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“Watch out! The step!”
“I know. I live here,” she almost rolls her eyes at Jean’s overprotectiveness. Opening the front door, she steps inside the foyer, “We’re home.”
“Welcome home,” comes mom’s voice from the inside.
She barely manages to change into her slippers before Julien dashes out, his little arms outstretched. “Mama–”
“Julien!” Mikasa gets down on her knees, gathering his little body into her arms. But now, he feels bigger in comparison. “Were you a good boy?”
Julien bobs his head up and down with the seriousest expression on his face, making her smile. She removes the locks of sandy hair from his forehead and plants a soft kiss.
“Julien!” Jean says, coming in. “Look who we have here?” He lowers the car seat, giving him a view of the little swaddled baby sleeping in there.
Julien watches, taking his time, his little mouth slightly open.
“Doll…”
“She’s not a doll, Julien,” Mikasa chuckles, affectionately ruffling his hair. “It’s the baby. Your little sister.”
Julien checks the baby out once again, then looks down at Mikasa’s abdomen with the still present bump. “Baby…?”
“Yes. The baby.” Mikasa smiles at him. “She was growing inside mama’s belly. But now she has come out to say hello.”
“Do you want to say hello?” Jean brings the car seat closer to him.
Julien turns his head from side to side, quite emphatically, and moves to hide himself behind Mikasa.
“What? You don’t want to be a big brother?” She asks, pulling him close.
He moves his head from side to side.
Mikasa looks up at Jean, his lips pressed into a smile he can hardly hide. “Then, you can be her little brother. You think you can do that?”
Julien takes another look at little Megumi before finally giving a nod.
“That’s my boy, here,” Jean holds his fist up in front of him. Julien lifts his little fist and bumps it against his. “So, you’re little Megumi’s little brother.” He looks back at her, as she struggles to control a laugh.
Mr. Kirschtein walks in, carrying the two hospital bags on his shoulders.
“Dad!” Jean exclaims, a hint of frustration in his tone. “I said I’ll get them.”
“It’s just bags. Don’t treat me like an old man.” Dad says, a little grumpy.
“Gwampa!” Julien runs to him.
“Hello, big boy!” He pats his head.
Mikasa shifts to stand up, and Jean immediately moves next to her, offering her his arm.
“Aaaah! You’re here.” Mom comes out of the kitchen as they walk into the hall, wiping her hands on her apron. “Mikasa–” she cups her cheeks in her hands, pulling her head low, and places a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”
Mikasa smiles, affected by her motherly concern. “Yes, mom. I’m alright.”
Mrs. Kirschtein takes a deep breath, “That’s good. I’m here, so you don’t worry about a thing.” She then walks to Jean, her eyes on the car seat in his hand. “Look at her!” She says in a hushed voice, hands clutching at her heart. “The little angel.”
“Don’t you want to hold her?” Jean asks.
“Of course I’m going to hold her, but–” she turns to Mikasa, “Come, Mikasa, change out of your hospital clothes. I’ve made you some chicken soup. Do you want bread with it? Or do you want me to boil some noodles?”
“Oh, mom...” Mikasa says, “I… just had lunch at the hospital.”
“Oh… then do you want an apple? I’ll cut you an apple.”
Right at that moment, there’s some loud thumping on the stairs and Sasha comes running down. “Baby is here! Baby is here!”
“Sasha! No running on the stairs!” Jean says.
“Baby is here!” Sasha runs for the little baby in the car seat.
“Yes she is, but Sasha, what have we told you about running on the stairs?” Mikasa reaches out, putting a loving hand on her head.
“I want to hold baby!”
Mikasa gives up. Realising that the only thing registering in her head right now is the new baby.
“We’ll have to sit down for that.” Jean says.
Once Sasha is settled on the couch, with a throw-pillow on her lap, Jean carefully places the little sleeping baby on there. Resting her head against Sasha’s arm. He himself crouches in front of her, just to be safe.
Megumi squirms a little, but then settles comfortably.
“She’s so small!” Sasha says, smiling ear to ear, her eyes rounded.
“She is. Isn’t she?” Jean says with a smile, removing a piece of red pencil shaving from Sasha’s hair.
Meanwhile, Eeny the kitty pads into the room, climbs onto the ottoman, and loafs herself up there. As if to make a point that this new human or whatever absolutely does not interest her.
Little Megumi stirs and then opens her grey eyes.
“She’s opening her eyes!” Sasha’s excitement reaches another new height.
“Yes, she is,” Jean says, cupping the top of Megumi’s little head, “She’s looking at you.”
“Hello, baby sissy! I am your big sissy. I’ll give you my toy ship and airship. But you CANNOT have my colour pencils.”
Jean’s eyebrows furrow, but a smile plays on his lips. “That’s… very generous of you, Sasha.”
Julien, seated on Mikasa’s lap watches the new baby with the same curiosity he watches the colorful fishes in the lake with. His little eyebrows furrowing in a pattern that very much resembles Jean. It makes Mikasa wonder about who little Megumi will take after.
“Do you want to hold her?” Mikasa asks.
He shakes his head again, clinging tightly to Mikasa’s blouse.
“Hold her!” Sasha says, looking at Julien. “You are her big brother.”
“Noo,” Julien clings to Mikasa harder.
“But Julien, she is our little sister. If mama and papa die, we will have to raise her.”
What? Bewildered, ,both Jean and her look at Sasha at the same time as Julien bursts into tears.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, Julien.” Mikasa says, embracing the crying boy and patting his back. “Mama and papa aren’t going anywhere. Don’t cry. Don’t cry”
“Why would you say that, Sasha?” Jean asks.
.
.
.
“Julien?” Mikasa asks, seeing him peeking through the door.
“Hey, what are you doing there, buddy?” Jean walks over to him and carries him back to the bed.
Julien watches little Megumi as she nurses. Making little suckling noises. “Baby.” He says, pointing to her with his little index finger, looking up at Jean.
“That’s right, Julien. She is the baby and she is drinking milk.” Jean says, cradling him on his lap.
“Milk?”
“Yes, mama’s milk. You used to drink mama’s milk too, when you were a little boy. Do you remember?” Jean strokes his little head.
Julien doesn’t seem to remember. He just watches baby Megumi drinking from Mikasa’s breast.
“What do you have in your hand, Julien?” Mikasa asks, noticing how he has his little fist closed, clearly holding something in there.
Julien opens his hand. Revealing a ripe red strawberry in.
“A strawberry!” Mikasa asks, “Did grandma give you strawberries to eat?”
Julien nods.
“Did you say thank you to grandma?”
Julien thinks for a moment, then moves to get off the bed.
“It’s okay Julien,” Jean garbs him, huffing in amusement. “Grandma is taking a nap. You can thank her later.”
Meeny appears at the door, her new carrot chew toy in her mouth. She remains standing there, looking inside. As if weighing whether it’s a good idea to enter.
“What’s up, Meeny?” Jean calls out. Taking it as an invitation, Meeny walks to the bed. She drops her toy, and starts meowing at him until he picks her up and sets her on the bed. “Happy?”
She doesn’t condescend him with a response and instead focuses on making herself comfortable in the nook under Mikasa’s elbow instead. Mikasa chuckles and lightly scratches the base of her ears. “Did you miss mama and papa Meeny?”
Meeny doesn’t give any indication that she even heard the question. She just enjoys Mikasa’s scratches with her eyes closed.
Megumi finishes drinking her milk and Mikasa removes her from her breast. Placing her head on her shoulder, she burps her before settling her back in her arms. Julien then climbs down from Jean’s lap and moves closer to Mikasa. “Gift,” he holds the strawberry in front of Megumi. Clearly expecting her to accept it.
“Oh, Julien! Is that strawberry a gift for baby?”
Julien nods.
“Awwh! Julien, you’re such a good big- I mean little- brother,” she pats his head. But she can’t eat yet. She doesn’t have any teeth.”
“No teeth?” Julien says as Megumi opens her little mouth in a yawn, exposing her little pink gums. He looks dejected.
“Hey bud, papa was really craving a strawberry, can I have this one?”
With a big smile Julien hands the strawberry over to Jean, who pops it into his mouth and nods, “Yummy.”
Julien yawns.
“Baby, do you want to take a nap?” Mikasa asks, mindful not to make her older two kids feel neglected at the arrival of the new baby. “Come here, come to Mama.”
Jean moves him over, settling him on a pillow between himself and Mikasa, careful not to disturb Meeny. “Give Megumi to me,” he says, taking their little baby girl from Mikasa.
She squirms a little.
“What? What is making my little girl upset, huh?” He asks in a soothing voice, rocking her. She stops squirming and eases in his arms, slowly closing her eyes. “We’re sleepy, are we?” He leans into the headrest, gently patting her.
“What did you do while mama and papa were at the hospital, babay?” Mikasa asks Julien. Running her fingers through his soft hair.
“Eat bweakfast.”
“Oh! What did you eat for breakfast?”
“Pancakes!”
“That sounds delicious. Was it delicious?”
Julien nods. “Gwamma give bluebewwy.”
“Oh! Grandma put blueberries in your pancakes?”
“Lots,” he gestures with his arms to show her an amount of blueberries Mrs. Kirschtein supposedly put in his pancakes. An amount that would make several kilograms of blueberries. But anyway.
“Aww! That was so sweet of grandma. And what did you do after eating breakfast?”
“Play with big sissy.”
“Aah!” Jean straightens up as Megumi settles comfortably in his arms, slowly lulling into sleep. “What is Sasha up to? Do you have any clue? When I went to her room earlier, she was doing something at the table and came charging at me, asking me to go away.”
Mikasa finds it funny, seeing him struggle to process that his little girl could reject him. “She told me she was making a surprise for the baby.” She chuckles, stroking Julien’s chubby little cheek. “I think it’s about that.”
As if on cue, right at that moment, the door is flung open with a bang, and Sasha barges in, a piece of paper in her hand.
“Sasha?!”
The noise disturbs baby Megumi’s slumber and she starts to whimper.
“No no no no no, baby, it’s alright, it’s alright. It’s just your big sister,” Jean gets up from the bed and starts rocking her.
“Sasha-” Mikasa says, “Baby, we don’t want to do that. See, little sissy is scared. She’s a baby, she doesn’t like loud sounds.”
Sasha looks up at Jean, pacing the room while rocking little Megumi, her face contorts into an expression of guilt.
“It’s alright, baby. We know you didn’t do it on purpose,” Mikasa adds, aware that her oldest herself is but a baby, “Come here,” she says, patting the mattress, “Is that the surprise you were making for your sister?”
Sasha climbs onto the bed, and curious, Julien gets up as well. Megumi calms down too, starting to doze off once again. Jean carefully sits on the edge of the bed. Still rocking her.
“I made a welcome home card for baby sister.”
“That is so sweet of you Sasha!” Mikasa takes the piece of paper from her. It’s a drawing, very much like coloured stick figures with a house in the back.
“This is mama, this is papa, this is me, this is Julien, and this is baby. This is Eeny, Meeny and Miny,” if she hadn’t mentioned, Mikasa on her own never would have been able to decipher those blobs as their kitties. “And this is kitty mama.” And in the distance, she points to two more figures, “This is grandma and grandpa.”
“This is so beautiful!” Mikasa exclaims, patting Sasha’s head. “See?” She passes it over to Jean. Jean takes it with his right hand, while his left arm continues rocking little Megumi. “Wow! This is great use of colours, Sasha! I think we should have it framed and hang it in Megumi's nursery, what do you think?” He asks Mikasa.
Mikasa smiles, “We can do that. I think Megumi will love it.”
Sasha beams.
Mikasa carefully places the card on the bedside table. “Sasha, do you want to take a nap? Grandma told me you’ve been up since early.”
“Can I nap here, mama?” Sasha asks, nuzzling closer to her. The milky scent of her body lotion reminds Mikasa just how thankful she is to Mrs. Kirschtein, for taking care of their babies in their absence. “Of course you can, baby. Come here. Julien, you too, take a nap.”
Sasha also grabs Meeny with them and the cat just accepts her fate. Mikasa settles the three of them on the pillow and pulls the quilt over them. “Do you want to hear a story?”
.
.
.
“They look so cute, sleeping like that,” Jean sighs, watching the kids. All three of them sound asleep.
“They’re cute even when they’re awake. They’re just… a handful.” She chuckles.
“Of course they are. They’re our kids.”
His cocky tone makes her snort. “I thought I was done with this. Late night feeds and colics and blowouts. And now I have to do this all over again.”
Jeans reaches his hand out, taking hers. His fingers press into her skin, meaning to offer assurance that she’s not alone in this.
“And now… I’m a little sad that this will be the last time.”
His fingers pause. “Seriously? Blowouts?”
“Why not?” Mikasa gives him a mischievous smile. “You’re the one who cleans them,”
Jean narrows his eyes at her.
“What? I’m the one going through pregnancy and labour.”
He rolls his eyes at her. But then a soft smile curves the corners of his lips. “Do you want a bowl of soup?”
“I think I’d love some soup, yes.”
“Great,” he slides off the bed and slips into his slippers. As he does, Meeny lifts her head, following him with her eyes. Jean pats her head, a little too affectionately for someone who didn’t want pet cats only a few months ago. “Go to sleep, Meeny.”
Meeny yawns, and curls herself up once again.
“Do you want some noodles with your soup?”
“Actually, I’d like a piece of bread.”
Jean’s eyebrows shoot up into his forehead. “Pregnancy hormones are crazy,” he shakes his head. “Do you want some fruit with it? You need to eat fruits.”
“Do we have grapes?”
“Yes, we do. We have grapes, and apples, and bananas, and kiwis, and a cantaloupe. And some berries.”
“I’ll have some grapes.”
“Want me to peel them for you?”
“Yes please.”
“Perfect. You sure you don’t want some cantaloupe? The seller said it’ll be very sweet.”
Mikasa gives up. “Fine, give me a few pieces.”
Jean crouches down and picks Meeny’s chew toy from the floor. He tosses it onto the bed.
“And… can you see that mom doesn’t overwork herself?”
Jean sighs. “That simply is not happening. We can try all we want, but she now has a third grandkid, she’s in ultimate grandma mode.
She sighs too.
“But at least she makes good use of dad. She even had Sasha shelling peas. She told her now that she is a big sister once again, she has to help with grown up tasks.”
“I’m not surprised.” Mikasa chuckles. “Sasha is very serious about her role as a big sister.”
“Can you believe she was ready to raise Megumi if… we’re gone?” Jean rests his hands on his hips, his eyes on sleeping Sasha on the bed. Cheek pressed into the pillow and mouth open. “I mean, I do somewhat respect that, but what exactly is her thought process?”
Mikasa chuckles, running her fingers through Sasha’s soft black hair.
“Anyway, I’ll go get your food.”
“Hmh.”
Jean leaves, quietly closing the door behind him.
Mikasa admires the three sleeping babies for a while. To think they’re hers. And even Meeny between them.
She gets up from the bed and ambles to Megumi’s crib. She’s asleep. Nicely swaddled, her little belly rising and falling with every breath, tiny hands balled into little fists. This little baby she grew in her body over the last nine months. She made those tiny fingers and that button nose, and her little beating heart. All that vomiting and back-pain and leg-cramps and heartburns and headaches was a price she was happy to pay to get to hold this little dumpling in her arms.
But that was only the beginning. She’ll have to do more, so much more. For her, she’ll have to do everything all over again. And she only thinks herself lucky for that.
Despite the cramping in her abdomen, and the exhaustion of her body, a smile creeps onto her face. She whispers in a soft voice, “Thank you, for being born to me.”