Disclaimer: CLAMP owns everything-including my soul. Referring to Kero-chan as Kero-kun came from Suppi-chan. Go read her work, she's brilliant.
Dedication: Tsuin Circe, as ever.
Notes: Oh, c'mon…what's not to like about a Fujitaka/Sonomi pairing? They're so funny together. Besides, Nadeshiko is dead. Even if her ghost is around, wouldn't it be nice to love the living? Oh, before I forget, I really don't think Sonomi-kun would be physically violent, though she might like to imagine it. It's just funnier that way. ^_^ Part two of the "Something" trilogy.
Something to Tell You
Fujitaka did not regret his gift - not exactly. It was more that he wished it wasn't quite so…thorough. Touya-kun had never mentioned this kind of …effect…when Fujitaka had asked him about the Second Sight he used to have. Then again, Touya-kun had never not had it, so maybe hadn't realized it would be something to mention.
Not that it would have helped Fujitaka at present. He was pacing between the living room and the entry hall (72 steps round trip, thank you) and waiting for his wife to come home. He, himself, hadn't gone to his classes that day. He was too…well, Kero-kun was using the word "hysterical" but Fujitaka thought he preferred "emotional." In a good way, of course. This was exciting. It was wonderful. It was special and beautiful and maybe he could use that phrase and say that his news was like her in that respect – marvelous but unexpected. That might work.
"I'm tellin' ya, she ain't gonna wanna hear it from you no matter how ya say it. Just wait it out, Professor." Kero sat on the back of the couch, watching as Fujitaka came in and out of the room at predictable thirty-five second intervals. "Besides, how're you gonna get it through to her? 'Cause, y'know, you can't even say it t'me without choking. You need to lie down, is what you need to do. You're all pale and shaky. That's not good for someone in your condition." Kero smirked. Fujitaka actually growled something obscene before pacing back out.
Fujitaka made another circuit, still frantically trying to think of how he was going to go about what he was going to be going about. It wasn't exactly something he was familiar with…not exactly. His past experiences weren't going to help him now. He wished Nadeshiko-san would choose now to pop in and check on him. It was something she did every now and again. Not very often, though. As Touya-kun had once said, and as she had explained when he first gained his new Sight, she had moved on. As much as she loved him, and he still loved her, she was dead and nothing was going to change that. He needed to fully understand that and move on as well.
More specifically, she'd told him that if he didn't open his regular eyes and see what was right in front of him (and how he could miss it was beyond her, because all that commotion was awfully hard to ignore, and she should know just how difficult it was because hadn't she grown up with Sonomi-chan?) he was going to find out if he had the patience to withstand the persistent needling of Tomoyo-chan's nice little Englishman with the sense of humor. And after all, loving Sonomi-chan couldn't detract the slightest bit from his love for her, and would probably only add to it, as Sonomi-chan had loved her, too. Besides which, Sonomi-chan was nothing if not tenacious when she wanted something, and she was pretty sure that what Sonomi-chan was after was Fujitaka.
He'd let her catch him, and now look where he was. He sighed. While Nadeshiko-san would probably be as comforting as Kero-kun was, she'd still know what he should do. She'd done this before and she knew Sonomi-kun even better than he did. She could tell him what to do and what Sonomi-kun would probably do about it. Of course, Nadeshiko-san had always enjoyed seeing him out of sorts. She probably was nearby, and laughing at him.
Fujitaka was so deep into his thoughts that the slamming of the front doors nearly stopped his heart. Oh dear god, she was home. Kero-kun lit out for the kitchen with the parting advice of "Try not to look so wild around the eyes when ya tell her, Professor." Good plan. Okay. He was ready. He could do this. He was a man, wasn't he? Yes he was, and that was just his problem.
"Ah, Sonomi-kun!" He paused and dragged his protesting voice back down to its normal level. The last thing he needed was to sound like a thirteen-year-old boy. "I'm glad you're home!" Her right eyebrow twitched up and he winced. She'd been trying to break him of the habit of tacking anything onto her name because damned if she was going to go around calling her husband "sensei" all the time. (Besides, it irritated her to no end to remember he'd once been her teacher and she'd protested vigorously that he had no business marrying one of his students.) He was off to a bad start.
"Nice to see you, too, Fujitaka." She gave him a long, measuring look, then glanced around. "Where are the girls?"
"The movies with Hiiragizawa-tachi. I thought it might be nice to have a quiet evening alone with you." He smiled brightly and was rewarded with both eyebrows lifting skeptically.
"I haven't seen you this nervous since our first date, Fujitaka. I'm beginning to think that you've either been promoted," she stepped closer and he fought the urge to back away, "or fired, because the prospect of an evening alone with me doesn't usually…"she frowned at his disheveled appearance, "leave you looking like a deranged lunatic." Her eyes locked onto his. "What did you do?"
For one wild moment a vision of spermatozoa swimming frantically upstream flashed before his eyes. He shook his head to clear it before smiling even more brightly than before. "It's nothing like that, sweetheart. It's much better than that, really." He took her hand and led her out to the neatly set table on the patio over the koi pond. "I'm very excited about it."
"And "It" would be…?"
She didn't look happy. Fujitaka had expected her to be uneasy, maybe even nervous, but not…testy. He should have taken Kero-kun's advice. But it was too late for that now; he'd just have say it out. He reached across the little table and took her hands in his. Praying his voice wouldn't shake as badly as his hands were, he looked deeply into her eyes and reminded himself that she loved him.
"Sonomi…"he took a deep, cleansing breath, "you're pregnant."
"What?"
"We're going to…" he looked back to the table, wondering how she'd managed to slap him without his seeing her hand rising. "Okay, that was a rhetorical question. I probably deserved that."
"I told ya not to tell her." Kero-kun now came to hover over the table, his little arms crossed. He'd been eyeing the cake all afternoon.
"You told the plushie." Fujitaka hoped she wasn't going to have that murderous glint in her eyes for the whole nine months.
"Who're you callin' a plush-urk!" Sonomi had never called him "plushie" before. She usually liked Kero-kun. Kero-kun liked her. Kero-kun was turning purple from the grip she had on his neck.
"Fujitaka, darling?"
"No! I didn't say a word to Kero-kun!" Fearfully, he pried her fingers loose.
"He didn't hafta," Kero wheezed. "I found him in the library muttering about babies and bedtime stories. That kind of thing clues a guy in, y'know."
"Ah." She lifted her head slightly in acknowledgement. "And just how long have you known, Dearest?" He'd never really thought an endearment could sound like a threat, but that was his Sonomi…always teaching him new things. Her expression said that one wrong word would land him in the water with the fish for the night. For at least the night, if not longer.
"I only saw this morning, Sonomi. Just this morning, I promise. Since I didn't think you'd want to be left out…and, um…I wanted to share my ah…excitement about it with you…." He gestured around them and smiled hopefully. "Nobody else knows, so you can still surprise the kids, sweetheart."
She stared at him for the longest moment of his life. "If you ever say something like that to me again, Tomoyo won't be the only one to grow up without a father." She smiled the sweetest smile he'd ever seen and turned her attention towards threatening Kero-kun into silence.
Fujitaka began to wonder if he could get away with just waiting a few months and letting her tell him it was going to be twins.
