Chapter 13: So You Get Used To It*


"And that'll be it for this class! Remember, homework on the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is due next week! Make sure to get it done by then!" Yu said, dismissing his classroom who frantically ran out.

He was back at work a few weeks after Yukiko gave birth and mostly recovered. He sat down and began tidying up his desk and the room up a bit before heading back to his part of the office.

He noticed that one of his friends there, Mr Panome, had a wrapped box with his name on the tag but ignored it, seeing that he was talking with another teacher. He set some papers down into his cubicle along with his laptop and went over to the coffee table to pour himself a big cup. He was done with his classes for the day but still had work to finish up.

He looked around his desk, looking a lot more full than when he first arrived, stuff would either be lost or scattered around, but he still made sure the one thing that he kept spotless was a picture of him and Chie's wedding photograph and the photo of the group when he first left Inaba. He began typing onto his laptop for a few more minutes before feeling his eyesight get heavy.

"Yo, Narukami! Are you awake?" Mr Panome said, snapping his fingers to wake up Yu. "...i'm up, i'm up. What's up, Panome?"

"Geez, your eyes look SUPER baggy. You were up late?" Mr Panome asked being met by Yu chuckling. "Not by my choice, I can tell you that."

Yu was already starting to notice Chie's pregnancy acting up, she would wake up late at night, throwing up in their toilet multiple times. Last night, he had to wake up 3 times in the middle of the night to comfort his wife while she was sick. "Yeah, my wife's pregnant and just…trying to help her anyway I can." Yu said, drinking his coffee that was lukewarm due to how long it was sitting for.

"Ah, that's it. Yeah I remember when my wife was the same. Best advice I can give you is that after a while, you get used to it." Mr Panome patted Yu's shoulder and opened his wallet to show a picture of his family. "That's my daughter right there. She's about 6 months old now." He said, smiling at the photo. Yu stared at the photo for a bit, feeling pride for his co-worker before feeling his eyes get heavy again.

"Ah geez, what time is it?" "Hm, about 3 pm. Shouldn't you be home soon?" "Can't. Gotta finish grading these papers. Some of these are honestly super hard to get through. I mean, someone put it that King Tutankhamen was buried in a giant pyramid when I said MULTIPLE times that he was in a tomb!" Yu said, clearly frustrated.

"Hey, that's what being a teacher's all about. Helping these kids out and being patient with them, y'know? On the bright side, it'll be good practice for when you have your child." "...yeah yeah, you're right. Man, this job gets tiring." Yu sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, maybe you can bring those papers home with you, I'm sure Principal Kurumin would be fine with that." Yu agreed, carrying the rest of the papers into a folder and putting it into his briefcase. He only had a few more that would take him a few minutes but he wanted to be home to watch Chie.

Before he left, Mr Panome gave him a present, Yu quickly unwrapped it to get a green name plate with silver lettering that said 'Yu Narukami, Social Studies Teacher and Proud Father.' Yu looked over at Mr Panome who gave him a thumbs up.

"Figured it could add some spice to your classroom desk, y'know? Someone in the Social Studies wing tipped me off." "Thanks, Panome." "Anytime, man." He headed back to his car and started it up, driving off into his neighborhood and opening the door to see Chie watching an action thriller show, eating a giant bowl of ice cream with chocolate syrup and an entire banana.

"Oh, welcome home!" Chie said, smiling. "Hey. How was work?" Yu said, hanging up his coat and laying his briefcase down, sitting next to Chie.

"Ugh, awful. I gotta go back to doing all of the boring paperwork I used to do. And the complaints are the WEIRDEST things! I mean, I got one report of a guy throwing eggs onto a fire hydrant because a dog kept peeing on it and he said it "masked the stench." What does that mean!?" Chie pouted, before shoving another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

"Well my day wasn't any better." Yu said, pointing to his briefcase. "I gotta grade a few more papers. It should only take me a few more minutes and then we can just relax and watch something." "Don't keep me waiting." Chie said, kissing Yu while he got up and went over to the kitchen table, setting his laptop down and writing some papers next to him.

Every minute or so, Chie would ask for something to eat. It went from a bag of chips or a candy bar to an entire tub of ice cream or a steak bowl he saved from Aiya's. "Damn, why am I still so…hungry?" Chie groaned, looking at the 5 bowls of food she ate through.

Yu was frantically moving his pen and typing aggressively, getting ink all over his shirt and fingers. He had to do his work as efficiently as he could to help Chie. After a few more minutes, he finally finished everything and sat down next to Chie, who was eating through an entire plate filled with toast that had way too much peanut butter and jam on them.

"Still hungry?" "...yeah. Man, this kid can eat! I'm sure I'm just being a pain to you right now with all of this eating, right?" Chie said chuckling, placing her now empty plate onto the dozen or so in front of her on the coffee table.

"No no, I knew what I was getting into. That's why I made sure to order double of everything when I headed to Junes. Besides, I said to you that I don't mind a girl who eats." "Well, I'm trying to not eat as much but it's like I have this…giant black hole in my stomach!" "I think that's called pregnancy cravings." Yu said, heading into their room to change into his pajamas.

"So, Trial of the Dragon 4 or 5?" Chie pondered before answering Yu's question. "Ham and cheese sandwich." "...huh, never heard of that movie." "I-I meant 5! Heh, sorry." "I'll get you that AND a sandwich." Yu chuckled, inserting the dvd into their media player and heading over to their fridge. "American or Provolone?" "Both!" He started making a giant sandwich when he noticed Skip running up to them and jumping up on the couch.

"Ha, looks like Skip wants to join us!" Chie said, Skip resting on Yu's lap. They started watching the beginning of a frantic kung fu movie, the fast paced editing and flashing colors entertaining Yu. He looked over to see Chie falling asleep, laying down on their couch. He turned off the movie and carried her to their bed, setting her down and tucking her in. He kissed her on the head and went to the bathroom to go brush his teeth when a few seconds later, Chie burst through the door, rushing over to the toilet.

"Auuuuggggggghhhhhimsosorryyu!" Chie said, vomiting while Yu looked with toothpaste bubbles still in his mouth. After a while, you get used to it. Yu remembered his co-workers words and spit into the sink, washing his mouth and going over to help Chie. Chie started crying as she held onto the toilet bowl.

"I'm such an awful wife! I'm so awful, Yu! There are so many other girls that you could have gone and married and dated and you got stuck with me!" Chie cried, wiping her mouth and going over to wash her face.

"None of them are you, alright?" Yu said, kneeling down to comfort her. "But look at me! I'm ugly and not girly enough and I eat too much and I'm just-!" "Hey hey, that's wrong! I know that in high school everyone was looking at my direction cause I was the new kid. But I remember when I first met you, I had my eyes on you and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you." Chie wiped her wet face with a towel and looked at Yu with her big brown eyes, on the verge of tears. "...really?" Yu kneeled over, wiping her eyes with his fingers.

"Remember when I said we were gonna do this together. No matter what, I love you no matter how bad it gets." Yu smiled at Chie, who got up and went over with Yu to go to sleep. Yu dropped his head into his pillow instantly and went to sleep. Just then, he heard the bathroom door open and more vomiting. No matter how bad it gets. Yu sighed, getting up to help his wife again.