Oh Rockman, you didn't know about baby Navis because I couldn't think of a good way to work their description into casual conversation. Also, you can assume Roll fixed him.
This one's also an old chapter (you can tell 'cause it's short), but surprisingly it stayed mostly intact. Huzzah!
When the doorbell rang, Roll asked Meiru to see who it was because she was quite literally elbow deep in grocery ads, planning this week's shopping.
When Meiru screamed, Roll regretted this decision. Dropping everything, she raced to the monitor right next to the front closet and simultaneously dialed the first few numbers of the Police Office on the phone.
"MEI—"
"I don't care if it's research, you shouldn't surprise your wife like that and especially not your pregnant wife, do you want me to have a miscarriage you mindless, stupid..."
Meiru was ranting at Netto, and with every emphasized word she was swatting him over the head with... a plastic stick? Netto in turn was both laughing and cowering from his wife, while Rockman shook his head in amusement from the still-open doorway.
Confused but glad it wasn't robbers, Roll hung up the phone.
Netto yelped as a good swat nipped him painfully on the ear. "Honey, I thought you liked flowers!"
"Flowers?! This isn't about the flowers!" Meiru screeched, starting to swat double-time.
Flowers? Scanning the room, Roll realized she had completely missed the large bouquet of baby pink carnations sitting on an end table. Suddenly, the plastic stick in Meiru's hand made sense; rather than beat her husband with the flowers and ruin them, she had just taken out the plastic stake which served as a cardholder to use as a weapon. Roll couldn't help but laugh at her Operator's ingenuity.
"Gyaah! Rockman! Apologize to her!" shouted Netto, backing into a corner and doing his best to cover his head.
"This was your bad idea, Netto-kun," Rockman sighed.
Roll giggled, and turned to ask what... exactly... She froze. Rockman's voice had come from her left, but... he wasn't standing to her left. Very slowly, she turned her gaze outside of the internet.
Rockman was standing in the doorway— in the real world— staring at her with a creepy "I've-been-watching-you" smile on his face.
Roll screamed about three times louder than Meiru had.
"Shh! It's okay, it's okay!" Rockman panicked, flapping his hands at her.
"Shut the door! Shut the door! The neighbors will think we killed someone!" hissed Netto. He ran to the door as Rockman scrambled in, and slammed it shut behind his Navi.
Roll's head was filling with questions, but she was having trouble deciding which one should come first; currently it was a tie between "What" and "How".
Netto leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief. He and Rockman looked at one another, and for no apparent reason started to laugh uproariously.
"Woo! Mission accomplished!" Netto cheered. Very cautiously, he and Rockman gave each other a high-five.
"Accomplished without dropping anything, either!" Rockman said excitedly.
"Or repelling anything three feet in the air!" Netto countered.
"Or setting anything on fire!"
"Oh come on, you know that time was awesome, who else can say they caught flame-retardant material... on... fire?"
Both boys suddenly realized that they had two angry women giving them the death glare.
"So... ahem," coughed Netto, standing upright and straightening his shirt collar. "This was a test drive of my research. I call it "Dimensional Bubbles"."
"Bubbles?" Roll and Meiru asked together.
"It's similar to a Dimensional Area, but smaller."
"Oh."
"But why...?"
Netto held up a fist. "What are the two problems of Dimensional Areas? One," he put up one finger, "they're nearly impossible to get in and out of. Two," he put up a second, "the bigger you make them, the more money you have to spend to keep up the power supply."
"And so Netto-kun got the bright idea to make Areas that were only big enough to bring a single object into the real world," Rockman continued, sounding proud.
"It's so simple and energy efficient! All you do is surround the object with a form-fitting, very thin Dimensional Area, kind of like making a really tight bubble around it," Netto nodded, also sounding proud. "We've had Rockman walking around the lab for about a month now, but today was the first day time we went outside." He pointed to a thin black belt around Rockman's waist which had a blue hexagonal piece of glass embedded where the buckle would be. "All the machinery is kept right in there."
Rockman tapped at the glass. "There's actually a very small Dimensional Generator in here! With such a thin Dimensional Area, I can actually touch and interact with real-world object without... you know, the normal violent reaction."
"Oh, that's pretty neat!" Meiru admitted.
Roll had to agree; it was no wonder they were very tight-lipped about their work. Glad that Meiru was no longer angry, she asked, "So where did you go today, Rockman?"
"Just outside, in a car... to the grocery store to try and buy flowers... It was mostly just to see if he could interact with normal environments," Netto said with a shrug.
"You should've seen the looks we got at the store," Rockman chuckled. "Though by far you've had the best reaction, Roll-chan."
Roll wanted to tell him that it was his creepy-stalker-smile that was responsible, but the fire alarm cut her off.
"What?" frowned Netto.
"Oh no! Dinner!" Meiru gasped.
"WHAT?!"
As Netto and Meiru raced into the kitchen, Rockman shook his head. "Mou... the neighbors must think we're weirdoes."
Roll secretly agreed, but said nothing.
"And for dessert I haaave..."
Meiru dramatically lifted the cover off a cake tray.
"PIE," Netto gasped. Not bothering to stand, he grabbed Meiru around the waist and hugged her tightly, burying his face in her chest.
Rockman thought he heard a muffled "I love you", and shook his head for what seemed like the umpteenth time today. For that kind of reaction, it had to be a French Silk pie. Meiru spent a full minute detaching herself from her husband. Once separated, she carefully carried the pie over to the counter to cut it. Netto instantly popped out of his chair to follow her, like a puppy following its owner.
Rockman never understood why Netto always got so ecstatic over pie; certainly he was never this excited about it as a kid. Maybe Meiru just had a knack for making pies, like Mama had a knack for making meatballs.
Netto cuddled up behind his wife and wrapped one arm around her waist. He clasped his other hand over Meiru's knife-holding hand, and gently guided it. "This is for you..." he said, making an initial cut and moving the knife over to where a second, normal-sized piece cut would go. "And this is for baby," he finished, shifting the knife and cutting the piece twice as big.
"What? I can't eat all that!" Meiru complained.
"You would deny our baby this delicious pie?"
Rockman bit down on his tongue to resist pointing out that the baby couldn't taste. Roll, however, mumbled something about Meiru only needing to eat two hundred more calories a day.
"And this is for me," said Netto, cutting a second, equally-big piece as the first.
Meiru raised an eyebrow. "If the baby is my excuse for such a large piece, what's yours?"
"Me?" Netto asked with mock dignity. "I'm just a pig."
Dishes clattered as they were deposited in the sink.
"Hey...Roll-chan."
"Mm?" said Roll, watching Meiru now trying to cover and remove the rest of the pie into the refrigerator and out of her husband's reach.
"Do you... I mean... have... have you ever... "
"Have I what?" asked Roll, turning her head.
Rockman felt himself beginning to blush, but he pressed on. "Netto brought up something awhile ago. I've been meaning to ask you."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Meiru-chan's having a baby, and when it gets bigger, you know... it'll need a Navi."
Roll looked confused. "Of course he or she will. What's your point?"
"I... er, Netto-kun thought that we could... Have you ever heard of baby Navis?"
Roll stared. "Yes. Why?"
She sounded suspicious, and Rockman knew if he were human, he'd be sweating bullets by now. Of course she knew about them; she must know every possible thing about babies by now, seeing as she spent every minute of her free time researching the subject. "Netto-kun asked me if you— or rather, we— would like to get one."
The line that was Roll's mouth stretched wider.
"He thought… that you and I could raise it alongside their child. So we could make sure it was a good Navi for their baby when the time came."
Roll seemed to think it over for a moment. "I suppose we could," she said at last, turning back to the screen. "If Netto-san wants us to. It is a big responsibility."
"Y-yeah. It is."
Rockman was a little depressed. Roll did not sound excited in the least about this, and he had really been hoping this suggestion would lift her out of her funk. Maybe he was imagining things when he thought Roll was jealous of Meiru...
...but it really did look like that. In the kitchen, Netto was standing behind Meiru with his arms securely around her stomach, and the two of them were swaying to a tune only they could hear. Roll was watching them, but she was not smiling. She was, he was certain, trying to look neutral because she couldn't fake happiness.
Trying to sound casual, he asked, "If we got one, you and Meiru-chan could both be mothers, right?"
Roll gave a noncommittal "mm".
Drats. Wasn't a baby the solution to this problem? Sure he and Roll weren't married like Netto and Meiru were, but they could have a similar kind of relationship, if they wanted. If they did that and bought a baby Navi, their lives would be just the same as their Operators, right?
...of course, he realized going bright red, both of them would have to want that... that kind of rela—
"I hope the baby has red hair," Netto mumbled out in the kitchen, "I love your hair."
Meiru jumped up excitedly. "OH! Did you feel that?"
"What?!"
"It moved!"
"What moved?"
"The baby. Here, put your hand here."
Rockman chuckled as Netto got down on his knees, pulled up Meiru's shirt without any sense of modesty, and pressed an ear to her stomach. Meiru, flustered and trying to put her shirt back in order, mumbled something about "feeling, not hearing". She did not, however, push him away.
"I don't feel anything," Netto pouted.
"Well I can. It's probably too small for you to feel yet."
"That's not fair," Netto continued to whine.
"What?" Meiru asked, "You want to have this baby? By all means, be my guest! Childbirth is an oh-so-wonderful experience, you know."
That was it! It wouldn't be the same, because buying a baby was nothing like having one. Roll was jealous of the experience Meiru was having, not the end product of it. Having a baby could be one of the ultimate signs of devotion to another person, and she— they— could not do it.
"Don't worry, I know you can do it."
"You do, huh?"
"Yes!" Netto snuggled his face against his wife's neck. "I know you can do it, because I love you!"
"That's not a real reason—!"
Roll reached forward and closed the window to the kitchen, most likely thinking that Netto's small show of affection would lead to... more things.
"Rockman." Roll kept her gaze straight ahead. "It might be nice to get a baby Navi, but..." she trailed off.
He understood. "It's not the same, is it?" he asked with an apologetic smile.
Roll's shoulders stood up in shock. She raised her head to look at him and there was a long pause as she scrutinized his face.
"No," she smiled sadly back, "it's not."
Roll woke up slowly, last night's conversation still running though her head.
Of course, Rockman had wanted to talk things out. He'd been trying to start awkward conversations for about a month— ever since that last argument. It was pointless, really; he would stumble over his words and her curt responses would kill the conversation. Last night the line she used to accomplish that was, "I am happy for Meiru, and that is enough."
His response nearly made her fall over: "You mean it should be enough."
Roll couldn't think of a reply. He was entirely correct; it should be enough, but it wasn't. She was jealous of what Meiru had.
From an outsider's point of view, it made no sense. Meiru was going to loose her job, was in a terrible situation with her mother, and knew in five months when the baby was born, her life was going to stink. Netto wasn't going to be around to help and money was going to be tight, so Meiru was going to be stressed and alone.
And yet, she was happy. She was 18 weeks pregnant, feeling wonderful, and had a loving husband. Somehow, that made all the bad things bearable. That was why Roll was jealous. Despite everything, Meiru was happy to be starting a family.
Apparently, Rockman had figured that out. He also seemed to understand that even if they could emulate that feeling with a baby Navi, it would be just that: an emulation. Roll had a bad feeling that he would still be willing to play the role of "Papa" to make her happy, though.
What would you say if he asked?
Her answer was a resounding "no". She did not want to play house with him, did not want to fake having a loving family just for her own selfish desires… Rockman didn't love her, and there was no reason for either of them to pretend that he did.
...but that didn't stop that little voice in her head from asking "what if?"
Roll groaned and brought a hand to her face— or rather, she tried to. Something heavy was pinning her arm to her body. She was lying on her side, so all it took was a slight shift of her neck to look down... to look down and see another, very blue arm draped over her.
"R-ro-rockman?!
There was a small mumble somewhere close behind her, and the arm tightened around her, pulling her closer. Roll blanched at the feeling of her hair getting smashed between her back, and... and what had to be Rockman, and his bent knees bumping against the back of her own.
A female voice giggled.
"M-Mei—" Roll turned from white to purple in a definitely unsafe amount of time. Slowly, very slowly, she looked up...
...to see Meiru smiling ear-to-ear.
"Meiru-chan!" she gasped, scrambling to get away from Rockman.
"Oh don't you worry," Meiru said confidently, "Netto already got a picture."
"What?! But— He— he..."
"Left for work already, so there's nothing you can do about it!"
"But I— I didn't— this isn't my fault!"
"Mmn… what isn't… hwa?"
Roll whipped around. "Rockman! G-good... morning!"
Rockman was sitting up slowly, and seemed to be having trouble focusing on her. "G'morn'n. Whaz goin' on?"
"N-nothing!" Roll said quickly, giving him a big (fake) smile and praying he wouldn't see through it.
Meiru was fighting back her laughter. "Rockman, aha, erm, Netto left a message for you."
"...Netto-kun?"
"Yes. His exact words were: "Go back to sleep!"" Meiru said, imitating her husband for the last part.
"But..." Rockman rubbed at his face, "why would...? What time is it?"
"Eight-thirty," Roll answered.
"What?!" Rockman roared, jumping to his feet.
He wobbled. Roll gasped, realizing what was about to happen. Before he could collapse, she stood up and grabbed him. His body was off-balanced and heavy, so she ended up half-guiding and half-falling back to the floor with him.
"Rockman! Are you alright?!"
"Yes."
"Rockman..."
He looked up into her worried face and gave her a reassuring smile. "Really. I'm okay. Just tired. Dimensional Bubbles take a bit of effort to control, especially outside of our lab."
"How long were you outside yesterday?" she asked, not willing to be swayed by a single smile.
"A long time, according to Netto," Meiru interrupted. "He says you should've slept until around noon; that's why he turned off all of your alarms when he got up this morning."
"Noon?!" Roll cried in disbelief.
Rockman sighed. "He was exaggerating. I'm fine now." He stood up again, still a bit unsteady.
Even Meiru looked a little worried at that. "Are you sure, Rockman? Netto said—"
"Yes," Rockman said firmly. "I need to get to work, it's dangerous to leave Netto-kun..." he took one stumbling step forward, "alone..."
Roll dragged him back down before he fell again. "Sit."
"But Netto-kun..." Rockman swallowed hard. He was loosing his ability to concentrate at an alarming rate. "I have a bad feeling… that he's… planning something…"
Roll silenced him with a finger. "Hold still. This will only take a second." She clasped her hands over her Navi icon and shut her eyes.
Rockman slumped against her.
Who knew he got so friendly when he's tired?
Really, this was strange for him. His behavior towards her had changed very little in their time together. Sometimes, when she startled him with her presence (for instance, when he didn't notice her in the room or she appeared behind him) she could still see his body tense and brace itself a little; a remnant from her days of jumping on him whenever they occupied the same space. And whenever they sat down, Rockman always made sure to leave a polite distance between them if there was enough room to do so. She'd calculated it once; it averaged around 150 pixels, or about five inches.
They'd managed to grow close in little ways these last two years, but none of it warranted this sudden... cuddling. They'd slept side-by-side on the off occasion they were both up late in their home PC, but never once had they been caught spooning. It was sort of embarrassing, really.
Of course, Roll didn't object to his behavior. She'd grown up over the years, but some small part of her still hoped... that maybe someday...
Roll shook her head and went back to the task at hand. While her mind had been drifting around, her body had been searching for spare or unnecessary bits of energy and rerouting them to her Navi icon. She knew her schedule was pretty blank for today, so what she considered "unnecessary" was actually quite a lot. She compressed it as small as she could until it felt like a white-hot ball in her chest. With a practiced ease, she drew it out through her icon into her hands. Some last minute personal modifications during this process left her holding a small, glowing pink heart of pure energy.
Carefully, she pushed in into Rockman's Navi icon. There was a brief pause as it worked its way through his program.
"Whoa!" Rockman gasped, sitting upright. "That's quite a wake up call, Roll-chan!" He stood up, confidently this time, and stretched. Looking pleased, he offered a hand down towards Roll to help her up. "Thank you, I feel great!"
She accepted both his hand and the compliment with a blush, and was pulled daintily to her feet. "Ah, it's nothing much. But it's not a complete fix, mind you, so please take it easy at work today, alright?"
"Netto-kun always makes that difficult," he chuckled, "but I will try."
"And Rockman?" Meiru spoke up. "Can you tell Netto he left his lunch by the front door like the forgetful idiot he is?"
"Yes," Rockman sighed. "I'll make sure he has money to buy lunch."
When nobody said anything more, Rockman gave Roll a smile. "Well then, I guess I'm off."
"Have a nice day," she smiled back.
She watched him disappear, but stayed where she was. Even after she heard Meiru shuffle away, she stayed put. No, she didn't move a single pixel until she had committed every bit of this morning to memory.
What Roll really wanted in life was an unobtainable dream. She couldn't have a family, and Rockman understood that. Moments like this morning always got her hopes up... but in the end, she just saved them away as cherished memories.