A Surprise
Eight
He awakes to someone tapping out a beat on his skin.
It takes a moment to fully regain consciousness but Jen soon realizes Ruki is playing an imaginary piano on his arm, and she's humming along. The melody sounds suspiciously like Here Comes the Bride.
"What time is it?" He asks, pinching the bridge of his nose. Way too early, he decides before Ruki can speak.
"Six-eighteen." She says instead, still tapping her fingers against his arm.
"You do realize we could have had another forty-two minutes of sleep."
"And you do realize it's too early for math, even that sort." Ruki grins, propping herself up on one arm. "Besides, I thought we could…" She trails off suggestively.
"Seriously?" Now fully awake, Jen shoots her an incredulous look. "Ruki, we didn't even get to sleep until two last night."
"Technically, this morning." She corrects. "And you weren't complaining then."
Jen groans, though he can't hide the smile that tugs at his lips. "You are insatiable."
"I am perfectly fine." Ruki huffs, pretending to take offense to Jen's claim. "My hormones, on the other hand, are pretty much insatiable, yes." She smiles, and then laughs in celebration of her assumed victory when he pulls her back down. He blindsides her by winding an arm around her waist, pressing her to his side.
"Well, your hormones are just going to have to wait because I want my forty-two minutes of sleep." Jen declares as he uses his free hand to pull the blankets up.
"I can't believe you're turning down sex." Ruki grumbles, though she gives in and rests her head on his chest.
"I can't believe three rounds weren't enough for you." He retorts, closing his eyes. It should be easy enough to slip back into sleep; after all, he's only had four hours and eighteen minutes of it.
"That was last night." She mumbles, childishly trying to get the last word since she's been denied what she woke him up for. It's very rare for him to deny Ruki anything, and Jen might be enjoying this more than he should.
Still, that doesn't stop him from throwing her words back at her. "Technically, this morning."
He doesn't even regret it when Ruki rolls away from him and spends the next thirty-eight minutes facing the wall instead of him.
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"This is insane," He tells her after breakfast, meeting her eyes in the mirror. She's standing behind him, leaning against the bathroom door while he brushes his teeth.
"What?" Ruki asks, idly tracking his progress to the shower.
"This whole thing." Jen says, standing under a spray of hot water. "Why did we plan it like this? It's a crazy schedule, you know that. And it's not like the office wouldn't have given us at least a day off."
Ruki sighs. He goes on while he works shampoo into his hair. "We could still change the plan, you know. Maybe we should call the office and tell them we're down with the flu, so that we can have the whole day to ourselves." Jen suggests. "Or we could reschedule the whole thing. Who gets married on a Thursday, anyway?"
"According to your grandmother, if we don't do it today then our marriage will go up in flames and we'll never have any harmony in our family." She reminds him, and narrows her eyes at him while he rinses suds out of his hair. "Are you getting cold feet?"
"What?" Jen exclaims, turning around to look at her. "No! Ruki, no. I just… today's going to be pretty chaotic, don't you think? I don't want you to get stressed, that's all."
"We go to the office," Ruki ticks items off her fingers, walking him through the plan. "We work until lunch, we drive back home to change, Takato and Juri pick us up, we go to the municipal office, get married and then have dinner at my mom's place. What's so chaotic about that?"
Jen steps out of the shower, reaching blindly for a towel that's nowhere near him. Ruki rolls her eyes – he always forgets – and tosses one at him. "Why are we even working today? Wouldn't you rather we stay home and take our time getting ready or whatever?"
"Because," Ruki sighs, "I want this day to feel as normal as possible." She crosses her arms and glares at him. "We've been through this twenty times now."
"Sorry," Jen presses a kiss to her temple as he walks by. "I just want to make sure you're okay with today. And it's still odd that we're taking the afternoon off from work to get married on a Thursday."
"What do you have against Thursdays?" Ruki jokes, letting him know all is forgiven, if there was even anything to forgive in the first place.
"Nothing," Jen shrugs. "Thursday's a good day. Did you know the first time you let me take you out on a date was a Thursday?"
"You're making that up." Ruki accuses, only to stare at him when he shakes his head no. "How do you even remember these things?" She nearly cries in exasperation.
"Well," Jen smiles, picking out clothes for the day. "I guess we know which one of us will never forget our anniversary."
"Hey, I can remember important dates." She protests.
"Sure you can," He teases, and she decides not to say anything else because… well, she is terrible with dates. It's crossed her mind once or twice that she might forget her child's birthday. They bask in a comfortable period of silence until Jen's dressed and ready to go.
"The next time we're back here, we'll be hours away from getting married." Jen realizes as they leave the room.
"We are hours away from getting married." Ruki points out. And then, "wow. I just crossed another thing off the list of stuff I thought I'd never say."
"I have a feeling we'll be crossing a lot of things off that list in the near future." Jen tells her as they join the Digimon in the living room and proceed to make their way out of the apartment as a group.
"Throw Jen, that's not how you change a diaper! on that list." Terriermon suggests. "I guarantee you'll cross that one off by the end of this year."
"Terriermon!"
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Two minutes before noon, there's a knock on her door.
"Are you ready?" Jen asks, letting himself in.
"To get married? Not at all." Ruki quips as she shuts down her computer and shuffles around a few files and reports to make her desk look tidier.
"Hey: no take-backs, no last-minute cancellations, no leaving me at the altar." Jen reminds her, quoting a few promises he'd jokingly extracted from her.
"There is no altar." She points out, joining him at the door. As soon as they cross the threshold and Ruki shuts the door behind her, all eyes fall upon them. At five months, there's no hiding her pregnancy. She's a bit smaller than some other women at twenty weeks but there's no denying that her stomach has definitely passed the oops, I had a very big lunch stage and is now firmly planted within the I'm growing a little person category. She still hasn't said anything though, and no one's stupid (or brave) enough to ask her for confirmation, let alone approach her about paternity. There's definitely a betting pool, though. Reika tells her Jen is the frontrunner, so maybe her co-workers aren't as clueless as they sometimes seem.
"Where's Renamon?" Jen asks in a bid to make conversation and distract her from their audience.
"I don't know; she said something about promising my grandmother her opinion on the new garden furniture and then disappeared." She tries to focus on Renamon's absence, on Jen's voice, even on the baby as she kicks away, stubbornly protesting her cramped quarters. Well, that's one trait she definitely gets from her mom.
Still, the whispers follow them all the way to the lift.
"You know," Jen says once they begin their descent. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Terriermon all morning, either."
"Those two are up to something." Ruki predicts as he places his hand against her stomach, waiting for a kick that isn't coming. Her daughter has finally tired herself out, for now. "Oh, sure," She huffs at the baby, "kick me all morning but stop when your father is here."
"Contrary little thing." Jen murmurs affectionately.
"Don't encourage her!" She warns him as the metal door slides back to reveal the parking lot. They make their way to the car. "This is how teenage rebellions start."
"Ruki," Jen laughs as they get into the car, "if she's anything like you, there's nothing we can do to prevent a teenage rebellion."
"Don't make me call off the wedding, Jen." She glares at him for his little joke.
"I won't let you." He retorts with a smile, pulling out of the underground lot. Traffic is light and the summer afternoon is less uncomfortable than usual. Still, Ruki cranks up the air conditioning and pulls off her blouse, leaving her in a camisole.
"Maybe save the stripping for later?" Jen suggests, turning to her as they stop at a red light.
Ruki pulls her hair up into a ponytail. "You try carrying around all of this extra weight in July; see how many layers of clothes you can bear then."
"It's not even that much extra weight."
She studies him with narrowed eyes for a moment, and decides to take his words as a compliment. "Flattery will get you nowhere; I'm already marrying you."
Jen sighs in relief; he'd realized how dangerous his words could be right after they'd left his lips. Luckily, Ruki doesn't seem to be susceptible to the infamous and dreaded pregnancy mood-swings… for now. He can only hope he won't find her crying over random things and taking every word of his as a personal insult to her when she's further along in her pregnancy.
Not much else is said as they drive home. Ruki calls out for Renamon and Terriermon as they step into their apartment but the three-bedroom home seems to be empty. Giving in to the summer heat, they decide to shower – separately, Ruki insists, because they've only got one hour until Takato and Juri show up.
That one hour turns out to be thirty minutes, because that's how long they get to themselves before the doorbell rings.
"Who is it?" Ruki asks from their bedroom, where she's towel-drying her hair.
"I have no idea." Jen tells her, doing up the buttons on his shirt as he pads out to the living room. "Probably Takato and Juri."
"It's too early." Ruki points out. "Do you think something's wrong?"
"I hope not," Jen sighs, approaching the front door. "We can drive ourselves to the office but I was really hoping they'd be our witnesses."
His concerns are forgotten as he opens the door to reveal his friends. "Hey, you guys. You're early."
"I'm here to make sure Ruki doesn't wear jeans to her own wedding." Juri announces, inviting herself in. "Takato's here to hang out with you and do whatever a best man does before the wedding."
"I'm not the best man." Takato mumbles, smiling politely when Jen invites him in.
"Yes, you are." Juri insists. "And I'm the maid of honor!"
Ruki steps out of the bedroom. "I don't remember asking you." She says to Juri, who grabs hold of her arm and pulls her back into the room.
"It's an automatic thing, comes with being your only girl best friend." Juri shrugs, closing the door behind her. She sets her bag down on top of the dresser. "Now, sit in that chair. We've only got half an hour and there's so much to do."
"Juri," Ruki glares at her friend as she wanders into the bathroom.
"Oh," Juri exclaims, ignoring Ruki. "The mirror here is huge! Get up and come in here, I'll pull a chair over. The light's great."
The bride-to-be sighs in defeat, heading for the bathroom. "There's no getting out of this, is there?"
"Nope!" Juri grins as Ruki jumps up and settles herself on the marble counter. "And I'm going to make sure you wear that dress we got. That is not up for discussion." She says firmly when the redhead groans. "Besides, I know you're more comfortable in dresses than you are in pants these days."
"I didn't tell you that so that you could use it against me!" Ruki calls after her enthusiastic friend as Juri walks out to get her bag. She returns with supplies.
"You told me that because we're friends and you trust me, which means I can use it any way I want to." Juri says, rifling through her bag. "Now, settle down. This will only take a while."
Thankfully, Juri sticks to her word and five minutes later, she's helping Ruki into her dress. It's not a proper, white wedding dress – Ruki had put her foot down on that - but it's wedding-appropriate, according to Juri. The dress is the palest shade of lilac imaginable and comes down just past her knees in a fall of light, airy fabric. Chiffon, Juri had called it. Loose sleeves flutter around her elbows and the bodice is just fitted enough to hint at Ruki's waist but leave the baby bump untouched.
"Shouldn't this come last?" Ruki asks, pulling up the hidden zipper on the side.
Juri laughs. "You'd mess up your hair."
Ruki concedes the point with a shrug and lets Juri maneuver her into a chair. Her best-friend-turned-wedding-stylist toys with the idea of leaving it down but Ruki insists that she puts it all up, pushing for something practical.
"It's the middle of summer." She snaps finally, winning the argument.
"Fine." Juri sighs, getting to work. The end result is a pile of braids, with a cluster of tiny, white flowers winding through them like a crown.
"What's this?" Ruki reaches up, her fingers hovering slightly above the flowers. They look so dainty, she's afraid one touch might crush them.
"Well…" Juri smiles nervously. "You don't want a bouquet and you said no veil, so I thought… If you really don't like them," She adds quickly, "I can take them out. We have enough time."
"Just leave them," She says dismissively. "I don't want to sit in this chair for another ten minutes while you mess with my hair."
Juri nods in relief and scrambles around the room to pack up her things while Ruki stares at herself in the mirror. The dress is casual enough and most importantly, comfortable. The make-up is, thankfully, light and subtle. And the flowers… well, they're a nice touch.
Jen tells her so when she walks out, unreasonably nervous to let him see her this way. It's stupid and it's girly and it's nothing like her but when he tells her she looks beautiful, Ruki's stomach flutters.
Oh, wait.
That was just the baby.
"Alright then," Takato stands up, gathering his and Jen's jackets. "Let's go get you two married!"
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The entire thing is shockingly anti-climactic.
It's not like Ruki was expecting much; she's known from the start that it's a simple ceremony they'll have in the municipal office, just signing a few papers and making some standard promises to each other. But she was expecting it to be different, somehow.
As it is, she walks into the place as Makino Ruki, signs her name over and over on dozens of papers and the next thing she knows, the person on duty tells her she's officially married.
The most memorable moment of her wedding comes from Takato, when he gets sick and tired of people staring at Ruki's stomach and whispering amongst themselves.
"They've been married for years, okay?" Takato yells at the entire waiting room, his hands clenched up in fists. "They're just registering it in Japan today!"
That definitely draws more stares but most of the whispering stops, at least. Ruki shoots him a grateful smile and he gives her a sheepish one in return.
"Sorry," Takato rubs the back of his head. "I just couldn't stand the way they were looking at you guys."
"Hey," Ruki says, drawing his full attention. She smiles again.
"Thank you."
Juri calls Takato away then, to sign some things as a witness. Jen moves closer to her, his lips by her left ear. His hand reaches for hers and squeezes.
"We're married." He whispers, smiling brightly.
"Congratulations," Ruki grins, kissing him chastely. Their audience has seen enough as it is. "You managed to get me to go through with it."
Their friends return then, having filled out the last of the paperwork. They pile into Takato's car and head for the Makino house, filling the drive with endless teasing amongst the four of them.
"Hey," Ruki says when they pull up to her childhood home. "Why don't you guys join us?"
Takato and Juri share a look right before he kills the engine. "Sure," The younger boy steps out of the car. "Why not?" He laughs weakly, which doesn't escape Ruki's notice. When their friends go ahead of them and walk into Ruki's house without waiting for her to lead them in, she knows something's up.
"What's going on here?" She asks Jen quietly, noting that almost all of the lights have been turned off. Her grandmother always keeps the property well-lit.
Jen catches her hand with his own and laces their fingers together. "I have no idea." After giving him a long, contemplative look, Ruki decides he's telling the truth. So whatever it is, their friends haven't roped Jen into it. Her family is definitely part of this, and maybe their Digimon too, taking into account their day-long absence.
A few feet ahead, Juri turns around. "I think I hear your grandmother in the back."
"Lead the way," Jen says with a smile before he turns back to Ruki. "She's definitely up to something."
They walk around the house, keeping to the outer walls until they reach the backyard.
"Hello?" Takato calls out, which is apparently a signal of some sort, because just then the entire garden lights up, revealing well-placed outdoor lighting, strands and strands of fairy lights twined around her grandmother's trees and three big, round tables.
And standing around those tables are both of their families, their friends and all of the Digimon, including their own partners.
"Surprise!"
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After the shock wears off and they both realize what's going on, they go around saying hello and thanking everyone. Jen is hidden from her sight as Hirokazu, Kenta and Ryo form a semi-circle around him. She decides to leave them be; Jen can handle those three. Ruki turns around and finds herself facing her new mother-in-law.
"Mrs. Lee," She smiles nervously, painfully aware of the way her dress can't quite hide her stomach. It's the first time she's seen Jen's mother since his family found out about the baby.
"I think we're past that now, don't you?" Mayumi says warmly, reaching out to hug her. "Call me mother, if you're alright with that."
"I…" Ruki tries to react to the hug, awkwardly patting Mayumi's back several times. The older woman laughs as she pulls away from the flustered bride.
"So, when's the little one joining us?" Jen's mother deftly switches the conversation, avoiding further awkwardness.
Ruki smiles. "She should be here mid-November."
"It's a girl?" Mayumi nearly squeals. "Oh, Jen didn't tell me! That boy… and he didn't even tell me about the baby in the first place; Janyu was the one who came home and told me."
"I guess you're going to find him and lecture him now?" Ruki subtly plants the idea in her head; it's not that she's trying to get rid of Mayumi; she's just… well, trying to end this conversation. They'll talk more later, when Jen's around.
"See, you know me so well already." The older woman smiles. "There he is. I'll talk to you later, Ruki. And welcome to the family!"
She sighs in relief as Mayumi makes her way through the garden to where Jen is now talking to his father, leaving her with some time to herself until Ryo walks up to her.
"Aren't you supposed to be in North Korea?"
"The team vetoed me." Ryo shrugs. "Turns out, nuclear powers are off-limits to me. So I'm not allowed to piss off North Korea, China and Iran. A few others too, but you don't expect me to memorize that list."
"Besides," He smirks. "I can only prevent one disaster at a time, so I picked this one." Ryo looks around, as if studying the group of family and friends that have gathered here to celebrate. "Seems there's not much of a disaster to avert, though."
"If that's your way of saying you approve of this, then you're worse at small talk than I am." Ruki crosses her arms.
Ryo holds both of his hands up to ward off any tension. "Hey, I'll have you know that was my way of saying congratulations!"
"Impmon is better at that than you are." She scoffs.
"Yeah, I'm losing my people skills." Ryo admits. "The team's helping, though. I'd forgotten what it feels like to be around the same people long enough to get to know them."
"Do they worship you like Hirokazu?"
"Hell, no. They won't even put up with any of my crap or let me get away with stupid stuff." Ryo tells her with a smile that's almost… fond.
"Good." Ruki says, dropping her arms back to her sides. "Can't have a group of highly-trained people with weapons fawning over you and going along with everything you say."
"Oh, so that's why you didn't join the team."
"Careful there, Akiyama." She grins. "Hitting on a married woman is a whole other level of desperate, and I don't think you want to sink that low."
"Damn, Ruki." He shakes his head. "You're married. How crazy is that?"
"Crazier than you could possibly imagine." She mutters.
"But this is what you want, right?" Ryo asks, serious for the first time this evening. "I mean, you're okay with him?"
Ruki's almost touched by his concern. "Don't ever repeat what I'm about to say," She warns. "But yes, this is what I want. I know it may sound crazy to you, to everyone but… I really do love him."
"There's nothing crazy about that." Ryo says, an unexpected show of support. "Sure, it took some time to get used to the idea of it but you two fit, you know that? You balance each other out, and I think that's very important if you're going to be with someone for the rest of your life."
"I think, Ruki," He smiles and places a hand on her shoulder very briefly, pulling it away two seconds later. "You two will be very happy together."
She doesn't quite know how to respond to that, so she narrows her eyes at him and asks, "Are you drunk already?"
Ryo laughs. "Yeah, that confirms it. There's just no playing nice when it comes to you, is there?"
"Nope." She answers. Ryo shakes his head in exasperation.
"Alright, then. I'm going to get another drink. Your mother really knows how to throw a party."
"My grandmother, you mean." Ruki corrects. The look on Ryo's face is almost too much.
"Wow. Your family's really something, Makino." It's nice to hear that after an evening of being called Mrs. Lee, albeit jokingly.
"Hey!" Ruki calls after him as he walks off, prompting him to turn around with a questioning look on his face.
"I appreciate the sentiment, Akiyama." She smiles, thanking him for his earlier words.
"Congratulations, Ruki." He grins in return, disappearing into the house.
Ruki sighs, placing a hand on her stomach as the baby starts kicking. "Well, look who finally decided to wake up." She smiles, trying to soothe the baby by tracing circles over her bump. She walks around a bit, looking for Renamon. The fox is, predictably, hidden in the darkest corner of the garden, quietly observing the festivities.
"So, this is what my grandmother needed you for." Ruki says in lieu of a greeting.
"She required my opinion on her garden, as I said." Renamon smiles. "I was responsible for the lights, as well."
"And the decorations?" Ruki asks, pointing out the paper lanterns suspended mid-air, strung from tree to tree.
"That was your mother, with Culumon's help."
Said Digimon is now curled up in a tree, finally worn out after an hour of flying about excitedly, perching on everyone's shoulder to introduce himself and try to rope his new friends into a game.
"How many people were in on this, exactly?"
"Guardromon and Guilmon moved the tables out. Hirokazu, Kenta and Ryo helped with the chairs. MarineAngemon and Terriermon picked flowers, Jaarin and Shiuchon set the tables. Your grandmother and Jen's mother were in the kitchen all afternoon. Impmon untangled the lights. Janyu and Rinchei went out to purchase better lighting when it was decided that the fairy lights wouldn't be enough."
"Wow." Ruki says, at a loss for words at how much effort everyone has put into this evening, and how they'd all worked together. "And here I thought we were just coming over for a simple dinner."
"It was all part of the plan." Renamon tells her. "Juri came up with the idea when you asked her to be a witness, and she talked your family into organizing everything while she and Takato kept the two of you distracted."
"I guess that's why Takato took the longer route home."
Renamon nods. "There was… a slight issue with the flowers."
"Oh?" Ruki asks curiously.
"Culumon took them out of the bouquets Terriermon and MarineAngemon had arranged them in, and tried to decorate the paper lanterns. Your grandmother said we were very fortunate she'd decided to buy non-traditional lanterns, otherwise it would have been a massive fire hazard."
Ruki laughs. "So much trouble from such a tiny thing."
The two lapse into comfortable silence for a while. Ruki sighs, soaking up the sight of everyone she holds dear mingling about.
"Thank you." She says quietly to Renamon without turning around to face her partner.
The fox places a hand on her Tamer's shoulder. Unlike Ryo, who'd pulled his hand away as soon as possible for the safety of his limb, Renamon lets hers linger for a while.
"It was my pleasure." She assures Ruki.
They stay that way for a while, until Ruki's composed herself. "I guess I should go… mingle."
"Perhaps we both should." Renamon nods. Right before she heads off to where Terriermon and Guilmon are, she turns to Ruki. "You should say hello to Yamaki. I hear he has something to tell you."
She walks off before Ruki can question her, leaving the redhead to ponder what it is her boss has to say. Jen joins her as soon as she returns to the main area of the party, stepping out from the shadows she and Renamon had taken refuge in.
"Did you have any idea about this?" Jen asks her as she slips her hand into his.
"Not at all. And I'm assuming you didn't, either."
"It took me completely by surprise. Did you know most of them took the day off from work to come and set up?"
"Renamon told me. Apparently they had a flower situation, thanks to Culumon." Jen shoots her a mystified look. "I'll tell you later. Have you spoken to Yamaki?"
"I haven't actually. I was speaking with Reika earlier, though." Jen tells her as she spots their boss. She uses their linked hands to pull him along with her, making their way to Yamaki.
"Come on, then."
Yamaki spots them before they reach him, and meets them halfway.
"Congratulations, you two." He offers with a smile, his usual sunglasses noticeably absent. Well, it is night time.
"When's it going to be your turn?" Jen asks teasingly.
Their boss looks taken aback. After a few failed attempts at a sentence, he settles on: "Reika and I aren't the marrying type."
"And you think I am?" Ruki retorts.
"Well, we are here to celebrate your wedding."
"Good point." She shrugs.
"I have been known to make those from time to time." Yamaki quips, glad that the newlyweds aren't pursuing their earlier line of questioning. He's happy with the way things are now… though perhaps it wouldn't hurt to ask Reika if she's happy this way.
"Now, I won't keep you for long. I know for a fact that you, Ruki, haven't spoken to your grandmother." He says accusingly.
"Oops," Ruki grins.
Yamaki nearly rolls his eyes at her behavior. "I've a wedding gift for the both of you." He says instead.
"You really didn't have to," Jen says. "We're just happy you and Reika could show up."
"What he said, boss." Ruki adds.
"You either accept it willingly or I order you to," Yamaki tells them.
Ruki laughs. "Okay, I might call you boss outside of the office but that doesn't mean you can order us to accept a wedding present!"
"Oh, just watch me." Yamaki says. "Makino Ruki, Lee Jenrya, I'm giving the both of you a week off, effective immediately. That is an order, and I don't want to see you two anywhere near the office until next Monday."
He turns around and walks off just like that.
"That's more than a week!" Ruki calls after him.
"Next Monday, Miss Makino!" He calls back, leaving no room for argument.
"We didn't even get to thank him." Jen points out.
"He's just going to avoid us for the rest of the night so that we can't argue with him." Ruki predicts. "Now, come on. Let's go talk to my grandmother. It's getting late and I'm tired."
"Do you want to leave?" Jen asks, brows furrowed in concern. "We can go home if you'd like."
"Right after we talk to my grandmother." She tells him.
They make their way to one of the tables. Ruki sits down next to her grandmother and Jen takes the seat next to her.
"Hi, grandma."
"Ruki!" Seiko smiles brightly, enveloping her granddaughter in a hug. "Jen." She acknowledges warmly, nodding at the young man.
"We just wanted to say thank you for everything." Ruki says. "It was a nice surprise."
"Oh, you didn't think I'd let you get married without throwing a party, did you now?" Her grandmother pats her arm affectionately. "I've been planning this ever since that husband of yours asked for our blessing."
"What?" Ruki turns to Jen, who lets out a nervous laugh.
"I called your mom the week before I asked you." He admits, avoiding her eyes. Ruki decides not to make a big deal out of it; it's still a pretty common practice in these parts, after all. She should have known Jen would be one for tradition.
"I'm surprised she managed to keep it to herself." She comments, earning a reproachful look from her grandmother.
"Don't say that," Seiko chides. "Your mother can be discreet when she wants to. She just… doesn't often want to."
As if on cue, the wind carries a burst of Rumiko's laughter to their ears. Ruki spots her mother across the garden, talking to a star-struck Shiuchon.
"Right," She drawls, eyes still on her mother. "Very discreet."
"Anyway," Ruki turns back to her grandmother. "Thank you for everything, grandma."
"Are you leaving already?" Seiko frowns.
"We've had a pretty long day." Jen says. "And Ruki hasn't been sleeping well lately." She elbows him in the gut for telling her grandmother that.
Seiko laughs at them. "Well, if you'd like, you could sleep here tonight. I'm sure you still remember the way to your room." She says to Ruki, though she gives Jen a pointed look.
"Grandma!" Ruki cries, scandalized.
"You knew?" Jen asks incredulously.
"Oh, not about that, at first. What sort of grandmother would I be if I knowingly allowed such behavior to continue under my roof?" She laughs again at the sight of the couple red-faced and wide-eyed. "But that's all in the past now, so let's not bring it up."
"You're the one who brought it up in the first place." Ruki mumbles under her breath.
"I assume you won't be spending the night, then?"
"Thank you for the offer," Jen says politely, trying to regain his composure. "But I think we'll just head home."
After a bit more teasing, Seiko bids them goodnight. They make one last round to thank everyone and trade goodbyes before Renamon transports them home.
"I think I will return to the festivities." Renamon says, subtly granting them some privacy. She disappears after congratulating them once more.
"Welcome home, Mrs. Lee." Jen grins, sweeping Ruki off her feet. She's too tired to protest and tell him that he's supposed to carry her while crossing the threshold into the house, not their room. Welcome home, Mrs. Lee. Ruki contemplates the sound of that.
"Nope, still not taking your last name."
I struggled with this chapter like you wouldn't believe, which explains why it wasn't up this morning. I'm still not happy with it but I think this is pretty much the best I can do right now, so just fill in whatever blanks you guys notice with your own fluff, please?
I hope you guys enjoyed some of this, at least.
E Salvatore,
November 2014.