Chapter 4

Again: things in the [ ] are author's notes.

character's thoughts

flashbacks

And remember:Natalie = Natsumi, Kyle = Sasuke, Jordan = Yang, Jennifer = Yin, Nathan = Nhamo, Kelsy = Mayume, and Hunter is still Hunter.

Sorry ppl, I kinda switch the character's disguise name from their real names. It might be confusing so I apologize in advance.

Natalie was drawing with Amy, who was having a wonderful time talking to the woman. Kyle was watching his wife play with the little golden-haired girl, and when Amy ran off to fetch some markers he spoke to Natalie. "How old is Amy?" he asked. His wife smiled at him.

"She can tell you," she answered. "Go ask when she gets back."

Amy came running into the living room with a hot pink pencil case and sat on the floor in front of Natalie. Kyle then called her attention. Amy looked over at the man. "Hey Amy, how old are you?" Kyle asked. The little girl looked over at Natalie, who smiled and told her to show him how old she was.

The little girl held out her hand, fingers spread out. "Five," she said in a light, high voice.

"That's great," Kyle said. Amy giggled, opened her pencil case, and began to draw again. Natalie, too, resumed drawing.

After several minutes, Amy stood up and walked over to Natalie and sat next to her. She got onto her knees, leaned on Natalie and craned her neck to look at the woman's drawing. "It's a puppy!" the little girl said. She looked at the drawing of a wolf pup laying in the grass, taking a nap. "That's a pretty picture Nattie."

"Thank you Amy," Natalie replied. "What did you draw?" Amy jumped off the couch and grabbed her paper. She leaped back onto the sofa and placed the drawing into the woman's lap.

"It's a kitty," she said. Natalie picked up the piece of paper and studied the drawing. "Do you like it Nattie?" the little girl asked.

"Yes, it's a cute little kitty-cat." She pointed at the doodle-cat. "I really like its fur, orange is a great color for it." She handed the paper back to the five-year old, but Amy shook her head. She put her small hand on Natalie's.

"It's your kitt-cat." Natalie smiled at the little girl, her speech was so cute when she skips a sound.

"Thank you Amy. I'll keep it on the fridge while I stay here so Mommy can see it before I take the kitty home." She set the paper on the small coffee table for the time being, not wanting to go all the way to the kitchen and come back. "You can have my puppy," Natalie said as she handed the paper to the little girl. Amy squealed with delight and gently hugged the drawing.

"Tank ku Nattie." Amy gave the woman a hug and ran to the other guests to show off her new addition to her art wall that is in her room.

"She sure likes you Natalie," Kyle said. Natalie looked at her husband and nodded. Little Amy really enjoyed having Natalie over at her house. She was always hyper and talkative in her presence. Amy was now sitting in Kelsy's lap watching TV with the others. Natalie sighed and stood up and began to clean up the art supplies. Kyle stood up and helped her.

"I got it Kyle," Natalie said in a annoyed tone. "You don't have to help with everything I do. I can manage." Some colored pencils rolled off the table onto the floor. The woman slowly squatted down and picked them up. She stood up again and put the pencils in the pencil case. "See? Perfectly fine."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Always trying to get me off your back," he mumbled. "You can't blame me for being cautious." When Natalie didn't answer and continued picking up the crayons, markers, and pencils, he chuckled quietly and resumed helping.

* * *

It was 8:30PM when Luana came home. She pulled up in the driveway and turned off the car. She got out of her Mercedes and locked the doors. The woman walked up the path and up the stairs to the front screen and then the front door. As soon as she walked into the house she could smell food cooking. Who's cooking? Luana wondered. She walked into the kitchen to see Natalie and Kelsy. Kelsy was stirring something in a pot while Natalie was grabbing some forks. Both of the twins looked over at Luana and greeted, "Welcome back."

"Thank you," said Luana. She walked over to Kelsy and looked into the pot. "Tomato sauce? You guys cooked pasta?"

"Yeah, did you not want pasta?" Kelsy asked. "I could whip up something else for you. Amy really wanted spaghetti." Natalie walked over to the dinner table and set the forks down by each plate. She then walked back to the cupboards and took out three glasses and took them to the table, and then went back to get three more to set at the table.

Luana shook her head. "It's not that, I love pasta. It's just that you two cooked for everyone. Aren't I the one who's supposed to cook, since I'm the host?"

"You don't have to," Natalie said. "We can help out. If we didn't then it would be very rude of us." She turned to the doorway of the kitchen and shouted, "Guys! Dinner!"

Cheers were heard from the living room, and then the thundering of feet hitting the tiles sounded along with echoes of laughs. Jordan, Nathan and Hunter dashed through the doorway, greeting Luana and running to get the "best" seat at the table. Jennifer and Kyle came in next and took their seat at the dinner table. Kelsy was last holding hands with Amy. When the little girl saw Luana, she jumped for joy chanting "Mommy's home!" while giving her mother a tight hug. Luana picked up her five-year old daughter and walked with her over to the dinner table, where there was a large bowl of angel hair noodles a small pot of tomato sauce, and a small bowl of meatballs. Natalie and Kelsy poured some punch in each person's glass and then took the remaining two chairs. When the two cooks said they could start eating, everyone helped each other get a serving of food. Amy tried to serve herself, but Luana helped her out when she almost knocked over her punch glass.

"So where is your husband?" asked Natalie.

"Oh he's on a business trip," Luana replied. She took a slurp of her spaghetti. "I think he went to...New York City."

"Hm, is that a good thing?"

"Yes it is. That's where the head of the entire company is."

Natalie nodded her head. "That sounds very good then. Another promotion, maybe?"

"That'd be so amazing if it was. Henry has only been in his new position for only three months." Amy slurped her noodles too hard and got tomato sauce on her face, and Luana grabbed a paper towel and wiped her daughter's face. The little girl smiled at her mother, and she smiled back. "It would be great that Henry gets promoted, but then that means that he would be spending less time with Amy and me." Little Amy nodded sadly.

"I miss Daddy," she said. Luana hugged her.

"I miss him too sweetheart." The woman decided to get off that subject and go to a new one. "So, Nattie, when's the baby due?" Luana's friend looked down at the bump in her stomach. She seemed to be in thought, and Luana waited while drinking some punch.

"I think in...three more months," she answered. "She's going to be a summer baby, in June I think."

"Well that's nice." Luana then noticed Natalie slightly wincing. "Are you okay Nattie? Is it the baby? Do you need any medicine?"

The red-haired woman shook her head. "It's just my throat, it's dry, nothing serious. I'll be fine." Kyle glanced over at his wife, and she stared back at him. Luana thought that they must have some weird mental link, for the couple seemed to have nodded in the slightest way after about ten seconds of staring at each other. Natalie turned her attention back at her Amercian friend. "Sorry for worrying you Luana."

"Oh, it's fine. I'm just a worrisome type of person," Luana replied. Other conversations proceeded after that, but Luana didn't pay too much attention to them. Soon, dinner was finished, and the youths went into the living room while the adults collected the dishes and placed them in the dishwasher. The four adults started to make a conversation.

"How long will you let us stay Luana?" Natalie asked.

Luana placed the forks into the dishwasher. "As long as you all need. It really depends on how long you plan to stay in America," she answered.

"We may be staying for at least a year I believe," Kelsy said. "It would be best to stay here until Cari is at least a year old, and it would give her some advantages." Luana nodded in understanding, and then a question came into her mind.

"I never really got to ask, but why are you all here? I'm not trying to be rude in that question, but you decided to some here so quickly, and you all barely have any things." The woman gasped, "You didn't lose your house did you?!"

Natalie replied with assurance. "Oh no, we had time to spare, and we decided to come to America."

"But staying here for a year? How much time do you have to spare?"

Kelsy and Natalie stared at one another, again Luana had the feeling of a mind connection. When they looked away from each other, Kelsy answered. "Well, to tell you the truth, things are sort of going a bit bad back home. We were advised to leave the area for the time being, and where to spend all that time than in San Fransisco, California with our dear friend Luana and her daughter Amy?"

"Well that's very flattering," Luana said in a half sarcastic tone. "Still, I'm sorry about that. I hope everything will be better when you all get back home. You can stay as long as you like."

"Thank you." Kelsy glanced over at her sister, who was putting the remaining clean dishes into the cupboards. "Sis, you should go to bed now," she said. Natalie looked over her shoulder and frowned at her twin sister. "Com'on Nattie, I can tell that you're tired. Getting more rest would help the baby."

Natalie sighed, "Very well. I'll go to bed. See you all in the morning." Natalie walked out of the kitchen, and Luana watched her go. Kyle looked over at Kelsy, and then he, too, headed out of the kitchen.

"I'm going to make sure she doesn't clean up the bedrooms too much," he said as he walked out. "She's such a clean freak."

"I heard that," came Natalie's voice from down the hallway. Kelsy and Luana giggled.

"Now you're going up there to apologize," Kelsy said. Kyle ignored her joke and left down the hallway. the remaining two women began to put the rest of the clean dishes away again.

"Natalie and Kyle sure have such a good bond don't they?" Luana asked. When she looked at Kelsy, she noticed the woman freeze for a second.

"Yes, they do have a crazy bond," she replied and continued to stack the plates in the cupboard. Luana was about to ask about it, but then Kelsy said, "They never really stay apart. When they do they get depressed and go nuts, but when they unite again they're both so happy. It's funny, really."

"I see..." The two women resumed putting the last of the dishes away in silence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Natalie sat down on the bed and put her hand on her stomach. Kyle sat down next to her, and then he leaned forward to look at his wife's face. "Your eyes are getting red Nat," he said, his voice more like his normal self. Both of them knew that no one was upstairs at this hour, and if so, they're family so they already knew about their disguises. Sasuke continued, "You can't keep your eyes gold forever with the kekke-genkai, and you know it."

"I should've brought some blood packs before we left," Natsumi muttered.

"Nat, you know you can have some of my blood."

"But I shouldn't."

Sasuke sighed. "Natsumi, you're gonna have to. I know that you don't like to do this, but it's for your own good as well as the baby's, and I don't mind. I am the one offering after all."

"I almost drained all of your blood last time," Natsumi said, her tone going soft.

"That was months ago, and it was your first time."

"My first and only time." She looked away from her husband's gaze. "I am not going to drink your blood and that is final." Sasuke continued to stare at her, causing her to fidget slightly. She took a quick glance at him, and then back at the bed covers. "Stop looking at me," she said in a demanding, but weak, voice.

Sasuke tried again. "If you don't take the blood then you're going to faint sooner or later, and then Luana would know about the vampire half....Amy would know what you are." The Uchiha hated to talk to her like this, to push her to do it by saying facts so harshly, but it was the only way to get through to her. He waited and watched Natsumi stare at the blankets. Her head lowered, her whole torso hunching forward and making her red hair fall from her shoulders to block the sides of her face. Sasuke saw a tear fall onto the bedsheets.

"I cannot...let my vampire half win," she whispered. "That half will ruin my life, and I will not let it..." Natsumi gripped the blanket hard. "I do not want to be a burden, a weakling, just because I can't last without some blood. I don't want to be fed like I'm someone who doesn't know how to fend for them-self. And, even more important..." A few more tears fell. "I don't want my baby to grow up without a father, and knowing that her father was killed by her own mother, just to satisfy her thirst for blood. She would be fatherless because of what I am, because I'm a monster...and she may be too..." The woman's tears flowed freely now, dripping onto the bed covers and turning them from a blue to a darker shade from all the water.

Sasuke shook his head, and then he scooted closer and wrapped his arms around his wife. "Natsumi, you are not weak," he said. "This is not something that you should be stressing over. I am also not inferring that you are someone who can't fend for them-self, I am only trying to help you.

"And even if you did kill me, which you won't, Cari would know that she was fatherless because he gave his blood to her mother. If her mother didn't take the blood, she could've gotten ill, and she along with herself, Cari, would've been dead. She would know that her father gave his life to make sure that she would survive as well as her mother.

"You are not a monster, Natsumi," the man said. "And neither will Cari. Both of you are just very special people, one of a kind." He lifted her chin so he could look into the woman's ruby eyes. "I love you, and I always will, no matter what you are." Sasuke wiped a tear away from Natsumi's eye with a thumb, and she hugged him close and sobbed into his chest.

"Thank you, Sasuke," Natsumi said, her voice slightly hoarse from crying. She continued to cry, and Sasuke just held her close until her sobs were like loud, short gasps. He kissed the top of her head and just let her stay there in his arms, gently rocking her while she calmed down.

When the woman was quiet, he whispered, "Are you still going to argue with me about your condition? I'm the one offering, remember that." After some silence, she answered him.

"I'm still not sure, Sasuke," Natsumi replied.

"Then just take a little bit. Mayume can come in and help, remember?"

"But what about Luana, and Amy?"

"May knows what's up, and she's keeping Luana and Amy busy. She even says that Luana is not thinking about earlier, and Yin is helping too with the two ladies."

Natsumi sighed. "Fine...but if things get out of hand..."

"I know, I know, get you off me and call for Mayume to restrain you."

He smirked when he heard his wife mumble something along the lines of "smart ass" and "thinkin' that he can talk in that tone...I can still kick his ass." She squirmed out of his arms and sat back while the man took off his shirt. He turned his back toward her and waited. Natsumi hesitated, but then she carefully hugged Sasuke, making sure that her stomach didn't press up to him so hard.

"It's kinda of hard with the baby stomach..." Natsumi murmured. "Remember, you don't have to do this. When you think I should stop then get away from me."

Sasuke nodded and held still while her lips touched his neck. She held them there for a minute, and then the man felt the fangs graze his skin. The bite wasn't as painful as the last time, so he did not flinch. He kept his gaze on the door, which was ahead of him and a little to the left. The Uchiha started to feel slightly dizzy, and he knew that he was losing a lot of blood now. He really wanted to make sure that Natsumi had enough blood, but she would feel terrible she made him lose consciousness let alone his life. Sasuke decided to stop her so she doesn't get mad or sad. He tapped her arm, and she stopped. The woman healed the bite-mark and leaned back on the mattress. Sasuke scooted to the side and flopped back on to the bed.

"Sorry Sasuke..." Natsumi mumbled. She rolled onto her side to look at him. "You still conscious?"

"Yeah..." Sasuke replied quietly. "Thanks." When he sensed that she was staring at him he turned his head to meet her eyes. They were nearly their pure gold color, but they were sad. "Natsumi, I'm fine, don't worry. All I am is just light-headed, okay?"

She nodded slowly and rolled half-way onto her back and stared at the ceiling. "Thank you," she said. "That helped me a lot..."

"Sure thing honey." Sasuke could feel his eyes getting heavy, but he struggled to stay up. Natsumi noticed his breath intake and spoke.

"Sasuke, you're tired. Go to sleep."

"I'm staying up if you are, you know that." He glanced over at his wife, who was staring back at him. She sighed and pulled the sheets over herself.

"I'm going to bed, feeding actually makes me sleepy. You better go to sleep too, okay?" When Sasuke nodded she smiled and kissed him softly on the lips. "Good night honey," she said.

"Good night." Sasuke closed his eyes and instantly fell asleep.

Natsumi chuckled softly and closed her eyes. Within a minute she, too, fell asleep.

Please people, tell me what you think of this story so far. Nobody has been reviewing this story, and I hope someone does soon. I might just delete this if no one reads it and tells me how good, or crappy, this is. Thanks...