Chapter 5

The Ishida apartment always felt its emptiest after the children were in bed. It was so quiet and still. Sora wandered from her bedroom, freshly changed into a pair of pajamas and contemplated whether she could be bothered to make herself something to eat. Was it worth the effort when she would just vomit it up anyway? Her medicine had been working well the last couple of months but rather then stopping the sickness altogether, it just lessened it from a constant level of vomiting to a few sessions of retching over the toilet a day. She slowly lowered herself down onto the sofa, going easy on her aching back and mindlessly put the television on. The apartment felt better with a bit of background noise. She cursed under her breath, wishing she had made a cup of tea before she sat down. No tea for me, she thought. I'm stuck here now.

Sora did her best to watch the TV but her mind kept wandering to the drama of the last few days. Her brows furrowed as she tried to pay attention to the program but it was futile. She hated herself and she couldn't stop thinking about that fact, over and over again. Causing nothing but pain for everyone around her. Matt, Tai, T.K, Meiko… the kids. Grimacing, she tried to change the channel to distract herself. Luckily her phone began to ring, it was a video call from Matt.

Her heart filled with joy as she answered it. "Matt!"

He gave her a big smile, "Sora! How are you?"

Leaning forward in her seat, she nodded, "I'm good! I wasn't expecting to hear from you today!"

"Well, actually there's a reason for that…" Her face dropped, so afraid of what he might say. He waved his hands in front of him, "No! It's good! I'm coming home, Sora, just for you." Matt smiled, his eyes welled up with tears.

"Huh?! For me? When?!"

"Two weeks!"

Sora almost jumped to her feet, "Really?!"

He nodded, "I'm just sorry it can't be any sooner."

Sora was elated, "I feel like I'm dreaming, this is real right?! You're really coming home? And never going back into space ever again?"

"That's right!" It was such a relief to see his wife happy like this, after everything she had been through the last couple of months he was beyond grateful his bosses saw this as a family emergency, important enough to warrant an early finish. It had really been his boss at JAXA that had pulled some strings for him, he fought hard for him and he was glad it was his last mission because there was no way he would be sent back up again after pulling this stunt. His reputation would be tarnished forever.

"I can't believe it, Matt… only two weeks!"

"Will you be able to hold on until then?"

She nodded, "Of course. Two weeks is a hell of a lot sooner than two months!"

"Sora, did T.K take you to the doctor today?"

She rolled her eyes, "Hey don't pretend like you guys haven't been talking about me…"

"No, really, Sora I've just woken up, I have no idea. Tell me." He said taking a sip from his canteen bottle. "See look! Coffee, that means it's morning!" He teased her.

"Yeah right! There could be anything in that!" She laughed.

"You got me, T.K emailed me earlier, I'm really proud of you, Sora, I think talking to someone will really help."

She sighed heavily, "Yeah… Joe's arranged everything for me."

"Good old, Joe. You're being a trooper, you know that? I have to go now… I'll see you in two weeks, okay? And I'll try to call again tomorrow."

Sora smiled, "Alright, I love you."

"I love you too." He waved her goodbye.

The call ended and Sora threw her phone down next to her on the sofa. She knew Matt, very well, better than anyone, well except maybe T.K but she knew he was putting on a facade to keep her happy. He was going to lose it at some point. She wondered if anything had happened between Matt and Tai but she knew nobody would dare to tell her even if it did. Stroking her bump methodically as she felt the baby tossing and turning inside she went deep into thought.

Her phone beeped, an email from Matt with a link to a countdown webpage that was ticking down to his arrival. Happy tears spilled onto the screen.

….

It was their last night together, usually they would have something romantic planned but Sora's morning sickness had thrown that out the window. They both lay in bed despite it only being eight thirty in the evening, Sora was still feeling queasy and Matt wanted to just lie next to her even though he wasn't tired at all. He just wanted to be next to her. The newly expectant mother seemed to be fast asleep, he slowly reached his arm over and began to gently move the loose strands of hair away from her face. She smiled and opened her eyes.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"I was just dozing." Sora shifted over to her husband and he opened his arms up, motioning for her to come closer. She obliged and wrapped an arm around his chest. "It's not morning is it?"

Giving her a kiss on the head he quickly reassured her it was still early evening. "Try not to think about the time, Sora, just relax."

"Alright…" She relented with a sigh, he could feel her body became a little heavier as he began to stroke her head, carefully running his fingers through the strands of her strawberry blonde hair. "But what is the time?"

"20:30."

Sora peeked her head up to see the time on the alarm clock for herself. "Really that can't be right… 20:47…" she raised an eyebrow. "That's not 20:30!"

He laughed, "What's the difference?!"

"That's practically 21:00!" Matt only laughed harder, Sora puffed her cheeks in protest. "That's like twenty minutes difference! Hey quit laughing at me!" She poked at her husband.

"I'm sorry you're just being so cute right now." He smiled. She huffed and flopped her head back down onto the pillow. "Try and get some sleep, you've been sick all day."

"You don't have to remind me, I was the one who was stuck sitting next to the toilet."

"It's weird… you weren't this sick with Akane or Hiro…" His hand cupped her small bump.

Sora sighed, "Yeah…" There might have been an explanation for it, the doctor told her it could be stress related as Matt was leaving but she would never tell him that. It would kill him.

Matt grazed her bump with his thumb. It was barely noticeable but it was there and firm to the touch. "The baby won't recognise my voice…"

"Of course it will! I can put the phone to my belly when you call." Sora reached down and gave his hand a squeeze.

"You will?"

"Mmhmm."

"Thank you." He smiled to himself and let his mind wander for a moment. Unconsciously he began to sing. Sora closed her eyes and just listened, letting herself drift off to sleep.

—

It had been a long day of travel back from Kyoto and the former leader of the Digidestined was ready to go to bed, or the couch as the case was for him. He hoped the couple of days away meant Meiko had cooled down a bit but judging by her radio silence during his trip maybe it was futile. Tai contemplated getting his own dinner from the convenience store and eating alone somewhere before going home. No, I need to go home. Dragging his feet he walked the last block to his apartment just before he turned the corner a familiar sound caught his attention. Sora, sitting on the stairs of her apartment building being sick into a bag. Without hesitating he ran over.

"Sora?!"

She looked up at him, her vision was blurry but she knew who was crouched in front of her right away. "Tai… it's okay, don't worry about me, please just go," She said in a panic.

"Go?" He was confused by her tone, "I can't leave you alone like this!"

"She's not alone."

T.K appeared behind her and he was fuming at the sight of Tai. "Get lost."

"T.K!" Sora grabbed onto her brother in laws pant leg, "Its okay!" The expectant mother was helpless to intervene as she began to vomit again.

"I'm sorry," was all Tai could manage, shame struck him like a lightning bolt and he stumbled backwards away from his friend.

The blonde man took Sora by the shoulders and helped her up. "Tai leave Sora alone and go home to your wife." He nodded his head in the direction of the building behind Tai.

He turned around, Meiko was standing on their apartment's balcony and she looked just as furious as T.K. Tai felt like he was about to drop to his knees, once again he had acted without thinking. Meiko threw her laundry basket down to the ground and disappeared into their home, slamming the balcony door shut behind her.

A taxi pulled up next to them and T.K piled Sora inside, Tai heard the sound of the car doors slam shut. He heard the engine rev, pulling away but he didn't look back. He didn't dare. Instead he rushed home.

…

The coffee place next to the hospital was packed, Izzy struggled to get through the crowd bringing a tray of coffees over to the table where Mimi and Joe sat. They had just visited Sora, she had been in hospital a few days now and was being well looked after. Her mother was back in town too and with Matt returning next week things were finally looking up. The computer whiz slid the tray onto the table and sat down.

"Poor Sora…" Mimi looked sadly into her coffee.

"Don't worry she's in the best place," Izzy tried to comfort his wife. She pouted back at him.

"Hey! Listen you! I'm still mad at you for not telling me about Tai and Sora!"

Izzy began to sweat, "Come on, it's not really something to be gossiping about,"

"You really think that low of me? Like I enjoy all of this?" Mimi looked at her husband, brows firmly furrowed, she was worried sick about her friends. Worst of all, she felt she had to pick a side, which was impossible. Meiko had been distant from her, only replying back to messages a few words at a time, it hurt her. She guessed Meiko must have assumed she would be standing with Sora against her, which wasn't true. "I can't believe you sometimes you're just so rude!"

"Come on, we can't have you guys fighting too!" Joe looked between them. "Things are bad enough as they are!"

Izzy took a long sip of his coffee, knowing his friend was right but it couldn't be helped, the group was entwined together for better or worse. Truth be told he was afraid to talk about it, his feet were firmly planted in the Tai and Sora camp, they were his oldest and closest friends but there was no way he could say that out loud.

"Oh forget you!" Mimi grabbed her purse and stormed out.

"Jeez Izzy, nice going.." Joe facepalmed. "You know deep down Mimi isn't really like that."

The redhead returned his cup to the table. "The truth is, she keeps pushing me to talk about it and I'm worried I'll say something wrong."

"Eh? Like what exactly?" Joe was puzzled.

"I'm worried if I say something to defend Tai she'll go nuts. I know it's wrong to pick a side but you weren't there, Joe…" he trailed off, gazing out of the shop window where Mimi stood on the phone, to who he didn't know.

Joe nodded, "I get it." He picked up his coffee, "you know she just probably just needs to talk it out, she's close with Meiko and Sora, it must be horrible for her."

This had never occurred to him before. He had assumed Mimi was pushing him to reveal his stance just so she could tell him his was wrong, perhaps Joe was right, all she wanted was to talk to him. "You're right. I'm being a jerk." Izzy watched his wife chat away, he suspected she was talking to work, he could tell by her expression. He turned back to Joe, "I hate to ask but what's your opinion on all of this, Joe?"

"To be honest, I think it'll blow over soon enough, they didn't do anything… and from a doctors point of view, I can't help but worry about Sora, she is having a really rough time right now. I'm glad Tai was there for her. There are so many complications that could arise with her ongoing sickness and stress not just for her but for the baby too." Joe started waving his hands around, "but you didn't hear that from me!"

Izzy pondered it over for a while. "We have to be careful. TK and Kari are suffering enough without the rest of us voicing our opinions." Joe nodded in agreement. "I better go talk to Mimi."

The doctor observed the couple outside making up outside for a while and then decided he would text T.K to give him a little update on his sister in laws status, he tapped away on his phone then waited for his friends to return.

"And?" Matt asked his wife to continue over the phone, he was wary of taking time out of work for another phone call but it couldn't be helped. Lucky for him no one had given him a hard time for it, well not to his face anyway. This was the first time he had managed to get ahold of Sora since her admittance to the hospital. "It's okay you can tell me," he said gently.

"She wants me to stay in the hospital for a whole week." She burst into tears.

"Please don't cry, Sora, it's okay, I think it's a good idea, don't you?" Sora yelled back at him in protest, Matt could tell she was about to lose her mind and start on a tirade about how she couldn't leave Akane and Hiro. Before she could, he jumped in, "Just this once, for me? You need this and I hate to say this but you have to think about the baby now, Sora. It needs you to be well."

Sora wanted to fight back but the way things had been going lately, she knew she didn't have a choice. She was worrying everyone around her with her constant tears and vomiting. There wasn't enough in her to argue with Matt. Especially after what she had put him through the last few weeks.

"I know you're right."

"Atta girl!" Matt was relieved. These last few months had been torture and knowing she would be in a safe place, resting and being looked after day and night were the answer to his prayers. Next to being able to come home and look after her himself of course.

"Matt… What's going to happen when you come back? Will you stay with me? Even after the baby is born? Will you? And what about Tai?" Tears formed in the corner of her eyes but she remained calm. "You've been nothing but perfect to me this whole time but I need to know how you really feel."

He flinched, a horrible feeling creeped over his whole body, when Sora was hurting like this it consumed him. All he wanted was to keep everything positive and stress free for Sora but maybe what he was doing was wrong. For a moment he was speechless, he hung his head down to hide his tears, "Sora… Don't even say that." She heard a fist pound down onto a hard surface. "There's no chance in hell I'd leave you. I don't care about what happened!"

"Is that really true?"

The astronaut sighed, her melancholy voice made him feel like something was twisting inside, but while he was away there was nothing he could do. "Listen Sora trust me when I say this, I love you and nothing will change that!"

Taking a deep breath in, she prepared herself to ask a hard question, "What about Tai? Will you forgive him too?" She could practically hear him pout over the phone.

"Come on!" The volume of his voice rose dramatically, he was practically yelling. "Don't ask me that!"

Sora's heart began to beat faster but she was finally getting somewhere with him, the Matt she knew. Not that he yelled at her, ever in fact but the Matt she knew he was trying to hide from her. The Matt who she knew was hurt by all of this. The last thing she wanted was for him to keep bottling it up just for her sake, just because she was pregnant and he felt guilty about being away.

"I don't care about him!" He was seething.

Sitting up in her hospital bed, she leaned over and put her hand over her ear, "Yes you do. Matt, I know you, we hurt you and it's okay to be angry. You have to talk to him."

"I already have so what's the point in talking about it again, he knows what he did!"

"So you did talk to him then? And what about me? I bet you yelled at him but you won't even tell me how you really feel! It's my fault too! Just tell me I'm a horrible person, Matt! I need you to say it!" Sora bit her bottom lip. All she got in return was Matt yelling out in frustration, it was almost primal. She remained silent for a while, frozen, waiting for him to talk but he didn't. "Why can you be mad at him but not me!"

"Of course I'm mad." He relented.

Sora almost sighed with relief, "Good. Thank you. I'm fed up of you and everyone else tiptoeing around me all the time! I know what they're all really thinking!" She suddenly stopped, clasping her hand over her mouth. Using a free hand to rummage around she grabbed onto a bowl and began to vomit into it.

"Sora?!" Matt kept repeating until she responded. She apologised in between bouts of sickness. "Sora I'm sorry I didn't want to get mad at you!"

"I want you to be mad at me!" She coughed and groaned. "I'm fed up with you hiding your feelings from me!"

Matt gritted his teeth, overwhelmed by the situation. "Now isn't a good time. Sora! Please can we agree to put it behind us now? I can't promise that I can be friends with Tai again but I'm not willing to lose you over a stupid kiss that you said didn't even happen! We've got more important things to worry about!" He overhead a woman's voice in the background, a nurse in a panic saying she was going to grab another bowl,

"Maybe you're right…" She answered weakly.

Matt sighed heavily, "Believe me when I say that…" he had to pause as a lump rose into his throat, "I just. I just need you to be okay. I'll be there in a few days, just hold on. You'll see when I get back, everything will be fine, I promise."

…

Next chapter will be the last!