Note: thanks to everyone who has been following the fic so far and my friend 4AD for the ideas. This chapter will have appearances by Tohru, Kanna, Kobayashi and Saikawa. Enjoy.
Monday morning- 6:30 AM
We pick up our things and exit the apartment. Elma is holding Haru. In my hand is a large baby bag with formula, baby food, powder and all the things I think Tohru would find useful in looking after Haru while we're at work.
The walk to Kobayashi's apartment is not a long one. Haru is quiet. We climb the stairs to the floor they are on. I press the buzzer and wait. The door opens and I see Tohru in her regular maid outfit. Her tail is out.
"Good morning Tohru. How was your weekend?"
She smiles. "Great! Please come in."
We walk into the apartment to see Kobayashi and Kanna having breakfast at the table.
"Pardon the intrusion" Elma says to them.
"It's no problem at all.." Kobayashi says in her deadpan voice but she's wearing a warm expression.
"Haru you have grown so much!" Tohru says. Haru looks at her and then looks at the two of us. Kanna gets up from her chair. "Nai-san, when I come back from school, can I play with your baby?"
"Sure Kanna. You can play with him as much as you want.."
"Ohhhh. Can I also bring over Saikawa to see him?"
"Sure. That'd be nice. I think he'll enjoy the company" Elma tells her.
"Kobayashi, I have to say, Elma and I are so grateful for you to let Tohru babysit Haru at your home."
She lightly blushes. "You guys are fine. I'm happy to assist but Tohru will be doing all the work."
I admired Kobayashi and Tohru. They were kind-hearted individuals. Kobayashi took in Kanna who wasn't even her own family and is raising her like she's her own daughter. That says a lot. The two of them truly belong together.
"Aw Nai, I'm sure Haru will like it here. He's going to have so much fun. I can promise you that!" Tohru says in her cheerful voice.
"Thank you Tohru. Here is a bag I prepared with some things for Haru that you might find useful. He loves to eat so if you need anything just call me or Elma."
"Sure."
I kiss Haru's forehead. "Promise me you will be a good boy Haru. Tohru will be taking care of you for a while."
We hand him over to the blonde maid. She holds him.
His lips begin to quiver and he starts crying. She shakes him lightly in her hands.
"We'll be back before you know it Haru. You'll see us this afternoon. Tohru will take good care of you" Elma tells him while waving. I could sense she is sad but she tries to keep her composure in front of the others.
"We'll be back Haru. Don't cry." I say to him.
"It's already 7:15. You guys should get going or you'll be late. I think we should all leave together." Kobayashi says. By now Haru's crying subsides and he's listening.
So Kanna, Kobayashi, Elma and I all leave the apartment. On Kanna's way to school, she meets up with a brunette while the three of us head for the company.
"It feels like we're the neglectful type, huh? Always leaving our son in the care of someone else" I say, under my breath to Elma.
"N-not quite. It's not like it's in our control. I wish I could play with him all day. Cheer up Nai. Tohru and I may have had our rivalries but I trust her to take care of Haru during the day" she says.
"You guys don't have to worry. I already spoke to Tohru about that. She will take good care of him" the redhead says.
"I know she will. I trust her too." I say.
At the apartment
"Ok Haru. Let's see. Hmmm?" Tohru sets Haru on the chair. She studies him.
"Do you want to watch TV while I take care of the laundry?" The five month old watches her as she paces back and forth still deciding how she should plan their day. His chubby cheeks are rosy and his eyes are wide with curiosity.
She turns on the TV and puts it to a channel with a children's anime on. The children are counting straws in the anime and Haru looks bored. She switches the channel to see two men in a sword duel. His captivated look is enough for the dragon maid to pick up her laundry basket and begin her daily chores.
After the maid finishes up laundry, she begins vacuuming the apartment humming an old folk song to herself. The baby stares at the vacuum, the strange machine that has been making such a ruckus. She putd up the vacuum in the other room.
When she returns to the living room, she doesn't see the baby at the spot she left him moments ago. She glances around the apartment to find that he has climbed on top of the breakfast table.
"Eh? Haru, what are you doing up here. Let's get you down" but before she could take him down, the baby jumps from the table in a second and lands feet-first on the wooden floor.
She claps. "Nice. You're probably bored. I think we should draw."
She takes a crayon pencil and some paper from Kanna's things. She sits Haru at the breakfast table.
"This is something I saw Kanna doing. Watch carefully Haru." She puts her palm on the paper and trace around it. The end result is a neatly drawn palm. Haru places his palm on a new sheet of paper. He tries to hold the pencil but it falls out of his grip.
"I see. You're a bit too young for that. I know! I will draw yours for you." She starts to trace around the baby's right palm. She then tries tracing the left.
"See. All done. Yours are tiny as compared to mine."
Haru places the pencil in his mouth. She takes it away from him. She puts her index finger in the air. "No Haru. That's not for eating."
"Muu" the baby puffs his cheeks out.
Tohru looks through Kanna's things. "Let's see. What else does she have here that I can use?"
She puts her hand on some bubbles. "Ah this is the perfect thing."
She shows the colourful bottle to the baby. She opens it and dips the wand into the bottle. She then brings it near her mouth and blows hard. Bubbles instantaneously fill the room. Haru laughs. Tohru pops one with her finger. Haru follows same and he wants to pop more but all the bubbles disappear.
"Do you want to try?" she dips the wand in the bottle and give it to Haru. He takes a deep breath and exhales. The apartment is once again filled with large bubbles of all different colours. Haru's eyes smile. He pops them. His little feet runs to catch them until they pop on some piece of furniture.
"Very good" Haru tries to hold a bubble in his without it popping. He tries again but everytime he tries to do so, it pops in his tiny hands. He begins to cry.
"Don't cry Haru. Those bubbles are cursed anyway. It's ok" she lifts him up above her head and makes a whirling motion with him in her hands. "Whooosh. You're flying in the sky. Whooooshhhhh." She continues this and he is laughing. Tohru decides to pick things up by running with him in the same position. "Whoooooshhhhh and Haru the dragon is ready to land" She puts him down carefully. 'Woos" he says.
She chuckles. You're cute. Don't worry you'll fly very soon too."
"It's already 12:30. I guess I should feed you." Tohru opens the bag his mother had given to her earlier in the morning. She finds the formula and make it for the boy. She pours it in the baby bottle. He drinks it fastly until he begins coughing from swallowing too quickly. She picks him up and rubs his back until his coughing subsides.
The phone rings. Tohru picks it up;
"Hello?"
"Hello Tohru. It's Nai. How are you and Haru doing?"
"Oh we're ok. He's having fun."
"That's great. I'm glad to hear. At this time of the day, he takes a nap."
"Is that so?" Tohru asks.
"Yes. Well Tohru, I have to go. My break is up. See you this afternoon."
"See you too!" she hangs up.
"That was your mommy Haru."
They're concerned parents. If only she could have done something so they can keep their boy. But that's the pact her rival Elma had made with the Harmony faction so there was nothing that could have been done. She thought about all the times she and Elma fought each other nearly to death, never to realize that the day would come when she would be babysitting her rival's child. She hopes that one day she and Kobayashi-san would have their own child or children but she is never going to let anyone take her child away from her. She could never. She thought how strong the two must have been to agree to something like that. Despite that, she knew they loved him unconditionally.
'Your parents care about you alot Haru" she tells him.
He yawns. She notices the boy's eyes are beginning to slowly shut.
"It's time for your nap."
She lifts him up and takes him to the couch in the living room. She sits and places him in her sleeps while she strokes his soft black hair. She herself yawns and drifts off too.
…
Her eyes slowly open. "Oh no! I have to get dinner started." She glances at the clock. "It;s 3:10. Kanna is going to be home soon." She glances down to find Haru slowly waking up too.
"Did you have a good nap?
The blonde hears the doorbell. "Kanna's back."
She leaves Haru on the couch and goes to answer the door. "Welcome home Kanna. Good afternoon Riko-san."
"Thank you for having me" says the young brunette.
Kanna brought her friend Riko Saikawa over to play with the baby.
Kanna and Riko enter the living room to see Haru quietly seated on the chair. "Haru, this is my friend, Saikawa" Kanna says to the baby. "We came here to play with you." Haru makes a "gah" sound and smiles showing his pearly white teeth to the two young girls. Meanwhile Tohru is in the kitchen making dinner.
"That baby is so cute Kanna-san. Whose baby is it?"
"Elma-sama's and Nai-san's" the gothic lolita replies.
"Oh? I didn't know that two girls could have a baby together. BOHHEEEE! Babies with Kanna-san" the girl is consumed by the thought of having children with the one she loves. Her face is beet red and her eyes are wide.
Kanna playfully pokes Haru's cheek. "He's so soft."
"And he smells nice like you know that scent all babies have" the brunette adds.
Kanna picks Haru up and throws him in the air, but not too high. She catches him. Riko looks mortified. "What if you dropped him Kanna-san? So-sorry you won't drop him. You're so strong." She blushes again.
She throws Haru in the air another time He seems to enjoy it. He's smiling a lot.
"When my cousin brought her baby over, we played peek-a-boo with her" Riko says.
"What is that Saikawa? You must show me."
"It's simple. You place your palms over your eyes to cover them and when you lift them off you say 'Peek-a-boo' to the baby. Let me show you." The girl covers her eyes and removes her palms saying "Peek-a-boo"
Haru says "boo" and touches Riko's eyes. "Ow. You really like that one?" she asks him.
They play with Haru some more.
"Kanna-san, it's getting late. I'm going to go now. Call me if you need any help with your homework. Bye."
"Thanks for reminding me Saikawa. I nearly forgot" Kanna tells her. When Riko leaves, Kanna hurries to complete her homework. The teacher gave them a lot to do but Kanna knows she would get by somehow.
6:00 pm at Kobayashi's apartment
I am so happy to hold Haru again. Elma plants kisses all over his hands and forehead. She's gleeful too.
"Oh this is for you Tohru" Elma hands Tohru a Godiva box. She bought her a cake as thanks for babysitting Haru.
Tohru looks surprised. "Eh? Uh thank you."
"You both should stay for dinner" Tohru tells us when we go to pick Haru up.
"Oh we couldn't. We're already imposing enough" I tell her.
"Nonsense. We'd love to have you stay. I made a lot too, I wouldn't want the food to go to waste" Tohru says.
As expected of Tohru, she prepared a feast. I feel guilty having her take care of Haru and also making dinner for us.
…
When it's time to take Haru home, I wrap his body in a blanket and his head too. I take his little hands in a waving motion to Kobayashi, Kanna and Tohru "Say bye bye Haru. Bye-bye."
"See you tomorrow Haru" Tohru calls back.
"We hope you had fun today with Tohru and the others" I tell him as I put him to bed.
"Muh I have a debt to Tohru now" Elma says.
"Hm the two of you are so close. She appreciates you that's why she's doing this for us."
"You think so Nai?" She yawns. I yawn too and we fall asleep with Haru between us.