Chapter Two

Hello Readers! I'm trying something a little different with this story, where we jump around a little in Nanako's timeline, depending on how the muse strikes me.

Well, read, enjoy, and review!

Reita had never really thought about babies before.

He didn't really know anyone who had any, and Lord knows he was too young to think about having any of his own (although, to be honest, dating Natsumi made the idea slightly less impossible), so he hoped that the Oedo household understood that while he was fine holding baby Nanako every now and then, he certainly wasn't signing up to be their babysitter just because he was staying with them.

"Of course not! You're in college, not a nanny! We completely understand." Yankumi and her minions beamed at him.

Reita narrowed his eyes. "Really?"

"Absolutely! Don't you worry about a thing!" For some reason, (probably experience, his internal voice muttered), he didn't fully trust promises made without Shin or Kuroda-san as witnesses.

"Alright. I mean, I'm happy to help out, but it's just, I have homework, and exams, and…"

"Oh, we totally understand. We won't bother you a bit." If it was possible, Reita thought their smiles grew wider.

"Okay…"

"Yay!"

He really should have known better.

It sometimes felt like the whole Oedo clan was in a conspiracy to ambush him into holding Nanako.

Including Nanako.

For some reason, she seemed to like him. Well, not so much 'like' as 'stare at him intensely and slightly suspiciously'. But it was a better alternative to crying, which she did a lot.

He'd be quietly reading in the main room, then a piercing scream would sound from upstairs. Reita would then hear the elephant-like footsteps of Minoru rush into the nursery. When the crying wouldn't subside, Minoru would start singing (or bellowing, if you wanted to be technical), which just made the crying worse.

Reita would try to ignore the noise and focus on his book, but after a while, he could hear Minoru walk downstairs, then oh-so-casually pass by the door.

As soon as Nanako saw him, her screams subsided slightly. Once Minoru passed the doorway and Reita was out of sight, her volume immediately increased.

He wondered how on earth someone who couldn't even talk could be so cunning.

Minoru then wandered into the living room, totally as if by chance. Reita tried to studiously ignore him, but when he was right next to the table, Minoru suddenly gasped in false realization.

"Oh no! My rice! It's burning! Here, take Ojou-chan."

"Minoru, I'm trying-" Before he could finish, Nanako was thrust into his arms as Minoru rushed out.

Sighing heavily, Reita looked at the baby who had now stopped crying and was cooing contentedly.

"Look wingbaby, just because we had some good times does not mean we're buddies now."

Nanako tilted her head inquisitively.

"Plus, I don't even like babies."

She furrowed her brows at him, as if to say, C'mon Reita, we both know I'm adorable and everyone loves me.

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, you're pretty alright, for a baby."

She babbled approvingly.

He looked at his book until a tiny hand grabbed his ear.

Raising an eyebrow, he turned back Nanako, who was trying to look deceptively innocent while still maintaining a death grip on his ear.

"Guess I'm not getting rid of you any time soon, am I?" When he received no response, he stuck his tongue out at her.

Nanako frowned at him, then surprised Reita by bursting into a high-pitched giggle so much he nearly dropped her.

"Did you just- Yankumi! Shin! Minoru! Kuroda-san! Everyone! Nanako just laughed!"

Variations of "What?" sounded throughout the house as the whole troop of yakuza rushed into the room.

"Her first laugh?"

"What did it sound like?"

"I can't believe I missed it!"

Reita waved his hand to try and calm them down. "Here, let me try something." He squinted at Nanako, then stuck out his tongue.

Sure enough, she squealed in delight, causing an echo of delighted laughter around the room as everyone marveled in how smart she was.

The next incident embarrassingly occurred when Natsumi was over for dinner.

She had been coming over more often, much to everyone's delight (although Shin's delight was combined with a large amount of suspicious glances between her and Reita).

They were having a lovely dinner (hot pot, as usual), with Yankumi balancing Nanako as she told Natsumi all about the latest shenanigans her class had gotten into. About midway through her story, Nanako began to cry, so Yankumi got up to make a bottle. As she headed towards the kitchen, she handed the baby to Reita, who took her without spilling any of his soup (which he was rather proud of). He patted her back with his free hand and reached for his tea before realizing that Natsumi was staring at him in shocked amusement.

"What?" He asked, drawing everyone's attention to Natsumi's reaction.

"Did she just automatically hand you the baby?"

"Um…."

"And you just automatically took her?" Her grin was growing wider.

"Well…"

Natsumi turned to Shin with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you said you weren't treating him like a nanny?"

"We're not!" Shin objected.

Minoru chimed in. "It's just that Young Master Reita is the best at calming Ojou-chan down!"

Reita could feel himself turning red as Natsumi smiled at him.

"It's not like I hold her all the time!" He tried to explain, but Yankumi came back from the kitchen and tossed Reita the warm bottle, which he caught purely by instinct.

"Oh, remember to not let her drink it so fast, otherwise she'll spit up on you like last time." Yankumi reminded helpfully as Shin placed his head in his hands in exasperation.

Natsumi's eyebrows rose even higher as she tried to contain her amusement.

Defeated, he mumbled, "Just when she's crying. Or hungry."

Her grin gentled. "Stop worrying. I like that you're good with kids."

Reita perked up a little as Nanako started gulping down her milk. "Really?"

"Yeah. It's a great skill to have." She reached across the table to touch his hand, which he noticed caused Kuroda-san to grin behind his sake cup and Shin to glare at him.

"Well, I'm not good with kids, plural," He deferred, slightly embarrassed. "Just this one, for some reason."

Nanako took that as a sign to grab Reita's hair and yank.

As he tried to release his hair from the baby's grip, Natsumi gave him a soft smile that made his stomach somersault. "I'm glad."

He returned the smile as he reached for his tea.

"Oh, please. Can you not make goo-goo eyes at each other at our table?" Shin groused as he tried to finish his sake.

"What if we made goo-goo eyes in my apartment alone?" Natsumi countered, which resulted in both Shin and Reita spitting out their drinks.

"Which we have never ever done." Reita rushed to explain as soon as he could speak again. "Ever."

Kuroda-san guffawed loudly. "I like this one!" He announced proudly, which Reita could tell pleased Natsumi to no end.

It was when Yankumi burst into tears and starting weeping into Minoru's shoulder about how quickly Reita was growing up and how beautiful Natsumi was and how it was only yesterday that she saw Natsumi in the school courtyard and thought she was Shin's girlfriend that Reita covered his eyes and wished the ground would swallow him up.

But when Natsumi bit her lip and shot him a look as she tried not to laugh, he figured that while this family was completely and absolutely crazy, he had to admit that for some reason, he was glad he was part of it.