Ark 20 Episode 64: Put on those Big Girl Panties

(http://youtu.be/yleKNVbL24w) ::Moto stood at the stove... he was making breakfast when he heard the door of Suzume's room open and the sound of bare feet scrambling to the bathroom. A couple of days ago she had told him that she was indeed pregnant, and that she and Kin... had separated. He then had to be begged not to find Kin and kick his ass... or at least try. Moto was sure he was no match for the Tasanagi kid... but that didn't lessen the urge to cave his face in for making his little girl cry. She hadn't gone into detail, what had happened, or what Kin had done, just that it was enough for her to break off their relationship. He could only speculate, but he figured there was another girl involved somehow. He heard the flush of the toilet and the sound of the shower start. This made him sigh once again knowing that she'd be in there for a while. The last time she had spent almost two hours in there, and when he went to go check on her, he could hear the faint sounds of crying. In fact other than her initially telling him about what happened. Suzume had not really spoken to him, except through the door of her room, or the bathroom. He had yet to see her sit down and eat a decent meal, and if she did come out she was out long enough to grab something to nibble on and the she went back to her room once again.:: ~'She needs to eat more than crackers and a bowl of rice here and there. She's eating for two now..'~ ::He thought to himself. He was pulled out of his train of thought by the toaster popping. He walked over to pull the toast out and set them aside on a plate before turning his attention back to the eggs on the stove. Moto was about to flip the sunny yokes over when he heard a knock come from the front door.::

"Dammit..." ::He cursed under his breath, taking the skillet off the open flame and wiping his hands off on the apron he was wearing that said "Kiss the Cook" on it. When he got to the door he opened it to see well in his opinion a young woman. He cleared his throat.:: "Can I help you ma'am?" ::Nadine stood there in front of Moto, with her hands hips.:: "Uh... Hiiiee... um... you must be Suzume's dad. I'm Nadine... her boss and I came over cause... well she hasn't been in to work in a couple of days and I'm just a little worried about her." ::Moto nodded and roughly ran his fingers through his hair.:: "Oh yes, Suzume has told me about you, come in please." ::He motioned her for to come in, and Nadine stepped through the front door, into the living room. Nadine looked around it wasn't exactly the nicest place in the world. But she imagined it was nicer than other places in the area.:: "Would you like some coffee?" ::Moto asked politely.:: "Yes, please." ::Moto nodded.:: "Do you take sugar and milk?" ::Nadine nodded and Moto retreated to the kitchen for a moment and then came back with two cups of coffee lacking the goofy apron this time. He sat down across from Nadine and handed one of the cups to her.:: "Suzume's been going through a tough time these past couple of days... I hope you aren't thinking of firing her." ::Nadine shook her head before taking a sip of the coffee.:: "No, I wouldn't do that to her. She's a good kid, however.. did she happen to tell you what happened in my store a couple of days ago?" ::Moto sipped his own coffee and gave a frustrated sigh.:: "She told me enough I guess... She told me that she had been to the doctor about a week ago and she confirmed that she was pregnant... and that she and the father of the child... are now separated." ::Nadine nodded, obviously Suzume wasn't specific with the circumstances with her father. But Nadiene felt it wasn't her place for her to inform Moto.:: "Yeah... the blow out happened in my office a couple of day ago... she was pretty torn up from then till I finally convinced her to go home that evening. Anyway... she hadn't called me or anything and I kind of got worried about her." ::Moto nodded.:: "To be frank Miss Fowler... Im worried about her as well. She's hardly eaten these past couple of days, she's apparently started having morning sickness, and has barely left her room." ::Nadine set her cup down on the table in front of her.:: "Do you think maybe she might just need to hear.. a female voice. I mean... I know her mother passed away, but if I could talk to her and maybe get her spirits up... I'd like to help if I can. Suzy's kind of grown on me this past month." ::Moto heard the sincerity in the woman's voice... and it touched him to hear that she cared for his daughter.:: "I'd appreciate any help I can get... I kind of feel like if I talk to her about it... she might feel like I blame her for this sort of thing. I don't want her to feel like its her fault, yes, she made a mistake... But I love her no matter what." ::Nadine stood and nodded. Just sitting and talking with Moto for a short period of time she could tell he was a decent guy who loved his daughter very much... but was just at a loss of what to do in this situation.:: "Well I'll go see if she'll speak with me." ::Moto nodded.:: "Her bedroom is the last door on the right side of the hallway."


 * Nadine, headed up the staircase. She could see that the bathroom door was open and there was still a hint of steam wafting into the hallway, meaning someone had recently been in the shower. When she made it to Suzume's door she gently knocked.:: "Hey, Suzy... it's me Nadine. Do you mind if I come in and chat for a bit." ::There was a pause, and the shuffling of feet was heard, followed by the door being unlocked and opened with a slight creaking noise.:: "Come in..." ::Suzume said in a monotone sort of voice. Nadine stepped into the room she could tell that Suzume had been crying allot lately, her eyes were red and puffy. She wasn't wearing her glasses, her hair was obviously still wet from the shower but she hadn't bothered to comb it, she wore an oversized plaid shirt and pair of old sweat pants. The shades and curtains were drawn shut, and the light was off the only thing really giving off any light was the TV and it was paused on some video game. There were a few snack wrappers strewn about the room and the pillows and blankets had been pulled off the bed and put on the floor in front of the TV.:: "Well this is certainly a cheeriest place now isn't it." ::Suzume plopped back down on the floor in front of the TV and shrugged.:: "I guess... listen... I know I've missed the past couple of days... so if you want to fire me I understand." ::Nadine shook her head and sat down on the edge of the bed just beside Suzume.:: "Psh, you know I don't give a fuck about that."


 * Suzume just shrugged again, the whole time her eyes concentrating on the game in front of her. Nadine watched the game for a while, it was some sort of zombie survival game.:: (http://dc608.4shared.com/img/wIh37HYh/s3/138454020f8/animegirlillustrationcomputer-.jpg) ::Suzume, swiftly took out one undead flesh eater after another. Nadine finally shook her head.:: "Alright that's it!" ::She stood up from the bed walked over in front of Suzume who proceeded to try to look around the older woman. However Nadine swiftly pushed the power button on the video console.:: "Dammit Nadine! I was almost through hat level and you didn't give me time to save!" ::Nadine didn't say anything she just swiftly went over to the window and pulled open the shades. Bright sun light shown into the room, illuminating the room.:: "Ow!" ::Suzume tried to block the sun light from her eyes.:: "Well you're the one that's kooked up in this depressing cesspool." ::Suzume sighed.:: "Well I kind of have a reason to be depressed you know." ::Nadine put her hands on her hips.:: "Yes, I know I was there remember. Now, its time to get the fuck over it, and get rid of those diapers and put on your big girl panties again. Listen, yes it sucks that your boyfriend was an idiot and stuck his dick in the wrong hole. It also sucks that you're pregnant and he still pulled that crap. But let me tell you something I've learned over the years when it comes to men.... You don't need them other than to have a kid, but seeing as he's already done that move on. If you plan on keeping this baby then you need to pull yourself out of this and take care of yourself. Sitting in a dark room eating crackers, and staring at pixelated violence isn't going to help that baby."

(http://youtu.be/G8XFGKFXz1A)::Suzume sat there listening to Nadine, then gave a heavy sigh and hung her head dropping the game controller in front of her. Drawing her legs up she wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. Nadine sighed, knelt down next to Suzume and hugged the poor girl.:: "I'm sorry hun, I didn't mean to be harsh. But you know I'm right..." ::Suzume nodded trying not to start crying again.:: "I know you feel like he has to be here, but I know you're strong enough... that you can get through it yourself." ::Suzume nodded.:: "Listen Suzy, I kind of got a proposition for you. Would you hear me out for minute." ::She pulled away from her and looked at the young teenage girl. She couldn't imagine going through what she was, granted at her age Nadine was already in college. Suzume nodded.:: "I've been thinking, you've really picked up on the whole hacking thing. I've been wondering if you might want to start a business in this. You and I working together, what do say? It'll give you a chance to do things on your own, and prove to yourself... that you can do it and get past all of this." ::Suzume sat there for a moment and let everything sink in.:: "What about school...?" ::Nadine shrugged.:: "What about school, hun I think you're smart enough you should have already graduated. I had by the time I was your age... but if you feel like you need to finish before you start this with me that's fine. We'll split all the profits down the middle... well we can figure out the details later on. Just say yes." ::Suzume gave a half smile, she hadn't done that in a while. Nadine had started out being her employer... but now she felt like she could call her a friend. Despite the woman's quirks, deep down she was a really nice person.:: "Okay Nadine... I think I can do this." ::Nadine smiled at her.:: "Damn straight you can... now lets get you out of here. You, need some fresh air and I think your father would appreciate actually seeing his daughter." ::Suzume nodded and picked herself up off the floor, then headed out of the now bright sunlit room.::