Sorry, not as soon as I wanted to post this. I won't promise the next one will be soon, as I want to write at least two more chapters before posting the next one. However, be happy, the story will be coming to an end. I think it will be around forty or so chapters, most it will be forty-five. I'm currently on chapter 33 though the complete story is already on paper…and I mean paper, I just have to write it in my computer and add all the details that make a good story.
Enjoy! And please, review.
XXIX. False Peace
"It's so not fair." Usagi complained as she rested on a sofa while Makoto and Ami helped Minako and baby Tobias, or as everyone called him, Toby.
"What do you mean?" Ami asked, giving Chibi-Usa a small stuffed toy as she walked around the room.
"I just want them to come out!" Usagi whined, tears leaking from her eyes. "I look like a whale, my feet hurt, my back hurts, my breasts itch and are HUGE…not like Mako-chan's but…I don't want this no more!"
Minako and Makoto nodded in understanding, Ami in sympathy and Chibi-Usa regarded her mommy in worry.
"Mama!" the little pink haired girl cried, giving her toy in an effort to make her happy, making the young blond smile and try to hug her little girl.
"Just one more month, Usa-chan, and you'll be able to have your babies in your arms…the three of them."
With a bright smile and sparkles in her eyes, Usagi nodded, looking at her daughter with much pride.
OoO
"Time has come."
The whisper came from her lips on the silent hall, a single tear streaming down her cheek…she would have yet to wait. Six years would have to go through and she knew this time they would have to live through them.
They had to take a decision, and she hopped her Prince would take the right one this time around…though maybe there was a way to skip through what the fates had decided with the new lives that were about to come.
OoO
The yells and screams of pain could be heard throughout the whole hospital. A young nurse ran towards the room, leaving everyone behind worried.
"What's taking so long?" Shingo asked, looking at them all and worried about his older sister.
"These things take time, son." His mother answered, smiling down at Chibi-Usa who was fast asleep. "It is not easy giving birth to a child."
"Or two!" Rei answered, holding one of her daughters. "When Aiko and Misako where coming out of me I thought I was dying."
"My hand was for sure." Yuuichirou whispered, earning a chuckle from Motoki and Kenji, the only ones who had heard the comment.
"Well, I don't know much about pain while birth…" Makoto answered, looking at her babbling almost year old boy on her husband's arms.
"I'm just thankful you and Kazeno are healthy." Shinozuki stated, placing a kiss on top of the baby's brunette hair.
"Well, it is pretty natural for the pain, seeing as some of your pelvic bones are mostly being moved and your…well…um…" Ami blushed deeply when she noticed it wasn't only the girls that were there, but that Usagi's parents, little brother and the guys were also listening in.
"Easy, there, Ames, we get it!" Rei stated with a bright smile, making everyone else nod and the blue haired young woman smile and nod at her.
Silence followed then, until a blond young woman arrived. "Are they here? Did I miss it? I was coming earlier, but I couldn't find one of Toby's…"
Minako stood still, noticing Motoki's deep glance on her…on the baby…their baby…her baby.
"Relax, Mina-chan," Makoto spoke, noticing the interaction between the two. "It's been almost half an hour and we have yet to know anything."
The words had barely come out of her mouth when Mamoru came out on green scrubs, "Two boys." It was all he said as everyone smiled, giving him hugs and patting his back, as the proud father just took his sleeping baby girl into his arms, the grin in his face the biggest anyone had seen on his wedding day and the day his first child was born.
OoO
It was good the girls were as close as they were. With five babies, all of them under six months, and two toddlers, life was crazy. Ami, the only one that was not a mother of the five, spent most of her time studying like crazy…usually enjoying her now constant visit and call from Ryo. Mamoru's and Motoki's internship was consuming most of their time.
Ikuko spent most of the time helping not only her daughter, but one of the girls, specially babysitting Toby while Minako worked. Yuuichirou's mother, Miyu, had decided to take a time and help out the young parents with the girls, who even though were barely five months old proved to be quite a handful.
Both, Rei and Yuuichirou were ever grateful for Miyu's help and for Grandpa Hino's help as well. Though the old man was as devoted to the girls as he was to chasing much younger women.
It was hard for them all to tell each girl apart from each other, however, Aiko was slightly taller than Misako, not to mention the former was much more calmer than her sister and cried much less.
With Kazeno's first birthday approaching, Makoto and Shinozuki decided to expand their café and make it officially a restaurant, dropping the word café and becoming only La Terre. Kazeno proved to be quite the active baby, keeping both his parents rushing after him, especially since he found that he could crawl to the most unexpected places if Momma and Papa were not watching, mainly when he was with Chibi-Usa.
Chibi-Usa, for her part, had decided that she liked being a big sister. Though she sometimes demanded the attention from everyone, she was usually seen kissing one of the twins' foreheads. At almost three, she was now fully talking, and now with her skills of being able to run, that is exactly what she did, run everywhere.
Mamoru and Usagi, though, were thankful she seemed to be a fast learner, and after having been subject to a swat or two to her small rump during her terrible twos, had learned that when Mama or Papa said no, it was no. Both of them had had trouble adapting to the final arrival of Endymion and Toshiku, however, it was incredible how well Chibi-Usa had taken to them, demanding to know about 'her babies' when she did not know where they were.
They were all happy…except for Minako and Motoki. Even though Toby was only five months old, he looked more and more like Motoki every day. Minako tried to stay as far away as she could from him, but Motoki had seen the baby on several occasions due to their mutual friends.
Every time Motoki tried to talk to Minako, she always had an excuse ready. She had told everyone he was not the father, but none believed her, especially since none of them had seen her being with another man, she had not given a father's name, and the baby was almost a picture of a chibi Motoki.
All of the girls had tried talking with her, one on one and together as a group, but the young blond proved to be sharper than what she looked, evading everyone's assumptions and putting them to rest…for a few minutes at least.
Motoki, though, was getting tired of Minako's resolution, and had decided to call it to an end…even if things would get uglier.
OoO
The angry yells could be heard all the way down the hall of the Tsukino's apartment building. Giving a thankful sigh it was not actually his wife's voice, he slowly and quietly opened his home's door.
Much to his surprise, his three year old daughter awaited him, sitting down with her two odangoes- much like her mother's- and a mischievous smile on her face, she grinned wider at seeing him but placed her finger in front of her mouth in a shushing voice…just like Mamoru had taught her when either the twins or Usagi were asleep in the mornings.
He smiled, mimicking her as he got out of his jacket and opened his arms to his little girl, scooping her up and planting a kiss atop of her strawberry blond hair. "Aunty Mina mad." The little girl said with a giggle.
"Indeed." He smiled back at her, tickling her little tummy and emitting another giggle from her.
He finally entered the battle field, where Usagi was sitting crossed legged looking at one of the twins on the floor mat, while Minako paced from one place to another, flailing her arms around. Incredibly, both, Toby and Endy- whom they always dressed in blue to tell apart from his brother- slept through it all peacefully.
Finally, after trying to decipher what had the blond so irritated, he cleared his throat.
"MAMO-CHAN!" Usagi all but yelled, a wide grin in her face, as she jumped from her seat and threw herself into his arms, planting a kiss on his lips just as Endy started crying.
"No, Mama! Mama is bad, Papa!" Chibi-Usa cried from her perch in between her parents, while all of the Tsukino's momentarily ignored the still ranting Minako. "Mama be SHHHHH." The little girl explained, a frown upon her chubby little face, making both her parents laugh a little bit.
"You're right, baby." Usagi relented, placing a kiss atop her head. "Sorry." She finally whispered, as Mamoru placed her on her arms to take his still crying two year old month son.
Just as he placed a tender kiss atop the black mop, Minako turned an accusing finger towards him, making him gulp at the irate look she had upon her face. "YOU!" she said.
"Me?" he asked back, trying and failing to give her a calming smile.
"YOU, YOU better tell your little friend that I DO NOT CARE WHAT THE HELL HE DOES! TOBIAS IS NOT HIS SON!"
Understanding dawning on him now, he nodded, sighed, and settled the whimpering baby in his arms. "Mina-chan, I can assure you-"
"Motoki presented a legal claim for a paternity test with Toby." Usagi whispered loudly, making Chibi-Usa to turn wide eyes at her father once more.
"Unca Toki bad too, Papa." The toddler told him, "Auntie Mina i' vewy mad." She explained, taking the attention of both her parents.
"I see…" Mamoru told the child, before turning his look towards his wife and then looking at the ranting blond. "Mina-chan…if Motoki is not the baby's father, then why do you oppose that much?"
Turning as white as sheets, Minako looked at the blue eyed man, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly like a fish. "He isn't." she squeaked, her cheeks suddenly turning a bright cherry-red.
"Minako?" He asked, raising a brow.
"Really!" She squeaked once more.
"Minako!" Usagi exclaimed. "How could you?!"
"You guys have to understand!" the blond exclaimed, biting her lips. "I can't lose him…"
"But you already did…"
OoO
He had not even entered the arcade when he saw her. Her usually soft, baby blue eyes where harsh as they glared at him. Her blond hair gathered up in its usual bow, her arms crossed, her stance rigid…tense.
"Minako." He greeted, unmoved by her stare as he walked around to where he could change out of his doctor grubs and into his normal part time work clothes.
"He's not yours." She told him, following him to the cleaning supplies room where he usually changed.
"Everyone thinks he looks like me…dark blond hair, almost the exact same color as mine…a little bit clear, mind you." he said, seemingly indifferent that she was there as he started undressing. "Very different than yours, wouldn't you say? Now, let's not mention his eyes. Quite a unique color…what are they again? Definitely not your blues." He stated, snapping his jeans closed before taking a seat and starting to put on his blue sneakers. "Quite stunning, they remind me of my mother's, actually." He told her, tying his left shoe and then standing up.
For a moment, Minako could barely take her eyes away from his chest, unable to look at his burning eyes. His burning green eyes, the same color her baby had…the same intensity of color his mother had. "Of course, everyone says I have her eyes…maybe it's a common color. We could always mention other features, though they're quite soft at the moment, but I do think that in a couple of years he'll have high cheek bones, wild hair like mine…so many things." With that, he finished dressing.
"What do you want, Motoki." She finally stressed her words out.
"I don't give a fuck what you do with your life, Aino." he told her, his stance going firm, "But I DO care what you do with that child, MY CHILD!" He stressed the words out, walking towards her and taking her arm in a firm hold, forcing her to look up into his hard green eyes, as he looked into her angry blue ones. "You can't take that boy away from me!"
"He's not yours, Furuhata." She whispered, just as he let her go. "I was never yours, either…" with those last words, angering him beyond belief, she left.
OoO
The whistling coming from his lips came to an abrupt stop as he entered the room. There, sitting in the middle of it was his wife, her dark black hair looking messier than he had ever remembered seeing, her white shirt covered in stains, her dark eyes strained with tears running down her cheeks. A crying baby at her right and another crying baby at her left, all three of them painting quite a sad and heartbreaking picture in his mind.
"Rei…" he whispered, walking towards her. One of the girls, Aiko, extended her little arms towards her father, clearly wanting to be carried. He took her in his arms, and then turned towards Misako, who was wailing with all her force. As he took her into his arms, she calmed down as well, though she kept sobbing a bit, Aiko's sobs had already turned into quiet sniffles and whimpers. "Honey?" he called, the still crying Miko.
"I can't." she whispered, "I can't do this, Yuuichirou!" She wailed, hiding her face into her hands.
"Rei…" he took a look at both girls, one of them needed to be changed, the other seemed a bit hungry, yet both of them seemed satisfied with being held at the moment. Placing a tender kiss atop each of their black hair, he placed them down on their crib, handing each a toy and ensuring they would be fine for the following minutes.
He then turned to his still sobbing wife. "Rei…"
"Maybe God was right in taking our first baby…maybe I'm not meant to be a mother…I'm terrible at this!" she told him, her voice muffled, "Mama died when I was three…Grandpa has been taking care of me since…I…I can't…"
"Rei…" He whispered once more, taking her into his arms as she wept into his shoulders. "You're not terrible…you're awesome, wonderful!" he praised.
"I'm not!" she wailed.
"Yes, you are!" He exclaimed, his voice firm, "You've done a wonderful job this last six months!"
"Miyu-Mama did all, and I can't! I can't even tell them apart from who is who!"
"Oh, Rei!" Yuuichirou exclaimed, rolling his eyes as he knew she couldn't see. "Mother had two children, and you know she had trouble telling Aiko from Misako, we all do at times." He soothed, smiling softly at her before pressing a kiss atop her head.
"They cry all the time with me." she whispered, pressing her face against his chest.
"They cry all the time with any of us." he chuckled, apparently making her giggle at the latest as well.
"Yeah, except when you carry them." She whispered.
"I think not." He stated, "If I'm not wrong, Misako kept me up last night, and no matter how much you or I carried her, fed her, changed her or did much anything, she kept crying."
"You actually fell asleep holding your own crying daughter." Rei accused, looking up at him with a frown.
"It's not my fault." Yuuichirou smiled, "I'm becoming a bit deaf with all her screeching."
Rei chuckled and slapped his arm playfully, "Don't say that about my daughter."
OoO
He sighed as he looked down at the papers he was holding, his calculator suffering against the assault of his fingers, the cursor on his computer blinking, the red numbers seemed to be mocking him.
"Mamo-chan?"
He turned frustrated eyes up at his wife, annoyed at the interruption. "Mamo-chan…"
He sighed, before looking up with an apologetic smile up at her. "What are you doing up, Usa-ko? Is one of the boys up?"
"I couldn't sleep without you." She whispered, hugging herself as she stood by the entrance, as he noticed for the first time she was wearing one of his shirts. "I've been missing you."
He sighed, looking down at the papers. "I…" he wished to apologize, but things had been chaotic lately.
"Mamo-chan?" She called through their link, "What's wrong?"
He looked up at her worried eyes, and held a paper towards her. In a few steps she was before him taking the paper. She looked at it first with wonder, then with understanding, and then with worry. "Is this…"
"I knew with the birth of the twins we would be a bit…strained." He explained, as she took a sit beside him and nodded. "We both knew we would need to cut several things and try to juggle with our incomes, but now…with my internship, I had to cut the hours in my shift…and our expenses are just higher than our income…much higher."
"We could cut some other things." Usagi said, looking at the paper where all their expenses were detailed, "For example…this one here, it's for emergencies and I know we take some when going out with the guys. We can explain to them we can't do that no longer…or what about this one here…"
"Usa-ko…"
"What?"
He smiled at her, giving her a sudden kiss on her lips. "Thanks, but we've already done that." He explained.
Her eyes widened, as she then frowned down at the page. With gentleness, he took the page from her hands and stood, offering his hand at her. "Let's get to bed…before one of the kids wakes up."
She returned his smile, taking his hand in hers and walking towards their bedroom, for now, letting their worries slip.
OoO
"A job?"
Usagi nodded firmly, her stubbornness towards her decision obvious in her baby blue eyes.
"Does Mamoru know?" Makoto asked, taking a crayon from her son's mouth.
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides, we need a new income, he already has too much on his plate, his internship, studies, and work, and then he helps at home…well, most of the time, I can't just help but think that there MUST be something I can do to help!"
"But what about the kids?" Makoto asked, looking as Chibi-Usa explained to Kazeno how to properly hold a crayon and demonstrating that you actually painted with it instead of eating it.
"I don't know, Mako-chan." She explained, "I know Mom can help me out with them…but…I can barely manage myself when I'm with the three of them…and I know Mom's back has been hurting lately…and well…I really enjoy being with the kids."
Makoto sat silently for a few seconds, observing Usagi's patience with the kids, all four of them, an idea rapidly forming on her mind.
OoO
"Court?!" Ami asked, looking down at the peacefully sleeping baby boy in her arms.
"Hai! Court!" Minako yelled, "I don't know what that ass is trying to do, but that boy is not his! And he will NOT take my son away from me!"
"Minako-chan…if Motoki-kun is not Toby's father…then why not say who his father is?" the young woman stated, trying to make her friend see sense.
"He is NOT. Ami, who cares who the father is, Motoki Furuhata is not Tobias' father."
Silence ensued in between the two friends, as the almost blue haired one looked down at the slumbering babe. "The tests have already been made, Mina-chan. Why deny what is before our eyes?"
Minako looked at her longtime friend, closing her blue eyes and clenching her fists as she looked away. "I can't…we can't." she said simply.
"Why?"
Minako opened her mouth to respond, but then nothing could escape her lips.
OoO
"PAPA!"
The little strawberry blond haired child ran towards the man's outstretched arms. He was that man, but yet, he was not.
"Come, Small Lady." He spoke, kissing the four year old cheek. "Your mother awaits."
"Papa, Pu is my friend!" the little girl stated, pointing at the distance where a young woman, whose face he could not see as she stood in the shadows, bowed slightly, a staff in her right hand and dressed in a sailor suit.
"Yes, Small Lady. All the senchis are to protect you as heir to the throne and show loyalty to you, but above all, your mother has a special place in our hearts, and so do you."
"I wish mama was a senchi."
The man nodded, as he lifted his sight and looked at a crystal castle imposing on the horizon.
With a bold of sweat he sat, his head pounding as the images of the little girl went through his mind; it was as if all time had stopped as his heart wildly banged his chest. There was no noise, no time, no movement, until he heard a faint cry at the distance. It was an infant's cry.
With a blink, he realized one of the twins was up and wailing his little lungs out. With a shake of his head, he was quickly and quietly on his way, not wanting to wake the slumbering Usagi who, despite having been sleeping with him for the last four years now, had managed to once more take more than half of the bed.
"Hey, little man, what's wrong?" he whispered to the now red faced infant. "C'mon, Endy, shush now." He whispered, noticing who it was by the band on his wrist. He glanced at the other baby who was peacefully sleeping. Apparently, one of his sons had inherited his wife's heavy sleep.
Once the baby was in his arms, he quieted down, to which Mamoru raised a brow and then smirked a bit. After a quick check of his diaper and seeing if he was hungry, he decided the kid just wanted a bit of attention, and going back to bed, he laid the baby on top of his chest, making the boy close his eyes in contentment as sleep took him. He just rubbed the baby's back as he thought about his strange dream, but then his mind took him to thoughts of his family…his very beloved family.
Two hours later Usagi awoke to the gurgling sound coming from one of the cribs. She looked around to find Mamoru fast asleep with one of the twins atop of him fast asleep as well. As carefully as she could, she stood and went to check on her eldest child. The little girl awoke as soon as she felt her mother's presence. Noticing the child's sleepy eyes, Usagi extended her arms in invitation and the young toddler took no time in letting her mother settle her in her arms.
Entering the room, Usagi placed Chibi-Usa in the middle of the bed where the little girl took no time in snuggling besides her father and baby brother. Taking her wide awake son in her arms next, Usagi settled besides Chibi-Usa and copied her husband's decision, placing Toshiku on her chest and rubbing his back.
Twenty minutes later all of the Chiba's where fast asleep, both parents with a twin atop of their chests, their little girl snuggled in between, and a sense of peace invading the room of the sleeping family.
