Chapter 1 - Golden Memories

Golden Memories
A Harvest Moon Fan Fiction
by SynnfullKaydee

Disclaimer-
I don't own anything pertaining to Harvest Moon More Friends of Mineral Town except a copy of the game. I don't own any characters. Theyre the property of Natsume and whoever else. I don't make any profit off this story.

Author's Note-
This is my very first attempt at a fan fiction of any kind, so I hope it doesn't suck too much. If you read it, let me know what you think so I can improve. I tried to keep it pretty close to my game log, but I had to elaborate to make it a better story.

***

Midori tiredly opened the gate to Sunnydale Farm and was immediately greeted by her dog, Poncho. It was already twelve thirty in the morning and Midori was ready to fall into bed. She just had to finish her nightly rounds of the farm first. She had been out with the girls, celebrating her friend Ann's engagement. Cliff had asked her four days ago to marry him and Midori and the other girls thought it was about time to throw her a bachelorette party. It was a really great party, Midori had to admit, but she excused herself early, eager to get back to her home and her husband. Midori and Gray had been married just a little over a year now and Ann's engagement kept bringing back memories of before she and the young blacksmith were married.

***

Midori had moved to Mineral Town after reading an ad in the newspaper glorifying the simple farm life. She had to agree with the paper now. When she'd first come to Mineral Town and saw the farm she would be running, she wasn't so sure that the guy who wrote the article in the first place had all his facts straight. The place was run down and barely livable. However, Midori was ready for a challenge and welcomed the change from her old nine to five office job.

As the days went by, Midori got used to the farm life. Zack, the man who handled all of her shipping, kept answering her questions and giving her advice, which she gladly welcomed. She'd also made many friends. Popuri who lived at the Poultry Farm was the first girl her age she'd met. She was then introduced to Ann, Karen, Elli and Mary. The six of them became fast friends. Midori was excited to hear that Mary ran a library. Midori was kind of a dork back in high school and read books during her free period. So, one day Midori took a walk up to the library. When she walked in, Mary was shelving books. There was a stack of them sitting on the floor and it looked like the librarian still had a long way to go. Midori walked over to her friend and offered her help.

"Oh, Midori! I didn't hear you come in. I had ordered several new titles, and I need to re-organize the shelves. I think this might take a while, so if you want to help that would be fantastic." Mary gave her a bright smile and the two of them went about shelving the books according to the Dewey Decimal System. After putting about eighty percent of the books away, Midori came across one of the new titles Mary was talking about. The cover was what caught her eye. It looked like a historical fantasy title, with a medieval castle and a knight on a horse riding up to it.

"Hey, Mary? Do you mind if I check this book out today?" Midori showed the book to her and waited for her answer. Mary adjusted her glasses and peered at the title. "Oh! This is a really good one! I just finished it last night. It's alright if you want to borrow it." Mary turned and looked at the diminished pile of books that still needed shelving. She then turned back to Midori. "You've helped so much and I'm sure you need to get back to the farm. I can finish the rest from here. Why don't you go ahead and take the book on home now?"

"Are you sure you don't need any more help?" Midori asked as she stood up with Mary.

"No, I'm fine. I'm sure you didn't want to spend all your free time away from the farm shelving books. You go on home and relax for a while." Mary took the book over to her desk and stamped it with the due date. She then handed it back to Midori with a smile. "Thank you for all your help today, Midori."

"It was no trouble." Midori took the book from her friend and waved good-bye as she walked out the door. Once she was on the road home, Midori opened the book to the first page and started reading as she walked. Around the second paragraph, Midori ran into something and ended up falling backwards, dropping the book and loosing some of the items in her rucksack.

"Oh no!" Midori looked down at the book that now had a dirty cover and nasty scratches and tears. She picked up the book and eyed it worriedly.

"Hey! Excuse me? Are you okay?" Midori looked up and noticed a boy was kneeling down next to her. He had light blue eyes and what looked like short blonde hair. It was hard to tell, though because he also had on a baseball cap.

"Hey!"

Midori snapped out of her assessment of the guy when her yelled at her again. "Oh! No I'm fine. I'm sorry I ran into you! It was all my fault! I wasn't watching where I was going! I'm really sorry!"

The blonde haired guy let out a sigh, got up and started picking up her things she'd dropped, helping her place them back in her rucksack. He then held out a hand to help her up. Midori took it, but as she went to put weight on her left foot, a shooting pain made its way up her leg. She let out a pained cry and started to fall down again, only to be caught by the boy.

"What's wrong?" he asked, a look of slight worry on his face.

"I think something's wrong with my ankle." Midori was trying hard not to cry, but her ankle and leg hurt so much, her tears were starting to sting at her eyes.

The little spot between his eyes scrunched up as he looked down at her feet. Her left foot seemed a little out of position. "We're not that far from the clinic. I'll help you over there so the doctor can have a look at it." The guy draped her right arm over his shoulder and around the back of his neck. Midori held on as he helped her hop down the streets to the clinic. Along the way Stu, Elli's little brother came running up to them.

"Hey, Midori! What'cha doing? You two look silly walking down the street like that!" The little boy was bouncing along beside them, smiling and giggling at the sight.

"Stu, knock it off. She fell down and hurt herself, it's nothing to laugh at." The young man next to her spoke sternly, but familiarly to the boy. "Why don't you go tell Elli that I'm bringing her in so she can get ready, okay?"

"Okay, Gray! I'll go tell her!" And with that, Stu ran the rest of the way down the road and into the clinic, all the while yelling for Elli.

"Jeeze that kid is energetic." Gray mumbled. Midori looked over at him as they got closer to the clinic.

"Your name is Gray?" she asked.

"Yep. I work with my grandfather, the blacksmith. You have the Sunnydale farm, right?"

"Oh, yes. I guess we live close to each other, but we've never bumped into each other before now."

Gray started laughing and Midori blushed as she realized what she'd said. "Nope, we haven't bumped into each other until now." He laughed again and turned to her. "Your name's Midori, right?"

"Right." She replied, still blushing from her earlier speech blunder.

Gray's face grew serious again as they walked up to the door of the clinic. "Well, here we are." As he opened the door, Elli came rushing toward them, demanding to know what was wrong. Stu was trying to ask Elli questions while she was trying to get answers out of Midori. Needless to say, there was a lot of yelling going on. Midori had calmed down a little now and explained to her friend what had happened. Elli looked over to Gray, who was still holding her up.

"Gray, thank you for helping Midori get here. Can you help bring her into the back so the doctor can look at her?" Elli really did look worried and Gray nodded.

He helped Midori hop over to one of the examination beds in the back of the clinic. Shortly after she got sat down, the doctor came down from upstairs. He pulled up a chair in front of Midori and asked which ankle was hurting. After Midori confirmed it was her left one, he slid off her boot and sock and rolled up her pantleg. Midori winced a little as he did this and even more so when he started feeling her swollen ankle. After a few moments, the doctor diagnosed it as a slight sprain, telling the young farmer she would need to stay off of it for at least three days.

"What?! I can't stay off my feet for three days, I have too much work to do! I have to take care of the plants, the chickens, my horse, my dog, weed the field! I have too much to do!" Midori was feeling really frustrated right now and was trying really hard not to cry, but a few tears slipped down her cheeks.

"Now, now, Midori, don't cry. I'm sure you can find someone to help you with your farm work for three days." Elli said, trying to placate her friend.

"Not on such short notice I can't!" Midori was crying now. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I could come over."

Midori stopped crying and looked over at Gray. He was still sitting beside her and he looked really scared. Midori couldn't tell if it was from the offer or the fact that she was crying so hard right next to him.

"Wha-what?" She sniffled. "You'd come over and help me?"

"Sure. I mean I live right next door and it cant be too hard to take care of some chickens and crops. Besides, it's only for three days." Gray said all of this very matter-of-factly, but he wasn't looking at her, so he missed the wide grin that spread onto Midori's face. He had no warning of the crushing hug he received a few moments later as Midori wrapped her arms around his chest and squeezed tight. "Thank you! Thank you!" Midori was smiling and laughing as she hugged the boy next to her. Gray was blushing furiously and Elli and the doctor were smiling and trying to suppress their giggles.

***

Midori smiled to herself as she made her nightly rounds to check on the animals. Gray had come by the next day and helped her with her chores. He was really good with the animals and after they were done, she offered to have him stay for a late lunch. While they ate, Midori learned that Gray hadn't grown up in Mineral Town. He used to live with his parents in the city, but came to Mineral Town to live with his grandfather, Saibara. Gray had told her that he was reluctant to come at first and leave the city behind, and that he never really wanted to be a blacksmith, but he did it to make his grandfather happy.

Midori had asked him if he'd ever gone to the mine to get ores for his work, but he told her that he hadn't. They got all of their ores from Zack. He also told her that ores from Zack were expensive, so when they did get good ore, like silver, Gray wasn't allowed to do much with it. He mostly got to fashion items out of copper.

"I go all the time and find some really good stuff there. Some of the ores you get could be the ones I find." Midori explained. Midori smiled brightly as an idea hit her. She got up from the table and, with the use of the crutches the doctor has lent her, walked over to her shelf. She pulled down a piece of silver ore and handed it to Gray.

"I want you to make something with this. Anything you want, and when you're done, I want you to come and show it to me. I'm sure you're a wonderful blacksmith, Gray. You just have to believe in yourself and have fun creating." She smiled at him and he smiled back. Shortly after he left, saying he needed to get back to help his grandfather. He came back the next day, though, and the next.

When Midori's ankle was healed enough she could do her chores on her own, she didn't see that much of him. She figured he was busy with work and didn't worry too much. It did make her sad, however. She had gotten used to seeing Gray every day and enjoyed talking with him. He had become a really good friend.

A couple of weeks later, Midori was finishing up breakfast when there was a loud knock on her door. She went to answer it and found Gray standing on her porch, holding something wrapped up in a dishtowel. Midori smiled and welcomed him inside. Gray sat down at the table and Midori followed suit. She sat and waited for him to say something, but he suddenly seemed really tense and Midori noticed.

"Gray, what's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Gray looked up at her and shook his head. He reached for the dishtowel and started to unwrap it. When he was done, he held a small silver broach in his hands. "I did what you told me, Midori. It took me a while to figure what I wanted to make, and I finally decided on this. I wanted to make you something, you see, but I didn't know what you liked. I guess I kind of figured that all women like jewelry, but you don't have to keep it if you don't want it. It's not very good either. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it over." Gray was blushing and not looking Midori in the eyes as he went through his speech. He kept hiding his face behind the brim of his hat.

Midori, however, kept looking back and forth between the broach in his hands and his adorably pink face. She was smiling as she reached out and took the broach from him.

"I love jewelry, Gray." She smiled as he finally looked up to meet her gaze. "This is really beautiful, too. I can tell you put a lot of thought and time into it, thank you." Midori then clasped the broach to her collar and gave a big smile. "So, how does it look?" She asked.

"It looks a lot better once it's on you." Gray smiled again and blushed even more when Midori's smile grew. She got up and walked over to the young blacksmith. She gave him a hug, causing him to turn even redder, and thanked him again.

***

A small smile crept over her face as Midori ran her fingers over the first gift she'd ever gotten from her husband. She wore that broach everyday since he'd given it to her, even on their wedding day. Midori's heart throbbed as she moved on from the barn to the horse stable. She looked up at the stars and thought about the first time she heard three very special words come out of Gray's mouth.

***

It seemed like her first year in Mineral Town had gone by so fast because of everything that had happened. Midori now ran a very successful farm and she and Gray had gotten closer over that short amount of time. She had gone to meet Saibara for the first time without asking him for a tool soon after Gray had given her the broach. Saibara looked a little scary at first, but he was actually a nice guy with a strong work ethic and she could see how he could be hard on Gray. Saibara was trying to prepare his grandson for the real world and tech him responsibility. It was funny, but Saibara also had a knack for embarrassing Gray around her. He would always make comments to her about how he was happy his grandson had found a girl he hadn't scared off. He kept saying how Gray had a 'disagreeable personality' just like him that kept the ladies away. Gray would get flustered and blush, trying to hide his face behind the brim of his hat in a way that Midori found so adorable. Saibara would then wink at her and she'd smile back.

That first Starry Night, Gray had asked if it would be okay that he and Saibara came over for dinner. Midori had agreed and busied herself that day putting up decorations and making desserts for her guests. Gray had already insisted that they do part of the cooking. They came to a compromise and Gray and Saibara had to come up with a main dish. Around six o'clock, the blacksmiths showed up at the farm and Midori ushered them inside. They sat down at the dinner table, eating, laughing and telling stories. Gray and Saibara stayed late at her house, sitting outside and stargazing. Around midnight, Saibara suggested that go, so Midori could get some rest. Gray agreed, and got up to gather the dishes they had brought. Midori walked with them to the gate and they said their goodbyes. As she turned to go back to the house, she was stopped by a hand gripping her upper arm. She turned back around to face Gray. His cheeks and nose were pink, but he was hiding behind his hat, so Midori knew the coloring wasn't completely due to the cold.

"Midori, it's the Starry Night Festival and. . . well, I wanted to give you this." Gray put a small box in her hand and leaned close to her ear, whispering. "Open it."

Midori did as he asked and found a small ring with a red stone in the center staring back at her.

"Midori, I know a lot has happened this past year and I hope things continue to go good this next year. I want to be able to be there for you no matter what. I made this for you so that you don't forget that." He leaned in closer as he finished his speech with, "I love you, Midori." He gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before turning to catch up with his grandfather. "I'll see you tomorrow."

***

Midori sighed as she made her way to the chicken coop. She had received many more kisses after that, most of them from Gray, some of them from Poncho, and had walked around with a permanent smile on her face all spring. She entered the chicken coop and checked the amount of feed in the bin. She had collected 589 bushels of feed. She was quite pleased with herself. After all, she had gone to the supermarket and spent most of her money on corn seeds at the beginning of summer. The corn was growing nicely and she had used about one third of it for her chickens and summer wasn't even over yet. She'd get a few more good harvests out of it this season. Midori's already present smile grew even bigger as she realized it was a trip to the supermarket and a talk with her friend Karen that gave her the courage to ask Gray the most important question of her life.

***

Summer had just started and Popuri had suggested that Midori plant lots of corn this year, especially since Midori had upgraded to six chickens. They went through a lot of feed and Popuri told her she should make her own feed using the mill and save herself money. Midori was walking up the road to the supermarket when she passed the corner that would take her past the Poultry Farm and Saibara's shop. Midori smiled as she thought of seeing Gray again that day, but she really needed those seeds and sometimes Jeff would close early if he wasn't feeling well. Midori picked up her pace, deciding she would visit him on her way back home.

Midori made it to the supermarket and was greeted by her friend Karen. She told the brunette her order and while Karen filled seed bags, Midori took a look around the store. She noticed a new addition to one of the shelves, so she went over to investigate. The object was a feather, tinted a very bright blue. Midori was wondering what on Earth anyone would really need a blue colored feather for when Karen came up behind her with the seeds.

"I see you found our new product. Those blue feathers are really rare, you know?"

"But why would anyone need a blue feather, Karen?" She looked over at her friend and noticed her look of surprise.

"You really don't know what a blue feather means, huh? Well, it's a tradition here in Mineral Town that when someone wants to marry someone else, they present them with a blue feather as a proposal. Guys usually give girls the feather, but a girl could just as easily give one to a guy."

Midori immediately thought of Gray and how wonderful it would be if she could give him a blue feather and see the expression of total love and devotion on his face as he accepted it and drew her close, wrapping her in his strong arms, kissing her and telling her how much he loved her over and over and over again.

"HEY!"

Midori snapped out of her daydream when she realized Karen had been talking to her, but she hadnt been listening.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry Karen. What were you saying?"

Karen let out a heavy sigh. "I said, why don't you buy it and give it to Gray. You two have been really lovey-dovey lately." Karen smirked as she continued: "You were probably thinking about doing just that weren't you? That's why you had that far away look on your face while you ignored me, wasn't it?"

Midori blushed as Karen hit the nail on the head. "Go for it! You know you want to and the two of you obviously love each other. When you have something as good as what you've got, you have to hold onto it."

Midori thought for a second. She looked up at Karen, smiling widely. "You're right. I'll take the feather."

Karen squealed and ran over to the counter with the feather to wrap it up for her. Midori followed and paid for her purchases. She turned to walk out the door, but was stopped by Karen. "Call me as soon as he gives you an answer, OK?"

Midori smiled again and nodded. She then turned and walked out the door. She started walking towards Gray's shop, butterflies racing around inside her stomach and her mouth going dry. It seemed to take only a nanosecond to get to the shop. She stopped in front of the door, took a deep breath, pushed open the door and walked inside.

Saibara and Gray both looked up from their work to see who has come in. Saibara greeted her warmly and she tried to smile back, but she was sure it ended up looking weird. She swallowed and turned to Gray. "I need to talk to you. Um, in private." She looked down at the floor as Gray turned to his grandfather.

"Can we talk in your room, Grandpa?" He got a nod in response and after Gray put down his tools, took Midori's hand, leading her into the small bedroom. He closed the door after him and looked at her expectantly.

When Midori looked up, she could tell Gray was nervous. Midori didn't want him to be nervous, so she decided she'd do this fast. "Um, Gray? You know we've gotten closer over this past year and you know I love you and I know you love me so. . . Here." She took a deep breath as she reached into her rucksack. She pulled out a long wrapped box and held it out to him. "I want to give you this."

Gray looked at her quizzically and took the box. He tore off the wrapping paper and lifted the lid. Midori watched his eyes get big as he regarded the contents of the box. "Midori." His voice was barely above a whisper as he looked back up to her. "No, no not here." And with that he grabbed Midori's hand and dragged her out of the bedroom, out of the shop and towards the farm.

Ever since he said that first no, Midori's heart felt like it was breaking. Gray didn't want to marry her. Was it too soon? Did he not feel the same way about her anymore? Had she misread his close friendship as love? A thousand questions started going through her head and it didn't even register that he had dragged her into her house and was now standing in front of her, staring at her face. He must have noticed her hurt expression, because he immediately moved in close, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

As soon as he'd hugged her, Midori had started crying. She managed to answer him through her sobs. "I. . . You said no and I. . ."

"Midori. I didn't say no." Gray lifted her chin so that she was looking at him when he said, "I just didn't want to say yes in my grandpa's bedroom. I'd love to marry you, Midori." And with that he closed the distance between them, closing his mouth over hers in their first kiss as an engaged couple. When they parted, they were both grinning madly. They sat down at the table and started making plans for the day that would lead them into the rest of their lives.

***

Midori mentally thanked Karen as she walked back to her house. Without her pushing, she probably wouldn't be looking forward to crawling into bed with Gray tonight. She made it to the front door of their house and entered as quietly as she could. There was a small night light plugged in to wall socket by their bed, its weak bulb illuminating the small area surrounding it. Gray was already asleep, snoring softly.

Midori walked into the bathroom, changing out of her work clothes and into her pajamas. She then made her way to the door of the small room they had had Gotz build when they first learned about Diamond. Their daughter was born the spring after their marriage and looked a lot like her father. Gray had been apprehensive about the thought of a child in the beginning, not really knowing anything about babies. However, he'd warmed up to his daughter the moment he'd set eyes on he'd laid eyes on her.

***

Midori had woken up one morning feeling extremely sick. She opened her eyes, laid on her back in her bed and breathed deeply, trying to quell the sick feeling crawling in her stomach. It didn't work. She immediately got out of bed and ran to the bathroom. She had barely gotten her head over the toilet when the contents of her stomach came pouring out of her mouth uncontrollably.

The sound of her retching or the sudden shifting of the bed must have woken Gray up. He appeared beside her in the bathroom a few moments later, coming up behind her and pulling her hair back into a pony tail.

"What's wrong, Sweetie?" The worry in his voice was obvious and he started rubbing her back.

"I must've eaten something that didn't like me." Midori was starting to feel another wave of nausea come over her again and she lowered her head over the toilet again.

"I'm going to call the doctor." Gray patted her back again and left to go get the phone. He came back a moment later, and Midori could hear the beeping as her husband dialed the doctor's number. He resumed rubbing her back as he waited for the doctor or Elli to answer.

After about five rings, the bright, chipper voice of Elli came over the line. "Thank you for calling Mineral Clinic. How can I help you?"

"Elli? It's Gray. Something's wrong with Midori. She woke up this morning and started throwing up."

"Oh my! The doctor will want to see her right away. Why don't you bring her in around ten o'clock? The doctor will be able to see her then, okay?"

"Alright, that sounds good. We'll see you then." Gray hung up the phone and told Midori they were going to the clinic at ten.

She nodded and started to get up. "What are you doing?" Gray asked.

"I have to go take care of the animals."

"No. You stay here and get cleaned up. I'll take care of them today." He filled the tub for her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back as soon as I'm done. Then we'll go."

She nodded and as soon as Gray left, she started to get ready. She brushed her teeth first, trying to get the awful bile taste out of her mouth. She then stepped into the tub, letting the warm water relax her sore, sick feeling muscles.

Gray came back in while she was still in the bath. He brought her in a change of clothes and started to go about his usual morning routine of washing his face, brushing his teeth and combing his hair. After he was finished, he turned to Midori. "Are you almost done?" She nodded and Gray helped her to step out of the bath and get herself ready to go.

They walked out of the house at nine thirty and, after a quick stop at Saibara's so Gray could tell him he wouldn't be in for a while today, they made it to the clinic by ten. Elli ushered them into the back and sat Midori on an examining table.

The doctor came in shortly after and started asking questions about how Midori felt, how many times she threw up and so on. He then took some a blood sample and sent Midori upstairs with Elli, after whispering instructions to his assistant and handing her a box he'd produced from one of the shelves.

The doctor made small talk with Gray for a while until Elli and Midori came back downstairs. Midori had a big smile on her face and Elli was grinning as well. Gray was clueless as Midori came up to him and gave him a big hug. Elli spoke quietly with the doctor and finally Gray asked what was wrong with his wife.

"Nothing is wrong with Midori. She's just pregnant. Congratulations!" The doctor smiled at the young couple and Midori hugged her husband tighter, happy tears slipping out of her eyes and down her cheeks.

"You're pregnant?" Gray quietly asked Midori and she nodded enthusiastically. Gray started laughing and hugged her tighter.

"Now Midori, you will have to cut back on all the physical farm work you've been doing. Winter is coming soon, but the rest of fall and the first part of next spring you'll want to be busy tending your crops. You can probably expect the baby around the 20^th of spring next year. Until then, take it easy and don't strain yourself. I'll expect you back at least once every two weeks for a checkup. Congratulations again!"

Midori and Gray thanked the doctor and Elli and went to go tell Saibara the good news. He was pleasantly surprised to find out he was going to be a great-grandfather and told Gray he would be excused from work to take care of Midori and help her on the farm. Gray took advantage of this extra time to dote upon the woman carrying his baby, catering to her every need and making sure she barely lifted a finger on the farm. Midori had to admire Gray. He handled all of her mood swings and crazed new appetite very well, making the pregnancy rather easy on her.

On the 23^rd of spring, Midori was getting ready for the day when she felt a dampness in her pants. She immediately called for Gray who frantically called the doctor and then Saibara. Saibara came shortly after he got the call and the doctor and Elli made it in about fifteen minutes. The doctor and Elli shooed Gray and Saibara out of the way so they could get to work. After eight hours of pacing back and forth in his kitchen and being told by his grandfather to calm down, Gray heard loud wails coming from the bedroom and Elli poked her head out of the doorway. "You can come in and see your daughter now." She smiled as Gray ran across the living room to go see his wife and daughter, Saibara close behind him.

When he saw Midori all he could think of was how tired she looked. But she also looked happy as she fussed over a pile of blankets in her arms. She looked up and smiled as Gray came in and she motioned him over. She pulled the blankets back and Gray got his first look at the baby girl he and his wife created together. She had fluffy blond hair and bright blue eyes. The baby made a sleepy face and yawned, drifting off into sleep. Saibara also got a look at his new great-granddaughter, commenting on how much she looked like Gray.

Gray then asked what Midori wanted to name her. She thought for a little bit and then answered with the name Diamond. Gray then took the baby from her so she could get some sleep. The last thing Midori saw before she closed her eyes was her husband, happily coddling their new bundle of joy, and it brought it a smile to her face.

***

After making sure the baby was still sound asleep, she closed the door and made her way over to bed. She crawled in next to her husband and scooted close enough to run her fingers across his cheek. She then moved onto his hair. When she had first seen him without his hat on their wedding night, she had to try hard not to laugh. His hair was actually longer than it seemed, the majority of it was hidden under his hat, and it stuck out in weird directions when left on its own. Midori loved it.

After a few minutes of petting, Gray sleepily opened his eyes to look at his wife. "Hey, did you have fun?" He asked around a yawn.

"Mm-hmm." She mumbled as she pressed herself closer to his chest, wrapping her arms around him as he did the same to her. "How did you and Diamond do today?"

"I swear she doesn't like me that much. It seems like she's always crying whenever I'm around her." He sounded disappointed, but continued a little more cheerily: "I did get her to eat and go to bed alright, though."

"That's good. But I'm sure she doesn't hate you. Diamond is a baby and babies cry a lot. She cries with me a lot, too."

"I guess so." Gray let out a content sigh as Midori's hands ran up and down his back, fingers stopping to play with the hairs at the back of his neck. "Hmm. I missed being with you today."

"I missed you too." Midori lifted her head to meet his lips with hers. They kissed slowly for a while before pulling apart, holding each other and running their hands over the other in soothing motions until sleep came over them. And as Midori slipped into a content slumber in the arms of the man she loved the most, she was happy that she had come across a newspaper article that brought her into this most wonderful life.

~*~*~*~

End

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