"Probably not a weird reason, Rick. And someday she'll say something that will let you understand what it's all about." Bob stated in his low key way.
Michako met Rick at the door in her usual quiet way.
"Konbanwa, Rick-san. Tomako-san said for you to sit down and I'll tell her that you're here. Dozo." Michako swept her arm and hand in the direction of the rearmost tables.
"Domo, Michako. is she in her office?"
"Hai."
"Alone and doing paperwork?"
"Hai." She answered smiling. She already knew that he would go directly to Tomi as he always did.
"Hi Love" Rick said when he quietly opened the door to her tiny office and stepped to where she sat at her small desk.
Her smile lit up the dreary little room and she awkwardly got out of the chair and opened her arms as she stood and waited for him to take her in his arms. They kissed passionately for several seconds then just stood holding each other. Tomi nuzzled his neck every few seconds and started to nibble his ear lobe.
"You just shaved and smell so clean. I am dirty and need a very hot shower. And I am very hungry."
"I love you too." Rick said and kissed her again.
"Yes, I love you takusan, also. But you put me to shame when you come to me so clean after being all over the world all day."
"Not all over the world. Just Vietnam. You ready to eat and go home?"
"Hai. papa-san made you yakasoba for dinner. I hope that's alright."
"Of course. I love it and papa-san's yakasoba is some of the greatest."
"I'm glad because when he asked what to fix for dinner I could not think. I have too much in my small brain instead of important things like my lover. I'm sorry, Rick."
"Tomi there is nothing to be sorry for. You know what you have to do before you leave the coffee house. The only thing that I ask is that you don't get overtired or stressed out about it." He held her tight and then took her hand as they went into the dining room and towards their back table.
"Do you think mama-san will let us keep our table when we come here?" Rick asked.
"I'm sure that she will. Nobody else wants to sit there because it is in a dark, back corner, is small and has hard wooden seats."
"Really? I never noticed any of that. I think it is quiet, private and the chairs just fit my skinny butt."
"They used to fit mine until about three months ago."
"They will again Tomi. Very soon."
She reached for his hands as soon as they were seated. “Domo arigato. You make me feel that I shall again be slim and cute before too long."
"Who said anything about being cute? I guess that you'll get your cute butt back though."
"What is it that you tell Leo? Payback is hell? I think that you should remember that." Tomi retaliated with a big smile and stuck out her tongue.
Michako brought them some kohi and Tomi asked her to bring just one big plate of yakasoba, but two sets of chopsticks.
"I'm hungry, but I want to share with you.
Do you want some gohon, Rick?"
"Hai. Michako gohon, dozo." Rick asked her. "And you had better bring some for my okusan also, otherwise she will eat all of mine."
They ate leisurely with the huge plate of papa-san's yakasoba in the center of the small table. Rick was drinking from a liter bottle of Asahi beer which Tomi would pick up every little while and wet her mouth from.
"Are you taking enough to swallow?"
"Maybe a few drops. Are you afraid that I am stealing your biru?" She answered with a smile and reached for the bottle again. Holding a finger at the level of the beer in the bottle "See. This is how much you have. Now I'll drink my share." "Hai, the biru is at the same level as before I picked it up. It may even have more in it."
"What are you doing? Spitting in it?"
With another smile and a flick of her tongue she answered. "You can have the rest. I'm through and I also had enough of your yakasoba, Domo.”
"Gee, thanks you smart ass. Are you ready to go home?"
"Hai. I am ready as soon as I get some papers from the office. You're flying tomorrow, neh?"
"Hai. I'm going to Thailand with my tomodachi, Don Naylor. It's a courier flight to Takhli, Thailand and he needs a second crew chief."
"I remember the name but I don't think that I know the person it goes to. Who is he?"
“He was my assistant before Leo. He came to Okinawa with me in August when I was here for about three weeks and I started really flirting with you."
"But I never met him?"
"Honto. You never did. He met a girl in Koza whom he spent all of his time with on that trip. Now he has come back to marry her. I'll ask them to the Tea House with us on Saturday night. I only met Yoshiko once for just a couple of minutes."
"You can judge what kind of woman she is by your tomodachi, Don. Neh?"
"Hai. I believe she is a very nice nesan because she wouldn't attract Don if she wasn't. He's a nice guy who I know you'll like and I surely want to keep him as a friend."
"Take me home, domo. I am ready to relax and rest." She rubbed her stomach in slow circles. "I need you to caress my bare belly and make this child settle down. He can't turn up, but he has been very active all day."
"I just hope he doesn't get too active for two more weeks at least." Rick said in a gentle quiet voice not wanting Tomi to pick up on his growing anxiety of being away when the baby decides to put in an appearance.
Tomi came out of the shower looking refreshed and relaxed. She joined Rick who was propped up on their bed watching a cargo ship moving slowly south and then started to turn towards Naha Bay.
She leaned over him, kissed him passionately on the lips
"You smell very nice and feel hot and damp. He slipped his right hand under her nemaki and cupped her left breast.
Tomi undid the tie on her nemaki. Took his hand and guided it onto her baby belly. "Here, dozo. He has been waiting all day for his daddy to touch him. Tell him all is well with our world and before long he can join us." She turned slightly and snuggled up against Rick.
"Tomako."
"Hai?"
Rick kissed her cheek which was close as she had her head resting on his shoulder.
She lifted her head slightly to make eye contact with her lover. "What is it? Is something wrong?" There was slight edge of anxiety in her voice.
"Iie. No. Nothing is wrong. I'm just trying to find the right words. I was thinking that it might be a good idea if we went and stayed with Bob and Cheryl in a week or so. Just until after the baby is born. I'm really worried that I might be off flying somewhere when he decides to make an appearance. They really want us to."
“Whose idea was it?" Tomi asked.
"Kind of a joint effort. I was telling Bob and Leo that I was worried about it trying to get some idea of what Bob may be able to do to get me some time off when the time comes. Then Cheryl asked me at breakfast the other morning what I thought about it. I told her it would make me feel more secure, but it would be your decision. I will never twist your arm to do it."
With a smile and maybe a hint of relief on her face, Tomi's voice came out a little shaky. "If you think it is a good idea, and we wouldn't be imposing on them, I would alsofeel more secure being with Cheryl. I have thought about what to do knowing you could be gone. Ever since Arlene Winters left, until you brought Cheryl into my life, I couldn't think of anybody who would be able to help me every day and night if you were gone. I'm very independent and strong, but sometime even us hardheads need to lean on people. What makes some of us hardheads different is that we know when we need help and we pick out nice people to help us."
"My God. My wife is becoming a philosopher. First she became an English genius, now she has advanced into philosophy."
Tomi laughed out loud and put her face up to be kissed. "Domo arigato gozaimasu."
"Then we'll tell Cheryl
and Bob that we'll be staying with them? When?"
"If we consider what the doctor and Cheryl think. In two weeks? About the first or second of December? If he comes before the third or fourth he will be a little not full time. Before that I was alone for several months." Tomi looked down at Rick's hand as he slowly caressed her.
"I think that happens sometimes. They are on a time schedule of their own which doesn't always agree with the mother's count."
"Do we have to give them an exact day? What if I think he is coming sooner?"
"No problem, we can start with them anytime that you want, or if I get anxious for some reason."
"Anxious?"
"If the Air Force decides that I should take my tanker somewhere before we're ready it might be better for you to stay with them. Okay?"
"Hai. Anytime you want. we will tell them Saturday night. Is that all right?"
"Hai, My Dear. Perfect. Are you ready to settle down for the night? I have to be on the flightline before 0800."
"Oh. Poor baby. You have to go to sleep. After you rub my back and shoulders and tell me how much you love me again." Tomi laughed quietly, rolled onto her left side and wiggled back against him. "Dozo?" She asked in a husky voice. "Very soon it will be Christmas present time." She added in a sleepy voice
THIRTY
"Good morning, Daddy." Don Naylor hollered down the crew entry from the tanker's flight deck. "I'll be right down, Rick."
In just a couple seconds Naylor stepped onto the tarmac under his tanker's nose.
"Seems like we can never catch up with each other, Don. How do you like being permanent on Kadena?"
"Really not much different than other air bases. But you can't beat the climate and being with Yoshi makes it really great."
"How she doing?"
"Really great. We've started our marriage paperwork and my spy in personnel said that her clearance came back clean so it is now just a matter of waiting for the bureaucracy to stop playing their childish games and issuing us the permission papers. Bob said you and Tomi are getting yours together?"
"Right. Any hints that you have to offer would be appreciated. You said that you have a spy in personnel?"
"Yeah. Kid named Stanton. He's a Staff with 10 years in and a Japanese wife. He will snoop for you and keep you updated. If anybody tries to throw up a road block he'll let you know so you can get a jump on it before it grows too big or gets in the head of a wrong small military mind."
"Did Bob tell you about dinner Saturday night? At the Tea House of the August Moon in Noumanoui. Know it?"
"Heard of it. Never been there. I'm sure Yoshi knows it."
"Be there about 1900. I think Tomi set it up with help from Cheryl."
"I'm under the impression that she and Cheryl are tight and Tomi definitely has the Cheryl stamp of approval."
"You're right. They hit it off right away and Cheryl told me, and I quote, Rick, I have watched you make a fool of yourself over different girls for years. And I always knew that someday the right woman, yes woman, would find you. Well my Dear, Tomako Tomanaga is that woman. Don't you dare do anything to screw this relationship up, unquote.
I think that if I screwed it up I would shortly be a eunuch."
Naylor laughed as he made eye contact with Rick. "I don't know Cheryl very well, just a little, but I believe that you're right. She would de-nut you if you screwed it up or hurt Tomi in anyway. She is a bit of a mother hen isn't she?"
"No doubt. You got that right.
Bob said not to worry about preflight. True?"
"Yeah. I did most of it yesterday. You did teach me a thing or two in our short relationship. Doing a preflight the day before and keeping busy on your own tanker so you wouldn't have to work on somebody else's piece of crap airplane always works. Nobody bothers you."
"I'll throw my gear upstairs before the flight crew shows up."
"The crew chief box is unlocked. Throw your gear in it with mine. You can do the walk around with us if you want. Won't hurt my feelings any if you look over my shoulder."
"I remember, never once saw you get rattled by quality control."
"Those QC clowns are just the same as you and I only they wear a white hat instead of maintenance's red. Try to teach the slow ones and harass everybody else."
Rick started up the ladder laughing softly to himself. "Don, you haven't changed a bit and of that I'm glad."
The huge red ball of the setting sun was half way into the East China Sea when Rick sat on the lower step of the stairs and took off his flight boots. In stocking feet he climbed the stairs silently. He was about two thirds of the way up, not having made any excess noise when the door flew open. Standing back from the door in her new dress, her hair freshly brushed and pulled back off of her ears with a thin tendril of shiny black hair outlining each side of her face, A soft hint of a pinkish blush on her high Asian cheeks and a new off shade of red lipstick on her lips Tomi smiled and motioned for Rick to hurry to her. "I have waited for you for hours. I was afraid that you would have to spend the night in Thailand. Did you bring me something from Thailand?" Tomi blurted out in a single burst of speech not stopping to take a breath. Impatience overwhelmed her. Her arms came up and a couple of steps put her in Rick's arms. Their lips touched. pressed hard together and Tomi's lipstick became history. It was a pretty shade on Rick's lips though. They had learned to meet, turn with each other around Tomi's baby belly so they would cling together comfortably.
"Oh." Tomi moved her upper body back enough to take some pressure off her breasts.
"What's the matter, Tomi?"
"My boobs are tender. We have hugged lots and I never noticed it. Do you think it means that I'm getting ready for the baby?" She hesitated for a couple of breaths as she hung onto Rick. "My new bras are hard to put on comfortably. I think my boobs have grown more this week."
"I should have bought you a new one in Thailand." Rick smiled and ducked his head as Tomi hit him lightly on the side of his head.
"What did you get me?"
"Me. I'm here." Rick answered.
"Me? You mean you?"
"Yes. I came home and brought myself to you. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"Of course. I always want you to come home to me. I thought that since you took an extra flight that you might have brought me a present like a piece of Thai silk."
"I didn't know that you wanted Thai silk. Next trip I'll get you some. What color?"
"That's alright. I love you anyway." She took his hand and led him around to the kitchen. Our dinner is ready and the table is set." She pointed to the table which was set with white napkins, two matching lacquerware candlesticks, empty wine glasses and new lacquerware chopsticks. "The wine is in the refrigerator. And some kind of fancy bottled water for me. Now get out of that sweaty flight suit and take a shower. Don't look at me like that. I have been home all day. I never even went to the coffee house. I rested, read and waited for my lover to come home." Tomi smiled, reached up and unzipped his flight suit as she kissed him lightly on his lips before slipping her hands onto his shoulders and sliding the flight suit off. "You are going to keep looking at me until I tell you, aren't you?"
"Yes. But I do believe you." Returning her kiss and allowing his flight suit to drop onto the floor before smiling and happily patting her on the butt.
"Mama-san and Michako decided that we needed a private dinner so they fixed it and came here to set it all up. Now into the shower."
Tomi turned away and went into the kitchen. Rick picked up his flight suit, took the ring box from a pocket, removed the two rings from their box and placed them in her water glass before going into the bathroom.
He was just drying off his face after shaving when she erupted.
"Eeee! RICK!" Tomi screamed. She burst through the bathroom door. Snatched the towel from his face and grabbing the sides of his head pulled him down to w
ithin her kissing range.
He caught the flash of diamonds from her left hand and felt the pressure of the gold rings on the skin of his face.
"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Arigato goziemashita, My Darling. They are so beautiful. Is that why you went to Thailand today? You went to Thailand to buy me diamonds? You are such a sweet lover." She started to kiss him again. Took his hand and led him into the living room where she had placed their dinner.
There was water splashed all over the table and tatami mats.
"Did Mama-san and Michako know you were doing this?"
"No. It was sheer luck that they decided to do it. I was planning on our celebration being Saturday night with our tomodachi s. "
Tomi started to laugh. Looked him up and down and her laughing got more exuberant.
"What is so hysterical?" Rick asked.
"You're naked. You have no clothes on standing looking at our dinner table."
She reached down for him. "And you're getting manly. Is that because you are thinking of me as your wife?"
"Yes. I'm thinking what a cute butt you have and such a nice set of boobs. But mostly how much I love you."
"Here, put on your nemaki and help me clean up this water that you spilled."
"Me? I didn't spill any water."
"Hai, you did. Indirectly anyway. Honto, you did. If you had not put my rings in the glass I would not have spilled the water." She looked up smiling in delight and with a blush that made her complexion glow.
"Can I wear them both? Even before we are married? They are so beautiful and are made to go together."
"Are we married? Are our souls not connected and our minds one? Do you want everyone who sees us together know we are one?" Rick expounded happily.
"Yes. Yes, to all and anymore that you might ask."
Smiling Rick picked up his now full wine glass . "To you, my lovely, pregnant wife. To our life together as one."
Tomi raised her water glass and shyly sipped from the small amount of water that had remained after she had removed her rings. "Us. This is precious water that remains. It touched my rings before I did. Thank you My Love. How did you do it?"