Sweet little Megs.
Tags: husband!Toji x wife!reader. This is pure angst no comfort like read at ur own risk I am crying myself. Mentions of substance abuse, smoking, drinking etc..
āThank youā¦for giving me Megumi, āji.ā
Throughout your four years of marriage and three of dating, a total of seven years with Toji, only once have you seen him cry or get choked up over something.
When you brought your little blessing into the world.
Megumi was born on a very cold December night that stretched infinitely in the hospital room you were confined to for 16 hours during labor.
With an epidural in your spine and your throat parched, you were sure that your little boy had no intention to ever get out of your womb with how much he was stalling.
Toji was there throughout the whole process. Massaging your numb and swollen feet, strong arms applying pressure to your tense hips, calloused hands resting on the full-term belly and a deep voice spilling carefully chosen words into your ears to soothe the anxiety.
You were nervous to say the least, paranoid from the possibility of pain shooting through you at any momentāor something going wrong in seconds.
He was there, though not visibly stressedāinternally fighting chaos with his heart in his throat.
And when you started pushing. It was a whole different experience than what you thought it would be. Turns out bouncing on the gym ball, drinking raspberry tea and your husband keeping you somewhat active during the pregnancy was key to a smooth delivery.
The second little Megumi was placed in your arms, half wailing and half clawing at the airāall which you zoned out from when you saw his face and the small tuff of pitch black hair on his headāthe world froze.
Birds quieted down in the sky, the shores retreated for him, clouds parted from the horizon.
He was breathtaking. An angelic small baby boy covered in your body fluids and clammyāyes, but with gorgeous eyes, big dark blue orbs that made your heart split in half.
Toji didnāt dare to move from the corner of the room. What you considered a nice delivery was him ending up with his forearms red from your squeezing but he wouldnāt ever tell you that.
From the dimly lit corner of the hospital room where he wasnāt bothering the doctors at work stitching you up, your husband watched as you craddled Megumi.
Hair sticking to your damp forehead, cheeks rosy from the heat, hands shaking from the adrenaline just like his were.
So heavenly he almost forgot you had just pushed out his son.
Your voice cracked when you called out to him, vocal cords dry and a rasp in your words from exhaustion. āHoney?ā
Time slammed against him again and he was brought to the present where his sweet wife was peering up at him with bright eyes.
He drew closer to the bed, big figure shielding your eyes from the white light behind him.
You placed the small body into his arms. Megumiās size shrinking double in his fatherās arms.
Toji realised right then and there that he had become a father.
Somebody tied to another from birth.
A man who had given a part of him to you and you made a new life from it.
So pure and so beautiful.
The words he intended to sayāāWelcome to the world, son.āādied in his throat when the thorns caught them.
What came out instead was a choked sound, something incomprehensible but so vulnerable even the nurses in the back froze upon hearing it.
Because itās not everyday, or ever, that you see a man so resilient and stoic like Toji fall apart.
You smiled at the sight of your boys, a tired but so proud grin on your face knowing you built all of this.
The father who holds your newborn.
The one who used to struggle with addiction, gambling, smoking and drinking. Who wanted to end it all after losing so much in his life.
The one who you somehow managed to save by kissing all of his scarsāthe one on his temple, the big gash on his shoulder, the line over his lip.
He quit smoking, he quit everything for you.
And it got you where you were now.
No, thank you for everything, Toji.
The first months with Megumi were absolute bliss. Being born the rather quiet rare kind of baby, your son didnāt fuss or cryāstrangely enoughāunless he was really uncomfortable or in need of something like food and diaper changes.
You were exhausted but so over the moon. High from your new motherly hormones and instincts and so in love with the little bundle of sunshine that had already grown adorably chubby since you birthed him what felt like yesterday.
Toji would inappropriately say, āYouāre feeding him way too goddamn much woman, look at himāheās fat.ā
You gasped like he had personally insulted your workāand though your son was a spitting image of your husbandāhe was saying ugly things to your masterpiece.
āToji!ā Whenever youād call him by his actual name, it meant something serious.
āHeās not fat, thatās such an ugly word! Heās perfectly healthy!ā You frowned, pinching one of Megs squishy cheeks.
A baby coo came from him and you could swear this was more addictive than any substance on earth.
Rummaging around for something in the fridge, Toji finally replied. āShit, Megumi, leave some milk for the rest of us.ā
As if he also didnāt help you with your clogged milk ducts when your son couldnāt have more milkā¦
And funny enough, Toji was grabbing another bag of breast milk from the fridge for his cerealājust his way of helping with your overproductionā¦
You rolled your eyes. āNo curse words. And are you sure youāre not the one draining the milk supply?ā
He took one look at you and smirked. āMe? Draining the milk supply? I donāt think we could ever drain the milk supply with how much milk you produce, babe.ā
āHuh?ā But you take one look at your shirt and see the white liquid start to leak through your nursing bra.
Over the months, your little partner in crime started to develop his features more.
At the beginning, when he was freshly born, people would tell you that the deep blue color of his irises nestled in his eye sockets would change with time.
āBabies change eye colors all the time!ā , is what they said. And Megumi was born with sea blue eyes that confused you as his father has green eyes and wellā¦
But it was on a sunny morning that you woke up unusually refreshed with your baby boy squished between your body and his fatherās body as you like contact sleeping with him.
Itās a risk, yes. With Tojiās large figure being prone to roll over and squish him to deathābut you realised that your husband is actually very careful with how he sleeps when Megumi isnāt in the bassinet.
He sleeps facing you with a large hand resting on his sonās cute belly. That way he wonāt turn over where his hand is, and he is aware of Megumi at all times.
Like usual, you wake up earlier than them. The sight of two sunlight-bathed boys greeting you warmly and making your insides fuzzy under the covers.
Sensing his mom awake, Megumi slowly starts to wake up. Little mouth opening and closing, baby coos subconsciously escaping him while you stare with hearts in your eyes and a heart about to explode from cuteness.
Not being able to move since heās wrapped up like a burrito, your baby is limited to only facial expressions and sounds.
You remember waiting for him with a smile gracing your still sleepy face. And then your jaw dropping when his eyes opened, sunlight uncomfortably hitting him but revealing a beautiful shade of light green.
āOh my godā¦ā you whispered, the exclamation escaping past your lips before you could stop it.
Seemingly enough for your husband to stir awake too, a low grunt comes from Toji who opens his eyes at the sight of his wife gawking at his sonāpropping herself up with one arm.
Throat dry and raspy, a hoarse āMorninā pulled you out of your thoughts as your husbandās words resonated and traveled through your whole body.
āGood morning, āji.ā You whispered back, mindful of being close to Megumiās ears. Toji shot you a raised eyebrow and you smiled back.
āLook.ā Pointing a finger to your sons still drowsy, puffy morning face. Taking a look at the carbon body and not putting together what he was supposed to be looking for, he gave u another confused look.
And only then did Toji realise that his son had manifested yet another feature of his.
āIām so grateful he looks just like you.ā
You learned that Toji didnāt really like that his son looked like him. It broke your heart whenever heād express how itās a shame theyāre so alike.
A part of you died inside when he would say things like āThe world doesnāt need more men like me.ā
Heās so good. Toji is such a good man.
You start crying when he says such things. Why does he think like that?
So he feels guilty when the words slip past his lips. Finding your still somewhat hormonal state crying over 8 words.
āShit, Iām sorry, baby.ā
Strong arms wrapping around you from behind as your hands still held onto Megumiās small feet on the playground floor.
He was in between your legs, curious eyes watching both of his parents in front of him. Too young to understand that youāre crying and that his father is guilty for causing it, but smart enough to know youāre sad.
So his little paws start movingākickingāwhile he laughs.
You stop your sniffling, unburying your face from Tojiās arms around your shoulders, broad back against yours, and peer down at your bundle of joy.
āSo everytime I look at him, I can still see you.ā
Toji kept the comments to a minimum ever since then.
But you still noticed his struggles.
The tremor in his hands when he picked up the tiny body sometimes.
The void, distant look in his eyes when he pushed Megumi on the swing at five months.
You have lived, breathed and seen every part of Toji to know that he isnāt doing well living with fear.
A man that has lost so much doesnāt know how to live and love if heās scared.
You see it when he rocks Megumi to sleep, the little squeaky laughs spilling from him and settling deep into his fatherās bones.
You see it in the sorrowful look he holds on some mornings while he looks outside the window, coffee mug in handāblack, always.
ā āji?ā You call out to him, hoping itās enough to pull him out of his head as you scoop up some more sauce and feed a babbling baby.
Perched on your hip, you against the counter, Megumi has his new favorite breakfastāapple purĆ©e. Last week it was oatmeal, now he canāt stand it.
Toji turns around. Dark green eyes finding you and noting the sweet smile on your face. He grunts to let you know heās listening.
You put the spoon down, and quickly wipe the remaining food at the edges of your sons mouth before bringing him close to you, kissing his forehead, and pressing your cheek against his.
āToji, look at how adorable our son is!ā
Which really translates to.
Pushing himself off the couch and dropping his mug in the sink, he comes up behind you, hands finding their place around youāon your lower stomach where he used to cradle your bump.
You carrying him around, the quiet nights, the interesting cravings youād get before the sun even though about crawling over the horizon again.
But he loves Megumi more than heād admit.
āYeah, youāre both cute.ā
āSometimes I find myself wishing you had given me another child. Maybe a girl.ā
āMegumi is walking now and I justā¦I feel like if I blink, heās going to be all grown up and Iāll be alone, you know?ā
Say something cocky like he always used to do, āI can make you a mommy again, easy work.ā Or something like that.
No, gosh, youād do anything to just hear his voice again.
Another tear slides down your nose bridge, dangling off the tip of it, threatening to fall on one-year-old Megumiās messy hair.
In your lap is your son at an age his father never got to see him reach.
With new achievements on his back.
He walks now, knows a few words, feeds himself sometimes, sticks his tongue out when he thinks youāre not lookingāeven though you think heās not aware of what heās doing yet.
Probably his uncle Shiuās doing.
You wish he were closer to you.
Not buried underground and looking down at you from the sky.
Holding Megumi like when he was born.
Poking at his sides, making him laugh.
You desperately wish he were loving you right now.
You wish his love wasnāt recorded in the house he built for your family, or in the wedding ring you wear.
You wish it werenāt recorded at all.
Instead, that he were here to still give it to you.
Who loves you like his father did.
So he still left a part of him with you.
āThank you, my love.ā
Megumi points at the stone in front of him.
A strangled cry breaks out from deep in your chest.
Your hands tighten their hold around Megumi who is pressing his hands over the white roses you brought.
The grey stone is a sore sight.
āYes, gumi. Thatās papa.ā
And you'd still do it all over again.
Meet him at the corner shop, fall in love, help him, marry him, love him, and lose him.
If it meant you could live life with him again, you'd do it over and over again if it meant losing yourself in his eyes, feel his warmthāthe familiar press of his muscles against you, keeping you safeāyou would accept losing him again and again even if it destroyed you.
Maybe one day, you'll wake up.
On the other side of paradise.
When Megumi has his feet well into the ground.
And see Toji waiting for you in the distance, exactly the same as he was when he left you.
And you would re-learn him all over again.
Without ever growing tired.
Idk if this is happening to anyone else but I've been losing my posta and drafts over and over helpš, I'm proud of my post aesthetic lately.