“Well. Tonight is the night.”
A man looks out towards the evening sky, a black velvet night with a large pearl of a moon glowing brightly. The snow on the ground glitters all around, and even the wind, which had been howling all week, had paused in its rage, as if honoring the beauty of the event unfolding. He smiles, his copper-colored hair gently moving, in stark contrast with his dark suit. At least he wasn’t the only one pushed out of the room; both he and the boy had been thrown out by the over-emotional woman who was so close she was family, the red-headed cougar who insisted that men “could not be present.”The boy sulks, even as he’s twenty-one now, he still acts like a rude seventeen year old. His emerald eyes say a different story; that he’s terrified, yet proud, and yet he really doesn’t want to be in there. The man doesn’t, either. The girl in there will be in pain, and neither one them want to see her like that. Even so, the boy sulks, and the man laughs.
The snow starts falling, and the boy starts fidgeting, pacing nervously. It annoys the man, but he can hear her cries too, and he too worries. She’s such a little thing…can she handle this? He wonders about it briefly, wishing his hearing was not so well anymore. He hears her screams, and the urging of her foster mother, and the woman who is like her sister. He doesn’t have to look around to know her father is with him and the boy, worried just like them.
Finally, the screams stop, with a few moments of apprehensive silence. Then, a cry rings in the air, small but strong. The boy leaps up and almost flies to the door, almost tackling the redhead to get into the room. Her father looks on, happiness in his weary face, and the man lets him go before he does. He’s excited too, but it isn’t truly his right. He’s not really related to any of them—yet, she always insists that they are family. He calmly walks to the room.
Inside, the room is rich with the scent of happiness…the smell of blood is almost completely hidden by it. There is her foster mother, crying tears of happiness. The cougar is grinning, but is busy trying to hold onto her own squirming cub, a little boy who looks so much like his father, the man wonders if he’ll ever grow fangs or be able the shift. The cub’s father, looks sheepishly on, as if he is wondering why he was invited to such an intimate event. The girl’s father is crying too, looking proudly down at her. The boy with next to the girl, glowing with pride. He kisses her cheek, and takes a small bundle from her arms. But, as he rises up to held the baby, there is another one. The man is confused, but only for a moment. The new father grins, tears in his eyes, boasting about how strong this little son will be, and the girl looks at the man, smiling.
He smiles back at her, the girl who he loves. Once, as a child, then as a woman, now as a family member. Even now, he loves her, and she invites him to see the tinier one. Surprised, he moves over, and is stunned. The son had green eyes and black hair, looking like his father, but the littlest one was a girl…a girl who looked exactly like her mother, and unlike her brother, wasn’t crying, and just making tiny coos and purrs of comfort. He sees a flash of memory, when the new mother was a little girl, and before he knows it, takes the little girl into his arms, cradling her. “Little one…precious one.” He murmurs, marveling the tiny girl. She’s perfect in his eyes, and he feels a strong spring of love for her flowing. Her night-black hair, eyes as deeply sapphire as the ocean. He loves her already, instinctively, deeply. “Bright beauty. Little Akemi.” He stops, noticing the two parents and everyone else looking at him. He blushes darkly, embarrassed. Naming the child, as if it was his!
The girl laughs, and nods her head. She smiles, saying it was a perfect name. The father looks amused still, but agrees. By the end of the night, the two new cubs are named; the boy is Kimura, the girl, Akemi. The man grins, and kisses the little girl gently.
~~~
The day is warm with the scent of spring, as the three little ones run around, laughing and enjoying the warm sun. The cougar’s son romps around with Kimura, but his eyes linger watchfully on Akemi, who runs after them. Already, he has the instinct of wanting to protect her and be near her, as much as it confuses Kimura. The man notices, smiling from under a tree where he had been napping. The wind blows gently, and Akemi stops in her tracks, falling on her face. Matsui runs over to her, but she is already up and running towards the man, her bright eyes wide and innocent. She crawls onto his lap, smiling up at him, and kisses him boldly. She then curls up on his lap, much to his amusement. Matsui looks over at them, perhaps a little jealously, but runs back to his friend. The girl looks up at the man, who is trying to tie her wild hair into pigtails, smiling brightly.
"Akemi loves Logan best…does Logan love her best, too?” She asks boldly, although she pretends to be shy. Logan smiles. He thinks of the woman that he has a date with later, and of the many others he has on the side, waiting for him. He looks down at her, kissing her forehead gently. “Of course, Akemi.” He assures her. Someday, she may become like her mother and become shy towards him, and fall in love with a strange boy. Someday, she may push him away laughingly, calling her “confessions” childish. She may even fall in love with Matsui, the little one who is always watching her. Even he may get married someday, to some woman he may fall in love with.
But right now…the little girl who chases after him, who insists to all his girlfriends that he is hers and they are just “borrowing” him, who cries if he doesn’t kiss her goodnight along with her Mommy and Daddy, who scolds him for late when he comes home, and solely owns this place on his lap…is the sole person in his heart. “I love my Akemi best.” With a satisfied sigh, she rests her small head against him and goes to sleep, and he smiles, deciding to take a nap with her.
I like it...^^" I wonder if anyone else will? xD
