bigger family

Chapter 3

When Anri hears a knock at the door, she still hasn't managed to get Shinkei to stop crying, despite trying everything Celty has listed. Opening the door, she nearly cries with relief to see Erika, Kadota, Walker, and Saburo all there. She hadn't thought about the others tagging along when she'd initially called Erika, and when Erika had said "we", she'd felt a little guilty knowing that they were all getting dragged into this, but now she can't help but feel glad that she has more hands to help out.

"Alright, so what's the problem?" asks Erika, as if the wailing child isn't a dead giveaway. The four of them step into the apartment, and Anri explains everything she's done and that none of it has worked.

"Are you sure having a bunch of strangers over like this isn't going to make it worse?" asks Kadota. "I mean, maybe she's just nervous cos she's not used to being around you."

"I'm sorry," Anri says softly, and no one is sure if she's saying it to him or to the baby.

"You said her name was Shinkei, right?" asks Erika and Anri nods. "How about you let me hold her for a little bit?" The younger girl looks so relieved to hand Shinkei off that Erika feels a stab of pity for her.

"We've got lots of stuff to try and cheer her up!" Walker says, grinning, and at Anri's nervous expression, Kadota is quick to reassure her.

"Nothing flammable. I made sure of that." She breathes a sigh of relief that she hadn't realized she was holding back.

"Aw, come on, Dotachin," Erika says, raising her voice over the increasing volume of Shinkei's wailing, "you know he's not stupid enough to bring that around a baby!" She doesn't seem to be having much luck herself as she bounces the baby in her arms, and finally, Saburo steps in and offers to hold her for a little bit.

"Has anyone tried singing anything to her?" he asks. When he's met with silence, he sighs and says, "Well, then, I guess that's what I'll try." He sits down on the couch, cradling her, and clears his throat, his cheeks slightly pink from embarrassment. Still, he follows through on his promise, and begins singing quietly, barely even audible over the sound of the crying.

Even so, it seems to be having an effect, and Shinkei gets quieter and quieter, until she's only fussing slightly. With the room slightly quieter, the others can clearly make out the song he's singing, and Erika and Walker brighten considerably.

"Hey, isn't that one of Ruri Hijiribe's songs?" Walker asks.

"What kind of question is that?" replies Erika. "Of course it is, I sang it in karaoke just last week!" The two of them stand behind the couch, craning their necks to look over Saburo's shoulders as they join him, and the three voices actually work well enough together that Shinkei quiets down altogether.

"There," says Kadota, "at least we got her to calm down, huh?"

"Thank you so much," Anri says. "I'm sorry I had to bother you all, but I really don't have any experience babysitting, and Celty really needed my help..."

"It's no bother at all!" he replies. "We're all friends, and I don't mind giving you or Celty a hand with anything. And I know these guys feel the same way. None of us were busy today, so it's really not a problem at all."

Anri smiles and then turns her attention back to the singing trio, and for a while, she and Kadota quietly watch their friends singing until Saburo starts a song that Erika and Walker don't know. Once he realizes that they aren't singing along with him, he stops suddenly, blushing, and stammers, "W-well, does anyone else want to hold her? Now that she's calm, I mean?"

"You should hold her, Dotachin!" says Erika. "You've got that whole fatherly air about you!"

"Yeah, yeah," Walker agrees. "You're that big brother type!"

"I have no idea what either one of you are going on about," he mutters, but he sits down next to Saburo and lets his friend pass the baby to him. To Anri's surprise, it seems immediately natural, and Kadota smiles warmly at Shinkei and holds a finger close to her face that she reaches for and tugs at.

"Oh wow," Erika breathes, "just look at the two of them."

"Even babies think he's cool," Walker says. Anri can't help giggling at the two of them, feeling at ease for the first time since Celty called her. The rest of the afternoon goes rather smoothly for them, and between the five of them, they're able to follow all of the instructions left and keep Shinkei from getting too terribly upset again.

At some point, Erika had snatched Kadota's hat, and it droops on Shinkei's head, falling over her eyes whenever she moves too much. She seems to absolutely love it, however, and he isn't sure he's going to be able to bring himself to take it from her when it's time for them to leave. Walker pulls out the DVDs he brought along, claiming that he's got the perfect anime to start her out on, and he and Walker take turns holding her and pushing the hat out of her eyes while they watch a slice-of-life comedy. Despite themselves, Anri, Kadota, and Saburo get wrapped up in it as well.

Eventually, the door opens and Shinra calls out, "Anri, are you still here?" He steps into the room and says, "Oh, hey, guys. I didn't know you were here too."

Anri rises quickly and says, "I'm sorry, I invited them over. I hope that's okay. I just didn't know...I mean...Celty asked me to look after the baby, but I needed a little help..."

"Aw, that's fine, Anri," replies Shinra, smiling. "I still really appreciate you coming over like this, and I'm sure Celty does to. Come to think of...maybe I shouldn't have left her by herself either..." He looks thoughtful for a moment before catching sight of the television, and before long, he's watching as well, his little sister sitting in his arms. The five guests make no mention of when they're going to leave, and when Celty returns home, she's surprised to see how many people are in her apartment.

Anri goes through the motions of apologizing to her as well, but Celty cuts her short with a message that reads, " Please, don't worry about it. I should be the one apologizing to you! I wasn't sure what to do with her either, and it wasn't really fair of me to pawn her off on you like that. "

"No, no! I'm always happy to help," she says, "and it was actually really fun once they got here, so don't feel bad..."

And so, Celty joins the others, and the seven of them make Walker and Erika's evening by watching their anime all the way through the first season, and by the time they've begun the second season, Shingen and Emilia arrive to pick up their daughter. Instead, they end up staying for a while, and everyone has dinner together as they marathon the show into the night.