Work Text:
It had almost become a habit for the sweet woman.
Every early morning, around four o’clock, her little boy—no more than four years old—would wake up crying at the top of his lungs, desperately screaming for his mommy to come help him.
Kotoha ran to his small room decorated with stuffed animals once again, tripping along the way over the toys she hadn’t managed to put away—once again.
“Mommyyyy! Mommyyy!” little Inosuke cried. Surely his throat would hurt tomorrow.
“I’m here!” his mother said, hugging him immediately, so warm and protective—an angel in person.
“Mommyyy! Don’t leave me alone, never abandon me!” he kept shouting as he clung tightly to his protector, the person who would never hurt him.
His tears kept falling; he couldn’t stop crying just yet, so he held onto his mother even tighter while she hugged him more warmly, letting him sit on her lap, hoping to calm him, hoping he would understand that she would never leave his side.
“I will never leave you, my child—not even if a fierce wolf were to attack us. I would never leave you alone, my heart,” she promised, placing a gentle kiss on the boy’s head.
“But— but in my dream you left me alone! You left me alone with a monster!” he sobbed a little. “He was a very bad man and he hurt you, that’s why you left, and you left me with him!”
“I promise on this pinky,” she said, raising the pinky of her right hand, “that I, Kotoha Hashibira, would never let even a mosquito hurt you!”
Inosuke laughed, remembering the last time his beloved mommy tried to kill a mosquito and fell off the chair. Kotoha smiled in relief.
“I adore you endlessly—and one day more.” She laid the child back down in his bed; he had calmed enough.
“Mommy, don’t go yet,” he asked.
“I’ll stay here for a while, sweetheart.” On his nightstand there was a stuffed boar—quite funny to her, but his favorite. Inosuke grabbed it and hugged it tightly; that night, his plush toy would protect him.
────୨ৎ────
Hours passed, and morning came. Worried, she called her partner.
“Douma?” Her concern could be heard even through the interference.
“What’s wrong, darling? Are you okay?”
“Yes, well, more or less. I’m worried about how Inosuke will take the news.”
“Did he dream about his father?” It had become something common. For some time now, he had been dreaming about buried memories of the man who should have acted like a father.
“Yes. I don’t know how he remembers—he was barely a baby. He shouldn’t remember those things.”
“Kotoha, I love you so much, and I’ve already grown fond of Inosuke. He’s a funny little boy. I’m sure that once he really gets to know me, he won’t have any problem with our relationship. And when you allow it, I’d like to be his dad,” he confessed.
“Douma…” she thought with melancholy. She knew the man she now loved was the right one, but she was afraid Inosuke wouldn’t accept him. “I will love you forever—and one day more.”
“It makes me happy to know you love me the same way. I’ll stay here for a while.”