CHAPTER IV
My life or Mimi
Well... chapter 4! Hope I didn't take that long... It might be a bit rushed but... oh well, upcoming chapters are going to be REALLY good so... stay tuned!
Mimi was in the kitchen when the telephone started ringing. "Eika, could you get that?"
"Mommy, I'm watching tv, tell Marie to do it"
"Ei, please, Marie's upstairs… I'm washing the dishes and my hands are wet… you're the nearest person to the telephone…"
"All… right" she said as she lazily stretched her hand to pick the phone up. "Tachi…Tachika… oh whatever! … Hello?"
Mimi couldn't help but smile at the way her daughter answered the phone. She always told them to answer saying "Tachikawa residence" but they still couldn't manage their last name properly. It was funny and sweet to hear her say the famous… or infamous "whatever" Matt used to reply most of the time.
And it was no coincidence. Eika was the one who had most of Matt's attitude and character… She was probably the laziest of the three girls and the first to be scolded for saying "bad words" her mother didn't know from where they came… Was it inheritance? Or… bad habits and manners flowed through up coming generations?
But apart from that, she was a sweet and friendly little girl with an everlasting smile on her face.
"Uh… oh… Eika…" she heard her say and wondered with who she was talking. Recently, lots of people had been calling for a charity project she was going to hold and promote in a weeks time, making her cell phone stay glued in her ear almost all day long.
Carefully rubbing the dishes with the sponge, she tried to put some attention on what she was talking, but the sound coming from the tv, prevented her from hearing her daughter's conversation.
"Honey" she called, "Is it for me?"
"No mommy!" she shouted while placing the telephone on her lap after sitting on the carpeted floor. "Its… its Erin…"
"Oh, okay, say hello for me and send her my hugs"
"Eika, I'm your daddy… please don't hang up…"
A muffled "Mommy, it's Erin" came out of her lips before he heard her voice… Mimi Tachikawa's voice… the voice which had tormented him for the last seven years during long sleepless nights…
"Mimi" he whispered feeling a huge abyss between him and the four females living across the globe.
"Eika, please don't hang" he pleaded again "I just wanna talk with you…"
"Da…ddy…" she quivered, "Is… are you really my daddy?"
"Yes little princess, I'm your daddy" he whispered softly.
"But why aren't you here with me?" she asked with a voice that reflected sadness and a hint of stubbornness… "Why haven't you come back?"
"Eika…" he started, but paused.
He couldn't tell her that her mother had pushed him away…
Because he had been a total idiot…
Leaving her behind with three little girls…
To pursue his career…
Which, by the way… was becoming a total mess…
"Eika, honey, your mother and I… we had a little difference and I tried to say sorry, but it was too late…"
"But daddy… I wanna see you…" she replied making a mental image on his head.
He couldn't help but remember when Mimi asked… demanded for something to be done right away.
"Princess… I wanna see you too but we're too far away…"
"No… you're lying… mommy says we shouldn't lie and you're lying…"
"Eika, I'm not lying. I'm in Japan… many miles away from your house…"
"But if you wanted to see us, you could've come any time and you haven't…" she replied as tears formed in her eyes. "…do you love me daddy?"
Breathing in deeply, he stretched his hand and brought a chair next to him to sit on. "Eika, I love you, your sisters and your mom more than my own life…"
"Then… why aren't you here with us?"
"I don't know" he whispered holding back tears. "I thought… I thought I could forget your mother but I couldn't… I need you all… I love you all… and now… I don't know what to do…"
"Daddy… I don't know you… but my heart loves you…and he feels sad that you're not here…" she whispered sincerely. "Mommy says you'll come back someday… but you're taking too long… and I miss you too much… Mai and Ai… they love you too and we all want you here… Sometimes mommy cries and says we are the only good thing left in her life… because she thinks you are lost… but now… I found you and…
daddy please come home… "
"Little angel…" he whispered as tears flowed freely down his pale cheeks.
"Daddy, mommy's coming… I have to go… if she knows I lied to her, she'll scold me…"
"Eika… please don't tell Mimi 'bout our little conversation… I promise we'll see each other soon… but now… we have to wait ok?"
"You promise?"
"I promise."
"I love you daddy…"
"I love you too little angel…"
"Bye bye daddy…"
"Bye Eika…"
"Daddy?"
"Yes princess?"
"What's your name?"
"Yamato Ishida… that's my name…"
"I wish I was called Eika Ishida…" she whispered softly… "Bye daddy… I love you…"
"Bye Eika… I love you too"
"So… did you talk to her?"
"No Takeru… I talked with one of my daughters… and-" he shut his eyes and breathed in deeply… "She called me "daddy"…"
"Wow…"
"What's the surprise for?"
"Normally, in these kinds of situations, women tend to turn all their hate into their children by making them hate their dad…"
"From what Eika said, Mimi thinks she lost me… and she cries for me…"
"Matt… think with your head… Mimi's got two constant reminders of you… you're always present in her head! …
"…And she's always present in mine…"
"I went in and saw "what used to be a photo" and, let me tell you, those girls have these same hair and these same eyes… that's already a cruel torture for her!"
"Tk… I have to go there… I have to go to America… I promised Eika we were going to be together soon… this may sound corny, but... I found out that I can't live without them…"
"You're moving to America?"
"No… I don't know… but I don't have any reasons to stay here…"
"And your job?"
"Who cares about that! I'll quit and start doing what I really feel like doing"
"Yamato… Mimi might be a millionaire, but I know she won't feed you… she loves you and probably would die for you, but she's not going to work while you sit all day long doing nothing…
"I know…"
"Then… what are you going to do?"
"I don't know…"
"Could you please say any other thing apart from "I don't know or I know!?""
"Tonight… I'll go to bed and think about it. I have something in mind but I really don't know if it'll work…"
"What thing?"
"I'll go back to the music business…"
"Are you gonna start singing again?!"
"I've thought so for a couple of weeks now…"
"Matt… I don't wanna crush your hopes and dreams but… aren't you a bit too old to continue with "The "teen-age" wolves"?"
"No… I got an interesting offer a couple of months ago"
"God damn it… I really don't understand you… Two hours ago you were crying…Five minutes ago you were crying… and now, after all you went through to get your career, your going back to the music?!?! And I haven't mentioned the fact that you pushed Mimi away…"
"You mentioned it…"
"You know what?! Do whatever you want! When you have something clear for once in your life, call me ok?! Now, goodnight!" he yelled before exiting the room.
"…"
"Mommy… can I talk to you?" asked Eika softly as she stood by her mother's room door.
Mimi, who was sitting on the bed with crossed legs, lifted her stare from the portable pc and smiled at her daughter. "Sure honey" she answered and patted a spot for Eika to sit.
Climbing up the bed, she rolled next to her mother and sat besides her. "Mommy… I lied to you today…"
"You did?" she asked with her eyes fixed on the small screen.
"Yes…" she whispered uneasy... "Mommy… I didn't talk with Erin…"
"Didn't she call?"
"No…"
"Then… who was it?" she asked turning her full attention on her daughter.
"Mommy… please don't get mad at me…"she pleaded with big, ready to cry, puppy eyes.
Mimi looked at her expression carefully and got the picture of what must've happened. "He called, didn't he? You talked with your dad, didn't you?"
Eika looked up nodded her head before tears flooded her eyes. In between sobs, she whispered, "Da-daddy… he said… he sa-said he wanted to see us… and that he lo-loved us…"
Seeing her daughter cry like that made Mimi's heart sunk even more. It was incredible the effect he had on her and on their little daughter. "Eika, honey, please don't cry… I miss your daddy too, but you know he's far away and-"
"You're not mad at me, mommy?"
"No sweetie, I'm not mad, but I'm going to cry too if you don't stop crying now… you're making mommy sad!" she exclaimed with a smile, and brushed her crystallized eyes.
"Mommy?"
"Yes Ei" she answered as she circled both arms around her little daughter's body before carrying her to her lap.
"You love daddy?" she asked cuddling in Mimi's warm embrace.
"Your daddy… your daddy…" she smiled while remembering… "I've been in love with him since we were around 12 or something…"
In that exact moment, the half closed door opened a bit revealing two semi blonde heads.
"Mommy is Ei here?" asked Ami giving a step inside
"I'm here!" she answered and lifted her buried head up. "Mommy… can they listen too?"
Mimi nodded her head while doing a sign for the girls to come inside.
"What are doing here?" Marie asked Eika
"I was telling mommy that daddy called today and-"
"Did daddy call?!" asked Marie surprised while Ami's eye flung opened.
"Yep… he called some hours ago and mommy was going to tell me something 'bout daddy…"
"Really?" they both asked surprised. This was perhaps the first time Mimi was going to say some things about him to them.
"But… how did you know it was daddy?" Asked Marie
"Oh silly! He told me he was daddy and he called me princess and angel… and he said he loved us…"
"Ohh… I wanna see daddy… I wanna hug him!" exclaimed Ami while hugging the teddy bear in her arms.
"Me too!"
"And me too!"
"Me… the most" whispered Mimi from under her breath.
"Mommy… how's daddy?... what does he look like?"
"Where did you meet him?"
"Well girls…" she started before bringing all those memories back to her mind as she talked. "Your daddy and I met when we were kids…a long time ago…"
With his cloudy blue eyes glued on the ceiling, Matt rolled to one side and stared into the darkness. Finally, this day was coming to an end. The longest day in his life…
"If you knew how much I'm missing you…
If you knew how much I'm loving you…
If you just knew how sorry I am…"
He thought while breathing in deeply and hugging the pillow tight.
"Mimi… why do you hurt me so?... Now… my world's completely turned over just because of you…and I don't know what to do…
Do you really miss me…
As much as I miss you, Princess?...
At least, I know that our daughter loves me… even though she doesn't know me…
Maybe Tk's right… I really should be thanking you for not filling our daughters up with hate…
towards me…
I'd die if I knew they hated me…
Cos they're the only good thing in my life that keeps me alive…
apart from your love..."
He turned to the other side as the living room pendulum clock, announced it was midnight.
"Mimi, would you take me back?...
I'm willing to change…
Just for you…
I could really give up everything in my life to be with you…
'cos… there's no sense in living it without you…"
Thanks a lot to the people that have read and reviewed so far. I really apreciate it!
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