Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat and its characters...

I'm so sorry for the late update... hope you'll like it... Enjoy! ^^

Chapter 12

The next morning Kyoko woke up feeling tired. She couldn't really sleep last night because the light was on and most of all because she was so conscious of the presence of the man next to the pillows. Even a slight shift or sound, she stiffened. But she didn't remember when exactly she fell asleep. The only thing she remembered before her eyes finally gave up and closed was feeling so warm and comfortable that her body relaxed and she fell into a blissful sleep. The last thing that registered in her mind though was wondering what that familiar scent was. Could it be? She thought as she slowly turned around to see if there were still pillows between them. But when she turned, she only saw pillows. Ren wasn't there anymore and the pillows looked like they weren't touched, except near her side which probably caused by her. She sighed. What am I thinking? Tsuruga-san wouldn't do something like that. Why would he do that to a lowly girl like me? She scolded herself and got up to check on the baby.

Baby Ren was already awake. That's to be expected. Babies wake up early in the morning, and sometimes too early that it's so tiring. He seemed fine so she went immediately to the kitchen to make them breakfast. A few minutes after Kyoko went to the kitchen, Ren emerged from the bathroom, drying his hair on his way to the closet to change. What really happened last night was actually the first thought that Kyoko came up with. When Ren noticed her breathing becoming even, he couldn't helped himself. He threw the pillows to the floor and place himself where the pillows where. And he watched her sleeping face all night long. It was the reason why he left the light on, of course, to watch her so cute and adorable sleeping face all night. He didn't even sleep a wink and that's why he was up so early and was done taking a shower already.

The baby didn't cry all night long and when the morning fast approaching and Kyoko would wake up, he literally had to peel himself off of Kyoko, so that he won't be busted. After he put the pillows back, he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from doing it again if he went back to bed, so he went to take a shower. When he was about to check on the super behaved baby, the phone on the bedside table rang. He picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Ren, Good morning! How did your first newlywed night go?" The president asked.

"Good morning, president. What do I owe this call so early in the morning?" Ren politely ignored the president's last question and changed the subject.

"Che. You're as boring as always Ren. Well, I called to tell you that Jelly is down at the parking lot to change you two for when you drop the baby to the daycare and she will teach you how to apply the make-up or maybe just Kyoko because you two will only be acting for a short time and she would do that almost like everyday to the two of you. It would be tiring."

"Got it, thank you, president." Ren replied. Then they said their goodbye and hanged up.

Kyoko came in the bedroom and Ren relayed the message to her. They then attended to the baby, bathing him, clothing him and stuff. Ren feed the baby with the formula bottle and went to the kitchen, carrying him. Kyoko cleaned herself up and got dressed. She went out to the kitchen and they had breakfast together. When they finished, they got their things and headed down to the parking lot for their transformation and make-up lesson.

But before, they left their apartment Ren asked her to wear his mother's real engagement ring. He was really nervous because it was as if like it was the real thing, like he was asking her to marry him for real and afraid to be rejected. But Kyoko didn't protest one bit because since she was already wearing that very expensive wedding band, she hadn't really had a solid argument to refuse. And it was part of the costume, which ease her mind a little bit. Just a tad bit though, because she was not really comfortable wearing the expensive jewelry. She was worrying what if it would get stolen, or she might lose it and she didn't have enough money to pay it.

When they arrived at the car, where Jelly Woods was waiting, and they were welcomed by the president. Ren guessed this would happen and he was so relieved he hadn't forgotten to make Kyoko wear the ring this morning. The make up lesson was just so simple and with the fast learner like Kyoko, it was a piece of cake.

So they went to the daycare and drop the baby off to their care. But Kyoko was reluctant to hand the baby over to them because president's words were echoing in her head. She doubted that they might not take care of Baby Ren properly. And as always the eyes of the female staffs of the daycare were all heart shapes. Fortunately, they weren't recognized, or more like, Ren wasn't recognized. They were too dazed to think he might be Tsuruga Ren. After Ren convinced that the daycare weren't like the orphanage the president talked about, Kyoko finally let go of the baby. They kissed the baby goodbye and went back to their parking lot of their apartment complex. They changed to their original image and Ren took his Porsche car to pick up Yashiro and onto his jobs for the rest of the day. Kyoko had an exclusive driver to drop her off to LME and she was on her own for the rest of the day until she get off work.

This was their routine if they both had work. Sometimes if Ren had jobs earlier than Kyoko's, she would drop the baby off all by herself by riding a taxi. A week past and all the days were always busy. They had to go to the vaccination of the baby, which caused sleepless nights because the baby's thigh, where they shot the vaccine, got swollen. One tiny move and the baby would cry out fro hours because of the pain. It was so heart wrenching looking at the baby's painful and teary face. They did what they could to make it less painful for the baby. They even asked for a lot of advice from the nurses to their neighbors who had a lot of experiences with babies.

It was a tiring week and still had sleepless nights, watching Kyoko sleep. He was like Edward, the vampire from twilight, who can't sleep and was always watching Bella sleep. But unfortunately, Ren wasn't a vampire like Edward Cullen. He was a mere human with a fragile body. And after a week of sleepless nights and hard days of work, his body couldn't take it anymore on the eight night of their fake-newlywed life. He was out as soon as he felt the soft bed. Kyoko was getting used to the setting though, sleeping on the same bed with pillows between, that is. She looked concerned at the sleeping Ren because she knew how crazy and busy this past week was for both of them. But of course she didn't know that it was because of her, Ren didn't get any sleep.

Before she went to sleep, she was thinking that she would do something that would make Ren less exhausted. Then in the middle of the night, she felt something that woke her up. The lamp light was still on and maybe it would be that way for them every night. When she opened her eyes she was faced with a black silk top pajama. And she knew that pajama too well because she had been seeing that kind of pajama for the past week. She looked up and sure enough, it was Ren's face. She stiffened and her head robotically looked down to her waist. Ren's arm was surely there pulling her close to him. And his other hand was under her neck and his hand entangled in her hair.

Wh-why am I in this position with Tsuruga-san? She shouted in her head. She already tried getting away from him though, but to no avail. Even though he was asleep his arms were tightly locked around her. There was no getting away from it. A-and why is Tsuruga-san hugging me like this? and on top of the bed? This really doesn't feel right, I don't feel comfortable at all! Somebody help me!... Wait! Maybe I should wake him up.

"Tsuruga-san." She called out. She shook him by the shoulders but he wouldn't budge. "Tsuruga-san, wake up."

"Tsuruga-san, please let go of me." She begged him.

She got a groan from him. But instead of letting her go like she asked, he just snuggled closer to her and Kyoko froze, instantly. She was so close to his face and she stared at it. Some hairs covered his face and Kyoko unconsciously reached up and brushed it away. It revealed a very peaceful sleeping face. But lines of tiredness and stress were visible in it too. At that, she lost all the will to wake him up. And she liked the feel of his hair, just like at Karuizawa and she instinctively began playing with his hair as she watched his sleeping face. Now it was Kyoko's turn. But just like at Karuizawa, she feel asleep playing with his hair again. And again her last thought was of the familiar scent.

When she woke up early in the morning, she was still locked in his arms. So it wasn't a dream last night? She asked herself. But how do I get out of these prison-like arms? He was holding her like he wouldn't let go of her ever. Now, she was back to square one of her problem. Not that she had made progress of her mission to escape Ren's embrace last night.

"Tsuruga-san." She was back to trying to wake him up again. "Tsuruga-san. It's already morning."

He still didn't budge or groan or anything. "Tsuruga-san!" She shouted in frustration and she got a groan from him again. But he didn't move an inch. She calmed herself down and spoke slowly near his ear.

"Tsuruga-san, can you please let go of me now? I still have to make our breakfast, or else we'll be late for work." She didn't really put all her hopes in this strategy but it did the work though. Ren slowly let go of Kyoko and she was free. She immediately jumped out of bed and checked on the baby. He was already awake and was lying on his stomach moving his arms and legs. She flipped him to lie on his back and put pacifier on the baby's mouth to occupy him and would not cry or make a fuss. She went to the kitchen to prepare dinner and the baby's formula bottle.

When she was finished, she went back to the room and saw that Ren was still dead asleep. She decided to clean herself up first. She went to the bathroom, washed her face and was brushing her teeth when Ren's alarm went off. After a few seconds it stopped. Ren was finally awake. She blushed at the recollection of what happened last night. But her thoughts got interrupted when the door in the bathroom opened and Ren came in still half-asleep. Kyoko immediately froze, especially because Ren headed for the toilet bowl and standing in front of it.

I'm sure I locked that door… Kyoko thought with wide eyes still frozen in her spot as she looked at Ren.

Sorry for the cliffy… I'm evil, aren't I? LOL sorry… Thank you for READING, reviewing, alerting and fav-ing… love yah… ^_^\/