Sakura walked into the hospital feeling nervous. As Ami had suggested, Sakura had decided to go to a group session for soon to be mothers. She was anxious, unsure of what these women were like. She knew perfectly well how women could behave, and she hoped dearly that she was just over thinking everything again. The night before, she had rambled to Syaoran about her worries while he reassured her she would be fine and that she worried far too much for her own good. He was right. She really did worry far to much about the smallest of things. She doubted she would have ever come to one of these meetings back when she still had a rotten attitude. But she had matured a lot over the last year and things were a lot different.
Swallowing her anxiety, Sakura followed the signs to the hospitals' cafe, her heels tapping on the floor with each step. Her heart was racing. God, why was she feeling so anxious? She decided it must be the hormones. Yeah, that had to be it.
She stepped into the cafe and spotted a group of women sitting around a table, each at different stages of pregnancy. Nervous, Sakura walked over.
"U-um, excuse me?" she said, gaining their attention.
With all their eyes on her, Sakura felt like a tiny bug being eyed suspiciously. 'You're just overthinking it.' She reminded herself.
"My name is Sakura. Is this the mother's group?"
The woman closest to her was the first to speak, "Yes, this is the place." She smiled kindly.
"Would it be okay for me to join you?" Sakura asked.
"Of course! Have a seat!"
Sakura sat down and looked around the table. They all seemed to be around her age, which was a small comfort.
"So, I'm guessing that since you're here, you're a mother?" one of the other women asked.
"Err...well, I'm going to be." Sakura replied.
"Oh congratulations! How far along are you?"
"About nine weeks." Sakura answered, "I'm completely new to this."
"We all know that feeling."
Sakura smiled a little. That was a little comforting, but she felt like there was something about this group of women that was off. She couldn't place it, and maybe she was just feeling very out of place, so she decided not to entertain the thought. She'd barely met them.
"How long have you been married?" the woman who had greeted her first asked.
"Um...just over a year."
"And this is your first!?"
"Kira, we don't know her circumstances."
"Oh, sorry, I was just a bit surprised." The woman named Kira smiled sheepishly.
Sakura fidgeted beneath the table.
"You must be so happy that you're finally pregnant." The woman to her left spoke with a kind smile.
"W-well, yes, but-"
"My husband and I have barely been married three months." One woman sighed.
"By the way," the woman who originally greeted her spoke, "My name is Yui. These other lovely ladies are Kira, Hitomi and Asuka. Down the end we have Seila and Hana.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Sakura smiled.
"Hitomi and Hana are due in just a few weeks now." The woman named Seila spoke. She had dark hair and striking blue eyes. The way she held herself reminded Sakura of someone of regal beauty.
"Do you mind if I ask a personal question?" Sakura asked, her question aimed for the two heavily pregnant women.
Hana smiled, "Go ahead."
"Are you scared about giving birth?" Sakura asked hesitantly. God, she felt like a total idiot.
"Of course." Hana replied, "I'm actually feeling rather terrified, but also relieved too."
Sakura furrowed her brow. "Relieved?"
"Yes. I personally don't like the feel of being pregnant-don't get me wrong, I'm delighted I'm having a child-but the raging hormones and the morning sickness are not fun at all." Hana laughed.
Sakura smiled. "That makes sense. I've been struggling a bit with morning sickness." She confessed.
"Oh! Try crackers-they help me." Yui said.
"They do?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, you can also try pretzels." Hitomi added.
Sakura nodded, taking note of their suggestions. She decided she'd pick some up on the way home.
"So," Kira spoke, "How many mistresses does your husband have?"
Sakura felt like she'd just been slapped in the face with a cold wet towel.
"My husband has three." Kira added.
"My husband doesn't have a mistress." Sakura replied.
The women stared at her with surprise, and then they all burst into laughter.
"Oh honey," Hitomi laughed, "That's hilarious."
"What's hilarious?" Sakura asked, confused.
"Your joke." Kira replied, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
"I was not joking." Sakura spoke calmly but firmly.
"Oh sweetie, he probably has one and you just don't know it yet." Hitomi smiled sympathetically. "They all do. Especially during and after their wife gets pregnant."
Sakura felt pissed off. They were making assumptions about Syaoran and the type of person he was, and it disgusted her.
"Men have it so easy. They can do whatever the hell they want while us women have to deal with each and every move we make being scrutinised." Hana sighed.
Okay, Sakura had to agree with that. But Syaoran wasn't like that. At least, not like he used to be.
"Oh look-here comes doctor Li!" Kira piped up.
Sakura looked up and spotted Syaoran walking in and over to the counter, placing his order.
"Oh, what I would give to be his mistress..." Hitomi sighed dreamily.
Sakura tensed.
"He's looking this way!" Hana squeaked.
Sakura looked up again, finding he was watching her from where he stood with a curious gaze.
Kira gasped, "Sakura, he's looking your way!"
Sakura smiled at the girls awkwardly, "I uh, I guess."
"You guess? Come on, he's totally checking you out!"
Sakura cleared her throat. "I need to use the ladies' room, and then I have somewhere I need to be. Thank you for having me, it was a pleasure to meet you all." She smiled as she stood.
"Feel free to come by whenever you want." Yui smiled kindly.
"Thank you, I will." Sakura smiled back and then turned to leave.
With his coffee in his hand, Syaoran followed her. He had no idea what they'd been talking about at the table, but Sakura leaving so suddenly made him wonder if it was because of him.
"Sakura," he called her name, causing her to halt in her tracks.
She turned and faced him, looking at him with mild surprise.
"Is everything okay?" he asked as he came to a stop at her side.
"I don't really know." She confessed.
"Did you want to talk about it?" Syaoran asked.
Sakura smiled with a hint of relief. "Yes, but not now. There's a few things I want to do before heading home."
"Okay. Stay safe." He murmured softly.
"I will. See you tonight." Sakura smiled and then leant up to kiss him on the cheek.
Then. She turned and left, headed for the bathroom. With a soft sigh, Syaoran headed back to his office.
…
Sakura sat down outside her favourite bakery, poking at her slice of vanilla cheesecake. She was in shock. She had never believed that such a meeting could possibly be so... wrong. That's how she felt, anyway.
There was no way Syaoran would betray her like that-they didn't know him, so they shouldn't judge! Sure, their husbands might have mistresses, but Syaoran certainly didn't. And they way they talked about wanting to be his…
Bitterly, Sakura wondered if some of the children of those women were actually related to their husbands.
"Sakura?"
Sakura jumped with surprise upon hearing her name. She looked around, her eyes finally landing on Seila and Asuka.
"Have you been following me?" Sakura frowned.
Seila looked a bit guilty. "Yeah, kind of."
"We wanted to know if you were okay. At the meeting you looked pretty upset." Asuka added.
"May we sit?" Seila asked.
Sakura relaxed and nodded lamely.
"We're sorry about the others," Asuka said, "They're a bit jealous of women who are in happy relationships."
"But you barely know me." Sakura countered.
"We mean in general." Seila replied.
Sakura grimaced. "Sorry, I'm still sort of processing what happened. I'm not thinking very well."
The two women smiled. "That's fine."
"Um, forgive me for sounding rude, but is Lord Li by any chance your husband?" Seila asked.
Sakura nodded with a small smile. "What made you guess?"
"We saw you kiss his cheek after you finished talking." Asuka confessed. "Sorry."
"But, we sort of guessed at the table when everyone was talking about him." Seila added.
Sakura felt her cheeks redden. "I see."
"If you'd like, maybe the three of us could get together again?" Seila suggested.
Sakura hesitated for a moment, unsure. They seemed genuine, and she felt that having the two of them would help her through her insecurities.
"I'd actually really like that." She smiled.
"Great! Where should we meet next?" Asuka asked.
"What about your place?" Seila asked Sakura.
"Oh-sure. I don't think Syaoran will mind." Sakura smiled awkwardly.
"We could do the same time next week?" Asuka added.
"Okay," Sakura smiled, "I'll look forward to it."
Seila and Asuka both returned Sakura's smile, and finally Sakura started to relax around them. She still didn't trust them, but she felt she could at least be herself.
...
Syaoran stared at Sakura, stunned by her rant about what some of the women she had met at the hospital had said about him. He wasn't sure what surprised him more-how upset she was over the matter, or the fact that he was a topic of their gossip.
"I can't believe those women!"
Syaoran laughed softly.
Sakura frowned, "What's so amusing?"
"Sorry," he apologised, "It's just that I never expected you to get so worked up over it."
"It upsets me when someone speaks that way about you." Sakura mumbled.
He pulled her into his lap and kissed her. "I'm flattered you care so much." He smiled. "But you don't need to take it to heart."
Sakura released a small sigh as he squeezed her waist.
"So, that's why you left the group, hm?"
"I just didn't feel comfortable being around people like that." Sakura said.
"Where did you go after you left?" he then asked.
She looked sheepish. "I went to the bakery."
He looked at her with disproval. "You've been doing that a lot lately. Be careful with how many sweets you eat-it's not healthy."
She looked away to stare at something else, making him frown. "Darling."
"I'll be careful, I promise." She said quickly.
He tried to look displeased but failed as he smiled with amusement.
"I'm serious," he spoke lightly.
She laughed, "Okay, Okay." Sakura said, "Uh, two of the girls followed me to the bakery today."
He raised his brow. "They followed you?"
"They wanted to apologise to me about the others behaviour." Sakura explained.
"Okay..." he waited, sensing something more.
"They're coming over next week." She added awkwardly.
Syaoran looked surprised. "Okay,"
"You're not mad, are you?" she asked.
He relaxed into a smile. "No, why would I be?"
"I don't know." She mumbled.
"I think it's great. I don't think I've ever seen you with any other women your age except for Tomoyo and Rika." Syaoran said.
Sakura blinked with surprise. He was right. Ami was a few years older than her and Lisa was in her early forties.
"Are you still up for going out on Sunday?" Syaoran then asked.
"Of course." She smiled, "I'm looking forward to it."
"Good." He smiled, "it's getting late-we should head to bed."
Sakura nodded and stood up, "Alright."
He stood with her and kissed her temple before they left the lounge room, heading to bed for the night.
...
Syaoran woke to the sound of Sakura vomiting in the bathroom on Sunday morning. Pulling on his dressing gown, he headed for the bathroom where he found her hanging over the edge of the toilet.
He grabbed a face towel and ran it under the cool water, squeezed out the excess water and then knelt beside Sakura. Gently, he wiped her face with the damp cloth. Sakura felt too weak to protest and just allowed him to take care of her.
After about an hour, Sakura finally felt well enough to stand.
Syaoran was starting to recognise that for Sakura, there were some days that were tougher than others in terms of her morning sickness. He had witnessed mornings where she was perfectly fine, some where she felt nauseated and maybe vomited once, and then there were the days were she was just really sick for a while. The good thing was that it usually passed after a few hours, if she was lucky. The keyword being, if.
"Well, that was fun." She mumbled as she shuffled back into the bedroom.
"Hopefully you'll feel a bit better after eating something. By the way," he added, "Were you eating something last night? I'm pretty sure I woke to hear crunching noises."
Sakura laughed a little. "That was me."
He furrowed his brow. "What were you eating?"
"Crackers."
"Crackers?" he repeated.
She nodded. "It's a women's secret." She said in a joking tone.
"I know what they're for-I recommend those sorts of things to my female patients who are pregnant. I'm just confused as to why you were eating them in the middle of the night."
Sakura shrugged, "I don't really know why. I just felt like it."
Syaoran just laughed and shook his head.
With a soft sigh, Sakura walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out a lilac dress to wear and busied herself with getting dressed, as did Syaoran.
Then, the pair of them headed downstairs for breakfast. Sakura decided on plain toast that morning. Syaoran had eggs and bacon which, as always, was prepared by Ami.
"Maybe we could go see Eriol and Tomoyo after we've been to the tea house." Sakura suddenly spoke.
Syaoran looked up and smiled. "I see no harm in that."
"I wonder how Tomoyo is doing with her two boys."
"I imagine she's rather sleep deprived." Syaoran murmured.
Sakura laughed. "You're probably right. I'm definitely not looking forward to that."
"Neither am I." He confessed.
"What room will we use for the nursery?" Sakura asked, "The room next to ours? That's unoccupied, right?"
"If it was occupied, I'd be concerned." Syaoran replied, making Sakura laugh.
"We could use that room. Then when they're older, they can use a different room."
Sakura hummed in thought. "We could."
The pair was distracted as a maid swiftly made her way towards them.
Syaoran looked at her expectantly. "Yes?"
"My Lord, there is an urgent call from the hospital." The maid spoke.
Syaoran frowned. "Very well. Sakura, I'll be back in a minute."
Sakura nodded. Syaoran left the dining room and headed to the lounge where he picked up the phone.
Sakura stared at her plate while she waited, her thoughts lingering on the nursery. The more she thought about it, the more excited she felt. She picked up her tea and drank it while she was lost in thought.
The sound of footsteps caught her attention and she spotted Syaoran looking apologetic. Seeing his expression, she immediately knew that their plans for the day had been cancelled.
"Sakura, I'm sorry..."
She smiled sadly. "It's okay. What's happened?"
"There's a young teen who needs immediate surgery, and none of the other doctors in my area of expertise are available." Syaoran explained. "I don't know how long I'll be. I shouldn't be longer than five hours."
Sakura nodded, "I'll go see Tomoyo on my own. Take care."
He gave her a light peck on the cheek. "You too."
She didn't let her disappointment show until he rushed out the door and she was all alone.
HELLO! Yes, i managed to get this chapter out for you! now im gunna sleep coz i have a massive migraine. Until next time!