Starlit Nights
Sariah Loire
Chapitre Eleven

Skip Beat! and its characters, locations, terms, etc, do not belong to me.

Juli may not have been a Hollywood star, but neither was Kuu, once upon a time. That didn't stop him from falling in love with her.

"Kuu, did you finish breakfast? Your ride's going to be here soon!" Juli walked through the doorway into the kitchen, with a spatula still in one hand and a frying pan in the other. Kuu stopped tying his shoes to stare at his lovely wife, who managed to take his breath away even while cooking. Not that her food had gotten any better, but he was slowly getting used to it.

"I did, and it was wonderful, as always." He tied a quick knot in his shoe laces, and stood up, pulling Juli close for a quick kiss. "What time will you be home?"

"I have a few fittings after lunch, and I have to start getting ready for our next New York show." Juli walked back into the kitchen, putting the pan and cooking utensil in the sink. "I shouldn't be too late, are we still meeting for dinner?"

Kuu leaned against the doorway, watching the way Juli glided around the room. Even after a year of marriage, he still found it near impossible to take his eyes off of her. "Of course. I'll go over straight from the studio, so give me a call when you're ready to meet." His pager went off, and a glance at the number told him it was his manager. "I've got to go, see you tonight."

Juli leaned forward for another kiss, her hands full of soapy water from the dishes. "Have a good day." She smiled at his hesitation to pull away. "Go, before you're late. Love you, Kuu."

He returned a heartfelt 'love you' before leaving the apartment and running for the stairs. His manager was always complaining that Kuu was cutting their time too close because he didn't want to leave his pretty wife every morning. Kuu heartily agreed, but tried to leave a few minutes earlier every day.

Kuu said his good mornings and leaned his head back against the headrest in the back seat of the car. In the year that he had been married, Kuu had learned why Lory had been so adamant that Kuu settle down with a nice girl. He was happier than he had ever been, especially when his and Juli's work was over for the day, and they could relax at home for the evening.

His popularity was at an all-time high, despite the company's worry that it would dip when Kuu was no longer single. Instead, it had continued rising. His face was recognized everywhere he went, and he was in high demand for every imaginable type of role. But his latest blockbuster role was giving him a harder time than he expected.

He was offered the role after he and Juli had been married for 10 months. After thinking over the role for a few days, Kuu had accepted it. Normally he would never consider turning a role down, but his worries about playing a father had flooded his mind once again. He wasn't confident in his parental abilities, and for good reason. And after he had watched videos of parents and children, he discovered that he knew nothing about caring for a child.

But after speaking with many, many co-workers who were fathers, and watching those videos for several weeks, Kuu realized something that had surprised him. He noticed that there was an unfamiliar ache in his heart when he saw the couples with young children. It made him wonder what it would be like to have a child of his own, to be able to share something that special with Juli.

Kuu never breathed a word about it to Juli, of course. He would never say anything to hurt her, especially since he saw the way she, too, looked at young couples with children. But after enduring those feelings for a month or so, he had to find someone to talk to it about, and he had called Lory.

Surprisingly, the man said he had been expecting to receive a call like that quite a bit earlier. Kuu was thankful to have a chance to talk it all over with someone, and Lory had presented an unexpected piece of advice. He told Kuu that he should talk to Juli about adopting a child. There were, after all, many children who needed a loving family, like the one the newlyweds could give.

The thought of adoption had never crossed Kuu's mind, and he had spent the next few days thinking about it. But when he finally worked up the courage to ask Juli about it, she had come in that evening talking about a new fashion show she would be attending overseas. Kuu had buried the adoption idea in the back of his mind, for a better time.

But when filming began, that sense of longing was sitting on his shoulders just as strong as before. It was uncomfortable, but he dealt with it so that he could perform his job properly. He was thankful when the filming had taken a break because of problems with his co-star, and he could get his mind on other things. However, when filming started back up right after his and Juli's first anniversary, that ache was right back with him.

Kuu had made a decision, he would talk to Juli about her feelings on adoption. He knew there was a chance she would be against it, her career had taken off at the same rate his had. In that short year, Juli's international popularity had sky-rocketed, and Kuu had framed one of the many magazine spreads that had praised Juli as being the most beautiful model in the world.

Her clothing line was being worn by celebrities, she was number one in the modeling field, and she had even started back acting in a few movies. Yes, Kuu knew there was a chance that his idea would be rejected, but he made his plans and he wouldn't back out now. Their dinner that very night was when Kuu was planning on asking her, and he was scared stiff at the thought.

Kuu was waiting at their favorite table in a very popular restaurant in Los Angeles, shredding a napkin nervously. He had refused the complimentary bread to the astonishment of the waiter, Kuu was simply too jumpy to eat.

It wasn't so much the question that was worrying him. He just knew he could never forgive himself if it hurt Juli in anyway, or made her feel bad because she couldn't bear children. Glancing down at his watch, Kuu began tapping his foot. Juli hadn't called him back when he left her a message about their meeting time, but her manager told him that she had left to meet him.

He was starting to get worried after twenty minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Juli, when he spotted a familiar blonde head of hair walking through the door at the front of the restaurant. When she spotted him, he noticed tears on her face and froze. 'Was there an accident? What happened?' Questions flew through his mind as he stood up, but before he could ask any of them, Juli nearly ran to the table and threw her arms around his neck.

"Juli, what's wrong, are you hurt?" Kuu tried to pull away slightly so he could see her face, but she wouldn't move. She just shook her head in his shoulder, crying. He stood there helpless for a few moments before her grip finally loosened. But when she leaned her head back to look up at him, her eyes were shining brighter than he had ever seen since he had met her. Her face broke into a beautiful smile, and she whispered two words Kuu thought he'd never get to hear.

"I'm pregnant."

Kuu blinked slowly, still staring into Juli's eyes. He could hear his own pulse pounding, and couldn't seem to figure out how to form words properly. "Wait… what?"

Juli's smile only seemed to grow, and she reached up a hand to touch his face. "I'm pregnant, Kuu. We're going to have a baby." People were staring to stare at the famous couple, but they were much too captivated with each other to notice.

"How? When did you find out?"

"Just today, I came straight here after I left the doctor's office." Juli ran her hand down Kuu's face and brought it to rest on his shoulder. "As for the how… I don't know. I've been feeling a little sick most mornings lately, but thought it would go away eventually. It wasn't until today, when a dress I had been fitted for last month was a little tight, that I decided I should go for a check-up." She shook her head, laughing. "I thought maybe I was just gaining weight from some kind of sickness, I never thought…" Tears began running down her face again, and she wrapped her arms around Kuu's neck.

To say Kuu was in shock would be a gross understatement, but his state of speechlessness didn't last long. "I'm going to be a father." He whispered into Juli's hair, and it felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulder by those words. "We're going to be parents." Kuu looked over Juli's head, to the crowd of people staring, and nearly shouted: "I'm going to be a father!"

There was much cheering and clapping, along with a few strange looks. Juli laughed, removing her arms from around him. "Everyone's staring at us, Kuu, and I look a fright. Let me go to the powder room, I'll be right back."

He let her go, and sat down at the table, putting his head in his hands. Kuu's mind was reeling from the wave of emotions, but the overwhelming sense of excitement took precedence over the rest. He glanced up, looking over to the host's station, where the man was talking on a phone.

Kuu jumped up, and sprinted to the station, tapping his fingers impatiently until the host finished his call. "Can I borrow that for a minute?" When the man complied, Kuu quickly punched in a familiar number, leaning against the wall until a familiar voice answered.

"Boss? You're never going to believe this."

"Are you feeling okay, Juli?"

Juli opened her eyes through the pain, and grimaced in Kuu's direction. "Kuu, for the umpteenth time, I'm in labor. There's no 'feeling okay'."

Kuu was pacing the room, his hands shoved nervously in his pockets. They had been at the hospital for several hours now, ever since Juli's water had broken during the night. When they first arrived, she had seemed excited as he was, but her good mood was waning through the hours. Kuu was okay with that, though, he was keyed up enough for both of them.

The pregnancy had gone smooth, and Juli had made an easy transition into modeling maternity clothes when she had gained enough weight to be showing. Her morning sickness was never much of a problem, and it was completely gone by the fourth month. And in the fifth month, both Kuu and Juli agreed that they didn't want to know the sex of the baby.

He knew Juli thought she was keeping her hopes for a son a secret, but he noticed the way she mainly flipped through the boy sections in the many baby name books they had amassed. And when they had decided to buy a house to move out of Kuu's apartment, she had been insistent at painting the nursery a light blue.

The house was ready, the nursery was filled to the brim with toys Kuu kept bringing home, and the soon-to-be parents were much, much more than ready. The ninth month had been the longest time of Kuu's life, and Lory had started screening his calls after Kuu woke him up three days in a row with prospective baby names.

The door to Juli's hospital room opened, and Kuu hurried across the room to Juli's side as her doctor made his way in the room to check the progress. After a few minutes, the doctor looked up at the nurse at his side and nodded. Then he turned to Juli, smiling. "It's time; let's get you over to the delivery room."

"And he has a head full of blonde hair, Boss, just like Juli's!" Kuu was standing at the window to the hospital nursery, staring at the small bundle that was wrapped in a blanket. The baby's tiny bed had a piece of paper on the end of it, with a simple 'Hizuri' written across it.

'Baby Boy Hizuri' as the nurses called him, had been born less than twenty minutes. Kuu had been ushered out of the room while Juli and the baby were cleaned up, and he still hadn't been allowed to go back and see her. Or hold his baby boy, which was enough to drive him up the wall.

But he had settled for calling Lory and giving him a running commentary as the nurses had fiddled with the baby, making sure everything was fine with him. Kuu held back a scoff as they checked him over and over again. 'Of course he's fine, you'd think they couldn't tell how absolutely perfect he is just by looking at him.'

"I would say that I'm glad the baby's finally here, but I have a feeling that a lifetime of annoying calls are only beginning." Lory sighed, but Kuu was too busy standing as close to the glass as he possibly could to see every inch of the beautiful baby, to pay attention to Lory. "How's Juli doing?"

"I don't know, they haven't let me back in to see her." He answered miserably, eyeing the double doors at the end of the hallway. "Do you think they'll care if I sneak back to just check on her?"

"Don't get yourself thrown out of the hospital on your son's birthday, Kuu."

"Mr. Hizuri?" A nurse had walked up to Kuu's side while he was too busy admiring his son, causing him to jump slightly. "You may go back to see your wife, if you wish."

"GottagoLorybye." He hurriedly dropped the pay phone back in its cradle and ran to catch up with the nurse, who led him back to the room Juli had been in that morning.

Juli was propped up on some pillows, looking worn out, but radiant. She smiled softly as Kuu walked into the room, reaching out her hand towards him. He walked forward, taking her hand in his own and squeezing it. He leaned forward, gently kissing her. "Good job, Juli. He's beautiful, just like you."

"When can I see him again?"

The nurse checking Juli's vitals smiled, going over the numbers. "Your strength is coming back, so we can bring him in here as soon as you want." She lifted an eyebrow, looking between Kuu and Juli. "Would you like me to bring him in?"

"Yes!" Both answered at the same time, drawing a laugh from the nurse. She nodded and left the room, coming back in a few minutes with the small, rolling bed. She lifted the baby out and checked his wristbands.

"He's a tall one, a little over twenty-four inches. But only seven and a half pounds!" She faked a stern look, setting the baby in her arms. "You be sure to feed him well when he gets older, or else he'll be scrawny."

Juli nodded, Kuu knew she was probably already planning what to cook for the boy as soon as he could eat normal food. She cuddled him close as the nurse excused herself from the room. Kuu sat on the edge of the mattress, staring in awe at the tiny bundle. Juli noticed his look, and shifted her arms towards him, smiling. "You can hold him, Kuu."

He swallowed, nervously reaching for the baby. When he brought him close to his chest, the baby made a tiny noise, startling them both. "You think that means he likes me?" His voice was thick with the tears he was trying to hold back.

Juli leaned back on her pillows, smiling. "Of course he does. He has the best father in the world, after all. How could he not like you?" She softly touched the baby's hair, before pulling his cap down. "They said he has green eyes, just like you. Maybe he'll open them soon and let us see."

"We still have to decide on a name, too." Kuu rocked the baby slightly. "Have you thought about it anymore?"

"Yes, while I was waiting for them to bring you and the baby back here." Juli leaned back up, propping a pillow behind her. She reached for a notepad that was sitting next to her on the bed, and a pen. "I want him to have a Japanese name."

"Like what?" Kuu looked over, but Juli hid her list, smiling. He had suggested several Japanese names while they were trying to decide on a name, but none of them had seemed to fit.

"No, you can't look yet." She flipped the paper over. "I want you to help me with a name before you look at the ones I thought of."

"What do you need help with?"

"I want to give him a name that's like yours. Maybe Kuu-something?" Juli picked up a pen, doodling on the paper. "Is there a name like that?"

Kuu motioned for Juli to hold out her arms, and he gently placed the baby in them. He pulled a sheet of paper off of the notepad, and borrowed the pen. "There are a few, like these." He wrote down several names that started with 'Ku'. "Or, we could make our own, like these." He wrote a few more names down, thinking of ways to incorporate 'Ku' with different endings. The last name he wrote down was 'Kuon', he stared at that one for a moment.

Juli saw the names, and smiled, reaching and flipping over the notepad. Amidst a page full of names, there was a circle around one. Kuu looked closer and saw that she had written 'Kuon', and circled it several times. "I didn't know what it meant, or even if it was a real name, but it just seemed to fit him." She looked down, smiling at the bundle in her arms. "Kuon Hizuri. It works, doesn't it?"

Kuu reached his hand over, lightly touching the baby's hand under the blanket. "Hello, Kuon." He whispered, watching in wonder as the baby fought to open his eyes. "You're going to have a great life, making all of your dreams come true."

After a year had passed, they began trying to conceive again. But the miracle, as Kuu called it, that had happened to give them Kuon never happened again. He was to be their only child. It left them a little bittersweet at times, as they watched their son grow up alone. But Kuu decided he would just have to spoil and dote on Kuon as much as he would if there were three or four of him.

Kuu and Juli's marriage had its rough moments, but they always worked it out. A couple that madly in love with each other had no other choice, one couldn't have lived without the other. And with their beautiful son a part of the mix, they knew that family was the most important thing of all.

Some nights, after Kuon was safely tucked into bed, Kuu would lead Juli by the hand into the backyard, where he would lay a blanket on the ground for them to lay on. They would look up at the stars and talk about their future, their dreams, and their goals.

And more often than not, they would wonder what life had in store for their son.

And that's the end. I hope all of you have enjoyed it. I had a few more ideas of idiot things Kuu would do concerning his son, but I think this is the right place to end. I hope you all enjoyed this story, my idea of what Kuu and Juli's meeting and early marriage could have been like!

And for just a small fact, I started calling Kuu Kuon halfway through this chapitre, then had to go back and correct it all. Jeez, I was so ready to write about baby Kuon.

Sari*