Destiny

Chapter Three

In the morning I woke up in a strong pair of arms. I wondered how I got there or why I was sleeping with one foot over his. Stirring a bit, I found that he was awake. At my questioning look he said, "You were in pain all night and couldn’t sleep with your foot grazing the bed sheets."

I blinked and nodded. "Thank you," I said, moving away slightly so I could sit up properly. "The things I do to myself," I muttered, holding my head.

He moved as well and stood up, stretching a bit. I studied him mischievously and smiled. He did make an interesting sight. I think any man with his height and physique would when shirtless. He had gone to the bathroom when my cell phone rang.

I wondered who would be calling so early in the morning, but then I realized it was already 11 o'clock in the morning. Were we asleep all this time?! I thought, picking the cell phone up. "Hello?"

"Are you asleep?"

Rolling my eyes, I tried to sound serious, but ended up chuckling. "You wish, old man."

"Are you ignoring me?"

Rolling my eyes, I fell back on the bed. "No, but I have been busy."

"Ah, yes! Babies are rather hard to produce these days. All that preserved food can…"

"Oy! Don't talk dirty, you old man!"

chuckled. "I only care about you, dear daughter."

"No, you only want someone else to spoil because I'm too busy."

He let out a sigh. “Is it wrong of me to have someone to spoil? Is it wrong of me to miss you?”

I stopped when I heard that. For a second, I felt like an idiot for saying such a thing because I just realized how lonely he must be feeling right now. "I miss you too, you know."

He cleared his throat, ignoring my comment. I think it made him emotional.  "How are you, ? Is your husband treating you well?"

I thought about that and realized that I was fortunate to have Sanada Genichirou as a husband. He was patient, helpful and gorgeous. The last comment made me smile. "He is one of the best, father," I answered, truthfully.

"I am glad." He coughed.

"I just wanted to say hi and to make sure that everything's alright."

My heart ached. "Thank you and… Father, why don't you come over for dinner? I do want to see you."

"That is kind of you, but I would like to give you and your husband more time to adjust," he said softly. "You two come and visit me next week; I will cook for the both of you."

I laughed. "Please don’t burn the house down."

"I promise," he said, hanging up.

I pressed the ‘end call' button and let out a sigh. It was just then that Sanada walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his shoulders. "Is everything alright?"

"It's fine," I said quietly. "How come we slept in so late?"

"You needed it."

Great, I thought. He just scored more points because he just told me that he was awake and I was asleep. I stood up, holding my cane and went to the bathroom to freshen up.

A while later, I hobbled into the kitchen and saw him there, drinking coffee. "Gen! You're drinking coffee on an empty stomach?! And it's almost noon," I scolded.

"I'll survive."

"It's not healthy," I said, annoyed. "You need juice first thing when you wake up." I walked to the fridge and found it empty. "Damnit! I should've gone to the supermarket yesterday."

"I'm free today; let’s go together."

I looked at him. "That's nice of you."

"I doubt you can push a cart with your cane," he said, reading his newspaper.

How right he was.

~~~

At the supermarket, I stood with my husband in the pasta section, trying to decide which brand to use. I picked up one packet and studied it. "They don't have the brand that I always use," I murmured, reading its contents.

He took it from my hand and shook his head, putting it away. "Let's take this one," he said, picking another one up from the top shelf. "I always use this one."

His statement made me blink as he put the packet into the cart. "You cook?"

"Yes." He started walking, pushing the cart.

I hobbled after him and held his upper arm. "I didn’t know that you cook. How did you learn? What do you cook?"

He looked at me and put an arm around my waist as he used his other hand to push the cart. "My mother was always in and out of the hospital, so Shinichiro and I would take turns cooking. He basically taught me most of it."

Unconsciously I hugged his arm while trying to balance myself. "I'm sorry."

I felt him look down and he gently grazed his lips against my forehead. "Don't be," he said. I wasn't sure if that act was out of pity, reassurance or something else. I wasn't sure at all. Also, I felt bad. They had a mother who was very sick and I never had a mother. Somehow it seems different, but all in all, the situation was the same. We all had to make sacrifices and go through stages without having a mother around. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and tried to lighten the mood. "So, will you cook for me tonight?"

"As long as you don't get used to it."

I chuckled and let go of his arm. "Gen, can we see your mother after the shopping? I feel like visiting her today."

He nodded. "That would be nice."

"I will get some flowers as well," I said, walking to the flower section. "Wait for me, okay?"

I returned a few minutes later, and we both continued shopping. Finally, we checked out our stuff and walked to the car. "That was pleasant."

He nodded and drove to the hospital. At the hospital, he took the flowers from me and helped me walk. We both went straight to his Sanada Nyoko’s room and before announcing our entrance, we saw Shinichiro sitting there, looking very serious. His mother was as serious as he was and she looked like she was scolding him. "Are we intruding?" I whispered to my husband.

"No," he answered, knocking on the door.

They both looked up and Shinichiro smiled, but a frown descended on his face when he noticed me holding a cane. "What did you do now?"

I looked up at him sharply and walked in. "Sanada-sama," I said cheerfully, taking the flowers from Sanada and handing it to her. "I wanted to see you today."

"Thank you, my dear," she said, taking the flowers from me. "You don't need to be so formal with me, call me mother."

I bowed as she gave the flowers to Shinichiro to put in a vase. "Thank you."

"What happened to your foot, my dear?" she asked, staring at my cane.

I looked at her as Sanada sat next to me. "I was just a bit clumsy, don't worry. I am fine."

She looked at me seriously. "You need to be more careful. Heavens forbid if you had been pregnant!”

Pregnant? Pregnant? Why does everyone keep repeating that? What am I? A breeding machine? Oh yes, now I know why they insisted on him getting married, they wanted a grandchild so badly. I wanted to answer her, but I knew anything I said wouldn't be polite. Instead, I looked down.

"I'm going to get coffee for all of us, little sister, want to join me?" Shinichiro interrupted, putting his hand on my shoulder.

" shouldn’t move a lot," Sanada said sternly.

"I'll be fine," I said, standing up as Shinichiro helped me. "Excuse me," I said, bowing.

Awhile later, I found myself sitting opposite him in the mini café of the hospital on the 1^st floor. "Were you rescuing me or yourself?" I asked, as I sipped my juice. 

He grinned, pouring sugar into his coffee and stirring it with a spoon. "I guess the both of us."

I was worried. "Are you alright?" I asked. "You looked so serious inside."

He looked at me seriously and let out a sigh. "I guess you will know sooner or later." He rubbed a hand through his tousled hair. "Aya wants a divorce."

"Oh."

"Exactly,' he said, sipping his coffee. "This is not something new, . We've had this talk before, but now it's serious," he explained, setting his cup down. "Aya really wants to do this because she thinks she's not offering me everything."

I hesitated, but needed to know. "Is this about children, Shin?"

"Yes, as you can see my parents have a major complex about having grandchildren. I guess they're beginning to lose hope because we're both so old." He looked at me, leaning against the chair. "This is Aya's escape."

"But…"

", you should know something. My mother doesn’t like Aya."

I looked down, not expecting him to tell me something like that. "Oh."

"It's complicated and I'm sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable, but this is something we are going to go through with now," he added. "Gen will probably scold me."

"Does he know?"

"He will now," he answered quietly. "That woman probably started complaining the minute we both walked out and heap emotional blackmail on him."

"You're not helping."

Shinichiro laughed, shaking his head. "Don't worry; he's more sensible than that."

"I hope so," I said, drumming my fingers on the table. We conversed a bit more and finally walked back to his mother's room.

~~~

Hours Later

"Let me help," I offered, walking over to Sanada as he chopped some vegetables. He had been busy in the kitchen preparing stuff. If I hadn’t known it was just the two of us, I would think he was preparing a meal for an army.

"No," he said, pushing me slightly away. "Go sit down and read something."

"Come on…"

"No."

“Gen!"

Fortunately for him, the doorbell rang. "Wait here,” he said, going to the door. Out of curiosity, I followed him. I was actually surprised to see  that it was Shinichiro. He was carrying a small overnight bag.

"Aya threw me out," he muttered, embarrassed. "Do you think I can crash here for a few days?"

Sanada Genichirou crossed his arms. "What did you do now? You were fine earlier today."

"Crazy woman," he muttered, walking in. "You're lucky that yours at least thinks with her mind," he said, sitting on the sofa. "It's official now. We've both filed our papers."

"And that leaves you homeless?"

He sighed. "I don't want anything from her," he said quietly, placing his elbows on his knees. "I don't want anything."

I held my husband's upper arm and gave him a worried look. " will stay with you. I'm going to finish making dinner," he said, walking back to the kitchen.

I sat down next to him just as Keigo jumped on the sofa and went to Shinichiro's lap. He plopped himself there and Shinichiro patted his head. "I'm sorry for intruding," he said, glancing at me.

"Oh no, don’t say such a thing," I said, putting my hand on his.

I stayed with him until we were called for dinner. I helped set the table and put everything in place while Sanada went to wash up. I invited Shinichiro, but he said he didn’t want anything. I glared at him. "Shin! Get your ass over here and eat! My husband's been in the kitchen for the last two hours cooking! You’d better eat!"

"Women," he muttered, walking towards me and then sitting down. "You're all the same.'

I smacked his head. "Shut up and eat."

He obliged quietly and started eating. I, on the other hand stared at the food displayed on the table. He had outdone himself by making soup, salad and pasta. I began serving soup and placed it in front of them. I tasted a bit and looked at my husband. "It's very good."

"Thank you."

We ate in peace and were finally done. I was happy to see that everything was eaten. "That was good," I said, picking up the plates.

"Let me clean up," Shinichiro said, taking the plates from me.

"Oh no, you're our guest."

"And you're a hostess with a sprained ankle," he said, pushing me out of the way. "Just go in and relax, we'll handle this."

"But…"

"Listen to him, ," Sanada said firmly.

"Fine!" I snapped. "Why are you two so bossy?!" I demanded, walking out with Keigo at my heels. I looked down at the kitten and realized how well-behaved he was today. "Come here, sweetie," I said, carrying him off the floor and putting him on my lap. "I have neglected you today, no?" I said, scratching him behind his ears.

He purred lovingly.

~~~

Hours later

"Is it alright with you?"

I turned to my husband who was on the bed, reading. He took his eyes off the book and looked at me. "I wasn't sure if you were comfortable with my  brother staying with us."

"Oh," I said. "You don't need to ask me. He's your brother. Of course I'm alright with it."

He put the book aside and turned to me. "Aya is being immature," he said quietly.

I looked at him and smiled. Pushing my arm out, I moved my hand against his hair and moved it off his eyes. I'm sure this was a sign of trust for him to say something like that. "I know they love each other, but sometimes a person can't help it."

He took my hand and held it.

This moment that we were there made me wonder suddenly about a particular incident that hid itself in mind. I don’t why it just surfaced, but he being this close to me reminded me of the impulsive kiss I received from him last night.  "Gen, the other night… Last night, you kissed me," I said, recalling the scene. "You never said anything after that. Was it because of Keigo or because you wanted to do it?"

He let out a sigh and let go of my hand, moving his arms and placing them  under his head. "You always ask the weirdest question."

I smiled and sat up. "We're husband and wife."

"That we are.”

He went quiet after that and I just let it be. I turned to my side again and found him sitting next to me now. He lifted my chin and looked at me seriously. "A stupid kitten will never prompt me to kiss a woman," he said, using a tone of voice I wasn’t familiar with. Before I could say anything, he pulled me closer gently and kissed me lightly.

I wanted to respond, but he moved away. "No," I said, stopping him.

"What is it?"

I touched my lips and blushed. "That… That was fast," I said sheepishly, looking away. "You're not letting me adjust."

He didn’t say anything, but leaned in. I hesitated, but cupped his face gently. "You're making me nervous now." I chuckled, staring up at him. "You really are very handsome."

"Don't… Don't talk like that...”

I laughed when I noticed him blushing. "You're cute," I said softly, putting my arms around his neck. "Can we… Try this together now?"

He looked at me seriously and nodded. "Let's try together now," he said, bending down to kiss me.

~~~

DeVeliCious

Edited by Elenniel