KKM 08 The New World

Yuri had never felt as tired as he did now, nor as sore. Even after a double header where he made three slide-plays to round the bases he had felt less sore than he did now. Yuri smoothed his hand down his stomach, satiated and bloated with two bowls of long-awaited curry he had devoured just before returning to sleep no more than two hours ago.

Conrad approached Yuri's side, noticing his husband was awake again. "Good morning, do you feel more rested?"

Yuri nodded, "I needed that extra bit of sleep. How are the twins?"

"They're fast asleep. They ate just a few minutes ago so they'll probably sleep for now."

"I see." Yuri smiled, snagging Conrad's hand in his, "So we're going back to the castle? …Is there even a nursery ready for them?" Yuri's eyes held an untold amount of concern, truth be told he didn't even like them being out of sight in the adjoining room here at the shrine, the thought that his babies would be who knows how far away from him in the castle made him cringe, internally at least.

"Well, it is, but it's a bit unorthodox to usher them to a nursery so soon, for now they'll be placed in bassinettes in our royal suite, of course during the day they'll be monitored by a wet-nurse, but you expected that didn't you?"

"Who…?" Yuri's eyes were clearly concerned, after all who would he willingly leave his babies to for an entire day, day in and out?

"Nicola and the maids, of course Gisela will want to check on them too, not to mention my mother. There are plenty of people who want to see the babies, perfectly trustworthy people."

"…And your brothers, they'll want to see them too, won't they?"

"Of course." Conrad smiled, endearingly, "Gwendel has already been commissioned to make their first teddy-bears, and another for Greta so she won't feel left out. She's been asking him about it already."

Just the image made Yuri feel warm inside. Sitting up, Yuri ignored the numbing prickles that shot up and down his back, excited by the prospect that he would soon go home to see his now expanded family. Yuri looked around for his royal garb in time to see Conrad fetching a change of clothes for him.

He looked at the clothes strangely, the clothes looked very easy to take on and off, but hardly like his normal gakuran, besides that, it was obvious it would never hold up to the wear-and-tear of horseback riding.

"Ah, Conrad… where are my clothes?"

"What you wore here? They've been sent ahead to be cleaned, this is your outfit for today, Yuri."

"…I see… but, how can anyone ride a horse in those?"

Conrad blinked at him, "Well, I'm sure an experienced rider could… but why are you concerning yourself with that?" Conrad smiled at him with a friendly warmth that made Yuri fall in love with him all over again.

"Well, we're supposed to go back to the castle today, aren't we?"

"Yes."

"…But how…"

"By carriage of course, there's simply no way for you to ride a horse so soon Yuri, besides wouldn't you prefer to ride with our children? If those arrangements aren't to your liking I could see if we can alter them, however…"

"No! No that's fine, I just guess I wasn't thinking it through, it's just we normally go horseback-riding, so I just didn't think and presumed that… ah you know what I mean, don't you?"

"You're still out of it, aren't you?"

Yuri nodded.

"And still sore?"

He nodded vigorously. "Very."

"I see… then please lie back down while I make the preparations."

Yuri stubbornly shook his head, "I'm not really tired per-say, more like I'm groggy."

"I see." Conrad smiled gently, handing Yuri pants with an abundance of fabric to them, what surprised Yuri most about the design was the fact that they were wrapped, not pulled up to be fastened, with fashionable belt-straps to hold their form to his legs, his shirt was a loose button-up long-sleeve design, instead of his ever-present flowing cloak, a fur hooded cloak took it's place, similar to his wedding garb though this one was solid black. In fact, it all was black. The only bit of color offered to him came from his blue pendant.

Conrad assisted Yuri with putting on knee-high tights and his calf-length black fur-trimmed leather boots before handing Yuri a set of fur-trimmed leather gloves.

"We'll leave shortly, Yuri."

Yuri nodded once before closing his eyes, now warm he felt a whole new wave of fatigue, truth be told he felt depleted and exhausted, yet he couldn't feel tired, instead his whole body just ached for an unattainable feeling rest would usually bring.

Yuri slumped his head against Conrad's shoulder, already half-asleep causing the brunette to smile warmly, he had suspected half as much, already anticipating Yuri falling asleep on their way back to the castle, as evident by the throw he had placed inside the cabin of the carriage.

Within ten minutes, the babies were prepared for transportation through the snowy scenery as the new parents traveled over to the carriage, Conrad helping Yuri into the cabin then signaling for the twins to be brought out, into the elements momentarily.

Dorcas sat atop the carriage, waiting for Conrad to signal their departure, a small guard set about to escort the captain and the very important cargo.

Arrival to the castle was much more uneventful than anyone could hope, Yuri and the twins slept through the ride, even through the roaring cheers in the city-streets as the royal carriage transported back the growing royal family to the Covenant Castle.

Once inside, however, that veil of peace was shattered by fretting maids, uncles, grandmother, friends, Greta and Yuri, alike. The twins were ready for their feeding timed perfectly by Nicola as she entered with the bottles, causing Yuri to smile with a sense of relief. At long last he actually witnessed them eating. Within half an hour afterwards, the twins were burped, changed, clothed then set to bed. Yuri chose that time to steal himself to do office-work that needed to be done, hoping he wouldn't fall asleep and drool over the papers.

Of course, just as Conrad timed it, he entered Yuri's office as the teen reached his limit, gradually angling closer and closer to the desk, as Conrad opened the door, Yuri's head had rested to the desk, having fallen asleep. Conrad stifled his soft chuckle in awe at Yuri's innate adorableness.

Stealing himself, Conrad presumed that this would be the trend set for the next few months and with that transported Yuri to bed.

The End.