The birds on the tree branches were gleefully chirping under the white summer clouds, exchanging their little voices outside the window of Shinichi's bedroom. Their voices were penetrating all the way through the room and into a certain strawberry blonde's ears, as if the birds were saying hello to the sun, then waking her up in turns afterwards. They sounded clearer with every second she gained her consciousness from her good night's sleep.
Yet, Ai was still too tired to open her eyes.
She rolled around to the other side of the bed, trying to get back to the cloud nine she had been getting in her sleep since last night. However, she felt an extreme soreness all throughout her body when she moved her legs. There was nothing she could do except to let out a muffled painful groan into the pillow.
What did her husband do to her yesterday to make her suffer like this?
She was forced to give up on having her slumber back in the end, so she opened her eyes to start the day. She needed to take a warm bath to ease out her sore body anyway. But strangely, she didn't feel his presence anywhere while it was supposed to be his bedroom. Even his side of the bed was empty and cold, indicating he had been gone long enough.
Weird. She thought.
She was the one who always woke up first before he did on every other days, but where was he this morning?
Her eyes darted to the alarm clock on the nightstand, only to get widened upon noticing the time. It was already far past time for breakfast, almost nearing lunch hour. Ai sat up abruptly. She was shocked that she had overslept until noon, but then she grunted when the soreness finally poked her senses. It was a bad idea to move her body so recklessly considering her condition right now.
"Ai?" Shinichi entered the bedroom a minute later to check on his wife, together with Chiharu in his arms.
He heard some noises from upstairs when he was reading a storybook to the little girl in the study. And his awakened wife was the first guess he could think of for such a ruckus, even though he was startled upon entering the room to see her, sitting on his bed with her face buried in between her knees. She was hugging the blanket so dearly close to her while whimpering. She looked so much in pain.
"A-Are you alright, Ai?" He asked in fret as he walked nearer but was halted by Ai's sudden death glare that turned to almost teary instantly, like a pair of puppy eyes.
Pfft.
Shinichi couldn't refrain himself from not laughing at her upon witnessing her unusual quirk. Her cheeks were flushing from embarrassment as well as being annoyed at the detective. She wanted to throw some retorts at him so badly if it wasn't because she needed to save up her energy to withstand the aches.
It was all his fault for being too intense last night. He didn't even hold back to continue their night activity, only pausing when he had to carry her to his room. Now that she looked back to it, maybe he was getting his payback for what she did to him at the start of all this.
Chiharu wiggled her legs, asking her dad to release her. Granting her request, Shinichi put her feet on the floor carefully, making sure she was steady enough to walk on her own before releasing his hands from hers. At once, she strode as fast as she could to the side of the bed. Concern was shown all over her tiny face for her mom, small tears were welling up on the corner of her little wide eyes.
"Mamma, a-you-a-rite?" She sweetly asked using her still-developing speech.
Ai looked at the little girl with a soft smile, the color on her cheeks and the annoyed look she had for the detective were gone in a split second. She was very much grateful for the care her daughter showed for her.
"Mommy is okay, Chii." She patted her head to assure the little girl that nothing serious was done to her.
"Why don't you rest some more?" Shinichi joined them a second later. He sat on the edge of the bed by her curled up feet, handing her clothes that he found lying on the floor.
She uttered her thanks.
"It's almost lunch and I can't leave you with the kitchen work, can I?" She commented after putting on her t-shirt.
As far as she remembered, he messed up the kitchen so greatly the last time she let him do the weekend cooking although the food he made tasted not that bad– it was still edible, at least.
He laughed wryly at that.
"Let's order a take out then." He suggested. "There was nothing much left in the fridge anyway."
"Mm, okay." She agreed on his idea.
She might as well take her time to soak in the warm bath while waiting for the delivery to arrive.
"Can you walk? You look like you're in a great hill of pain." He said as he took one of her hands into his, caressing its back with his thumb. A glint of concern was heard in his tone.
"And whose fault is that?" She rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed. There was a light tint on her cheeks accompanying her glare on him; his thumb tickled her.
"It's not like you've done nothing yourself." He retorted. He recalled the way she dug his back with her nails, it was so deep for them to leave some scratches on his skin.
Although he somehow knew it wasn't comparable to the soreness she was feeling right now.
"Want me to carry you to the bath?" He brought her hand to his lips, giving it a gentleman kiss, then ended it with a teasing grin on his face.
"Heck, no." She backed away slowly. "I can still walk with my feet."
His grin was getting wider though, she looked so timid when she was like this. How irresistible.
"Aw, what is there to be shy about? I carried you all the way to this room yesterday, remember?" He kept insisting on his offer, teasing her.
"N-no." And she kept on warding him off, her blush was getting bolder.
Little did they realize that Chiharu was smiling so widely on her spot, watching the close interaction between her dad and mom. Her tears were ceased half way upon seeing her mom's features had returned.
She then climbed up to the bed and jumped in the middle of the two parents. It looked fun to her. Shinichi and Ai were surprised by the sudden intrusion, but they laughed when they saw it was their little girl. She was also laughing.
There wasn't anything particular to laugh at, they were giving off some silly laughs just because the others were laughing. Even so, they felt satisfied with only that to fill their family time on the weekend afternoon. It was a good way to start the day for Ai too, or so she thought.
Until she went to the bathroom and saw her reflection on the mirror. She was flustered at the numerous love bites Shinichi had left almost everywhere on her back and upper arms, he didn't miss her hips and her inner thighs too. Thankfully, he didn't put any hickeys on her exposed part of her neck, only on some insignificant spots she could cover with her short hair.
Nonetheless, she couldn't contain her blush from going wild. She felt too self-conscious and was mad at the same time for the things he did to her last night. He was indeed getting his payback on her.
But…
Oh well, she didn't resist him either.
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It was slightly after two in the afternoon when the little Kudo family were done with their lunch and the cleaning up. Ai was feeling much better with the soreness lessened, so she decided to go to the supermarket to buy ingredients for their supply and for their dinner tonight. That was then, the detective and the baby girl asked to tag along. She let them, thinking it would be nice to take a short afternoon stroll together while at it, simply for a change.
"No!" Chiharu sulked at her mom. She refused to wear her summer hat.
It wasn't actually that hot today, so there was nothing to worry about the little girl getting a heatstroke. Still and all, Ai persuaded her to wear her hat. It was for a preventive measure.
"Isn't it cozy to wear it, Chii?" Shinichi squatted down to her height, trying to help his wife. "Look, Mr. Sun is so high up there which means it is hot outside."
"Nn!" She turned her body against her dad, pouting.
Shinichi and Ai sighed. It was becoming more difficult to get her to do something they told her to recently since she was getting a grasp of what she wanted and what she didn't.
"Oh, please wait here for a second." Ai said as she left for her room. She seemed to have an idea to persuade her daughter.
Shortly after, she rejoined with them again at the genkan with a hat on her hand.
"Look Chii, mommy will also wear a hat like yours." She smiled at Chiharu, while showing the thing she brought from her room.
It was a summer hat similar to the little girl's, except the one Ai held was bigger and had a different ribbon color.
The violet ribbon on the shrunken adult's hat fluttered as she put it on her head, which caught the attention of the little girl– it looked beautiful. She then looked at the pink ribbon on her own hat, and imagined how beautiful it would be when it fluttered just like her mom's.
"Me! Hat!" She shouted with eager eyes to her mom while patting her head. She was trying to tell Ai to put the little sun hat for her too.
Ai chuckled. Finally, she could change the little girl's mind. Shinichi was amazed by how his wife had skillfully handled the stubbornness of their daughter. He also chuckled at the scene, grateful they didn't have to end this little thing with a cry from the baby.
On a side note, he had to admit how stunning Ai was with the additional accessory on. It matched well with her white summer dress and the warm yellow cardigan she wore. Such a cheerful color palette she had there, unlike her usual dark tones.
She smelled like summer this way.
Even though she looked a little overdressed now while they were only going for a grocery shopping.
"Go!" Chiharu excitedly told her dad and mom to hurry up and start their little adventure right at this moment.
The detective and the strawberry blonde could only smile at her innocence, following her little baby steps as she went out the door.
They were walking slowly, enjoying their family time outside the house and having fun with the sceneries they saw under the clear blue sky, especially Chiharu. There were a lot of new things she could see and learn as she strode down the side street while holding hands with her parents on both sides.
Such as the butterflies that were flying across her wide eyes;
the tall sunflowers in one of their neighbors' front garden;
or the panting golden retriever who sat just right in front of her after sniffing her shoes out.
She was petrified by the huge dog but couldn't either scream nor cry, so she clenched her parents' hands tighter in a reflex gesture. Meanwhile, the detective noticed the collar on the dog's neck, also its leash that lied on its side as if it had slipped off from the owner's hand. After a very quick observation, he assumed the dog was someone's pet, and it was tame.
"It's okay Chii." Shinichi held out his hand and leaned forward to pet the dog, it let out a happy woof in return. "See, he is a good boy."
Chiharu was surprised by the woof sound the dog made, although she was a little bit convinced that it wasn't as scary as it looked like because the dog did nothing harmful to her dad.
Ai smiled, watching the little girl loosened up her grip bit by bit as she was getting more relaxed.
"Haru-chan~!"
The young couple looked up to the direction of the voice and saw an old woman in her mid-sixties, walking in a limp toward their way with her cane on one hand– a bunch of plastic bags on the other. She was calling for the dog, it seemed. Worries were transpired in her look; perhaps she was afraid of losing her pet.
Her face turned bright the moment she caught the sight of the dog, as well as the three people she recognized.
"Oh, good afternoon Ai-chan and Shinichi-kun." She greeted them jovially, catching up her breath while leaning on to her walking stick. "Also Chii-chan."
"Good afternoon, Tomomi-baasan." Ai greeted her back politely. She offered her a helping hand with her stuffs which she gratefully received– they were some bags of young bamboo stalks.
It reminds me, it's almost Tanabata day. Ai thought.
Turned out the old lady was their old-time acquaintance who lived several blocks away from their street. Well, she was actually one of the Professor's old close friends so the chain went on, leading the three of them to be acquaintances.
She was also one of the few people who knew about their marriage, just because Agasa had slipped his tongue out when he met her during his return few months ago.
"Thank goodness, you stopped Haru-chan from running too far." She said in relief.
They replied her with smiles.
"I never knew you have such a clever dog, Tomomi-san." Shinichi started the small talk as he took the dog leash from the pavement, then handed it over to her.
"Ah, thank you– this is Haru-chan, my grandson's dog." She gladly introduced the pet after she uttered her thanks to the detective. "He is going to be in a three-days summer camp starting today and his parents are both working, so he asked me to take care of this big boy here for a while."
She then noticed Chiharu's pale face, her two bluish-purple orbs were unmovingly fixed on the dog.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Does he scare you, Chii-chan?" She asked the little girl in worry, pulling the dog by the leash slightly away from her small figure.
The baby girl nodded, releasing her hands from her parents' grasps and went behind Shinichi's legs to hide. Tomomi felt guilty that her grandson's pet had scared the cute girl. She knew well enough Chiharu was a nice girl who wasn't easily frightened by new people, but maybe she was with big dogs.
"I'm really sorry for scaring her like this, Shinichi-kun, Ai-chan." She apologized.
"It's alright, Tomomi-baasan." Ai answered. "This is her first time being this close to a dog after all, so she is only surprised by it."
"But Haru-chan has to ruin your family time now, hasn't he?"
"Nah, we are only going for a grocery shopping." Shinichi told her. "She will surely forget this in no time, anyway."
The old lady still felt guilty though, so she insisted to send them something later on as a token of apology. The young couple couldn't decline her more and gratefully thanked her.
Ai handed back the old lady's stuffs before they parted, but she left a bag for them to take.
"Take this as a thank you gift for helping me today." She said. "It's almost Tanabata day, so you should make some wishes with your little family."
Shinichi and Ai smiled warmly at the old lady. Somehow the part where she said about them making wishes together as a family rang so nicely sweet in their ears. They said their thanks once again to the lady and with that, the little Kudo family continued their afternoon stroll.
Just like they had expected, Chiharu had forgotten her fright completely once she spent some time inside the supermarket, specifically on the snack section. Her eyes landed on something she was familiar with, which was her favorite snack she usually ate. She was so overly happy when her mom gave her an okay to buy one pack of it.
She was grinning from ear to ear along their way to the other sections. She just couldn't wait to get home and eat it.
"Here, let me help you." Shinichi offered a help as he took the basket from Ai's hand. But before she could say her thanks, he was distracted by the baby girl. "Ah, Chii! Don't go and take everything from the shelf!"
Ai smiled, looking at the back of the detective who hurriedly went over to stop the baby girl before she could completely empty the racks.
It wasn't so bad to do a grocery shopping together with this new little family of hers. She was thinking of doing this again next time. It was indeed more fun this way than doing it alone after all.
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Once they were home, Shinichi put down all the groceries on the kitchen counter together with Chiharu. The little girl insisted on helping her dad with some of the bags, so he gave her the one with the lightest weight.
While the father-daughter were having their time arranging the groceries, Ai took out a tall glass vase from the cupboard in their living room and filled a quarter of it with white pebbles and water. She laid out a piece of old newspaper on the dinning table, then began arranging the bamboo stalks they received from the old lady. The stalks had quiet heavy leaves, considering they were still young.
She placed the stalks one by one inside the half-filled cylinder with care, making sure each stalk reached the top of the pebbles and dipped perfectly in the water for their root to grow. There were still some time before dinner after all, so she took it to organize the plant.
As minutes passed by, she unknowingly started to hum some random melodies with a smile plastered on her lips. Her eyes were following her hands' movements as she trimmed some of the drying leaves with pruning scissors.
She dwelt in her own little world.
She was startled a moment later when a pair of strong arms slipped around her waist, hugging her from behind. Nonetheless, she relaxed once she knew who they belonged to, even without turning her head.
"It looks like you and flowers go well with each other, hm?" Shinichi said in almost a whisper as he rested his head on her left shoulder, inhaling her summer-like scent.
"Although these are bamboo stalks, not flowers." Ai chuckled to his nonsense, her cheeks were pinkening due to the tickling sensation his breath gave on her neck.
It felt nice to be this close physically with him.
"Either that or flowers, you look beautiful when you're working with them." He complimented her. "They make you smile."
She put down the trimmer on the table, then arranged the last stem into the vase before she turned herself around to look at him in the eyes. He raised his head and loosened his hug to make a room for her to move, but he didn't let his hands leave her waist completely.
"Trying to be romantic, aren't you?" She smirked. Her hands landed on his torso, giving an insignificant distance between them.
"Maybe I am, but it's the truth." He chuckled, leaning closer to her and claimed her lips in a small sweet peck; she smiled. "And I don't mind to always find such a beautiful wife in my arms every time I wake up in the morning."
"Is that your way of asking me to move into your room?" She let out a stifled laugh.
"Perhaps?" He replied her with a cheeky smile.
He then claimed her lips once again in a kiss that lasted a bit longer than the previous ones. It was a chaste kiss which they ended with contented smiles and glints of satisfaction emerged deeply into their eyes.
They never knew until now that a thing as simple as physical closeness like this could make them so gratified with each other.
He was going to tighten his arms around her waist to bring her closer in a hug, but was suddenly stopped by a pair of small hands that were patting his leg lightly.
"Dadda, mamma, me! Me!" Chiharu raised her hands toward her parents, asking them to give her a kiss too.
Both Shinichi and Ai turned their heads to the baby girl, laughing. He then released his hands from Ai's waist and brought the little girl onto his arms. She giggled when her dad and her mom gave her a peck on each side of her cheeks.
Had their lives ever be more perfect than this?
With the happiness they had right now, it looked like they wouldn't need a lot of paper strips to write their wishes on. Even so, they just couldn't wait to decorate the small bamboo plant they had together– that was, with paper cranes instead.
They just hoped it was strong enough to carry all the birds they would make tomorrow.
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"So, what do you say?" Shinichi asked as he filled the tub with warm water, while Ai helped Chiharu out from her clothes.
Both of them were preparing for the little girl's evening bath.
"Hm?" She asked back without looking away from Chiharu who was getting out from her diaper pants.
"You know." He turned off the water tap and walked out from the wet room. He started to get sheepish. "About moving into my room."
Ai raised her head to look at him. There was a minute of silence between the two; only some giggling noise of the little girl was heard on the background as she walked excitedly into the wet room. Shinichi was getting uncomfortable by his wife's boring gaze when she finally sneered at him.
"I think you have to find another way to persuade me, Shinichi." She smirked.
He blushed instantly upon hearing her remark. He had already been trying to hold his embarrassment ever since he uttered his offer minutes ago, so he just couldn't hold it anymore.
"Wha– Why?" He stuttered.
She ignored his complaint though, replying him with a humming tone as she walked into the wet room and closed the frosted glass sliding door.
"Geez, what kind of answer was that?" He asked to no one in particular, glancing embarrassingly annoyed at the door.
Little did Shinichi knew however, that Ai was also blushing once she was out of his sight. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line, her chests felt hot from imagining herself sleeping in his arms every night.
She thought that he was only joking previously, but turned out he really meant it.
It was by luck that she could get herself out of this just now, yet knowing how persistent he was, she clearly knew she definitely wouldn't be able to get away from this sooner or later.
Author's note: Honestly, I just knew there are other Tanabata decorations aside from the paper strips (haha). So, I was trying to look for Tanabata decoration that symbolizes protection, but I guess paper crane is the closest to it since it symbolizes health and long-life, while the paper strips symbolizes wishes for self-improvement or academic success.
Hope you like this chapter. Do not forget to give your comments and reviews. Happy reading!
Disclaimer: All characters of Detective Conan are belong to Aoyama Gosho. I don't own any single of them.