Bitter

9.

Jump forward to Wednesday(Salem's birthday)

Mara's POV

I was cuddled into Kuroo when the sound of Salem's cries woke me up. "Good morning Birthday girl" I said as I sat up and got out of bed, waking the sleeping rooster up in the process. "Good morning birthday bubbles" he said as he stretched. "Let's get you ready for your party" I said as I pulled her black sparkly dress from the closet. "You are going to look so pretty" I said as I laid her down and started to get her undressed. "We need to get you all clean first sweet girl" I said as I tickled her before I picked her up and carried her to the bathroom. "Thanks for running the tub ahead of time for me" I said as I gave him a kiss.

"In you go" I said as I lowered her head and started to bathe her. "Shit" I said as I realized that there was no towel in the bathroom. "Hey Kuroo" I yelled as my tall boyfriend came into the bathroom. "What do you need" he asked as he peaked his head in the door. "A towel please, so I can dry your daughter off" I said as I looked up at him. "On it" he said as he disappeared and came back with a towel. "Thanks daddy" I said as I stood Salem up and wrapped her into the towel. "Good job standing bubbles" Kuroo said as I handed her to him. "I laid her dress and bows on the bed" I said as I drained the water and stood up.

"You get dressed, I have this under control" Kuroo said as I walked in the room and saw him putting a diaper on her. "What should mommy wear" I asked as I looked through the closet, I basically lived with Kuroo now since I eventually transferred all my clothes over to his house. "Wear a black dress to match me mommy" Kuroo said in a high pitched voice as he stuck Salem's arm through the arm hole of the dress. "You look so pretty baby" I said as I turned to see my little baby not looking so little anymore.

It was not long before I found a dress and got completely ready to go. "Let's drive to your party" I said as I lifted her up and carried her to the car. "Stop growing up so fast" I said as I buckled her in and got into my own seat. "Ready to go bitter" Kuroo said as I fastened my seatbelt. "Yep" I said before we headed to Daichi's house. We sang the whole way there, even Salem joined in by making melodious babbles. "Let's go party girl" Kuroo said as he got her out of the car. "Patay" she said as she kissed Kuroo's nose. "Looks like someone has been watching mommy" Kuroo said with a laugh as we walked into the house.

"Happy birthday" our friends and family yelled as we walked into the kitchen. "Look baby, everyone came to see you" Kuroo said as he helped her stand up on the counter. "Happy birthday squirt" Suga said as he gave her an Eskimo kiss. "Happy birthday kiddo" Daichi said as he kissed her cheek. "Happy birthday Salem" Kenma said in his normal quiet tone. A few more people came and told her happy birthday but I was too busy getting her cake ready to notice. "Alright guys, on the count of 3. 1...2....3" I said as I walked out with her cake while people started singing happy birthday.

Salem was absolutely ecstatic, she was squealing and clapping her hands. "Happy birthday dear Salem, happy birthday to you" they all sang as me and Kuroo helped the shrimp blow out the candles. "Congratulations girlie" I said as I kissed my daughter's cheek before taking out the miraculously cool candles. "Wait, we need a picture" Hen said as she pulled out her phone and took a picture of me, Kuroo, and Salem posing with the cake. "Now just her" Daichi's mom said as we walked away so they could get a picture of her with the cake. "Now who wants cake" I yelled as smiles and laughter filled the room.

Kuroo's POV

Once everyone had their cake we all moved to the living room so she could open gifts. "The first gift is from uncle Kenma" I said as I pulled away the wrapping paper to reveal a walker on wheels. "Walkie" she squealed as her eyes landed on the box. "Which one Should we open next Sal?" I asked her as I stood her up. "That one" I asked her as she reached out to a bag, I brought the bag closer to her. "This is from nana and nopa Sawamura" Mara ready as she pulled the contents out of the bag. It was a copy of goodnight moon, Salem's favorite book. "This is from Daddy, sorry I'm late" Atsumu said as he handed me the gift bag. "Better late than never" Mara said as she helped Salem open the gift. "How has it been lately for you man" I asked Atsumu and Salem opened the book he got her.

"Life has been going good, things have been going really nice with my partner, I can really see myself having a future with him" Atsumu answered me as Atsumu 2.0 with gray hair walked in the door. "What the fuck" I said as I looked from Atsumu to his body double. "Osamu, glad you could make it" Mara said as she hugged Atsumu 2.0. "Kuroo this is Atsumu's Brother Osamu, he's Salem's uncle" Mara said as she introduced me to the man. "Hi, nice to meet you" I said as I shook the twin's hand.

We opened the rest of the gifts but by then the party was basically over. "Do not worry about cleaning up guys, taking the party pooped birthday girl home to bed is your responsibility" Mrs Sawamura said as she basically shooed us out the door. "Did you have good birthday girlie" I asked the sleeping toddler as she laid passed out against my chest. "Here we go, time to go home" I said as I buckled her up and got into the driver's seat. "Home again we go, but now with a 1 year old" I said as we drove home. "A very tired 1 year old" Mara added.

"We can bring the gifts inside later okay, let's focus on just putting her to sleep when we get home" Mara said as I hit a red light. I took the opportunity to type an address into my GPS before it turned green again. "Where are we going, what did you put in the GPS?" A very confused Mara asked. "It's a surprise sweetheart, hold your horses Mara" I said trying to hide my overwhelming excitement as drove for a while before we pulled into a driveway. "Who's house is this, why are we here?" She asked as I started to get out of the car, she took my lead and did the same. "It is our home, we are here so I can show it to you" I said as I grabbed Salem's entire baby carrier from the car so I wouldn't wake her. "You are joking, please tell me that you are joking" she said, she looked ready to cry. "Nope, I'm 100% serious, this is one of Kenma's spare properties that he does not intend on living in so he decided it would be better used as a family home" I explained to her

"Kuroo, do you want to see me cry. Do you constantly think about ways to make me sob" Mara said as she ran over and jumped on me. "No, I just want to love you forever. And buying you a house is the first step to doing that" I said as I kissed her passionately. "With a home like this you can count on it, I want to live here forever" She said with a long, genuine laugh. "Good to know" I said as I picked her up and spun her around. "I love you so fucking much" she said as she buried her face into my neck. "I cannot believe we are going to live here, I refuse to believe that this is our home" Mara said as she started to explore the house together. "This is the kitchen, that is the dining area, and that's the living room" I said as I walked her through the downstairs rooms.

"Do you want to see the upstairs now" I said as I led her up the stairs. "Of course I do" she said as I grabbed her hand while I held the handle of Salem's car seat in the other. "This is our bedroom, the room where we will sleep in together and make so many memories" I said as we walked into a large room with a huge bay window. "I can see you sitting here with our children and reading books to them. I can see them jumping into our bed at night because of a nightmare or thunderstorm" I said as I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. "It is beautiful Kuroo, I love it" she said with a smile. "This is Salem's room" I said as I led her to a slightly smaller large room. "She will grow so well in here" Mara said as she started to tear up. "Can't you see her playing for hours in here, having her first sleepover in her" I said as I held her in my arms. "And finally this is what I thought we could turn into a nursery when we needed to. This is the place where our greatest creation that we make together will sleep" I said as I kissed her neck causing her to smile borderline inhumanly wide.