Chapter 48: Shopping
"Takumi!" Misaki called, up the stairs. "Are you almost ready?" she asked.
"Yup," he said, walking downstairs with Hikari in his arms.
Misaki could barely believe she was two months old already. Hikari wiggled around a bit in Takumi's arms as her little head rested on Takumi's shoulder. Her outfit of the day was a purple onesie with pink buttons.
"Hello Hikari," Misaki said, stroking her smooth cheek.
Hikari made a soft gurgling sound.
"Did you feed her already?" Takumi asked.
Misaki nodded. "I have bottles in the diaper bag for later too."
At her baby shower, Misaki has gotten a very nice baby tote from Juicy Couture from Ruri. Misaki thought the bag was a little big but now she understood. The diaper bag was packed full. It had diapers, pacifiers, extra clothes, baby wipes, bibs, bottles, towels, blanket, and everything else the little princess could need.
"We're going to go shopping," Takumi said, gently patting Hikari's back and he walked around with her. "Do you like that, Princess?"
"Ready?" Misaki asked.
Takumi nodded and they went out to their car. Today was such a beautiful day so Misaki and Takumi were going to take Hikari out for some grocery shopping. They drove out to the store with Hikari in the back with Misaki. .
Misaki smiled. "She's sleeping again."
"Yeah..." Takumi said, winking at her from the rear view mirror. "Getting those 16 hours of sleep."
"I could use 16 hours of sleep," Misaki laughed. "Parenting is hard and my mom did this by herself..."
"Mothers are amazing," Takumi said, parking their car. "You're amazing," he added, blowing her a dramatic kiss.
Misaki sighed and got out of the car. Takumi went around to unbuckled Hikari from her car seat and strapped her onto the baby sling he was wearing. Hikari would rest her head on Takumi's chest while she comfortably sat in the carrier. There were straps that went around Takumi to secure the baby.
Misaki smiled and smoothed down the little tufts of hair on Hikari's head.
"She's getting big," Takumi said, gently rubbing her back.
Hikari's tiny hand clenched onto Takumi's shirt.
"She's so beautiful..." Misaki marveled.
Takumi chuckled and took her hand. They headed into the store, enjoying the weather.
Every woman was staring at Takumi. He had on his casual clothes and a simple gray baseball cap over his head but that did little to conceal his looks. What made every woman sigh now was the baby he had strapped to him. It was a rather adorable sight, even Misaki had to admit. Takumi didn't seem to notice and casually walked beside Misaki as she grabbed a shopping cart.
"I have a coupon for diapers," Misaki said, digging through her purse.
"We don't need any coupons," Takumi said. "We can afford it."
Misaki smoothed out the coupon. "Diapers are expensive," she said, putting two packages into the cart.
Takumi sighed and followed Misaki as she continued to walk down the aisle. Misaki picked up paper towels. "We need more of this," she said, adding a few packages.
They slowly made their way to the food section. Takumi gently kept an arm on Hikari as he picked out apples.
"Time to restock," Takumi said, setting a bag of green beans into the cart.
"Yeah," Misaki agreed. "We need more chicken," she added.
Because she was breast feeding, Misaki had to eat a lot more protein. Takumi made her different styles of chicken noodle soup almost every day.
As they were looking at fruits, Hikari woke up and started crying.
"Shh…" Takumi comforted. "Misaki, where's her pacifier?"
"It's in the side pocket," Misaki replied, pointing to the little pocket.
Takumi pulled out the little pink pacifier and placed it in Hikari's mouth.
"You're daughter is so adorable!" a middle aged woman commented.
"Thank you," Takumi said.
Hikari looked over with her big amber eyes.
"Hello," the woman said, waving. "How old is she?"
"Two months," Misaki replied.
"She's beautiful," the woman stated, smiling. "Aren't you, little one?"
Hikari blinked a few times and looked around. At two months, her eyesight wasn't very good so she mostly just stared at Takumi and sucked on her pacifier.
"Good afternoon, Princess," he said, gently kissing her forehead. "Good nap? Sleep well?"
Misaki giggled and looped her arm around his. "You use to talk to her all the time when she was in my stomach. Now you can finally talk face to face."
"Soon she'll be talking too," Takumi said, wrapping an arm around Misaki's waist. "Do we need to buy anything else?" he asked.
Misaki looked over their list. "We need to make something for lunch. Ruri, Tora, Sakura and Kuuga are coming over with little Shige."
"Right," Takumi said, scanning the aisle. "How does spaghetti sound? We still have meatballs frozen from last time."
"Perfect," Misaki agreed.
They quickly finished the rest of their shopping and went home. Misaki carried Hikari upstairs to put her down while Takumi unloaded the groceries.
"Do you need help?" Misaki asked, walking back downstairs.
Takumi raised an eyebrow. "You want to help?" he asked, amused.
"Hey!" Misaki complained. "I can cook too!"
"Okay," Takumi said, placing a block of cheese in front of her. "Grate some cheese."
"You suck," Misaki grumbled, sitting on the stool.
Takumi swiftly kissed her cheek and went back to chopping up vegetables at his inhuman pace.
"Can you put less cheese?" Misaki asked.
"Why?"
"Because I'm trying to get my eating under control," Misaki explained. "I need to get fit again."
"I think you look fine,"
"Look," Misaki said, turning to the side. "I have no toned muscle left!"
Takumi stared at her longer than necessary. "You're actually not that chubby," he concluded.
"Did you just call me chubby?!"
Takumi grinned and winked at her. "I like it," he said. "You're a lot nicer to hug now."
"Takumi Walker!" Misaki exclaimed. "I can't believe you just said that- Hey!" she exclaimed as Takumi picked her up.
"So huggable!" Takumi sang as he spun her around.
"Put me down!" Misaki demanded. "Takumi!"
"I love Misa Chan!" Takumi continued singing as he wouldn't let her down.
"Takumi, I order you to put me down!" Misaki exclaimed.
Takumi set her down. They'd spun to the doorway of the dining room. Misaki glared at him.
"You mad?" Takumi asked, standing behind her.
"Yes,"
"But Misa Chan, I didn't mean it."
Misaki crossed her arms. "Hmm…" she said.
"Look!" Takumi said, pointing to the window.
"Wha-"
Takumi pulled her close and kissed her. Misaki sighed. Some things just never change. She cupped his jaw and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him better. Misaki stumbled a little and Takumi quickly reached out to steady her. As a result, they both fell onto the carpeted floor.
"You're so childish sometimes," Misaki said, laying on her stomach. Her hand pushed Takumi's hair back so she could look at his eyes.
"That's because I have you around," Takumi said, reaching out and tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "But in all honestly, you really didn't gain that much weight. You're at most ten pounds heavier than you were before Hikari."
"You're just sucking up so I don't smack you," Misaki muttered.
"You are absolutely right, wife," Takumi said.
There was a knock on the door.
Misaki immediately sat up. "The food!" she exclaimed.
"I knew we forgot something," Takumi said, running his hand through his air. "You go get the door. I'll work on lunch."
Misaki nodded and went to answer the door.
"Ruri, Tora!" she said, holding the door open.
Ruri gingerly stepped inside. "Hey," she said, keeping a hand on her stomach. "How's it been going?"
"Good," Misaki said, closing the door. "Still no news?" she asked, placing a hand on Ruri's stomach.
Ruri shook her head. "She's taking her time...really taking her time."
They walked over to the living room.
"Takumi's finishing up lunch," Misaki explained.
"Take your time," Ruri said, slowly sitting down. "How's Hikari?"
"Napping," Misaki explained. "We did some shopping this morning so she's tired."
Ruri nodded. "I've definitely gotten to the point where I just want to have this baby already. It is impossible to sleep with her in me."
"She's probably a diva like you," Tora teased.
"Haha, very funny," Ruri said, elbowing him.
"Where's Sakura?" Misaki asked.
The doorbell rang.
"That must be her," Misaki said, getting up. Misaki never took granted the freedom of easily getting up and sitting down anymore.
"Hi, sorry we're late," Sakura said, carrying a car seat.
"No problem," Misaki said, closing the door. "Ruri and Tora just got here too."
"Hey Ruri," Sakura said, giving Ruri a hug.
Takumi showed up, wiping his hands on a towel. "Hey," he said. "Lunch is ready."
"Takumi!" Sakura greeted. "How's your precious daughter?"
"She's wonderful," Takumi replied, smiling.
They sat around the living room with plates of spaghetti and salad. Sakura gently rocked Shige as he slept.
"He's gotten so big," Misaki said, sitting cross legged next to Sakura.
"I bet Hikari's big now," Sakura added. "She's two months already, right?"
"I don't know how we made it through these two months," Misaki said, in wonderment. "Parenting is not how it looks."
Sakura nodded. "Kuuga is forbidden to go on tour until Shige can sleep through the night."
Kuuga just grinned and took a bite. "I won't object," he said. "This slugger is a handful."
Misaki had a tiny speaker beside the TV. It was a speaker that was wirelessly connected to the microphone in Hikari's room. Hikari started crying so the sound started playing on the microphone.
"I'm going to get her," Misaki said, bounding up the stairs.
She pushed open the door to the dark room. "Are you awake?" she asked, picking Hikari up.
After a quick diaper change and lunch for Hikari, Misaki took her downstairs.
"Aww!" Sakura and Ruri gushed.
"She's adorable," Ruri cooed. "I can see why Takumi is worried for her. She's so pretty! Look at those eyes."
"She has Misaki's eyes," Takumi commented, spreading a small blanket out on the floor.
Misaki set Hikari down on her stomach. It was her "tummy time" which was basically her just lying on her stomach. Takumi popped a pacifier in her mouth and readjusted her bib.
"Little drowley today, aren't we princess?" he asked, wiping her mouth.
Hikari made a quiet noise as she held her head up slightly. Her neck had gotten a lot stronger.
They all ate as they watched Hikari look around. Hikari reached her hand out to Misaki.
"Mommy, who are all these strangers?" Misaki joked, placing her finger in Hikari's grasp.
Hikari gave Misaki a toothless smile.
"She responds to your voice," Ruri sighed. "I'm hoping my baby comes soon. They're so precious."
"Enjoy the peace while you can," Sakura laughed.
After they finished eating, they all dumped their plates into the dishwasher. No one felt like washing dishes. In the short time Misaki and Takumi left, Hikari started wailing.
"What's wrong?" Misaki asked, picking up the dropped pacifier. She gently picked Hikari up and walked around with her. "Say hello," she coaxed, taking Hikari's hand and showing her how to wave. "Say: Hello, I'm Princess Hikari. I'm Daddy's little girl."
Hikari hiccupped slightly but calmed down as Misaki paced around with her. Misaki gently pressed her cheek to Hikari's cheek.
"Wow…" Tora said. "Something's very different about Misaki now."
"Of course," Ruri said. "She's a mother now."
"Will you be so sweet and gentle?"
"To our daughter, of course," Ruri said, smirking.
Tora chuckled and shook his head.
"You all think I'm protective of Hikari," Takumi said. "You should see Misaki when no one's around."
"I plan on letting our daughter have boyfriends," Misaki said with a smirk. "And maybe leave the house once in a while."
"I mean she will be married someday," Takumi admitted. "But, it can't just be anyone."
"Weren't you just anyone and I still married you?"
"If some boy teased her at school and said inappropriate things, I'd break him in half,"
"Hypocrite," Misaki said, shaking her head. "He pulled up my skirt the second day he knew me," she informed everyone.
Everyone laughed. Hikari gurgled too, sensing everyone else's happiness.
"That was different," Takumi said, defensively.
"Regretting it now, huh?" Misaki asked, poking him in the chest. She tsked. "Who knew Takumi Walker would one day reflect on his perverted outer space alien actions."
"It was necessary," Takumi teased back. "You like that kind of boy."
"I did not!"
"Did too!"
"I never appreciate your inappropriate behavior."
"But that's how we got Hikari,"
Misaki was speechless as everyone laughed until they were on the verge of tears.
"I wish I knew you two in high school," Ruri said, wiping her eyes.
"I did know them in high school," Sakura added. "It was pretty much just like this."
Ruri nodded. Her stomach hurt from laughing so much. "I have to sit down," she said, pulling out a chair. "Oh, that was funny."
"Even Hikari is smiling," Kuuga pointed it out.
"Is Daddy funny?" Misaki asked, kissing Hikari.
Glass shattered on the floor. Misaki gasped and stepped back.
"Sorry," Ruri said, standing up. Her glass cup had shattered on the ground. "Ugh," she groaned as she stumbled. If Tora hadn't been there, she would have fallen.
"Ruri, what's wrong?!" Tora asked.
"Is it the baby?" Sakura added.
"I don't know," Ruri said, leaning against the counter.
Misaki passed Hikari to Takumi. "Are you feeling pressure?" she asked.
Ruri took a deep breath. "I think I'm okay now," she said, swallowing.
"We should probably get you home," Tora said. "Can you walk?"
"Hold on," Ruri said. "Let me catch my breath."
"Careful of the glass," Misaki said, grabbing a dust pan and broom.
"Oh!" Ruri gasped, holding her stomach. "This doesn't feel like a Braxton Hick…"
"Let's get you home," Tora said, slinging her arm around his shoulder. "Bye everyone!"
"Good luck…" Sakura called after them. "Oh, here comes our third baby! I'm so excited!"
"Takumi," Misaki said. "Get some of your super broth ready."
"We should probably go home," Kuuga reminded Sakura. "Shige is going to wake up soon."
Sakura nodded. "We'll see you at the hospital then,"
"Bye," Misaki said, showing them to the door.
"Here's Hikari," Takumi said, handing her to Misaki. "Another order of broth?"
"Yes, a big thermos and some food for Tora later. Hospital food sucks," Misaki said, cuddling Hikari.
"Yes ma'am," Takumi said, taking out his pots. "We should patent the recipe," he joked. "I've made gallons of it these past few months."
"We can call it the post baby miracle broth," Misaki suggested.
"Perfect," Takumi said, turning on the stove.