CHAPTER 7: SOMETHING DOESN'T SEEM RIGHT
Leaving New Orleans for the Shuffle Alliance and friends had been harder than they had expected it to be. Their time in the Big Easy had been spent having tremendous fun and they hated to see it end. Saying their good-byes, all of the girls hugged each other tightly, except for Nastasha who thought that the friendly hugging was over doing it a bit. The guys shook hands and patted each other on their backs as if they had just saved the earth once again. Poor Sai and Cecile were the unhappiest of all since they had to say good-bye to each other after such a short reunion. And, deep down even Nastasha knew that she'd really miss her friends, including the Neo-American fighter, till their next meeting.
It was true that the G Gundam Gang's behavior during Mardi Gras would never be forgotten by any of them and that they had only grown closer through the whole wild experience. It was time for that part of their lives to end and for all of them to go back to the reality of real life. On a happier note though, there was Argo and Nastasha's wedding to look forward to. Princess Marie Louise had begged to make the arrangements for it and being that the Neo-Russian woman had no experience on what to pick out for her wedding, she was tempted to let the Princess get her wish. Nastasha too knew that the Princess had planned Domon and Rain's wedding and that the two had been quite pleased. Chibodee had offered to help plan the Neo-Russian couple's wedding as well, and being that he said it in front of everyone, in unison everyone asked him if he was crazy. When he offered to at least sing at the wedding that too caused nothing but laughter from the others, which made Shirley feel bad enough to hug her fighter.
Back in Neo-Japan at Domon and Rain's residence, Han, Ming and Hoy were waiting for the young Kasshu couple. Upon their arrival and before the Neo-Japan partners even had a chance to make their way to the door of their house, the two children ran to them yelling their names out with excitement in their voices.
Without hesitation, Domon put down the luggage he was carrying and then grabbed and hoisted Hoy onto one of his shoulders. As he started to walk towards his home once again, he yelled over his shoulder to his wife that he'd come back out later to get their luggage.
Not worried about the luggage because she was too busy hugging Ming at the moment, Rain didn't even bother to answer Domon. After finally releasing Ming, Rain did grab a bag, which was beside their suitcases and then she and Ming made their way into the house. After a few minutes of being inside, Domon put Hoy down and then the boy made his way to Rain to say hello while Ming made her way to Domon.
"Guess what!" the beautiful blue-eyed female said to the child in her arms and to the one in her husband's.
"What?" the children both asked at the same time.
"Domon and I brought you back some surprises."
"Thank goodness," Han said sounding relieved. "I told them that you would probably bring them something back."
After releasing Hoy, Rain opened the bag to reveal short and long beads in all colors and trinkets as well.
"Wow!" both of the children yelled as they began to dig into the bag, pulling everything out.
Meanwhile Domon had gone back outside to retrieve the rest of the luggage. Just as he was about to pick the suitcases up, Dr. Kasshu said, "I see that you and Rain have made it home."
"Dad!" Domon exclaimed happy to see him.
Just after father and son hugged, Dr. Kasshu asked, "So how did you and your wife make out in the…Big Easy?"
Putting his hands into his pockets, Domon said with a smile, "Believe it or not, we really had a great time."
"Oh, I believe it," the doctor said as visions of what he had seen on the television ran through his mind. "You see Son, I know all about the powdered sugar fight."
"What?" the Neo-Japan fighter asked stunned. "How?"
"By chance actually. I was flipping through the television stations when I found a live Special being recorded all the way in Neo-America on what else, but Mardi Gras in New Orleans. You can imagine how shocked I was to see a shot of you and your friends covered with sugar."
Shocked himself, the King of Hearts said, "I had no idea that we were on television."
"Indeed you and your friends were and appeared to be looking into a window of a building."
Remembering standing with his friends with the white powder all over them as they looked into the Cajun restaurant, Domon said, "Oh yeah, that was the Cajun place where we danced."
Domon's Father couldn't believe how easily his son had admitted that he Cajun danced, as if he always did that in his spare time. Putting his hand on his son's forehead, the doctor said, "No. You don't have a fever."
"Yeah, I guess it's hard to imagine Rain and I having a sugar fight and Cajun dancing," Domon said all ready missing that overly happy atmosphere they had been in the last few days.
"It's especially hard to imagine my very responsible daughter-in-law in a…sugar fight," Dr. Kasshu admitted making Domon want to fill his father in on just what had happened.
Dr. Kasshu listened with a big smile on his face as his son told him of the sugar fight, the crawfish in Chibodee's bed and the costumes the G Gundam Gang had dressed in on Mardi Gras Day. The Doctor loved hearing that his son, who had been so stressed just over a year ago, had truly let go and enjoyed himself. After Domon filled his father in on exactly what had happened, the two men made their way into the house.
"Rain Kasshu!" Dr. Kasshu said upon seeing her on the floor with the kids with beads around all of their necks. "Is it true that you, my sweet daughter-in-law, poured powdered sugar onto my son's head?"
Looking at her husband who was smiling after ratting her out, Rain's eyes widened in embarrassment as she confessed, "I'm afraid that's true."
"Told you, Dad," Domon said folding his arms while the kids laughed.
Standing up, Rain made her way to her father-in-law and as they hugged hello, he said, "You're definitely the only one who can get away with doing such a thing to my hard headed son."
As Rain smiled, Domon rolled his eyes not about to admit it was true, though he knew that it was.
After the guest left and the unpacking had been finished, the young Kasshu couple decided to let their commissioner know that they were back. They knew they had tortured him enough by letting him think that it might be another month before they returned to Neo-Japan.
As the young couple expected, the commissioner had been found in the Neo-Japan warehouse where the Burning Gundam was kept.
"Domon! Rain!" Karato exclaimed in disbelief when he saw them walk in. "Is it really you?"
Leaning to his wife, Domon said, "He really didn't expect us to return this soon. We should have stayed in Neo-America longer."
"Perhaps," Rain joked back just before she answered the commissioner. "Hello, Commissioner Karato."
"Are you okay?" the Commissioner asked now standing in front of them with a very serious look on his face.
At first, Domon and Rain looked at each other not knowing why Karato would ask that. Putting his hand on his wife's back, Domon said, "We're perfectly fine."
"Good…good," Karato repeated looking relieved. "I watched Mardi Gras live on TV the other night and saw that some of the people over there seem to be worse than insane."
"Really?" Rain asked, shocked that he had watched anything on Mardi Gras while Domon suspected that the commissioner had been trying to spy on the Neo-Japan team.
"Yes, I watched it," Karato said very seriously. "There was someone dressed up as a sauce. I think it was a…ketchup bottle."
Rain could only smile, immediately missing Sai and Cecile, while Domon made her become speechless as he told Karato, "That was me dressed up as that ketchup bottle."
"What!" the commissioner exclaimed. "Do you know how embarrassing that could be for Neo-Japan!"
"Give it a rest," Domon said not looking bothered by Karato's uneasiness. "There were plenty of people dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Domon Kasshu who could have embarrassed Neo-Japan enough."
Throwing his hands in the air in frustration, Karato walked away not wanting to hear anymore.
"Domon, I can't believe you let Karato believe that," Rain said in a scolding voice.
"I couldn't help myself," Domon said after lying about being the Ketchup bottle. "Karato needs to chill out."
"Chill out?" Rain asked surprised. "I think you may have hung out with Chibodee a bit too much."
"Don't worry, Baby," Domon said pulling her into his arms, "I'm still me."
Just before giggling back, Rain remembered being the insane patient of Dr. Domon Kasshu. Now back in the present as they hugged each other, they soon noticed a few Japanese officials standing around looking at them strangely. "What's your problem?" Domon asked them. "Can't a man hold his wife?"
With that the officials quickly got right back to work.
After checking on the Burning Gundam, the young Kasshu couple decided it was time to go home. They'd start fresh the next day as the Neo-Japan team.
Walking into her bedroom that night, Rain found her husband doing something he normally didn't do. He was standing in front of the mirror wearing only his boxer shorts staring at himself.
"What's wrong?" she asked seeing the very serious look on his face as he checked himself out.
Only moving his eyes to his wife, the King of Hearts said seriously, "I think I may have put on a few pounds while we were in New Orleans."
"You look fine to me," his sweet wife said.
Grunting first, Domon then said, "Thanks, but I think because of the beignets and the King cake, that I should really train hard for awhile."
Smiling at her husband's complaint about his weight since she had never heard him complain about such a thing before, she said, "I already told you that you look fine to me…and you always train hard enough."
Relaxing a bit as he turned to his wife, Domon said, "It's just that I have never eaten so much in my life than I think I did there."
"Yes," the pretty blue-eyed female said putting her hands on her stomach. "The rumors about New Orleans having some great tasting food were true. I should probably do quite a few sit ups myself."
"Rain," Domon said now making eyes at her, "I like you just the way you are."
With love in her eyes, she moved over to him and said, "Well, that's how I feel about you."
Domon winked back at her and wrapped his arms around her as he said, "I guess neither of our bodies has really changed that much since our stay in New Orleans."
It was about three and a half weeks later and a couple of days before their first anniversary when one morning Rain started to feel differently, physically. Lying on the soft mattress of her Japanese Platform bed very early that morning, Rain was woken up by an uneasy stomach. She turned her head to see her husband still lost in sleep beside her, his dark hair over his eyes as he lay on his side. Smiling over how cute she thought he looked, her eyes then moved to the ceiling when she felt the uneasiness of her stomach once again. Recalling the Japanese dish, Ramen, which is what she had cooked the night before, she wondered if it had gotten her sick. Though she wasn't the best cook, she had thought that she had actually done a pretty good job with the noodle dish. Looking back at her husband, she thought, 'It doesn't look like it bothered his stomach, so why would it bother mine?' Smiling, she recalled how he gulped down anything that she cooked without complaining. 'He really is a sweetheart when it comes to my cooking.' Then suddenly, Rain could feel that she was going to be sick and because it seemed to be coming up fast, she really feared that she wasn't going to make it to the bathroom in time. Quickly she sat up, got out of the bed and covered her mouth as she ran for it.
In the bathroom, she was indeed sick and she felt herself shaking, as she remained leaning over the toilet for a good few minutes.
In the bed, the King of Hearts rolled on to his back. With his eyes still closed he moved his hand to pull his wife closer, but to his disappointment he found that she wasn't there. Opening his eyes he thought it strange of her not to be there since he normally woke up first, but then he heard her coughing coming from the bathroom. Concerned, Domon got out of the bed, pulled on his boxer shorts and walked to the bathroom door. Slowly pushing it open he saw his wife in her little white nightie, wiping her face with a rag as she leaned against the wall. By the way she looked, he was sure that if she didn't have the wall to lean on that she would have fallen. "Rain!" he exclaimed sounding overly worried.
Removing the rag from her face as she slowly pushed off of the wall, Domon was quick to steady her as he put his hands on her waist to support her. Seeing the redness in her eyes, he asked, "Baby, are you okay?"
Slowly nodding her head yes, she then just barely whispered, "I just need to lay down."
Because she was still letting him support her weight, Domon bent down and gently lifted her up and into his arms. After carrying her to their bed, he then carefully laid her down. Pulling the covers over her, he whispered, "I'm going to get you a glass of water."
Rain only nodded her head yes.
When he came back with the water, she slowly sat up and took the glass from him and took a sip. Feeling a little better, she placed it on their nightstand.
As she lay completely back down, Domon pushed her hair off of her forehead and leaned to kiss her there. "Rain," he whispered after, "What's wrong?"
"I'll be alright," she whispered with her eyes closed. "I guess my dinner from last night didn't agree with me."
"Are you sure that's it?" Domon asked concerned for her since she looked so drained.
"I think so," she whispered as her eyes opened. "I did stop at the hospital yesterday to let them know I'd be showing up a bit more to help, so maybe I just caught a virus…and maybe you should stay away from me."
"No," he said not worried about himself as he continued to move his hand through her hair. "I'm staying right here."
Two hours later, Domon was dressed for his normal routine of training but he just didn't feel right about leaving his wife after how sick she looked earlier that morning. He stayed home later than he usually did in the morning and kept quiet around the house, checking in on his sleeping wife ever so often. As he paced their living room over whether he should stay home or not, he was very surprised when Rain walked down the stairs dressed in her usual clothes.
"Oh, Domon...I didn't know you were still here," she said as he stopped pacing and looked at her as if she was crazy.
"Rainnn…what are you doing up?" he asked concerned for her.
Giving him a smile, she said, "I need to work on the Burning Gundam of course."
"What?" the King of Hearts asked as if he had heard her wrong. "You're sick."
"I feel fine," she said as if she had completely forgotten how nauseous she had been. "Whatever it was is gone."
"I don't understand. You were so sick," Domon said remembering carrying her to their bed so that she could rest. "You should see a doctor."
"I am a doctor," she said while tidying up the room.
Folding his arms as he grunted, Domon then said, "When we were in the Guyana Highlands, you told me the same thing but you were really burning up with a fever."
"Awe," Rain purred, "You really were worried about me back then."
"Come on, Rain," Domon said not feeling in the playing mood at all, "Are you sure you're feeling better?"
"Completely," she said loving her tough husband's sweet concern.
"Alright…fine. Just take it easy today."
"Yes, Sir," she joked back.
Throughout the day, Domon continuously checked in on his wife and found that she did look to be feeling fine. 'I guess I'm worrying for nothing,' he thought while spying on her as she worked. 'It's just that…she's everything to me.'
That night, Dr. Kasshu had insisted taking his son and daughter-in-law out to dinner. Always ready to go out to eat, Domon agreed as did Rain, who was always ready to get out of cooking.
As they sat in the sophisticated, Japanese restaurant, the three Kasshus fell into a conversation over the next gundam fight and Rain also expressed that she'd like to have more time working at the hospital.
"But, Rain," Domon said looking worried, "Shouldn't you try to stay away from the hospital since you think you were sick this morning because of a virus you might have caught there?"
"I'm fine, really," she said staring into her husband's worried eyes while his father wondered what Domon was talking about.
"Rain dear," the older doctor said, "You were sick this morning?"
"She was beyond sick," Domon said cutting in. "She looked like walking death."
"Thank you very much…honey," Rain said shooting a not so nice glare at her husband.
"I'm sorry, Baby," he sincerely said, "But, you looked like you were going to pass out."
Wanting to know more, Dr. Kasshu asked, "Rain, when did you start feeling better?"
Thinking the two men were so sweet to care so much for her, she answered, "Not much after I…uh…got sick."
Instantly, Dr. Kasshu wondered if his daughter-in-law could be pregnant, but he didn't want to say anything just yet since his son obviously didn't suspect that. The gundam fighter had never really been around a pregnant woman to know the signs, particularly since part of his life he had been gone only concentrating on training. Looking at his daughter-in-law who was now smiling at his son, Dr. Kasshu wondered if Rain even suspected that she might be pregnant. Had a certain friend failed to show up in the last month for her? Then again, all women's cycles were different.
"Dad…Dad," Domon said cutting into his thoughts.
"Oh, yes Son," Dr. Kasshu said hoping that he wasn't turning red.
"You…spaced out on us," Domon said grinning. "What were you thinking about?"
Quick to cover his thoughts up, the doctor said, "I was just thinking that I can't believe that you and Rain have almost been married for a year now."
With that said, Domon took hold of his wife's hand on top of the table and they smiled at each other. Two years ago being together like they were now seemed almost impossible, but here they were very, happily married to each other.
"In two days you two will have been married for a year," Dr. Kasshu said proudly. "I wonder what the next year will bring you," he said in a suspicious voice.
The next morning to Domon's disappointment, Rain had been sick again.
"I still don't understand," the King of Hearts said frustrated; pacing the room while his wife got dressed to go to the warehouse where the Burning Gundam was kept. "Why were you sick again and then why do you just suddenly feel better?"
"Well," Rain began trying to keep her patience since her husband was a nervous wreck, "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."
"Oh, great," Domon said aggravated, "You think puking your guts up for no reason is nothing to worry about?"
"That's a nice way to put it," Rain said rolling her eyes as she sat down on their bed to put her boots on.
"I'm just worried, Rain," Domon said not meaning to upset her.
"Domon, worrying won't help anyway."
"Rain," the King of Hearts said now in a calmer voice as he sat down beside her, "It's just that…you're scaring me. If something's wrong with you, we have to fix it."
Seeing the worry in his dark, honest eyes, the pretty blue-eyed female placed her hand on his face and said, "Baby, I'm fine."
Domon closed his eyes as his wife leaned into him to give him a sweet, reassuring kiss. "Okay," he said after, their foreheads touching, "I'll try concentrating on our anniversary."
"Now that sounds nice," Rain said smiling back sweetly at him. "So what will we be doing on our 1st Anniversary?"
Smiling back, as he moved his forehead from hers, Domon made eyes at her and said, "Plenty of what we did our honeymoon night."
"Oh, really," Rain said tilting her head as she gave him an even sweeter smile.
"That is after I take you to a fancy restaurant," the King of Hearts said as if he had it all figured out.
Throughout the day Domon continued to check on his wife and noticed that she seemed to be a little too tired at times. When they had gotten home, she announced that she was feeling fine so that Domon wouldn't worry too much, but she did insist that she felt she had to lie down for a few minutes.
An hour later, the King of Hearts stood in the doorway of their bedroom watching over his wife. He didn't like that she had been sleeping for so long when she had said that she only needed a few minutes of rest. 'Normally at this time she's wide-awake,' he thought. 'I know something's not right.'
Now beyond worried, Domon walked back downstairs to use the phone since he didn't want to wake his sleeping wife with his voice.
Dr. Kasshu had just come home from the science lab when he walked into his house and heard the phone ringing. "Hello, Domon," he said upon seeing the young Kasshu couple's number pop up on the phone.
"Dad!" Domon said sounding very upset.
"Son. What is it?"
"Something's really wrong with Rain."
Thinking first before speaking, the doctor said calmly. "What do you mean?"
"Rain was sick again this morning, then fine and now she's already sleeping…I think for the rest of the night!" The King of Hearts just didn't understand what was happening to her.
"So, she seems a bit tired," Dr. Kasshu said knowing that was one of the signs in the beginning of pregnancy.
"I spied on her today and she looked very tired," Domon said anxiously. "Maybe she caught something in New Orleans."
Fighting to hold in a laugh, Dr. Kasshu thought, 'Oh, I think she caught something all right, Son. But, it wasn't New Orleans to cause her to feel this way, but rather you! Oh, I do hope my daughter-in-law is pregnant!'
"Dad," Domon said upset, "Why aren't you answering me!"
"Forgive me, son. Listen…calm down and just tell your wife to come see me at the hospital tomorrow when she goes in. She is scheduled to go in tomorrow, right?" One of Dr. Kasshu's science labs was in the hospital within walls that were protected by a magnetic field.
Thinking for a second first, Domon said, "Yes. She won't be working on the Burning Gundam tomorrow. She'll be at the hospital."
"Good. Now, Domon...everything will be fine. Again, please just calm down," Dr. Kasshu said trying to get his son to at least try to settle down. Of course Domon went on ranting for another ten minutes or so on how tired his wife looked and how he wanted her to feel better. Dr. Kasshu just listened knowing that his son was completely clueless to the fact that Rain may be pregnant. When Domon finally let his father off of the phone, Dr. Kasshu hoped he hadn't been too forward in telling Domon to tell Rain to go see him, but he felt he had to do something.
Upstairs, Rain had woke up but stayed in bed thinking about how she had been feeling. 'Could I really be pregnant?' she wondered staring up at the ceiling. 'I've missed my time of the month before and wasn't pregnant, but maybe this time…I am.' Sitting up, she slowly brought her legs down to the side of the bed and just remained sitting there in deep thought. 'Rain! It only takes one time to get pregnant and there are a million chances that you could be.' Standing up, she walked to the window in the bedroom and looked down on to the street. 'I can't tell Domon till I know for sure. I really don't know how he's going to handle it.'
The next morning Rain had been sick once again and didn't fight Domon's idea about going to the hospital to see his father. However, she did fight the idea of Domon going with her to the hospital. If it was confirmed that she was pregnant, she wanted to make it special when she told him. The only way she had been able to convince her husband to go train instead of going with her was to tell him that she didn't want to fight with him on their first anniversary.
Dr. Kasshu had been waiting for her to arrive at the hospital and as soon as they saw each other they knew they each suspected the pregnancy. Domon's father had confessed to his daughter-in-law that he was sorry that he was the one to talk to her about it. He told her he wished she had her mother or Domon's to talk to, but she hugged the older man and thanked him for being there.
After Rain saw her gynecologist, it was confirmed that she was pregnant. She decided she would tell her husband that night over their anniversary dinner.
Meanwhile, Domon was making plans for the night, but his mind kept wondering to his wife. 'Please be okay, Rain.'
A sincere thanks to the following for the reviews since my last update:
GoldAngel2-I'm so glad that you liked everyone's costumes Mardi Gras Day. It took me forever it seemed to think of who to dress as what. As you have just read, Rain's morning sickness has kicked in. Thanks for the wonderful, descriptive reviews!
Redlion2-As for Mardi Gras, your husband would be very right (like a certain gundam fighter) to be very protective with you. In some parts of New Orleans, it's really quite insane. Now in the nearby city Metairie, it's more family orientated. My best advice is to book a room way in advance if you and your husband ever wanted to go to the Big Easy for Mardi Gras. People who live in the city and the metro area get rooms, themselves. (Having the bathroom close by is a serious plus.) But really, the experience is a blast if you can ignore some of the things you yourself would never do. Thanks for the wonderful review!
Turtle Lover-I'm happy that I kept you laughing. It was Rain, Chibodee and Sai's costumes that I really wanted to make funny. Thanks for all of your loyal reviews!
Black Joker Lady-I am thrilled that you are pleased with Argo and Nastasha's costumes. At first, those two were hard for me to imagine dressing up for Mardi Gras Day. Yes, I felt it was time for Cecile to make an appearance. I'm also happy that you enjoyed the bar scene. Thank you!
Cat and her alter ego Henry-The Neo-Russian couple is kind of hard for me to write about, so I'm glad that you liked their short scene. And no, we can't ever forget the King Cake! Oh, how I love to eat it! The cream cheese filled one is pretty good too! Thanks!
Fang-I just thought it would be funny to make Rain the patient Mardi Gras Day, rather than the doctor. I hope you liked what I ended up doing in this last chapter. Thanks for the review!
Unbesiegbar Kriegsmaschine-I am thrilled that you like my work and I hope that you continue to. I just thought that Old Chib dressed as a sheep would be hilarious just as I thought Sai as a Ketchup Bottle would be. Glad you liked that. Thanks!
Jessi-I still have no idea what I'm going to name the baby, but I'm working on it. Thanks for letting me know that I have just enough fluff. I'd hate to be over doing it or under doing it. Also, thank you for your extremely kind words.
Sock-her chick 101-You are really so kind! I hope you didn't have a heart attack waking for the last chapter. I really tried to think of ideas as fast as I could in my busy life. Thank you!
FBonilla-Thank you, thank you! I'm so glad that you love it and I hope that you stick around!
Hellboy-Rocks! THANKS!!!
Assassin G-As I said to Hellboy—Rocks! THANKS!!!
Shawn Provoncha-I'm glad that you like the story so far and that you liked the prequel too. It means a lot to me. Thanks!
Sqeekers-Wow! Thanks for such an uplifting review! I love hearing from you.
Rain's love – Domon's heart-A baby should be popping up sooner or later! Thanks for the review!
Ryan-I am very glad that you are pleased with the costumes. I'm surprised that no one told me that I was way off with any of them. That Batman episode you mentioned sounds crazy! I'm sure I'd like it. Thanks for recommending that Thanksgiving Story. I read it, reviewed it and thought it was really great!
Aelita89-Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm so thrilled that you like the story!
CheZa-Wow! I'm glad that you and your friends are enjoying this. Thanks for sharing it with them!
Golden Tuna-Romon or Dain—LOL! I'm very happy that you liked the last chapter!
Koto Juri-I hope that you continue to like the fic. Thanks a lot for the review!
Cuz I Can-I'll keep updating and I hope that you keep enjoying what I write. Thank you so much!
Soccer C.C.-Hey! I'm not mad at you at all! I'm just glad that you review, period. I hope you didn't miss the chapter before this one with the costumes.
Heaven's Rain-Thanks for reviewing! I know about computers being mean. A couple of nights ago, mine wouldn't even let me write. Talk about frustrating!
Gemini-I don't want to say the sex of the baby yet, but I have an idea on what to go with. However, I keep changing my mind. Thanks for the review!