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Katsuki thinks sometimes he enjoys the day after Shouto's heat even more than the heat itself.
Don't get him wrong, sharing Shouto's heats and taking care of him as his alpha is a pleasure and a privilege he never takes for granted, even after nearly six years together. Considering how busy life gets when you are a top 3 pro hero, Shouto doesn't often choose to go off suppressants to have a heat. This has been especially true these past few years, considering they are parents to two rambunctious three year olds on top of their busy careers.
So getting to sharing this heat with Shouto last night felt like a rare blessing and a gift, for Katsuki to revel in the closeness to his husband, to feel their bond affirmed anew.
But still, the day after may be Katsuki's favorite too.
"Good morning," Shouto says in a soft, hoarse voice, padding sleepily into the kitchen. His hair is standing up at all angles, a riotous mess of red and white. He looks startlingly young in the oversized pink hoodie and grey sweatpants he is wearing, like he's still the babyfaced teen Katsuki first met, rather than a pro hero in his early 30s. Katsuki bites back a grin, grunting in greeting before turning back to the batter he is mixing.
Strong arms twine around Katsuki's waist and Shouto presses up against his back, face pressed against Katsuki's shoulder. Shouto tilts his head to bury his face in Katsuki's neck, takes a deep breath as though to fill his lungs with the scent of his alpha. "Mmmm, what are you making?" he mumbles, breath tickling against Katsuki's skin.
"Pancakes, obviously," Katsuki says. "You always want all the sugary carbs you can find after a heat, you unhealthy bastard."
"Probably because you always wear me out so thoroughly," Shouto says, pressing his cheek against Katsuki's, peering at the batter and the assorted berries Katsuki has prepared for the pancakes with evidently-growing hunger.
Katsuki knows where this is going. "Oi, don't you dare..."
Shouto untangles from Katsuki, hands darting to quickly filch a handful of strawberries before he scampers back to the other end of the kitchen, giggling.
"You are such a dumbass," Katsuki huffs, his voice hopelessly fond. He can hardly even muster up a trace of annoyance at his happily-munching, strawberry-stealing husband.
Whatever, he can just make more blueberry pancakes instead.
"Just go have some coffee and sit over there," Katsuki commands, pointing at the coffee pot and then the dining table. "Food will be ready in ten minutes."
Shouto seems appeased by this. Mouth still stuffed full of the stolen strawberry pieces, he goes to serve himself some coffee and then settles down at the table, drowsy and content to wait for Katsuki to feed him.
"Have you checked with your mom about the kids, yet?" Shouto asks, gently blowing over the steaming cup before taking a sip. "I hope they are okay."
"The kids will be fucking fine," Katsuki says, expertly flipping a pancake. "No I didn't call her. The nosy old hag will just annoy me about whether we are trying for another kid or not now that you're having heats again after the twins were born. I don't want her ruining my peace before breakfast!"
Shouto nearly chokes on a mouthful of coffee. He splutters, coughing violently, and a bit of coffee from his tipping mug sloshes onto the floor.
"Oi, watch it!" Katsuki yells. He throws a wad of paper towels at Shouto's head. Shouto catches it easily. which is annoying though entirely expected.
Shouto crouches down to clean the mess. He clears his throat. "I... didn't realize Mitsuki-san was asking about that," Shouto says, in a careful voice. "I suppose that's what it looks like, now that I've stopped suppressants for a couple of months..." Shouto trails off to finish cleaning. He gets back up silently, drops the wad of coffee-stained paper towels in the trash and then goes to the sink to wash his hands.
The silence feels heavy. Katsuki waits.
"Are you... thinking about that too?" Shouto finally says, his back to Katsuki. "Having another kid, I mean? Soon?"
Katsuki turns off the stove, carefully plating the two pancakes he's made so far and setting them aside. He doesn't want to accidentally ruin any while focusing on this conversation.
He turns around to fully face Shouto, who has returned to the dining table, hovering uncertainly there. Katsuki leans back against the kitchen counter, quietly considering.
"I am not necessarily thinking about it," Katsuki finally answers, words measured. "Of course, if you were to get pregnant again, I'd be incredibly happy no matter if we were trying or not." He thinks about the day the twins were born, the bursting joy that throbs in his chest every day from watching them grow up. He thinks of all the ways in which his life feels full now, the places where there could still be room for more joy and love to enter his life.
And yet -
Shouto is too far away.
Katsuki walks forward, takes Shouto's left hand in his. The heated warmth of his husband's fire side, the shape of his hand, every callus from hero training, and the ring nestled on his finger. All of it are as familiar to him as his own. "You've made me so happy, Shouto, by being my family and by the family you've given me." Katsuki runs a thumb over the wedding ring he gave Shouto over three years ago.
"I love how good you are at being a parent," he continues in a soft voice, leaning forward to press a kiss against Shouto's cheek. Shouto looks wide-eyed at the suddenness of this praise, soft and defenseless against Katsuki's sweet words.
(Katsuki hopes, one day, Shouto has had enough affection piled on him that he won't look so surprised at it anymore. It's his own personal life mission at this point.)
"With the twins, it was so unplanned and sudden, I feel like our lives have been a rollercoaster ever since," Katsuki says. "And I've loved watching you every step of the way. Loved watching them with you and how completely you give yourself to caring for our kids." Katsuki twines his fingers through Shouto's, so their palms are pressed together.
"But now that they are old enough for a little more independence," Katsuki admits. "Having you all for myself now and then feels so fucking good too. And I don't quite feel ready to give that up yet."
Shouto's eyelashes flutter as he looks down, a little shy, face a little flushed. "I feel the same way. Life feels really good, right now. I am not quite ready for any big change."
"Great, we agree," Katsuki declares, leaning forward to plant a quick kiss on the tip of Shouto's blushing nose. "Next time the old hag bugs me about more grandkids, I'll tell her to stuff it."
"Ah, don't be rude to your mother, Katsuki," Shouto says, following Katsuki a step behind as he returns to the stove and the neglected breakfast prep. "Maybe just tell her... in a couple of years...?"
"Don't give the hag any timeline," Katsuki snorts. "She'll just nag at us then."
Shouto fiddles with the hem of his hoodie. "I think, if it's in a couple of years... your mother won't have the opportunity to nag before we give her more good news."
Katsuki resists the urge to abandon the breakfast prep yet again to press Shouto against the kitchen island to kiss him silly.
"Distracting little shit," is all he says instead, biting his lip as he tries to give his attention to making the best breakfast ever.
The charged moment passes, the air between them sinking back to the languid comfort of a post-heat morning. Shouto continues to hover close to Katsuki on the kitchen island, stealing berries and chocolate chips to munch on and giggling when Katsuki swats at his hands.
After, they gorge themselves on fluffy pancakes doused in syrup, reveling in the indolence of full bellies and a silent home on a Saturday morning, with none of the pressing responsibilities of hero work or parenthood in the immediate future.
Usually, mornings like this would inevitably lead to Katsuki pulling Shouto closer and closer, licking his way into his addicting mouth till they are both left flushed and panting, racing each other to the bedroom to satiate hunger of an entirely different kind.
Right after spending Shouto's heat together, though, that need is all but sated. All that's left is a soft afterglow in the place of a roaring fire.
They stretch out on the couch, Shouto between Katsuki's legs, Shouto's back pressed against Katsuki's chest, Katsuki's arms wrapped around Shouto's waist. Katsuki tunes in to a cooking show he likes to watch, Shouto half-watching along with him, half-reading a manga series he likes whose latest volume released last week.
An unhurried hour passes like this when they are interrupted by Katsuki's phone vibrating on the coffee table with an incoming call.
Katsuki seriously considers letting it just go to voicemail, he is far too comfortable right now to disturb their position.
But his dear husband has other ideas.
"Katsuki, it's Mitsuki-san," Shouto says, dropping his manga immediately and dislodging Katsuki's arms around his waist to reach for the phone. Katsuki grumbles a bit but lets him go - he wants to hear how the kids are doing, now that he knows it's his mom.
"Hello," his mom says over the speaker phone once Shouto takes the call. "Katsuki, you brat, why didn't you reply to my messages from this morning? Are you there?"
"Mitsuki-san, you're on speaker," Shouto informs. "We're both here."
"Oh, Shouto-kun!" her voice turns sugar-sweet when speaking to Shouto, such an annoying old hag. "Is your heat over? How are you feeling?"
"I feel well," Shouto says, eyes flickering up to meet Katsuki's, before focusing back on the phone. "Katsuki takes very good care of me."
"I should sure hope so," the old hag huffs. Rude. "Well, Shouto-kun, do you want Masaru and I to bring the kids back to you in a couple of hours, then?"
Shouto opens his mouth, then pauses, hesitating. His eyes meet Katsuki's again, swimming with a nameless question.
The little bubble of close quiet intimacy between them that has held since this morning... Following their earlier conversation, Katsuki suddenly feels desperate to preserve it, even for just one more day.
"Mom, do you mind keeping the kids for one extra night?" Katsuki pipes in. "I think Shouto and I would like a quiet night together. Just for us, I mean." Katsuki cuts himself off there, biting his lip, feeling strangely bashful.
"We'd be delighted to have the kids for one more night, you brat," his mother replies immediately, sounding vaguely amused and indulgent. "They are the sweetest little angels. They must get it from Shouto-kun, certainly it didn't come from a hellion like you..."
Distantly, there is the sound of a crash followed by Masaru's distressed voice. Katsuki and Shouto's eyes meet again, and they quickly look away, trying not to laugh.
"Don't you worry about," his mom says, voice turning teasing. "You just go ahead and enjoy having your pretty husband all to yourself for one more night."
"Shut up," Katsuki snaps, flushing. "Okay, Shouto and I will be there to pick up the kids tomorrow after breakfast."
"Enjoy!" Mitsuki says in a sing-song voice, and cuts the call before Katsuki can cuss her out.
But with that settled, the rest of the day sprawls ahead of them, a rare luxury.
They settle back on the couch to lounge a little while longer, late morning sunshine warming their toes where it streams through the large windows. When hunger rises again in a couple of hours, they stand up, stretching. Katsuki heads into the kitchen to recreate a spicy fried rice recipe he just saw in the cooking show, Shouto delegated to chopping and cleaning duty while Katsuki cooks.
With plates piled high with steaming food and carrying a freshly-uncorked bottle of wine, they head out into the yard behind their house, laying down a blanket in a shaded spot beneath a tree to enjoy the pleasantly-cool autumn day. They eat and drink, conversation meandering and mundane, which turns at some point into kisses with no heat or urgency, just lazy kissing for the sake of it.
It is all so enjoyable, the taste of wine on Shouto's tongue, the lingering scent of heat on his skin, the way Katsuki knows every breath and curve of him. The knowledge that no one is there to interrupt them, there is nothing that needs to be done that can call their attention away from each other.
Katsuki may be flushed from the wine, but he is actually drunk on the feeling of this.
The sun is starting to dip towards the horizon when Shouto pulls back slowly, snuggling against Katsuki's side. "This is really nice," he says, cheek against Katsuki's chest, hair tickling Katsuki's chin. "We should do this more often."
Katsuki runs his fingers through Shouto's hair, trying to separate the red and white halves again from where they are thoroughly mussed.
Their entire courtship had been a whirlwind, and they were barely out of the early honeymoon period of their relationship when they found out about Shouto's unplanned pregnancy, which tumbled them straight into marriage and parenthood at a breakneck speed.
In some ways, days like this are what they are least experienced in.
Katsuki wouldn't change a single thing about how they got here but... maybe they can change some things about how they continue to be.
"Yeah, we will," Katsuki says, and it is a promise.