ones in front of bokuto’s son. 

it’s the expected outcome of all four pieces having swirls and mixed colors running together.

“here. give misaki to me,” your mother states, taking her out of your arms. 

“did they get into a fight?”

“yes, go clean him up and go make her a bottle.”

you may as well stay in the kitchen until your husband’s back. “come on, shoji.”

he follows you into the kitchen and steps onto the stool in front of the sink. taking the old shirt off, you give him a quick once-over. he doesn’t have any paint on him except his arms and hands. you help him clean the paint off.

why did they have paint on their arms and face? did they draw on each other? if you knew your son, he must have gotten upset and hurriedly finished his pieces to go find you inside misaki’s room. 

after a few minutes of scrubbing, there’s no more visible paint. he takes a dry washcloth from the pile while you move everything from the coffee table to the kitchen island.

their plates are thrown away. both shirts thrown into a hamper.

“shoji, these two pieces are yours, correct?” you hold up the two originally in front of him.

he nods.

“do you want rice crackers?” you offer.

“yes, please!” shoji chirps.

you get two juice boxes out of the fridge and hand them to him. “give one to kiyoshi. i’ll bring the snacks outside.” 

the pantry door is still open from earlier, which means you never got your snack. two bags of single serve rice crackers treats are taken out in a hurry and tossed on the island countertop. taking a clean bottle out of the bottle sterilizer, you made a new one for your daughter.

kiyoshi has to be the one to give the bottle to her or he gets upset and throws a tantrum. 

twisting the cap on the bottle, you shake it, grab the two bags, and are about to head out until your son runs into you. 

he stands on tiptoes, reaching for the bottle and takes it out of your hand. 

the rest are sitting on the sofa watching anime when you give the boys their snacks.

“mom, do you want coffee? tea?” you offer.

“water’s fine.” your mother’s holding misa while your son feeds her with the bottle.

after giving her a bottle of water, the music’s on. the dirty brushes, now clean, are air-drying next to the sink. you settle in on a stool to finish their pieces with a couple coats of gloss. then paint the edges with metallic gold.

after the boys’ pieces are dry, you put sticky bumpers under shoji’s two and wrap them up in clear wrapping and adorn it with a ribbon. you attach a tag with a S on it. 

kiyoshi’s usually all over this, but ever since misa came into the picture, he tags along with his dad, giving her all their undivided attention.

you take your time and end up working on a piece yourself, but you don’t know how long you spend on it or how fast time flies. 

a familiar scent wafts through the air and a pair of arms slip around your waist as your husband rests his chin on your shoulders, making you nearly jump out of your skin. “what are you doing?”

luckily, you aren’t holding the clay piece, but the brush fell out of your hands when you reached down from instinct, to pull off the arms around you.

“don’t scare me like that!” you end up squeezing his arm then pick up the paint brush and stick it in the jar of water. “i didn’t hear the door.” 

guess time flies when you’re having fun.

he presses a kiss to your temple and releases you to pick up the adhesive bumpers and attach them to the underside of kiyoshi’s pieces. 

“how did you know those go there?” 

“you can’t hide anything from me.” he knows you used his phone to order the supplies because you didn’t bother covering your tracks. you were too lazy to get up to get your own phone and you thought he was sleeping, taking his out of his hand.

“the boys got into a fight-”

“dad!” shoji shouts, running into the kitchen and pulling bokuto along. “look what i made for you!”

so much for the surprise.

shoji’s head pops up over the counter and his hands reach for the wrapped bag, but bokuto helps his son out and picks him up to get it.

“thanks, shoji.” bokuto winks at you. “we’re going to head out. thanks again to both of you. see you later, y/n.”

“bye, anty.” shoji waves.

“see you.” you return the wave and attempt to finish your piece.

omi walks them out. they exchange goodbyes with your mother and kids. again with your husband at the door.

setting the brush down, you eye your husband warily when he returns to the kitchen. bokuto and him wore workout clothes when they left the place. “that’s not what you wore when you left earlier.”

“i asked your mother to come over so i can take you out.” he’s now sporting a dress shirt and dress pants. “judging from what you’re doing, you haven't eaten anything either.”

“but the kids…” you glance at the living room. “you can’t leave them with my mom.”

“your mother’s more than capable,” he says flatly.

“i didn’t clean up yet.”

“i will clean up.”

“what about the photographer?”

“they’re just taking pictures of misaki. we can reschedule it if it makes you feel better.” he pulls you off your stool, along to your shared bedroom. “now go change before i change my mind.”

notes: bluebells mean gratitude in japan.

---

[January 20xx. Tokyo, Japan.]

[03:14. Kozume Residence.]

You turned on your sleeping figure on one side of the bed, hand feeling through the sheets for your husband Kenma’s figure to reach and hug. “Ken…?” you mumbled, half-opening one eye and squinting through the dark for a silhouette of him. Now wide awake, you got up and sat on your side of the king-sized bed before turning on the night-light lamp, glancing at your phone’s screen that read ‘03:15’ and looking for him around the four sides of your bedroom. “Kenma?” Then you heard a soft staticky baby sound coming from the baby monitor, situated above the nightstand on Kenma’s side of the bed, a small screen illuminated in the dark, followed by Kenma’s soft yet husky awkward voice.

“Shh… Yuki-chan, you’re gonna wake Mama up.” You heard your husband chuckle as the screen flashed a top view of your daughter Yuki’s crib, blankets set aside on one side, and the baby nowhere to be found. Maybe Ken’s carrying her, you thought, smiling, as you carefully got up off the bed soundless, donned your robe and fuzzy cat slippers, and with your phone in hand tiptoed through the nursery sitting next to Kenma’s office/streaming/gaming room.

A dimly-lit ray shone through the nursery's ajar door, and you slightly peeked inside. Faint squeaking emitted from the rocking chair where Kenma was sitting, wearing his reindeer onesie over his old Nekoma VBC shirt (a Christmas gift from his former team captain, childhood friend, and Yuki’s godfather Kuroo Tetsurou… which he reluctantly accepted after some urging from you). Carefully carrying in his arms was your one-year-old daughter, Yuki, clothed in a matching Santa Claus onesie and hat (also a Christmas gift from her Ninong Tetsu).

Yuki’s tiny pudgy arms shot upward with open palms, trying to reach for the big red-rounded nose on Kenma’s onesie’s hood. “Dada… Dada…,” she squealed, tiny baby teeth peeking inside her smiling lips.

“Hm? What is it, munchkin?”

“Lalla, dada, lalla~” your daughter chirped happily, begging Kenma to sing a lullaby for her. In the years that you’ve known the famous YouTuber and gamer prior to your marriage and giving birth to Yuki, never have you heard him hum a tune or two, let alone sing a whole verse of a song. Even when you both traveled to your home country to visit your family, and for Kenma to meet your parents and ask them for your hand in marriage, when he was whisked off by your male cousins and uncles for karaoke night, he politely declined their requests to sing with them. (You, at one time, asked his best friend Tetsurou if Kenma was a bad singer, but the bastard just laughed like a hyena.)

“Want Dada… to sing you a song?” Your husband’s face softened and lowered his hooded head within the toddler’s reach, his red cheeks, and smug grin slightly hidden from your view. He sighed and brought a finger to his curved lips. “All right, then. Just one song, but don’t tell your Mama about this, okay? I don’t want her to know…” Kenma then placed a small kiss on the top of Yuki’s head. “This will be our little secret.”

Huh!? This son of a–why won’t he want me to know about his singing? You felt a small vein pop on your forehead as you noticed Kenma reaching for the baby monitor, turning it off, and setting it down on the nearby nightstand before he cleared his throat. You then opened the Camera app on your phone and set it to Video mode, aiming it at the unsuspecting father and child. Better record this and use it as blackmail, just in case tee hee~

My idea of a perfect Christmas

Is to spend it with you

In a party or dinner for two

Anywhere would do

Celebrating the yuletide season

Always lights up our lives

Simple pleasures are made special too

When they're shared with you

You couldn’t help but be taken aback by how warm, velvety, and smooth his singing voice was, the same goes for when he speaks (albeit a bit awkwardly). It made your heart soar even further and fluttered for the love of your life, the father of your child, even more.

Looking through some old photographs

Faces and friends we'll always remember

Watching busy shoppers rushing about

In the cool breeze of December

Sparkling lights all over town

Children's carols in the air

By the Christmas tree

A shower of stardust on your hair

You zoomed in on the video slightly, focusing on Yuki’s expression. She was, in your opinion, kind of entranced by his father’s beautiful singing, her eyes wide and looking closely at Kenma, her tiny mouth forming a cute ‘O’ shape.

I can't think of a better Christmas

Than my wish coming true

And my wish is that you'd let me spend

My whole life with you

My idea of a perfect Christmas

Is spending it with you

Kenma finished the song nicely without any mishaps. You stopped recording and saved the video immediately to your phone, switching back to Photo mode, just as Kenma turned the baby monitor on and put it back on Yuki’s crib. He then littered several kisses on both your daughter’s plump cheeks, causing her to giggle sweetly. “Oh my sweet little munchkin, Dada loves you very much!” he murmured, hugging his child into his arms for a while.

How cute, you thought, giggling quietly and silently taking a candid photo of them on your phone. You finally decided to go inside the nursery, wrapping the nightgown around your body more. “Hey, Rudolph! Why are you two still awake?” you asked, making Kenma jump from his seat and hold on to his daughter a bit tightly.

His reindeer head turned to your direction sharply, anxiety and embarrassment both shown on his face. “Shit… Y-Y/N! How long have you been standing there?” your husband asked, ignoring Yuki’s tiny pudgy hands patting his cheeks playfully. “I thought you’re sleeping…”

“I was also asking you the same thing, Kozume–and please, no swearing in front of Yuki,” you told him in a stern voice, ignoring his first question. Then you sighed and squatted in front of them, hand reaching out to gently rub your daughter’s plump cheek with the back of your index finger. Yuki leaned onto it a bit and nuzzled like a kitten; you chuckled. Checking your phone for a second, you said, “Yuki’s still supposed to be asleep–it’s five minutes past 4 am now.”

Kenma then carefully sat Yuki on his lap and began rocking the chair slowly to and fro, looking at you with a slight frown. “I woke up earlier and took a leak in the bathroom–don’t worry, I washed my hands before coming here–and before I went back to sleep I noticed this little Santa Claus sitting up and looking directly at the baby monitor with a pout on her face.” He adjusted the red Santa hat on his daughter’s head and grinned. “Turns out, Yuki accidentally dropped her Santa hat outside the bars of her crib and was on the verge of crying… so, I rushed in to check on her. Also, her bottle ran out of milk,” he added thoughtfully.

“What?” Your shoulders suddenly dropped their weight, and it was your turn to frown. “Kenma, you should’ve woke me up instead!” you whined, pouting like a child, and turned towards the door on the way to the kitchen, where Yuki’s sterilized bottles and baby formula are located.

“No,” your husband said in a reprimanding tone, quickly grabbing and tugging on the back of your nightgown, pulling you a bit. “You had an exhausting time at work this week, and you haven’t slept for two days straight! I couldn’t possibly let you go alone and check on Yuki without you accidentally bumping through walls and doors and cabinets and hurting yourself.”

“But–”

“No buts, Kozume Y/N. I can handle this by myself,” Kenma assured you, cradling his daughter on his chest as he carefully stood up on the rocking chair and set her down inside the crib before grabbing her empty milk bottle. “Don’t worry about me. Just go back to our room and sleep…?” His heart ached, as if an arrow pierced through it, at the sight of your saddened expression, a pout visible on your quivering lips, the same expression he saw on Yuki almost an hour ago. The gamer bit the inside of his cheek and stifled a chuckle with the back of his hand, causing your eyebrows to frown deeper and you let out a confused whimper.

“Sorry about that,” your husband apologized, clearing his throat and gently stroking your head with his hand, while he looked at you with a loving gaze. Then, Kenma thought of a bright idea, and gave you a tender kiss on the forehead. “How about the both of us sleep here, together with Yuki, in the nursery, hm? And while I prepare for her bottle in the kitchen, you stay with her and wait,” he said, cupping and caressing your cheek.

“Sounds good to me!” You replaced Kenma on the rocking chair, looking worriedly at him. “But, are you sure?”

Kenma nodded, a genuine smile flashed on his lips. “Of course! I want to help you in taking care of our daughter and I have to fully learn the art of child-rearing sooner or later. So, I practiced changing diapers and preparing the milk formula properly, and also asked my mom what she did when she had me years ago.” He walked outside the nursery but stopped near the door, turning his head at you. “I want to be the greatest dad, the greatest father that Yuki has… and I want to give you both a happy and lovable life that I could cherish for as long as I live. So, allow me to help you by being a supportive husband and father, okay? And don’t cry, please.”

You quickly wiped your tears trickling down your cheeks and smiled. “Okay! I won’t.”

---

[A few minutes later…]

“Yuki-chan, Dada’s here with your bottle–?” Kenma came back to the nursery with Yuki’s new (warm) milk bottle and a big quilted blanket for you and him and saw you already snoring quietly on the rocking chair, with a sleeping Yuki laying on your chest, your arms hugging her. “Ah, they fell asleep. How cute.” He chuckled softly, setting the bottle and draping the blanket down on the crib before fishing his phone from his sweatpants’ back pocket and opening the Camera app. Your husband then took some candid snapshots of you and your daughter sleeping on the rocking chair, eventually choosing one as his phone lockscreen wallpaper, before slipping it back into his pocket.

“Yosh… time to drink your milk, munchkin~” Kenma murmured as he retrieved the baby from your arms, careful not to wake both of you up, and gently laid her down into the crib, strategically placing her milk bottle and favorite plush toy (a Hinata crow plushie) near her hands before giving Yuki a goodnight forehead kiss. “Now, then… time to rescue the princess~” Using his full strength, he carefully hooked his arms under your legs and back and carried you bridal-style, gently laying you down on the big and spacious daybed sofa adjacent to his daughter’s crib. He quickly retrieved the blanket from the crib and draped it over your sleeping figure, before snuggling himself beside you. Kenma wrapped his arm around your waist and brought you closer to him, your warm body flushed against his.

“Sweet dreams, my adorable and lovely wife. I hope you’d dream of me as you sleep,” he whispered into your lips, placing a sweet soft kiss, before he shuffled a bit and placed another one at the top of your head, nuzzling his nose through your hair and savoring your scent.

Tucking his chin above your head, he murmured ‘good night, Y/N…’ before his eyes slowly shut down into sleep.

--- --- ---

Bonus:

kodzuyn0504 January 20xx - Dada @/kodzuken1016 SINGS. And baby @/yuki.kozume loved it lol

kuroTetsuro wwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

kodzuken1016 (c" ತ,_ತ)

kodzuken1016 @/kodzuyn0504 how did you??????

kodzuken1016 y/n take it down pls pls PLSSSSSS 

yuki.kozume cute reindeer onesie papa 🦌🥰🥰🥰

yuki.kozume how nostalgic~ (*^▽^*)

kodzuyn0504 NO @/kodzuken1016 😈

kodzuyn0504 also i didn’t know YOU sing WELL that time wth

kodzuyn0504 AND A FILIPINO XMAS SONG TOO 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

kodzuken1016 yk i can hear you screaming in the next room lol

kodzuyn0504 i tried asking @/kuroTetsuro before if you’re a crooner but he 🤐🤐🤐

kuroTetsuro cuz I was forced to stfu @/kodzuyn0504 😭

kodzuken1016 😏🔪

yuki.kozume @/kodzuken1016 papa, when i get home after my exams, can i take a video of us singing a duet? And I’ll upload it on Tiktok? pretty please??? 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

kodzuyn0504 🥺🥺🥺👉🏻👈🏻

kuroTetsuro 🥺🥺🥺👉🏻👈🏻

kodzuken1016 @/kuroTetsuro stop it 🤦🏻‍♂️

kodzuken1016 hmm… sure @/yuki.kozume we can ♥️

yuki.kozume 😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥰

Notes:

This is another companion fic for my other works "Proposal", "Surprise!", "Pancakes", and "Dada!"

This is how Kenma's daughter Yuki looks like as a child ♥️

'Ninong' in our native language (Tagalog/Filipino) means 'godfather'.

The lyrics Kenma sung to his daughter as a makeshift lullaby are from the 90's Filipino holiday song, "A Perfect Christmas", by Jose Mari Chan.

Kenma really sings. The whole Nekoma team knew, unfortunately. How did they know? One afternoon, after club activities were over and cleaning of the gym was done and all, Kenma was the first one to freshen up in the gym's shower room. Then, as soon as the other Cats reached the room, they heard him singing in the shower, to the tune of the Pokemon theme song (lol). After that, they couldn't stop teasing the poor setter until he snapped at both Kuroo and Lev. Kenma really sings, yet he doesn't want to show it off to other people... especially his own wife! (Yuki's an exception, though 🥰🥰🥰) But, hey! Kenma can sing pop and rock songs, too (to the extent of his voice), not just anime/video game theme songs. Hmm... imo he can also do the Weathering With You theme song sung by RADWIMPS *shrugs*

I put on slash symbols in between the @ and the handle names in the bonus section of the fic coz I just noticed that Kenma's 'personal' IG handle name and a part of Yuki's are actual Tumblr blog URLs, albeit the former is a blank blog ://

Present Day

“Congratulations, Nanami-san! It’s a girl!” 

Time stood still in the delivery room for Kento Nanami as he tried to process the news the OBGYN had delivered. Not only were you and the baby okay, but you also gave birth to a baby girl. That too, on his birthday. He’d wanted it for a long time, and now that it was coming to reality, he felt his heartbeats pacing rapidly. 

His head then turns to you, as you lie there, heaving and panting with your hands splayed on your tummy, as your gaze fixates on him. He then runs by your side, holding one of your hands, tears welling up in both of your eyes, as you two shed tears of joy with the best news you could’ve heard in a long time. 

As the nurse immediately placed the tiny girl in your arms, you smiled at the baby, gently rocking her to put her to sleep. Both of you look at each other and at the baby as you break the silence, softly muttering, “Kento, we did it! She’s here! How are we going to…”

He then puts an arm around your shoulder, bringing you closer to his chest, shushing you calmly as you feel the rhythm of both of your heartbeats returning to their normal pace. He responded softly, “Baby, we’re in this together, and we’ll get through this together.” Remember when you told me when we were expecting and how both of us were scared?”

You nodded in agreement, “Yes, and I couldn’t imagine having anyone else to join me on this rollercoaster ride other than you. Now we have her.” He smiles at you, responding, “Yes, we do. We’ll give the world to her and, someday, she’ll blow us all away.” When you return to the room, you chuckle. “Kento, how funny that you loved that song so much that you sang it to her while I slept!” His mouth gaped wide open, exclaiming, “What?! There's no way you could have known,” and raising an eyebrow. Throwing a knowing smile his way, Kento understood that you blurted it out of him, causing a tint of blush to dust his cheeks.

Three years ago,

The salaryman-turned-jujutsu sorcerer knew very well that it’s a cruel world we live in today, with the balance of good and evil always being tipped either way. In the aftermath of all the cases he investigated and the amount of tears he had to wipe away, coupled with the personal losses he had to endure, had caused him to harden his heart towards the possibility of pursuing a family, let alone a romantic relationship. 

However, when you, a fellow jujutsu sorcerer, came into his life, he became so enamored with you that he realized he had to stop feeling that he couldn't provide for you. So, during your years of courtship, both of you worked harder than ever, and you realized that you wanted to be with each other for the long term.

One day, weeks into your engagement and months before your wedding, the two of you had discussed whether parenthood was something that was in the plan for the both of you. You then told him, “Kento, I’m not sure about being a mother. You see, the news that’s been spreading around everywhere? That scares me. It took me a while to even commit to you, let alone commit to raising someone. In addition, we're jujutsu sorcerers, and our jobs require us to be ruthless and cutthroat, so it's really difficult to demonstrate kindness and compassion. “I'm not sure if I'm ready to have a child yet”, to which he replied with a small sigh, “That's okay, baby. Whatever you decide, I’m there for you.”

You narrow your eyes at him, in confusion and say, “So, are you saying that even if I plan on not giving birth, or not having kids at all, would you still love me?” He then nods in agreement and responds, “Yes, because we have each other to love. I am irrevocably in love with you, flaws and all. In this world, as I’m a man, I’m supposed to be protecting you, especially from the world’s cruelties, but you’re someone who doesn’t need to be protected. You’re someone who has a heart that’s big enough to accept me. The fact that you chose to marry me, someone who thinks they’re unworthy of love, is, in fact, a miracle in itself. So, as a couple, we’re supposed to face what’s in front of us. Whenever you decide you want one, I’ll be ready, and even if not, I’ll still be here. We’re a team, and we’ll be a team, regardless. I’ll work hard to spoil you the way you spoil me.” This causes you to smile in awe of your husband-to-be as you hug him, thanking him for giving him the space you need.

Years after your summer wedding, in October, when you told him you were expecting, he got so teary-eyed that he vented about how scared he was to be a parent, more so than you, but you held his hand and assured him, “Kento, it's okay to be scared about being a parent. Being a parent is a lot of responsibility. I'm sure you'll do superbly, however. You are good with Yuuji, aren't you?” Kento’s friend and his senior at Tokyo Jujutsu High, Satoru Gojo, had entrusted a first-year high school student, Yuuji Itadori under his care, and as Yuuji came over a couple of times, both of you had been watching each other, and that’s when you realized that you needed to tell him that you were expecting.

Kento sighed and went back to sit on the living room couch to read a book. When you started humming and walking to him, sat by his side and sang a couple of lines while holding his hands, “I don't pretend to know the challenges you're facing, the worlds you keep erasing and creating in your mind, but I'm not afraid. I know who I married. So long as you come home at the end of the day, that would be enough—”

You stopped singing as you noticed Kento smiling at you while holding your hand and looking at your ring. With another hand behind your head, he brought it closer so that your foreheads touched each other, as both of you silently communicated that this was a new phase in your lives, one to endure together.

Three years later,

Ever since your little girl was born, as happy as you were for her birth, you have slowly retreated into a shell, unable to take care of yourself, let alone your child. Days, weeks and months would pass where you’d have sleepless nights, not feel hungry on occasion, and space out in situations, like the one time you let the milk boil over for too long, and with you especially having difficulty bonding with the baby, causing her to cry more. There were moments in your spacing out that even caused you to miss her first steps, and her first word: “Mamma.” Thus, there was more of “dadda” ringing in the house, than “Mamma.”

Kento, sensing that you were not your usual self, requested an extended paternity leave and rushed to your aid, taking care of the baby and encouraging you to go for therapy. A new normal was then established where he became a househusband like someone familiar, preparing your tiffin, pushing you to go to therapy to provide a change in environment for you, taking care of the baby by feeding her milk, changing her diapers, and putting her to sleep.

While with you, he didn’t lose his cool, and was very soft-mannered and kind towards you, but stern when he needed to be. He would hug you constantly, bathe you when you were unable to do so yourself, helped you vent out your feelings, and in the months that you were getting better, slowly, you even observed him singing “Dear Theodosia” to her to sleep. 

An unexpected smile appeared on your face as you remembered the time you were expecting. As you were half asleep, your baby girl kept moving around, so he splayed his hand on top of your tummy and sang to both of you to lull you both to sleep, “Dear Theodosia, what to say to you? You have my eyes, you have your mother's name. When you came into the world, you cried and it broke my heart. I'm dedicating every day to you, domestic life was never quite my style. When you smile, you knock me out, I fall apart, And I thought I was so smart.”

He then hummed for a moment looking at you with a smile, and continued, “If we lay a strong enough foundation, we'll pass it on to you, we'll give the world to you, and you'll blow us all away. Someday, someday...” His gaze shifted to you, and he could feel the rumbling in your womb subsiding and heard you snore softly as you both fell asleep.

You then realized that you were missing around the house and the joys of being her mother, and you decided to try to be there for her. So, Kento encouraged you every day, teaching you to prepare the formula, to change the diapers and bond with her, and the ways she nowadays likes to sleep.

That slowly provided you the confidence you needed to bond with your girl. You started holding her with confidence that was gradually building up, causing her to smile at instances. You got her to hold your finger while trying to walk, and that eventually lifted your spirits.

One day when your three-year-old girl quietly entered your bedroom, she crawled up to your bed, and lay in between Kento and you, starting to sniffle. “Mamma, dadda,” she whispered, causing the both of you to open your eyes, and Kento responds to her softly, “Yes, sweetheart, tell me, did you have a bad dream?” She nodded, sniffling. You stroked her coiffed blonde hair in order to calm her down. That’s when an idea popped in your head.

You then asked, “Is it okay if I could sing you to sleep along with your father? I noticed that you like to hear him sing to you, but I was wondering if I could join in.” Your daughter nodded, responding, “Yes, Mamma.” Your eyes brightened reflecting the incandescent moonlight coming through the window. You then began singing, hesitantly, with Kento eventually joining in, and then both of you joined in together. 

After that, you told her, “Goodnight, my baby, you’re our pride and joy,” and then you softly hear reply, “Night night, dadda,” and then, “Night night, Mamma.” You tried moving around to sleep, but then you felt a tug on your sleeve. You turned around, and realized that your daughter not only fell asleep, but also clung to your arm, for the first time in three years. 

This caused you to gleefully smile at your husband as he mouthed, “I’m so proud of you, love.” As  you replied, mouthing out a “thank you,” you turned to each other, caressed each others’ cheeks and you two fell asleep. You smiled to yourself, being thoroughly grateful that you have the father of your child by your side who not only carried you through your hard times, but took care of your daughter, and helped you reconnect with her. Truly, he was one of a kind, and you were in immense awe of him.

© Shyna 2022 - reposting on any other platform or even tumblr is not allowed. likes, reblogs, and comments are appreciated. (taglist in next rb)

Your phone gallery is filled with sneakily taken pictures of him snoring on the sofa while your child snores on his chest. Your favorite one though is the one where your child woke up mid-sleep, looked around, crawled up over his face, and fell asleep there. Although he woke up due to the suffocation, the image you captured would forever remain as your wallpaper and lock screen.

The baby is easily a daddy’s lil one. It’s spoilt rotten by Keishin, to the point that your child wants nothing to do with the ground now. It loathes the ground and sends stink-eyed glares at its feeding chair and the walking chair. It wails like a banshee the moment you make it stand, folding its legs like paper and sending poor puppy eyes at Keishin.

This goes on to the point you have to become strict with both, father and child. And when Keishin coaxes it, the baby finally relents and starts crawling around.

He looks at his child proudly, eyes gleaming with a newfound emotion as he watches his kid wreak havoc in the entire living room. He made it. HE made something so perfect. And when he tells you this, you bonk him on the head. You made this. This was solely your project. He just lent you a sperm. Nothing else.

And the moment it takes its first baby step, Keishin is over the moon, replaying the video you took over and over again, sending it to as many people as possible, gloating about it to anyone willing to hear, and being a cringe in general.

As the child grows and starts talking and babbling a lot, Keishin starts having these little arguments with it. He asks the child about its opinion on something, and the child of course answers passionately, giving it all the teeny tiny four teeth it has in its mouth. And he nods at the kid’s ramblings, sometimes playing along and sometimes arguing with it. Either way, you know your kid will grow up with a lot of opinions and stuff to say.

The only time when he isn't with the child is when he is at work or he is smoking. The child, the little devil that he calls it, loves disturbing Keishin during his smoke time. It loves watching its dad’s eyes widen as he sees it crawling into the backyard, shuffling around to press the cigarette to the ashtray, and rapidly flailing his arms to dispel the smoke. He would be damned if his precious little angel inhaled even a speck of tobacco on his watch.

Keishin loves dropping his child at school, taking pride in his child even if it is barely passing any of its classes. He teaches it volleyball from a very young age and is pleasantly surprised when he realizes that his child just might have an inclination for the sport.

He took his child to a volleyball club practice once and the child ditched him for the team. Upset by this, he never again brought the child despite its puppy dog eyes and the boys pleading with him numerous times to bring baby-chan back. Mf didn’t even tell the kids the baby’s name.

"Oi!" He calls out.

Your headpops out of the kitchen, instinctually thinking it's you he's calling out to.

But a smile creeps up your face when you catch sight of him looking at your baby. The poor thing is trying hard to roll over, kicking it's chubby feet and hands and wiggling like a little worm.

When it succeeds in rolling over, it crawls to Keishin as fast as infantly possible.

"Hey babe!" Keishin greets you when he notices you standing by the door. "Wanna join us? Th match starts in five."

You wipe your palms on the apron, realising since you're almost done with the chores, you might as well join the father-child pair in this session of less game watching and more hooting and screaming at the players. They both always turned into a rowdy duo when the game starts.

So nodding your head, you tell him to go ahead while you get the popcorn. And when you do join them, Keishin pulls you snug beside him, one arm looping around your shoulders while the other holds the baby steady on his lap. The child is too far gone into the bright light of the television to notice your arrival.

But when the baby notices your presence, it quickly wiggles out of its daddy's hold and crawls into your lap, making itself comfortable on you.

"Hmph," Keishin scoffs, "little traitor."

You giggle at his grumpy tone. "Come on, Keishin. You know they love you the most."

He scoffs again, "No. This devil changes sides the moment anyone else is available. I'm just the last resort." He mumbles.

You lean over to press a kiss to his cheek, "Well, the last resort is always the most trusted one."

That makes him smile. He turns to you, pressing his lips to yours for a long second before whispering against your lips, "What about you? Am I your last resort too?"

You roll your eyes, this man was such a praise hoarder. "You are my only resort, Keishin." He grins at you, swooping in for another kiss.

You await his lips with bated breath and closed eyes, but what meets your lips is a sticky palm. Opening your eyes, you find your baby standing on your lap and pressing it's saliva covered palms against both of your lips.

"Nuh~" it commands and both of your eyes widen as you register your child's first proper words.

Peering up at the clock on the wall, it read 4:00pm. Worry clouded your mind as you finished with your day. Cleaning up your work stuff, you took a moment to look at your phone one last time. Still nothing. No text. No call. Not even a voicemail.

Having enough of it, you decided you were done cleaning and you walked out to your car. Once you were situated you decided to call Tetta. Impatiently you waited for him to pick up the phone. One hand holding the phone to your ear and the other tapping your fingertips on the steering wheel. But all you heard was ringing and ringing until it went to voicemail. There was an audible huff of irritation when you heard the automated system on the other end. Instantly ending the call. With that, you raced home. You didn’t know what was happening and you began to panic. Hell you didn’t even know if your own child was picked up from school. And you couldn’t get a hold of Tetta at all. Your husband was sure to get one hell of a talking to if you came home and neither of them were there. Not to mention the ass beating.

Feeling your adrenaline pumping like you were in a horror movie. You scrambled your keys in your hand before you were able to unlock the front door. Upon entry, you couldn’t hear anything. Nothing. Neither your husband or your child were in view when you walked into the living room. However when you rushed down the hallway, you heard some mumbling. So you slowed your pace a little. 

Coming up to your son's room, you lean in and press your ear to the door. Clearly you could hear your husband’s voice. He was talking to Akihito about something, but you couldn’t tell what. 

The sudden crash of whatever they were doing in there, plus your son’s shriek caused you to jump. Immediately you opened the door wide and stepped in. Only to be stopped in place by the amount of building blocks that were on the ground. 

“What...” 

“Mommy!!” your son cried out happily. Carefully, he hopped up out of the mound of blocks that were surrounding him and Tetta. And he ran up to you, hugging your legs and pressing his head against your stomach. 

“Hey bud.” you replied with a smile as you looked down to him. “What are you two doing, hm?” 

Your eyes shifted to Tetta who gave you a loving smile. However your smile slowly turned into a stern look. With your eyebrow raised, making Tetta’s smile fade as well. 

“Mommy!! Daddy was with me all day!! He took me out of school and we’ve been playing. And- and- he got me some ice cream-”

“Hey now, that part was supposed to be a secret little man...” Tetta’s voice erupted from his silent state. A slight smirk showed on his face as he got up and carefully walked over to the both of you. 

Gently he wrapped an arm around you and kissed your cheek, “Sorry I didn’t tell you. I thought I’d just leave you to your work and not have to worry about anything. Also, supper is in the oven and will be ready in a little bit. This little guy helped me prepare it.” Tetta chuckled, moving a hand to his son’s hair and ruffling it up a little.

You searched your husband’s face before giving him a genuine smile. You were happy that he got to spend some time with his son. Especially since lately he’d been staying at the office more than normal. 

“Hey...I tried calling you. I wanted to make sure Akihito got home from school safely. But it seems he didn’t even go to school at all today.” you teased your husband playfully and nudged his side. 

“Oh crap-” Tetta groaned as his palm met his forehead. “We got so busy building, I forgot to make sure my phone was with me. I’m sorry. Can you forgive me..?”

As if one set of puppy dog eyes weren’t enough, Tetta’s, you soon found yourself being looked at by both your boys. Both peering at you with puppy dog eyes. As Akihito felt bad that you were worried too. 

“Oh I guess I’ll let it slide this time. How can I be mad when my two boys got to hang out all day. Ya know, I’m kind of jealous...”

“Well now we can all hang out, mommy!” 

With a smile you looked down at your son and then picked him up. Even if he was too big to pick up, you’d always take the chance. His giggle rang in your ears just for you to kiss his cheek and hold him close, “Yeah, we can.” 

Tetta watched the two of you while you held Akihito close. He listened to the giggles that filled the air around them. Tetta really couldn't believe how lucky he was to have both of you. And to be happy on top of it all. He really was living his best life. Job aside. He had the best wife and child any man could ask for.