Love Advice

Epilogue

"Thanks again for the help Harumin," Yuzu said as she double checked the bags filled with recent purchases.

"It's no problem," Harumi waved it off. "Matsuri had to work so I didn't have anything else planned for the day."

"Man she's really taking that internship seriously." Yuzu couldn't remember the last time she heard about Matsuri having a day off.

"You're telling me." Harumi sighed. "But she says a lot of work goes into becoming a game developer, everything from creating assets to mechanics all the way to potential servers and marketing."

"Man I don't know how she handles all that." Yuzu said in a bit of admiration of how hard Matsuri works.

"By leaving messes for me to clean whenever I'm over." Harumi groaned, now less sad but mad.

Not entirely true, but Harumi exaggerated. Matsuri wouldn't leave messes for her, just be too tired in any of her limited free time to clean up around her home. When Harumi comes over she usually cleans up a bit or helps Inori clean the mess.

"So that's what that's for?" Yuzu nudged towards a pink bag, a smug look on her face. "Trying to get her attention I see??"

"Shut up." Harumi tried to sound tough but failed. "You've done plenty of things to grab your boss's attention."

"Ya know, Mei when I phrase it like that." Yuzu laughed.

"Oh I'm aware, secretary Okogi." Harumi nudged her best friend's side.

"Nice to see that nickname stuck...." Yuzu said with a bittersweet tone and a conflicting smile on her face.

"Oh it did, it's your contact name on my phone." Harumi laughed, she even went far enough to use the photo of Yuzu on her first official day of teaching.

Was kind of unfair Yuzu couldn't say she was sleeping with her boss but Mei managed to create a nickname that stuck. But Yuzu wasn't upset, it was Mei being playful and she swore up and down that if it ever upset Yuzu she'd stop.

"How kind of you." Yuzu rolled her eyes playfully.

"Ah come on!" Harumi gave her a side hug. "We all know you're a great teacher. They don't give out 'best teacher ever' mugs to just anyone."

".....you and Matsuri got me that for my first day of work." Yuzu reminded her.

"But did we give them to anyone else?" Harumi poked her on the nose.

"Touché." Yuzu smirked in defeat, knowing Harumi wouldn't mean anything hurtful by it.

"By the way." Harumi looked down at Yuzus' bags. "Where exactly are you and Mei vacationing? I don't think you've mentioned it."

Usually when Mei and Yuzu would return to the place they had their honeymoon in, they would just say so. This time however, Yuzu was being oddly vague about it.

"I'm not sure exactly." Yuzu lied. "Mei was in charge of planning it and kept me in the dark just as much as everyone else."

Of course Yuzu knew where they were going and why they were going there. But she didn't see any fun in ruining the surprise for anyone, even Harumi.

"Well don't forget about us when you're souvenir shopping." Harumi teased. "The last gift you got me cracked apart."

It was a bit of a running gag whenever Yuzu would leave for vacation with Mei. She'd always make sure to return with a pair of half coconuts connected via string for Harumi. Oddly enough this was Meis' proposal back when they first started this gag during their honeymoon. Of course Yuzu would make sure Harumi got some actual form of a gift rather than just something silly to wear.

"I'll keep that in mind." Yuzu winked as they continued walking. There would be an oasis of time spent doing nothing, so surely the three of them can fit some shopping in here and there.

Soon the best friends parted ways, Harumi heading for Matsuris' home and Yuzu returning to her own. When she arrived, Mei was already home and taking care of things on her laptop.

"Hey Babe." Yuzu walked behind Mei and kissed the top of her head.

"Y-Yuzu!?" She jumped, having been so laser focused on her work.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Yuzu said before Mei could scold her.

"No...it's fine." Mei closed the laptop. "Did you get everything we need?"

"Yup, harumi helped me choose new luggage carriers and a few essential items." Yuzu started listing off everything she bought, Mei watched patiently.

Weirdly enough, Meis' next question wasn't about the essentials. "How is Harumi doing? We occasionally message but I haven't seen her in a while."

"She's doing alright, been studying her 3rd language but apparently that's going really well." Yuzu sat down next to Mei.

"That's a relief, did Matsuri join you or was she still working on that internship?" Mei asked. Yuzu felt so proud of the woman Mei is, before she would've only cared about the necessities but now it was obvious she genuinely cared about their friends.

"Nah she's still working." Yuzu answered.

"Gotta say I'm impressed." Mei took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. "Didn't think she'd be one to handle all that herself. College, a job and internship are all already hard enough one at a time."

"I know, it's crazy." Yuzu twisted herself in the chair to crack her back. "What about you? Everything going alright on your end?"

"Yes. I've managed to handle everything for the foreseeable future but if something new arises then Himeko said she'll handle it for me. She may not be an employee but I can say I definitely trust her more than some of the staff." Mei smiled, thankful to have such a reliable best friend.

"How's Pookie? Is his training going well?" Yuzu asked.

"According to Himeko, it could be better." Mei sat back in the chair. "But she trained Poochie just fine when we were young so I'm confident it'll just take time."

"Maybe she'll have good advice for us when it's our turn." Yuzu joked. "She must know what she's doing."

"If we wanted to raise a dog, then sure." Mei continued. "But Himeko has no experience in raising a child and I don't feel comfortable treating ours like a pet."

"Sorry." Yuzu rested her head on Meis' shoulder before yawning. "I was just kidding around."

"No....you're right." Mei rested her head on Yuzus'. "Sorry, I shouldn't have taken it so seriously. I just..."

"Can't believe it's happening?" Yuzu took Meis' left hand with her right one. "Yeah you're not alone."

"When I was young I always thought I was essentially going to have to give birth. Then when we got engaged that felt like nothing more than a bad nightmare." Mei confessed. "But now? Now it feels like a dream come true. Isn't that kind of funny?"

"Kinda ironic how that played out." Yuzu giggled. "You thought you'd have to become pregnant versus now it's your wife who is happily getting pregnant."

"Are you ready for this?" Mei asked once more. "Say the word and we'll cancel everything. I don't care how bad that makes me look, you're my priority."

She constantly asked In case Yuzu changed her mind or felt like she was doing this out of obligation. At any point Mei was ready to change things if Yuzu decided against this. It may affect both of their lives but Yuzu was the one who'd take the biggest toll both physically and mentally.

"Hehe." Yuzu giggled as she nuzzled against Mei. "Yeah...I'm ready Mei. I can't wait to be a mother with you."