Chapter 10: So Heartbreak Happens*


"Do you think oatmeal cookies have nuts in them?" Yu said, looking through the gift basket they got from their hotel. Him and Chie were in a luxurious hotel near the beaches of Hawaii for their honeymoon, enjoying each other's company and just returning from the boardwalk.

"Don't think so if I remember." Chie said, eating a box of chocolate almonds and flipping through the tv.

"Hm, I dunno if I want to risk it though. I forgot my allergy medicine back at home." Yu said, passing the cookie to Chie.

"Well if you won't eat it, I guess I-" Chie paused before feeling nauseous.

"What's wrong?" Yu asked concerned "I…don't feel good. I…I need to use it." Chie said before running off into the bathroom. Yu could hear her vomiting like crazy and took it as his cue to go comfort her. He entered the bathroom to see Chie kneeled over in the toilet bowl panting and the inside being…a mess.

"Geez honey, are you ok?" Yu said, getting down to comfort his wife. "I…i dunno. Do you think…?" Chie said, looking up at Yu with her tired eyes. "I think you've got some of those in your suitcase, right? Just in case?"

"Could you get one, please dear?" Yu nodded his head and came back with a pregnancy test, handing it to Chie and closing the door. A few minutes later, Yu was sitting on the couch in the living room watching a news report about Rise's new concert and spotted Teddie in the background in his bear costume, dancing to the music and having a good time. Yu smiled at the sight of his friends enjoying their lives before hearing a high pitched scream from the bathroom.

"Chie! Chie, are you all right?!" Yu said, running into the hallway. All of a sudden, he saw the door nearly slam into his face and Chie holding the white plastic object, tears in her eyes. "…is something wrong?" Yu asked, before realizing she was smiling.

"Take a look!" Chie said, passing the test onto Yu, noticing the two lines. His eyes widened as Chie wrapped her arms around him, crying into his shoulder. "I'm pregnant! I'm pregnant and gonna have a baby! It's been so long!"

"I…i can't believe it. I'm…i'm gonna be a dad. I'm…I'm gonna be a dad!" Yu said, crying along with Chie. They both embraced each other, hugging each other tightly.

"…this…is the best wedding gift i've ever gotten." Chie said, laughing with Yu. Chie went to their bedroom to call her mom and Yu went to sit down on the couch calling his parents to tell them the news.

"Mom, guess what?" Yu said, his voice trembling and choking up. "Oh Yu, is there something wrong, honey? Did something happen with you and Chie at the-"

"Mom. You're gonna be a grandma." Yu said, hearing a few seconds of silence before his mom spoke up, hearing her voice also tremble. "…really? You and Chie…" "Yeah. Yeah, we did!" Yu could hear Chie and her mom screaming together in happiness in their bedroom, then moving his phone away from his ear after hearing his mom's high pitched squealing.

"Oh honey, I'm so happy for you two! I just know your father is going to freak out as well! Let me get him!" Yu waited for a few seconds, hearing Yukiko on the phone with Chie, both of them screaming and laughing together. The happiness in her voice was the best thing Yu heard in a while and smiled brightly. Just then, he heard his father on the other line and spoke.

"Dad, you're gonna be a grandpa, how do you feel?" Yu said, his voice filled with glee.

"…son. you just made the greatest mistake in your life." "Wait, what?" Yu replied, his voice sounding bewildered.

"Didn't I tell you at that girl's wedding that you shouldn't have let your wife play with that baby? Now look at what happened!" Yu was confused, his father had his voice raised and filled with anger at him.

"…dad, why are you mad at me? We wanted a baby for a while, don't you know that?" "No no son, you shouldn't have done that for a while! You're just not ready to have a kid! You're in your mid-20s, you just punched your card and now your freedom is gone!" Yu couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"…dad, are you serious?" "Of course I am! You gotta…you gotta find a way to get rid of-" "So what? Are you saying that you didn't even want me then?" "No no of course not, you were a gift from God for me and your mom! But we had you when we were prepared to have one. I mean, c'mon, you're a middle school teacher and your woman's a police officer! Do you think you can spend enough time with your child with those kinds of jobs?!" Yu's dad said over the phone, his voice sounding angry.

"Well we'll find a way then!" Yu was raising his voice and his cheeks were flushed red with anger. "Tick…tick…tick…baby…is…coming…now." Yu's dad said, sounding mocking to him.

"Dad, are you serious, wh-why are you acting like this? I thought you would be happy!" Yu could see Chie enter the room, still smiling before she noticed Yu with a scowl on his face, her smile slowly dropping.

"Look boy, listen to me-" "So then, what do you want us to do, just…get rid of our little baby boy or girl?! Well I'm not doing that! I don't care if I "lost my freedom" or "my life of being cool is over!" There's no one I'd rather lose it with than my wife and new-born!" "Well at least I waited til I was a man enough to have you, cmon think!" Yu could feel his rage building up and let it out.

"AT LEAST I WON'T SEND THEM AWAY TO DIFFERENT PLACES WHEN I DON'T LOVE THEM ANYMORE!" Yu said, screaming into his receiver. He waited for a few seconds while his father was silent. "…listen to me RIGHT NOW son, for your sake, get rid of that-"

Yu hung up. He couldn't believe what his dad was saying. Get rid of his baby? Why in the hell would he do that? He saw what happened with him and Chie and how miserable he was. He wasn't going to go back to that life. And besides, so what if he was gonna spend all his time taking care of their child? He was going to make sure he could give all the love he could to them. More than his father ever did.

"…yu, are you ok?" Chie said, holding her husband's hand and looking at him. She put her other hand on his face and looked deep into his eyes, that were on the verge of tears. She gave a wry smile and pulled him into her shoulder, hugging him. She could feel him crying, his tears dripping down on her shirt.

"...that bitter fucking asshole. W-why did I ever listen to him…?" "Look, he's just…worried about you. He doesn't know that we have…experience, y'know." "No…no, it's just…the whole reason I didn't want a kid before was because of HIM. His…words got into my head, it poisoned my mind. I knew it shouldn't have but it was like he didn't want to deal with any kids at all. And because of what he said, it…made me what I was before all of this. It made me hate children, it made me bitter, and it made me…" Yu choked on his own words, his tears piling up, Chie brushing her fingers on his silver hair trying to comfort him.

"It made…me kill-" Yu stopped, feeling his knees get weak and collapsing. He started sobbing and didn't want to look at Chie's face. He felt immense guilt and shame rush back into him.

"Hey hey, nonono, don't think about that. That WASN'T you. It's not in our future anymore. You don't have to worry about it. It was just…Izanami messing with your head and crap. You still love me right?" Chie said, kneeling down to look at Yu, still keeping her smile to cheer him up.

"...more than anything." Yu said, weakly smiling and kissing her. "And you're gonna love our baby, right?" Chie said, rubbing her stomach. "I'm gonna give our child all of my love that I can. More than my dad ever could." Yu said, caressing his wife's stomach.

A few minutes later, they both sat down near the beaches and looked out onto the sun setting down, excited to see how their future would be. They knew that whatever was shown in that dream, was changed. They would go forward to the future not with fear, but with hope. With a reason to go forward. And Yu was ready to face it with the woman he loved since high school.