Kenji to the Rescue
Disclaimer: If I owned Rurouni Kenshin, I wouldn't be writing this.
Chapter 1: It's a beautiful morning
It was a sunny morning in the Kamiya dojo, and all its occupants were up and ready to tackle the day ahead of them. Well, one of them at least…
"Kenji, won't you let Mommy go to sleep already? I've been up serving you since the break of dawn… what's wrong sweetie?" Himura Kaoru asked her one-year-old sun impatiently as she paced around the room with Kenji in her arms. Yup, that's a mother's worst nightmare: babies refusing to sleep till well into the night and waking up before the sun rises.
"Mou, I never knew that taking care of a baby would be so hard! If you keep on being a bad boy, I'll just throw you away and get another baby instead!" Kaoru threatened as she tried to coax her darling baby to sleep.
Himura Kenshin stood at the door of the room, admiring the scene in front of him. This is all he needs: a loving family that he can spend the rest of his life with. He watched his raven-haired wife trying unsuccessfully to put their son to sleep. He stepped into the room and decided to help.
"Did you hear that, Kenji? Mommy doesn't want you any more. You've been such a bad baby that Mommy wants to throw you away like a piece of garbage!" he chuckled as he tickled Kenji's stomach. The baby laughed and started to wave his arms around.
"Dada, Dada!" he gurgled.
"Yes, dada's here," Kenshin replied happily.
He is so proud of his son. Recently, he learned how to say Dada, Mommy, and of course, his first word ever, baka.
"Kenshin no baka! Can't you see that I'm trying to put our naughty son to sleep?" Kaoru cried, emphasizing "naughty" by glaring at Kenji with an I-want-to-get-mad-at-you-but-I-can't look. There's no mistaking whom Kenji learned his first word from.
"Here, I'll take over," Kenshin offered as Kaoru transferred their bundle of joy to him. Kenji screeched with glee as he bid farewell to his mother.
"Bye Mommy!" he laughed out.
"Did you hear that? Our little Kenji learned a new word! He can say bye! Isn't he smart?" Kaoru fussed.
"Yes, my Kenji is the smartest baby in the whole wide world!" Kenshin exclaimed while he buried his face in Kenji's stomach.
Kaoru watched happily. Kenshin has changed drastically ever since the arrival of their son, He stopped referring to himself as seesha, and he seemed to realize that he is not an unworthy human being.
"Kaoru, you can rest now, I'll take care of Kenji, "Kenshin assured her.
She nodded and smiled with gratitude. Kenshin finally stopped calling her Kaoru-dono and simply Kaoru. Personally, she thought this meant that Kenshin had finally stopped seeing her as a helpless little girl and started seeing her as a woman. This made her feel very happy. She doesn't like being seen as a child, unable to protect herself. She knows she has her limits, but she doesn't like being treated as a fragile china doll.
"Arigatou, Kenshin" she thanked gratefully and settled down onto her futon.
Kenshin stepped quietly out of the room, and just before he closed the door, whispered, "Sweet dreams."
Kaoru yawned in response and closed her eyes.
Kenshin carried Kenji into the yard and swung him in the air. Then he looked his mischievous son in the eye.
"Kenji, you should know better than to wake Mommy up at three o'clock in the morning. She needs some sleep too, you know," he told his son in a stern tone of voice. Kenji looked at him with a questioned stare, as if has no idea what he had done wrong.
"Don't give me that clueless look! That's mine and it's licensed! I'm supposed to do that to get out of trouble, not you!" Kenshin scolded again. Kenji just continued to look at him with an innocent expression on his face, and Kenshin finally gave up.
"Who can stay mad at that face? Oh well, I guess I got a taste of my own medicine. Now I know what your Mommy feels like," he admitted in defeat. Kenji giggled victoriously and Kenshin had to smile at that.
He looked at his son with a careful eye. If Kenji had been born with a cross- shaped scar on his left cheek, Kenshin would have seriously considered naming him Mini-me. His son looks like an exact replica of himself. They both have fiery red hair and the same build. The only noticeable difference between Kenshin and his son is their eyes. Kenshin's are a violet color, while Kenji's eyes are a shade of midnight blue. Truthfully, Kenshin was ecstatic when Kenji first opened his eyes and revealed to the world those sapphire orbs. He had secretly hoped Kenji would inherit his mother's beautiful eyes. Her eyes are always so gentle and innocent, and they serve to remind him what it is he vowed to protect.
Kenji laughed and tugged hard at his father's bangs, interrupting Kenshin's thoughts.
"Kenji, just because I'm not mad at you anymore doesn't give you the right to hurt your own father," Kenshin chided playfully as he pulled Kenji's hands away.
"Okay, we've been fooling around too long. Mommy's going to get mad at us if she wakes up and finds that we haven't been doing anything. Daddy's going to show you how to do one of the most important jobs a man can have in his house," Kenshin announced as he set Kenji down on the ground and disappeared into the house, A few moments later, he came back with an armful of laundry.
"Listen carefully, Kenji. First, you separate the colored ones from the white ones…"
Author's Notes: So, what do you think? This is my first story on please tell me which areas I need improvement in (I know that my tenses get all mixed up). A couple of things about this fic: Kenji does not hate Kenshin. I just couldn't stand their relationship while I was watching "Reflection", so I decided to change that. Also, if the title doesn't make sense to you, it will in the last few chapters or so.
REVIEW!… I'll post another chapter if I get 5… that's not a lot, right? Please?