Chibi-Kari: Wow, I never expected to get such good reviews. I'm going to try and make this funny. This episode does have the quantity of humor I normally like, but I think it'll bring a smile to most faces. Trust me, it'll get funnier later on and I will try to work all the characters in. I plan for Inui to be in the next one. I don't own and thanks for the reviews!
Halfway Down the Block
You Make Me Sick
Ryoma hit his pillow as he tried a new position to sleep in. The problem was positions on the couch were limited. It wasn't like Sakuno didn't want him in their bed, that wasn't the problem. It was the stupid morning sickness. He growled slightly, he couldn't even figure out why they called in morning sickness. It didn't happen in the morning, it just happened any time he was around.
"It should be called sensitivity to Ryoma sickness." He mumbled to himself as he rolled over again.
They had no idea what was going on, but any time he walked in the room she would make a run for the bathroom. It was starting to get ridiculous. She actually moved all of his things out of their bathroom to the guest bathroom while he was playing tennis with Eiji one day. That bathroom didn't even have a shower! He had to wait for her to be in the kitchen to take a shower.
He hadn't been able to sleep in two days but he had decided a few things, they would need a bigger apartment. They had only one bedroom. After thinking about it, he had decided they would buy a house. It had to have three bedrooms at least; one for them, one for the baby, and one for him to sleep in if this ever happened again. He also thought of three new tennis moves and how to perfect the current one he was working on. All the good that came out of the situation was only cause to annoy him all the more. He was at the point where he didn't want to play tennis if it meant not sleeping with his wife…maybe that was a bit too drastic, but after two weeks on the couch he was pretty sure he would give up tennis…later.
"Uggh!" Ryoma gave up on the pillow and threw it across the room. But with the luck that he had going for him, it hit the bedroom door. Within seconds the light went on and he could hear his wife enter the doorway.
"Ryoma?" He cringed as her voice rang through the room. She hadn't been sleeping well lately either and worried him. So he did the only thing he could think of doing, feign sleep. She didn't need anything to worry about. "Ryoma, I know you're awake. Your pillow is by the door."
If he could mentally groan he would, "I'll get it in a minute. Go back to bed."
He could hear her shuffling her feet towards him, "I'll bring it to you."
"Don't do that. You'll just get sick." He growled at her, immediately regretting it when he heard her stop and gasp.
Her voice was soft when she responded, "I'll take my chances."
Before he knew it she was sitting on the side of the couch, the pillow already behind his head, and her hand caressing his cheek. "I missed you." She mumbled.
"I know." He answered, "But you need to get some sleep."
"I can't sleep without you."
Ryoma couldn't help but smirk at that. That was until her hand went to her mouth and she made a run for the bathroom. He assaulted his pillow again as he called out, "You alright?"
He cringed at the sounds she was making, and after a moment she called out, "Yeah."
He slammed his head on the pillow; how they were going to make it through lunch with Momo and Ann tomorrow, he didn't know. And how was he going to make it through the rest of the pregnancy.
The Next Day
Momo and Sakuno walked down the road side by side chatting idly…they looked like the perfect couple. The only problem was their significant others were walking a good two feet behind them.
Ann turned to Ryoma and smiled lightly at him, "Don't worry, it shouldn't even last the whole fourteen weeks."
Ryoma groaned; he didn't care if this was a show of emotion in front of Ann. It was unbelievable. Ann had explained to both of them what was really going on. Thanks to the fact that she was a nurse. Something about meddling and helping at the same time had attracted her to the career.
Flashback
Ryoma and Sakuno sat at an outdoor café as they waited for Momo and Ann. Ryoma wanted to throw his tennis racket at the men the table over that kept glancing at his wife. But no, he left his racket at home and this was the closest he could get to his wife without her vomiting.
"Hi guys!" He heard Ann's voice ring out.
Sakuno got up to greet her friend with a hug, during some tournament during junior high they had become friends. Ryoma wasn't listening closely when they had relayed the story to him. But right now he was jealous; jealous that he couldn't hug his wife, but her friend could.
Well, he was jealous until Sakuno squeaked, covered, her mouth, and ran into the café. Well at least he knew that no one could hug her right now…or so he thought until she came back out and hugged Momo. He waited but she didn't throw up. So they arranged the seating arrangements based on that. Momo and Sakuno on one side of the time, whereas Ann and himself were on the other.
"I'm sorry, Ann. You smell awful." Sakuno said softly as she sat next to her friend's fiancé.
"It's alright, Sakuno. It's natural to become sensitive to smells and tastes." Ann said as she smiled at her friend.
"Will it go away?" Sakuno asked glancing over at Ryoma.
Ann laughed gleefully, "Is that why Ryoma isn't sitting by you? You're sensitive to his smell?" Sakuno blushed lightly and Ryoma just crossed his arms, "Don't worry, Ryoma. It's probably not you. It could be your cologne, shampoo, or soap. My suggestion is to try and change those things and see what works. And Sakuno, it's going to get worse before it gets better. Soon you'll start having problems with food too, if you aren't already."
Sakuno looked confused for a moment, "Wait, I thought my appetite was going to get bigger. Not that I would be throwing up constantly."
"It'll fluctuate. You'll be eating some pretty messed up stuff for awhile." Ann said shaking her head lightly.
"Don't lie to me." Sakuno said waving her friend's comment off.
"You'll find out." Ann said in a singsong voice.
End of Flashback
All Ryoma knew was that when he got home he would shower for an hour with soap that Sakuno found didn't make her sick. And then he would throw out all of toiletries and finally be in the same room as his wife for more than five seconds. He just prayed it worked. If it didn't he really would take his racket to something and since it couldn't be Ann, Momo would have to do. Momo needed a beat down for looking like a couple with his wife, anyway.
TBC
Chibi-Kari: Thanks for reading. Please review. I hope you guys liked the chapter.
