8759. Please keep any fiction stories you write out of view for infants. While everyone is overjoyed that Ami has said her first words, we really could have done without the frying pan part.
Yokosuka.
"Are you sure you're ready for this,saihai?" asked Takao. "It's only been five months, and the Admiral said we could take as much time as we needed."
"Takao," said Myoko reassuringly. "we both agreed that we'd start taking patrols in shifts. It's only going to be a week, I'll call you every night after I get the girls to sleep, and it's not like it'll just be me alone. Nachi and Sosuke are both going to help me, so don't you worry."
"Yeah, but," said Takao, only for Myoko to cut her off with a kiss.
"I'll be fine, Takao." she said, smiling. "You haven't been to sea for a long time, and I can tell that you're getting restless."
Takao had to admit, her wife had a point. Neither of them had so much as stepped in the water since the girls were born, and both of them were starting to feel the effects of long-term separation. Akashi had worked out a regimen similar to Yamato's and Enterprise's when they had had Yoshino, letting the two of them spend a limited amount of time at sea in shifts, allowing them to sail while still being a part of their daughter's lives for their critical first year of development. So when the Sagami Bay patrol had needed another cruiser, Takao had volunteered, with Myoko planning to take the next one.
"Well, if you're sure.." said Takao.
Myoko nodded. "I am. Now, you go with the others and stretch your sea legs."
"Okay." said Takao, pulling her wife into a hug. "I promise I'm coming back."
"And I promise me and the girls will still be here when you return." whispered Myoko back. Sharing one final kiss, Takao headed to the pier.
"Ready to go, nee-san?" asked Atago.
"Yes, I think so." sighed Takao, returning her wife's wave from the pier.
"Don't worry Takao. Myoko's got this." said Ashigara.
"And it's only a week." added Chokai. "What could go wrong?"
"Imouto-chan," groaned Takao. "I really wish you hadn't said that."
Eight hours later...
Takao waited patiently as the phone rang a few time before Myoko answered it with a cheerful, "Mako, Ami, and Hotaru's residence. How can I help you?"
"It's nice to know that the girls are keeping you in check." giggled Takao. "How is everything? The girls are asleep, I hope."
"They went to sleep about fifteen minutes ago, and none of us had any trouble at all with them." answered Myoko. "In fact, Hotaru's starting to warm up to Nachi just like Ami did."
"That's good." said Takao. "I know how worried Nachi's been about her."
The two talked for about ten minutes before Takao ended the call to let Myoko get some sleep. While she and Ashigara took over from her sisters at the formation's lead, she noticed Chokai writing something in her notebook.
"What's that you're writing, imouto-chan?"
"Oh, Suzuya and Kumano are doing a contest where you have to write a slice of life story and add insanity to it." said Chokai. "They've got me, Haguro, Zao, and Chikuma hooked on it too, so we're all trying to finish it by the end of the week. Unfortunately, I've hit a roadblock. My life's too boring."
Takao giggled. "Trust me, a boring life is not the worst kind to lead."
"But how am I supposed to write an insane story when nothing insane happens to me?"
Takao shrugged. "Honestly, I have no clue. Usually, I have too much insanity in life."
As her eldest sister took her place in the formation, Chokai started writing again, a new idea springing to mind. After all, neither Suzuya or Kumano had ever said the story needed to aboutherlife specifically.
Three days later...
Myoko frantically rushed back to the nursery for the third time in as many minutes. As soon as she had ended her call with Takao, her daughters had all awakened screaming, and were defying all attempts to soothe them. Currently, she was holding Hotaru as far away from Nachi's ponytail as possible, while Nachi, with Makoto in her arms, was using her back as a shield for Sosuke against Ami, who was throwing her toys across the room atvery high velocities.
"Hey, supermom?" asked Nachi. "Got any ideas? I think Ami's found the range."
"If I could get close enough, I might be able to get her to sleep with Takao's old beret." said Sosuke, ducking to avoid a pacifier that got past Nachi at a speed rivaling the Concorde.
"Ami-chan." cooed Myoko sweetly. "Don't you want to let Uncle Sosuke close? He has Mama's beret."
Ami looked at Myoko, then at Sosuke, and for a second, all three adults thought that Ami had seen reason. However, in an instant, another pacifier, Mako's by the look of it, was flying through the air. Seeing it miss her uncle by a centimeter, Ami celebrated triumphantly with a cry of "Not the MAMA!"
Myoko, Nachi, and Sosuke all froze as they realized Ami had said her first words, but before any of them could react, Ami launched Hotaru's lavender pacifier. It sailed past Nachi and hit Sosuke clean between the eyes, knocking him unconscious and causing Myoko to flinch, accidentally letting Hotaru get within grabbing distance of Nachi's ponytail. Feeling the unexpected pull, Nachi surged forward, taking Hotaru with her. Ami looked back and watched as Nachi, holding a very happy looking Makoto in her outstretched arms ran madly around the nursery, Hotaru holding onto her hair with a death grip while Myoko frantically chased them.
The end of the week...
Takao and Ashigara walked up to the house's front door, looking forward to seeing their loved ones after a long week. Stepping into the entryway, the first thing they heard was the sound of crying coming from the kitchen. Curious, they entered the room and found a disaster.
While a teakettle boiled over on the stove, Myoko and Nachi desperately tried to get a screaming Hotaru to go back to sleep. At the island, Sosuke was trying to fluff some rice as Ami, legs wrapped around his neck, hit him repeatedly on the forehead with a small frying pan, shouting "Not the Mama!" over and over again. The sight of Makoto sleeping peacefully through all of the chaos only reinforced the absurdity of the scene before them.
"NANI!?"
"Well, what do you all think?" asked Chokai sheepishly, as all of her readers grimaced.
"You beat me in the crazy department, that's for sure." said Haguro.
"You might have overdone it a tad, imouto-chan." said Takao gently.
As they all discussed Chokai's story, one of the papers landed next to the kitchen's playpen, where the kids were sleeping. Lazily opening an eye, Ami read the paper with growing enthusiasm and nudged her sisters awake. Seeing what their middle sibling was planning, Makoto rolled her eyes and went back to sleep, while Hotaru lingered another minute before joining Makoto. While she loved going on adventures with Ami, she was sleepy, and her eldest sister was very warm and cuddly. Seeing that she was flying solo, Ami shrugged and silently snuck out of the pen, climbing up onto the counter.
Meanwhile, the adults were still discussing Chokai's story.
"I really did go a bit too far, didn't I?" asked Chokai glumly.
"Cheer up, Chokai." said Ashigara. "It happens to all of us."
"Yeah, besides," said Sosuke. "it's not like there's been any harm done to anyone."
He would have said more, but he stopped as he noticed everyone else was staring at him. Turning to follow their gaze, Sosuke came face to face with Ami, who had the absolutely cutest face on as she raised a frying pan she had grabbed off the counter and bonked him clean on the forehead, happily proclaiming "Not the Mama!" as he went down.
As Myoko and Takao grabbed the utensil out of their daughter's hand and gushed at her first words while Ashigara and Haguro frantically tried to rouse a dazed Sosuke, Chokai looked at the scene as realization hit her.
"So that's what Atago-nee means when she mentions Murphy."
Twelve years later...
"Auntie Ashigara, was I really that bad?" asked Ami.
"Honestly, kiddo." said Ashigara. "Yes. From five months to your first birthday, you were a bit of a holy terror."
As several of her cousins giggled, Ashigara continued. "However,all of you at one point or another gave your parents a story to tell."
"Auntie Ashigara?"
"Yes, Samantha-chan?"
"Is that why Daddy's always wearing his flight helmet in all of our baby pictures?"
Ashigara laughed. "Yes, it is. After seeing what kind to damage a pacifier causes at ninety mph, he made preparations just in case you and Naru-chan inherited your mother's radar."
"Did father have to do anything with me?" asked her own daughter.
"Not that I remember, Hime-chan." said Ashigara. "You were really quiet as a baby. It wasn't till you were a toddler that you started throwing anything, and even then, it was mostly just your stuffed animals. You really liked watching Phobos and Deimos fly."
As Atago's twins giggled, her daughter reacted with her trademark response. "Got something to say, Odango?"
Seeing the signs of a tongue fight bout to break out, Ashigara cleared her throat. "Okay everyone, bedtime."
At everyone's groan, Ashigara smiled. "Remember, we're all going to the park bright and early, so you all need your rest."
Ashigara watched as all of the girls resigned themselves to sleep, Mako and Ami bracketing Hotaru between them, her daughter brushing two heads worth of blonde hair out of her face in mock annoyance, Maya's daughter holding Chokai's securely in her arms, and Nachi's daughter simply looking at the scene and realizing that there was no way she would get anywhere near her blonde sisters, shrugging bemusedly as she laid down on the other side of Samantha and Naru.
Ashigara quietly stood up and went back to the living room, sitting down next to her husband.
"How'd you get them all to sleep?" he asked.
"I told them how Ami said her first words." she said, causing Sosuke to rub his temple.
"Really?"
"Yes. It caused quite a giggle. Especially when Samantha and Naru figured out why you wore your helmet all the time, John."
"Which turned out to never be needed." added Haguro in jest.
"In my defense, when they were born, you had already gotten the latest in fire control. Me, Sosuke, and Matt don't come with built-in armor."
"Well, I guess my story was good for something." joked Chokai as her wife passed the wine around.
"Yes," said Sosuke. "if you leave out the concussion causing part, it was amazing."
Seeing that everyone had a full glass, Myoko raised hers in a toast. "Well, in that case, here's to concussions."
"And wearing helmets to handle your children." added Takao.
"Cheers." said everyone simultaneously.