Chapter 19
"Mom...you know how you've always wanted grandchildren...?"
"This may be hard for you to accept but..."
"I knocked up the enemy and now I have a daughter..."
"What are you doing?"
Tai jumped, almost dropping the dirty diaper in his hand, and spun around to face Shiva. The girl was standing in the doorway looking at him as if he were mad.
"J-just practicing," he replied nervously. Shiva gave him a knowing smile.
"Ah, so you've finally decided to face the 'rents?"
Tai grimaced, "Yeah...I just don't know what the hell to say..."
It had been weeks since he first got his daughter and he had yet to contact his family. Whether it was due to his new busy schedule of raising a baby or his own cowardice, he didn't know. He lightly powdered Chelsea's butt and the infant began kicking and grunting at the contact.
"Hey you," Shiva said, walking over to her. Chelsea granted her a gummy smile and let out a delighted squeal when Shiva picked her up. She had taken to Shiva as a surrogate mother.
"Don't worry about it Tai, I'll be with you," Shiva assured him. Tai smiled at her in relief.
"Thanks."
"Right, let's go," Shiva said prudently as she strode out of the room. Tai faulted in his step to follow her.
"Go where exactly?"
Shiva turned to stare at him, "To your parent's of course!"
The color in Tai's face drained as he swallowed hard, "You mean n-now? I can't! I've got...um...work—,"
"Oh grow some balls and get a move on!" Shiva snapped, tired of his procrastinating, "Well, I'm going with Chelsea whether you're there or not," and with that she began a purposeful stride to Ace.
"Wait! Shiva! Alright, I'm going!"
Tai chased after Shiva trying to boost his confidence with every step. He could do this; after all, he had the crest of courage, hadn't he?
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Three minutes later, standing in his old bedroom, Tai didn't feel nearly as confident. He stared at the door leading to the outside hallway...as well his fated doom.
"Tai, honey, staring at the door isn't going to open it..." Shiva said slowly. Chelsea began to fuss in Shiva's arms, sensing her father's distress.
"Give me her," Tai said absently, reaching for his daughter. Shiva complied and handed her over. Chelsea immediately calmed once she was in Tai's arms, recognizing his scent. He felt her little wings flutter underneath his fingertips as he rubbed her back.
"Okay—let's do this."
He left the room, holding his head of up high. But inside his heart was hammering wildly against his chest. It was evening, so both his parents would be home. Sure enough, turning into the kitchen he saw his father, reading the paper with his socked feet on the table. This let Tai know his mother wasn't nearby for she would never allow such a thing in her presence.
"Dad..."
Mr. Kamiya looked up from his paper, a wide grin instantly spread on his face and he stood to greet his oldest son.
"Tai! Great to have you back son. Oh! And who is this little tyke?" he poked Chelsea on her tummy, as she let out a baby laugh.
"This is Chelsea. She's...my daughter."
Silence reigned in the kitchen for a brief moment as Mr. Kamiya stared wide-eyed at the child in Tai's arms.
"I'm sorry Tai," he laughed suddenly, putting a hand to his temple, "For a minute there I thought you said this was your daughter."
"He did," Shiva declared, standing close enough to Tai for their arms to touch, letting him know she was there for him. The color drained out of his father's face.
"I-I need to go get your mother."
"What do you need me for, dear?" Mrs. Kamiya asked, walking into the room at that moment. She saw Tai and immediately smiled.
"Oh honey! It's so good to see you! And Shiva! How are you dear? Is this one of your cousins?" she asked, pointing to Chelsea. The baby stared at her with wide chocolate eyes, a drizzle of drool seeping off her bottom lip.
"Not exactly..."
"Honey," Mr. Kamiya said while putting an arm around his wife, "Tai here has just informed me that this is his daughter."
The smile fell off Tai's mother's face as she turned to scrutinize the child in her son's arms. There was no denying the resemblance to Tai. She had the same wide, chocolate eyes and brown hair and was already showing signs of the infamous, lopsided, Kamiya grin. She backed away, shaking her head slowly.
"No...that's not possible..." She said unevenly, "You were here a little over a month ago. You would have said something then."
"I didn't know then," Tai said, "She's three months old now—"
"Tai I can't accept this. How could you be so irresponsible?"
"Please, mum, try to understand—"
Mrs. Kamiya looked like she would very much like to smack Tai. Her lips were drawn in a thin white line and her nostrils flared as she took a deep breath through her nose.
"Tai," She said in a shaky, angry voice, "I have been very understanding about you as of late. I have allowed you to receive your education and live in a dangerous place completely out of our reach, not being able to see you for months on end. Now you come back to us with a child and you expect me to welcome you with open arms? After all this time you come to us now?"
Tai shrunk back a little and Shiva decided to step in.
"Wait a minute. It's not really his fault...uh...well yes it is, actually, but he would have come to you sooner if he had known about her!"
She was stretching the truth a little but she couldn't leave Tai to fend for himself in this situation. Mr. Kamiya watched the whole ordeal from the sidelines. While he was very disappointed in Tai, he didn't want to leave him on his own with a child. He was still just a teenager.
"Tai, I really don't know what do tell you," he said. He looked to his wife but she was still in a cantankerous mood and refused to look at Tai.
"Please," Tai said, clutching Chelsea to his chest as if she could somehow give him emotional support, "I haven't come to ask you to take care of her or anything. I just want her grandparent to be apart of her life."
"Let's just go Tai," Shiva said, pulling him along with her back to the bedroom.
"Wait a minute," Mrs. Kamiya said sharply, "Are you the mother?"
"...no..." The subject of Chelsea's mother was still a touchy subject for Shiva.
"Then who is? Why isn't she taking care of the child?"
"Because her mother is dead. Her name was Moira. You can ask Kari about it later. She can contact me if you need to," Tai said tiredly walking out of the room with Shiva in tow.
"Well that wasn't so bad." Shiva said unsurely. Tai said nothing. He just looked down at Chelsea who had fallen asleep in his arms.
"Hey," Shiva said, placing a hand on his arm, "They'll come around. They were just shocked, that's all."
"Yeah..." Tai said unenthusiastically just before a bright blue light filled the room.
When they arrived back at the coliseum they found Angela and Griff silent at the kitchen table.
"What's up?" Tai asked suspiciously, switching Chelsea to his other hip so his arm wouldn't get tired from holding her so long. The trip back had woken her up from her brief nap. He noticed a cell phone in Angela's hand.
"Inu Yasha called," Griff started.
"Isha!" Shiva screamed out excitedly. She immediately began bouncing on the balls of her feet, "Was his voice as deep and luscious as ever?" she asked Angela. Despite the somber mood Angela giggled and nodded, blushing.
"Back to the matters at hand," Griff said evocatively, shooting his girlfriend a dark look, "He called to inform us that Harry literally jumped into a portal to Hell and Shiva will have to put her regular trysts with him on hiatus. And that's verbatim."
"No more magical sex?" Shiva pouted, her bottom lip quivering laughably, "Wait... did you say HELL?"
"Yep."
"What do you mean Hell? Like with all the demons and evilness and shit?"
"That's the place."
"Reginald isn't ready for that! He's just begun learning how to kill demons; he can't handle them when they're in their natural habitat!" Shiva began ranting, pacing the kitchen floors. Griff looked at Tai and mouth 'Reginald?'. Tai mouthed back 'don't ask' and started bouncing Chelsea on his hip to keep her from fussing again.
"Calm down Shiva," he said to the space hanyou, wrapping his free arm around her waist as she passed him to keep her from wearing a hole through the floor, "There is the prophesy to consider, remember? You've seen the outcome, or some form of it at least: I'm sure it's not Harry's time to die yet."
"I fuckn' hate prophesies," Shiva grumbled moodily, plopping down in a chair, "so... what's for dinner?"
"I've set some steak out for us to grill and Griff was about to make some broccoli," Angela said.
"I was?"
Apparently this was news to Griff.
"OW!" Tai cried out, grabbing the attention of the others.
"What's wrong?" Angela asked concernedly. Tai was examining his hand.
"She bit me," he mumbled. He looked back at Chelsea who was now chewing steadily on her favorite stuffed turtle.
"Open your mouth for daddy," he said in a sweet voice no one else would have ever heard him use. He stuck his finger in her mouth and lightly rubbed it against her gums. Sure enough, he felt two sets of white points. Chelsea gurgled happily and abandoned her turtle in favor of his finger.
"Awww," Shiva cooed, leaning in to get a better look, "She's getting her fangs already."
"Great," Tai mumbled. He had to tug his finger from her strengthening grip. Her face scrunched up at the loss and she looked ready to let loose a wail.
"Damn it," Tai swore silently, "Angela, can you fetch me the bottle I prepared for her? It should be in the microwave."
Angela got the bottle and handed it over saying, "If she's getting her teeth this early then maybe you should start her on solid foods."
"You think so?" Tai said doubtfully. Chelsea was just so young; then again, he didn't know much about babies.
"I agree with Angela," Griff stated, "She's not all human remember? She'll probably develop faster than human babies."
"I guess you're right..."
"Ya think she'll want some of this steak?" Shiva asked eccentrically, holding up a raw slab of meat to the baby's face with a fork.
"Shiva, get that away from her!" Tai barked sharply. But it was too late. With a speed unnatural for an infant that young, Chelsea latched onto the stake with her budding fangs, tasting the juice of the animal. Two seconds later dark blue, jagged lines appeared under her eyes, which had darkened from chocolate to black. Shiva jumped back quickly.
"Well that would be her demon heritage..." she trailed.
"Ahh! She's got the taste of blood in her mouth! She'll kill us all!" Griff cried hysterically. Shiva joined him in his screaming as Angela stood by and stared at the whole scene with wide eyes.
"Shut up!" Tai snapped at them, yanking the raw steak away from his daughter and tossing it in the sink. He quickly replaced it with the bottle to keep Chelsea from throwing a fit. The child greedily sucked up the milk; the blue streaks gradually disappeared and her eyes lightened to their original russet.
"Shiva," Tai growled, "Never, ever, do that again."
"I'm sorry," Shiva moaned, "I swear, I didn't know she would attack it like that."
"None of us did," Angela assured her soothingly, "believe me; it's easy to forget that she's not a normal baby. She's usually so well behaved."
Tai sighed, "I'm gunna clean her up and put her to bed. Hey, Griff?"
"Yeah?" the cyborg said while he picked up the assaulted steak with two fingers and tossed it in the trash.
"Can you do me a favor and check to northern regions of the Northbridge peninsula? ACE told me there was a disturbance of some sort."
"Yeah sure," he answered casually.
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The sun had set a couple hours ago, but there were still a group of kid out in the Odiaba Park, despite it being a school night. Kari sat patiently on a bench, waiting for the other digidestined reactions. What she got was a round of laughter.
"No really Kari, why did Tai come back?" Davis asked as his laughter subsided, "And for that matter, why did he leave so soon?"
"I'm serious. He has a daughter. My parents saw her themselves."
Matt looked grimly at the younger girl, "This isn't good. How is this even possible? There are only so many people he could have had a kid with. It must have been Shiva, since Angela and Griff are together."
Kari shook her head.
"He said—he told my parents—it was Moira."
"WHAT?" many of the gathered teenagers exclaimed simultaneously.
"N-no," Sora gasped, not wanting to believe it; all hopes of getting with Tai flying out the window, "It isn't true! Tai wouldn't do that!"
"How could he?" Yolie cried in disbelief, "He was supposed to be protecting the digital world, not sleeping with the enemy!"
"Now, now," Joe said logically, "Let's not get too mad at Tai. What's done is done. And he is taking responsibility for the child."
"Yeah," Cody piped up, "And he defeated Moira. Or the guardians did anyway. You did say she was dead, right Kari? So that means the Digital World is safe for the time being."
Kari nodded. She still seemed much shaken by the ordeal. T.K. rested a consoling arm around her shoulders.
"I think Tai could use all the support we can give him. I say we visit him sometime."
"I would like to see my niece," Kari sniffled with a small smile.
"Well I can't go," Matt declared, "I have a gig in a couple days and have to practice."
"I have a tennis match."
"I have an exam on patellas."
"I have a Kendo session."
"Alright, alright. We'll go when we all have a free day. Agreed?"
"Agreed," the group chorused back.
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Griff stepped away from the T.V. he recently exited and looked around. Northbridge peninsula was a lush area of the digital world, filled with forests and gardens; his kind of place. Everything seemed relatively normal; he wasn't getting any bad vibes or anything. Then again, looks could be deceiving. He walked around a bit, examining anything that might seem out of the ordinary. While he didn't have Tai's uncanny sixth sense when it came to the well being of the data of the Digital World, he was still very connected with the forest. As he made his way north he began to feel the darkened aura around the trees.
Out of nowhere a chill spread through the air, tickling the grass with frost. For one, surreal moment Griff thought Moira was back from the dead, but all thoughts of that were abandoned as a strange howling carried over to him with the wind. Griff took a staggering step backwards as an unnatural fear swept through his body, clutching his heart in an unmerciful grip. He looked down to see his hands involuntarily shaking. Something was very wrong. It was like the happiness was sucked out of him, leaving a cold, hollow feeling in his chest. The pounding of his heart in his ears was drowned out by a voice—an old tribesman's voice chanting in a harsh, evil manner. It kept repeating over and over again, gaining volume as the air around him grew even colder. The last thing her heard, just over the incessant chanting, was a deep rattling breath, before his world went dark.
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Now the question is...do we like Griff enough to let him survive this? OR should Iadd some drama?
I know I should be smacked for taking so long with the update. It's because I spend so much time with my other fics, I forget about this one. Sorry!
Thanks for the reviews guys!