The TV is still playing softly one of those background noise shows you like to fall asleep to. The lights are off. You’re curled up on the couch, one arm tucked under your head, breathing slow, deep. Completely out.

Kimi walks in, towel around his neck, hair damp from the shower. He sees you blanket tangled around your legs, belly gently rising beneath the worn cotton of his old t-shirt that you’ve basically claimed.

He doesn’t say anything. Just watches you for a moment with that unreadable look not cold, not blank… just Kimi. Quiet. Still.

Then, slowly, he crouches down in front of you. One knee to the floor, elbows resting on his thighs, hands hanging loosely like he’s staring at something sacred but has no idea how to touch it without breaking it.

His fingers hover over your belly for a second, unsure.

Then he rests his hand there. Light. Careful.

And that’s when it happens.

A soft thump. Then another. Directly into his palm.

Kimi freezes.

“…Seriously?” he mutters under his breath, more stunned than anything.

The baby kicks again. Stronger this time.

His lips part slightly in disbelief and something else you rarely get to see in him: awe.

He shifts closer, lowering his voice to just above a whisper, like he’s afraid of waking you. Or maybe like the baby can really hear him.

“You’re already kicking her from the inside, huh?”

The baby nudges again, quick and sure, like a yes.

Kimi lets out a dry, quiet laugh through his nose. “You don’t even know me yet, and you’re already listening.”

He rubs a slow, careful circle over the spot. His head drops slightly, forehead almost touching your belly, voice even lower now.

“I’m not gonna lie to you. I don’t know how to be a dad.”

A long pause.

“I’ll try. For you. And for her. Even if I get it wrong sometimes.”

Another kick. A tiny one, almost like a nudge.

His hand stills again. He looks at your stomach like it just spoke to him like this tiny person inside already knows him. Like they already trust him.

“I guess that’s a good start,” he mutters, mostly to himself.

Then he glances up at your sleeping face. You haven’t moved. He presses his lips softly to the side of your bump nothing showy, no big moment.

Just Kimi.

Honest. Present. All in.

Even if he’ll never admit it out loud.