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“I don’t think she’s awake yet.”
Sakura groans, rustling as she turns over in bed. She doesn’t want to get caught faking, so she keeps her eyes shut and tries to breathe as slowly as possible.
The girls speak in rushed, quiet Japanese. A combination of two little accents, half hers, half Kazuha’s, following their rule of only speaking their parents’ mother tongue while inside the house to ensure the girls grow up bilingual.
“What do you mean?”
“Her eyes are still closed, Roha.” Moka points out. “Look.”
“We can open them,” Iroha suggests.
Sakura twitches. Why would Iroha think opening someone’s eyes is a viable option? Where did she learn that? She must’ve been spending too much time with the chaotic, well-meaning Huh kids.
It would be Iroha to suggest something so… outlandish. The baby of their family, Sakura’s mellow, laid-back youngest child. Always so easygoing and ready for whatever the world throws at her, the kite of the trio, happy to ride along in the wind.
“We shouldn’t be in here.” Anna whispers. “We might wake her up. She’s probably still asleep.”
Sakura’s heart warms. Her sweet, responsible firstborn. Anna, kind, gentle, empathetic, is the de-facto leader of their trio, gently keeping her sisters in line without any of that characteristic eldest-child bossiness that Sakura was prepared to handle. The diplomat of their family, Anna finds a way to compromise, everyone’s best interests in mind at all times.
“Do people still feel pain in their sleep?” Moka blinks.
Sakura muffles her laughter. And her morbid, curious middle child, eccentric and creative Moka. Anna and Moka are only a year apart, 10 and 9 respectively, whereas Iroha rounds out their family at a darling little 6 years old. Sakura can nearly remember it like it’s yesterday, first revealing to Kazuha that they’d be welcoming their first baby into the family.
She smiles to herself. These three angels, the ones who made her a mother, and the humor of them being the ones to try and contain their excitement for Mother’s Day.
“Yihyun says people’s pain buttons are off when they’re unconscious,” Iroha says, a little too matter-of-factly. “That’s how she can pull Bokki’s hair out and give him a bald spot in his sleep.”
What? Sakura always knew that Iroha liked being part of the Huh family pranks, but what the hell is Chaewon’s kid getting her daughter into?
“Uh… I don’t think that’s true,” Anna hesitates.
“Bokki thought he was losing his hair. It’s just Yihyun?” Moka asks in surprise.
Iroha nods. The girls are completely distracted.
“Well, I sort of help sometimes. When she has extra tweezers, and I spend the night. We sneak into his room. Pluck, pluck, pluck. We try to go in a circle.”
“Oh, wow,” Anna breathes.
Moka hums. “Do you keep the hair?”
Sakura’s eye twitches. So much for sleeping in. She guesses it’s as good a time now as any to intervene.
She stretches her arms over her head, yawning to interrupt the conversation from incriminating themselves any further. The last thing she needs is for Chaewon’s drama queen of a son to find out that he’s been gaslit by his demon little sister and Sakura’s daughter into thinking he’s balding prematurely. That’ll be a fun topic to figure out at the next group hangout.
“I’m awake,” Sakura hums, and within seconds, the trio are leaping into her arms, collapsing instantly on top of her in a big tangle of limbs and long hair.
She didn’t exactly try to have three girls, but she remembers just how excited Kazuha was at the first reveal, and their luck only continued with the rest of them. Kazuha and her dream, of a little set of angels to do their hair, to dress them up, to absolutely spoil them like it’s the only thing she’s made to do on this earth.
And true to her word, Kazuha’s spent every second since Sakura first got pregnant spoiling each member of the Miyawaki clan to death, Sakura herself included.
Iroha beams realizing the woman is awake, her little lips twisting into a smile.
“Mama!”
Sakura wraps her arms around the three of them, but presses her lips into the youngest’s hair, whispering a soft but stern warning to the girl.
“Roha, I heard that. You owe Bokki an apology.”
Moka snorts, and Iroha’s eyes simply blink back at her. Not anxious, not worried, just wide and blinking.
“Sorry,” the girl says simply.
“Not to me,” Sakura chuckles. “To him, directly.”
“Oh. Right.” Iroha nods dutifully, and buries her face further into Sakura’s neck. “Love you.”
“Happy Mother’s Day,” Anna sing-songs, laughing as her sisters squish into her, trying to get even closer to Sakura as the woman sits up in the bed, scooping up her little cherubs into a warm embrace.
Beyond the door, there’s a quiet stir, the tell-tale thud of decorations being set up. Sakura knows her wife is probably dying to come join in all the commotion, and is keeping herself busy to try and give the girls their own quality time with their mother. She smiles.
“I love you too, my angels,” Sakura hums. “Let’s go start our day.”
True to her guess, their warm, wabi-sabi themed home is now littered with bright pink decorations, vibrant and full of life. The walls have balloons pinned to them. The plants have streamers trailed throughout them. There’s a beautiful, hand-painted card on the countertop, no doubt from her middle daughter given her blossoming eye for design.
And standing in the kitchen, coffee in one hand and balloon in another, Kazuha herself stands tall, beaming as widely as her lips allow.
Sakura tries to not let herself get too caught up in just how fucking cute her wife is to forget that her three daughters are just as equally cute, everyone buzzing with equal excitement, just barely contained behind bright, beaming smiles.
When Sakura and Kazuha would babysit for Yunjin and Chaewon, it was no secret that the couple was louder, more boisterous, and truly just more chaotic in every way. Even Wonhee and Gawon as babies, despite being well behaved, were always prone to being louder, being more excitable, being more energetic. Sakura figured it had come from both parents: Yunjin’s insufferable energy and Chaewon’s buzzing inability to half-ass anything, creating offspring that just can’t seem to sit still.
So when Sakura first found out she’d be having one of her own, she was fully prepared to raise her own little bundles of chaos, whatever that might’ve looked like. Maybe they’d be impulsive like Gawon, or expressive like Wonhee, or attention-seeking like Bokki. Honestly, Sakura might’ve used Chaewon’s kids as a template a little too much, forgetting that she isn’t having Chaewon and Yunjin’s kid.
She’s having her’s and Kazuha’s child. Sakura, a little awkward, withdrawn, and contemplative. Kazuha, gentle, responsible, dorky and so, deeply passionate about taking care of people. Of course their kids would take after the genes they were given.
And right now, in front of her, seeing three eager little puppies all but wagging their tails, standing politely in front of her, bursting with excitement, and the sire of them all, standing tall and equally eager, makes Sakura’s entire body go fuzzy with insane cuteness aggression. Her family is just so fucking cute, it makes her want to die.
Kazuha speaks first, her eyes shining with pure eager enthusiasm, holding out a little plastic cup to Sakura, making a big show of presenting it to her.
“Americano?”
Sakura takes the cup and tilts her head, teasingly.
“Mama’s Japanese, actually.”
Kazuha grins, her entire face lighting up. God, Sakura doesn’t understand how someone can be so smiley and never get tired of it.
“From the cafe I like,” Sakura notes, turning the cup in her hand after her first sip, noticing the telltale decor along the sides. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” Kazuha nods proudly. She reaches out to stroke their youngest daughter on the cheek, “Roha woke up extra early to come with me to get your coffee. She even set her own alarm. Can you believe it? So responsible.”
Iroha beams, her tiny cheeks squishing up.
Sakura’s heart melts. The elder two Miyawaki daughters had always been compared by everyone to Sakura, her little mini-me’s. Looking at them next to Sakura’s baby pictures, the resemblance was undeniable.
But little Iroha was always a carbon copy of Kazuha, right down to their little pudgy, dorky smiles. Sakura still remembers how crazy it would drive her to see Iroha and all her similarities to her wife when she was just a baby, like Iroha’s only job was to send Sakura into psychosis with how much she reminded her of her darling wife.
“Papa,” Moka calls out excitedly, “the gift!”
“The- oh! Oh yes!” Kazuha nods, blinking quickly as she scrambles to go fish something out from the fridge. “Coming, good catch, my princess.”
Moka holds her hands out, her eyes lighting up in eager anticipation as Anna guides Sakura to the counter, beckoning her to close her eyes.
“Okay, Mama, be really careful with your hands. Don’t look yet.” There’s a quiet pause, a quick scraping noise against the countertop, and then finally, the clink of something being settled down. “Okay. Open!”
Sakura lets her daughter cue her in to look, and when she opens her eyes, they go straight to the beautifully presented plate directly in front of her.
A cake, about the size of a basketball, painted beautifully to resemble a turnip from Animal Crossing. Bright white, a pointy tip, frosting piped to resemble the little green leaves jutting out from the top. Even the tiny detail of the plate, a wooden looking one, resembles the reference perfectly. Sakura can’t stop laughing at just how perfect it is.
Being gifted a turnip for Mother’s Day isn’t exactly what every woman dreams of, but for Sakura, it’s the most perfect thing she could have ever wished for.
“Did you make this yourself, Moka-bear?” Sakura gasps, turning the plate to get a better look at the dish. From every angle, a picture-perfect turnip, ready to sell on the stock market. She laughs again, astounded by the level of detail that had gone into it. “It’s so accurate.”
“Ah, well, Anna made the cake with Gawon’s help. Moka practiced frosting things all week,” Kazuha shares. “Roha and I were um, moral support.”
“Moka didn’t want me messing up the frosting. S’cool. I get it,” the youngest girl chirps good-naturedly.
“I guess we are having turnip cake for breakfast,” Sakura teases. She hands a knife to her middle daughter, eager to let the girl be the one to enjoy the fruits of her labor.
So the Miyawaki family indulges in their first meal of the day, a helping of a turnip-shaped cake, and Sakura just knows there’s nobody in the world possibly enjoying their day more than she is in that very moment.
“What’s Yunjin doing for Chaewon?” She asks curiously, figuring Kazuha had probably already checked in with her best friend for the day.
“Yongbok and Yihyun couldn’t stop arguing about plans. Jinnie felt bad siding with one over the other.” Kazuha chuckles, licking some stray frosting off of her finger. “So they’re just going to spend the day at the restaurant. They offered an invite.”
Sakura has grown to adore Yunjin, and she absolutely loves Chaewon, she does, but those two have a family the size of a small army, and Sakura would prefer something a little more lowkey for a day all about her. She’ll hang out with the Huh collective some other time, when she’s got more of a social battery for them, and can handle the chaos that inevitably mounts with them all in one place.
“I told them we had plans,” Kazuha reassures her, nodding knowingly.
Sakura sighs in relief. Her perfect, all-knowing, super caring wife, already one step ahead.
“Thank you.”
Kazuha beams at the praise, turning quickly to focus on the next topic at hand.
“So, for Mother’s Day, the girls want to take you to the flower garden,” she says, motioning to the girls.
The three nod excitedly.
“There’s these gorgeous roses that just bloomed there,” Moka explains.
“And butterflies, super beautiful ones that I saw in science class,” Anna adds.
Sakura tilts her head. Kazuha knows that Sakura won’t drive unless if she has to, so usually, the travel plans fall to the younger woman to make the calls for.
“What do you want to do?” She asks.
Kazuha doesn’t miss a beat, as if she’s been training for this very question.
“Whatever the beautiful darling mother of my children wants to do.”
Of course that would be her answer. Kazuha always has an answer like that.
“Well, you’re off to a good start,” Sakura hums, taking in the room around them. Decorations, being woken up by their angel children, breakfast from her favorite places.
“Oh thank god,” Kazuha breathes, as if she’s been holding it in the whole time. She motions to their children, hunting down her keys with a speed and focus that rivals a neurosurgeon’s. “Girls, let’s pack it up! It’s time to spoil Mama at the garden.”
The girls, always so pleasant to deal with, fall right in line, like little polite ants. They do exactly as they’re told, hustling to seek out their respective things, phones, books, bags, to prepare for the journey ahead. Sakura smiles and moves to put the cake away, hoping to save the half-eaten turnip for later.
Iroha, too little for her own phone, settles instead for her digital camera that she had gotten as a gift for her last birthday, and rushes to the fridge to seek something out to wash down all that cake.
“Can I bring a drink in the car?”
“You can have anything you’d like,” Kazuha says simply, patting herself down in search of her wallet.
Sakura freezes. God, she forgets about this sometimes, when things are going too smoothly. The catch, the one and only snag, to having chosen to have children with this woman.
Her perfect, adoring, doting wife, who has never once been able to say ‘no’ to a single one of their children, and these three clever little girls, always catching on.
“I want a peach cream soda!” Iroha immediately pleads.
Moka jumps in as soon as she realizes the floodgates are open.
“I want melon!”
Anna simply watches from the side, getting her shoes on, too well-mannered to hop in, but clearly intrigued by what will happen next.
“We only have strawberry,” Sakura says, hunting through the fridge. She’s not exactly thrilled about cake and soda for her children’s breakfast, but when it comes to family meals, Kazuha usually meal preps much more balanced options or gets them from Yunjin’s restaurant, so she trusts her girls can handle one day of indulgence without ruining their diets entirely.
But like some sort of agent has been activated, Kazuha’s voice goes firm, her eyes focused. Sakura has always secretly wished that Kazuha would be stern like this to put her foot down with the girls, but no. The super responsible, super focused version of her that comes out is never to enact discipline. It’s just to be better at spoiling them. Sakura sighs. A girl can dream, she supposes.
“Girls, shoes on.” Kazuha punctuates the demand with a firm snap of her fingers. Iroha, the littlest one, reaches for her hand, and Kazuha grips it like her life depends on it, motioning for the older two to follow suit. “Let’s go.”
“You’re going to the store now?” Sakura balks.
“My girls want peach and melon. Anna likes grape. But we only have strawberry.” Kazuha blinks back at her wife, like it’s somehow obvious. “Babe… I think you see the issue.”
As much as she doesn’t want to lose sight of her wife’s very glaring weakness, it’s honestly super cute to see this woman, focused and serious, the beacon of responsibility that Sakura had slowly fallen in love with. And it’s even cuter to see it now be focused on their three perfect daughters, Iroha’s hand in Kazuha’s much bigger one, Moka and Anna eager to join their parent despite being in what should be a bratty pre-teen phase.
If Sakura can credit her with anything, it’s that there’s absolutely no question to anyone who sees her that Kazuha loves being a parent to these three little girls more than anything in the world. These three little girls, who have never so much as gone a day needing something before Kazuha has bent over backwards to get it to them, sometimes even despite Sakura’s protests. Kazuha has committed to the role of devoted dad, to the extreme, at times, but Sakura figures there are worse things in the world that being stuck parenting with someone who lives, sleeps, and breathes devotion to her family.
After she finally takes a second to tear her gaze away from the super cute visuals unfolding before her, Sakura pauses, contemplating. But then, still going through the fridge, she smiles, almost imperceptibly, seeing the perfect opportunity.
The girls may have Kazuha wrapped around their fingers, but there’s always been one special place in Kazuha’s heart for her first love: Miyawaki Sakura.
“I want a cat.”
Kazuha freezes, the keys making a jangling sound from how suddenly she stops her movements towards the door.
The girls pounce immediately.
“Oh my god, a cat would be so cute,” Anna gasps excitedly.
“Papa! Are you kidding me? A cat would be so perfect in our house,” Moka echoes. “We have to. For Mama’s special day.”
“Mother’s day,” Kazuha nods. She hesitates, the gears clearly turning behind her eyes, as she fishes in her pockets for her phone. “I mean, I can check online if there’s a pet store nearby—”
Sakura shakes her head. When Yunjin had gotten her family a dog, little Shiro, she and Kazuha had done research on breeders for weeks to pick the perfect little furball for their family. Sakura doesn’t want that level of digging. She wants something simple, something organic. Something for her girls to remember for years to come.
“Shelters are full of little ones looking for good homes,” she says simply.
The girls all nod in sync, like a chorus echoing her thoughts.
“Papa, you’re not moving fast enough,” Iroha tells her, like she’s concerned. She tugs at Kazuha’s arm, still holding her hand, yanking her towards the door. “We need a kitty for Mama. ASAP.”
“Oh my god, yes we do.” Kazuha nods eagerly, dead serious and in complete agreement with a bunch of elementary schoolers. “Girls, your shoes, if you would.”
Sakura still needs to go get ready, but the girls are already racing to get out the door, so she knows she doesn’t have much time to spare. She rushes to get decent, coming out a few minutes later to the front door wide open, the family eagerly waiting for her in the hallway of their complex. Sakura exits to join them, Kazuha’s face buried deep in her phone as she clearly panics to research a viable option for their hunt to give Mama exactly what she wants.
“I found a shelter,” Kazuha starts, her eyes glued to the screen as she holds her hand out to Iroha once more, a sign for the Miyawaki clan to start heading towards the elevator to the car. “13 minutes away, specializes in cat rehabilitation, they’re doing a Mother’s day event—”
Sakura clears her throat, getting a good look at their daughters.
“Iroha’s wearing your shoes,” she says, a bit dryly. She blinks. “She’s going to trip.”
Kazuha immediately looks up from her phone, dopey and clearly bamboozled by the statement.
“Oh, um…”
They look down, and Iroha blinks back at the two, saying nothing.
She’s so tiny. So insanely tiny.
And wearing Kazuha’s work boots, too many sizes too big, swallowing up her feet to the point that they nearly hit her knees.
Kazuha clears her throat, a bit awkwardly.
“I’ll carry her.”
Sakura can’t help but laugh. Of course Kazuha isn’t about to break her daughter’s heart and tell her to step out of her shoes. Putting her foot down is Sakura’s job, but today, she’s going to let Kazuha take the lead.
So Kazuha scoops up their youngest daughter, letting the two elder ones chat animatedly to each other as they think up a list of things they’ll need for their new family pet on the way to their car.
Kazuha reaches behind her, her hand outstretched expectantly, and Sakura feels a warmth flood her chest as she reaches forward to interlace their fingers. They hold hands the entire way to the car, ignoring the chuckle from Min-su the doorman at the sight of Kazuha hauling their fully-grown first grader in her arms if she’s still a baby. Sakura smiles back at him and enjoys the chatter of Anna and Moka debating between types of cat beds once they all pile into the car.
“Hey, did I miss any hints you dropped?” Kazuha whispers as they take to the street, her eyes wide and worried. “I would have had the kitten wrapped in a bow. I had no clue…”
Sakura laughs, reaching over and running her fingers through her wife’s hair, hoping to calm her. She plays with Kazuha’s earlobe, rubbing it gently, as the younger woman fixes her gaze on the roads.
“No. I was thinking about it for a while,” Sakura reassures her. “I thought it’d be nice to go together, as a family. This seemed like a good time. Sorry for worrying you. It’s hard to surprise you, it always has. So it was now or never...”
“Oh thank god.” Kazuha breathes. “I couldn’t believe I got it wrong. I was ready to die.”
“Kazuha.”
“Sorry, sorry, ah sorry.”
“You’re not supposed to make those jokes any more, Papa. Mama gets mad,” Moka reminds her, chuckling.
“Yes, you’re right, I’m sorry, I’m sorry my princess. I have let you all down. Papa has brought shame to our family, so much shame. My god. I don’t deserve to—”
“Kazuha!”
“I vote for the orange one,” Moka chirps. “He looks like my gatcha cat stuffie.”
“Mama, oh my god, look!” Anna squeals. “There’s three of them, oh my god, they’re so cute…”
Iroha grabs a handful of kittens roaming around in a pen, shoving them in Kazuha’s face as if she’s holding up a bundle of carrots or something, their tiny legs dangling in the air.
“Papa, please.” She blinks hauntingly. “They need a family.”
Kazuha spins around immediately, flashing pleading eyes at her wife.
“Babe. They need a family.”
Sakura counts the animals in her daughter’s hand. Two, they might’ve been able to convince her. But Iroha is holding eight of them. Eight. And Kazuha is dead serious, about to say yes.
Yes. To eight cats.
God. Kazuha is a dream, but she is absolutely spineless.
“No,” Sakura says simply, softly, but firmly enough to get her point across. “Just one.”
“You’re right, sorry.” Kazuha immediately turns, kneeling to now be eye-to-eye with Iroha. “My beautiful, perfect, darling little leaf of my heart, Papa’s angel princess… you know it’s Mama’s rules.”
The middle sister steps in, pushing her lip out to quiver. Sakura has half a mind to call her out on faking being sad, but Moka already has her beat, getting to Kauzha with the puppy dog eyes as reinforcements to her baby sister’s failed plan before Sakura can catch her.
“Pleeeeeease, Papa? Three is such a good number.”
Kazuha’s face instantly twists up, and to drive it home, Moka reaches forward to wrap her arms around Kazuha’s neck in a needy hug.
The woman’s eyes immediately blow wide, like she’s been shot in the leg or something. Oh god. Sakura needs to step in before her wife starts sobbing in public and buys the whole place out.
“Baby, just one. If it needs a friend, we can get another one,” Sakura tells her gently. “But we have to make sure we’re a good fit.”
Thankfully, Anna, her ever-even anchor of their family, comes to the rescue like a soothing voice of reason.
“Mama picks. It’s her day, guys,” she reminds them.
Moka and Iroha sigh, their mutiny avoided.
Sakura explores a few more cages before she stumbles upon one that looks empty upon first glance. She inexplicably feels a pull.
“Hm. How would you like to be the apple of three little girls’ eyes?” She hums, sticking her fingers in through the slots.
A shy, nervous little grey kitten. No name, found on a construction site. She smiles in realization that the construction site in the background of his picture is a Huh Enterprises build, the crest visible in the back. What are the chances of that?
The kitten, as apprehensive as he seems, finally warms up at the sound of Sakura’s soft voice, coming forward to sniff her fingers. He gives them a quick rub, scenting her, before disappearing back in the little hideout in the corner of his cage.
“This is ours. Little Kitty Miyawaki.” Sakura announces, beckoning the girls and her wife over. “We’ll vote on a name.”
The excitement of taking a kitten home is enough to occupy most of their morning and afternoon, the family rushing from store to store to splurge on all the needed supplies and race home to prepare for their newest member.
Unfortunately, the kitten is clearly overwhelmed by the new environment, and he races to hide out under their giant couch. Moka in particular takes it especially hard, trying to coax him out with treats, but he’s firmly planted underneath there.
Iroha is easygoing, and Anna is graceful with all her emotions, but Moka has always been the one Sakura worries about. Emotional, sensitive, but repressive and secretive. A combination that makes Sakura extra attentive to making sure she doesn’t miss any of the tiny, subtle signs that her sweet, creative daughter is anxious or hurting. It’s a quality Sakura resents in herself, this desire to repress, and one that Kazuha carries equally, something they both worked on tirelessly in order to encourage their own kids to not bottle up their emotions as they once had.
So to distract from the unfortunate rejection of the little grey bundle, Sakura suggests one of their favorite family activities, skincare and video games.
That’s how she ends up on Mother’s Day with all three of her daughters in matching facemasks, everyone in their coziest pajamas, gathered in front of the television, screaming at the little Mario Kart characters, as Kazuha plays butler, offering drinks and popcorn at the girls’ leisure.
Moka is consoled, feeling slightly better at the idea of hanging out in the living room, giving the kitten a chance to come out on his own time after he’s gotten used to the sounds of the family. Kazuha presses a sweet, reassuring kiss into her daughter’s hand, and makes it a point to celebrate how hard she worked on the turnip cake again when she comes around to serve everyone second helpings.
“Roha, baby, remember. Let go on the 2,” Sakura hums softly, watching as the little girl playing as Bowser spins out yet again.
“Right, right right,” Iroha nods.
Sakura laughs. In college, when she tried to teach Chaewon how to play, the woman had nearly smashed her controller after falling off the edge of a map. Chaewon’s daughter, infamous crashout Huh Gawon, is banned from Mario Kart tournaments in the Miyawaki house when she comes over, after a particularly loud incident left Sakura scarred at the girl’s colorful vocabulary. Anna had laughed so hard at Gawon that she nearly cried, but Sakura is just grateful that she can have calm, tender nights like this with her own family. Even better than her wildest dreams.
The rounds blur together, but one thing is for sure: Mama will always get gold, her little Toadette figure constantly gracing the highest score, no question, no doubt, no going easy on the girls.
Thankfully, whether it’s having someone as giddy as Kazuha as their role model, or just being naturally relaxed children, each win simply ends in them celebrating how close they get to their mother in first place.
“I got second! That’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to the podium, oh my god,” Anna laughs.
Kazuha claps proudly, scooping up her empty bag of chips to tidy up.
“Beautiful, baby.”
“I got 8th,” Iroha chirps.
“Also beautiful baby,” Kauzha doesn’t miss a beat. “You looked perfect doing it. You’re getting so good.”
Moka pauses, blinking blankly at the screen.
“I’m last.”
“And you know what? You are first in Papa’s heart.”
Sakura just laughs. Kazuha had mentioned it once to her, before they were even dating, that kids were a responsibility she would never take lightly.
And seeing Kazuha now, not a second passing by where their girls aren’t absolutely smothered in reassurance or attention, makes Sakura that much more confident in her decision to pick this woman, of all people, to share this family with.
Sakura would have rather been alone than pick the wrong person, and all her waiting led her here, with her own little slice of heaven. Who is luckier than that?
The night goes on, and one by one, the girls start fading from the excitement of the day. Iroha is first to fall asleep, her little Bowser falling off the screen over and over, Moka following soon after, and Anna managing to hang on just long enough to chat with her parents about how excited she is for her upcoming ballet recital. But the room is full of quiet snores afterwards, each of them fast asleep from their spots on the couch, and Sakura simply plays the next few rounds by herself, relishing in the peace of her children’s hums and the quiet rustle of Kazuha tidying up around them, preparing them for a new day tomorrow.
Her wife, always so dutifully focused, finally dusts her hands off as the night’s chores are complete. Sakura admires the woman, still in her nice shirt from earlier, not a single waking moment spent this entire day focused on anything but Sakura.
Kazuha has really nice everything, but her hands in particular drive Sakura crazy. Something about being capable, something about being a provider, blah blah blah. All she cares about is that Kazuha’s sleeves are rolled up and she’s wearing the nice silver watch Sakura got her for their anniversary.
(Which, as selfish as it may be, the watch was more of a gift for Sakura herself. She won’t apologize for having an insanely hot, sexy, younger wife with really, really nice hands.)
“I think he’s going to stay down there,” Kazuha hums, breaking Sakura’s less-than-innocent train of thought about her wife. She plants her hands on her hips, tapping her chin contemplatively. “Should we help him out?”
“He probably feels safe. We should let him explore when the girls are asleep. Hopefully he can find the litterbox,” Sakura reassures her.
Kazuha finally allows herself to relax and plops herself right down on the couch next to Sakura, careful not to stir any of their kids awake. Her arm wraps around Sakura’s shoulders, cozying up together, and Sakura’s mind is starting to wander to what she hopes she might get out of Mother’s day, but Kazuha is suddenly sitting up like she’s been jolted by a taser.
“Oh my god.” She gasps. “I’m so sorry.”
Sakura blinks. Kazuha has that habit, one of her worst ones, honestly, of apologizing for literally anything at the most unrelated times.
“For?”
“I was so busy with the girls, they were so excited.” The woman frowns, as if the error is obvious. “I’m sorry…”
“What?”
Kazuha blinks, her chin trembling. Sakura can’t believe how much she looks like Moka in this moment. Her voice barely comes out as a croak.
“I… I forgot your gift.”
A gift? Isn’t this whole day the gift?
“Baby,” Sakura laughs. “You’re joking.”
“I am not.” Kazuha blinks again, and now there’s tears welling in her eyes. Oh god. She goes on, her voice quaking as if she’s confessing to cheating, or something. “I ordered it like, two months ago. Please don’t buy yourself any new yarn. I have a surprise coming for you. Baby… I am so sorry…”
Sakura shakes her head, setting the controller down next to her and flipping into Kazuha’s lap to collapse into a hug.
“My three beautiful girls are asleep with me playing games besides them.” She hums, pressing a kiss into her wife’s jaw. “I didn’t have to lift a finger today. I feel like a princess.”
“Oh.” Kazuha’s body instantly relaxes, accepting the kiss with a dopey, nervous expression. “You’re happy?”
“You did a great job,” Sakura nods, her voice soft. She smiles, trailing her fingers along her wife’s forearm, admiring the soft skin, the firm muscle, the veins.
“And you wore a nice shirt,” she adds quickly, “and rolled your sleeves up, and kept it like that all day. It’s like you can read my mind.”
“Oh thank god,” Kazuha breathes. “Awesome.”
Sakura laughs. Leave it to her puppy to miss all her hints at flirting. This might not be the best time to get themselves riled up anyways, with the girls all passed out just mere feet away from them, so she figures she’ll keep things light as she cuddles into Kazuha to let their night come to an end.
“Mama’s day was a success. What do you want for Papa’s day? So I can plan ahead.”
Kazuha takes a second to think, pausing to give her answer some thought.
“Vow renewal.”
Sakura rolls her eyes, flicking Kazuha playfully on the nose.
“Something for you.”
Kazuha pauses again, contemplating.
“I would like… Hm.” A beat. “Framed picture of you.”
“Kazuha!”
“What?”
“Stop it.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
That same dopey smile that had once enraged Sakura, made her go crazy, is now the one worn by all her children. Sakura, who had waited patiently her whole life, prepared to maybe never find someone who met those expectations, found herself doted on hand-and-foot by the most gentle-hearted angel she could have imagined.
There’s a quiet stir, and to her surprise, a tiny meow from underneath the couch. Like the kitten is wondering where the commotion has all gone.
Sakura is about to peek under to make sure he isn’t stuck, but there’s a rustling from further down the couch, and she hears the smack of lips together, stirring from her sleep.
Their youngest daughter, limbs splayed in every direction, groaning softly as the noise jostles her awake.
“Papa…” Iroha grumbles, reaching out her hand to feel for something. Kazuha leans forward to hold her, and Iroha seems to settle once she feels the warm hand clasp her own. “Papa… we should call him Yunjin. Like Auntie Yunjin… But he’s boy… It’d be funny… Lowkey…”
Sakura laughs, muffling it into her shoulder to try not to wake the older two. Naming their cat after Kazuha’s best friend. She can see the appeal. Yunjin would be pissed, or find it hilarious, either way it’d be a story to tell.
But Kazuha, to her surprise, heads in a different direction.
Her eyes flicker up to fix on the TV screen, where Sakura has paused her current round. Sakura has always played as Toadette, and her girls are consistent about their picks. Iroha, with little man syndrome, goes for Bowser. Anna picks between princesses.
Sakura sees Kazuha’s gaze flicker to Moka. Moka, who wants so badly for this little kitten to like her, had fallen asleep on the floor, just in case he wanted to come out and cuddle with her.
The few times Kazuha has ever lost her cool, it’s always been to defend her loved ones. And the only time Sakura has ever seen her turn down one of their daughters, it’s to be extra gentle with a daughter who needs it a little more than usual.
“I think his name is Shy Guy,” Kazuha says softly, giving Iroha’s arm a tender squeeze before setting it back down, stroking it softly to lull her back to sleep.
(Shy Guy, who happens to be the favorite character of their sensitive, creative, absolute angel of a middle daughter.)
“Good night, Shy Guy. Love you, Papa.” Iroha grumbles groggily, accepting the answer as if it were always his name, without question. “Love you a lot, Mama. I hope you liked your day.”
“Loved it, baby. You all made it so amazing. I’m so lucky. Thank you.”
Kazuha wraps her arms tighter around Sakura’s frame, and Sakura lets herself be lulled asleep by the comfort of her wife’s embrace.
Her lips brush against the crest of Sakura’s ear, a gentle, tender whisper to bid her goodnight.
“Happy Mother’s Day. You’re the best one anyone could ever ask for. I love you more than anything.”
Sakura closes her eyes, pressing a kiss into Kazuha’s neck before she drifts to sleep. Although, to Kazuha’s credit, there’s really no dream in the world that could beat the world that Sakura wakes up to, every day.