Chapter Nine
Mei watched with a smile on her face as Kaori and Luke came into the cafeteria, swinging Little Quat by his hands between them and Natalie holding Kaori's other hand. As much as Kaori seemed like a tough old witch, she was soft inside. Though people their own age hardly notice, her natural inner kindness never escaped the attention of little children, no matter how gruff she seemed on the outside. Kaori smiled as she and Luke swung the little blonde back and forth again.
It was good to see Kaori smile again. Mei couldn't help but feel relieved. Kaori had been very upset the last couple of days, and no one knew why. It was good to see her feeling more normal with the kids around.
"Hey you two!" Mei said with a smile. She couldn't quite decide if she was referring to Luke and Kaori or the two visiting kids. Oh well, she meant both.
"Mei!" Natalie shrieked as she sprinted the last few feet to throw her arms around Mei's neck in a hug. Quatre Jr. soon left his swinging to join in the hug. One child could not get any amount of attention without the other trying to weasel into the action.
"Come and eat lunch with us," Mei said as she patted the empty bench next to her. Both children immediately filed into place at the table.
Luke and Kaori passed the table, walking into the kitchen room to pick up their trays of food, and most likely grabbing an extra tray for the kids. Mei pretended not to notice the metal glint of a gun showing briefly between the waist of Kaori's pants and the hem of her short jacket as she walked away. Maybe no one else noticed.
"This is Hayden Maxwell, Uncle Duo's son," Mei said, pointing out the boy who looked suspiciously similar to Luke. "And this over here is Daniel, he's in class with us." The kids nodded simultaneously as Mei introduced the strange guys at the table. "These two munchkins are Natalie and Quatre Jr., but we call him Little Quat – much to the disapproval of his father."
"You play football?" Little Quat asked both older boys.
"Sure we can play football," Hayden answered. "Do you play?"
"Uncle Trowa's showing me."
Natalie interrupted, "He means soccer, not football. Kaori has already told him that its called soccer, but he says it wrong."
"I do not," Little Quat insisted.
"It's called different things in different places," Hayden said, wanting to avoid the upcoming fight. "But I can play soccer too. There's a field by the lake that's good for practicing soccer."
"Luke said that," Natalie informed him. "He said he'd play with Quatre later."
"Well," Hayden said to the little blonde, noticing that the kid looked a little upset that Natalie was talking for him. "I'll play with you after dinner if you want. We can pull a few people together and make it a game."
"Really?" Quatre's eyes lit up at the prospect.
"Sure we can. We might even be able to convince the girls to play," he said with a smirk toward Mei and the approaching Kaori.
"What's this about girls?" Kaori asked as she set an extra tray down in front of Natalie. Luke gave an extra tray to Quatre before sitting down on the other side of the two kids, fencing them in between himself and Mei on the bench.
"I told Quatre Jr. here that I'd play soccer with him after dinner. And if we play our cards right, we might be able to get you and Mei to play," Hayden recapped for her, putting an arm around her waist as she sat next to him and across the table from the kids.
"Mei, yes." Kaori said with a teasing smile. "But I don't do team sports. Get dads to play."
"Good idea," Luke agreed. "We could get all the old men to play."
* * * * * * *
"Never did I think that we'd be sitting here, on a blanket in the grass, watching our husbands practically kill themselves playing football with the kids," Roddy said, laughing as she sipped her lemonade. "Its like nothing's wrong at all."
Catherine was stretched out lying on her stomach next to Roddy, watching as Quatre attempted to keep up with the game. He never was very good at sports. "Right now," she said, "Nothing is wrong. The only reminder of the List is the impressive show of weaponry." She looked around disapprovingly at the gun in front of her on the blanket – Quatre's gun. Roddy had her own pistol and Trowa insisted on keeping his close, storing it in the waist of his pants similarly to Heero and Kaori. Even the "all I need are my fists" Wufei Chang kept a gun in an under-the-shoulder holster, concealed by the jacket he wore as he ran back and forth across the field. Duo had handed his gun to Kaori on Sally's blanket, not wanting anything to get in the way of his game playing.
Too bad, Cathy thought. His temporary disposal of the weapon did nothing to improve their game. And right now the old men could use as much help as they could get. Being around forty years old, they were just not up to par against a bunch of kids around 17 and 18 years old. Even the little Natalie and Quatre Jr. were contributing to the embarrassing display taking place on the grass in front of her. Well, it wasn't too embarrassing, she had to remind herself. The old men were just a few goals behind.
"Boy are they going to complain about this," Sally said with a sigh. "They're going to be so sore tomorrow."
Roddy laughed. "Yea, as much as they like to boast about being in shape, there's just nothing they can do when put up against a bunch of energetic kids."
"Fly Gundams, check. Thwart multiple assassination attempts against the Vice Foreign Minister, check. Save the world, no problem. Win in a game of soccer against their kids…I believe our men have met their match," Cathy laughed.
Daniel trotted over to the blankets. The sweat of his previous soccer efforts made his blonde bangs stick to his forehead and his shirt plaster to his well-muscled chest as he jogged. "You sure you don't want to play?" he asked as he kneeled next to Kaori and Sally.
"Very much so," Kaori replied, handing him her glass of lemonade. He drank a few gulps and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Besides, the old men are out numbered as it is with you, Luke, Mei, Hayden and the munchkins out there."
"Hey," he said, a little out of breath from the game and his gulping of lemonade. "Two munchkins make one full person – so it's an even five on five." Daniel smiled and returned to the game. In his absence, Trowa had been able to maneuver and make another goal.
"Oh yea," Cathy said. "They are so going to regret this tomorrow."
Sally turned her attention to Kaori. "I'll never get over you kids sharing like that."
"What do you mean?" Kaori asked, not taking her eyes from the game in front of her. Ok, she'd admit it. She could care less about the game. She was watching Hayden's delicious form as he ran back and forth across the field, his naked torso tensing and his braid swinging behind him as he jogged.
"The way you kids just drink from each other's glasses all the time and share food. It's completely disgusting, from both a motherly and a medical point of view," Sally said with a smile. She wasn't really scolding Kaori, just making conversation.
"Generation Gap," Kaori said simply, not giving a second thought as she drank out of the same glass Daniel had used.
"Must be…" Sally admitted, leaning back to support her weight on her hands.
"So Kaori," Cathy got her attention, always up for some good gossip. Kaori could tell by the way she was talking that Aunt Cathy had a little observation she wanted to background check. "What's Daniel like?"
Kaori rolled her eyes and rolled over onto her back, looking up into the Earth sky as the darkness of twilight began to make the light fade. She winced at the metal poking in her back. Damn gun. She'd have to get used to that thing being there, Kaori thought as she pulled it out and set it casually on her stomach. "Daniel's "like" a friend, that's all," Kaori said with a smile.
"Really?" Roddy asked, just as eager as Cathy for some gossip. The woman was a great Preventor, an excellent instructor, and a hopeless romantic. It made her perfect for Trowa's subtle version of romance, but made her ache for something more blunt. "So who isn't "like a friend"?" she asked, using Kaori's words against her.
She debated for a while. Should she let her aunts know about her longing for the braided Maxwell? Kaori leaned her head back, watching the game upside down. Well, her longing for the braided Maxwell son, she clarified in her mind as Duo tackled Hayden in an attempt to halt his progression up the field. They were a heap of bodies and braids as they struggled to get up. She was pretty sure that tackling wasn't allowed in soccer…
"Kaori?" Cathy asked, calling her back to reality.
"Yea," she breathed, a content smile spreading across her face.
All the lounging women perked up. "Who?" Aunt Cathy asked.
"Those Americans and their braids," Kaori answered, knowing it was an unambiguous answer.
Roddy came to the right conclusion first, or at least she voiced it first. "You mean Hades, dear?"
"Yes ma'am. Hayden."
* * * * * * *
"This sucks," Duo complained, rubbing his aching shoulders and glaring at the couch.
"You brought this on yourself, buddy," Heero reminded him, stretching his neck. They weren't as young as they used to be, he admitted to himself. He'd be damned before he'd admit that out loud, though. "You could have shared a bed with me, but no…you would rather sleep on the couch in your own home…"
"Look, Heero," Duo interrupted. "Sharing a bed with you doesn't seem like fun and happy time, ok? Forgive me if I didn't dance with joy at the first mention of it." Duo pulled the extra blankets from his closet and tossed them on his couch, soon to be his bed.
"Either we share a bed together or get the couch. That's all there is to it," Heero stated as he made his way to Duo's door, intending to go to his own apartment and sleep on his own couch. "We used to share a bed," he mumbled as he left.
"That's when Jin was in between us and TWENTY YEARS AGO!" Duo screamed at the shutting door. Whether or not Heero answered, he couldn't tell. He was already out the door and out of Duo's hearing range.
"Duo, I feel terrible about stealing your bed," Catherine said from behind him.
"Oh, all that yelling?" Duo said with a sheepish grin. "Don't pay any attention to that. Just yelling at Heero, nothing new." Catherine didn't look too convinced. "Look, sweetie," he said, giving her a little hug, "it's fine. You and Quat take my bed. Let mini-Quat take the extra bed. I'll be fine here on the couch."
"Are you sure?" Cathy asked again, doubting it was fine. "You could have Junior stay out here on the couch and sleep in your own bed tonight. Or at least share a bed with the boy."
"No," Duo insisted. "You and Quatre, and Little Quat are my guests, and you will sleep well in my house. Besides, things work out better this way." He pointed to the door. "If anyone tries to get in, they have to contend with me first. And I'm not a happy guy when someone wakes me up in the middle of the night." Cathy laughed at Duo's little joke. Duo did a mental dance of victory.
"If you're sure, then I guess I'll see you in the morning." She gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Goodnight, Cathy." Duo started making his couch into a bed, tucking his blanket into certain crevices so that the lumpy couch somewhat resembled a comfortable place to sleep. Cathy walked back through the den. "Check on Little Quat?" Duo asked, settling down into the blankets and pulling them up to his shoulders.
"MmHmm," she acknowledged. "He's still too excited about winning the soccer game to sleep." Cathy giggled a little as she opened the master bedroom door.
"And I take it Quatre Senior is feeling more like Quatre Senior Citizen tonight, huh?" Duo asked, smiling in the darkness after Cathy turned off the overhead light.
"He was so tired he fell asleep in the shower!" Cathy giggled some more. "I had to drag him out and wake him up to get clothes on the poor guy. I think he's still laying where he flopped on the bed a couple of hours ago." She closed the door to the bedroom.
Duo could hear the muffled voices behind the closed door. Catherine was no doubt trying to wake up Quatre and get him to move so she could get in bed too. His hand reached up to wipe his face as he rolled over on the couch. He was surprised when he felt wetness on his cheek. Thinking he was bleeding, he held his hand close to see it. Too dark to see. His tongue flicked out to taste his finger. Salty. Tears. Duo sighed and settled back into the lumpy bedding. He hadn't realized he'd been missing Hilde, but Cathy's little giggles, her motherly presence when she took care of both Quatre Junior and Senior…it made him remember Hilde. It made him wish that they'd settled on the other sleeping arrangement. Duo could be sleeping in the same bed as Heero with the two kids sharing the other bed, rather than he and Heero on couches after surrendering their beds to the little tikes. Maybe tomorrow he'd suggest that they change the sleeping arrangement. He needed a warm body next to him.
* * * * * * *
"Our dads still have some spunk, huh Kaori?" Mei asked, rubbing her hair with a towel to dry it after her shower.
"A little," Kaori admitted, running her hand through her own damp hair. "They'll be complaining about it tomorrow though."
"But never out loud! They couldn't ever admit to us kids that they're sore and hurting!" Mei said with a smile.
"The weakness!" Kaori said, mocking Mei's dad as best she could.
Mei burst into laughter. After she regained her breath, Mei settled down on her desk chair and started brushing out her hair. "I tell you about weakness though," she said, getting Kaori's attention, "those Maxwell boys without their shirts on…"
"Tell me about it," Kaori sighed, lying back onto her bed. She absently fiddled with the string of her pajama pants. "With my dad there, I tried not to stare too much. I think Hayden strutted around like that just to tease me."
"Your dad? I imagine how mad my dad would react if I stared too long at Luke. I'd hear nothing but "Dishonor" for three weeks!" Mei said, starting another fit of laughter.
A soft, timid knock on the door made Mei get up to her feet and open the door.
"Oh," she said, staring dumbly at the figure for a moment before she smiled.
Kaori was still lying on her back, staring up at the bottom of Mei's bed above her. She hadn't looked over to see who was at the door. "Who was that Mei?" Kaori asked after the door closed softly again.
No answer.
"Mei?" Kaori asked again, about to tear her eyes away from the intriguing bottom of the bed, when she felt pressure on the mattress next to her. Then she recognized the feeling. "How did I know it was you?" she asked.
Hayden leaned forward and brushed some bangs from her face. "Because you can feel me. Up here," he said, placing his hand on her forehead.
Kaori shook her head. "No." She took his hand and placed it over her heart. "I feel you here."
_____
aw, sweet! Couldn't help myself.
