I Just Can't Stop Loving You (16 page)

“I thought you gave this stuff up,” Satoshi said as he sipped the rice liquor.

“I have,” Ichiro said. “But I’m celebrating the birth of my sons.” He sipped and set the cup aside. He really didn’t want to start drinking sake again.

“What does it feel like?” Satoshi asked. “I mean being a father?”

“Frightening,” Ichiro answered. “Suddenly, I’m responsible for two more tiny little lives.”

“But they’re so cute,” Takumijo said. “Just like you.”

Ichiro chuckled. “It’s amazing. They don’t look like I expected them to look. I thought they would have Shaundra’s eyes and nose, or something, but all I can see is me.”

“Which is a good thing,” Satoshi said. “For everyone.”

Ichiro moaned. “I’m so sorry I doubted her. Sex with her is so wonderful and I guess I got all jealous and foolish.”

“I never doubted her,” Satoshi said. “She doesn’t look at anyone the way she looks at you. Not even Yori.”

“I am so stupid,” Ichiro said. “I never wanted to sleep with Eri. I could have if I wanted to, but I didn’t. I was just so confused when she kissed me. I’ve never kissed another woman but Shaundra. I guess I was curious, but not enough to break the sanctity of my marriage.”

“We’re not the ones you have to convince,” Takumijo said.

“I know, but I still haven’t figured out how to do it.”

“You can start by firing Eri,” Satoshi said.

“Done,” Ichiro said. “Daichi let her go yesterday. He told her we were cutting back on personnel.”

“Good,” Takumijo said. “She knew you were married when she kissed you.”

“Yes, but I still feel bad about it. She was a good waitress and I was grooming her as an apprentice baker.”

One of the babies cried upstairs.

“Now you can groom those two,” Takumijo said.

“I guess it’s feeding time for them,” Ichiro replied. “She’s breastfeeding them.”

“But I thought she decided against it,” Takumijo said.

“I thought so too, but I saw her do it on the day we named the boys. The sight nearly brought tears to my eyes. She had one baby nursing from each breast while she talked to us.”

“In front of your family? You mean Daichi got to see the goods?”

Ichiro shook his head. “No, she was covered. Daichi took pictures. They’re going into the babies’ christening book.”

“I bet you wanted to change places with one of them,” Satoshi teased.

“Yes,” Ichiro admitted. “I am so horny.”

Satoshi chuckled. “You heard the nurse. Shaundra can’t have sex for at least five weeks, and only if she’s speaking to you by then.”

“We’re going back to Europe the day after tomorrow, so you won’t be tempted,” Takumijo told Ichiro. “And if you get desperate enough, I’ll give you comfort.”

Ichiro glared at him. “You touch me and I’ll kick your ass. Or haven’t you noticed I’m as tall as you guys are now?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. Why are you still growing?”

“I eat right,” Ichiro said. “And now Satoshi is the runt of the litter.”

Satoshi chuckled. “You’ll be the runt of the litter again when your sons are our age. Those are going to be some big boys. Shaundra must be glad they’re finally out of her body.”

Ichiro nodded. “From what I can, tell she’s lost most of the baby weight. I’m surprised. I thought she’d retain a lot of it.”

“Nope,” Satoshi said. “She told me she always bounces back pretty well after a pregnancy. I guess it’s her metabolism or something.”

“You and my wife are getting just a little too chummy,” Ichiro told him.

“We’re friends,” Satoshi said.

Ichiro rolled his eyes at him. “Yeah, I know. You better not go buying her any underwear like Harper.”

“Can you imagine how big her butt is now that she’s given birth?” Satoshi asked.

Ichiro groaned. He was going to kick the piss out of Satoshi if he didn’t stop.

“She already had a lot of junk in that trunk,” Takumijo added. “It jiggled when she walked.”

“Yes, it did,” Satoshi agreed.

“Why are you losers discussing my wife’s butt?”

“What else do we have to do?” Takumijo asked. “At least you have that butt to sleep next to tonight.”

“No, I don’t,” Ichiro said. “I think I better sleep in Cristal’s old room. I can still hear the babies if they cry during the night.”

“Chicken,” Satoshi teased.

“She tried to choke me,” Ichiro said in his own defense. “What part of that don’t you understand?”

Both Takumijo and Ichiro laughed.

Takumijo looked Ichiro over. “You’re six foot tall, and nearly two hundred pounds. How much harm can she do to you?”

That was true. Nearly two hundred pounds?
When had this happened
? All he wanted to do was add some muscle, but lately, he’d been living at the gym trying to work out his frustrations. “Do you think Shaundra might be scared of me now? I mean, because I’m bigger?”

“You’ve always been bigger than her,” Satoshi said as he polished off his cup of sake.

“No, I mean the muscles?”

Takumijo shook his head. “Don’t be foolish. Women like men with muscles.”

Satoshi bobbed his head in agreement. “Just wait. You’ll be beating her off you again.”

“I don’t want to beat her off me. I need her on me or under me,” Ichiro insisted.

Satoshi and Takumijo laughed at his statement.

“You better get used to your hands,” Satoshi said. “Five weeks is a long time.”

“I wonder if her mouth is off limits for five weeks.” Ichiro asked.

Takumijo spat sake across the room and Satoshi choked.

“What?” Ichiro asked.

“Don’t say that,” Satoshi warned. “I’m liking the visual way too much.”

One of the babies cried loudly upstairs.

“Get you mind out of the gutter, Satoshi,” Takumijo said. “And let’s go see if we can give Shaundra a hand with our babies.”

****

Shaundra had just gotten Raiden to sleep when Ryoto woke up ready to eat. “You guys have this tag-team thing down to a science,” she said as she sat down in the rocking chair with him. She could tell them apart without the bracelets. Raiden was bigger in the face and turned red when he cried. And Ryoto had a sweeter disposition and a heartier appetite. He’d catch up in weight with Raiden if he kept that up. “You guys will probably not taste a hamburger and fries for a long time because Daddy will insist that you eat nutritious meals. And Mama is never going to dress the two of you alike. You are individuals.” She’d chosen blue, brown, yellow, and green for their layette and decided to interchange the clothes until they outgrew them. She didn’t want her babies to be referred to as “the twins.” And only on rare occasions would she dress them alike. Probably for publicity pictures or she would have to kill Mr. Niigata.

Ryoto opened his eyes and looked up at her. “Why, hello, Ryoto. Are you enjoying your meal?” The baby smiled at her like he understood her. “You’re going to be a heartbreaker one day. But you need to treat your woman with respect and never cheat on her. We women don’t like it.”

The baby continued to watch her while he suckled.

Shaundra hummed to him and before she knew it, she was singing one of her favorite songs to him. It was ‘Begin
’
by Tohoshinki.

The baby continued to watch her as she sang. She hadn’t felt like doing so in a long time. She’d grown up in a church, sang in the choir, and taught Sunday school until Tricia graduated from high school. Her mother always thought she’d be a singer because of her deep, throaty voice, and how she and her sister used to sing duets in the church choir. Lord, that seemed like eons ago. She’d discovered writing and gotten married. Now, she was married to one of the hottest tenors in all of Asia.

****

“Is that Shaundra singing?” Takumijo asked as they tiptoed upstairs to check on the babies.

Ichiro nodded. “That’s the song we walked down the aisle to when we got married.”

“I never knew she could sing,” Takumijo said.

“Me either,” Ichiro said.

“She has a lovely voice,” Satoshi said as they stood in the hall listening. “Like a jazz singer.”

“Why didn’t she ever tell me she could sing?” Ichiro asked.

“Because you’re the singer in the family,” Takumijo said. “And she’s the writer.”

“But you think I would have heard her at least once.”

“She sang before with Cristal,” Satoshi reminded him. “We were on our way to or from somewhere and Amaya got all pissed off because they were singing some American song.”

“But not like this,” Ichiro said. “And in perfect Korean.”

“And she’s singing from her heart,” Satoshi said.

“Maybe she’s never had something to sing about before,” Takumijo said.

“Or, maybe she just didn’t want to,” Satoshi said.

“Where the hell did she learn Korean from?” Ichiro asked.

They tiptoed back down the stairs to give Shaundra a chance to entertain her sons.

“What do you mean you’re going to Japan?” Tricia asked Damien as they sat on the floor in his bedroom at his father’s New York mansion.

“My father and the Dean discussed it and came to the agreement that maybe, just maybe, I would do better at a Japanese University to finish off my Master’s degree. And they also decided that maybe I should get a job at my father’s publishing company and start learning how to be responsible.”

“But what about us?”

Damien looked over at the love of his life and tried to pretend none of this affected him. “It’s not the end of the world. It’s just for a semester. We can be together after that.”

Tricia pouted.

His cock stirred in his briefs as he gazed upon those luscious brown lips.

“A semester is a long time. What if you meet someone else?”

There could never be anyone else for him but her. He’d been in love with her since they were kids. And he knew even back then she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. “I won’t even look at another woman while I’m there,” he promised.

Tricia rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t you know such things are out of your control? You’re blond and green-eyed and those little Asian girls are going to go ga-ga over you.”

“Maybe,” Damien said, lifting her chin and staring deeply into her eyes. “But only you have my heart.” He lowered his head and kissed her.

Tricia melted in his arms and his body hardened with desire. “I want to make love to you so badly,” he whispered against her lips.

“And I want a wedding ring and a commitment,” she whispered back against his.

Damien groaned and moved her away from him. “I think I need a dip in a cold Alaskan river.”

Tricia giggled. “Don’t you think it’s hard on me too? But I want our first time together to be special and on our wedding night.”

“I hope you’ve been looking for a bridal gown and picking out churches,” Damien said. “I plan to marry you as soon as we graduate and not another day later. I can’t take this anymore.”

“I want a black and white wedding,” Tricia told him. “All the guys will be in black tuxes with tails, and the girls will dress in virgin white.”

“And then that night, I’m going to rock your world.”

Tricia laughed and punched him on the arm. “You better live up to the hype.”

“Or what? You’ll leave me for one of those pretty boy J-Poppers?”

“I might,” Tricia said.

Damien grabbed her and they wrestled around on the floor. He tickled her and Tricia squealed with delight.

The door opened and eighteen-year-old Kevin Kehoe stood in the doorway. “What are the two of you doing? I can hear you all the way down in my room.”

Tricia and Damien sat up.

“I’m tickling her,” Damien admitted to his younger, geekier brother.

“Very mature,” Kevin said, leaning in the doorjamb. “I’m trying to study.”

“You should be out on a date somewhere,” Damien told him.

“I’m not interested,” Kevin said. “Women are a hindrance.”

“Hey!” Tricia said.

“Well, maybe not you, but all the rest. I’m not interested in going to movies or to clubs. I need a degree, and I can’t get one if I’m gabbing on the phone to some skirt.”

“Skirt?” Tricia asked, puzzled. “Are you sure he’s human?”

Kevin shook his head at them, closed the door, and walked back down the hall to his room.

“I won’t be a bit surprised if he ends up dating a guy,” Damien said.

Tricia chuckled. “He’d make a cute Uke with those big brown eyes and that blond hair.”

“A what?” Damien asked.

“A Uke…the feminine male in a gay relationship. Don’t tell me you’ve never read yaoi?”

“Yo what?” Damien asked.