Knotted
By Dixxy Mouri
Chapter Eight: You know…make it special

Author's Note

Planning, writing, and posting for Knotted started back during July of 2016, roughly a year and a half before we found out that Pudding is most likely about 16-17 years old, though there is a SLIGHT possibility she's 18 (as in she JUST turned eighteen and the decutuplets are on the cusp of their 19th birthday). Prior to this I assumed that she was somewhere between the ages of 18-20.

As such, for the purpose of this AU fanfic, Pudding was 19 when she married Sanji and 20 during the chapter being posted today.

Thank you.

Dixxy

It was their one-year wedding anniversary – the one-year anniversary of the worst day of his life – and Sanji wasn't even sure Pudding remembered. Then again, he was kind of amazed he'd remembered with how foggy his brain had been. Sleep wasn't much of a "thing" for him for the last three months – some days he could barely keep his own name straight.

Sanji knew that babies didn't sleep through the night prior to the birth of his daughter, but it wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it would be.

It was worse.

Tapioca-chan didn't just wake up once a night – two, three, four, five times a night his sleep would be shattered by the screaming coming from the nursery, amplified by his haki. He couldn't just hear his daughter's fear and hunger and confusion, he could feel it. So, as such, he was perpetually exhausted. He suspected he was getting maybe two hours of sleep a night – four was a luxury – and he felt like the walking dead whenever he was awake, barely able to stand up straight sometimes.

Pudding had started sleeping with ear plugs by Night Two.

The most help he got from her was inadvertent – Pudding's tea parties were a good opportunity to catch up on, for example, Tapioca's laundry or the housework or even just a taking power nap (although Sanji had also quickly learned that Tapioca-chan's naptime = Sanji's naptime). Sometimes she fed the baby. After two months and a tongue lashing from Best Sister-in-Law Praline (that mermaid gave zero fucks when it came to putting her little sisters in their place) Pudding sometimes helped with diaper changing. Still, it wasn't enough, and it might have been nice to get some other help from her. Instead she'd fuck off to her chocolate shop (which, to be fair, meant that money was coming back into the house since Sanji wasn't allowed anything but his shitty allowance for being part of the stupid Auxillary Reserve Guard) or go visit one of her sisters or something.

Hell, he'd started seeing things at one point. This was discovered by a sister-in-law named Lina, someone who Sanji barely registered as one of the guests at the baby shower, but not a frequent visitor otherwise. She discovered him having an incoherent conversation with a houseplant (something he truly didn't remember doing after the fact). After finding out he hadn't slept in about 72 hours, she ordered him to take a nap on the couch while she watched Tapioca-chan for a few hours.

(Sanji was confused about her kindness until he saw the gold, blinking anklets resting just above her shoes and realized he'd recognized her from a traveling ballet company's promotional posters – the company had fallen apart several years ago when their prima ballerina disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and now Sanji knew what happened. As her husband came to collect her, she glanced at his wristlets sadly and gave him a sympathetic frown.)

It had started off as a typical enough morning in the Vinsmoke-Charlotte household. After getting up no less than three times the night before to take care of the baby, Sanji was up for the day around five and was on his second pot of coffee by six, grumpily wishing he had a pack of cigarettes instead. Pudding was up around eight to read the morning paper while he made breakfast, occasionally babbling on to him about something her mother had done that he didn't care about or outright hated. Then, several of his sisters-in-laws (these ones all born into the Charlotte family) showed up out of the blue, and before he even had time to comprehend what was going on, Pudding was on her way out the door, saying she'd be back later that evening, and then all was quiet in the house, Sanji feeling more than a little put-out that his wife hadn't even acknowledged the food he was making. He'd honestly expected Pudding would have dragged him out for the day to do something she probably thought was "romantic" so having the day to himself, while not unusual, was surprising for today of all days.

Well, fuck you, too, darling, at least you're staying out of my way if you're not going to help me! Sanji thought to himself bitterly. He sighed, portioning out his share and Pudding's share – she'd probably eat it later. Or give it to one of her siblings. Then again he doubted she'd remember he'd cooked for her at all by the time she got back, so he thought he might as well make it his lunch.

Sanji leaned against the kitchen counter as he ate in silence (nothing particularly fancy – just his share of the eggs, over-easy and some toast with a little butter and homemade strawberry jam he'd made shortly before the baby was born), keeping an ear out for any sign that Tapioca-chan had woken up – it would be soon if she wasn't awake again already.

Finishing the last of his meal, Sanji made quick work of the dishes, packed away Pudding's abandoned breakfast and his presumed lunch, grabbed a warm baby bottle from the stove, and headed upstairs to the nursery, reminding himself that as horrible as this past year had been, at least one good thing had come out of the marriage. Even if that good thing had resulted in his severe lack of sleep.

As Sanji opened the door to Tapioca's room, he could hear the sounds of his daughter's cooing and all the anger and animosity he felt vanished in an instant. He dropped off the bottle on her changing table before drifting to the side of her crib, gently leaning against the railing. She was wide awake, reaching for her fish mobile. "Hello, Tapioca-chan," he said softly, giving the mobile a gentle spin. She squealed in delight, tiny arms flailing towards the mobile as she smiled in glee. Sanji reached into the crib to pick her up, giving her two kisses on the forehead, one on either side of her center eye, as he moved to sit in the rocking chair.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Sanji asked.

Tapioca responded by sticking her hand in her mouth. She's been doing that a lot lately. It was possible she was in the early stages of teething. Three months was a little young for teething according to his book, but not unheard of.

Sanji sighed and chuckled. "Yeah…I guess it'll be a while before we can have any 'intellectually stimulating conversations,' huh Tapioca-chan?" Tapioca blew on her hand, creating a raspberry sound. Sanji stuck his tongue out at her to play along and blew a raspberry. Tapioca-chan shrieked with laughter, trying to clap in glee. Zoro would never let me live this down if he saw me playing with a baby like this.

…not that I'd let that stupid moss-head near my daughter. She might catch his terrible sense of direction or something. Or try to become a swordsman or want green hair.

…then again…it would mean we'd be home...and even with the way we fought…he'd never let anything bad happen to you, would he…?

"Tapioca-chan, do you think you and your Uncle Marimo would have gotten along okay?" Tapioca grabbed at his shirt and squeezed with delight once she had a grip on the fabric of his t-shirt. "You think so, huh?"

-Meanwhile-

This is stupid.

If the stupid love cook were still here, he'd never let me live this down.

...so, why am I enjoying this so much?

Zoro was staring at Cheska intently. Cheska was staring intently back. Slowly, Zoro covered his face with his hands and he heard the baby gasp. "Where's Uncle Zoro?" he asked. He moved his hands away from his face and the little girl's face lit up in delight and surprise. "Here I am!" The baby shrieked and waved her arms around like she was trying to clap. Zoro laughed, picking the baby up from her play mat. "Want to go get some fresh air while we wait for your Mom and Dad?"

It was Zoro and Carrot's turn to watch the ship (and by extension, their turn to watch Cheska) while the others hurried into port to gather supplies before getting back to the Thousand Sunny. Of utmost importance (in addition to their standard fare – food, cola for the ship, miscellaneous tools and supplies) were baby items for the rapidly growing baby Cheska.

It wasn't that the crew hadn't grown to love Cheska – they did, she was a ray of sunshine in their otherwise difficult life on the run from the Beast Pirates – but even Robin and Franky had to concede that, if they had friends on this side of the Grand Line in a more stable situation, it would have been best for Cheska to be raised somewhere else. But that was a luxury they did not have. Dressrosa was still a political mess in the wake of Doflamingo's removal from power, the less said about Punk Hazard the better, they didn't dare show their faces in Wano after everything that happened, and no one had heard from any of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet crews or the Heart Pirates since everything had gone to shit.

Worse still, the only way to get back to Paradise was blocked by another Emperor who may or may not have been holding Sanji captive for the last year, so short of catching Vivi or Iceburg (maybe) on business on this side of the Red Line, they had no safe place to deposit Baby Cheska. So, as sad as it was...the Thousand Sunny really was the "safest" place for Cheska to be. Not without attracting the wrath of a second Yonko.

Two Emperors chasing us…that would be really bad, wouldn't it? Zoro looked out at the horizon. He thought about Nami's insistence that she'd seen Sanji crying when he swore his loyalty to Big Mom in the wake of Luffy's murder. He looked down at Cheska, a questioning look on his face. While he still couldn't commit to a side, he couldn't deny that Nami's side of the argument held a lot water. It was entirely possible that Sanji felt the only way he could save the rest of the crew, especially if Luffy was gone, was to submit to Big Mom so she'd leave them alone.

Possible. But with only Nami's recollection of a reflection during a time when all those present were traumatized . . . who was to say what she did or didn't see? Zoro had only made his decision to keep the crew safe and because, being the captain now that Luffy was gone, he couldn't be uncertain. Uncertainty would get them killed. And even if he had been crying, then what he was doing was obvious and if they tried to rescue him again and failed, they'd only be hurting him.

Zoro thought back to their very first encounter with Bartholomew Kuwait and Sanji's willingness to sacrifice himself for the crew…and how he did it. He seemed to think if he died it was no big deal, like they'd just all shrug it off and find another cook. Brook, the only other witness to the incident, refused to acknowledge it, but that scene had been plaguing him in recent months.

If Sanji was a traitor, then what changed? It wasn't the promise of a woman – Nami admitted to kissing him and the two planning a lunch date, so he had the start of something with perhaps his FAVORITE woman in the world. He didn't think it was power – those things did not interest the cook. His dream to find the All Blue was more about personal satisfaction and as a gesture of gratitude towards Zeff, his foster father, not about being the best at something. Sure he had pride as a cook but he didn't feel the need to go beat up other cooks aside from maybe the ones back on the Baratie.

So then…why would he…?

It hit Zoro like a punch to the gut.

…there was no reason. No motive. Which means he…

Even though he hadn't been there and had no idea what went down, now he, too, could see Sanji's tearful reflection. Nami was right – hell, why the hell had any of them even doubted her in the first place!? He'd sacrificed himself to Big Mom and her demands so that they wouldn't be chased down by two Emperors at the same time without Luffy.

So then what had become of him?

...I'm sure he's all right…Nami said his wife seemed really nice, after all. Pretty, too. I'm sure she's taking good care of him, even if he is there against his will. And it's not like he can't take care of himself so he'll be okay. Besides, if he's doing this to protect us he'd be mad forever. Not that him being mad forever doesn't sound awesome but…am I doing the right thing? Maybe we should have a meeting once we leave port…but what if…gah! What does it even MATTER!? We can't go after him! Even if we have proof the stupid cook didn't do we don't have a way to get to him! And even if we did Luffy is…

Zoro was not used to being this frustrated. Confidence and self-assuredness was usually his whole thing. Losing Luffy had really messed with his head. It had messed with everyone's head, probably the dumb cook's head, too. Like, maybe he saw Luffy go down and got spooked into doing whatever the hell Big Mom told him to do either out of fear for himself or what she'd do Nami's group.

Cheska grabbed at the lapel of his shirt. Briefly, Zoro imagined the stupid cook smiling and laughing while holding up the baby, spinning around like a noodle-armed idiot, promising her only the finest baby cuisine the world had to offer right before she barfed on one of his good suits. Luffy would probably be pointing and laughing at him while Sanji barked at him for being a stupid idiot or something and yelling at him that no, the baby couldn't eat meat yet or something. He frowned, and Cheska whimpered at him in confusion, sensing something wrong.

"Your Uncle Luffy and Uncle Sanji would have loved you," Zoro quietly confessed.

With Tapioca-chan secure in her baby carrier (the one that held her to his chest, kind of like a reverse nap sack) and a shopping list in hand, Sanji headed out to get some much needed grocery shopping done before Pudding was due to come home. Even if she forgot our anniversary this morning, I don't think it's safe for me to forget – better to have remembered and done something than let it slide.

As Sanji headed into town, he tried to focus on Tapioca-chan in order to tune out the whispers.

"Isn't that Lady Pudding's husband, Black Leg Sanji?"

"I heard he was worth 177 million at one point!"

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen – carrying around a baby like some kind of housewife!"

"How is someone like that not one of Big Mom's top officers?!"

"Maybe it was all smoke and mirrors – he must be a weakling!"

"I heard his brothers from Germa Kingdom say something to that effect – guess it must be true."

"Oh yeah, he's a prince, isn't he? How pathetic! Nothing like what you read about in books!"

"Shameful!"

I'm not ashamed of what I'm doing at all – why would I be ashamed to take care of my own kid? Sanji thought to himself as he gently rubbed Tapioca-chan's back and tried to ignoring the glaring eyes all around him. I'm not going to stand idly by while my daughter needs me. Besides, there's nothing else I can do in this situation. Just leave me alone, you idiots.

As he headed to the food market, all the while doing his best to ignore the stares and whispers, he spotted the familiar figure of Jinbe looking over something, and it occurred to Sanji that the fishman had been away on business since before the baby was born. He looked down at Tapioca-chan, who was gumming the collar of his shirt. "Hey, do you want to go and meet your Uncle Jinbe?" he asked. Tapioca-chan stopped to look at her father for a moment before returning to her previous activity, so Sanji re-adjusted the carrier, hugged the baby, and headed towards Jinbe at a brisk pace.

Jinbe must have sensed them coming, because he stopped what he was doing to lift his head and look around in confusion. When his eyes finally settled on them, his face lit up into a bright smile and he started to laugh, bending forward to get a closer look at baby Tapioca-chan. "Well hello there, little one, how are you?" Jinbe asked.

Tapioca cooed, reaching out to try and grab Jinbe's nose.

"Hey no-chanw, that's not very polite," Sanji said with a chuckle. Tapioca-chan squealed and Jinbe let out a belly laugh. "I know you've been away on business for Big Mom for a while, but I thought you might want to meet my little girl." He readjusted his hold on his daughter. "Say hello to your Uncle Jinbe, Tapioca-chan."

Tapioca-chan blew a spit bubble before bursting out laughing.

Jinbe chuckled. "She seems happy, but, Tapioca?"

"...Pudding chose the name 'Tapioca'," Sanji said dryly. "I had other ideas but..."

Jinbe frowned. "Still threatening you with the wristlets?"

"...yeah," said Sanji. "Not recently but... just the idea that she's not afraid to do it..."

The fishman shook his head. Sanji offered him the chance to hold Tapioca-chan, nodding to Jinbe in encouragement. The fishman took him up on the offer and Sanji removed her from the carrier, all the while watching Tapioca-chan study this new person carefully. She didn't seem to dislike him, per se, but it was clear that she wasn't quite sure what to make of this new, big blue man. She apparently decided she was comfortable with him and nodded off once Jinbe was holding her. That made Sanji smile – she usually just slept in his arms, occasionally in the arms of a sister-in-law he trusted.

Tapioca-chan never slept in her mother's arms.

"Sleeping already? It's not even noon," said Jinbe said with a chuckle.

Sanji laughed. "Human babies sleep a lot – she's just taking a nap," he said. He ran his hand over her head – Tapioca-chan's eyes fluttered for a moment, but she otherwise didn't stir. "Of course she doesn't always like to sleep through the night...I think two nights ago was the first time she didn't need me at two in the morning."

"So then Pudding hasn't been helping," Jinbe said flatly.

"Barely," said Sanji. "But…I don't mind it."

"Because you get to spend more time with your daughter."

Sanji nodded. "I've been smiling since she was born," he said. "I didn't think I'd ever smile again. Doesn't seem to matter what I'm doing with her – feeding her, changing her, even getting up at two in the morning because she's screaming in the nursery and just wants to be held…I'm fine with all of it." He shook his head. "When I found out she was pregnant this is exactly what I was afraid of, and yet here we are."

"You do look like you're doing better – tired, but a little happier," said Jinbe.

"Yeah…just because she slept a few nights ago doesn't mean she slept last night. I fell asleep in the rocking chair again," he said with a laugh. "Pudding doesn't like that very much - she'd much rather have me sleeping in the bed." He furrowed his brow. "Speaking of, today's our anniversary. She seems to have forgotten...probably...but I'm pretty sure I need to do something to show I didn't forget."

Jinbe handed a still sleeping Tapioca back to Sanji, who re-wrapped her into the carrier. The baby stirred very briefly before settling back down, satisfied once she realized she was back with her father. "You haven't don't anything yet?"

"I...have ideas," he said glumly. "I have a little money saved up right now, so I'm hoping to find something at the pawn shop for her a little later." Sanji figured he could find her a necklace or something decently expensive looking for cheap. "My main goal right now is to get something special for dinner," said Sanji. "I'll worry about an anniversary gift in a little bit."

Jinbe gave him a worried look. "Are you sure?"

"She ran out this morning without mentioning it so, like I said – I don't think she remembers. But if she does…it's better than I'm on top of it. She might get mad," he said. He sighed, looking down at his daughter again. So much had changed, and everything but Tapioca-chan still felt surreal and wrong. "It's really been a year."

Jinbe put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic frown. Sanji shook his head and forced a smile. "I'll figure it out. It's fine."

If only Jinbe believed him.

Sanji found a matching earring and necklace set that were pretty tacky but gaudy enough that Pudding would probably assume he paid a lot of money for them. Tapioca-chan seemed to like how shiny the jewelry was and tried to put an earring in her mouth. She was displeased when her father stopped her but was quickly distracted by her favorite toy, a stuffed monkey named Mr. Monkey.

It was one of the toys Jinbe had gifted her when he renovated the nursery for them. It was such a big hit with her that Sanji had needed to track down two spares for when one of them needed to be washed.

They were also really cheap.

They were sold.

With that errand out of the way, Sanji returned to the house. He gave himself and Tapioca-chan lunch (he used the leftover eggs from breakfast to make fried rice while Tapioca-chan had her regular bottle of formula). After entertaining his daughter for about an hour, Sanji put the baby down for a nap and got to work on his anniversary plans for the evening. He started with getting the house cleaned up – it wasn't too bad, so it didn't take long.

Then he got their bedroom.

Sanji stared at the bed. It was still a rumpled mess from this morning and neither of them bothered to make it, but they were probably about due for clean sheets anyways. He stripped the bed, retrieved some pale pink sheets he'd washed yesterday, and made up the bed, smoothing out the salmon pink ruffled comforter as best as he could and arranging the pillows, both decorative and practical, as best as he could.

There was little doubt in Sanji's head that his wife would want him in bed that evening. He sat down on his side of the bed, lowering his head and covering his face with his hands. He was dreading the prospect. I'm twenty-two, I'm WAY too young to feel like I'm WAY too old for this shit. Gah.

Although…when WAS the last time we did it, anyways? They'd stopped having sex sometime during her third trimester, when the doctor gave them instructions to abstain during the last leg of the pregnancy and then while Pudding recovered from the delivery. Sanji hadn't been propositioned since then, which was fine by him - he'd only truly enjoyed it the night they were "celebrating" Pudding's pregnancy, and that was undercut by what happened after. Since then the only sexual pleasure he actually got was during his morning shower jerk-off, otherwise known as Anyone But Pudding Fantasy Time.

Anyone But Pudding Fantasy Time was a good ritual and helped him maintain his sanity. He usually fantasized about Nami, but his mind would wander to the other women who'd been in his life before, anyone but the self-centered brat he'd married. He'd dream about Nami-san and Robin-san coming to save him, saying they believed he was innocent; sometimes it ended in a three-way. He thought about Vivi infiltrating the Big Mom Pirates like she did with Baroque Works and figuring out a way to save him, usually in that sexy dancer outfit. Or maybe that cute Viola girl from Dressrosa finding him as payback for helping her last year, wearing nothing but that flower in her hair.

None of them were ever weirded out that he had a baby.

Nami-san was his favorite fantasy most of the time, but sometimes...he'd imagine that lunch date. Nothing special. Just sitting and talking, laughing as they reminisced about the past. He never got off to that one because he was too busy sobbing before getting to anything particularly sexual. It made him realize that his heart (well, the romantic piece of it – Tapioca-chan had another piece of his heart, of course) belonged to her, and since Nami-san didn't give up her treasure very easily, that's where it would stay for all eternity.

As far as Pudding went…Sanji didn't care. Yes, she was pretty, and she had a great body (how the hell she got it back into shape after the baby baffled him) but he simply wasn't all that interested. Whether or not Pudding was physically attractive was secondary to how most of their marriage had gone. She was not above threatening his precious hands and he had no way to defend himself aside from agreeing with her and trying to stay out of trouble and at least acting like he was "okay". He'd mostly given up on the "happy husband" routine a while ago, so he did his best to act...neutral to fair. As long as Pudding didn't complain and he didn't attract Big Mom's attention…that was the best he could hope for. This was what he had to do to keep everyone he really loved safe. If subjecting himself to Pudding like this would keep the people he still loved safe – Zeff and the cooks at the Baratie, Zoro and the other Straw Hats, Ivankov and the Okamas, and his beloved little Tapioca-chan – then fine. He could do that.

Pudding returned home shortly after seven. Tapioca-chan was already in bed for the evening (assuming she didn't start screaming at two in the morning), and Sanji had prepared seared elephant fin tuna steaks with glazed green beans and twice-baked potatoes with cheddar and chives. "Ooo, fancy!" Pudding said, clasping her hands together as she looked over the meal. "What's the occasion?"

Ah, she DID forget, Sanji thought to himself. "It's our anniversary."

Pudding looked at him. "No it's not…wait, today's the sixth, right?"

"It's the eigth." How are you off by TWO days?

"…oh no, oh you're right!" she said.

Sanji forced himself to smile. "It's all right," he said. "Look, I made us dinner. See?"

"We should have gone out, though," Pudding said, pouting at him. "Maybe we can take a long weekend and go off-island for a little second honeymoon." She lit up at the idea, until Sanji pointed at one of his wristlets. "Oh, right, whoops. Well, we can find something else fun to do instead. I'm sure we'll think of something."

They ate dinner and talked, Pudding telling Sanji about her exploits with her sisters and Sanji pretending he cared about Pudding's exploits with her sisters. He in turn talked about his day with Tapioca-chan, and she commented that he was such a good father (which he would have been happier about if he thought she was being sincere and if she even made an attempt at being a good mother).

Once dinner was finished, Pudding started giving him the "bedroom" eye. There it is.

They awkwardly fumbled their way into their bedroom. She grinned seductively at him. "I missed this, Sanji darling," she said in a low, sultry voice.

Funny. I didn't.

Additionally, this would be the first time since their wedding night that Pudding wasn't pregnant, so there was that aspect as well. Granted, he'd been pretty good about sticking to his routine with the pills Jinbe had been sneaking him (hell, he even had backup pills in his sock drawer – that bottle was labeled "Male Enhancement", a disguise he was particularly proud of because he was CERTAIN she wouldn't question those if she found them), but another pregnancy was something he simply couldn't allow. While Sanji felt that Tapioca-chan was the best thing in his life, hands down, his feelings on a second child hadn't changed since his conversation with Jinbe on the subject. Pudding paid far too little mind to the baby they already had, giving her another one was asking for trouble.

Sanji was so very, very grateful to Jinbe.

It was a weird feeling – just a little over a year ago he'd been DESPERATE to be with a woman, but a year into being sexually active he kind of hated it. At least with her. He was reasonably certain if he was with a different woman (probably Nami-san) it wouldn't be nearly as tedious and joyless as it was with his wife. The affection wouldn't be so forced and he wouldn't want her to just roll over and leave him alone.

Worst still was everything else surrounding this day. It wasn't just his wedding anniversary. It was also the anniversary of the day Luffy died, the day he'd had to lie to his friends about betraying them because just being taken away from them hadn't been enough for Big Mom, and the day he'd stopped being a Straw Hat, even if his heart was still on that ship and truth be told, he still felt like one. These were all things he still thought about regularly, if not daily, but it stung extra hard today.

Once they were finished, Sanji found himself awash of conflicting emotions – ecstasy and agony, loneliness and frustration, fear and sadness. He collapsed on the bed next to his wife, who was grinning ear-to-ear as she cuddled up next to him and he absently put his arms around her, desperately wishing she was someone else.

"That was fantastic, Sanji darling!" she quipped happily, patting her stomach. Sanji felt his skin crawl and he suppressed a shudder. "Hopefully we'll have more good news in a month or so, right?"

"Yup," he said, trying not to sound disinterested while she played with his hair. She didn't need to know that he was looking forward to "good news" as well, it was just the opposite of what she wanted.

The gears in Sanji's head started to turn, and he realized just how damn draining this part of their marriage really was. He could play the role of happy father no problem (because he was happy having Tapioca-chan in his life – she was great, just about everything else sucked). His kitchen wasn't as good as the one on the Thousand Sunny, but when he wasn't taking care of the baby it kept him busy enough. Even the household chores weren't so bad, especially if he had Tapioca-chan nearby to keep him company. But this? It might be fun for a little while but he usually felt like shit after it was all said and done.

I can't keep doing this to myself..,

Sanji turned his head and caught a glimpse of one of his wristlets and a horrible thought sunk into his thoughts. It stood to reason that if Pudding wasn't above using his wristlets to get her way when it came to little bullshit things like what they were having for dinner or how to decorate the house, but what if she tried to use his restraints to get…this...out of him?

It was possible Pudding could use the wristlets to pin him down…

I can't let her try that, he thought to himself fearfully. But what am I supposed to do?

An idea popped into Sanji's head. Unless…

"You know…we could make this a weekly thing," he said, trying to sound thoughtful.

Pudding propped herself up on her elbow. "Oh?" she asked, running her foot over his leg.

Bingo. Sanji knew that, unless Pudding lost interest (which wasn't happening anytime soon – she wanted a small army of babies), a sexless marriage wasn't going to be an option. Pudding probably wasn't the only one that wanted a lot of children – Big Mom probably wanted the same thing as a means to grow the Big Mom Pirates. Even with Jinbe giving him the pills, he needed to at least pretend he was trying to get his wife pregnant and feign ignorance at their infertility. At the same time, he hated how he felt at that moment and he needed to figure out a way to protect himself from it as much as possible, as well as from the possibility that she might use his wristlets in this context.

But…what if he could convince her to put their sex life on a schedule? That way, there would be no unexpected surprises and he'd have time to plan around it and mentally prepare himself for it. Monthly probably wouldn't be often enough since she wants another baby, but weekly…weekly could work. I think I can live with weekly. Get her to pick a day and we stick to that day…that could work.

"You know…make it special," he said. And by "special" I mean "limited", as in "you keep your fucking hands off me six nights a week". "Yeah, just pick a day and that will be…our special night." Sanji wanted to gag when he said it.

"How about Saturday?" Pudding said, batting her eyes at him. "Date night."

Sanji forced himself to grin. What "dates" are you speaking of? They hadn't gone on any "dates" since before Tapioca had been born. Oh, certainly Pudding still went out to see her sisters and sometimes brought one or both of them along for the ride so she could brag and show off, but Sanji was always busy with the baby these days, and Saturday nights were no exception. He wondered what, exactly, Pudding planned on doing with their daughter during these "dates" but decided to leave that alone for the moment. "All right, Saturday will be our special night."

"And our anniversary, of course – oh and birthdays!" she said.

"…sure," he said.

Pudding squealed with delight and started kissing his neck, and Sanji closed his eyes. All right, you can have your way with me again. But I'm going to hold you to Saturday nights – just Saturday nights. Sanji gripped the bedsheets and clenched his eyes shut. You can do this.

Just one Saturday night at a time…

Author's Notes

Sorry this took so long to get out _ I've been super tired as of late. My IRL job is tempory contract work and as such I haven't had a significant amount of time-off since May 2016 other than a few days where the place I was working lost power and a few long holiday weekends. I'm beat. I want a vacation. And I don't even wanna go anywhere, I just wanna sleep and catch up on my housework and my artwork.

…adulting sucks.

As Whole Cake Island seems to be winding down (maybe) I definitely have thoughts about how I've handled certain characters, some of which I need to discuss at length with my beta readers. At the very least I've got the bones of the next chapter done but we'll see how long it takes me to get those out. I pretty much known about how long the story takes place in-universe and I sincerely hope it doesn't take me that long in the real world to get this done, especially since I do eventually want to get back to Mass x Acceleration and some other projects, you know, eventually.

And that's it this time around.

Dixxy