Growing Together

Chapter 38

It was one of those rare days that whenever thing was running smooth and Pete could afford to take a day off. His plan had been to sleep in and spend the day with his family. Ever since they had gotten involved in the company, they had been busy beyond belief. Kao's tasks allowed him to stay home, which was perfect for them since In was still a baby, but now their son was a nearly turning a year old.

However, Kao's alarm had him waking up at 6 in the morning. "Kao...I'm off today," Pete had groaned out groggily as he rolled onto his stomach and tried to bury his face into their pillows.

"I'm sorry," Kao said apologetically as he rushed to turn it off before heading into the shower.

Pete would have loved nothing more than to have gone back to sleep, but that was impossible now. Especially with the noise of the running water coming from their bathroom that was only making him aware of his need to relieve himself. "Fuck..." He had groaned out before finally getting up from bed and making his way towards the bathroom.

Kao had not even noticed nor heard the door open, until he had opened his eyes after rinsing the shampoo from his hair. "Pete!" Kao had nearly yelled out a bit scandalized as he tried to shield himself from sight. He had been a tad bit self-conscious since he had given birth that he hadn't ever really showered with Pete or felt comfortable to change in front of him often. So, of course he was embarrassed.

"What?" Pete said throwing a look at his fiancé, "I had to go."

"Then, please hurry up and finish and get out," Kao practically whined.

"What's the rush?" Pete asked turning to look towards Kao. The clear view of Kao's backside had a mischievous grin slipping onto his face as he stepped closer to the glass shower where he was. This was the most skin he had seen in months from Kao. His hands had slipped back onto the band of his shorts, "Let's finish showering together," Pete said slipping them off along with his boxers before stepping inside. His hands had stretched out already reaching for Kao's waist, but to his dismay Kao had turned in time and held his hands out to hold him at bay.

"No! I have to get In up and dressed soon," Kao said, his face tinted red as his eyes stole a glance at the length of Pete's body.

Pete had only grabbed him by the wrists and pulled him closer, "It'll be quick, we haven't had some alone time in a while anyways." Which was true, they hadn't been intimate since In came into their lives. They had kissed here and there but Kao had never let him push for more. Anytime his hands got remotely close to the hem of his shirt or his pants, he would pull away. He had figured out that he wasn't the problem, it was Kao's own insecurity after having a baby. That's why he went back the yoga glass religiously with In. It didn't matter how much he told him how beautiful he looked and how much he wanted him. Kao wouldn't hear it.

Kao had managed to push free from Pete's arms and said, "You don't know the definition of 'quick'. Besides I'm done with my shower," he said a quick peck to Pete's cheek before stepping out and quickly grabbing a towel to wrap it around himself. "I'll bring you a towel when I get In up," He promised as he stepped out of the bathroom leaving Pete alone to bathe himself.

"Thanks," Pete said with a small smile. He always appreciated a kiss from his fiancé.

Sure enough, Kao had return 10 minutes later with In in his arms and a with his towel in hand. Their son's hair was a mess and his lips were pursed as he rubbed his eyes sleepily, clearly just woken up.

Pete had taken the towel and wrapped it around his waist. However, instead of stepping out to go change, he had moved towards his family and sat himself at the edge of the tub. He watched Kao strip their son. "Where are you guys going so early?" He asked stretching an arm to get the water running for In's bath time. He tested the water to make sure it was warm enough the way he liked it.

"Don't you forget?" Kao asked finally lowering their son into the tub and sat him down. They let the lukewarm water fill the tub until it was just barely covering In's hips. "I said I was going to take In with me to the Baby & Me Yoga class a little earlier today," He said as he placed some bath toys in front of their son and smiling when In's little face brighten up as he reached for them.

"Oh, right," Pete said though he had vaguely remembered Kao mentioning it the night before. "It's so early though," He said honestly as he watched Kao reaching for In's bathing basket.

Bathing In was a bit of a hassle at first, because he would freak out once the water rolled down his face. He disliked it so much that he would cry and call out to 'da-da', and who was he to let his son continue crying like that when he was calling out to him so desperately. Kao would get mad at him for it. They figured out that putting toys in as a means of distraction seemed to have made things a little easier during bath time.

Kao was so gentle with bathing In. He always made sure In wasn't bothered with the soap and that the wash cloth wasn't to rough for his soft skin.

Pete had long since left the bathroom to get dressed. He had even made the walk down to In's nursery to pull some of his clothes and socks along with a couple other items he often saw Kao use—to make it easier on Kao to dress their son and by the time he came back Kao was walking out of their bathroom with In wrapped around in his panda bear towel. He looked more awake now because the moment his eyes caught his, In had squealed out a familiar "Da-da!" as he willed about in his mother's arms.

"All wake now, aren't we buddy?" Pete had cooed as he followed Kao towards the bed. "I got his clothes," Pete said as he placed the items down on the bed before he was moving closer to his son once Kao had put him down on their bed.

"Did you bring his lotion?" Kao asked looking through the items.

"Oh sh-...uh, no I think I forgot that," Pete said with an apologetic smile.

"That's okay, let me go grab it real quick." Kao said before he was walking out of their room.

Pete had only hummed and moved to hover over his son, which had only erupted more babbling from In. "So lively this morning, huh?" He spoke to him in his best baby voice as he lowered his head to blow raspberry kisses to his cheeks. "Where are you and mom going, huh?"

The sight that welcomed him back had only made Kao smile fondly at them. He loved morning like these and he almost hated breaking the moment, but he also needed to get the baby dressed. "Alright, daddy, we need to let mommy change the baby before he catches a cold," Kao said pressing a kiss to Pete's cheek when he had backed away.

"Let me take you today," Pete said as he move to lay down besides his son and watched as Kao peeled away the towel from around him.

"You didn't have any plans with Forth today?" Kao asked as he lathered some lotion into his hands before he was rubbing it around their son's arms and legs.

"No, Forth said Beam had a day off, so they were going to go on a date and Mork is helping Sun out at the Café today. I was going to sleep in, but I think I will go and check on a few things at the office now that I'm up. So, I can drop you both off on my way," He said watching as Kao carefully finished dressing their son.

"Was there something we missed?" Kao asked as he handed their now dressed son back to Pete.

"No, I'm just trying to get ahead on a few projects," He said as he adjusted In in his arms and followed Kao back to In's nursery to get his diaper bad ready for their outing.

"Oh, well in take case can you bring back the report I gave Forth last week?" He said as he focused his eyes and hands on ensuring that he was packing enough diapers, whips, formula, a change of clothes, etc. "Oh shoot! We are going to be late," Kao said when he had caught a glimpse of the time on his watch.

"Let's get going then," Pete said after ensuring that Kao had packed everything in the bag before he was taking it from his hands and heading out. "I'll get him in his car seat, don't forget your phone and wallet," Pete said remembering they were still sitting on Kao's side of the night table.

"Right," Kao said rushing out.

Soon they were heading out of the house and on their way to the class. Kao kept looking back from his seat to ensure that In didn't drop his bottle throughout the entire ride. When the car had finally stopped, he had leaned over to Pete's side and pecked his cheek. "We will be home after lunch, so make sure you get something to eat," Kao said before he was stepping out the car and going to the back seat to get In out of his car seat after strapping his diaper bag across his shoulder.

"Call me if you change your mind," Pete said just before Kao had closed the back door. He had made sure to watch Kao had safely walked into the building before he was shifting the car back into drive. He missed Kao when he wasn't home, but their routine changed a lot since the business started taking off. Whenever they had free time, Kao would take In to visit his mom so that she could spend time with In.

He had just driven out of the parking lot when he heard a Line message ring. He had naturally picked it up only to see that it was Kao's phone. "He forgot his phone..." Pete had said with a small sigh until his eyes landed on the message displayed on the screen.

[LINE TEXT]

Kao, where the hell are you?! I thought we agreed to meet by 7am.

That message alone had Pete hitting the breaks. Kao said he was going to his yoga class, not meeting someone. Who the fuck was this anyways?!

It had been a long time since he had felt that boiling jealousy.