A/N: This chapter is about a character who hasn't been seen since the first story and was talked about briefly in the second story.
It had taken a little while, but Stitches, Mina, Thomas and Joseph had gotten used to living on their own. It had been a bit more difficult for Stitches, seeing as she was the youngest of the group, but she'd gotten through it.
Rarely a day went by when Stein, Marie, Albert or Martha didn't visit the kids. Thomas would often hide in his room when Stein and Marie came over, and Stitches would have to retrieve him after they left. Martha often brought over foodstuffs, which was a nice change from the cup ramen noodles the teens usually had.
But, their stock of ramen noodles only lasted so long. Mina and Stitches would usually do the shopping, but they were getting rather sick of it. Especially when they got home and the boys simply took the groceries that they wanted and ran to their room. So, Mina and Stitches wrote a shopping list. Mina walked up to Joseph the Saturday morning after she and Stitches had written the list and dropped it into his lap.
"Hey, Joseph, you and Thomas get to do the shopping today." she smirked. Joseph raised an eyebrow and read down the list.
"What? No." Joseph said.
"Joseph, Stitches and I have done the shopping the past zillion times. You are going. Now get Blondie and go." Mina said, yanking Joseph off of the couch. Although he'd not admit it, he did like Mina, so he complied.
"Alright, alright. Keep your pants on." Joseph said, picking up his house keys. Mina smirked as she shoved Joseph out the door, Thomas following.
"Off you go." Mina chuckled slightly, shutting the door behind the two boys. Just then, Stitches shuffled out of her bedroom with her pyjama bottoms and a band t-shirt on. Her hair was a mess and she looked tired. She glanced over at the clock which read eleven in the morning. She grimaced slightly. Stitches was not a morning person.
"You've finally woken up, eh?" Mina asked. Stitches sighed and flopped down on the couch.
"I was up until three in the morning studying." Stitches replied, yawning. Mina took a deep breath and swallowed.
"Stitches?" Mina asked, her voice unusually solemn. Stitches looked up and her expression softened.
"Mina… what's up?" Stitches asked. Mina took Stitches' hand and led her into their bedroom.
"What is it?" Stitches asked her meister as she shut the door. Mina looked up at Stitches as she sat on the bed, pulling her knees to her chest.
"Sit down." Mina said. Stitches obliged and looked at Mina.
"I… I need to talk to you." Mina said. Stitches tilted her head to the side and blinked.
"Sure, anything." Stitches said.
"I… In a few months, it's going to be ten years since my mama died." Mina said, quietly. Stitches' eyes widened and her hand covered her mouth.
"Mina… Mina, you don't have to tell me about it." Stitches said.
"No, I want to. I mean… only if you're okay with it." Mina clarified. Stitches clasped her hands and nodded.
"If you want to stop, you just stop, okay?" Stitches asked. Mina gave a small smile and shook her head.
"Don't worry, Stitches. I'm not really upset about it. I was only five and a bit when she passed away. But… I want you to know. I know everything about you… it's high time I told you about my mama." Mina said. Stitches nodded and laid down next to Mina.
"My mama and papa were really close. And it was the night that they got engaged that I was conceived." Mina said. Stitches giggled and smiled.
"My papa stopped working as a meister to go into Internal Affairs at Shibusen. My mama was a meister too, but she became a doctor." Mina said.
"Nice. What did she do?" Stitches asked.
"She was on obstetrician. So when she was pregnant, you can imagine the rigmarole she and Papa went through to find the right professionals." Mina laughed. Stitches grinned and nodded.
"Yeah, my parents did that too, what with Papa having been through the system." Stitches said. Mina nodded and smirked.
"So, I was born, and because my parents weren't married, I took Papa's last name." Mina said.
"So, what was your mama's name?" Stitches asked. Mina smiled and closed her eyes.
"Aya. Aya Katsuma."
Aya Katsuma, Stitches thought, where have I heard that name before? Where have I-
Stitches sat bolt upright and she gasped.
"What? What's the matter?" Mina asked. Stitches jumped off of Mina's bed and ran to her bedside drawer, pulling out a small diary.
"Stitches!" Mina exclaimed. Stitches flipped through the diary and pointed to a page.
"Oh, my Death…" Stitches said to herself.
"What is it?!" Mina jumped from her feet and sat behind Stitches.
"This bit. Doctor Katsuma, the wonderful woman who guided Stein and I through the pregnancy and birth of Stitches, passed away earlier this week. Rest in peace, Aya." Stitches looked at Mina and her eyes widened.
"That's too much coincidence to be a coincidence." Mina said.
"I think we need to go and see Mama." Stitches said. Mina nodded and she and Stitches walked out of their room and out of the apartment.
"Hey, Doc. Where's Marie?" Mina asked as she walked into the lab. Stein turned around and saw the redhead and his daughter walk into the lab.
"Oh, girls?" Marie asked. Mina and Stitches ran over to Marie, a question written in their eyes.
"What is it, girls?" Marie asked. Stitches looked at Mina, who sighed and looked at Marie.
"Would we be able to talk to you… woman to… women?" Mina asked.
"Yeah, I'm going to go." Stein said, walking out of the room and into one of his laboratory rooms. Marie sat down with the girls and clasped her hands.
"What is it, girls?" Marie asked. Mina looked at Marie.
"What was the name of the doctor who delivered Stitches?" Mina asked. Marie sighed and clasped her hands, looking up in remembrance.
"Her name was Doctor Katsuma. She passed away when you were about four and a half, Stitches She… she actually looked a bit like you, Mina. She had red hair like yours." Marie said. Mina blinked.
"That's because she was my mama." Mina said. Marie's eyes widened and her hands covered her mouth.
"Mina… really?" Marie asked. Mina nodded.
"Yeah. I guess you just wouldn't have noticed, seeing as I have Papa's last name. But my middle name is-"
"Aya. Right?" Marie asked. Mina nodded and gave a little smile.
"My mama went back to work really soon after I was born. She loved me, but her job was her passion. Well… so Papa has told me." Mina gave a little smile. Marie leant over to Mina and hugged her tightly.
"She was a good woman, Mina." Marie whispered. Mina hugged Marie back and smiled.
"I can't believe that my mama delivered my best friend. This was five years before we ever met." Mina shook her head in disbelief.
"Death City is a small place." Marie said.
"It is, indeed." Mina replied, with a small smile.
"You know, I'm really proud at the way you deal with the situation with your mother." Marie said. Mina smiled and nodded.
"Well, Papa helps. My mama, she was badass, intelligent and just generally awesome." Mina said.
"Just like mine, then?" Stitches asked. Marie looked at Stitches and she melted.
"Oh, honey. I love you." Marie wrapped her arms around Stitches, who just giggled and hugged her back.
Marie held out her other hand and beckoned Mina into the hug. She accepted gratefully.
"You too, Mina." Marie said.
For a girl who had lost her mother so early on in life, Mina had turned out pretty damn well.
"Oh, no." Thomas said, standing in the aisle in complete and utter terror.
"Why don't we just ask someone?" Joseph asked. Thomas shook his head.
"No." Thomas said.
"Come on, Tom. It can't be this hard. They have to do it once a month." Joseph said. The boys were standing in an aisle that, as men, they never thought they'd have to go down. Well, until they got married, anyway.
"Did she… she drew a diagram! Do they really think we're that clueless?" Thomas asked. Next to the list items, which were bad enough in themselves, Mina had drawn a diagram, just in case the boys didn't know what to get.
"Oh, that's what that is! I was wondering why she drew an airship." Joseph said. Thomas smacked Joseph over the back of the head.
"Remind me why I keep you around?" Thomas said. Joseph sighed and walked down the aisle.
"What the hell are wings?" Joseph asked, picking up a box of the products.
"They make things fly." Thomas said. Joseph automatically put the box back and sighed.
"This is ridiculous." Thomas said, and he grabbed the first box he saw.
"No, dude… why don't we just call them?" Joseph asked.
"Don't you think that'll take a little bit of mystery out of anything we might have with them in the future?" Thomas asked. Joseph crossed his arms and Thomas cracked. He pulled out his phone and dialled Stitches' number.
"Hey, what's up?" Stitches asked.
"Uh… hey. Uh… I need to ask you something, and it might be a bit awkward, but…" Thomas said.
"Come on, spit it out."
"Well… Joseph and I are shopping, and we were wondering…" Thomas stammered. Joseph sighed.
"Gimme that." he sighed, taking the phone and holding it to his ear.
"Hey, Stitches, yeah, what pads do you guys want?" Joseph asked. Thomas was shocked at how nonchalantly Joseph could ask that.
"Cool. Will do. More than happy to accommodate your special lady business. See you." Joseph hung up the phone and grabbed two boxes of pads off the shelf and shoved them in the basket.
"See? There you go." Joseph said, walking down the aisle.
"… Special lady business?" Thomas asked .
A/N: You know a chapter's good when it ends with 'special lady business.'
