#type: fandom

Yamato and Mimi had just finished preparing Satoshi’s birthday dinner. He cooked the food and she baked the cake. It was just a simple party, just the three of them for now. Or four counting the baby inside Mimi. Satoshi liked to count them in already.

“Happy birthday, Satoshi-kun,” Mimi greeted as she brought out the cake. There were five small blue candlesticks on it and as soon as she placed it on the table, her son blew them all out with a single whoosh. “You haven’t even made your wish!” she gasped.

“I’ve already made my wish,” Satoshi said with a huge grin. “But I’m not going to tell you,” he added in a sing-song voice.

“You’re keeping secrets from us now?” Yamato asked, his voice steady, but he tried his best to hide the tiny smile he had on his face.

Satoshi giggled. “Only my wishes.”

“How can we make your wish happen if we don’t know about it,” Mimi asked teasingly.

“Tenma-onii-chan said that you should never tell your birthday wishes. I should only tell Tenma-oii-chan and Akihito-onii-chan.” Satoshi crossed his arms and nodded.

Yamato sighed. “Such a Takeru thing to do.”

Mimi laughed. “Next thing you know, Michiru-chan is acting like Hikari.”

“Mama,” Satoshi called, “do you think the baby will be a girl?”

Mimi tilted her head a little. “We haven’t asked the doctor,” she admitted. “We kind of want it to be a surprise.”

“Why? How will you pick out his or her name?”

“We have names ready,” Yamato answered. “But we want this to be a surprise this time.”

“But why?”

Yamato and Mimi looked at each other. “No reason, really,” Yamato said. “That’s just the way we want it to be.”

Satoshi frowned. “I wished for a baby sister.”

Mimi smiled. “Let’s hope the baby is a baby sister then.”

“But what if the baby is a boy?”

Yamato crouched to his level. “Will you not love him?”

Satoshi shook his head. “I will, but I want a baby sister like Chiru-chiru-chan.”

“Girl or boy, you’ll be the best big brother ever.” Yamato patted his head and grinned. “You take after me after all!”

Days later, Mimi and Satoshi were out shopping. They were going on a short holiday during the summer and Yamato wanted them to buy clothes while the season was still far. Mimi laughed and said that they did not have to worry. Yamato argued about the crowd.

As Mimi looked around, Satoshi was happily trotting beside her. She had bought him a new, small basketball set. While the headboard and net were in the cart, he was holding the ball. He was dribbling carefully but at some point, the ball rolled a little further. Luckily, there were not many people and he knew he could follow and get it without getting separated from his mother.

“Shit.” He quickened his pace and caught the ball before returning to the side of his mother. “I got it back.”

“What did you just say?” Mimi asked. Satoshi could not tell what was wrong with what he said.

“I got it back,” he repeated.

“No the–no, never mind. Just don’t say that again.” Mimi shook her head.

“I got it back?” he asked once more.

Mimi stopped in her tracks and bent down. “Shit. Don’t say that word ever again.”

“But Papa says it all the time when something falls,” he defended.

Mimi sighed. “He’s sleeping on the couch tonight,” she murmured.

“Why?”

His mother pursed her lips. “I’m going to talk to Papa, okay? But whatever happens. You do not say that word again, okay? Ever. You got that?”

Satoshi nodded. “Okay.”

Later that day, Satoshi was playing with the basketball set in his room when he heard his mother raise her voice. He could not make out what she was saying but he knew she was mad at his father. He wondered why that single word broke into an argument.

Night came and he was thirsty. He got up from bed and headed for the kitchen to grab a glass of water. As he entered the kitchen, he saw his father lying on the couch, a blanket covering his body. He walked over to the sleeping man and nudged him awake.

“Papa.”

Yamato opened his eyes and turned to look at him. “Why are you still up?”

“I was thirsty,” he said. “Why are you sleeping on the couch?”

Yamato grinned. “I made Mama angry.”

“Is it because of that word I said?”

“The one you’re not allowed to say?”

He nodded.

“Maybe.” Yamato twisted his body. “Do you want to sleep beside me tonight?”

Satoshi smiled. Yamato threw the covers up and the young boy climbed up. Once settled, Yamato fixed the blanket and hugged his son tight.

“Goodnight, Papa.”

“Goodnight, Satoshi-kun.”

Months later, Yamato and Satoshi entered the room. Satoshi begged his father to tell him if the newborn was a baby sister or brother. Although he really wanted a baby sister, he would still love his baby brother with all his heart and more. “Girl or boy?” he asked again.

Yamato shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you.”

“Satoshi-kun, come here, meet your baby sibling!” Mimi had a huge grin on her face, the baby in her arms.

“What’s a sibling?” he asked, looking up at his father.

“A brother or a sister, a general term,” Yamato replied.

Satoshi did not know what “general term” meant but he understood through the first part that a sibling is either a brother or sister or both. “That’s smart,” he said.

Yamato hauled Satoshi up to the bed and the brunette little boy excitedly crawled up to his mother and looked at the baby. The baby was sleeping and had blonde hair like his dad. He tilted his head from side to side, not sure if the baby was a brother or sister. He looked up at his smiling mother and asked, “I don’t know.”

“What did you want to name your baby sister?” she asked.

“Kiyo,” he said right away. “It means purity, doesn’t it? Akihito-onii-chan told me what purity means.”

“I hope it isn’t the other meaning,” Yamato muttered under his breath. But Satoshi did not understand what he meant.

“Kiyo,” Mimi said. “What do you think, Yamato?”

“I think it’s perfect,” he replied, patting his son’s head. “Better than any name we thought of.”