Aiba couldn’t help but nervously glance back and forth from Kazu and to Sakurai, when he wasn’t looking, as he clenched and unclenched his hands underneath the table. His mother had only told him five minutes later that he called his brother and sister-in-law for a long-awaited family dinner, and mentioning that he had a surprise. He heard Yuusuke’s begging through the phone, but their mother hung up without giving him the slightest of hints. It wasn’t his sister-in-law he was worried of, but his brother.

Since they were kids, Yuusuke had always looked up to him like some kind of path he had to follow. As the older brother, he learned to be less foolish around him and became more mature for him. Once, when Aiba did nothing but focus on his school work, Yuusuke did the same, when he aimed to be on the top list of honor students; ironically, Yuusuke placed a number above him. He wasn’t mad at his brother at all since they’ve both made it to the top, but he was glad that he pulled him away from playing video games all day. Now that they were older, he began going his own path, but Aiba still felt as if his brother still seek for guidance.

Will he be ashamed of me? That very same troubling thought stayed in his head and he wished that it could go away. But no matter how hard he tried to think of something else, his brother’s face of disapproval kept appearing. He groaned audibly and covered his face with his hands; he shouldn’t left while his mother and Sakurai were busy in the kitchen.

“Are you alright Aiba-san?”

He jumped up in surprise when he felt Sakurai’s hand on his arm, but he didn’t pull away. His hand felt so nice and warm on his skin that it helped him ease his thoughts by a bit. “I’m nervous,” he admitted with an obvious nervous laugh.

“Well don’t be,” Sakurai told him with a reassuring smile, and Aiba wished it was as easy as he had said it. “It’s only family, right? (Plus me).”

“Yeah…” He gave a weak smile as he tried to relax the nerves in his body, and let out a small contented sigh as Sakurai made soothing circles with his thumb on his arm. It felt odd letting another man, other than a masseuse or a doctor (ironically Sakurai was a doctor), touch him, but Sakurai’s touch felt better than that of a masseuse’s. The moment of ease lasted for a while longer when the doorbell rang and Aiba quickly got on his feet. But his mother came out of the kitchen and told him to sit back down. Soon, he heard his brother’s laughter and his sister-in-law’s chatter, as well as his nephew’s loud babbling. He wanted to run away with Kazu, but there was no means of escape now that it was too late.

“So where’s this surprise that nii-chan brought?” Came Yuusuke’s voice as the lot neared the dining room. “Is it--”

Aiba slowly turned around and he saw his brother’s shocked face as he stared at Kazu, who laid peacefully in his arms. Yuusuke stayed in that position for a while until his wife nudged him and ordered him to fix the high chair for their son. While his brother tended to his nephew, his sister-in-law rushed towards him with her fingers dangerously out in front of her.

“You did it!” She yelped in joy as she grabbed his cheeks and shook his head from side to side. She may be younger than him, but she always acted like a big sister. “I’m so proud of you.”

“You mean you knew?” Said her husband from the other side of the dining room. “And you didn’t tell me about it?!”

“Well,” she released his cheeks and lightly chuckled, “it was better if you heard it from him.”

“And you too, ma?” He asked their mother who had both her grandsons in her arms. When she took both of them, Aiba hadn’t noticed, and where she got her strength, Aiba hadn’t noticed either.

“He came unannounced and if I had known, I would have invited everyone sooner.”

“And who’s this?” His sister-in-law asked as soon as she laid her eyes on Sakurai. “Is he some family friend I have yet to meet?”

Sakurai laughed and shook his head. “No, I’m Kazunari-kun’s pediatrician. I’ve taken care of him since he was born.”

“Then--”

“I called him over,” Aiba interrupted her, afraid that she might say or ask something embarrassing, “to prove to ma that Kazu’s adopted.”

“Adopted?!” Came Yuusuke’s startled cry. “So you don’t--”

“I don’t have a wife, or anyone,” Aiba continued for him, glad that his brother didn’t sound disappointed in him at all. His earlier doubts about his brother disapproving of him began to leave his mind as he watched his brother struggling to fix the high chair, but he eventually gave up. He felt even more at ease when he saw his brother trying to see Kazu for himself, to which their mother refused and kept her grandsons to herself.

“At least let me say hello to my nephew,” Yuusuke gave up with a fight and stood besides his wife (who kept pulling him to fix the high chair). Their mother gave in eventually and turned around so the children were facing Yuusuke. He waved at Kazu with a huge grin and said, “Hello, Kazunari! I’m your uncle, Yuusuke!” Kazu cooed in response and stared at him with huge eyes as if he was amazed of his brother’s face. “And that little monster besides you is your cousin, Ataru.”

“Hey,” his wife pinched him on the side, “Ataru’s not horrible.”

“Yeah he is. He kicked me in the face when I was trying to change his diaper,” her husband remarked and stuck out his tongue.

“Watch it,” she hissed, “he’s our son we’re talking about!”

Yuusuke laughed. “I know, hon, I know. Just that he gets it all from you.”

“What?!”

Aiba laughed as he watched the two playfully fight about who’s monstrous side Ataru got it from, and he wondered if this was a normal thing for the both of them. Though he was glad that the two made the place more lively along with the presence of the two children, babbling and cooing altogether.

“Alright, alright,” their mother stood in between the two, “Papa will be home in a few minutes. Yuusuke, fix the high chair for your son, and Masaki, come with me to the kitchen.”

He felt bad about leaving Sakurai, but it seems that he was going to be ok since his sister-in-law chose to speak to him instead of barking orders to her husband. Once they were in the kitchen, his mother gave him Kazu and sighed, taking a seat on a wooden stool. “Even though I’ve accepted Kazu, I don’t know if papa might.” Aiba sharply breathed in a lungful of air. “But I know he will come around, and Kazu’s already a part of the family. So what I’m trying to say is, let me do the talking.”

He released his breath and nodded his head. It would sound better if it came from his mother and not him, but he wanted to be able to tell his father his side of the reason. “Do I get a say in this?”

“Of course,” she answered, “I’m not the one who adopted Kazu.”

He sighed in relief. “Right…”

“Now, let’s get things going, shall we?”

Aiba nodded his head and took Kazu out with him to the dining room. He saw that the high chair was fixed, but his nephew was in his brother’s arms instead. Ataru kept kicking his face every time he tried to kiss his stomach, and now he understood why he was called a monster by him. Strange, though, because his nephew never misbehaved around him, probably because he’s the cool uncle.

He reclaimed his seat besides Sakurai and put Kazu down in his stroller. His mother told him that high chairs were unnecessary for now, and agreed because Kazu doesn’t even know how to sit up by himself yet. As his mother and sister-in-law were putting plates of food on the table and a count of six empty plates, Aiba wondered what he was going to tell his father. Unlike the other times he was nervous about his mother and Yuusuke, it was strange that the thought of his father didn’t make him nervous at all. It must be because he was so close to him more than his mother, and he knew that his old man had always wanted a lot of grandchildren to spoil. Still, he was a bit nervous, but not enough to make him want to run away.

It was sooner than he had expected, but they all heard the door open and close, followed by his old man’s shout of, “I’m home!” He felt the urge to greet him at least, but his mother shot him a look that told him not to do anything. He obeyed and kept his eyes on Kazu, and fixed his clothes although it was already fixed. Again, he felt Sakurai’s reassuring hand on his knee, and he wished it could stay there longer when his father came into the kitchen.

TBC