Page 34 of Daigo

"Christ!" he muttered, going back to his desk. By the time this was over, he was going to be a basket case.

He looked up when the door opened slightly and his mother appeared. They had turned a corner. She never came over to their place without an invitation, and she was getting along with his wife. She was making an effort and he appreciated that.

"Mother, I thought you went to your appointment."

"I don't want to disturb you." She gestured to the mound of files in front of him. "I know the California supermarkets aren't doing very well after that bomb scare."

His mouth tightened as he remembered the phone call. Some lunatic with a score to settle and some insane idea that the Nakanos were the marks of the beast had walked into a few of the supermarkets and left packages. He had then called it in and said he had left bombs there to prove his point and to get rid of the 'pimple on society.' Running a business, you dealt with all sorts. But that had pissed him off. They had turned out to be duds, but it could have been the real deal.

The man had been arrested, but the sales had dropped as people were scared to shop at the locations. The PR company had come up with ways to get them shopping again. They had lost a significant amount of profit because of one man's nonsense.

"We're getting there. I'm just reading the reports from the locations affected and the promotion, which was my wife's idea by the way, is working." A smile touched his lips. "I might have to have her as a consultant on the team. Having a competition, marking some items down fifty percent is doing the job. And making it all into a game did the trick. She's that good."

"Yes, she is," Yuna admitted a bit reluctantly. "How's she doing?"

"Sleeping." He gestured for her to sit and she did gratefully. They were not back to where they had been at first, but at least they were talking.

"Pardon?"

"I bought her a daybed for her office and insisted on her taking naps. She tires easily."

"I can just imagine." Yuna smiled in memory. "When I was carrying you, exhaustion was the order of the day. You were quite... energetic, tumbling around in my womb at all hours of the day and never keeping still. I would take naps at the drop of a hat."

He stared at her steadily and realized, not for the first time, what she had gone through to bring him into the world. Having a pregnant wife made him more aware of what she went through. It humbled him.

"It must have been rough," he murmured. "Going through a difficult pregnancy and living with my father. I never asked you before, why you didn't try for another child."

She shrugged elegant shoulders. "Your father wanted a son, his legacy as he called it. And when you were born, he decided his duty or mine was completed."

Daigo felt the impotent rage at that. "And you? Did you want more children?"

She shook her head and smiled sadly. "I wanted a daughter but decided that bringing one child into that mess was enough."

"I..." He broke off when his phone pinged.

She saw his eyes light up and knew who was calling. His wife was the only one who could put that light in his eyes.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that sleeping on the job is not allowed?" Leaning back in the chair, he smiled as he listened to her beloved voice. "That's cause for termination."

"Good thing I'm the boss." Her voice was husky with sleep.

"Got a good rest?"

"I slept for two hours. It's embarrassing."

"It's called being pregnant with triplets. I wanted to see if you were all right."

"You scared poor Maxine. Darling, you really have to try and temper your tone when talking to my employees."

"Why?"

"Because..." She sighed and realized she was flogging a dead horse. "Never mind. I'm heading out early. How about you?"

"I think that could be arranged. I was thinking since it looks as if we're going to be dumped with several inches of snow and it's the weekend, we could eat popcorn after supper and watch movies." He had completely forgotten his mother was still in the room.

"Not one of your old black and white with subtitles. I want blood and gore and lots of killing."

Shaking his head, he could not help but grin. "You're a bloodthirsty soul. All right; you win. See you soon. I love you, baby."