Jun woke up lying on her stomach to find Ken stretched out beside her, watching her with affection that warmed her heart, slowly she lifted her head slightly of the pillow, her long black locks of hair falling partly over her face.
A slight smile ran across his lips while he stroked her back lightly with his fingers. "Do you know how beautiful you are in the morning…your hair spread across the pillow…"
"With my hair in tangled knots…and morning breath." She giggled.
"Yes, especially if I'm responsible for it being tangled..." He said mischievously.
Jun looked at the yellowed and purple bruises on his chest, some appeared to run around to his back, the smile left her face as she studied them.
"Don't be concerned about those Jun, when we saw constant action I had bruises on me all the time…" He said casually.
" I know…it's just…" She started to say, deciding now is the time to say something about the baby then Jun looked at the clock," we have 15 minutes to open up for the breakfast rush." She said sighing.
Ken moved off the bed. "Then we'd better move…"
Jun sat up and quickly got out of the messy bed and ran towards the bathroom. Turning on the shower and jumping in she began to think about the right time to tell Ken about the baby. Last night it didn't seem right, so at one point during that day she'd find the words.
A loud crashing noise of pots and pans downstairs in the kitchen told her Jinpei must have come home during the night.
Rushing out of the shower she began to dry off just as Ken stepped through the door to the bathroom. "My turn," He said with a slight cheeky grin and running his hand over her bare bottom on his way past.
"I'll see you downstairs." She said quickly leaving the bathroom she dressed in jeans and a simple T-shirt, then she ran downstairs to help Jinpei prepare the Snack J for the people already waiting for them to open.
The next few days went just like that, Jun couldn't find the time be alone long enough with Ken to talk about the baby. I hung there every time she spoke to him; still the words hadn't left her lips.
He had to make up for lost time with his mail runs so Ken had only passed by the Snack J during her busy times to grab a bit to eat and then he was off again. Sometimes he looked at her sharply, but he didn't say anything.
He mentioned in passing that he needed to talk to her about something important- he organised with her to go out to dinner, so they could have some time alone and catch up. She began to wonder if he figured out that she's pregnant.
Still almost a week went by before they finally got the chance to go out for the dinner date.
Jun stood in front of her mirror, smoothing down her new light pink straight knee length dress, still no sign of the bump forming, but is she pressed close to the pubic bone she could feel her swelling womb just a little.
Tonight she'd tell him, and she began to feel nervous of his reaction to the news of becoming a father.
She picked up her little silver evening bag and slipped on her sliver high heeled strappy shoes. She heard the door open and Ken said something to Jinpei.
Jun tried not to run down the stairs. When she emerged through the doorway he gave her a smile of approval at her choice of outfit.
"You look great too." She said taking his large hand in hers while he lead the way out to his car. "So where are you taking me?" She asked hopping in the passenger seat.
"Well, an old friend told me about this great Italian restaurant…"He said backing out onto the street.
She knew who the old friend he referred to was Joe. Sometimes saying his name stirred up sad emotions in both of them. She figured Ken didn't want the sadness of losing Joe to be with them tonight as it often did when he asked her on dates in the early days of their relationship.
Ken opened to door to an elegant restaurant with subdued lighting and lit candles on each of the tables. A friendly Italian man with a round face and a black moustache and jolly smile greeted them.
"Welcome to my family restaurant." He said smiling broadly. "You have a reservation sir?"
Ken indicated that he did, and the older man looked up Washio on his list."Ahhh, yes, over here." He said leading them to a cosy table for two at the back of the restaurant.
He held out Jun's seat for her and she sat down giving him a grateful smile. Ken seated himself and they proceeded to order their meal.
"This looks like a wonderful restaurant." Jun said scanning through the extensive menu.
"Joe took me here once…" Ken said quietly.
Jun's ears perked up. "He did?"
"Yeah, he felt I should try real Italian, instead of the bottle bolognaise and packet pasta I served him at the shack one night."
This brought a smile to Jun's lips. She could imagine Joe's expression of disgust when Ken presented him with the meal. Joe cooked Italian for Jun one night at his trailer…the night they had that intimate conversation. She pushed her memories of that night a side and she tried to focus on the finding the right time to tell Ken her news.
The dinner conversation started out cheerfully, they talked about what they had been up to over the past few weeks. He ordered a bottle of red wine to go with the meal- Jun decided it not to drink it, even though he poured her a glass. Ken told her a few things about his mission, and the mysterious man he ran into.
"He must be a loner…" she mused while she ate her pasta dish." And a determined one, Galactor could have done something bad to his family or directly to him. And now he's just out to destroy the last remnants."
Ken agreed while he took a bit out of his main meal. "That's the conclusion I came too."
"The food here is fantastic, lets do this again." She said smiling.
Tell him Jun…Her inner voice kept saying…i tell him/i. "So..Ahhh what is it that you wanted to share with me?" She asked lightly, knowing she was stalling the inevitable.
"I caught up with Dr.Nambu while I was in Switzerland." He began his face lit up with excitement.
"How is he?" She asked, she hadn't seen the doctor hardly at all in the past six months.
"He's doing well, and avoiding pretty women who throw themselves at his feet." Ken grinned at the memory, the he related to her what happened in the restaurant. They both laughed at the thought of Dr.Nambu fending off an admirer.
"He asked me to go to Africa…to test new fighter Jets for six months…and we can see the new equipment they're working on for the team." Ken's eyes became brighter as he spoke about the assignment.
Jun felt like he just dropped a bombshell on her. Africa, now? She thought.
"Jun don't look at me like that, you can come too." He said reaching across the table for her hand.
"I can't go to Africa!" She blurted out still stunned.
Ken sat back in his seat wide eyes with surprised by her reaction. "Why not?"
"I have a business to run…and Jinpei-"
"It never stopped you before when we were working as an active team so don't use Jinpei as an excuse-"
"…We are in peace time, it matters now." Her heart hammered in her chest she needed him to see. "Ken I'm…" The words stuck in her throat.
Silence fell momentarily between them.
Ken stared at her closely, with his penetrating blue eyes, then he relaxed and let out a short laugh sounding relieved. "Jun, Jun… I though for a minute you were about to say something like I'm pregnant." He waved his hands in the air and took a sip from his wine glass.
Jun felt herself take aback by his reaction.
"And what if I did?" She said casually.
"Well, hypothetically, if it did happen then we wouldn't go ahead and actually have it." He said seriously. "But since that's not the case lets not worry about it."
Jun felt a cold unpleasant sensation run through her while the waiter cleared the table of the empty plates and then another put their desserts on the table.
"Would you be so…" She struggled to find the right word," …cold."
Ken looked at her, his expression became more serious. "Jun, are you wanting that kind of commitment now from me? We're way too young to even be talking about this…I'm nineteen and you're only seventeen. I not ready to even consider marriage or children." Ken looked like he wanted to end this conversation from the way his eyebrows came together his demeanour growing more serious.
"You talk like I'm forcing marriage and a life time commitment on you…" She said trying to keep her tone level.
"You're starting to sound that way. I couldn't support a family on mail run wages living in a shack." His said with a look of amusement.
Jun drew in a deep breath." We…we fought to have a life didn't we?" She asked, hoping he'd catch on.
"Yes…but…" Ken closed his eyes for a moment." We may be deactivated, but we're still on standby… If you can't handle-"
"Ken, we, us what about us…" she looked at his face highlighted by the candle.
He looked to be struggling hard with something. "Jun, I leave on Friday to go Africa…if you want to come with me, meet me at the airfield at dawn." He said like he expected her to say, yes Ken, what time are we flying out…
She shook her head. "I'm not going to Africa for six months, stuck in the middle of nowhere so you can fly fighter Jets...and me…sitting around doing nothing." Jun told him firmly knowing he would see her as being selfish.
The impact of her words hit home with him, a dangerous controlled hint of fury crossed his blue eyes while they stared at each other.
"I don't understand why you don't want you come with me, you won't be sitting around there are other projects happening there…I just…"He faltered, "I just want you with me Jun…" He sounded like the wind had been taken out of his sails from the crest fall expression on his face. He reached out trying to take her hand in his. Jun pulled away from him causing him to flinch, hurt flinted across his smooth handsome features.
"No…" She said feeling the magical bubble burst from the last six months of happiness she had share with him. "You don't…how could you understand-"
"Then enlighten me." He rebuked drawing his lips into a tight line- his facial muscles become tense again.
"…I have worked for months build the Snack J into a viable business for me and Jinpei. Ken we're in peace time Ken and you still feel the need to run off and save the world." She boiled over with emotion- she didn't really mean to throw his duty in his face so harshly.
"I didn't know you felt that way…" He looked hurt…worse he looked like she had plunged a sword into his heart.
"I told you Ken…I just can't go with you…can't you accept that." She threw the napkin down on the table angrier with herself than with him.
Jun began to feel Closter phobic from the tension that now lay between them.
"You know Jun, I don't know what happened with you while I was away…something changed. I felt it, but I didn't want to believe it." He stood up and threw some cash on the table followed by his car keys.
"I hope you work it out…" He went to walk past her and stopped, his internal conflict radiated from his tense body. Jun watched him ball a fist and then he walked with heatedly out of the restaurant, stopping only briefly to say something to man who greeted them at the door.
Jun put her hands over face and rested her elbows on the table and a few hot tears roll down here cheeks, why didn't she just say it. She chastised herself.
Deep down, she knew why.
If she told him about the baby after what he said she would have sounded desperate. Needy of him. Or was it just her own pride getting in the way of telling him because they had an argument.
The middle aged Italian man walked over to her and sat down at a table close by his brown eyes filled with sympathy. She looked up feeling drained of all of her emotions. He indicated she stand up and he gave her a big bear hug, the damn of tears burst fourth again.
"In da morning, things become clearer…he will come back to you…" He tried to reassure her. "Lovers tiff, that's all."
Jun didn't speak, she just nodded and thanked him, she fumbled with them money to pay for the meal and then got into Ken's car alone. She began to drive back to Snack J then she decided to try and find him, and tell him why she couldn't go to Africa with him. Then what? She though as she drove around. He'd call Dr. Nambu tell him he couldn't leave Utoland and stay with her? Or would he expect her to go back to that clinic…
She drove for hours all over Utoland city, she couldn't find him anywhere. She even drove out to the airfield. The place looked deserted, that's when she noticed his Cessna gone from the hanger.
He must have hailed a taxi she thought. Jun waited for a long time- eventually she turned on the engine and drove home.