New Parents (KageHina 🏐)

First Steps

Kageyama stood at the kitchen counter in a daze the next morning. Kaii had gotten him up eleven times. Eleven. And yet, he never felt more rested, more hopeful, more ready for a day than ever before.

Maybe next time.

That was what Hinata said to him just before Kageyama passed out in a lustful daze.

As in, maybe next time we'll get it on for real in the shower together.

It had to be a joke. A gimmick. Hinata was messing with him after all the years of torment Kageyama put him through. He'd called Hinata a runt one too many times, and now it had caught up to him.

Hinata appeared in the kitchen with Kaii cradled in one arm. With his free arm, he rubbed at his sleepy eyes, biting back a huge yawn.

"What are you doing?" Kageyama snapped, but most of his usual ire had withered away the last few days. "You shouldn't be walking around—"

"We should get Kaii outside today," Hinata interrupted. Like he couldn't be bothered to listen to Kageyama's lectures anymore. "Is there a park nearby? I can set up the stroller."

Kageyama looked despairingly over to the folded up stroller in the corner by the door. He hadn't been able to figure out the clasps and locks that kept it all bundled together yet. "You can go ahead and try," Kageyama challenged with a scoff. "But you shouldn't be walking around today. I can take Kaii myself."

"I can at least sit on a bench and hang out," Hinata argued. He hobbled further into the kitchen and leaned against the counter edge. "Did you say you had an errand this morning? Maybe by the time you get back, I'll have figured out that death trap." He jerked his chin toward the stroller.

Kageyama grumbled his answer. He should have left already for the errand, but he'd opted to get one more hour of sleep in the morning since Kaii was being quiet.

Hinata set Kaii in the carrier, right on the counter where his royal highness could watch over them. As Hinata began to fiddle with the locks and straps of the stroller, Kaii made a gurgling sound that was most definitely a scoff.

"He really is like his father," Kageyama muttered.

"You're telling me." Hinata heaved a sigh. "I swear he rolled his eyes at me when I came in to pick him up this morning."

Kageyama didn't doubt it.

Fifteen minutes later, Kageyama laced up his sneakers and pulled on a baseball cap. The same one Hinata had worn during their other outing.

It smelled like Hinata...

Kageyama tugged the cap a little lower, hiding the flush warming his cheekbones. "Okay, I'm headed out. Be back soon."

Hinata responded with a grunt on the floor where he was still wrestling with the stroller. He waved, adding, "I'll be here."

Kageyama couldn't help but chuckle on the way out. The sight of Hinata fighting the contraption and Kaii on the counter glaring a little too happily made the kitchen feel oddly homey. His apartment had never been so full of life, and for once, he looked forward to getting back.

Normally, the volleyball court was Kageyama's home. He'd rather spend every minute there than anywhere else.

These days?

He found himself looking forward to the quiet hours spent at home with Hinata and Kaii, watching stupid kid shows and eating simple meals together like a family.

Speaking of family, Kageyama's phone rang right on cue as he bounded down the stairs of his apartment building and into the side street.

"Hello?"