Chapter Text
Kuroo had never been more in love with his omega.
It had been a couple months since the birth of their daughter, Ichika, and Kuroo had watched his mate spend the last couple of months in full instinctual mode. Watching him coddle and purr to their daughter made Kuroo’s heart grow with warmth and love, as he would always sit beside the two. Tsukishima had fully adopted their motherly role as the omega within their family and had embraced the beginning of the new chapter of their lives faster than Kuroo had initially expected. Of course, they had been wanting a child for a while, but they had only the past year found a solid house and been financially stable to take that step.
However, while Kuroo found himself living in foggy baby land, he could tell that both himself and Tsukishima were growing exhausted from constant long nights and attention towards little Ichika. While the mated pair still spend lots of time together with the baby, they hadn’t been able to go on dates or spend a full night alone without the babies interruption.
They also hadn’t been intimate since before birth. Kuroo was in no rush, especially since his mate had been the one to go through birth and the pain involving it. Kuroo was just grateful Tsukishima hadn’t kicked him out of the delivery room. Turns out trying to joke around with an omega in the process of labour and giving birth was a horrible idea. At least he knew now.
However of the last week or so, he could tell that Tsukishima’s sex drive had returned, just as strong as before. As omega’s tended not to have heats within the first 6 months after pregnancy, there was no biological incentive to spend that time together, but Kuroo couldn’t lie, he had missed the scent of his boyfriend's arousal. Confusingly, even in the rare moments of solitude, Tsukishima still refused Kuroo to touch him in such a manner, even when his scent portrayed how obviously aroused he was.
Even in general, Tsukishima seemed to avoid Kuroo’s touches, breaking away from actions such as nighttime cuddles and goodbye hugs. It was only after the first couple denials of sexual intimacy that Kuroo realised this, becoming increasingly concerned. Was his mate upset with him? Kuroo couldn’t remember if he had done anything wrong to warrant such a reaction. Maybe it was just hormones?
Concerned for his mates' wellbeing, the next time they found themselves alone in bed, Kuroo turned to Tsukishima, reaching out an arm in an attempt to pull the omega into his chest, only for Tsukishima to hit the hand away, moving further towards the opposite end of the bed. Heartbroken, Kuroo asked if he had done anything wrong, only for Tsukishima to curl up in a ball, a scent of sadness expelling from him. Kuroo tried to comfort him with his scent, but the omega seemed too upset, so Kuroo decided that it would be better to ask in the morning.
He lay in the bed, the sound of Tsukishima’s heavy breathing the only sound within the house. As upset as he was, Kuroo could admire his lover’s sleeping face, face squished into the pillow, cheeks bulging to cover a part of his eyes. Adorable. He was interrupted by his thoughts by the sound of Ichika’s crying, and quickly left the room, attempting to calm his daughter before Tsukishma was woken up. He needed his sleep after all.
He walked to the babies room, peering into the crib at their daughter's twisting form, clearly wanting one of his daddies. Kuroo bent down, picking her up delicately, before holding her comfortably to his chest rocking slightly. She automatically turned her mouth towards Kuroo’s chest, likely instinctively wanting some of her mother's milk.
Kuroo laughed, “You thought I was mummy didn’t you sweetheart!” He poked fun, softly.
His daughter looked up at him, golden eyes still shining with unshed tears. She had Tsukishima’s eyes, and Kuroo found himself staring into them lovingly. He began crooning, hoping the deep purring sound would calm her distress. While alpha’s croons weren’t as perfect for calming as omega’s purrs, they did the job nicely, as the deep vibrations echoed around the nursery. At this, Ichika seemed to calm her crying, whines replaced with light chirps directed at her daddy.
Smiling lightly, Kuroo continued rocking her, bringing his phone out of his pocket to dial Bokuto. It was only 10pm anyway, and the alpha and his beta mate were likely to be awake. They answered on the third ring, and Kuroo automatically shushed into the phone's microphone, whispering for them to be quiet as to not disturb the half-asleep Ichika in his arms.
At this, Bokuto seemed to swoon, “Tell baby Ichika hello for me bro!” He whispered, excitedly.
If there was anyone more excited for the baby than the mates themselves, it was Bokuto, who at the news of the pregnancy, had automatically established his and Akaashi’s roles as illegitimate uncles for the baby. While Bokuto could be a bit overwhelming at times, the support of the couple throughout the pregnancy had been unwavering and undoubtedly appreciated by Kuroo, as well as Tsukishima himself. It was because of this connection that Kuroo felt comfortable discussing his recent concerns surrounding Tsukishima with them.
Upon hearing his retelling of the recent events, Bokuto was just as concerned as Kuroo was, asking if he was possibly unwell or in pain. Akaashi, however, remained silent, as if pondering something. Upon prompting from the two alphas, he simply stated that maybe he and Tsukishima needed a full day to themselves outside of the house to be able to have an open discussion and re-establish their boundaries within the relationship. Akaashi clearly had a greater idea behind this plan, so Kuroo found himself nodding along, before questioning who would be looking after Ichika in this situation.
“Bro, can we please look after her! We wouldn’t let anything happen to her and know how to look after her I promise!”
Kuroo was conflicted. Instinctually, his alpha side of him didn’t want anybody around his pup, and as much as he thought he wouldn’t, he genuinely wasn’t sure he would be able to get through a day without seeing his child.
As if sensing his hesitancy, Akaashi said that they could purposely stay in the couples house, allowing Ichika to stay in a location she knows, while Kuroo and Tsukishima stay at a hotel not too far away, so if required, they can quickly come back.
Kuroo considered it, inclined to agree, before responding that he liked the idea, but would have to ask Tsukki. At this, he wished the couple goodnight, before ending the call. By this point, Ichika had fallen back asleep, and Kuroo lifted her up carefully, kissing her forehead, before placing her lightly back in her crib. He walked quietly to the door, looking behind him and smiling at the sight. His daughter. His actual daughter. He still couldn’t believe it.
He walked back to Tsukishima and his bedroom, a smile still on his face. He opened the door slowly, initially trying not to wake his sleeping mate, before noticing Tsukishima sitting upright in bed, awake and confused. Upon seeing Kuroo, his expression softened slightly, relief showing on his face.
Confused, Kuroo approached his mate, unsure whether his mate wanted him near him. Noticing his hesitancy, Tsukishima brought a hand out from under the blanket, reaching it out for Kuroo to grasp. Upon grabbing it, he lightly pulled Kuroo to the bed, until he was sitting next to Tsukishima. Not quite touching.
“Where did you go?” He asked, sounding sad, a scent of distress radiating from him.
“Ichika was crying so I put her back to sleep. Is everything okay Kei?” Kuroo asked, genuinely worried for his mate. He hadn’t been gone for too long, had he? Had Tsukishima had a nightmare that upset him?
“I just—“ He cut himself off, lowering his head, at this Kuroo reached out, lightly touching his jaw to push his face upwards. He flinched at the contact, before continuing his sentence. His next words were those Kuroo couldn’t ever imagine forgetting.
“I thought you had left me.”
Shock and sadness filled Kuroo, as he noticed the tear marks on his mates cheeks.
“Sweetheart I would never dream of it. Please. Tell me what’s caused you to be so sad the past couple of weeks.” He begged, now holding both his mate's hands tightly, trying to convey to his distressed mate how important their wellbeing was to him. Tsukishima took a deep breath as if preparing himself to admit something difficult. Kuroo held his breath.
“I am surprised you haven’t noticed yet considering how observant you are,” Tsukishima muttered, a self-deprecating tone attached to his words. Kuroo wasn’t liking this at all. At his silence, Tsukishima sighed, before pulling himself from Kuroos grip, lying down in the bed, before looking back at Kuroo. He reached out, hands grabbing Kuroo’s arm.
He pulled Kuroo towards him, pulling him closer so they would be in their usual spooning position, at least before his delivery of Ichika. Kuroo went along with it, grateful for his mate finally allowing him to touch him, however still confused as to what was upsetting his mate. Tsukishima continued pulling Kuroo’s arm over him before he directed the hand to be positioned directly against his stomach, while the other one was dragged to his hip.
Kuroo waited for Tsukishima’s further prompting, but his omega just looked at him, growing impatient as his point was not being proven.
“Feel,” Tsukishima demanded, tone forceful, but voice shaking.
Kuroo obliged, allowing his hands to explore his mate's body. As his hand moved, he felt the expanse of flesh move with him, an extra layer of chub that was new, but all the more appreciated. He looked up to Tsukishima’s face, smile dipping as he noticed the tears freely falling from his eyes, staring disgusted at the jiggling flesh under Kuroo’s tanned palm.
Oh.
For someone who had grown up as skinny as Tsukishima, to experience significant weight gain, especially if it seemed to suddenly appear, probably deeply upset him. It hadn’t come out of nowhere, of course, the weight slowly building over pregnancy, but there were more pressing matters to deal with back then, like back pain, or nausea, or headaches, or heartburn or…You know what. There was a lot.
It wasn’t like Kuroo was against the additional weight anyway. His boyfriend had always been hot, but there was something about his ever-widening hips, stomach, and thighs that always made Kuroo stop and stare. He clearly hadn’t done a good enough job at expressing such feelings, kicking himself. His mate had become so self-hating that he thought Kuroo would leave him?
He leaned over his mate's body, hands still remaining firmly planted, as he begins to hungrily kiss his boyfriend, hoping to portray his true feelings through the aggressiveness of his kiss. This was thwarted, as Tsukishima pulled himself from Kuroo’s kiss, face red but still confused.
“You seriously don't care?” He asked, meekly. At this, Kuroo grasped his hands tighter, face flushing as he feels the flesh bundle up within his palm.
“Does it look like I care?” He asked, seductively, a smirk growing on his face. At this, Tsukishima’s face grew red, a genuine smile growing on his face.
Kuroo let go of his grip, reaching his arms on either side of his mate, pinning him to the bed, losing himself in the aroused scent of his mate. He bent down to nibble at Tsukishima’s scent glands, only for Tsukishima to block him with his hand.
“Ichika. Remember?”
Oh, right. Tsukishima wasn’t exactly known for being quiet in bed, and the thought of Ichika hearing such sounds quelled Kuroo’s horniness.
“You wanna spend the night at a hotel tomorrow?”
He retold Akaashi’s plan to Tsukishima, making sure to hype up how good Bokuto and Akaashi would be at babysitting.
Tsukishima seemed initially hesitant, unsurprising to Kuroo. As overly attached he had grown to Ichika, Tsukishima was ten times worse, and he knew it was likely that the omega would miss his pup, even if apart for only a couple hours.
“If we want we can come back straight away okay?” Kuroo whispered, mouth lightly kissing Tsukishima’s ear from the angle.
At this, Tsukishima seemed to relax slightly, the pressure of having to stay even if having a difficult time having dissipated.
“Okay.” He stated, and with that, pushed Kuroo off of him, turning over and pulling up the covers.
Okay. Sleep time it was then. Kuroo lay back down, the smile remaining on his face.
He was going to make his mate realise how much he loved him. He had to.
—-
The next day, there was relaxed energy in the air. Kuroo watched his mate do his morning routine, calmly washing his face as Ichika seemed to watch from Kuroo’s arms. Kuroo wasn’t sure when their routines had become so domestic, but he found himself watching his mate do such mundane things as washing his face or cooking breakfast.
Oh yeah, breakfast. That was Kuroo’s responsibility today. Sparing one last look at his mates pretty face, he and a sleepy Ichika walked to the kitchen, placing her on her mat on her tummy within arms reach of him.
He decided that he was craving pancakes, quickly whipping up a mixture, cooking them as he hums to himself, getting strawberries out of the fridge for his picky mate.
Hearing the shower running, he slowed his pace, knowing his mate would be taking his time washing his hair, especially if they are going out for the day.
He was just finishing cooking the final pancake when Tsukishima entered the room, dressed in an oversized shower robe. He smiled lightly at Kuroo, before walking over to Ichika, lifting her up into his chest, lightly purring to her.
Recognising her mother’s scent, she grabbed at her robe, mouthing at the material as she tries to latch on.
At this, Tsukishima loosened his robe slightly, allowing the chest area to droop. Kuroo observed, until Tsukishima looked up at him, waving his hand in dismissal and glaring as if challenging him to stare.
Confused, Kuroo turned back towards the pancakes, giving his mate his requested privacy. It wasn’t like Kuroo hadn’t seen Tsukishima breastfeed before. While omega breasts never grow to be that large, they still supplied milk to their pups, and Tsukishima was no exception.
As an alpha, there was nothing more instinctually attractive than their mates completing such procreating behaviour, but maybe being the one doing it, Tsukishima felt otherwise?
Kuroo began serving up pancakes, adding extra strawberries to his mate's plate. Grabbing cutlery, he brought the two plates to the table, still giving Tsukishima his privacy. Tsukishima finished feeding Ichika, placing her comfortably on his lap as he thanks Kuroo for the food.
They began eating, only for Kuroo to notice something strange about his boyfriend. Tsukishima, the sweet tooth he was, was eating incredibly slowly. Slow enough that Kuroo was able to notice. It looked as if he was trying to avoid eating, making each bite look like it took ages to consume.
“Do you not like the pancakes? I can cook something different if you want?”
At this, Tsukishima looked up, eyes avoiding eye contact as if embarrassed for being caught. He put his cutlery down, sighing, as he turns his attention towards Kuroo.
“I’ve just been trying to eat less recently. That’s all.”
It would be naive to expect that after Kuroo’s proclamation of feelings, Tsukishima would instantly get over any negative thoughts he had instilled within himself surrounding his weight. However, hearing Tsukishima admit it so blatantly made Kuroo even more worried for his mate's well-being. He cut off a piece of pancake from his own plate, holding it expectancy in front of Tsukishima’s mouth. The omega kept his mouth closed, lips tight, lightly frowning at this, Kuroo tried to taunt him, pushing the pancake piece against his lips repeatedly, messing around. After enough aeroplane noises, Tsukishima’s lips turned up slightly with a smile, opening his laugh slightly, which allowed Kuroo to quickly push the pancake into his mouth.
Tsukishima chewed slowly, looking angrily in Kuroo’s expression. Kuroo tried to take it seriously, but the chubby cheeks bulging with pancake and syrup on his chin removed any threatening aura Tsukishima was trying to exude. From there, Kuroo stood up, moving his chair to be closer to his mate. He pulled Tsukishima’s plate towards him, cutting the pancakes into little pieces, making sure there was strawberry on each piece. He then, one by one, fed them to Tsukishima, often following it up with a kiss.
After enough pieces, Tsukishima said he was full, so Kuroo stopped, pleased with the outcome of his plan. His mate was blushing, smiling lightly from the constant showing of affection over the period. Seeming to sense her mother's happiness, Ichika began lightly chirping, staring up at her mother from where she was being held.
Kuroo internally fist-bumped. He had turned an activity that was initially stressful for his mate and himself, into a memorable event within their little family.
After breakfast, Tsukishima went to get ready, as Kuroo got Ichika ready for her day out with Akaashi and Bokuto. He got her dressed in her little outfit, taking a quick picture of her, before the sound of the doorbell ringing caught his attention.
Clearly, he had gotten distracted feeding Tsukishima, and lost track of the time, as he carefully made his way to the front door, Ichika tightly held in his arms under a light blanket. He threw open the door, smiling at the faces of his two friends. Within the first seconds of greeting Kuroo, Bokuto noticed the blanket bundle in Kuroo’s arms, lightly reaching out his arm, looking at Kuroo for consent. At his nod, he lightly pulled the blanket off of Ichika’s face, cooing and complementing the girls pretty hair, mentioning in the butterfly clip Kuroo carefully placed in earlier.
While Bokuto was pandering to the baby, Akaashi was looking at Kuroo inquisitively, likely still thinking about their conversation the previous night. Now that Kuroo knew the basis of the issue, he wondered if it was what Akaashi had initially thought. If he had really been that unobservant. He led the couple into the house, mentioning that Tsukishima was still getting dressed, and asking if they would like anything to drink.
Akaashi requested a coffee, and when Kuroo began his walk to the kitchen, followed him swiftly. He clearly wanted to have a conversation, so Kuroo quickly asked Bokuto if he could busy Ichika for a couple minutes. Bokuto, ever excited, carefully took the tiny baby from Kuroo’s arms, walking back towards the living room, lightly rocking his arms as he walks, whistling a quiet tune.
At his departure, Akaashi turned his attention back to Kuroo, and the two began the process of making coffee for the group of them. Kuroo wasn’t sure if Akaashi was waiting for him to say something, so he kept quiet, occasionally glancing in the beta’s direction.
“Did you work it out?” Akaashi finally asked, turning to grab a cup from the cupboard opposite him.
Kuroo nodded his head slowly, before asking how Akaashi had realised what was going on. At this Akaashi sighed, turning his full attention to Kuroo.
“Once you notice it, you always will notice it.”
Kuroo was confused. Notice what? Had he become that focused on his babies health that he noticed massive signs of his own mates decreasing mental state? He didn't respond to Akaashi’s comment, and the two walked in silence out of the kitchen, still holding their coffees.
They both seemed to notice Tsukishima’s presence on the couch next to Bokuto, the omega smiling as he watches the alpha play with his daughter. Kuroo, smiling, went to enter the room, only for Akaashi to quickly pull him back. Confused, he turned to Akaashi, asking a silent question.
“Watch the way he conducts himself. That’s how I knew.”
Oh. They went back towards the door, and Kuroo tried to focus his attention away from his daughter and his mate's smile, instead focusing on his body language. He was sitting in the corner of the couch, cradling a pillow over his stomach, as well as tightly squeezing his thighs together as if trying to make him seem even smaller. The position seemed not at all comfortable, but from his expression, Kuroo had only assumed it was one of the many weird ways the guy decided to sit, but now Akaashi has mentioned it, was kicking himself.
No wonder Akaashi had noticed, shit, how hadn’t Kuroo?
They walked into the living room, watching the three faces quickly turn to them. Bokuto smiled brightly at Akaashi, waving Ichika’s little hand in greeting. They came to sit down beside the two, coffee’s carefully placed on a table away from Ichika. Akaashi joined Bokuto on the floor, while Kuroo sat on the couch beside his mate. They fell into light conversation, occasionally distracted by an occasional sound or cute motion from Ichika. As their conversation progressed, Kuroo moved slowly closer to Tsukishima, transitioning to touching him more and more.
While Tsukishima wasn’t always the biggest fan of PDA, Akaashi and Bokuto were different. They pretty much watched their relationship form, and if there was anyone Tsukishima was comfortable around, it was them. So when Kuroo moved his arm under the cushion to wrap around Tsukishima’s front, the omega sat still. Akaashi, seeming to notice Kuroo’s plan, asked Tsukishima if he could borrow the pillow to sit upon, as his behind was growing sore from the floor. Tsukishima reluctantly agreed, allowing Kuroo’s arm to move further around, hand grabbing onto the opposite waist, thumb lightly rubbing the love handle above. If Tsukishima showed reluctance, Kuroo would stop of course, but he couldn’t allow his mate to view his body as being so unsavoury.
By the time they finished their conversation, Tsukishima seemed that bit more confident, so Kuroo indicated to him to stand up. The couple bid farewell to Bokuto and Akaashi, Tsukishima lightly scenting Ichika as a goodbye.
They exited the apartment, hands intertwined the whole way.