Chapter 7:
Its New Years eve as everyone is gathered at Tadano and Henry's place since well they had the bigger and nicer home. Retsuko and her husband was there as well as Haida and Jojo plus a few other co workers. Everyone was having a fun night eating, having a drink, popping fireworks It was a magical night.
"So Haida how long you been with Mr. dark and brooding over there" Retsuko's husband says laughing, this causes Retsy to elbow him in the gut as Haida just glares at the bear.
"He is not dark and brooding, he is my joy he is my reason to wake up smiling and to sleep soundly, he is my greatest treasure...that rabbit over there is my queen" Haida says proudly lifting his head and smiling.
"Ok ok sorry didn't mean to offend you your majesty" the bear says making another snarky remark as Retsy just sighs. Little did he know though is that Jojo heard the whole conversation and since it was noisy he was able to walk up behind the bear without even being heard, the bear turns around and nearly falls over backwards as he is faced to face with Jojo eyes glaring wide.
"Mockery of my king will not be tolerated...is that understood" Jojo says loud enough for the bear to hear.
"Y...Yeah yeah sure sorry" The bear says as he gets up and throws his beer can away.
"I'm sorry for Butch, he doesn't know how to handle his alcohol that well" Retsy says letting out another sigh. While everyone at the party is still having fun Jojo, Haida, Tadano, Henry and Anai all change into their swimming cloths and jumps into the heated pool. Anai seems to be getting better and better with his temper as he learned to appreciate people and not be so quick to lash out at them.
"So Anai...hows things wit you and yo girl been?" Jojo asks as he takes a sip of his pineapple soda.
"It's going good we are expecting a girl in the next few months" Anai says beeming with joy.
"Thats good bro, so whos gonna be the kid's like uncle aunty stuff like that? You never really spoke about your family or having family here for that matter." Haida asks, as Anai makes that face he normally does when he is about to snap but gets a quick slap by Jojo.
"Knock it off bro we are here having a good time, no need to trip out" Jojo says in a soothing voice rubbing Anai's cheek.
"Yeah...sorry umm well truth is I dont have any family, well blood family...you see I was an orphan kid and well with my temper that you guys seen first hand it was hard to be adopted so i kind of bounced from home to home" Anai says looking down at the water.
"Ahh its ok Anai, we love you bro and glad that you been with us for 3 years. So just say hello to uncle Haida" Haida says placing a hand on Anai's shoulder.
"And Uncle Tadano, Uncle Henry, and Uncle Jojo" Tadano says as all of them embrace Anai in a hug in the water.
"Don't forget, Aunty Retsuko, and Aunty Gori" Retsuko says as her and Gori walk over to the pool.
"See Anai dear, you have so many friends now who see you as family that you aren't alone anymore. So when things get tough and you have your eyes closed out of fear, open them and look around because you will see all of us standing there ready to help you out at the drop of a dime." Gori says as she gets down on her knee's and give's the top of Anai's head a quick kiss as her and Retsuko go back to the salad bar.
"T...Thank you guys soo much" Anai says softly sobbing in the pool.
Little did they know that, their love for Anai would be put to the test that very night, as most of the party guests are leaving the only ones left is Haida, Anai and his wife, Jojo, Retsy, Gori, and Butch.
"Hey listen, if you guys are too drunk to drive please stay the night, we have alot of rooms here and well since it is only me and Henry most of the time the rooms are empty so we would love for you guys to spend the night here" Tadano says smiling. All of a sudden a loud scream could be heard as Anai's Pregnant wife can be seen dangling from the balcony.
"EMILY!" Anai screams as he runs into the house and up the stairs. Acting quickly Jojo dives into the pool and grabs as much of the floaties as he can swimming it to Butch who then lays them on the ground and stacks them ontop of each other. Haida knocks off the dishes on one of the tables apologizing to Henry who grabs one end of the cloth.
"Sorry about the dishes Henry i will pay for it later" Haida says.
"Fuck it, they were plastic crap anyway don't worry about it" Henry says as Gori, Henry, Butch, Jojo, Haida, and Tadano each hold one end of the cloth over the floaties.
"Babe im scared" Emily says tears forming in her eyes.
"I...I am too, I dont want anything to happen to you or our first child" Anai says tears forming in his eyes as well.
"Anai trust us, we are here and we are going to catch her, no harm will come to her or her child but she has to fall on her back. Do you trust us?" Tadano asks.
"I do" Anai replies as he continues to hold on to his wife's paws. "Listen babe I need you to swing your feet a bit just enough so that when you let go you will fall on your back. I trust my friend's" Anai whispers to his wife. She does as he tells her and slowly begins to swing her feet, after about 3 swings she lets go and begins to fall down on her back as she lands on the cloth they all braced themselves and once she was safely on the ground they let go and helped her up. Anai quickly ran back down the stairs and wraps his arms around his wife's waist kissing her on the lips.
"Shit are you ok Emily! you or the baby arent hurt are you?!" Anai asks frantically as his wife calms him by putting a finger to his mouth.
"Shhhh and feel" She says as she grabs his hand and puts it on her belly he feels a litte thump inside.
"See she is saying thank you daddy" as Anai collapses to his knees, his head in his hands as he begins to bawl his eyes out, this causes concern to everyone around him as they all kneel surrounding Anai with worry in their voices.
"No...its not that...I'm just so happy, i went from being a orphaned nobody, to a guy with a beautiful wife, a girl on the way, and wonderful friends who have also became my family... I didn't think it was gonna ever happen" Anai says as he continues to sob.
"Hey Anai i know you are emotional right now but it's almost midnight lets welcome in the new year ok" Jojo says standing up and helping Anai up. They all stood up and in a line grabbing each other by the hand.
"Together we walk into the new year, not alone but as friends and a family" Tadano says looking up at the sky.
"The trials that we will face in the coming year we wont face alone, nor will we face any obstacle alone" Haida says as he nuzzles Jojo's neck.
"Our past pains is exactly where they will stay...in the past" Retsuko says looking up at her husband who in turn looks down at her and grins giving her a wink. They all begin to countdown and once they reach zero they all shout as loud as they can HAPPY NEW YEARS. as the clear night sky is lit up with countless varieties of fireworks from all over the area.
The following day Haida wakes up and notices that Jojo isnt in the bed beside him, he gets up and quietly walks around the house trying to see where his boyfriend could be. He enters the living room and looks outside to see Jojo leaning up against the rail stairing out into the distance. Haida quietly walks up and wraps his arms around the waist of the rabbit.
"Good morning babe" Haida says giving the rabbit's neck a lick.
"good morning my king" Jojo says leaning his head up against the hyena's neck.
"I just wanted to watch the sunrise, It always made me feel happy, you know before you I would always wake up early just to watch the sunrise and at night I would lay in a field and look up at the stars and moon" Jojo says.
"I see, well you got me now my queen and I will always treat you with such love and care that you will never need to worry about being alone again" Haida says as he spins the rabbit around and wraps his arms around the rabbit's waist. Jojo wraps his arms around Haida's neck as they share a passionate kiss as the sky is a nice pink and orange color. Jojo opens his muzzle a bit as Haida slides his tongue in the rabbit's muzzle, soft moans escaping their muzzles.
