(A/N – Chapter 16 is hot off the presses, on time and ready for review! This is something I always wanted to write, so it's really special to me! As I said in chapter 15, "expect the unexpected!" this chapter is no different! I hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you think!)
Nine Months in the Socks of the Motamiya's: Chapter 16
"Kari! Have you seen the big bowl of popcorn that I had setting on the table?"
"Yeah. I ate it. That's what people who are nine months pregnant tend to do with big bowls of popcorn."
"Not when the popcorn is supposed to go on the Christmas tree!"
Davis rolled his eyes and padded into the living room where a large, dark green Christmas tree stood, decked out with large glass ornaments, big red bows, shiny strands of silver tensile, and wrapped with big blue and pink Christmas lights.
Underneath the tree, among the brightly wrapped boxes and bags, with bright red bows, dangled 8 plugs, waiting to be inserted into the power strip that waited at its base, hidden among the presents.
Kari stood, nearly dwarfed, by the tree, hanging candy canes from the free branches with one stuck in her mouth. Her stomach was brushing up against the limbs of the tree, bumping the ornaments and large glass bulbs.
"Hey, hey! Watch it!" Davis said, gently pulling Kari from the tree. "You'll knock the ornaments off!"
"Oh, come on, Davis. I was doing just fine!" Kari groaned, walking back up the tree and resuming her hanging of the candy canes.
"I thought I told you to take it easy." Davis said, taking a few of the candy canes out of her hands and pinning them up on the tree.
"Since when do I listen to what you say?" Kari said, dryly, hands on hips. "Besides, the others will be here in a few minutes, and there's no way you'll be able to finish all this on your own."
"I would if you wouldn't eat the decorations." Davis said with a smirk as he kissed her on the cheek. "Seriously. Everything is just about ready. All I have to do is plug in the tree, and we're ready."
Kari gave a small grin. "Okay. I'm sorry for being a bit snappy, Dai-chan. It just feels like this pregnancy thing is never going to end."
"The doctor said it would be any day now, so just take it one day at a time, Kari-chan." Davis said, stooping under the tree. "It looks like you can drop the kid right here right now."
Kari fell back in the couch, flipping through an open CD case. "Who are you telling? This kid really loves using its head as a battering ram and my bladder is the door."
"Ha ha--OW!" Davis groaned, as the tree gave a small shake. "We're all plugged in!' he said, scooting from under the tree, his hair now littered with pieces of tensile and pine needles. "it's all set up through this push button switch on the floor!"
"Ever the engineer." Kari said, pulling a CD out the case. "I just hope it doesn't start a fire. Do you think we went a little overboard with the Christmas lights, Dai-chan?"
"Nah! We got a power strip with a surge protector on it. If it overloads, the circuit will break. It's cool!" Davis replied, grinning.
"I hope so," Kari said, putting the disk in the CD player next to her. "Remember what happened the last time you overloaded the Christmas tree?"
"Yeah," Davis said, wincing. "The doctors were scared to touch me for fear of electrocution."
Ding-dong!
"Ah! The guests have arrived! Here we go!" Davis said, padding to the front door. He stepped down into the entranceway towards the door and looked through the peephole.
"Digi-digi?"
"Mon-mon!"
"Good enough for me!" Davis cried, flinging open the door and stepping to one side. "Hey guys! Merry Christmas!"
Yolei and TK stepped into the house, brushing the white snow off their jackets before handing them to Davis.
"Hey Davis!" TK said, shaking his hand. "Happy holidays man!"
"Thanks, TK! Come on in; make yourselves at home! Hey, Yolei! Merry Christmas!"
"Yeah, what's merry about it?" Yolei grumbled, shoving her jacket into Davis hands before kicking off her shoes and stomping into the apartment.
"Don't mind her," the blond whispered. "She's just a little bit grumpy. Mood swings. She thinks she's going to be pregnant for life. She's so excited about this home birth that she just can't wait to go into labor."
"Kari's the same way, don't worry about it." Davis whispered back as TK stepped into the apartment. "Hey, Sora! Hey, Tai!" Davis said, bowing.
"Hi, Davis!" Sora said cheerfully, setting her coat in his hands. "Merry Christmas! Boy, it feels great in here! The house looks great!" She pulled off her shoes and stepped into the apartment.
"I don't know what's gotten into her," Tai said, pulling off his jacket. "She's been moping around the house for two weeks. Now she's a bundle of energy. I don't think I'll ever understand pregnant women."
"Are we supposed to?" Davis asked, as he started hanging up the jackets in the closet. "Your sister goes through mood swings like I go through socks."
"Oh, so not that often then?" Tai said with a smirk, jabbing him in the shoulder. "We roomed together in soccer camp years ago, remember? You had the cabin smelly for weeks!"
"Ha, ha, ha." Davis laughed dryly closing the door before returning to the living room.
"They're on their way up now." Tai replied, stepping into the apartment towards the couch. "Hey, merry Christmas, little sister." he said, bending down to give Kari a hug.
Kari grinned, returning the hug. "Same to you, big brother."
"How are you feeling? Are you okay? You should be sitting down."
"Fine, okay, and I am!" Kari said, giggling as she turned to Sora. "Is he always this worrisome?"
"You're getting the light version of what I'm getting at home." Sora said giggling, scooting over on the couch so Tai could sit. "Ever since Joe told us that I was due sometime this week, he's been freaking out at every possible moment."
"I have not!" Tai said, indignantly. "I'm always calm, cool and collected."
"Really?" Sora said, with mock belief. "Well, Mr. Calm-Cool-and-Collected, why were you freaking out when I was boiling hot water the other day."
"I thought you were going to have the baby!" Tai said, defensively as the others laughed.
"I was making tea."
"You normally don't make tea like that! You usually use the microwave."
"I was using the tea kettle you gave me last Christmas, dum-dum." Sora said, rolling her eyes.
Yolei laughed. "Tai sounds tame compared to this one, here." She said, pointing her thumb to TK.
"Me! What do you mean? I'm calm about the whole thing." TK exclaimed, sitting back in his chair.
"Calm, huh?" Yolei sighed. "Ever since I told him about the home birth, he's insisted on having a phone line installed in every room of the house just in case he needs to call the ambulance."
"A normal and prudent precaution." TK defended.
"TK, I don't know about you, but I really don't think I'll be needing a phone line in the closet, or in the shower."
The group laughed as TK turned a bright shade of red. "Well, if anything, I'm worried. One thing I've learned about being married to you is to expect the unexpected." He replied.
"Speaking of unexpected," Kari began, "Do you guys know what you're having yet?"
Yolei reached down in her purse and pulled out the heavily wrapped and sealed envelope. "We haven't touched this envelope for 4 months."
"Dr. Greystone wrote the baby's gender on a piece of paper, then sealed it in an envelope, then sealed it in another envelope." TK explained, looking at the envelope in her hands. "We really don't know what's in there, or what's in there." He said, pointing to her stomach.
"So you want to be surprised?" Sora asked.
"It would be fun to know, but since we've gone this far, we may as well wait and find out." Yolei said, nodding as she set the envelope on the coffee table.
"Well…" Kari said, plucking up the envelope from the table. "Since you don't want to know—"
"Hey! That's not fair! How can everyone else know except us!" Yolei protested hands on hips.
"You just said that you wanted to wait and find out!" Davis said, as Kari opened the first envelope. "That doesn't apply to the rest of us!"
"Besides," Kari said, as she started in on the second white envelope. "We'll be sure not to tell you or let you see, so the surprise will still be a surprise for you."
Yolei sighed, slumping in her seat. "Oh, okay. But destroy that paper once you read it!"
Kari pulled a white slip of paper out the open envelope and unfolded it. After two seconds, she gave a wide grin. "OH, I knew it! I had a feeling!" she squealed as she passed the slip of paper to Davis.
"Looks like you owe me five bucks, Tai. I knew I was right!" the brunette said, passing the paper over to Sora.
"I thought you were carrying a little lower than normal." She said, looking at Yolei's stomach before passing the paper on.
"Oh, come on, Yolei. That's an old wives tale." Kari said, waving her hand. "There's no scientific basis."
"Not according to your mother. She guess what each of you were in her 7th month."
Tai gave a smirk and looked over at Davis and Kari as he ripped up the slip of paper. "Looks like you guys are the tie breaker."
"Okay, now that we got that out of the way, lets get our grub on." Davis said, pointing to the beautifully dressed dinner table.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Yolei said, slowly rising from the armchair. "I am starving!"
"Need some help, Kari?" Davis asked, holding out a hand.
"Oh, come on, Davis." Kari said, pushing his hand away. "I am more than capable of getting up from a couch." She bent forward, grunted, and fell back.
"Okay. Lets try that again."
She stuck her hands out in front of her, bounced backwards and tried jumping from the couch. She grunted over her round stomach, arms flailing then fell back, panting heavily.
Davis grinned and held out a hand to her again. "Before New Years, please."
Mumbling and sighing, Kari took his hand and pulled herself up. "Whew!"
"You're telling me, I was getting tired just watching you." Davis said, padding towards the kitchen.
"Oh, shush. Tai, Sora? You coming?"
"Uh-huh…I'll be there in a minute." Sora said, setting a hand on her stomach, sighing. "Just as soon as this little one settles down a bit. He's kicking my sides."
"That's my son," Tai said, padding to the dining room. "Not even born yet, and already showing the world that he has my soccer genes."
Sora gave another sigh as she slowly began standing from the chair. "Why do I get the feeling that was no kick?"
"Sora, you okay?" Tai asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just hoping that our son has your soccer genes, but has my fashion sense."
"What?"
"She makes a point Tai." Kari said, walking in the door with a huge, glistening turkey. "You wore legwarmer socks and gloves for the better part of the summer…the SUMMER, big brother."
"Hey! It was the style back then!"
"For construction workers and 1980's fitness teachers, big brother."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Less talkie more turkey!" Yolei said, tapping her fingers impatiently on the table.
"When all is said and done," Sora thought, massaging her lower back gently. "I have tell Joe that his sense of timing is impeccable." She reached over and gently shook her sleeping husband's shoulder.
"Tai…"
"Huh? Wha?"
"Yoo-hoo, Tai…"
"K-K-Koromon?"
"Tai, you have to wake up."
"Mmm…come on Sora, I'm off work…just a few more minutes…"
"I'm not sure this little one is going to wait a few more minutes, Taichi-chan."
"Huh? Wha…?"
"I mean, I'm in labor."
"Then join a union, babe. Fight the power…"
"Oww…not that kind of labor, honey. The 'squeezing, hurting, pushing' kind."
"Oh, tha—WHAT?"
Tai flung his brown eyes open, mentally cursing himself that he wasn't able to find his wife in the pitch darkness or that he didn't have transparent eyelids.
His eyes finally settled on Sora, who was sitting up in the bed, a small grin playing on her lips, but her brow showing small sparkles of sweat. Tai jumped to his feet out of the bed and ran towards her.
"About time you woke up. Our son want's out and my water broke. Oh, and by the way, the next time you confuse me with a small pink digital creature, I'll delete all your saved games on the X-Box."
"Oh my God, Sora…you mean, it's time? Now!" Tai stammered, kneeling by his wife. "The baby!"
"Uh-huh. This is it." Sora sighed, nodding. "Looks like Joe was right on the money with my due date."
To Be Continued…
(A/N – Here we go, guys. There's no turning back now; Sora's in labor, Tai's freaking out, chapter 16 is in print, and I'm having fun the whole time! Time to answer my convictions in my reviews!
Dark Qiviut – As you can probably guess, "Snoggling" is a toss back to the last Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince." I gave that word to Dr. Greystone b/c her creater, Paige34 has read all the Harry Potter books, so I figured that the good doctor would too! Thanks for the white socks, and you were right on the money on that one! WHITE SOX ROX! (though blue are really cool too!)
Gabumon7000 – Home birth does sound interesting, doesn't it? It's a lot more easier to write than doing it in a hospital, and I won't have to worry too much about medical terms. The last time Yolei had a home birth, it…umm…didn't go all to well for her…but anyway, without revealing too much, Tea Cakes and Yolei's birth will go normally. See ya soon!
JyouraKoumi – Right, dawg! Koumi's never die, as you have time and time again proven! I'll see you in the next chapter, and hopefully I'll see your character in the next chapter as well! Peace! Koumi for life, blood!
Anthony1 – It does seem that all the doctors in my stories are a little…how do I say it…kooky, but they're really cool characters that I find communicate really well with the digidestined. After all, I've used Dr. McKnight in my earlier stories, and Dr. Greystone is a huge hit in Paige34 stories. See ya for the next chapter!
A-c-H123314 – Call me crazy, (Go ahead, I don't mind) but I was SERIOUSLY considering naming the kid "Shogi" if it was a boy. It really is a cool name. As you may have noticed, I gave Davis and Kari their moment, and TK and Yolei their moment, but, just to mix things up a bit, I went right ahead and gave Tai and Sora their KID. How did I do?
Psycho G – As I mentioned above, Yolei DID go through a home birth before, but the end result was horrific…almost Fullmetal Alchemist horrific. But, this time around, things will go more smoothly and the end result will be 100 times happier than the last! I will most certainly check out your fic! Thanks for the inspirations, and this story is about to get a helluva lot livelier!
Jinn Strider – Thank you very much! As I said, "Shogi" is a name that I was SERIOUSLY contemplating for Yolei and TK's kid if it was a boy. (I still don't know what the kid is!). It's just a cool sounding name! See ya for the next chapter!
Paige34 – It's not just the reviews I'm proud of…it's the idea that I can say, "over a hundred people have read my story!" There's a certain pride that comes with that! It was no problem getting rid of Davis; once he thought that Kari was about to deliver! Oh, and don't worry about the mess…Dr. McKnight let me borrow a few interns to help you clean up! You are crazy. Only a friend would tell you that! As you have probably just read, they didn't open the envelope…but the others did, and they know what the kid is going to be! I through "Mountain top birth" in there at pure random—something so outrageous that it's almost unbelievable! You know all too well what happened to Yolei in "Rekindling Love"…it really wasn't pretty…BUT…this time around, things are going to be better! See ya soon!
NeverMore88 – That would be QUITE painful for the poor kid. First he had to deal with coming down the birth canal out of his nice warm mommy, now he got to deal with someone cutting something that shouldn't be cut at all! Poor kid. Oh, and thanks for the feedback about the story! I'll be sure to use it in the coming chapters…heaven knows if I did it right in THIS chapter, though! Thanks again!
Steve-Racer – :Gasps: You liked the Daikari story line! Well, now I really and truly DO believe in miracles! Writing TK and Ninja-Doc interactions is very fun to write! The word play, the puns, everything is just so cool with these two in the mix! Peace dude!
Cherrichik – Am I supposed to care what a BABY like you says? You probably hate yourself because you see how popular my Daikari story is as compared to your short Takari stories. Lets compare stats, shall we? You have been a member for 43 days, and your word count for ALL THREE STORIES is 3,732. I have been a member for 4 years, and my word count for my SEVEN stories (Including this chapter) is 168,579…not counting the regular fiction stories on Now I'm sure you have some sort of weak played out excuse like "I haven't uploaded all my stories," or "I started this new account up." But I really don't feel like hearing it. If you don't have anything constructive to say, butt out.
And to everyone else who read my stories (and had the good common sence to leave really constructive reviews), I really and truly appreciate it! I hope to see you again for the next chapter! Later days!)