"Do you have everything you need, Sarada?" Hinata strapped Haruna into her car seat and closed the door as she approached the young girl.
Staring at a list of small scribbles in her hand, Sarada tapped her chin in deep contemplation as she gave Hinata a thumbs up. "I think so."
"Let me have a look." She held her hand out for the sheet of paper. Her eyes scanned the contents carefully as she hummed and escorted her adoptive daughter to the car. "This is great."
"Mommy can't make it."
"I know, she's in Costa Rica for a medical mission, I'm sure she'd call us or something." Hinata reassured the younger girl as they pulled out of the driveway.
They had about an hour to get the house completely ready. She had picked up Sarada straight from school and brought her home to get her little list since the young Uchiha complained about not remembering anything on the sheet of paper.
"I hope daddy likes it." She mumbled as she watched the houses turn into trees and then the big city buildings.
They were on their way to multiple shops to collect the things they would need to organize the perfect birthday celebration for Sasuke. Sarada had informed her that they would usually go out to eat on his birthday but she wanted to do something at home. All day, Hinata had been cooking and getting things ready beside the decoration and buying the cake — Sarada wanted to do those.
"I think he'd like it very much."
Besides, it was another chance for her to reaffirm her seriousness with the Uchiha. True to their words the last time they had a very serious heart to heart conversation, they've moved on from the nanny-father dynamic to one that was comfortable for the both of them. Perhaps they were beginning to be good friends, which was a great foundation for the future. They didn't let anything else dictate that and they wouldn't mind at all if it remained that way.
Except sometimes Hinata couldn't ignore that dull ache of wanting in her stomach whenever she saw Sasuke with Haruna.
Since she had lost Rei, she wondered what life would have been like to have someone there to support her if she ever had a child, and Sasuke was proving to be very reliable — that was to be expected, Haruna was a part of him as well. It was rather comical to her that they had once had a conversation about her having another child and trusting someone else to help her and it was happening right in front of her eyes.
Hinata had continuously brushed it off though, reminding herself that those feelings were nothing but adoration for the man who really loved his family. No doubt he didn't feel the same about her.
Their conversations were lax, and they did spend a lot more time together without the children but there were moments where she thought that he was only doing so because of his promise to his ex wife.
Sakura did back off completely and stopped trying to force them to like each other, but she didn't know whether that was a good thing or not. They rarely talked about his past relationship, and would slip into conversations where they would relish in the memories of the children. Hinata thought of those to be just Sasuke finding solace in the fact that he no longer had to carry such a heavy load on his own.
As long as he felt that way, then she would be perfectly fine with their arrangement.
"We'll go in, get everything we need, and get out immediately so we don't get stuck in the middle of rush hour. Is that a deal?" She stopped the car quickly and unbuckled her seatbelt.
"Yes!" Sarada followed suit and unbuckled Haruna as well so they can move faster. "Daddy shouldn't get home until six, right?"
"Right." Opting to leave the car seat in the car since Haruna could sit up straight now without much support; Hinata grabbed a trolley on the way inside. They made a beeline for the party section. "Which means..."
"We need to hurry." Sarada began running around and grabbing the things she needed.
Hinata watched as she paused occasionally to decide between two colours before settling on the darkest shade they had. Whenever Sarada asked for the time, she would let her know and tell her to relax. If they get caught in the rush hour, then Sasuke would as well.
"I don't know what cake daddy likes." Sarada stared at the display of beautiful cakes in front of her.
"He's not a fan of sweets, remember?"
"Yeah but all of these must be really sweet. Why don't we make our own cake?"
"That would take a while."
"You're right..." She frowned and her shoulders sagged a little bit. "This is bad."
"If we leave now, we can make an apple spice cake at home. That one won't be too sweet." Hinata suggested, "you'd just have to stall your father if he gets home before the cake is finished."
"I can do that!" Sarada nodded. "Let's pay and go home quickly." She smiled happily.
Not for one moment did she stop mumbling under her breath about her excitement. Even as they drove down the backroads to get to the house faster; Sarada kept smiling to herself as she held some balloons in her hand. Haruna would occasionally reach for the floating blobs with curiosity.
The moment they were parked in the driveway, they let out a sigh of relief since Sasuke wasn't home yet. Sarada ran towards the door with as many bags she could carry and Hinata followed quickly.
The doors were opened and all hell broke loose.
The television was switched to one of Haruna's favourite cartoons to distract her while Hinata made the cake and Sarada set up the decorations.
When the clock struck six, they kept looking at the door anxiously in hopes of [never] hearing Sasuke arrive. Their anxiety was squandered when the cake was out of the oven and put in the fridge to cool down. The table was set, the decorations were perfect, and Hinata changed their clothes to something more appropriate.
Sasuke didn't come home until the time was approaching seven in the evening. Sarada had appeared in front of him and ushered him up the stairs without saying a word. Confused and wondering what his daughter was up to, he listened carefully as she instructed him to take a shower and wear the clothes that were on his bed. With a shake of his head, Sasuke smiled and did as she asked.
Never expecting her to be waiting for him on the staircase, he finally managed to utter a greeting.
"Good evening to you too, Sarada." He held her hand and let her escort him down the stairs.
"How was work today?" She asked and stopped before they got to the dining room.
"It was okay, what have you been up to?" He took note of the smell that came from the kitchen and the formality of the clothes the both of them were wearing.
"Nothing! I just need you to close your eyes." She faced him and gave him a big grin.
Not questioning her request, he did as he was told. "What now?"
"Follow me." She pulled him along carefully and avoided any obstacle. Everything had to go perfect.
With Sasuke in place — standing at the head of the table — Sarada joined Hinata and Haruna at the opposite end and fixed her dress.
"You can open your eyes now." She said and smiled widely.
Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and he couldn't help but match her grin with a small smile of his own. The dining room was filled with multiple different colours and balloons. Even the table held an assortment of dishes that were adorned with bold colours from the vegetables it incorporated. He rested his hand on his chair and looked at the people responsible for the small display.
"Is this what you wanted to hide from me?" He motioned for them to sit, noticing that Hinata was wearing heels on such occasions when she much preferred to be in something more comfortable. That was definitely Sarada's idea; as was the fancy clothes they were wearing just for a dinner in their home.
Hinata carefully placed Haruna in her eating chair, "she wanted to surprise you today."
"Were you surprised?" Sarada shifted closer to her father and folded her hand patiently on the table.
"Very." He caressed her cheek. "You three must have worked really hard."
"Hina did all the work! She cooked all of this but I decorated everything."
"What did Haruna do?"
"She provided support with her gurgling and laughter." Hinata answered and sat down.
"It was a team effort!" Sarada laughed.
Chapter Twenty One: Happiness
With their stomachs full and laughter resonating in the dining room, the small family continued talking even as Hinata cleared the table. Sarada would occasionally crack a joke she heard from school, which would earn her a smile from the Hyuga woman and a laugh from her father. Haruna would join in with her baby talk, making the three listen carefully as if they understood what she said. When she laughed, they would laugh too.
"Is this all you three had planned?" Sasuke watched Hinata move around quickly, her heels obviously discarded. He had offered to help her but even his daughter yelled out a 'no' as if they were hiding something.
"Mhm! Just have dinner with you, and then maybe watch cartoons before bed time. I have school tomorrow." Sarada pouted and handed Hinata the empty bowl of food.
"Any specific reason for tonight?" He unbuttoned his suit's jacket and loosened his tie as he picked up Haruna.
"Nope! I just wanted to play dress-up." Sarada lied as she joined Hinata in the kitchen.
Their conversation was nothing but whispers as they took the cake out of the fridge and put on some candles. Opting out of using any sort of sprinkles or sugary sweet decoration, Hinata gave Sarada a nod and helped her hold the cake.
"Can you close your eyes one last time?" She asked as they approached the dining room.
Doing as she asked, Sasuke closed his eyes while he continued to pat Haruna's back soothingly. "This isn't going to be more food, is it?"
"No." Sarada giggled as they put the cake in front of Sasuke and lit the candles. "When we count to three, you can open your eyes."
"Okay."
The two girls started counting very slowly and then shouted the number three. Once Sasuke's eyes were open, a party popper went off and confetti fell over him as Sarada giggled.
"Happy birthday!" They both said and motioned to the cake.
Sasuke stared at it, his face blank for a moment before he closed his eyes and smiled softly. "I should have known."
"You left the house so quickly, we couldn't even wish you a happy birthday." Hinata handed him a knife after taking Haruna from him.
"You didn't even eat the breakfast I helped Hina make." Sarada pouted. "That's okay! Now you can eat the cake we both made." She clapped her hand happily.
"Would you like to help me?" He placed the knife at the top of the cake but didn't move it.
"To cut it?"
"Hn."
"Okay." She held the knife and waited for him to cover her hand with his own.
"You too." Sasuke asked Hinata.
"I—"
"Come on!" Sarada reached for her hand.
Giving up with very little effort, she placed her hand over Sarada's.
Sasuke covered her hand with his own, and then held Haruna's small hand against his before they all pushed down on the knife.
"Who gets the first slice?" Sarada asked once the first cut was made.
"Isn't it always the birthday person?" Hinata sat down.
"I'm not one for cakes." He placed the first slice on a plate and put it in front of Sarada.
Pushing the plate towards him, she shook her head. "You have to try this one. We worked really hard on it."
"We really did." Hinata reaffirmed. "It's not sweet, we made sure it wasn't."
Sighing in defeat, Sasuke picked up the fork and took one bite from the cake. Expecting sweetness to overcome his senses — whenever Hinata said something wasn't sweet, it usually was — he was satisfied when he only got a taste of the spices and apple used in the cake. "This is great." He continued cutting the cake and handing them their own pieces. He even cut a tiny piece for Haruna.
Sharing a high five, Hinata matched Sarada's grin with one of her own.
"Now it's time to watch a movie!" Sarada squealed.
"I thought we were going to finish the cake." Hinata mumbled.
"We'll do that later." Sasuke stood up and pushed in his chair.
Joining the Uchiha duo in the living room, Hinata couldn't help but feel content with how things went. It really was perfect.
━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━
The children were beginning to fall asleep on the couch after a long day. Sarada leaned against Sasuke and kept playing with his hand and her dress as she tried to ignore her tired eyes. Haruna was completely asleep against Hinata's chest, lulled into the dream world by the soft caressing of her hair.
Sasuke and Hinata shared a glance, silently communicating to finally get up and put the children in their beds before they too fell asleep. It was some sort of habit the two had developed whenever it concerned the children. No words needed to be spoken, all the communication was done with their eyes, whether it was worry or a mutual understanding to bring them home or to their room.
Picking up Sarada, Sasuke was the first to leave the living room. His daughter wrapped her arms around his shoulders and nuzzled into his neck as she closed her eyes.
"We need to get you out of the dress and into your pyjamas." He mumbled and opened the bedroom door with ease. "Have you taken your evening bath?"
"Mhm." She nodded tiredly.
"Good." He walked around the room and got the things she needed for her to be completely ready for sleep.
Sitting down on her bed, Sasuke put her to stand up and couldn't help but smile as she swayed back and forth with her eyes closed. Helping her out of her dress, he changed her into her sleepwear and helped her into her bed.
"Maybe I'll let you stay home tomorrow." He said as he brushed her hair back with his hand. He remained sitting at her bedside.
With stubborn eyes, Sarada looked at her father with a smile. "Is Hina staying forever?"
He raised his eyebrow at the sudden question, and as if she could sense his confusion, she held his hand.
"Hina is very nice and loves all of us. I hope she doesn't leave us. We worked really hard on your birthday, I think she worked extra hard to make sure it was perfect." Her words were jumbled up as her sleepiness began combatting her stubbornness. "I don't want Hina to leave so we can have more perfect birthdays."
"She's not leaving, Sara."
"Are you sure?"
"Very."
"It's fun calling Hina 'mommy', ya'know?"
"What's up with all your rambling?" He smiled and swatted her playful hand away from his face.
Sarada shrugged, "I have two mommies and that's very fun. Mommy Hina takes us outside a lot and does a lot with us, and Mommy Kura makes sure we're doing very well and gets us a lot of gifts. Isn't it fun having two mommies?"
"You need to sleep."
"In a minute..." Her voice trailed off and her body relaxed.
Sure that her rambling was finished, Sasuke stood up and got ready to turn her night lights on.
"I hope daddy is happy with mommy Hina like I'm happy with her." She said finally and turned around as sleep finally took over her body.
Sasuke paused for a moment, her words echoing in his head as he flipped off the lights and made sure the nature sounds were loud enough for her to hear but not to wake her up. Closing her bedroom door softly, Sasuke looked up to see Hinata do the same with Haruna's door.
She smiled and waved slightly, "she's fully asleep now?"
He nodded. "Hopefully she won't wake up early."
"I think we should let her have the day off from school. She's been so excited today, she must be exhausted now."
"Hn."
"I'm going to head to bed as well; I've turned off the television so you don't have to go back down there." She walked past him and towards her room. "Sleep well, Sasuke."
He watched her enter her bedroom with a smile on her face. Glancing between the bedrooms of his daughters, he thought for a moment and then retired to his own room.
Sarada's last words to him never left his mind even as his body too succumbed to exhaustion.