Between you and me, I was so relieved to see him that I could have wept. I could have dropped to my knees when he walked through the door that night. However, I refrained. I remained where I had finally managed to relax with a banned book in bed. Granted I'd been unable to concentrate and was still on my first page after close to half an hour. Said book fell onto my chest.

"Congratulations Chief Inspector. I heard you have caught man responsible for trying assassinate the crown prince." Though my words were sincere, my true appreciation was for him. I'd been worried a messenger would come to tell me about his suicide, so I in turn could tell his mother. It had been on my mind all day. All day I watched out the windows for the men that never came. "Why are you not out celebrating?"

Someone I wasn't even supposed to like, forget love, stepped into my room obviously exhausted. A tired smile quickly flickered across his face. Something was on the tip of his tongue but remained there. His dark gaze met mine as he began to unknot his tie. "Is that an illegal book?"

I didn't even bother to look at the title. My father had given me a box of contraband books earlier that day. At times it was good to be the daughter of Taishi Okamura.

"Yes. Are you going to punish me?"

Nothing was said out loud. But a dark look was sent my way before he inquired, "Where is my mother?"

I almost felt bad about I had done during my hours of worrying. I didn't dare admit that she had almost broken me. She claimed to have sensed her eldest son being in significant distress. "I sent her over to your brother's house. She was restless. Since I was unsure if we would be fleeing to Mexico or Canada tonight…I thought it would be good for her to terrorize them one last time. Then this weather came in rather quickly. I will acquire her tomorrow morning."

Kido did not seem upset by the news. Trapped in his thoughts he slowly pulled his black tie from his neck. "Mexico would be preferable if you must flee with her…you know how she feels about Canada."

Still unable to read but needing to do something with my hands I lifted the book from where it had fallen. "Everyone knows how she feels about Canada."

What could I say? The Widow Kido was a handful. Before I had come to be employed as her caretaker she had been through two nurses a week. Although I suspected those numbers were a tad low. Kido's mother had many feelings about a number of things. Had I not been raised by my father, I likely would have been like the others. Strong personalities had surrounded me since my father had fallen in love with my mother, as well as her small daughter. Even though I was not Japanese, a flaw the Widow was willing to overlook, he gifted me with his surname and the unconditional love my nameless father had denied.

Almost irritably Kido shrugged out of his jacket. Once it had been tossed in the general direction of my dresser he began to unbutton his crisp white shirt. A deep breath escaped him absolutely mirroring my sentiments.

"I would not go to Canada. They would return you out of fear once they saw the baby."

Daddy had said the same thing. Canada's strict adherence to the Nazi Racial Purity Laws had given them a illusion of autonomy. Which reminded me. Banishing that particular thought from my mind for a less unpleasant one, "Your mother knows. She caught me getting sick again. I told her the father was a Korean man I knew briefly." Ever so slightly he tensed. It was easily missed if one did not look for it. "She's agreed to help me learn the ways of motherhood. As none of her children have given her the gift of grandchildren. I suspect she'll bring it up tonight to your brother. Especially when she sees the kitten he bought for your sister-in-law. You know how your mother feels about cats."

At mention of cats Kido grimaced, everyone knew how she felt about cats.

"Does your father know?"

I was sure my smirk spoke volumes.

When I glanced over at the box of books in the corner of my room another pained look crossed his face. Still, the man I did my very best to pretend I didn't love came over to sit on my bed. I had to scoot over to afford him room. "Yes, he knows. While he is very disappointed that I am unmarried. Father understands that men can be cruel and deceitful." My words drew an attempted response out of Kido that I silenced with a hand on top of his "However…he is quite pleased with the prospect he might have a grandson to carry on the family name. So long as the child takes your eyes, this may not end horribly." Trust me, I had given this much thought after I had missed my cycle two months straight. Fortunately I took after my mother whom had the blackest hair and darkest eyes. My child would have those features and I prayed Kido's eyes. Paired with the Okamura name, it might just be alright in the end. "Daddy has already made an appointment."

Up until then he had been accepting of the situation that we found ourselves. My pregnancy had been a surprise. Yet Kido had not been angry or upset. He had been calm when I'd been hysterical.

All that seemed to have changed after his day.

"You are not going to a fortune teller. She will gossip about your pregnancy to everyone once you leave. I do not need that old bat to tell me my child is a fortuitous event. I've already decided my first born will have my name." When I frowned at him in an attempt to follow his sudden outburst, he laid back down beside me with his back against my pillows. "I will adopt my own child if I have to. I am not a Nazi. They will not dictate what goes on beneath my roof."

All of that was a bit of a surprise. Perhaps the Widow Kido had been right about sensing significant distress in her son? Next time her friends wanted to play cards, I would send her with money. Whatever had happened that day before the crown prince's would be assassin had been caught must have been exceptionally distressing.

Deep down I knew he could not be reasoned with in that moment. Our time together was measured in years. What he needed of me then were not words. Rolling onto my side I softly pressed my lips to his warm neck. "Did you eat? Would you like me to make you something?" Even though I knew he wasn't getting out of my bed for likely the rest of the night, I still asked. Kido shook his head and I was not surprised.

"What did my mother say?"

A smile crept over my lips. Before I answered that treacherous question I took off his glasses. Reaching over him I set them with my book on my nightstand. "Well…you know how she feels about Koreans."

A lock of inky hair had come loose and slid down his forehead. "About you being pregnant." Frustration was obvious in his tone but he still wrapped an arm around me to pull closer. "She feels that way about everyone. The only person she is not critical about is you. That's only because you are as difficult as she is."

Well that was true.

In the hopes of salvaging any hope for his temperament, I shared something I had previously elected not to. "She claims that I'm pregnant with a boy."

Kido's head turned toward me. As was the case, his mother was rarely wrong.

"She claims that is the reason I am so sick in the mornings, as well as sporadically throughout the day. A boy would make me that ill. Apparently it was the same with you and your brothers. However…due to my inability to eat anything other than broth with only noodles, a wildly passionate secret love behind closed doors is the cause. Fear not, my secret fiery love will last my entire lifetime." In the wake of my frighteningly true revelation Kido was quiet. Up until I shared my plan, "I'm going to take her gambling to one of my father's private places. Don't make that face…you know how she feels about winning money."