The Game of Life
By theladyknight
Disclaimer: Digimon—not mine!
A/N: Hey everyone! I'm alive! Lol! Sorry for the long wait; I had lots of stuff going on and lots of homework to do…a big big big thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I love you guys! Please R&R and hope you like the chapter.
Sweet-sorato: They're definitely not real kids. That would be a little scary…
Jozzy-digimonfan: Well I'm glad you did read this and glad you liked it ::smiles::
Money makes me smile: Thanks!!
Nickygirl: I love reading things that make me laugh when I've had a bad day…
Celest4: Expect more hilarity as the babies are here!
Kkornelia: There's no kissing in this chapter! Lol! Glad you like it so far. My sophomore English teacher was deathly afraid of clowns and I thought it'd be a nice twist. There's a lot of Mimi and Tai in this chapter…not necessarily any hints but they're in a good portion…
Ms. Unknown: Yeah, it'll be chaos!
Tehee: I didn't choose Izumi, but thanks for the suggestion!
SiverBlack12: There's no kissing in this chapter and there will be at least one more game and it'll be a little like the Newlywed Game…
Kat: Sack of flour? That's a new one…
Scorpion05: ::hehehe:: Tai's golfing was based on when my family, my neighbors, and the guys who work for my dad went golfing. My dad was the one who hit it across the wrong road and the guy who works for us hit it straight up in the air and also hit it into a pen of cows!
Mushi-SanBan: Yes, there are babies!
Sorato4eva: Chaos!
Sapphire Dragons: Thanks!
Indigowolf: Gotta love the takari!
Sylver Kamiya: Yup, they're special dolls though…read to see…thanks for the review!
Blondie121147: Fruit? That's a new one too! Lol! You had to carry an egg around??? Did you pass the class??? I can guarantee they will not be carrying around any sort of food. And if they had to Taichi would most likely eat his and Mimi's kid…
Jodi Crystal: He'd better ask her soon! Lol! Glad you like it!
Inconnu: Now if only his older brother would get a hint…
Xymi Angel Ghost: I'm glad you like it and we've gotten you to appreciate soratos…that made me smile!
Placid Snowflake: I saw the school play eleven times I think and it got to the point where I could recite nearly every line in the play…uh oh, that reminds me I was supposed to be memorizing lines for a Spanish play ::goes off to do that::
Rilla1989: Taichi would agree with you…lol!
KazamaFangirl: I guess I don't feel every chapter has to have conflict. I like to build up the exposition so when it's time for the conflict, I don't need to waste time filling in details. Trust me, though, you'll get your conflict. With babies, what can you expect? And as I'm sort of basing this on the end of 02, there may be a potential takari breakup or rough waters for them. I haven't decided yet. I would never write a story just to hook someone up with no plot in mind…
Animemistress419: I agree!
Cute-cleo: Thanks!
Crazyamzy: Funny story, yeah a friend and I actually did go to Burger King during school once. We were at a job shadow and supposed to go back to school for lunch but we were having turkey sandwiches and we were just like, let's go to Burger King! Lol! I think you have an idea of what's coming up in this chapter…well maybe…Oh and btw, this chapter's dedicated to you for all the help you've given me and all the interesting conversations we've had…
Chapter 8: The Joys of Parenthood
"Class, if you thought the project in general has been easy up until now, then you're going to have to get rid of that philosophy."
I looked in front of me to see fourteen baby dolls. This is supposed to be challenging? They're just dolls.
"Ms. Greene, how is taking care of a doll hard?"
She smirked. "They're not ordinary dolls, Taichi. These babies are computer run and have the ability to cry when you least expect them to. You and your spouse will be taking care of these children for the next two weeks and this assignment will largely determine your final grade. If the baby arrives back in my room with its internal computer in tact and not looking like a disaster, you pass. If not, well I think you understand."
Kari raised her hand. "So basically all we have to do is keep the baby from crying and we pass, right?"
Our teacher shook her head. "In a way, you are right but there's a bit more to it. With each baby you're going to receive a carrier, diaper bag, bottle, diaper, some informational help, and a wristband. The wristband is the key here."
"What's it do?" someone asked.
"There is a spot on the baby's back that matches up with an indent on the wristband. By placing the two together you will be able to get the child to stop crying. But with each different kid comes a different wristband. No two are the same. If you loose your wristband, you and your partner will most likely not be passing this class. In addition to using the wristband, you'll have to figure out why the baby was crying—because he or she was hungry, fussy, or perhaps had a dirty diaper. You will then have to solve the problem by feeding, rocking, or changing the baby's diaper. And the computer has the ability to record everything that happens to the child, so I'll know whether or not you were properly taking care of your child. Anymore questions?"
"So basically you're saying we have to take this kid with us everywhere you go." Gwen asked.
Ms. Greene smiled. "I'm glad you asked that. You and your spouse are responsible for the child on nights and over the weekends. However, with the exception of Fridays, you will leave the child in my room and pick it up at the end of the day. I have a key that can turn the computers off for a while without loosing anything, and I can then turn them back on when school's out. I want you to get a sense of what it's like to be a parent with a baby that you are responsible for."
Yamato's hand shot up. "Is that everything?"
"No, we are going to be doing financial activities inside of class and each individual will be required to keep a journal regarding your feelings about this experience." She paused. "Everything else I have left out or you may need to know is in a packet inside the diaper bag. The bell will be ringing soon so it's time for the stork to come. Please form a line and stand with your spouse. You will be drawing for gender and number of kids."
Hikari gasped. "Number of kids?"
Ms. Greene smiled. "Yes, two couples will be blessed with twins."
"Twins!" Taichi exclaimed. "Oh God, please don't let us get twins! Please don't let us get twins!" He had crossed his fingers and clenched his eyes as Mimi reached into the box Ms. Greene was holding. She let out a shriek. "No!" Tai cried and I'm sure the people down the hall could hear him.
"Relax," she rolled her eyes, "we don't have twins. We have a baby GIRL! Oh this is going to be great! I'll get to dress her up in all sorts of things! I think I need to go shopping!"
My brunette friend still had his mouth open. Suddenly he threw his arms around Mimi and picked her up. "We don't have twins! We don't have twins! You and I would loose our heads if we had twins!"
"You lost your head a long time ago! Put me down!"
The class laughed as Taichi realized what he'd done. "Sorry, I was just so," Ms. Greene handed Mimi the baby carrier and baby and gave Tai the diaper bag and wristband, "wait…you're not going to dress her up in pink and do weird stuff to her?"
The look on Mimi's face gave it away. "Everything you need is inside the diaper bag! Please keep moving." Ms. Greene saved the day for all of us. I could tell she was just as relieved as Taichi that they had not gotten twins.
Yamato and I were in the middle of the line and things moved considerably faster now that Tai and Mimi were done. "Boy!" Hikari exclaimed.
"That works." Takeru replied. I rolled my eyes. They'd been glued to each other since admitting their feelings and frankly all the sap was making me sick.
Three couples later, it was our turn. I reached my hand into the box and grabbed a slip of paper. "So?"
"Girl," Yama smiled and as I looked at the paper again, I gulped, "and…boy…"
His eyes flashed towards the paper. "You mean?" he too read the sheet.
Smiling broadly Ms. Greene studied the paper. "It looks like the two of you are the first of two couples to the get the twins."
Go figure that would happen to us. Ms. Greene handed us each a baby, carrier, diaper bag, and wristband. "Ha! Ha! Have fun you two!" Taichi catcalled.
I flipped him off when Ms. Greene turned her back. "This is definitely going to make things interesting."
"You're telling me." The blond replied, as we walked to the door. "I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to be chaotic."
The last couple received their child at the bell. "Take care of your children!" Ms. Greene called and I had an odd feeling she was directing that comment at Taichi and Mimi.
My two best friends and I walked towards Physics. The soccer star was still laughing hysterically at Yama and me. "You two got screwed!"
"Actually, I'd say we're doing everyone a favor because you and Mimi would corrupt twins." Yamato retorted.
"Funny," Tai stuck out his tongue. "Actually this whole twins thing is probably the best thing that could happen to you two."
I rolled my eyes. "Why would that be, Taichi."
He gave an exasperated sigh. "Because you two will get to spend even more time as a married couple with your kids, admit you love each other, and finally a few year later you'll have little Yama's and Sora's running around!"
"Would you just give up on trying to set us up?" Yamato barked. "If Sor and I…if something happens between us, we'll decide what to do about it."
"Please," I answered, "we're getting tired of everyone trying to hook us up. Can't you all just leave us alone?"
Taichi held up his hands as we walked into the classroom. "But if I'm not there to bug you about it, when are you going to get up the nerve to do it…"
I stood by my locker at the end of the day, holding the baby boy's carrier and waiting for Yama. I'm so glad classes are over and that I have a tennis match in the next coming hours. Tennis helps me relieve stress and after Ms. Greene introduced the babies, I'll say I could use some stress relief.
The babies are a scream, literally.
Yamato agreed to take notes for me in Physics while I read over the stuff Ms. Greene had put in the diaper bag. I swear, I don't know where she gets some of this stuff. It probably came from the same place she got those twenty year old movies from.
So the Stork Came
You're life has just changed for the better. You are now the proud parent of a boy/girl (circle one) and must learn how to take care of your child. This doll will act like an actual child allowing you and your husband/wife (circle one) to experience what it is like to be a parent. I'm sure you already know that this baby has an internal computer and has the ability to cry…
Well that document was a load of crap. I already knew everything on it. I moved on to the next sheet in the bag.
The Joys of Parenthood—Assignment
There are a few key things you will need to do over the weekend as part of your assignment. One of the most important things is to give your child a name. I want a detailed family tree filled out along with your child's name written on it and brought to class on Monday.
You will also need to journal on both Saturday and Sunday about how these first two days have gone. I want to know your thoughts and feelings; don't be afraid to be bluntly honest. The only one who will be reading these journal entries is me and though I normally don't approve of uncensored things like this, I want to know your true feelings. Good luck all…
Great, in addition to watching the children we have to do more homework!
Helpful Hints
If the baby starts crying, flip him or her onto her back and insert your wristband into the designated area (it shouldn't be too hard to find). Then in order to determine why it started crying, first hold the bottle up to its mouth. If nothing happens, then your baby was hungry. If it begins to cry again, this may happen immediately or after a few seconds, try something else, like rocking it. These…
That was as far as I got because the next thing I knew, "WAHHHHHH!"
The class turned to face me and I felt my face immediately heat up. Quickly I turned the boy over and unbuttoned the back of the shirt he had come in. The paper had been right; it was very easy to find the right place for the wristband. I moved the indentation over the spot and the wristband went in. Remembering what the sheet had said, I stuck the bottle up to the baby's mouth.
He had stopped crying but everyone's eyes were still glued on me. "What class is that for, Ms. Takenouchi?"
"Child Development."
He nodded. "That figures. Anyone else here in that class?"
Taichi, Yamato, and one other girl raised their hands. Our teacher's glanced at each one but his eyes stopped on Taichi. "Why don't you have a child, Mr. Yagami?"
"She's with my wife."
The man grinned. "That child is very lucky." He opened his mouth to speak when the boy sitting on my desk decided he really wasn't hungry.
"WAHHH!"
I put the wristband back on the spot just under his neck and this time rocked him instead. He stopped crying and I prayed he wouldn't start again. Our teacher chuckled. "What I was going to say before…good luck."
Thankfully the baby didn't cry again and my two best friends and I headed to lunch. We met up with Mimi and decided to eat outside so we wouldn't be stared at should the babies cry.
"Yagami, you are taking her this afternoon! She cried three times during my last class and I almost got a detention!" Mimi cried. I explained to her everything I had read during Physics. "I wish I would have known that then. Well, it doesn't matter. I got her to quiet down eventually but you get her this afternoon, Tai."
Tai began shaking his head furiously. "No way! She'll cry all day if I have her. I'm not cut out to do this alone."
"And you think I am?" Mimi answered.
The brunette sighed. "Okay, how about if I take her for the next two classes and you take her the rest of the day."
"That's a little unfair," Yama interrupted, "because that means Mimi gets her over the weekend."
Tai rubbed the back of his neck. "Well we could always flip a coin to see who gets her tonight. Then the other person gets her Saturday night and so on."
Yama and I both snickered and Mimi glared at us. "That works for me."
"Okay, Mimi; it's my coin so I get to call it. I call tails." I fought the urge to laugh. Tai was going to use the new coin he showed me the other day.
As Taichi threw the coin in the air, I caught it. "No, Taichi, we're going to use my coin. This one has tails on both sides."
Mimi put her hands on her hips and stared Taichi down. "I'm sorry!" he exclaimed.
"Where'd you get that?" Yamato asked.
"Some freshman named Daisuke. He's on the soccer team and had a couple of them. I asked for one and he gave it to me. I figured it may come in handy some time."
"Well this time's not one of them!" Mimi shouted.
Yamato held up his hands. "As much as I hate to break this up, the bell's about to ring and it's getting really windy out here." The blond was right. I knew the weathermen had mentioned something about high winds and rainstorm for later tonight but I didn't think it would happen this early or even at all. "Sora, flip the coin."
"Tails!" Taichi called in the air.
I flipped it over and smirked at him. "Heads." He turned to look at the coin and cursed under his breath.
Mimi sighed in relief. "Thank God. I don't know what we'd do if we had two kids like you guys."
"I guess we're each taking care of one tonight." Yamato faced me. I was about to nod in agreement when something popped into my head. Crap. "What's with the look, Sor?"
"In all the excitement I kind of forgot I have a tennis match this afternoon. There's no way I can take one of the babies with me. If the baby started to cry during the match Coach would be pissed."
"But I have band practice. The guys aren't going to be thrilled if I show up with two kids, let alone one."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tai and Mimi sneak away, with Taichi carrying the baby.
"Yama, please, I'll come pick whichever one you want me to take up right after the match gets over. I swear!"
He sighed. "Sora, the guys are going to freak…"
"…and you don't think Coach will? We are playing the match that decides if we move onto tournaments. Everything rides on this match. I don't want to be the one to let the team down."
"Sora, you'll win. You always do."
I shook my head. "That's not what I mean, Yamato. The child will be a distraction. I won't be focusing all my energy on the match if I'm busy worrying about whether or not the kid will cry."
"But you can get someone else to help watch the baby."
"That's not the point. Please, Yama, just take both of them." The bell rang and we both stood up.
"Sora, I still don't see why you can't take one of them." We walked inside, still arguing. I turned around so I could face him.
"Yama, look, we're each going to be late for class if we don't go. If you change your stubborn mind, meet me by my locker after eighth hour." I walked off before he could say anything. We have a different class this period on Fridays. I go to PE while he helps out in the music center.
So there I was, standing at my locker hoping he would come. "Taichi, Mimi, have you guys seen Yama?"
"Nope," Mimi replied, "I think he left."
My head fell and as I was about to put grab my things from my locker, I heard my name being called. "Yamato."
"Hey, look, I'm sorry about before. I was an ass and shouldn't have said those things. I'll take both the kids. The guys won't be too happy with me, but hey, I'm the one in charge there, right?"
I smiled and handed him the carrier. "Apology accepted. Thank you so much! I'll be there to pick one of them up after the match gets over."
"Hey, don't worry about it. I'll just stop by your place and drop her off." I guess I'm watching the girl.
"But there won't be anyone home until I get back."
"That's right. Your parents are out of town. I guess you can pick her up."
Mimi smiled. "Your parents are out of town?"
"Yeah, but don't get any ideas."
"I'm not." She tried to sound innocent but I could tell the word party was running through her head.
"You know I could just stay over at your place tonight. Dad won't be home and that way if we have any problem with the kids we can figure it out." Yamato suggested.
"Okay." I answered, trying hard not to blush.
Taichi grinned stupidly. "You two gonna have a sleepover? Can I come?" Mimi jabbed him in the stomach. "Ouch! What was that…oohhhh! I gotcha. You two are going to have a "sleepover"."
Yamato and my mouth's both dropped. "Perverts!" the blond called as Mimi and Taichi both waved and darted off.
"We'll see you two tomorrow! Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Yamato!" Taichi shouted.
I faced the rock star. "I'd say it'd be more like don't do anything he would do…"
I ran down the sidewalk in the direction of the band's practice area. Well, I didn't run, I walked as fast as I could through the rain. I guess the weatherman was finally right. Our match had been canceled but Coach still made us stay and lift weights in the weight room.
During that time I had gotten four voice mails from Yama and after the first one figured out the problem. Sora, I need you to get here fast! The boy won't stop crying! I don't have the wristband; you still do. Please call me back or get here as fast as you can.
The other three were like that and were spread over the course of an hour. Coach wouldn't let me leave or anyone else leave, claiming we needed to use this time to get more ready for the match because we'd be playing it next week instead. Finally she let us out when Gwen pointed outside and figured out it was raining pretty hard.
I had gathered up my things and rushed out the door. The Teen-Age Wolves practice about four blocks from our field house, where we'd been lifting weights. Getting there was not fun. It had started to rain harder as I reached the building and I was drenched when I finally walked in.
"Sora, thank God!" Akira shouted.
Takashi joined us and nearly pushed me inside. "Please, put us all out of our misery."
I could hear the baby screaming from the hallway and got in there as fast as I could. Yutaka and Yamato were in there with the two kids and Yutaka had his hands clenched over his ears.
I sat down next to them and Yamato's face lit up with a grin. Thirty seconds later the baby had finished crying and was happily back in his carrier. "Sora, you're a goddess!" Yutaka exclaimed. "I don't know how much longer I could have stood all the crying!"
"I would have gotten here sooner but Coach wouldn't let us out of practice. Our match got postponed so we were in the weight room. She only let us out now because it's down pouring outside."
Akira's eyes flashed in my direction. "Shit! I left the window in my car down! I'll see you guys tomorrow, I've got to be getting home anyway."
He dashed out the door and the other two laughed. I looked over at the blond but he had his eyes narrowed. Takaishi and Yutaka both seemed to know what that meant and both headed to the door. "Mom said to be home for supper tonight. Talk to you to later." Yutaka called.
"Yama?"
He raised his eyebrows at me. "Never do that again."
"What? Forget to give you the bracelet?"
He nodded. "It was hell. We couldn't get anything done because the boy couldn't stop crying. He cried from nearly the moment I got him here."
"Why didn't you just come down and get the wristband from me?"
"Didn't want to disrupt your concentration. Any distractions would have screwed you up." He answered sarcastically.
I sighed. "Yama, I'm sorry. I completely forgot to give you the wristband but I won't do it again. But you know, you didn't exactly ask for it either."
"Because I thought you had remembered everything!" he shouted.
"Look, it was a mistake! We all make mistakes. It wasn't like I purposely forgot to give it to you. Get over it!" I shouted back.
He folded his arms. "Because you forgot to give me the damn wristband we got absolutely nothing done here! The guys were pissed!"
He walked over to a folding chair and sat down. "Yama," I followed him over and knelt down by his side. "Look, yelling at each other is going to get us nowhere. We're both under a lot of added stress from these babies but if all we do is bitch at each other, things aren't going to be looking good for us or our grade. I'm sorry I forgot to give you the wristband. I was sure I had everything for you but I guess I didn't."
His cerulean eyes looked into mine. "I'm sorry too. I overreacted. I'm saying sorry a lot, aren't I?"
"Hey, a lot of it's stress and coming from this class. Jyou never told us we'd have to do this."
Yamato stood up and smiled at me. "Jyou also didn't tell us the teacher he had was planning on retiring either." He offered me his hand and pulled me up. "Come on, I'll drop you off at your apartment, grab some clothes from my place, you order us a pizza, and I'll be back."
I laughed as we each picked up a kid and made a dash for his car. "What kind?"
"Hmmmm…" we both were very soaked by the time we reached the car. "Taco."
"That sounds good." I replied. He dropped me off at my place with both the babies and reappeared fifteen minutes later. "Jeez, I thought the pizza would be here before you."
"Funny. I would have been here sooner but I was looking around for this." He held up a DVD is his hands: Shrek 2. (Not mine!)
"Yama, you are such a kid!"
He gave me an indignant look. "Come now, Sora. It's a good movie! And I think the kids will like it too!" the blond gestured to the babies and I hit him on the shoulder.
"You are a dork." He gave me his charming smile and I rolled my eyes. The pizza delivery guy came and Yama and I flipped a coin to see who would pay. God, we're starting to act like Taichi and Mimi.
"My coin. Tails!" I called. I flipped the coin and we both looked at it. "Tails."
"Damn," the blond paid the guy and we spent the rest of the night eating pizza, watching the DVD, and catching up. It was good to have time to talk. We'd seen it other so much but hadn't really had time to hang out like friends for awhile.
Around 11:30, as some television movie was playing, I glanced over at the blond. We were sitting on the sofa wrapped up in the blanket while the two babies, the girl we had named Megumi and the boy we had named Ryo were on the floor. "Yama, this was fun. We need to do it again."
"Yeah," he yawned and it appeared he was half asleep. "Sure."
"We could do this tomorrow and invite all the others."
"Whatever you say." He wasn't even listening to me.
"You are a hairy goat, Yamato."
"Yep, night Sor."
I snickered. "Good night, Yama." I wasn't tired though. I pulled out the notebook I had set beside me and searched around for a pen. Tomorrow should be fun. I found the pen and there was a coin next to it. Grinning, I flipped it over. I knew I didn't give Tai back the coin with tails on both sides for a reason…
A/N: The babies in here are based upon the dolls the Child Development class at my school gets. I found out all the information because at the moment the people in the class have the babies and it's really funny to watch! Please review!!!!