he'd be returning?"
"No," Satoshi answered. "You two still haven't kissed and made up?"
"No," Shaundra said. She pulled up the page for the local hotels.
"Planning a trip?" Satoshi asked.
"No, just a little overnight excursion."
"Who's the lucky fellow?"
Shaundra hit him on the arm. "I don't think I should stay here tonight because of the paint fumes, you bad boy."
"I did hear the cough. Do you want me to take you into town?"
"No, I can drive myself."
"You can barely get that belly beneath the steering wheel."
Shaundra sneered at him.
"What are you going to do for dinner? You know you can't eat takeout."
"I'll call the restaurant and have Daichi prepared me a to- go plate."
"Daichi. Are you getting chummy with Ichiro's older big brother?"
"No, we are family, and he has my back."
"I have your back too."
"That's nice to know." She bit into the sandwich again and chewed as she looked down at the monitor. She swallowed.
"This hotel seems nice. It has free Wi-Fi."
"And good mattresses on the beds."
Shaundra looked up at him. "How do you know that?"
Satoshi smiled innocently down at her. "I've slept there once or twice."
"Alone?" she asked.
"No comment," he said.
Shaundra smirked at him and then made her reservations.
"I can check in around three. I'll take my laptop and work on my book and then I'll be back here tomorrow after checkout time."
"What should I tell Ichiro in case he wants to know where you are?" Satoshi asked.
"The truth," Shaundra said. "I don't have anything to hide from him, and I'm sure the lungs of his babies are more important than his ego."
Satoshi shrugged.
She finished her sandwich and picked up one of the cookies and bit into it. "Yummy. Oatmeal raisin is the best."
Satoshi reached over and wiped a crumb from her cheek.
"Only the best for you," he said. "Come find me before you leave. I have to get back to painting."
Shaundra nodded.
"By the way, where are the cribs?"
"In the storage outside with the rest of the baby furniture.
Why?"
"We might as well put them together too. If not, you're going to have to hire someone to do it. I would tell you to asked one of the security, but they won't come near you, fearful that your crazy husband might beat the shit out of them."
Shaundra chuckled and shook her head at what he just told her. "You guys are doing too much already."
"Nonsense," Satoshi said. "Sometimes it's good to just do things with our hands. It stimulates our creativity."
"And keeps you guys out of trouble."
He smiled and the smiled reached his eyes. "See you later." He walked away leaving her to her wicked little thoughts.
Ichiro walked into the farmhouse exhausted after driving the long distance to and from Kyoto for his meeting with the land developers and mortgage company. If everything went as scheduled, he and Shaundra would be in their new home by the New Year.
The odor of paint met him at the door. He followed the scent up the stairs and down the upstairs hall to his bedroom.
There was a light coming from Shaundra's office and voices.
He tossed his hat and jacket on the bed and walked over to the door. It sounded like Satoshi. Why was he up in Shaundra's office so late, and why was the door closed?"
He turned the knob and opened the door. The odor of paint got stronger. All of Shaundra's office furniture had been removed and someone had painted the walls a soft shade of green.
"Don't touch the walls. They could still be wet," Satoshi told him from behind the door somewhere.
Ichiro entered the room and found him and Takumijo seated on the floor putting something together. "What are you two up to?" His eyes landed on a two white cribs. One had a picture of a rocking horse on it and the other had a toy soldier. He had forgotten...the nursery. Satoshi and Takumijo were getting it together for Shaundra. "Thanks," he said. "I should be doing this."
"No problem," Takumijo said. "We know you've been busy."
"I like this color," he said of the walls. "It's relaxing." He stared at the two matching white chest of drawers, the white dressing table, and the two of them were obviously trying to put together a white Bentwood rocking chair. "Where is my wife?"
"She's staying at a hotel in town tonight," Satoshi told him. "The paint fumes aren't good for the babies."
"Oh," Ichiro said. "Did she go there alone? I mean did she drive herself?"
"Yes. I offered to take her but you know how she is?