"Ugh! All these outfits are cute! " Miyu grumbled in frustration. "Which one am I supposed to get?" she sighed.

"Why not get all three?" said a soft voice behind her.

Miyu turned around and smiled tiredly at Akane Kurosku. It was only two weeks till Ruu's first Christmas. Miyu was determined not to let the death of his parents pall the holiday. Besides, Chris would have been furious if her baby did not get a proper Christmas.

Convincing Kanata had been hard work. She had been surprised to learn that he had never celebrated Christmas what with his father being a Buddhist monk and all. But he had finally relented after she recruited Nanami, Sanata and Santa's wife Akane. He had given her full control over the festivities, caving under the pressure of Santa's 2 year old daughter, Momoka. She had decided that Ruu was her boyfriend and would stop at nothing to give him a proper Christmas.

And so here they were, at the department store picking out Christmas lights and presents. Miyu and Akane were in charge of these, while Momoka was on a 'date' with Ruu at the park, while Santa and Kanata chaperoned them.

"Kanata will kill me if I get more stuff for him." Said Miyu "His room is already overflowing with toys and clothes."

"You just can't help buying cute things for babies." Agreed Akane "I'm the same with Momoka."

They both sighed and smiled at the cute difficulties of motherhood.

They both went back to picking stuff and squeezing them into the 2 already overflowing carts.

"Miyu, you are trained as a kinder garden teacher, right?" asked Akane while trying to find red balls for the tree they were going to put up at the Saionji house.

"huh… oh yeah" Miyu was still distracted over the cute outfits for Ruu.

"One of our kinder garden teachers are leaving town after Christmas." Akane was a grade school teacher at the local school. "She's getting married and moving to Tokyo."

"Mm…huh" Miyu wondered where she was going with this.

"Why don't you apply for the post?" Akane turned to her friend "You are more than qualified."

"Oh!" Miyu smiled wistfully at her, thinking of her preschoolers back in the States. "I would love to Akane, but nothing is going to come between me being a good mother to Ruu."

"That is why I am suggesting you apply."

Miyu wondered if Akane also had twisted logic like Santa. They had to have something in common.

"Ruu has lost everything, Akane." Miyu said softly. "I will not make him lose more."

AKane sighed as she dropped the fairy lights she had been holding and turned to Miyu.

"Miyu, what Ruu needs is normalcy in his life." She said "Chris was a working mother."

"But…"

"You need to let Ruu do some things on his own." Interrupted Akane. " Too much attention will make him feel smothered."

"I never…" Began Miyu indignantly.

"Not now, Miyu." Akane looked at her earnestly. "Later as he gets older. It will be easier for you also, when the time comes to let him go."

"I will never leave him!" Miyu got a stubborn look in her eyes.

Akane sighed and went back to picking things. "Just think about it, ok. Please."

The rest of the shopping was spent in uncomfortable silence.

Miyu was still upset as she climbed the stairs to the temple, both hands full with bags of purchases. For the first time in days, she was not obsessing over the Christmas celebrations as she walked home under a twilight sky.

"I'm home." She called softly as she walked into the living room. Kanata was watching television, munching on some chips. He looked up as Miyu plunked herself down on a cushion beside him on the floor.

"How was shopping?" Kanata asked "I hope you got me a present as well." He teased.

"uh huh" Miyu stared at the screen unseeingly.

Kanata frowned as he looked at her. She looked depressed and upset.

"Is everything okay Miyu?" he asked.

"Mm.. Where's Ruu?" she asked.

"He was totally worn out from his 'date.' So I put him to bed already." Kanata replied.

"I'm going to check on him." She said in a distracted tone.

Kanata was now seriously worried. He had never seen Miyu act like this before. She was always so cheerful and smiling. Now she looked defeated.

He sighed and decided to give her some space. She would probably tell him what the matter was in her own time. Kanata decided to go start dinner. Of late, Miyu would be there to help him as she wanted to learn to cook. Kanata found himself looking forward to that part of his day.

Kanata laid the table and still Miyu had not appeared. He heard her moving about the house and going for bath. But no sign of his chef tonight. After laying the table, he went to her room, but found her on the porch star gazing. Ever since their almost kiss nearly 4 months ago, the two of them had often spent a few minutes every evening on the porch star gazing and keeping each other company just before going to sleep.

Kanata sat down next to Miyu and gently bumped her shoulder.

"Hey" he whispered. "Talk to me Miyu."

She turned troubled emerald eyes on him and asked, "Am I a bad mother to Ruu?"

Kanata was shocked and could not say anything for a few minutes as he stared at her incredulously.

"Are you for real?" He demanded. "Miyu, if it was not for your care and love, Ruu would not be smiling today after what happened. Do you have any idea of the trauma that kids in similar situations go through?"

"But Akane said that I was smothering him." Miyu whispered as tears filled her eyes.

"Huh?" Kanata was now totally confused.

Miyu explained her talk with Akane in the department store. Kanata was silent for some time. Without conscious thought he took Miyu's hand in his own and started to play with her fingers.

"I think Akane was more concerned about you than Ruu." He said finally.

"Me?" It was now Miyu's turn to be confused.

"Ruu is your priority in life, isn't it?" he asked.

"Of course!"

"He is mine as well." Kanata said. "But he is not my only priority. I have a full time job, I meet other people, go out with friends."

He turned to Miyu who was looking at him with a slight frown.

"But do you have other priorities, Miyu?" he asked her gently. "Ever since…that day… you have lived and breathed for only Ruu. You hardly ever go out if not for Ruu. You have made no intimate friends here."

"But I will never neglect Ruu, I can't!" Miyu said somewhat desperately.

"Miyu…" Kanata sighed as he gently tugged on her bangs. "I know where you're coming from. But parenthood is all about balance. Having a normal job will not make you a neglecting parent."

"I don't' want Ruu to suffer like I did." Miyu whispered with a bowed head.

"Oh Miyu…" Kanata smiled gently at her. "You are not like your parents or mine. You couldn't be even if you tried."

"Are you sure?" she whispered as she looked deep into Kanata's eyes searching for the truth. Due to her upbringing, she had never had much self esteem.

Kanata leaned forward with a smile and whispered in her ear, "You are a silly goose."

All of a sudden Miyu felt a pressure lift of her shoulders. She gave him a wide smile and on impulse threw her arms around him. Kanata just laughed as he almost fell over because of her enthusiasm and flung out an arm to prevent them both toppling over. He returned her hug and gently squeezed her.

It was a minute before either of them became conscious of the position they were in. Instantly, Miyu scrambled away, face tomato red in mortification and heart racing a million miles a second. Kanata was also slightly blushing as he messed his hair, trying to cover his embarrassment.

"So…" he began "Dinner is probably cold now."

"Oh no… I didn't help you!" Miyu wailed as she jumped up. "I'll lay the table and do the dishes, Kanata!" So saying she rushed off to the kitchen before Kanata could utter a word. Shaking his head he followed her to a dinner of Pumpkin stew and stir fried chicken.

Kanata yawned as he walked into the kitchen the next morning. He was surprised to find Miyu sitting at the table drinking tea. Miyu was the last one up usually.

"Morning." Kanata said with another yawn as he sat down next to her.

"Good morning." Miyu chirped back as she poured him a cup of tea.

"Aren't we little Miss sunshine today." Kanata teased as he wrapped his hands around the warm cup. The temperature was constantly dropping and there was also a forecast of snow in the coming week.

Miyu stuck out her tongue at him and grinned.

"I thought a lot about what you said last night." She began. "And I decided I will try it."

"Oh…cool." Kanata smiled.

"Mmm…" Miyu nodded. "I called Akane today. I think I woke her up." She grinned. "She promised to set up an appointment with the headmaster in the coming few days."

"Wow… " Kanata was impressed. Miyu certainly didn't waste any time.

"Yeah… but I want to take it slow at first. "she said seriously. "But now I'm worried about who will look after Ruu while the both of us are at work. I will be back in the afternoon, but we are going to need a sitter for the mornings."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Kanata said with a wave of his hand. "Heiomachi has its very own baby sitter. He is totally reliable. In fact, let's go meet him today."

"Huh? But don't you have work?"

"It's a Saturday, goose." Kanata pulled her bangs as he got up to get a start on breakfast.

"Oh! Right!" Miyu slapped her forehead, just as the baby monitor went off indicating that Ruu was awake. Soon enough they could hear his wail of 'mama' which brought a smile to both their faces. Miyu got up to get Ruu ready for the day.

"Are you sure about this?"asked Miyu for the hundredth time. "What if he is a child molester or something?" she almost started hyperventilating.

They were in the car slowly driving to meet the town sitter. Kanata was driving and Ruu was enjoying the scenery from his baby seat at the back.

"Miyu, calm down." Kanata said. "Wanya is ancient and has been in this town since forever."

"If he is that old, how can he look after a baby?" Miyu was now certain this was a bad idea.

"I said ancient, not bed ridden." Said Kanata patiently. "You'd be surprised by how fast he can move. No one is quite sure how old he is, but he loves children and has looked after more than half the population of this town."

"Oh…"

"Yeah… He used to look after me when my old man left for trips after my mom died." Kanata said.

"Really?" Now Miyu was interested. This guy must indeed be quite old.

"We're here." Kanata announced as he parked the car next to an inviting little cottage not that far from the shrine. It was small, built in the traditional style with a well maintained garden in the front. Although small, the bright colors were beautiful and calmed Miyu further as she got out and grabbed Ruu before following Kanata down the curving path laid with multi colored stones in between the flowers.

"What are all these flowers?" Miyu wondered as Kanata yanked on the rope attached to a sweet little bell beside the front door.

"There is a theory among the young people of the town that Wanya is actually an alien" said Kanata with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Huh?" Miyu turned to him with wide eyes as Ruu turned this way and that taking in the new surroundings.

"Yeah, his ability with kids is almost magical." Kanata nodded solemnly as he continued. " He grows exotic flowers and vegetables and no one has ever known him as a young man."

He looked at Miyu slyly making sure she was listening quite raptly.

"He also has an ancient cat that is called Kitty Wanya." He said. "People say that he is an alien that somehow got stuck on earth and decided to spend the rest of his life here."

Before Miyu could completely comprehend this bizarre story, the door slid open to reveal a short man with a mane of snowy white hair, a walrus moustache that was also white and bushy eyebrows that stuck out of his face. His face was quite smooth but his hands were covered in wrinkles. He came up to Miyu's shoulders and was dressed in the traditional Japanese garb of hakama.

"Kanata!" said the man in a high pitched voice that was somehow soothing to hear. "I was expecting to see you soon."

"Hey Wanya." Said Kanata " This is Miyu and you must have already met Ruu."

"Ah… " said Wanya as he squinted up to look at Miyu who was clutching Ruu to her chest with a nervous smile.

"No need to be frightened Miyu." Wanya nodded in Kanata's direction. "I'll bet this idiot told you the alien story." He chuckled. "Silly kids."

So saying he held out his hands for Ruu who willingly went to him and promptly pulled at his moustache and laughed in glee as Wanya yelled. Miyu glared daggers at Kanata who simply stuck out his tongue at her and followed Wanya inside the cottage. Miyu stood on the front steps fuming silently for a few minutes before following them.

They were sitting around a low table enjoying Wanya's herbal tea in a room that overlooked his backyard. Ruu was crawling about the place trying to pet Kitty Wanya, a furry snow white cat with a brown tail and brown tipped ears.

"Don't worry about a thing Miyu" said Wanya. "Just bring him over before you leave for work and you can collect him when you return."

They had explaining the situation to him and Miyu was glad he had accepted so quickly. The longer she spent time with him, the more she realized that Wanya was really a sweet old man with a fondness for children. He was a strange mixture of shrewd and innocent. No child would come to harm in his care, but he often was blind to the pranks they played on him.

By the time, they collected Ruu and Wanya waved them off with a reminder to call him as soon as Miyu's job was finalized, the afternoon had faded to twilight. Ruu fell asleep on the way and Miyu decided to forgive Kanata for pulling her leg earlier in the afternoon. After all, she had gotten a lot of Kanata's childhood stories from Wanya, to torment him later.