Sora felt numb walking back to her home, her body felt heavy and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't walk any faster. Her baby needed her home, her body was telling her she needed to be home to feed her baby, her shirt felt wet beneath her coat. I'm such a stupid idiot. She picked up the pace, knowing she had no choice but to hurry, she had been away too enough.

Running up the stairs she burst into her apartment, hurriedly kicking off her shoes and throwing off her coat. "I'm sorry I stayed out too long!" She found her family in the living room in front of the television; Matt had their baby peaceful sleeping against his chest, while Akane and Hiro were eating snacks together on the floor. Sora rushed over and sat down next to her husband, taking the baby from him and opening her top to feed her.

"Hey relax, you weren't gone that long!" Matt did his best to greet her warmly but beneath the surface he worried. His wife looked like she had been crying; her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. A part of him didn't want to know why she had met up with Tai and come home crying, he didn't want to upset her or disrupt their life again. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he watched her nurse their baby. The sound of the bath chiming disrupted his thoughts and he ushered the kids to the bath. It would have to wait.

Sora didn't dare look him in the eye as Matt and her children left the living room, she was too ashamed. She returned the baby to rest against her chest after she was done feeding and as soon as she heard the door close, Sora burst into tears. She cried long, hard sobs that she couldn't control or contain.

Unexpectedly Matt returned to the room and took the baby from her, laying her into a small bouncer beside him. "Sora, why did you have to meet him today? Why?" He sighed and sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her.

She could barely stifle her tears, "I'm sorry!" She buried her face into her hands, still unable to look at him.

He furrowed his brows, "Please tell me this is done now. I…" Matt paused as he felt a lump in his throat, "I can't take any more of this stuff with Tai." He reached over to take her hands away from her face, prompting her to look at him.

"It is." She nodded at him, sniffing and wiping her tears away with the back of her cardigan, attempting to calm herself.

"Sora, I'm-" Matt stopped himself as their baby began to squirm and cry, he leant down to pick up the baby and cradled her. "I'm starting to feel like I'm really losing you."

She shook her head with determination and quickly wiped another falling tear from her cheek, "You're not."

He raised an eyebrow, "Yeah?"

Sora nodded again "Yes. I promise." She opened her arms out to take the baby from him, "I think she's still hungry, I better take her."

"Alright, I'm going to check on those two, the bathroom is probably soaking wet right now." Matt made his way into the bathroom and got his children out of the bath and ready for bed.

Akane and Hiro were now sound asleep, Matt crept out of the room, holding his breath so he wouldn't make a sound. As he closed the door to the children's bedroom, he stopped in his tracks to think things over before he went to talk to Sora again. Matt could feel his temper began to rise as he pictured Sora when she had come home, hair soaked and her face blotchy from crying. Why did Tai have to keep doing this? Sora was vulnerable enough as it is… what the hell happened to make her so upset? Shaking his head he tried to tell himself not do anything stupid, Sora was to blame too but… things would be different if she hadn't been so down and dealing with a new baby right now. Would she be this emotional and thoughtless? Tai's seemingly doomed marriage and her depression seemed to be colliding together into a storm of destruction.

Matt slammed his eyes shut tight, he tried to resist flying into a rage as best he could but he couldn't contain himself any longer. He reached into his pocket and called Tai.

Izzy and Joe ran as fast as they could towards the park where Tai said he was meeting Matt. The pair had been enjoying a quiet drink in a bar on the waterfront when Izzy had got the call from Sora.

"I can't believe this is happening again!" Joe panted as they approached the entrance of the park.

Izzy furrowed his brows, "Hey you weren't even there the first time!"

The pair stopped in their tracks as they spotted Matt just in front of them, he had just gotten there by the looks of things. Tai leaned against the back of a bench, awaiting his fate. He didn't move as Matt quickly moved in. "So are you actually going to punch me this time?" Tai asked, venom seethed in his voice. He couldn't help himself; he was mad, mad that Sora had chosen Matt yet again and every time he seemed to pay for it. It wasn't fair.

"No, Tai," Matt gritted his teeth together, desperate to keep his composure, "But if that's what it takes for you to leave Sora alone, then yes... but I'm sure Meiko wouldn't appreciate you coming home with a black eye. In fact, I'm sure that would give her the courage to actually leave you once and for all." He retaliated.

"Yeah it probably would." Tai laughed despite himself, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Go on then." He looked at Matt directly in the eyes. "If it'll make you feel better, then do it."

"You're even stupider than I thought! You'd really throw your marriage away like that?!" Matt remained unmoved, he stood clenching his fists, trying to hold in his rage for Sora's sake. "And what did you call these guys here for? Back up?"

Izzy cleared his throat, "No as a matter of fact, Sora called me. She's at home crying her eyes out because you left without a word!" He knew this would hit Matt's weak spot, he hoped it was enough to make him back off completely. "Now enough of this both of you, you're grown men for God's sake!"

Joe raised his brows in surprise, "Wow, Izzy you're really good at this…" he muttered under his breath so only Izzy could hear him.

"Fortunately I've had plenty of practice." He replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Turning his attention to Izzy, Matt barked at him, "If you're here to help then please go stay with Sora." Joe raised a hand, signalling that he would go and took off in the direction of the Ishida apartment.

"So why did you call me here, Matt?" Tai stood up from leaning on the bench and took a few steps towards the blond. "Are you going to punch me or not?"

Matt moved swiftly and grabbed Tai by the collar of his shirt, "I need to know." He growled, "What you did to upset her today."

"Listen, man." Tai grimaced as he was pulled in close to Matt against his will, taking a hold of his friend's shoulders he continued, "It's done. I wanted to know how she feels about me and don't worry she chose you." The hardened expression Tai had been putting on as a defensive strategy softened for a moment.

"Where the hell do you get off confessing you're stupid feelings to her?!" Matt released his grip on Tai, pushing him away from him in disgust. "So, you finally admitted it then? It was all complete bullshit about 'being there' for her before!"

The spiky haired man gulped, he had got him there. "I really don't know…" Silence fell between the pair, "I'm sorry, Matt."

"If you really loved her you'd leave her alone." he said firmly but without menace, "Do I really have to be the one to spell it out for you, Tai? She's got enough going on without you messing things up for her. Sora is not herself anymore and neither are you, it's best if you stayed away from each other from now on and I bet Meiko feels the same way." He sighed, "I've tried to help you save your marriage, Tai, and I've looked out for you despite what you've done. That ends here, understand?"

"Why do I have to pay the price for this every time?!" Tai suddenly yelled out. "You get to go back to your perfect life with Sora and I get nothing!"

"Because I don't believe Sora loves you and I don't believe you really love her either." Matt pointed to Tai. "You're both toxic for each other right now. You need to get a grip!"

Izzy walked over to the pair and put a hand to Matt's shoulder, "Matt. Please, don't leave Sora on her own anymore, I'll walk you home." Matt took a moment, contemplating whether he was finished with Tai yet but he was already being pushed away. He nodded at Izzy and began walking away with him, leaving Tai alone.

The redhead breathed a sigh of relief once they had made some distance away from the park. "You remained calm in the end, I'm glad."

"I didn't go there to fight, I just wanted answers," Matt ran his fingers through his messy hair, "I blame myself for all this you know. I should never have left. I should have quit my job a long time ago, what was I thinking? Sora's not a stay at home mom, she needs to work, and she needs more out of life than this."

"Matt, don't you think you're being a little too forgiving on Sora's part?" He raised an eyebrow, "think about yourself for a second!"

He stopped walking and shoved his hands into his pockets, "Maybe… but unlike Tai I would much prefer to understand the situation and try and fix it then bury my head in the sand. I know why she's unhappy and I think I know what to do."

"And what's that, Matt?"

"Be a stay at home dad, I guess… give Sora some freedom again. She gave up her whole career for our kids." Matt smiled sadly.

Izzy smiled back, "I think I could really learn a thing or two from you about marriage!" The pair chuckled and continued to walk.

Matt stopped again, "Wait, Izzy."

His friend turned and looked back at him, "Yeah?"

"Do you think I'm being a complete idiot?" Matt stared directly at Izzy.

Izzy grimaced, taken off guard by his question, "I really couldn't say but if you're asking me if I know more than you do… I…" he sighed, "I have no idea. I'm sorry."

The blond nodded, "Alright."

"Tonight was a total shock; I thought this was all done with months ago, what the hell happened?" Izzy asked, fuzzy on the details, he was unable to keep up what was being said in Matt and Tai's confrontation.

"Sora bumped into him on her way back home, she text me telling me they were going to catch up," Matt continued, "Next thing I know she's back home and she's a complete mess."

"And that's when you called Tai." Izzy understood now.

"And somewhere in between Tai confessed his feelings for her, stupid idiot." Matt stopped as he got to his apartment building.

"He's moving, you know." Izzy said without hesitation, wondering if this would comfort Matt or not.

Matt raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Moving?"

Izzy nodded his head in the direction of Meiko and Tai's apartment building, which stood behind them, "Seems Meiko gave him an ultimatum, if he wants to stay with her and their son, he has to move to Shimane with them, for good."

"Wow…" Matt ran his hands through his hair, slowly, taking in what Izzy had told him. "That's… terrible. It's understandable of course but…"

"Now that I'm thinking about it, that's probably why Tai did what he did today, tell Sora he loved her, I mean."

Matt groaned loudly, "Oh jeez. Now I feel sorry him!" he clenched his fists, "That idiot is going to be the death of me!"

"Me too!" Izzy's face cracked and he began to laugh. Matt facepalmed, incredulous at himself, he couldn't believe he had empathy for a man who was actively after his wife.

"I don't know if that helps, Matt… He'll be far away soon, out of you and Sora's hair at least." Izzy shrugged.

The blond sighed, "I don't know, man. None of this is good. Anyway, I better go inside."

Izzy nodded and rushed home himself.

Sora's eyes flew open when she heard the front door shut. She got her bearings, realising she was in her bedroom and the baby was in her crib next to her. Sora had sent Joe home, she appreciated the comfort but despite how worried she was, the sleepless nights their baby had brought, Sora went to bed. The door to her bedroom opened and Matt came in, he shut the door behind him. Sora gulped and had no idea where to start. To her surprise he crawled into bed with her and embraced her. He buried his face into her neck. Sora brought her hand to his head to stroke his messy blonde hair, trying to comfort him as she felt his tears wet her collarbone.

Thank you to all that have stuck by to read, I always knew the storyline for this meant it wasn't going to be a popular fic but

ah well! I've thoroughly enjoyed writing it!

Story is still ongoing, though it does have an end, I just keep writing more to fill in between! Apologies!