Chapter 7: Labor Day
Natsumi P.O.V.
I flipped a card in and out of the gaps that separated my fingers. I stopped a few times to look at it and then continued. The card was one of a kind and another was never going to be made. I'd never played it or called it out for fear what would happen. Would she turn against me or would summoning her have a negative effect on me? Or maybe it would be like the other spirits and obey and worship me. I could touch her mind like Wingweaver first touched mine, but that was another thing I'm sure was safe to do. My Queen, Judge Man projected his mind into mine, May I be of service? What situation can I judge to put your mind at ease?
No… actually… yes. I'm unsure whether I should contact and/or summon her. I don't know if it's safe. What should I do?
I believe you should at least try to contact her and if she proves to be a threat you can seal her mind away from yours. She cannot harm you when she isn't in physical form.
Thank you for your advice. Now could you give me some privacy to talk with her alone?
You honor me with your thanks, My Queen. Never hesitate to call upon me. And with that he left my mind.
I hesitantly reached my mind out to the card and called out, Natsumi, Queen of the Creature, can you hear me?
I hear a slight scoff, Of course I can. Any spirit you would wish to talk to could hear you, mother. And by the way, I'm more of a princess than a queen.
Mother?
Yes, your essence is what gave me life, therefore you're my mother.
What does that make Jesse? Your future father?
Not really, maybe adopted, but I'm no one's official child. After all, I am only a spirit. For a moment her mind fell silent.
Daughter, are you still there?
A small chuckle rippled through her mind. Funny you should say that, because a member of your surrogate family is about to become a mother herself.
And with that her mind went blank. It took me a second to process what she meant, but when I did I bolted upstairs to where Akiza had been sitting in her room sowing new outfits for the baby. I was the only person home at the time, Yusei was at work, and Kimi, or mom, was out shopping, so I wasn't surprised when the name Akiza called my name instead one of theirs. She called it when I had just reached the doorway.
"Well, you were quick." She panted. "Know how to drive a car?"
Jesse P.O.V.
Everyone except Yusei waited in the waiting room as we waited for the baby to be born. He, of course, being the father, got to be in the delivery room. We were waiting, of course, but that didn't mean that we were sitting still and being patient. Jack was getting ticked off about every little detail that he didn't like, Crow was looking through his deck (I was told this is normally what he did when he was forced to wait for something he couldn't control), Bruno tapped and worked vigorously on his computer doing who knows what, Leo, who had a matured a little bit, but not much, was hopping up and down around the room wondering what the baby's name would be, Luna actually sat still and waited, Trudge couldn't be here do to his job, but he texted us every five minutes for any new information, that went ditto for Mina, Kimi kept on talking in excited voice about how she was going to finally have a grandchild, and I paced the room as I waited for my fiancé's sibling's arrival. As for Natsumi, she sat her chair with a blank look on her face and she occasionally muttered to herself.
I noticed this after an hour or two of waiting and I thought she was starting to have a relapse. I didn't want her to go back to the pitiful state she had been in only a few months ago, especially not with our wedding only two months away. "Natsumi, snap out of it. Please don't go back there." I pleaded as I gripped the arm rests of her chair and looked into her blank eyes. "Everything is going to be okay. At the check-ups the doctors said the baby was perfectly healthy through the developmental stages and that the delivery should be fast and easy."
Every turned towards me as they heard me talked to her and they finally noticed Natsumi's blank face, but before anyone could add their words to mine, Natsumi's eyes focused on me and she said, "It's okay Jesse, I'm never going back there, ever. I was just mentally talking to the duel spirits. I didn't want to creep anyone out by talking aloud to them."
A sigh of relief escaped my lips and I finally took a break from sitting and plopped down in the seat next to Natsumi. "Next time, do you think you can warn us before? You nearly gave me a heart attack." I asked with seriousness.
"I didn't mean to scare you. Sorry, love." She apologized and she leaned closer to me, "Will this make up for it?" She promptly kissed me on the lips and I embraced her.
"Ugh." Jack grumbled. "This is why I've never been interested in a love life. I couldn't deal with the kissy goo-goo junk and having kids thing. Do have any clue how much kids cost? And they are so annoying too!"
"Hey! I'm not annoying!" Leo whined.
"Leo, stop it." Luna scolded. "You're being immature."
"See? I rest my case."
I smiled. "If I recall Jack, you were a kid too once."
"I know, but I probably was the only kid in the world that wasn't annoying." He grumbled.
Crow grunted in disagreement.
"I suppose your disinterest in love is why you started dating Carly?" Natsumi suddenly brought up.
We all turned and stared at Jack in shock. "You're dating Carly?" Bruno asked, finally turning his attention away from his electronic device.
Jack grinded his teeth and asked, "How did you know? How long have you known?"
"I knew for a few months before I went missing. I saw you and Carly behind the café eating and making out at private table." Natsumi grinned. "I even have pictures at home."
Jack growled and said, "I'm leaving to get some fresh air.", as he stormed out of the room.
Crow looked at Natsumi with respect and said, "You still need to teach that trick."
"What trick?" I asked.
"Natsumi is like an expert on how to mess with Jack. When she first met him she managed to make him pass out. I asked that very day to teach me how to do that, but with how crazy our lives have been she has never really gotten the chance." Crow explained. "She can make him pass out with a few words or tick him off so badly that he'd have a very hard time trying not to argue or fight with her. The bad thing was it took a couple of failed tries to figure that last part out. Natsumi has the tongue of a snake and even when she was smaller than Jack, she could beat him in a fair fight, even when he was angry. Jack has learned that in order to win a fight with her, you have to take her surprise and fight dirty. If you only do one of them, you've pretty much lost."
I thought back to the night Natsumi had been taken. Those crooks had taken her by surprise and fought dirty. "I can see what you mean."
Just then a doctor came in. "Are you the party waiting for Akiza?" She asked.
We all stood up and Kimi said, "Yes."
The doctor smiled and said, "Congratulations! It's a healthy baby girl and the mother is doing well too."
We all cheered.
"I can only let relatives of the parents in right now. Anyone not blood related can come and visit the child tomorrow."
Natsumi frowned. Kimi noticed and asked, "What about Natsumi? She's not blood related to Yusei, but she's his adopted sister and my adoptive daughter?"
The doctor smiled. "Of course. I'm sorry; I forgot that you and Yusei weren't related. You two are pretty much viewed as blood relatives due to your closeness with him. I'll also let your fiancé in. Just don't tell my boss." The doctor said as she winked and left the room, leading us to Akiza's room.
Akiza was sitting on her hospital bed looking tired but rather pleased with herself, while Yusei rocked his little girl back and forth gently. The baby was asleep when we entered and Yusei put a finger his mouth indicating that we should be quiet. He then gently handed the baby to Natsumi and she took the small figure wrapped in the pink blanket. She pulled the blanket a little further from the small being's mouth and took a small gasp. "She's beautiful, Akiza." The baby had short and wet black hair that stuck to its head. Its face looked so soft and its little fingers were curled up underneath her chin. Her little eyes then opened and she looked at Natsumi with wonder with her mother's eyes.
"What her name?" I whispered.
"Her name is Kairi. Kairi Fudo." Akiza responded.
Sorry that took so long, I had a writer's block. I knew what I wanted to happen in this chapter but I was unsure how to put it into words. You can thank Shimmering-Sky for the baby's name. Thank you my loyal reader for suggesting the name.
