AN: More Christmas next chapter but cuter 😊
Chapter Thirty Nine
I know it's hard to tell the girls that we should pay more attention to Kyoko since it is her birthday as well but to the girls it's Christmas which is one of their favorite days of the year. We always tend to spoil them and thanks to Kyoko, this year is no different despite the difference in me but the fact that she wants to give me so much makes me feel guilty. This is her day. In my mind it will always be her day. I don't think she understands that.
Mom and Dad have arrived and they have brought with them some presents for the girls. Both of them get upset when I tell them each year that I'm fine not getting any presents and they should put the money towards Kyoko. When they do listen to me, they go all out for my actual birthday and tell me that if I didn't want to be weighed down by gifts that I should have let them give me Christmas gifts.
The girls are in the living room watching an animated holiday movie whilst Kyoko serves tea in the dining room. I've actually been able to get out of the wheelchair enough to sit down at the table although Kyoko keeps looking at me nervously.
"I love your necklace," Mom says and Kyoko grins. It's obvious that this is the first time Mom has seen it but Dad nods as he takes a sip of the tea. He's really been helping us out more than I deserve.
"Kuon bought it for me," she says with a grin, "and Father, thank you for -"
"He bought it, picked it out, everything, all I did was pick it up from the store," Dad says and I smile and nod. That is still something to be thankful for. Dad helped me get it from Kyoko since I couldn't myself.
"Still, thank you both of you for all of your help. I hope it isn't selfish but I need to ask for your help again, we need to ask for it again," she says before turning to face Dad and sits. Dad looks to her, sharing a quick look with Mom and then leans forward and takes her hand.
"Anything," he nods, "What can I do to help?"
"The Fuwas want to offer us a settlement so that the trial doesn't go public. I think that they are worried about the impact which it might have on their business and the family name in Japan. Dad nods slowly. "I…we're going to meet with Shotaro and his family," I flinch at the name but I know I need to remain strong. "To get the papers signed."
"We meaning the two of you?" Mom asks a slight hopefulness in her voice as she gestures between Dad and Kyoko. I take a deep breath and attempt to calm myself.
"N-n-noo," I reply and they turn to me surprised, I suppose they haven't heard me speak so well for a while. "I…I wa'…goi-nng…tttoo" I stutter and Mom puts a hand over her mouth as she holds back on a happy sob at seeing my improvement. I suppose it's different if you don't see me every day.
Dad is looking at me with a mix of pride and shock on his face, he points to me in a casual way. "First of all, I'm really proud of you that your speech has improved so much in such a short time. Secondly, no, I don't want to agree with that."
"Father," Kyoko tries to calm him down, "We were going to ask yo-"
"No. That monster snuck into Rose's school and tried to murder you with a baseball bat," Dad says and I feel nervous again. I know this. I just feel that I should be there when my life is being discussed. "Who knows what he'll try again and if not physically then I don't want to imagine how he'll act towards you as mental or psychological attacks."
"Kuu," Mom says trying to calm him and I look down.
I take a deep breath before it starts to feel worse and I try to take deep breaths. Suddenly what they are saying to me isn't translating and I feel like I'm going to be sick again. I feel myself slump over and fall onto the ground as there is a lot of static around me and then it turns black as I hear panicked voices saying my name.
….
….
It's Christmas but more importantly it's Kyoko's birthday. I feel more comfortable taking a step back on this day. I've already wrapped a lot of presents and booked this penthouse hotel room for our trip here. I decided to take Kyoko and the girls to Kyoto and then Hokkaido to see the winter festival that's there but seeing Kyoko surrounded by friends in Tokyo makes me feel very happy. Apparently the chef here thinks that I'm some type of fake due to my refusal of food. Something about eating fish properly. He doesn't show dislike or displeasure for me though so maybe I'm imagining it.
"Taisho. Okami-san," Kyoko says as she sits up and then gets up from the ground. "Let me help with the dishes, you've already given me so much today." She bows to them and Rose jumps up and copies her bow. I have Ana on my lap since she's a little too young to sit comfortably at a table this low without her pillows.
"Thank you for the food," Rose grins as she stands up.
I smile my gratitude hoping that I can remain on their good side. Ana giggles and I wipe her face to get the crumbs off of it and a little sauce. "Truly, thank you," I try to say in a genuine manner and the Okami-san shakes her head.
"We'll do the dishes," the Taisho says as he inspects my plate to make sure that I actually ate all of the food this time. This man scares me like few men do. "Just eat."
"Oh, that's right," Okami-san says as she goes to the kitchen and retrieves the traditional Christmas white cake with fruit but this time there are a lot of decorations and it reads Happy Birthday. I grin ad Kyoko looks to it excitedly.
"Happy Birthday," the Okami-san says happily and the Taisho nods with a smile before leaving. Rose joins in with singing the song and I sing it quietly holding onto Kyoko's hand.
"Come on," I wink to her, "Happy Birthday, princess. Now, blow out the candles and make your wish."
Kyoko looks up at me, she grins before her cheeks turn a little red. I have to admit that I'm slightly confused.
"Why would I need to make a wish?" she asks me and I open my mouth unsure how to respond to that. "Everything I could ever need is here. Thank you for making this day so special, Kuon, my Corn."
I smile as I watch her, she has no idea how much those words affect me. I want to make sure that each and every one of the following December 25ths are amazing for her. I really hope that nothing happens that prevents me from doing that for her.
….
…..
I gently move Kuon so that he can safely have a seizure if there is any safe way of doing it. He hasn't been this stressed for a while and it scares me to think what might happen if he's face to face with Shotaro. Father's right. For his own protection I want to tell him that he has to stay home but this is his life and I don't want to control him.
As he starts to gain consciousness, I gently dab at his forehead with a wet cloth and let his head rest in my lap. "I'm here, sweetheart," I tell him as I see him starting to breathe normally again. Father looks guilty but I know that he's thinking the same thing. Father wasn't intending to attack him at all and yet this happened, being near to Shotaro will be even worse for him.
"Kuon," Father hesitates before kneeling down beside us. "Are you okay? You're not hurt or anything, right?" he asks needing to know the answer and I see Julie with tears in her eyes. Dad and I have witnessed it more often than Julie has and so we've gotten used to it as sad as that is to say.
"I…" Kuon says weakly, "o'ay," he struggles again and Father nods in a shaky manner.
"Maybe if I'm there too it'll be okay," Father says nervously opening up to the idea. I told him how important it is for Kuon and I can see both sides. I know that Father is extremely protective of Kuon especially helping him with his disabilities.
"We'll talk a little later," I nod to assure him. I hear a knock on the door and see Rose standing there. She has a little bit of an understanding on Kuon's condition and at least knows that her daddy feels tired a lot more often. Julie turns to Rose who is looking at all of us and shaking as she sees Kuon. I think she's only seen a seizure once and it scared her when she saw it. We try to keep her shielded from the tougher to understand parts of Kuon's condition.
"Rrr-o-ose?" Kuon asks as he sits up and Rose smiles before coming over to Kuon and throwing her arms around him. He pulls her close. Every morning he practices with the girls' names and they love that he's now able to say their names a little easier. Rose ignores the smell of the vomit and gently lifts Kuon's hand.
"Daddy can you watch Frozen with us?" she asks and Kuon nods. I help him to the wheelchair and then shoot an apologetic look at Kuu.
"I'm going to take ca-"
"I'll do that, I want to do something to help," Julie says and I thank her silently before going to start the movie. Ana comes over and hugs her daddy. I don't want either of them to know what just happened, the girls don't need to know any of this at least not until they are older.
"Let's watch the movie," I try to smile to the girls and Kuon gets himself to the sofa. Rose leans against one of Kuon's arms and holds his hand in hers whilst Ana curls up with her head on his lap. It's so adorable and I will destroy anyone hoping to take my family away from me. I see Father approach us and he watches the girls and Kuon and shortly after Julie joins us.
All of us just want the same thing. We want to spend time with the man we all love and for him not to have to go through any pain. Ana jumps up and goes to her toys where she picks up her Olaf toy and hands it to Kuon. She tilts her head to the side. "Daddy, you wanna hold a snowman?" she giggles and Kuon takes the toy and smiles as Ana climbs back up to his lap.
End of Chapter Thirty Nine
Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated
Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Thirty Eight
Kaname671, kyoko minion
AN: I think I will do a scene where Kyoko talks with Sho's parents alone (thank you kyoko minion for the suggestion) and it's going to leave Sho alone with Kuu and Kuon where Kuu is completely overprotective. As for Kyoko's business, she's successful enough that she can run her business overseas but she's going to be making a Japanese side of things and Lory's going to help her there.
Kuon is improving rapidly so he should be showing more progress soon especially when he gets a decent therapist.