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Maki firmly believed in what she was thinking when choosing their daughter's name, and held onto it, until she was proven wrong. Serina was supposed to have more of Maki's traits than Honoka's, but it went wrong. In a good way, obviously. She was thankfully healthy and interacted well with other kids. But she had a LOT of energy and would talk nonstop. Although Maki wished they could be traveling an easier, calm path, every day was a brand-new, bright, colorful day.
She had a tight, tiresome schedule, as a surgeon in her family's hospital, but that didn't mean she didn't have time for her family. Honoka would help her family's business — not every day, though —, but she was focusing on being a stay-at-home mother to their little 4-year-old. Whenever Maki came home from work, it felt like her anxiety and tiredness was washed off just by being next to her loved ones.
Just by hearing "Welcome home!", Maki felt her heart healing once again.
That specific day, they were discussing what to do for Honoka’s birthday, August 3rd, that year. They couldn’t do anything fancy because of, again, work, having to do something simple and that would also be kid-friendly for their daughter.
"We could go to that Hello Kitty café you talked about." Maki suggested.
"Ohhh… I wonder if Hello Kitty is there too?" Honoka, as the very cute moron she was, didn’t really realize their child was a liiiittle less silly than she thought, so she still played along as if all characters were real.
"Mommy." She came closer to Maki and whispered. "Does Mom Honoka know Hello Kitty isn't real?" But Serina genuinely cared about her mom’s well-being and made sure to always have her smiling. That was one of the things Maki taught her, as Serina would spend a lot more time with Honoka than with her.
"No, and telling her that would make her cry."
"Then I hope she is!"
August 3rd came and Maki had a very busy morning, but was able to get the afternoon off. While she was working, Honoka spent some time with her family and answering many, many calls and messages wishing her well. Then, they finally met at the cutest café she’d ever seen.
“That’s a really nice place! Are you excited?” Maki was looking at their daughter, but, obviously, Honoka was the one who replied. They have gone through the “Happy Birthday” thing already while Honoka was half-asleep, saying “for you too” and then back to snoring at about 4:30AM, but Maki just found it cute. It was a nice thing, in comparison to her hardship at work. Honoka and her particularities and the daily clumsiness always made her feel like home. So, she just laughed at it.
They ordered food before Serina got impatient — and Maki had made a reservation for a beautiful, Hello Kitty-shaped cake —. After they ate what they ordered, Maki strictly didn’t let them get any dessert, just so she could surprise them with that cake.
“H-Honoka, are you crying?” Maki got worried for a minute.
“She’s so cute… how can I eat her?” Serina was eager to cut the cake, and Honoka kept sobbing as Maki gave her a slice. “But the real reason why I’m crying is… that I’m really happy to spend another year with my family.”
They all shared a smile and enjoyed the sweetness of the cake and, most importantly, of their love for each other.