"Alright guys, make sure you get that formative writing assignment in or I will be calling parents," Yumiko said as her 9th grade students packed up to go home while she looked through her papers, standing at her desk.
She was dressed in a white blouse, tucked into a pencil skirt and a long cardigan.
"Oh! Excuse me guys!" Josuke said.
"Sorry Officer Higashikata!" the students exclaimed flooding out of the classroom.
"It's fine! Have a good night!" Josuke said as he stumbled into the now empty classroom and shut the door behind him.
"Josuke, can you open the door, I'm just helping Mr.Kawasaki here and he needs to be able to leave," Yumiko said as she helped one of the students with the success criteria, "alright, so when you write a paragraph response about the book, make sure to go by Topic, point, proof, point, proof, point, proof, comment."
"That seems a little too difficult..." the student said.
"Well how about this, focus on your formative writing for tonight and come see me at lunch tomorrow and we can work through the paragraphs together, ok?" Yumiko suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea," the student replied, smiling.
"Alright, awesome! Have a good night Kawasaki!" Yumiko said as the student packed up and hurried out of the classroom.
"How was your day?" Josuke asked, walking over to Yumiko's desk.
"It was good, I got sick a few times and didn't eat lunch but overall it was good, how was yours?" Yumiko replied, greeting him with a kiss.
"Decent, I couldn't focus on that case today because I was so worried about tonight," Josuke said as he hugged Yumiko from behind as she continued to sort through papers.
"It'll be fine, Cerise will be overjoyed to have someone to complain to and Sakura's going to be excited she has another cousin other than Lincoln, and this time she's the older one," Yumiko explained.
"It's not them I'm worried about, it's Kakyoin."
"Which one? Me, Sakura, Noriaki, or my rarely heard from parents?" Yumiko asked.
"Your brother and parents."
"Oh, yeah I'd say you should be afraid of the two large Sergipano, Japanese men and the feisty Japanese woman," Yumiko said sarcastically.
"Well now I'm scared to meet your parents," Josuke whispered.
"I'm kidding, my dad's going to be super excited, you only have to worry about one large Sergipano, Japanese man and a feisty Japanese woman," Yumiko giggled, "just remember, my dad will want you to call him one of two things, Henrique or dad. I'd say stick with Henrique for a bit before he knows you a bit more, dad seems a bit desperate."
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Yumiko knocked on the door of her brother's home as Josuke fiddled with the tie she made him wear.
"Yumiko!" a large man with reddish hair exclaimed as he threw open the door and pulled Yumiko into his arms.
"Hey dad! It's so good to see you again!" Yumiko exclaimed, hugging her father.
"And who's this strapping young man?"
"Dad, this is my boyfriend Josuke, and Josuke, this is my father Henrique," Yumiko explained.
"Nice to finally meet you!" the man said as he pulled Josuke into a tight hug, making Josuke tense up out of confusion.
"He's a hugger," Yumiko whispered with a quiet giggle.
Once Josuke was free, the three went inside where Yumiko's six year old niece Sakura and three year old nephew Akai ran up to her, hugging her legs.
"Auntie Yumiko, Grandma and Grandpa are here!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Yeah, it's exciting!" Yumiko giggled before an older brunette woman walked to Yumiko with a bright smile on her face.
"Hey mom!" Yumiko exclaimed.
"Hi dear, come on Sakura, mommy needs our help with dinner," the woman said, causing Sakura to run to her and walk back to the kitchen.
"That was my mom Noriko, she's just to the point so she'll talk with us later," Yumiko said as she led Josuke to the kitchen where Cerise, Sakura, and Noriko worked in the kitchen.
"Hi Cerise, how's Minori been?" Yumiko asked, sitting at the table.
"He's been good, Nori has been over protective for the past few weeks though," Cerise giggled, "oh, speaking of Nori, bonjour mon amour," Cerise said as Kakyoin entered the room, stopping in the kitchen to greet his wife and daughter.
"Hello mon amour, hey petit garcon," Kakyoin said as he bent to Cerise's stomach level and pressed a gentle kiss to her bump, "hi mom, dinner smells great!"
"Thank you Noriaki," Noriko replied, continuing to focus on dinner.
Kakyoin took a seat at the kitchen table with Yumiko and Josuke.
"Daddy! You forgot me!" Sakura exclaimed, running to Kakyoin.
"I wouldn't forget you cherry," Kakyoin chuckled, hugging his daughter, "I like your apron."
"Thank you daddy, it has cherries here, and here, and here, and here, and here! But they're not actually cherries because they're actually tiny hearts!" Sakura exclaimed.
"That's awesome Sakura, how about you go help mom and grandma with dinner so I can talk with Auntie Yumiko and Uncle Josuke?" Kakyoin asked.
"Ok!"
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"So we uh, have an announcement to make," Yumiko said, grasping the attention of her family.
"What's up sweetheart?" Henrique asked.
"Well uh, I'm pregnant," Yumiko announced.
"Hey!" Henrique cheered, standing up and hugging Yumiko, "I have a fourth grandchild!"
"And we have a niece or nephew! Congratulations!" Cerise exclaimed.
But Kakyoin and Noriko stayed silent.
"Yumiko, Josuke, come with us," Noriko said standing up from the table and corralling her son, daughter, and Josuke upstairs.
They stood gathered in Minori's nursery in silence.
"What's your plan?" Noriko asked.
"What plan?"
"Well, you're unmarried. Does Josuke acknowledge his paternal role?"
"Yes, we're both very excited mom, we both acknowledge we're the parents of this baby and we intend on keeping that," Yumiko stated.
"Do you have plans to get married any time soon?" Noriko asked.
"No, we've been dating for about 2 years. We have no plans yet."
"Mom, I don't see why it matters if they're happy and both acknowledge their relation to the baby," Kakyoin said.
"I just don't want them to go through the same ridicule I went through Nori," Noriko explained.
"What does that mean mom?" Yumiko asked.
"Well, technically on paper, Noriaki was almost illegitimate, but me and your father got married before he was born. But I was ridiculed by my parents and I don't want the same to happen to you two. Josuke, you seem like a wonderful man who's willing to be a part of this baby's life and my daughter's life too, I just don't want what happened to me to happen to you," Noriko explained.
"Mom, you've already accepted the fact that this is happening, and you support it. You've already changed things," Yumiko said, smiling.
"I guess I have, well congratulations you two, I can't wait to meet the third grandchild," Noriko smiled, hugging her daughter and Josuke.
"Yeah, congratulations to you two, and Josuke.." Kakyoin began.
"Yeah?"
"One wrong step and you're dead," Kakyoin chuckled, causing Yumiko to punch him in the arm.
"You're testing your chances, Noriaki," Yumiko growled.
"Just kidding! Now, let's get back to dinner. I'm sure dad has questions."