Never Let Me Go [41/41]
A/N: To say that this epilogue got away from me would be a massive understatement—it wound up being approximately three times as long as one of my usual chapters for this story. Whoops?
I just want to say here—thank you. This story has been in my life for nearly a full year, and the response to it has been nothing short of staggering. The comments, likes, recommendations...in less than a year this story has surpassed practically every marker of my other stories, and I'm just amazed and humbled by the response. So thank you guys, so, so, so, so much for all of your support throughout the process of writing this, whether through chats on Tumblr, to comments, kudos, or bookmarks on AO3, it's been an amazing journey. Though I do plan to post the alternate story, Hold Me Close ~eventually~ (and maybe a short Phinami piece!) I do need a break from this 'verse for a bit, so chances are the next YOI fic that I pose will not be part of this universe, but something else, because my poor brain needs a break. If you want updates on what I'm doing or you wish to either send me an Ask or message, you can get in touch with me on through this blog, or on Instagram via jibwritesandcooks.
Again, thank you, and I hope you guys enjoy the epilogue! ^.^
Five Years Later
“Mama!” a voice screamed, “Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!”
A tiny blonde girl barrelled into Yuri's legs, nearly making him fall over, and he glared down at his second born.
“What is it, Helina?” he asked as he crouched down to scoop her up, and sniffling, she wrapped her little arms around his neck in something close to a chokehold. “No, really what's wrong?”
“Hana did it again!” she shrieked into Yuri's ear, and he groaned.
“Yuuri!” Yuri barked, and Yuuri came barrelling downstairs, his face white as he gazed at Yuri and his distraught daughter.
“What is it?” Yuuri asked, “we're sort of busy up there—” Yuuri broke off when Minami screamed, then added, “so this better be important.”
“I don't give a flying finger of fate if you're exorcising a demon or anything else,” Yuri snapped grumpily. “I'm playing Mat` to six girls down here. Now, would you please tell Hana to stop sitting on Helina and farting?”
“Oh, not again...Hana!” Yuuri shouted, “Hana get your little butt over here now!”
“I didn't do it!” a muffled voice called out from the direction of the playroom, followed by the distinct patter of Hana rushing over to her mother, pigtails swinging, and her hazel eyes bright with mock innocence. “Whatever she said, she's a big fibber, Mama!”
“I did not fib!” Helina cried indignantly from her perch in Yuri's arms, “Hana is the fibber! She sat on me, and farted!”
“All right, that's it!” Yuri shouted, just as four other faces peeked out at him from the playroom's door frame. “From this day forward, no one is to fart in this household ever again! Am I making myself perfectly clear?”
“Yes, Mat`,” Helina said.
“Yes, Dyédya,” Hana said at the same time.
Yuri set his youngest down, and she scurried off before he could say a word, with her cousin hot on her heels. Yuuri was standing next to him and smiling, while Yuri shook his head a little.
“I swear, I never sounded batshit crazy before I had that little demon. Alvinia was perfect, then I had...her.”
“Demon Child Number Two?” Yuuri asked innocently, and Yuri snorted.
“You can talk,” he retorted, and Yuuri smiled at him apologetically, before he quickly changed the subject. “How's Minami doing?”
“Nine, nearly ten centimetres,” Yuuri replied. “He's in a lot of pain, but Phichit and the midwife are helping. I think Phichit being all supportive and not moving from his side for sixteen hours is keeping him calm, so...less pain.”
“Have I missed any good lines?” Yuri asked with a small smirk, and Yuuri covered his mouth as he began to laugh.
“Well...no, not really. Mostly lots of crying, and oh, it hurts, oh it hurts sort of thing. No swearing, you still hold that title.”
“Damn straight,” Yuri replied, making Yuuri laugh again, just as another cry sounded from upstairs.
“I better get back up there,” Yuuri said. “Are you good, or do you want Viktor to come down and give you a hand?”
“Beka should be home soon,” Yuri replied as he shook his head. “We'll swap out after he gets back.”
Yuuri nodded and headed back up, and at nearly the same moment Otabek burst through the door, stacks of pizza boxes balanced precariously in his arms, and from the playroom Yuri could hear a unified cry of, “pizza!”
Makkachin lunged at the door with an excited bark, but luckily Yuri caught his collar, stopping the attack short as Otabek was swarmed with youngsters, who had circled the alpha and began chanting, “Pi-zza! Pi-zza! Pi-zza!” in an eerie sort of way, as though they were performing some sort of bizarre ritual.
“Hang on, hang on, girls!” Otabek cried as he led them all towards the kitchen and dining room combination. “I need plates, and someone needs to get the drinks and chicken wings out of the car—Alvinia?”
“Augh, Äke, why me?” she whined, and placed her hands on her hips as she pouted at her father.
“Okay, um, Yuriko, why don't you—” Yuri coughed pointedly, cutting Otabek off. Otabek turned to him, and Yuri raised his eyebrows pointedly. “No, wait, Avi, car. Get the drinks. You're a big girl now, and you can help. Yuriko can go with you.”
“Does it still means I hasta do it if Mat` made you say it?” she drawled, and Yuri snorted a little at her comeback.
“You heard what your Äke said,” Yuri added. “Go get the drinks before your cousins all die of starvation and thirst. We promise to save a cheese slice for you.”
Alvinia groaned again, and swept a strand of black hair from her eyes that had fallen out of her long braid as she sauntered towards the door with Yuriko following more quietly. The moment that they'd gone, Otabek and Yuri began to snicker as Yuri pulled down the plates, and Otabek organized the pizza boxes, with the cheese and pepperoni ones stacked on top.
“Oh, Yura,” Otabek said with another chuckle, “we are in so much trouble when that girl hits puberty...”
“I wonder whose fault that is,” Yuri shot back teasingly, while he offered Otabek a sly smirk, and set down the plates next to the boxes, and then went for the plastic sippy cups. “But, Beka, I am proud of you for sticking to your guns today and not letting her have her way. I admit, we probably should've started earlier, but...”
“We've started, that's what counts,” Otabek added with a weak smile as he piled plastic knives and forks on top of the plates. “But it's still so hard to say no to her...she's our baby, you know?”
“And about to start Kindergarten,” Yuri added with a sly grin. “I almost laughed when that woman said she wanted more diversity at her school, when in walks little Avi, with her alpha and omega parents, and speaking not one, not two, but five fucking languages perfectly. I don't think I've ever seen someone go for the approval stamp so damn fast.”
“Little Avi and her attitude,” Otabek corrected, “I bet you twenty bucks that she becomes an actress or something, she's just got so much damn sass.”
“She got all her sass from me,” Yuri whined, “how come you never told me I could be an actor?”
“Yuri!” Otabek protested, and his eyes widened with horror when Yuri's pout became much more pronounced. “Well, I just...and you're just...erm, what I mean to say is that—”
“Uh, Beka?”
“What?”
“I'm teasing.”
Otabek opened his mouth as he stared at Yuri, then closed it again. He opened and closed his mouth a few more times, before he finally said, “you're a terrible person, I'm running on three hours of sleep, and I'm not talking to you anymore.”
Yuri barked a laugh, then turned to the group of girls, all seated at the table and chattering away happily, and cupped his hands around his mouth as he called, “okay! Who wants what pizza?”
“Wait, wait!” Alvinia shrieked from the front door, “don't forget me!” without another word, she raced into the kitchen, tripping over the threshold as she went, and toppled down with a yelp, spilling canned drinks everywhere, but thankfully, none of them opened.
“Oh, Zha`nym,” Otabek cooed as he rushed away from the counter and over to Alvinia, who was sitting up slowly, one of her knees reddened, and her bottom lip quivering.
“I fell,” she said, sniffling a little when she looked up at her father. “M-My knee hurts.”
“Oh, your poor knee,” Otabek said as he scooped her up and carried Alvinia over to one of the stools next to the breakfast nook. “Let's have a look...Yuri? Could you get those drinks?”
Yuri pursed his lips a little, but nodded as he scooped up the cans and set them aside, while out of the corner of his eye he watched Otabek fetch an ice pack from the freezer, wrapped it in a tea towel, and pressed it to Alvinia's reddened knee, while she continued to sniffle and rub at her eyes.
Deciding it best to not lecture his child just yet, Yuri turned back to Yuriko, who had toddled in with the box of spicy chicken wings, pointedly walking carefully as though she was afraid of falling like Alvinia had.
“I have them,” Yuriko said in a rush and held out the box, and Yuri chuckled a little as he gazed down at the blue-eyed girl, her braids swinging and her cheeks flushed with shyness.
“What do you have, sweetheart?” Yuri asked, and her face went redder.
“The...the...chicken things.”
“Chicken wings.”
“Chicken wings,” she repeated, and beamed when Yuri offered her a small smile.
“Yeah,” she replied, her pigtails swinging. “Is Avi okay?”
“She's fine,” Yuri replied, “just a little bump. Her Äke is gonna fix her up.”
“Oh, good,” Yuriko smiled. “Avi runs a lot. She gets a-cited, and runs, and gets bumps that only Ağa can fix.”
“Yes, well, maybe this will teach her to not run with her arms full,” Yuri replied with the same smile as he took the wings from the girl, and set them on the counter with the pizza. “Can you do me a favour, Yuriko? It's a big girl job.”
“I'm a big girl!” she piped, and grinned. “I can do it, Dyédya!”
“Good, I know you can,” Yuri replied, and patted her head once, making her giggle. “I want you to go to the dining room and ask everyone what kind of pizza they want, and what drink. Can you do that for me?”
“That's a big job, Dyédya!” she said, puffing her chest out importantly. “I can do it!”
“I know you can,” Yuri said with a chuckle, and gave her a small nudge. “Go on, go ask your siblings and cousin what they want.”
“'Kay!”
Without another word Yuriko darted out of the kitchen and headed for the dining room, at the same moment, Yuri spotted his own child trying to sneak back to the table with the others unnoticed, but froze when she caught sight of Yuri watching her.
“What have I told you about running in the house, missy?”
“That...it's cute?”
“Try again.”
“Sorry, Mat`,” Alvinia replied with a frown and distinctive puppy-dog look in her eyes, which had no effect on Yuri whatsoever.
“I have told you a hundred times—no running in the house, especially when you're carrying stuff in your arms. No dessert tonight.”
“But, Mat`—!” Alvinia protested, whining audibly, but Yuri ignored it.
“No,” he said. “You do not run in the house. Go sit down, we'll bring out the food in a moment.”
Hanging her head, Alvinia shuffled out of the kitchen, just as Yuriko hurried back in, her face still flushed with excitement from doing her big girl job.
“Viktoria, me, and Helina wants cheese, and ehbody else wants pepperonis and cheese,” she said proudly. “And...and, me, Viktoria, and Hana wants coke, and Helina wants root beer, and Antonia wants sprite.”
“Got it!” Otabek called proudly from the counter as he opened the boxes and plated the requested slices, while Yuri took the soft drinks to the sink and cracked them open, thankfully with minimal overflow before he transferred them to the sippy cups. They also plated a slice of cheese pizza for Alvinia, as well as a coke, and carried everything out to the table two by two, to a chorus of thank yous from the girls—except Alvinia, who was still sulking.
Yuri stood by his daughter's side, his eyebrows raised and arms crossed. Her eyes seemed even more green than usual when glazed with tears, and though she could get virtually anything she wanted from Otabek in this state, she and Yuri both knew that her Mat` was harder to break, and Yuri merely stood there, not saying a word, until Alvinia mumbled a sullen, “thank you, Mat`,” before Yuri smiled, and stepped away.
“You want to trade with Viktor and Yuuri for a bit?” Yuri asked as he stepped back into the kitchen, where Otabek was pulling out the Grown-Up Pizza—vegetarian for Phichit, meat lover's for Viktor, and all-dressed for everyone else—except Minami, who was a little busy at the moment. “Yuuri suggested it just before you got back, but I said we might go up after you got in. Minami's still got a bit of a way's to go—Yuri told me that Minami was at nine centimetres the last time it was checked.”
“How dilated does an omega have to be to give birth again?” Otabek asked as he cracked open one of the coke cans over the sink, then sipped at the foam quickly. “I remember Helina was eleven or twelve...”
“Alvinia was eleven, Helina was fourteen 'cause she had a really fat head,” Yuri said as he helped himself to one of the pizza slices. “It can be up to fifteen, so anywhere from one to five more hours, depending on how big the baby is.”
“That's not a wide divide at all,” Otabek said sarcastically, and Yuri chuckled as he nudged the alpha's shoulder. Otabek laughed as he grabbed the chicken wings and a sharpie, and began to scrawl something on the top of it, making Yuri eye him curiously.
“What're you doing?”
“Baby chicken wings,” Otabek explained as he held out the box for Yuri to see, which now read, It's a, with a large blank space for girl or boy. “Once Minami and Phichit have their kid, I'll fill in the rest, reheat them, and bring them up.”
“Minami's going to love that,” Yuri said as he chuckled, “honestly, maybe the baby is just one giant buffalo wing, that's literally all he's been eating for the last nine months.”
“Oh, but you forget that time that Phichit made him those cauliflower-sriracha buffalo things!” Otabek said, and Yuri snorted as he recalled the pandemonium that ensued after Minami had whipped the faux buffalo wings at his mate, and the catastrophe of Phichit getting some of the sriracha sauce in his eyes.
“Those two made Alvinia's pregnancy look like a breeze, I swear,” Yuri said with another snicker. “It was just one drama after another after another after another...”
“And now they're ready to make our army of children an even seven.”
“Seven is an odd number, Beka.”
“Well, what would make it an even number—” Otabek began, but broke off with a laugh when he saw the scowl on Yuri's face. “Just teasing, Yura.”
“No more kids, Beka, I mean it,” Yuri said sternly, “two is more than enough for me.”
“I know, really,” Otabek said as he swept in and offered Yuri a light kiss. “I'm sorry that I brought it up.”
“Do you actually want more kids?” Yuri asked seriously as he glanced up at him, “seven is...a lot. And already it's pure, nonstop chaos in the house, and the one time we did the No Kids Camping Weekend for just you and me, we had to come home early because Yuuri called to tell us that Helina was having a fit, and kept screaming for us.”
“Seriously? No,” Otabek replied with a chuckle as he moved to stand at Yuri's back, and pressed his palms to the omega's flat stomach, making him shiver. “I just loved seeing you pregnant...I just find it so hot, and with Helina you were horny all the time...”
“Maybe I should apply to be a surrogate,” Yuri teased, “rent out my uterus to people who need it...”
“And turn me into a jealous monster for flipping out at the idea of some other alpha's sperm inside you? Hell no, Yura.”
“Then I think we need to be mature adults, and resist the urge to make more babies, even though it makes you all hot,” Yuri said as he got on his toes to peck Otabek's lips. “Come on, let's go check on the mother-to-be.”
Otabek smiled at him warmly as he nodded, and Yuri moved to perch the pizza boxes and chicken wings on top of the fridge and out of Makkachin's reach, while Otabek loaded himself up with plates of pizza slices, and Yuri grabbed the drinks—including Otabek's opened one—and they checked on the girls once before they headed upstairs.
“Shift change!” Yuri called as they reached the landing, and Yuuri and Viktor both poked their heads out of the room at the same time, and their faces brightened when they saw the load that they were carrying.
“Pizza!” Viktor cried cheerfully, and bounded forward to relieve Otabek of two of the plates, while Yuuri helped himself to two of the drinks.
“Careful,” Yuri warned with a vague smirk as Yuuri accepted the drinks. “Alvinia brought them in...and face-planted on the way into the kitchen.”
“Running again, was she?” Yuuri asked with a warm laugh. “That girl really doesn't lack for energy. Is she okay?”
“Fine,” Yuri replied, and shrugged. “Otabek freaked out, big shock—”
“—I can hear you, Yuri—”
“—and iced it right away, so she's totally fine.”
“Well, that's good,” Yuuri said with a small, relieved smile. “Come on, Viktor, probably a good idea to not leave the girls alone too long...”
“Coming!”
Without another word, the pair turned and descended the stairs, and Yuri watched them go with an amused smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Come on,” Yuri said to Otabek after they'd gone, “let's go see how Mama is doing.”
As if on cue, another whimpering cry sounded from Minami and Phichit's bedroom, and Yuri and Otabek made a beeline for it, poking their heads in to see Minami laying on his back, his face shiny with sweat, and Phichit at his side, with the midwife in between his open legs. Several towels had been laid out on the bed, and both of Minami's cheerleaders were coaxing him through the latest contraction, while tears streamed from the omega's eyes, intermingling with his sweat as they disappeared into his hair.
“I can't do this,” Minami whined, “I can't, it hurts too much...”
“Yes you can, love,” Phichit said as he kissed him and mopped his forehead. “Remember what you told me? You said to me that you wanted to have our baby in a place that you felt safe and comfortable, and you said that you wanted a home birth. I know it hurts, sweetheart, but it's almost over. You can do this. You're so strong—way stronger than me. And if you can put up with months of shit from a psychotic alpha, you can totally do this.”
“But it hurts, it hurts, I can't—”
“Don't think about it,” Phichit said, “this is just a moment in time. In a little while, you'll be able to hold our child in your arms, and all the pain and uncomfortableness will be forgotten. You're stronger than this, love, just relax, and let your body do what it needs to do.”
“We got spicy buffalo wings for you when you finish?” Otabek offered, breaking up the dramatic scene, and Yuri buried his face in his free hand with a groan.
“What?” Otabek said, “what did I say?”
When Yuri looked back up, Otabek appeared confused and a little lost by the blank looks he was getting from Minami and Phichit. Yuri set down the drinks he had been holding, relieved Otabek of his pizza plates, and took his hands gently.
“My dear alpha, I beg you not to help me,” Yuri said sweetly, causing Phichit to snort.
“It's like I have a disease,” Otabek mumbled as they sat down at Minami's bedside, Yuri close enough to take Minami's hand, and the omega smiled at him weakly. “Every time there's an omega in labour around I just say the stupidest shit...”
“Using chicken wings as an incentive isn't nearly as bad as that time you panicked when I went into labour for Helina,” Yuri said dryly, and Otabek flushed at the memory. “As I recall, you ran out of the hospital room, came back with a bunch of balloons, and told me that you brought me flowers.”
“At least Avi liked them,” Otabek retorted teasingly, “she kept calling them baba-loons.” Yuri snorted a little at Otabek's words as he turned his attention back to Minami. At the same moment, he groaned as another contraction hit, and his hand tensed in Yuri's weakly.
“Ohh...” he whined and his head fell back on the pillow. “Phichit, it hurts...”
“It's okay, love,” Phichit said as he moved in to gently kiss his forehead, “you can do it, just breathe, that's it...”
As the contraction passed, the Midwife, who had been relatively quiet up to that point, straightened up, and she offered Minami a warm smile.
“Honey, I have good news, you are almost done,” she said, her smile widening when Yuri, Phichit, and Otabek all gasped at once, having not anticipated this moment for a while longer. Before Yuri could ask if she meant what he thought she meant, she added, “I see the head, so now's the time to start pushing. Are you ready?”
“I—I think so,” he replied as he nodded, his gaze swivelling from Phichit to Yuri as he spoke. “Yeah, I think I'm ready.”
“All right, hon, now, when I say push, I want you to bear down and push as hard as you can, okay?” she said, and Minami nodded, though his eyes were bleary with both uncertainty and exhaustion. “And...push!”
Yuri, Phichit, and Otabek all echoed the midwife, crying “push, push, push, push!” at the same time, while Minami screwed his eyes shut, bowed his head forward, and pushed as hard as he could. When the contraction passed, he slumped down against his pillows with a sharp gasp, his chest heaving, while he continued to cling to Phichit and Yuri desperately.
“Great job, Minami, you're getting there!” the midwife said. “Are you ready for another?”
“No,” he replied with a whine, but he was smiling weakly, as though he knew that he had to push either way.
“Okay, come on, push, push, push! You can do it!”
Minami pushed again, this time accompanied by a scream, tears and sweat dripping from his chin as the first bit of white, viscera-coated flesh began to poke out from between Minami's spread legs, while he squeezed Yuri's hand so hard that his fingers began to go numb.
“Almost there, come on,” the midwife encouraged, “you have the head almost out, push!”
Minami screamed again, his face red, and Yuri, Phichit, and Otabek cried out joyfully as the baby made it the rest of the way out, and the midwife began to wipe it down as it let out a gurgling, raspy cry, its little eyes clenched shut, and Yuri and Otabek exchanged excited grins as the midwife handed the wrapped child to Minami, and held out a pair of specialized scissors to Phichit.
“Would you like to cut your son's cord?” she asked, and both Yuri and Otabek grinned as Phichit blinked back tears, and accepted the scissors.
“I have a son,” Phichit said weakly, his tone bordering on dumbstruck as he followed the midwife's instructions to cutting the cord, “I have...a son...”
“First boy,” Otabek whispered to Yuri to keep from ruining the moment, and Yuri smiled as he nodded.
The little baby boy was still crying as Minami held him and cooed at him, trying to settle him down, while the midwife pulled Phichit aside and murmured something to him, and he nodded a little as he sat down next to Minami and whispered something in his mate's ear. Minami's eyes widened, and he nodded as he asked, “how long do we have?”
“We better go soon,” Phichit said, “I don't want you to get an infection.”
“What's wrong?” Yuri interjected, “Minami, are you all right?”
“Apparently my boy ripped his way out of me, so we gotta go to the hospital and get me patched up,” Minami said, “I'm really tired, though...”
“If Phichit is okay with it, he can carry your son, and I can carry you to the car, you can borrow some of Yuri's maternity leggings, and we'll break out one of those doughnut cushions...”
“It's just a small tear,” the midwife added with a reassuring smile, “but I'm not qualified to suture, though, so a hospital would be best.”
“I'll go with them,” Otabek offered, “you can stay behind and tell everyone the good news.”
“The doctor may want to keep you on for a day or so for observation,” the midwife added, “so everyone can come visit you at the hospital a bit later, once you've had some rest.”
“Okay,” Minami said with a weary nod as he hugged his son close. The baby had finally calmed down, but was still a bit fussy as he lay curled in his mother's arms. “I wanted to stay home, but honestly, I'm too tired to argue.”
“I know, sweetheart,” Phichit said as he stroked Minami's hair, then leant in for a kiss. “But it's for the best, you know that.”
“I do,” he agreed with a weak smile.
Between Otabek and Yuri, they got Minami ready to leave, and Otabek carried him to the car, while Phichit stayed close with their infant son swaddled in his arms. They had been immediately swarmed by the other kids when they headed downstairs, but Viktor and Yuuri managed to keep them back as Phichit carefully put his newborn in the baby seat, while Otabek gently set Minami down next to it upon the doughnut-shaped cushion, then turned back to Yuri and offered him a quick kiss.
“I'll call as soon as you guys can come visit,” Otabek said as Phichit crawled in next to Minami, wrapping his arms protectively around his mate, while Otabek moved towards the driver's door.
“See that you do,” Yuri said with a wry smile, and leant up for another kiss. “Love you.”
“Love you too, Yura. Be back—”
“Wait!” Phichit called, and both Yuri and Otabek whipped around in alarm, only to see Phichit smile at them apologetically. “Sorry. I just...you can tell everyone his name, please? We picked out names before he was born, and...his name is Aran.”
“Aran Chulanont,” Minami added with a weary smile, and Yuri laughed a little as he closed his hand around the edge of the door.
“I'll tell them, don't worry. Just worry about you and your perfect little boy, okay?”
“'Kay,” Minami said with a slightly dopey smile, and Yuri shut the door.
Yuri took a step back as Otabek started the car, and smiled warmly as he waved off his mate and the newest addition to their family.
“Mat`, what happened, what happened?” Alvinia demanded as she burst out of the front door and rushed forward. Yuri immediately scooped his daughter up, while Helina chased after her sister, and latched herself to Yuri's leg. “Where is Minami-oji going? Is he okay? Is it a baby? Dyédya Viktor said it was an ostrich.”
“Your Dyédya is a big fibber,” Yuri said with a laugh as he set Alvinia down, and took her and Helina's hands, and led his daughters back inside. “They had a little boy, and they're calling him Aran. Minami-oji needed to go to the hospital because he got a little hurt, and they just need to make sure he's okay. Äke went with them to make sure that the doctors take good care of him and your new baby cousin.”
“Mama?” Helina asked around her thumb, which had been popped into her mouth.
“Yes?”
“What's an ozz...ozz...ozzwitch?”
“Ostrich, baby,” Yuri said with a chuckle as he shut the door and picked her up, supporting her with one arm while he continued to hold onto Alvinia's hand at the same time. “It's a really big bird that can't fly.”
“Is it bigger than Äke?”
“Much bigger.”
“Is it bigger than Dyédya Viktor?”
“Much bigger.”
“Is it bigger than Prádyed?”
“It's really, really big, dummy!” Alvinia said suddenly, and Yuri's eyes bulged, at the same moment that the girl at his side paled when she realized that she'd massively fucked up.
“Where on Earth did you hear that word?” Yuri asked softly, and he saw his daughter visibly swallow.
“I don't know?”
“Try again.”
“Um...um...” Alvinia's eyes darted left and right, her little brain clearly trying desperately to come up with some sort of explanation, when Viktor entered the hall with Yuriko in his arms. At the same moment, Alvinia pointed at her uncle and screeched, “Dyédya Viktor did it!”
“What?” Viktor squawked, “no, I didn't!” He paused, and blinked. “Hang on, what didn't I do?”
“Do we have to have another kids are sponges talk?” Yuri asked as he led the girls farther inside, then gently nudged them back towards the playroom where the other three were. They got the hint at once and scurried away quickly, while Viktor set Yuriko down, and she did the same. Once Yuri was certain that they were out of earshot, he turned his full attention back to Viktor. “Alvinia called her sister a dummy, and said that she heard it from you.”
“Viktor!” Yuuri cried, apparently having heard the discussion, and strode into the hall to face off with his mate. “We've talked about this! I've only just gotten the trio to stop calling their little sister buttmilk.”
“I'm sorry!” Viktor whined, “I was talking to Pot—” Viktor broke off abruptly and glanced at Yuri, who raised his eyebrows expectantly. “Erm...I was talking to one of our animals and called them a dumbass, and Avi heard me so I told her to not use that word, and she asked if dummy was okay...”
“And of course, being the brilliant parent that you are, you said yes,” Yuri filled in as he rolled his eyes, and Viktor flushed a deep red.
“Sorry,” Viktor mumbled. “She rushed off before I could correct her, you know how she is.”
“A neverending ball of energy, yeah, I know,” Yuri said, and snorted. “It's fine, just...try to curb your language around my kids. If I can resist dropping the F-Bomb, you can resist saying dumbass, dumbass—oh, and if I catch you calling my cat a dumbass ever again, I will beat you to death with a shovel.”
“It never ceases to amaze me just how kind and warm you are, Yurio,” Viktor teased as Hana toddled into the entryway, her thumb popped into her mouth, and her plush bunny rabbit dragging along the floor. She stopped in front of Viktor and held up her arms in a silent bid to be picked up, and Viktor indulged her at once. “You all right, sweetie?”
“Avi said that the baby went to the hopital,” she said from her perch in her father's arms, “how come?”
“Minami-oji got a little boo-boo that they need to look at, that's all, my lovie. We'll go see them soon.”
“Is it really a birb, Otets?” Hana asked, “you said it was an hostawich, and Avi said that an hostawich is a birb.”
“No, not really,” Viktor replied with a warm chuckle, “it's a boy. Minami-oji and Leung Phichit are calling him Aran—what's wrong?”
Yuri pressed his lips together to keep himself from laughing at the sour look that crossed the little girl's face as she said sullenly, “boys never play right. Will he be an omega or apha?”
“We don't know yet,” Yuri filled in as Hana turned towards him just as Helina wandered out into the hall, much in the same fashion that Hana had, and tugged on Yuri's hand until he relented and scooped his daughter up. She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on Yuri's shoulder while he added, “they'll probably find out at the hospital.”
“I'm a bee!” Helina piped, and smiled proudly when Yuri laughed. “And you is an O.” Helina moved her little hand, presumably to poke the tip of Yuri's nose, but missed spectacularly shoved the digit as far up his nasal passage as it would go. Yuri yelped and pulled her hand away as she giggled, and he shook his head at his tiny terror with a wry smile.
~*~
“Ah, so Minami and Phichit had a little boy, did they?” Nikolai asked, and Yuri nodded into the camera. His grandfather looked well today, sitting up in his bed with a cardigan pulled on to stave off the autumn chill. “And what did they name him?”
“Aran,” Yuri replied. “It's Thai, I think. He looks so much like his Mat`, but he has Phichit's hair. He's very cute. As soon as Minami's feeling up to it, we'll bring him and the kids in shifts to the home to visit you.”
“Bring them all at once, synok, I am not so aged yet that I cannot handle a little chaos,” his grandfather replied with a chuckle. “I was seeing the doctors before you TimeFaced me, they found some of the feeling coming back to my left side, if this continues, they say I might be allowed to go home soon.”
“FaceTimed, Grandpa,” Yuri corrected with a laugh. “And did they? I must have missed their call, usually they let me know the second your condition changes.”
“It was only a little stroke, Yuratchka, I am fine—”
“A massive cerebral event is not a little stroke, Grandpa,” Yuri interrupted sternly, “I want you around for a long, long time, so you just make sure you focus more on getting well, and not rushing out of that place, all right?”
“Yes, yes, Yuratchka,” Nikolai replied with a warm chuckle, and Yuri shook his head a little as he smiled at his grandfather, hoping that despite his dismissive tone, he actually understood his condition better than he was letting on.
“Would you like to say hello to Helina and Alvinia?” Yuri asked, and Nikolai smiled, nodding his head a little.
Yuri mirrored his grandfather's expression as he got off his bed and went to the door, cracking it open as he called, “Alvinia! Helina! Come say hello to Prádyed!”
He listened to the thundering of his girls racing up the stairs as he backed onto the bed and lay down, roughly two seconds before the girls leapt onto the bed with him, and poked their little heads into view of the camera, beaming at their great-grandfather.
“Prádyed, look!” Helina piped as she held up her bandaged index finger.
“Oh, my! What happened to your little finger?” Nikolai asked with another chuckle, and Helina bounced excitedly in her seat at the attention from him.
“It got caught.”
“In what?”
“Avi's teeth.”
Yuri snorted as he eased back against the pillows upon his bed, one child on either side of him, chattering away with their great-grandfather happily, while they all waited for Otabek to get home from the hospital.
~*~
Four hours later, bordering on nearly eight o'clock, Otabek pulled back into the driveway, smiling with amusement at the pack of excited, chattering children who raced up to the stopped car, all demanding questions about Minami and the baby all at once.
“Minami-oji is fine, the baby is fine—oof!” Otabek grunted as Alvinia launched herself at him, and he hefted his daughter up as he added, “we can go visit them tomorrow, if you want.”
“But Ağa!” Antonia protested while she clung to his leg, “we wants to go now! I wanna see the baby!”
“I know, sweetheart,” Otabek said with a chuckle as he patted her head and slowly picked his way through the herd of children, making his way to the front door, where Yuri was waiting to offer him a kiss in greeting. “But it's late, it's almost bedtime, and Minami-oji needs to rest. Having a baby is a lot of work.”
“Damn straight it is,” Yuri muttered over the discomfited cries of the kids protesting bedtime, and Otabek snorted softly.
“Come on, everyone,” Otabek called as he wrapped his free arm around Yuri, still holding Alvinia with the other, “some hot chocolate, then bed! The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner we can visit Minami-oji tomorrow!”
To Yuri's overwhelming shock, the proclamation was not met with more complaints, but instead all the kids zipped inside without another word.
Including Alvinia, who all but leapt from her father's arms and followed the others inside.
“How...how did you do that?” Yuri asked softly, a note of awe in his voice as Otabek laughed and leant in for another kiss.
“Black magic, mostly,” Otabek teased, and Yuri snorted as they headed inside to find all the girls seated politely around the dinner table, with Viktor and Yuuri in the kitchen, chatting happily and bringing two kettles to a boil while they filled up six heatproof sippy cups and kid-sized mugs with hot chocolate powder. Amusingly, Yuri noted that every time any of the girls began to talk, one of the others would hiss to silence them, and their mouths would immediately snap shut, as though they believed that they would not get to visit the baby if they made a sound. Yuri didn't mind this so much—it made a nice change from the usual chaos that preceded bedtime.
“Hot chocolate time!” Viktor called as he and Yuuri carried in the drinks for the girls, along with a plate of homemade cookies, and he began to dole out the treats to a resounding cheer, which made Viktor's smile broaden.
“I love this, you know,” Yuri murmured to Otabek as he watched Viktor and Yuuri hand out the before-bed sweets. “This whole family thing. I love it. Even when I'm plotting the murder of our kids, I still...all this, it's so good.”
“I know that you do, baby,” Otabek replied softly as he pressed a kiss to Yuri's temple, and the omega turned to kiss his mate properly. “It's obvious how much you adore them, even when you want to kill them.”
“I can't wait to see Minami and Aran tomorrow,” Yuri said, “was he doing okay when you left?”
“Phichit never left his side, and Aran was nursing when I headed home,” Otabek replied. “Aside from when he was first born, he's a quiet baby. Phichit was bragging about it practically the whole time.”
“Compared to all the little demons we have running around here, I can't exactly blame him for bragging,” Yuri muttered, causing Otabek to snort softly.
That night, very much like Christmas Eve, all the kids were eager to go to bed, anxious as they were for the next day to come in order to meet the newest member of their family—especially Helina, who had belatedly realized that the addition of Aran meant that she was no longer the youngest.
“I'm not the baby anymore, am I?” she asked curiously as Yuri scooped her up and placed her into her bed, and she gathered her plush bear close to her chest as she stared up at her mother.
“No you're not, love,” Yuri said as he sat down on the edge of her ocean-themed comforter and petted her hair lightly. “How do you feel about that?”
“I dunno...Hana said ever-one ferdot about her when you had me. Will you fordet about me when the baby comes home?”
“You will always be my baby, Helina,” Yuri murmured as he kissed her forehead. “No one could ever make me forget you.”
“I love you, Mama.”
“I love you too, baby.”
~*~
After story time and a final kiss goodnight, Yuri and Otabek switched rooms, with Otabek going to see Helina, and Yuri to Alvinia.
Alvinia was lying on her side under a comforter covered with dinosaurs, her plush cat Kisa in her arms, and she smiled a little when she saw her mother step inside.
“Hey, Trouble,” Yuri said teasingly as he moved over to her bed, and she giggled a little.
“Hi, Mat`,” she replied. “I'm not so tired yet, but I want tomorrow to come so I can hold the baby. Will tomorrow still come even if I never sleep?”
“Tomorrow always comes,” Yuri replied as he reached out to run his fingers through his daughter's dark, glossy hair, crimped and creased from the braid it had been in all day. “But you should probably try and sleep—when you don't, your body doesn't like it, and I don't think you want to feel all funky for when you see the baby tomorrow.”
“I'm the biggest big sister,” Alvinia said proudly, “I'm even biggerer than the triplets, even though they're oldest. I'll protect the baby from all the bad stuff, even if he's a boy.”
“I'm a boy,” Yuri pointed out, “and so is your Äke.”
“But you can't help it.”
“And the baby can?”
“Äke said babies is like...like Play-Dough.”
“They are, but that doesn't mean they can decide if they're a boy or a girl. It's just nature. Aran can't help that he was born that way—it's not his fault, so it wouldn't be fair to make him feel bad about it.”
“Then...how come Minami-oji and you and Yuuri-oji all feel bad?”
“Bad about what?”
“About being omegas,” Alvinia explained, “I hear you sometimes...you saying it's so bad to be an omega...or something. If you can't help it, how come you feel bad?”
Out of the mouths of babes, I swear...Yuri thought with a soft chuckle as he leant in and kissed Alvinia's cheek.
“We'll talk about it later, all right? We've all had a busy day, and now you need to sleep.”
“D'you promise we'll talk about it later?”
“Yes, love, I promise.”
~*~
Yuri sat with Alvinia a while longer, then after checking her closet and under her bed for monsters, Yuri traipsed back downstairs where the others were all watching Fried Green Tomatoes. Yuri was happy to cuddle up with Otabek, who offered him a kiss before pulling him close and draping the checked blanket over both their legs. Neither Yuri nor Otabek said anything—after so many years, there was nothing that needed to be said, and they happily relaxed for one of the last peaceful evenings they were likely to have before the baby came home.
When the credits began to roll, Yuri reluctantly extricated himself from Otabek's warmth with a soft sigh as he said, “I think I'll head to bed, it's been a long day, and the kids are gonna be wired tomorrow. Have we decided on what time we'll be going?”
“I thought around noon, but Phichit-kun promised to text me to let me know how Minami-kun's feeling tomorrow,” Yuuri replied from his spot on the sofa with Viktor, apparently quite content to stay put for the time being. Otabek, on the other hand, stood up, and Viktor eyed him incredulously.
“This isn't an office party, Otabek,” Viktor pointed out, “just because one person leaves doesn't mean we all have to.”
“And snuggling with my lovely, limber, and nubile mate beats making idle chitchat with you two any night of the week,” Otabek quipped. “Nighty night.”
“All these years and you're still so mean,” Yuuri whined as Yuri chuckled and reached for Otabek's hand.
“Which means he must be my soulmate,” Yuri replied without missing a beat, causing the other couple to snort as he and and Otabek meandered towards the stairs.
The pair bond went through their nightly routines in relative silence, and after pulling on their pyjamas and sliding into bed—careful to not dislodge Potya, who was napping on the end—but instead of reaching for his book as was usual for Otabek these days, instead the alpha tugged Yuri close and kissed him gently.
“What was that for?” Yuri asked as he reached up to twine a lock of dark hair between his fingers. “Not that I mind, but...well, you usually only kiss me like that when you have bad news.”
“It's not exactly bad news,” Otabek hedged, “but my therapist keeps telling me to be as open and honest with you as possible, but I think it's something you might react to badly, which is understandable, so I thought I should tell you ahead of time...”
“Tell me what, exactly? Just be clear and you'll know pretty quick if I'll react badly to it or not.”
“Well, while I was at the hospital...well, you see, the thing is...they tested Aran for his secondary sex status, and he's...he's an omega.”
“Oh, um...I see,” Yuri replied awkwardly, running a hand over his face as he took a breath and tried to process what he was feeling.
“Yura, this isn't Russia,” Otabek said firmly. “No one is going to take him away or hurt him. He's safe, you're safe, Yuuri is safe, and Minami is safe. None of you will be hurt for what you were born as.”
“I know that,” Yuri said grumpily as he cast a glare towards his partner, “but he'll still be treated differently for what he is, and we can't...we can't change it.”
“But you can prepare him, and protect him,” Otabek said as he began to gently stroke Yuri's hair. “That kid will have not one, but three omega mothers who can tell him how to keep himself safe. I can't imagine an omega child growing up in a more accepting and loving home than this one. No matter what happens, I know that he'll be safe and loved.”
Yuri sighed as he pressed his cheek to the side of Otabek's chest. As an alpha, he wouldn't be able to understand the terror that Yuri now felt at the prospect of the little boy that would grow up in such a world that did not want him, save for his procreation abilities.
Otabek ran a hand down Yuri's back in a vain attempt to comfort him. Otabek would never be able to understand why Yuri was so deeply affected by this news, and why Minami and Yuuri, by extension, would feel it too.
Yuri tried to sleep, but rest did not come for a long time.
~*~
The following morning was so chaotic that Yuri had little time to dwell on the news that Otabek had given him the previous night. It was filled with morning baths, the braiding or styling of hair, toast and eggs, orange juice in sippy cups, and a general excitement, for today the kids got to meet their new baby cousin.
With coffees in hand, the four adults loaded the kids into the van and drove off, stopping at a doughnut shop (much to the kids' excitement) on the way, to pick up some celebratory treats for Phichit and Minami.
“None until we get to the hospital,” Yuri said sternly, and the kids all let out a collective groan.
“You're no fun anymore, Dyédya,” said Viktoria.
“Can't we just...share one little one now?” asked Antonia.
“Burma!” screamed Hana suddenly, and all heads swivelled towards the four-year-old.
“Why'd you say Burma?” Yuri asked bemusedly.
“I don't know.”
From the front seat, both Yuuri and Viktor snorted, causing Hana to grin wildly as they headed for the hospital, all of the kids still trying to convince Yuri to let them have a doughnut, but the omega wouldn't budge, much to the dismay of the children.
The family made it to the hospital without further issue, and as they stepped inside, Yuri holding onto Alvinia and Helina's hands, Otabek supporting the box of doughnuts and spicy buffalo wings (the box of which now read, it's a boy!) and Viktor and Yuuri holding onto two kids each, they all ran into a familiar face.
“Hi, Doctor Boobie!” Alvinia chirped at the sight of her, and the Pediatrician's face turned a blotchy red as the adults just barely managed to hold in their snickers.
“That's Doctor Rudy, Avi,” Otabek said, and the woman smiled weakly as Alvinia continued to grin, and threw out her free arm for the doctor to see.
“Look, look! See? All better!”
“Yes, I can see that,” the doctor said with a small smile. “No more broken bones for you, right?”
“Uh huh,” she replied. “We're going to see Leung Phichit and Minami-oji today. He had his baby yesterday!”
“Oh, how exciting,” she said warmly, “are you going to be a good big sister to the baby?”
“Uh huh. He's a boy, but Mat` says he doesn't mean to be, so I'll be good.”
“There's a good girl,” she said, while Yuri offered her an apologetic smile, and the doctor shook her head dismissively while they parted ways. It hadn't been the first time Alvinia had called her Doctor Boobie, after all.
“Who wants to push the elevator buttons?” Viktor asked as they slowed to a stop in front of the hallway filled with four elevators, and predictably all the kids began shouting at once. “Quiet, quiet! Hospital Zone, no shouting!”
“Otets?” Hana asked.
“Yes, love?”
“Whas a Hopital Zoom?”
“It means you have to be quiet, because people come here to get better, and they can't if you make lots of noise.”
“Oh, okay.”
“So, let's pick some elevator pushers scientifically,” Viktor continued as though there had been no interruption, and he raised his hand, booping Alvinia on the nose, making her giggle.
“Dip, dip, dip,” he began, pointing at a different child every time he spoke, “my little ship, sails on the ocean, you are—it,” as he finished the rhyme, his finger fell on Helina, who began to grin. “Okay, Helina, you can push the button!”
“Yaaaay!” Helina cried, and Yuri chuckled as he picked her up, and she smacked the UP elevator button as hard as she possibly could.
Inside the elevator, Viktor repeated the very scientific child-picking method, and Viktoria got to select the Maternity Ward's floor, though she pressed the button much more gently than Helina had. The girls all let out tiny squeaks of excitement when the elevator doors let out a soft ding before they slid shut.
Curiously, after Viktor's Hospital Zone talk, all the kids managed to keep relatively quiet—that is, until they made it to Minami's recovery room.
Minami was sitting up with little Aran in his arms, still looking exhausted, but more relaxed than yesterday. The girls each let out their own excited squeal, and at the same moment, Phichit pressed a finger to his lips.
“The baby is sleeping,” he said softly, “so you have to stay quiet, okay?”
The girls' mouths all snapped shut as they nodded, while Viktor began to push chairs closer to Minami, and Phichit motioned for the children to come forward, and they all sat on the edges of the bed, looking in on the sleeping baby curiously.
“How come his face is all squishy?” Helina asked, her brow pinched with curiosity as she gazed at the infant.
“He's a new baby,” Minami replied softly, “as he gets older, his face will get less squishy. All new babies look like this.”
“Mama?” Helina turned to where Yuri had sat down, “did I look squishy?”
“The squishiest,” Yuri replied with a chuckle, and her little face brightened as he turned back to look at the baby.
“Helina?” Minami asked, “do you want to hold him?”
“Oh, I don't—” Otabek began, but Minami shook his head a little.
“She's a big girl, I'm sure she can do it.”
“Watch his head, just in case,” Yuri warned while Helina nodded excitedly, and Viktor hastily got his phone out to snap a picture.
Minami nodded, and turned to the three-year-old. He held out the baby, and gently instructed her on how to hold him and support his head, and Helina beamed when Minami said, “good!” as she held him in her arms.
“I can...I could be the one to take care of him sometimes,” she said hopefully as she gazed up at Minami, “like when you need to have a nap?”
“Of course you can, Helina,” Minami said warmly, and Helina grinned again.
The first (and more precarious) round of Pass the Baby began, with each of the children getting a turn to hold Aran. It was going rather well, at least until the baby got to Hana, who instead of passing the baby to someone else, promptly proclaimed, “I'm done!” as she dropped him in her lap.
With a small yelp, Minami scooped Aran back up, but the baby—thankfully—had managed to survive the ordeal. After that, peace once more descended upon the group.
That was, until Alvinia got her turn, and Aran promptly began to cry.
“He hates me!” Alvinia cried dramatically as the other girls giggled, and Minami reached out to take the baby back, and Alvinia promptly crawled into Yuri's lap with tears in her eyes.
“He doesn't hate you, baby,” Yuri said as he rubbed her back consolingly, “he's probably just hungry, or has a wet diaper. A crying baby doesn't mean he hates you.”
“He's hungry,” Minami filled in as Alvinia continued to sniffle, and both mother and child looked up to see Minami holding Aran to his chest and smiling at her. “He doesn't hate you, sweetheart. Once he's finished eating, you can try holding him again.”
Alvinia nodded, but it seemed as though she was reluctant to try again. Yuri held onto her and continued to rub her back, but she still looked positively devastated for making the newborn cry.
“Okay, Avi,” Minami said as he finished feeding and burping the baby, “wanna try again?”
Still sniffling a little, she nodded, but would not move from her mother's lap. Minami tried to shift closer, but hissed in pain. Alvinia's eyes widened, but before she could say a word, Phichit swept in and took to the task of transporting baby Aran from Minami to Alvinia. This time he did not cry, but let out a tiny gurgle of contentment as Alvinia held him carefully, her eyes wide with awe.
“He's so little, Mat`,” Alvinia said softly, while Yuri reached out to touch the baby's chubby cheek. “Was I this little when I was a baby?”
“Littler,” Yuri replied with a warm chuckle, and offered his daughter a little squeeze, making her giggle. “You were always my perfect little girl, just as Aran is Minami and Phichit's perfect little boy.”
“Am I perfect too, Mama?” Helina asked, and both Yuri and Otabek laughed out loud.
“Yes, baby, you're perfect too.”
“D'you want a turn with the baby, Mat`?” Alvinia asked softly, “you haven't had a turn yet.”
“I'd love a turn,” Yuri replied, and held out his arms, chuckling a little as Alvinia instructed him on how to hold the infant, and he followed her every direction diligently before the little mother hen finally handed Aran over, and Yuri gazed down at the little baby omega in his arms with a bittersweet smile.
“Hello there,” Yuri whispered as he felt his voice catch, and he supported the infant in one arm while he wiped his eyes with his free hand. He felt Otabek step up behind him, and he rubbed his back while Yuri rocked the baby gently. “You have such a great life ahead of you, little one...so many people who love you, and in a place where you'll never be hated, or imprisoned, or hurt for what you are. You're safe. And though I still worry for you, I know that you'll be loved and supported no matter what, because we all love you, and...you'll never have to be afraid to be yourself.”
Otabek kissed Yuri's cheek from behind as he held the baby, still rocking Aran gently.
“That's good advice,” Otabek murmured as he wrapped an arm around Yuri and rested his head on his omega's shoulder as he gazed down at the infant. “He'll be loved and kept safe, no matter what.”
“I used to feel like safety wasn't real,” Yuri murmured, softly enough that the children nearby weren't likely to hear. “It was just...lies we tell ourselves so that we don't feel so scared all the time, but that's not true, is it? We really are safe.”
“We are,” Otabek replied as he shifted, one hand moving to Yuri's chin, and he coaxed his head up until their lips met in a gentle kiss. “And we always will be.”
The End
A/N: And Scene. Thank you guys so much for reading <3 If you like my work, consider throwing a few bucks in my Digital Tip Jar, every penny is appreciated! (especially cuz today is my birthday :P)
NLMG Masterpost
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