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‘Why does this get harder every year?’
Taiga scratched his head as he continued to scroll through his phone in search of a gift for his husband. He’s known Tetsuya for almost 10 years but they didn’t start dating until after they graduated high school. They only got married last year and this would be their first time celebrating Tetsuya’s birthday as husbands.
They got married in early July and spent their honeymoon in Japan to hang out with friends that weren’t able to travel aboard for their wedding.
For Taiga’s birthday, Tetsuya made him a “fan book.” It consisted of what Tetsuya thought were Taiga’s best basketball moments; there were photos, magazine columns, screenshots, and photos of them together. There were even photos of him when they played in Seiren.
He’s not gonna lie, the book brought a large smile to his face and he almost shed a tear when reading it.
Taiga wanted this year to be special and to gift him something meaningful.
The first gift he ever gave him was a birthday party during their 1st year in high school. It was a night to remember and he’ll never forget how happy the blue haired boy had been.
During their second year of high school, when Taiga moved back to the US, he sent Tetsuya a parcel filled with a variety of NBA basketball jerseys. In their last year of high school, he bought Kuroko a plane ticket so he could visit America before he started university.
Gifts in the following years included clothes, basketball merchandise, dog toys for Nigou, books, furniture, flight tickets, a new phone, and even a mansion!
The last one had been something Kuroko jokingly asked him when they first started dating. Even if Kuroko hadn’t been serious, he was determined to make use of his NBA salary and bought a home he was sure Kuroko would be safe in.
Taiga tossed his phone to the side and sighed. ‘How can I possibly top a mansion?’
A few seconds later, he heard the front door open. Nigou’s steps thundered through the hallway before the husky entered the living room and ran straight towards Taiga.
“H-hey down boy!” Even though he’s gotten better with Nigou, he still felt a bit of fear whenever the dog raced to him.
Nigou hopped on the same sofa as the redhead. He leaned against him and tried to lick his face.
“Ahhh stop that! Bad dog!”
“Nigou is no such thing.” Taiga jumped when he heard his husband’s voice behind him. Standing over him from behind the sofa was Tetsuya.
The blue haired man had a smile on his face as he watched his husband and dog interact.
“Yo,” The NBA player pushed the dog back with one hand, causing Nigou to slightly whine. “Welcome home.”
“Thank you.” Taiga had to angle his head while Tetsuya leaned down to kiss him. Once they parted, Tetsuya turned to their dog and said, “Nigou, time for a treat.”
The husky pulled away from Kagami and happily followed his owner to the kitchen.
Before Tetsuya left, he placed a small gift bag next to Taiga on the sofa.
‘Someone must have given it to him.’
Tetsuya had gone out for a brunch with his fellow teacher colleagues.
Seeing it was close to his birthday, it was possible someone wouldn’t be there next week and wanted to give him his gift in advance.
He was slightly jealous someone was already able to pick out a gift for him.
He sighed for what felt like the 50th time that day.
“Is something wrong?”
Tetsuya asked while suddenly being next to him on the couch. The redhead jumped; he didn’t even notice when he had returned.
Part of him wanted to deny and say there was nothing. However, one look at those baby blue eyes and he knew he couldn’t lie to his spouse, even if it would be for a surprise.
“I’m….struggling to come up with a gift for your birthday.” He admitted, sounding apologetic. “Is there something you want?”
Tetsuya’s eyebrows rose before his expression changed to something softer. “But Taiga-kun has already given me a gift.”
The redhead looked bewildered. There was no way he would have forgotten buying Tetsuya a gift.
“It’s right here.” The blue haired man lifted the gift bag he had walked in with earlier, and handed it to his husband.
Taiga was still confused but after some nudging from the shorter male, he opened the mystery gift bag.
He reached in and pulled out a thin device.
It was a pregnancy test and it read positive.
Taiga looked at Kuroko with wide eyes while the other man continued to smile.
“Is…is this…you?”
“Yes, I’m pregnant.” The smile only got bigger. “We’re going to be parents.”
The NBA player felt a rush of emotions at once. He was shocked; they weren’t trying but both had expressed wanting children in the future when they were younger.
He was confused, anxious but over all ecstatic.
He shot up from the sofa, clenched his fists and thrusted his arms backwards on each side.
“YES! WE’RE GONNA BE PARENTS! I’M GOING TO BE A DAD!”
He turned to Tetsuya, pulling him by the arm and yanking him towards him to give him a giant kiss. His husband was happy to return the gesture.
After a long moment, the two pulled away and gave each other gentle looks.
“We’re gonna be parents…holy shit…”
“Yes, we are.”
The NBA player continued to hold his spouse in his arms.
“When….how far are you in?”
“I’m about 4 weeks in. If we’re lucky, our baby should be born before the start of your next season.“ The shorter male subconsciously ran his hand over his lower abdomen. Taiga’s gaze instantly fell to where Kuroko’s hand was placed.
“There’s no way I’m going to be thinking about next season. Hell, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to focus on this one!”
“Taiga-kun must; otherwise we will both be unemployed.” Tetsuya teased.
“I don’t know….maybe I can be the stay at home dad.” Taiga responded with a smirk as he ran one hand through his partner’s hair.
The blue haired man pouted. “Unfortunately my teacher salary would not be enough to support Taiga-kun’s glutinous stomach.”
“Hey!”
Both shared a laugh before continuing to hold each other.
“I’m….going to need more of Taiga-kun’s help this year.” Tetsuya muttered softly. “I know you’ll be very busy, and I’ll try not to impose on you while you’re in season, but I’m hoping Taiga-kun will be patient with me regardless.”
“Tetsuya…..” The redhead moved his hand under his husband’s chin to be able to cup his cheeks. “I love you. You’re the love of my life, and I’m over the fucking moon that you’re carrying our child. Anything you need, just tell me. I wanna provide for you and our family.”
A light pink hue appeared on Kuroko’s cheeks. “I love you too. And I hope Taiga-kun will continue to love me even if I ask for 20 vanilla milkshakes at 3 in the morning because I’m craving it.”
“Ha! Babe, you can ask for 100 and I’d still love you, even if it would be a pain.” He teased back.
Later that night, Taiga had an idea. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it before. Despite Tetsuya insisting he didn’t need a birthday gift, claiming that the news of their baby and how Taiga would need to provide for them more in the future was plenty, he still wanted to get him something on January 31st.
And he did.
Taiga could tell Tetsuya was wary of the enormous birthday gift that greeted him that morning.
However, once his husband’s eyes lit up after seeing it was a triple spindle commercial kitchen mixer that was perfect for milkshakes, he knew he had gotten Kuroko the perfect gift.
Just like Tetsuya had been his.