“Tired, Honey. Tired,” you complained to Genji.

He had returned with your food and to check on you, to give you support emotionally and physically. You were so tired that his armour was comfortable lean against.

The next few days, you were a milk-producing machine. You caught a precious hour, or less, of sleep before Genji, Torbjorn, or Angela passed you a crying baby to feed. They changed your kittens’ diapers and bathed them when needed. They were a godsend, but you found yourself wondering if you could breastfeed in your sleep.

Pretty soon Angela was encouraging you to leave the medical bay to get some air and start sleeping in your own quarters. You were against this, assuming the help you were getting would stop. You didn’t voice this, though. You fed the babies and got into a wheelchair with Genji at the ready. You were relieved he was still here. So relieved that you might cry.

“Everyone wants to see you,” he said.

He pushed the wheelchair into the hallway.

“They do?”

You were suspicious. You felt like shit and were convinced you looked like it. No way would anyone want to see your face right now.

You were proved very wrong when Lena nearly smacked into your chest for a hug. Genji took you to the mess hall, with Lena walking beside you. She chattered about how adorable your squishy little babies were (she wanted to squish them with hugs). Everyone who was a hugger obliged you with a tight one. You weren’t sure why, but it felt it had been ages since you saw them. Holding them all eased something deep inside.

“Winston and I had a good idea. He was going to tell you, but I’m excited and I want to tell you now.”

Genji was unusually bubbly for someone who was recently rescued from torture. You were still tired, so you just hummed in acknowledgment.

He explained that one of his missions was clearing possibly dormant bastions out of Eichinwalde, Germany. Genji pretended to get annoyed when you chuckled at his stumbling over the pronounciation of ‘Eichinwalde.’ It was so cute.

“Bend down so I can pinch your cheeks,” you said, reaching back.

“No,” he huffed, tail swishing.

Anyway, there was an old bunker there that was still in working condition. Generator and everything. Talon had hardly any activity in Germany.

“We could live in that bunker together, as a family,” he continued happily. “Winston agreed to give me paternal leave. The only stipulation is… we have to bring Hanzo.” His voice lowered at the end, as if admitting something that would upset you.

“W-what, why?”

“Hanzo is the one in trouble this time.” He was pleased about that. “I volunteered to help him heal. That way I could keep an eye on him.”

“Winston agreed to that?”

He had. When you saw Winston, he repeated what Genji said. And then some.

“You can decide if you want to return to the watchpoint with your children after Hanzo is ready to return to active duty.”

“Oh,” you said dumbly.

You had always assumed it would be a ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ type of situation. Raising kids at the watchpoint didn’t bother you. Especially with people like Torbjorn and Angela around. Having your own place was something else, and the idea hadn’t sunk in yet. You leaned towards Genji during a lull in the conversation.

“I was looking forward to seeing Winston trying to deal with two curious kiddies,” you whispered to him.

You could picture it, the twins climbing all over the gorilla and getting in his way. Asking him questions about everything. Genji grinned and gently pinched your side for being rude, making you jump. That stretched your stitches.

“Ow…ow…” You swiftly brought your hands up to hover over them, hissing and mentally willing away the pain.

Genji whined in distress, guilt-ridden over causing you pain. He joined you with his own hovering hands, and his tail whipped back and forth.

“Are you…alright?” Winston asked awkwardly.

“I’ll be fine,” you said curtly. You blushed. “Maybe we can think about this?”

He blinked.

“Of course!” he exclaimed. “I think it’s the best course of action to transfer you and your family to the bunker, but no one is making you go.”

Winston had effectively excused you, so Genji stood up and wheeled you back. But back to your shared room, not the medbay. You whined when he pushed you into an empty room.

“My babies…”

“I thought you wanted rest. They’re being taken care of.”

“Okay, but tomorrow, I’m gonna take care of them.”

You weren’t the most joyful mother. ‘Dutiful’ was the better word. Loving the kittens as best you could, considering how tired you were. You insisted on doing most of the work yourself. Maybe it was a mistake, but they were your babies. If someone else raised them, even for a few weeks, you might regret it. You didn’t want to miss anything. The next few weeks were a blur of diapers, screaming, dragging yourself out of bed, and trying to refuse Genji’s help.

Soon you did break down, cry, and accept his help.

“I just want to make love to you, but I’m so tired,” you sobbed pitifully as he held you. Even though he had been there every day, you missed him terribly. It was confusing and distressing for your tired mind.

“I know, I know,” he told you softly. He didn’t like to see you like this, but he also wanted to laugh. You got yourself into this mess.

You lay your head on his shoulder. Your arms dangled like you held a weight in each hand. Every cell in your body cried out for rest. But it was almost time to change Sae’s diaper, and Ichiro was about to wake up. You may have been wearing yourself to the bone carrying for your babies, but you knew them the best out of anyone by now. Every time you anticipated their needs correctly was a happy little victory. You truly felt like you were doing a good job as a mother in those moments.

“Don’t,” you said, poking a finger up at his face.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t be smug. You wanna say ‘I told you so.’”

Genji let a little laughter out. You pouted at him childishly and turned around to seek Sae.

“No! No! Wait!”

Genji followed with a grin. After a few verbal exchanges, you gave in and let him put you to bed. Sae’s wail interrupted him tucking you in. You felt an emotional tug in her direction as Genji left to tend to her.

Genji came back to the doorway after a few seconds.

“What does she need?”

“Diaper.”

“Thanks, Mama.”

And he left. You snuggled into the pillow with a smile. You were a good mom. You felt it.

Genji was a good dad, as well. His presence soothed his kittens to the point of them falling asleep in his arms almost every time. In some cases, they slept more deeply being held than in their cribs. You had a pang of jealousy; they seemed to cry less when he took care of them.

During a checkup for the kittens, Angela casually mentioned that Hanzo’s recovery was going as well as can be expected. Genji tsked at himself for forgetting about his brother. He had been so wrapped up in helping you. Sae needed a feeding, so he dropped her off with you.

“Thank you, Genji. I love you,” you told him, taking the baby girl.

Genji rubbed his cheek on yours, did the same to Sae, and took Ichiro to Hanzo.

Warm tears streamed down Hanzo’s scrunched face. An ugly cry. He felt ugly inside. He inwardly berated himself for not feeling happy for Genji. Instead, he was jealous and resentful. It should have been him that had a mate and two healthy, precious kittens. He was the elder brother. The serious, responsible one. Why was it backwards? It wasn’t fair.

“Hanzo! Do you want to hold Ichiro?”

Genji’s voice interrupted Hanzo’s downward spiral. Hanzo scrambled mentally, pulling walls up. He forced himself to meet Genji’s eyes. Hanzo didn’t like the way his brother was staring into his soul. His pride kept his gaze level, however.

“Sorry, I,” Genji began tentatively, “You seem upset. Hanzo, I can see that. I just thought seeing your nephew might help. He makes me happy. I want to share that.”

Hanzo didn’t expect Genji to consider his feelings and to give him an opportunity to decline Genji’s offer. Since when had Genji grown into a fine young man? No, that wasn’t right. He was 35 and not a young man anymore. Hanzo’s reality shifted under him as he was forced to admit that he was wrong. It was staring at him in the face, his adult brother holding his newborn kitten.

Genji was distracted by his kitten’s face and broke eye contact to look at his child. He frowned slightly, eyes alight with the passion that he would defend his kittens with. And Hanzo wanted to be there by his side to help.

“Let me see him.”

Hanzo lifted his arms slowly. His hands shook with weakness. Genji ignored that and gingerly placed Ichiro into Hanzo’s arms.

“Like this,” Genji murmured, arranging Hanzo’s arms and hands properly around the kitten.

Hanzo was too tired to argue against the indignity of being ‘arranged’. His gaze softened when he looked at Ichiro. He nearly cried anew when he spotted the tiny, down-soft ears folded against his skull. He wished deep in his heart that this was his kitten. Either way, what he saw confirmed his previous resolution. To protect this baby boy and his twin sister with his life.