The party had finally died down after about two hours and Mai was grateful to be able to finally go to sleep. It seemed like that was all she did lately, but it was a massive side effect from the painkillers she had been on for the last few days. Her headaches were becoming an increasingly irritating feat she struggled with almost daily. Usually, when she was younger, she had no issue falling asleep anywhere at any time, but as she got older and eventually found herself with a baby, her nights became jam-packed with late-night feedings and working into the early hours of the morning.

Naru had all but forced her to change into more comfortable clothes, and at times he had to help her get in them, her injury flared up almost every time she twisted wrong, got up to fast, walked quickly, laid down, she could go on and on. She was quite happy that it did give her an excuse to catch up on her sleep, but she was still terrified of her house. The cameras that she once felt safer around now felt like easy access windows into their lives. Anyone could hack into them and watch for hours on end the daily lives of her family. She would be damned if anyone so much as looked at Ren or Naru wrong.

He hadn't been in the best moods, but Naru and Mai actually got to spend more time together considering Luella and Martin were enthralled to be around Ren, and Naru detested being around his parents for any length of time. Because of this, she had gotten rather used to him lying next to her, usually reading, while she slept. Knowing that he would be awake and around to let her know if anything ever happened made her feel a sense of ease that she hadn't realized she had lost.

She sifted carefully under the weight of her blankets and turned her body to face the ceiling. Naru wasn't with her right at the moment. It was lunchtime and he was making something for Ren and his parents, so he had left but not before giving Mai one of her meds and a kiss on her forehead. His behavior had been interesting through the whole time he had been in Japan. Of course, Mai didn't ever think Naru would have come back to Japan but had been secretly pleased when he did. It was curious how he acted with Ren and, again, she found her heart beating quicker and her stomach doing little flips whenever he had any interaction with their child. She supposed that it would be natural – Ren had been happy that he was finally able to meet his father and have him around more often.

A wave of exhaustion hit her all at once and she watched the room spin for a moment while she curled onto her side. Sleep came quickly, but her dreams were starting to take a turn. Voices, sounds, fear, and panic exploded behind her eyelids and pressed onto her lungs, constricting them with true horror. A figure that had no defining features was coming closer to her and she pushed herself up and fled across her dreamscape in a futile attempt at fleeing. It came upon her quickly and knocked the breath out of her lungs, a stabbing pain ripping through her center as she relived her nightmare over and over.

Naru tried to ignore the rambling tangent his mother was currently telling his son. He was fairly certain the boy wouldn't remember it anyways but it frustrated him to no end when she insisted on describing every detail of his and Gene's childhood. His father had opted to sit at the counter and work some on his laptop while watching Naru moving around the kitchen.

While he wasn't versed in traditional Japanese cuisine, he did know how to make onigiri, a favorite of his, and paired that with stir-fried vegetables, per Mai's request, and tofu. Typically, he rarely ate meat of any kind, and often enjoyed the texture of tofu much more so, if cooked right. He stirred the vegetables around a few times in the wok and flipped the tofu slices onto their other side, ensuring a thoroughly cooked meal.

It was at that moment that Naru had been struck with alarm, as it was much too quiet in the living room. Peering over to the area, his mother was happily reading to a quiet and entranced Ren sitting on her lap. The corners of his mouth lifted at the sight and he watched on for another moment before returning back to his task,

"So, what happens after all this?" His father spoke up, not pausing in his moving fingers. Naru looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

Martin sighed and stopped his movements. He eyes his son with an eyebrow raised. "After everything gets settled," He said as if it were obvious. "When there is no longer a looming threat over the family and we can live a normal life." The irony of his statement made Martin quickly add to his statement. "Well, as normal as it is in our family. We don't have a typical profession."

Naru added a bit of soy sauce to the vegetables and watched as a plume of steam rose into the air before dissipating. "That is a conversation that Mai and I need to have." He was sure that the woman wouldn't mind the plans he was currently concocting in his head, but at the same time, he knew he couldn't make any decisions without talking to her. "Is the meeting still continuing as planned?"

"For the most part," Martin leaned back in the bar stool. "I pushed it back by a day to give you some time to fall into more of a ritual with Mai and her injury, but it's set for tomorrow if you are still able to attend."

He nodded his head and looked back to the lunch he was making. The meeting they were referring to was intended to be virtual and Naru was looking forward to finally settling the matter of the Japanese location for good. Once they had that all sorted, he could continue with what he had planned.

A shrill and agonizingly horrific scream broke through the house and Naru jumped, startled by the sound. His brain processed it quickly and he immediately shut the burners off and took off towards where Mai was sleeping. As he passed his mother and son, Ren reached out to him, worry drenched over his face.

"Daddy?" He said loudly. "What's going on?!"

He attempted to get out of his grandmother's lap, but when he stood her arm looped around his stomach. Struggling was pointless, he knew it, but he started to move anyway. His mother was in trouble and he needed to help. His father disappeared down the hall, his grandfather right behind him.

"Sweetie," She pressed a kiss to the side of his head. "It's okay. If anyone can help your mom, it's Naru." The boy relaxed slightly at the true statement.

Naru pushed the door open and saw Mai struggling with an invisible force, her eyes shut tight, and tears leaked out from under them. Her whimpers of fear and pain had him over to her in an instance.

"Mai!" He gripped her shoulders and stilled her from moving as violently as she was. "Wake up!" He cradled her close to his chest and brushed the hair back out of her face as her breathing hitched and she opened her honey-colored eyes.

Relief hit her intensely and she gripped Naru's shirt in her tight fists as she cried into his black shirt. It was just a nightmare, but it was more real than she had ever experienced in more recent times. Her dreams were far less intrusive now that she was older, and she seldom dealt with nightmares or dreams for that matter. But she could figure all of it out at a later time. She was warm now, in Naru's arms and soothed by the slow rocking motions he had initiated without prompting. Eventually, her gaze glazed over her eyes and she drowsily allowed her body to sag into his, and he accepted every movement.

When Naru attempted to adjust their position, Mai winced and groaned out in protest. He glanced down at her and cursed. Blood began seeping to the surface of her light-blue shirt and grow in size at a steady pace. She must have reopened her stitches, and after seeing the way she was moving, plagued by a nightmare, Naru could believe it.

Turning his head, he eyed his father standing in the doorway watching with worry. "Call Matsuzaki and see if she can get over here as soon as possible." He looked back down to the growing stain on her shirt. "Mai has reopened her stitches."

Martin did not say anything back, but turned around and headed back out to the living room to grab his cellphone. It was then that Naru noticed the small figure peeking around the corner.

"Mother, please take Ren out of here,"

"No!" Ren shouted desperately. "Please, how is mama?" His voice shook a bit at the anticipation of his father's wrath. To his surprise, his father sighed dejectedly and waved him over.

The boy only took a second before hurrying to pull himself up by his mother who was still in his father's lap and currently cradled to his chest.

They stayed like that for a second longer before Mai began pushing herself back from him so she could look at her son.

"I'm okay," She said, fighting to keep the winces of pain out of her voice. "I just moved around too much and hurt myself again."

Ren watched both his parents with bated breath and eventually nodded slightly before placing a tiny hand on his mother's shoulder in comfort.

The family of three were all content with their position and time passed quickly waiting for Ayako to arrive. She had never been to the house and Mai was actually excited to see her long-time friend again.

It hadn't taken Ayako very long to get to their house and after a quick cleaning, re-stitching, and bandaging, Mai was deemed stable again but due to the blood loss, she added some iron supplements in with her painkillers.

"Oh, and do try to get her to eat some iron-rich foods – broccoli or spinach would be a good source – and fluids like broth or tea." She said these suggestions off to Naru, who was lying next to Mai on the bed, the brunet on top of his chest and his arm wrapped around her. After the help that Ayako provided for Mai, the younger woman quickly fell back to sleep, her medication kicking back in before she had time to really recognize that she was drifting off.

"Why did mama have a bad dream?" Ren spoke up from the other side of Mai and caught the attention of the adults in the room. Despite the circumstances, the boy was doing a great job keeping all of his worries and fears in control, but it didn't surprise Ayako much knowing that it was Naru's kid. Regardless, it was still a lot to a child.

Ayako smiled at the boy and shifted her feet. "The medication she is on makes her sleep a lot and because of that, she'll have more dreams than normal, not all of them pleasant." She tidied up all of her equipment and bandages into a small tote bag she had brought with her.

"You should stay for dinner." Naru said. It was out of character for him to suggest such a thing, which is why Mai suggested it as thanks right before falling asleep. She laughed a little at the awkward and shy demenor that Naru was currently presenting, but nodded her head anyway.

"Auntie Ayako?" The redhead looked up at attention and raised an eyebrow indicating that she was listening. "Can you bring Uncle Monk over too? He makes mama happy and I think that she needs that." A smile grew on the boy's face thinking about the happy man.

Naru bit his tongue at the thought of all the people around him in the upcoming hours or days. He could hardly handle his parents and now adding the Monk to the mix was going to be cumbersome. Ayako smirked at him.

"You're Mai's son, alright." She grabbed the bag and nodded to Ren. "That should be fine! It's not like that idiot has anything to do anyway!"

Ren bobbed his head up and down with eager movements and looked to Naru in question. His small eyes were glistening and Naru felt as though he was looking into Mai's eyes considering the expression was likely something he picked up from his mother.

He gave in much quicker than the young father wanted but nodded nonetheless and Ren picked himself up off the bed but placed a kiss onto Mai's forehead. They all heard Luella's voice call out to Ren to let him know that their lunch was ready and Ayako followed Ren out towards the direction of the voice and Naru remained where he was, lying with Mai.

He would need to wake her up soon so she could eat, but they had a little while to go, so he decided to wait it out. The very second Mai looked annoyed at the number of people in their house, he wouldn't hesitate to send all of them out.

Hey! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'd love to know what you think! Feel free to let me know! Until next time!

Cheers!