That afternoon, you finished tidying up all of Ryuu’s toys and playthings. By this age, Ryuu had already become quite active, constantly crawling around and making a mess wherever he went. One year had passed so quickly. Now, you watched him sleeping soundly in his soft crib, his blanket pulled up to his chest. His breathing was slow and steady, his cheeks slightly flushed from accidentally spending too much time playing under the sunlight earlier. He had finally settled down after you nursed him, and now he was fast asleep, peaceful and completely at ease.

After cleaning up the mess, you felt completely exhausted, so you decided to sit down in the living room and catch your breath. Only then did you realize that you really shouldn't push yourself this hard, especially when you hadn't been eating or sleeping enough. It was all because of the pressure from the extended family—not just your in-laws anymore. They had been insisting that you and Gojo start planning for a second child. You both tried to refuse, but your objections were repeatedly dismissed. So, after a week of carefully arranging your schedules around everything, you could only hope that you would be able to get through your responsibilities quickly and eventually welcome your second child.