Hey, gang! This is the disclaimer speaking. I just called to let you know that I don't own Digimon, the rights to Digimon or anything about Digimon. Not only that but this fic is not for kids. It contains bloody, gory, nasty violence and steamy, hot sex, sex, sex. So, no kids under 17.

This a remake of an old fic I made on ff.net. It's still there 'cause I rated it 'R' despite the sex (no one knows, hah) but I put it on this site to start a new profile for mediaminer. It's now a bit shorter cause I cut out one non-essential, and in my opinion, stupid part. To see it in it's entirety, my ff.net username is L'il Will.

So then, on with the show, I guess

Forever Memories

I stared at him, and he stared right back at me. His chubby cheeks change size as he opened and closed his mouth for amusement. He would occasionally grab his foot tightly, and pull it away to see how long he could hold on. A small pool of saliva lay on his bare chest. It had dribbled down from his mouth and onto his chin, which would eventually drip onto his tiny body.

His name, Husuko. My son. My first born son was looking at me through the glass of the nursery at the hospital as he lay in his tiny bassinet.

At the moment, I'm proud of all of us. My wife, for carrying the child and giving birth, of course. I'm proud of my new son for being such a beautiful little baby boy. And finally, I'm proud of myself, for delivering him. I mean, how many people can honestly say they held their wife's hand and caught the baby at the same time.

Oh! I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Jyou Kido. I'm one of the lead surgeons at the largest hospital in Japan. I have a beautiful wife and, as you already know, we've had our first child.

"Dr. Kido!"

"Wha...?" I quickly jolt around to see Emma, one of the nurses at the hospital. "Oh, it's you Emma. You startled me. What would you like?"

"Well, Dr. Kido, Mimi is now awake and she wants to see you. You can bring Husuko with you. I'm sure Mimi would love to see her first born. I trust you'll take him back afterwards."

"All right. Thanks Emma. Oh, and by the way, when I'm not here as Dr. Kido you can call me Jyou."

"Okay, 'Jyou.' Here are the keys to the nursery. I'll be at the front desk. You can give them to me on the way out. Oh, and Mimi can go home tomorrow."

Ah, Mimi. My gorgeous and loving wife. The sound of her name still makes my heart pound a little faster and my head go faint. When we first met, we were completely different. I was the annoying pessimistic hypochondriac, and she was a sweet angelic 'daddies little princess.' At the time, any person at my social status could only dream of brushing by a girl like her without her screaming 'Eww! Gross!' before she would get some football playing sweet-talker to brutally destroy and break your face, legs and groin. She was a regular ditzy empty-headed cheerleader, and I was you typical, run-of-the-mill allergenic, stereotypical version of a geek. Everyone we know says we've shed those negative skins and drastically changed.

"Hey buddy? What floor?"

"Huh?" I suddenly come back to reality to realize I've already gotten Husuko and from the nursery and have walked to the elevator, which I am in now with a strange man.

"Third, please."

The man reached over and pushed the button. The elevator hummed as it began to move and started playing annoying music that somebody managed to uncover from the thirties. I swear, they must put that music in just to annoy people.

"New kid, huh?"

"Oh. Oh yeah. Just six hours old. I'm taking him to see my wife. She hasn't really seen him. She fell asleep after giving birth. So, you appear fine. What are you in for?" I know. I'm probably giving him to much information but he seems rather nice. For I guy I've never met before, he sure seemed willing to start up a conversation. Besides, what's he going to do? Tell some top-secret organization of international spy's completely useless information so they can disregard it?

"My wife started her contractions too. However, they're giving her days before the baby's due. So' I'm just wandering around the hospital until I go home and wait for the 'miracle of life' to begin."

"Why so long? Is something wrong?"

"Well, if there is, they didn't tell me."

We sat there the next minute in silence. I occasionally took the time to look down at my son sleeping peacefully, as if all was right in the world.

My floor finally came up and the bell chimed to indicate we were there, and the doors opened.

Before I stepped out, I turned to the man and spoke. "I'm head surgeon at this hospital, but I'm here today because of my son." I showed him my hospital ID to prove what I was saying was true. "If anything goes wrong with your wife, I want you to tell one of the nurses to call me in. I don't care what time of day it is, alright?"

"How am I supposed to ask for you? I don't even know your name."

"Well, I'm Jyou Kido. Just have the hospital call me up if There's any problem whatsoever."

"Okay. In that case, I'm Yamagata Suzuki."

"Goodbye, then."

"Alright. Bye."

I stepped out of the elevator door just as the doors were closing. I wheeled the sleeping Husuko down the hall, searching for Mimi's room.

'What a nice man.' I thought to myself. 'I hope we meet again someday.'

I finally reach room 328, the room where Mimi is being held. I slowly crept in with the sleeping infant peacefully lying in cot. My TV star wife is under the covers, reading a Chatelaine magazine.

I say TV star because that is what she does. She works on a cooking show in the studio near our house. She's the local celebrity in our part of town because of it. I guess that's one of the quirks of being the star of your own show, I suppose. But, being head surgeon at one the biggest hospitals in the world has its advantages too.

Mimi picked her head up from the magazine that lay in her lap so she could see the baby and I slowly stumble in.

"Jyou!" she cried opening her arms, beckoning for a hug from her loving husband.

"Mimi!" I responded hugging her as she seemed to have wanted.

"Ooo. Is that the baby?" she asked, pushing me off. "...or did you mix them up in the nursery?"

"Mimi." was my simple, sarcastic, fake anger reply. "I have a medical degree. I can handle finding my own child, especially when there's a nametag on his bassinet."

"Maybe so, but you never seem to be able to put your clothes in the right drawers of your dresser, and you can never find your watch in the morning, even though you always put it in the same place before you go sleep."

"Right." I grunt under my breath. Mimi giggled as she took the child from my arms.

"I have more. Would you like me to continue?"

"No thanks. I'll be fine."

I stare at the child gently awaken in her arms and toss over to try to get to sleep again. I watch him closely and carefully. I don't even avert my eyes when Mimi starts talking again.

"Jyou?"

"Uh-huh."

" I'm in a little bit of trouble."

"How so?" I query. My eyes still glued on the youngster resting in her arms.

"Remember how I signed a contact saying that I would do a show every weekday from August twenty-seventh to May twenty-fifth?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I need to be home the rest of the week. You know, maternity leave."

"Do you have a stand-in?" I ask, finally taking my eyes off our baby to look her straight in the face, only to see two big, sad puppy dog eyes staring back at me.

"Oh no. Mimi I can't. I'm the head surgeon. I need to be here!"

"You're always home by the time I start taping."

"But...I don't know how to cook!"

"While I'm taping from 5:30-6, you always make dinner to be ready by the time I get home."

"But...I, uh...really suck at it."

"Oh, you're not that bad. Besides, most of the food is already made."

"Huh. How do I let you talk me into these things?"

"Simple. You're just a really bad negotiator."

"I'll do it, but not willingly."

"I didn't say it had to be." She then proceeded to pull me close for a long awaited.

************

Driving home in the pouring rain, 7:00 on a Sunday night. A block away from my home and I still can't wait to get there. I steer into the driveway and hop out of the car. The driveway is slippery and wet. Raindrops fall on my head as I walk in the door. It's so nice to enter an almost empty house and still get a greeting from one of the only creatures that are almost always happy to see you. Romeo, the eleven-month-old husky dog ran up to me and began dancing at my feet. Mimi and I got him after our honeymoon. We thought he would keep us company when the other wasn't home. Now that we have the baby, that purpose is fulfilled by another. Not that we would get rid of him, or anything. He's always been a great companion. He learned to exit the doggy door and do his business in the backyard all by himself.

"Hey boy. How you doing?" I ask the dog, scratching his ears. I don't expect an answer. I don't even know why I asked. I continue pondering that until I realize I haven't fed him yet today. The poor gut's probably starving. I better do that before he decides that Mr. Gately's cat would make a delightful little snack. Our next door neighbor, George Gately, has a cat. A tough tabby named Heath. You couldn't count how many times Romeo has gone at that thing, and lost. Yet, no matter how many times the cat takes him down, he still doesn't learn and he keeps going at it.

I pull the can from the cupboard, open it, and slop the contents into his food dish. "Enjoy." I tell him as he shoved his face into the bowl and starts shoveling the food down his throat. I watch him grossly slobber down the mix. "I don't see how you can eat that." I tell him. He doesn't even look up. "I doubt it's even chicken. It's probably just raccoon tails and a rat's body with a few chicken feathers on top. All mixed together in a blender and served to you. Kind of like hotdogs." I watch him slowly gobble up the last remnants of his dinner and take a drink from his water dish right beside his food bowl. He then went to the living room to lie down in the doggy bed we bought him right after we got him.

I'll follow his example. I walk up the stairs and into the master bedroom right beside the room filled with toys for Husuko. I throw myself on the bed and fall asleep in less than five minutes.

**************

Four O'clock. Quitting time. Usually it's five, but, since I have to drive Mimi home and host her show, I get out early this week.

I gently rap on my wives door and invite myself in. Ah, if angels lived on earth, my wife would, without a doubt, be one of them, but only if they turn into monsters when they slept. Don't tell her I said that though. She was sprawled out over the all over the bed in a deep sleep. Her mouth hung open and drool dripped out onto the pillow. Her hair lay in a tangled mess over her face. Finally, her arms were dangling over the side of the bed.

I have found that if you want to wake Mimi, all you have to do is tap her lightly in the shoulder, but it only works if you follow through with a violent shaking.

"Mimi! Wake up!" I yell pushing up and down on the cheap mattress.

She got up and stretched. "I wasn't sleeping." she informed me.

"Then you do one heckuva good gargoyle impression." I tell her playfully. Heck, I'm in a playful mood. I have a beautiful son, a lovely wife, and I get to be on TV soon. I believe a friendly game of 'throw-insults-at-each-other-in-a-nice-way' is in order.

"Jyou! That was mean!" she said giving me a playful slap across the shoulder and her famous playful death glare.

"Anyway, you need to get your clothes on so I can take you and the baby home."

"I don't think so."|

"What do you mean?"

"Well, do you think I'm going to stay at home and watch immensely screw up my show from the television? I don't think so. I'm going to be there, front row, center."

"With the baby?"

"You better believe it. He's going to see his father's humiliating success in his second day in the world."

"Speaking of which. I'll go get him. You get dressed and I'll be back here to get you in five minutes."

"Alright. Then we'll check out of here and go to the studio."

***************

"Hello, everybody and welcome to Kido's Kitchen! I'll be you host, Jyou Kido."

The audience clapped. They clapped and all I did was introduce myself. This is great! It's so nice to be acknowledged.

"I suppose some of you are wondering 'What happened to Mimi? Isn't she the star of Kido's Kitchen?' Well, as some of you might have noticed, over the past few months she has gotten larger and larger. Well, she's my wife and we just had our first child yesterday. A boy named Husuko. She gets the rest of the week off to rest, and I get to your host for the rest of the week. However, she still feels the need to come here to watch me make a fool of myself. She's in the front row with the baby."

The camera turned around to get a shot of Mimi sitting with the sleeping child in her arms.

She giggled and rolled her eyes at me. "Just do the show." she said inaudibly.

"What's that?" I question. It's amazing how hard it is to hear a person in a studio when they don't have a microphone on. I walk up to her in order to get a clearer response.

"We're here to learn how to cook." she says a little more clearly. She then proceeds to lean over the railing and place a butterfly kiss, squarely on my lips. In public. On television.

The audience starts cheering and clapping as we part. The camera zooms in on Mimi and the child once again. She sits down and starts quietly clapping herself.

After a few seconds, the clapping dies down a bit. Now I can finally start the show.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to talk straight when you're thinking of two completely different things. Currently, I'm speaking to any people that may be watching, and having my own personal conversation inside my head. "Okay, then. Today, we'll be making borsht." 'I can't believe I'm doing this.' "It's a Russian stew that can serve many hungry houseguests or friends that may visit." 'How can I even talk straight right now?' "Borsht can be served hot or cold." 'I never thought I'd were an apron like this.' "Your choice, of course." '...especially not one with the name MIMI printed in bright, bold, pink letters across the front.'

***************

"Tell me. How bad was I really?" I asked my wife while we sat at a table, eating the borsht that I had prepared earlier. Husuko was fast asleep. Sleeping soundly in his carrier basket. He had already had some breast milk from Mimi after the show had ended and everyone had left. It was all to quiet for my liking. Just the sounds of two people eating and quietly talking.

"Well, Jyou..." she responded. "...let's just say this. You made me look ten times better than Martha Stewart.

"Isn't that putting me down quite substantially?"

She giggled. "Yeah."

"Well, maybe I won't do the show anymore then." I said as I crossed my arms, huffing at the statement.

"Oh, common Jyou. You asked, I answered. Besides, I was just kidding. And who knows. Maybe you'll get some more when the other baby arrives."

"Other baby? You're having another child?"

"No, but you never can tell. If I decide you're a good enough father. I might let you persuade me into carrying another child and going through that process at the beginning to get me there."

I cocked my head and raised my brow at her sudden erotic behavior. She curled her lip and looked at my sexually. "Really?" I asked.

"Maybe later."

We continued to carry out our flirty newlywed conversation at the table for another hour.

****************

"Oh gees! 5 minutes to air!" I grunted angrily as I quickly threw everything that I had in my pocket into my bag. Pencils, pens, cell phone, pager, wallet, keys. I quickly changed out of my white doctor's coat and threw on something casual and Mimi's ugly pink apron overtop. My second day of work and I'm going to be late. I don't think that's going to look good. I don't even have time for the makeup people to apply the stuff.

I ran out as fast as I could, just as the countdown began.

"We're on in 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...and we're on the air!" yelled the stage manager.

The audience cheered and I began.

"Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Kido's kitchen. I'll be your host, Jyou Kido. Your regular host, Mimi, my wife, is on a leave of absence this week as we had our first child. A bouncing, baby boy named Husuko." Sheesh. If you ask me, these shows all start out the same. In my case, I introduce myself, tell the audience why the real host isn't here, the camera zooms in on Mimi, she waves, the audience cheers, we start the show. We really need more variety here. Don't blame me, I just read the cue cards. I didn't write the show.

**************

"You knew he was coming, didn't you?" I asked Mimi in the car ride home.

She turned to me. Flipping that beautiful auburn hair of hers. She looked at me with those beautiful hazel eyes. I didn't look back. I wasn't angry. I just had to keep my eyes on the road. Still, just looking at her in one of her when she's in a cheerful mode, it's almost impossible to avert your eyes when your staring into that beautiful aura that surrounds her.

"Maybe." She responded. Her soft red lips turned into a playful smile that showed me that she was in one of moods those I told you about, and I love it!

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Well, why don't I surprise you then. I'm taking you out to dinner at the Mandarin. That Chinese place."

"I love Chinese!" she squealed and wrapped her arms around me in a grateful, loving hug. I swerved at the surprise attack, but quickly regained control. Husuko decided to join Mimi in the squealing party and screeched in the back seat, only to be followed by a handful on giggles.

"Yeah, so do I. But you don't see me screaming and attacking you when you drive so you'll crash into an oncoming car and kill us all!"

"Jyou. Don't be so negative. I'm just showing gratitude. It's my way."

"And does that way of yours include fourteen-hour shopping trips and sleeping in until noon?" I

joked.

"Yeah. I guess so" she stated simply, twirling a lock of hair around with her finger. "What's your way?"

I paused for a second and thought about the question. I thought about my personality traits. Reliable, honest, loyal, a workaholic perfectionist. Well, confused for one thing. When confronted with the simple question of who I think I am, I can't think of an answer...No, sorry. I don't think of an answer. Instead, I go rambling on about the question like an idiot. Say, there's a good personality trait. Idiot. If I could just...

"Jyou! Stop! You got to turn here!" Mimi called from the real world to reach me in my own personal dimension. I applied the brakes and turned into the large plaza.

"Say, Jyou." Mimi says steeping out of the car. "You still haven't answered my question yet."

"You know, Mimi. I think it's a little easier to someone else to answer a question about a person. I find, that if a person answers a question about themselves, they either talk highly of themselves, or put themselves down lower then they really are."

"Okay, Jyou. I think your way is working and fawning over me."

She reaches into the car to pull Husuko out of the back seat. When she steps back out, she only finds me with my eyes as big as dinners plates and my mouth hanging open, staring at her, "Is this good enough?"

"I said fawning. Not gawking and drooling."

"Eh. Same thing."

"Well, I guess I should be grateful you're looking at my face as opposed to...Or maybe I'm going to shut up now."

I avert my eyes from hers and stare at her chest in a quick movement.

She puts her hand under my chin and gently closes my mouth and lifts my head towards hers. "I understand that you're in a playful mood, and I understand that, but we're in a public place here, dear."

"Aw. You're no fun." I tell her standing up straight. I took the baby from her arms and wrapped my free arm around her waist. She looped her arm around my shoulders and we headed for the restaurant, together.

**************

"I'm Jyou Kido for Kido's Kitchen. That's all we have time for today. Next week, Mimi's back. So, goodbye everyone. Maybe I'll see you again someday." I waved to the camera and the audience cheered and clapped for me as I walked offstage for the last time. I noticed some of the younger people were standing up. I can't believe it. One week of work and I've already got a standing ovation. I feel pretty good for myself right now as I wave to the people in the audience and walk away to my beautiful wife who is waiting for me offstage. She hugs and kisses and congratulates me."Jyou, you do realize that they're still clapping?"

"So?"

"So, go out there. They know you're leaving and they want to show you their gratitude. Go out there. Take a bow."

"Only if you come with me."

"Alright., but you're the star."

"Okay." We run onstage and bow to the people clapping. They seem to clap louder as we go out there.

Mimi wrapped her arms around me and kissed me deeply. The audience cheered even louder. I was surprised by the sudden movement, but I quickly regained my footing and kissed her in return, wrapping my arms around her waist. After a few seconds, we parted, took one final bow, and walked offstage.

"Wow, who knew that the people would love me like that."

"Jyou, you're a nice guy. That's why they love you. It's why I fell for you."

"Okay." I responded. "Hey, Geri! Over here!"

Geri looked at Mimi and I and walked over with Husuko in his arms. Mimi had given the baby to Geri, the stage manager, before she came onstage with me. He placed the child in my arms gently.

"Thanks."

"No problem." he said, and walked off.

"You know," Mimi started. "you've really improved from the first time you went out there. At first, you were all quiet, but when the end of the week neared, you could be heard in Russia, I'm sure."

"Speaking of which, was this Russian week, or something. Except our special guest, all the dishes were Russian."

"Maybe. The studio doesn't tell me anything."

"I'm sure it doesn't matter." I said smiling down at her as we walked through the parking lot towards the car.

They say you can learn a lot from your spouse. I guess, right now, would be one of the times where you do. From the first time I laid eyes on her, I learned that I was going to spend the rest of my life with this woman and be happy the rest of my life. She's already given me her love and a child, there's not much more I could ask for, except that she never take those away.

"Jyou. Jyou!"

"Huh!? What!?"

"We're at the car now. Can you open it please? It's kind of cold out here."

"Oh, sure."

"You were in that little world in the back of your head again, weren't you?"

"You mean the one with neon pink everywhere and purple flowers?"

"Yeah, that one."

"No. Today it was blue."

She giggled as I open the door and gently place the child in his chair before walking over to get in mine.

"Jyou, sweetie."

"Yeah?"

"Mind if I drive tonight? You just seem so out of it all the sudden."

"Alright. I'm sure I'll be fine once I have something to eat."

"Okay. When we get home, I'll make you some soup. Plain and simple. Alright?"

"Sure. Sounds good." I say, flashing a smile.

I climb in the passenger seat. Mimi takes her keys out of her purse and starts the engine with them. She slowly backs out of her personal parking space and turns onto the road. Now, you see, here's the dilemma. Whenever she gets on the road, she decides to be wild and adventurous, so, she floors it. As usual, she does as expected and we start barreling down the road going about twice as fast as I usually drive. However, the soothing purr of the engine is so deeply relaxing that I fall asleep in what must be under five minutes.

**************"Jyou. Jyou, wake up sweetie."

"Huh? What?" I respond as I wake to that soothing siren voice that beckons me. I slowly open my eyes to see Mimi standing outside the car door, looking and calling me through the window.

"Oh. We're home." I realize as I stretch. I look around as my eyes adjust to the light. I look in the back seat to see...NO ONE THERE!!!

"Oh no! Oh no! Where's Husuko!? Where is he!?" I scream thrashing around, looking for him, but it's very difficult to do while wearing a seat belt.

In my frantic search, I eventually noticed Mimi. She was covering her mouth with her hand...laughing. How could she find this funny?

"What's so funny?!" I yelled. Husuko's gone and she thinks it's funny.

"We've been home for an hour."

"We have?" I say stopping my search to speak with her.

"Yeah. When we got home, I decided to let you sleep. I took Husuko in and watched the news while he played on the floor for half-an-hour. I then fed him, and put him to bed. After that was taken care of, I made soup like I had promised. I came out here to get you so you could eat. Understand?"

"Oh. Okay." I say, undoing the seatbelt and getting out of the car. "Wow. I'm feeling a lot better now."

"That's good. I don't want you sick."

"Thanks honey. Uh...Mimi."

"Yes." she asked in her usual perky voice as we headed inside.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"It's alright Jyou." I know you were only worried about the baby. Your intentions were good."

"Woof." came the call from Romeo as he ran up to us and danced at our feet.

"Wow. It's seven o'clock already. Time to feed the dog. I'll go do that now. Go start dinner. I'll be up in a minute."

"Okay."

I did as I promised and fed the dog before walking up the stairs to the kitchen to share a meal with Mimi. I pulled up a chair to the table, where, in front of me, was a steaming bowl of Mimi's delicious soup. I lifted the spoon in the bowl to my lips and sucked all liquid and noodles in my mouth.

"Oh my God! This is great!" I yelled. "This is probably the best soup I've ever had!" I lifted more and more of it to my mouth, sucking in the mouth-watering broth into my mouth.

"Oh! So, all my other soup isn't great, is it?" she said crossing her arms, smiling. The smile on her face gives her face. I can tell she's in a joking, flirty mood tonight. I love it when she's like this.

"You have more than one type of soup?"

She opened her mouth in a shocked grin. "Jyou. That hurt." she announced, placing a hand on her chest to show she was shocked, but, she's joking.

"Hey, you give a little, you get a little."

"That's it!" she yelled. She's still joking, of course. It was evident in her voice. She got up and came around the table.

"That's my cue to leave." I got up and ran of the room with my wife in hot pursuit.

"Come here." she laughed as she chased me into the living room. She leaps on me as I pass through the room and tackles me onto the couch. We bounce on it as we land. The jolt shakes me a little, but I'm alright. She lies sideways across my stomach with me on back. She quickly gets up and holds me down. Grappling my wrists and pushing sown on them, and straddling me at the waist.

She lowered her head down until her face was just inches away from mine. "Pinned ya." she tells me, before she lowered her head the full way down and meeting me at the bottom with a passionate kiss. She then lifted her head back up just inches and gives me a seductive smile.

"Where did you learn to do that?" I query, once she releases my hands so I could sit up, once again.

"My father taught me some karate when I was young. I still remember it all." she gave a karate chop through the air to the left.

"Can I please get up now?" I ask, noting that she was still sitting on my waist.

She looked down to notice it. "How do I know you won't insult my cooking again?"

"If I do, you can jump on me, again."

"Then you wouldn't stop."

"Good point."

"I'm going to have to trust you on this one, but next time, you're really going to get it." She lifted her leg up and swung it around to climb off me. I let myself up and sat on the couch. Mimi was now standing with her back towards me, brushing the dust off her clothes. I wasn't about to let her stand in peace. I reached up and grabbed her waist to pull her down on my lap. She let out a playful yelp and put her hands on mine for balance as I pulled her down, giggling all the way. We both bounced as she landed on me. I released my hands from her waist and put my arms around her shoulders. She took her hands and held on to mine so I would not be able to release her from my loving grasp. I gently kissed her temple and she purred contently.

"Tell you what." I said. "It's only past seven. I'll go clean up the kitchen. Why don't you pick out a movie to watch?"

I let her out of my gentle embrace and got up to head towards the kitchen, while she got up and walked towards the movie rack.

I took the dishes to the sink and carefully washed them before placing them in the dishwasher for a cleaner job.

After this was done, I headed back to the living room and seat myself on the couch, beside Mimi.

She was fast-forwarding the tape she picked through the beginning credits towards the start of the movie.

"What did you pick?" I ask

"It's a movie I recently bought. I haven't watched it yet." She presses the play button and the actors' names start appearing on the screen.

I read them out loud. "Philece Sampler...Michael Lindsay...Joshua Seth...Who are these people?!"

"I've never heard of them before either, but the movie still got a pretty good review. Three-and-a-half stars. Not bad."

The words 'The Last Kiss' appear on the screen.

"A romance, no doubt." I announce. "A knockout for sure."

"Yeah. It is supposed to be one of the better romance movies."

"Actually, I meant it can make me unconscious within five minutes."

"Sure." She rolled her eyes.

Actually, through the middle of the movie, I decided it wasn't all that bad. It was about a girl who witnessed a brutal murder. She went to court and got the killer put in jail. Still feeling hopelessly terrified and depressed, she went to a shrink and fell in love with him. Several years later, she was declared cured and started a relationship with the psychiatrist and they had a family, but the criminal murder who she testified against was out of jail and was after her.

"You know, if they didn't waste so much time kissing, this movie would be pretty good" I did an impersonation of such. "'Oh, John! I love you!' 'Kiss me, Martha!' 'Oh, John! We're in trouble!' 'Kiss me, Martha!' 'Oh, John! I need a coffee!' 'Kiss me, Martha!'"

"Shh. you're ruining it."

Through the end, it got better. I was woken up when the protagonist girl found her parents hanging from a live power line.

Eventually, the movie ended when the villain was dead and the two lovers started happily having sex, in a public place.

"Wow, Jyou! That movie was pretty good." Mimi said, getting up and stretching.

"Kiss me, Mimi!" I replied in a cheap English accent.

"You still on that?"

"Yep."

"Hmm. You know, I wonder if there will be a sequel. Where Jackson the Ripper's deranged brother avenges his sibling's death.

"He had a brother?"

"Yes! He testified for him during the trial. Weren't you watching?"

"No."

She started rewinding the tape. "I loved it when they were caught kissing in his office and they had to try to think of an explanation."

"He could get fired for that."

"He wasn't though."

"Well, at least they captured what a doctor really does in a day. Curing his patients, than banging then silly."

"Har, har." She rolled her eyes at me. "Besides, her was a psychiatrist."

"Still a doctor."

"It's a little different from what you do."

"Yeah, but he's still a hero in my eyes."

"Stop that!" she giggled and gave me a gentle thwap on the shoulder.

I got up and stretched. "Two-and-a-half hours of uncut, unadulterated fluff and sleaze."

"You make it sound as if it was horrid."

"It wasn't horrid."

"Well, that's good, cause it kind of got in the mood."

My eyes shot up in surprise, but I kept my cool. "And what mood would that be?"

"I think you know." she said as a seductive smile spread across her lips. "C'mon." She grabbed my wrist and pulled my up the stairs and into the master bedroom where she slammed the door behind us, threw me against it, and started kissing me romantically. This went on for quite a few minutes until she pulled off me and jumped onto the bed.

"Wow! Gees! When you want something, you just out and out go and get it, don't you? No questions asked, huh?"

"Yeah. C'mon. Hop in." she said patting the spot on the bed beside her.

"Alright." I leapt on the bed and landed on my back. I put my hands behind my head and stared at the ceiling. She lay on her side towards me, with her hand supporting her head. "So, what now?"

"You know exactly what." she rolled on top of me and kissed me passionately. I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed her back as we twisted and turned until she slid her tongue down my throat and I hers. We tongue wrestled for a little while until I slid my hands under her shirt and up her back. I fiddled with the strap on her bra as we went on, but when I came up for air, I asked: "How do you get in and out these things?"

She lifted herself off of my chest and straddled me at the waist. "You just need more practice."

She lifted her shirt off and unhooked her bra from the back. It slid off her shoulders and she threw it on the floor beside the bed. God, she was beautiful, especially when she had no shirt on. Her hourglass figure was strangely erotic in the moonlight shining in from the open window. Her robust breasts hung off her chest like two melons, and her nipples were hard and erect. She lay back down on me and began kissing me again. I grabbed her left breast with my right hand and began tracing my thumb around the nipple. I broke free of the love fest and started it up again by licking her nipples slowly, then sucking on them. She moaned with delight and began unbuttoning my shirt. When she had finished, I released her and shook my shirt off before taking it in my hand and throwing it on the floor.

I sat up in the bed and pulled her close towards me, kissing her again. This time, she goes for my pants. Unbuttoning the button form its hole and unzipping the fly. I pulled them down to reveal nothing but a pair of boxers.

Now, it's my turn. I reached under her skirt and pulled it down quickly. Mimi took it from my hand and threw it on the floor. Now, we were nothing but two lovers in our underwear, tangled in each other's arms, with our tongues in each other's mouths. However, the underwear part is about to change.

I slid my fingers inside her panties and started rubbing. She lifted herself up and moaned with sheer delight. She then licked her lips and put her hand in my boxers and grasped my manhood, which grew in her hand.

I pulled her panties down in one quick motion, and in return, she did the same to my boxers.

We threw the remaining clothing on the floor and they landed in the rest of the pile. I rolled back on top of her and sat between her legs. She seductively smiled at me and eagerly awaited the moment that I would begin to work my magic on her. I traced my self up her legs and thrust myself into her. She moaned with delight and pain at the sudden movement, but soon quieted down.

I started pulling in and out to start the main event. First slow, then getting faster and faster. As I did get faster, she started groaning lightly, then getting harder as she got closer to her climax. She screamed loudly as she orgasm for the first time tonight, and then she forced to continue.

We got in several different positions before it started happening again. This time for both of us. I could feel the extreme amount of pleasure and ecstasy as I continued my movements. We both moaned simultaneously as I spilled my seed into her.

We both flopped down on the bed, exhausted by our recent activities. She fell asleep almost immediately, but I, however, reflected on the events of the day before I turned in.

It has definitely got to be one of the best days of my life. Not so much as , oh say, the day I met Mimi, or when we got married, or when Husuko was born, but it is right up there. First, I get to finish hosting the most popular cooking show in Japan, my wife and newborn son are there to congratulate me, and I get to finish off the night in an evening of passion with my wife.

I smile, enthralled with this new life I have discovered. It's such a change from the old and miserable life of the younger version of me.

I turn towards Mimi, place an arm around her side, and fall asleep.

**************I awoke to the movements of a familiar body, tossing in the bed. My eyes open to see Mimi's face just inches away from mine. I jumped back, startled at the close object, but upon realizing that it was just my wife, I simply got out of bed and stretched.

I treaded over to the dresser and picked out some clothes and my bathrobe. I wrapped the bathrobe around my naked body before taking the clothes in a heap and walking towards the shower.

The water splashed as it hit the stall floor, releasing a fog of steam, rising from the floor and filling the room with its inviting heat. I threw off my bathrobe and stepped into the shower, soaking up the comforting cleanliness that came with it.

Upon finishing, I quickly dried off and put my clean clothes on tossing the bathrobe into the hamper to be washed and ready for me the next time I wanted a shower.

It is just when I see the door to his room when realize something. It's ten o'clock. I'm surprised Husuko hasn't starting crying yet on account of no breakfast of a dirty diaper. I quietly opened the door to his room so as to not wake him if he is just sleeping.

"Husuko." I whispered.

I crept across the floor over to the crib where the baby was napping. I gripped the top rungs as soon as they were in reach and pulled my head over the top to peer inside.

With that one simple movement, my facial expression turned to shock, my pupils dilated and shrank, my eye twitched rapidly and my heart beat several times faster than usual.

"AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!" I screamed as loud as I could, which was probably a scream that could wake the neighborhood. Husuko was gone. My one and only child had disappeared form my sight was no longer in his usual place. I frantically searched the room. Throwing stuffed animals everywhere and overturning the few chairs in the room.

I know he's too young and small to escape and I'm almost certain Mimi didn't take him out, she's still in bed.

When Mimi did hear my scream, she rushed into the room as fast as she could, still naked from the night before.

"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked in a worried voice, panting.

"Husuko!" I stammered. "He...he's gone! I yelled wide-eyed tear-stricken.

"What!? Let me see!" She pushed me aside and began searching the room herself. "Oh, my God!

Where is he!? Where is he!?"

"You did put him here last night, didn't you?"

"Yes. Where is he, Jyou." She started crying and placed her arms together at my stomach and dug her face into my chest. She's hysterical, and I don't blame her. I am too. I just don't show it quite as well as she does. It's with all good reason. Our first son is missing.

"Come here." I wrapped my arms around her gently and assuringly. She held her arms together at my chest. Her fingers entwined and her elbows bent. At that point, she just let it out. She had actually been holding it in before, but now she was just bawling with fear. She cried loudly and sadly and I just let tears run down my face silently.

I let her calm down over the course of the next five minutes. I took my hands and placed them on her shoulders. I very gently pushed her off of me, but she really just wanted to be close and have some to hold her.

I left my hands on her shoulders and stood, arms akimbo. "Mimi." I spoke. She just kept staring down at the floor, letting the tears fall on the carpet. "Mimi!" I said louder this time. She looked up at me with those big sad eyes. I sighed. "Go put some clothes on and I'll call the police, alright." She nodded slowly and walked to our room at the end of the hall.

I, on the other hand, ran downstairs as fast as I could. I slipped on the floor as I tried stopping and grabbed the kitchen phone to dial 911. Almost immediately someone one the other end picked up and spoke. "Hello. 911. What is your emergency?"

"He's gone! My baby is gone!" I screamed hysterically. I was only calm to make sure Mimi wouldn't freak out even more, but know, she's not around, so I just let out all the fear dwelling inside of me.

"Who is gone, sir?" the female voice on the other end of the line asked.

"My son! He's not even a week old and he's gone."

"May I ask who and where you are, sir?"

I sighed and lowered my voice to a more acceptable state. "My name is Jyou Kido. I live at 462 Elm Street."

"Is anyone injured?"

"No! He's just...he's just missing.

"What happened?"

"I woke up this morning at nine-thirty and had a shower. I got out at ten and went to check on the baby and he wasn't there."

"I'll send someone over right away. Goodbye, sir." I heard a click at the other end. I leaned my back to the wall and slid down slowly. I let the receiver fall down and bounce as it ran out of cord. As I landed on the floor, I just curled up into a fetal position and wept.

************"Do you have any enemies?" the police officer asked in our living. Since I called, two rather large police officers and two detectives had arrived at our door and were now questioning us.

I sat on the couch with Mimi beside me. She was leaning over with her hands in her face, crying. I rubbed her back to give her some comfort in our time of pain, plus I was giving the officers all the answers to their questions.

"Not that I know of." I responded softly.

"Do you know of anyone who might have a grudge against you?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Do you know anyone who would do this sort of thing?"

"No, no one."

"Are you both the real parents of the child?"

"Yes."

"Anyone in the family who would want to take the child?"

"No."

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Kido, I have no further questions for you, but if you think anyone, and I mean anyone, who you think would want to do this, come down to the station. Alright?"

"Alright." I slowly agreed. I picked myself up off the couch and showed the two officers to the door. I walked back down the hallway, I saw Mimi again, through the doorway into the living room. Now, she was laying on her side, tightly hugging a pillow and still crying her eyes. I was about to have a crying fit myself, I was just holding it all up inside. It was hard. I would try to hold back, but tears would still silently run down my cheeks, I just wouldn't make as sound as they did.

This would fit in the record books as the most horrifying day in any man's life. The day your child moves out and leaves you forever is scary enough, but the day that they're kidnapped, and before they can even crawl is absolutely horrifying.

My feet dragged across the carpeted stairs as I trudged up to the top floor where the baby's room, and the detectives were. They were in the room, snapping pictures of everything around them and picking up the tiniest thing that could be a piece of evidence.

"Mr. Kido!" one of the called out to me. I turned my head slowly and looked at him. "Hello, I'm Adono Kenichi. I'd like to ask you a few questions an the topic of you missing son."

"Sure. Why not?" I answered, unenthusiastically. Kind of like a manic depressant.

"First of all, when did you and your wife get to bed last night?"

"Around ten o'clock."

"And, when did you awake.

"I got up at nine-thirty, and she got up at ten when I realized the baby was missing."

"I see." he wrote something on a small ledger. "Did you move anything in the room between now and the time you woke up?"

"Of course! I was frantic! I threw everything in the room around looking for him!"

"No need to yell, Mr. Kido."

"Sorry." I rubbed my forehead with my fingers and my thumb in a vain attempt to calm myself down.

"Did you notice anything different in the room before you did anything to it?"

"I didn't look."

"One last question. Has that window always been broken?"

I looked up in surprise. "Broken?" I walked over to the room and through the door towards the window. The glass on the window was not cracked, but the lock on the window, which held it down, seemed to be broken...from the outside. "No." I finally responded. "No, it hasn't." My eyes opened wide and a small grin crept up the sides of my face. "This is a clue, right!? No joking!?"

"Of course it's a clue. I wouldn't lie. We just wanted to make sure. Who ever did this was very sloppy. He left mud on the floor, which probably means that there are footprints outside. We found fingerprints, but, they're useless unless we already have the guy on file. He's either an amateur, or he's framing somebody else with shoes that don't fit."

For the first time that day, I laughed. "Do you think you'll find him soon!?" I asked with a very excited tone in my voice.

"Probably, but don't get too excited. If...No, when we find him, there could be a chance he's already killed your son."

I looked at him, shocked. My wry grin faded and my happy mood died. Well, that's one way to ruin a guy's mood.

However, he quickly realized that he had scared me and tried to make up for it. "There's a slim chance of that though. If he were planning on killing your son, he'd have probably done it last night and left the body here. Chances are, you were picked at random and your son is now going to be ransomed back to you."

"Well, that's a little more reassuring. Thank you for your help, Mr. Kenichi."

"Any time." He walked back to the room to do a little more investigation.

I slowly walked to my room and lied down on the bed. My mind kept racing at a millions thoughts a minute. Most of those thoughts were really questions that no man had the answer to.

'Who would do such a thing? Why would they do such a thing? Where are they? Could it possibly be someone we know? WHY ME!!??' My head pounded with fury and anger. I clutched it with both my hands and growled to vent out the pain. I gritted my teeth and rolled around on the bed, in order to figure out why. I rolled to far to the one side and fell off the side off the bed.

My forehead hit the nightstand with a loud 'thump'. My head throbbed with even more pain than before as I slowly stumbled up. I clutched my head with my hands as I knelt on the floor.

"GOD, DAMN IT!!!" I screamed and threw my right hand at the table. I hit the lag and the whole thing toppled to the side and fell over. Everything on the small table fell into a head on the floor. The phone, the lamp, the book I was currently reading, but one thing seemed to catch my eye more than the others. It fell down slower and eventually landed about a metre away from the other things. A small, white envelope that didn't really seem to fit in with everything else. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed it before, but, then again, I didn't look.

"Muh...Mr. Kenichi!" I called, picking up the letter. " I think you better come see this.!"

He walked into the room. "Yes." he answered.

"Look." I commanded, showing him the envelope.

"My God, man!" he said, walking up to me very quickly. "Where did you find this?"

"It was on the bedside table. I just found it now."

"Well, never mind that. Come with me. We must read this immediately." He took it from my hands and brought it up to his face to look at it, carefully examining every little detail that the envelope might hold in hope of finding an extra clue. However, it was just a blank envelope. Not much to look at really.

He carefully removed the small piece of tape that held the envelope shut and slowly lifted the tab up. By doing this, he is really testing my patience.

"Well, at least he isn't dumb enough to have licked it shut." Adono joked. I didn't laugh, giggle or even smile. This was just too intense and my mind was set on that piece of paper that the good detective pulled out. And I wasn't really in the mood, really.

Adono pulled the letter out and unfolded it. His brown eyes went back and forth, scanning the letter.

He sighed as he finished reading. "Pleasant." he said as he handed it over to me,

It read:

Dr. Kido:

You bastard! You asshole! I hope you rot in hell! It's all your fault! It's your fault your son is with me! Your fault!

He is being kept alive, but if I see the police anywhere around here, I'll kill him! I'll blow his fucking brains out! Don't try to find me, or else you'll get him back piece by piece!

I will return him, but only if yourself up to me. Meet me at 44 Pricomb street on Sunday at noon for the trade. If you don't show, he dies. If you come with police within a 4-block radius, he dies. If you come with anyone else, he dies.

You fucking bastard!

"Well, Jyou." Adono piped in. "What are you going to do?"

"What choice do I have?"

"Well, you can give yourself up to a ravaging psychopath, or you can see if we can figure this out by then."

"How are you going to figure this out by then? You have almost no evidence."

"Jyou. He was very sloppy. We have lots of evidence. We have the stuff I told you about, and there's quite a bit in this letter. Number one, he obviously hated very much by the frequent name calling and insulting. Number two, he called you doctor, not mister. Number three, he said 'It's all your fault.', so he must be blaming you for something. Number four, he is using the baby so he can get at you. Number five, he said 'Blow his brains out' meaning that his weapon is a gun. Number five, he told you to meet at an abandoned hardware building in the gangland part of town. And the fact that he is this sloppy and gives away so much about himself is a piece of evidence. Can you think of a person who would match up to all these characteristics?"

"No. Not of the top of my head. A lot of people call me doctor. I don't know anyone who hates me, not that much anyway. I've never done anything wrong that would fit in my head as something that would deserve this. Most of the people I know live around here. And very few of the people I know have guns, and they only have them for protection."

"Well, Mr. Kido. It seems to me that you have a choice. You or him. What's it going to be?"

"Me, of course, but he'll kill me! I'll never get to see them again. I love my family so much! I just couldn't stand it!" I broke down and started crying. I cupped my hands over my eyes and just let it out. The fear. The anxiety. The sadness. The horror. It all came pouring out of a river in my eyes.

"There, there, Mr. Kido. We'll take every precaution to see that you get out alive."

"Mr. Kenichi. We've got everything we need I suggest we pack up and leave." Adono's assistant said after coming in the door.

"You have the footprint moulds?"

"They're in the car."

"Thank you, Harushi. I'll be there in a minute. You get ready."

"Yes, sir." He said and left.

"Now, Mr. Kido. I'm going to take all the evidence down to the lab now. I'll call you tonight if we find anything important. I think you should go downstairs and tell your wife what you have to do tomorrow." He smiled and turned to leave, but stopped and looked back at me. "One more thing, Mr. Kido."

"Yes."

"Good luck."

"Thank you."

"No problem." He flashed me a grin and left the room.

He was gone. There was no need to hold it in anymore. I showed no restraint as I let the tears gush out of my eyes, much harder and fast then before. Five minutes. I sat on the floor in a fetal position and cried for five minutes before I actually moved. When I did move, it was to join my wife for someone to be with. So neither of us had to be alone for one second longer.

I approached Mimi in the living room after my trek down the stairs. I sat down on the couch beside her. She had her arms wrapped around a pillow so she could cry into it.

"Mimi." I said.

She didn't move. She just squirmed and kept crying into the pillow.

"Mimi." I said a little harder, nudging her leg a bit.

She slowed her crying down a bit. "What?" she asked, harshly.

I sighed. "Tomorrow, I have to go somewhere. There was this note I found. It said that we would get Husuko back if I traded spaces with him."

She suddenly stopped crying and sat up straight to look me in the face. The tears that had come flowing out of her eyes had marked her cheeks. She stared at me. The light reflected off of her eyes and I could see myself if I looked into them. Her eyes sort of shook sadly as she looked back at me. "But, then I...I won't have you. I couldn't let you go willingly. I...I love you!" Once again, she let the tears flow out of her eyes like a fountain. She threw her arms around me and buried her face into my chest, nuzzling it to get in deeper and deeper.

"Shhh...It's okay." I cooed, wrapping my arms around her in return to make us both feel safer and more comfortable. I stroked her brown, shoulder length hair. "I'm twenty-eight I've lived my life, but Husuko, he isn't even a week old yet, he has so much ahead of him. I know he's destined for greatness even if I'm not."

"Buh...but what will it be luh...like for him, growing up wuh...without the fuh...father who loved him muh...more than anything." she stuttered.

"He'll get by, I'm sure, but I would much rather have him lead a full and great life instead of me.

"Oh, Jyou. I...I love you so much I can't bear to let you go."

"Just hold me for a little while, Mimi. Then I'll have accomplished what every man in life set out to do."

We sat there for a good half-hour, before Mimi fell asleep. I laid her down an the couch and got up. I slowly left my snoozing wife and headed for the kitchen. I took a piece of paper and a pen out of the drawer beside the phone and started writing.

I wrote:

Dear Mimi:

As you know, this is a very hard for both you and myself, but I have made my decision and I am going to replace Husuko as the kidnapper's victim. I just need some time to think and reflect on my life up to date. You've made me very happy and I love you with all my heart.

Jyou.

I placed the note on the kitchen table and picked up my key that were also on the table. I headed for the front door and opened it slowly and cautiously, so as not wake the sleeping Mimi. I kept my head inside while my body walked backward outside on to the porch. I didn't move my eyes form the sleeping body lying on my couch. The angel that she was. I would be leaving her soon, and maybe someday, I could be her guardian angel. I pulled my head outside of the door and locked it behind me. My feet lightly skipped down the steps and tears of sadness and fear ran out of my eyes.

After about half-an-hour, I reached the park. Children were climbing on the monkey bars and playing king-of-the-castle on big rocks. There was a game of soccer going on in the field, but I decided to watch the younger children play on the jungle gym.

I spied a bench out of my peripheral vision and went to go sit down on it. I watched a dad and his son toss a football back and forth and thought about how that was never going to be me. Neither one of them would ever be me. I would never be able to play catch with my son and my father was always too busy to play with me.

Have you ever realized how you never really realize how much you think about something until it's gone? You'll hear people talking about their kids and what they've done and you want to tell them about your kids but you'd sound stupid using past tense, so you keep your mouth shut. When you hear people saying 'As long as you remember them, they're never really gone.', don't believe them. That's a load of grade-F bull. I mean, I want Mimi to remember me and Husuko to think of how great I would have been, but, I don't want them to be sad, at least, not as sad as I am right now. Oh, God.

My eyes filled with water. I got up and ran out of the park as fast as my feet could take me. My breathing became rapid and hard and I stared to get a cramp in my side, but I didn't stop. I ran with tears flying out of my eyes and into the wind behind me.

I reached home within ten minutes. I ran through the door and slammed it behind me as soon as I got in the house.

I slowly tiptoed through the hallway and peered around the corner to look in the living room. Mimi was still laying on the couch, only...she was completely naked. Her clothes lay in a pile by the foot of the couch.

I ran to her side and staring to shake her. "Mimi! Mimi, wake up!" I sternly but softly told her. Her eyes stirred and she slowly opened them to look up at me.

"Oh. Hello, honey." she said, getting up to sit. "Where's the baby? Huh. Why am I naked?" She looked down at herself to realize that she wasn't wearing any clothes.

"The...the baby was kidnapped, remember?" I spoke softly and comfortably with my hands on her shoulders. I was fighting back tears the whole time.

She looked on the floor and nodded sadly.

"I don't know why you're naked though. Do you remember waking up before I came home?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I do remember waking up to someone breathing on my neck and unbuttoning my shirt. I woke up, but he put a smelly cloth on my face before I could see him and I fell asleep again."

I got up and screamed at the top of my lungs. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!!! FIRST MY SON AND NOW MY WIFE!!! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME, HUH!!?" I knew the answer. Whoever he was, he wanted me to pay, but what for? What did I do? Mimi sat there the whole time with her eyes on the floor so as to not let me see how sad and terrified she really was. I don't think she ever seen me like this before.

I stormed into the kitchen to cool down. My note was still on the table, only it seemed different.

Longer than before. Where I had ended, something else had begun.

Hey, Bastard:

Your wife has nice tits. Some of the nicest I've seen. I would know, asshole. Oh, don't worry. I didn't rape her, but I came close. I just took off all of her clothes and 'played with her a bit. You deserve it, you Son-of-a-Bitch!

Signed:

Your secret admirer

"YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH!!!" I screamed again. "I'm going to kill him! So help me god, I'm going to kill that son-of-a-bitch, bastard!"

"Jyou?" came the sympathetic cry from the other room.

"What?"

"Can we not call the police? I don't feel like being questioned again. It's just...It's just to painful." she broke down into a fit of sobs which made me come running from the kitchen to the rescue.

I wrapped my arms around her naked body and let her cry into my shoulder as she clung on to me for comfort.

"It's okay. It's okay." I cooed in her ear, rocking her back and forth. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to. God only knows how much I love you and how scared I am right now and nobody knows the difficulties that I'm facing." My eyes slowly filled with tears and they fell out when I blinked. They trekked down my face and rolled off my chin.

"I do, Jyou. I do."

**************

"You fucking bastard! What are you going to do now, huh!? You're pathetic! You don't have the gall to do it, do you!? You're just a pathetic lowlife, desperate to get some attention, aren't you!?" I yelled in the face of my kidnapper. My hands tied behind my chair and my feet tied together. Staring up into the face of a gun, I never would have thought I would be encouraging someone to shoot me.

"C'mon, you lowlife son-of-a-bitch! Pull the fucking trigger and blow me to kingdom come!

What are you waiting for, huh!? Scared!?"

"That's it, you little shit." the masked man finally spoke in a somewhat confident voice, obviously trying to hide his fear. "You get your wish." He pointed the barrel of the gun in my face, and fired.

I woke up screaming. Tears and sweat covered my face as opposed to the blood I was expecting.

I panted as gasps of air entered my lungs and escaped through my mouth.

"What!? What is it, Jyou!?" Mimi yelled as she awoke from her slumber on account of my screaming.

She jolted up into a sitting position in less than a second. The covers fell off of her chest to reveal a pair of large breasts slightly covered by the light brown hair from her head.

"It...It's nothing, really. I just had a nightmare. That's all. Nothing to worry about, really."

I threw the covers off of me and pulled my legs over the side of the bed. I picked my naked body up and walked across the carpet over to the dresser.

We were both naked. Mimi and I, I mean. Knowing that the following day would most likely be my last, we both felt it necessary to express our emotions physically one last time, but, neither of us put any heart into it. We were too depressed as to what the following day would hold.

"Eleven o'clock!" I screamed as I finally noticed the time on my watch since the clock on my nightstand was broken after I threw the table on the floor. "There's almost no time to do anything now."

"Jyou." Mimi called in a depressed voice.

"Yes." I responded in the same way.

"I think you had better tell your family. They don't know yet."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." I picked up the phone and off the bedside table (it was still intact) and dialed my parents' number. Got to break the bad news to them too.

"And, Jyou."

"Mmm-hmm."

"I still love you."

I smiled. "I know."

*************

Eleven-thirty. It's now the first day of the end of my life. Time to go to forty-four Pricomb drive and get my son back. Mimi stood across from me in the hallway in front of the door."Mimi. Never forget, I'll always love you, no matter where I am."

"I know, Jyou. I'll always love you too, no matter where you are."

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into my loving embrace. She looped her arms around my neck and our lips met suddenly in the midst of our actions. We closed our eyes and just held each other, kissing, for what must have been al t least five minutes. So many emotions were spilled into that one little kiss, more than the first time it had happened. I find that the last kiss is so much more important the first. The first proves your love, but the last gives all your love over to your kin so they'll cherish their memories of you and never forget what you did for them.

Finally, we parted. I opened the door. "I love you." I said, ashamed, and closed the door behind me.

I just know that she's on the couch right now, sobbing for me. She's so sensitive. It's so unfair that such a sensitive and loving young person should have to go through with such emotions.

I walked to the end of the driveway where a taxicab was waiting for me. I climbed into the back seat and sat on the upholstery. "44 Pricomb drive, please."

"Sure thing, bub." the young cabby responded in a somewhat gruff voice. He was chewing a wad of bubble gum like a cow chews its cud.

I sat there in silence for a minutes, reflecting on the events of my short life up to date. Life is way too short, isn't it. Especially when you don't live it up to its full potential. Oh, well. It's worth it to save my only son. At least it will be less years that I'm a wrinkled old geezer in big diapers, yelling at young hooligans to get off of my lawn before I break out ol' hickory, the whipping stick. This made me chuckle

"Hey." a friendly voice chuckled. "You're that guy from that cooking show, aren't you." The cabby spoke as he just realized who I was.

"Yeah." I respond shyly. "My wife is really the host, I'm just her stand in."

"Oh, man. My girlfriend watches that show everyday. She loves it. And just between you and me, she can't even cook either. I don't understand it."

"Tell her, she has good taste, anyway." I grinned, warming up to the friendly young man.

"Alright. Heh, heh. I'll do that. Hey, how come your wife wasn't on this week?"

"She was on maternity leave. We had our first baby last Sunday."

"Hey. Congratulations. I'd give you a cigar, but I don't carry any with me. I don't smoke."

"I wouldn't accept it anyway. I don't smoke either. I think Mimi's going to be off this week too, due to a death in the family,"

"Oh, really? That's too bad."

"You don't know the half of it."

"Um, alright." he said, puzzled. "Say, why you going to bum town anyway? I'd think an upper-class guy like you would stay in yuppieville."

"I just have to pick something up."

"What?""Something very important."

"Alright. Okay. Never mind."

He drove me the rest of the way in silence. Probably because he thought I was being rude to him, but I wasn't trying to be. I just don't think it's a good topic for a conversation. 'What's new?' 'I'm going to be murdered today. You?'

He got me there with only a few minutes before noon.

"Okay. How much do I owe you? I'm kind of in a hurry." I said jumping out of the car and closing the door behind me and talking to the cabby through the window of the front seat.

"Uhh...Twelve-twenty-five."

I pulled out the twenty-dollar bill I had in my pocket. "Here." I said. "It's all yours." I turned and ran to the dilapidated warehouse.

I stopped and hit my head with frustration and turning around. "Hey!" I called out to the cabby before he could drive off. "Wait here. I'll be back soon."

"Alright. Try not to be too long. I've got other people who may want a ride." he yelled through the open window.

I ran inside the doorway of the old building. The moist walls crumbled around me and large holes in the walls shone light inside to help cut the eerie darkness all around me. The dust around me would fly into the air like a curtain whenever I stepped on the hardwood floor. Random creaks and groans came from the building that surrounded me, like it was threatening to fall apart at any second. They scared me. They made me feel as if people were surrounding me on every side.

"Hello." I called out into the darkness. "I'm here."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I heard crying. A baby's crying. Husuko.

"Husuko! Husuko, where are you? Come out here and show your face you rat bastard! Give me my son back."

I heard the clunks of heavy shoes in the background. Beating against the floor as they got louder and louder, progressing into the foreground.

"Brave words from a man who could jeopardize his son's life and his own simply by saying them." a raspy yet familiar voice said from behind me.

I flung myself around quickly to see the man hidden in the shadows.

"I know you'll kill me anyway, you bitch! Now give me the kid!"

"Yeah. Who are you going to give him to anyway? If there's anyone waiting outside, I get to kill both of you. It said so in the note I gave you."

"You said no police! You said nothing about the cabby I've got waiting for me out there! I'll give him the kid and have him take him home!"

"Fine! I'll keep my end of the bargain." The man walked into a beam of light that shone through the holes in the roof. He carried a basket in his hand from which the crying seemed to be coming from. Large, black army boots covered his feet. A black, leather trench coat was draped over his shoulders and ended just above his feet. A white hockey mask covered his face to hide his identity from me or the police or anyone else who might be out to get him.

"Here's the child." he said dropping the basket into my arms. "Take him to the cabby and come back."

"Don't worry, asshole!"

I took the basket and place it in a beam of light. My captuer staring at me with his immaculate black eyes through the holes of his mask.

Husuko lay on a folded blanket in the basket, squirming and crying in fear.

"Shh..." I whispered gently. "I'm here now. No need to worry." I picked up my beloved child out of the woven basket and held him against my chest. I bounced him up and down gently to soothe him and calm him down a bit. "Everything's going to be alright, now. I'm here" but despite my attempts at calming him, he did not stop. He kept crying and bawling of the strange man before him who would not take his staring eyes away.

I picked up the basket, put Husuko in it and began to walk away. The strange man walked just behind me to keep me from escaping. We exited the front doors and I headed towards the cab.

"Hey." the man called out from behind me. "Just remember, I got a gun. Try anything funny, and I send you all straight to hell!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pistol. He gave me a quick glance at it before stuffing it back in his pocket.

"Eat shit!" I walked towards the cab quickly and this time, my captuer waited at the door.

The cabby sung out rap music along to the lyrics blasting from his radio, making hand gestures to the tune. He seemed to be making a fool of himself with his hat turned to the side and his hands moving back and forth for no apparent reason. I always did think rap music was stupid.

"Hey!" I said from right outside the front-passenger window, but alas, I was no match for blaring music coming from the car stereo. "HEY!" I screamed. This time I got his attention. He turned to look back at me and upon seeing me, turned the radio off so he could listen to me.

"Hey there, bud." he said. "What's up?"

"I've got a job for you."

"Yeah, sure. Hop in. Where do you want to go?"

"No. You see, I have a problem. I need you to drive this child to where you picked me up and give him to my wife who should still be home. If she isn't, than wait for her there." I pulled the basket in through the window and placed it on the seat.

"You're not coming?" he responded, not attempting to hide the confusion in his voice.

"No." I leaned through the window and wrapped the front seatbelt around the basket as best I could.

"Hey. You know, I never picked up your name."

"It's Hiloji."

"Jyou Kido." I leaned a hand over to him and he took it willingly and shook it, smiling all the way.

"Now, Hiloji, I have one more small favor that I am afraid I must ask of you."

"Yeah. What's that?"

"Drive." I whispered.

"Beg your pardon?" he said, confused, raising a brow.

"Floor it, now!" I whispered harshly through gritted teeth.

"I...I can't. You're in the window."

"That's my plan. Now go as fast as you can, right now!" I said, glancing back at my captuer.

"Okay. The customers always right." he said shaking his head. He floored the pedal and the side of the window hit my kidney as the car sped down the street. Kind of like being hit with a lead pipe. "But if I get a ticket, you're paying."

"Don't worry." I pulled myself in through the window and flipped onto the floor of the cab. "I have one hell of an excuse."

I got up off the dirty, sticky floor to see the captuer had already drawn his gun and was pointing it straight at us.

"Faster. Faster!"

"This thing only goes up to ninety, okay?!" Stop freaking out!"

Bullets dinged off the metal doors making a remarkable chiming sound.

"Holy shit! That guy's shooting at us!" Hiloji screamed.

"Yes. I take it you've noticed." I said sarcastically. "I hope you know this is a life-or-death

situation here, and you're in the middle of it! So, if you don't want to get shot, I suggest you go faster!"

"I ducked down as Hiloji kept making the car accelerate. I wrapped myself around Husuko to prevent anything from happening to him.

"Holy shit! This is like a freaking movie!" Hiloji screamed.

"Only in this version, the good guys can get shot and killed!" I screamed back.

Just then, a loud pop sounded and the squeal of tires screeched loudly as we spun out of control.

We slid across the road and hit a telephone pole on the sidewalk with a loud crash and the crunch of metal. The windshield and windows shattered and sent shards of glass flying everywhere.

We jolted forward. Hiloji hit his head on the steering wheel (which had no airbags) and was knocked unconscious. There's a major head injury and what could be a concussion. I flew forward into the dashboard and snapped my back, but at least I kept Husuko safe.

I cringed in pain as footsteps came towards us. The slow 'clunk, clunk' of this psychopath madman's boots coming closer, and closer and louder, and louder as he approached.

I picked up my glasses beside my head which, remarkably, stayed intact and put them on my face. I lifted my head to the basket on the front seat. I looked inside to see my child, still laying there, still crying. He remained unharmed. Why, he had barely even moved since we crashed.

"Hiloji. Hiloji!" I said, getting louder and shaking the poor man violently in a vain attempt to wake.

"YOU STUPID SON-OF-A-BITCH!!" came the angrily screaming voice from behind me. "JUST WHAT THE HELL KIND OF STUNT ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL, HUH?!!!"

"I just don't want you to hurt anymore people." I told him, softly, not bothering to turn around.

"WELL..." he yelled but then tried to calm down. "You don't always get what you want." He then pointed his gun at me, and fired.

You know, they say before you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes. Well, whoever first said that was wrong. You don't see your whole life, you only see the good things, and it isn't a flash, it seems to last quite a long time while the world around you slows down. For me, I saw my fifth birthday in which I got my first bike, the first time I saw Mimi, when I got my Ph.D., my wedding, and my sons birth among other things. You see, there is one other problem with this theory. Your brain shows you this of you only think you're going to die, even if you're not.

"OH, MY GOD!!! YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH, BASTARD!!!" The piercing pain shot through my arm like a thousand needles of fire being injected into the same spot. I grabbed my right arm in pain as blood came rushing out of the flesh.

"I warned you not to try anything funny." he chuckled.

"HEY, MORON!!! YOU THINK I'M GOING TO LET YOU KILL ME WILLINGLY WHEN I HAVE A CHANCE FOR SURVIVAL?!!! THINK ABOUT IT, YOU SCURRILE!!! "

"Oh, you want to insult each other with big words, huh? Well, I'm not quite as dumb as you might think, you empiric."

"I'm not an empiric! How could I be a lead surgeon and a quack, you flesh monger?!

"I...I can't be a flesh monger! I had a wife! It's all you fault! It's you fault she's dead! I...I loved her." He began to speak softer as he proceeded to talk. His hand, which held the gun slowly, began to drop. I opened my eyes and stared at him in disbelief.

"That's what this is about?"

Even through the mask, I could see his cold, dark eyes were welling up with tears.

"You let her die? Why couldn't you be a responsible doctor?"

I suddenly realized something that I hadn't realized before. I was so caught up in feeling sorry for this psycho, that I forgot all about it. I scrunched my face in anger and gave him a terrible glare.

"In all my career, I haven't lost a patient yet!"

"You promised you'd be there, and you lied." He dropped his arm and raised his free hand to his face. He put his index and middle finger in the eyeholes and gently pulled forward. He lifted the mask above his face to reveal a pair of bloodshot eyes, a thin yet frizzled beard, and very large black bags under his eyes. I knew I had seen him somewhere before, but where?

"Remember me?" he said, standing up straight. "I'm Yamagata Suzuki."

It all seemed to come back to me in a flash of light. Yamagata Suzuki. That's the man I had met in the elevator at the hospital. I told him to call me if his wife experienced troubles in her pregnancy.

"You promised you'd be there for my wife if she got bad. She was dying and they had to cut her open. I had them call you, but you wouldn't answer."

That must have been when I was doing the show.

"She died when you didn't show. She died and so did my little girl." He spoke with great sorrow.

"If you were more reliable they'd still be alive."

I had forgotten all about him when I was tossing my phone aside. I was just so excited. I'm a doctor...no...I one of the lead surgeons at one of the worlds biggest hospitals. A person with that position has to be more responsible. I let someone down. It's the worst possible feeling in the world when knowing that you are partly responsible for another person's death. Sorry...two. A woman and a child.

But, then again, I can't let him see that...

"There was probably nothing I could have done."

"The thing is, you broke your promise. You might have been able to do something to help keep her alive, but you left me with INTERNS!!"

His anger and rage flared again as he said this word, feeling as if interns are idiots just because they aren't as experienced. He raised his gun back up and pointed it inches away from my forehead with a shaky hand and, probably, an itchy trigger finger.

"You could have at least been there." he repeated, sadly.

This time, my internal flame grew into a raging inferno. After realizing all the things this man has done to me. Kidnapped my son, sexually abused my wife, nearly killed an innocent cab driver and my son, and was now on the verge of killing me.

"You're not my responsibility, you idiot! Why didn't you kidnap your doctor?"

"She was actually there, and she didn't break her promise!"

"Yeah, so, genius over here decides to kidnap a stranger he met in an elevator! Even an idiot can figure out the difference between a stranger and a killer! And as if that isn't enough, you take my son and trade him for me instead of just stabbing me in my sleep!"

"Well, that was my original plan, but you and your wife were moaning and groaning so much and I didn't want to intrude."

"Yeah! That's the first case I've ever heard of a homicidal maniac trying to be polite as opposed to watching two people fuck each others brains out!"

"I...I would have been caught." he stuttered and his hands started shaking violently. He stuttered and he's shaking. I can tell I'm making him really nervous. I'm sure it won't be long until he chickens out and runs home, crying.

"Oh! So, you don't think you're caught, anyway! Let me guess! This is your first offence! You're sloppy, Suzuki. Really sloppy."

"Shut up!" he said clutching his head. At least I'll have done away with the man who ruined my life!"

"And what will that accomplish, huh?! Anxiety and guilt that will never wear down or fade away! A life in prison where you'll be passed like currency by men so starved for sex that they'll fuck any yuppie wimp like you! Hey, who knows? You might get the odd marriage proposal, but they'll all be from hookers and sluts who like a rebel! That's the best you're going to get, Suzuki! A hooker! But, then again, you never know. They might give you a marital discount, but the gigolo's will always be full price for a half-pint loser like you!"

My face turned red and my veins throbbed with anger as I screamed words that just seemed to come to me. He was, once again, clutching and massaging his forehead with sadness and rage at the same time.

"Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!" he screamed, getting louder every time he said it. He raised his free arm to the opposite side of his face with a look of shear fury on his face and brought it down to my face in a backhand type punch.

He was stronger than I had expected. He sent my head snapping to the side and allowed blood to leak out of my lower lip. My glasses flew off of my face with the force of the blow. They smashed into the dashboard and broke into thousands of tiny little pieces of glass while the frame tumbled onto the floor.

My right cheek bulged and filled with a numb kind of pain. I spit the blood released by the blow onto the floor.

Yamagata snarled form behind me and poised the gun as I got back up to look him in the face.

"This time, I won't miss." he said in an evil, supervillian sort of voice.

"What assurance do I have of that, you retard!" I screamed.

"I'll keep firing until I run out of ammunition."

He fired again. The loud bang of the gun released the bullet, which came at me with tremendous force, hitting me in the right arm, again. A few inches below the place he hit me before. Only thing is, this time my arm was in enough pain, and the shot from the gun could only make it worse.

I screamed in pain and let myself topple onto the floor of the cab, again, landing on the pieces of glass scattered all over.

I landed on the frame of my glasses, crushing them. I cringed in pain as the solid object dug into my back.

I flipped over onto my front and held myself up with my left arm. I tried getting over the immense amount of pain that was running through my body, but I had no luck.

The world around me started getting blurry. The two gunshot wounds must have subtracted the amount of blood that got to go to my brain. I held my eyes shut tightly and gritted my teeth in an attempt the do away with the pain.

Blood poured out of my arm despite my attempts at stopping it. It rushed around the pieces of glass scattered about the shag carpet.

I stared at the thick, red liquid running around the shards of glass and an idea popped into my head.

I glanced up at him and saw the look of pure anger on his face. The frown, the clenched eyes, the wrinkled forehead. It all matched the description perfectly.

I looked back down at the floor and busied myself with trying to heal the pain in my arm, in an act to seem casual.

The gun clicked behind me and I felt the barrel press against my spine.

"You were lucky the last two times, but with no space in between the gun and you, I'm guaranteed to hit you."

I started laughing under my breath as he finished. I began to get louder as I continued until I started to sound like a maniacal madman.

"Usually, people quiver in fear before they die. What's so funny? Do you know something I don't?" he asked in a cold, harsh voice.

"Sure do." I said quietly. I screamed as loud as I could and swung around quickly and elbowed the gun. It went flying out of his hands and into the back seat, however, I wasn't finished there. Still screaming, I grabbed his head with my only operative arm, my left arm, and brought him down extremely hard onto the opening of the window in my side door. The broken glass, which was still left there, sticking out of the slide, dug into his head. His whole body shook violently for a few seconds before stopping and lying limp. Dead.

I sat there for a few seconds, panting, amazed at what I had just done. The old me would never have done a thing like that, but then again, the old me didn't have a child who could have been killed by some psychopath.

I used my left arm to push him off the window and onto the pavement.

I turned to my screaming child. The gunshot and the crash had obviously terrified little Husuko, and perhaps, he didn't like to see his daddy get hurt, but I doubt he would understand things like that at his age.

I used my left arm to take off my jacket. I leaned against the passenger door of the cab and gently nudged Hiloji with my foot to wake him. I really know I shouldn't with him in his condition, but this is an emergency.

"Hmm...what?" he mumbled as he picked his head up, holding it as he realized the pain that ran all around, "What happened? My head kills."

"We were in an accident, remember? Please tie this around my arm." I said showing him my shirt.

"Oh. Okay, alright. Holy shit, man! What happened to it!? It looks like someone came at you with a cleaver!"

"I was shot...twice. Hmm...tighter please."

"Gees. You want me to take you to a hospital? We'll be allowed to speed and go through red lights. I've always wanted to do that!"

"Yes, please. You should come in too. You've got one hell of a bump on you head."

"Alright! Here we go!!"

"Wait! I said before he floored the pedal. "There's something else we have to load before we go."

I go out of the taxi and opened the back door. I could see all the bullet holes in the car, but that was unimportant. I picked up the dead Yamagata by his foot with my good arm and tried dragging him into the back seat.

"A little help would be nice." I said in a sarcastic voice to the staring Hiloji.

"Oh, sorry." He got out and walked around the car, but stopped when he saw what I had.

"Holy Shit! What happened to him?!"

"I killed him. What's it look like?" I spoke calmly as Hiloji yelled.

"Okay, man! Keep away from me!" He raised hid hands in front of him and started backing away.

"Look!" I said getting up. "He was going to kill me, you, and my son!" I said this while looking at my crying child in the front seat. "It was purely self-defense."

Hiloji still looked at me with those huge terrified eyes.

"Who do you think shot me, huh?! He had a gun pointed directly at me at the time!"

"Alright. But I'm keeping an eye on you." He finally walked over to help me get the dead man into the back seat.

Once we got him in we got back into the front seats where Husuko was waiting for us. He had finally stopped crying and was now just fidgeting. He was still the cutest baby I had ever seen, despite the blood spattered all over him and the smell of a day's worth a feces in his pants.

Obviously, Yamagata had neglected to change him.

"Okay!" yelled Hiloji triumphantly. "To the hospital!" He turned the car ignition, only to find that after the accident, it wouldn't work. He fought with it for a few minutes until the car finally started and we were on our way.

Of course, Hiloji was pulled over within three minutes for speeding and disobeying stop signs and traffic lights, but once the police man saw the condition we were in, we got a transport there.

**************

We finally reached the hospital and the nice police left us, taking the dead body with him to the morgue.

I fumbled around with the seatbelt, until it clicked and let me out. I picked up Husuko with my uninjured arm and got out of the cab.

Hiloji got out of his side of the cab and saw me stumbling and tripping around. He walked over and said "Hey, man? You need some help? You look a little woozy."

"Yes. Thank you." I handed the basket to him. He gladly took it and threw my left arm over his right shoulder. He wrapped his left arm around my back and helped me walk in. "Gees. I guess I've lost a lot of blood. If I don't get help soon, I could pass out."

We entered the doors and went up to the front desk. When there, I saw Emma, the head nurse. I believe I already spoke of her earlier.

"Excuse me." Hiloji spoke up, interrupting her from her magazine. She looked up and gasped at the bloody figure before her.

"I think I need some help." I said in a dizzy sort of way that made me sound like I was drunk. "I was shot twice, and he hit his head really hard."

"Oh my God!" she gasped. "I'll call one Jyou Kido. He's one of our lead doctors." She picked up the phone. "He's really good at these sort of things. He's helped sixteen people with gunshot wounds in the past year alone." I saw her start to type in my phone number.

"Emma?" I spoke a little softer than before. She pulled her head away from the phone and looked up at me.

"How did you know my name?"

"I am Dr. Kido." I then passed out.

*************

"Jyou. Jyou." the angelic voice beckoned me. I saw no light, only darkness. My eyes stirred as I awoke.

The constant beeping from behind me helped to indicate where I was. The hospital. So obviously, a heart rate monitor at the hospital. That means I must have been hurt.

I slowly opened my eyes and only saw another pair of huge ones staring right back at me, only inches away from my face.

"Whaa!" I yelped and pushed myself to the back of the bed, against the wall. A sharp pain suddenly shot through my right arm as I applied my weight onto it.

"Ahh." I cringed, grabbing my arm in a quick movement. "What the hell happened?" I said, looking at my bandaged arm.

"The nurse said you were shot. That's all she would tell me."

I looked up from my cast and into the beautiful face before. My wife's face. Mimi's face. I then looked back at my arm, which was wrapped in bloodstained gauze and a machine was pumping blood into it.

"Oh, my God. Mimi." I said, happily. We hugged and kissed like a long-lost couple who had just been reunited.

"It's so good to see you alive." she told me.

"It's even better to just to see you." I told her in return.

We pulled away and sat back in our respective seats. She stared up at me with those happy eyes and I stared back at her the same way, rubbing my injured arm.

I lifted my hand up from my arm and drew my gaze away from Mimi to look at it. A blood mark printed out the details of my palm.

I smiled as I stared as the fresh blood on my hand, and smiled. For the first time since it happened I actually smiled happily. I wasn't just smiling to be polite or to make Mimi feel more comfortable, I was actually smiling for a reason. The weak grin on my face became a low laughter in no time.

"It's just blood." I announced.

"Of course, it is. You were shot, and I'm so glad you're alive. I love you too much." she said, wrapping her arms around me and kissing me.

She pulled away after a few seconds and smiled.

"No! You don't understand! It's just blood! It doesn't have to represent pain and torture just because it may hurt when it comes out! It can show strength and purity! It need not be terrifying!

It's a sign; a sign that shows who you are!"

"It's good to see you get over this so quickly.

"Come here." I said reaching out to her. She jumped at the opportunity and quickly fell into my loving embrace again. We wrapped our arms around each other. It's so beautiful that two people can show how much they love each other just by being close to each other.

Two knocks sounded at the door and it slowly creaked open.

I let Mimi go and she sat back down in her seat.

Emma, the nurse, walked in with a tiny bassinet. She placed it in between Mimi and myself to reveal Husuko. He was sleeping on his back, under a pink blanket.

"I figured you two might want to see how he's doing." Emma said sweetly.

"You guessed right. Thank you, Emma." I said looking at her, changing the direction of my eyes from Husuko.

"Yes. Thank you, Emma." Mimi repeated.

"I'll leave you three alone." Emma smiled and left through the open door.

"Yesterday was the worst day of my life and today is probably one of the greatest." Mimi said, picking up Husuko out of the little sot on wheels. "This morning was horrible, I must admit, but the afternoon more than made up for it. Seeing you two alive. I really thought I was going to loose you." Her eyes sparkled in the light with the extra wetness from her tears of joy.

"Now, you know better than that. You'll never get rid of me, that easily." We both smiled. I leaned forward and so did she. We met halfway in a beautiful kiss that represented 'Welcome back'.

We broke away after a minute and simply smiled at each other. Mimi looked down into her arms as the baby Husuko stirred and awoke in her arms. He flailed his arms wildly in an attempt to get some attention.

Mimi tickled his chin with her tiny fingers. He giggled at this and grabbed her index finger in curiosity. Now, it was her turn to giggle at the adorable baby boy she was holding. She laughed with such love and emotion that not a soul on earth could destroy.

It was only now I realized how humid it was. The heat in the room was just a little too high. I'll have to tell Emma to turn it down a little bit.

I wiped my forehead with my bare arm to take off the sweat I could feel running down my skin.

The fine hairs on my arms tickling my head as they passed by each other.

I laid my arm in my lap and began to watch Mimi and Husuko play again. It brought me great joy to see we were a happy family again.

I looked down in my lap and saw my arm. A few small smudges of blood lied here and there. They must have rubbed off from my forehead. The people who work here usually just clean the body part they are going to work on. But I didn't hurt my head. That blood that was on my head wasn't mine. It belonged to Yamagata.

'No.' I thought to myself. 'I did that. I killed him.'

Tears began to escape my eyes and roll down my cheeks. I made slight sobbing and sniffling noises. Mimi soon realized that I was crying, not with happiness, but with sadness, and she looked up at me.

"Jyou, Honey. What's wrong?" She put her delicate hand on my knee to comfort me.

"The blood..." I sobbed. "It tells me who I am, right? But it's not mine. That tells me I'm a murderer. I killed him. It was all me."

"Jyou..." she cooed gently. "He was going to kill you, the baby, and that taxi driver. You did the only you could and it was all self-defense."

"That's not the point. The fact is it still happened. I got the gun out of his hands. I could have stopped there, but I didn't. I was so angry that I...I...I couldn't hold myself back." I plunged my face into my hands and started weeping.

"Jyou," she started rubbing my back, lovingly. "There's no need to worry. That Adono man stopped by and he said that you won't be charged, and we're back together again. I just want to go back to being a happy family again. We can even keep it out of the news if we really try. And I love you too much to even care what you did."

I picked up my head out of my hands and looked at her. She stared back at me sweetly, with a loving smile.

"Can I see the baby?" I reached out with longing.

"Sure." she said. She was acting as if we weren't where we were, and I hadn't done what I did.

She put our baby in my arms and kissed my cheek before sitting back down in her seat.

I looked down at the child sitting in my arms and he stared up at me with wonder and happiness.

After a moment, he screamed. Not with fear or sadness, but delight. He flailed his arms around wildly and reached up at me, indicating that he wanted to play...with me.

He loved me. He didn't care that I had killed another human being. He didn't care that his one-and-only father murdered a potential murderer. He loved his father for what he was and what he still is.

I smiled at him and gave him my finger. Upon seeing it, Husuko it with his tiny hands and giggled lightly.

I love them both. My beautiful wife, Mimi, and my one-and-only son, Husuko.

"It's going to be all right, Husuko. It's going to be all right from now on."

Fin

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Sorry about any grammatical or spelling errors.

I think I did a pretty good job, don't you?

If it kept you on the edge of your seat with terror,

Tell me, in a review.