Victor wearily rocked Yuki in his arms, he yawned and looked at the digital clock that rested on the nightstand beside his bed, it was only ten but he was exhausted.

Minami took Rosie with him after supper since he was on break from skating and Yuki missed the puppy so much he wasn't able to sleep again, Victor tried calling Makkachin but his poor dog was also tired. "It's alright my love she'll be back soon," Victor reassured his sniffling son and kissed the top of his head while soothingly rubbing the small of his back to calm him down.

Yuki had grown fond of the pup and missed the soft curly fur and rhythmic breathing. "I promise tomorrow you'll be able to see her and Makkachin again," Victor spoke to his son with a small smile as his sniffling and small whimpers subsided. "There you go," he whispered and hugged his son to his chest. "You're okay, everything will be okay." Victor hadn't realized that he was repeating the same words he used to calm Yuuri down whenever he had an anxiety attack.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and Yuki whimpered once again taking fistfuls of Victor's shirt. "I'm sorry, I'm okay really." Victor quickly reassured his son remembering how Yuki and he shared each other's feelings, which meant if he was sad so was Yuki. Victor rocked Yuki back and forth in a calm rhythmic movement and hummed, Yuki eventually grew tired and let his eyes close his uneven breathing evened out and he drifted off to sleep still keeping a tight grasp on his father's shirt Victor sighed releasing the breath he didn't know he was holding in and slowly lied down on the bed letting his sleeping baby resting on his chest. He stroked Yuki's silky hair and carefully moved him beside him, the infant stirred but was still in deep sleep.

Victor separated him and his son with a long pillow and then surrounded all open sides with pillows around Yuki so that he wouldn't fall if he were to turn over Victor smiled at his success and turned on his side facing Yuki, deep inside his heart he still yearned for his husband he missed holding him in his arms and exchanging loving kisses, but he eventually learned to cope with the pain, Yuki was his medicine. His cure.

Victor sighed and sank into his pillow exhaustion finally taking its toll on him his body felt heavy and he was unable to move, he was both physically and mentally exhausted, and possibly emotionally broken. He groaned as a headache began to form which was a result to all his thinking and worries of his son's future he closed his eyes and quietly counted down from thirty, counting was something that always calmed him down and eased his mind.

Eventually, he grew tired once again and finally was able to drift off to sleep with the thought of him, his son, and Yuuri...

When morning came Victor woke up to the sound of baby babbles he smiled happy that he was greeted by his adorable son first thing in the morning he sat up and stretched, his aching joints popped and he groaned in satisfaction and turned to face his son. "Good morning my love!" He grinned, Yuki giggled and reached out for his father desperately wanting to be held. "Let's change your diaper first and then we'll have breakfast," Victor said and grabbed a bag that rested on the ground against the bed, Victor always made sure to always keep a diaper bag close to him just in case.

He moved Yuki to the center of the bed and changed Yuki's diaper as he held his breath, he then changed Yuki's clothes and then his own wanting to wear something comfortable and fresh. So he ended up wearing his old yukata the green fabric was already fading yet still held together and kept him warm it still smelled of Yuuri.

Yuki wailed and turned over onto his belly. "My bad, I'm sorry." Victor smiled and scooped Yuki into his arms. "I bet you're hungry let's go see what grandma made." He exclaimed as a trickle of worry settled in his chest, yesterday during supper Hiroko was acting very odd. She looked scared and was so pale Victor wondered if she was getting sick, just the thought of someone else important to him getting ill was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

First his son, now his mother-in-law? Would there ever be any peace for him and his son? The place was unusually quiet today, by now he would hear Hiroko humming as she cooked or cleaned, but there was nothing. Yuki couldn't sense any other warmth other than his father's which didn't bother him that much, but him already being used to seeing his new family he did miss it.

Everything was eerily quiet Yuki whimpered and clung onto his father trembling with fright. "Shh..it's okay I got you. You're okay my love." Victor calmed his frightened child and walked aimlessly searching for anybody. He went outside holding his son closer. "They're not gone.." he mumbled to himself with a small frown, the small old car was parked at the driveway in the same position it was since yesterday. "I wonder what's going on, maybe they're sleeping in?" He asked curiously, Yuki whined. "I know, I know you're hungry." Victor smiled and was about to return inside until he heard the familiar sound of dead leaves crunching under feet, and the clicks of high heels.

No...

The blood drained from Victor's face and his heart dropped. "Oh my god...." the person gasped and took a step back, Victor gritted his teeth and tried his best to steady his breathing. He was met with cold dangerous eyes, and familiar flowing blonde hair. "An.." he couldn't even say her name, it was too painful to remember all that she had done to ruin his and Yuuri's life. Yuki wailed and hid his face in Victor's shirt. "Victor, I...I thought you were gone for good..." Angela muttered in a breathless tone.

She hadn't changed a bit, she was still the scary person Victor grew to fear, the person who tried to ruin everything. Angela then switched her gaze to the infant in Victor's arms. "Is that.." her eyes grew wide and all the color drained from her face. "Your child?" She spoke in a mere whisper. "Let me see it's face," she took a step forward. "S-stay away!" Victor yelled in a warning tone and embraced his son in a protective manner a panicked look was plastered on his face. The woman stopped dead in her tracks. "So it is your child," she frowned. "Don't tell me you grew apart from Yuuri." Victor winced, he did not want her speaking his name. "I only love one person and one person only," He stated. "And that person is and will always be Yuuri."

Yuki sniffled and turned his head so that he could breathe. "Then how is it that you have that child, did you adopt it?" She asked questions as if she deserved to know everything, it made Victor feel sick to his stomach. "You don't need to know." He said. "Please...don't come back here. I don't know what you want but you won't find anything here for you." By now Yuki was whimpering and sniffling, large silent tears rolled down his delicate face and Victor's heart literally shattered into pieces stabbing everything in his body.

He placed a kiss on his forehead and wiped away his tears. "It's alright, let's go back in and I promise I'll give you something to eat." He said ignoring the woman in front of him, he was not going to waste his time on her. Angela growled under her breath. "You have no idea what you did to me Nikiforov, you ruined my life! Everyone hated me! And..and now I'm going to return the favor." With that, she turned on her heel with a smug look on her face looking like she had already won the battle, but by then Victor had shut the door on her.

Victor sighed in relief and stroked his son's hair. "It's okay love, I promise she'll never touch or hurt you. I'll even make sure she doesn't look at you if that means you'll be safe and happy." Yuki looked up already cheering up as soon as he saw his father's happy face. "Let's see what we have for breakfast." He hummed and walked over to the empty kitchen still not getting used to the silence.

Victor looked through the fridge and sighed when he saw a couple of cans of baby food, Hiroko had probably bought them. "Let's give you...sweet potato?" He asked curiously, Yuki squealed in response. "Sweet potato it is." Victor laughed and grabbed the can. He sat on the ground happy that they had decided to take out the kotatsu due to the chilly weather and placed Yuki on his lap. "She was scary right?" Yuki faced Victor with his huge eyes, cheeks still pink and puffy. "Don't worry, she won't ever get to you," Victor reassured.

He opened the can and fed his hungry son still concerned about the lack of family members, but surely they could all still be sleeping. Right? Victor bit his lip thinking long and hard coming up with things that could've kept them unusually quiet. Perhaps today was a holiday? Or maybe there was some type of activity going on? Victor groaned inwardly already feeling a headache beginning to form and quickly pulled his attention back to his son who tried grabbing the spoon from Victor.

"No you don't," Victor pulled the spoon away getting the very last scoop of the mush. "Here's the last bite." He stated and finished feeding Yuki. "Now wasn't that tasty. Let's get all that air out of you." He held Yuki and carefully stood from the ground. "Let's find grandma while we're at it." He patted Yuki's back as he walked out of the living room and walked down the hall where Hiroko's room was located, after just a few minutes he suddenly heard quiet talking and sniffling. Someone was crying.

Victor headed toward the door the voices were coming from and quietly leaned against the door. "But mother he has the right to know!" It was Mari, she sounded so upset. "Yes I know, but it'll crush him. I don't want that for him, I want him to be happy." This time it was Hiroko that spoke, her voice was so soft and weak. "He's going to find out eventually. And the sooner it is the better it will be for the rest of us!" Victor winced, just what exactly were they arguing about?

"Mari he has been broken countless times, and now he is trying to rebuild himself in order to take care of his son. One more break and he'll never be the same." Were they talking about him? It was really...concerning. Yuki burped after a while startling Victor, he took a shaky breath and laughed under his breath, for a moment Victor lost track of the conversation due to his son being too darn cute but he got back on track.

"But what if he goes out and runs into him? Then what?" Mari was asking so many questions, not only were they talking about him, they were talking about someone else too. Someone that Victor possibly knew. "Then he'll explain himself, but we still must wait a bit more before telling him."

There was a thump. "This is ridiculous!" Footsteps headed toward the door and Victor panicked, and as a result, he ended up freezing right where he was. The door opened revealing a very upset looking Mari looking back at her mother. "If you won't tell him Yuuri is alive then I will!" She yelled aloud, Victor cringed and Yuki cried out startling the woman in front of them.

Mari's eyes popped wide open. "V-Vic..." she stammered. "Sh uh...so....yeah..." she nervously looked around. "Yuuri is...." Victor couldn't process what he heard, Mari sighed. "Victor, listen to me. And no matter what do not freak out on me," she warned, Victor slightly nodded in response. "Good, now listen closely. Yuuri is alive, and he's here in Hasetsu." Victor's heart swelled.

"Where is he?" He asked anxiously. "He's at a hospital at the moment," Mari replied Victor perked up. "I know where it is.." he quickly straightened his slouched posture. "I need to see him!" He exclaimed. "Wait Vi-" He quickly cut Mari off. "No, I have to see him! Yuki has to meet him!" He ran to his room quickly getting him and his son changed into warm clothes. Mari followed behind Victor. "But Victor you have to understand!-" Once again she was cut off. "I just have to go see him now! I'll be back I promise!" With that, he was off holding Yuki tight against his chest.

Mari swallowed the lump in her throat. "Good luck..." she whispered with a glum smile.

----------------------------------------------

Victor smiled in relief as soon as he saw the hospital building, he had tucked Yuki into his jacket to keep him warm and safe. "It's okay Yuki! You'll be able to see mommy soon!" Victor grinned and took gulps of cold sharp air, he coughed a couple of times and had to lean against a wall as soon as he arrived. He was positive he was going to cry, but he was going to save the tears for later. He checked to see if his son was doing okay and entered the cold building.

He went to a desk and asked for Yuuri's room number, the woman nodded and gave him the number with a kind smile on her face. As soon as he had the number memorized he rushed to the elevators, and pressed the number of the floor Yuuri was staying on. He waited anxiously and looked at himself from the mirrored walls of the elevator. He was a mess.

At least Yuki still looked adorable, after a couple of minutes the elevator doors opened, Victor took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator. He walked down a hall and searched for Yuuri's room, it seemed like an eternity before Victor finally found the room number. He stood in front of the door waiting, he cleared his mind and looked down at his son who would soon meet his other parent, the one that gave birth to him. "This is it," he whispered and entered the room with a swelling chest.

The man lying on the bed looked toward Victor who had entered and flinched, there was Yuuri. Victor felt his tears fill his eyes. "Yuuri." His voice broke and he practically ran over to his husband ready to give Yuki to him and wrap his arms around him, but Yuuri did something odd. He quickly sat up and backed away from Victor, his brown eyes were huge and filled with fear, Victor stopped dead in his tracks.

"Yuuri?" He frowned. "What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.

Yuuri gave Victor an apologetic look. "I-I'm sorry sir..." he started

"Do I know you?"