Hey guys.

Sorry for the HUGE HUGE delay, but will try to make up with a long chapter. Hugs and kisses to all the people who r&r the previous one. Please show some love for this chapter to. Pretty please

Chapter 9

A month passed, after the school episode. Kotoko was in her sixth month. The family, was all the more excited now, as there was less than 4 months now, for the new Irie to arrive. Even Naoki seemed to smile slightly more nowadays. All was well for the time being. But life is not always very well for our couple, isn't it!

It was a lazy Wednesday morning in the Irie household. Kotoko has been advised to stay home and, as whiny as Kotoko could be, was staying at home, away from her Irie-kun, until delivery. Naoki felt unusually lazy that day and was still tossing on the bed, while Kotoko was up and bright, getting ready for another day at home. Noticing that Naoki wasn't even attempting to get up, she raised her eyebrows at him. Naoki sighed, and got out of bed, to get ready for the day.

It was a very loud family at the breakfast table, with Okaa-san planning a nursery, getting everyone excited, except Naoki and Yuuki of-course, though even they were listening to the discussion with rapt attention. Though Naoki didn't show it out, he was also quite excited at the thought of the nursery. It all the more, cemented the reality that he is going to be a father in a few days time. As the breakfast ended, everyone set out to their workplaces, and the women of the household saw them off.

It was not a very busy day at the hospital. Naoki had to check out the patients he had operated on yesterday, and he had no surgeries scheduled that day. He would have one, if only there was an emergency. Naoki had finished checking out his patients well before lunch. Hence he planned to take a half day off and go home. Kotoko will be super shocked to see him, he thought to himself and smirked. He was definitely going home after lunch. With that thought, he started to write his log for the day.

Suddenly, a phone call came. There was an emergency. A building had collapsed in the outskirts of the city, and the emergency camps set up there needed doctors, especially pediatricians. He sighed. He was looking forward to surprise his wife, but had to change plans now. Thank god, he planned it only as a surprise, else she would have been very disappointed if he had told he would come, but now could not. Quickly wrapping up his logs, he boarded the bus that was arranged to take the doctors to the camp. Realizing that he might be late to go home, he quickly called home. Kotoko picked up the call. 'Hai Irie-kun', she greeted in her usual chirpy voice. His mood was slightly better after hearing her voice. He informed her about the emergency and that he will be late. She was slightly disturbed that he would be coming late, but nevertheless, she wished him all the best, and also told him that, she will inform Okaa-san. But even after keeping the phone down, Kotoko was feeling uneasy, though there was no need of it. She pushed it aside, convincing herself that her hormones are doing crazy things to her nowadays.

As soon as Naoki reached the emergency camps, he realized the seriousness of the situation. People were still being pulled out of the rubble, and there were already more than 300 injured, and there were very few doctors. He immediately went into the Dr. mode and started treating the children in the injured lot. There were many in the 5-10 years range, as there was a daycare in the building. He started treating the kids. Few needed emergency surgeries on spot, and thankfully they had brought a mobile theater, to perform surgeries. It was sure a long day.

Kotoko didn't feel like doing anything and the uneasy feeling had not left her. She was sitting in the living room, reading magazines, with the family. Okaa-san was showing her nursery wallpapers, but she was not much interested in it. Sensing that she was missing Naoki, the family gave her her space, and tried to keep her in the mood. Yuuki switched the news channel on, and they were covering the accident. Kotoko sat up and listened to the news with rapt attention. They were going on about how the building collapsed, and how Naoki and his team, were trying to save people. That sentence put a smile on her face and she relaxed slightly. She felt very proud of her Irie-kun.

After a few minutes, there was a commotion on the TV screen. Everyone in the living room became tensed. After a few minutes, the phone rang. It was from one of the nurses who had gone to the site with Naoki. It seemed that a wall that had not fallen at that time, collapsed now. And that was where the camp supplies had been set up. And the Naoki, was in that place at that time. The nurse also said that, they are now trying to pull him out of the rubble. Kotoko's heart stopped. NO...No no no...nothing would have happened to Irie-kun. He would be fine. With this thought, she willed her to breathe. The entire family was in shock. They were now saying the same thing that the nurse said, on tv. Okaa-san started crying silently. Otousans were also very tensed. Yuuki was not in a less likely state too. They were all in shock. Yuuki made calls to the hospital once more, asking for more information. The anchors inthe news channels were talikng about slim chances of anyones survival under the wall, collapse, as it was a stone wall. Headlines like SEARCH IN THE RUBBLE..AS CHANCES OF SURVIVAL RECEDE, started flashing on the tv.

But Kotoko, didn't show any emotion on her face, which was very unlikely of her. She almost shouted at everyone, saying that Naoki will be fine, and he will come home after finishing his work. The family members thought that, she was in a denial mode, but she was actually trying to bring positivity into herself, hoping against hope that Naoki will be fine. But hours passed and there was no information on the tv as well as from the hospital. Yuuki tried contacting the crew at the site, but all connectivity was lost due to the building crumbling and damaging the network towers. Marina, Tomako, Keita and Motochan also came to offer support to Kotoko. And that's what anyone could do for the Irie's, because of the lack of information. Okaa-san almost fainted, and Kotoko, gave her a medicine to sleep, as she checked that her bp was high. She requested Yuuki and Keita to go to the site. She made sure Okaa-san was ok and was also convincing her baby inside her that everything was okay. She had not had anything since lunch, and she was certain that she couldn't have anything now as she doubted her ability to keep it down. She went around taking care of everybody in the house with her friends, though they insisted her to take rest. She didn't want to stay idle, as she knew that her mind will play tricks on her, and she will start loosing her confidence. As Yuuki and Keita were leaving out, a car stopped outside, and lo behold, Naoki stepped out of the car.

For a minute, Kotoko thought she was hallucinating, but it was true. Naoki was here. He was limping slightly and had a gash on his forehead, but other than that, was looking quite fine. Kotoko ran inside the house and almost shook Okaa-san violently.."Okaa-san, see, Irie-kun is here. I did tell you he will come". After being smothered by hugs from the male members of the family, including Yuuki, and Keita, he went to his mom and consoled her. Marina informed him that she was given a medicine to sleep, hence she is drowsy. Undrstanding, he gave a hug to his mother, convincing her that he was fine. And at last, he went to his wife, his Kotoko.

Kotoko stood leaning against a wall..clutching her baby bump..trying to absorb what was moved towards her and touched her face gently. As he said "Kotoko...",the adrenaline gave away and the floodgate to tears pulled her to his chest, and let her cry. It was a sight for the others, since it was rare to see Naoki being emotional with his wife in public. But the situation called for it, and the others gave them space.

It was nearly 2 at night. Kotoko's father set to work and prepared a light meal for everyone. Naoki ensured that Kotoko ate and told the family how he narrowly escaped with just a ligament tear on his leg. And then, Kotko's friends left he family, asking Naoki to take care of himself. After another round of hugs, the family retired to their respective rooms.

Naoki had a bit of a pain in his leg, but he was more concerned about his wife. Though she had let out herself, he doubted, if there was still some worry left. As they both lied down, Naoki hugged her and started rubbing her growing belly, and kissed her neck. The hug conveyed everything, and calmed Kotoko more. Yes, she was frightened, but at the end of the day, her determination and willpower, and more importantly, her positivity, helped the day to be a bit better, than it could have been. Naoki's constant caress finally put her to sleep,but even in deep sleep,she held on to him. Naoki, looking at her, and imagined what would have happened if he hadn't been that lucky today. He dreaded the thought of being separated from her,of bringing tears to her lovely eyes. He willfully pushed those thoughts away. He was here for his wife, who loved him so madly, and that's what mattered. Letting the stress off the day takeover, he drifted of to deep sleep. Life is certainly episodic for the couple.

Hope you like this chapter. Sorry for any typos.

Hugs,

Jan

P.S.: Current time is 2:00 am IST(please add face with tongue emoji here while reading)