This chapter is dedicated to @Lucyface because she's a nice person and deserves for someone to dedicate a chapter to her. :)

Chapter 6

Thinking about meeting Jack's mom, Miko felt slightly nauseous all day after lunch. Once she got home, she bathed and fixed her hair, then spent an hour changing dresses. She wanted something cute, but not childish, something mature, but not too overtly sexy. Pulling off her latest attempt, she stood before her mirror in her slip with her hair growing in increasing disarray. She was going to have to redo her hair.

"Miko? Are you still going to Jack-kun's house today?" her mother called from her bedroom.

"Yes, Mother. But I can't find a dress!"

"What about the one you wore when we went to view the cherry blossoms?"

Miko rummaged through the closet until she found the dress and pulled it out. This might do, she thought, but it needs something. "Mom? Can I borrow one of your necklaces?"

"Sure, which one?"

"The choker with the jade pendant."

"The shamrock?"

"Yes."

Yui appeared in her doorway holding the pendant.

"Thanks." Miko put it on and examined herself in the mirror.

"The Patorikkus wouldn't happen to be of Irish decent, would they?"

Miko pulled on the dress and straightened it. "I think I heard they might be."

Yui smiled. "You're really thinking hard about him, aren't you?"

"Yes, well, I guess I have to now that I've found that I have a rival."

Yui looked shocked. "I rival? But he seemed so serious about you!"

Miko sighed. "It seems an older woman has caught his eye. He even admitted to me on the ride home last night that he found her very attractive."

"An older woman! How could someone toy with such a nice boy? I can't believe some people." Yui paused and watched Miko brush her hair. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Miko muttered around a barrette with a chrysanthemum on it as she fixed her hair. "I thought I'd confront her."

"Um, Miko. That's not a good idea. That will only make the trouble worse."

"But mother, I have to know..." Miko turned toward Yui, crossed her arms and leaned back against her dresser. "...What are your intentions toward my boyfriend?"

"My intentions? What are you talking about?"

"He even made me promise that I would be no less beautiful than you when I'm your age."

Yui looked startled. "Me? You were talking about me?" She covered her mouth and laughed, though Miko thought it sounded a little like a giggle and she was pretty sure her mom blushed. For a moment Miko could imagine how her mother must have looked while chatting with her own girl friends in high school.

Yui swatted Miko on the shoulder. "You shouldn't tease your mother like that." She hurried out of the room fu-fu-ing.

"He was serious!" Miko called out after her.

Miko's nerves, temporarily forgotten, returned in full force as the car pulled up to Jack's house. She waited for the driver to open her door only because she was afraid that her legs would shake if she got out. She sat breathing, trying to calm herself.

Jack flung the house door open the moment she rang the bell. He froze and gaped at Miko as if he'd never seen her before.

"Hello?" Miko asked.

He stepped up close and whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry you cannot come in."

Miko had to lean back to see his expression clearly. "Why?"

"You are so heart-achingly beautiful, it hurts to even look at you."

Miko opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say. Did he really not want her to come inside?

"But, since you've come," Jack grinned. "I'll try and avert my eyes."

He led her inside, kicking off his geta as he stepped up into the house. Miko unfastened the strap of her shoe and slipped it off, stepping up into a house shoe that slipped out from under her. Jack caught her before she could fall, then crouched down, picked up the slipper and slipped it onto her foot. He reached for her other foot as if he was going to take her shoe off and she instinctively yanked it back.

"Cinderella." He smiled up at her. "May I have your foot?"

Miko could imagine her mother doing this for her father, but she could never imagine the idea of doing this for her mother would ever enter her father's head. She slowly held out her foot, feeling as if she were doing something bordering on the illicit. Jack gently took her foot, unfastened the strap and removed her shoe. A strange tingle ran up her leg, tickling her somewhere deep inside.

He slipped the other house shoe on her and rose, leading her inside with a casual touch to her arm. "Miko-chan, this is my father and mother, Michael and Setsuko Patrick. Mom and Dad, this is my Miko-chan. Miko Miyamoto.

My Miko-chan. I am his Miko. Miko bowed to Jack's parents, in part to cover her sudden blush. "Pardon my intrusion."

"Please come in," Michael said.

Miko held out her gift with both hands. "Please accept this. It's just a little something I picked up."

Setsuko took the package. "May we open it?"

"Please."

Setsuko opened the present. "Ah. Japanese sweets. I haven't had some of these in a long time. Thank you. These will be good after dinner."

"I hope you like beef," Michael said. "We're going to treat you to authentic Texas barbeque."

Miko gave a small bow and a nod. "Beef is good."

Jack pointed at his brother gaping at her from behind a pile of books and papers at the kitchen table. "That's my little brother, Andrew. He doesn't think you're real."

"Hello, Andoryuu-kun." Miko nodded at him.

Andrew closed his mouth and waved self-consciously.

"The food will be done in about fifteen minutes," Michael announced and headed for the back door.

"Hey, want to come and see?" Jack said, taking her by the hand and following his father.

Andrew started to get up from the table.

"Pack up your school work first," Setsuko told him, and he stopped to gather it all.

"Now Texas barbeque is unique in that it doesn't rely on heavy sauces," Michael explained outside. "It relies on a dry rub of spices which enhances the flavor of the meat without covering it up."

At least that's what Miko thought he said. The Patricks mostly spoke English at home and she was struggling to keep up with it all. She wondered how Jack had managed when he visited her house.

Michael opened the grill's lid and thick smoke billowed out. Miko coughed, blinded by tears. She saw an enormous slab of meat and five large oblong shapes wrapped in tinfoil.

"The difference between barbeque and ordinary grilling is that barbeque is done slowly over low and indirect heat, preferably with lots of wood smoke."

Miko stepped back coughing, not quite escaping the smoke, watching as Michael turned five ears of corn roasting in charred husks. "I think I'll go inside," she told Jack.

"OK. We'll be in, in a minute."

Miko found Setsuko in the kitchen mixing a salad. A pot of borracho beans simmered on the stove. Miko approached her hesitantly, Takashi's warnings still echoed loudly in her ears. "May I help?"

"You just rest yourself. You're our guest."

"Please," Miko said. "I would like to be more than just a guest."

Setsuko gave Miko an evaluating look. "Very well." She turned and pulled a stack of plates out of a cupboard. "You can set the table. The cutlery is in that drawer."

Miko set the plates on the table. She didn't know what the word "cutlery" meant until she opened the drawer Setsuko pointed at. Fortunately she had eaten in enough western style restaurants with her family she knew how everything should be arranged.

"I don't know why I bother making a salad," Setsuko said. "The boys will hardly touch it."

"Are they choosey eaters?" Miko asked.

Setsuko nodded. "Since they were little."

"What was young Jack-kun like?"

Setsuko switched to Japanese and spoke more freely. "When Michael-san first hired me, his wife had just died. The boys were very angry. I think they blamed me for being alive while their mother was dead. They were very naughty and always fighting and causing trouble. Every week I would tell Michael-san that I was quitting and every week he talked me into coming back. He knew he couldn't raise these boys alone.

"One day, Michael-san was on his way home and I had just set the table for dinner when I heard a loud crash and came in here to find the table on its side and the food all on the floor. I was so upset that I locked myself in Michael-san's bedroom and cried. When Michael-san came home and talked me out of the bedroom, we came in here and found that Jack had talked Andrew into helping him right the table. They had put the plates back on the table and tried to put the food on the plates.

"It was a terrible mess. But after that, Jack was like my shadow. Every time I turned around, Jack was hiding around the corner or lurking nearby, watching me. I think he was trying to keep me from crying again. Any time I was having a difficult time, he would try to help me. It was about this time-"

Setsuko stopped and covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes filled with tears. "It was about this time that he started calling me Okaasan."

Sympathetic tears escaped Miko's eyes. She rubbed at them, sniffing.

Setsuko glanced at her and quickly looked away. "You really like Jack, don't you?"

"Like is too insufficient of a word to describe how I feel about him." Miko heard Jack's voice in her memory as she repeated his words.

Setsuko turned back in surprise, examining her. Miko had no idea what she was looking for. Whatever it was, after a moment, Setsuko nodded to herself.

Miko sighed. "I wish I could have seen young Jack-kun."

"Would you like to? We have pictures."

"Yes."

Setsuko brightened and led Miko to the master bedroom.

At the same moment, the back door burst open. "And it's done," Michael announced carrying a large platter piled with food.

"Get your drinks," Setsuko called back. "We'll just be a minute." She pulled a box out of the closet which held several scrapbooks and a shoebox full of loose pictures. She carried them into the living room and left them on the coffee table, then joined the rest of the family setting the meal.

Miko ate more meat than she had ever eaten in her life, but she still could not keep up with the boys. As they ate and talked and laughed she found herself relaxing and soon she joined in the banter as if she were a part of the family. When the meal ended, Miko helped Setsuko clear the table and wash the dishes while the boys went into the living room and pretended to watch TV, but mostly made silly comments and mock translations of what was on.

"I always wanted a daughter," Setsuko mentioned in passing as they cleaned. "Boys are such a handful."

Miko smiled happily.

Afterward, the two of them sat in the living room going through the pictures, laughing and cooing over young Jack. Miko marveled at how warm and comfortable the home seemed. It had seemed small and somewhat worn when she had first entered, but now she preferred it to her own immaculate but cold home.

"That is a bad sign," Michael said, looking over at his wife and Miko.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Women getting along. It can be worse than when they fight."

"Why?"

Michael grinned and took a drink. "Because when they work together, us guys don't stand a chance."

Miko looked back at Jack. She held up a picture, beaming. "You were so cute!"

Jack looked embarrassed.

"Were," Andrew snickered.

Jack threw a pillow at him.

"Whatever you do, you better not screw it up," Andrew muttered after watching Miko and Setsuko for a moment. "You'll never find another like her again."

"I know."

永 遠

"Oh! Taka-kun! It was horrible!" Jack wailed in mock anguish at lunch the next day as the usual crowd gathered in the courtyard. Jack had noticed other groups of boys and girls meeting together outside and wondered if Miko's prediction that his video would inspire other lovey-dovey couples had in fact come true.

Takashi had been bugging him all morning for details and Jack had teased him with hints and useless information because he knew Takashi would be disappointed in how un-dramatic the whole thing had been.

"Really? What happened?" Tsukiko asked with a worried look.

"They were cooking and cleaning and laughing and talking like old friends."

"You're teasing me," Takashi said.

Miko beamed at Takashi. "She's very nice."

"No, I'm not teasing. And the worst part was, after dinner, mom dragged out a bunch of my baby pictures and showed them to Miko-chan and told her embarrassing stories about me."

"Little Jack-kun was so cute!" Miko shouted, kicking up her feet and drawing out the word "kawaii" like a middle-schooler discovering a basket full of kittens and puppies. Other students in the courtyard paused and looked in their direction. "I want one!" She whirled on Jack. "Promise me you'll give me a little Jack-kun!"

Tsukiko, Ume and Rio gasped and flushed a deep red. Ume and Rio covered their mouths with both hands and stared at her with wide eyes. Junko hung her head, shaking it. Even Takashi blushed, coughed and looked away. Jack looked at Miko in surprise. Did she really think of him that way? When she realized she had just publicly demanded that he get her pregnant, she blushed and hid her face.

Jack patted her on the head. "All in due time."

Ume started giggling and soon the others joined in. Jack was eventually able to coax her to lift her head with a brownie from his bento, which she bit from his hand.

"I don't know," Junko warned. "She turns sixteen over the summer break. She'll be old enough to marry then."

"But Jack-kun won't be old enough," Takashi said. "He's going to have to wait a couple more years. I wonder if Miko-chan can wait that long."