This chapter is so late and so short and probably really bad.
Enjoy~
-x-
"Good morning miss Kagami!" Dr. Mishisui smiled at me as she strutted into the room.
"Good morning ma'am," I replied, returning her smile. Her gaze drifted to Taiga, who sat proudly in the chair next to the bed.
"You must be her brother, hello." She held out her hand to him, which he took and shook with a small nod.
Dr. Mishisui explained what we were going to do today. She was going to put this gel-like substance on my belly and use an ultrasound scanner that will send and receive waves, showing us the baby.
As she went through the motions of getting everything ready, I sat back against the bed and looked at my brother, who was watching the doctor with some fascination.
"Hey," I whispered.
"Hm?" Taiga mumbled.
"I'm a little nervous," I told him. Taiga frowned down at me and took one of my hands in his.
"You'll be fine, everything will be fine." He assured me.
"Pinky promise?" I asked
"Obviously, baka." He chuckled and let go of my hand, only to link our pinkies together for a short moment. I grinned up at him and looked back at Mishisui, who was finally prepared.
"This is gonna be cold," She warned, as I slid my shirt up just over my slightly bulging stomach. I inhaled sharply as the gel was applied, Mishisui muttering an apology as she did so.
Once applied, she took what I assumed to be the wave transmitter-thing and placed it on my stomach and started moving it around, her eyes focused on the black and white image on the screen.
"There it is," Taiga pointed at the image. It was a little hard to see, but sure enough there it was.
Dr. Mishisui pointed out things like the head, the body, a little tiny hand that almost looked like it was shoved in a little tiny mouth.
"Sucking its thumb already? Jeez," Taiga chuckled.
"It's very common," Mishisui commented.
"So, I know it's probably way too early, but is it possible to tell what sex it's going to be?" I asked, mesmerized by the image on the screen.
"It is a bit early, that isn't usually determined until it's about 18-20 weeks," She explained, "So you've got a ways until I can tell you that." She smiled kindly at me and I sighed.
"Alright, then. Could I possibly get, like, pictures?" I shifted slightly on the bed, getting a bit uncomfortable lying there for so long.
"No need to ask, sweetie. I'm gonna wipe this gunk off of you, and you can sit in the waiting room and I'll bring them out to you when they're all printed. Sound good?" She asked, as she started gently wiping my stomach with a soft towel. I nodded and once she was finished, Taiga and I headed towards the waiting room.
"Taiga! Skylar!" Tatsuya's voice had the both of us frozen mid-step. We stared at him as he popped out of his chair and walked over to us, a grin spread across his face.
"Tatsuya? What are you doing here?" Taiga asked, slightly bewildered by his appearance.
"Ah-I remembered that Sky said she had an ultrasound today, and I didn't want her to have to travel all the way back to Akita to show it to me, so I came here! I was a few minutes too late though, sorry," He rubbed the back of his neck shyly, smiling at me. I grinned up and threw my arms around him, pulling the dumb basketball player into a hug.
"I'm glad you're here, Tatsu-nii," I said. My raven-haired brother for all intents and purposes chuckled and hugged me tightly.
"Doc's printing out some of the images for us, so you can see them," Taiga said, giving Tatsuya an odd look. Tatsuya nodded, but didn't seem fazed.
"I know you guys are fighting, but can we at least pretend we like each other?" I grumbled, pulling back and stepping around Tatsuya so I could sit down.
The two boys sat on either side of me, neither even looking at the other. I stifled a sigh and leaned back in the chair, closing my eyes for a few minutes.
Mishisui rounded the corner a few minutes later, pictures in hand. I stood and thanked her as she gave them to me. I stopped by the receptionist desk to make another ultrasound appointment in a few more weeks, then the three of us left together.
Tatsuya looked over the pictures as we all walked towards the Train Station, smiling as he flipped through them multiple times.
"Oh, by the way, Atsushi says 'hello' and told me to tell you that you should visit him in Akita again because he enjoys your company," Tatsuya said, handing the pictures back to me. I tucked them gently into my purse and hummed quietly.
"Oh he does?" I said teasingly "Well you tell your giant that momma can't be making that trip too much, so if he wants to see me he has to get off his lazy ass and come to Tokyo, kay?" Tatsuya laughed and shook his head.
"I shall relay your message to him." He smiled kindly at me and threw an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to his side. I heard Taiga huff on my other side, and I looked over to see a very grumpy red-headed basketball idiot.
"Hey! I've got an idea," I said, pulling away from Tatsuya and forcing the two of them to stop, "Let's spend the rest of the day together, just the three of us! It'll be like old times!" The two boys looked at me quietly, both of them frowning, and shooting small glances at each other.
"Things…are different now than they were, Sky," Tatsuya said.
"I noticed, but that doesn't mean that just for a little while, we can't pretend that they aren't. So shake hands and agree to not be butt faces and let's go have fun together!" I crossed my arms over my chest, setting a stern look on my face. They were quiet again, looking at each other, then back at me before Taiga heaved a heavy sigh. My brother turned to his 'brother' and sighed.
"You know what, fine. But there isn't much to do at this time of year, and I don't have any money on me. So all we can really do is just sit at the apartment and watch movies." Taiga said, crossing his arms over his chest, as if mimicking me.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Tatsuya said, "We can watch American movies and simply enjoy each other's company."
"That's the spirit!" I grinned and looped arms with each boy before marching in the general direction of home.
-x-
I dreamt about the baby for the first (but not the last) time a few days later.
I was sitting in mom's old rocking chair back at the house in America. The TV was on in the background, and I could hear mom and dad laughing in the kitchen. Taiga was with them, cooking dinner.
I was rocking back and forth quietly, holding a little baby bundle to my chest. I gazed down at the baby curled in the little pink blanket and smiled.
Taiga's loud voice woke me from this moment.
"Damnit! Coach is gonna murder me!"
I opened my eyes and glared at the white ceiling, while listening to Taiga crash around the kitchen. I heard the door slam open, then shut again just as loudly and I swear I could almost hear him stomping down the hallway.
I made a futile attempt at going back to sleep before finally rolling out of bed and moping around the apartment, slowly making my own breakfast omelet and sitting on the couch, watching TV.
Taiga left a note saying that the 'real Winter Cup prelims' had started and he hoped that I could come watch him play later.
To be honest, though…I didn't have the motivation to leave the house. I just wanted to sit on this couch and sleep forever. I wanted to dream about my baby again. I wanted to see her face.
But alas, sleep evaded me yet again. I pulled myself up off the couch and took a short shower.
After getting dressed, I somehow found myself out of the apartment and walking towards where the basketball games of the day would be proceeding.
-x-
WELL THERE YOU HAVE IT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!
a badly written short chapter you waited an unnecessarily long time for. Next chapter will probably be some observations on the Shuutoku game. Probably. I should watch the winter cup prelims again so I know what I'm talking about.
See you soon (probably not)
Feel free to leave me a review on the way out and yell at me for taking so long! Ta-ta!
