Baby Steps

On a seasonably comfortable Autumn day, Aurora found herself pushing a stroller up the sidewalk of an unfamiliar street. It was suppose to be her first time visiting the Higurashi's place. But she had butterflies in her stomach about the whole idea. It was one thing for them to visit her place or babysit Megumi for a day, but this was a little bit above that. The tension between the two Mrs. Higurashis wasn't exactly subtle. And it wasn't even that she didn't trust Taylor or anything like that.

She just didn't like her.

But recently things had lightened up a bit. Not explicitly, but generally. It was approaching Megumi's half-birthday and Aurora wasn't exactly keen on avoiding all of her family for the rest of her life. She owed that much to her daughter. An effort had to be made, and she had to suck it up. And even though it certainly wasn't ideal, there were many, many things that could have made it worse.

Such as a psychotic aunt.

Aurora gripped the stroller bar tightly as it hit a light bump in the sidewalk, visibly upset about her thoughts, and sighed.

Mamouru was feeling a bit nervous as well. He had been to Johnny's house many times before, but he had not really brought Megumi with him and he definitely hadn't brought Aurora. Usually if Johnny wanted to see Megumi, then he could come to his place or she could come to Junko's place. She was definitely there a lot.

However, he was surprised about this as they approached the house. Mamouru hoped it would go much better than the last time their families got together. He was sure it would. However Johnny or Taylor felt about either himself or Aurora, they were decent enough not to cause a scene in front of the baby.

Unlike some people.

Mamouru turned to look at Aurora, to reassure her when he saw her face. He reached out and touched her hand. "What's wrong, Kaa-san?" He had taken to calling her that. It made him feel quite mature and respectable. "My brother and Nee-san won't cause any trouble for you or Megu-chan." He said and looked down at the quiet but squirming Megumi, nestled in her autumn clothes.

Aurora half looked at Mamouru with a smile. "Yea...I know they won't." At least not directed at her. She wasn't blind or in denial. She'd seen the updates on the television, and a fair share from Mamouru too. It seemed like her sister was doing everything bad that she could do. It was as if she was going out of her way to do the worst possible things just to make a point...or something. "I'm just...nervous, that's all...they're not going to bring up Tal, are they?"

The blonde looked down at their daughter, a smile forming on her lips involuntarily as the little bundle laughed at the attention from her parents. "I guess not, right?"

Aurora herself had nearly managed to get back into shape. She lost the pregnancy weight but spent most of her time taking care of Megumi and couldn't (rather, didn't want to) make the time to hit the gym too often. Even when Mamouru took care of her, Aurora usually just went to the mall or movies with friends. She felt very different lately, and her priorities had shifted away from wrestling.

Mamouru squeezed Aurora's hand and looked her over carefully. "They won't make a scene in front of Megu-chan." He reassured. "But... I don't know. I hope they wouldn't bring her up. They both know how I feel about her." Mamouru still hated Talia. Any time he ever tried to make peace with her, it always went poorly. There were a lot of people who didn't like Aurora's sister, but he was certain that none of them could justify how they felt as much as he could. He just tried not to think of her, for Aurora and Megumi's sake.

However, if there was one other person who could make a claim on it, it was certainly Taylor. Mamouru sighed. He looked at Aurora and bowed his head slightly. "Kaa-san, I'm here." He said once more trying to assuage her concerns.

Mamouru gave Aurora's hand one last squeeze and then stepped up to the door, ringing the doorbell.

Taylor took another peek out the window and took a deep breath. She shook out her hands and tried to relax.

Sasha Brenshov, Hannah Jericho, Cecelia, Brittany...

She recited in her head the hardcore title history, one of the many memory exercises she often did on the train from home to Tokyo. It helped to keep her mind from racing. When the doorbell rang, she counted off several seconds, so that it didn't seem like she had been waiting at the door, before turning the knob.

"Hey," she said as she opened the door. She gave Mamouru a quick hug that was unavoidably a little awkward, and paused in front of Aurora. "Hey, Aurora."

She didn't know what else to do, so she backed up to let them inside. "Come on in. We're making food, and there's like, baby stuff and junk in the thing or whatever. Just like... I dunno, just relax or whatever, I'm gonna..."

She trailed off as she scuttled off to the kitchen to the safety of Johnny's arm. "They're here," she whispered in his ear and kissed his cheek.

As the door opened, Aurora forced her best smile. She didn't avoid eye contact or shift uncomfortably. She just...smiled. "Hi," she answered back to the other blonde. As she backed up and welcomed them in, Aurora gently pushed the stroller over the small ledge, stopping it just inside to the right.

"Okay," she responded as Taylor fled to the kitchen. Aurora took a deep breath and looked to Mamouru. "Alright. We're here." She breathed out heavily with a seemingly relieved sigh, and reached into the stroller to pick her daughter up. She still had a pacifier and although she was getting big, communication and mobility were still at a minimum. "This is where uncle Johnny and auntie Taylor live," Aurora said quietly to her. She seemed to look around curiously at her new surroundings as her mother carried her over to the nearby couch.

"I didn't know they were making food. I would've brought something." Megumi squirmed around a bit, and Aurora frowned jokingly.

Mamouru hugged his sister-in-law and nodded to her, bowing his head in greeting. Mamouru let Aurora take Megumi and then folded up the stroller and took all of the bags they had before stepping inside and taking off his shoes.

"It's fine, Kaa-san. We would have done the same. It's nothing fancy." Mamouru said, trying to ease Aurora's mind as he followed them over to the couch and smiled down at Megumi.

"Great!" Johnny said, squeezing Taylor and returning the kiss. He looked down at her and smiled. "Everything's cool, babe." He said and slipped away from her slowly, letting his eyes linger for a moment before turning away.

He entered the living room and grinned. "Yo, bro!"

Mamouru turned and looked at Johnny and smiled. "Konbonwa, Junichi-kun." He replied in Japanese. "Yo, sis!" Johnny said to Aurora. He then slipped over to Megumi and grinned even wider. "How's the little dudette doing!?" He asked.

"Oh, Megu-chan didn't seem to have any trouble except for a small hiccup on the train. I think she enjoys rides though." Mamouru said and picked up Megumi who squirmed but still seemed unfazed.

"Wow, bro, she's gettin pretty big! Yo, babe! come see your niece!" Johnny called, trying to take Megumi from Mamouru.

Taylor appeared a moment later carrying (somewhat strategically) a tray with five bowls on it, four normal-sized ones and one tiny one. She couldn't possibly take the baby when her hands were full with other stuff!

She set the tray on the coffee table. "I thought we could eat here, because the kitchen's got like... papers everywhere and stuff. It got a little out of hand." She placed a pair of chopsticks across the top of each of the adult bowls, and smiled at Megumi when she got to hers.

"It's just some sweet potato noodles with like... carrot and daikon and onion and bok choi and broccoli, and... I dunno. Beef, somewhere. Oh, and it's like some mashed up sweet potato? For... Megumi. I dunno."

She shrugged at the food. Taylor didn't really eat normal people food, and she didn't know if it would be okay for their company, but it was probably alright enough. Johnny was better at the making it taste good part than she was. Taylor mostly ate like a robot having to refuel.

"Okay," she said, still not slowing down. "I just have to get the tea, and I'll be back. I promise I'll sit down," she said with a small a laugh for Johnny.

Auroras face kept the same, blank smile as Johnny addressed her. "Hello." She never really had anything against him from the start. She had her reservations but generally they weren't negative from the start. It was just weird to hear him call her sis. She supposed she was kinda Johnny's sister in law now. It was so odd to hear out loud. Maybe it was because Mamouru was so official and proper with his language that she never really noticed that fact. Johnny's casual, almost American way of speaking brought it more home to her.

Aurora watched intently as her...brother in law as it seemed, picked up her daughter. She didn't want to look paranoid or worried, but it was natural with motherhood at this point. She expected the worst and for the baby girl to thrash about in Johnny's hands. Thankfully, as always had been the case for Megumi, she didn't. Aurora relaxed a little bit. Even as strong as Johnny was, he was perfectly gentle with the occasional squirming bundle. She genuinely smiled at that as the girl stared at her uncle.

The blonde sat upright as Taylor came back in carrying some food. She wasn't hungry, but she didn't want to be impolite. Her mind tried to think of something polite to say but she came up blank. "Thanks." She eyed the baby food, wondering what brand it was or where it had come from. Her thoughts filled in a little and she was curious. At least from what she heard from Mamouru, Johnny was in love with natural foods. As Taylor walked out, Aurora looked to Johnny and finally spoke some real words. "Did you make that?" she asked, gesturing towards the small bowl.

"Yeah, man." Johnny said, looking as Taylor set the plates down. "Well, like, Taylor helped and junk but, yeah. I can cook. I mean, I guess I like it and junk." He said, smiling with a bit of an embarrassed smile on his face. Both of them liked to eat healthy but their food was simple too and Johnny liked cooking when he didn't have to make a lot. He felt like he could get better flavors out of it.

"Really, I just wanted to see if I could make something awesome for Megu." He said, staring down at the squirming baby. He touched her nose playfully and then passed her back to Aurora with an appreciative nod.

"Like, baby food is basically the next step after juice so I thought, like, that would be pretty awesome and junk. It's healthy as f-" Johnny paused and looked at Megumi. He didn't have a terrible mouth, but he did cuss a bit and found himself restricting himself for the sake of the child.

"So, like, how's it been goin and junk?" Johnny asked Aurora as he grabbed his chopsticks and held them in front of him.

"Itadakimasu!" Mamouru and Johnny said simultaneously and both dug in.

"Megu-chan has been very time consuming." He said. "Which, I don't mind, but I have been trying to get back into things. I'm not sure about Kaa-san, though." Mamouru said and looked at Aurora.