Round Ten - Nakamura 2 / LeTorneau

Life was going well for Shiina, Gabe and Jin. Jin was old enough to use the telephone and spent a surprising amount of time calling his grandparents, aunts and uncle. Shiina was still busy with her sewing - her dreams of designing clothes had finally come true, and she was working on something very special.


Gabe treated Jin as if he were his own. Even though he was busy trying to get his medical qualifications he always made time to play some sports with his very active soon-to-be-stepson.


Shiina's project on the sewing machine was finished, and she called Emma over to visit.

"What's this?"

"Just a little something to say thank you for taking such good care of me over the years... and for not letting me give up on my dreams. It's a dress."

"And you made it?" Emma was thrilled.

"Yep. Hand-stitched by Shiina Nakamura, soon to be LeTorneau. Take good care of it, it can only go up in value!"


The day of the wedding arrived, and Gabe thought Shiina looked better than ever in her formal garb.


Their wedding was quiet but pretty, with all of Shiina's family in attendance. Gabe was an only child and his parents had died a while ago, leaving him with the house, so they, along with Emma and Danny, were the only guests.


The wedding and afterparty were a complete success, with a whole lot of dancing. Shiina loved being able to relax and show off her moves with her little sisters, especially Junko - as the years passed they'd realised they were very similar in personality.


Soon, certain newly-wed activities took their toll on Shiina. She was pregnant.


The bump soon began to show. Gabe was thrilled, although Jin had his own opinions. "You look like a sumo-wrestler!"

Round Ten - Nakamura

Hiro and Destiny's efforts to conceive had finally paid off. Destiny wasn't sure if the morning sickness was worth it and kind of wished Hiro could share her nauseous suffering.


Sachiko's cooking skills had not improved with age and she yet again almost burned down the house trying to cook a simple meal. She was henceforth banned from the kitchen - not for the first time.


Shiina brought her family around to visit and Sachiko finally got to meet her grandson. Jin was very polite and friendly, if boisterous. Gabe was clearly being a good father figure to him, in Sachiko's eyes.


Hiro wasn't quite so quick to accept his future brother-in-law and gave him a quick grilling. Thankfully he passed the big brother test and they got on famously.


"Will we be expecting the pitter-patter of tiny feet soon?" asked Sachiko. Shiina rolled her eyes.

"We've only just gotten engaged! Can't you at least finish nagging me about the wedding before you start on me about more grandkids?."

"I know, I know... it's just that I missed out on so much with Jin."


Destiny's pregnancy was progressing and she'd temporarily given up on styling her hair beyond relaxing it. She may have been tired, hungry and cranky, but there was no WAY pregnancy was going to get in the way of her playing pool!


Destiny eventually gave birth to a beautiful little girl named Momo, and invited her whole family around to meet her.


They seemed thrilled, with the exception of Amanda. Yet another thing to get in the way of her planned conquest of Hiro!


No-one was more thrilled than Nobuo and Sachiko, though. A grandchild in the house! Sure, they had Jin, but they hadn't been able to be involved in his early years. They wouldn't make that mistake with Momo.

Note: Amanda came over, started a slapping match with Nobuo, yelled at Adam and was generally very mean autonomously. She has more issues than the Daily Prophet.

Round Nine - Nakamura 2

Shiina and her son Jin had really hit the jackpot. Her new lover, Gabe, was the heir to a fortune and a really nice house.


On top of that, despite his prickly nature Gabe was very caring and nurturing towards Jin, even though he wasn't his own flesh and blood. Shiina couldn't believe her luck!


It wasn't all about the practical things, though. They may not have had the biggest spark chemistry-wise as a couple but it was still definitely there.


Jin soon started school. He was an energetic young lad who much preferred sports to his mother's arts and crafts, but he would still sit down and watch movies with her.


For her part, Shiina was a very caring mother. She may have had a party-goer's soul but she had a mother's heart.


Gabe was very impressed. He'd always hoped he'd find a beautiful, caring wife someday and he knew he'd found her in Shiina. He proposed and Shiina joyfully accepted.


Jin was making friends at school - he soon brought home Adeola Knox. They talked about their joint desires for new siblings.

Round Eight - Nakamura 2

Shiina's pregnancy was progressing quickly, and despite her frantic work schedule Emma was there for every check-up, every little kick. They were ready to be the perfect heterosexual life-partners parenting team!


Luckily Emma wasn't at work when Shiina went into labour. She rushed her best friend to the hospital and they welcomed a little baby boy into the world.


Shiina named him Jin. He looked more like his grandfather, Nobuo, than anyone else - his skin was a little darker than Shiina's and he had Nobuo's eyes, although he did have Shiina's jet black hair. He didn't take after his father at all, so far. Emma and Shiina were grateful - they didn't need any reminders of THAT deadbeat loser!


Emma and Shiina shared parenting equally. Whenever Emma wasn't at work she'd take over, allowing Shiina to get some much-needed sleep.


Jin grew up fast. He was a handsome little boy, and very boisterous. Shiina regretted the way he'd come into the world but she certainly didn't regret that he had.


She still hadn't broken the news to her mother and decided it was time.

"Mom, I've got something to tell you... no, it's not an emergency! I'm... well... you're a grandmother."

Sachiko took it well, thankfully, and made Shiina promise she'd bring Jin round to see them as soon as he was old enough.


Motherhood had kept Shiina off the party circuit for too long. A lot of her so-called friends didn't seem to have noticed but her friend Gabe, who she'd once tried to set up with Emma, called around to check how she was doing.


Gabe kept dropping round to help out with Jin and Shiina found herself growing fond of him. She could see herself settling down with someone like him - he was charming, intelligent, and RICH, having inherited a fortune from his parents, and he didn't want to rest on his socialite laurels.


And so, she made her move. Soon it was decided. Shiina and Emma were going to go their separate ways - Shiina was going to move in with Gabe, which left Emma free to go after Danny. A perfect solution!

Note: Gabe and Shiina only have one bolt but ACR decreed it was time for makeouts and falling in love, which was quickly followed by Shiina spinning up a want to get engaged! Crazy stuff...

Round Seven - Nakamura 2

Emma's life as a criminal was exciting, dangerous, and going extremely well. She was rising up through the ranks of the local syndicate. Unfortunately the need for secrecy and the unusual hours meant she didn't have much time for socialising - something she wouldn't have minded if it hadn't been for Danny Knox. She was a little smitten with her new neighbour.


Meanwhile, Shiina was enjoying the life of leisure she'd built for herself. She'd sold several paintings and celebrated by taking Trent out on the town for a meal.


Whenever they hit the dancefloor there wasn't much dancing involved. She just wished her little brother Hiro would stop following her around looking disapproving.


In fact, her occasionally slightly out-there antics provoked a lot of disapproval. After she and Trent had a bit of fun in a photobooth Shiina got the smacking of her life from the local busybody.


As time passed Shiina found herself feeling more and more tired and nauseous. She was also putting on a little bit of weight. It was disconcerting - she'd always been naturally slim.


Eventually she couldn't deny it to herself any longer - or to Emma. She was clearly pregnant. Emma dragged her off to the doctors and accompanied her to routine scans - Trent had seemingly vanished off the surface of the planet and was not returning Shiina's calls.


Emma became a de-facto husband.

"Ems! You don't need to make my bed for me! I'm pregnant, not an invalid," fussed Shiina.

"It's not going to make itself," Emma pointed out.


"I know, I know, I need to take care of myself more. I shouldn't rely on you so much. I think when the baby's born I should probably get a real job. Give up on the whole becoming-a-fashion-designer dream..."

"Don't be so ridiculous!" snapped Emma. "I don't mind helping you out and I don't want to see my best friend give up on her dreams just because some low-life has knocked her up. Talking of which, you need to take that photo down. He's a loser."


They were an odd pair, two straight women living together and about to raise a baby, but it worked. Now Emma had convinced Shiina to keep following her dreams life went back to the usual routine of Emma working out and Shiina painting or sewing, sometimes chatting to one another and sometimes not. Emma wondered if she'd ever want to move out; Danny was cute, but her friendship with Shiina was something very special.


Note: Curse you, ACR. Talk about a baby boom!

Round Six - Nakamura 2

This is the last of my scheduled posts - there'll be more in October!


Shiina had decided that she needed to find a man for Emma. Unfortunately her first pick, her friend Gabe, seemed a little too interested in blondes who weren't Emma.


Shiina's plan was all for naught. At the end of the night she caught Gabe and his mystery blonde kissing on the dancefloor.


"Is Gabe coming back with us?" asked Emma, still in a police uniform. She'd kept it to provide herself with a bit of cover - yes, she no longer worked for them, quite the opposite in fact, but she'd prefer to keep that a secret.

"Nope. He's a jerk anyway," said Shiina as they walked towards the taxi to continue the party back at the apartment. Emma sighed.


Shiina's own love-life was much more successful. She and Trent met up whenever possible. He had made it clear he wasn't in to commitment and Shiina respected this, feeling a little stifled by it herself, but she couldn't help but hold out hope she'd be the girl to change his mind.


Emma's job gave her odd hours and Shiina didn't much like hanging around the house painting and sewing on her own, so she and Trent would hit the clubs. Life was good.


"Do you ever think we could be... you know... something more?" said Shiina one night as they lay on her bed. A photo of them together caught her eye. "I mean, this is all really fun, but - "

"You're talking crazy again, hon. Let's just get down to business, yeah?"


Emma was too busy for romance anyway. She had discovered that her new career suited her down to the ground, it kept her excited and focused, and she was determined to reach the top.


That didn't mean she didn't socialise at all, though, just not romantically. She'd made friends with Ash Chalmers, who lived in the apartment below theirs. He was nice but he wasn't her type, plus his mind did always seem elsewhere. She'd seen him on a few dates with some girl or other and assumed he was pining after her, although her assumption couldn't have been further from the truth.


Things looked ready to change when a new neighbour moved in, though. Danny Knox had a certain something that caught her attention. Pity he was so young...