Ulrich looked up at his wife's concerned face. He looked back down and messily wiped his eyes.
"It's stupid"
"Ulrich, Odd seems to know what was wrong, so you can tell your friend but not your wife"
Ulrich looked back down.
"I don't care how stupid it is babe, I love you and something wrong is with you and your keeping it inside and you should know that it's wrong"
"I know but it's just so stupid, Yumi"
"Do I have to repeat what I said?" Yumi said trying to keep her temper down.
Ulrich finally gave in and told her of his 'stupid' distress. Yumi was quiet shocked.
"Death badly affects you, doesn't it? When the person who dies is close to you, it was like this when your cousin killed himself"
Ulrich nodded ashamed of him. Yumi looked at him and kissed him.
"Ulrich, your problem may be stupid in your eyes but it's bothering you so it's important in my eyes. The only thing I can say is that, I could walk down the street and be shot, You could cross the road and be knocked down, We could be driving and be in a crash and both die. We can't predict the future Ulrich but we stress about it a lot. I may die before you and you may die before me, we don't know." Yumi finished her sermon and looked at her husband who still has his head down.
"Ulrich, look at me. I love you; death really affects you, when it's someone your in close contact with you. My father's death didn't affect you because it wasn't someone who you were close to. Death does affect everyone in one way or another; it just affects you a lot worse"
Ulrich got up from his office chair and wrapped his arms around her. She rested her head against his chest.
"I'm so sorry for not telling you sooner" He whispered.
Yumi drew him into a lingering kiss.
"And I didn't want those papers to be our divorce papers at all"
"Ulrich, baby, I know you didn't. I was just angry that's all. I forgive you but next time they'll be a punishment" Yumi winked at him.
"Might have to do that then" Ulrich laughed cheekily.
Yumi laughed.
"See you at three then?" Yumi asked wrapping her arms around his neck and nuzzling her face in his toned chest.
"Yeah" Ulrich murmured while wrapping his arms around her waist.
Yumi crawled out of his embrace blew a cheeky kiss and walked out of his office.
Yumi sighed as she watched her patient leave her office. She had had a long day and couldn't wait to go home. She was glad that she didn't have to argue with her husband anymore to find out what had happened. She was thinking about his worries when Mr Stanley walked into her office.
"Hullo Mrs Stern, just a quick word about your husband, is he alright?"
"Err hard question to answer, he's working through some issues that have popped up and it's causing him stress"
"Oh, so something happened at home then?"
"Quite the opposite sir, it happened here"
"Oh and what would that be?" Mr Stanley asked sitting on the side of the desk.
"Your words about your wife"
Mr Stanley looked confused so Yumi told him what had been happening.
Mr Stanley was shocked to find out that his words had caused Ulrich to fear the future.
"I'm so sorry, Mrs Stern, I really didn't mean for this to happen"
"Sir, it's quite alright, you weren't to know, death just badly affects Ulrich, if he's very close to them, he just can't cope with it"
Mr Stanley nodded, apologised again and excused himself.
Yumi sighed and looked at the clock on her wall. The clock told her that she could leave and know that Ulrich would be waiting for her in the lobby.
She smiled as she saw him, when she caught up with him she took his hand and they left together to go and pick their children up.
"So Zachary Tyler will be brought to your house tomorrow afternoon precisely at four, is that all ok with you two?" The social worker asked them.
"Perfectly fine, thank you!" Aelita grinned
She looked back down at the picture of her adopted son, Zachary. His name would be changed by tomorrow afternoon to Belpois and then it would be official.
They had met him a week ago and he had taken a liking to them and to Ansel.
He was 5 and had been left behind at an empty house when his parents decided to move and leave him there. He had blonde hair and he had it spiked up, obviously done by the minder they had in the orphanage. He had green eyes and was on the skinny side. He wasn't afraid of adults as many councillors thought he would be. Both Jeremie and Aelita knew he would be a treasure to the growing family.
"Don't you ever feel bored? Just sitting around, watching the Twinkle play with her toys and listening to Serenity sleeping and reading or watching TV?" Odd asked his wife.
"No, especially when I'm being placed on evening shifts again" Sam replied not looking up from her book.
Odd huffed and went into the kitchen to get something to eat; a trait that he hadn't lost from his Kadic days.
His mind went straight to Sissy. He had seen her on the way out of the psychologists. They had got talking and had sat down in a café. They shared a laugh over how much they had hated each other only four years ago. She was missing the old days as well but was trying to concentrate on her career to which she was still studying for. She wanted to be a social worker; the career that her mother had before she was murdered. Odd couldn't believe that after taunting Sissy so many years that she had had such a tough life before Kadic. He apologised many times but each time she told him to forget it.
He didn't know why but he couldn't help thinking about her and he hoped that he met up with her again soon. It was a piece of the past but he had found out why she was such a brat and wanted to make up for his actions to her.