Every last flake of cereal in the house was gone by the time breakfast was over. It was very clear to Rob that he had a lot of food shopping to do later. In the meantime, he had a job interview that morning to prepare for. He found it hard to focus on that with the chaos of all the girls being in the house.
As he tightened his tie, it occurred to him how much like a noose it was. He was worried about Sayori, who had been devastated by leaving MC behind when they left. Maybe he could take her over to the field for a visit when he was done with the interview. But would that help? Or would that make it worse? It was hard to say.
He left the bedroom in his dress clothes ready to take the boys to school. Monika was coming out of the bathroom and stopped in her tracks.
"Look at you!" she exclaimed. "How could anyone not give you a job after seeing you like this?"
"They'll figure something out," Rob grumbled.
"Nope," Monika said, resting a hand on his chest adjusting his tie with the other. "We're going to have a positive attitude, right?"
Natsuki wandered past and caught sight of them. She made an exaggerated grunt of disgust and walked off. Monika sighed while Rob wondered what she was thinking. How much had Monika told the other girls about their relationship?
Andrew and Lucas also seemed to be a bit confused about the whole thing and spoke up while Rob was taking them on the short drive to school.
"Daddy, they all staying with us?" Lucas asked.
"Yep," Rob said. "You remember their names?"
"I do!" Andrew piped up. "Sayowee, Yoowee and Nasskee!"
He was still having some trouble with the Rs and the Ws, but not bad for a five-year-old. "Who do you think is best girl?" he asked, enjoying a little private joke.
"Mama!" Lucas answered.
"Aside from Mama."
"Monika is best girl," Andrew said.
"What do you think, Lucas?"
"Monika is best girl, Daddy."
"She'll be happy to hear that," Rob said. They pulled into the school's driveway and soon the boys were off to their classrooms. Early in the process of enrolling them into Pre-K, the teachers had recommended separating them into different rooms so they had more of a chance to get to know other kids. It made sense; they probably would stick to each other constantly if they were always together. There had been some initial struggles getting them to accept this, but they seemed fine with it now. They were always happy to see each other when the school day ended.
Once he got home, Rob approached Kate as she was packing up to leave for work. "Do you still feel okay about this? It's not exactly the morning routine we're used to."
"They're really very sweet," Kate replied. "Although that little one is a handful."
"Uh oh, what did she say?"
Kate chuckled uneasily. "Well, she asked where Monika ended up sleeping last night so I told her she was with us…and then she starts going on about how Monika's planning to steal you and that if I wasn't careful you guys would run away together. On and on like that, it was quite dramatic."
"You know none of that is true, right?"
"Of course," Kate said. "If I thought there was a real chance she would go behind my back and try to start an affair with you, she would have been out a long time ago."
Rob walked into the living room where Sayori and Yuri chatting. "Where's Natsuki?"
"I believe she went out the back door," Yuri answered.
Sure enough, she was on the back patio reading manga and enjoying the brisk fall morning. He flung open the sliding door and walked towards her.
"Uh…hi," Natsuki said nervously.
"Why the hell would you talk to Kate like that?" Rob asked angrily. "That's completely inappropriate!"
He expected a nasty retort, but instead she was cowering in her seat and holding her arms over her face to protect herself. Then the truth came to him. An older man, much bigger than her, scolding her in an angry tone of voice. Rob suddenly felt a rush of guilt and shame. He exhaled and then sat down in one of the other patio chairs.
"Look," he said. "I'm angry, but…I'm not going to hurt you."
She tentatively lowered her arms.
"You should know that I'm never going to do something like that. You could…burn down the house and I still wouldn't hit you. Okay?"
There was a long pause where it seemed like Natsuki wasn't sure if she could believe what he was saying. Eventually, she smiled. "That's good to know, because I was planning to do that later this afternoon."
"Walked into that one," Rob said, shaking his head. "I can tell you're curious about what the situation is here and it doesn't seem like Monika has told you much…so I'll try and explain everything, okay?"
She nodded so he continued. "It was really hard when she first got here. She had to accept that the whole storybook romance thing she imagined just wasn't possible. It took a long time for all of us to find some kind of balance that met everyone's needs. If Kate got the idea that something was going on behind her back, it would upset everything. Does that make sense?"
"Wait," Natsuki said. "So what you're saying is that you and Monika never had an affair."
"That's right. I'm glad she's part of my life, but I never wanted to risk breaking up my family."
She started to laugh but managed to hold it in. "Well, thanks for clearing that up. I'm going to head inside." Rob gave a quick nod and stayed in the chair as she stood up.
It was quiet in the house now that the boys were gone and the girls were sitting around reading. Rob had some time before he had to drive to his interview and wanted to check on Sayori. He found her staring out the window in the living room. She heard him approach and turned around, doing her best to smile.
"Are you doing okay?" Rob asked.
Sayori's smile started to look sadder. "I can't fool you, can I? No sense making something up. Would you like to take a walk with me?"
"To the field?"
"No," Sayori answered. "I'm going to wait a few days before I try that. I just wanted to walk around your neighborhood and look at the leaves."
The two of them put on light jackets and stepped outside. As they went down the front steps, Sayori turned and glanced at Rob. There were tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
"What's wrong? Have I done something?"
"No," he said, wiping his eyes. "I'm just scared. I'm scared of failing you."
"Oh no." She took his hand and began to walk, leading him down the street away from the house. "You won't fail me, Rob. I'm not sure you're even capable of it."
"I'm sorry that MC had to stay behind. I feel like it's my fault."
"It's not," Sayori said firmly, "Because of you, I know I'll see him again. But I have a feeling this is all about what happened in the game."
Rob looked a bit sheepish. "Well, yeah."
"I'm not going to die like that, Rob. You really think I would do that in your home, for the other girls and the kids to find?"
He didn't have an answer. "I know that you're depressed too. Do I need to worry about you?"
"No," he said. "But I'm being treated."
"Yeah," Sayori admitted. "In the game, treatment just wasn't an option. It never crossed my mind, no matter how much I was hurting. But things are different here, aren't they?"
"They are," Rob said. "I can find you some help...if you want."
They had finished their walk around the block and were back at the house. "I'll think about it," she said before hugging him. "Now go to your job thingie and do your best. I'll be here when you get back."
Once they were back inside, Rob gathered a few things and got in the car to leave. Sayori walked into the living room, where the other three were all sitting and reading. Natsuki was in a recliner while Yuri and Monika sat on the couch. There was room for one more, so Sayori sat down and got comfortable.
Seeing that everyone was in the room, Natsuki put her manga down. "You know, I was wrong."
"Wrong about what?" Yuri asked.
"What I said to Kate this morning was careless. I thought that Monika was having an affair with Rob right under her nose. But now I know that isn't the case, right?"
"Yes," Monika said.
"Wa ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa!"
"What's funny about that?" Sayori asked.
Monika knew. Natsuki's mocking laughter cut deep. "So after all that, you didn't even get to be his side chick? He friendzoned you?"
"No, he did not! He thinks of me like a younger sister."
"So what's that? Siblingzoned? I never heard of that one."
That was the last straw for Monika. "For fuck's sake, Natsuki! Will you please just shut up?!"
Natsuki looked like she had just been slapped but was going to give as good as she got. "YOU shut up, Monikun-"
"Okay, that's enough!' Sayori interrupted. "We don't need this, you guys. We're all dealing with a lot right now."
"I'm sorry, Sayori," Monika said. "It just really upsets me to hear her describe my relationship with Rob like some kind of defeat. If you knew anything about the life he's lived, you would understand how precious it is to be accepted that way. He's giving me a chance to fill a hole in his heart that's been there since he was a little boy."
Natsuki shook her head. "What are you even talking about?"
"Rob's sister died," Sayori said. "A long time ago."
A silence fell over the group. Monika knew exactly what they were feeling. She would never forget that day when they drove out to the cemetery. When she found out about the unthinkable trauma that had tormented someone she cared deeply for. A big and nasty raincloud, as Sayori might put it.
Finally, Yuri spoke up. "That's just heartbreaking. The poor man."
Natsuki was clearly upset by it as well, but opted to leave rather than show vulnerability.
"I feel like we should do something," Yuri continued. "Although I don't know what."
"I've learned that you can't really do much," Monika replied. "After all, it happened long before any of us even existed. He needed that love and support when he was a kid and clearly didn't get it."
"We should all hug him when he gets home," Sayori said.
"That's your solution to any problem," Yuri teased. "But it would be nice. I suppose it will just be the three of us. Natsuki doesn't seem in the mood for that sort of thing."
"No, I'll do it!" she shouted from down the hallway.
Some time later, Rob returned from his job interview. Monika could tell from his expression that it hadn't gone well. The frustrated thoughts vanished as he was embraced by eight arms.
"Huh?"
"Thank you for everything you've done for us," Sayori said. "We love you."
He was completely speechless as the four of them let go. Monika was the last to relinquish her grip and kissed him on the cheek as a symbolic way to confirm her status at the top of the pecking order. He opened his mouth to say something a couple times but couldn't progress any further.
Natsuki smiled. "Uh oh, we broke him."
Several minutes after they left, Rob returned to full functionality and went into the bedroom to change back into casual clothes. The girls had gone back down into the basement. Monika was on her phone while Yuri was reading the book Rob had given her, totally absorbed and paying no heed to her surroundings. Sayori and Natsuki had the TV on and were browsing channels, eventually settling on a cartoon show Monika had heard of - "The Simpsons"
At one point, a brief scene showed a store with a sign that read "Sneed's Feed and Seed, formerly Chuck's." Natsuki burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Sayori asked.
"You don't get it?" Natsuki replied. Sayori shook her head.
"The sign said 'formerly Chuck's,' What would the store be called if Chuck was still the owner?"
Sayori thought for a moment. "Chuck's Feed and Seed?"
"What if it wasn't a feed store back then?"
"Um…Chuck's General Store?"
"No, Sayori!" Natsuki scolded. "Think about the rhyming!"
Sayori concentrated hard and spoke slowly, like she was trying to solve some kind of higher math problem. "Sneed….feed and seed. Chuck…EWW!"
Natsuki doubled over on her back, rolling around the futon as her laughter filled the small room. Even Yuri looked up from her book to ascertain the source of the noise. Sayori was still scandalized by the joke.
"They don't really have stores like that here, do they?"
Natsuki laughed even harder, struggling for air. "Ah ha ha ha….stop, Sayori…I already can't breathe."
"That would be illegal in this country," Monika explained. "Even if it were legal, something tells me they would be more subtle about the name of their establishment."
Natsuki had just started to get herself under control when Rob's voice rang out from the top of the stairs. "Girls? I'm going to get some groceries. I'll be back in a while."
"Okay!" Monika responded sweetly.
Natsuki pushed against the futon with her hands and bounced into a standing position. "Wait, I'm coming with you!"
"Really?" Rob asked.
"Yeah really! I had a look around the kitchen a little while ago and it's totally inadequate! You need someone with real skill at baking to help you stock it!"
"All right, come on up."
Rob had changed back into his regular clothes, which meant at some point he had been able to recover from the brief catatonia induced by the group hug. Thinking about it now made Natsuki feel a twinge of embarrassment - despite months living with Sayori, she still didn't consider herself a "huggy" sort of person. Still, she didn't want to look like some ice queen in comparison to the other three. Hopefully it wouldn't go to his head.
As they drove across town to the supermarket, Natsuki couldn't believe how many other cars were out and about. For each of those cars, there was at least one person who lived close by. After so much time in the empty world of the game, it was truly mind-blowing. Even at the supermarket, there was a huge parking lot loaded with cars.
"Is it always so crowded?" she asked.
"It's usually somewhat busy," Rob answered. "This seems like a lot. I wonder if it's just because it's almost Halloween and people are buying candy."
They eventually found a parking spot and walked inside, where Natsuki was once again taken aback by the sheer size of the place. It looked as big as the school, a far cry from the tiny shops in the game that none of the girls could even remember visiting. Rob reached over to grab a large cart with wheels and then awkwardly tried to get both of his hands on the handle.
"Is it that difficult?" she asked him.
"No," he said. "But it's tricky to do while I'm using a cane. I have to grab it just right in order to hold both."
"Give it to me, old man. I'll push it."
"Just for the record," Rob said as he stepped aside and let Natsuki grab the cart. "I'm not using a cane because of my age. It's because my knee got smashed in a car accident."
"I know that! You would be old with or without the cane."
"Thanks, I think."
The cart was bulky but not heavy and Natsuki followed Rob into an area with all sorts of fruit and vegetables on display. He grabbed boxes of a few different berries before taking a small plastic bag and filling it with apples.
"Have you ever had apple crisp?" he asked.
"No, what's that?"
"It's a pretty popular autumn dessert," Rob said. "I thought it might be nice to make some for everyone tonight. I would like it if you would help me out."
"I can't very well let the girls eat gross food, can I?" Natsuki replied. "I'll make sure it comes out good. What else is in it besides apples?"
Rob grabbed a plastic can that was sitting on a shelf above where the apples were. "This will have most of the stuff we need - oats, sugar and flour. There's also a lot of butter and some cinnamon. You're welcome to tweak the recipe if you want. I trust your instincts with baking."
Natsuki was once again perplexed by Rob's complete lack of an ego. He was happy to defer to her and barely reacted at all to any of her teasing. Even Yuri, for all her angst and shyness, could get arrogant if the subject turned to writing or fiction. Not Sayori, though, that must have been why she liked him so much. She had only seen Rob angry twice now - at MC for attacking Monika and at her for shooting her mouth off while talking with Kate that morning. In both cases, it was anger on behalf of other people rather than himself.
They made their way through aisle after aisle, filling the cart until it was almost overflowing. He had chosen most of the food but Natsuki had gathered a collection of spices and baking tools she couldn't believe weren't already in the kitchen. She felt confident it would come closer to meeting her standards after this trip. When it was time to pay for everything, the two of them tried in vain to find a checkout line that wasn't as long. They settled on a lane with only four people waiting.
However, Natsuki noticed a few minutes later that their line wasn't moving at all despite being shorter than nearby ones that were. "Rob, what's the deal?"
"We chose poorly," he answered. "There's an old lady up there with like fifty coupons. I didn't notice it but I think we're going to be stuck here for a while."
"Let's switch to a different line," Natsuki suggested.
"We can try."
As they looked around, a manager approached them. "Excuse me, sir. We're having some issues with congestion. Would you and your…daughter be willing to use the self-checkout lane?"
"I guess," Rob said. "It probably would be quicker at this point."
Natsuki didn't realize that was even an option, but they found themselves in front of a machine without a cashier. Rob began grabbing items out of the cart and trying to line up the bar code with a scanner. After a few beeps, he tried to scan a bag of grapes several times in a row without success.
"Come on, motherfucker!" he shouted. Natsuki almost jumped out of her skin. So this was the kind of thing that could him going.
"Jesus Christ, if I wanted to do this shit I'd apply for a fuckin' job and at least get paid for it," he grumbled. Natsuki put a hand over her mouth as she laughed.
"Let me try," she finally said, taking the bag from him. She was able to get it to work on the first attempt, which made her laugh again.
"That reminds me," Rob said. "I have to go weigh the apples and get a bar code for them. Guard the cart."
"No problem," she smiled. "I obviously have a natural gift for this scanning, so I'll get some done in the meantime."
He carried the apples away and returned a few minutes later. In that time, Natsuki had made major progress on scanning everything in the pile and couldn't help but grin. "Let me have the apples."
"Sure," Rob said. "Let me give you a little shopping tip. You know how we picked the organic apples?"
"Yeah," Natsuki said. "That was weird. Aren't they all organic? Or were the other ones made in a lab or something?"
"It just means they weren't exposed to pesticides or chemicals like that. But they're also usually more expensive, which is bullshit. But since we're in charge of scanning these, I got a bar code sticker for the non-organic apples instead."
"You can do that?"
"Yeah," Rob said. "It's not like some random botanist is going to show up and bust us. Might as well pay the more reasonable price if you're given the choice."
Natsuki shook her head. One minute he was a sweet pushover and the next he was this foul-mouthed rule-flouting crank. Monika thought she was so smart calling her a "tsundere" and Natsuki wondered if she had realized that this guy might be some sort of male variant.
When they were back home and it was closer to dinner, Natsuki and Rob began working on the apple crisp. Kate and the boys were home now and the small house was buzzing with activity. Sayori was on the floor with the twins playing with stuffed animals and making very animated faces, even for her. Monika was helping Kate with a few random chores. Yuri was nowhere to be seen, probably downstairs reading.
Rob began slicing the skin off the apples with a knife. "I'll do these. Why don't you work on the crisp?"
Natsuki emptied the contents of the can they had bought into a large bowl. Once she saw it all in front of her, she had a better idea of what this recipe was like. Inspiration struck and she rummaged through all the new stuff they had just bought, adding her own little tweaks to the mixture. When it came time to add the butter, Rob warned her that it could be hard to stir.
"For a wimp, maybe." With that, she began to stir the hell out of it until it had reached a consistency she felt good about.
"Wow, you're strong," Rob said. "It usually takes me a lot longer than that."
She could only put her hands on her hips and grin. All that was left to do was dump all the apples into the pan (two pans to make sure there would be enough for everyone) and spread the buttery crisp mixture over them. Then they went into the oven and it was time for dinner.
When the timer went off, Natsuki rushed over to the oven with Sayori following close behind. "Can you give me some space here?" she asked. "This is a small kitchen as it is."
"Sorry," Sayori said sheepishly. "I'm just really excited to try it."
"Natsuki gets the first bite," Rob decreed.
As a reward for being the only one to help Rob make it, Natsuki slowly scraped a chunk of the crisp onto her fork. She took a bite and was overcome by sweet, buttery goodness.
"Why have I never had this before?!"
The others laughed and were lining up for their share. Although there were two full pans of it, the apple crisp ultimately did not survive the evening. As the girls began to go downstairs to get ready for bed, Natsuki looked over at Rob, who was washing the formidable pile of dishes left behind.
"Rob?" He turned around. "Thank you for this. It was really fun. We should do cupcakes next time."
"I'm looking forward to that," he said, before getting back to work. As she was about to start descending the stairs, he spoke one more time.
"You'll always be safe here, Natsuki."
To his surprise, Natsuki quickly walked over to the sink, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him on the cheek before rushing downstairs. He stood there with his hands in the sink, stunned for several moments...again. Sure, Monika had kissed his cheek practically once a day since she arrived but Rob had never been totally sure Natsuki even liked him.
She couldn't look at him after that. She knew there was too much emotion on her face. Instead, she headed for the basement bathroom to prepare for bed. Yuri and Sayori were already looking comfortable on the futon while Natsuki turned to the right to find her bed.
As she was getting settled, she heard something soft hit the nearby floor. Natsuki turned her head to see Monika working hard on something. She laid two small mattresses on the carpet. They looked like they might have once been used in a baby's crib. Then she spread a thick blanket over them before adding some pillows to the end where her head would rest.
"What are you doing?"
"Just trying to put a bed together for myself," Monika answered.
"Don't you sleep upstairs?"
"Usually not. It wouldn't be fair to Rob and Kate if I was always in their room."
"Wait," Natsuki said. "So this is your bed?"
"It was, but I want you to have it."
"Why?" Monika didn't answer, which annoyed Natsuki. "I hope you don't think you can butter me up by letting me sleep here."
Monika sighed. "No, I suppose I don't."
She finished arranging her new bed and slipped under the covers. Natsuki turned her head in the other direction and shut her eyes, but she was distracted by a sniffling sound. She turned back to Monika, whose face was now out of view. Natsuki heard the noise again. Was she crying?
Why would she be crying? She had it made. Monika had made friends here, the wife and kids liked her, and even though she and Rob weren't knocking boots after all, it was obvious he loved her. It boggled her mind under a realization came to her. It was because of Natsuki's anger.
She tensed up and felt a jumble of different emotions. Why did her heart ache to hear Monika cry after everything she had done? Natsuki remembered the day Sayori had explained all of the game's strangeness to them. All three of them had been furious at how Monika had abused them. It had done wonders in helping them bond in those uncertain days when Rob was gone, MC was comatose and they had no clue what life had in store for them. She loved that solidarity, but things changed. Yuri and Sayori seemed to have moved on. They were ready to forgive Monika, maybe even befriend her again. Why couldn't Natsuki?
Because if she did, then it was just giving Monika a free pass to hurt her again! It seemed so obvious, but also hopeless. It would get tiring to be angry with her forever, especially with them all living under one roof. But the thought of opening herself up to another betrayal filled her with anxiety. Natsuki didn't know what to do and puzzled over the situation until she eventually fell asleep.
Author's Note: I have no idea why the site censored the name of the restaurant the group went to in the last chapter. It's called "J Timothy's." If it still doesn't show up for whatever reason, I guess just send me a PM or something if you're really curious.