Ace of Fatherhood (Diamond no Ace Fanfic) (sequel to 'Irresponsible')

Chapter 4

It was about half past one in the morning when Kuramochi was roused from his slumber by the sobbing of his three-year-old. He pushed the covers off of himself, shuffling into the child's room as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The baseball nightlight that Miyuki had given the child was casting a soft glow upon Eijun's tear stained face. Youichi hurried over to the child, sitting on the side of his bed before pulling him into his arms.

"Hey..." he said softly, "Shhh... Daddy's here. I've got you."

"O-Okasan.." the little boy whimpered.

The young father gasped at his son's words, brushing his fingers through his soft brunette tresses. "Eijun, have you been having nightmares about not having a mom?"

The child looked up at his dad, his lips formed into a deep frown. "Yeah... Daddy, where's mommy?"

Youichi bit onto his lip as he fumbled over his words, "Mommy isn't around anymore, she left a long time ago."

"Did she leave b-because of m-me?" Eijun's voice wavered as he asked the question.

Kuramochi's heart clenched as he held the boy tighter. "What? No, baby, no... She couldn't handle the pressure of raising such a wonderful little boy. You didn't do anything wrong."

"B-but, didn't momma love papa?" Eijun asked.

Kuramochi fell silent for a few seconds, the child looking up at him expectantly. "No, Ei-chan. Your mother didn't love me."

"But... I love you, daddy," the toddler said, his tone sounding confused.

The young father nodded, kissing his son on the top of his head. "I know you do. I love you too, Ei-chan. More than anything in the whole world."

The little boy reached his arms around his father's neck, nuzzling his face against his shoulder. I small yawn escaped the child and Kuramochi sighed. "Want to sleep with me again, kiddo?"

Eijun nodded, too sleepy to answer. Kuramochi knew it wasn't necessarily the best thing to allow the child to sleep with him too often, but the boy was normally pretty good about sleeping in his own bed. He just couldn't help but feel for the child who was having nightmares about his mother leaving. Honestly, he had thought about dating again but for most people, a twenty-year-old with a three-year-old son isn't the most appealing candidate. The majority of young adults don't want children. He had tried for a while when Eijun was two but nothing came of it and most women had become disinterested when he revealed that he had a child. He was also unwilling to bring someone into Eijun's life unless he knew they would be long term. The last thing he wanted to do was drag his son through multiple women and hurt the boy further each time one of them disappeared. So, he stayed single. It was just better for them at the moment - even if the lack of a mother made Eijun sad. He just couldn't unless he knew they were there to stay.

Kuramochi stood up off of the small bed, Eijun squirming in his arms from the movement. The child was wearing his favorite pair of light brown footie pajamas that adorned a hood with bear ears on it. The outfit always made Youichi smile as the toddler was just so cute already and the outfit made him that much more adorable. Once he returned to his room, he crawled into bed, allowing the small boy to lay on his chest. Eijun was already out like a light and soon Kuramochi would be as well.

He already knew that tomorrow was going to be difficult. With a one o'clock game, there was no way Kuramochi would be out in time to pick the toddler up from preschool. His only option was to take him to the game and beg Chris to watch after him and keep him quiet. He knew the older man would do it but that didn't mean the child couldn't be a hassle.

Yet, despite that, Kuramochi looked down at the cute little boy laying across his chest, drool gathering at the corner of his mouth. He truly loved the toddler more than anything in the entire world. He had never felt quite so protective over someone, felt such a great sense of responsibility. His son's happiness depended entirely upon him and he remembered a time when that had scared him. When being a father had scared him.