The inside of the nest was unbelievably wide.
The entrance was large enough for a 10-ton dump truck to pa.s.s through, and the pa.s.sageway was even wider.
I could not contain my impatience, Aoi and I quickly advanced through the pa.s.sage.
We soon reached a large wall.
There was a small hole in the center of the wall.
Even though I said it"s small, that"s only true compared to the size of this cave-like nest.
Is it easier to imagine if I say that two people can pa.s.s through it side by side?
When I pa.s.sed through the hole without hesitation, old furniture and colored boxes came into view.
Furthermore, there was a bed that was far larger than a king bed surrounded by furniture.
My daughters were sleeping there.
Well, they were awake, but lying there.
“Jaja… Nana…!”
I started running without thinking.
It"s because I couldn"t help but want to see their faces as soon as possible.
When I let go of Aoi"s hand and rushed over to the bed, four small eyes honed in on me.
“Aah-, uah!”
“Da!”
The twins laughed as they moved their hands and feet energetically.
I wondered what it is? Tears naturally overflowed from my eyes.
Haven"t my tear glands gotten too weak recently?
“Haha, even though you were always grumpy. Jaja, Nana? Papa came, you know?”
Aoi stretched out both hands and stroked the twin"s cheeks.
Jaja and Nana continued to laugh as they twisted their bodies like they were ticklish.
“Look, Kunpei-san too.”
There was a lump in my throat.
I was somehow able to respond by forcibly taking a breath.
I slowly reached out both hands, and the twins quickly grasped my finger.
They were each playing with one of my hands.
The warm sensation from my palms cooled my head.
“…I made you wait, I"m sorry.”
Jaja was lively and Nana responded curiously.
“… Can I breastfeed?”
Aoi sat down on the bed and slowly rolled up her clothes.
I was looking from the side, although I"m always warning her about it, but for some reason, I didn"t want to say anything today.
Aoi, who only exposed her chest, first picked up Nana who was lying nearby.
When she pushed her right breast to Nana, she immediately began sucking on it.
I put my hands on Jaja"s sides and slowly lifted her up.
Jaja cackled with laughter.
“Okay, right here.”
Aoi held out her left arm.
Jaja showed signs of not wanting to separate so I slowly pulled her off and handed her over.
At first, she disliked it, but after noticing the left breast, she immediately brought her face closer.
“Kunpei-san as well.”
After those words, I hurriedly took off my upper clothes.
I remember the existence of the earphone because it was caught in the clothes.
“M-mik.u.ma, can I disconnect for a bit?”
I nervously listened.
“……Yeah. I can"t help but hear. Call me when it"s over…”
“… Sorry.”
“… Don"t say that.”
After that, the call was immediately disconnected.
I closed my eyes for a bit, then slowly opened them.
I threw my jacket on the bed, turned around and sat back to back to Aoi.
It"s always cold at first.
But it immediately starts to have a pleasant heat.
The two people"s body temperature mix and sweat begins to acc.u.mulate, but I never once thought it was dirty.
We"re always silent during this time.
When the twins have finished breastfeeding, we would usually dive under the futon without hiding our embarra.s.sment.
But there are so many things I want to tell you today.
“… I"m”
“… Yes”
I slowly opened my mouth and said something then waited for Aoi"s response.
I felt a little more relieved after the response that came back after a short while.
“Stupid… so I couldn"t say anything at that time. I made you decide on your own and pushed all that pain to you."
“Well, that"s… I willfully gave birth and I forced you to become their papa… so it"s natural."
That"s wrong.
Well, if it"s just what happened, then it"s not wrong.
“No, that"s wrong, it wasn"t forcibly… I"ve wished for these children from the beginning. As soon as they hatched, they struck a chord with me… To be honest, I was happy.”
“Happy…?”
Jaja and Nana were purring while breastfeeding.
Those lovely sounds pa.s.sed through my ears.
“My brother… Shouhei is like that, being relied on… I don"t dislike it, especially by these weak children relying only on me, this foolish me.”
“…I"m taking advantage of Kunpei-san"s kindness.”
“That"s wrong.”
That is definitely wrong.
“I was the one who decided. Usually, if you suddenly became a father, you would refuse, but I was ecstatic and I was relying on you…”
That was my mistake.
“I said I would protect you, but I was underestimating it.”
“That"s not true! Because we…”
“It is. I can"t express myself well, but…”
Mom, please scold me.
“Children have to be protected by a lot of people. I can"t do it alone. You alone is surely not enough. Even us together, it"s still not enough.”
“… Then?”
I looked up at the ceiling.
“Let"s lower our heads to a lot of people. We"ll cast away pride and circ.u.mstances, and receive help even if it"s shameful. Of course, we have to make sure that those people are really helping. That"s probably what we have to do as parents.”
“A lot of… people.”
“That"s right, like my father, Shouhei, Officer Doggie, Inoue, and Saeki? Well, it might be difficult, but somehow Yule-san as well. Also I"m only here right now because I received help from Mik.u.ma.”
“Kun…pei-san.”
The trembling transmitted from Aoi"s back surely wasn"t from sadness.
“For these guys sake, let"s not worry about out appearances, and just do it? Sure, I"ve just been swept along so far, but Jaja and Nana were still born. So, let"s just look for ways to make these guys happy.”
Those were my honest feelings.
At last, Aoi couldn"t hold it in anymore, she raised her voice and burst into tears.
She couldn"t even wipe her tears because she was holding on to her beloved daughters.
However, Aoi embraces them gently and does not let go of the twins who were sucking on her milk.
Somehow, her crying sounded just like my daughters.
“I made you cry again, huh…”
I smiled wryly while looking up at the ceiling.