At nine o'clock, Hikari was woken by a stirring in her stomach. She groggily sat up, thinking it was nausea. She waited, prepared to rush to the bathroom if necessary. Instead, the stirring continued at random intervals. She leaned back slowly, resting her hands on her stomach. She couldn't feel it on her hands, but she could feel it inside.
Then, she realized. Her lips pulled into a bright smile. "Is that you, little boy?" She whispered, her hand rubbing circles over her bump. It was her first time experiencing the mysterious shifts in her belly. She was almost stirred to tears.
She was made further aware of the realness of the infant growing inside her. Not the fact that it was a child conceived out of marriage, one that she didn't plan for, but that it was her own precious creation she was nurturing.
Hikari laid there for a while, speaking softly to the infant inside her. She had read that a baby could recognize their mother's voice, even while still in the womb. She wanted her baby to know her before he even met her. She was so distracted that she failed to keep an eye on the time, and at 9:45 she flung herself out of bed to hurriedly get dressed.
She was panting by the time she made it to the clinic, winded from the rush. "Almost late." Chase said, waiting for her under the overhang. "Sorry about that." Hikari smiled sheepishly as he held the door for her. Jin was already waiting at the desk, finishing up what appeared to be paperwork. "Perfect timing, I was just finishing the report." Jin said, adjusting his glasses as he looked up to them.
He stood, tapping the papers on the desk to straighten them. "You should thank me, I don't work on Sundays but I adjusted for you two." He said, bringing one paper to the top of the stack and setting it on the counter for them to read. He put a finger on a certain part of the paper as they approached the counter.
"This is the percentage that Chase is the father." Jin explained as he withdrew his hand. Hikari was silent, the 99.9% glaring up at her. Chase cleared his throat, but seemed to be handling it better than yesterday. "Right…" He rubbed the back of his neck once more. "Well… That's that, then." He took the paper off of the top of the stack, lifting it up as his eyes stayed locked onto it.
"Miss Hikari, I assume you're taking proper care of yourself? Your body is naturally much weaker now. Be sure to take your prenatal vitamins and eat enough for two." Doctor Jin instructed as he rose from his seat behind the desk.
"Yes, I've been visiting a doctor on the mainland for regular check-ups." Hikari reassured, to which the doctor nodded. "Good. Then I must ask you two to leave. I'd like to return home to my wife." He ushered them out the door, locking up the building behind them. He bid them farewell, and left them standing in front of the inn.
Chase folded the papers before he looked up to Hikari. "Let's head to my house. I can make you breakfast and we can talk about the baby." She felt nervousness creeping over her as he led her out of the town. She didn't feel like the inevitable discussion would end well.
Chase's house was smaller than she had imagined. She was sure that her apartment was nearly the same size. He gestured for her to have a seat at the small, two person table a few feet from the kitchen. "Anything you don't like to eat?" He asked as he continued to the kitchen, pulling out cookware from his cabinets.
"Pork and kale." Hikari grimaced at the latter. Chase chuckled and went to his fridge. "Who likes kale anyways?"
As he started to cook, Hikari cleared her throat and laced her fingers together, her hands resting on the table. "So… as I said before, I think I would be more than capable of taking care of the baby on the mainland. I just need some financial support to-"
"Hikari." Chase's voice cleanly cut her off as he looked back to her. "You're not raising our baby on your own. I am taking responsibility for him too." It was a momentary shock to hear the words 'our baby' leaving his mouth. She let out a strained sigh, her hands clenching tighter together. "I don't see how that's possible considering how far apart we live. Both of us are settled into our jobs, as well." The oven clicked on as Chase began cooking.
"We'll share him. You get him for a certain amount of time, then I get him."
"That won't work when the baby is just an infant. He needs me most during that time."
"You'll be on maternity leave during that time, right? You can come here during that time."
"I could do that, but what happens when my maternity leave is over? He'll still need me until he's weaned off of breast milk, which won't be until he's nearly a year old."
"They make formula for that." Chase shrugged, casting a glance back at her once more. "I can buy the formula and you can leave me with as much… natural milk as you can." Hikari shook her head with a growing frown. "Formula gives babies stomach aches, and it isn't as healthy." She could have sworn she heard him chuckle. "I don't think we can be picky in this situation."
Hikari felt herself growing frustrated. This was impossible. Her stubbornness was screaming at her to insist that she could damn well be picky if she wanted to. It was her baby, after all. She was only getting riled up by her thoughts at this point. Not to mention she was feeling a hot flash coming on. "Fine, we'll consider this good enough for now." She laid her palms on the table, stretching them out. "I'm going to have the baby on the mainland. My parents want to be there. Do you know if yours would want to come?"
Chase paused. "Don't have any, so you don't have to worry about that." His voice was quieter this time. "Oh, I'm sorry, I assumed…" She was quick to apologize, but he shook his head. "It's fine. It was a long time ago, I barely remember them." He set aside his cooking utensils, bringing over two plates of blueberry pancakes. He had added the extra blueberries onto her plate on the side.
"Thank you." She smiled, then blushed as her stomach noised its eagerness at the sight of the food. Chase snickered and sat across from her. "If you're still hungry after this, let me know and I'll cook more." Hikari fought the warmth that spread in her chest at his care. If she were to have been in a relationship with him, at least she would have never gone hungry.
While they ate, Hikari found herself watchfully learning his expressions as they made small talk. His brows would narrow when he thought, and his lips would show a hint of a curl when their eyes met, as if he were going to smile. His eyes never ceased to cut through her focus, leaving her frantically trying to recollect the train of thoughts she had. When she stammered under his piercing gaze, Chase would smirk and dart his eyes down to his food for a brief moment.
It was really too much. She couldn't let herself get caught up in this strange feeling attempting to claw its way to the surface. There was no way it would work between them, their lives were far too different.
She felt her stomach tighten in what felt more like nerves, and not nausea. She set down her fork, letting out a contented sigh as she held a hand on her stomach.
"Thank you, it was really good." Hikari said, taking her plate as she stood and walked to the kitchen. She was deftly cut off by Chase as he stepped out from his seat, shifting so he halted her path. "I can handle it." He took the plate from her hands, and washed both her plate and his in the sink. Hikari pouted, her hands resting on her hips."It's the least I could do for all you've done for me this weekend."
He ignored her protests as he set the plates on a rack to dry, then wiped his hands clean.
"If you keep insisting, I'll have you clean my entire house." Chase warned, giving her a grin. "I might just do it, you know. I see those cobwebs in the corners." Hikari pointed specifically towards the corner next to the door that led to his bedroom.
Chase peered over in the direction of her finger, then pushed her finger down. "There's nothing there. Let's just go outside." He led her out of the house before her keen eyes could pick on any other dust particle she found, causing Hikari to have to bite back a laugh.
When they were outside, Chase's hands stuffed into his pockets. "Right now, we're in Flute Fields. The people living here sell stuff for farms, mostly. There are two other people that live over by the watermill, but I don't know them as well as Luke or Gill." He explained as he led her up the hill. Hikari watched the windmill turn in the distance, a healthy breeze churning the fans.
Chase stopped at the top of the hill, and pointed up towards the sky. "The top of the hill is called Moon Hill because you can see the moon, even during the day. See?"
Hikari followed his finger towards the faint outlining of the moon, and her eyes widened in shock. She hadn't seen the moon so visible in the day before. Then again, she didn't take much time to look up to the sky in the city. She wasn't sure if she would be able to see it as clearly as she could now, anyways.
The city was full of lights that blotted out the night sky. "It's not something you see in the city, is it? I remember from when I was in school there." Chase said, earning a half smile from Hikari.
"Maybe not, but being in the city is much more beneficial. There's plenty of job opportunities, stores are everywhere, technology is more advanced, and there are countless people."
"It's lonely." Chase murmured, his eyes wandering over the rolling hills where cattle grazed. Hikari's brow arched as she looked over to him. "There's something about being out here that makes me appreciate life more. A few years ago, I thought the same as you. I wanted to be part of the rush of the city, letting life flow by me as I tried to find my place in society." His voice trailed off towards the end as that narrowed brow appeared.
Chase didn't finish his thought. Instead, he shut his mouth, and turned back to look at her. "But I suppose you have your reasons for liking the city. Just don't knock this island too hard till you really know it." He finished, then headed towards the bridge they had crossed an hour or two ago. "This way, I'll show you some of the little beaches on the island."