A Gift
Seven
A year after the epilogue
"I'm home!" Ruki calls out, closing the door behind her. She's immediately greeted by the sight of Jen walking out of the kitchen with Rika in his arms, and the envelope in her hand suddenly feels ten times heavier than it did a second before.
"Mama!" Rika squeals as Jen sets her down on the floor so that she can run over to her mother. Ruki picks her up with a smile, even though the envelope is now visible to Jen as she wraps both hands around their daughter.
"Hey, where'd you go?" He asks, joining them. His eyes land upon the envelope for a brief few seconds before he looks at Ruki. "I left the kitchen for five minutes and when I got back, Renamon told me you had to run some errands."
"Yeah, sorry about that," She smiles as Rika reaches up to tug on her hair. "I completely forgot that I had to pick something up before we left."
"It's okay," Jen assures her as he slowly pries her lock of hair free from Rika's grip. "We were just worried you might be late."
"For this?" Today is Jen's twenty-sixth birthday, and they've planned a short weekend vacation. It's a Friday, so it was easy enough to ask Yamaki to give them the day off to prepare Rika for her first trip. Upon further inspection, Ruki notices that their daughter is already dressed. Maybe her appointment took longer than she thought it did. "I wouldn't be late for this. I just had to get you a birthday present."
"Birthday?" Rika echoes, finding the word familiar. Her own first birthday was four months ago, and she slept through most of the little party Seiko had insisted they hold in her honor.
"Yes, Rika," Her mother tells her. "It's Daddy's birthday."
"Ruki," Jen smiles as he reaches out to tuck the lock of red that was previously in their daughter's possession behind Ruki's ear. "You know you don't have to."
"Well," Ruki says, adjusting her grip on Rika so that she can balance her with one hand while the other holds the envelope out to Jen. "This isn't the kind of gift I can just bring back to the store, so you're going to have to deal with it."
Jen accepts the envelope and regards her suspiciously. "Are you recycling the spa coupons your mother gave you last Christmas?"
"Just open it," Ruki snaps with a fake glare. It isn't until Jen opens the envelope that she realizes just how nervous she is. There's nothing to be nervous about, of course; they've talked about this and she knows it'll be the best birthday present. Still, she finds herself fussing with Rika's hair just to keep herself busy while Jen pulls out a folded sheet of paper.
"So," Jen grins. "What is it? A bank statement, a cable bill," He unfolds the paper and his smile falters. "Hospital results? Ruki, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," She assures him calmly. Ruki should've known Jen would think of worst case scenarios as soon as he sees the hospital's name printed across the top of the paper. "I'm perfectly fine, I promise. Just read it."
He doesn't seem convinced but with one last worried look at Ruki, Jen turns his focus upon the medical report.
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Name: Makino-Lee, Ruki
Gender: Female
Age: 25 years
Blood-type: O positive
Patient complained of lethargy, dizziness, discomfort and occasional nausea accompanied by rare episodes of vomiting. Symptoms have persisted for more than a week. A blood test was ordered.
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Jen frowns. The last time Ruki complained to him of feeling under the weather was a week ago, and he hadn't realized that she's still sick. "Ruki, why didn't you tell me you're still-"
"Just read it!" Ruki orders with a nervous smile as she bites into her lower lip. Their daughter grows bored of her parents' conversation and starts looking around the room, naming various things under her breath as she recognizes objects.
"Okay, okay," Jen says, going back to the report.
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Results:
White blood cell count…
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Jen scans through the results, consulting the handy chart at the bottom of the page that explains the numbers. All of Ruki's counts seem to be within normal, healthy ranges and he's about to ask her just what's going on when he notices two words printed in bold typeface, hovering in the blank space just above the doctor's conclusion.
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PREGNANCY CONFIRMED
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The world seems to pause, then immediately launch itself into a wild spin. Jen keeps his eyes on the page, trying to ground himself. He skims through the doctor's comments, not really processing any words other than pregnancy confirmed.
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Results show that the patient is pregnant with her second child. I have referred her to her obstetrician to seek further confirmation and estimation of how advanced the pregnancy is. In conclusion, I trust the patient will find that her symptoms were caused by this pregnancy.
.
"We're having another one," He whispers, finally looking up to meet Ruki's nervous eyes. "We're having another one?"
Laughter bubbles up her throat and past her lips as Ruki nods. "I'm pregnant."
Jen starts laughing as well, mostly because he has no other way to express the awe and wonder he feels. Results still in one hand, he leans in to kiss Ruki. His brows knit together in confusion when she pulls away.
"Don't crush the baby," Ruki reminds him as they both turn to their puzzled child.
"Daddy?" Rika conveys her confusion in one word, eyes wide as she seeks answers. Just then, Terriermon and Renamon wander in from the kitchen. Jen takes their daughter from Ruki and presses a reassuring kiss to Rika's forehead before he hands her to Renamon.
"Stay here just a bit," He tells his daughter, unable to suppress the wide smile that tugs at his lips. Three pairs of questioning eyes follow Jen as he turns back to Ruki and kisses her, using his hands around her waist to lift her feet off the ground.
"What's going on here?" Terriermon asks, turning to Renamon as Jen starts spinning Ruki around and she shrieks with laughter instead of demanding that he put her down.
The question reaches Jen's ears and he finally puts Ruki down, the both of them flushed with joy and laughter. He snakes one arm around Ruki's waist and kisses her cheek before he answers Terriermon's question.
"We're having another baby!"
THE END
This might be the shortest thing I've written all year, but it felt right to start where it started and end where it ended. The series of outtakes was always meant to end here, with a slight glimpse into what the future holds for Jen, Ruki and their little family. I hope that's enough for everyone.
Once again, I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas season. In case I don't get the chance to say this within the next week, I wish everyone the best of luck for the coming New Year. Thanks for reading, I hope you guys enjoyed this and I'll see you around!
E Salvatore,
December 2014.