Tender Days
She should have realised something is not quite right when the sound of alarm wake her up and she found the other side of the bed empty. The leftover warmth on the sheet and the gentle voice of a running water coming from the bathroom are what makes her sure that the person she has in mind did, in fact, came home last night.
When she noticed the current day from the calendar on the bedside table, her mind think of the possibility of the person she’s looking for is already bringing the kids inside the bathroom to take bath together, something that the person been doing quite often to save time on helping them one by one.
“Maiyan, are the kids with you?” She asked, loud enough for the one behind the door to hear.
However, instead of a coherent answer, all she can hear was some coughing. Feeling worried she pushed open the door that wasn’t locked. Finding Shiraishi Mai standing there, hands gripping the side of the sinks white marble bowl, head ducked down, and messy hair covering the side of her face.
“Are you okay?” She approached the slightly taller person, placing her right hand on top of Mai’s and froze a little when she found it cold and clammy. Mai has been whining about feeling not well for the past two days, but she had sort of ignored woman as Mai herself was still mostly out working and she got three daughters to take care of. Even last night Mai was out having a deal sign meeting until quite late. “you’re really cold.”
“Well, that explains why I feel like about to die soon,” Mai's voice came out a bit hoarse. “Nanase, can you please help to get the kids ready? I’ll do your turn the next time.”
Albeit her nods, she’s still hesitant. Her finger grazed the ring on the woman’s finger. One that has become an oath of their relationship. “Don’t worry about that. Do you need me to notify Sayurin to let you have a rest day today?”
Somehow the woman stubbornly shook her head, “no, I need to watch over the song composer today. Make sure they’re not messing up my work. I’ll just call up a doctor to check up on me in between.”
Nishino Nanase has sort of expected that kind of answer from the other woman. She was about to give a bit of argument, thinking that maybe the wife would listen to her about how the reason her health is going downhill is that of the non-stop work. But before she could say anything loud thunder sounds blared through the house, basically leaving a buzzing after sound in her ear after it’s over.
Soon enough she can hear a screaming sound, followed by a loud crying.
So much for a peaceful day.
“I’ll be back, just- get some rest.” She leaned closer to give a kiss on the side of the woman’s head.
“Let’s just hope I’ll still be breathing by then.”
Nanase rolled her eyes and took a step away from Mai, “you’ll be fine.”
Swiftly Nanase made her way to another room that basically located next to her, her two youngest daughters are still on their respective bed. One is hiding underneath her pink blanket, while the older one is crouching on the bed with hands covering her ears.
“It’s just thunder, nothing to worry about-” she slowly lifted the end of the blanket to reveal her youngest there, hugging the goat plushie that the little girl likes so much. However, once she saw her mother, the three years old quickly abandoned the fury doll to hug the adult instead. Nanase gives her a quick kiss on the top of the girl’s head before picking her up and moved to the other bed where the older sister is.
“I hate thunder,” the other one said, both hands are still covering her ears as she looked up to meet her mother eyes.
Nanase runs her finger along the girls back to calm her down, “hmm… but I think because of this thunder Momoko can stay at home and play today.”
Momoko frowns, “but I want to go to school. I and Zukki are going to take over the slide today.”
“Zukki, huh? I thought you hate her for keep running after you and make you tired,” Nanase raised her eyebrows at the name, reminiscing on the not so distant memory where she had arranged a playdate between her daughter and her best friends which ended up with her 5 years old crying.
Momoko averted her eyes shyly, “I guess she’s not that bad.”
“Well then- I’m happy that you can get along with her,” she smiled. “Now do you want to jump your Nee-chan awake?”
Yuki- her youngest smile widely, seemingly excited at the thought. “Let’s!”
However, Momoko doesn’t budge, the girl instead pulled Nanase’s pajama sleeve a couple of times, “Okaa-san hasn’t given me a morning kiss.”
Nanase chuckled, before leaning forward and press her lips into the girl’s head for a couple of seconds. She wondered whether the girl will forever demand this kind of attention or will she turned like the oldest child of the family, who will frown in disgust whenever her or Mai tried to kiss or hug her.
She opened the next door for her two daughters to come in, chuckling slightly as she observes how her oldest gave an irritated groan when her two younger sisters started to jump into the bed and shake her awake.
“Why do you wake me? I don’t have school today because of the storm,” she trashed around the bed, giving her mother an annoyed look.
For a moment, Nanase was distracted because of some clanking sounds coming from the kitchen. She came closer to the curtain, sliding it to the side so she can see the window that shows the dark grey sky outside. “I will call your school to confirm that. Also, school or not you still have to eat your breakfast.”
Nanase swore she can see the ten years old eyes shine at the mention of breakfast and despite how reluctant the girl was to get out from the warmth of the bed, she quickly jumped out and walk past where Nanase is, her two younger sisters tails behind her. Yuki was shaking her head comically and shrugged, giving a look at her mother, “that’s Erika for you.”
Nanase laughed, loving how it seems like the girl has developed a good sense of humour that her wife possessed.
To tell the truth, she would never think that she’s a family kind of person. When she was young she always hates getting tasked to watch over her younger cousin, always choosing not to bother with children as she has always confused about what to do if they ever break into crying mode. But Shiraishi Mai changed her perception of them, she had shown Nanase that being a parent is a wonderful thing. The three daughters have become the greatest gift she has ever given to Nanase and the joy the couple gained from them is unmeasurable.
Nanase hummed happily as she made the bed, going from room to room before finishing at her own. Reaching for her phone message as soon as she’s done, making sure that the school is really cancelled for the day. One thing that she hadn’t realised before is how severe the storm is going to be, some people have sent her a text to check up on her condition, even her mom has basically sent a message containing a little prayer that everything will be okay.
That aside the old woman had also mentioned how Nanase hasn’t been calling her lately and she misses her granddaughters, this makes the woman feels a bit guilty.
Even though she’s working from home, Nanase is always occupied every single day. The animation studio that employs her seems to never have a shortage of projects. To add to that, her wife is even busier, as a famed lyricist, she is always out there somewhere making contracts and meeting famous people. Is getting even crazier now that a famous American singer has chosen her to write the lyrics for a Japanese album.
Glancing at the calendar once more she wonders if her wife will have a bit of time after she finishes her current deal, she thinks that it’s probably a good idea to visit both of their parents with the kids. Probably spend a weekend in each place.
Another lightning strike distracts her focus for a moment. Realising that probably needs her help, Nanase quickly finishes the task in her hand and walked out from the room. She hasn’t even taken 3 steps away from the door when Momoko came running towards her with tears.
“I think mama is going to die,” she sobbed.
Raising her eyebrows Nanase kneels so she can meet the eye of the five years old. “No, she’s just not feeling well, she’ll be fine in no time.”
“This is all momo-nee fault, she was so annoying so mama’s head hurting,” the youngest child approaches them with a judging look.
“Yuki, don’t say that. It’s no one fault, okay?”
“bUT-”
Nanase’s give the small girl a look, one that she gave to her children only when they’re about to get in a big trouble and that pretty much stop the girl from continuing her sentence. Her two youngest daughters often argue about a lot of things, this is probably because of their close age gap. This most often caused by really simple things like who is the quickest in taking bath, who will sit near the window of the car, even they can fight just from trying to be the one who helps the adult.
As if to make situation worsen, the electricity is suddenly taken out, leaving the family inside a darkness. Momoko’s crying got even worse, “Okaa-san, they’re really going to take mama.”
Nanase wanted to laugh at the young girl imagination, but somehow able to stop herself. After adjusting her eyes to the darkness, she reached for her youngest children to keep her close. One hand is still keeping a secure hug on the one crying. “This is just because of the storm, sweetie.”
Gently she led the girls towards the dining table, moving towards the curtain to slide it open so the daylights can come inside the room. Her eyes found Erika, who’s giving her a concerned look, the girl is standing next to Mai who sits in one of the 6 chairs head buried inside folded arm on the table.
“Mama is sick,” Erika said, her small hand grasping the sitting woman’s arm in a comforting manner.
“She will be better after some rest, you can finish your breakfast, Erika. I will take care of her,” Nanase ruffled the girl’s head, ushering her towards another chair where the girl usually sits. “Momoko and Yuki too.”
The three daughters nodded, eyes still staring at her as they try to finish what’s left of their breakfast. Nanase shook Mai gently “I think you should go back to bed.”
“Give me a moment, it seems like the world is spinning whenever I move.”
Nanase raised her eyebrows, her hand wiping the woman’s hair behind so she can see the face clearly. Starting to get worried when she noticed how pale the woman is. “I’ll call Maimai and see if she’s home, maybe she can come and check up on you. Also, no work, you will end up giving trouble for everyone if you go out there in this condition plus the weather is also bad anyway I’m pretty sure no one is out today.”
Nanase hand fished the phone from her sweatpants pocket, dialling the contact quickly as she made her way to the kitchen. Turning on the loudspeaker and place it down the counter as she started to check the fridge to see if there’s anything that could help the girl.
‘Naa-chan, good morning,’ comes the reply from the phone.
Nanase silently thank the coincidence when she found an apple cranberry muffin stored in the fridge, “Maimai are you home now?”
‘No, I am spending the day in the hospital. Will take care of the patients until the storm pass, we are quite short on people because of the weather. Is everything alright?’
“Yes, I think so, it’s just Mai isn’t feeling well. She looks like she’s about to faint,” Nanase continues to describe what she can notice to the doctor on the line as she waited for the muffin to be heated.
‘She’s probably too tired, just make sure she is not dehydrated and get her something sweet and soft to eat. I’ll have Nanamin deliver a fever medicine for her because I feel like she’s about to heat up sooner or later. Just have her eat a tablet after eating. I’ll come by and check up on her as soon as my work ends but do let me know if she starts vomiting or if something else starts to happen okay?’
Nanase nodded, realising that the person couldn’t actually see the confirmation gesture via phone call she quickly speaks up, “I will, thank you so much Maimai.”
‘It’s totally fine, also Nanamin can help you with the children for the day. She’s home and totally free to help.’
Nanase was about to turn down the offer, not wanting to bother the other family when Erika started to shout. “SAY YES PLEASE.”
Possibly hearing that from the phone, the person on call laughed softly.
“I think probably just Erika. Yuki and Momo will only bring more trouble for Nanamin.”
‘I’ll let Nanamin know then. Take care, Naa-chan.’
“Thanks, Maimai,” she said before ending the call. Shoving the device back into her pocket before reaching for the plate in the cupboard, placing the warm muffin on the white plate and grabbed a glass of water.
She served the dish in front of her wife, who doesn’t seem to have move at all. Gently she runs her fingers along the woman’s hair, “Mai, please try to eat a bit.”
Slowly Mai lifted her head, looking at the food in front of her blankly before grabbing the small fork near her hand. Albeit seeming really disinterested, the older woman put a piece of the soft bread inside her mouth, chewing it in a painstakingly slowly movement.
Nanase averted her focus to Erika, who seems to be inspecting her mother as well. “Erika, if you want to go hang out with Asuka and Miona you better take a bath now.”
The oldest daughter mood seems to lighten a bit as she quickly put her empty plate to the sink before doing a half dashed towards the bathroom.
Nanase checks on the plate in front of her two other daughters, Momoko has finished her stuff while Yuki seems to be playing around with it. Leaving Mai side once more, she gathered all the empty plates and stack them inside the sink. “Yuki, please eat your food.”
“I’m eating it!” the young girl replied in annoyance, gulping down a spoonful of her porridge as if to prove her statement.
Nanase stood next to the small girl, meeting her straight to the eye so the girl will understand how serious the words that she’s about to say. “Look, you’re sad that your mama is sick right? She will be feeling much better if Yuki eats her food properly, so I really hope you can finish your food instead of sneakily pouring it out of the drain”
The young girl looks at the adult sitting across of her before hesitantly nodded, “okay. I promise.”
“Good girl, let me know when you’re done okay.”
The small girl nodded once more, starting to seriously eat the food in front of her.
Nanase slides a chair next to Mai, grabbing a bowl of porridge herself and start eating, one of her hand is navigating through her phone while her eyes check on the one next to her every several seconds.
“Are you feeling nauseous?”
Mai shook her head, “it’s just the food feels bland.”
Nanase put down her phone and hold out her hand to touch the other’s cheek. “Maimai is right, you’re heating up. How long have you been feeling unwell?”
“I don’t know, I… have been feeling under the weather the past couple of days but not really this bad.” Mai leaned to Nanase’s touch, lips curled into a small smile when she founds it comforting. Suddenly she jolted up and say, “what if I am having one of those mosquito fevers that Sayurin caught the last time she was in Bali?!”
Nanase rolled her eyes, “you’ll be fine. That was a tropical thing anyway so pretty much impossible for you to catch one unless you had somehow sneak out on a secret vacation.”
Mai nodded, seemingly trying to believe the words that her spouse had said, giving an assuring smile when she caught the eyes of Momoko who steal glances at the pair. The girl quickly averted her eyes back to the iPad on her hands when she met her mother’s eye.
The electricity is already come back on when Nanase finished her food and soon after Yuki had followed, moving her empty plates to the middle of the table towards where the parents sat as if showing them the proof. However, Mai is still struggling to shove the soft muffin into her mouth. “Will you be mad if I can’t finish this?”
“It’s fine, you can always eat little by little. You should get back to bed, I’ll clean up the dishes and get the kids to the bath.”
Mai nodded, slowly standing up from the chair and starting to make her way back to their bedroom. Nanase silently watches, making sure the older woman actually reached the bed before continuing her chores which basically consists of cleaning up the dishes and selecting the outfits for her daughters to wear for the day, she was making sure that Erika is dressed appropriately when the door-bell rang.
“That must be Nanamin,” the youngest daughter said cheerfully before dashing straight to the front door. Nanase chuckled, reminding herself that she needs to tell the daughter to start addressing the guest properly considering that she’s a mature adult around Nanase and Mai age.
After picking up the clothes for her two youngest daughters she entered her bedroom and found the guest there, sitting near Mai who is sitting on the bed, back propped with pillows.
“Naa-chan,” the woman greeted her with a smile.
“Nanamin, thank you for coming and also for agreeing to take care of Erika for today.” Nanase gives the woman a quick hug.
“It’s better when Erika-chan is there anyway. Ashuu and Miona do nothing but fights all day if there aren’t any other kids around them.” The Hokkaido born chuckled. “Also, don’t hesitate to let me know when your wife is being troublesome like she’s now. I am always available to knock some sense into her workaholic ass.”
Nanase laughed when she saw Mai jokingly punch the side of the guest’s body after the statement.
“Well, now that it’s all settled. I need to go back home before the kids burn this entire tower to the ground, let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“Will do, again, thank you so much.”
Nanami stands up and Mai’s hair messily, “No need to thank me. This one is like my sister, sort of my obligation to take care of her.”
Nanase chatted a bit about stuff regarding the apartment building that they’re living in as she escorted Nanami towards the front door. Reminding her eldest daughter not to make any trouble for Mai’s best friend before letting her go. Her eyes meet the other two daughters as she spun on her heel after closing the door.
“Okay, now let’s take a bath,” she ushered the two girls towards her room, thinking it’s easier to keep a check on both of them and also her wife if they’re all inside the same room.
Good thing that even her youngest is already independent enough to take a bath without needing her to watch over and Momoko should be fine as long she’s not the only one in the bathroom- she still get scared in her own house, so all she had to do is to help them with the soap and shampoo and after that she can basically trust them to soak in their own devices. That doesn’t make her trust them enough to be away from a hearing distance though, often, she’s scared they would fall from the slippery floor.
She furrowed her eyebrow when she found Mai attention focused the tablet screen, fingers typing something.
“Mai- remember Maimai said you need to rest,” she exhaled keeping herself calm enough not to grab the white tablet from her lover’s hands. “Have you eaten the meds that Nanamin bring?”
“I did- Nanamin makes sure that she saw it with her own eyes.” She answered. “My nose is stuffy whenever I lay down. I can’t sleep while sitting, so I’m trying to make myself tired enough to fall asleep.”
“This is not the way,” Nanase muttered, squeezing Mai’s fingers with hers. “Stop working please, for me. I’m sure they will understand.”
“Fine, how do you suppose I spend the day then? Laying down on the bed is really boring,” Mai said, closing the tabs and put the thin device on the nightstand near the bed.
“Well, TVs, DVDs, Netflix,” Nanase pointed at the screen hung on the wall facing the bed, passing the older woman the remote. “I’ll get the kids dressed and after that, we’ll join you.”
Nanase went to the generously sized ensuite bathroom of the room, calling the two girls to go out from the tub, helping them with the towels and outfits. Before leading them out towards the bedroom where Momoko eyes sparked excitedly at the sign of the TV being on.
“Can we watch Dora please please please,” the girl begged to Mai, the mother smiled as she tosses the remote onto her smaller hand.
“So much for a good Netflix show,” she commented, earning slight chuckle out of Nanase who’s helping Yuki to comb her hair while Momoko hands Mai another comb to help her.
“There, all nice and pretty,” Nanase said as she finishes the task, Yuki who’s entire focus is taken by the children shows says nothing, her mouth silently follows the words that instruction that the show has.
Momoko moved closer to the edge of the bed so she can be even more near to the TV once her hair is combed properly, this leaves an empty space next to Mai, which Nanase soon occupies.
As Nanase lies on her side so she can face the sick woman, Mai took this as a chance to snuggles closer onto her, burying her face under’s Nanase’s chin.
“I thought your nose is stuffy if you’re laying down,” Nanase mentioned, fingers slowly tracing the woman’s back.
“Your smell is somehow more effective than a vapour rub.”
“You’re weird,” Nanase noted as she nuzzles her nose on the top of the woman’s head.
“I know, hence I’m asking you to please never leave me because I don’t think anyone else can handle my weirdness.” Nanase could feel Mai’s hot lips pressed against her neck for a second.
“I won’t,” her fingers found Mai’s chin to lift it up so they eyes can meet. “But please control yourself, it will be bad if both of us ended up sick.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Mai laughs come out hoarse, but still, she can tell that the woman is truly amused by the whole situation. “Cuddle me till I’m asleep?”
Nanase nodded, sliding her right arm in the space between Mai’s neck and pillow while her left hands slowly making circles on the woman’s side. Certainly, it wasn’t long until the woman fallen asleep.
~Fin~
A/N:Hiii So I'm back with a new OS, this was written over this past few weeks and considering how hectic it has been so it most likely will feel a bit rushed so I'm sorrymasen for that
However, I'm still hoping you will like it soo... Please let me know what you think
Topic: Nogizaka46 One-Shots || Blues of Love - Evening Blues [24/11/18] (Read 16456 times)