Chapter 17: (26 Weeks)
Usagi's phone played the popular music from the moment through the speakers, filling the room around her. It woke her up enough to sing along to it in-between ice cream bites, Mamoru smiling as she managed to balance everything on top of her twenty-six weeklong baby bumps. She had only woken a few moments ago after falling asleep during a movie. Mamoru knew her reasons why his blonde, bun headed wife was playing the same playlist over and over again.
Her voice rose to the chord of the song, singing along again with a massive smile on her face, her voice cracking in the middle. She blushed and stopped singing, rubbing her stomach tenderly as she felt another movement. "Sorry baby" she murmured. "Did I startle you?"
"You realise the foetus can't respond to you right." Mamoru says. He watches as her eyes snap up to him in a glare, making him smile back at her.
"Yes, I know Mamo" she snaps before smiling back at her abdomen. "But our baby will be the prettiest baby on earth, won't she Mamo-chan?" she asks him.
"How the hell did you change the subject like that. Those two things barely corelate together." Mamoru questions. "One moment we were talking about the foetus' ability to hear and now we're talking about what it looks like?" he lets out a low laugh, but he felt Usagi's glare, so he answered his wife's question. "Yes, our baby will be the prettiest baby on earth" he drawls out. He watches her beam before she picks up her phone gently.
Usagi glares at her mid-section as she gets up from the couch. "How the hell am I going to get upstairs when our baby grows even more." She mumbles.
"Well, you are quiet big now" He mumbles, thinking it wasn't loud enough for his wife to hear.
"Are you calling me fat?" She yells, tears starting to jump out of her eyes. Mamoru panics, and looks at her, knowing she heard his comment.
"No" He reassures her. "No, I wasn't I was commenting on the baby" he denies.
"Yes, you were" she snaps. "Stop lying to me"
"I'm not lying, you are not fat Usako" Mamoru says as he stands up, reaching out his hand to her. she slaps it away.
"Well then Mamoru-Baka, you said that I was big now, that's a reference to both me and the baby alright" she yells as she walks away towards the stairs.
"I didn't mean it like that Usako" he says again, louder this time.
"No, you did mean it that way" she snaps as she steps up the first stair. "So don't even bother to come to bed tonight, you can sleep on the couch." And with that, she stomped up stairs and into their bedroom, slamming the door on her way in.
Mamoru sighed tiredly, threading his hands through the black waves of his hair as he walked to the laundry room, pulling out a small blanket from the cupboard. He through the large, black blanket over his shoulder, marching tiredly to the couch where he'd take refuge because of one comment to his wife.
Smart move Chiba, he snaps to himself in his thoughts. Now you've just managed to screw things over with your wife.
All he could think was that while he tried to fall asleep on the fabric of the couch, and then after several hours, the darkness engulfed him, placing him in a dark sleep.
The light filled the white bedroom, bouncing off the walls numerous times before it couldn't go any further. Usagi woke with a small yawn, rolling onto her opposite side of her body and reaching to her side to find the thing she was looking for.
Her hand touched the while cotton sheets of the bed, and she snapped open her eyes, finding no-one. She begins to panic, her breathing becoming more rapid, and her eyes flying around the room, searching for one person. She stood up out of the bed, looking in the bathroom and then the walk-in wardrobe, once again finding emptiness.
Then, her mind snapped back to the previous night, remembering all the things she had said to her husband, knowing that he never meant the words he said the first time, and that he was telling the truth. She was getting bigger and so was the baby. She flinched hearing the fact that his words were right. Her eyes started to water, nothing leaving her eyes to go to her cheeks, which were painted a light pink.
She walked carefully down the stairs, turning into the kitchen, and walking into the living room. She was greeted by a bundle of fabric which rested on top of her husband. He turned to look at her, frowning at her. She felt a small tear slide down her cheek, landing on her clothes.
"Usako" Mamoru spoke as he reached out for her hand, which she didn't move. "I'm so sorry" he whispers not knowing what to do next.
"No…I'm sorry." Usagi whispers "I'm a horrible person…I forced you to sleep on the couch Mamo-Chan" she whispers as she sits on the couch, her husband pulling her into a hug.
"You aren't a horrible person Usako" he says. "Everything with this has been going so smoothly, and your body is undergoing changes that mine never will. I just let myself speak without thinking for a moment and it all crumbles" he says to her, untangling her hair with his fingers as he spoke.
"That doesn't excuse what I did"
"It does because you are carrying another life inside of you and feeding it to help it grow, but I still can't help but say how sorry I am about what I said" he says before standing up off the couch. He scoops up his wife, leaving her on her back and in his arms.
"Mamo-chan?" she asks in a strained breath. He smiles.
"If we're going to go shopping today, we might need a shower" he grins as he carries her up the stairs.
0o0o0o_Too_Many_Promises_(Re-Write)_o0o0o0
Usagi whined as she slid in the car, her eyes following down to her ankles, with were stabbing her with pain waves every second. Mamoru flinched at the height of her voice as he placed the shopping bags in the back seat of the car. He was patient, knowing that he had lent the girls their house for the day, while they set up a surprise for his wife. But even though Mamoru was a patient man, his wife was driving that patience very thin.
He was surprised at how much her mood had changed since that morning. After the long shower, which they both had gotten distracted, her whole mood had shifted into her normal one. She was excited to go shopping, commenting that she needed some new clothing since she couldn't fit into her regular clothing anymore.
He smiled as he walked into the car, Usagi's voice distant to him for a second before he noticed the glare Usagi was throwing him. He sighed, his smile dropping.
"What's so funny?" she asked him, her tone annoyed. He flinched.
"Nothing, I was just thinking of this morning that's all" he says, knowing it was enough to distract her. he pulled out of the parking lot and drove away.
"Oh" she says, a smile lighting up her face. "Do you recon we could continue that tonight maybe? Maybe after dinner?" she grins as she bumps him with her elbow. He grins.
"Save that thought" he speaks before he pulls into their garage. Usagi frowns as she listens to his words, stepping out the car with a struggle before grabbing some of the bags in her hands before making her way into the house. Mamoru attempted conceal his laughter as he watched her cluelessly walk past the colourful balloons and streamers and up the stairs directly in front of her. he knew that everyone had snuck into the guest bedroom and were most likely hiding out somewhere in the main part of the house. He watched usagi place her numerous bags of clothes on the bed, which landed with a hefty thump. Usagi turned to him, her eyebrows raised as she watched him carelessly throw the bags to the same place from the door.
"Mamo-Chan?" she speaks, her tone confused. He grins and takes her hand, gently leading her down the stairs. He hears a gasp as she registers the decorations. "When was this here? How did this get here?" she questions herself; the guests smile as they look at Usagi's confused form.
"I let the girls take my spare key to the house, and they let themselves in" Mamoru shrugs.
"Surprise!" Minako says as she walks up to her best friend, moving her away from her husband to give her an embrace. "How didn't you see the decorations?" she asks in a laugh. Usagi frowns.
"My vision get a bit blurry sometimes, normally before I have a migraine" she mumbles as she rubs her forehead with her forefinger.
"Time for the reveal" Ikuko says, ignoring the heavy talk. She drags her daughter down to the couch, Usagi falling on it heavily. Usagi raises her eyebrows while looking at the tray of cupcakes, decorated with blue and pink icing.
"We've managed to place a small amount of cupcake which is dyed the stereotypical colour for the gender. Everyone else's is white" Makoto grins as she picks up the tray, handing everyone a cupcake. Usagi looks at Mamoru, nervous as they are handed around. Makoto handed one to both Usagi and Mamoru before taking one herself, leaving one spare cupcake on the tray.
Ikuko started first, biting into her cupcake before looking inside, shaking her head at the results. It was the same all around, and by the time it got to Mamoru, nothing had changed.
There were only two possibilities.
One: Usagi had the coloured cupcake
Two: Nobody had the coloured cupcake, and the last one on the tray was the gender revealing one.
Usagi bit into the soft icing on top, her teeth slicing into the soft, spongey cake. She looked inside once she swallowed, seeing the same colour throughout the whole cupcake. She looked at Mamoru, who was frowning, confused before they both looked at the last cupcake. Mamoru leaves, returning with a butter knife and handing it to his wife.
He felt her shaking frame as she kneeled down, placing the knife on the icing and slicing through, her eyes closed from the outcome. Once she heard the knife touch the bottom of the tray, she opened them, splitting the cupcake in half, and seeing a small pink shape imbedded in the cupcake.
Suddenly Mamoru's arms were around her body, hugging her gently as he buries his face into her shoulder. "A girl" she heard him whisper over and over again as she cried into his chest. The guests around them gave them their moment, before they pulled both Usagi and Mamoru apart to embrace them.
"Congratulation's sweetheart" Ikuko says in a motherly tone as she hugs her only daughter. Usagi smiles.
"Thank you" she whispers back.
The rest of the night flew by in exchange of gifts, and a flurry of more food. Eventually, Minako, Makoto, Ami and Rei dragged Usagi into a corner for some girl time. Asking her questions about anything. "You're in your Twenty-Sixth week, Aren't you Usagi-Chan?" Ami asks her. Usagi nods in response, her hands curling around her abdomen. "So, you've just entered your third trimester, right?" she asks. Usagi smiles and nods again.
"How bad is it now?" Makoto asks, being as polite as she can. Usagi frowns.
"My ankles are killing me, and I keep getting really back cramps in my legs. And my back hurts when standing too long, and it hurts around my belly region now since I'm growing a lot more, and I get a lot of blurred vision and a few migraines every now and then. I'm forgetting a lot more things now and I'm super clumsy, even more than usual. I can barely be by myself for a moment before things start tumbling" she sighs.
"So can you get it going when you feel like it?" Minako asks, receiving two slaps from the girls next to her. Usagi flinches.
"It doesn't stop that from happening Minako. It's just really awkward once you get bigger you know" Usagi blushes, throwing her shoulders into a shrug. Minako giggles at her reaction before Usagi stands up slowly. "It doesn't affect your sleeping pattern though. It's hard enough to sleep as it is, having a husband doesn't make it any harder" she says. Minako giggles watching her walk away towards Mamoru, involved in a conversation with Kunzite.
He sees her coming. "Hey Usako…What's up" he asks her. Usagi frowns, wrapping her arms around his waist. She sighs.
"I'm really tired" she whispers into his chest.
"Everyone wont be here for much longer" he says as he strokes his fingers through her hair.
Suddenly, a hard, sharp pain pierced through a spot on Usagi's abdomen, making her gasp and throw her hands to the spot in shock. Mamoru looked at her, knowing what she just felt. "Mamo-Chan?" she whispers, his arms still around her. "Did you just feel that?" she asks him. He nods, his face breaking into a massive smile. Another kick was delivered again, and Mamoru suddenly lent down to kiss her swiftly, everyone quieting to look at the young couple.
In response to Usagi's reactions, their unborn daughter delivered a few kicks, breaking them apart with a smile. "Hm…" Mamoru murmurs to her. "That might be a problem, especially in bed"
"What happened?" Ikuko asks gently, watching the young couple. Usagi flushed, her hands flying protectively to her abdomen.
"The baby kicked for the first time" Usagi announced, a small smile on her lips. Mamoru turned her around and hugged her, protecting her from everyone who was likely to place their hands on his wife's stomach, in attempt to feel the baby. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep everyone away for so long, and Usagi had to face everyone's attention. But either way, he couldn't help but smile.