Her fourth birthday was coming up.
It had seemed like yesterday when she was born. She was growing so fast. She had blonde hair like her fathers, and deep blue eyes that took up half her face, just like her mother.
She was a very energetic little girl. Always asking 'why' and seeing what kind of things she can colour. The walls were her favorite canvas.
'I can't believe she's turning four,' Ayumi thought to herself as she made the small girl her favorite lunch. Grilled peanut butter and jelly. Yoshiki introduced the strange sandwich to herself when she was still pregnant. Ever since then she fell in love, and so had Yukiko.
The days were long and nights were longer. She was only a few weeks old. She had trouble sleeping at night. Sometimes she would just cry to cry, and Ayumi had no idea how to help her. So she sat on the work rocking chair and cried with the newborn baby.
Ayumi was running on only a few hours of sleep for a while now. Coffee became her new best friend. As often as possible, she snuck naps in with her daughter. Grabbing a few random blankets and pillows and falling asleep to her precious little girl.
Yoshiki tried to help her as much as he could. But he had recently took a second job again to support the new family member. Having a child didn't come cheaply. He usually woke up to the sound of his daughters wails, but now he was so exhausted he slept right through it. He rarely had days off to be home and spend time with his two favorite girls.
The young couple had been under so much stress lately, fights were bound to happen. They happened more often than they wanted. Sometimes little comments set the other off which escalated into screaming fits and holes in walls.
But as the puzzle pieces began to fall in place, life got easier.
"Yoshiki," Ayumi called to her husband as she sipped her coffee.
"Yes dear?" He replied. His chest and stomach were still covered in droplets of water from his previous shower. The only piece of clothing he wore were his sweatpants.
"We need to start setting the living room up for her celebration," She replied fixing her messy, unkempt bun.
"I know. I've got everything but the cake, ice cream, and balloons," Yoshiki said pouring himself a tall glass of milk.
The sun was just peaking over the horizon leaving a soft glow the the room they occupied.
"Awesome," She smile setting her still warm cup on the tiled counter top. From there, she warmly wrapped her hand around his bare chest.
He then copied her actions and placed his hands at her waist softly, placing a small kiss on her forehead.
She was so tired.
She felt like she was always tired.
Yukiko slept through the night better. She still kept the blue haired girl up throughout the night. She was a stubborn little girl when it came to nap time. She hated naps. Her loud wails echoes through the house. All Ayumi could do was let her cry her little heart to sleep.
It was a lot to do alone. Yoshiki was always working. She hated it.
'He shouldn't be working himself this hard,' She thought with a worried expression.
It was almost ten o'clock and he still hadn't come home. Yukiko was fast asleep for now.
To occupy her time she made him a nice meal for when he came home.
Life was so different now with a baby. She was about 7 months now. In thst short time she had grown so much. Her blonde hair grew thicker and longer. Her eyes looked as big as a full moon. She was starting to learn little things like crawling and sitting up on her own. She also loved to get into everything. She would take papers out and rip them apart, put random things in her mouth constantly. It was a hard job to keep up with the energetic little girl all the time.
As she lost herself in her thoughts, a door opening and closing ricocheted around the living room. The sudden sound ripped her from her mind and brought her attention to the door. What stood before her depressed her. The loving, energetic blonde boy now looked beyond exhausted and highly irritated.
"Yoshiki," She whispered sadly. Ayumi stood quickly to make her way to him and help him out of the large over coat he wore.
"Hey baby," He said with a small, tired smile.
"I made you some dinner," She said hugging him tightly. "You hungry?"
"I am," He said brushing past her to the kitchen.
She followed him in there and took a seat on the old hand-me-down dining chair.
"How was your day?" She asked cautiously, taking note to him angry aura.
"Shit." He said bluntly, taking a seat next to her to enjoy his meal better. "How was your day?"
"About the same. Yukiko was really cranky today," She said, rubbing her tired eyes. "Are you getting any time off soon?"
"I fuckin' wish," He said, washing his freshly cleared plate.
"You can't take a day break to spend time with your daughter?" Ayumi snapped back at his reply.
"No, I have two jobs that require me all the fucking time to earn the goddamn money our daughter requires," Yoshiki yelled, dropping the plate abruptly making a loud crashing noise.
"I would much rather have you home every now and again then have the extra money, Yoshiki. The girl needs a dad, not the coolest toys on the shelf," Ayumi replied angrily.
"It's not about her having all the nice things she's going to ever want. It's about all the shit she needs. The fuckin' diapers, wipes, clothes, and food. It adds up ontop of me taking care of you and the roof over your head," He replied with the same amount of heat in his voice and face.
"Are you kidding me? To take care of me? I could give a fuck less about the extra things in life if I had you around to help me out with our daughter," She said standing up to face him fully.
"It isn't like I don't want to be home, Ayumi. It's because I fuckin' can't! I work my ass off everyday to care for the two most important people to me in the world. I sacrifice time spent with them, and it sucks! But there isn't another goddamn way to do it! You have a better fucking idea, let me know. I would love to hear it," He screamed, stalking off to the bedroom. His departure was followed by the loud bang of a slamming door.
Yukiko's cried started to sound off from the nursery acrossed the hall.
With a heavy heart, and tears in her eyes, Ayumi made her way to calm the screaming little girl down again.
With her crying face using her shoulder as a pillow, Ayumi cried with her daughter.
'I never expected us to turn out this'
"Mommy!" A little girl called from her lifted chair at the dinner table.
"Yes, Yukiko?" Ayumi replied from the seat next to her.
"It's my birthday! I'm finally going to be four!" She replied with as much excitement as she could muster up.
"I know baby girl, isn't it really exciting?" She replied with a big smile on her face.
The blonde girl nodded and continued to eat her cereal.
As the room grew silent, the front door opened. A rush of cold air filled the warm room, making the occupants shiver.
The women in the doorway was no other but the sister of Ayumi.
"Hinoe!," Ayumi sighed, welcoming her sister into her home.
"Auntie Hinoe!" The little one joined to hug her beloved aunt.
"Hey sweetheart, ready to shopping with your favorite aunt?" She said, resting Yukiko on her hip, supporting the rest of her weight with a stable arm.
"Am I! I'm gonna get my shoes and coat!" Yukiko squealed as she ran off into her bedroom.
"Thank you so much for doing this. I want her to be surprised by the party," Ayumi warmly spoke as she analyzed the living area.
"It's no problem, Ayumi. You know I love my adorable little niece," Hinoe returned her comment with a small smile.
Yukiko returned with her shoes on the wrong feet and the buttons on her jacket crooked.
"Silly girl, let me fix you up," The loving mother said fixing her innocent little girl with her clothing issue.
"Thanks Momma!" She said happily.
"No problem sweetheart. Now you have fun with Hinoe," Ayumi mused as she wrapped a thick scarf around the small childs thin neck. "Stay warm and be safe!"
Ayumi woke to the face of a blonde haired man. His warm was placed on her shoulder lightly. She hadn't realized she has fallen asleep on the couch in their shared living room. As she felt consciousness come back to her, she slowly sat up, wrapping the fuzzy blanket around her cold legs.
He took a seat next to her, bringing the small woman next to his side. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her to comfort her further.
"You're right. I'm taking tomorrow off to spend time with you and Yukiko," He said squeezing her softly.
"Will you really?" She said looking him straight in his light grey eyes.
"Yes Ayumi. I love you and our daughter more than anything. I just, let the stress get to me," He whispered burying his face in her soft blue hair. "I'll work on that."
She held him tightly taking in his honest words. She really needed him. The stress was getting to her too.
"Now let's go to bed, love. We have a new day ahead of us," He spoke softly as he rose. His hands were outstretched to help the lovely mother of his child to her feet.
Yukiko came home to a full house. The living room was decked out in purple ribbons and balloons all over.
Ayumi's mother had joined in for the small celebration. Satoshi, Naomi, and Yuka had joined too. Yoshiki's sister insisted on coming for her little nieces birthday party, and he couldn't say no.
During the cake eating and present opening fun, Naomi had some wonderful news to share with Ayumi.
"I'm pregnant!" The brunette whispered excitedly.
"Wow, Naomi. I'm really happy for you! Kids are really hard, you know?" Ayumi said as she gazed at her own little girl. "But they are so worth it."
"Satoshi and I are so excited," Naomi said with a large smile on her face.
"I bet. Having a little one of your own is. Just know, Naomi, that nothing's perfect. It's going to be hard at times. Just be strong enough to get through those rough time," She replied to the brown eyed girl with a small smile on her face, sipping on her white wine.
"I don't really know what to expect. But I'll just have to take it one step at a time," Naomi whispered as her gaze moved from her good friends adorable little girl to her love. The two had been married for a little over a year at this point. They had talked about trying but it was unnecessary when she found out.
"That's the spirit, Naomi," Ayumi said, filling her glass back up.
The party was great. Everyone had a great time. Yukiko was over joyed the entire time. She had so many presents and lots of good cake. All the excitement really wore her out. She even skipped her nap that day. The small girl was out at an early time.
The couple, finally alone, relaxed on the couch, also worn out from their busy day.
A half empty bottle of wine sat on the center coffee table along with two wine glasses.
"You know I love you, right?" Ayumi said softly, holding her husbands hand.
"Yes Ayumi. You know I love you too, right?" He said staring into her deep stormy eyes.
With a smile, she confidently said, "Yes, I do."
Nothing's perfect. But these perfect little moments made up for all the imperfections that came with life.
And finished(: Thank you for all the positive feed back and support. I hope you all enjoyed this story. I know I did!
Any suggestions for another story?
Disclaimer: I don't own corpse party or the characters used.