Growing Together

Summary:A tasty treat for TaiYama Week 2018. The blossoming of a new relationship; the development from friends to lovers. Blissful moments and the hardships faced.

D-Angel: Last one :D I really hope you guys enjoy it. Although the chapter is called Freebie since that was technically the prompt, the theme for this one is "Birth" :)

Please, read on ;)

Chapter 14 - Freebie

Cradling the newborn life in his arms for the first time was more than overwhelming. He gazed down at her dark chocolate eyes as he carefully brushing his fingers through her soft wisps of black hair, savouring her fresh sugary smell, which reminded him of Yamato's.

"She's perfect," Taichi said, his voice hushed in respect of the newborn's sensitive ears. Yamato, who was sat on a chair by the window, peered over at him with a sentimental smile on his face.

"We did a good job," Takeru laughed, peering at Hikari, who was sitting up in her hospital bed, eyes tired, but full of content.

"Wanna hold her, Yama?" Taichi asked. Yamato's eyes widened as Taichi walked over to him before he could even give an answer. His chest tightened and his arms started to shake as he gazed at the vulnerable bundle cradled in Taichi's burly arms.

"You don't have to stand," Takeru added, noticing his brother's hesitation.

With a hushed sigh, the blond yielded.

"Ok."

A wide toothy grin spread across Taichi's face. Yamato readied himself, praying he was not about to kill his baby niece.

"Here, just support her head like this..." Taichi helped the blond prop up his arm so the newborn's head could rest against him comfortably as he lowered her into his still shaking arms.

"Oh, she's light," Yamato stated as Taichi stepped back and viewed the sight of his partner cuddling their niece. A sense of pride beamed through his body from head to toe.

"If you think about it, she's part me and part you," Taichi said, analysing the blond's thoughtful expression, "isn't that weird?"

Takeru slipped over to Taichi's side and took a photograph of the cute display using his phone.

"She loves her Uncle Matt," Takeru said, his words wrapped with tenderness as he watched his daughter close her eyes and completely relax in Yamato's now still arms.

"Can you take her back?" Yamato asked, just a few seconds later. "I'm worried I'll drop her."

Takeru laughed, then carefully scooped his daughter out from Yamato's arms and held her close to his chest.

"We should really decide on a name for her," Takeru said. In truth, her arrival had been unexpected; Hikari had only found out she was pregnant when she was almost at 25 weeks. They had always wanted children, so it had not been an issue, but they would have preferred to have enjoyed a few more years of being a married couple before starting a family.

"Yama, do you want kids one day?" Taichi asked during their car journey to Nagoya (their pit stop before heading back to Osaka).

"I already have one," Yamato replied dryly.

"What?" Taichi instantly exclaimed as he turned to look at Yamato with wide eyes. But, before the fear could completely spread across his body, the ball dropped when he saw the mocking smile playing on Yamato's lips.

"Oh." He nudged his elbow into Yamato's side. "Shut up!"

"Taichi, road, concentrate."

The brunet rolled his eyes, but steered the car back into their designated lane before making sure he kept his focus on the road.

"I quite like how things are at the moment," Yamato confessed, fiddling with the silver band on his ring finger. His joint business with Akemi was going strong (Takumi had bowed out to try and establish himself in the music industry). Taichi was managing the company's finances, and was assisting a handful of their clients with their own budgeting and accounting.

They were still only thirty-one. Maybe in a few years time they could explore the possibility of having children. Adoption was not yet an option, but they could always foster.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Taichi replied, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel, tapping along to the faint acoustic music playing from the speakers. "We're pretty cosy as a twosome."

"True. I think I might find it difficult to share you too," Yamato added with a smirk.

"So territorial," Taichi teased, brushing his left hand against Yamato's thigh. The blond once again reminded him to pay attention to the road as the car slightly swerved to the side. He groaned and told Yamato to stop distracting him.

"I thought you liked my inner-wolf?"

"I do."

Yamato smiled, reclining back into his seat.

Half an hour later, they pulled over at a service station to grab some lunch. Yamato unfastened his seatbelt, then leant over and planted a gentle kiss on Taichi's unsuspecting lips.

"Thanks for not killing us," he spoke, his warm breath still tickling Taichi's mouth before he went in for another smooch. "And for not getting us stuck in the middle of a muddy field."

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Taichi groaned, un-clipping his own seatbelt.

"Nope. Nor will I ever let you forget about the time you almost passed out in the onsen," Yamato said.

Taichi pouted.

"Or that time you gave me food poisoning-"

"-Alright, alright, stop with listing all my failures!" Taichi groaned. He stepped out of the car stiffly and stretched his arms above his head as he waited for Yamato to emerge so he could lock the doors.

As Yamato walked around to the front of the car, he patted his hands against his jeans, ensuring his phone and wallet were still there, before he met Taichi's gaze. His lips curled up into a small grin. The brunet mirrored his expression. Even after fifteen years of being together, Taichi still felt butterflies dance in the pit of his stomach whenever the blond gifted him with a simple smile.

"Hungry?" Yamato asked.

"Yes, but not for food."

"Just hold on for another two hours." Yamato placed his arm around Taichi's shoulder, drawing him close to his side. "Then I'll satisfy that appetite of yours."

D-Angel: And we're done! For real this time, haha. It's been a blast contributing to TaiYama Week for the first time ever! I really don't know why I didn't know this existed any sooner! xD I've also really enjoyed following other people's contributions. So happy I'm still not the only TaiYama crazed fan around!

Thank you so much for reading! And shout out to Sea Queen, Angelfish, Caliboy, Freebutterfly and Knightlawn for your lovely reviews :)

I'll be shifting my focus back to Cup of Lust now so I can try and finish that before the end of the year, lol.

Ciao for now my lovelys :D

D-Angel

27/05/18