Momo's Birthday (Lauren & Momiji)

[Momiji Sohma]

Momiji pushed open the gate and raced down the cobblestone steps. "This way!" he called to Lauren, who was carrying the grocery bags. Momiji clattered up the steps and got the spare key from the spot under the basket. Unlocking the door, he pushed inside. Throwing his school bag onto the ground by the door, he slipped off his shoes and pattered into the kitchen.
tup tup tup
He surveyed the dining area and small kitchen.
"Hmm..." he pondered, looking the room over. "Where should we put the decorations...and the cake could go there..."

Already he was planning, and he had only been home for a few minutes. Hearing Lauren and Henry approach behind him, he turned around.

"Could you put the food on the counter? I have to go get my present for Momo," he said, racing back towards the door.

He pulled a small brown bag out of his school pack and ran up the stairs. It was odd for him to be back in the house. He never lived here, and stopped to look inside his parent's bedroom. The furniture was so foreign to him...like he should'nt be there. The room was oddly dark, and he felt like he was messing with his past as he stepped cautiously inside.

The room was furnished very plainly but a glint of light caught his eye and he turned around.
There were various picture frames on the dresser and he wandered curiously towards them. He wiped a smudge of dust off of the first one.

It was of his father, his mother, and his little sister, standing outside the house. His father was smiling, holding his glasses in one hand, and holding Momo's in the other. His mother looked truely happy, for once free of worry or depression, her blonde hair brilliant in the light. Momo looked as she always did; shy, yet full of intelligence. Her blue eyes stared curiously back at the camera and Momiji wiped a tear from his eye.

Its as though I was never there...Mutti looks truely happy...and I am happy for her... Momiji thought.

Smiling softly, tears streaming silently down his cheeks, he glanced at the other pictures; his parent's wedding, a few of Momo as a baby, his family on vacation...

Remembering the gift, Momiji walked out of the room and down the hall into Momo's room, the only famliar place in the whole house.

Her bedroom was bathed in soft light, and he pulled the curtains open. The light washed over the pink and white furniture, illuminating a large stuffed pink bunny on a white rocking chair. He sat for a moment on the pink canopy bed, tracing the flowers on the quilt with a finger.

Gingerly, he reached into the paper back and pulled out a small stuffed rabbit. It was pink with a white bow, and two black button eyes stared back at him. His stitching was terrible, and the stuffing lumped in the center, but Momo would know that he made it just for her. Laying it on the pillow, he shook his head, clearing his mind. Wiping his eyes, he quickly stood up and raced back down the stairs.

"I'm back," he said, walking brightly into the kitched as if nothing had ever happened. He put a cheerful smile on, and rolled up his sleeves, ready to help Lauren decorate and cook.

[Lauren Clark]

"I'm coming!"Lauren replied to Momiji's enthused yell,regarding which direction to turn before stopping a moment to rest.Cyan orbs fixate upon her watch as thoughts raced,I can't stop now!There's so much to do!which gave the doctor motivation to hustle onward.Lips bore a smile whenever Lauren witnessed the back of Momiji's form as she finally caught up.The sound of clear-gray plastic rustling in her grasp that held their groceries was ever fresh in the dead silence,ears swiftly perk to Momiji's request of where to place the groceries and soothingly replied."Sure but I'll put the ice cream in the freezer.Don't want it to melt to much!"Henry waddled along the perfectly lined cobblestoned steps as he was severely lagging behind that a crooned bark parched his throat. Lauren's eyebrow twitched as a signal to feeling guilty."I'm sorry about that."Whispering as fingertips scoop the puppy into her soft embrace after the groceries met their fate of the cold,clammy counter.

Lauren kept Henry gently wedged in a position where she could multi-task and keep him within her grasp,he looked as if he were a newborn.Lauren smirked with stead-fast determination as fingertips readily gather the party supplies that remained her little treat.It was like a light bulb had struck a cord over top the doctor's good forehead,the streamers were made with quality concerning pastel color but were bland strips.Scissors made little snippets in the design of ballerina shoes when pulling the streamers open from a easy foldable design,"What do you think?"Henry was suddenly not in a good mood,due to feeling pooped out and made a lethargic blink when sniffing the streamers and fell into a nap-like mode.She was two for two, a personalized ballerina streamer theme,that hopefully Momo would like and free confetti to boot.

Lauren placed Henry upon a sofa cushion and quickly headed back into the kitchen as there was work to be done still,trying to clean up her small whirl-winded mess.She remembered where Momiji would like the decorations to go and fingertips dragged a chair in order to stand and place them up."Maybe some balloons here to?I really should wait."Lauren told herself and removed herself from her current position and carefully dusted the chair off,almost as if fate where at work,Momiji had appeared as if he infact never left."What do you think of it so far.This is where you wanted some of the decoration to go isn't it?"Blinking as her gaze fell upon her feet that she felt embarrassed,"Ah.I forgot to take off my shoes."She never really got used to the Japanese custom of taking off one's shoes before entering a home,hopping to get one shoe off before another,Lauren gently laughed." I feel slightly like a rabbit."

[Momiji Sohma]

Momiji laughed in return, watching Lauren tug off her shoe. "I feel like that all the time," he said giggling.

He walked over to the table, where the ballerina streamers and confetti were displayed. "Woww, this is amazing!" Momiji cried, grinning as he felt the thin paper between his fingertips. "She will surely love it," he added, walking behind the counter and pulling the boxes of food out of the bags. "Let's get to work," Momiji declared, pulling an apron out of the drawer with a smile.

Soon, rice simmered in a crock pot, the okonomiyaki gyuuniku was sizzling on the stove top, and the hakusai cabbage soup bubbled away in a pot. Momiji wiped his hands on his apron as he pulled the green tea out of the bag and put them in the refrigerator.

"This was so kind of you," he said as he pulled the ingrediants out of the fridge to add to the cake mix. "Momo will definately appreciate it." His thoughts wandered to the photographs on the dresser upstairs as he noticed the photos held to the fridge door with brightly colored plastic letter magnets.

One showed a swimsuit clad Momo, her wispy blonde hair twisting in the wind as she stood on the sandy shores, a pail and shovel in hand, her feet surrounded by a small sand castle. She wasn't looking at the camera, but rather at her toes, which were buried deep in the sand.

The next was of Momo with her backpack on, stepping onto the bus. She waved with one hand and held her hat on with the other. Her mother's reflection was on the bus window, holding the camera. Momiji smilied, and turned away from the fridge to continue his work.

He put the eggs and milk on the counter and stopped to read the rest of the instructions on the cake box. Putting it back down, he turned to face Lauren.

"Do you think you can handle the cake? I'm going to finish decorating, if you don't mind," Momiji offered as he washed his hands in the sink.
Pausing to turn off the stove and place the lids on the pots, he skipped over to the table and studied the remaining supplies.

[Lauren Clark]

Lauren smiled to the sound of Momiji's giggle accompanied by his comment about feeling like a bunny rabbit himself,it made her feel more at ease.Not to mention less of a klutz in forgetting to remove her own pair of shoes before entering the traditional home.She was over all pleased to the energetic reaction Momiji expressed to a artistic twist she decided to make with the previously dull pastel hued set of streamers."I'm glad you think so."I just so happened to think of it,due to we only have two hours for this little operation!I remembered that Momo has ballet,Lauren thought.Fingertips gather the grey-plastic bags that lain empty from having nothing left to hold and folded them away to sit in the garbage as Momiji began to pull food from them.A palm gently waved downward to Momiji's compliment of 'This was so kind of you' based on her actions so far,"It's nothing really.I enjoy doing it."

Lauren responded not used to many compliments before allowing her Cyan stare to fall upon her pet.Simply checking up on him and then chuckled as a result,Henry laid still upon his left side and one of his ears flopped over as if it were a beauty mask on his droopy formed eyelids.Ears perked whenever Momiji asked if she could handle baking the cake and kept a inward sigh,there was no time to be slightly pessimistic about her cooking problems as it wouldn't solve anything."Sure!"Lauren swiftly responded and silently prayed to the cooking gods,if there was such a thing for a swift and successful mission in a desperate plea.Please,please don't let me botch this up! Just this once is all I'm asking!Please,please let things go smoothly or maybe even half way smoothly?Cyan orbs fixate upon the cake box's instruction and paused to gather a thought.Let's see,I'm going to need two nine inch pans to bake this in.

Fingertips gently search for the correct pans in questioning and it almost sounded like it were thundering outside before the noise came to a strict halting. Aha! here they are.Lauren then opened the cake mix and gently poured it into the glass bowl and carefully added two cracked eggs,fingertips unknowingly and clumsily set the mixer to the highest setting."Bu-wha!" She tried not to exclaim to loud and changed the setting to a softer one and sighed when inching about to clean the small splatter of the side kitchen wall,Lauren then turned off the mixer.The contents were just right in terms of being mixed so it would turn out fluffy,carefully she poured it into the two nine inch pans.Lauren peeked at the box and set the oven for the correct baking temperature,silently entering the pans in the oven.Upon the counter laid a single fleck of an eggshell,Lauren used a spot of sanitizer from underneath the counter when cleaning up.

A small glare from one of the brightly neon colored magnets,holding up pictures of Momo caught the doctor's attention.While standing directly infront of the refrigerator door she smiled to getting a better glimpse,This must be Momo!She's a cute little girl.That must be the mother?Blinking as her thought ended when seeing the faint reflection upon the window of the school bus and scolded herself for being distracted as feet raced over to the oven.Slowly but surely the cake was beginning to rise and felt internally thankful that nothing was burned that she pulled up a chair to sit down.Again she entered thought, I wonder..could the lineage be German? I bet Momo would like that cake what's is called starts with a G."Gateau!"She blurted out and slightly blushed when coughing and entered the room where Momiji happened to be,she was a little curious."Schwarz-uhm..wälder Kirs chtorte?"Doesn't that mean Black Forest cherry cake. I assumed that your lineage is German and the chocolate cake gave me the idea to make it for Momo.If that's ok?"

[Momiji Sohma]

Momiji nodded as he stood at the table, hands pressed onto the wood. "I'm sure she will enjoy," he said, leaning on the table and supporting his weight on his palms. He let his feet dangle for a second and then let himself rock backwards, the table jerking up and settling with a thump.

He stood for a moment, thinking, and then raced outside to the garage. Finding the door locked and the hide-a-key missing, Momiji wiggled his fingers into the broken latch of the window and slid it open. Grimacing as he pushed through cobwebs, he crouched on the ledge before jumping onto the ground. Quickly, he walked around the edge of the garage, past the car his father was rebuilding, and to the shelves of storage and boxes

Pulling himself onto the dusty shelves, Momiji skirted across the wall, searching for a certain box. Upon finding it, he pulled it to the edge, where it teetered, and slipped to the ground with a resounding thud. Dust plumed up from the ground as Momiji hopped back onto the cement. Deftly, he slid a finger under the yellowing tape and prised the cardboard box open.

Inside, various party decorations laid under tissue paper and cuttings of gift wrap. He dug through the box eagerly, pulling out a bag holding a few dozen pink balloons. Next, he pulled out a banner exclaiming "Congradulations! It's a Girl!" Giggling, he stuffed it back into the box and proceeded to pull out different colors of ribbons. Gathering his findings in a dusty pile on the floor, he flipped the sides of the box back together and was just about to place it back on the shelf when something caught his eye.

Curiously, he pulled the box open again and pulled out a white piece of paper. It was an old piece of wrapping paper, bunnies and teddies dancing merrily across the faded page. Rolling it up, Momiji replaced the box and exited the garage, shutting the window as he left.

Wandering back into the house, Momiji dumped the extra supplies on the table. "I found some more balloons and some ribbons and gift wrap," he noted as he spread his findings out on the tablecloth. Reaching for a pair of scisors, Momiji cut out all of the frolicking tutu clad rabbits, taping them to each balloon he blew up. "There," he said with a sigh. "That looks good doesn't it?" He giggled, thinking of all of the rabbit related themes he left scattered around the house. Yep, he thought happily as he walked back into the kitchen to help finish the meal. She will definitely know its me! .
Momiji glanced at the stove, and gasped. "Uwah! Look at the time! They will be home in ten minutes!" Momiji exclaimed.

[Lauren Clark]

Lauren returned a simple nod towards Momiji as he commented that Momo would sure love her cake idea and smiled,fingertips raced to pry additional needed supplies from all over the place.With an armful she paniced,"Uwah!The cake!" Hopping along in the direction of the stove as if she were a bunny,lifting a foot to open the steaming oven,wincing to the swoosh of heat.A tiny oven burn would be a small prince to pay as she yanked the cake out just in time,it was absolutely perfect as the pans would slam against a cooling rack.Her armful of supplies gently meet the counter and Lauren quickly dressed the little burns and smiled as it was all coming together now.Fingertips began to slowly churn whipped cream and cherries between each layer of the two chocolate cakes.After placing one layer ontop of another,Lauren decorated the outside with additional whipped cream,maraschino cherries, and chocolate crumb shavings.

I really can't believe it but I did it! She thought while taking on an invisible 'hurray!' pose and then coughed while pretending to take a small stretch,just as a precaution encase Momiji had seen her.She then brought the cake out to sit in the center of the tablecloth upon the table and again paniced,"Ten m-minutes?! We haven't even served up things yet!"Scurrying like a deer she quickly laid down bowls for the cabbage meal and dressed the table with plates.Lauren then made a few scoops of ice cream next to the cake and again like a bunny,she hopped in order to clean up the mess in the kitchen.So it would look natural and undisturbed and finally grabbed her pet that yawned a little confused,Lauren blinked as they still only had minutes to spare."What do we do now?"

[Momiji Sohma]

Momiji finished putting things on the table, arranging them so that the meal was ready to eat.
"Now, we race away and wait for them to come home," he said excitedly, bounding on his toes. He quickly gathered all of the rubbish and shoved it in the bin. Taking a final look at the table and his surprise party, he placed a white notecard up against the vase of sunflowers.

"From a loving friend," the card read.

Blinking his brown eyes, Momiji glanced at the clock and ran towards the door. Slipping his shoes on, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and motioned for Lauren and Henry. "Come on!" Momiji said, locking up the door behind them as they walked onto the porch.

"If you could, please drop me off at my father's work building. My aunt and uncle will pick me up there, they do every day after school around this time," Momiji said as they climbed in Lauren's car. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blue car round the corner of their street and start heading their direction.

Momiji's heart pounded. "Aah! That's them! Oh no, my mutti can't see me," Momiji panicked, waving his hands frantically in the air. "Quick we must leave! I will tell you how to get to the office building on the way. Hurry, I cannot be seen!"

[Lauren Clark]

As soon as Momiji had yelled his excitement of 'come on' fingertips scoop up her lazy house pet of a dog,Henry and dashed to place her own shoes on.Cyan orbs stare down her car and a palm sifted inside of her jacket to pluck the car keys but as fate would have it,damn thing wouldn't start.Third time is never the charm whenever the stubborn jo-loppy had gotten it's break that the car vibrated and slowly took off in time to avoid being seen."Now that's a close one!"Soft lips part for a amused chuckle while Henry looked a little confused when letting out a howl and then sniffed his nose around.

Something had a power scent and his tongue began to lick Momiji's palms for the remenace of food partials.His soft dull colored forehead then rested against Momiji's lap in order to go back to sleep,"Hehe.Henry you have a new friend?"It was nothing short of adorable the way he had taken to Momiji that Lauren commented about the party."I Hope Momo likes it."A perked eyebrow sifted into play when glancing at Momiji and spoke on the topic of where she should take him,"Anywhere that you need to go to next?"

[Momiji Sohma]

Momiji relaxed as his old house disapeared around the corner. The car sped forward down the road and Momiji's heart slowed its frantic beating.

Cuddling the dog on his lap, Momiji stroked the wrinkled forehead of Henry, the dog's breathing slowing in content as he dozed off again.

"No, I think my aunt and uncle would worry if I didn't come home in another half hour," Momiji replied, watching the neighborhoods blur past his window. "Thank you for all that you have done for me today," Momiji said, biting his lip. He was on the cusp of telling the real reason of why he no longer lived at home. However, Tohru's knowlage of the Sohma curse was a special condition, so Momiji told an 'abridged' version of what really happened.

"You know," Momiji started nervously. "There is a reason why I don't live with my father and mother and sister." Lauren made no reaction, keeping her eyes on the road, but he knew that he had her attention.

"When I was born, there was a...complication," he said softly, thinking of how terrible it must've been for his family to find out the truth. "My mother went through a lot of trauma and refused to remember all that had happened during the difficulty. Even after it was all over, she refused to look at me or look after me. The pain of what had happened was too much for her."

And if only I could confide in Lauren the real reason why my Mutti would never accept me... for who I am, Momiji thought sadly as the car wound through the roads.

"My father understood my mother's pain, and allowed his brother and his wife, my aunt and uncle, to adopt me. My sister Momo's birth was a much happier time for my Mutti. In fact, due to all of the stress I caused her, she doesn't even remember me. My father and family think it should remain that way. Momo doesn't know that I am her brother, but she has seen me before. I have just been introduced as a friend of the family to her. But, she's getting smart. After all, she is 10 years old now, she is starting to figure out that there is a relationship between me and her. I do look like her, but my whole rest of my family looks more Japanese. It is just Mutti, Momo and I that are more German in appearance."

Momiji grew silent as he saw his uncle's apartment come into view.

"I hope that I have not...affected what you think about me," Momiji mumbled as he gently pulled Henry off his lap and gathered his school bag.

The car pulled up in front of the main entrance to the apartment building and Momiji prepared to get out of the car. "Thank you again for all that you have done. It helps me feel a little more connected with my real family."

[Lauren Clark]

In all reality,what Momiji spoke about the reasons he no longer lived at home were not suspicious at all,even as a doctor with her education the mind was a difficult thing to truly understand.All it's wonders and the pain it could instill into one's heart but it only took a few people to notice and to care to change the past.Momiji was a kind if not sweet boy and could hardly see why he would worry the story would change her view upon him,then again everyone has their strange fears in the word.Forehead gently tipped forward in a nod to signal her ears soaked in all the insecurities he spoke or it felt like it was insecureness when the car came to a stop.

Lips would unknowingly express her own kindness,"Of course Momo's a smart cookie.Siblings share the same brain."A index finger and thumb gently reach over to flick Momiji's nose kindly before she acted like a magician,"Tah-dah.I hate having sticky fingures but you were looking at this picture an awful long time.I doubt anyone will notice it's gone if they're like me."It was the one of Momo playing in the sand on the beach and you could see a faint thumb of your mothers over the picture,from trying to take it."Personal momentoes?"Perhaps Momiji could tell that she didn't think ill of him at all that she was still the same person with no strings attached to take time out of her life to help in something small.Everyone has their own way of masking up pain no matter whom they are,"Take care Momiji!"

[Momiji Sohma]

Momiji's eyes widened as he took the picture delicatly in his fingers. "Thank...thank you for all you have done..." Momiji said simply, a soft smile on his face. He resisted the impulse to lean over and hug Lauren, but the consequences would be devistating...and Momiji couldn't bear to think of what Akito would do if he found out.

Momiji stared into the face of his sister for a few moments, before leaning over and tucking it into his violin case.

"One day," Momiji said as he got out of the car. "Momo will know the truth, and we will play beautiful music together." He tapped his violin case affectionatly.
He waved to Lauren as he turned to walk into the apartment building, his heart considerably lighter as he invisioned Momo walking into the home he longed for so much.

***