Seventh Month: The Ordeals Of Bed-rest
In all honestly, the lass was so totally fed up with her bed-confinement but there was little she could do. Thank God that she had been allowed a tiny window to work at home even if under a tight schedule. She got the most of the virtual world to achieve her ultimate goal: open up her boutique; and accepted all the help she was offered by Mrs. Hiiragizawa and Sakura, who had been delighted with the concept.
One day she almost cried to be let down and after a thorough check-up she had been allowed to go to the kitchen and bake something under Eriol's surveillance. Her fingers were aching to hold a spatula, she had said. In the end, about two dozens of oatmeal cookies and a strawberry sponge-cake sweetened everyone's tea time. A gathering she had adamantly insisted on having and got after a strong dose of puppy-eyes formula. Her main retractors, Sakura and Sonomi, were not to regret their grant of permission for nothing bad happened and they all had a wonderful time in the presence of the previously sullen Daidouji-child.
The ocassion also served to introduce Eriol's parents to Tomoyo's mother. Both businessheads quickly found many an interesting topic to discuss upon, without having the Japanese to woman entirely neglect some girlish conversation with her British homologue. She was highly praised for her success as a mother, to which Sonomi declined and gave all credit to the good-will of Providence instead. Eriol's parents also got their fair share of flowers.
Tamara had brought with her blue-prints of different kinds of set-ups for Tomoyo to choose and in the end all the women present favored a nice modern layout put together with some classic accessories. The color scheme was pearl-white with light lavender and a touch of pastel pink and orange inspired on a cloud in sunrise.
"I tell you Tomoyo-chan, this is going to be huge!" Exclaimed the honey-haired young woman in much delight. "I can't wait for it to be open!"
"You think?"
"Mochiron! I know women who would trade anything of them to step out of those baggy upon baggy clothes. I was discussing this with Lei Ming, the wife of Syaoran's business associate, and she seemed so eager to get a glimpse of what I was describing to her!"
"That's encouraging," said the pregnant woman with an exhuberant smile. "By the way Sakura-chan, I have something to ask of you..."
"Is something wrong?" In an instant, the sweet cherry blossom had reverted to what Tomoyo had grow to detest: the overly protective stance.
"Actually no, everything is fine. I just wanted to see if you would like to be the store manager? Now that I can't be there to keep things running smoothly, I wanted to make sure that it fell into good hands, hands that I trust entirely."
The emerald eyes filled up to the brim with tears but a wonderful smile that rivaled a sun also appeared of her carefully powdered face. "It's such an honor! I'd love to be a manager Tomoyo-chan!"
It was settled. Tomoyo stayed at home and designed while Sakura took care of things.
It was not until the very ending of the sevent month that the young heiress had permission to attend a Lamaze class. However, she was not allowed to indulge in her favorite sports car plenty of horse-power and Eriol saw to it, personally. Tomoyo often wondered if her friend had been replaced by a rock of the same shape because no longer was he moved by her use of award-wining puppy-eyes and it made her frustrated to no ends at times.
Poor Eriol got dragged into it by Sonomi, who had voiced rather emphatically that it was the only way for her to feel safe about her baby-girl. Tomoyo had suggested Syaoran, given that it was his baby after all and it would be nice to have her "onii-chan" to be there even if it might feel a bit awkward but he had looked so very nervous, even if delighted. The final words were of his agenda: he had to be in Hong Kong for most of the time scheduled for Lamaze due to important business regarding the Li Clan.
The classes were nice and the teacher pleasant. The young lady often found herself with a full-fledged blush on her face and neck whenever they had to practice the massage lessons as a part of relaxation excercises. The goal of Lamaze was to empower women thus giving them the strenght and confidence in their body's capabilities to have a natural childbirth under the phillosophy that women have the knowledge of childbirth within themselves, carved by nature's wise hand. Though it was not against drug anaesthesics like the Epidural drug, it hoped it could be avoided for as much as possible.
She enjoyed talking to the other expectant couples, and had agreed beforehand with Eriol to disguise as a couple for the sake of appearance. During classes the British lad could feel the bond between himself and the lovely puzzle of a patient strenghtening and he found that all the trouble was well worth even if to get closer to the God-send angel.
Finally, Tomoyo's boutique opened to the public on a sunny Saturday but she was ordered to stay at home. However, no amount of scolding or threats could keep her from calling Sakura's personal cellphone and inquiring about every little detail in an hourly schedule.
It proved to be highly successful.