"Are you looking?!" Ren called towards his parents off to the side of the park.
"We see you! Go ahead!" Mai said chuckling a bit at her son's vigorous waving. They had just gotten done with Ren's first session with Lin and so far, it had gone really well.
At first, Ren was incredibly intimidated by Lin, but surprisingly, the older man seemed very at ease with the toddler and even offered a few smiles. Naru had been working in his office and was unaware of the fact that Mai waited in the lobby of the office for Ren to finish. When he came out of his office to return some files to the cabinet, he seemed fairly surprised to see her, but recovered by giving her a hug… and then promptly asked for tea.
While part of Mai was set off and she did spurt out a few of her typical insults to him, she enacted her revenge when she told Ren to 'surprise daddy' by sneaking into his office and scaring him. The next thing she knew, she heard a loud shout from her son, and after a quick moment of silence, a slew of giggles coming from him. Naru walked out of his office holding one of Ren's legs in his hand while the rest of his body hung upside down, his shirt draping slightly into his face and his little face red with a huge smile. A few laughs escaped Mai from the look on Naru's face, and she found that fatherhood seemed pretty attractive on him.
Taking long strides, and still carrying their child in one hand, Naru walked up to Mai and she took a step back to counter his proximity.
"Was this your doing?"
Mai imitated confusion. "Whatever do you mean?" She held up Ren's jacket and eyed the boy's still smiling face. "I was just wondering where he went, I'm glad you found him."
Naru's eyes narrowed and a slow smirk picked up on the right side of his mouth. He hefted up Ren, and placed him upright and more properly on his hip, the young boy laughing through the movements.
"Really?" His eyebrow rose. "I think you told him to try to scare me."
Sarcastically, Mai gasped but smiled nonetheless. "Perish the thought, mon amour!"
He watched her for a moment before grabbing her arm with his free hand and pulling her into a quick kiss. She laughed into it but placed a hand on his cheek, returning his intimate gesture.
"No!" Ren squealed, his tongue sticking out slightly and his little legs shuffled. "No, daddy!"
Mai pulled away from Naru and they both shared a quick look of humor.
"'No' what?" Naru stated looking at his son.
"Mommy said that her kisses are only for me!" A small giggle crept out of Mai's lips. "They're mine! You do not get any." Their son crossed his arms and pouted and Naru was intensely reminded of the fact that this truly was Mai's child. They had the same mannerisms and it was strange to see them projected on someone who looked so much like him.
"Is that so?" He said. After the boy on his hip shook his head up and down quickly, he continued. "Well, you are just going to have to learn how to share." His statement sounded indisputable, but Ren clearly did not care.
"But I want them!" He demanded, crocodile tears in his eyes. Mai's eyebrows rose in surprise. He was being notably possessive of her and jealous of his father and she realized that having a father was still new for Ren. "She will run out of them and won't have any for me anymore."
Mai and Naru watched him, both with a level of understanding.
"Baby," Ren watched his mother through wet eyelashes, his dimpled hands rubbing his eyes. "I will never run out of kisses and I will always be here to kiss you whenever you want."
He watched her and sniffed a bit. "You will?" She nodded at him. "Promise?"
Mai smiled and held out her pinky. Ren interlocked their fingers quickly and smiled back to his mother, all traces of tears gone. She sighed as he wrapped his arms around Naru, who watched on with amused eyes. He had never really enjoyed being around kids, and, at first, he believed that one day it might be the same with his own kids. But meeting Ren had him standing corrected.
After a moment or two, Naru relinquished Ren onto the floor and allowed Mai to hold up his coat while he shimmied into it. Their son was not aware of it yet, but Mai and Naru decided to go to his favorite park and let him play before they went back to the house and had dinner.
This brings her to the fact that she and Naru were waiting patiently as Ren climbed across the highest monkey bars on the playground. It did not seem like much, but Ren had been extremely hesitant to go on any of the bars, even those that were his height, so for him, this was a huge feat.
They watched as he leaned a hand out cautiously, gripped the sturdy piece of metal, and let his body swing-out. Suspended in the air by the first bar, he reached a hand up and over to the next one and proceeded to work his way slowly across the stretch of bars. When he did finally did get to the end Mai started clapping.
"You did it!" She said moving over to him. His arms felt like jelly now and the adrenalin had worn off making him aware of the fact that he was shaking slightly. When Mai was in close range, he happily leaped out towards her and she wrapped her arms around him securely. "I'm so proud of you, that took a lot of courage."
Naru stood next to Mai and looked on with tenderness. Abruptly, Ren looked up at the both of them for a moment and then wiggled his legs slightly, indicating that he wanted to be put down. Mai granted his silent request and he grabbed onto both of their hands, taking a place in the middle of them.
"I'm hungry," Ren said pulling the two of them along. Mai looked at Naru and giggled a bit.
"What do you want to eat?" Naru asked breaking his gaze with Mai.
Ren looked at him in surprise and wonder. "Can we have pancakes?"
After Mai nodded to him, Naru looked to her, impressed that the boy was acquainted with the American dish. She watched him with an expression of confusion before she realized what he was thinking.
"Maki came back from a case assignment in America and brought with her a slew of recipes." She said as Ren was unaware of their conversation and was spouting off toppings that he would put on his dinner. Mai was already hearing future complaints of a stomach ache. "She used Ren as a taste tester and his favorite dish ended up being pancakes."
Naru shook his head but did so with a smile. "Somehow, that does not surprise me." He focused his head forward and watched his son still walking with a pep in his small steps. "I didn't think you liked sweets very much."
"I don't," Mai said catching his eye. "I'm surprised you remembered that."
He sighed. "Some things just stick, I suppose." He thought back to when Mai had baked cookies one day out of nowhere. She brought in a box full of various cookies of different types and placed a few on his plate of tea when it was delivered. They were quite tasty, but when he came out of his office to place the plate next to the sink, he saw that Mai had not eaten any of them.
Confused as to why she had made them and not bothered to try them was interesting to him. He had never been one to bake or cook, so he wouldn't know why someone would cook, and not eat any. So, he asked her if she was going to at least try what she made.
She smiled at him and then looked back to her computer. "I bake when I'm upset, but I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so you guys are going to have to eat them for me!" Her typing speed did not slow down whatsoever.
After that, he wanted to ask her why she was upset. He wanted to ask her a lot of things. But it would have drawn too much attention to himself, and he was still trying to maintain his ails. He turned and went back into his office without any further comment, and it seemed to work for the both of them.
Mai had been watching Naru's face change as his thoughts passed through. She was wondering what exactly could make him look so serious, but she didn't have time to think much about it because Ren had squealed with delight at the sight of their home.
"Finally!" He let go of his parents' hands and the two left in his wake watched as he started running up to the front gate. "It felt like we were walking forever!"
She watched him fling the gate open and go up to the front door, but a sudden strike of fear stopped her in her tracks. Naru saw this and paused next to her.
"What's wrong?" She wasn't responding to him. "Mai?"
She looked up and over to Ren as he was about to open the door.
"REN!" Mai shouted and ran to him, catching him soon enough. "DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR YET!"
"Mama?" He recoiled, his hands close to his body, and looked fearful and confused by Mai's actions, as did Naru who ran up to the both of them.
"Mai, what's going on?" He asked with concern.
"Naru, take Ren."
"Mai, you need to tell me-"
"NOW." She said reaching to the side of her body and pulled out her gun, pointing the barrel off to the side of her. Realizing her desperation was likely just confusing the two even more, she added to her statement. "Please. I'll explain more in a moment. But take him and wait out here for a moment."
Naru did not question her further and trusted what she had asked. Picking up a still confused Ren, he moved back and watched as Mai used her phone to disarm the alarm, and unlocked the door, and moved slowly inside past the threshold.
She took a quick look over her entryway trying to see if anything was out of place or if she noticed anything. Thankfully she did not, but that did not mean that the rest of the house was the same. It took her a short time to scour the remaining rooms and the garage, but she couldn't take any chances. She wouldn't know what she would do if Ren were put in danger and she could have been more vigilant.
Nothing seemed disturbed, so she flipped the lights on and placed her purse that was still on her shoulder, on the kitchen counter. She made her way back out to Naru and Ren in the yard and waved them inside from the porch. Naru gave her a quick nod and set the boy down who ran over to his mother. She gave him a quick pat on the head as he shot inside towards the kitchen, bringing out some ingredients for the pancakes.
"What was that about?" Naru asked closing the door behind the two of them and latching the deadbolt. "You seemed rather distraught."
Mai watched him for a moment and tried to drown out the noise coming from her kitchen. She moved over to him and wrapped her arms around his middle without provocation. Naru, vaguely surprised, recovered after a moment but matched her grip around her shoulders.
"I just got a really bad feeling," Mai finally said. Back when Ren was first threatened, she had no one to be there for her, or comfort her. Her team was supportive, yes, but the type of comfort she wanted to feel was the very one she was experiencing now. She needed his security and now, she had it and was not going to take it for granted any of the assurance he unknowingly gave her. "I'm sorry that I didn't explain, but my mind went totally bonkers. It was hard to focus on anything else and I knew Ren would be safe with you."
"You both are." He stated. "Although, I cannot say for how much longer."
"What do you mean?" Mai said pushing away from him so she could look into his eyes. His eyes never lied.
He shifted and a small blush took over his face. Mai raised an eyebrow and her lips perked up trying to prepare herself for his answer.
"My mother, father, and Madoka will be coming to Japan for the weekend." Naru looked perturbed about the very thought. "They will be here tomorrow night."
Mai laughed. "Why are you so worried about your parents, Naru? I'm sure they are going to be fine here."
"My father will be, but my mother would be if it was just her," He rubbed the back of his head. "But throw Madoka into that mix and it is a disaster."
She smiled at him and pulled his head down so that their foreheads met. "I think we'll be fine." Naru nuzzled the bridge of her nose. "If it's a problem, we can always just lock ourselves inside the house."
Naru let out a small chuckle. "I might just accept your offer sooner than later." He placed a series of kisses across her cheek and she giggled in response.
"Mama! Daddy!" Ren appeared from behind one of the walls, but the two parents had heard his footsteps running towards them.
"Yes, baby?" Mai said watching her son jump up and down.
"Can we make pancakes now!" He had his hands together and his fingers locked in a pleading gesture.
"Would you like to help me?" Naru said stepping forward and kneeling down. Mai's mouth dropped open. She didn't think he knew how to cook, but then again, Naru prided himself on his knowledge and wouldn't be surprised that he knew how to cook basic recipes.
Ren jumped into his arms and clung tight. "You can make them, Daddy?!"
"I can, my brother and I used to make them, but I'll need some help," He looked down at Ren and he stared back in hope. "Would you help me?"
As if the stars resided in his eyes, Ren practically split his face with his grin. "Yes, please!"
They moved into the kitchen and Mai watched them for a moment before following after, already considering the mess that their kitchen would be in after they finished cooking. The feeling of fear and anticipation had not completely left her, and judging by the way things were coming to a head with Stone, she imagined that it wouldn't leave her.
Hello again! We are starting to get to the climax and eventually the resolution, but we've a ways to go!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for all the reviews on the last chapter! I appreciate all the things you guys unknowingly do for me! Let me know what you think about this update! See you next week!
Cheers!