Curate, connect, and discover
It was 3:17 a.m.
The apartment was dark, still, quiet… until it wasn’t.
A familiar wail echoed down the hallway, slicing through the silence like a siren call.
You groaned softly into your pillow, one eye cracking open. “Your turn.”
Keigo didn’t move.
You nudged him.
“…Birdbrain.”
“Okay, okay—!” he mumbled, flopping dramatically onto his back and groaning like he’d just been asked to fly to the moon. “Operation Diaper Storm is a go.”
You sat up with him, both of you bleary-eyed but weirdly in sync, shuffling down the hallway together like zombies on a mission. Soraya’s cries grew louder the closer you got.
“I got wipes and a fresh sleeper,” you said, grabbing things from the drawer with one hand while tying your hair back with the other.
Keigo scooped Soraya up from her crib, already whispering in his softest dad-voice. “Hey, hey… baby bird, relax. Backup’s here.”
Her face was red, tiny fists flailing. Definitely not in the mood for sweet talk.
They say real love is patient.
But real, real love is holding your baby’s ankles in one hand while wiping a disaster zone at 3 a.m. with the other, all while your partner tosses dirty clothes into the laundry bin and tries to get a onesie on without snapping off their own sanity.
“Why do baby legs have the strength of a pro wrestler during diaper changes?” Keigo hissed.
“Because she knows we’re vulnerable,” you muttered. “She smells fear.”
Soraya let out a high-pitched hiccup-cry and then—without warning—peed straight up into the air.
“WHOA—” Keigo dodged like he was in combat. “Direct hit! I repeat, I’ve been hit!”
You burst out laughing as he held his hands up in surrender, damp shirt clinging to his chest. “She’s got a hell of an aim.”
“She’s got your attitude,” he shot back, peeling his shirt off and grabbing a clean towel.
Still half-laughing, you finally got the fresh diaper on her, slipped her into a clean sleeper, and scooped her into your arms.
Almost instantly… she stopped crying.
Keigo stared at her, blinking. “…That was all just for fun, wasn’t it?”
Soraya blinked back, now completely serene. Possibly smug.
You leaned into him, baby tucked between you both now. “Mission complete?”
He sighed, already guiding you back to bed. “Until the next alarm goes off.”
“She’s totally gonna be a villain in the morning,” you said through a yawn.
“She’s gonna be a CEO in the morning,” he muttered. “This kid already runs the whole house.”
---
Later…
Back in bed, Keigo pressed a soft kiss to Soraya’s hair, then to your cheek.
“You know,” he whispered, eyes heavy with sleep, “even like this… I’ve never felt more like a hero.”
You smiled against his chest. “You’re not alone, birdbrain.”