Chapter Text
Marriage is the undying love of two people who decided to stick with one another in the form of a union. In sickness and in health, in riches to poor, from ups an downs, and all arounds. The person you wed is the one you stick with for your entire life.
Atleast, that's what Kiku had always believed growing up.
But now he realized something pretty big:
He was stuck in an unhappy marriage.
It all seemed to start so quickly for Kiku. His entire life was a checklist, and as he achieved things, he crossed them off.
Perfect scores in school? Checked.
First crush, boyfriend, and then kiss? Done.
Going to college? Ehhh, mostly checked.
First job? Partially shaded in.
Marriage? Yes.
He'd gotten his bachelor's and decided to take a skip year in college, which he spent partying, getting drunk, and doing rather suspicious substances. For the majority of his childhood, he was smothered by his over protective mother, who never allowed Kiku to live a little (which made the teen frustrated, he knew his mother was wild back in her day).
In this short year, he had grown closer to an old...acquaintance.
Arthur Kirkland.
The man was far older than Kiku, and Arthur hadn't had the best reputation with Kiku's family. But it seemed like it was love.
So they did the controversial decision, and tied the knot, which led to Kiku's disownment.
Now that Kiku was older, he's realized that things could have panned out WAY better, or really, he would've avoided the marriage entirely. A cheap fling with the English man wouldn't have left him so miserable as he was now.
"Tou-channnn wakey wakey!"
A small pale white foot booted Kiku in the face, before it gripped into his black hair. He grimaced, deep down wanting to feel grossed out by the pungent toddler toes, but this is what parenthood was. He sighed and shook away his miserable monolog of reminiscing.
The foot smacked again and again like a little bunny.
"Enough enough..." He pushed the chubby feet away and sat up in the large king sized bed wiping away the sleep from his eyes.
It wasn't a lot, his husband's horrible snoring and the constant moving of their unborn child had left him with a new form of insomnia.
"You sleep so good?" Two little pretty eyes stared back at him from under some pillows.
He could see a wisp of messy blonde hair that spilled all over her face. The rude awakening wasn't well welcomed, but all aggravation washed away when he saw his young daughter.
"No....I didn't sleep so well." Kiku shook his head.
The girl pouted, adding little puppy dog noises too (a quirk she picked up from a little cartoon).
"Um well! I know you hadn't slept so well but..." The girl looked bashful as she emerged from the blanket pile.
"But would you still make um. Yummy weetabix and uh.." she tapped her chin, "some fruitys too?" She gave a huge smile as if that sweetened the deal.
Kiku sighed before mustering up a smile.
"Allow me to go to the bathroom, and then I will get your brother up. We can start breakfast soon, how does that sound?" He brushed the hair from her face.
"Oh yeah! Yeah yeah yeah!" Her face lit up before she hopped down from the bed and scattered out the bedroom door, her princess night gown flowing behind her like a cape.
Having children? Checked off.
He and Arthur had a daughter, Candy. She was about six, and when Candy was around two, they had their son, Kitagawa. At some point, after the marriage, Kiku had resigned to being a stay at home husband, that turned into a stay at home father. He kept tight reigns on the family, and oversaw everything. Cooking, bills, school, activities, appointments, money management, grocery shopping, child rearing, the whole 9 yards, and he also kept a house that had not a speck of dirt.
The marriage seemed so well!
But it wasn't.
When Candy was born, Arthur had still been plenty active in her life. There for her birth, which had almost ended the marriage (and should have been a sign for Kiku to run for the hills), he'd shown up to her first day of school, her first play, and much more. Things began to get more rocky with their sons birth.
Not only had the English man refused to get their sons name right, opting to call him Kita, but he hadn't even stayed for the majority of the birth. It took 29 calls for him to hurry out of the pub and get home.
What an embarassing day that was.
The third pregnancy, the one Kiku had now, was more of an oops baby for Arthur, and a calculated attempt to fix their marital issues on Kiku's part. It had completely backfired, because the brit could barely remember that Kiku was even pregnant.
"I got a fine wine from my boss, feelin' like swigging it tonight?" The already drunk blonde had asked.
"Arthur....I am in my second trimester...I cannot have drink or smoke." Kiku had calmly reiterated for the eighth time.
"No fa*gs?" Arthur asked confused.
"No dear...that's why I ask you to smoke outside. Doctor says second-hand smoke is just as bad as puffing one yourself." Kiku explained as he fed the mushed peas to Candy.
"You're pregnant?!"
Yes, this was all Kiku's fault huh. Karma for his co*ckiness....
"Tou-channn!!! Are you almost finished pottying???" The squeaky accent of his young daughter called from the hall.
Kiku looked at himself in the mirror, touching the eyebags that rested gently under his chocolate brown eyes. He never had these before, and he really didn't remember seeing them show up. His next action was placing a hand on the bump. One more month is all it was until they'd have their second daughter.
"Almost." He called back to her, shaking his head when he heard the annoyed huff come from her, before she pitter pattered down the steps.
Kiku didn't have to actually pee in the mornings, the baby wasn't rested on his bladder. He only said he did so he could have some privacy before it got invaded by his nosey children.
Splash!
He put some water on his face before he waddled out of the bathroom, making his way to his sons room. When he creaked the door open and peeked in, Kita was gently tucked away in his bug themed bed sheets, his four fingers stuck in his mouth, and his thumb gently scrapping against his chin.
Kiku sighed, the habit wasn't good, especially for a four year old, but it seemed that nothing they did could stop him from sucking his fingers. Kiku walked over and sat on the edge and gently shook his son by the shoulder.
"Come on boy..let's get ready." He spoke gently before pushing some of the black hair from his face.
"Let's get breakfast...come on..." He tried again before pulling ever so slightly at the covers.
A squeak came from the boy as he tucked himself further down the bed, wanting to avoid the sunlight and his father.
"Please...can we make this easy today? We can watch cartoons....you don't want to miss Kipper right?" Kiku tried to reason.
The boy went still in his bed, before peeking from the covers.
Kiku gave a tired smile and put his hand out for the boy. Emerging now completely, the boy yawned and moved one little arm up to stretch, before placing them both out to be picked up.
"No. You are getting too old for me to pick up."
It was a lazy Sunday, usually Kiku wasn't this lenient with his children in the morning.
The boy pouted and grabbed a blue blankie, before crawling from the sheets and nestling close to his father.
"We will have weetabix and fruit. You can have some eggs too." Kiku rubbed the small face of his son, before the boy nodded and scooted away, stepping from his bed.
Heaving himself up, he followed after his son and down the stairs, avoiding straggler toys left sprung around, and the hungry pets swerving in and out from under his feet, waiting for their fill.
"You all take so long!" Candy scolded from the bench she was sitting at.
"Kita was very sleepy..the morning sun makes us all drowsy." Kiku said as he scooped dry kibble into the cats dishes, before a bag of raw diet for their family dog.
"Hmph! I was up and awake! Cuz daddy was huffing about not knowing where his tea was!"
That aggravated Kiku. He always left it on the table for Arthur, but it seemed like the older man was growing more and more incompetent with each long shift he took at work.
"I told daddy, I said daddy the tea is where it always is! And daddy says I'm a good girl and he gave me a biggg smooch on my forehead!" She pointed gleefully at her temple, before making an over-exaggerated kissy noise.
Kiku nodded, half listening half not as he cooked. Candy kept her nonsensical chattering going, before Kiku had enough and gave her a task.
"Turn the TV on to cartoons."
She took the quest with pride and scattered to the living room, sitting down on the carpet and clicking the remote.
Children wasn't why the marriage was bad. He loved his kids.
It was more the fact that he felt like a single parent of sorts in his marriage. Arthur clearly adored the children too, but work always seemed to get in the way of him spending a proper amount of time with the children. And buying toys could only fill the role to a certain amount.
"Are you taking daddy his bentooo?!" Candy called from the room.
"I will yes...he wanted me to bring him extra today...."
"Can me and Kita come?" She hobbled into the kitchen.
"Yes, I cannot leave you all at home. I'm sure daddy would love a visit from his favorite little helpers." Kiku hyped his children up quite a bit.
He knew they loved to visit during work, and he knew they loved being their daddy's favorite even more.
"Is food almost done??" She was impatient. "Grahahahhsgahh."
Kiku turned and looked at his daughter with a funny look, she was stifling a giggle with her hands.
"Was that a monster?" He questioned.
Candy covered her face before whispering, "that was my belly....gragaahhahag." She made the noise again.
"The monster in your belly is awfully impatient. Tell him he must wait 5 more minutes." Kiku played off of the whimsical idea of a hungry monster being in his daughters stomach.
He knew first hand that his daughter could turn into a hangry little monster without a proper meal.
"Would the monster like a drink of apple juice?" He asked, already having the two cups prepped.
"Yes he would!!" Candy grinned before running over.
The cup was settled in her hand as he finished with bowls of food.
"You and your brother go sit in the living room. I'll let you eat in there only this once." In all honesty, Kiku was just tired of standing, and really didn't want to sit in the horrifyingly uncomfortable kitchen chairs.
The soft sofa called his name.
His husband also called his name, seeing as Kiku was receiving an incoming call. He sighed and grabbed the phone, before answering.
"Hello.." He greeted his husband.
"Can you come to my work I need you to prove to my boss that you're pregnant." Arthur hurriedly spoke.
Kiku hadn't planned this in his daily itinerary, now everything else would be pushed back an hour. He clicked the hang up button and closed his eyes, taking a deep gulp of air.
"Children, grab your jackets and shoes..we have to go to daddies work early." He sighed.
"Can we bring our foods??" Candy called with a hint of whine.
"Your daddy can pay the cleaning bill for the mess. It's the least he can do for disrupting our flow." Kiku took his apron off.
"Flowwwww!!!" Candy repeated, sounding a bit like a whale.
