Chapter Text
CHAPTER FIVE HUNDRED FOURTY EIGHT
Victor's uncanny sixth-sense about the hour crept into full effect around two minutes before Yuri's alarm was meant to go off. With the greatest care, he pulled himself free from his husband's slumbering figure, and reached over him to the night-stand. Unhooking the phone from its charging cable, Victor made sure that the light didn't shine down, and quietly cancelled the alarm outright before he reached over once more to put the phone down again. As he pulled back, he held gently to the younger man's upturned shoulder, and placed two soft kisses on his skin, then carefully slipped out from under the covers; a task more difficult than it needed to be, but Victor's habit of seeking Yuri in his sleep meant he was farther from the edge of the bed on his own side than Yuri's. It seemed to have worked though, and Victor was able to slip out of their bedroom without waking him. Even Jiro hadn't noticed his creeping, as the pup was still curled up in the nook made by Yuri's bent knees, entirely unbothered by the subtle movements in the mattress. Makkachin dutifully followed the Russian out, keeping close and waiting as Victor put the door to.
The wildcard was Ghost, who to that point still hadn't ventured to the upstairs. She made herself into something of a sentinel, quietly guarding the night door from the entry hall. Her head perked up at the sound of feet pressing onto carpet steps, and she saw Victor's shadow before he came into sight, still tying a fleece robe around himself.
It was only once Victor had made it to the kitchen that any lights came on - and even that was meager, being only the microwave light above the stove. It was enough for him to find what he wanted from the fridge - or at least, that was the intention. As he stood there with the fridge door open, his attention was grabbed by something outside of it.
...What happened to all my daifuku mochi?
Eyes scanned the counter for the covered container he knew he'd set out the night before. He moved around the island in search of a dog-ravaged Tupperware container, thinking Ghost had gotten to it, but he didn't find it on the floor. It wasn't under the couch, it wasn't in the front hall, the trophy room, or anywhere else the Russian could think to look. It wasn't in the sink either, or on the drying rack next to it. The dishwasher was empty.
Great so my mochi is gone and the container.
He put his hands on his hips in frustration, but with no idea where the thing could be, he had no choice but to give up and look when he had all the lights on. He sighed and went back to what he meant to do earlier, and opened the fridge again. Around 45 minutes later, Victor went back upstairs, and sat on the edge of the bed. Yuri had moved only enough to pull the big blanket up over his exposed shoulder, but was still soundly asleep. The depression in the mattress hadn't roused him, and Victor leaned in over the younger man's frame. He hugged his arms around the whole heap, blankets and all, and offered soft kisses to his husband's ear. Yuri mumbled a little, and Victor started to lift him up, leaning the man against himself as he continued his kisses down the side of his partner's neck and other shoulder. When he could feel Yuri holding his head up on his own, Victor came back around to find his beloved's face, "Morning, my love."
"Is it already?" He grumbled, and dropped his face back down to a shoulder, rubbing his eyes on the edge of the fleece robe.
"How'd you sleep?"
"...I don't think I did..." Yuri answered, yawning as he clung to his husband's larger frame.
"Really? You've been out cold for the last hour at least."
"...Hour?" He echoed, and lifted his head again, looking to his partner's face in confusion, "How...? Did I miss the alarm? What time is it?"
"Relax; I turned it off so you could keep sleeping." Victor reassured, and turned just slightly so he could retrieve his husband's glasses from next to his phone, "Here. Come downstairs. I made breakfast."
Jiro squeaked a yawn where he'd finally tumbled awake in the rumbled bed-spread, and Victor helped the pup down with a hand under his chest. The growing Akita trotted out the room and down the hall like a wind-up toy, and the pair could see him braving the stairs as he took the first two steps carefully.
"I'm super not ready for today to start." Yuri grumbled, but put on his glasses anyway, "I don't feel like I slept."
"We'll start out gently then, and if you need a nap later, then you'll have a nap." Victor suggested, and slipped out of the hug so he could stand. He offered his hands, and Yuri hazily took them, peeling his bare frame from the warmth of the blankets. Victor was quick to pull his bathrobe off and slip it over his partner's shoulders, "It's a bit chilly downstairs still. Have a pre-warmed cover."
"Then what are you going to wear?"
"I'll just grab yours on the way out. Also, I have pants."
Yuri blinked slowly, squinting as he looked down, hands still fumbling with tying the fleece rope around his waist. Indeed, as told, there were a pair of sky-blue pajama pants on his partner's legs, and nothing on his own. He just saw two pale sticks coming out from under the colored robe, "...Oh."
Victor hummed a laugh and slipped behind his spouse, hands at the man's waist as he nibbled a kiss to the side of his neck again, "Let's go, my love, before Makkachin gets it all." He suggested, and started to nudge the younger man forward. Once at the table, Victor unveiled the elaborately simple fare he'd prepared; broiled fish, rice, soft-boiled egg, pickled radish, and miso soup. Between their two places was a pot each of coffee and hot green tea, "Voila~!"
"Wow you really went all out." Yuri said, eyes a bit more alert at the sight of it. He looked around the room and saw the time on the stove, "...It's almost 9:30 already."
"Don't wait; dig in." The silver requested, kissing the crown of his partner's head before stepping off to sort their pack out. The back door slid open and all three pups went out into the frozen morning, "I didn't want to risk waking you by getting these guys all riled up."
Yuri reached for a pair of shiny black chop-sticks, "Is there some occasion I'm embarrassingly forgetting about?"
"Does there need to be?"
"I guess not."
"Then enjoy." The Russian encouraged, closing the door for a moment so he could put the dry food down from their pantry.
Yuri felt a little bad starting on his own, but he knew Victor would be disappointed if he just sat there staring at it all after being told twice to start without him. With utensils in hand already, he reached for a bit of fish first. He was nearly half done when Victor was finally done drying puppy-paws, filling bowls, and washed his hands so he could eat, too.
"Feels pretty cold out this morning. Maybe we'll wait until the afternoon to walk the kids." Victor suggested as he sat down, one hand sliding across his spouse's back as he came close, "We can just take our time at the Ice Castle until then."
Yuri nodded quietly, chewing on a bit of pickled radish. He watched idly as Victor started gathering up the bits of his own breakfast, but in the process, Yuri found himself starting to lean. With rice-bowl and chop-sticks in his hands, he set his shoulder against his husband's, and continued chewing in silence.
.
Passing Yu-Topia as they drove towards the Ice Castle, Yuri looked in through the gate and into the small parking lot. It had already been cleared of snow earlier in the day, but Yurio was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Mikhail and Minako's new Lexus though – only the behemoth Escalade they used to cart the whole clan around.
"I wonder if he's heard anything about Kon yet." Yuri wondered aloud, going quiet again as the resort passed behind them.
Victor looked over for a moment, "Nothing that I know of. Are you really that curious?"
"We may not have gotten the ending we wanted from him, but...he apologized for what he did to you, to me, and to us. He watched us skate. He tried his best to figure out how he felt about us being together. I didn't like him, but I did respect him... I'd feel better if I was sure he didn't suffer in the end.”
"...Honestly, I don't think my father's death is the reason why he was uncharacteristically cranky in Imari." Victor offered, and reached across the center console to rub his partner's leg. But, he shrugged, and returned his hand to the wheel as they crossed over the icy bridge, "I'm sure we'll run into him later."
"I didn't see their new car in the parking lot when we passed. I mean, the one they use for themselves. The littler one."
"They do have lives outside of waiting for us to show up, and they do spend the night at Minako’s apartment rather than Yu-Topia."
"I know, but-" Yuri started, only to catch the words in his mouth before they could come out.
"But?"
Yuri slouched a bit, "We’ve all been back from Austria for a few days now. Wouldn’t the girls and Yurio be back in school? Mik is always there to make sure they get to it, but…he’s not.”
“Ah…well…?”
“...Minako-sensei doesn't really speak to anyone about what's going on with her, except my mom I assume, though I'm not even sure she speaks about the topic at all unless she has to." He said, hearing no response, but able to feel the slight edge of that quiet, "...You're still not thrilled about this."
"I can't promise that I ever will be." The silver answered, "That's the best I can do."
"I guess I understand."
"Are you excited about it?"
Yuri turned his head slightly, then looked back as he felt the car veering slowly into the parking lot at the base of the hill, "I am, yeah, actually. For my mom's sake especially."
"I see."
"She'll never get grandkids from us. We can joke about our dogs being grandpups, but it really isn't the same." Yuri explained, sitting up straight again as they parked near the concrete stairs that lead up to the doors, "Mari-nee-chan seems a hopeless cause. It's a bit sad to think that your father had a point...about how us being together means each of our family lines dies with us. I feel like...the least I can do to make amends for that, is to latch onto the fact that Minako-sensei and Mikhail are having this kid after all. Everything except your eyes came from your mom's side, and...well, in a way, us Japanese folk don't come in too many variations. Dark hair, dark eyes, light skin. My mom can at least get the illusion of being an obā-chan by living that experience vicariously through their kid."
"...Yeah."
.
It was like a daycare center in the lobby. One section was for toddlers, three of them kept corralled in a playpen. Another was for newborns still held or closely watched by their parents. The third section was for those who weren't dealing with kids at all, or were there for those yet to be born. The strangest thing Mikhail noticed, while waiting on his own, was that he was the only male in the whole place. He lifted his gaze to the nearby door, with its overly cheerful cartoonish character on the door denoting it for women to use, and watched Minako carry a paper cup across the room, tissue covering the top, and put it on a tray at the reception desk. She pushed down on the dispenser of an antiseptic and rubbed her hands in the smelly liquid, and walked back to the seat being saved for her.
"...Was there no hatch in the bathroom?" Mikhail wondered quietly, sliding his hand up his fiancé's back as she sat down beside him, “They really just made you walk that cup all the way across the lobby.”
"No hatch," She answered, trying to calm her shaking hands, "It's like a walk of shame. Just imagine some kid running out under my legs and I throw that damn cup by mistake..."
"I imagine that's why the kids are in a pen on the other side of the room, starlight."
"...Yeah, it's probably happened at least once to someone. What a nightmare..." She grumbled, and turned her head slightly, "So there's hatches in Canada, huh?"
"Yeah. Bathroom is flanked by a room where the techs do testing, and there's a metal box in the wall between the two, so the ladies can stow their cups without being watched."
"Lucky."
"Did you look at any of the stuff I gave you?" The Russian asked nervously, "You're not going to have a good time if this is all a surprise as it happens."
"It's just an ultrasound and some blood, right? What could go wrong?" She asked gruffly, putting her chin in the palm of her hand, slouched over her knees with an elbow perched on one, "I've had both before for other reasons."
Mikhail grimaced, "...Sweetie, this early, they can't see anything with an ultrasound on your tummy." He explained warily, "They gotta...you know..." He tried to make some ultra-vague motions with his arms.
"What, go in like you did?"
The red hue on the man's face could've rivaled Yuri's darkest blushes any day, "Y-Yeah..."
Minako puffed a breath, "I can do this. It'll be fine."
The door to the second waiting room opened, and to Minako's relief and horror, she heard her own name called. She swallowed nervously and rose up, Mikhail's arm held in the vice-grip her hands suddenly became. He winced and followed, offering what moral support he could while she still had a grip on him. Thankfully, the tech who came to pull them back needed the woman to let him go, and he rubbed the spot through his sweater, feeling the pins and needles in his hand as the oxygen-starved nerves cried out for blood. He shook his hand lightly until it started to feel normal again, and by the time the prickly feeling went away, Minako's vitals had been taken and she was being ferried to the next room. That's when he noticed the weird look he was getting.
"...What?"
Minako looked uneasy, "She says that you're supposed to wait out here for this next part."
"Oh." He deadpanned, "I could do that. They're not gonna have a good time if I do though."
"...Are you saying you're going make a scene if you have to sit out here for two minutes?"
"Yes."
Minako quirked a brow, and sighed in the tech's direction, [Just let him come in.]
[...Are you sure? We need you to get undressed and-]
She held quiet for a moment, listening to the unnecessary justification, I forget sometimes how reserved my own people are, [How do you think we got into this situation in the first place?]