星の白金

“Sort of…I’d like him to have a ‘J’ name, like you. …Something that sounds similar, maybe. But I don’t want him to be a ‘junior’. ….’Jouta’?”

She gave a little sigh of delight. The only thing that would make this feel better was to see Jotaro hold their child.

“…Maybe he’ll grow up to be like you, Jotaro.”

“Jouta.” He repeated to himself, taking a pause to think it over.-- Somehow, it fit.

“Jouta Kujo it is.-- ..... I doubt he’ll be like me though. More like his mother, if anything.”

“…Er– …Right…”

She sighed, craning her neck a little to let him touch her hair.

“No, no. I want to get it for you. …Then you can go to work wearing the coat that the mother of your child picked out for you. …It’s sort of– …I don’t know. I think it’s sort of romantic.”

There was a brief moment of silence as he looked at her-- although their moment in the hospital was due to the arrival of a new life.... hospitals always made him uncomfortable. Maybe it was because it brought back bad memories.

“...... Any ideas on his name?-- I’ll let you get the coat for me then.”

“It just– …I know it’ll sound bad initially, but it was really attractive. I’m not used to seeing that expression from you. I’m just…discovering the extent of how attractive you are to me.”

Noriko gently tugged on his hand, trying to pull him a little closer.

“…Were you hoping it would be a girl? …Augh- it was me who ruined it, really…and like I said, I’ll buy you a new one…”

“..... You don’t need to explain it. I think I understand, somewhat.”

As Noriko tugged on his hand, he moved closer-- using his free hand to run his fingers through her hair.

“.... Kind of. But it’s fine. As for the coat, don’t worry about a new one. I’ll be fine without one for the time being.”

“But you just– You looked very nice. …’It’? …Ah– Jotaro, call the baby a ‘he’, not ‘it’. They have him in the other room– he’s being cleaned up. …Your coat I’m afraid got a little…ruined. I’ll buy you a new one. I promise.”

“... I was distressed. I don’t know how that’s looking nice...”

Jotaro reached over, placing his hand over her own. His expression quickly became a surprised one however, as she mentioned the child’s gender.

“-- A boy? ........ It’s barely been a few minutes and he already ruined something of mine.”

“Your expressions– …They’re always pretty…stoic. It’s hard to tell what you’re feeling. But for a brief while, it wasn’t. I’ll always remember that. ….Haha. Is it mean for me to say that?”

“...... In a situation like that, anyone would be distressed. Anyways, how’s the kid. Where they’d put it-- .... and my coat..”

“…This is a very, very memorable day…”

“.......... Memorable. I wouldn’t say that.”

#A heart attack.

Noriko huffed and puffed, eventually finding it possible for her to lay on her back on the couch. What a bad time for this. What a terrible time.

“I’m going to– …I’m going to die. I had someone stick their hand through my stomach and I survived. But this is– This is going to kill me–….”

“J-Just....... Just lay down and push!”

Immediately Jotaro grabbed her, laying her down on the couch as attempted to try and ease the situation.

How the hell was he supposed to help her here? He knew nothing about birth. And as far as he knew, all that was required was a nice push and bam-- a freshly born baby delivered by the stork itself.

“What?! ….I– I don’t think I can do this. I’m going to do something wrong. I needed Miss Holly to be here so she could tell me– What to– Do– ….C–Call Mister Joestar!! Maybe Miss Joestar could he–…”

Noriko let out a grunt, doubling over a little.

“…Hospital.”

He didn’t respond, too frazzled from the current situation. Jotaro moved back and fourth in search of his mother-- at the same time keeping an eye on Noriko.

“Gramps and Grandma Suzie are in New York! I-- The hospital..”

He ran to the phone, swiftly contacting the operator and notifying them of their situation.

“I didn’t–…”

Noriko pulled her arm from his neck, trying to stand, but finding it too painful. So she was bent over on the couch.

“I didn’t do that on you! Please just call your mother, Jotaro! Augh– it hurts!”

It took him a moment before he realized exactly what the situation was. Oh no. Oh god no.

As she bent over, Jotaro ran out of the room and into the yard. There was no sign of Holly.

>“.... She’s.... She’s not here.”

“Is it about Sharks too– …Augh–…”

Noriko twitched slightly in discomfort. …There was something like a water stain on her clothes.

“…Oh, no. …Oh, no. J–…Jotaro. Can you call Miss Holly….?”

“More than sharks--........”

He paused. What was going on with her? And what was--..... Oh.

“Noriko... Do you...... have bladder problems?”

“It’s probably…selfish of me to feel happy about that…but I can’t help it. Hearing you say that makes me feel so special…”

Noriko turned, burying her face into his shoulder affectionately. But she did shift around a little– sitting was still pretty uncomfortable.

“I’ve never seen The Deep…we should watch that one so you can tell me all about it.”

“.... You are special.”

His hand rested on her stomach, occasionally rubbing it as his gaze went from the TV to her. It had been a while since it had just been them like this together.

“I saw it a long time ago with gramps. It’s not as interesting as Jaws but.. it’s still pretty decent.”

“…Ah…that’s so sweet. I’m sure they’d be very happy to hear you say that…”

Lifting an arm, she gently draped it around his neck, pleased to be so close together.

“That’d be nice… I do like watching Jaws with you. You make it seem less horrifying and more scientific. …Like those documentaries about increased shark attacks…you make them seem more interesting.”

“I don’t want them to hear that. The only person who needs to know how I feel is you.”

Jotaro continued flipping through the channels, stopping after a while or so before turning his attention to her.

“..... We’ve seens Jaws a lot. If you want to see nautical-themed movie-- we can watch Piranha.-- Or Jaws 2. There’s also The Deep.”

“They both really love children. I’m very thankful for them being around. After all, they have much more knowledge about how to raise a child than I do. And Miss Holly has been really helpful about guiding me through the whole…being pregnant thing.”

As he grasped her wrist and pulled her over, she followed clumsily. As he sat her on his lap, she squirmed a bit.

“…Aren’t I heavy? ….Ah– …I like this one. I like ‘Temple of Doom’ too…”

“Almost to the point of being pains. But even then... I guess I’m thankful for them as well-- especially my old lady. I’d probably be worrying my ass off if she wasn’t here helping you through all this.”

With one arm safely wrapped around her waist, the other was used to reach over to the remote.

“.. Not really. Anyways, I think my old man has the Indiana Jones VHS collection. I could get Temple of Doom for us. We’ve also got Jaws.”

“If that’s what you’re in the mood for… Ah. I bought a few things here and there. Mister Joestar sends a lot of baby clothes also. …I hardly have to buy anything at all, considering your family is so generous…”

With a quiet huff, she clasped both of his hands.

“For now, I’d like to relax.”

“I’m in the mood to do anything with you. It really doesn’t matter what. I only suggested getting things because I assumed we didn’t have much for the kid-- but I should’ve figured. Gramps and my old lady have been more excited about this than anyone else.”

Immediately he reached over, grabbing her wrist and sitting her down on his lap as he himself sat down on the sofa.

“Raiders of the Lost Ark is on TV.”