"Kenshin, its too early to wake up...." Kaoru moaned as she
rolled over, trying to avoid the hand that was shaking her shoulder.
"Kaoru. I'm not Kenshin. Wake up. We have to talk."
"Megumi? Oh. What happened?" Kaoru blinked in confusion.
"You passed out," Megumi replied dryly. "One of the neat things that
happens from time to time when you're pregnant."
"Megumi! I'm pregnant!" Kaoru's eyes began to fill with tears.
She couldn't believe that she was really going to have Kenshin's baby.
A baby. She lowered her hand to her stomach, as if trying to feel the life-force
within.
"That's what you get when you do what you've been doing with Ken-san."
Megumi hunkered down to sit more comfortably next to her. "Didn't you think
that it would happen?"
"I-I thought about it, b-but... I can't believe it's really happening."
"Heh, now you get to experience all of this first hand. For the next
7 or 8 months, your body will be going through so many changes, it will
make your head spin."
"Changes? Oh! Kenshin!"
"Huh?"
"Megumi. How am I gonna tell him?" Kaoru sat up on her knees and began
to gesticulate frantically. "Will he be happy about it? Of course he will!
He loves children! He's going to be a wonderful father. Megumi! Everything
is going to change. Megumi...." Kaoru's eyes went big. "I'm going to be
a mommy." The enormity of it all made her tremble.
"Calm down, Kaoru. I know it's a lot to take in." Megumi put her arm
around her to reassure her. "I told Sanosuke to fetch Kenshin. They're
coming over right now."
*****
"How did you tell Sanosuke?" Kaoru asked, after taking a deep breath
of the cooling summer air. She had put away the futon in an effort to calm
herself. Megumi and Kaoru sat on the porch of the house, talking in the
late afternoon breeze.
"The first time?" Megumi smiled. Her face was full of feminine mystery.
"Yeah. How did you tell him? I never thought of it until today. When
you were pregnant with Shin-chan, Sanosuke was the one who announced it
to everyone. When did you tell him?"
"I pushed him into the river. After he told me."
"Huh?"
"I had just realized that we were going to have a baby, and I was so
excited about it. We were talking as he walked me to the clinic. It was
a beautiful day and I thought that it would be a perfect time to tell him.
The sun was shining off the water and all.... I told him I wanted to go
there to look at the water." Megumi smiled at the memory.
"Sano grumbled a bit, like he always does. We walked down there and
looked at the water. I wanted the moment to be perfect. We didn't say anything
for a couple of minutes, just stared out at the water. Then suddenly, Sanosuke
turned around and started yelling at me. 'Well? Are you going to tell me
I finally knocked you up?!?' I was so surprised at him. Then I got mad."
Kaoru began to laugh. "Sanosuke knew? How?"
"Apparently, that had been his goal from the beginning. He had been
counting days to make sure. I was so angry at him, I pushed him into the
water and started to walk away."
"You were mad at him? For making you pregnant?"
"No. For ruining the moment! Here I was, bent on building atmosphere,
and he blew it. Anyway, he got out of the water and ran up to me and grabbed
me and started spinning me around and around." Megumi's eyes softened at
the memory. "He was wet and cold. But he didn't care. Don't tell him that
I told you, but he had tears in his eyes. He just kept spinning me around
in circles, telling me how happy he was and how much he loved me. It was
one of the most beautiful moments that we've shared."
"How wonderful. Later, when you two came over and told the rest of us,
Sanosuke was so proud when he made the announcement."
"Yes. Sano loves children. He was very excited that he finally was going
to have some of his own." Megumi patted her belly. "And you better be better
behaved than your oniichan! I swear, Shin-chan gets into so many fixes
that my hair is going to turn gray before he's five. Sano just looks at
him and he says that he gets it from my side of the family."
"Tadaima !" Sano called out to them as they stepped through the
gates to the courtyard of their home. Shinosuke was riding on his father's
shoulders, holding on to Sano's hair spikes, which were sagging just a
bit. Kenshin and Yahiko followed behind them, a wee bit damp looking as
well.
"Okaerinasai. Finally. What took you so long?" she asked, looking
up at them. "What happened?" She looked at the men in her life, her arms
akimbo. They looked very wet for the short walk from the dojo to their
house.
"Nothing, really." Sano looked away from his wife and started whistling.
Shin-chan tried to copy his father, but just ended up blowing spittle onto
his father's hair.
"N-Nothing...," both Kenshin and Yahiko stammered, looking away.
Megumi looked at all their faces. They looked guilty. Or they were at
hiding something. She made her decision and looked to her darling son.
"Shin-chan?"
"Ai?"
"Tell 'kachan what happened."
"What 'appened?" Her son looked down from his place on his father's
shoulders and smiled at her. It was one of pure innocence. But Megumi knew
her little angel oh too well.
"Yes. Why are your father, Kenshin and Yahiko so wet?"
"It was....wraining?"
"Sagara Shinosuke." Megumi used his full name. One of the weapons in
her "mommy arsenal". "That's not true. What did I say about lying?"
"It's bad. Sworry. 'Kachan pwomise not to get mwad?"
"I promise."
Kenshin and Yahiko began to slink away, leaving Sano and Shinosuke to
Megumi. At least they tried. They didn't get very far.
"You two, don't move either," she said in the voice. It was something,
she told Kaoru later, that all mothers acquire after giving birth. Very
handy in making people freeze and confess their crimes in no time at all.
"We goin' home and Shin wanted to see the water in the river. Shin went
'n ran down...."
"And?"
"Shin twiped and fwell," Shinosuke finished, seeing his mother would
not be satisfied till she got more of the story.
"All of you went after him?"
"Yeah. Um... He got away from us, so we ran like heck to catch up. We
got there just in time before he fell in. We pushed him back, but we ended
up falling into the water 'cuz we...we all bumped into each other," Yahiko
confessed. "So much for our combined reflexes."
Megumi paled a little at the thought of her son falling into the river's
waters. Even though in the summer the river ran low, Shinosuke couldn't
swim yet.
"Is that why you didn't want to tell me?"
"Hey, woman, it's kinda embarrassing. Shinosuke is the only one who
didn't get wet. Anyway, we saved him from a dunking. And he is going to
learn how to swim starting tomorrow." Sano put his son on the ground and
squeezed more water from his clothes. He took a seat on the wooden porch
before the entrance to the house.
"Yah!!"
Megumi sighed as Shin-chan began to dance around in joy. Only their
Shinosuke could get away with a stunt like that and get rewarded in his
eyes at the same time. He was definitely going to turn her hair gray.
She turned to say something to Kaoru about it, but she and Kenshin were
busy looking into each other's eyes. No one could get Kaoru's attention
away from Kenshin when they were looking at each other like that.
"Are you okay?" he asked, moving closer to her.
"Um, yes. Megumi says I'm perfectly healthy."
"Really?" He still looked worried.
"In fact, Megumi says that I should be getting even healthier!"
Megumi coughed at that. "Getting even healthier?" I guess that's
true....
"Well, I'm going to go get dinner ready."
"Oh. I'll do it." Kaoru offered. Megumi should be resting, not running
around making food. Yahiko groaned. Kaoru retaliated by hitting him on
the head. She had been improving a lot in that area. Really. No one was
getting sick anymore, anyway....
"I'll help," said Kenshin.
"No way." Sanosuke got up and stretched. "Tonight, I'll be making dinner."
Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko looked at each other in confusion. Sanosuke
could cook? He never offered to do so before. Marriage apparently did amazing
things him. They looked over to Megumi, who looked at Sano, who had bent
down to look at his very excited son.
"Yah!!! Fish!!! Fish!!!" Shin-chan began to jump up and down with anticipation.
"Can I help, 'touchan?"
"Yeah, come on." Sano patted Megumi's stomach in greeting and walked
into the house.
Megumi sighed again. "That's the only thing he can cook. Fish grilled
over an open fire. I've been eating it for the last week and a half," Megumi
said resignedly. "Ah well.... It'll be good for a summer night."
*****
Kenshin was still worried about Kaoru. She seemed distracted throughout
dinner. Even though she had assured him she was fine, she didn't seem herself.
"Kenshin," Kaoru said in a soft voice as they walked the dirt road to
the dojo.
"What is it?"
"Let's stop here. I want to talk to you." Kaoru had been thinking about
where to make her big announcement to him. It finally hit her as they were
walking towards the dojo. It was perfect.
"I'm going to go ahead to the dojo, okay?" Megumi had pulled him aside
and told him to give them some private time, but Yahiko was not a fool.
He already knew when it was time retreat and let the couple have a bit
of privacy. He had lived with them long enough. Something big was going
to happen. Though he was curious, he was not about to ruin the moment,
whatever it was. They would tell him about it later.
The stars were out, brightly twinkling in the night sky overhead. They
walked down to the edge of the river bank. She looked across the water
at the fireflies flickering, reminding her of the past, encouraging her
about the future. It was a night like this, on the road near here, that
he had left her in the dark to return to wandering. He left her so he could
stop a mad man. That night, Kaoru had cried herself to sleep. She loved
Kenshin so much.
Kenshin stared out at the dark beauty of the water and the lights. He,
too, was reminded of that dark night when he had to say good-bye the one
he loved the most. It still pained him that he had hurt her so much when
he walked off into the darkness.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" His voice broke the silence, the calm of
the night.
"Yes. Kenshin, I love you so much."
Kenshin opened his arms and gathered her close, breathing in her smell,
needing to feel her close to him. "I love you, too. Kaoru, what's wrong?
You looked so preoccupied all through dinner. Are you okay?"
He looked down at her face. Tears?
"Kaoru? What is it?"
"Kenshin...," Kaoru's voice trembled with emotion as she took his hand
and placed it on her stomach. "Kenshin, we're going to have a baby." She
savored the words. They were so easy to say once she did. The tears in
her eyes spilled down her face. Tears of joy. She had to say the words
again. "We're having a baby."
Kenshin's eyes grew big. He gathered her closer and held her tightly
to him. He didn't say anything for a long time.
"Kenshin?"
"I-I love you. Kaoru, I love you so much."
"Kenshin." She turned around to face him.
"Life would not be worth living without you. I'm so happy. I can't tell
you how happy I am." His hands trembled as he touched her face gently,
his finger tips tracing down her cheek to her lips. Then he kissed her,
his lips conveying to her without words how he felt.
They stood for a long time, just holding each other.
