Mark huffed and jolted as he felt a kick to the ribs, hand resting over the spot his daughter had decided to pummel for the afternoon. She was doing it even more now that Mark was standing in the kitchen, grabbing the few shakers full of sprinkles that they owned. She was making it hard for Mark to do anything and he wondered if she'd ever stop. If she was anything like Yuta, she sadly wouldn't. The man was annoyingly persistent and their baby seemed to be the exact same. With every kick she landed on whatever organ she chose, the more the fatigue grew inside of Mark. 

She was one of the reasons they were staying in tonight. Lugging around a baby was hard work, especially a nearly full-term one inside of Mark's body. All he wanted to do was sit and relax and Yuta was more than happy to oblige, not particularly wanting to go out into the frigid air either. It was one of the coldest nights so far this December and why go out when you can stay inside and stay warm and cozy? And cuddled up to your pregnant husband? Yuta was living the life and he didn't even have to leave his house. 

It was also two days before Christmas and that usually meant the hustle and bustle of preparations and last-minute gift grabs, the thrill of the holidays fueling everyone's spirits. It was stressful times and it was a lot to handle, and handling stress while pregnant was not one of Mark's strong suits. He preferred it away from all the noise and people and while Yuta was a bigger fan of the excitement, he was not willing to force Mark into something he wouldn't enjoy. He was content doing what his husband wanted at all times. 

So the two were spending the next few days in their own bubble, dressed in their matching Christmas pajamas and having their own kind of fun with no interruptions. Christmas pajamas were a must between them both and had been for years when it came to the holidays, even before they met each other. They typically wore onesies in the days leading up to Christmas, designed to look like a ridiculous Christmas character that would make them laugh upon sight, but finding a onesie that would fit a pregnant person's body was nearly impossible, especially someone as far along as Mark was. So they managed and figured that they could break their five-year running tradition and settle on two pieces instead of single sleepsuits. They could continue the next year's Christmas and have a baby joining in on their tradition. 

Tonight consisted of an at-home date night building a gingerbread house and decorating gingerbread men, something Mark had been dying to do ever since they started stacking kits on the shelves at the grocery stores. Yuta had never made one before so he was just as excited as Mark was, and the younger was excited to go through every detail with him. To make it even more special, they'd made their own gingerbread to use, preferring it fresh over mass-produced and boxed. Mark claimed it was better to work with and Yuta was all for baking with his husband, even if he did most of the work. 

With sprinkles now in hand, Mark walked back towards the kitchen table where Yuta patiently sat. His hips swayed from side to side, waddle prominent all thanks to his daughter. She was all out in front today and all Mark wanted to do was lay down and rest, that is if he could get comfortable first. Nothing felt comfortable, but he could handle sitting in his kitchen chairs for an hour and building a gingerbread house contentedly. Yuta would make it bearable; he always did.  

"Should we put a layer of frosting down all over the board first?" Yuta asked over his shoulder, eye contact with Mark all too serious. He held a container of vanilla frosting in his hand and a frosting spreader in the other, looking a little stiff, "Or should we just put it where we're going to put the walls of our house? Or, should we put it as we go and only use it when we need to stick something down, leaving the board mostly clean?" there were a lot of options to choose from. They had already filled piping bags with the frosting they needed and Yuta was trying to figure out how to sufficiently utilize the remainders as mortar. His perfectionism was showing. 

All in all, Yuta was taking building a gingerbread house a little too seriously and they hadn't even started yet. He was focused and calculating every little detail, not making any move until it was thought out so nothing would fall apart. Mark would understand if this was a house Yuta was building for them to live in, but this wasn't a real house. It was taking much more time than assembling a gingerbread house required, and Mark had to laugh, placing an endeared kiss on the top of his head. This man of his...

"You better put it all over the board or I'll try to eat whatever is left later," Mark pointed out as he finally sat down with a huff, already tempted by the sight of the sweet vanilla frosting, "Use as much as you can, and don't even save it for the fridge," earlier that week, Yuta had made the mistake of leaving leftover cookie dough in the fridge after making many more cookies than he had planned to. Yuta had shared how he was going to use the extra cookie dough to bake another batch of cookies when the freshly baked batch ran out, but it hadn't even lasted an hour before Mark had shamelessly scooped the bowl clean along with a handful of baked cookies, "Lord knows I'll try and eat it, and I don't think so much sugar is good for the baby," he remarked, a hand going to rest on the crest of his rounded belly. His daughter kicked again as though she understood he was talking about her. 

Most of Mark's cravings consisted of sugary foods and an affinity towards sweets and it being the holidays didn't help one bit. There were more reasons to bake and plenty of visitors were stopping by to offer cookies and baked goods they had and made a surplus of. They never lasted long in this house; Mark couldn't help himself when desserts were within a few feet of him. 

"I'll put it all over the board and use the rest as a binder," Yuta announced as he started to spread a thin layer of frosting over the board they were going to build their gingerbread house on. They needed a strong foundation to start with if they wanted their house to stay upright, "And about all that sugar, probably not," Yuta agreed with a shrug, lips pursed in thought, "I can stop baking if you want, and start turning away any treats people try to give us," he offered light-heartedly. He already knew what Mark was going to say, "We don't need them in the house if you don't want them. I could toss what we don't need, too. So you don't have to look at them."

"Don't you dare," Mark swiftly warned, landing a hand harshly on his husband's thigh with a frown marring his features. He chanced a threatening glare, letting it be known that he meant business and that if Yuta were to do anything with his desserts he would be furious, "I'll be so upset, and then I'll have to make cookies myself, and I don't think you'd want that." 

Yuta smirked and continued with his task, but not without taking that threat to heart. Mark was not the most skilled cook in the kitchen and if he tried to bake cookies it would surely be a mess and could even end in a house fire. They'd had close enough incidents before, far too close to be comfortable. Yuta was going to listen to Mark for the sake of their house and their lives. 

"I won't, I promise," Yuta grinned, momentarily taking a moment to stare at Mark so he could admire him. He was frowning yes, but with the way his cheeks rounded out from pregnancy and all the sweets he had been inhaling, the scowl was too cute not to marvel at. Yuta giggled and launched forward so he could steal a kiss on those pouty lips before Mark could even think of pushing him away, "I'll make whatever you want and more," Yuta quickly dipped his finger into the frosting that was spread onto the board without breaking eye contact, then he bopped Mark's nose so that there was vanilla frosting covering the tip, "Because I love you." 

Mark's frown melted into a pleased and amused smile, "I love you, too," he echoed sweetly, hearts in his eyes. He then wiped the frosting off and it off his finger. The sweetness and sugar made him happy, "Now give me a proper kiss," he demanded, pursing his lips for yet another kiss from Yuta. His stomach was delightfully twisting in knots, joy overcoming his soul because Yuta could bring out the best of him in moments he least expected it. 

Yuta giggled and scrunched his nose, smile wide and ridiculous as he happily obliged, kissing his husband with that same smile on his face. And while he was occupied with kissing, Mark snuck his own finger into the frosting wonderland and made sure to get a decent amount on his fingertip before smearing the sticky sweetness onto his husband's skin. Yuta pulled away and yelped but the damage was done, a long stripe of white frosting stuck to his cheek. Mark laughed in mischievous joy, giving Yuta a taste of his own medicine. 

The older grabbed a napkin to clean himself up all while continuing to laugh like a mad man, "Alright alright, you got me," he admitted defeat, "I'm done," there was still a small smear of the icing on his cheek but Mark wasn't going to say anything about it, "We should start before all the frosting has left the board," he guessed, sure that if they continued their little game there would be nothing left to work with. He started to fix the areas they had disturbed, returning to its previously smooth scape. 

"Okay," Mark agreed and leaned back in his chair. He had to smooth his Christmas pajamas back over his bump since they shifted in the small movement, a stripe of stretchmarks revealing themselves to the world. That was typical with how big and round he was. He thought back to the time he thought he was huge at only twenty weeks along. How he yearned deeply for those days, the days when his belly didn't take up most of the room in his lap and the days when he could get up from a chair on his own. Those days would return soon, but he could barely wait. 

The two were spending Christmas mostly between themselves. The baby wasn't due for another few weeks but that was close enough to leave Mark dead tired most of the time and he couldn't be bothered to stress himself out over traveling and readying himself for Christmas madness. His mother and father were staying out in Canada this time around, instead saving their flight out for when their granddaughter was born. Yuta's parents were spending their own Christmas in Australia, somewhere warm so they didn't have to deal with the cold and snow. So for the whole season, there was n