Mafia row

6

Chapter 6: It's hard to stop
Chapter 6

It's hard to stop.

And well done to my amazing reviewer who noticed what no one else has commented upon yet. Yes all you readers, you've missed something. Although I'd imagine that some of you may just not have commented upon it.

I plan to update this every three days instead of once a week like my other fic.

When Verde opened his eyes that morning, it was, to his utter confusion and horror, to find his arms wrapped around the child. Sitting up and letting go of the child, Verde scrabbles for his lab coat. Finding the inner pocket, he pulls out a little notebook and a pen, and immediately scribbles down his findings.

Looking at the time, he sees that it's nearly breakfast. Leaving the child in the care of the crocodile- yes you read that right- he goes to prepare for the morning. The shower he made automatically sets the water to a constant heat of his liking. Waving a hand under a small machine on his left, it dispenses the right amount of soap. Next comes shampoo, followed by conditioner. And in exactly 7 minutes and 42 seconds Verde steps out of the shower.

Walking back into the bedroom, he clambers over books and papers to get to the wardrobe and gets his usual clothing out. As he dresses, he looks over at the still sleeping child and the crocodile wrapped around him. The fluffy brown hair is a mess, there is a little bit of saliva dribbling down his chin, yet he still looks cute. Even if this baby doesn't follow the scientific principles defining beauty, it's still cute. And Verde hasn't figured out why.

Sighing over the mysteries of the human mind, Verde walks towards the door. "Ne, Keiman, are you coming or not? And bring the child with you." The crocodile nods and shuffles closer to the baby. Bending down low, Tsunayoshi rolls towards the dip in the bed and onto the crocodile's back. Keiman walks over to the pile of books and slides down the stack instead of jumping off the bed. Verde holds the door open, impressed by the small crocodile and lets him through. Walking over to the elevator, Verde presses the button and waits. He himself had installed the elevator in case he had ever wanted to move things around the house. Carrying piles of paper up and down stairs wasn't fun. It was much easier with an elevator. And it suited their status. No one else had an elevator in their house. Not that Verde cared about silly things like status. After the bing, the scientist, his specimen and the crocodile exit and walk towards the kitchen.

As soon as they enter, Tsunayoshi stirs, as if sensing the others' presence. He opens his eyes and looks about, before patting the crocodile in thanks. Verde was amazed how much older the baby seemed. Even though it was only a few months old, it had a very good understanding of the world around him. He was good at reacting to people and animals, along with sensing the emotions of the others. That was not a skill that one was born with. Reading others came from experience with other people. Verde wrote this observation down in his book whilst he remembered it.

"Good morning." Skull says, walking over and taking the baby. He leaves the room. Verde sits down at the table and watches the others. A few minutes later Skull returns from what seems to be changing the baby and takes his seat. Colonnello immediately takes over, removing the baby from the stunt man's grasp before sitting at the table himself. Lal walks over, a bottle of milk in her hands, passing it to her student. Colonnello takes the bottle with thanks before letting Tsunayoshi drink from it.

Verde raises his eyebrow at this. It was only the third day they had had this baby, yet everyone had already taken it as normal and incorporated it into their morning routines. It seemed as if they didn't even think of it. Absentmindedly, he takes a bite of the pancakes Luce has placed infront of him. Another slice goes to the crocodile. Basically a group of trained killers, a stunt man, a psychic, and a mafia Boss were taking care of a child as if it was the natural thing to do. However, it was in most of their natures not to care for other people a great deal. None of them seemed like people to care for a child. Yet here they were, sadly himself included, incorporating a baby into their lives as if it was part of their job description. Taking a moment to turn the page, Verde continues to scribble furiously. The others wonder what's got him this fired up. Usually he waits until he's in his lab before working on a topic.

Verde is surprised later when he suddenly finds himself in the middle of changing the baby. He doesn't even remember agreeing or being forced to do the task. But what scares him right down to the core is knowing that he really doesn't mind. He doesn't care that he's doing such a menial task. Somehow, this baby has wormed his way in, and there's no way he's leaving now. And he has a funny suspicion that the Arcobaleno would continue to put Tsunayoshi into their routines without even knowing it. He sighs deeply as he finishes the job, realising that he wouldn't want this baby to leave either.

Luce is determined that it's her turn to sleep with the baby. Tsunayoshi had already slept with Reborn and with Verde, so surely he would want a nice caring woman next.

But no.

As soon as the lights were turned out and she got into bed, Tsunayoshi starts crying. She rushes over to the baby and gives him a big cuddle, hoping to calm him back down. "Hush, hush, darling, it's alright, mummy Luce's here. Don't cry now." She gently rocks the baby, hoping to lull it to sleep. However, Tsunayoshi has other plans. This time it's Lal, whose room is on her left, who storms in first, hunting knife in her hands.

"Would you shut the damn baby up!" she shouts, loud enough to wake everyone else up. Within moments the rest of the Arcobaleno are crowding in her room.

Fon walks over and takes the baby, patting it gently on the back. "Hey little one, what's wrong?" Tsunayoshi hiccups and sniffs before looking around the room. Not seeing the person he wants there, he starts crying again.

Fon walks around the room, making Tsunayoshi look at each of the Arcobaleno present. "Why do we have to line up for this brat? Luce you should just smack it for being naughty and ignore it. Teach it that it needs to do as it's told." Suggests Lal rather angrily. She had an early morning assignment and really should be getting some sleep, not catering to the whims of some snot nosed brat. As some of the Arcobaleno try to sooth Lal, Reborn hears the front door open and close, the key turning in the lock. He strolls out of the room and stands at the top of the stairs, leaning against the wall.

Viper looks up at the shadow, identifying it as Reborn. "What do you want? I thought you'd all be asleep by now." Reborn waits until she's reached the top of the stairs before answering.

"We need you to deal with the baby before we can go to sleep." He explains, smirking at her. She doesn't like that look- it's his 'I know something you don't' look, coupled with his 'you'll do what I want you to' body language.

As she walks into Luce's room, the Arcobaleno turn to face her and Tsunayoshi becomes quiet. Sensing an opportunity here, she holds out her hand. "Usual question rate, from all of you."

"Deal." says Lal immediately- anything to shut the baby up. She didn't care if she had to pay it all herself.

Smiling happily, she walks across to Fon who willingly gives the baby up. Even he couldn't seem to calm the crying boy.

She stares into the eyes of the baby before placing one fingertip onto his forehead. "Why you little..." she whispers. "I'm not complaining, I've just made a load of money. Keep going if I were you." Sensing that Viper is very happy at the moment, Tsunayoshi claps and snuggles closer to her.

"So it is you," says Reborn. The others turn to him to see what he's on about. "Fon walked around us to see who Tsunayoshi wants to sleep with, yet he didn't want anyone. The only one who wasn't here was Viper. So he wants to sleep with her, correct?"

"Yes, but you still owe me that money," she says as she walks out the room.

Entering her room, she stares at the baby in her arm and smiles down at him. "Ever since you've arrived I've gotten so much money out of them. I'm glad that you've come."

What she didn't tell him was that she was glad for someone who didn't judge her. She was glad for someone who wanted her, who needed her, who sought her out for comfort. She was happy that this small infant relied on her, and accepted her as she was; a money orientated psychic woman who never revealed her eyes.

And as she lay down next to the small bundle of hope, she was glad for the warmth by her side.