Thanks to Dagger for the initial beta of this chapter! ^.^


My Gift To You
Chapter 3: Matsu-nee
Mandy "Seifergrrl" Lever



Momiji was warm, comfy, and happy.

But the phone was ringing.

Momiji was warm, comfy and happy.

But the phone kept ringing. It didn�t seem to grasp that she was quite 
possibly in the best place in the world to be; in the loose circle of her 
husbands arms, basking in the afterglow of much needed lovemaking, 
affirmation of affection, and the fact that her worst fear had not be 
realized: Kusanagi had not once suggested they terminate the pregnancy.

The phone kept ringing!

Finally, she slid out of Kusanagi�s embrace, and clumsily grabbed the 
portable phone at their bedside from its cradle. She sat up, lifting the 
phone to her head, and then idly realized she had it upside down. Righting 
it, she stood up and whispered, �Moshi-moshi,� into the receiver.

�Momiji-chan?�

Momiji refrained from answering further until she was in her robe and out 
the bedroom door, walking down the hall toward the stairs.

�Yes? Matsu-nee, is that you?�

�Yes, yes, Momiji-chan. Did I disturb you?�

A tiny smile crept onto to Momiji�s face as she replied, �Oh, no.� Perhaps 
a few hours earlier the phone call would have been an undue interruption, 
but not now.

�Good, good,� Matsudeira�s tone was pleasant, but held a single note of 
trepidation as she pushed on to ask, �Did you speak to your husband?�

�Yes,� Momiji replied.

�And�?�

�He�� She took a breath, and slowly began, �He�s scared, Matsu-nee.�

�I don�t blame him, to be honest with you,� Matsudeira said gently. 
�Parenthood is a frightening thing, Momiji. I was a nervous wreck when I 
was pregnant with Jun. But for Kusanagi, it�s probably more so.�

�I know, I know�� Momiji tried not to sigh into the phone.

�But you wanted him to be happy.�

�Yes.�

�That�s not a bad thing, Momiji. But I don�t think I need to lecture you on 
how to work with your husband,� her tone turned wry,  knowing well her own 
failures as a wife and mother, �after all, I�m hardly one to give advice on 
martial matters.�

�Matsu-nee is a very good mother,� Momiji protested.

�Ah, ah, we�re digressing,� Matsudeira�s voice sounded amused, but she 
apparently had business on this call. �I wanted to ask you some questions, 
Momiji. What do you intend to do now?�

Momiji�s expression crumpled slightly and she admitted with hesitance, �I 
hadn�t really thought that far ahead.�

Matsudeira�s voice, more then her words, said that she had.  �I was 
wondering if you might come back into Tokyo. Both you and Kusanagi.�

�Tokyo? But why?�

�Momiji, your pregnancy is completely unique,� Matsudeira reminded her, 
though there was no small amount of concern to her tone. �And there is not 
a single doctor in Izumo who can handle your pregnancy. I want to make sure 
you deliver the healthiest, happiest child you can... but I can�t do it in 
Izumo. However, we have the TAC facilities��

�TAC? But, that�d be like...�

�Like what?�

�Like� when I was Kushinada.� Momiji�s voice dropped, and she added in a 
hushed whisper, �Kusanagi won�t like it. He�ll be suspicious.�

Matsudeira�s answer was firm, �Then he can come to me, and ask me, as a 
father to a mother, if I plan on experimenting on his child. My answer to 
you and to him will be �no�.� But then her voice gentled, and she said, �I 
know this will be hard for you both, for so many reasons, but I do want to 
help, Momiji-chan. But I can�t help you in Izumo. I can help you here, in 
Tokyo.�

Momiji sighed softly, defeated by the doctor�s logic. �Alright. I�ll talk 
to him about it tonight, and call you back. Will that be okay?�

�Yes. But I�d like to have you back within the week. If possible, I�d like 
to arrange for you to stay with the Kunikida family for a while.�

�I haven�t told them yet!�

There was a brief pause, and some papers shuffled in the background, �I 
already have, Momiji-chan.�

�Matsu-nee!� Momiji struggled to keep her voice down, but couldn�t hide her 
hurt. �That was my news to break!�

�I know, but I wanted them to be prepared, Momiji, as well as discuss 
possible avenues for your stay in Tokyo.�

�You sound like it�s already decided,� Momiji said sourly.

�I think once you and Kusanagi think about what I�ve said, you�ll see eye 
to eye with me,� Matsudeira said with conviction. �I await your reply, 
alright?�

�Yeah. Thank you, Matsu-nee.�

�Not at all. Good luck, Momiji-chan!�

�Thank you! Good bye!�

Momiji clicked the phone off as Matsudeira hung up, and then let her hands 
dangle between her knees.

�Mou!� she said aloud, before heaving a sigh. She didn�t want to talk to 
Kusanagi about this. She knew how he felt about Matsudeira; their respect 
for each other was a tentative thing at best, and relied heavily on 
Momiji�s willingness to put up with Matsudeira�s experimentation when she 
was the Kushinada under the protection of the TAC, and the fact that 
Matsudeira did not treat her as an object, but a person.

Brow furrowe in thought, Momiji didn�t hear the footsteps on the floor 
behind her.

�Who was on the phone?�

Momiji jumped slightly at she heard her husband�s voice behind her, and 
glanced back over her shoulder. He�d climbed into his shorts and staggered 
out of their bedroom, looking content if a little bewildered.

�And why did you leave the nice warm bed all cold to get up and answer 
it?�  he added as he sat down behind her, extending his long legs to either 
side of hers. He encircled her waist with his arms, and then rested his 
cheek against her hair.

�Well, I was sort of expecting the call,� Momiji answered, as she nestled 
back into Kusanagi�s warm embrace. �It was Matsu-nee,� she began slowly, 
testing the waters with the woman�s name.

Kusanagi seemed calm, nodding once.

�She� wants us to come back to Tokyo,� she ventured slowly at first, before 
the words burst forth in a nervous rush. �She says it�s better if we come 
in to Tokyo and stay with the Kunikidas and be close to the facilities they 
can use and�

�Okay.�

She stopped mid ramble.

�Okay?�

�Yeah,� Kusanagi replied with a nod. �I� I sort of figured�� he shrugged 
his shoulders slightly, and then tightened his arms around her. �When you 
said she did the test, I knew she�d ask for us to come back.�

He didn�t sound thrilled, but it was a better reaction then she really 
could have hoped for. He wasn�t putting up a fuss or a fight, and he�d yet 
to make any warnings or threats.

�Thank you,� she said.

�Do the Kunikidas know?� he asked after a moment�s quiet.

�Yeah,� she replied. �Matsu-nee told them,� she explained, laying her hand 
over his. �She wanted to be sure we had a place.�

�Are they going to complain if we have lots of noisy sex?� he asked with a 
slight grin, and took the elbow to her ribs that was her reply without so 
much as a grunt.

�Shall I make the arrangements?� she asked, as she began to extricate 
herself from the circle of his arms.

�Yeah,� Kusanagi replied. �It�s fine.� He let her go, and then stood up 
once she went down the stairs.

�Should we go Kusanagi Air, and have our things shipped in?� Momiji asked 
with a slight grin, only to have it fade when he shook his head.

�I�d rather drive,� he said with a weak smile. �Something goes wrong and I 
drop not one, but two Kusanagi women, and I don�t think I�d be up for 
husband or father of the year awards.� His point made, he cleared the 
stairs to catch her, kiss her briefly, and then said, �But don�t worry. 
We�ll fly again soon.�

She nodded once, and then said, �I�ll call Matsu-nee, to tell her we�re 
decided, and then call the Kunikidas.�

�I�ll go down to the post office to put a hold on our mail,� Kusanagi 
replied, heading back upstairs. �After a shower,� he added with a slight 
smirk, reaching out to catch his wife�s hand. �Together?�

�Okay,� she laughed.

It was good to still be young and in love, she decided as he tugged her up 
the stairs, back to their room. It wasn�t easy, sometimes, but there were 
definite benefits to meeting the man of your dreams before the age of 
twenty, that was certain!



             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'