1.07: New Life

Mulan looked at her precious little boy for a long moment.  Then she brought him close to her chest.  “My baby boy,” she murmured softly, her voice thick with emotion.

Camron opened the door and peeked in.  His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide as he watched his life cradling that little bundle in her arms.  A baby…  Their baby.

Wolf: Your son.  Her voice was gentle and even proud.  That’s your son, Camron.  Go on, go to your wife, your little boy.

He approached slowly, reverently as Mulan gently lay Yoshi down into his bassinet.  She turned to her husband, tears in her eyes and a warm smile on her face.  “C-can I hold him?” Camron asked his voice cracking.

“Of course,” Mulan murmured, stepping back so Camron could get his first real look at his son.  “Isn’t he beautiful, Camron?”

He could only nod lamely, at a loss for words.  He wasn’t sure how long he looked down at the little baby before he found himself reaching tenderly into the bassinet.  Part of him was terrified; how could anything that small be alive?  Oh sure, he’d seen babies before but it was a whole different thing when that baby was your own small little son.  Yet looking down at that sweet little face made his heart melt.

The uncertainties that he hadn’t really been aware of seemed to evaporate as his son giggled and grinned up at his father.  “Hey little man,” Camron murmured, his voice cracking.  “I’m your daddy.  I’m your daddy little one.”

Mulan watched, having to swallow past the lump in her throat as Camron brought Yoshi up to his chest and held him securely there.  “I’m gonna look after you and your mom.  You’re gonna grow up, find someone just like your mom too.”

He lay his son back into his bassinet and then went to his wife.  He took her hands in his and looked her straight in the eyes.  “Thank you,” he murmured.  “Thank you for my son and for being mine.”  He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly.

“I love you, Camron,” she whispered.

“I love you, too Mulan.”

Wolf looked down on the two of them, smiling softly.  The little family was adorable.  She couldn’t wait to see what the future held for them.

---

With an infant in the house, it was important to develop a routine.  Luckily, work schedules were such that they rarely had to drop little Yoshi off at day-care because while Mulan was working, Camron was home, even if he didn’t get much sleep and vice versa.

Little Yoshi was at the center of everything.

It wasn’t a hardship, however.  Camron and Mulan loved him so.  Losing sleep was a small price to pay for their child.  While Mulan was at work, Camron would take his turn with Yoshi, feeding him from a bottle that Mulan would prepare the night before, changing him, even just cuddling with his boy.

After she got home and Camron went to work, it was Mulan’s turn with Yoshi.  She was breastfeeding and there was nothing like it in the world to her.

Just because there was a child in the picture didn’t mean that Mulan and Camron didn’t find time to just be with one another.  It was normally only an hour or two each day right after Camron woke up and before he got ready for work and after Mulan had come home from work.  They mostly sat and watched TV together, just enjoying the moment of quiet with one another.

And of course, amidst all the diaper changes, the bottle feedings, the rare occasions where Yoshi cried and cried and cried, work was being done on their home as well.  They were finally able to begin decorating.  So aside from the nursery, the kitchen and living room were finally painted and the floors were finished.

There had also been an expansion and an addition of a small entranceway.  Even the façade on the outside had been completed.

On their rare days off together, Mulan often went for a run in the morning, trying to get back down to her pre-baby weight, though it was awfully hard with Carmon’s delicious cooking.

Wolf: Hm, I wouldn’t worry so much about that if I were you.

“Why ever not?” Mulan demanded to know, though it was said with her out of breath.  She was realizing how out of shape she was.

Wolf: Oh no, reason…

Mulan frowned.  Despite having gotten used to having Wolf pipe up intermittently on a frequent basis, there will still times that she had no idea what her Watcher was up to.  It was definitely disconcerting.  “What do you know that I don’t?”

Wolf: Oh, nothing at all.  I don’t actually know anything, really.

“Forget I asked…”

Wolf: You got it.

“No wait… ya know, just never mind.”

---

Time seemed to have flown by.  And before they were even close to ready, their baby boy was no longer a baby.

In fact, he was a bright boy and quite self-assured.  He wanted to dabble in the arts, so Mulan and Camron happily bought him an activity table.

Yoshi was a good boy.  He came home from school and began his homework right away.  When Mulan would ask if he needed help, he’d grin up at her.  “Nah, I got it, Mom.  It’s pretty easy.”

About the time he’d finish with his homework, Camron would get up and then he’d get to spend time with his dad before Camron had to go to work.

He spent his time before school with his mom, telling her all about how he couldn’t wait to get to school since their music class would be getting to play instruments.

He scampered off to go get dressed, then dashed out the door.  Mulan waved after him.  She got up, feeling a bit queasy.  She’d been feeling a bit unwell the last couple days.  Luckily, she had today off.  She planned on going to the library for a bit of peace and quiet before Camron woke up.  But only a few minutes after her arrival and sitting down at one of the computers, that queasiness became full blown nausea and something actually started to come up.

Luckily, she made it to the bathroom before she was sick.  She barely made it home before she fell down into her bed.  After a few hours of sleep, she was feeling much better.  But she had her suspicions.  And sure enough… after going to her medicine cabinet and pulling out a pregnancy test, the + sign on the stick looked up at her.  Mulan was pregnant again.

Wolf: I told ya.  Feelin’ better?

“Wait, you knew!?  Why didn’t you tell me!?” Mulan demanded.

Wolf: Well, I didn’t know for sure.  But then again, you and Camron have been fairly… uh, well, busy of late.  It was bound to happen, after all.

Poor Mulan didn’t really have anything to say to that.  What could she say?  It was true.  Despite their opposite schedules, she can Camron tended to find time for one another.  She smiled.  Camron would be ecstatic.  They had talked about having another child.  They thought Yoshi needed a sibling.  But as she thought that, her smile faded.  Yoshi had had all their attention since he’d been born.  How would he react to the news of a sibling?  She looked at the clock.  She supposed she would find out in a few hours…

---

Advertisement