(A/N – Well, here we are! The final chapter of 2005. I am proud to say that this story has finally broken all my writing records with a sock trembling 106 pages (once again, not counting my author notes or chapter review replies). As my friend, Lord Patamon told me last night, this is no longer a fanfiction story: it's a book! I know the last chapter was late and a bit short, but this one, I hope, makes up for it! I hope you enjoy!)

Nine Months in the Socks of the Motamiya's – Chapter 23

"WAAAAAAAHHHH! WA-WA-WA-WAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Tai's tan eyelids slowly slid open, revealing a pair of weary, slightly bloodshot eyes. He groaned loudly as he slowly sat up in bed for the third time that night.

He turned to the sleeping, snoring figure in bed next to him. "Sora…it's your turn." Tai croaked, shaking her blanket draped shoulder. "Kenichi is crying."

"Oh, come on Tai, I just got back to sleep." Sora groaned, pulling the covers over her head. "Besides, I carried the kid for nine months, remember? The least you can do—"

"…is carry him for ten minutes." Tai grumbled as he threw his feet over the side of the bed. "All right, all right. You're going to hold that whole pregnancy thing over my head for life, aren't you?"

"Mmmmm…." Sora grumbled as she turned in the bed.

Tai padded over to the crib in the corner of the room and looked down at the bawling, squirming four-day-old; his mouth ajar revealing toothless gums. Tai reached down and scooped Kenichi in his arms.

"Hey now…hey now…what are you crying about?" He whispered in the child's ear as he gently placed him on his shoulder. "Mommy and daddy are trying to sleep. What's wrong little guy?"

He started pacing back and forward in the bedroom, gently rocking the crying Kenichi in his arms. "Come on, little man, I know you're not hungry, your diaper is nice and clean, give us a break, huh?"

"Try singing to him. That normally quiets him down." Sora grumbled from the bed.

The brunette sighed and looked down at his crying son. "Okay. A song. I got it!" He cleared his throat and took a deep breath and started singing.

"Ready, steady can't hold me back,

Ready, steady give me good luck,

Ready, steady never look back,

Lets get started— "

"All right! Okay! I'm up! I'm up!" Sora groaned as she climbed up from the bed and padded towards father and son. "I don't know what's worse," She continued, scooping her now screaming son out of Tai's arms. "Kenny-chan's crying or your singing."

"You told me to sing, so I sang!" Tai said, accusingly.

"Aww…what's mommy's little man crying about, huh? Did daddy's singing make your ears hurt?" She cooed as she gently rocked Kenichi in her arms.

"Okay then, madam songbird. Lets hear you sing." Tai said, slumping down in the rocking chair.

Sora walked up to the window where the light of the crescent moon shone through the window. "Remember this song, Kenny-chan?" She cooed to her son.

"I can't stop loving you…I made up my mind…

To live in memories…of the lonesome time…"

Sora sang in hushed, whispered tones as she gently rocked the newborn in her arms. She gently padded in front of the big window, her body awash in the light blue moonlight.

"I can't stop wanting you…it's useless to say…

So I'll just live my life…in dreams of yesterday…"

Sora gazed down at her newborn son. His features were more prominent in the glowing moonlight. His thin mousy brown hair just barely covered his fresh pink scalp. Droopy eyelids were now slowly covering Kenichi's hazel colored eyes.

"That's it, little man." Sora whispered as she slowly padded back towards the crib. "Just go to sleep…"

"I can't stop loving you…I made up my mind…

To live in memories…of the lonesome time…"

Kenichi gave a little yawn, and finally succumbed to the sleep that was overtaking his little body. His eyelids slowly closed over his eyes as Sora gently laid her son down in the crib.

Sora gazed lovingly down at her sleeping son with a smile on her face. "We didn't do too bad, did we Tai-chan?"

There was no answer.

"Tai-chan?" Sora called, turning around. "Oh, good grief."

Tai's head was slumped over on his shoulder, his mouth ajar, emitting loud snores as he sat upright in the rocking chair. Sora padded over and gave him a shake. "Come on, pops. Let's hit the hey."

"Huh? Wha?" Tai grumbled as he rubbed his eyes. "I fell asleep?"

"The idea was to put the younger Kamiya male to sleep, not the older one." Sora said, rolling her eyes.

"Is it time yet?"

"No."

"…how about now?"

"No."

"….Now?"

"Dai-chan, you know I love you," Kari began, turning to face her husband's worried expression behind the couch. "But if you ask me again, and I'll tape your mouth shut again."

"Well, if you do, would you mind using something other than duck tape?" Davis asked, rubbing his top lip. "That glue hurts!"

"More incentive to relax." Kari said, returning to her book.

"How can I relax?" Davis said, pacing behind the couch. "Didn't you hear what Dr. McKnight said? The baby could be born any minute now."

"Yes, I heard him. I kinda was there when he told us."

"And you're not worried? You're not concerned?"

"Of course I'm concerned. But I know I'm not in control," Kari said, pointing a finger down at her tummy. "This little one is."

"Oh great." Davis said, standing over her on the couch. "Our introduction into parenthood is controlled by someone we know nothing about—not even their gender!"

Kari gave a small giggle. "Relax, Dai-chan. Everything is ready for us to go; the bags are packed, the delivery room is reserved. All we have to do is grab the bags, call the doc, go downstairs, hop in the car and go--"

"We should have a rehearsal!" Davis suddenly exclaimed.

"Ex-squeeze-me? A rehearsal? Last time I checked, this was a pregnancy not a movie. What do we have to rehearse?"

"We should have a rehearsal for when you go into labor. We should know what to do and how to do it! I want this to go like clockwork!" Davis said, pounding his fist in his open palm.

"Davis, this is childbirth, not a movie production." Kari said, marking the place in her book before closing it. "But, if you insist on practicing for something we have no control over, then go ahead, Mr. Nick Meyer. I'm going to take a nap."

(A/N – I hate to break into the story like this, but this name Nick Meyer is a nod to one of the greatest writer/directors of all time! If you can guess what movie he directed that I absolutely love, you get a surprise!)

"Okey-doke." Davis said, as he helped Kari up from the couch and kissed her on the cheek. "Don't you worry about a thing. When the time comes, I'll be ready."

"Okay, you all know what you have to do. You guys are going to be the first responders." Davis said, pacing in front of the couch where the three figures sat staring at him. "It is your responsibility to see that Kari gets to the hospital as quickly as possible in an orderly fashion."

"Hey! You promised there would be snacks! Where are the snacks? I'm hungry!"

Davis groaned as he raised a hand to his forehead and stared at the three people on his couch. "Awww, come on Cody! You're a ninja, can't you…I don't know, fold your stomach or something?"

"For the LAST time…I practice kendo! KEN-DO! God, it isn't that hard, people!" Cody growled.

"Sheesh! All right, kendo!" Davis said, holding up his hands. "Chill out. Now, here's what we're going to do. Cody, you're in charge of getting the bags downstairs."

"Great…more bags." Cody muttered, shooting the figure next to him a glance. "As though I haven't been scarred enough."

"June, you're in charge of the phone." Davis said, ignoring Cody's grumbling as he turned to his brunette haired sister. "You're going to call Dr. McKnight, and everybody else and let them know when the time comes. They're numbers are labeled on speed dial."

"Aye-aye, captain." June said, giving a weak salute.

"I'm going to look after Kari," Davis said proudly, walking behind the couch. . "I'll make sure she has her coat on, and we'll go downstairs to the car. Now, let's rehearse."

"Can we make it quick, brother," June said, looking at her watch. "Matt is taking me to a New Years Eve party later on today."

"Oh, all right. Geeze, you would think that you wanted to be more involved in the birth of your first niece or nephew."

"Of course I do, but I want to be more involved with my husband just a bit more." June said, winking.

"Ooooook…. On that note…" Davis said, picking up a well-worn soccer ball from the floor. "Let's pretend this is Kari." Davis then walked towards the closed bedroom door, holding the soccer ball in the middle. "Now, she comes out of the bedroom and she says 'I'm ready to give life.'"

"I'm ready to give life?" Cody asked, cocking his head to one side. "Do you really think Kari would say something that cheesy?"

"Trust me, kid. Anyway, she comes out the bedroom and says, 'I'm ready to give life.' Let's move!"

Calmly, June walked to the phone and picked up the handset. Without pressing the talk button, she pressed the speed dial buttons on the base and held it up to her ear. "Hello, Dr. McKnight. We're leaving for the hospital with Mrs. Motomiya. We'll meet you there. Good bye." She repeated this same process with each press of the speed dial button.

Meanwhile, Cody grabbed Kari's duffel bag sitting by the couch, and slung the strap around his shoulder. He then grabbed her suitcase and padded towards the door.

Davis took the soccer ball to the closet and grabbed Kari's jacket. Then, albeit clumsily, he wrapped the ball in the jacket and walked to the door where Cody stood waiting with the bags.

"That was great, guys!" Davis said, grinning, looking at his watch. "That only took three minutes! Now, let's run through it one more time to make sure we got it down perfectly."

"Then can we have snacks?"

"Yes, Cody. Then we can have snacks." Davis said exhaustedly. "I swear, you're like a mouse: small body, big metabolism. Now let's get back to our positions. Put everything back the way it was."

June returned the handset to the cradle as Cody set the bags back down by the couch. Davis unwrapped the jacket from the ball and returned to his position by the bedroom door. "Ready, guys?" he asked, when he made sure everyone was sitting on the couch.

"As we'll ever be."

"Okay. Kari comes out the bedroom," Davis began, holding the ball in the middle of the door. "And she says, 'I'm ready to give life.' Go!"

With the same confident movements as before, the group moved into position. June, once again, picked up the phone and started pressing the speed dial buttons. "Hello, Dr. McKnight. We're leaving for the hospital with Mrs. Motomiya. We'll meet you there. Good bye."

Cody once again grabbed Kari's bags and stood by the door as Davis walked the now jacket draped soccer ball to the front door. "And done!" he announced, looking at his watch again. "We only did that in two minutes that time! Great job! Lets get this stuff back where we can get to it."

"Now can we have—"

"Yes, Cody! Yes! Now we can have snacks!" Davis exclaimed, tossing the jacket in the closet. "Man, do they feed you at home?"

"Just think," Davis said, dreamily, as he bounced the soccer ball with his gray socked feet. "Next year, at this time, I'm going to be a father."

"And I'm going to be an aunt." June sighed happily as Davis bounced and balanced the ball on his head.

"Mmmm….mmm…mmm..mmmm…hmmm..mmm….mmm!"

"Pardon?"

Cody grunted, as he swallowed his mouth full of egg roll and shrimp fried rice. "Excuse me. I said and I'm going to be a God brother."

The small group sighed happily.

Just then, the bedroom door opened revealing a heavily breathing Kari, holding her now distended stomach in one hand, while the other supported her weight on the frame. "Dai-chan, this is it."

Davis gawked at his wife as the soccer ball he was balancing slid down off his head and rested at his gray socks. On the couch, June and Cody stared at Kari with their jaws hinged open.

"THIS IS IT! THIS IS IT! THIS IS IT!" The trio cried as they quickly jumped to their feet with panicked expressions on their faces.

"Kid, you better hang on." Kari thought as she watched the group shoot each other panicked expressions. "I have a feeling that this is going to be a bumpy ride."

"June! Get the phone! Call the doctor! Call the doctor!" Davis barked as he ran to the closet and grabbed Kari's jacket. "Cody, quit stuffing your face and get the bags!"

June quickly ran to the phone base and gasped in horror as she grabbed at the thin air around the phone base. "GAH!" She cried, slapping her hand around the large base to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her. "Where's the phone! Where's the phone!"

Meanwhile, Cody searched around frantically, trying to remember where he placed Kari's bags. His attention was diverted so much, his blue socked foot caught the strap of the bag and he took a tumble, head first, to the ground.

Davis stepped over him, picked up the soccer ball and began wrapping it in the jacket. "Come on, Kari, its going to be okay. Don't worry, we'll get you to the hospital on time."

June continued her frantic search for the phone handset. "Davis! Where's the phone! Where's the phone!"

"Don't worry about that now!" Davis called from the front door as he stepped into his shoes without tying them, still carrying the jacket wrapped soccer ball. "Just help Cody grab Kari's bag and let's go!"

June stepped over Cody, grabbed Kari's suitcase and quickly followed Davis and the soccer ball out the door, which he promptly closed and locked behind him.

Kari looked at the closed door in shock. "Hey! Wait for me!" she cried to the front door. She then, as quickly as she could, padded to the living room where Cody laid. "Oh my gosh, Cody, are you okay?" She said, helping Cody sit up.

"Mmm…yeah. What happened?" Cody asked, rubbing his head where a lump was forming.

"Davis was about to take me to the hospital to have the baby," Kari explained, sighing as she found the phone sitting on the floor. "Trouble is, he forgot two key items: the baby and me."

"Is there anything I can do?" Cody asked nervously. "Is there anything you need?"

"Don't worry. It's going to be okay." Kari said, as she pressed the speed dial button. "It's not hurting too badly right now. I just need to call the doctor and let him know what's going on."

"What about Davis?" Cody asked.

"I'll take care of that right now. Or rather, you will."

Cody cocked his head to one side. "Huh?"

To be Continued…

(A/N – The timing couldn't be better! Kari's going into labor on the same day this chapter is going to print! For those special few whom I've told about how this story is going to conclude, you know why I'm so ecstatic about having this chapter post on New Years Eve! Anyway, I HOPE you enjoyed this last chapter of 2005, and I hope to see you all on the other end of 2006 for chapter 24! May you all have a happy and blessed New Year!)