Put up shield. I think I'm going to end this story in 4 chapters. Hides behind shield. So enjoy these last few chapters!

Chapter 52: First Steps

"Feeling good?" Takumi asked, laying on his back.

Misaki pulled the blanket around herself and nodded. "Yeah," she said, closing her eyes.

"Okay, going to give you the bad news now," Takumi said. "While you're still feeling happy."

"What?"

"It broke." Takumi threw it into the trash. "It's okay though. We can just have a second child."

"Did it really?" Misaki asked. "Or are you just making fun of me?

"No, it broke alright. I'll pick it out of the trash to let you see if you want."

"That's okay," Misaki said, resting her head against his arm. She yawned. "Is there anymore left?"

"Would you believe me if I said we used the entire box?" Takumi said, laughing softly.

Misaki propped herself on her elbow. "No way."

Takumi opened the drawer and tossed the empty box into the trash. "You know," he teased. "Since we already did it without protection technically," Takumi said, pinning her on her back. "Let's just mess up again."

"So soon?" Misaki asked, blushing.

"I never get tired of you," Takumi said, touching the side of her face. "I could do this all night."

"Stop it," Misaki said, frowning. "You're not suppose to talk about stuff like that..."

"It's just us two."

"Especially if its just us two," Misaki said, pinning him on his back.

"You're really hot," Takumi said, smiling.

"You're weird," Misaki said. Her fingers aimlessly traced the contours of his abs.

"But you love me because I'm weird," Takumi said, switching their positions. "Right?"

"No," Misaki exclaimed.

"Yes,"

"No,"

Takumi sucked really hard on her neck.

"Did you just leave a mark?!" Misaki exclaimed, covering her neck.

"I'll leave another one," Takumi threatened.

"Takumi! You per-" Misaki's voice got off with a kiss. She sighed. At least some things weren't ever going to change.


Misaki woke up to babbling. She rolled over to look at the little monitor screen on the shelf. There was a camera in Hikari's room, pointed at her crib, that provided live feed to Misaki and Takumi's room.

"Takumi," Misaki said, shaking her husband.

"Hm?"

"Look at Hikari," Misaki said, watching the screen.

Hikari was crawling around her crib with her teddy bears. They usually sat in the far corner but Hikari pulled them over to play.

Takumi slid on his glasses. "Is she talking to them?" he asked, wrapping an arm around Misaki.

On the monitor screen, Hikari hugged a bear and babbled on in her own baby language.

"What do you think she is saying?" Misaki wondered.

"Probably something to her bear," Takumi said. "Which one is she holding?"

"Bear," Misaki replied. Yeah...the name wasn't very creative.

"Teddy, Ellie the elephant, Bunny," Takumi recited. "Such classic names for ones stuffed animals."

Misaki yawned and stretched out her arms. "It's a relaxing Saturday," she stated. "Let's go wash up!"

"You seem pretty cheerful," Takumi said, tossing her the clothes from the ground. "Fun night?"

Misaki blushed. "You would know," she retorted.

They washed up and got dressed. Takumi went downstairs while Misaki went to get Hikari.

"Hello Hikari!" she said, opening the door.

Hikari perked up and babbled something.

"Did you sleep well?" Misaki asked, lifting her out of the crib.

"Uh oh," Hikari said.

"What's uh oh?"

Hikari laughed as Misaki kissed her face. After a change of diaper and face wash, Misaki carried Hikari downstairs.

"Say 'Good morning Daddy,'" Misaki coaxed.

"Ah ba ba da!" Hikari said.

"Good morning to you too, Princess," Takumi said. "Misaki," he said. "Why don't you put Hikari down. I have breakfast ready."

Misaki buckled Hikari into her high chair and handed her a sippy cup of milk.

"Oatmeal and fruit," Takumi announced.

Misaki helped him set up the table and they sat down to eat.

Hikari used her fingers to pick up the slice of peach and put it in her mouth.

"Mmm!" she said.

"Yummy?"

Hikari bobbed her head.

"She nodded!" Misaki exclaimed. "I guess she understood then."

"Princess," Takumi said, placing a spoon in Hikari's hand. "Eat your oatmeal. Cinnamon and brown sugar," Takumi told her.

Hikari gripped the spoon and stuck it into her oatmeal. One hand she used the spoon and the other hand she touched the oatmeal.

"Like this," Takumi said, taking a bite of his own.

Misaki and Takumi both watched Hikari. She managed to scoop some up with a spoon but missed her mouth. She jabbed the oatmeal all over her cheek. Only a tiny bit got to her mouth.

"Smile," Takumi said, taking out his phone. He smiled at the picture. "She's adorable."

Hikari clapped her hands together but dropped the spoon.

"Uh oh," she said, giving her parents an irresistible wide eyed look.

"Just pick it up from the tray," Takumi said, handing it back to her.

Misaki couldn't help but laugh as Hikari kept missing her mouth. Oatmeal was smeared all over her cheek and chin.

"Messy baby," Misaki said, wiping her mouth. She took Hikari's hand and guided it so Hikari could get a bite.

"Ah bi by?" Hikari asked.

"Of course," Misaki replied.

"Oh!" Hikari said, pointing to the strawberries.

"Strawberry?" Misaki asked.

"Mmm!"

Takumi picked one out. "Kiss Daddy," he said, leaning his face over.

Hikari pressed her lips to his cheek and laughed. Takumi handed her the strawberry.

"Can you pass the butter?" Misaki asked.

"Kiss Daddy,"

"Takumi," Misaki muttered, kicking him under the table.

Takumi held the butter out of her reach until Misaki gave in and kissed him on the other cheek.

"My lovely ladies," he said, sipping his coffee.

Hikari drank her milk as Misaki and Takumi cleaned up.

"Princess," Takumi said, unbuckling her. "Hm," he said, cuddling her. "You've gotten heavier. That's a good sign."

Misaki did some work on her laptop while Takumi and Hikari played with blocks. Takumi would stack them up and Hikari would push them over. This game could go on for a solid ten minutes.

Hikari clumsily gripped a block with her little hand and tried to set it on top of another. Her hand eye coordination wasn't that good yet so it took several tries.

"Good Princess," Takumi praised.

Hikari crawled over to the toy piano. It was a plastic board with buttons. If you pressed on one, it will light up and and play a note.

Hikari pressed a bunch of them and looked over at Takumi.

"Just like Mozart," Takumi said, motioning for her to continue.

Hikari giggled and banged on the keyboard. Takumi scooted over and played twinkle twinkle with one finger. Hikari joined in by pressing on as many keys as she could. She used her arms to hold down all the notes.

"You're silly," Takumi said. "Silly Princess!"

Hikari clapped her hands together, laughing.

"Princess," Takumi said. "Let's practice walking," he said, picking her up and setting her on her feet. He was on his knees behind her and held both her hands.

Hikari laughed as she took one step.

"Good girl," Takumi said. "Let's walk over to Mommy," he said, steering her toward the couch.

Misaki set down her laptop and held her arms out. "Come here, Hikari," she said. "Come here, baby."

Hikari rushed over but tripped in the process.

"You're okay," Misaki said helping the sniffing toddler up. Hikari looked at Misaki and wailed. "That didn't hurt," Misaki said, cuddling her. "Don't cry," she soothed.

"Let's distract her," Takumi said, lifting her up. "I believe I can fly!" He sang. Takumi set her on his shoulders and galloped around the room.

"Yi-haw!" Takumi said. "Can you say that? Yi-haw!"

"E-hi?"

"Close enough," Takumi said, setting her on ground. "Say Daddy," he said.

"Hey!" Misaki exclaimed. "That's not fair."

Takumi pulled her over to sit on the carpet with them.

"Say Mommy," Misaki encouraged. "Momma."

"Ma?"

"Yeah," Misaki said, gently patting her feet.

"Da," Hikari mumbled. "Ma..."

"Looks like she's going into thinking mode," Takumi observed.

When Hikari thought about things she'd get very quiet. Once her little head thought it through, she'd return back to her normal cheerful self. Misaki wondered every time what Hikari was thinking about.

"She's going to be very smart," Takumi observed.

Misaki nodded.


"Shige looks more and more like Kuuga everyday," Sakura said on the phone. "It's amazing."

"Hikari looks exactly like Misaki," Ruri added, giggling. "Mimi is a mix of Tora and me. I can't decide yet who she resembles more."

"Misaki," Sakura said. "Is Hikari a picky eater?"

"Not especially," Misaki replied. "Why? Is Shige?"

"I can't tell if he doesn't like the food or he doesn't like to sit down to eat," Sakura explained. "It's easier to feed him if he's playing but I don't want him to get into this bad habit of not sitting at the table."

"Just be patient," Ruri said. "Keep him at the table, no matter how antsy he gets."

"Okay," Sakura said. "Well, I'll call you guys later."

"Bye," Misaki and Ruri both said.

Sakura hung up just as Kuuga was carrying Shige into the living room. He had a teething ring in his mouth.

"Hi!" Sakura said.

Shige smiled at Sakura and immediately wanted to be put down. He crawled over to Sakura who picked him up.

"I don't know where he gets this energy," Kuuga said, sitting next to Sakura on the carpet.

"He sleeps very soundly though," Sakura said, trying to hold onto the squirming toddler. Shige laughed as Sakura tickled him.

"Come here," Kuuga said, holding up the laughing boy. "Come on," Kuuga said. "Dance, Shige," he said, bouncing him so it was like Shige was jumping.

Sakura played some music and Shige waved his arms around.

"Aww," Sakura cooed. "He's adorable!"

Shige kicked his legs and smiled.

"And he's all ours," Kuuga teased. "Right, Shige?" he asked, kissing Shige's cheek.

Shige yawned and closed his eyes.

"Tired, already?" Sakura teased, taking Shige from Kuuga. "I'll put him down for his nap."

Kuuga grabbed onto Sakura's hand. "We haven't had some private time in a while," he pointed out.

Sakura kissed Kuuga on the forehead. "Well, we better make good use of it then," she said, winking.


"Ruri," Tora laughed. "Look at Mimi's hair."

Ruri laughed and gently smoothed down the cowlick hair. "It's just from her nap, huh?" she asked, letting Mimi sleepily grab onto her finger. "Bad hair day?"

"Someone's not awake yet," Tora said, examining the sleepy toddler in his arms. "Still tired?" he asked.

Mimi touched Tora's mouth.

"Mouth," Tora said in a muffled voice. He kissed her hand. "You know what's weird?" he asked.

"What?"

"She's like actually my child," Tora said, walking into the kitchen. "So weird."

Ruri sighed, shaking her head. Tora was such a funny guy.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Tora suggested.

Ruri looked out the window. "Yeah, it's a nice day," Ruri agreed. "Let's go."

Tora had on the baby carrier as they strolled through the park. Ruri slipped her hand into his as they enjoyed the scenery.

"No way," Ruri said as they got to the open meadow. "MISAKI!" she called.

Misaki and Takumi looked up from their spot.

"Come over here!" Misaki called back.

"Hello Hikari!" Ruri said, waving to the little girl sitting on the blanket.

Hikari waved back and held out a peach slice to Ruri.

"Thanks child," Ruri said, taking it.

Tora set Mimi on the blanket to crawl around.

"I called Sakura," Misaki said. "And then you showed up."

"We're in sync," Ruri said, sitting down and pulling Mimi into her lap.

"Sandwich?" Misaki offered. "Turkey."

"Sure," Ruri said, taking two and handing one to Tora. "So why the picnic decision?" Ruri asked. "Tora and I only thought about going on walk."

"The weather is really great so Hikari wanted to look around outside so we thought a picnic would be nice after her nap," Misaki explained.

"Misaki!" Sakura said, walking over. "Whoa, Ruri, how did beat us here?"

"Tora and I were in the park when we ran into Misaki," Ruri said, kicking her sandals off.

"Can Hikari walk yet?" Ruri asked.

"It's a baby walk," Misaki said, helping Hikari up to her feet. Misaki held her hands as Hikari took a few steps.

Hikari fell on her butt as soon as Misaki let go. Luckily, they were on grass and a blanket so it didn't hurt.

"Ah," Hikari said, holding her hand out to Takumi.

Takumi handed her a peach slice.

"No,"

"Did she just say no?" Sakura asked, surprised.

"She's vocal," Misaki agreed. "But this is a first."

Takumi held out her sippy cup. Hikari shook her head. "No!"

"What do you want, Princess?" Takumi asked.

Hikari fell into her lap, pouting. "Ah!" she said.

"What?" Takumi asked. "Grapes? Strawberries? She doesn't know what she wants," Takumi concluded.

Hikari stood on his thigh and placed her hands on his shoulder. Takumi stood up with her in his arms.

"Flower?" Takumi asked, holding out a daisy. Hikari took it and examined it. She held it out to Mimi.

"Aww," Ruri said. Mimi took it and looked it, not sure what to make out of it.

Takumi tucked a daisy behind Misaki's ear. Misaki smiled and glanced over at him. She gently touched the flower.

"I love you," he mouthed.

"I know," Misaki mouthed back. "Me too…"