Lightning-Dono: I'm sorry for saying that the title would be 'Not that it Matters' or whatever I said; I came up with a better one. I think. Anyhow, THANK YOU Cassie for actually reading the note that used up a whole chapter. xD Here's the sequel, and a great new beginning.

BUT there is a new twist...I'll be switching points of views every few chapters! One can get pretty tired of writing about Rick all the time. oO;

And this chapter will be short. Why? Because all my beginning chapters are short. I have nothing special planned out for this fanfic right now, but it will come to something someday. =P

Recap from Shattered Image: Rick and Karen just got married. Simply said.
Point of View: Rick
It was a couple of years later after we were married and I was feeling better than ever. Of course, Karen was still the same person I had always known. No matter what I told her, she'd still have a drink every once in a while and small amounts of wine at dinner, but it was all for the fun of it. Besides - alcohol consumption wasn't going to be the only thing on her mind for long.

We were living in a lovely house on the stretch of land by Saibara's place. At first, after we were married, we stayed at our respective homes, often meeting each other and doing work for places such as the Winery and Clinic. I took all of my life savings and poured it into Gotz's golden tin so I could buy lumber. Pretty soon, Gotz gave in and used the lumber I was supplying to build us the house. Now we live together and I couldn't see what else could be wrong. Other than the fact that now we slept together.

I was very uncomfortable at the thought of this. First of all, I wasn't used to sharing a bed with anyone but my pillow and covers, and a few millions dust mites. Now, I had a girl sleeping next to me each night, taking up half the space. Not that I needed that much room. I was still nervous about something, though, and it had nothing to do with sleeping.

"Rick," Karen murmured, lying on the bed beside me in a fetal position.

"Yes?" I sighed, sitting up and turning on the lamp. Karen had been having a terrible case of cramps lately and she didn't bother to hide it, either. I had a strange feeling that she was getting pregnant, but I knew it wouldn't be anything like that. Besides, I was your typical paranoid guy. Give me a few statements and I'll start to think of something devastating.

"It hurts," she whimpered, almost feebly, as I patted her shoulder.

"Everything will be fine, Karen..." I yawned widely and watched her, curling up into an even tighter ball. "Do you need something?"

"A warm bath would be nice."

I wasn't really an expert on female's, but I decided that if this was going to help, it'd be better than hearing her complain the whole night.

"I'll go get the bath ready," I said quietly, throwing myself off the bed and landing on the cold, wooden floor. For some reason, Gotz said that it was nice to have hardwood floors in the biggest room because it brings out the grand look. I just thought it was annoying that whenever I got out of bed and stepped onto the freezing floor I'd feel a little jolt of surprise.

Karen leaned off the side of the bed. "Are you all right?" She asked, helping me up.

"Just fine, dearest," I replied painfully, rubbing my knee and limping off into the bathroom and worrying about my wife's health. Why was she always getting those awful cramps? I twisted the knob for hot water and it poured out in excessive amounts into the pearly white tub. Touching the water with a fingertip, I winced and put in some cold water to make it less like I was dipping my finger in lava.

"It's ready," I called, adding a bubble forumla for no particular reason. Karen giggled when she watched me stare at the soft pink bubbles rise to the surface of the water.

"You treat me like a princess, you know that?" She said, pecking me on the cheek and shooing me out of the room quickly. I retreated to the bed and sat eagerly on the edge. As much as I found sleeping with her awkward, I needed feedback of my bath-making abilities.

A few moments later she appeared from the door, a towel wrapped around her, her hair soaking.

"What were you doing? Swimming?" I asked, getting up. Karen laughed so loudly that I was unpleasantly reminded of my father's laugh.

He had come back a couple years ago, killing off most of my chickens. The remaining two I had made stay with Jack, who then overcame his great stress. He was only recently married to Ann, who accepted his proposal with glee. Their wedding ended up being a very plain one. Ann had been wearing a fancy dress while Jack stood there, looking strangely out of place, wearing his regular work attire.

"Yeah, I thought I'd take a dip. Those bubbles were wonderful." She beamed at me, made me turn around, and started changing. Why she had decided to change right there I had no clue, but I obeyed as I didn't want to have another row. Several times she had threatened divorce in the last year or so just because something didn't please her. Whether it was my cooking or our living conditions, she was able to start an argument about it. Pretty soon, I was accustomed to having a shouting contest every other day.

"I'm done," she interrupted, throwing the towel carelessly onto the ground, shoving me back onto the bed and getting in.

"I love you," I said promptly, turning around immediately as my face turned a bright red. Not being used to saying that was hard for Karen to believe as I had been saying it for so long now.

"Don't you worry. I love you, too," she said softly, landing a kiss right behind my ear and embracing me for most of the night.

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How was it? Man, I'm not good at this romance stuff, but I'll try. =)