Leasons learned ch 14

They walked into the hospital to where they were directed to the ninth floor. As they got into the elevator she was smiling and almost laughing.

“Noelle what is It?” Mitsuhide asked as he looked at the unusual reaction.

“Mitsu the ninth floor is the ‘private’ floor. It basically means that if you have a certain amount of money you can be placed in that floor for recovering from lets say a cosmetic procedure.” She replied.

“Oh.” He replied. “You really don’t think anything is wrong?”

“No I really don’t. I know my parents. My mother is probably making arrangements to go somewhere and my father probably had another facelift or something and maybe had a twinge of pain during it so he must, of course, be dying.” She laughed. “This has happened before.”

“Your parents seem interesting.” He said flatly.

“Interesting is not the word I would use.” She said as the doors opened and they were greeted by pandemonium in front of them. “The Hanson’s at their best.”

“I forgot you have brothers and sisters.” He whispered.

“Stay close or they will try to bite.” She said under her breath as all eyes went to her and him as the got off the elevator. She was walking with her head high as she made her way to where her mother was staring down her nose at her youngest child.

“At least you had the sense to find a man Noelle. At least now your condition can be explained easier.” Her mother said as Noelle just smiled. “Now introduce me to my new son in law.”

“Where is father?” Noelle defiantly asked instead of introducing Mitsuhide.

“In a moment.” Her mother said standing her ground.

“Mother this is my husband Mitsuhide Akechi.” She said with a flourish of her hand.

“With a name like that you do sound foreign.” Her mother said as she looked him over. “However I do believe I like what I see. You will do for the Hanson’s. If you want to take on that.” She nodded to Noelle’s baby bump.

“Take on that?” Noelle bristled at her mothers words and she felt Mitsuhide’s hands on her shoulders calming her down.

“Ma’am I don’t believe this is the time or place for this. Noelle is my wife and all you are doing is stressing her out and our son."Mitsuhide replied. "Today has been a busy day for us and she would like to see her father. We both do have to be at the university in the morning.”

“Why would you have to be there? Either of you?” Her mother asked.

“I am a professor there and currently my wife is setting up a business with my contacts.” Mitsuhide said as he waited.

“Oh Noelle you chose well with this one.” Her mother said.

“Mother I didn’t choose him. He chose me and the baby.” Noelle was clenching her teeth. “Now as my husband said we had a long day and I need to get some rest. Can I see father?”

“Noelle it is slightly more dynamic that simply letting you see him."her mother stated and Noelle looked at her mother.

"Is something really wrong with him this time?” Noelle asked.

“He had a heart attack Noelle. A serious one. He is recovering for the open heart surgery but he had a few complications.” Her mother said again in her cold as ice tone.

“What kind of complications?” Mitsuhide asked.

“His heart wouldn’t restart even with the pace maker they installed.” Her mother said, “Noelle I am afraid it may be his time.”

“Well mother can I see him please?” Noelle asked.

“If you really want too. I mean you were not cut out of the will as of yet so you don’t have to do much.” Her mother replied.

“As if any of that matters Mother.” Noelle said as she looked at the room. Mitsuhide nodded and followed her as she slowly walked into the room with an open door. She stopped short if the bed looking at the man she thought was the most fearsome she had met in her life. It looked as if he was sleeping instead of possibly dying. She touched his hand and said, “Dad Im here.”

There was a flicker of movement in his hand. So she went on, “I am starting a business dad. Hopefully I won’t have to be like you but it should be good. Im starting it with my husband. I got married as well. He is a good man as well. I won’t have a marriage like you and mom but I think it will be a good one, a great one in fact. We named the baby. He will be named Maximus Nathanial. I hope you get to meet him. Everyone is here dad. I hope you recover but if you don’t just know we are all here.”

Mitsuhide looked at her and only saw the strength she had. This man who was in the hospital bed kicked her out and cut her off at her lowest moment and she was here holding his hands in what could be his lowest moment as well. Her strength only enhanced her beauty and he had to admit she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen before this.

“Noelle?” Mitsuhide asked as he saw the nurses waiting to come in.

“I see them too.” She said as she looked down. “We won’t be far dad.”

They walked out of the room and the two nurse walked in. Shortly after Noelle made the rounds of her siblings she looked up and swore she saw her father standing up in the room. She motioned for Mitsuhide to look but when he looked he didn’t see what she saw. Then the activity in the room exploded as doctors and nurses ran in.

Two hours later the family waited and watched but nothing the doctors could do could bring her father back. They called his time of death then. Her mother looked frazzled but never lost her composure. Her siblings also seemed distant and almost uncaring. She had to admit to herself that it was difficult to muster any real sadness. Her parents had had very little to do with them since they were mere toddlers. She looked around at everyone and sighed, she did not want to be the same as her family.

“I will be in touch for the arrangements.” Her mother said to everyone, “I am sure your fathers lawyers will be in touch with you all as well.”

Noelle and Mitsuhide stood along with the rest of her siblings and their spouses and the two watched as a group they all left. She began to feel lost and Mitsuhide helped guide her down the elevator hallway and then outside where she looked up at the stars.

“Mitsuhide I don’t want to be like them in thirty yers.” She said as they got to the car, “i grew up thinking that was a normal marriage. A man died today that was my father and no one cried. To be honest they want the lawyers to contact them before my mother.”

“Sweetheart we won’t be like that.” He said as he started the car. “You’re not like that. Why lawyers though?”

“My parents have lived completely separate lives for as long as i can remember. Mother was always off doing good somewhere her children were not. Her parents were the same. Cold and distant with each other. She is from what people call old money. She was born with it and always had it. My father was the opposite he fought and scraped by to make it. Marriage between them was a business transaction and not much more. They didn’t raise us. I think if that was one of our nannies we would be inconsolable right now. My father set up his will to be separated from our mother. She lived off of her allowance from her family and father off of his businesses. So fathers lawyers would handle his estate and our inherences. Thats why they showed up today. Not to see him but to make sure they were not forgotten.” She said.

“Thats a hard way to grow up.” Mitsuhide said.

“That is the reason when given the chance I didn’t run back to them.” She said with a smile. “The idea of a real family, one with love at the center is more important to me than any amount of money.”

“Noelle you are absolutely amazing.” Mitsuhide said. “And I do love the way you think. We will jot be like that and that is a promise I will keep til I die.”

“Mitsu I think you are pretty amazing as well.” She replied with a soft smile.

“Come on Mrs. Akechi I do believe it is time to rest.” He said as they pulled in to the driveway.

“Surprisingly Maximus has not been to active tonight.” She said.

“He is saving it for later.” Mitsuhide replied with a chuckle. “You know so he can wake both of us up.”

“Probably.” She shrugged her shoulders and laughed.

“Sweetheart i do know what it is like to lose a parent as well. It will hit you in a few days.” Mitsuhide said.

“Mitsu is almost hard to think about him or her as a parent. They were ones we had to submit a bank withdrawal notice too, not much more. That’s honestly why I was caught off guard about their reaction to the baby. It isn’t like they cared for us. It was their reputation they cared about and what we could do to it.” Noelle said softly. “They both would have used him if he was the right demographic for them to use, say if he looked like me. You saw how my mother was with you because of your name. You aren’t foreign but if you were it would have been a strike so to speak. Instead of looking at a person they look at what a person can do for them.”

“So they are typical rich people.” Mitsuhide said as he chuckled. “And you their daughter bucked their rules by defying them and keeping your baby then marrying a foreign sounding named man. Not to mention you lived in one of the cities worst drug dens for months. God Noelle I love you.”

“I love you too, Mitsuhide.” She said. “Just think that if it wasn’t for one decision and me standing up to them we wouldn’t be here now.”

“But we are.” Mitsuhide said softly.

“Yes we are.” She replied, “and tonight is our wedding night.”

“Our wedding night is somewhat rememberable and not for good reasons.” Mitsuhide said softly.

“Mitsuhide I don’t want to think about any of that right now.” She smiled at him. “Tonight is about us.”

“You’re right.” He said as he swooped her up into his arms.

“Mitsuhide put me down! You will hurt yourself carrying me!” Noelle yelped.

“No my dearest Mouse.” He said, “you weigh no more than a mite.”

“I weigh a lot more than a mite, Mitsuhide.” She said as he pushed through the door. “You’re going to throw your back out or something.”

“If I do it won’t be because of  lifting you but there is always the possibility of something else causing it.” Mitsuhide chuckled.

“Mitsu!” She exclaimed.

“Quiet mouse. Its time for our wedding night. If you say my name it better be as you scream for me.” He said softly as he placed her down on the bed.

Lessons learned ch 10

As they pulled into the house, she smiled as he helped her out of the car. There were a few packages at the front door which he expected as their shopping trip over the weekend had bee so fruitful. He was like a kid opening them when he brought them into the house one by one.

“Where are you going to put those?” she asked. “I don’t think there will be enough room in his room for him.”

“Noelle, really?” he asked.

“Mitsuhide things are already spilling into the loft and soon will be down here as well.” She laughed as he looked at the swing and realized she was right. Not that there was too much, but the fact the baby stuff was everywhere.

“You know what?” he asked.

“What?” she replied back knowing what he was going to say.

“I don’t care. This house was to empty before. Since you moved in it finally feels like a home.” Mitsuhide said as he stood up from putting the box down and looked at her.

“It has been less than a week.” She replied.

“It seems like forever.” He grinned. His phone started going off, and he saw the number and knew it. He picked up “Akechi.”

Noelle watched him as he nodded and he wasn’t saying much, but she knew he was more of a thinker than a sayer type person. It was one of the things she understood about him the most. He did like to watch people. He often found the things that made them tick, and he either teased them about it, or he used it to get under the other persons skin. He was just that way. It was one of the things she loved about him as well.

He then asked out of the blue, “So when?” and then the silence again and then, “now?” he looked at her and nodded to stand up. They were leaving again, but she had no idea to where they were going. He grabbed his keys off the counter and waited for her as he hung up the phone after agreeing to meet.

“What was that about?” she asked.

“The fire marshal has cleared the building, and that was the local police. The night of the fire I gave them my card to contact me about your apartment when the scene was cleared so we could get whatever was left. Tomorrow they will be releasing the building back to everyone else, but we can go now to get your things.” He said.

“How bad is it?” she asked she was trying to prepare herself for the worse.

“The back half of the building is bad. Your apartment, though, wasn’t hit as bad. The whole building was a firetrap, though. So whatever you want to get you can tonight.” He said. “I don’t know the extent of the damage, but they did say most of your stuff is intact.”

“Well, that is good.” She said with a sigh.

“I know you were worried about it, so it is.” He said with a smile. “I think we should get as much of your stuff as possible tonight before the looters get there.”

“Again, you are right.” She said.

“How much do you really have? One car full? A truck?” he asked.

“A car full maybe.” She said. “Most of it is clothes and books. I didn’t really have all that much except a bassinet for him.”

“Well, that is one thing we still need.” He said with a smile.

“Thank you, Mitsuhide.” She said.

“For what are you thanking me for?” he asked, slightly surprised.

“For being you.” She said as she took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

“I am not sure that is worth thanking me for.” He replied with a laugh.

“Mitsuhide you were just going to take me in, and buy anything and everything I need, that the baby needed or you thought he needed at least, for no other reason than you were attracted to me.” She said.

“There are other reasons besides that one.” He said softly.

“Like?” she asked.

“Noelle, you are good and decent. You were taken advantage of and left in an impossible situation. I watched you, and you tried your hardest to just survive and complete your degree. It was easy to see the things about you that I can relate too and the things that make you perfect for me.” He said. They arrived, and he flashed his id to the police officer there guarding the building as they were allowed to park in front of the building off the street. He took her hand and went up the stairs, and she walked to her old apartment. She opened the door and saw that the rooms were mostly untouched by fire damage. She looked around and started throwing things into the baskets she had from moving in.

Soon the place was mostly gutted, and she looked around one last time. He stood behind her as she glanced around. “Ready Mouse?”

“Ready Mitsuhide.” She said as she took his hand. “Why do you still call me mouse?”

“It fits.” He said. “You know people call me a snake because I seem to know peoples weaknesses and I am supposedly sneaky. Snakes eat mice for dinner but after playing with them. Though sometimes, when you place a mouse in a snakes cage, they will bond with it. They will continue to eat other mice, but they will love the one mouse forever.”

“Am I that mouse?’ she asked, laughing at him.

"You are my mouse, yes.” He said.

“What kind of snake are you though?” she asked.

“Whatever kind that will protect you forever.” He said as he got into the car. “Now let’s go home for good mouse.”

“I like that idea.” She said as he pulled away and she didn’t have to think about that apartment again.

At dinner, she asked for the business ideas he had. He began to outline it to her, and she looked at him and thought it was a brilliant idea.

“I didn’t know it was all by word of mouth.” She said.

“It is. Which for the most part has built my name up and I can work with any department, but the fact is there are many of us that can do the job and they get passed over. So I think that having a centralized company in which people can be matched up to the correct job for their specialty would be best.” He said.

“It would. Not only for all of you but for law enforcement too. If we streamline all the information, we could double or triple the productivity for both you guys and them.” She said.

“Do you think you could do it?’ he asked.

"You mean start it up?” she asked as she looked at him.

“Yes. I mean start it up and keep it running.” He asked.

“I think I could with a little help. The thing is I don’t know exactly what you need to do. I have a good clue that you need a database of people that will contract out from the company, but I am not sure on the details of what they will do exactly.” She said.

“I will handle that part.” He said with a grin. “The business part you can do, though.”

“That part is easy.” She said.

“How long do you see it taking to set it up?” he asked.

“Mitsuhide if it is this straightforward, I can have it up and running before the baby is born.” She said, and he smiled.

“Then you can stay home and run the business and take care of the baby.” He said.

“I could do that.” She smiled.

“Good. Now you tell me what you need, and I will get it for you.” He said.

“Right now, I need to go shower and rest.” She said as she looked at him. “I will start making lists of things we need to do tomorrow while I am supposed to be working for some professor.”

“That’s fine.” He smiled, “I am sure that professor doesn’t have much for you to do except sit there so he can look at you.”

“You are one weird man.” She said as she shook her head and walked to the kitchen with her plate. She went to turn and found herself encircled in his arms. “Mitsuhide.”

“Yes, my love?” he said softly in her ear.

“Time for a warm shower.” She said.

“I couldn’t agree more.” He whispered and began moving her towards the master bedroom.

“I can take a shower by myself.” She said.

“I dare say you can. However, I want to help you.” He said.

“Help is not what you want to do.” She replied, and he laughed.

“I just want to love you, Noelle.” He said.

“When you put it that way.” She said over her shoulder as she walked into the bathroom and left the door open for him to follow. He did, and neither of them said much more for the rest of the night.

They lay in the bed together as she was sleeping, and he was awake rubbing her back as she took deep breaths. He was in heaven. He felt the baby move again and smiled to himself. His life had changed so much in the last few days he had to lay back and love it. He was feeling like everything in the world was for his taking at the moment. He moved closer to her and held her against him with the baby in between them moving slightly he never felt so much for two people in his life. this was his life now. His heart was now outside of his body, and it was in the form of this tiny woman. He let his eyes fall slowly as he wanted the last thing he saw to be her, and the first thing he saw in the morning to be her. Soon their lives would change again when the baby would be born. He was going to enjoy every moment of both of them for the rest of his life. He sighed as his eyes finally closed, and he went to sleep to only see her face again in his dreams.