I\'m a father?

Title: I’m a father.

Subtitle: New York, hot dogs and blueberries

Author: Lady Snowblossom

Note: The Bladebreakers are reunited and Rei starts craving.

Disclaimer: Yadda . . . Yadda . . . Yadda

2222222222

Max bounced on his toes, staring out the window of the airport waiting room. He smiled when Tyson’s reflection joined his on the glass. The brunette slipped an arm around his boyfriend and tucked the boy into the curve of his body.

“Hey Maxie, come and sit down! Gramps says the plane won’t be here for another twenty minutes, so why wear yourself out?” Tyson smiled as Max briefly laid his head on his shoulder before he popped right back up.

“But, its fun to watch the planes come in! And I want to be the first to see Kai and Rei’s plane!” The hyper little blonde chirped.

“Not a chance of that, little dude!” Grandpa Granger chuckled, as he joined his grandson and his boyfriend. “The controllers will have spotted it long before you do!”

“Actually, Dizzi has already spotted it. It’s actually ahead of schedule.” Kenny announced as he joined the group. “She says, they should be here any . . .”

“FLIGHT 648 FROM BEJING WILL BE LANDING IN TEN MINUTES! FLIGHT 648 FROM BEJING WILL BE LANDING IN TEN MINUTES!” A calm voice announced in several languages.

Kenny sighed, “maybe we should go and find out which gate they will be disembarking at.”

“I can already tell you that, Kenny. It’s Gate Sixteen.” A cheerful voice broke in.

“Mr. Dickenson!” The boys chorused, turning. Gramps Granger grinned before bounding over and poking his old friend in the stomach. “You ole dawg, you! I should have known you’d be here.”

“I had to be in New York anyway, so I just thought that I’d meet the plane. I’m sorry I missed meeting your plane yesterday,” the old gentleman apologized. “So boys, how do you like the house?”

“It’s awesome, Mr. D!” Max cried, his blue eyes lighting up. “The house has everything! Lots of room, a huge backyard with a swimming pool and . . .”

“And a killer entertainment center!” Tyson interjected. “I’ve never seen so many video games!” His eyes glowed with excitement, then dimmed as something occurred to him. “Course with Mr. Grumpy Pants arriving, we won’t get to play many games. He’ll have us slaving away at training. We’ll work our fingers off!” He waved his digits at them to emphasize his point.

Mr. Dickenson chuckled, “I’m sure Tyson, you won’t spend ALL your time training. After all, its still eight weeks until the tournament: I think Kai will let you have SOME time off.”

Gramps laughed, “yeah, but practice makes perfect and no matter how old you get or how long you do something, there’s always something new to learn. So, cut Kai some slack, he’s just doing his job.”

“FLIGHT 648 FROM BEJING IS NOW LANDING! PASSENGERS WILL BE DISEMBARKING AT GATE SIXTEEN! FLIGHT 648 FROM BEJING IS NOW LANDING! PASSENGERS WILL BE DISEMBARKING AT GATE SIXTEEN!”

“Oh, drat!” Max pouted, “I missed it!” Then his eyes lit up and he spun around and took off running.

“Maxie!” Tyson yelled. “Where are you going!”

“I’m gonna be first at the gate!” The little blonde shouted back and disappeared into the crowd.

Everyone sweatdropped.

“Tyson, how many candy bars did he have?” The elder Granger inquired eyes on where the little blonde had been.

“Ah, eight?”

“Oh, great!” Kenny moaned, “he’ll be bouncing off the ceiling for the next three hours.” He clutched Dizzi to his chest and sighed.

“Come along everybody, we don’t want to miss Rei and Kai; now do we?” Mr. D. said as he tucked his cane under his arm and headed off in the direction that Max had taken. The rest of the party fell into place behind him and followed.

22222222222

Rei was nervous. Correction, make that nervous and hungry, very hungry. The food on the plane had been decent, but it just didn’t seem to be what he needed. He shifted restlessly in his window seat; as he tried to distract himself from the grumbling complaints his stomach was making by looking out the window and seeing if he could spot anything familiar from the air.

“Something wrong?”

Rei turned to face Kai, who was looking at him with concern. Ever since they’d left the village, Kai hadn’t exactly treated him like he would fly apart at any moment, but he did try to see that he wasn’t uncomfortable or that he lacked anything.

“Just nervous.” Rei responded.

“About what?” Kai reached out and took Rei by the hand. He rubbed the webbing between Rei’s thumb and forefinger with his thumb, trying to convey support and comfort with the small gesture.

“Meeting the guys, the tournament and my place in it. Seeing the All-Starz, the Majestics and . . .”

And the Demolition Boys, especially Bryan.” Kai finished for him.

“Yeah,” Rei whispered as he looked back out the window. A firm but gentle hand took him by the chin and turned his face back to meet the soft crimson eyes of his captain and friend.

“Rei.” Kai said softly, “stop tying yourself in knots and relax. We’ll met each hurdle together and we will overcome them – together.”

Rei sighed, he felt terrible about the censure he thought he heard in Kai’s voice. Several times during the flight, Kai had repeatedly tried to reassure him of Bryan’s love, but he just had a hard time believing it, given Bryan’s silence in the past weeks. Knowing Kai was waiting for a response, he nodded and said, “all right, Kai and thank you.”

Kai sighed; he could see the anxiety that still lingered in those golden eyes. But, he simply didn’t know what else he could do. Well, soon he’d have help: Tala and Lee would both prove to be powerful allies in this struggle for Rei and Bryan’s future. And then there was Bryan, himself, that is if the ass could be trusted to not blow it. But, until then he’d just do the best he could.

“So, do you think the guys will meet us?” Rei said, changing the subject.

“Oh, I’m positive the Bottomless Pit, the Human Bouncing Ball and Kenny will be there.” Kai said dryly.

Rei chuckled, “What! No nickname for Chief?”

“Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts. We are on final approach.” A stewardess announced interrupting any response Kai might have made.

Rei pulled his hand from Kai’s and reached for the belt to obey the instructions; but he couldn’t seem to find the darn slot to stick the metal into.

“Here, let me.”

Kai shoved the bit of steel into its proper place and then fixed his own. He and Rei watched the ground get closer. He waited for what was coming; then he felt it – a hand grabbing his. Amused, he looked down, sure enough; Rei had latched on. The neko-jin didn’t mind flying, but he absolutely hated takeoffs and landings. He had once asked Rei about his little quirk and the blushing tiger had admitted that he was more afraid of crackups at the beginning or ending of a trip: than he was of a crash. So, he tended to grab the nearest support he could; in most cases a teammate; failing that he held onto the armrests and sweated it out.

With a screech of rubber the plane landed without incident and Kai smiled as Rei released both his hand and his breath. The tiger looked out the window to see if they were indeed on the ground, then he undid his belt and stood.

Kai reached up and pulled out Rei’s duffel from the overhead and then he led the Chinese from the plane.

2222222222222222

Max hopped from one foot to the other, his bright eyes darting from face to face; searching for the familiar in an ocean of cultures and colors. Suddenly, he let out a whoop. “Kai! Rei! Over here!” The little blonde began to wave frantically: trying to attract their attention.

Rei’s head shot up at the sound of a familiar voice. Looking around, he soon spotted the blonde streaking toward them, he only had time for a quick, “incoming!” Before Max had collided with him.

The impact knocked Rei down and he landed on his rear with Max in his lap and around his neck. “Rei!” The little blonde whooped in Rei’s left ear – deafening him. Rei opened his mouth to reply but Max wasn’t there anymore. He looked up to see the blonde dangling from Kai’s fist and judging from the look on his face; the Russian was definitely unhappy.

“Max.” Kai growled the lecture he was about to render aborted, when the rest descended upon them. Kai dropped Max and stood in front of Rei to shield him. Happy for the shelter, the Chinese climbed to his feet, dusted himself off, then tapped Kai on the shoulder to let him know he was ready. Kai stepped aside to let Tyson; Kenny and the older men greet Rei.

After several minutes of excited talking, Mr. D. held up his hand and interrupted Tyson telling Rei about the fantastic kitchen in the house and how he was looking forward to Rei’s cooking.

“Tyson, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to get back to the office. So, if I may,” Mr. D. began, “I had meant to accompany you, while you went to the research facility and saw the All-Starz, but that will have to wait, I’m afraid. Judy and her team are stuck in Chicago because of bad weather.”

He looked down into Max’s disappointed face. “However, they should be here by morning, so we\'ll go out there in the afternoon. In the meantime, why don’t you all go out and have lunch on me.” He pulled out his wallet and handed Grandpa Granger some money. At the mention of food, Tyson’s eyes lit up.

“All right, let’s go!” Tyson shouted and pumped his fist in the air. The brunette snatched Kai’s claim ticket out of his hand and took off, Max on his heels. Kai and Rei nearly bumped heads, when they both bent to grab Rei’s duffel. Kai blinked, when Rei slapped his hand away. Looking at the neko-jin in surprise, he noted the warning blazing from the beetled gold eyes, raising his hands, he backed off and let the tiger have his way. Hoisting his bag, Rei gave the phoenix a triumphant smirk and walked away.

Kai sighed, oh the joys of being around his team. A hand on his shoulder had him looking into Gramps Granger’s shrewd eyes. “Chill, dude! The mini-me and his main squeeze are just happy to see the two of you.” His eyes followed Rei as he trailed after Mr. D. with Kenny and Dizzi for company. “And,” he continued, “Rei will let you know when he needs your help.” With a friendly squeeze, the old man released Kai’s shoulder and hustled off to join his friend. Soon the two old men were deep in conversation.

Kai blinked in surprise. ‘Damn! I’d forgotten how observant that old man was! I’ll have to be more careful or he’ll start asking questions I don’t want to answer.’ His thoughts were interrupted by a distant shout of . . . Yo, Kai! Wake up and get a move on!”

The phoenix shook his head and took off after his party; he couldn’t let them get away; and besides, he needed to rescue his stuff from the Bottomless Pit and his mate before they managed to spread the contents over half the airport.

222222222

Kai sat in the booth of the little diner; the driver of their BBA requisitioned bus had recommended as a good place to grab a quick bite. He was staring in puzzled amazement at Rei. The Chinese had the last bit of his third of four foot-long hot dogs in his right hand and a large onion ring in his left. He slowly shook his head as the last bite of the chili and slaw loaded dog slid into Rei’s mouth.

“Rei,” the Russian said as the tiger took a bite out of the onion ring. “I thought you didn’t like hot dogs.”

“I don’t,” the brunette replied as he reached for his soda and took a healthy pull of it.

“Then why are you eating foot-longs?”

Rei paused, set his drink down and looked at Kai a puzzled light in his eyes. “Dunno, I just wanted them all of a sudden.” Then he proceeded to polish off the last of his food.

Tyson leaned over the back of the booth he was sharing with Max, Kenny and his grandfather. “Hey, Rei! Max and I are going to the music store next door; want to go see what they have?”

“Sure!” The tiger replied and bounded out of his chair. Kai made a grab for the Chinese’s braid, but missed. “Rei, get back here!”

Rei turned his head at the shout, made a face and waved before disappearing out the door, Max and Tyson in tow. Growling, Kai began to gather together his and Rei’s trash to dispose of it, before he went and dragged the idiot three back to the bus. He heard Kenny excuse himself and then a throat cleared behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Gramps G. standing behind him.

“Boy, you are doing the best imitation of a mother hen, I’ve seen in a long time; and that isn’t like you, Kai. So, what’s up?” The elder Granger sat down in Rei’s vacated seat and gave the fuming Russian a knowing look.

“Nothing.”

“If it was nothing, you wouldn’t look like you want to put Rei on a leash.” The old man sighed at the stubborn look on Kai’s face. “All right, so don’t tell me, but remember,” he said as he stood up. “The harder you hang on, the more he’s going to defy you.” Having dispensed his advice, the old man headed out the door.

Thinking hard, Kai rose and threw the trash out before going to join the rest next door.

2222222

Dropping his bag on the foot of the bed in the room that he and Rei would be sharing, Kai looked around, the walls were painted pale cream with an oatmeal colored carpet underfoot. The dresser was a dark brown, as were the two twin beds. A huge walk-in closet was recessed into the far wall and a window faced the house next door.

A single chair sat in one corner beside an oval table with a lamp. He sat down on the bed and began to take his shoes off. He was tired and a nap was looking good. The soft sound of footsteps made him look over his shoulder, as Rei walked in and headed straight for the other bed.

The tiger yawned and began digging into the duffel; Kai had left on the bed. A few seconds of digging had him extracting a pair of baggy black pants and a red tee shirt. He quickly stripped and donned the other clothing. Dropping everything to the floor, the exhausted boy climbed into the bed and mumbled something before falling asleep.

22222222222

It was dark when Rei woke up to a rumbling stomach and a sense of needing something tugging at his mind. He sat up and looked around; his superior vision let him see that Kai was asleep; so he quietly slipped from the bed and donning his shoes crept from the room.

Downstairs, he headed into the kitchen and sighed when he spotted four large pizza boxes: all empty. After ten minutes of futile poking in cabinets and failing to find anything that struck his fancy, Rei pulled out the phone book. He began to leaf through the yellow pages looking for the answer to his problem. The page for bakeries jumped out at him and he was in luck there was an all night one a couple of streets over from where he was!

Smiling, he went upstairs to get his wallet.

2222222222

Kai woke to a vague sense of unease. A thin sliver of moonlight came through the window and it was enough light for him to see that Rei wasn’t in bed. His sense of foreboding grew stronger; and he got out of bed to go look for his missing friend.

2222222222

“I’m going to pull him over my knee and spank the stuffing out of him! Then I’m chaining him to the damn bed, so I’ll know where to find the idiot!” Kai growled as he headed out the door. Ten minutes of searching had yielded no longhaired Chinese blader and Kai had finally had to admit that Rei had done the truly stupid; he had gone out – in the middle of the night – in a New York neighborhood – alone. And all he had to go on was a hope that he had gone to the bakery listed in the yellow pages.

222222222222

Rei smiled happily as he left the bakery, a white plastic bag with two pastry boxes swinging from his hand. He hummed a song from a Chinese Opera, as he walked back toward the house: visions of milk and blueberry muffins dancing merrily in his mind.

As he passed an alley mouth, he was suddenly grabbed from behind and shoved up against a brick wall. He started to yell for help, when a familiar and very pissed off voice hissed, “what the fuck were you thinking?”

“K-K-Kai?” Rei gulped, “you’re awake?”

“No shit, Sherlock. Now, I hope you have a VERY good reason for traipsing around in an unknown neighborhood at this hour of the morning!” Kai released Rei, who was suddenly grateful that Kai couldn’t see the flush on his cheeks.

“I’m waiting.”

At Kai’s dangerous growl, Rei scrubbed his left toe against the ground and offered his explanation. “I woke up and wanted something to eat, but didn’t know what. You were asleep, so I went downstairs to the kitchen; there wasn’t anything there I wanted to eat, so I thought I’d check out the yellow pages. I found this bakery and decided that something sweet was what I needed, so I went and got my wallet and left.” He sighed, looking down at the ground. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t think.”

A firm hand under his chin forced his head up; Kai’s eyes were narrowed and he knew he was in real trouble. “I hope your little trip was worth it.” Kai’s words were terse and measured for effect. “Because you will not do this again, do you hear me. I will not be the one who has to tell Bryan that because you did something stupid, we lost not only you, but his unborn child as well! Now get your ass home!” And he stood aside to let Rei pass, but Rei stood frozen, the two blueberry muffins; he’d consumed with such satisfaction in the bakery, now weighed like stones in his belly. He slowly paled as different visions of what could have happened paraded through his mind.

“Oh, god!” He whispered body and voice shaking. “I could have been robbed, or worse!”

“Now is a hellva time to start thinking, Kon!” Kai said coldly. He glared at the shaking tiger and growled. Swinging his right hand, he smacked Rei hard on the bottom. Rei jumped. “Get moving or I swear I’ll drag you out into the middle of the street and beat your bare ass red!” He threatened angrily.

Throwing a look at Kai’s angry face; Rei took off like a scalded cat, the bag of pastries banging against his thigh with every stride. As Rei fled up the street, Kai looked up at the sky and said softly, “Lee, I know I promised I’d take care of him. But, how do you protect someone from their own thoughtlessness.”

He sighed and lowering his head took off after his charge.

22222222222

Rei: How could I have done something so stupid!

You’re craving, my dear and a craving woman will do almost anything to get what she wants or failing that will send out her husband. You should have sent Kai out.

Kai: Like I would have gone.

You would if you didn’t want to listen to him whine all night. At least, he wanted something you wouldn’t have to search all over New York for.

Rei: Hey! WaitaminuteI’mnotawoman!

Slow, Kon, real slow. Need to keep up with the program here.

Kai: Smirk

Bryan: What’s this about my kid?

Uh, I think I’ll be going now. I’m sure Kurama and Duo needs someone to help them brush their hair, or maybe I can go wash a Gundam or Goddess. Bye!

Bryan: Get back here!