Afterwards, other concerns might come up, but in the end, the first thing she had to do was to tell the father of her child just what was going on.
And if nothing else, she might be the parent of a child like Ami once again, which would be a pleasure in and of itself. She was certain that any mother would want a bright, caring and honest child like the little girl giving her mother a concerned look. Just seeing her baby's belief in a good future made her feel much better, even if she knew that things could be rocky in the future.
Sighing heavily, Pluto raised a cup of brandy in a toast at the image being shown by the Time Gate. Things might not be going the way that she had initially tried them, but she was a woman who did have a heart, dispite the fact that she was alone and pressed into doing some distasteful things. She'd always wanted children of her own, and she couldn't help feeling a bit congratulatory towards the expectant mother.
That, combined with the bottle she'd already gotten to be half empty helped with relaxing her at the moment, though she did have to wonder about how this would go...
"I'm going to be a dad?" Ranma asked with his eyes wide in amazement at the concept.
Kumori gave him a reassuring smile, and nodded firmly. Depsite her own worries, she knew that she had to give the young man sitting across from her the support that he needed to understand what they were sharing. This was a major thing in anyone's life, and it was an especially jarring thing to learn when one never expected it to happen. "Yes, I am carrying your child."
"I... Whoa..."
"It's a lot to take in. I know that. But you have to realise that you are going to be involved in this, no matter what. Even if you don't have anything to do with our child, a part of you will be with our son or daughter for life."
Ranma scowled back at her. "What d'ya mean 'don't have anythin' ta do'?"
"You are a young man and..."
"That don't come inta it. This is my kid, and I ain't 'bout ta leave him for anythin'. I'm gonna be there, and I'm not gonna forget 'bout it."
"That is... you're sure?"
"Completely. I'm gonna be a dad ta our kid. End of story."
Relief eased through her body, and she gazed upon the pigtailed young man sitting across from her before she turned to his father. "And what about you? How do you feel about this?"
Until then, Genma had been silent, but he put on an expression of authority and paternal responsibility that seemed a bit off. "We'll have to tell Ranma's mother about this."
"That sounds reasonable..."
"Good. Then as soon as we can, we'll be heading over to see her."
"You want her to know that badly."
"This is the sort of thing that she should know immediately."
Something in his tone made Kumori frown, and she wondered why it felt like the portly man wasn't telling her something.
"What could that guy be up to..," Pluto murmured, thinking over what she knew of Genma Saotome. "Whatever it is, it's probably... something he is thinking will help him. Hopefully, he is not going to screw something up."
There was a moment of silence that filled the area around the Time Gate.
She covered her face with her free hand. "What am I saying? Of course he will do something to mess things up."
When Kumori had met Mrs. Saotome, she'd thought that the woman was a majorly traditional woman. After all, she seemed so at ease in her kimono, it had seemed that it was her daily wear. Plus the older woman had proven to be the sort of hostess that was set out in any Japanese manner guide. About the only thing that had kept her from being a complete 'Japanese matron' stereotype was the way that she had been acting all maternal around her son.
But the victory fans that had come out when she'd found out that she was going to be a grandmother were a surprise.
"Oh, my son is so manly!" Nodoka cheered, "He not only managed to get an older woman to lose her head over him, but he has already gotten on his way to give me my first grandchild! WAI!"
Genma leaned in with a bright grin. "So, you think that this makes him a 'manly man'?"
"Of course!"
"Well, that is good. It's a burden off of me. Not that I couldn't handle it, you understand."
"I do, husband. After all, you did raise our son to be like this."
"That I did."
"And now I get to help plan the wedding."
"What?!" the Saotome Patriarch blurted. "What 'wedding'?"
"Why, Ranma and Kumori's."
"But... but... The arrangement..."
"Our son must take responsibility for this situation. A child deserves to have two parents, and I will not have my grandchild be illegitimate."
"Nodoka..."
"Besides, this seems to be a well paired couple," his wife replied, "I can see much to push towards this sort of arrangement."
"What about..."
"Anything else can wait, husband. If nothing else, honor dictates that he must do this."
"You can mean to..."
"I mean it completely. They will be married. But do not worry. I'm sure that they will be a wonderful couple, and give us more happiness in the future. Won't you dears?"
"Well... This is a rather big thing to do..," Kumori put in.
"You don't have any problems with my son, do you?"
"Ahh... Not that I know of."
"Good. And you don't have a husband or anything else that might complicate what you must do?"
"I... did have a man in my life, but we broke it off long ago. But there is my daughter, Ami."
"'Daughter'?"
The doctor nodded. "She's my pride and joy. No other little girl I know of is as intelligent and as caring as her."
"Sounds like she's a sweet child."
"She is, and I have been lucky that she hasn't gone astray, what with having to raise her on my own."
"Then worry no more. I can't wait to meet her!"
"You can't..?"
"No, I can't," Nodoka replied resolutely. "She may not be of my blood, but I'm sure that we'll get along perfectly, if she's as you say. I'll treat her as my grandchild, which she will be."
"How... nice..."
"Isn't it? And I thought my son had given me only one grandchild to enjoy."
Ignoring the way that Genma was standing dumbfounded next to them, Kumori and Ranma looked at each other while:
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(Posted Sun, 16 Jan 2005 03:26)
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