–he has read every single book on pregnancy there is, and religiously follows a pregnancy blog and sends in questions every.single.day. He needs answers on how to help his woman!
–Tatsu already does the cooking, cleaning, housework, but during your pregnancy his workload somehow triples. He literally invents new things to clean, and why he has to clean them for your health
– “Do ya have any idea what dust can do to a fetus? Do ya?! The damage is irreversible!”
–“I’m pretty sure you just made that up, Tatsu.”
– “Did not! Now move outta the way so I can take on those germs!”
–will stop whatever he’s doing to make you whatever it is you’re craving; doesn’t matter if it’s a five minute recipe or a five hour recipe. Whatever you want, babe. And if you’re feeling insecure about your growing body, Tatsu will be the first to shut those feelings down. He knows it isn’t that easy, but no wife of his will be moping around feeling bad about herself
–While Tatsu is usually vocal about his worries, he tends to become quiet during your pregnancy, not voicing his concerns because he doesn’t want to make you anxious. He knows it’s hard enough being pregnant and dealing with hormones…the last thing Tatsu wants to do is stress you out
–really, though, Tatsu is such a worry wart. Always so concerned when you go outside, concerned when you’re moving around too much, concerned if you don’t want to eat or aren’t drinking enough. It’s touching, but sometimes gets on your nerves a bit
–in addition to worrying about you, he also worries about the baby. He hides this anxiety by talking to your stomach every night, speaking a way that reassures both the baby and himself
– “Don’t you worry there, little dragon…mama and papa are takin’ real good care of ya. And we always will. Little dragons never have to fly alone.”
–massages! Tatsu attends a class where he learned what exact places ache the most during pregnancy, and he’ll massage your troubles away every single night
–Tatsu is insanely protective anyway, but when you’re pregnant? Omg. Unless you’re at work, he does not let you out of sight. Even then, he sometimes spies on you from outside, and acts as an unofficial security guard for your building
–fortunately and unfortunately, Tatsu is a stickler for budgets, so you can’t go all out on adorable baby clothes and accessories. You wore him down about the dragon-themed crib, though. And the dragon themed crib mobile. But after that, he cut you off, already having prepared an itemized statement of what you guys needed to save for come delivery day
–at the end of each day, Tatsu likes to spoon you in bed with a hand on your stomach. Occasionally you’ll hear him whisper promises of protection, how he can’t wait to meet your little dragon and help them navigate life. He often falls asleep like that, and has worry-free dreams about how life will change once you give birth
–for now, Tatsu is happy to just experience the lows and highs of pregnancy with you, reading up on anything that can make it easier for his beloved S/O
🐅𝒯𝑜𝓇𝒶𝒿𝒾𝓇𝑜🍰
–ohhhh man. If you thought Tatsu was overprotective, wait till you get a load of Tora.
–you go NOWHERE alone. Not happening. Shopping, work, walking, going to the laundromat, Tora is right at your side, glaring at anyone that looks or speaks to you. He is not risking anything…not after he finally has a normal life, with a normal wife and normal child on the way. Nothing will hurt you, ever.
–since Tora doesn’t think he’s naturally comforting or domestic, he borrows a lot of books from Tatsu on how to be a good parent. He did something similar when you two started dating, but now, he feels an immense amount of pressure to be a perfect dad. There’s literally a stack of parenting books at his nightstand, and he reads them with his glasses on like an old man
–weirdly, Tora’s emotions also mellow out a lot during your pregnancy. Instead of being his usual spirited, loud and obsessively passionate self, he does his best to be level headed and speak evenly. He doesn’t want anything to upset you, and doesn’t want to upset you further when you’re already in a bad mood. Tora keeps his cool so you don’t have to. Scream away!
–of course you can wear his clothes when you’re pregnant! Tora will be the first to suggest it after your own clothes are too itchy or too tight. His big shirts comfort you, and he loves seeing you wearing them, especially with your little round stomach beneath it. Makes him feel like he is capable of supporting you by giving you the shirt off his back
–Tora knows what a budget is…he just doesn’t care! When you go shopping for baby things, Tora goes all out. If he sees anything tiger themed, forget about it–he’ll fight any mother around for the correct size. Tiger themed pants, pajamas, socks, bibs, shoes, everything. He’ll take the lot, and he doesn’t care how much it costs!
– “Your total is 43,000 yen.”
– “43,000 yen?! Here’s a coupon I got from a guy I know. That’ll help with the monthly payments, right?”
–This applies to you as well. You’re craving Indian food? Done. You want a foot bath machine? Here you go. Tora read about how uncomfortable pregnancy can be, and if there’s something that can alleviate your annoyance, consider it done. Even if that annoyance is him, lol…he’ll take himself out STAT
–Tora won’t try to be intimate with you during your pregnancy. If you initiate it, sure, but even if he’s so horny he can barely stand, he isn’t going to come onto you. To him, it was disrespectful to ask that of his wife when she was busy carrying their child–and you know how Tora feels about disrespect. He is the last person in the world who wants to disrespect you by annoyingly asking for sex all the time
–treat maker!!!! Will make you any sweet treat you want, and will let you eat it down to the last crumb. He is keeping an eye out for gestational diabetes, though.
–On slow evenings or afternoons, Tora finds himself just staring at you, wondering how this is all possible. It was almost inconceivable to him, that you chose him, that you chose to carry his child; and he’ll tell you all about how thankful he is, how beautiful you are during your pregnancy, even if you don’t agree. Tora won’t accept your insecurity, and showers you with affectionate talk and compliments that make you blush
– “Trust me, { Y/N }, the only way our baby is gonna be cute is if they look like you! A lil tiger with big brown eyes…and claws!”
🐕ℳ𝒶𝓈𝒶🥡
–ngl, you being pregnant would almost be as rough on Masa as it was on you. Dude is so unprepared for the mood swings, sickness, cravings, anxiety, everything. He has no idea what he’s doing, but he tries his best
–Masa is always startled by your outbursts and little annoyances. He doesn’t get how something that never used to bother you before could bother you now; he learns his lessons, though, and next time he won’t bring tuna home for dinner, because yikes! You did NOT like that one bit
–Unfortunately Masa doesn’t have a strong stomach, and if you’re vomiting, he won’t be able to hold your hair back or anything. When you’re done, though, he’ll bring you some water and tuck you into bed, putting on your favorite reality tv show. But if chunks are flying, he’ll be flying out the front door
–forgets to read the books Tatsu borrowed him, so has no idea about any of your pregnancy symptoms. Hot flashes? Food cravings? Sudden fatigue? Leg cramps? These things baffle him, and you have to very patiently explain it to him when they happen. Then he is very understanding and will try to help
–often forgets that you’re pregnant. Which is weird, considering you waddle instead of walk, and your stomach is three times the size it normally is. Masa will suggest you go ice skating, or roller blading, and you’re sitting there with a bowl balancing on your stomach like ???? He can be clueless, but always finds something you can both do safely. Like video games, and more video games.
–Masa can’t cook, but he gets very good at picking out foods from the convenience store that you like. He grins proudly when you surprisingly like the Hokkaido Potato Beef Croquette and Raisin Butter Biscuit Sandwich combo, glad he did something right. You’ll need to be the one who monitors your sugar intake, though, cuz Masa would let you eat sweet treats all day long
–seriously, this boy won’t deny you ANYTHING. He literally can’t disappoint his pregnant wife. It would kill him. Doesn’t have enough money for the fancy pillow you want? He’ll steal it. The last pair of pink baby shoes was taken? He’ll snatch it from the lady’s cart. No matter if it puts him in debt or gets his ass kicked, Masa will make it happen
– “No, really, {Y/N}, I have no idea why that guy’s banging on our door at two a.m.! He must have the wrong address! I didn’t borrow any money from him for that neck massager, I swear!”
–Masa tries really hard to hold down a job during your pregnancy. Usually you’re the breadwinner, but he did listen to Tatsu when the boss told him to do everything he could to take the stress of responsibility off you. Although he hates his job, Masa would never let you know it; he’ll come home with a smile and fake cheerfulness, happy to see you and your unborn child after a long, tiring day
–one thing Masa is naturally good at is calming you down. If you get into one of your annoyed pregnancy moods, Masa can always make you smile again, whether it be through sweet words or silly actions. One second you’re screaming into your pillow with uncontrollable, random rage, and the next you’re giggling at Masa using his dirty socks as puppets with a dramatic storyline
–the baby moving inside you actually freaks Masa out. You have to forcibly hold his hand on your stomach so he can feel the baby kicking, and even then, he has a weirded out expression on his face. Eventually, though, Masa gets used to all the strange pregnancy happenings, and is constantly touching your stomach, even offering complete strangers the chance to feel your baby kicking, which you do not appreciate.
–he is confused at how much baby clothes you guys need. There are different sizes for different times? Why do babies grow so fast? Do you really need a crib, or can the baby just sleep on the couch? Masa learns a lot about babies, and the boatloads of information blow his mind
–it is inconceivable to Masa that you feel insecure about your appearance during your pregnancy. You, the most beautiful and perfect person he had ever seen, feeling bad about yourself? No. Masa will ramble on and on about how your swollen stomach and big thighs only make you look more gorgeous. One thing he will not tolerate is you speaking badly about your appearance when your body is literally so incredible that it’s able to create and carry a whole ass baby while looking drop dead beautiful
–when you put him in charge of buying you maternity clothes (you can’t wear his clothes, because he’s smaller than you), Masa takes it very seriously. Despite his seriousness, he comes back with Zebra striped sweats, cheetah print tees and even a fake gold chain that says MOMMA on it. Wild, yes. Also very comfortable.
–Masa is his usual affectionate self with you, even more so in public, his way of being protective by showing everyone how close you two are. He tends to overdo it, but is quick to dial it back if you get annoyed at his PDA. Masa does initiate sex once in a while, but he won’t push it if you’re not in the mood, happy to return to his regularly scheduled program of cuddling on the couch together, humming some obnoxious pop song to your stomach (and to you)
Watching the new season of The Way of the Househusband anime on Netflix - I totally forgot that he had a fellow ex-Yakuza rival that is... always trying to be better at domesticity than him! XD
[here's a gif of Tatsu and Tora facing off in the live-action adaptation, which is also really good!]
