"Aahhhhh...brrrrrr...ooooiiiieeee..."
"What are you doing~! Are you making noises~!"
"Gaaahh! Brrrrr!" I let a giggle slip past my lips. Oliver was sitting on the couch facing me, as I was crouched on the floor.
"Ahhh!~" Oliver reaches for my hair and I hand him one of the empty baby bottles to play with. He had surprised me by waking up and wanting to play as soon as we stepped into Naru's apartment. His eyes were a beautiful brown that shone with curiosity as he stared around.
"Brrrr! Ahhh! Grrr!~" I make some of the sounds Oliver had been making for the past ten minutes.
"Mai what are you doing?" A cold voice rings from the door behind me and I freeze. Oliver stops messing with the bottle and looks up at something.
"I was talking with Oliver!" I reply as I quickly stand and pick Oliver up. Turning around I meet Naru's raised brow with a smile.
"You were talking with a baby." I grin.
"Of course Naru! It helps with learning! Supposedly when children are six months along they begin to sound out vowels and constants!" I'm pretty sure my eyes were stars from how excited I was.
"Naaa...rrrrrr...gaahhh!" I smile at this.
"See! He just sounded out your name!" Naru blinks and then steps around me.
"Tea." He demands as he sets his small briefcase on the table next to Oliver's bag. I growl at this and stomp over to him.
"Fine! But you have to watch Oliver while I do so! He keeps reaching for things and I don't want him to reach for something dangerous while he's in the kitchen." I hand Oliver to a surprised narcissist and then storm to the kitchen. When I get there I peek around the door to see what Naru does.
He was holding Oliver at arm's length. I stifle a laugh when he twitches and Oliver squeals, reaching his small hands out for Naru. After glancing around, he brings Oliver closer and let's him grasp at his tie. Oliver begins to make more noises and swings his little fists around. I smile and head into the kitchen, beginning to make tea.
~X-x-X~x-X-x~
"Naru! Your tea collection here sucks!" I whine as I look at the tea bags. Bags! The office has tea leaves and he owns tea bags! What is up with that?!
"If you have a problem with it then you can go but the tea." He walks in and leans against the wall, holding a curious Oliver.
"Oh I will! This is the sad, cheap, tea that costs only ¥100!" I exclaim as I set the tea bags in the boiling water to steep. Naru rolls his eyes and I laugh. As I take the bags of the tea, and then add some honey and lemon juice.
"Is that what you normally add?" Grinning, I shake my head.
"Nope. I add different stuff to different tea. Any other questions for me?" I was hoping he said yes. I loved talking with him like this. He was open and didn't seem aware of it, seemed...more human.
"Yes. Earlier you were singing an English lullaby perfectly. How?" His eyes were narrowed at me. I smile sadly and set the tea down at the table, taking Oliver from Naru as I am pummeled by memories.
"My mother used to sing it to me. When she was sick, she and I would sing it together. I guess it just became second-hand to me." I shrug as I grab a wooden spoon from a drawer by the stove and give it to Oliver. I decide to make a very stupid move right then.
"You're being very talkative today." Biting my lip, I sit down and arrange Oliver in my arms. Naru stills. For the rest of the night he didn't speak, just grabbed a book written in English and read.
~x-X-x~x-X-x~
It was an hour later that I began to dig around the kitchen. Oliver sat on the floor at my feet, playing with a plastic cooking spoon. Naru had left to do something else, jerk wouldn't tell me what.
"He barely has anything!" Complaining I grab some rice and set to work on cooking it, occasionally glancing at Oliver as he banged the spoon on the floor or waved it in the air. It was cute and I couldn't but imagine that he was playing a little tune for me to dance around the kitchen in on an invisible drum set. I laughed and spun around, grinning as Oliver waved his little spoon even more furiously. Eventually the rice was set to slow cool and I was digging in the cupboard for something to go with it.
"What are you doing?" I jump at the voice, turning around and meeting a blue gaze. My heart began to beat faster and I internally beat myself over the head to get my mind off this stupid narcissist.
"Cooking. What does it look like?" I smirk,quickly retorting and congratulating myself on thinking whilst under pressure.
"Why." The way he spoke, it wasn't a question. I roll my eyes and step around a gurgling Oliver to look in the pantry. Oliver had dropped his spoon to the ground and was waving his little arms up at Naru. When his request at being picked up was ignored he simply grabbed his spoon once more.
"Aha!" I had found some vegetables that were slightly fresh and able to be eaten!
"Well, you're giving me and Oliver a place to live, providing shelter, food and warmth. The least I could do is cook and clean." Oliver punctuates my statement with a gurgle, waving his plastic spoon above his head at Naru. I smile at this and set the carrots onto a chopping board. I quickly slice through the orange food, feeling the harsh stare on my back.
"You don't have to." I put the vegetables into boiling water and cover the pot with a lid. Taking a deep breath I answer him.
"But I want to! I feel like an intruder anyway so just...just let me do this. Please!" I turn away from the stove to face him, my hands clasped in front of me and my eyes begging.
"Mai-"
"No! I don't want you to have to do everything! I'll clean the kitchen and do laundry! I'll cook breakfast, lunch and dinner! And I'll take care of Oliver and do the shopping! I don't want to be a burden Naru!" He stared at me, mouth in a tight line and hands clenched by his sides.
"If you had stopped to listen to me you silly girl you would have heard me say alright. There was no need to yell, your hearing is bad enough as it is." I am suddenly aware of how hot my cheeks are and spin around to pick up Oliver. I gently rest the spoon from the infant's hands and set it in the sink.
"Time to eat Oliver." I place him on my hip and quickly set the table, moving surprisingly swiftly for a one armed girl.
"How do you do that?" If I wasn't so sure I would've said that Naru's voice held awe in it. I arch an eyebrow as I sit down.
"Do what?" He waves a hand towards Oliver.
"That. You move so efficiently with a child on your hip that squirms and wants to mess with everything." He stared at me as I cocked my head to the side.
"It was my job after my mother died. To pay for my food and clothing and rent I had to get a job so I worked night shifts in a hospital. I watched the children of all the Doctors and Nurses." I risked a glance at my tea-loving boss. He blinked and then nodded his head.
"Itadakimasu." And with a smile, I begin to feed Oliver, sneaking bites of my food here and there when Oliver stops to yawn with exhaustion.
After half an hour, the food is finished and Oliver was fed and burped. I glanced down at my clothes then, suddenly coming to the realization that I didn't have any clothes to wear besides what I had on! I swallowed thickly and then headed towards the living room, heart in my throat.
"Uh...Naru?" I called out shyly. He looked up from the papers in his hands.
"Yes Mai?"
"Uhm," I bite my lip before blurting it all out at once. "Idon'thaveanyclothestowear!" I stared down at my feet blushing.
"Speak clearly Mai, I can barely understand you when you do speak correctly." I growled lowly under my breath.
"I have no garments to dizen* myself with." I speak with the words I had learned in Literature class, hoping it would trip him up. It didn't. Of course it didn't!
"I didn't know you actually had brain cells Mai. And I'll provide some of my garments for you to wear until Mrs. Matsuzaki can take you shopping tomorrow." I won't deny it. My mouth fell open and I let out a tiny squeak at that statement. But come on! Who wouldn't?! Naru had just said that he would let me wear his clothes!
"Th-thank y-you!" and stuttering like an idiot, I raced towards the bathroom to give Oliver a bath. I had to distract myself before I did something stupid like faint! Shaking my head I turn on the hot water, letting it run fro exactly two minutes before turning on the cold water and letting the temperature cool to a nice warm. Everything was ready! Now all that was need was to undress and wash my baby! I set Oliver down on the counter and begin to take his cloths off carefully. It was only when I was getting ready to lower him into the bathtub that he began to cry.
"Shhh! Shh baby mommy's here!" I cooed as I pulled him away from the water and towards the warmth of my chest, rocking him back and forth until his cries were no more. After waiting a couple more minutes just to make sure he was calm and to check the water, I begin to lower him towards the water once more. His cries this time are louder and I quickly leave the bathroom, pacing quietly as I bounce and sway, allowing my small dance to lull him back into a calm.
"Mai what is going on?" Naru was standing at the end of the hallway.
"Something's wrong with Oliver. He won't go near the water without crying!" Even I could hear the worry in my voice at this.
"What do you mean?" I simply shake my head and go inside the bathroom again. This time, just stepping into the room triggers the tears and heartbreaking cries.
"That Naru." I rush from the bathroom once more, Naru following behind me as I head for the living room.
"Shhh baby, mommy's here now. Don't cry baby.~" I coo and rock, slowly, slowly, slowly calming him. I end up racking back and forth in the middle of the room,my chin on Oliver's head as he grasps my shirt in his hands and sleeps silently.
"Next time I'll just use a wash rag and soap manually." I whisper to myself, unaware of Naru's watching eyes.
"That would be best." Jumping, I quickly craddle Oliver, a hand going to support his neck.
"Oh Naru," I whisper. "That was the scariest thing I've ever done." A glance at his face told me he didn't understand.
"I caused him pain. Repeatedly. What kind of mother would do..." I trailed off as my voice cracked and silent tears began to trail down my cheeks.
"He'll be fine Mai. You worry too much." I send a vicious glare at Naru.
"He's six months and a couple days old! Of course I'm going to worry about his fear of water when he's barley been in water!" Naru nodded and then turned on his heel and stalked out the door.
Hello! I am so sorry for the long wait! I hope you guys really enjoyed this chapter as you get to see a bit of 'Mommy' Mai and 'Daddy' Naru! X3 I find them adorable! Now to clear some things up a bit: THIS IS TAKING PLACE BEFORE MAI AND THE OTHERS FIND OUT ABOUT GENE! Glad that's cleared up now!
Ishual: Gasp! You've ruined my plot! Just kidding, although that would be a pretty cool story! Sorry to disappoint you but no, Oliver IS NOT a Gene Reincarnate.
Yumiko Maki: Thank you! And I swear I wasn't planning on that! XD
KassieMarie: I just had to! I had a dream about it. ;) And I just couldn't make Naru be a jerk to a baby that had Eugene's middle name!
Naruisawesome: A little bit, but honestly it was the first name that popped into my head! XD
Annabell15: No thank you for commenting! I means a lot to me. 3
AmyNChan: I know she sucks at it! XD But I just HAD to add that in there. X3 I hope this chapter explained it well enough!
Ren Luca: I imagine they're a beautiful family too. u
Rebecca: Thank you so much! I really appreciate it! ^-^
nightflightthehero: I honestly don't know yet! XD But the blanket will be important in the future so keep your eyes peeled! XD
Guest: I'm glad you're enjoying my story!
Iloveanimex: Thank you! I loved receiving your review!
Slvrphenox: I know! I actually felt bad for doing that to her! . And I don't know if she will arrive or not. I haven't planned that far!
Fujimoto Yumi: Yes! The Bloody Labyrinth, a.k.a. THe Urado Case, was one of my favorite cases and I really want them to experience that! Thank you, I'm really happy!
Guest: Thank you! i enjoyed your review!
Skyxcx: I hope you enjoyed the update!
Guest: I wouldn't give up writing for the world I promise!
Guest: Thank you! I'm glad it seems sweet, that is what I was going for! XD
Miyako and Haruka Lin: Thank you! I really hope you enjoyed this update!