Considering the more Western outfit that my husband, never going to stop being odd to say, and my shadow we're wearing I would think our house would be the same but the traditional Japanese home mixed with a few western aspects was not what I thought it was going to be.
The entire place looked so relaxing. As my husband, never getting less weird, gave me the tour I noticed that in every room or hallway there was an item that looked out of place. A gold vase in the guest room. Ugly painting in the hallway. Some furry white rug in the living room. Every item screaming 'expensive' always clashes with the relaxed and traditional look of the house and furniture.
Once he showed me his wife's, MY, room I realized that I was completely right about my impression of her. The place was cluttered with shopping bags, expensive looking jewelry, three huge wardrobes, and the biggest bed frame and vanity I have ever seen.
"You've got to be kidding." My cheap side came out guessing how much all of this would cost in my world, making my head spin at the possible number I got. "So wasteful."
My stomach turns at the thought of sleeping in this room. It got worse as he told me the entire east wing was just my things and the baby's room was next to his in the west wing. I've latched on to the baby in the short time we had together. So the knowledge that I was to be sleeping so far from him devastated me.
That feeling stayed with me even as my husband showed me the baby's room. It had everything he could need. A crib, changing table, toy chest, rocking chair, and some books. The wall was empty. Nothing on the hardwood floor. No personality to the room at all with the exception to the engravings on his crib. It was basically like the baby room at the Hospital, clinical.
"I have a month off from work to look after him until a nanny is found." I'm snapped out of my daze when the word 'nanny' comes out of my husband's mouth.
"A nanny? Why would he need one? It's not like I have a job. I don't need a babysitter to look after my own child. I just got rid of the last one. I don't need another person that hates me to be telling me how to care for my own son. He's not getting a nanny." Scowling at his room I walk out and find my way into the garden that sat in the middle of the house.
Sitting against the tall tree in the middle I sigh looking down at the still sleeping baby. "Who am I kidding? Trying to live here is going to be hell. I was a horrible person before you got here. I was selfish, entitled, spoiled brat, who didn't want anything to do with this sweet and innocent baby. No one will care for my opinion on anything. I know I'm not the same person, you know it, but no one else is going to care. But no one said survival was easy."
The little baby smiled in his sleep warming my heart and easing the mental exhaustion I felt looking at the road ahead of me.
…
The first night in the new house was tough. After feeding the baby, Shikamaru was his name, I let his dad spend some time with him while I started tackling the mountain that was Yoshinio's half of the house. First thing I did was go through the entire house and gather all of the junk she put up in each room.
Took two hours to carry it all back to my half of the house with multiple trips. I had to break to feed Shikamaru again before starting to gather all of the shopping bags. I put the seventy bags into a room that was sorta clear and started going through the multiple wardrobes she had.
At some point between wardrobe two and four Shikaku, my husband, came into the room with a fussing Shikamaru.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't even notice that it was feeding time." Knocked out of my focused organizing I noticed that my breast had felt full.
While going through the back of one of the wardrobes I found a beat up box that had something like an old version of a breast pump. I was going to get it clean before the next feed but it was too late now. For some reason I was producing more breast milk than Shikamaru drank so the doctor let me donate some to the other children using their breast pump. Now that we left my breast was getting painfully full and Shika barely drank enough to take the edge off.
"Could I ask you a couple questions?" I pulled my shirt down enough to pop out a breast before Shika latched on suckling harder than usual.
"I guess." Shikaku was barely fazed this time as I whipped out my breast to feed Shika, compared to his shocked face last time.
"Do the stores that I used to go to take returns? Where did I get the money to buy all of this stuff? Also is there someplace I could go to sell or donate all of these Kimonos? And are there shops that have more comfortable but decent looking things like the clothes I got from the Hospital? Actually, is there some way to get the retail prices of each item, just so I can get the right price for them if I have to sell them instead. Also is there someplace that I can donate my breast milk? I'm producing more that Shika can drink and at the Hospital they let me pump and give the extra to the other babies who needed it. If the Clan has children that need it great but the Hospital or Orphanage could be another option if there is still too much. And of course we freeze or put some in the fridge so that you can feed him through a bottle when I'm not around or after I pump and he's hungry. I could probably also make some baby food out of it." At this point I was just thinking out loud and wasn't expecting a response.
So I flinch when my husband answers me. "Some of the money is from me but with your lifestyle I couldn't afford it all so you borrowed the rest from your family. I know where you shop but not sure about returns. I do know of some places that would buy it from you. If you're looking for things more like what you're wearing now then I do know of places where you could buy things. As for breast milk I don't know."
"Okay. Thank you. Do you know of some way to carry all of this to the stores? I'm pretty sure everyone hates me too much to help if I asked." It was my first thought to carry some of it but I might have to get a cart to take these to the stores.
"We could just use storage scrolls. It should all fit in ten of them." Shikaku examined the room we were standing in.
"That's perfect. One question. What is a storage scroll? I'm guessing it's some kind of special scroll?" Like are we wrapping all of it in a scroll?
Shikaku looks at me like he's trying to read my mind. I try to hide my discomfort by burping Shika. Shikaku sighs and crosses his arms leaning on the door frame of my room. "A storage scroll is an item used by ninja to store items. Someone writes a seal onto a scroll and the person that wants to use the scroll only has to apply chakra to the seal and the item is put into or taken out of the scroll."
"What's a seal? Do I have to seal each individual item away or can I stack it on top of the scroll before putting it away? Also how exactly do you apply Chakra? Oh and what is Chakra?" I continued to ask questions trying to milk his willingness to answer my last ones.
He sighed and left the room. I thought that he was going to ignore me but he came back two minutes later with some old books in one hand and ten scrolls tucked under his arm. "Here, just read these."
He put them on the floor next to me and took one scroll into his hand. He rolled it open and set it on top of the first pile I made, a blue glow on his hand, before a poof and smoak. Quickly opening the window behind me the wind clears the room and the pile is gone. I blinked then grabbed the first book, opening it to the first page.
They were academy textbooks. Sectioned to go over basic physical anatomy, village history, math, and chakra theory. It was basic but helped me understand the basics.
"Everything is put away." Shikaku's voice broke into the focus I was in while reading.
I glanced around and the entire room was empty with the exception of the bed and things I kept in the wardrobe. "Thank you, Shikaku. Can you take me to get them sold and returned, tomorrow?"
"I don't see why not." He said as I passed Shikamaru to him going back to the old breast pump.
"Thank you." I smiled a bit before taking the device to the kitchen and getting it cleaned up and finding some jars to fill.
The breast pump was ready to use by the second feed in the night and going through the last two wardrobes. It was glass with a cone for my breast to go into and one small tube going up into a rubber sucker and another bigger tube pointed down where I had to hold the jar to catch the milk. Thankfully it didn't have a lot of suction so it didn't hurt as much. I had to take breaks to loosen the suction on my breast and give my nipples a break. By the time my hands started hurting half of the quart jar was full of yellow milk. My breast had gone from painfully full to tender and comfortably partially full.
I was cleaning up the breast pump when it was time for Shikamaru's next feed. I was going to do it myself but again Shikaku was already in the room and had changed Shika. "I can do the night feeds myself. I found a breast pump and I've pumped a bit of milk so you could feed him occasionally during the day if you want."
I was on a weird sleep schedule with having to do the feedings by myself for our stay in the hospital. I napped when I could and did other things when I had enough sleep. Shikaku just got back from a 'mission' so he was probably tired. If he did the day feedings I could probably get some REM sleep.
Shikaku hesitated before handing Shika over and went to his room. I fed Shika with what milk I had left before putting him back to sleep. I spent two more feedings cleaning and sorting before napping in between the next feedings. The last one I did was as the sun rose and Shikaku walked out of his room with a messy bed head. "I'm going to try to get some more sleep. The breast milk and bottles are in the kitchen."
I passed the wide awake Shika to his father who still looked tired before heading to Yoshino's room and face planting into the bed passing out.