This chapter was significantly easier to write than the last, which is a relief. Anyway, thanks for the reviews; and thanks for being honest, TrigunChic!
I got my provisional license yesterday! I'm so happy! Ahem. Anyway, on with the chapter!
I do NOT own Gundam Wing, just Lian.
Gift From the Sea
Chapter Six
Two weeks passed; Lian's umbilical cord fell off when she was a week and 4 days. Wufei had stayed out of work for a week and had also re-organized the house, having places now for all of Lian's stuff, when it used to be just laying around on the floor.
When he finally had to go back to his bookshop, he took Lian with him, making a spot behind the counter for her to stay.
Customers and employees, mostly women, kept on about how cute and adorable she was. The women employees kept wanting to hold her; Wufei had refused for a few days, afraid that someone would drop her, but in the end finally gave in and let them hold her.
He still hadn't bought Lian a crib yet, so she still slept with him. He did buy a changing table and kept it in a corner of the living room. He bought a baby bathtub and shampoo also. He had gotten lots more clothes and little stocking hats. He had gotten socks for her too. More, lots more, diapers, bottles, pacifiers, formula and blankets. He had even bought her some little soft stuffed animals.
Wufei found that Lian liked it much better when he had his hair down instead of pulled back in a ponytail; she seemed more calm and relaxed. Sally said that it was probably because the hair that fell around his face made his features soften a great deal. Or something like that. He wasn't really listening to her at that moment.
So, therefore he suddenly found himself hardly ever wearing his hair up anymore, and when he did the ponytail was always loose, letting some of his bangs fall into his face.
"Why was it me who found you?" Wufei asked Lian as he walked around the apartment feeding her. Of course, she didn't answer. "Why wasn't it someone else? God knows I'm definitely not qualified to raise a kid," he sighed.
"I sure as hell hope you don't turn out like me. Thrown into a war when you're barely fifteen, getting sent on missions even the most elite of the military wouldn't dare being suspicious of everyone being the enemy....That's not a way to live...." He looked out the kitchen window as he passed by it.
"The war is over now, and peace is obtained, so maybe it can be maintained, and history won't repeat itself. I don't think I can handle another war like the last one..."
Wufei smiled warmly down at Lian. "But let's think positive, ok? You're going to grow up and get a good job, and a good husband, and maybe a kid or two of your own."
He laughed softly to himself. "I guess then that would make me a grandfather...I can't imagine myself like that." He shuddered at his mental image of himself all old, gray, and wrinkled.
"Well, not long ago I would have punched anybody who told me I'd get a kid, and look at me now....I still can hardly believe it." He shook his head and finished feeding her.
"You're going to have to get Lian a crib soon. She can't keep sleeping in your bed," Sally said as she sat on the couch with Wufei in his apartment a few days later. Lian lay on the floor on a blanket knawing on a stuffed bunny's ear.
"Why?" he asked. "I don't see the point of a crib. My bed is fine."
"Because," she explained patiently. "she could roll off the bed in her sleep, or you could roll on top of her and crush her while you sleep, or any number of things."
"I don't usually roll in my sleep," he said.
"But what if you do? You never know what might happen. It's just safer to get her a crib." She looked at him. "I'll even go with you to pick one out."
Wufei was silent for a while then nodded, understanding that Lian's safety was important. "Ok, we can go this weekend."
"That's four days from now," Sally said. "I don't think so. We can both take tomorrow off and we'll go then. You're not really needed at your store, you know. Your employees can handle you being gone."
"Uh...."
"Great. I'll come by tomorrow around 10. Have Lian and yourself ready," she said and got up to go to the door.
"Wait! You just got here," he said.
"I just remembered I have a meeting to go to," she said. "Bye. See you tomorrow."
"But-" he started but she was already gone.
"Do you not even have a stroller for Lian?" Sally asked as she carried the baby out of the apartment in her carrier. Wufei was right behind her checking his wallet for money.
"...No," he answered. "Do I need one?"
She sighed. "You're hopeless....It would be a whole lot easier taking her places. You wouldn't have to carry her around all the time."
"Would it hurt her if I didn't get one?"
"No, but it would be so much easier on you." She thought a second. "...Actually, yeah it could hurt her if you carry her around all the time. You could trip and fall and hurt her."
"I don't trip." he said. They stepped off the curb to get to Sally's truck. Wufei missed the step down and stumbled. "Shut up," he said before she could say anything.
Sally just laughed.
"Here," Sally said handing Wufei a large box. On the front was a picture of a nice looking stroller. His knees threatened to buckle under the unexpected weight.
"Argh....Do we really need something so big?" he asked as he shifted the box's weight so it wasn't so heavy anymore.
"It's the best stroller out right now." she answered. "You do only want Lian to have the best, right?"
"Yeah, yeah," he sighed glancing at Lian lying in her carrier in a buggy two feet off. He shook his head, smiling a bit and carried the box to the buggy and set it down beside it.
He went to the baby and took her tiny fists in his hands. "Do you really deserve all this, Lian?" he asked lightheartedly. She looked up at him with her big eyes.
"Wufei, come here," Sally called from a nearby isle. "Bring Lian."
He did, and found her looking at what seemed like hundreds of cribs. Sally took Lian and took her to a nearby crib and sat her down in it.
"Woman, what are you doing?" he asked going up to her.
"Seeing how Lian looks in the crib," she answered.
"What does it matter how she looks in the crib?" he asked taking Lian out of the crib.
"Well, if it doesn't suit her then she'll have trouble sleeping, and that'll mean she'll be fussy, and that means long nights of no sleep for you."
"You sound like you've had kids yourself," Wufei grumbled, but handed the baby back over to Sally. "How are you such a know it all if you've never had any of your own, huh?"
"I've been a doctor long enough to know," she answered simply. Then her face brightened. "Oo! I like that one over there! What do you think Wufei?"
"We've spent over $400 today," Wufei groaned as they rode home. All the stuff they bought was in the back of the truck. Lian was strapped in the middle seat between Sally and Wufei.
"It's worth it though," Sally answered. "Besides, I'll pay you back half of the cost."
"You are?" he asked.
"Yeah!" she nodded. "You don't expect me to drag you to the mall by your hair and force you to look at cribs and stuff all day and not help pay for it."
"You didn't drag me to the mall by my hair," Wufei said rubbing the base of his loose ponytail. "...You just drug me out of the house by it." he added in an undertone, glaring at his friend.
R&R please! As always, I love constructive criticism.
