Chapter 16: (22 Weeks)
Usagi sighed as she looked in the mirror for the first time that day, her eyes drawn directly to her growing abdomen. Red, angry, and raw stretch marks lined up the lower part of her abdomen. "Everything I'm using isn't working" she whined as she turned to Mamoru. He looked and frowned, knowing she was going to complain about it anyway. "It's ugly. I'm Ugly" she complains as she pokes her abdomen again, receiving a disturbance from inside.
"You aren't ugly Usako" Mamoru says as he slips his arms around her sides, resting his hands on her abdomen.
"I am" she whines.
"You aren't. And never will be to me alright. Nobody but me will see your marks, okay?" he whispers. She nods.
"I like the outer belly button though" she giggles, poking it for emphasis. She sighs once again, pulling up her track pants and pulling down her hoodie so it covered her stomach. "Mamo-chan…Can you rub my lower back please? It's starting to hurt now"' she asks, a red coverage forming along her cheeks. Mamoru smiled as he placed his hands on her back, loosening the muscles there. She smiles when his hands touch her shoulders there.
"So, House shopping?" he asks with a smile as he continues. "I thought we had everything already here?" he asks her with a smile.
"Well…" she starts, a small smile painted on her face. "The furniture here isn't…going to fit?" she says. Mamoru noted it sounded like a question mentally.
"With your aesthetic?" he finishes with a small laugh at the end. She nods.
"No offense" she giggles. "But even since I moved in here, you still cant get out the broody mood from the apartment. Even with the large amounts of colour I've managed to sprinkle all over the place" she smiles.
"So, what aesthetic? Modern? Minimalist?" he questions his wife. She grins.
"Modern of course. You can't not go with the trends now days anyway" she sighs. She moves to pull her hoodie over her head, then moving towards her shoes. "Ready to go?" she asks him. He nods and slides his feet into his shoes, watching her struggle with hers. She huffs and pokes the white pair of sneakers in irritation.
"What's wrong now?" he asks her as he kneels down to her level. She looks up at him before looking back down.
"I can't pull on my shoes" she says as she grabs her ankles. He noticed they were slightly swollen and walked away. "Mamo?" she asks in a yell before watching him return back with a pair of socks. he pulled off her black socks, sliding the longer pair on instead. She felt the relief of her ankles from them and looked up at him.
"Compression socks. stop the swelling in your ankles. And they are mine, so I expect them back" he says with a small smile.
"Why do you have these?" she asks him with a grin, sliding on her shoes with ease.
"They prevent swelling as well as preventing too much blood flow" he shrugs. "Do you want to go now?" he asks her as he helps her up. He watches her head nod up and down slightly as she grabs her purse and walks towards the apartment exit.
An hour later they arrived at the shop that Usagi had found the furniture online. She was practically bouncing as she stepped outside the car, throwing on her hoodie over her hair to protect her identity. Mamoru smiled as he saw her, knowing she was only doing this to protect their child, and himself. He took her hand as they walked inside the shop, Usagi immediately walking over towards a couch and sitting on it. He smiled as she talked quietly to avoid attention, about what type of furniture she needed.
Hours later, they left the numerous shops they had visited, taking refuge in their car with a sigh. "Do you want to go visit the house?" he asks her as she taps her fingers gently against the fabric covering her bump. Usagi turned to him, a bright smile as she nodded while intertwining her fingers in his, pulling them over to her bump.
"Can you feel the baby yet?" she asks him, a contagious smile slapping his face. He smiled back sadly and shook his head. She frowned. "Ok…" she whispers as she turns and looks out the front window. He drives through the streets of Japan, past Usagi's parents house and down a few streets until he parked outside of it.
The house was two floors high, painted a modern grey colour with trimmed hedges around the walls near the windows. Usagi noticed the rose bushes, with the different numerous colours of rose sprouting out from them. The house was very open, with windows in every room letting the loose strands of light inside. Usagi grins, imagining her future here as she had dreamed ever since she was fifteen, except she never dreamed of having a child. "Mamo…It says sold on the sign" she says with sad eyes she turned to him, surprised to find him grinning as he stepped out the car, walking over to her side and opening the door for his wife.
"Exactly" he says as he helps her out the car. "Welcome home Usako" He whispers as he leads her towards the front door.
"You bought it?" she asks him, her voice rising one octave. He smiled as he handed her a key.
"Yes. And everything that we have in the apartment has been organised to move into here in a few days" he grins. "That's why I paid for everything at the shop" he says before arms constrict around him, pulling him into a tight hug.
"Thank you Mamo" she squeals. She lets go after a minute, turning to him with guilty eyes. "I also might have forgotten to tell you something…" she giggles.
"What now?" he teases.
"Seiya Kou is coming over in eight weeks' time for a meet up for our new album" she says, her mouth pulling up into a smile.
"This person's a boy, right?" he asks with a frown. She nods. "Oh…Alright. I will say though, if he tries anything to you, I might have to step in" he grumbles. Usagi grins.
"I'll make sure he does" she winks. "I'd definitely love to see that"