At noon, I ate the spinach with rice and miso soup that Shouhei made for me.
The spinach pickled in ponzu sauce had a perfect sourness, and the secret ingredient, sesame, accentuates the flavor and the rice went down easily.
“Yes, Nanchan, all done.”
“Au”
Next to the window of the dining area, where there is ample sunlight, is the playground for the twins.
There is an expensive elastic mat laid out for Jaja who starts flying as soon as we take our eyes off her, separated by a wooden fence made by father.
Yuri-san was changing Nana"s diaper in the middle of that.
Despite it already been a few decades later, her skill obtained from raising four daughters was splendid. She changed their diapers in a blink of an eye while keeping the twins under control.
Although we"re used to it, Aoi and I still sometimes struggle.
Especially Nana who is in a bad mood sometimes and we need two people to wipe her b.u.m.
“Amu, amu amu”
“Jajchan, what are you eating?”
While lying down, Jaja was play-biting the rubber ball with the bell that father bought.
“Amu”
“Alright, no.”
“Ah”
“Meh!”
Jaja who had the rubber ball confiscated reached out with both hands and tried to replace it.
“You can use the dog. But you"ll break the ball so no, okay?”
“Ah!”
Jaja puts her favorite little stuffed puppy toy into her mouth without any hesitation.
The dog that has become pretty ragged recently was a gift from Mik.u.ma along with a stuffed cat toy.
The cat is Nana"s favorite, the dog is Jaja"s favorite.
“Thanks for the meal.”
I finished everything and carried all the dishes to the kitchen sink.
While Yuri-san was dealing with the twins, I managed to finish lunch.
Because you can"t eat peacefully while the twins are awake, I really appreciate it.
I washed my dishes, then washed the two baby bottles.
We use naturally-derived detergents as much as possible, and after washing, they are also thoroughly sterilized by boiling.
We researched online and infants are supposed to regularly go in for checkups so we can also discuss with doctors about childcare.
But the twins are dragons.
The hospital doesn"t want to accept or deal with dragons.
And if it got revealed there were dragons, it will bring all sorts of troubles.
So we have to take the utmost care to prevent sickness and injuries.
Because of that, we do everything we can, such as sterilization by boiling.
There is a fluffy gray rat who insists that he"s a doctor specializing in dragons, but he only shows up when he feels like it.
Even now I don"t know where he"s staying, so I can"t call him from here.
Even so, he rummages through our fridge for cheese and fruits as he pleases, what an irritating rat.
“Good afternoon.”
“h.e.l.lo.”
“Ah, isn"t that Toshio-kun?”
A voice came through the window we opened to improve ventilation.
I turned and saw officers Doggy and Inoue wearing uniforms, standing in the garden.
“Mama, you came?”
“Yes, Aoi-chan is away today, so it would be difficult for Kunpei-kun alone, right? It"s been a long time Toshio-kun.”
“Y-yes it"s been a while.”
I wiped my hands with a towel and went out to the dining room, where Officer Inoue, who had a large physique, was bowing deeply.
“h.e.l.lo, Officer Doggy, and Officer Inoue.”
“Sorry Kazamachi, for coming so suddenly.”
Officer Inoue raised his head and bitterly smiled with his good-looking face.
“No, it"s okay. Please come in.”
“Sorry, we had something we need to tell you and dropped by because we were close.”
Saying that, Officer Doggy took off her shoes and came into the dining room.
Following her, Officer Inoue also came in.
I returned to the kitchen and took two gla.s.ses for guests from the cupboard.
I placed the gla.s.ses in the sink and turned around, opened the refrigerator behind me, took out a bottle of oolong tea, and poured it into the gla.s.ses.
“Ah, you don"t have to worry about us.”
Officer Inoue apologetically called out.
“I"ve already poured it, please drink it.”
“Sorry about that.”
After pouring the oolong tea into the two gla.s.ses, I felt it was improper to carry it by hand, so I took out a tray from the cupboard and put the gla.s.ses on it.
I went out to the dining room with the small tray. I arranged the gla.s.ses on the low table that had been moved outside the enclosure.
“How unusual for you two to come at the same time.”
I gestured for the still standing officers to sit and asked.
“Sorry, we came while we were doing our rounds, was it okay?”
Officer Doggy picked up the gla.s.s with a wry smile.
The two officers alternately come each day during their rounds.
They return to work as soon as they get a look at us, so they naturally go to the garden instead of the entrance.
“I didn"t think mama would be here, but it"s not a problem, right?”
“Yes, Yuri-san has been a huge help.”
“Nonsense, playing with such cute twins, I feel somewhat sorry.”
Yuri-san held Nana up and looked at her face with a smile.
“Dah”
“How cute. Hey Toshio-kun, isn"t a baby good?”
“Y-yes!”
Hmm? Officer Inoue is acting strangely for some reason.
Officer Toshio Inoue is a man who is about the same height as me and has a physique about one size wider than me.
I"m told that he"s the most skilled judo pract.i.tioner in the prefecture, and it"s understandable with his physique.
His honest appearance coupled with the image of “The Town Officer” is perfect.
“My, my, that tiny Toshio-kun has become so splendid. If you don"t hold onto him, he"ll be stolen away you know?”
“Mama, that again, Inoue-kun and I aren"t like that.”
“Y-yes…”
Ah, huh?
I see.
“What are you talking about, didn"t he become a police officer for such an unrefined lady? And isn"t it good that he knew you from a young age and kept following you without any complaint?”
“Um, obsan! I!”
“I"ve hated it already for being teased for that during my school days, so stop it!”
“Is that so? What a shame, I thought that I could see my grandchild"s face soon because you two live in this town.”
“That"s too bad.”
“U-um.”
Officer Inoue, who leaned forward was frozen from Officer Doggy"s words.
This smells like love.
“Rather than that, Kunpei-kun?”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
Hmmm.
I wanted to explore a little more about Officer Inoue, but oh well.