A New Beginning.....
Chapter TWO!
By: Ichi Okazaki
C H A P T E R T W O...
Spot ON!
Chapter two: A New Family
X X X
Time passed by very quickly.....
It was Ran's ninth month now. Everyone, including Shinichi, was excited to see the new member of the Kudo family....especially Yukiko.
"Oh my! Time sure passes by too quickly! In a few weeks...or days....Ran-chan's going to give me a grandchild! Is this how old I am? I'm only forty! Does Ayumi-chan have to come so early...? Shinichi!!!! Are you listening to me??" Yukiko cried, as she and Shinichi were looking at babies in strollers in the Beika Shopping Center. "Oooh, that one's cute! Wow....a blonde haired baby! Must be an American's son....but anyway, how's Ran-chan today?" she asked, as Shinichi frowned at her.
"Not so good. She keeps on complaining about stomachaches every few minutes....I'll bet tonight I'll have to rush her to the hospital. I hate seeing her like that, always frowning and giving me looks of pain...I feel really guilty, Mom..." Shinichi muttered, looking at his feet.
"It's okay, Shin-chan! I was like that once, it seemed only yesterday that I suffered like Ran-chan to bring you into the world....Ran-chan's a tough cookie, she'll be all right!" Yukiko said, trying to encourage her son. He was a little baby once too, and Yukiko remembered how Shinichi had seemed so helpless, so fragile....all those days she had carried him in her arms...how she wished he'd shrink back into the little boy he once was so she could do so once again...but now, he was the one having a child who would also grow up soon....imagine how he would feel....
"Um....Mom, are you....crying?" Shinichi asked, shaking Yukiko out of her dreams. Yukiko wiped the tears welling up in her eyes, and replied, "I guess so....nah! Ignore me, Shin-chan! I was only remembering how you used to be like those babies over there...."
Night came, and Ran's stomach pains were becoming more wanted to just scream and end it all, but didn't have the strenght to. She was also embarrassed to ask Shinichi to take her to the hospital, since he was at the Police Department being congratulated by the inspector for having solved another baffling case. If she called, Shinichi might get pissed off. So Ran tried to forget her pain as she baked a cake, watched a movie on television, and tended her rose garden. But nothing she did would erase the continuous stomachaches, and all through the night she was clutching her stomach, gritting her teeth in intense pain.
It was ten p.m. Shinichi was relieved that he was able to escape from more of the inspector's teasing, and now he was at home, where everything was peaceful....but that feeling was lost when he opened the door and saw Ran lying down on the living room floor,still in intense pain. Ran saw him, and then decided to cry out. "Ran!! Wh-why didn't you tell me it was time? Geez, look at you! Come on, let's hurry! I can't leave you like that now!" Shinichi said, still shocked from the sight of Ran's agony. Ran, who was now limp from the pain, didn't object as Shinichi carried her to their car and drove off to the hospital.
"Whaaaaat??? Ran-chan has been holding out on the baby? That must've been painful...." Yukiko cried, when Shinichi told her the news over the phone. "So....how's she now?!?' Shinichi sighed and replied, "She's been in the delivery room for about....an hour now. Geez, that girl didn't even tell me! What if the baby could've came out in the house? So, mom, tell dad to come here now....if it's okay." Yukiko laughed and answered, "Of course!!! We certainly can't miss out on our first grandchild's birth! Bye, Shin-chan!" And so the phone conversation ended there. Shinichi waited on a bench outside the delivery room, and after fifteen minutes, he nodded off to sleep....
THREE HOURS LATER.......
"Um....excuse me...Kudo Shinichi-sama? You simply have to wake up, now!"
"Huh....? Wh-whazgoinon...?" Shinichi groggily replied.
It was Ran's ob-gyne, Dr. Kazumi Miragami, waking him up. "Your wife is alright, she's currently sleeping in Room 234 right now...and your baby girl, Kudo Ayumi, is also fine...she weighs at least 7.8 pounds, and is in the nursery. You may like to check on them yourself..." the doctor said, smiling.
"Eh?!?! It's....done? Ran is....alright? Oh, thanks! I'm going to go see them..."Shinichi replied, completely surprised. He ran to Room 234, and when he got inside, he saw Yukiko, Eri, Yuusaku, and Kogoro waiting for him. Ran was asleep on the bed, and she looked really worn out. Shinichi felt even more guilt slice through him as he looked at his parents' and Ran's faces, and decided to run out of the room and hide from everyone. But unfortunately, Eri, who was nearest to the door, stopped him.
"You're not going anywhere, Shinichi. My daughter needs you here. Be brave, no one here is blaming you for anything..." Eri said lovingly, trying to erase Shinichi's guilt and shame.
"B-but Ran....and you guys....especially you, Uncle....I mean, at the wedding, you were all saying Ran and I were still young, that Ran still wanted to do something with her life...I feel like I ruined her! Worst of all... I feel like I took her freedom away!" Shinichi replied, with tears welling up in his eyes. He tried to hide them as Kogoro sneered, "Heh! Glad you realized-" But he was cut short by Yukiko's sharp slap. Shinichi was totally surprised, Eri was trying not to laugh out loud, and Yuusaku said, "Yukiko!" Yukiko didn't pay any attention to them.
"Stop it. Stop messing around with my son. Shinichi wasn't doing anything wrong to your daughter, and as his mother, I know how deeply he cares for your Ran-chan...and as long as I'm alive, I won't allow anyone making my son seem like a fool for something he did, no one, not even you, his so-called "father-in-law"!!" Yukiko shouted, poking Kogoro with her finger.
"M-mom....you didn't need to do that...." Shinichi said, with a shocked look on his face.
"Hey....what's.... with all.... the noise...." Ran muttered, still weak from the childbirth.
"R-Ran-chan!!!" Yukiko said, embracing Ran. "So how was it?? Do you still recognize us? How do you feel?"
"I'm alright. It was tiring, though.....I feel...like a limp vegetable...." Ran replied, smiling weakly. Shinichi, meanwhile, decided to try escaping again, but Ran asked, "Wh-where's.....Shinichi..." He stopped in his tracks. Eri then replied, "He's here, Ran."
"Mom! You came...." Ran said, her smile growing wider.
"Hey!! Shinichi!!! Ran wants to talk to you!" Eri called, giving Shinichi a glare.
"We're going out now, Shinichi. Good luck!" Yuusaku whispered to Shinichi. "Hey Dad!!! W-wait....!" Shinichi called, but they had all gotten out.
"So.....where's Ayumi-chan, Shinichi? I wanna see her, now!" Ran demanded, scowling. " I spent four hours in there! It was a matter of life and death, Shinichi...."
"And I spent four hours sleeping." Shinichi replied. " Ayumi is going to be brought here, I guess...."
Just then a nurse came in. "Delivery! Kudo Ayumi-chan, we took a long time in washing her, she's so adorable I wanted to eat her up!" The nurse said with a smirk.
"Heh, glad you didn't. I'm going to have to turn you in for cannibalism...." Shinichi replied, losing all the guilty feelings. So that little baby girl was the thing Ran had been carrying around inside her. It was amazing, the way life went around....Shinichi couldn't stop looking at Ayumi. She was so....adorable....and to think that she was his and Ran's....
"Wow!!! Ayumi is soooo amazingly cute!!!!" Ran cried, as she cradled the baby in her arms. She smiled as Ayumi cried sharply, and continued, " But not cuter than you, Shin-chan....you made this possible...thanks a lot!!!!" She gave Shinichi a kiss, and he blushed deeply.
This was the start of a new beginning once more....the beginning of a new family life, for Shinichi, Ran, and now with little Ayumi-chan, who knew what was in store for them....
[the end...]
TO THIS SHORT FANFIC.....
I will gladly accept opinions, so write up those reviews!
I might just add an extra chapter if you wish
OR you could just wait for the sequel!^^
Arigato for my readers, the anonymous reviewer, and the ones who added my previous fanfics to their FAVORITES lists!!
=Ichi-nii=