Chapter 2
Nuriko's PoV
Once we got back home, Reishin was already comfortable with us, though Hotohori had to go off to work.
"Are you two married?" She asked.
I sighed. "No, we're not. We pretend we are though."
Reishin smiled. "My daddy told me once that he couldn't get married to my other daddy either, because it was illegible."
I laughed. "Illegal, and yes, it is...unfortunately."
Reishin pried some more. "But how come? I thought you're supposed to get married if you love each other so much?"
I looked at her, she was looking at me with those big dark blue eyes like a puppy would.
"You are right, in a way." I explained.
"But people have to sign a lot of papers and things in order to get married."
Reishin cocked her head to the side. "Like when you adopted me?" She asked.
"Sort of. Only for a wedding instead." She smiled and I smiled back.
"Where's Hotohori?" She asked suddenly. Hotohori had started going to work a little while ago to keep rent coming each month. Don't get me wrong, we weren't dirt poor, but we weren't filthy rich either, which was a change for both of us.
"Hotohori went to work." I replied.
"Where does he work?" Reishin pried.
"It's a bit complicated…" I told her, just not feeling like explaining to her.
"Where does he work?" She repeated.
"He works in a place that makes a lot of money, so he gets paid." I replied sarcastically.
"That makes no sense." She whined, crossing her arms over her chest.
I remained silent and smiled at her.
"I told you it was complicated..."
She smiled back. "I guess you were right!" She replied cheekily.
We sat in silence for all of two minutes when Reishin made another comment.
"I'm bored." She said, plain as day.
"Well...Oh! I know, let's go visit Miaka and Hikari and her new baby son." Reishin smiled.
"Okay!" I soon discovered that walking was a mistake. Carrying Reishin on my back, she was bombarding me with questions.
"Is Miaka nice?" She asked. I was silent for a few seconds, then responded, "She can be...She's kind of annoying sometimes."
Reishin laughed. Then she added, "Is Hikari nice? Is she my age?" I had to actually think about that one... I didn't know Hikari that well, but I knew she was kind of shy to meet the others.
"You might like her Reishin, I'm not sure. She's four, which is close enough to your own age... You can think of her like a cousin, I guess." Reishin was silent for a few moments.
"Does that means I call Miaka Aunt Miaka?" She asked innocently.
"It depends on how you feel. I mean, sometimes Hikari calls me Aunt Nuriko...Sometimes just Nuriko." Reishin poked her head over my shoulder.
"And what should I call you? Mommy? Nuriko? Daddy?"
"Not daddy." I replied quickly.
"You can me and Hotohori whatever you feel like calling us, but don't call me daddy or Hotohori mommy. It's that simple." Reishin thought for a moment.
"Okay, I think I get it..." Stepping onto Miaka's patio, I set Reishin down and rang the doorbell. Or I was about to at least...
"I wanna ring it!" Reishin yelled, holding her fingers so she could ring it. I laughed and picked her up a bit so she could ring the door bell.
Hikari and Reishin ended up playing with the baby the entire time, so it gave Miaka and I a chance to catch up on what was happening with the other. Not much could be said, though we did end up eating a lot, and ended up spoiling Hikari and Reishin's dinner, breakfast, and lunch for practically the next two days...
At six o' clock that night, I decided to drag (Yes, drag) Reishin away from Miaka's house to get home before Hotohori did. Telling Reishin that we'd go back to Miaka's another day, we arrived just as Hotohori's car pulled up into the driveway.
"Where have you two been?" He asked. I continued pulling Reishin until she ran over to Hotohori and gave him a hug.
"We were at Miaka's place. It's too boring in that house…" I suddenly thought of something, and snapped my fingers, "Hey! Tomorrow's your day off, right? Let's go do something!" I decided. It sounded like fun, and Reishin needed some family time to get to know both of us better.
"Sounds good." Hotohori agreed, then he looked at Reishin.
"Where do you want to go, Reishin?" He asked. She thought for a bit.
"The beach!" She exclaimed. I clapped my hands together.
"Sounds great! It's a date." I winked.
'We have big plans with our daughter...Man that's fun to think about.' I thought excitedly as I drifted off to sleep. I had always envied the couples that had a kid and could be happy-could be normal. Now, finally, Hotohori and I had the chance to be that one couple. And no one would notice.