Katekyo Hitman Reborn

My Fate is Certainly Uncertain

Chapter 41: Mother

Warnings: Whatever you expect to find on a warning system. I'm lazy from tests.

[Written to: Miracles in December - EXO ]

~o0o~

Red against creme. Dots, not bubbles, but not drawings. One trailing dot, moving left. RIght. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. I could feel the heaviness against my head on the back of something soft. Twitching led to spasmodic movements. Eyes, like an envelope with a thick amount of glue, opened with trouble, only to close again. The air was silent, only to be broken every second by a perpetual beep. Same tone, same frequency, same space of time. My neck was tilted back, so I could feel the front of my teeth on my bottom lip, pinching in the slightest.

On my face. There was something on my face. My hand moved, dragging up and sloppily sliding the mask down. Whatever it was, I didn't need it to breathe. Why, why did I have that on? Why on earth would I need a br-

Oh.

Oh.

Unintentionally, I sat straight up, hair flying forward. I cringed, lying back down in a bed of moans, hands resting on my sore, sore stomach.

That's right, I had been attacked.

Wait. Wait.

Where was my child?

My reaction was to sit up again, but this time, I did it more slowly. My abdomen was painful, so much that I thought better than to try and walk. I think that if I tried, I would just flop onto the floor, and that would be embarrassing.

"Dino. Dino!" I yelled, hoping to get someone's attention outside the room. I couldn't hear anyone mentally. "Someone?!"

The door opened and I parted my hair, so long, to see Reborn coming in, slightly out of breath. I didn't expected him to be here yet, so I was quite shocked.

"R-"

He came over and embraced me in a warm hug that covered me completely. I could smell his musk faitly, and I closed my eyes, taking this reality in for a euphoric pause. He smelt like he did the day I met him. That's one thing that didn't change. I asked him once about it and he said Momma brought it up, just like I had.

"I here." He said husky, in a hushed, crushed voice, as if to calm me. I was panicking, but I felt calm about it. It felt odd and I didn't like it. "I'm here, don't worry. Everything's okay. Everything's okay. I promise."

"W-Where's she?" I asked, pushing him away a little so that I could speak clearly to him. It was hard, because my voice slurred a little as a result from just waking up.

"She?"

"The baby." I blurted out. "Is she hurt? Where the fuck is Groshaus and that other man? P-"

"Calm down." Reborn ordered, making sure I would stay on the bed. "He didn't get hurt. He had quite the stand off, but nothing hurt him. Dino's got him, outside for a walk. I'll call him now."

A boy? I had a boy, but I had a girl in the future.

What's going on?

I held onto his sleeve as he moved away, and lightly shook my head. "No, let them be. I'll just lie here."

"Alright, do you want a drink? You've been out for a while."

"Sure."

A boy. That was, indeed, quite a surprise, but not an impossible one. Though I still have that reminiscent longing for a girl, I was happy that he wasn't harmed. I was going to be annoyed though that I lost the bet to Dino. Honestly, not looking forward to his "reward."

I had to put the mask back on, as breathing was getting harder as I lied there, doing nothing. It absolutely annoyed me to my wits ends that I couldn't get out of that bed. The hospital didn't smell like it usually did, the smell of antiseptic and cleaning products irritating my nose. The sound of a clacking meal trolley sounded over bumps in the floor, and I noticed how Fran was curled up on the cushioned seats by the window, two pushed together so that he could lie on the like a miniature bed. He was small enough for it.

All I knew that his grandmother, the one who was in France, now six feet under, she wasn't even his biological grandmother. Orphaned, it seemed he was and she was a kind enough soul to take him in. I think it was best for him to be brought up in that type of quiet, mellow environment. From that he's learnt how to remain calm through all situations, even when he shouldn't. Having a monotone expression was one of his biggest assets.

His little nose sniffled, eyelids remaining closed. The window was open, and I could see no grey cloud in the sky. Crickets were chirping loudly, but that was about it. I had no wish to turn on the television or the radio. I wanted to see my son.

Dino's hair had changed. That was the first thing my eyes caught notice of, because it was folded over, like his hand had ran through it several times over. It was long enough for him not to have to constantly do that motion. My feet were cold and I looked to his chest, as he carried a small, squealing bundle with both hands. Thank goodness Romario was there. I ducked my head and squeezed my eyes, feeling my chest tighten so badly.

"Mommy's awake!" Dino chirped, smiling down at him. I could hear his breath, unsteady as gurgled sounds oozed out, along with drooly saliva. Dino passed my baby to Reborn, and then hugged me tightly, to the point it hurted. I heards sounds of what I could establish as muffled crying, but it felt more controlled. I knew from his mind, that he had done that for a while and wasn't sure if I would've woken up.

That was a strange fact. No one knew. No one was certain. Not Dino, not the doctors, not Reborn, not Fran not one of them. It was an uneasy mutuality, because I was supposed to be dead. That's what the doctor told me later, Shamal confirmed, and me talking here had distorted their theories. My family was just glad I wasn't. I think I was too.

I quickly forgot about it. It would come back up, later today, later the next, but now my eyes were stolen by the babe that was crying in my father's arms. I found it a little funny to see Reborn like this, uneasy. For a man who had been stuck in the body of a child for more than half of his lifetime, having trouble dealing with such ironic matters found itself to be humorous. Not that I pictured him to be the family man. Though apart from that idea, he tries his best, every day.

"What's his name?"" I asked, eyes on Reborn, my hands still gripping on Dino's shirt. It seemed like a silly and stupid question to ask, since I was his mother. (The sound of calling myself that tasted weird.) But I had the idea to name him when he got here, though I had a list of names in my book, mainly girls. I wanted to be able to call his name, to see his eyes watch mine. Because, the way I saw him now, wasn't of familiarity. Nine months, I had carried him. But he didn't look like a newborn.

And I could see him. I could see his head trying to turn when I asked the question, as if he was going to answer himself. His head was unsteady, arms and legs moving excitedly. I think he knew more of me than I did of him. I couldn't see his face, but I could see the top of his head, traced with follicles of blond puff.

"Sammy." He said, with the widest smile I have ever seen. Wider than our wedding day. Such proudness, he was elated. Happy. It made me the same. "Samuell Valentino Chiavarone."

I blinked. "As in your grandfather?"

"Yeah. And Valentino, 'cause it's a family name. If I got stuck with it, he gets stuck with it."

"Already picking fights? Wow, you sure are onto it."

He grinned. "I've had two months to get used to it."

"TWO MONTHS?!"

My yelling startled everyone and Sammy screeched loudly, Dino touching my shoulders calmly. I immediately regretted it and apologised.

"It's okay! YOu don't have to apologise love. I expected you to act different, actually."

Oh wow. Really? Because I could have sworn I could have gone louder if Sammy wasn't in such proximity! TWO MONTHS?! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Two months?"

Dino cringed at my tone. "Y-You were in the ICU for weeks. They…..The punctured your lungs and stomach. You intestines were basically on the bed. It wasn't pretty. Sammy and I came to visit you on the good days."

"What happened on the not so good ones?"

He rolled his eyes, not wanting to talk about it.

I nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. "Yeah, I know. It hurt. I was there."

"Do you want to hold him?" Reborn asked eagerly and I smiled. That was a silly question. I wanted that more than the world.

Sammy's eyes were blue. Of course they were, that was supposed to happen, he was a baby. But I didn't mean blue. I meant blue as in, the colour of mine, the colour of the ocean, the colour of my mother's. They were bright, and Dino helped me to support his head. He was so small. It was so strange, to think that I was once this small myself. So was Dino, as was Reborn.

"Hello Sammy. I'm Phillipa, your Mommy. Let's make a deal eh? You be good and I'll take your side when Dino thinks you're wrong."

Dino's face blushed. "H-Hey!"

"What wrong? I'm only speaking to my child, like a man."

"He's a baby!"

"He demands to be called Sir Dante, King of the blonds and purple sherbet."

Dino snorted, covering up his mouth as his sides heaved with a joyful laugh.

I laughed as well and Sammy spluttered all the same, spilling saliva on his blue onesie. Dino had done good. At least it wasn't pink, and that's something he's going to be grateful for in the future. I hugged and kissed him, and his slobbery hand smacked my chest. Dino moved off the bed to wake Fran up, and Reborn, who left the roof, was on the phone.

I was pretty happy, for a dead person.

"What happened when Groshaus took him?"

"A standoff." Reborn said, when Dino became stubborn. He didn't want to worry me but I wasn't right now. "She had him for three minutes. We took her down before she could do any harm, but she suicided before we could interrogate her."

I nodded, taking it in, angry at myself that I didn't see her intentions earlier, whatever they were.

"And him."

Dino's eyes were hung in a shadow, when he said - "I killed him."

I was speechless. I expected him to be caught, but not that.

"I killed him, because I thought he killed you. It wasn't till the doctor checked that you-" His voice cracked in upsetness and Sammy screeched loudly for attention.

I was pretty lucky, for a dead person.

~o0o~

Six days later, after physiotherapy - something that I was continuing to undergo, because my legs were stupidly spasming at the randomest of times - I was permitted to go back home, on the condition that I come back for regular check ups, that sort of thing, which I was going to try my best at. It was so frustratingly painful to suddenly fall down on the ground sometimes, so reluctantly, while we were walking, Dino or Romario would hold Sammy.

Jenny was so thrilled that all of us were back under the roof and the welcoming from all of the men was very saddening, even though those tears that were running down experienced mobsters faces - something I found very eccentric, if not nice - were ones of joy and content. I was there. I saw Brutus, Gino, David and a lot more of our men die that day. Reborn said everything was okay when I woke up, but I knew before then that that wasn't true. I felt guilty, that their deaths were on my shoulders. That I got to go home to my family and they didn't. Most of them had wives or girlfriends. I knew Gino's wife was expecting.

They all adored Sammy and I felt like he would treat them as his uncles. The days I spent with him were always dramatic. One touch from him and the men would faint from happiness. Goodness, I couldn't wait to see if he took after Dino when he gets to school! Most of my days were spent taking care of my precious boy, making sure that he was well looked after, cared for, loved, fed, entertained. Dino was already like: Let's get a dog! But I asked for him to at least wait until he's three. That way he could remember getting the dog, at least. Plus I was keen on getting a dog and not another cat.

Fran was getting to be a big boy. Since I couldn't move as efficiently like I could back then, I asked the Varia to take him under as an apprentice. I won't go into too much detail about what happened at the sitting conference between me and Xanxus, but to say that Sammy made one hell of an impression is an understatement. The kid's a laugh. But it was sad to see Fran leave the house. We both hugged it out and I may or may not have dragged him on the ground when my leg gave way. His head was almost at my hip, and for the first time, he saluted me off. Sammy gave him a sloppy hug. I gave him a better one. And Squalo promised that he would be taken care of properly. We hadn't talked to each other because we had no need to. And I walked away, first time with a confident stride that made my legs feel strong.

And it got better. The physiotherapy was hard. I hated it, hated the way that I kept struggling with things that were so easy before. It was hard, but my health got better. I ran every day, while Sammy slept. I considered myself very lucky that he adjusted so well to a sleeping pattern like it was nothing at all. That meant our sleep want effected as heavily and I was able to get things done more efficiently.

Like I said before, Sammy was a diva. Primadonna, all the way. Loved it when he was getting fed but whenever I took a break to feed myself, he'd throw a sob. Despite sleeping longer than he should, he wakes up at the strangest of times. I can't string sentences from him, he's not old enough. It's more shades of emotion, like happy, upset and sleepy.

Dino was more willing to play by his rules than I was, because you guys know me. I'm the straightforward type of person. I was going to be blunt and honest to my child. Tell him how it is. Praise him when I need to. Dino loved him to bits. Now that those papers he was signing and writing on had gone through processing for months in advance, he tried to spend more time at home and ran away whenever Romario chased after him.

Tsuna, on the other hand, wasn't running away from his duties as the head of a family. It was announced in an invitation a couple of days ago that he was to be going through the actual inheritance process right after this year ended. And he'd take position as rightful head of the family when he finished his schooling.

My days weren't becoming so eventful as his. Mine were blissful. It had been a very long time since I felt this way.

"Good morning Sammy~. Did you have a good sleep?"

I was met with a bundle of happily squealing gurgles, arms flapping, onesie soiled from the night's pooping and drooling activities. How on earth he had this much energy this early was beyond my comprehension. Wasn't from my side of the family.

"What's up?" I asked. "What's got you so excited?"

"It might be that Dad's here!" Dino said, trying to imitate a baby's voice.

"Uh-huh."

Reborn was apparently getting a lot of attention and rumors due to his new form. Quite the catch apparently, and they still weren't aware that Reborn was Reborn. The arcobaleno didn't disclose that their curse had been lifted, so their identities remained shrouded. It was quite hilarious to hear people talk about it when I stopped by the local shop for a hot chocolate.

And then there was our send off for Basil. I cried a little, out of sadness and content that I knew that he was going to do a good job. I was scared for him though. Space seemed like a scary place to go on an espionage mission. I couldn't go and help him if he called. Nobody could. His skills were really going to be tested in the next few months. Speaking of scary things, my work schedule wasn't going to start till after Sammy was one and a half. I found it hard to say that I wasn't looking forward to it, despite the conditions at home improving.

"Take care." I told him, before he left for the base. "You be careful. Watch your back, and don't trust anybody, even the people you've trained with. You got your silver?"

He nodded. I made him take it in case of his food being poisoned, so that he could find out if it was or not. Sammy blubbered out nonsense, something the four month old had grown fond of. Basil smiled sweetly, and gave him the biggest.

"Bye Samuell, don't wy'rrth. I shall be backeth home before thy birthday."

"We'll be watching from home." Dino said, linking an arm around my waist. He had put a suit on especially for Basil, thinking that it was a momentous occasion to. "Good luck."

The ride home was quiet. It was only Sammy and I, as Dino had a meeting with an official on the other side of the city. He wouldn't be back till dinner.

"Your Father certainly takes his work seriously, m'boy. His birthday's coming up soon as well, what should we get him?"

My boy sniffled, and banged his hand on my clothing.

"Good idea, we'll get him a new coat, aye? Just like the one he used to wear before you came about! You wanna draw a card?"

His mouth farted, pouting, looking everywhere. I was taking him back inside, when Jenny informed me of what was changing tomorrow, and I nodded, talking it over. It wasn't anything major, but I planned to go visit Aria one last time with Sammy. I could feel her letting go and it was very saddening. I saw the way Gamma held her to the light in his mind, and it made me wonder what my life would be like if I never met Dino, or Reborn, or if my Mother never died. It was impossible to.

I was putting Sammy down in his crib for an afternoon nap when my cellphone rung. I half expected it was Dino, calling to check up, to see if we got back safely, so I answered it without bothering to check the number. I did, when the voice spoke. It was a blocked number.

"Hello Phillipa, do you remember my voice? I''m not sure if you do. We weren't really introduced the first time."

I was taken back by how different it was. I hadn't expected this to happen at all, so I ducked into our bedroom and locked the front doors. Sammy's room was attached to ours, previously a study, now a nursery.

"I do." I said, my voice faltering in a whisper, eyebrows frowning. "Why are you calling me, Bermuda?"

"I heard though the wind that you were in the process of collecting some…...sensitive information, and that you were trying to contact the Vindice."

How the fuck did they find that out! I've been keeping low for weeks!

"By your silence, I am correct. I wish to meet you face to face to discuss this matter."

"Why should I believe you?" I asked immediately,a hand on the door of my son's nursery.

I could hear Bermuda's laugh through the phone, and he sounded the same, like he did when he transformed into his old body in the tournament. I guessed that the curse had been lifted up off of him as well. That was….nice of the douche to do so, after he messed up so many lives.

"Do you know what your Mother did for a job?"

He's asking me this?

"She was an assassin." I said slowly, thinking my words through. "I should know, I cleaned her clothing after every mission."

"Was that everything she told you? Oh, you poor thing…."

"What do you know?!" I growled. "Who the fuck do you think you're talking about?!"

"I'm talking about a woman with many secrets, oned that still affect us today. They affected you for a while, leading from the days before and after her death. You want to find out more, you'll come to the address I'm texting you. Be there at five, no sooner nor later."

The line went dead before I could say something else.

~o0o~

For AkaMizu-Chan. I got the fairies to work overtime. I'm tired. I hope you're happy.

On the 24th of April is this story's one year anniversary! Yay! Happy Birthday guys! I made a picture of Phillipa, Al, Dino and Squalo on my DV page, so feel free to take a gander at it if you have the time.

Replies:

ddhaman922: Yes, I think he would have been at the time. But Phillipa was out of it then, so she only gets to see the relieved side and I'm happy that she does. I'm not sure what Reborn would do if he really lost his cool. It's the cool and calm ones you've got to watch.

sin kx: People died, assassination attempts happened and the miracle of childbirth. You know, mentally scarring things. The usual.

Zuta-Chan: I know, I'd be heartbroken too if that happened to me.

My Name Is Alice: HERE! AND BE CONFOUNDED PROFUSELY BY THE NEWER CHAPTER.

AkaMizu-Chan: That's right, I am. I enjoy giving my characters hell. I'm a bloody evil person. Like Phillipa, we are all dying. Though it's nice to see new faces, so welcome! :D I like you.

hikari mae: Nope nothing but the best unusual things for my Phillipa-chan~.

Wiki: Thank you. I hope to do well in my reign of the territory, giving all of those worthy the feeling of helplessness and longing. Good day, madam. I must go now. My people are waiting~

Love, from the Queen of Cliffhangers, Plot twists and Deaths beyond compassion, Verdigurl.