Chapter 33: Nursery Designs
"I want this wall to be white," Misaki said, tapping the paper.
"And these to be green?" Takumi asked, labeling his drawing.
"Yeah and don't forget the wallpaper trim," Misaki added.
Takumi was working from home this week which gave him a lot of time to start the nursery. Misaki sadly discovered her sketching skills to be no match for her husband's and slid her sketchbook over. Takumi had a design planned out in no time. Their baby's bedroom plan laid beautifully on the glass coffee table.
"I love it," Misaki declared. "Can we start right now?"
"What's the rush?"
"Oh, I don't know," Misaki said, leaning against the sofa. "I think it will be fun."
"We can go look at the room," Takumi said, picking up the sketchbook.
They went upstairs into the now empty room, except for the materials they needed to decorate.
"We have to tape the edges first," Takumi explained, unwrapping a roll of blue tape. "We're not touching the ceiling right?"
"Nope," Misaki agreed.
Takumi tossed her a roll of tape. "Just do the ones at your height," he said. "Don't bend over."
"Fine," Misaki sighed.
Takumi swiftly began taping the corners so they would have crisp edges when they painted- or when Takumi painted. The fumes were bad for Misaki and the baby.
Misaki ripped off a long piece of blue tape and began working on the door frame. She reached up, trying to get the top of the frame. Two hands replaced hers and smoothed it out.
Misaki turned around. "Thanks," she said.
"You're welcome, sweetheart."
They finished taping and Takumi began spreading out tarp on the carpet.
"My lady is going to have to leave now," he said.
"What why?"
"I'm going to start painting," Takumi told her. "I don't want you to breath in the paint fumes."
"So I won't get to see it until its done?" Misaki asked.
"The painting part at least," Takumi said, kissing her forehead. "Go relax and pick out more furniture for the baby," he suggested. "My tablet's on our nightstand. I think yours is downstairs..."
"Okay," Misaki said. "I guess I'll see you at lunch?"
"Mhm..."
Misaki gave Takumi a quick peck on the mouth and went downstairs. She laid on the couch with everything a girl could need; her tablet, fuzzy blanket, bag of trail mix and the tv remote.
Misaki went on Tree Design's website and looked through their catalog. As she surfed the web, she watched the cooking channel, wondering why her skills in that area were so lacking...
By 11 am, the trail mix was eaten, five pieces of furniture were ordered and the cooking show had ended.
Misaki set her tablet and remote on the table and stretched out. Padding into the kitchen, she got herself a glass of milk and poked around in the fridge. She could make a simple lunch. Misaki pulled out a head of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach and carrots. She washed and chopped them up and then proceeded to toss it all in a big salad bowl. Setting the bottle of dressing next to it, Misaki made her first dish of the afternoon.
The fridge was always stocked with pretty much everything. Misaki pulled out some bread, ham slices, and a jar of mayonnaise. Misaki slathered some mayo on the bread and slapped down ham and cheese on it. The sandwich looked kind of sad so Misaki dumped some chick peas and pickles on it.
"Lunch is looking pretty good," Misaki thought to herself.
She still had all her fingers and the kitchen wasn't burnt to the ground. As long as she didn't touch the stove or the microwave, this could work.
Misaki steamed a pot of earl gray tea and took a box of Oreos out of the pantry.
"Wow, is this lunch...?"
Misaki turned around. "Surprise," she said.
Takumi had a streak of paint of his face and a few splatters on his shirt.
"How's it looking?" Misaki asked.
"Good," Takumi said. "I got three walls done. I'll do the white one later."
"Yay," Misaki said, getting plates and bowls.
Takumi peeled off his shirt and tossed it on the floor.
"Do you want to shower?" Misaki asked.
"Naw...I'm starving. Besides I still need to finish the other wall," Takumi said, washing his hands in the kitchen sink.
He splashing his face a couple times and dried off.
"So what did you make?" he asked, sitting down.
"Salad and sandwiches," Misaki said, gesturing to her whole stack of sandwiches.
"Ah..." Takumi said, studying the overflowing sandwiches with... Was that chick peas?
Misaki happily bit into hers. Takumi scooped salad into each of their bowls and added dressing.
"Lots of raw veggies," Takumi observed. "The bunny diet."
"There's ham," Misaki said, showing Takumi her sandwich.
Takumi just smiled and nodded. Chick peas made the bread soggy and there was too much mayo. The vegetables in the salad were also rather chunky but Takumi thought it was the best meal ever.
"Are you taking over the cooking now?" Takumi teased.
"Heck no," Misaki said. "Unless you want to eat salad with weirdly shaped cuts, you're still in charge."
"I think it's cute," Takumi said, holding up a deformed carrot chuck.
"It's ugly..."
"Shhh!" Takumi said. "You'll hurt the carrot's feelings."
"The carrot doesn't have feelings! If it did, it would have already died when I mercilessly hacked it apart."
"You know..." Takumi said. "You should try slicing the vegetables. They look like you took a cleaver and just started hitting the vegetables."
"That's pretty much what I did..." Misaki admitted. "I used that giant knife you use to chop watermelons."
"Ah..." Takumi said, poker faced. "Vegetables and fruits are quite similar..." he agreed with a forced smile.
Sakura walked down the tastefully decorated hall. The walls were a smokey gray color with navy blue and white panels. Her hand touched a silver picture frame with a blonde teenage boy passionately singing into a microphone. On the frame was inscripted "UxMishi debut" and the date.
Sakura continued walking through the halls of the company, one hand brushing against the wall and the other over her stomach.
Her footsteps slowed as she came to a glass window. Her eyes immediately found Kuuga as he was singing for a recording. Headphones half on and eyes closed, Sakura knew how good he must sound even though she couldn't hear him.
"Hi Sakura,"
Sakura turned. "Oh hey, Kouma," she greeted. "How are you?"
"Good. You?"
"Fine," Sakura said, turning back to the window. "Do you know when you guys will be finishing up?"
"It's a pretty laid back day," Kouma told her. "The band was going to get a few beers and order pizza or something."
"Oh," Sakura said. "I guess I came at a bad time..."
"Um...no," Kouma said, clearing his throat. "You're always welcome here. In fact, I'm sure there's enough pizza to go around."
Sakura smiled. "I really shouldn't. Don't tell Kuuga I stopped by."
"Why not?" a different voice asked.
Sakura turned. "Kuuga!"
"Hi honey," Kuuga said, walking over. "You came to visit me? How sweet."
"Well," Sakura said, adjusting her purse. "I didn't realize you had plans so I guess I'll wait for you at home."
"Psh," Kuuga said. "Your cooking beats beer and pizza any day. Why don't you stop by and say hi to the rest of the band?"
"Sure," Sakura said, putting her hand in his. "Did you finish recording?" she asked.
"Yup," Kuuga said. "Hey everyone!" he called, pushing open a door. "We got a guest."
"Hey Sakura," the other band members greeted.
"Hi,"
"Pizza?" Yuujirou asked, holding up the box.
"Thanks," Kuuga said, taking a slice. "You want one, Sakura?"
"Uh, no thank you," Sakura said, feeling a little queasy. "I'm going to go get some fresh air," she said, turning on her heel and leaving at a very brisk pace.
She sat on a bench outside and took deep breaths. The nausea passed and Sakura let out a sigh of relief. She crossed her ankles and studied the leaves on the tree turning red and orange. Fall was settling in but the sun was still shining for a little while more.
Something soft draped over Sakura's shoulders.
"You should have brought a jacket," Kuuga said, gently.
He smoothed out her hair and sat next to her on the bench.
"I left it in the car," Sakura said, zipping up Kuuga's jacket.
"Why the long face?" Kuuga asked, leaning back on the bench.
"I'm fine."
"You know, when girls say they're fine, they never are," Kuuga told her. "Tell me," he said, taking her hand.
"Are you leaving for a tour soon?" Sakura asked.
Kuuga's lips twitched at a smile. "Is that what you're worried about?" he asked.
"No. I don't care."
"Okay, we're leaving tomorrow," Kuuga said, good humoredly.
"I hate you…" Sakura said, crossing her arms.
Kuuga chuckled. "I promised I'd be with you. Besides, you've got my heart securely locked down now…" Kuuga explained. "If I left during your pregnancy, I'd be too worried to concentrate on work. After you have the baby… I won't want to leave even more. I don't want to miss a moment of his or her life so what are you worried about?"
"But you're a rock star," Sakura sighed. "Not touring is impossible…but I'll always wait for you," she added.
"Thanks for understanding," Kuuga said. "Come on," he said, helping her up. "Let's go home. I got something to show you."
They got home and Kuuga took her to the living and sat down on his piano bench. Sakura sat on top of the piano as Kuuga played a few chords.
"I wrote this song for you," Kuuga said. "You're my muse, Sakura. My best work has been with you in mind. My newest song is no different..."
I use to think leaving was easy.
I thought I could just pick up and go.
Except everytime I try to leave now, I'm tripping all over my heart.
My heart strings are tightly tied around your fingers.
Who said this was an easy kind of love?
The world tries to pull me away from you when all I want is to be by you.
They pull. They push and I don't want to move.
Baby, its a tough road I've chosen.
Being in love is hard.
Leaving is hard.
Staying is hard.
This isn't an easy kind of love.
I use to think loving was crazy.
I thought it was a thing for a fool.
Except everytime I continue to love you, I'm heads over heels.
My barriers have all come crashing down.
Who said this was an easy kind of love?
What I wouldn't do to take you away from the lights and cameras.
Find a place for two. Me and you…
A place where being in love is easy.
Leaving doesn't exist.
And staying is just natural.
We'd have an easy kind of love.
An easy kind of love…
Kuuga stood up and took a handful of paper strips out of his pocket. Sakura took them and studied them.
"What this?" she asked.
"This is my place for you without camera and lights," Kuuga said. "A place for love to be easy."
Sakura smiled. "A place for two. Me and you?"
Kuuga chuckled. "Not exactly. Look again."
Sakura flipped through the tickets. "Six tickets to the Musha Cay…" she said, smiling. "Perfect vacation for three couples…" she said, understanding.
"Takumi!" Misaki yelled, over the noise.
Takumi turned off his electric saw and slid his goggles on top of his head. Takumi was hand making a shelf in their garage. He wanted it to fit exactly into the left hand corner of the baby's room.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Come here," Misaki said, waving him over and handing him a glass of water.
"Who are you talking to on the phone?" he asked, chugging the water.
"Sakura," Misaki said. "So Kuuga got six tickets to an island called Musha Cay from his company. She wants to know if we want to go."
"Well, do you?"
"I've never been to Musha Cay…"
"We went to the British Virgin Islands for our honeymoon," Takumi told her. "Just imagine it three times better."
"The resort there is that good?"
Takumi nodded. "World famous."
"Oh…so should we go?"
"Well, think of it like this, sweetheart," Takumi said. "Once you get...uhh...more pregnant…" he put lightly. "It will be more difficult to travel and when you do have the baby...well, let's just say we won't be going anywhere for a while."
"So we should take this opportunity and go or else we might not get a chance for a while," Misaki explained.
"I married a genius."