I Just Can't Stop Loving You

by Imari Jade

  Shaundra chuckled. “I guess you’re right. They’ll be a hot commodity. Twin six-foot tall, gorgeous idols.”

  “It’s going to be fine, Shaundra. You won’t have to go through this alone.”

  “How do you know what I’m thinking?”

  “Because we’re friends,” Harper said.

  “Do me a favor. Check up on Tricia for me while you’re there. She was supposed to come for a visit, but got bogged down with her exams.”

  “Will do,” Harper said. “Try not to kill Ich while I’m gone.”

  “He’ll be dropping in shortly,” Shaundra told him. “We have to name the babies today.”

  “Can you handle it? I mean, you haven’t seen him since you tried to strangle him in the delivery room.”

  “Yeah, I can handle it. I can’t have sex for five or six weeks so I won’t be swayed by anything he has to say. He’ll just sign the papers and I’ll send him on his way.”

  “I’ve contacted Dae-Hyun. The nursery is ready and he’s awaiting your arrival.”

  “Thanks,” Shaundra said. “I’ll call him as soon as Aomori is back into the air.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Harper asked.

  “Very sure,” Shaundra said. “If Ichiro wants my love, he has to work for it.”

  “That’s my girl. You take care.”

  “You too. Have a safe trip home and tell Charlotte hello. I’ll try to call her in a couple of days.”

  “I will. I’ll call you as soon as I can,” Harper said. “Bye.” He disconnected the call.

  Shaundra pressed the red button on her phone and put in back on the nightstand, jealous that Harper was leaving while she had to remain in Japan.

  The door opened and Daichi, Hana, and Estuko Yoshida appeared.

  “What are you guys doing here?”

  All three came over to hug her.

  “We came for the naming of our nephews,” Daichi said. “We know you don’t have any family here so we came to show support.”

  “Thanks,” Shaundra said. “Have a seat. The nurses should be in shortly with the boys.”

  “What time is Ichiro scheduled to arrive?” Hana asked.

  Shaundra shrugged.

  “Awe, don’t tell me the two of you still aren’t speaking.”

  “Okay, I won’t tell you,” Shaundra said. Hana and Estuko knew what had happened, but she didn’t know if they had told Daichi.

  The nurses came in with the babies a few seconds later, ending the conversation. Both aunts quickly reached for a baby. They cooed at the boys and spoke to them in Japanese. Thank God she’d been studying and practicing her Japanese since she’d returned to the farmhouse. She was going to get more proficient if she expected to be able to communicate with her sons.

  “I hate to say this, Shaundra, but I don’t see you in these kids,” Hana said. “Are you sure they’re yours? Both boys look exactly like Ichiro, right down to the blue eyes.”

  “Well, their skin color won’t be as porcelain as Ich, but yes, they’re mine.”

  The door opened again. Shaundra looked toward it. Her heart melted as the father of her twins entered looking quite kawaii and mature in a black suit and a white shirt. His hair was neatly braided and hung down his back. And he had tightened up on his mustache and beard.

  Ichiro bowed to her and his family. “Good evening,” he said in Japanese.

  “Konnichi wa,” the three siblings responded.

  Shaundra couldn’t say a word, afraid her heart would make something stupid come out of her mouth.

  Ichiro walked over and kissed her on the forehead.

  The scent of his cologne made her heart thud heavily in her chest. Damn, not fair.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine,” Shaundra said quickly. Don’t you dare fall for his charm.

  Ichiro smiled at her and stepped away. “And how are my big boys?” He took the baby from Hana and cuddled him in his arms.

  Shaundra’s defenses startled to crumble as she watched the tender scene unfold. She bit her bottom lip to keep the tears from falling. Her big baby looked so happy holding his son.

  Daichi gazed over at her and pleaded forgiveness with his eyes.

  Shaundra shook her head and looked away. She could not forgive Ichiro. The thought of her innocent baby lying in some other woman’s arms made her ballistic.

  The other baby started to cry and Estuko rocked him gently, but he baby fidgeted and squalled in her arms. Estuko got up and brought the baby to Shaundra.

  Shaundra cuddled him near her breast and the baby moved his head around at the scent of her milk. “Excuse me,” she said, draping a receiving blanket over her left shoulder. Pulling one of her breasts out the gown, she began nursing her son. The baby latched onto the nipple, making loud, smacking sounds. Shaundra brushed a jet black lock of hair out of the child’s eye and cooed at him. When she looked up, everyone was watching her intently, including Ichiro. Those almond shaped blue eyes locked on her. Heat radiated from them, searing her skin.

  The other baby began to cry. Ichiro rocked him gently. “Shush,” he said. “Mama is busy. You have to wait your turn.”

  The baby refused to quiet.

  “Greedy boys,” Shaundra said, beckoning Ichiro to bring the baby over to her.

  Ichiro hesitated at first and then he walked over to the bed. He put the baby in Shaundra’s right arm, exposed the breast with shaky hands, and the baby latched onto the dark brown nipple. “Ooh,” Ichiro said. “Easy.”

  The baby ignored him and made sounds like his brother.

  A camera flashed in the room.

  Both she and Ichiro looked up.

  Daichi had taken a picture. “For the christening book,” he explained.

  “But I look like a hot mess,” Shaundra protested.

  “No, you don’t,” Ichiro said. “I’ve never seen you look lovelier.”

  Shaundra stared at him blankly. For a moment, she almost faltered. “Thank you. You are most kind,” she told him in fluent Japanese.

  Ichiro raised an eyebrow, but did not comment. Neither did the siblings.

  Two nurses entered, accompanied by an older Japanese woman.

  “Greedy boys,” one of the nurses said. “It’s not feeding time yet.” She took the baby from Shaundra’s left breast while the other nurse took the one from the right.

  Shaundra covered herself. When she looked up, Ichiro was still watching intently. Shaundra rolled her eyes at him, knowing he was contemplating latching onto one of her swollen nipples.

  The nurses left with the babies and the other lady approached and introduced herself. “I’ve come to register the babies’ names.” Of course she said it in Japanese, which Ichiro translated.

  The woman handed Ichiro a clipboard and a pen with the forms.

  “Have you chosen names?” Ichiro asked her.

  Shaundra retrieved a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to him.

  Ichiro looked over the names and beamed. “I’m so glad you decided to use the ones we discussed.” He quickly filled out the forms and signed his name. He handed the clipboard to her and she stared down at the neat Japanese characters. She signed her name and handed the clipboard to the woman who bowed and left.

  “So what did you guys name them?” Estuko asked excitedly.

  “The first born is named Raiden Takumijo Yoshida and his younger brother is Ryoto Satoshi Yoshida,” Ichiro told her.

  “Japanese names?” Hana asked.

  Shaundra nodded. “They are Japanese citizens. They’d get teased if we named them Bill and Phil.”

  Daichi chuckled and agreed. “You two have chosen splendid names.” He rose. “I think it’s time for us to go. We have to get back to the restaurant and Shaundra needs her rest.”

  The two sisters rose too.

  Oh God, they are going to leave me alone with Ichiro.

  He must have seen the horrified expression on her face. “I will be back tomorrow to bring yo
u and my sons home.” He leaned down and kissed her on the head again. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  Shaundra manned up, damning her hormones, emotions, and heart for trying to make her forgive him. “They’re releasing us at ten.”

  “Okay,” he said. “See you then.” He followed his siblings to the door.

  The door opened and Satoshi entered carrying a bouquet of snow white flowers.

  “Am I too late?” he asked.

  “No, you’re right on time,” Shaundra told him.

  Ichiro looked at Satoshi and then her and then followed his family out of the door.

  “Where are they going?” Satoshi asked, putting the flowers into a vase on the dresser.

  “They’re going back to work,” Shaundra told him.

  Satoshi came over and kissed her, not on the forehead, but on the lips.

  “What’s that for?” Shaundra asked.

  “Because you look like you needed it.” He straightened up and pulled a chair next to the bed. “I know you’ve just been tempted. Ichiro did look quite yummy in black with all those new muscles bulging out underneath that suit jacket.”

  “So you’re just making me swap one temptation for another?”

  He didn’t answer, just smirked at her.

  Shaundra wasn’t a fool. She knew exactly how Satoshi felt about her and apparently from the look he gave, Ichiro knew too. And he did look tempting seated next to her dressed in a dark brown leather jacket, caramel-colored turtleneck shirt, and tight dark brown trousers.

  “How did it go?”

  “It went very well. We named the babies Raiden Takumijo and Ryoto Satoshi.”

  “Good Japanese names,” Satoshi said. “Thank you for giving him my name as a middle name.”

  “Well, I wanted it to be his first name, but I thought it would be hard when you and Cristal finally have a son and wanted to name him Satoshi. And it will be even odder when they are idols and performing with you guys on stage.”

  Satoshi smiled at her. “I see you did think this out thoroughly.”

  Shaundra nodded, drawing her attention away from the deep chocolate brown eyes. “I know you will make an excellent godfather to him and see to him right should anything happen to me and Ichiro.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Satoshi said. “For both him and little Takumijo.”

  “He’s not so little,” Shaundra said. “He’s got one powerful suck and has my breasts sore.”

  Satoshi peered over at her. “You’re breastfeeding him? I thought you decided not to.”

  “The little monster started screaming for food earlier and the milk started seeping from the nipple and I had no other choice.” It was amazing how comfortable she felt discussing such things with him.

  “Were Ichiro and the others here when that happened?”

  Shaundra nodded. “Then little Satoshi wanted to eat too, so I had to give him the other nipple.”

  “Damn,” Satoshi said. “I would have loved to see that.”

  “Daichi took pictures for the christening book,” she told him.

  “Remind me to get him to make me a copy,” Satoshi said.

  “Stop teasing,” Shaundra told him.

  “I’m not teasing,” Satoshi replied. “I bet it was a breathtaking sight…you nursing two hungry Japanese babies on your brown nipples.”

  Something tightened in Shaundra’s gut. Would her life be much different if she had chosen him instead of Ichiro? “Well, I don’t know about all that, but those two boys are going to eat me out of house and home.”

  “Their father is a chef,” Satoshi reminded her.

  Shaundra rolled her eyes at him.

  He chuckled. “Still not forgiving him?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  Satoshi sat back in the chair. “For all it’s worth, I believe Ich.”

  She gazed over at him. “Why?”

  “Because Ichiro has never lied to me before. It’s one of his best assets. And I can usually read his emotions when I look into his eyes. He said Eri kissed him, nothing else happened.”

  Shaundra pouted. Satoshi had just kissed her. She could not be angry at Ichiro if the thing between him and Eri had just been a kiss. “I wish I could believe that,” she said. “I keep seeing the two of them together in my head, with their porcelain bodies pressed together and Ichiro is thrusting inside of her.”

  “Don’t say thrusting,” Satoshi warned, moving around uncomfortably.

  Shaundra gazed over and smirked. He had crossed his legs. “Sorry,” she said. “Sometimes I forget.”

  “Well, yes, it will go away eventually.”

  She smirked at him again, knowing he now had a raging erection.

  “So when are they releasing you?”

  “Tomorrow at ten. Ichiro is coming for us.”

  “Then I’ll come too,” he said. “To help with the babies.”

  “You mean to help keep my hands from around Ichiro’s throat.”

  Satoshi nodded. “Everything is ready at home.”

  “I can’t wait to get out of here and sleep in my own bed.”

  “You mean with Ich.”

  Shaundra shook her head. “He can sleep in Cristal’s old room.” She paused. “Speaking of Cristal, why aren’t you over at her new apartment getting busy with her?”

  “Because I’d rather be here getting busy with you.”

  Shaundra rolled her eyes at him. “You couldn’t handle me.”

  “Don’t say can’t. I’m not a crybaby like Ichiro,” he boasted.

  “Why do you keep changing the subject whenever I mention Cristal?”

  “Like you, I still haven’t forgiven her for standing me up for Yi-jun.”

  “Oh,” Shaundra said. “To be fair…”

  “Yeah, I know, and I regret it, but I can’t change the fact that it happened.”

  “Well, you can take some comfort in the fact that he left her for a starlet.”

  “She’s been going out with my brother,” Satoshi said.

  “What?”

  “They’ve gone out once since we returned.”

  “How did you find out?”

  Satoshi sighed. “He couldn’t wait to call me and throw it into my face.”

  “Are they actually dating?”

  “I don’t know,” Satoshi said. “They only met once, but apparently she left a big impression on him.”

  “Forgive me for saying this, but that’s pretty rotten of your brother. Doesn’t he know that the two of you are…?”

  “What are we?” he asked. “We’re not dating or lovers.”

  Shaundra moved around on the bed. “Well, that’s your fault. It’s like you’re hesitant about moving your relationship to the next level.”

  “I have my reasons,” Satoshi said in his own defense.

  The door opened and a dietician brought in her food.

  Satoshi rose. “I better go so you can eat.”

  The dietician put the food on a tray and left.

  Shaundra groaned. “The food is so horrible. I can’t wait to get home. I’m dying for fries.”

  “I hope you’re talking about the unsalted kind,” Satoshi said.

  “Yeah, yeah, and a no-salt Coke and steak.”

  “Okay, I get the message. I’ll have the Coke and the steak waiting for you.” He leaned over and kissed her again. This time, on the forehead.

  Shoot. Satoshi is a good kisser.

  He waved goodbye to her and left her to her bland meal.

  ****

  “Would you like to go dancing?” Yori asked Amaya.

  Amaya looked up. “What?”

  “Dancing? We haven’t done that in a long time.”

  She nodded. “I’d like that. Just the two of us?”

  Yori nodded. “Not even the bodyguards. Just me and my best girl.”

  “I need to shower and change first,” she said, scooting out of the kitchen chair.

  “And wear something sexy. I want to make every man in the cl
ub jealous.”

  Amaya smiled at him and hurried out of the kitchen to get dressed.

  Yori sat back down in his chair, content that he could make his wife happy with such a small gesture. They hadn’t been anywhere since her suicide attempt a couple of months ago. He still felt responsible for that. Had he not been paying so much attention to Shaundra, he would have seen that Amaya was depressed. He sighed. He loved his wife because they had known each other all their lives. But he still wanted Shaundra more than he would ever admit to anyone. It shamed him that it didn’t matter that she was married to Ichiro, or was now the mother of newborn twins. He just wanted her, if even for just one night to finally get her out of his system.

  Yori rose from his seat and walked upstairs to the guest bedroom to use the shower and dress. He hadn’t been able to use the one in their bedroom since the night he found Amaya lying unconscious in the bath tub from a drug overdose. He didn’t think he’d ever forget the image. And it scared him to think she might try again sometime in the future when she couldn’t deal with reality. He shuddered. Or worse, she might try to harm their future child.

  Yori entered the room, opened the closet, and selected a suit before entering the bathroom. Ichiro and Shaundra had named their twins today. He wanted to stop in to see Shaundra, but figured it was smart to wait until she returned to the farmhouse. He didn’t need to run into Satoshi like he had the last time he visited her. He knew Satoshi was dying to find out why he’d shown up, but was too polite to ask.

  Yori dressed after he finished his shower and walked into the den. Amaya waited for him looking quite pretty in a red dress he’d never seen before. “Is that a new dress?”

  “Yes,” she answered. “Do you like it?”

  He nodded. “You look beautiful. Is it one of your new designs?”

  “Yes. It’s part of my new winter line.”

  Despite all her issues, Amaya was doing quite well as a designer.

  “Would you like to come with me to Europe until the tour ends?” This way, he could keep an eye on her and probably stay out of trouble.

  “Thanks, but I can’t. We’re still working on the spring line and preparing for a fashion show.” She patted his cheek. “Maybe some other time.”