"Uhm, hello." greeted the stranger at the door. "Is Nightingale here?"
"Yes, please come in." Tohru said. "Follow me." They then walked into the living room.
Nightingale looked up and her face became a mixture of surprise and slight anger. What's she doing here? Nightingale thought to herself.
"You don't look happy to see me, coz."
"I don't know why." Nightingale said sarcastically. "It couldn't have anything to do with the way you treated me."
"I know and I'm terribly sorry." the other woman said.
"Uhm, excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" Shigure asked, curious of who she was and why Nightingale was so upset.
"Oh, how rude of me. I am Nightingale's cousin, Raven." She answered and then politely bowed.
Everyone in the room looked surprised. Raven was the complete opposite of Nightingale. Her hair was cut to just below her chin, and was black as night. Her skin was much paler than Nightingale's (and Nightingale was pretty pale). She wore a white button-up blouse with a collar that came up to her chin. Her high-wasited skirt came up well over her belly button and went down to the floor. Her eyes were a a dark flat blue and held a cold and distant look in them. She was nothing like Nightingale and it was hard to believe that they were related.
"Exactly what do you want, Raven?" Nightingale asked.
"I came here to say that I am terribly sorry, from the bottom of my heart. I should never have treated you that way. Will you please be my maid of honor again? I'll even pay for your travel expenses." Raven pleaded.
Nightingale thought for a moment. "Nope, I can't." She answered.
"Why not?" Raven asked, her tone becoming indignant. "You aren't having your wedding then are you?"
"No." Nightingale said and patted her stomache. "I'll be roughly eight month pregnant when you get married."
"You can wear flats!" Raven said.
Hatori cut in the conversation here. "When she is that far along, it won't be safe for her to travel."
Raven's face was filled with fury. "Who are you and what gives you the authority to say that it's not safe for her to travel then?"
Hatori just kept calm. "I'm her doctor." He answered.
Raven just stood there speechless.
"And Shigure and I are getting married in three weeks." Nightingale said. "So, we won't be messing up your wedding."
"I'm staying in the Zodiac Hotel (A/N: I just made that up) if you would like to contact me." Raven said and then left.
Nightingale let out a sigh. "I'll go and see her later." She said.
Shigure kissed her cheek. Then he started rubbing her shoulders. "You're getting tense, my love. Maybe you shouldn't go and see her." Shigure said, his voice concerned.
"You really need to avoid stress." Hatori told her.
"I know, but at the end of the day she is still my cousin. Still family and that's important. I'll just give her some time to calm down." Nightingale said.
Hatori, Jin, Aya, and Mine stayed for a while longer and finally left around ten at night. Nightingale stood up and yawned and stretched. "I think I'm ready for bed."
"Me, too." Shigure said, standing up.
They both walked upstairs to their room. Nightingale slipped out of her sundress and pulled a pink silk night gown from the dresser. Shigure walked over to her and pulled her in his arms before she could change. He kissed her forehead. "I love you." He whispered in her ear.
"I love you, too." She whispered back. "Now can I please put my night gown on?"
Shigure pulled back and held her by the shoulders at arms' length. "Why would you want to do that?"
"To cover myself." She answered, her cheeks reddening.
Shigure just grinned. "But why? You are so beautiful. I also love seeing the baby bump. It's so beautiful." He then bent down and kissed the small baby bump. Then he placed his hand lovingly over the slightly swollen area. "This is our baby."
Nightingale smiled. She placed her hand over his. "The best of the both of us."
Shigure looked up and smiled. Then he softly kissed Nightingale's stomache once again. "Daddy loves you." he whispered.