Popcorn ~KuroKen~

Chapter 10: santa paws

Tetsurou Kuroo

"...ddy! Da...y! Daddy wake up!!!"

"M'awake, m'awake..." I said, definitely not awake.

Kazuki knew it, and tickled the side of my neck. I writhed around and grabbed him, cuddling him close to me, and saying "merry Christmas bud!" as I tickled him. I was still wearing the reindeer onesie, and he flicked at the antlers a little bit. I did my best to make a "neigh" noise, but it fell kind of flat. Kazuki laughed anyway, and I said "let's go downstairs and see if Santa has been, shall we?"

"Yeah yeah yeah!!" He said, pulling me out of the bed. I checked my phone to see that it was 6:30am. Not bad, really, considering how young he was. His little gasp when he saw the "snow" on the floor was adorable, and he laughed and hugged me tightly when he saw the bag of presents by the fire. He patiently waited for me to settle down on the floor next to him before he started opening them. There was never anything for me, of course, but who cares about that right now? This was his day, and I was gonna make sure he loved every second of it, no matter what.

"Woah, a Switch! Daddy, look!"

"Awesome bud! Say thank you Santa!"

"Thank you Santa!"

His reaction was the same for every single gift, even the silly little things I'd picked up for him. But the best reaction came when he opened the present that was written to be from me. He hugged me tightly, and said "I love you daddy", words that never failed to make me so fucking proud of him. "I love you too bud. You had a good Christmas so far?"

"The best Christmas ever!"

"Amazing! We're gonna go over to uncle Bo's soon, so go and get your Santa suit on, and we'll get ready. You can tell him and Akaashi all about your presents, and...maybe Santa left something there for you too~"

His eyes lit up, and he dashed up the stairs to get changed. He was ready shortly after, and we got in the car to travel over. He spent the whole journey asking me if I knew what Santa had left for him there. I just told him that I knew he was going to love it. I sent Akaashi a message saying we were in the way, and to keep the surprise out of the way for now. He text back saying it was in a safe place upstairs. I wanted to deal with Kazuki's presents from him and Bokuto before the pup came out, simply for the sake of his attention span...

We pulled up, and I got the present I had for each of them. It wasn't much, just a nice scarf for Akaashi, and a funny owl statuette that I thought looked like Bokuto for himself. We exchanged gifts first, and I opened mine from them collectively to see a lovely suede suit. I looked at both of them incredulously, and Bokuto said "in celebration one the new job, we thought we'd get you ready for it.."

I gave him the first voluntary hug he'd ever gotten from me, and another to Akaashi. Then, it was time for Kazuki's presents from them. Akaashi had got him a lovely new pair of pyjamas, as well as a game for his new Switch, which earned him a big hug, which he seemed to enjoy a lot. Bokuto had gone for a big Scooby Doo blanket, as well as some "trendy" socks, a pair of tennis rackets and a pair of little jeans too. Kazuki was very grateful for all of his gifts, as usual, and then turned to me with a "well...?" look on his face, which made me chuckle. I nodded at Akaashi, who went upstairs, as Bokuto and I sat on the floor around Kazuki.

We all waited patiently, both me and Bo not taking our eyes off of Kazuki's little excited face, and as the door slowly opened, his eyes grew as wide as planets, and the pup came bounding over into his arms, licking his face gently. It didn't overwhelm him, and he didn't overwhelm it, they just showed affection to each other constantly, through licks and belly rubs respectively. Kazuki smiled up at me with that gorgeous smile of his, and we said "thank you Santa" together one final time.

"What shall we call him Kaz? It's a boy, just so you know."

"....Jack!"

"Jack?"

"Yeah, Jack!"

"Alright, Jack it is!" I had no idea why he named the pup Jack, but it was a nice name, a little different from the traditional Japanese name I'd expected, that's all.

"Good boy Jack!" he said as he stroked behind his ears. The dog nuzzled into his hand and rolled over, sliding onto his back and looking up adoringly at Kazuki, just the way I expected I did. I ruffled Kaz's head, then the dog's, and they both looked at me with glorious faces. I couldn't help smiling widely at them, and they dog's tail started going at a million miles an hour, and he licked Kazuki's face once again. I could already tell that they were best friends, and they'd have each other for a long time, which was exactly what I wanted.

Kazuki came over and hugged me, and the pup came too, getting on my lap in between us. It was adorable, going up from the two of us to the three of us, especially when my aim was to make it four soon. Perhaps that was too forward, but I couldn't help myself thinking I wished Kenma was here as well. It would complete the picture I took to send to him. Me on the left, Kazuki on the right, the pup in the middle.

He responded with a simple "🥺❤️", and I left it there, figuring that he'd be busy with his family, given that it was Christmas. We sat down to eat, the pup never once leaving the side of Kazuki's chair. I warned him not to feed it, and he didn't, as I expected. Kazuki never complained, never disobeyed, and was never sad. He was like some kind of God-child, I swear. He was perfect, in every single way.

Dinner was a lovely experience, and I had a very interesting conversation with Akaashi and Bokuto. Apparently they'd been in contact with a potential surrogate mother, which was incredible news! I gave Bokuto a secret thumbs up, and Akaashi a knowing look all at once, balancing both sides of the equation.

Kazuki was beginning to get tired, and so I excused us to get him home. I sat the pup on his lap in the car, and set off home. They were both asleep by the time we made it, and I set the pup down to carry Kazuki to bed. Jack jumped up to join him, and cuddled into his legs as he slept. I left the door open a crack as usual, before going downstairs and getting out a bed, a bunch of Puppy Pads, and a few toys for Jack.

He was going to be hard work, especially the next few days, but it would be worth it in the end. The companionship would do the world of good for Kazuki, as I didn't want him to become solely independent on me. Yes, he's only six, but if he knows from a young age that he is capable of doing things alone, then he'll only thrive later on in life.

I didn't want him to be eighteen and not leave the house because I wouldn't go with him, ya know? To me, that was terrible parenting, and so I strived to avoid that situation. I wanted my son to grow up into a fine young man, and as he slept upstairs with Jack the Golden Labrador, I thought to myself

He already is a fine young man
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Christmas in August? What is this magic?

Fact of the Day: Jack is a reference to Jack the Golden Labrador from Beastars. I love that show so much!!