Make It A Home

Masato practically stumbled into the house after another long day at work; he had been up since...5:00am and it was coming close to 8:00pm. He had told himself he'd come home early, maybe spend some time with the kids, maybe relieve the babysitter of her duties earlier, maybe save himself some money also at the same time. Still, he had gotten swamped with work and the extra hours made for a pay check he could be more proud of.

"I'm home." His tone lacked the vitality he would have liked to show his children, but as he struggled to even take his shoe laces off and his stomach grumbled he was unable to think about the way in which the words left his mouth.

The whole house was quiet; very unusual as the kids often came running towards him once they heard him come home. The living room was empty, the kitchen also, and their bedroom was the same as it was when they left it that morning when he took them to school. There was no sign of anyone, and his mind started to race a mile a minute uncontrollably, his heart beating.

Had they been taken? You hear about it all the time, right? Children kidnapped or killed or something like that by their babysitters. That was the only option wasnt it? There was no sign of anyone around! None at all! No note, no nothing! Had the babysitter taken them anywhere she would have left a note, wouldn't she?

His mind, logic, said call the babysitter now and demand to know what's going on; his heart told him to call someone else before he panicked himself into a heart attack.

Somehow, his mind won anyway, and he wished it didn't. Anxiety grew as he found that the babysitter's phone was turned off; he slammed his phone down and pulled back the tears in his eyes, hurrying towards the front door to go anywhere except here. He had to look for them!

Just as he got to the door and got his shoes back on, the front door clicked open and swung close to him. "Calm down, Tsuruta..." Gouzou-kun complained softly.

The man walked in with Tsuruta on his shoulder and Kamezou holding his hand tightly; both children were rubbing their eyes.

"What's going on?"

"Ah, you're home..." Gouzou-kun seemed a little disappointed about that. "I hoped to have them in bed by then, sorry."

"Why... What happened?"

"What do you mean 'what happened?'?" Gouzou seemed frustrated. "I called you earlier; I told you I was done with work early and was going to take them to the park."

Hearing about it now, he vaguely remembered hearing that somewhere. He must've been in the middle of some work. Had he really not listened at all?

Gouzou noticed the deep frown on the other man's face and petted his head lightly, "I'll get them into bed; we'll talk about this later."

"Are they fed already?"

"Yeah, I took care of it." He ushered the children up the stairs and then looked back to his lover, sympathetic eyes, "My mom sent us some food; go heat it up and I'll be there soon."

"Did you eat?"

"Yes."

The food in the fridge smelt good just when he opened the container; as it was cooked, it began to make him more desperate. His mind and heart were still racing and it began to hurt. He could hear playing and splashing from the bathroom upstairs and wished he wasn't so tired and hungry as to have passed off the responsibility of his kids onto his partner. He sat at the table with his soup, sipping slowly, and staring into the distance.

It wasn't long until hands gripped his tense shoulders; it was only then did he realize that, except for the wind blowing heavily outside, everything was in absolute silence.

"Long day?"

"I...can't even remember you telling me that you had the afternoon off, or that you were taking the kids. In fact, I don't remember our phone conversation at all."

"You've been really stressed out lately, Mari."

"I know," he exhaled heavily. He looked back up to Gouzou-kun, smiling lightly, "Thanks for taking over today."

"I don't mind."

Gouzou-kun gripped his shoulders again, "Go up to bed; I'll clean things up."

"I can help."

"You can help by going to lie down." He kissed the top of his head gently and then swiped the bowl from his hand. "I'll be there soon."

A night of lovemaking, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake the kids, was just the thing that they needed; relieving their tensions for a little while, and having a short laugh afterwards as they debated between them whether the kids had woken up, or heard anything, or who was making the most noise between them.

"You're really good with them though." Mari whispered softly.

"At least they've stopped mistaking me for that scary woman."

"That scary woman was their mother so don't call her that to them."

"I wouldn't." He whined, offended. "It's not my fault you have odd taste."

"It's just one out of two." Mari curled up into his side, smiling contently. "I'm really thankful for your help."

"Hm? You sound surprised!"

Mari continued, "I'm still finding it hard to believe this happened. For us to get back together and...with them too..."

"I wasn't going to let you get away again after six years."

"Even if it meant taking care of a scary woman's kids?"

"Before the scary woman got hit by a truck, she was going to ditch you and the kids wasn't she? In my opinion that makes them your kids, and I'm happy to help you with your kids." He kissed his forehead gently and rolled over, pulling Mari to his chest. "We're together now and I don't mind dealing with obstacles as long as that stays the same. Besides, it's...quite nice; I had a good day."

"I'm glad your day was good." Mari smiled, and held no trace of malice in his tone, though his day was clearly less enjoyable.

"I have something to confess though..."

"What is it?" Mari pulled himself up onto his elbows, curious. Gouzou-kun's expression was stained with a bit of red; embarrassment. "What happened?"

"I...didn't tell you I was taking the kids." Before Mari could freak out Gouzou-kun sat up quickly and tried to explain himself, "I was excited to do something for you and to spend time with the kids and then my mom called and I told her about my plans and..."

"That's a lot of 'and's." Mari mumbled.

"I got home, the babysitter left and the kids got anxious so I got them ready and then we went out and I completely forgot that it wasn't you I told about the plans."

Mari sighed and then lay back down, still close to Gouzou, "That's a relief."

"A relief? Your boyfriend is air-headed, how is that a relief?"

"It's a relief I'm not going crazy."

"I suppose that is a relief." He continued to look over his lover; he was still smiling slightly, but his eyes were closed and he was trying to go to sleep. "You aren't mad at me though?"

Shoulders shrugged lightly, "Your intentions were good."

Gouzou laughed and lay back down, cuddling his smaller partner, "How could I not love you?" He exclaimed.

"Quiet." Mari whined. "If you wake the kids..."

"Go to sleep, Mari; I'll take care of everything." He continued to embrace him warmly, stroking his head until he could fall asleep comfortably. All he had wanted to do was, at least for a little while, convince Mari that everything was going to be alright between them despite all the obstacles. Until the moment he would have to remind him again.

A/N: My dear friend recently read the Sensitive Pornograph manga and reminded me of how much I loved it. So the second I came home I spent a whole morning reading it and getting back into it and this came out of it! I really wanted some cute stuff so here it is!

Thank you for reading! A review would be very much appreciated!