"Ok, so that's my bag. Your bag. Your purse. The diaper bag. Riko and Yamato already took all the cards and gifts yesterday. You have all the paperwork and your water. We've got your prescription. Hajime's been signed off. You've been signed off. Hajime's changed and dressed and in the car seat. You're dressed. We've got our coats." Kyo was walking rapidly around Tohru's hospital room, ticking things off with his fingers as he listed them. Even though the room was pretty much bare, he was still looking around to make sure there wasn't anything they'd missed. "Am I forgetting anything?"

"Breathing?" Tohru couldn't resist teasing him, and the exasperated look he gave her at the comment only served to make her giggle.

"I'm just trying to make sure we've got everything, Tohru!"

"I know! Which is why you've already looked the whole room over, twice. We've got everything, short of you actually picking up Hajime. But don't worry, I've been keeping an eye on him so I'm sure we won't forget him," she said with a deceptively straight face.

Kyo sighed as Tohru walked up and kissed him. "I don't get how you're so calm and I'm such a basket case about this."

"Because you've been able to come and go, and I've been trapped here for four days. I'm just ready to go home, and if I have to leave a pair of slippers behind then so be it," Tohru said as she stepped back, smiling the whole time. As dramatic as it might sound, she actually meant it; after four days of hospital beds, hospital food, constant noise, and constant nurses, she couldn't wait to get back to the peace and privacy of their own home.

And Kyo was excited to have her there, if slightly terrified. Just the act of getting them all ready to go had seemed like a monumental undertaking, especially when Hajime decided he needed to poop just when they finished dressing him in his going-home outfit. But as Kyo looked around the room, he realized Tohru was right; they had everything.

Well, he had everything, anyway; Tohru was lucky he was even letting her carry the folder of paperwork.

He finally returned Tohru's smile with a big one of his own. "Alright, then; let's go home!"

Hajime's car seat clicked easily into the car, and Kyo gave the base a firm wiggle while Tohru looked on nervously. "Feels ok to me, did it look good to you, Tohru?"

"I think so. It's supposed to have a little movement, right?"

He nodded, and she sighed. "Ok, then I think it's good."

"Good. Can you get in by yourself, or do you need my help?"

"I think I can manage, but thanks. I'll let you know if that changes."

While Tohru carefully settled into the front seat, Kyo dumped all the bags into the trunk of the car and closed it before returning to her side. "Still good?"

She giggled again at his continued fussing; for all that she was the one getting out of the hospital, he was the one acting like a nervous wreck. But it was sweet, how much he wanted to take care of her.

"Still good, Kyo."

"Ok then." He took a breath and ran around the car to the driver's slide, sliding in and buckling his seat belt as Tohru closed her door. "I'm gonna make sure to take things nice and smooth, but you be sure to tell me if it's too bumpy or if anything starts to hurt."

Tohru smiled over at him, taking in the way he'd nervously taken in another breath and flexed his fingers around the steering wheel. It had been a few months since he'd passed his driver's test, and he'd spent hours and hours practicing his driving skills since. But right now, he was looking as skittish as if he was getting behind the wheel for the first time.

"Are you ok, Kyo?" She couldn't keep the amusement out of her tone, and Kyo felt a little sheepish as he looked back at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just feeling the pressure, that's all."

"It'll be fine, Kyo, you've driven this route dozens of times now, if not hundreds!" Unsurprisingly, one of Kyo's favorite driving practices had been hospital runs; he'd driven every possible route from their house to the hospital and back, factoring in everything from traffic to bridge closures to ice and snow. To say Tohru felt confident in him was an understatement, regardless of how nervous he seemed.

"I know, but that was...before," he mumbled awkwardly, his eyes flicking to the backseat where Hajime was sound asleep in his car seat. "And you weren't hurt then, either."

She reached over and patted his hand. "Well, I know you'll be fine, and we'll all get home safely."

Tohru looked so very encouraging, it was hard not to feel confidant. Taking another deep breath, Kyo looked over at her and smiled. "Ok, then, I guess we'd better get going."

Once they were actually on the road, Kyo's nerves seemed to disappear into the familiar thrum of traffic. True to his word, he was taking things smoothly and Tohru had no complaints as they made their way through Nigeyashi and out to the twisty little mountain road that led up to Hibe. As they drove along, the two of them discussed their plans for when they got home, and how they wanted to handle Kyo's remaining three days of leave before he started back at the dojo on Wednesday.

They were trying to decide what they wanted to do about supper that night when Kyo's phone started ringing, and he glanced over at her. "Tohru, could you get that?"

"Of course," she said, picking it up and glancing at the screen. "Oh, it's Sensei Kenichi, Kyo; do you still want me to answer it?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm not gonna take it while I'm driving."

She smiled and answered the call. "Hello, Kyo's phone, Tohru speaking!"

"Well, if this isn't an unexpected treat. Good afternoon, Tohru, how are you doing today? And congratulations!" Sensei Kenichi's voice was gruff, but affectionate. In the five years that Kyo had been at the dojo, Tohru had come to know Sensei and all of the dojo staff quite well, and had unsurprisingly charmed all of them. Everyone had been excited about Tohru and Kyo's pregnancy, and all of them had been worried at Kyo's abrupt departure from the dojo that Tuesday.

After everything had calmed down that evening, one of the first things Kyo had done was let them all know what had happened, and he'd been rather unceremoniously told that he'd have the rest of the week to stay with Tohru. Neither Tohru or Kyo had initially planned for Kyo to take more than a day or two off at the most, and they'd both protested it was far too generous. But Sensei had been insistent, and in the end they'd gratefully accepted.

And Tohru was quick to remember that, with Sensei on the phone. "Good afternoon, Sensei! Thank you, I'm doing very, very well. And I'm so glad to get a chance to talk to you, and to tell you thank you for letting Kyo have the extra time this week! I really appreciate it."

"Well, it's no problem, Tohru; after all you've had to deal with, letting you have him to help you out seems like the least I can do. And I'm glad I got ahold of you, actually, because I was calling about something related." Sensei paused, then corrected himself. "Well, Ayako wanted me to call about something related. Do you mind if I just put her on?"

"No, of course not! I'd love to talk to her." Ayako Matsuda, Sensei's wife, had become somewhat of a mother figure to Tohru and Kyo; even though they were younger than her actual children, she hadn't been able to resist taking them in, feeding them, introducing them to people, and generally showing them around when they first came to the area. For Tohru especially, who hadn't had a single 'mother figure' of any kind since Kyoko had died, Ayako had been a godsend.

That was one of the many great things about Hibe; it didn't lack for older maternal figures. There might be a slight lack of people their own age, but you couldn't throw a stick without hitting a middle-aged woman!

Ayako was even happier to talk to Tohru. "Tohru, dear, it's so very, very wonderful to hear your voice! How are you doing? How are you feeling? How is Hajime? Is everything healing nicely? Will you still be getting out of the hospital today?" She'd always been a highly energetic woman, in conversation as well as body, and Tohru was almost blown away by the questions. But she was smiling, and happy to answer.

"Thank you, Ayako, it's so nice to talk to you, too! I'm doing well, thank you; healing is slow, unfortunately, but my doctor says I'm making good progress as long as I make sure to take things easy and not strain myself." She could hear Ayako making agreeing noises in the background, and smiled. "Hajime is doing great, of course! He's lost a little weight, but it's within a normal range, and otherwise he's just perfect. And yes! We're actually in the car right now, and we ought to be getting home in the next ten minutes or so. I'm very excited to finally be back in my own bed!"

Even if that was currently a hotly debated issue with her husband.

Ayako made a happy sound. "Wonderful, wonderful! So you are all getting home today, absolutely wonderful." She paused, then continued in the same rapid manner. "Tohru, I was wondering, do you two have any plans for supper tonight? Or even the next couple of nights? Because the girls and I were talking, and we would love to bring you both some food to tide you over for a while."

'The girls' could only mean Tohru's fellow karate wives, the partners of Kyo's coworkers and fellow students. If Ayako was the den mother, then Tohru, Emi, Kanako, Moriko, Jun, and Yui were her bear cubs. Or maybe her flock of ducklings? Although Ayako was the oldest and undisputed senior, Tohru was the youngest of 'the girls' and the one the others most doted on.

So it was unsurprising to hear Ayako's offer, and Tohru was touched. "Ayako, that's so very kind of you all! I'd hate to put any of you to that trouble, though."

"So that means you don't have plans, then." Tohru could practically see Ayako's smile through the phone, and she laughed self-consciously; her difficulty accepting favors was notorious. "You know it's no trouble, Tohru, we all love to cook! And we all want to help take care of you. You've been through a lot, so let us step in and help you out for a bit. It really does take a village to raise a child, you know, and you're part of ours."

Now Tohru was tearing up again, and she dabbed at her eyes. "Thank you, Ayako. We'd be very grateful, really. And we'd love to get a chance to see you all, and to introduce you to Hajime!"

"We're so looking forward to meeting him, Tohru. Kyo said he's strong and healthy, and while I'm sure he is, that's not quite the same thing as getting to actually see him, or maybe even snuggle him!"

Tohru giggled again; it was a well-known fact that Ayako loved babies, and Hajime would be the first baby 'in the dojo' in almost four years. "Well, you will be welcome to hold him, Ayako."

"I look forward to it, very much. We'll make sure not to stay for too long, though; what time would you like us to come by?"

"Um..." Tohru lowered the phone for a second and looked over at Kyo. "Kyo, Ayako wants to know what time they should come over tonight. They're going to be bringing us food, and meeting Hajime!"

Kyo grinned, completely unsurprised by either of those things. Sensei had warned him when he'd told them about the baby to expect Ayako to go into full 'mother hen' mode, and Kyo had only wondered how long that would take. "Five? Since it's Saturday, all the classes should be wrapped up by four and that gives us time to visit before you'll need to eat." Though then a thought occurred to him, and he frowned at Tohru. "Are you sure you're up for actually having guests tonight, Tohru? Today's been a busy day."

She gave him a quick nod, then returned to the phone. "Would five o'clock work, Ayako?"

"I think so; I'll check with the other girls and make sure, but I can't think of any reason it wouldn't. So we'll be there with dinner at five."

"That sounds wonderful, thanks again so very much."

"Of course, Tohru dear. Now I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of your afternoon settling in at home, and we'll see you all tonight. Good-bye!"

"Good-bye!"

Tohru set down the phone with a happy sigh, and Kyo smiled at her as they turned off the highway into Hibe. "So, who's all coming tonight?"

Normally, Tohru would have just had the whole conversation on speakerphone, but Kyo was so focused on safe driving that he didn't even want to try to listen when he was behind the wheel. And she could understand that; it just meant they had to play their own personal game of telephone later!.

Though it was a little embarrassing, not knowing the answer to his very first question!

"You know, I'm not actually sure," she said with an awkward chuckle. "Ayako, obviously. And she said she would check with 'the girls,' so I'm sure that means Emi, Kanako, Moriko, Jun, and Yui. She might mean Yuna and Tamiko?" Yuna Sasaki and Tamiko Wada were both instructors at the dojo, fellow black belts alongside Kyo. Tohru was friendly with both of them as well, though they were definitely more of Kyo's friends than hers given their shared profession. "And I have no idea if any of the guys would be coming or not, not even Sensei. What do you think?"

Kyo was trying to figure out how none of this had actually occurred to Tohru to ask. "So, we'll be having somewhere between two and twenty-odd people show up tonight?" He himself was amused, but he was also more than a little worried. He loved his dojo family; they'd taken both Tohru and Kyo into their hearts and community as truly as if they'd been born there. But it was a lot to ask Tohru to deal with them all within hours of getting out of the hospital.

And when Kyo put it that way, it did sound like a lot. But it also might not be, and Tohru was dying for the chance to get to see some actual friends and not just nurses. Aside of a visit from Yamato and Riko, the whole time they'd been in the hospital it had been just Tohru, Kyo, Hajime...and all the medical staff.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we? It'll be fun no matter what," Tohru said with a smile.

Kyo was slightly skeptical and more than a little concerned, but she looked so happy that he wasn't going to say anything. And they had nearly four hours, that was plenty of time for Kyo to figure out how to manage things that evening.

With a relieved sigh, Kyo pulled to a stop at the curb in front of their house. "Alright, you two, we're home!"

Their house was pretty much the same it had always been: a boring, unremarkable beige box with brown trim. But after four days in the hospital, it looked positively beautiful to both of them, especially now that they got to bring Hajime inside for the first time. And Tohru and Kyo exchanged an excited look as they each unbuckled their seatbelts.

This would be their first time entering the house as a family of three.

"Do you need a hand, Tohru?"

"No, I'll just go slowly. You go ahead and get Hajime."

Kyo nodded and quickly hopped out of the car, while Tohru very carefully and deliberately pivoted in her seat, stretching her legs out and grabbing onto the sides of the doorframe to help hoist her out. In spite of the gentleness of the ride, her incision was throbbing, and she winced at the discomfort as she slowly pulled herself up to a standing position.

"Are you sure you don't need a hand, Tohru?" Kyo was back at her side, carrying Hajime in his car seat. She wasn't surprised to see Kyo's concern, seeing as how she'd hardly been quiet while standing up, but she shook him off with a smile. "No, now that I'm up I should be ok. I just need to go slowly, that's all."

"Well, hold onto me, ok? I don't want you to lose your balance and fall or anything, and it's not like we have to rush inside."

Even if she thought he was being overly careful, she'd never turned down a chance to take Kyo's arm. "Fine, if it'll make you feel better."

Kyo just grinned.

"Oh my goodness, Tohru!" The sudden exclamation was enough to make both Tohru and Kyo jump, and Hajime let out a small wail in the carrier. They cringed, looking at each other, then turned to look at the culprit as she came hurrying towards them.

To her credit, she looked properly apologetic. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare the little one!" Their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Midori Nimura, was a slender white-haired woman not much younger than Tohru's grandpa. She'd been walking home from the post office when she saw the Sohmas' car pull up, and she couldn't contain her excitement when she saw Kyo lift out the car seat. Like most people in Hibe, she was very fond of the Sohmas, and she was very excited to meet their new arrival.

But first things first, as she came up and gave Tohru a very gentle hug. "How are you doing, my dear? I heard from Mrs. Okada that you had to have a cesarian! That must have been so very hard on you."

Living in a small town could be a double-edged sword; on the one hand, you knew everyone, and on the other, everyone knew you. Gossip was a fact of life, and anyone who wanted to keep anything truly private would have to be very careful not to let anything slip. Case in point, the fact that neither Tohru nor Kyo had spoken to Mrs. Okada, the grocer, yet either!

Tohru could tell she was going to have to thicken her skin just a bit, or else the sympathy and well-wishes might just crush her.

But she knew Mrs. Nimura was coming from a place of affection, and she returned the hug with a smile. "Yes, I did, Mrs. Nimura! But I'm healing, and as long as I'm careful not to lift too much or overexert myself for a while I'll be fine. Kyo has been doing a great job taking care of me so far," she said with a fond look at her husband.

"Well, I hope he continues to step up, my dear; you might have to keep reminding him, though." Mrs. Nimura turned to Kyo, and shook her finger at him in what was meant to be a playful manner. "I know you men tend to forget it, but housework is work, too, and while she's recovering you'll need to make sure to cut your wife some slack."

Seeing as how Kyo had always helped with chores even before Tohru was pregnant, he wasn't a fan of the accusation, but he let it slide. Mrs. Nimura meant well, but she was definitely a member of the Old Guard when it came to gender roles.

Besides, she'd already lasered in on her true objective.

"And who is this beautiful little person? And with Daddy's hair, too," she cooed, looking into the car seat where Hajime had settled down to grumble and wiggle around.

Tohru beamed, looking down at Hajime. "This is our son, Hajime, Mrs. Nimura!"

"Hajime...I guess he is the beginning of your new family, isn't he? What a sweet name, and the perfect name for the first of many sweet children," Mrs. Numura said with a smile.

That was enough for Kyo, especially since it was still February and pretty damn cold to boot. "Well, we're gonna just stick with the one for now, Mrs. Nimura, and we should probably get him inside out of the cold."

Tohru could tell that Kyo was annoyed, and she wasn't surprised. He'd never had a lot of patience for their well-meaning but often exasperating neighbor, and she couldn't exactly blame him! "Yes, we'd better get going, Mrs. Nimura, but it was so nice to see you. And thank you so much for your kind words!"

"Of course, you two, of course. You get that baby inside and warm up, and you too, Tohru dear! You shouldn't stand around too much in your condition, especially not in this weather, so I'll just let you get along. You take care, Hajime! I look forward to seeing much more of you in the future. Goodbye, you two," Mrs. Nimura said with a last smile at Tohru and Kyo, then she was back on her way to her own house.

Kyo waited until she'd disappeared into her house and they were standing on their own doorstep before he let out the huff he'd been holding back. "I swear, every damn time."

Tohru smiled, squeezing his arm as he unlocked the front door. "She means well, Kyo. Try to remember that."

"I do, I do, it's just...does she have to be so annoying about it all? To hear her talk, you'd think I was just drinking beer and yelling at you to pick up my socks all the time." The front door swung open, and the two of them stepped into their familiar entryway. Setting down Hajime's car seat, Kyo turned to help Tohru out of her coat, then her shoes before dealing with his own shoes. "And I know it's just her, it's not like you think that or anything, it just...bugs me."

Tohru took his hand up onto the step. "I know. Just remember that I know all that you do, and I appreciate it. A lot." He smiled up at her as he got Hajime out of the car seat and followed Tohru across the not-hall and into the living room, where they'd set up a comfortable little recliner in the corner by the doorway to the deck. Even though she'd been sitting for the car ride, it was nice to sit down in something soft and stretch out, especially when Kyo passed her Hajime.

"I'm gonna bring in the rest of the stuff, Tohru, and then I was thinking I'd run really quickly down to the store. Is that ok?"

Tohru nodded, looking down at the still awake and increasingly restless Hajime. "That's fine, I'm sure you're thinking we're out of milk after four days away."

Kyo gave her a sheepish grin. "Guilty."

She smiled, glancing back up at him. "Well, I believe your son is on a similar wavelength. I'm pretty sure he's hungry again," she said, trying not to sigh.

Kyo was now looking at the pair of them with a slight frown. It had been four days, and nursing hadn't gotten much better for Tohru, if at all. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you for a bit, Tohru? I can go to the store after he's done, it's no problem."

Tohru shook her head. "No, you go. We'll be fine," she said with another sigh, then gave Kyo a look of smiling resignation. "Hajime and I just need to keep working on it. Eventually, with practice, we'll get it figured out. Though I'd appreciate it if you could bring me some water before you go, if you don't mind?"

"Water. Got it." Kyo ducked into the kitchen, and quickly returned with a glass of water that he set down on the end table next to Tohru's chair. "Anything else?"

Tohru was already setting Hajime, and she shook her head. "No, I think we're all set. But thank you."

"Ok. I'll grab our things, run to the store, and hopefully be back before you two are done. Be nice to Mommy, ok Hajime?" Kyo smiled, gently stroking the top of Hajime's head, then leaned down and caught Tohru's lips in a sweet, slow kiss. And she was actually smiling, as he headed back out to the entryway.

"Oh, Kyo?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you please get me some melon bread?"