Hello everyone! Time for a new chapter! I think this one will cause different emotions on you, and I really want to know what you think of it. So please, leave a review once you finish reading. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 8: (Blood) Relations

The sound of her doorbell ringing and then her phone echoed very vaguely in Mimi's ears. She squinted and covered them with her pillow, but it didn't help much.
"Mimi, can you stop yelling?" Taichi's voice was barely recognizable. He was speaking much more slowly than usual and something seemed to be stifling it or something.
She tried to get up from the couch, but she felt so dizzy she tripped over and fell on the floor with her face down. Then she burst into laughter as she rolled over and stared at her ceiling. Her doorbell now sounding like nothing but a buzz in her ears.
"Mimi, are you in there?" Koushiro asked and gently knocked on her door. "Is everything okay? I heard a noise coming from inside."
"Koushiro?" She held onto the arm of her couch tightly and stood up again. Mimi had to tap all over her wall to keep herself steady and didn't even bother looking at her reflection when she walked past her mirror.
With quite some effort, she managed to grab her key on a nail near her door and tried to push into the hole. She laughed hysterically with the situation.
"What is going on?"
"I can't seem to put the key into the whole and open the door."
"Are you drunk?"
"No." She giggled. "Maybe."
"Mimi, we were meant to meet Jou's friend for breakfast today."
"Friend?"
"You know, to talk about the baby and sperm donation."
"Oh God. I got it!" She squealed and unlocked her door. "I totally forgot about the meeting."
Koushiro quickly held her in his arms when she moved her hand away from the wall and almost fell down. "How much did you drink?"
"I didn't drink at all."
"Yeah, I can see that." He guided her back to her couch and spotted Taichi lying on the floor. He slapped his forehead and shook his head in disbelief. "I'm calling Jou and ask him to tell his friend we're not going to make it today."
"Why not?"
"You two are completely wasted. We can't meet her like this. It's too embarrassing."
"We'll be fine until then."
"Mimi, we're already…" Koushiro freaked out when Taichi sat down and covered his mouth. He tried to find the first thing he could, but didn't have enough time. Taichi had thrown up all over Mimi's hug.
"Great. Having to babysit two very drunk adults is what I really wanted to do on a Saturday morning." He rolled his eyes annoyed. "Taichi puked on his clothes and Mimi doesn't have male clothes. My day just keeps getting better."
He walked to his roommate and placed his hand over his shoulder. "Come on, Taichi. Get up."
"Hey, dude!" He exclaimed excitedly and Koushiro had to push his face away because of the alcohol breath. "Are we going home?"
"No, there's absolutely no way I can take you home like this. You're all puked on and I will definitely not let you get into my car before you clean up." He lifted his head to look at Mimi and ask for her permission to use her bathroom, but she was passed out on her couch. He simply shrugged and decided to use it anyway.
"Then where are we going?"
"We're not going anywhere. You're going to take a shower, to see if it helps you get sober?"
"Are you going to get me cleaned up?"
Koushiro stopped abruptly. He hadn't realized he would have to, but Taichi was so wasted he wouldn't be able to shower alone. The red haired man took a deep breath, frustrated. "Yes, Taichi. Now let's go."

.

Sora checked Kouji's stroller to make sure his eyes were protected from the bright sun that was already shining in Tokyo. She was relieved he was finally sleeping after being awake the whole night. As a result, she was absolutely tired and tried her best to keep herself entertained or she would fall asleep right there.
"Hey." Yamato stopped beside her, unable to keep his eyes away from the stroller. "I hope I'm not too late. My alarm clock didn't ring and I overslept."
"No." She shook her head negatively with a soft smile. "We just got here."
He knelt down in front of the trolley and his son. Their last encounter had been disastrous, as he had just found out about Kouji. A couple of months had gone by since then, and Yamato was much more used to the idea of having another child though this was only their second meeting.
"He gave me quite a work last night." Sora said from where she was sitting. She had turned around to watch their interaction. "He's been sleeping since the sun rose."
"Was him in pain or something?"
"No. He said he had a nightmare and couldn't sleep anymore at all. I spent the entire night rocking him to sleep, but he'd wake up everytime I put him back in his bed."
"That would explain why you look so tired. No offense."
"None taken." She smiled. "I wish he could be awake to see you though."
"Yeah, well…" He sat down beside her. "So…"
"So…" She bit her lower lip. "Where's Aiko?"
"She's spending the weekend at my father's." Yamato embraced his knees and looked ahead. "I needed some time alone to think."
"Oh." Sora nodded. "A lot has happened."
"Exactly." He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes before actually turning around.
"That's too bad, I have to confess. I was kind of hoping she'd spend some time with her younger brother."
"What are we doing, Sora?" He asked her as straight as he could. "Where do we stand after what happened last week?"
"I don't know." She sighed. "But do we really need to label it? Isn't it better to just see what happens?"
"No, I need to know." He said firmly. "I'd agree with you if we had just started dating, but that's not the case. We were married and have two children together. It's not only about us anymore. It's about Aiko and Kouji too."
"You're right. I'm sorry."
"Even if we kissed, it doesn't change the fact you were gone for two years and still haven't explained why that happened." He ruffled his spiky blond hair. "I mean, did someone threaten you or something? Did you decide to stay there and not admit it to us? What happened?"
"I'm just…" She pressed her lips together to stop tears from falling from her eyes. "I'm not ready to talk about it just yet."
"Alright. I'm not gonna pressure you into doing it. I have the feeling it's something traumatic to you, so take your time and open it whenever you feel ready to share."
"Thank you. I appreciate it." Sora smiled weakly and then glanced at Kouji's trolley. "I'm glad you started putting your wall down and let me in."
"Well, we've had a lot of history together. It can't be ignored that easily. Neither can feelings."
"Yeah." She whispered and then threw herself towards him, capturing his lips in a tender and sweet kiss.

.

Koushiro didn't know whether he was angrier at Taichi for losing control and being totally wasted or at him for submitting himself at such embarrassing situation like giving a bath to his roommate.
"Here we go." He put Taichi's arm over his shoulder, after drying it through. "Watch out the step. Where the hell is Jou? I can't leave Taichi completely naked like this."
"Jou is coming?"
"He's bringing some clean clothes for you. Your shirt is completely dirty because you threw up on it. What the hell were you thinking, Taichi?!" Koushiro shouted, barely able to hold his anger. "We were supposed to have an important meeting and you and Mimi had this amazing idea of getting completely drunk last night!"
"We'll invite you next time, don't worry about it."
"I don't want to be invited. I want you two to be responsible, damn it! We're going to raise a child together. This is something big and we're not teenagers anymore."
"Chill out, man."
"Seriously?" He rolled his eyes annoyed and heard the doorbell ringing right after. "Finally! You wait here. Don't move. I'll be right back."

Koushiro went to open the door and was beyond thankful that Jou had agreed to help and stopped by his apartment and brought clean clothes for Taichi.
"What happened?" Jou asked, but the state of Mimi's house was pretty much self-explanatory.
"Taichi and Mimi got overly drunk last night and we had to cancel the meeting with your friend."
"Yes, I used Mimi's phone to call her since she's the only one who had her number."
"This whole place is a mess." Jou looked around. "We're gonna have to clean it up."
"You don't have to put yourself into this. I can handle it."
"Don't be silly, I can help you."
"Thank you. You should be careful with that vomit over there. You don't want to step on it."
"Wow, that was quite a party."
"Tell me about it. I'm banning all alcoholic drinks at home from now on." Koushiro sighed. "Mimi also needs a shower."
"I do not." She protested and burst into laughter.
"Yes, you do. I'm going to help Taichi change into his new clothes and you're next."
"How are you going to help her shower?"
"Like I did with Taichi, obvious…" Kosuhiro slapped his forehead, finally realizing what Jou had meant. "Seriously, this day can't get any worse."
"We can't give her a shower. We need to call Hikari for help."
"We can't make Hikari come all the way here. She has her own things to do."
"Okay, so what do you suggest?" Jou asked.
"I guess it should be okay with we keep her underwear on?" The red haired man asked. "I don't know… I've never done this before."
"Me neither."
"If only Sora was here this whole time. She would know what to do. I'm really regretting not having any other woman I could actually turn to."
"I know. I guess we'll have to stick to your plan then. Keep her underwear on. And her shirt too."
"Definitely."

.

Yamato closed the curtains to block sunlight from entering his bedroom. He turned around and stared at Sora sleeping on his bed. He was immediately thrown back to the time they were living together. That was the same side she'd sleep at and, for a moment, it was like she had never left. He couldn't help but smile feeling things could go back to the way they once were. Was he dreaming awake?

He didn't know how long he had been watching her sleep and was about to sit on his side of the bed when Kouji started crying in the living room. Yamato didn't know what to do, if he should wake Sora up or tried to calm their son on his own. In the end, he thought it was unfair to wake her up because she was up all night because of Kouji, so he took a deep breath and went to the living room.

Yamato walked to the trolley and took a look at his son crying. He didn't understand why he was so insecure since he had taken care of Aiko before she was even one. He stretched his arms and held the little child in his arms. He couldn't hide his smile when Kouji stopped crying almost immediately and stared into his eyes. Yamato didn't think he would be feeling so nervous and happy at the same time. Kouji had smiled at him and was so peaceful that he could swear they were never away from each other at all. It was like his son knew who he was all along.
"Hello, son. It's daddy." Yamato brought his free hand up and Kouji wrapped his little hand around one of his fingers. He couldn't help but smile when the child giggled and buried his head on his chest. The man was surprised with the fact he felt something different from when Aiko was younger.
"Papa." Kouji said and then gave a large smile at his father. That single word was enough for Yamato to realize he already loved him more than he could tell and he had to blink to hold tears from falling from his eyes.
"That's right. It's papa." He eventually said with pride and soon the baby started crying again. "Looks like someone's hungry. Let's see what we have here."
They walked into the kitchen and Yamato made sure Kouji was secure enough in only one arm before he open the fridge. He leaned over when he saw the plastic glass with orange juice from Aiko and Yamato had to use his other hand to keep him falling.
"You want this?" The astronaut looked at the object for a second and immediately returned his attention to his son, who was stretching his arms to grab the glass. "Aiko was allowed to drink juice when she was your age, so I guess it's okay."
Yamato closed the door again and watched Kouji drink his juice really fast as they went back to the living room. "Sunshine, you're gonna choke if you keep this up. But I think you're really thirsty, huh?"

He sat on the couch and placed his son on his right leg. At that point, Kouji had already drunk almost half a bottle and left Yamato shocked. Then the blonde began to observe his child. Kouji had blond hair like him, but his eyes were definitely the same color as Sora's. He couldn't help thinking he was such a beautiful child, just like Aiko, and Yamato thought he and Sora had conceived the prettiest babies ever. He was pulled out of his small trance when Kouji took a deep breath and burped after drinking all the liquid on the glass.
"Someone was very hungry." Yamato said in a light tone. "Do you want some more?"
But the child didn't say anything. He simply rested his head on his father's chest and his eyes fell shut again.
"That's such a beautiful sight." Sora spoke. She was leaning against the door frame and walked to him when he looked at her. She sat down and started playing with Kouji's fingers. "I should have told you there was a big chance he'd drink it all because he hasn't eaten since very early in the morning. I'm glad you figured out on you own, though."
"I've been taking care of Aiko alone for the past two years." His tone was bitterer than he'd mean to, but wasn't entirely sorry for that.
"Right." She bit her lower lip and looked away. "Thank you for letting me sleep in our… your bed and for taking care of our son in the meantime."
"You're welcome." Yamato looked down at his son in his lap. "I hope you didn't mind that…"
"No, not at all." Sora cut him off. She had a warm smile on her face. "I think it's great that you two bonded like this."
"Yeah, well…" Yamato stood up and went to put Kouji back in his trolley. "He's my son after all. I can't simply turn my back on him because of everything that's happened between us."
"I wouldn't expect anything different coming from you. That says a lot about you." Sora glanced at the trolley. "I think we should get going. I don't want us to bother you anymore. I'm sure you have other things to do today."
"No, it's okay. I enjoyed having you here for a while." He rubbed his face when he realized what had just slipped through his lips. Then he looked at Kouji. "Are you sure he's not hungry anymore? All he drank was a glass of orange of juice. He didn't eat anything."
"He probably is, but since he couldn't sleep at night, that got the best of him. I'll breastfeed him when we go back home."
"You still breastfeed him?"
Sora knew right away that behind that question lied hurt and resentments with her disappearance two years ago. She knew he was still bitter about the fact she had turned away from their daughter. She couldn't blame him. It wasn't easy to see her being a full mother to Kouji when she abandoned Aiko without thinking twice.
"Yeah…" She didn't know what to say exactly. "I'm a different person now, Yamato. I don't know what else to do to make you believe me. One time it seems like you're willing to put your walls down and let me in. Then you pull them up again and shut me out. We better go before things get out of control."
"No." He grabbed her wrist and they exchanged looks. "Please, stay."
"Yamato." Sora didn't know why she suddenly was so resistant about it, since it was all she wanted. But it only took him to lift her chin up for her to throw her arms around his neck as their lips met in a deep and slow kiss.