The couple sat on the couch for an hour and twenty minutes before they heard the sound of their daughter crying. Michiru sighed before standing up and walking to the stairs.

Haruka sat up and stretched her tired muscles. "Do you want me to take care of her?" She stood up and walked to where her wife stood, waiting for her answer. "You still look pretty tired," she whispered.

Michiru shrugged. "I can get her. Are you going to bed?" She received a nod and a yawn then a smile. She turned her head back to the stairs as Kiseki started to cry louder. "I'll get her back to sleep then meet you in the room."

Haruka nodded and took a step toward her wife. "Don't stay up too much longer. You have a composition to finish," she said in a quiet laugh.

Michiru smiled. "Good night, Ruka." She leaned forward and kissed the blonde before heading up the stairs. She made her way into Kiseki's bedroom and knelt next to her bed. "Hey," she said soothingly.

Kiseki's sobs slowed and she looked at her mother. She sniffed and looked at her mother through tired eyes. "My head hurts, mommy."

Michiru gave her daughter a sympathetic look. "I know, baby," she said quietly. She reached across the bed and stroked her child's cheek. "Try to sleep, ok? Your head won't hurt tomorrow." She couldn't say for sure if that was true but she wanted, needed her baby to get some sleep. Hoping to help her fall asleep, the artist moved to sit on the edge of the bed and scooped her daughter up, holding her close. After just a few minutes of silent waiting, the worn-out child fell into a deep sleep and Michiru laid her back down on the bed. Deciding that the heavy comforter would be too warm for the girl's temperature, she covered Kiseki with only a light sheet. With an internal sigh, she left the small room and moved down the hall to the master bedroom only to find her wife already asleep. Before joining the blonde, she changed into a light shirt and a pair of shorts then slid in next to Haruka. She felt the racer wrap her strong arms around her and felt better, relaxing and cuddling close to the blonde. She said a silent prayer for her daughter before drifting off into dreamland.

Haruka woke the next morning before her wife. Deciding to make a quick check on her daughter, she slowly slid out of the bed and into the hallway. Before she entered Kiseki's bedroom, she heard the television on in the living room. "She must be downstairs," she thought as she started to walk down the staircase. The sight of her child sitting on the couch made her smile.

Kiseki was definitely a smart child. Despite being only three years old, she had managed to learn how to use the television remote without fail and had even memorized her favorite channels. When her father entered the room, she smiled weakly.

Haruka could tell something wasn't right with her daughter. "You feeling all right today, Ki-chan?" She walked slowly to the couch and sat down next to the young blonde, looking at the TV to see just what the girl was watching. "Of course," she thought. "She always watches Ugo Ugo Lhuga in the mornings." She couldn't quite understand the point of the show but if it made her child happy, she was happy.

Kiseki's forced smile faded slowly. "Little bit," she murmured. She leaned to the side and against her dad, never taking her eyes of the television.

Haruka chuckled and put an arm around her child's shoulders. She watched the characters on the screen for just a moment before closing her eyes. "Are you hungry at all?" she asked quietly.

Kiseki still never looked away from the television. "Little bit," she repeated. She shifted a bit against her dad, expecting her to get up.

Haruka nodded. "I'll wait until your show finishes." She felt the small girl shift again, relaxing more into her side. As she sat with her child, attempting to pay attention to the childish program, the phone began ringing. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that it was Ami and she reached for the receiver, not bothering to look at the caller I.D. "Hello? Hi, Ami-chan. You're finished already? It's not even 9:30 yet. I see. She had what? Pneumonia? That's it? So she had both pneumonia and an upper respiratory infection? You're sure she's in the final stages of it though?" She sighed, relieved to hear some good news. "That's good to know. So how late did you stay at the hospital last night?" She laughed at her friend's answer. "So that's why you're done with the tests so early. You're great, Ami. No, she's not up yet. She's been up with Ki-chan a majority of the time while she's been sick so she needs all the sleep she can get right now. I don't think that'll happen. We don't get sick very easily. I'll let you know if anything comes up. Thank you so much, Ami. All right. Bye." She turned a bit and hung up the phone, letting out a long breath. Turning back to the television, she watched as the ending credits of her daughter's favorite show rolled up the screen. She smiled, knowing that her child would soon be all right. "Do you want some breakfast now?"

Kiseki looked up at her father. "We go to Mc Donald's?" she asked with a pout. The girl loved to go out for breakfast. Her parents usually took her out once a week if she did all of her chores, which consisted of keeping her room clean, brushing her teeth, making her bed, and having daily music lessons with her mother. Her lessons mostly consisted of listening to and recognizing music since she was only three years old, but Michiru was slowly starting to incorporate using the instruments, primarily the piano.

Haruka chuckled at the girl's request. "Do you really want to?" She received a very energetic nod and laughed. "Ok. Do you want to surprise mama?" She gained another nod, not quite as severe but still a very happy one accompanied with a bright smile. "All right, go get dressed but be quiet."

Kiseki nodded as she jumped down from the couch. Moving quickly but quietly up to her room, she went to her dresser and pulled some shorts and a shirt from separate drawers. Her shorts were on in a flash, with almost no difficulty. Her t-shirt, on the other hand, having no design and no tag, was a bit more of a challenge but after her first failed attempt, she quickly corrected herself. Going back to her dresser, she grabbed a pair of socks and made her way back downstairs to her father's side.

Haruka looked down at her child and smiled. "That was quick," she chimed. She watched as Kiseki sat down and put her socks on as she moved to pick up her keys from the kitchen table. Looking back down at her child, she watched as the girl struggle with her tennis shoes. "Need some help?" she asked as she bent down in front of Kiseki, who nodded with a small grunt as she set her shoe back on the floor. The racer smiled as she reached out and picked up the shoe, quickly taking care of the troublesome item. She tied the laces of the first shoe and made quick work of the second. "Ok. Let's go."

Kiseki stood back up, following her dad out the front door and to the car where she was picked up and placed in her car seat. She smiled happily, feeling much better today, as her father buckled her in and closed her door.

Getting into the driver's seat, Haruka started the car then turned around. "Ready?" she asked her baby girl. After yet another energetic nodding session, Haruka still chuckled at the girl's reaction. Backing out of the driveway, she began to make her way to the nearest Mc Donald's she knew of.

Michiru woke up just as the front door was closing. She heard a car pull out of their driveway but wasn't necessarily worried. "Ruka would have woken me up if it was an emergency," she reminded herself. She sat up in the bed and stretched, feeling refreshed. Moving slowly, she got out of the bed and went into the bathroom across the hall. Once she was finished, she made her way down the hall, peeking into Kiseki's bedroom to find it empty. "She must have gone with Ruka, which means she must be feeling ok." She smiled at the thought. Turning to the staircase, she descended the 14 steps and entered the kitchen. Keeping her injury in mind, she decided to pull a plastic cup from the dishwasher, placing it on the counter and turning to the refrigerator. Pulling a tall pitcher out of the machine, she poured herself a glass of iced tea before putting the pitcher away and closing the refrigerator door. Picking up her cup, she moved to the back door and stepped out onto the back porch to admire her ocean scene. Sighing contently, she pulled a folding chair to a spot near the porch steps and sat down, watching the gentle waves moving in and out. She got so lost in her thoughts that she never heard her wife and child return almost half an hour later.

Haruka seen her wife seated on the back porch and smiled. "Ki-chan, stay in here for a minute, all right?" Her baby went digging through the two bags they returned with and the racer was content with leaving her in the house for a moment by herself. Going outside, she stood behind Michiru and bent over. "It's not fair to indulge in your own world," she whispered into her wife's ear. When Michiru looked up at her, she smiled then kissed the aqua-haired girl. "We got you food," she said once the kiss ended.

Michiru stood up and turned around, leaving her cup on the deck. She looped her arms around Haruka's neck and kissed her deeply.

The blonde was a little surprised at the action but didn't mind. In fact, she had quite missed it while she was away. She kissed her wife back just as passionately before ending the kiss a few minutes later. "What was that for?"

Michiru smiled and shrugged. "I missed you." She bent over and picked up her now half-full cup of iced tea. "Let's eat." She walked past her wife and went back into the house. She laughed at her daughter, who had butter smeared across her left cheek from the pancakes she was eating. "Good morning, Ki-chan." She bent over and kissed the top of her daughter's head when she walked by on her way to get a piece of paper towel. Once acquired, she went back to Kiseki's side and wiped her face.

Haruka caught a glimpse of the mess on Kiseki's face before it was wiped off and she laughed. "She's definitely feeling better today." Sitting down at the table, she reached out and pulled hers and Michiru's food out of the bag.

Michiru threw the paper towel away and sat down next to her blonde lover, taking her own breakfast. Keeping a watchful eye on her pint-sized child, she enjoyed her breakfast with her family for the first time in a while.

When they were all finished, Haruka got up to throw away all of their trash. As she walked back to the table, she paused for a moment to kneel down next to Kiseki.

Michiru marveled at how much their child looked like the taller blonde. She smiled at the scene in front of her and felt a wave of peace wash over her. "I should take a picture of this," she thought. She turned around, looking for their digital camera, and found it sitting on top of the refrigerator. They had to leave it up there because it was the only place that Kiseki couldn't reach or figure out how to reach it. Their daughter just loved to play with the camera. "Don't move, Ruka," she said as she stood up to retrieve the camera.

Haruka watched as her wife went over to the refrigerator and reached up for the camera. "Are you serious?"

Michiru giggled and nodded. "It's too cute." She stood with her back against the counter, bringing the camera up and focusing it on her wife and child. Once she snapped the picture, she smiled again. "Thank you."

Haruka chuckled then turned her head and kissed Kiseki's forehead. "You want to watch a movie?" she asked her daughter.

Kiseki nodded then got up and went back into the living room. She went over to the movie rack next to the television and chose one of her movies. She knew how to set everything up and got to work.

Michiru set the camera down on the counter and turned back to her wife, moving toward her and hugging her. "I really did miss you."

Haruka wrapped her arms around the artist and held her tight. "I noticed." She rubbed Michiru's back gently. "Don't you have work to do?" she whispered. She knew the reaction she would receive and waited for it.

Michiru frowned. "You're no fun." She let go of her wife and stepped back, turning around to look out the small kitchen window. "You make it sound like you don't want to see me," she said as a joke.

"Michi," Haruka said with a smile. "Of course I want to see you." She moved to her wife and put her arms around her waist. She placed her chin on Michiru's shoulder and sighed happily.

The musician chuckled and leaned her head against the blonde's. After a few moments, she turned herself around and smiled at Haruka. A few seconds later, she watched Haruka's facial expression change drastically. "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Haruka felt confused and suspicious. "You just went very pale. Are you feeling all right?" She moved a hand up to feel her wife's forehead.

Michiru shook Haruka's hand away. "I feel fi…" She stopped short and shook her head again, feeling a bit dizzy. "Haruka, I think you're right." Just after she finished her sentence, she blacked out.

TBC

AN: First of all, Ugo Ugo Lhuga is one of the most unforgettable Japanese kids TV show in the 1990's. Basic info: 2 people ((Ugo Ugo and Lhuga)) interact with computer-generated figures. It's kind of like a Japanese Sesame Street/Blue's Clues. Check out this site for more info: http/www.aec.at/en/archives/festivalarchive/festivalcatalogs/festivalartikel.asp?iProjectID8697

Secondly, thanks for all the reviews. I know I said I'd get the third chapter up sooner if I got a lot of reviews and I kind of went back on that. I've been super busy because of work and my art class ((2 tests and a project all in one week)), but here it is. I'll work on getting the 4th chapter up faster than this one. I know this chapter was a little short but I'll make up for that in the next chapter. Promise!