Capítulo 187: Adopted?
*Knock, Knock, Knock*
...
*Click!*
"Oh, it's you..." Fujino impassionately states, eyes trailing from Ori to the wheelchair-bound girl he was pushing.
"I'd say the same but you already know how I feel about you." he lowers his voice so that Charlie would be hard-pressed to hear, "So grab my sister or I'll visit another time, but not for my sister..." growls.
Fujino sighs and walks inside, gesturing him to follow. New arm and Cyberware or not, he was well aware he stood no chance if he tried to fight Ori.
Ori wheels Charlie inside as they enter the main room of the apartment, spotting Bats slouched on the sofa watching TV. "Sup, Bats."
"Ori!" the man blurts, quickly standing and then pausing as finally spots the new additions to Ori's body. "You updated your chrome without telling me!?"
He shrugs, "It was deemed 'necessary'." he states with a meaningful look, which Bats just nods at, getting the gist of it. "Oh, this is Charlie by the way," he rests a hand on the curious girl's shoulder, "Say hi to Uncle Bats."
"Hi Uncle..." she quietly says, embarrassed at being the centre of attention.
"Oh, you're cute aren't you." Bats can't help but smile at her, causing the girl to shrink further into her wheelchair. "Don't you worry, we're all family here."
"Fujino, go grab Cat." Ori all but orders and the reluctant man enters his and her shared bedroom, soon coming out with a very pregnant Cat who immediately locks eyes with her brother.
"You!" she angrily waddles down and begins smacking him over the head, "You haven't visited in months! And don't think I buy that crab about wanting to keep us safe! That's just an excuse!"
"A good excuse! Stop being violent in front of my niece!" he says, catching her arms and nodding down at Charlie, who was just looking between them in confusion.
"Oh!-, hello there!" Cat stutters out despite being out of breath from trying to beat her brother. "What's your name muffin?"
"Not muffin... Charlie..." she grumbles out.
"Charlie... Has your uncle been behaving himself?" Cat sends a glance at Ori.
She nods, "He got ice cream in his truck..."
Ori blinks, "Couldn't you have worded better, now I send like a kidnapper or something..." he shakes his head, "Bats, could you take Charlie for a minute, I need to talk with Cat."
He shrugs and leans next to the wheelchair, "I don't know, you wanna see my 'super-cool' lab, kiddo?"
"Name's Charlie..." she stubbornly retorts.
"Ah, sorry, I'm old and my brain can't keep up." he grins, "Still, wanna see it?"
At that, she nods, and Bats wheels her into his bedroom/lab to show her his equipment. This leaves Ori with Cat and Fujino, and the former just drops into the sofa with a long sigh. "Grab me a beer," he shoos Fujino away.
"Ori..."
"I'm not actually trying to be an ass, I'm just tired and thirsty, get me a drink and I'll update you..."
"Fine..."
-----------------------
"So, you abandon us then come back to drop a kid in our laps..." Cat bluntly sums up.
"If you wanna put it that way then yeah, I am. She's lost all her memories and I can't exactly stay around to look after her. I figured you'd want to, consider a demo in motherhood."
Cat rests a hand on her large belly, "And your plan if I refused?"
Ori chews his lip, "Well, I guess I'd hand her to Susie or Judy? I did kinda make you her guardian though..." he sheepishly admits.
"What?"
"When I signed her out of the hospital, I don't really exist currently so I used your name. Best to keep up appearances, no?"
...
Sighing, she leans against the couch with a hand to her face, "I have some conditions..."
"And they'd be?"
"First, I need a monthly stipend to pay for Charlie's essentials. Fujino's started work again but we're not gonna drop all our plans for you, not for this at least."
Ori shrugs, "I can work with that, as long as Fujino doesn't see a cent. How much you want?"
"Five hundred a month should cover everything, plus some trips to a shrink to see if she can remember anything... Second, I want you to visit more-"
"No. Cat, I wasn't lying about keeping you safe, the other day Arasaka dropped a fucking cruise missile at me in the Combat Zone." he firmly argues.
She shakes her head, "I don't care, even if we have to meet in secret in the sewers, I'm not letting you abandon me! We're family! Say no and I'll find you myself!"
...
"I'll think about it." he relents, maybe he could just use optical camo the entire way and sneak into the apartment? He himself wasn't too happy about the distance he'd had to put between them, even if that was partly to stop himself from hurting Fujino. "Next?"
"I-, haven't thought of it yet, but I'll tell you when I have..." she blushes lightly and shakes her head, "Since you're already here, tea?"
"Sure... Say, what's this about 'plans'? You've got me curious now."
"Well, since the Market got destroyed by Tyger Claws, I was thinking about getting a loan to open a restaurant..." she admits.
"While you're pregnant? You know that won't work, right?"
"Well it's now or never, all the vacancies will be taken if I don't go for it..." she retorts.
"Can Fujino even cook?"
"No... But he can act as a waiter or man the till."
...
"How much is it? For the downpayment at least." he inquires after some moments of thought. He was sitting on quite a lot of Eddies right now, and didn't have anything to spend it on, aside from funding Rebecca's new creations. It wasn't like he needed to buy Cyberware anymore either.
"Twelve thousand at least, but I'm not asking you for-"
[-12000§]
"Don't worry about it. If you want just consider it a loan, pay me back when you make it big. I'll be expecting to see the Quadrano name next to NiCola on the listings."
"O-Ori!" Cat bursts into tears and wraps him in a hug, he reciprocates of course, still cautious of her large belly.
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