"What, no it's my turn on the computer," I yell at my husband.
"Are you sure about that? I was certain you had spent your time yesterday," Shuu replies.
I sneer at him, "You know I need to chat with my clients online. I need to keep up with their complaints. Plus I like their companionship."
"You have been on it long enough, Shiz, I need it to email my professor. I have to before the day ends."
"You have plenty of time to do that the rest of the night. I need the time now."
"On what, whose marriage is falling apart or who is cheating on whom?" he inquires.
"What are you insinuating? That ours is...?" I jump to his question.
"That's not what I mean," Shuu interrupts, "you entangle yourself in other peoples affairs that shouldn't be your business to begin with."
"But I am a marriage counselor, that is my job. Everyday I have to counsel couples that are having marriage troubles. I chat with them for updates."
"You need to leave your work at the office. You are such a workaholic, I am surprised you have time to yourself."
"I have time now. Okay, fine you can have the stupid computer, I don't care," I fume out the room. Thank goodness Saito is at my mother's tonight, otherwise all this yelling would have awaken him by now. Hopefully uterine walls are thick, last thing I need from this fight is Sakura to go deaf. Speaking of which, all this frustration and anger while carrying a baby does a number on ones bladder. I really have to pee. Maybe I can cool off in the bathroom.
Oh isn't that typical, I say never trust a man to put the seat down. He knows how hard it is for me to bend over, with this kid in my belly. Everything is a chore; even so much as sitting on a toilet is a challenge. I feel like the New Year's Day blimp. Somehow I manage to squat my bare ass across the bowl. All this work is worth it, now I can sit and relax. I check the floor every now and then to see whether I am going in the bowl, or peeing on the floor. I am such a clean freak, the latter wouldn't do.
Hey wait a minute; I have a thought about how to solve this, I mean about this fight with Shuu. The pressure now off my bladder, I can get back to the issue at hand. Maybe we can get to the bottom of the fight. I am a marriage counselor after all. Damn, there is as much work getting off the bowl as there was sitting on it. In a vase by the sink, I spot a bouquet of roses. We have roses everywhere in the house; it's a damn floral shop here. He's got to have a fresh rose incase he gets called into battle by Yusuke. I used to be allergic to the pollen, but I guess when you are married to a fox demon, you get used to it.
"Hey, Shuu, I have an idea," I hand him the rose, "First can you make a rope out of this? No thorns, just a rope."
"Sure, I guess, what do you have in mind?" Shuu transforms the rose into a thornless rope. I take the rope and bind one end of it to one of his wrists, tying a knot at the wrist. "Okay, I give up, what did you do that for?" I say nothing and tie the other end of the rope around my wrist opposite his.
"Shuu, this is a technique I sometimes use when a couple has had a big argument like we just had a few minutes ago."
"Oh, sorry about that, didn't mean to fight with you."
"Thank you, dear, but this is a fun technique, almost a game. It is a way for couples to work through their problems, rather than come to blows and walk out. I don't want to resort to that, I love you too much to do something that foolish. And I know you would feel the same."
"Yeah, I would never dream of leaving you, Shiz. You are my best friend, wife, and mother of my children. That thought never even crosses my mind. Especially over something as stupid as whose turn it is on the computer."
"I knew you didn't want to do that, so we will remain bound together until the matter is resolved." We walk out of the office into our bedroom. "Sit please." Being the gentleman he is, Shuu offers me to sit first on the bed. He follows suit, sitting next to me. "First we must face each other." I take each of his hands into each of mine. "We must look at each other in the eyes, and say what is on our minds. There must have been something, like stress or frustration, maybe work related, that we need to speak out about." "Okay, Shuu, what happened today to make you mad?"
He sighs deeply, "It happened in my office today. I had a patient, an old woman in her late 70s. She was in for a physical; it didn't go well. She is diabetic, she is overweight, and I was informed she was on a puree diet. Her attitude was as soul as ever. She is the bitchiest woman you would ever meet. Everything I did for her was wrong in her mind. She would say things like, 'You aren't a real doctor. Why are you working here? What are they doing letting children into medical school?' Just on and on like that for the entire session. When I told what she should be doing to get her weight under control, exercise, walk, eat low calorie foods, things like that she really turned on me. She said, ' Shut the fuck up. I don't need no preschooler like you, telling me what to do. You are the worst doctor ever, I am going to report you that you almost killed me.' I have had enough of that. That is a real low blow." I read in his green eyes a look of weariness and a bout of depression.
"I am sorry, dear, sorry you had a rough day." I hug him as much as I could on his side, with a kid in the way it is impossible to hug normally.
"So, Shiz how was your day?"
"It had its moments. I had a couple in the office. Every little thing would start a fight. He escorted her in; she took that as he's only doing that because she is a woman. She offered him a cigarette, before I told them that smoking was not allowed in the office he got mad and accused her of trying to give him lung cancer. He dropped money on the floor; he saw her pick it up, instead of thanking her, he accuses her of stealing. He said something to me in confidence, she says, 'Oh so you like her more than me now,' in a real snobbish voice. These two went at each other like this the whole time. At one point it went from verbal assaults to physical. He slapped her. She punched his stomach. He grabbed her; she kneed him in the groin. I finally had to call security, and have them removed. Tonight they are spending the night in jail, in separate cells. I don't think there is anything to salvage with this marriage. I can tell you it will end in divorce."
"I always hate to see a marriage end. When the love is gone, then it is like trying to jumpstart an already deceased heart. Divorce is inevitable. Now I have to call the judge and let him know about this case. I hate doing that, especially when she is like me, pregnant. I feel bad for the child inside her, going to grow up without a father." My face falls and my eyes dribble with tears. I lean against his bare chest, burying my face into his skin. "I just wish I could do something to save it for the child's sake," I sob.
"Hey, hey now, come on you did the best you could." Shuu cups his hands over the back of my head, holding me in his arms. "I know how much you want to save everyone, however those problems that are impossible to solve you must let go of and put them in God's hands. See what He can do. Just be thankful that is not you. I can never hurt you, not even if I wanted to. Leaving you is out of the question. Shizuru, you mean everything to me. I love you with everything that I have and more. When I said you were my best friend, I didn't mean just. There is more to it than that. I have best friends, plenty. Your brother, Yusuke, and Hiei are at the top of that list. But other than you, I have no soul mates. Nobody else I care for more deeply than for you. I love you." His words collapse deep into my heart, as the tears in my eyes multiply.
"I uhh..." I try to speak with the tears choking my words. I turn my eyes to him, still blinded by the tears. "I am glad you feel that way. More than that, words cannot express what you mean to me. I love you, Shuuichii, with my all my heart and soul. I enjoy coming home from a hard day to the smell of roses. Even when you are not there to greet me, just the smell is all I need to know you are still there. You too are my soul mate. Nobody else can fill that role than you. I love you."
"Are you sure about that? I was certain you had spent your time yesterday," Shuu replies.
I sneer at him, "You know I need to chat with my clients online. I need to keep up with their complaints. Plus I like their companionship."
"You have been on it long enough, Shiz, I need it to email my professor. I have to before the day ends."
"You have plenty of time to do that the rest of the night. I need the time now."
"On what, whose marriage is falling apart or who is cheating on whom?" he inquires.
"What are you insinuating? That ours is...?" I jump to his question.
"That's not what I mean," Shuu interrupts, "you entangle yourself in other peoples affairs that shouldn't be your business to begin with."
"But I am a marriage counselor, that is my job. Everyday I have to counsel couples that are having marriage troubles. I chat with them for updates."
"You need to leave your work at the office. You are such a workaholic, I am surprised you have time to yourself."
"I have time now. Okay, fine you can have the stupid computer, I don't care," I fume out the room. Thank goodness Saito is at my mother's tonight, otherwise all this yelling would have awaken him by now. Hopefully uterine walls are thick, last thing I need from this fight is Sakura to go deaf. Speaking of which, all this frustration and anger while carrying a baby does a number on ones bladder. I really have to pee. Maybe I can cool off in the bathroom.
Oh isn't that typical, I say never trust a man to put the seat down. He knows how hard it is for me to bend over, with this kid in my belly. Everything is a chore; even so much as sitting on a toilet is a challenge. I feel like the New Year's Day blimp. Somehow I manage to squat my bare ass across the bowl. All this work is worth it, now I can sit and relax. I check the floor every now and then to see whether I am going in the bowl, or peeing on the floor. I am such a clean freak, the latter wouldn't do.
Hey wait a minute; I have a thought about how to solve this, I mean about this fight with Shuu. The pressure now off my bladder, I can get back to the issue at hand. Maybe we can get to the bottom of the fight. I am a marriage counselor after all. Damn, there is as much work getting off the bowl as there was sitting on it. In a vase by the sink, I spot a bouquet of roses. We have roses everywhere in the house; it's a damn floral shop here. He's got to have a fresh rose incase he gets called into battle by Yusuke. I used to be allergic to the pollen, but I guess when you are married to a fox demon, you get used to it.
"Hey, Shuu, I have an idea," I hand him the rose, "First can you make a rope out of this? No thorns, just a rope."
"Sure, I guess, what do you have in mind?" Shuu transforms the rose into a thornless rope. I take the rope and bind one end of it to one of his wrists, tying a knot at the wrist. "Okay, I give up, what did you do that for?" I say nothing and tie the other end of the rope around my wrist opposite his.
"Shuu, this is a technique I sometimes use when a couple has had a big argument like we just had a few minutes ago."
"Oh, sorry about that, didn't mean to fight with you."
"Thank you, dear, but this is a fun technique, almost a game. It is a way for couples to work through their problems, rather than come to blows and walk out. I don't want to resort to that, I love you too much to do something that foolish. And I know you would feel the same."
"Yeah, I would never dream of leaving you, Shiz. You are my best friend, wife, and mother of my children. That thought never even crosses my mind. Especially over something as stupid as whose turn it is on the computer."
"I knew you didn't want to do that, so we will remain bound together until the matter is resolved." We walk out of the office into our bedroom. "Sit please." Being the gentleman he is, Shuu offers me to sit first on the bed. He follows suit, sitting next to me. "First we must face each other." I take each of his hands into each of mine. "We must look at each other in the eyes, and say what is on our minds. There must have been something, like stress or frustration, maybe work related, that we need to speak out about." "Okay, Shuu, what happened today to make you mad?"
He sighs deeply, "It happened in my office today. I had a patient, an old woman in her late 70s. She was in for a physical; it didn't go well. She is diabetic, she is overweight, and I was informed she was on a puree diet. Her attitude was as soul as ever. She is the bitchiest woman you would ever meet. Everything I did for her was wrong in her mind. She would say things like, 'You aren't a real doctor. Why are you working here? What are they doing letting children into medical school?' Just on and on like that for the entire session. When I told what she should be doing to get her weight under control, exercise, walk, eat low calorie foods, things like that she really turned on me. She said, ' Shut the fuck up. I don't need no preschooler like you, telling me what to do. You are the worst doctor ever, I am going to report you that you almost killed me.' I have had enough of that. That is a real low blow." I read in his green eyes a look of weariness and a bout of depression.
"I am sorry, dear, sorry you had a rough day." I hug him as much as I could on his side, with a kid in the way it is impossible to hug normally.
"So, Shiz how was your day?"
"It had its moments. I had a couple in the office. Every little thing would start a fight. He escorted her in; she took that as he's only doing that because she is a woman. She offered him a cigarette, before I told them that smoking was not allowed in the office he got mad and accused her of trying to give him lung cancer. He dropped money on the floor; he saw her pick it up, instead of thanking her, he accuses her of stealing. He said something to me in confidence, she says, 'Oh so you like her more than me now,' in a real snobbish voice. These two went at each other like this the whole time. At one point it went from verbal assaults to physical. He slapped her. She punched his stomach. He grabbed her; she kneed him in the groin. I finally had to call security, and have them removed. Tonight they are spending the night in jail, in separate cells. I don't think there is anything to salvage with this marriage. I can tell you it will end in divorce."
"I always hate to see a marriage end. When the love is gone, then it is like trying to jumpstart an already deceased heart. Divorce is inevitable. Now I have to call the judge and let him know about this case. I hate doing that, especially when she is like me, pregnant. I feel bad for the child inside her, going to grow up without a father." My face falls and my eyes dribble with tears. I lean against his bare chest, burying my face into his skin. "I just wish I could do something to save it for the child's sake," I sob.
"Hey, hey now, come on you did the best you could." Shuu cups his hands over the back of my head, holding me in his arms. "I know how much you want to save everyone, however those problems that are impossible to solve you must let go of and put them in God's hands. See what He can do. Just be thankful that is not you. I can never hurt you, not even if I wanted to. Leaving you is out of the question. Shizuru, you mean everything to me. I love you with everything that I have and more. When I said you were my best friend, I didn't mean just. There is more to it than that. I have best friends, plenty. Your brother, Yusuke, and Hiei are at the top of that list. But other than you, I have no soul mates. Nobody else I care for more deeply than for you. I love you." His words collapse deep into my heart, as the tears in my eyes multiply.
"I uhh..." I try to speak with the tears choking my words. I turn my eyes to him, still blinded by the tears. "I am glad you feel that way. More than that, words cannot express what you mean to me. I love you, Shuuichii, with my all my heart and soul. I enjoy coming home from a hard day to the smell of roses. Even when you are not there to greet me, just the smell is all I need to know you are still there. You too are my soul mate. Nobody else can fill that role than you. I love you."