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“So have you and Katsuki ever talked about having kids?”
Izuku nearly spits out his coffee all over Shouto’s dining table. He wipes away the small trickly from the corner of his lips with the tissue Shouto gives him.
“W-What uhmm...what makes you say that?” he stutters in surprise.
That was one hell of a loaded question to be throwing on a pleasant Saturday afternoon.
Shouto cocks his head looking at him knowingly. “Have you seen him around kids?” he asks rhetorically.
Izuku has. And he doesn’t want to think about it.
His Alpha husband has been leaking pheromones that practically almost put Izuku into heat. He trusts Katsuki enough to never ever want to push him into having children, though he can sense that it’s only going to be a matter of time before the proper conversation happens. After all, they were nearing thirty and people always said that for an omega it’s always better to have your first child before thirty.
Also, don’t ask him why he knows that.
“Y-yeah…so?” Izuku tries to play innocently.
Shouto narrows his eyes as he takes a condescending sip of his chamomile tea. Sipping tea usually doesn’t come off as condescending but Shouto makes it work when he’s disappointed in someone. Unfortunately, Izuku is his latest disappointment.
“You know the conversation is going to come up eventually,” Shouto sighs. “I’m surprised it hasn’t come up yet.”
Izuku looks over to the backyard of Shouto’s home, where he sees Katsuki and Shouto’s husband, Tenya playing with their kids. The omega in him whimpers, while his brain firmly stands its ground. It is exactly the one thing Izuku hates.
The fact that his body biologically wants a child, though deep down he’s just not ready. Mentally nor physically.
He’s not sure if he’ll ever be ready mentally.
As the Symbol of Peace for the current generation, he has a responsibility! He can’t top that with more responsibilities by bringing a baby into the world.
Izuku twists in discomfort, unsure how to answer Shouto. “You know how Kacchan is. He’s so sweet and considerate that he would never bring up a conversation like that,” he says.
Izuku thinks about how much his Alpha has expressed biologically how much he wants a pup. He’s been scenting Izuku like crazy, he even rubs his stomach when they sleep at night and he even stares longingly at baby clothes when they pass by stores.
He knows that Katsuki wants nothing more than a pup and he can’t give him that. At least...not right now?
“Well don’t put it off for too long. You don’t want this to bottle up inside and it’s better for you two to at least get it out in the open so it doesn’t explode in your faces,” Shouto says.
Izuku bites his lip. Is it bad that he would rather just let the conversation happen on its own rather than bring it up himself?
“Yes that’s a bad idea,” Shouto replies.
Izuku realizes that he had thought aloud. “Shouto. Can I be honest with you?” he asks hesitantly.
Shouto nods. “Of course, Izuku. You can tell me anything.”
“I don’t know if...I ever want to have kids…?” Izuku confesses. “I guess...I’ve never thought about it until now. I mean yeah I like playing with them, but the kids I’ve interacted with were never mine so...that’s why it was okay. Is that weird?”
For a beta, probably isn’t weird.
For an alpha, probably isn’t weird either.
But for an omega...it’s very rare.
If there is anything else that could add to Izuku’s list of why he’s completely not like other omegas, ‘ doesn’t want babies’ probably takes the cake.
“It’s not weird at all,” Shouto says, with a reassuring smile.
Izuku suddenly felt a little better. Or rather validated.
“Really?” he asks hopefully.
Shouto nods. “Of course. Playing with someone’s kid is totally different from having your own. You don’t have to worry about taking care of the pup for the rest of your life. When they cause issues you just call up their parents and make them deal with it,” he says, chuckling. “I did the exact same with my nieces and nephews.”
Izuku chuckles back, his heart feeling slightly lighter.
“I used to feel the same as you, but the more I spent time with kids, the more I wanted to have my own with Tenya. The feeling just grew and grew,” Shouto says gently. He places a hand on Izuku’s hand. “I’m not saying that the same will happen to you. Though I do think that maybe some more bonding time with babies could change your mind.”
Izuku sighs in thought. He wants to say that no matter what, he won’t change his mind. It seemed like Shouto had been the same. They had both come from broken families and yet, he takes one look at Shouto as he gazes out the backyard, smiling softly and happily looking at his Alpha and pups.
Izuku and Katsuki are happy as they are. They don’t need anymore in their family of two. Well at least, that’s what Izuku felt.
Right now.
“Izuku, just think about it,” Shouto says. “And most importantly, talk to Katsuki.”
He didn’t talk to Katsuki.
Instead, he thought it would be a great idea to attempt to train. With his friends’ children.
You don’t need to tell him, he knows he’s an idiot.
“Oh hey, there you go, you’re getting the hang of it,” Denki comments supportively. Izuku is currently holding his one-year-old daughter in his arms.
The pup is facing forward with Izuku’s left arm positioned at the bottom supporting her bum, while his right arm is around her soft belly. She’s giggling happily as she bends backwards to look up to Izuku.
He’s got to admit, she’s pretty freaking adorable. Her small little turf of bright purple hair is exactly like her father while she has Denki’s stunning gold eyes.
Izuku smiles back. “She’s so happy right now.”
Denki nods. “Yeah, she gets like that when she’s done a huge poop.”
Okay, gross. But hey, adults poop too. It’s fine.
Until the smell reaches his nose.
“Oh sweetheart, that smells like a big one!” Denki says, cooing in his pup’s face. The little girl babbles as if there wasn’t a giant pile of poop sitting in her diaper.
Yeah, okay. No.
“It’s really easy, you just have to pretend the spoon is an aeroplane and he opens right up,” Eijirou says enthusiastically. “Watch.”
Izuku watches in amazement how easily Eijirou feeds his son and also how easily he makes a fool out of himself by making stupid aeroplane noises. His son swallows up the pureed food easily, banging his chubby little hands on the table.
“Aww you hungry little buddy?” Eijirou coos. He turns to Izuku, handing him over the spoon and bowl filled with mush. “Here, Izuku you try.”
Izuku looks at Eijirou’s son, who looks back at him with wide eyes and a huge smile. The small little horns that peaked out of his black hair contrasted his slightly pink skin. “Bah!” the pup lets out throwing his tiny little arms in the air.
His omega whines a little bit at how cute the small pup is.
Izuku feeds him a couple of spoonfuls, mimicking the aeroplane thing Eijirou showed him moments ago.
“Oh this isn’t so hard,” he comments in surprise. Eijirou nods smiling.
“See, there’s nothing to be scared of! But be careful that you don’t feed him too fast though since he usually–”
Before Eijirou finishes his sentence, the pup throws up all over Izuku’s shirt and promptly starts crying.
“–throws up.”
Yeah...no.
“You sure you’re going to be okay, Izuku?” Shouto asks, looking apprehensive to leave his friend all alone with his two children.
“Izuku-kun, please do not feel pressured to do this for us. We can always reschedule,” Tenya says, looking equally as worried.
Izuku wonders if they were more concerned about him or concerned about leaving their three-year-old daughter and one-year-old son with him. He thinks it’s a bit of both.
“It’s fine . You two haven’t been able to have a night to yourselves in a while, I’m happy to do this,” Izuku reassures his friends. And also himself.
Both Shouto and Tenya are dressed in semi-formal attire for their wedding anniversary dinner. Even Izuku and Katsuki knew how hard it was to be able to coordinate their days off together and they don’t have any kids. “Alright, call us if anything happens. There’s some milk in the fridge I pumped before, so if either of them gets a little hungry in the middle of the night then heat it up in the microwave before feeding it to them,” Shouto instructs.
Izuku nods and does a mock salute. “You got it. You two enjoy yourselves.”
Tenya hesitates one last time. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay alone? I know you and Katsuki babysit together,” he says in a gentle tone. Obviously not wanting to set off Izuku's defensiveness.
And it doesn’t since Izuku is just as worried as they are. Can he really do this?
Was this the right decision?
Why did he start doing this in the first place?
His inner omega immediately tells him that he’s doing this for his Alpha. For his husband. The love of his life.
Katsuki.
He wants kids. Of course, Izuku’s choice matters too but did he really want kids or was it just his body? His second gender?
He’s not doing this for Katsuki.
I’m doing it for me, Izuku thinks. How would you know if you don’t properly try?
“I’ll be fine. Kacchan is going to finish his shift soon and I already told him that I’ll be here. He says he’ll stop by once he’s done,” Izuku says.
Shouto and Tenya immediately let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank God.”
“That’s reassuring.”
Izuku immediately glares at his two friends. “What the fuck, you guys?”
To think that they would trust Katsuki over him says a lot. Well, they are right to worry, but that didn’t mean it didn’t stab Izuku’s pride a smidgen.
“Look at the time, we’ve got to go to catch their reservation,” Tenya coughs awkwardly. “Let’s go Shouto.”
“See you later Izuku, call us if anything happens.”
With that, they hightailed out of there.
Izuku sighs as he closes the front door. The kids were asleep so this whole thing should be a piece of cake.
That was his first mistake.
As soon as Tenya and Shouto left, their daughter woke up.
Crying.
Loudly.
Izuku sighs again.
An hour into trying to settle the young pup back to sleep, Izuku felt like this was the hardest mission he has ever been assigned to.
He’s tried patting the pup’s back. He’s tried carrying the pup and rocking him back to slumber. He’s tried singing to him.
Just as he was about to call up Shouto, he heard a small voice from the door. “Uncle Zuzu?”
“Ah, Touka-chan, did we wake you?” Izuku speaks softly, while little Yasuo continues to whimper. He walks over to Touka and kneels down to meet her at eye level.
Touka wipes her eyes, still clearly sleepy. Izuku instantly felt guilty. “No, I went to the toilet and I heard Yacchan crying,” she says.
Damn, she’s only three and she’s already potty trained? As expected.
Izuku pats her head gently while balancing Yasuo pretty well on one arm. “Sorry sweetie, let’s get you back to bed.”
Yasuo’s whimpers gradually get louder and within a couple of seconds, it turns into full-blown crying. “Oh dear, Touka-chan, honey, let’s get you back to bed first,” Izuku panics slightly.
He’s not going to lie. He’s a little stressed.
People may consider hero work 100x more stressful than this and he can’t positively say that they don’t know jack shit.
Parenting, at this very moment, is 100x scarier. Hands down.
“Mama hugs Yasuo and scents him to go to sleep,” Touka says, clearly not bothered whatsoever. Izuku blinks. “He also doesn’t like being cradled unless he’s drinking from Mama’s chest.”
Izuku looks down at Yasuo who had been cradling, except not in the right position for his small mouth to make contact with his chest. Yasuo looked like he was experiencing discomfort.
He thought it was feeding time.
Izuku suddenly wanted the floor to swallow him whole.
He hadn’t realized he started crying until a small soft hand wipes a stray tear away. “It’s okay Uncle Zuzu. You’re doing a good job,” Touka reassures with a small, albeit sleepy smile.
He sniffles and lets out a small chuckle. Here he is, a grown adult crying at the stress of dealing with children being comforted by a small, very smart, three-year-old child. Shouto and Tenya are great parents.
Izuku stands up and shifts Yasuo so that they are chest to chest. He gently places Yasuo’s head in the junction of his shoulder and neck. Hugging him gently, Izuku pats him softly on the back. In a matter of seconds, Yasuo’s crying quieted down to a soft whimper which then turned into a gentle snore.
He looks back at Touka who stares up at him with an expression that almost looks like she is proud of him. Actually, he was proud of him too.
Eventually, when he and Touka (he trusts her more than himself) were confident enough that Yasuo is asleep, Izuku settles him back in the crib. Giving some last few pats on the back before leaving him to sleep.
Izuku takes Touka’s small hand and leads her back to her own bedroom, tucking her back in.
“Thank you for helping me Touka-chan. You’re a great big sister,” Izuku compliments as he ruffled her hair affectionately. “Get some sleep okay?”
“Uncle Zuzu,” she calls out, her eyes already struggling to stay open.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“You’d make a great mommy,” she murmurs before completely falling asleep.
For once, Izuku thought so too.
Izuku looks over to Katsuki, next to him on the bed. The Alpha was absorbed reading a book. Not a baby book.
At least not yet.
Izuku lets out a sweet scent, trying to gain Katsuki’s attention. His husband’s nose twitches a little bit. “Deku, what are you doing?”
“Why are you assuming that I’m trying to do something?” he replies back innocently.
Katsuki’s eyes are immediately on him. Suddenly Izuku feels warm at his Alpha’s gaze.
It’s probably the fertility supplements.
Slick forms a little between his legs.
“Are you...turned on right now?” Katsuki growls as he closes his book, placing it on the bedside table.
Izuku mounts on top of him, wrapping his arms around Katsuki’s shoulders. Katsuki’s arms immediately come up to grasp his waist. “Kacchan,” he moans into his husband’s ear.
Katsuki lets out another growl. His usual gentle cinnamon scent, turning smoky. “What’s gotten into you?”
Izuku kisses him deeply. When he pulls away he looks at his Alpha directly in the eye.
“Breed me, Kacchan.”
Katsuki didn’t need to be told twice.