(A/N – Hello again guys! I really enjoyed my two week vacation, and I came up with a lot of great ideas that I plan on using for the coming chapters! I'm still trying to get used to updating on a Saturday instead of on a Tuesday, but I'll get it right! Anyway I hope you guys enjoy the story, and please review when you finish, okay?)

Nine Months in the Socks of the Motamiya's: Chapter 9

"So, umm…what do you guys wanna do?" Davis asked, his leg dangling over the edge of the chair.

"Well," Izzy began, closing the lid of his laptop. "We could just hang around here until Sunday night when our wives come back."

"Nice idea, boy genius," Tai said, gently bonking Izzy in his head. "I would say that we could go to my place and watch the soccer game on TV, but the girls would kick us out in a heartbeat."

The group of guys sighed deeply.

"Will someone refresh my memory," Matt began, leaning up against the wall. "and tell me who's idea was this girls only weekend/baby shower?"

"Well," TK began. "Yolei thought of it and told Kari…"

"…and Kari told Sora all about it…" Davis added.

"…and Sora told Mimi…" Izzy sighed.

"…and Mimi told June." Matt concluded, shaking his head. "Now I remember. I swear, somedays I feel it's the girls that are attached to the umbilical cords not the babies."

The group of guys sighed again, mumbling their approval.

"Anybody seen Ken, Cody or Joe?" Tai asked. "And why aren't they here sharing in our boredom?"

"Joe's at work, so you know he's happy as a clam." Davis replied, slowly flipping through the TV channels. "I swear, you would think he lives at the hospital or something."

"Cody is hanging out at the mall, but he said he'll come by later." Izzy said.

"And Ken is at his mother's birthday party in Edo." Matt said, shaking his head.

The group heaved another big sigh, and the room plunged into silence.

"I know! Why don't we go see a movie?" Izzy said, opening up his laptop. "There's got to be something playing. Lemme check online."

"Well, it's better than doing nothing," Davis said, sitting up a bit. "it beats hanging out here."

"I wonder what the girls are up to?" Matt asked, leaning over the back of the couch to look on Izzy's computer screen.

"If Mimi, Yolei and June are involved, I would say between them they're up to about a hundred bucks," Izzy said, rapidly typing on the keyboard. "You know them; Visa, MasterCard and Discover are they're best friends."

"Oh, please don't remind me." Davis groaned. "Our bank balances are probably plummeting right about now."

"She's insane." Kari said, looking up into the clear sky as the airplane flew overhead. "There's no two ways to say it. She's a few rolls short of a sushi plate."

"Some people knit, some people garden, other's jump out of airplanes." June said, shrugging. "Who are we to judge?"

"Look! Look! There she goes!" Mimi cried, pointing up in the sky at a big blue and green parachute descending to the ground.

Almost as one, the group of girls jerked their heads up to the heavens as the parachute grew bigger and bigger as it approached the ground.

"Oh, I hope she knows what she's doing," Sora said, as the figure became more defined. "That kid is going to be in for one rude awakening."

"Not to mention a hard landing." June added. "She's on her final approach!"

The figure lifted her legs as she slowly fell from the sky, bracing for the impending impact. Her purple hair, tied into a ponytail, was now visible under her helmet.

"Hang on, baby!" Kari shouted to the figure. "Tie yourself down using your cord!"

The girls laughed as the figure made a gentle landing on the ground, running as she touched the earth. The parachute billowed behind her for a second, then dropped loosely to the ground. They ran over to her, applauding, cheering and laughing.

"Way to go Yolei! That was so cool!" Sora said, the first one to reach her. "You did that like a pro! What was it like?"

The figure lifted her goggles off her eyes. "What a rush!" Yolei shouted, removing her helmet. "It was so cool! It felt like I was going to slam right into the ground!"

"How did the baby feel?" Kari asked as Yolei unsnapped her parachute. "Was it moving around a lot?"

"Oh, this little critter was a bundle of energy!" Yolei said, patting her stomach under her flight suit. "He was kicking like crazy before I did the jump, and when I was flying through the air on my stomach, she settled down and went with the flow!"

"He? She? Sounds like you still don't know it it's a boy or a girl." Mimi said, hands on hips. "We're going shopping later, Yolei, and we need to know!"

"Aww, come on! Kari doesn't know what her baby is!" Yolei accused, pointing to a shocked Kari. "Why don't you get on her!"

"I did while you were soaring through the atmosphere," Mimi sighed, "besides, the kid in her keeps moving around so much, they can't get a clear picture."

"It's probably a boy, then," June said, giggling. "You know how shy guys can be when it comes to…down there."

The group of girls laughed. "Come on, guys." Yolei said, pulling the chute off her back. "Help me get this chute bundled back up, and then we can hit the mall!"

"Now you're talking!" Mimi said, as the group of girls gathered around the deployed parachute. "Umm…how do we fold this up?"

Yolei blinked. "Umm…that's a good question."

"You know girls," Mimi said, shifting her bags over to her right hand. I think we did pretty good for 2 hours of work."

"Yeah, and we were only on the first level," June said, looking up at the two remaining floors as they walked. "And we got two more levels to go!"

"These bags are starting to get heavy!" Sora groaned. "We should stop somewhere and rest."

"What we really need is a…" Yolei's voice trailed off as she caught sight of a tall young teenager with short cut hair and a long wooden sword tied to his back looking in a store window. "Young, tall, strong, helpful high school junior with green eyes, two free hands, and a strong back."

"Girl, you're dreaming." Kari said, laughing. "Where are you going to find a guy like that?"

"Right…over…there. Hey! Cody!" Yolei called out, dropping the bags in her hands and waving. "Cody! Over here!"

The young teenager walked over to the group of girls with a small smile on his face. "Oh, hey Mimi, Yolei, Sora, Kari, June. How are you?"

"Oh, we're fine. Just doing a bit of shopping. How are you?" Yolei asked.

"Pretty good. I just came from kendo practice and I just wanted to go for a walk in the mall before I met up with the guys." Cody replied.

"Well, isn't that a coincidence?" Yolei said, smiling broadly. "We were just walking through the mall ourselves and we were going to meet up with the guy later! We just needed a rest from carrying around these bags."

"Oh, well… I can carry your bags around for you." Cody offered, removing his backpack.

"Really? You would do that for us?" Yolei asked, slipping the girls behind her a small wink.

"Yeah. It's no problem at all. Just hand them over." He said, gently taking Yolei's three bags out of her hands.

"Oh, thank you Cody! You're so sweet!" Kari said, handing him her three bags.

"Yeah, Cody, you're a prince!" Mimi said, handing over her two bags.

"True blue, dude, true blue!" June added, passing Cody her three bags, which he hooked under his right elbow

"You are so cool, Cody!" Sora said, handing him two large bags, which he hooked under his left elbow.

"Ready girls?" Mimi asked the group.

"Let's hit the second level!" they cried out as they strode to the elevator.

Cody stood alone in the forecourt; his hands and elbows now weighed down with shopping bags. "Hey guys! Wait!" He cried as the elevator doors closed.

He sighed and slowly walked towards the escalators.

"Oh, Kari that looks beautiful on you!" June gasped. "Absolutely beautiful!"

Kari stepped outside the dressing room, brushing off the wrinkles on a red and pink flowered sundress. "You sure?"

"Oh yes, that's so beautiful. It brings out the color in your hair and eyes." Mimi said, tugging at the dress. "And it flows around your tummy beautifully!"

Kari looked at the price tag and gasped. "$40! For a dress I'm only going to wear while I'm pregnant!"

"Think of it as an investment to the beautification of yourself and your unborn." Yolei said poetically, pushing her in front of a mirror.

Kari put her hands on her rounded stomach and looked at herself from all angles. "I could use another opinion. A male opinion."

"Oh, Co-dy!" Yolei called out. "Can you come in here for a second?"

Cody, who was sitting outside the maternity store, gathered up the bags and slowly walked into the store, his face growing redder and redder as he walked further into the store. The clerks and other customers were staring at him and whispering as he approached the dressing rooms.

"Which one do you think he got pregnant?"

"I don't know. Probably the purple haired one. Do you see how she handles him?"

"Btu he looks so young. Do you really think he did that with one of those girls?"

"Times have changed since we were young…he probably did it with all three of them."

"Scandalous!"

"Cody! There you are! Come on!" Yolei said, yanking the teenager by his arm into the dressing room. "In your honest male opinion, how does Kari look in this dress?"

"Well, ummm…" Cody stammered, still recovering from the shock of being in the ladies dressing room.

"See, just like I told you! You look fine, Kari!" Yolei said, pushing Cody out of the way. "Get outta here, Cody! You're in the ladies dressing room! People will start talking!"

Cody gave a heavy sigh as he walked back out into the store, mentally bracing himself for the onslaught of hisses and whispers from the other ladies in the store.

"You're doing this for your friends, Iori…you're doing this for your friends…" Cody repeatedly thought to himself.

"Okay, girls. One more floor and then we can call it a wrap and head back home!" Yolei said, to the group as they piled into the elevator.

Cody, now laden down with five more bags hanging off his arms, slowly stepped into the elevator.

The second his foot hit the floor, a loud buzz sounded in the elevator car. "Attention: The cab is overweight." The digital announcement said.

"Sorry, Cody. Looks like you have to take the escalators. We'll meet you upstairs, okay?" Yolei asked.

Cody gave a deep sigh and stepped off the elevator. The bell sounded and the doors slid shut. He slowly turned to the escalators and walked towards them. As he approached, he noticed that the steps weren't moving.

There was a mall security guard standing at the entrance to the escalator waving people off. "Sorry folks. Escalators are down for maintenance." He announced.

Growling, Cody turned to the stairs and started his accent. When he reached the first landing, he came up with a revised chant. He discovered that at this particular moment, his former chant of "You're doing this for your friends" didn't work…he needed more encouragement.

So, as he climbed onward, his muscles aching in protest as he took each step up, he started chanting to himself, "You're doing this for your pregnant friends, Iori…you're doing this for your pregnant friends Iori…"

(A/N – Now it's time for my favorite part of the program: letting my reviewers know I care:

Paige34 - I know it's my story and I can update when I want, but I also know that if I would have updated on Tuesday, you would have been really mad! So THAT's why I pushed (ha ha) the story back to Saturday updates, just for you! And you can look forward to more "Tai Freak out" moments as the story goes on!

SomeoneInThePastOfEarth - :Opens the box and smiles: I wasn't trying to be mean, I was just stating that until I see an official notice from stating that answering reviews is not kosher…I'll keep on doing it, of course! I'm a rebel with a cause!

Dark Qiviut – Funny that you pick that part of the story out as the funniest! I had the most fun writing this bit of Taiora. Mostly because the last Taiora I wrote ("Search for the New") I put Sora near death, and I really didn't have the opportunity to show her and Tai's relationship, so in essence, this is my first REAL Taiora and Daikari!

Anthony1 – Thanks for understanding about the Instant Message problem. I have dialup and a one phone line household and that just spells trouble. Like I mentioned before, this was is my first REAL attempt at Taiora, and I wanted to do it just right. Having Joe be their doctor just kind of fell into place all on it's own: I took the fan-made couples (Daikari and Takolei) and gave them fan-made doctors (Dr. Greystone and Dr. McKnight). So Joe just fell into place.

Fan Fiction Story Rater - :Dodges bullets: You had to say something, didn't you? Didn't it occur to you that MAYBE the girls would be carrying Military armaments! Anyway, thanks for the review and watch what you say next time, please:Continues dodging bullets:

Colormyworld - :Returns salute: It sure is a boy! To satisfy one the dying thirst of one of my favorite reviewers :coughs: Paige34 :coughs, I went ahead and told the sex of just one of the couples. I usually leave the gender until the very end of the story, right at the birth scene is when I decide, but she was so persistent to find out what one of the kids were going to be, I had to give in just once…don't expect any more slips though!

And to Sakuno629, JyouraKoumi, and WarPrince2000, I just want to thank you and everyone else for your continued support and I hope I can bring home a story that will knock your freakin' socks off! See ya in the next chapter one and all!)