When your husband returned from his latest mission, you hadn't expected him to bring a child along. There had been a long pause as you froze in the entryway to take in the scene. Gaara wasn't seriously injured, just the usual scratches and bruises from a mission out of the village. But hidden under his cloak was a little boy with dirty, bloody clothes.

Gaara had stroked the little one's dark hair comfortingly. "Shinki, this is my wife."

Shinki had been painfully shy for a long time after the adoption. His kekkai genkai was hard to control still and he was very distrusting. There were many meltdowns resolved with hours of patience and care. And you seemed to always be cleaning up little bits of iron sand. But Shinki was your son and you loved him dearly.

You and Gaara hadn't planned on having any children together, but seeing him with Shinki always brought a smile to your face. Your husband had grown a lot since you two met during your home village Konoha's chunin exams. Gaara was gentler, less angry at the world and everyone in it. And he was already proving to be a better father than the former Kazekage had ever been. The type of father his late mother would've wanted him to be.