The pitter patter of little feet. That was how people usually described the sound of kids running. After four years of fatherhood, Rob knew better. It was more like galloping horses at a race track. Kate was already out of bed. He envied that ability. Getting out of bed was often the hardest part of his day. He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his phone, which sometimes helped him wake up. With bleary eyes he looked at the day's news headlines. As usual, that was a mistake.

"Ugh, what did that fuckin' idiot say now?"

It was the sudden sound of glass shattering that finally got Rob to lurch out of bed and wander into the living room. Lucas had knocked over one of Kate's scented candles from a shelf.

Monika wandered upstairs from the basement. "Is everything okay?"

Rob was briefly taken aback by her hair, which made her look like she had just crawled out of the jungle. She must have really slept heavily.

"Yeah," he said. "Can you do me a favor and keep the boys busy while I clean this up?"

"I'll try." She sat on the couch and beckoned the twins. Last night they hadn't given her much thought but now that she was still there, they were curious. As Rob grabbed a brush and dustpan, the boys wandered over.

"You sleep here?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah. Is that okay?"

"Yes," he answered. "This is my favorite fire truck. It goes over the bridge, down the hill and up again."

"Oh." Monika wasn't sure what else to say as he waved his toy truck around.

"Do you want to build a marble maze with me?" Lucas asked. Both boys got to work before waiting for her to reply. She watched as they swiftly connected the various pieces together. After picking up one of the marbles she slipped on the previous day, she dropped it down through the tower and was surprised how satisfying it was.

Just as Rob had disposed of the broken glass, Kate walked out of the bathroom. "Rob, the toilet won't flush."

He walked into the bathroom and pulled off the cover on the back of the toilet. As he suspected, the little chain had gotten disconnected from the metal rod connected to the flush handle. At some point he would probably have to just get a new handle, but for now just re-connecting them would be enough.

Monika showed up at the bathroom door. "Rob, where do you guys keep the coffee?"

He looked up at her. "Huh? Neither of us drink coffee."

Rob could have sworn some color drained from her face. "What?"

"You should pay attention," he said, gesturing towards the open toilet. "Someday, you might have your own place and you'll have to do stuff like this."

"But I want to stay here with you."

"I didn't say right this second," Rob replied.

"You really don't have coffee?"

Before he could say anything more, she caught a glimpse of herself in the bathroom. "Oh God, my hair!" Rob couldn't help but laugh a little bit as she rushed out. This wasn't some anime world where the most improbably sculpted hairstyles could stand any amount of mayhem. She would have to adjust accordingly.

Kate peeked around the door frame. "What's with her?"

"Bad hair day."

After dropping the boys off, Rob returned to the house and saw that Monika had managed to get her hair under control, although it still didn't look as controlled as it had when she first arrived.

"I'm so glad you're back," she said with a smile.

"I bet I know why."

"You do?"

"Sure. Would you like me to take you to get some coffee?" She squealed in delight and hurried towards the door. Rob gave her a pair of Kate's boots to wear, but Monika was too tall to fit into most of his wife's other clothes. They would probably have to take care of that too.

"You two really don't drink coffee?" Monika asked as the car backed out of the driveway and into the road.

"Nope."

"But…why?"

"Cause it tastes like shit," Rob deadpanned. He turned and flashed a devilish grin.

She clenched her hands into fists and made what sounded like a little growl. "Okay, I might be able to forgive you for letting another woman bear your children but if you disrespect my coffee, you are in big trouble!"

Satisfied with that bit of trolling, Rob pulled into the parking lot of a small coffee shop. As they walked in, Monika wasn't through talking about it.
"If you really think coffee is gross, that just means you haven't had a really good one. I'll pick one out for you." She began to look over the chalkboard list of options.

"No thanks," he replied. "I'll get you some of these little Keurig cups too. We have a machine in the basement that we got for our wedding…clearly from someone who didn't know us very well."

She turned around. "You mean I'll be able to make my own in the house?"

He nodded and paid for the coffee she had chosen. It had caramel in it, which certainly made it sound appealing, but Rob knew any of it that got into his mouth wound wind up on the floor not long after.

"I have to work today," he said as they got back into the car. "But I think we have time to get you some proper winter clothes. Right now you still look like a stranger in a strange land."

"Nice Robert Heinlein reference," Monika replied. Rob had actually been thinking of the Iron Maiden song but sure, he figured, we can go with that. On that note,Monika's attention had gone to the iPod connected to the car stereo. Most people these days had the music on their phone, but Rob hated the idea of his tunes being interrupted by someone calling so he had preferred to keep them separate.

"Can we listen to some music?" she asked.

"Sure." She was clearly taken aback by the heavy metal that suddenly blared through the speakers. He had forgotten how loud he had played it the last time he had driven alone and reached over to turn it down.

"Um…it's interesting," Monika said.

"Bruce Dickinson is my vocal coach," Rob explained. "He doesn't know it, of course. He's a dramatic tenor like me."

"Sounds like you know a thing or two about singing."

"I guess."

"You want to sing for me?" she asked with almost unbearable sweetness..

"I don't really have a pretty sort of voice," Rob replied nervously. "This is the kind of thing I'm drawn to."

"That's okay! I want to hear it!"

He felt it might have been a mistake to bring that up. "Maybe some other time."

"Oh, don't be shy!"

Surprised by how vulnerable he suddenly felt, Rob felt great relief when the clothing store came into view. Monika gasped in delight when they entered and saw all the different outfits she had to choose from.

"The first thing you need is a proper winter coat," Rob said. A few minutes later, she brought him a beautiful thick white jacket. He looked at the price tag and did a double take.

"Jeez, were you trying to pick out the most expensive thing in the store?"

"But I love it!" Monika pleaded, staring at him with those beautiful green eyes. They were her deadliest weapon and if she ever figured that out, he was in trouble.

"Okay okay," he relented. "But let's take things down a notch for the rest."

"Thank you," she said, kissing him on the cheek and prancing towards another rack of clothes.

"I'm being played like a goddamn piano," he muttered.

It took both of them to carry all of her new clothes back into the house. Kate was not going to be pleased when the credit card bill arrived, but Rob figured Monika was at least set for the rest of the winter.

"I'm headed to work now," he said.

"Aww," she said with a pout. "I'm going to be so bored without you."

Rob raised an eyebrow. "Bored? Let me show you something." He led her into the bedroom and stood proudly next to three racks full of DVDs and Blu-rays.

"These are all yours?" Monika asked.

"Yep," he said. "I'm a huge movie buff. Trust me when I say it's very hard to be bored in this house."

"I don't even know where to start," she said. He had been expecting this and bent down to one of the lower shelves. He found the one he was looking for and handed it to her.

"Planet Earth?"

"This is a really awesome documentary series," Rob said with geeky satisfaction. "I figure now that you're here, you might as well learn something about this place." They went downstairs to the TV and he set everything up for her.

"Enjoy," he said. "I'll be back in a few hours with the boys."

As he drove to the small arts center where he worked two days a week, Rob was grateful for a chance to collect his thoughts. It was becoming increasingly harder to believe that the person he had been spending so much time with was originally a character in a 2-D video game. While the programming that created her was clearly more powerful than anyone involved with Doki Doki Literature Club could have imagined, Rob guessed that Monika still didn't fully understand the truth about her origins. She couldn't have known that her hostile takeover of the game was all part of the storyline. In fact, the game had found a huge fanbase in large part because of its twists and surprises. Sometime he would have to try and explain that to her, but it seemed too soon. She had been through a lot in a short time.

He was also troubled by what Monika's emergence suggested about the other characters of the game. Sayori had inherited the title of President after Monika was removed; would she be showing up in that same snowy field? He wished he could find a way to talk to her, to all of the other girls, but he had been essentially locked out of Doki Doki Literature Club after finishing it. It was a simple matter to overcome that if he wanted to play again, but that seemed risky. Assuming everything played out the same way, he could wind up with a second Monika at his house. The thought made his head spin.

Rob worked until it was time to leave and pick up the boys from school. After the initial burst of mayhem, Andrew and Lucas settled down by their little train table and he went to check on Monika. It didn't look like she had moved since he left.

"This is AMAZING!" she shouted. "I want to go to all these places!"

"Glad you're enjoying it," he smiled. His phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket to find a text message from Kate. She was working late that night and wouldn't be back until after dinner. When the time came, he cut up fruit and two little hot dogs for Andrew and Lucas. Once they were seated, Monika emerged from the basement.

"So what are we having?"

"How do you feel about cereal and fruit?" Rob asked.

Monika was perplexed. "That's it?"

"Well…I don't work very hard on my dinner when Kate's not here. I'm not worth the trouble, but if you want something different, I'll try and make it."

"No, that's okay. We can have cereal and fruit." Monika looked like she wanted to say something more but she kept quiet. The boys were just starting to eat their food after several minutes of jabbering and playing with the napkins.

"Momma needs to come," Lucas said.

"She'll be home soon," Rob assured him.

"Monika likes cereal?" Andrew asked. That was the first time either of them had used her name and she grinned and told him she did. Andrew informed her that he liked cereal as well. He coughed loudly afterwards.

"You okay, bud?" Rob asked.

"I okay, Daddy."

"I'm glad," he replied, although he was nervous. If he was getting a cold, that could be bad news.

"So when can I meet your friends?" she asked a few moments later.

"Oh," Rob answered. "Well, I'm not sure. One of my best friends moved to Florida last year and another one moved to Maryland. Even my little brother Alex just moved back to New Zealand."

"New Zealand? Isn't that like really far from here?"

"Oh yeah," he chuckled. "It's about a 20 hour trip. Kate and I went once before these guys were born. Who the hell knows when I can go again. Can't bring the boys, that fuckin' flight is hard enough on adults."

Monika had a nervous expression on her face. It took a moment for Rob to understand why until he glanced at the twins. Thankfully, it seemed like they hadn't been paying attention to his cursing this time.

"So what should I watch when I'm done with Planet Earth?" Monika asked as Rob finished putting dishes in the sink. He led her back to the movie collection and handed her another one.

"There's a Planet Earth II?! You spoil me." She rushed downstairs to resume her marathon. Rob went to sit on the couch and watch the boys play. Lucas put down his toys and climbed onto his lap. He was usually the cuddly one. Rob's eyes went to a picture on the opposite wall. He and Alex were standing together with the spectacular Mount Taranaki in the background. He smiled ruefully and stared at the photo for quite a while.