Their Second marriage anniversary comes right after Nu completes the 33rd week of his pregnancy.
He's massively pregnant at this point, with everlasting back pain, irritable moods, monster like appetite and what not, and it's his freaking Second marriage anniversary with the love of his life.
To say that he is miserable and an emotional wreck is to downplay the full extent of it.
Nat arrive early in the afternoon to cook up a whole three course meal.
Zee,on a one day leave, acts as a terrible sous chef under their supervision.
The delicious smell wafting from the kitchen isn't exactly helping Nu's case of insatiable hunger.
Sky seems to sense that there's something interesting going on in the Mansion and just goes with the flow.
He's happy and cheery, milling around their legs in the kitchen, all giggly and red cheeked from all the pampering the uncle have been doing.
Letting him taste test directly from the spatula and complimenting his drawings.
All of them, even zee, to nu's utter betrayal, laugh at how Sky basically drew a huge circle for Nu's belly and a smaller one for his face in a family portrait he was asked to do in the daycare.
Okay yeah, Nu is eight months pregnant and his face is swollen and what about it?
Net drops by after his work hours and starts playing with Sky--
not caring about wrinkling his crisp suit as he crouches down on his playmate and makes vroom vroom noises with the toddler--
instead of helping Zee clean up the kitchen like he was supposed to;
until james(Net boyfriend) comes in with bags full of supplies and drags Net's ass to go decorate the whole apartment with various trinkets, fairy lights, balloons and banners.
All the while, Nu rests on the sofa, a pillow fort around him.
All of them strictly forbid him to even lift a finger, saying he deserves the rest and pampering.
Nu feels so useless the wholetime, whining his displeasure.
They might as well hand him a pair of pom pom to cheer them on if he can't do anything else to help them.
Sky switches between snuggling against him or following the uncle's around like a duckling the whole time.
Max arrives at the very last, hair winds wept and a cute cake congratulating Zee
and Nu the makeshift party kicks off.
*'.°•༄
Nu stares at himself at the mirror, not liking the way the silky red dress looks on him.
Not that the dress is at fault, but it's him, Nu's brain convinces himself helpfully.
He tugs at the fabric, it's loose enough to fit him comfortably, the texture of it smooth under his fingers, but something about it just isn't right.
His face is puffy, even makeup can't hide that fact and he looks so round, the definition of his body and face are gone and he's a big fucking football now and-
"Stop. I can literally hear you thinking,"
Zee enters the room, presumably after shaving, he had this father-of-two stubble thing going on for a while but now his face looks clean, handsome as ever.
Nu makes a face at him through the reflection of the mirror,
"Easy for you to say. I'm the one dealing with the consequences."
He doesn't mean to sound bitter or start an argument on their anniversary, but really, things have been hard, he can't help it.
Zee comes to stand behind him, arms wrap around his middle, he doesn't rise up to Nu's bait.
Instead, nuzzles his hair.
"I know," he says softly, a bit apologetic even,
"but I also know that you are absolutely stunning, pregnant or not."
Nu stares at him like he doesn't believe him and Zee sighs, rests his chin on his shoulder,
"I don't know what can I say to make you believe that. But in a room full of people, I can only ever notice you.
Your beauty, your grace, your gentleness. Your kind and loving heart.
And it's not just your external appearance that makes you, you.
But what you stand for me or the people who love and adore you as a whole."
"Listen, I- I know all that,"
Nu sighs defeated, gestures wildly with his hand,
"all the beauty that resides inside and all the stuff. But-
it's hard to believe that sometimes, even when you know.
You get that? I don't exactly have the capacity to philosophize right now when all I can see and feel is this, this uncomfortable skin."
It's a beautiful journey.
The journey of Motherhood
And Nu can attest to that, having experienced it two times.
He loves his family, loves that he can give this to Zee, to himself.
The feelings of it, the emotions, the changes, the end result, he loves everything about it.
But that doesn't mean it's a flower path laid out for him.
Nu has his bad days too,
Zee silent for a moment, waiting to see if Nu will say something more.
But when he doesn't,
Zee kisses his shoulder sweetly,
"I get that. And I'm here with you for whatever you're feeling about yourself. And if you ever need a reminder, I'm here for that too, anytime.
Just remember that you are loved regardless of how you look or feel."
It's not a magic, Zee's words, not world shattering, life changing or any of that sort, but looking at the mirror,
Zee's smiling, patient face tucked into his neck,
Nu finds it in himself to take the comfort of those words, allowing them to patch up even a little bit of his hurt,the clawing, nagging voice in his mind.
He let's Zee kiss him, turning his face sideways.
His lips are soft and warm, undemanding.
Nu sighs into his mouth, nudges him with his hip,
"C'mon. Go get ready, everyone's waiting."
He reminds his husband who seems content just to be here, pressed against his side.
Zee makes a non-committal hum and moves away to put on the outfit laid out for him on the bed.
Nat thankfully had taken the responsibility to dress up Sky.
With some fumbling around the bedroom and fighting for the mirror and a few more kisses
later Nu walks out into the living room with Zee's warm hand guiding him.