Chapter 14:
A few weeks later
Mizuki was currently in Tokyo at Bokuto and Akaashi's apartment. She had just finished practice with her volleyball team when they invited her over for dinner. She accepted their invitation in a heartbeat.
"Do you want red wine, Mizuki-chan?" Akaashi asked from the kitchen.
Mizuki liked how Akaashi called her by her first name. Thanks to her work being at Tokyo, she developed a closeness with them and considered them her wise, older brothers.
"Sure," She responded as she played with Kaito and Kenji on the living room floor, "I'd drink the whole bottle if I could."
"Why's that?" Bokuto laughed, joining her and his twin sons.
"I've been feeling off lately," Mizuki admitted shyly, "You should've seen me at practice earlier... I missed half of Kojima-san's sets..."
"Is it because you're over-exerting yourself again?" Akaashi shook his head as he made his way to them.
He placed the glass of red wine on the coffee table and sat down beside them. Kaito crawled to him and he affectionately hugged his son. Mizuki felt pangs of sorrow but decided to ignore it. She didn't think that she wanted a baby that badly but seeing Bokuto and Akaashi laughing with their sons only further strengthened it.
"No... I don't think so..." She murmured, "I guess I just miss Kei."
"Yeah..." Bokuto pouted, "It can't be easy being away from him for weeks at a time."
"We usually take turns driving and visiting each other on the weekends but we've both been so busy that we haven't had the time to do that lately..." Mizuki mumbled softly.
They stared at her sympathetically and that was when she panicked - she didn't want to unload all her problems on them. They were supposed to be having a nice dinner after all.
"Ah! Sorry..." She exclaimed in a panic, "I didn't mean to be all negative!"
"Don't be sorry!" Bokuto frowned as he crossed his arms, "I can't even imagine being away from Keiji!"
"Stop..." Akaashi blushed, clearly flustered.
Mizuki laughed softly as Bokuto leaned over to swiftly kiss his husband's cheek. After gently pushing him away in embarrassment, Akaashi cleared his throat.
"How is Tsukishima?" He asked, "He sent me a copy of his dissertation and wanted me to read it for suggestions. I don't think he knows that I know nothing about what he's researching and studying."
"He's alright," She answered, "A little stressed but good."
"Why's he stressed?" Bokuto raised an eyebrow curiously.
She paused, unsure of how she should answer him. She didn't want to lie to them as they were her good friends. She knew that Kei was stressed because of their baby situation, as well as his studies, work, and family issues.
"Uh..."
Before she could say anything else or even drink her wine, an unsettling sensation bubbled at the pit of her stomach. She suddenly felt lightheaded and clammy, and she felt sick.
"Excuse me..." She managed to say, jolting up to sprint to the bathroom.
Mizuki refused to throw up on Bokuto and Akaashi's living room floor - that would be so humiliating. She flung the door open and stumbled onto the cold tiles. Mizuki faced the toilet and prepared herself for the unexpected disturbance in her stomach.
"Mizuki-chan..." Akaashi peeked into the bathroom worriedly, "Are you alright...?"
"Should I call an ambulance?!" Bokuto exclaimed, clearly distressed.
"I'm... I'm fine..." Mizuki murmured weakly, "Sorry..."
"Do you think it was the chicken we ate earlier?" Akaashi grimaced, "I hope I didn't undercook it and made you sick..."
"No, that's not it," She shook her head, hoping that her nausea would disappear, "The chicken parmesan that you made earlier was delicious..."
"Can we get you anything?" Bokuto asked anxiously.
"The last time I threw up, the doctor told me that my symptoms were due to exhaustion..." Mizuki smiled meekly, "I think I should just go home and rest before I get really sick..."
The couple nodded sympathetically and after a few minutes of rest, Mizuki said goodbye and left their house. She managed to drive herself home without a problem but she still felt like her stomach was being pummeled by some unknown force. She trudged up the stairs to her apartment and when she entered, she sat down on the couch tiredly.
Mizuki sighed and checked the time. 8:30 pm.
She wanted to call her husband so that she could hear his voice before going to sleep. She stood up and made her way to the bedroom. She could fall asleep any moment now but a nagging voice inside her head kept her awake.
Nausea is a symptom of pregnancy.
She swallowed nervously, careful not to let her thoughts escalate. She didn't want to get her hopes up because it would only hurt and disappoint her to know that she wasn't pregnant again. Despite her concerns, she opened the bedside table which had several, unopened boxes of pregnancy tests hidden inside.
Mizuki shook her head, refusing to cave into her increasing curiosity.
She wasn't pregnant.
She couldn't be.
~
A few days later
Kei was finally able to drive down and visit Mizuki in Tokyo. He finished up with all the things he needed to complete for school and took the weekend off work and volleyball to see her. As he approached the city, he stopped by a quaint bakery to buy some cheesecake for Mizuki and a strawberry shortcake for himself. He also went to a nearby shop to purchase some sushi and sake for dinner.
He couldn't wait to see his wife. He felt awful that he couldn't be with her especially because of how gloomy she'd been lately. He didn't know how difficult it would be to have a baby so he wanted to support and be there for Mizuki as much as he could. Eventually, Kei reached their apartment and as he parked his car, he noticed a couple who were laughing and having fun with their baby. They were smothering their baby with kisses and Kei couldn't help but be a little envious of what they had.
He exited his car and jogged up the stairs to get to their apartment. He opened the door and was instantly greeted by Mizuki leaping up and hugging him tightly.
"Kei!"
"Hey..." He smirked, embracing her, "Miss me?"
"You have no idea." She grinned.
After a quick kiss, he placed the sushi, cake, and sake that he bought on the kitchen counter.
"My brother says hi," He murmured, "Haru and Koji say they miss you."
"I miss them too..." She pouted.
Kei strolled over to Mizuki and intertwined his hand with hers.
"I got us some sake." He chimed in.
"Oh? Alcohol?" She smiled subtly, "What for?"
"To celebrate the fact that we finally get to spend some quality time together." He squeezed her hand tenderly and smiled.
"You're adorable, you know that?" Mizuki laughed affectionately, "I can't though."
Kei raised an eyebrow curiously and said, "Can't what?"
"I can't drink sake." She stated, causing him to furrow his eyebrows in confusion.
"Why?"
Mizuki tugged his hand and urged for him to follow her to their bedroom. He followed behind her quietly, a bit perplexed as to why she refused to drink sake.
"I have a gift for you." She declared casually.
"What's the occasion?" He teased. He couldn't help but be a little nervous and excited at the same time.
"Close your eyes." Mizuki grinned.
"Okay..."
Kei did as he was told and he heard her shuffling around the room a bit.
"Okay, you can look now!" She exclaimed breathlessly.
Kei opened his eyes to find Mizuki wearing a white shirt that had a green, pterodactyl cartoon drawing on the center of it. If he was being honest, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to react. It was just a shirt.
"You like my new shirt?" She asked, smirking.
"It's..." He trailed off, clearing his throat, "Nice?"
"Thank you!" Mizuki beamed, "I got you a matching one too."
His face drained in pure horror - he absolutely hated matching couple sets like pajamas, shirts, and mugs. He loved his wife immensely but he would rather die than wear matching shirts in public. Mizuki knew that he hated things like this so he didn't know why she was so happy about it. She gave him his shirt (which was irritatedly identical) and he stared at it with disgust.
"Please don't make me wear this." Kei mumbled.
"But we'd look so cute!" She smiled slyly.
"Please..." He held out the shirt and cringed, "I'm sorry if I made you upset in any way. If this is some sort of punishment, I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you."
"There's more..." She giggled.
Kei sighed tiredly - what did he do to deserve this?
Mizuki held out a tiny shirt in front of him, puzzling him even more. It had the same design as the other two shirts she showed him except for the fact that it seemed like it was made for a baby. Kei took a few seconds to process his jumbled-up thoughts. He looked at her shirt, his shirt, and finally, back at the tiny shirt. He did this a few more times before he finally realized what it all meant.
"Mizuki..." He held his breath, his body trembling from anticipation, "Are you saying what I think you're saying...?"
"I'm pregnant, Kei..." Mizuki revealed, her face lighting up with delight, "We're going to have a baby."
He stared at her in disbelief. They were going to have a baby.
Without warning, Kei lifted her up and twirled her around, causing Mizuki to laugh elatedly. He laughed with her, pulling her into an affectionate embrace afterward.
"We're going to have a baby." Kei stated, feeling his heart swell with exhilaration.
"Yeah!" She grinned.
"We're going to have a baby!" Kei repeated once more, causing her to nod excitedly.
That night, Mizuki opted out of the alcoholic beverage and decided to drink some water instead. Kei also decided that matching sets like pajamas, shirts, and mugs weren't so bad.
Once their baby came into their world, he would wear a million matching sets in a heartbeat.