Month 3

(Week 9 – 12)

Everything did change. After a serious talk between the two, Lloyd and Harumi finally found peace and eventually got the hang of being parents. The fighting never died down but it did lessen and solutions were presented instead of yells—which seemed to have pleased their daughter—helping the couple work on their communication.

"Lloyd, Lumi needs a diaper change!" Harumi called out as she tied her hair up in a bun with chopsticks.

Lloyd entered their room and immediately went to pull out a box from underneath their bed. "I got it!"

When they first moved into the monastery, the ninja were generous enough to provide them with different kinds of baby clothes and diapers which Lumi used to this day.

He grabbed a fresh pad of diapers while Rumi finished tying her hair. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." She placed a kiss on his cheek before walking out the door, leaving Lloyd with a lipstick mark and a deep blush on his face.

Lumi was now laying on her stomach—in a pair of pastel pink pajamas—watching her parents as she perked up her head, cooing every now and then and making sounds neither of her parents could comprehend.

"Don't look at me like that." Lloyd narrowed his eyes at her when he caught a glimpse of the small smile on her face. "There is nothing going on between us."

He turned her over to change her diapers and sighed, a love sick smile forming on his face. "Let's get this over with."

Lloyd entered the kitchen with Lumi resting on his shoulder. Her eyes wide and greener than ever as she took in her surroundings.

The savory smell of dumplings greeted them as they walked in—making Lloyd's stomach grumble in the process—along with Harumi who was moving around the kitchen, preparing their lunch for today.8

A small coo from Lumi made her turn around and smile once she caught sight of them. "Hey! Are you hungry?" It wasn't easy to admit that she found them adorable—of course, every interaction she witnessed between them was adorable—but today was probably the cutest she had seen them.

Reality had struck her right there, making her realize that Lloyd was a real father now. And to her child too. They had agreed to keep things mutual between them, only tolerating each other's presence for the sake of their daughter, but Harumi often wondered if that was really the case.

Before Lloyd could respond, a familiar sound of footsteps came running in the kitchen.

"I smell dumplings!"

"Where is it?!"

"I call first taste!"

"You can't just do that! We have to share."

"Can too!"

The ninja started bickering, their voices getting louder by the minute, but eventually came to a stop when they all found Lumi staring at them, her chin resting on her dad's shoulder. Her curious, bright green eyes stared at them—making the ninja clear their throats and fix themselves—before a smile formed on her face.

Zane approached her, one of her toys in his hand. "It is only you who can keep them quiet, Lumi." He smiled as she tried to reach for it.

Harumi watched the scene go down, amazement twinkling in her eyes.

The kid already has the ninja wrapped around her finger and she isn't even a year old!

She knew her daughter was starting to take after her and wasn't sure whether it was a good or a bad thing.

Shaking her head, Harumi turned her attention back to the team. "There's plenty for all of you." A collective set of cheers erupted making her giggle.

"Sorry, Zane. But I think Harumi has taken your title." Kai declared, stuffing his mouth with dumplings, making the nindroid tilt his head. "These are amazing!"

"They're not poisoned, are they?" Jay held out his chopsticks at a good distance, the dumpling between the sticks, and let out a nervous chuckle. Nya nudged him in response. "What? I'm just saying—."

Harumi smiled at him. "No, Jay. They're not." When he still wouldn't believe her, she placed one in her mouth. "See? Perfectly fine."

"And delicious!" Cole added despite his mouth being full.

After a good few minutes of distinct conversation, Lloyd cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

All heads turned towards him in acknowledgement. "I have a huge favor to ask from all of you." He started, a shy smile tugging at his lips. "Lumi is starting to grow faster than we expected and some of her clothes no longer fit her. I was thinking of going down to Ninjago City with Harumi while you guys stay here and...take care of her."

From across him, Harumi refused to make eye contact. She looked down at her food, occasionally poking the dumplings with her chopsticks. She hasn't been alone with Lloyd in a long time and it was starting to draw up some unwanted nervousness.

Cole raised an eyebrow. "Like a date?" He grabbed a cup of water and chugged it down, leaving Lloyd with wide eyes.

"What?! No! No. I—." His voice started growing weaker, forcing him to clear his throat. "Rumi can't be away from me."

This piqued everyone's interest—Lloyd realized he may have chosen the wrong words—and soon, a train of teasing began.

Nya went first. "So, it is a date." She had a huge smirk on her face which Lloyd wanted to wipe away.

Kai crossed his arms and chuckled, shaking his head as he did. "We'll watch your kid for you. Just be careful not to make another one." He sent a wink in the boy's direction, making Lloyd glare at him in response.

"I believe it is necessary for them to be together because of the band around Harumi's ankle. Without Lloyd by her side, the police would immediately come to our location." Zane explained, which Lloyd will forever be grateful for.

"Why don't you just disable it for the time that you are gone?" Pixal inquired creating a chorus of 'ooh's' echo around the monastery.

Lloyd sighed and placed his face in his hand. "Will you watch Lumi or not?"

"Of course we will!" Jay exclaimed and went to take the baby from his arms. "Little Lumi loves spending time with her aunts and uncles."

The baby nuzzled her face into his shoulder and cooed, making everyone melt at the sight.

"You know, while we're gone, it wouldn't hurt if you and Nya decide you want to give Lumi a cousin." Harumi teased, nudging the girl beside her who was now choking on her drink.

"What?!" She exclaimed, eyeing the blonde.

Harumi shrugged. "Just a suggestion." Raising her glass to her mouth, Lloyd did not miss the smirk form on her face as she winked at him.

The boy cleared his throat and turned his head away. He wasn't going to let anyone know that the action made him blush.

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"I stocked lots of milk in the fridge in case she gets hungry, her diaper changing kit is just under our bed, and she has to nap at exactly three in the afternoon otherwise she'll get cranky–."

"Harumi, relax. We got this." Cole patted her shoulder and twisted the cover of the bottle, keeping the contents away from spilling.

She took a deep breath and nodded "Okay. Okay."

Making her way towards Lumi–who was resting in Zane's arms–she placed a quick kiss on her forehead and stroked her cheek.

"You behave, Lumi. Mommy and Daddy will be back soon."

The baby smiled and followed them with her eyes as Lloyd and Harumi bid goodbye to the rest of the ninja before leaving the monastery.

"How hard could this be?" Kai exclaimed and laid down on the couch, his hands behind his head.

The pair got into Lloyd's car and were now making their way towards Ninjago City. It had been a while since Harumi had seen the city, not that she wanted to anyways, but it was nice to get out of the house every once in a while.

"Are you sure you want to bring me?" Harumi asked from the back seat, fidgeting with her hands as she did. They had to place on some disguises, which she thought looked ridiculous, in order not to attract too much attention.

From the front, Lloyd smiled. "Of course! I didn't want to say it in front of the others, but I could use your help in picking out her clothes."

This made Harumi laugh, who knew the Green Ninja had no idea how to dress up a child?

"I got it, Lloyd. Don't worry."

They arrived in front of the Ninjago City Mall, a huge place filled with hundreds of stores and a variety of choices. The best place to shop for baby items. Lloyd parked the car a few feet away from the doors and opened the hood to be greeted by a bright ray of sunlight.

"Come on, Rumi." His hand was extended to help her out of the car.

Hesitantly, she took it and climbed out.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Lloyd noticed the look on her face and squeezed her hand. "Hey, you've changed. For all I know, you're the best mother Lumi could ever have." He offered a smile. "Don't pay attention to what everyone has to say about you."

Sometimes Harumi wondered how she ever got so lucky with him. Maybe it was the world's way of showing her that she wasn't alone anymore, that there was someone who is capable of loving her.

After hearing that, Harumi felt a boost of confidence which made her break out into a run and drag Lloyd behind her as she headed for the mall entrance.

"Where should we go first?!"

"How about the department store?"

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While her parents were out shopping, Lumi was having fun giving the ninja a hard time. For the past 30 minutes, she vomited on Kai–who fed her way too much milk–, left a surprise in her diaper for Nya and Pixal, almost fell off Cole's shoulder with all her squirming, and was now crying with Jay and Zane as they passed her back and forth.

"What do we do?" Jay pleaded, swaying from left and right as he tried to calm her down.

"Most babies have recognized their parent's scent by this time. Perhaps she is missing Lloyd and Harumi?" Pixal suggested after doing a quick research through her database.

"How are we supposed to get their scents?" Nya threw her hands in the air, the crying was starting to get to her.

Cole thought for a moment but it didn't help that Kai was sitting right next to him. "Are you sure you got all the vomit out?"

"Why? Is there more?" Kai started panicking, checking every inch of his body to make sure he was clean.

"No. But you smell like it!"

Zane lit up at the words. "That's it!" He exclaimed and ran out of the room, leaving his fellow ninja confused.

"Cole! It's your turn." Jay cried, he was starting to grow tired of the crying and dancing he's been doing.

The Master of Earth got up and took Lumi in his arms. The baby stopped crying for a moment to get a good look of who was now carrying her before returning to her tantrum when she realized it was not her parents.

Zane reentered the room, a pile of Lloyd's clothes in his arms, and placed it on the couch.

"If it's their scent she needs, then perhaps Lloyd's clothes would be enough to stop her crying." He explained and quickly placed a green shirt over his nindroid body.

Holding his arms out, Cole handed him Lumi. She rested her cheek on his shoulder and contemplated for a moment. Everyone held their breath, absolutely terrified how she'd react. Lumi cooed and made herself comfortable in Zane's arms, making everyone sigh in relief.

"I can't believe that worked!" Jay exclaimed from his spot on the couch.

"She'll go to sleep now." Zane nodded.

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"Why does everything have to be so dark?!"

"Because you chose nothing but light colors!"

Unlike the monastery, not everyone was having a peaceful day–especially the sales representatives who were in charge of helping out Lloyd and Harumi–since the pair had been arguing over clothes.

"She would look cute in pink!"

"Are you kidding me? She looks cute in grey!"

"Um, perhaps you could get something with both colors?" One of the sales representatives suggested, her voice shaky as she interrupted their argument.

"No!" Lloyd and Harumi responded at the same time, each holding up a different outfit for their daughter.

"Excuse me, Mr. Green Ninja?" Another person who worked there stepped forward. "But, who exactly is this for?"

The question made the couple freeze. Their mouths hung open, but no words came out.

Harumi managed to come up with an excuse on the spot. "For a friend."

"Yes! It is definitely for one of our friends." Lloyd agreed, building up on her excuse.

"Is one of the ninja expecting a baby?"

Harumi held herself back from pointing out that they all had too many questions but Lloyd placed a hand in front of her and responded instead.

"No. But we have other friends who are." He smiled and eyed the clothes in his hand before turning to Harumi's. "We'll take both."

Her eyes widened, pulling him aside as the staff got the clothes they wanted in Lumi's size. "How are we going to pay for all of this?"

"Relax. I've been saving up my allowance from mom and Master Wu."

"What? Lloyd we can't always depend on them to pay for everything Lumi needs."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Harumi thought for a moment, grabbing the clothes from the sales representative and pushing the little shopping cart they had as they moved onto another section of the department store.

They had managed to get two boxes of diapers–which Lloyd was sure would last them until Friday–a few toys Harumi found cute, and new clothes. But that was only the surface of the things they needed to buy.

"Well, why don't we get jobs?" Harumi suggested, after taking some time to think, as they entered the pajama's section.

Lloyd turned his head away from a pair of green pajamas and towards her direction. "What about Lumi?"

"We can work in shifts! I'll work at night and you can work during the day, at least this way the ninja won't have to look after her so much."

He thought about it for a moment and Lloyd could understand her point. But there was still one thing he was concerned about.

"So...I can't see you?" He rubbed the back of his neck, realizing how embarrassing his words were out loud.

Harumi peaked behind the section of clothes she was checking out to see a deep blush on his face. She felt her cheeks heat up too, realizing that maybe he also wanted to spend time with her.

"Of course you will, Lloyd." She giggled, deciding to tease him about this to see how he'll react. "We both know I can't stand being away from you either." She winked at him and disappeared behind the clothes.

His eyes widened at her words, his heart racing faster than ever. "R-right." Lloyd stuttered and cleared his throat. "So um, should we get this?"

She poked her head again but this time she was met face to face with Lloyd who did the same when he tried to show her the clothes he picked up.

Harumi was inches away, the only thing separating them was a small space that prevented her from getting close to his lips. She stared into his eyes–neither of them bothering to move–as Lloyd stared into hers, both aware that they were thinking the same thing.

"Are you sure we won't get caught?" Lloyd whispered, pressing his lips back onto hers, after taking a quick look around.

"No one has to know, Greenie." Harumi giggled, her speech slurred from all the alcohol she drank, and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer.

They haven't been this close since that night.

Lloyd cleared his throat–being the first one to pull away–and repeated his question. "Should we get this?" He held up a hanger that contained a set of pajamas, each with different colors.

Harumi looked at it for a moment and returned her eyes back to Lloyd, forcing a smile on her face. "Sure."

The rest of the shopping was done in complete silence. The air was awkward and even looking at each other was enough for both of them to remember the moment and Harumi couldn't stand it. For three months they were perfectly fine yet things just had to be messed up again.

As they reached the counter, they finally spoke to one another.

"Are you, um, hungry?" Harumi looked down at the clothes she was taking out of their little shopping cart, not bothering to make eye contact with him.

"I could eat." Lloyd shrugged–not making the situation any better–as he mirrored her actions.

Harumi only nodded and waited as the cashier checked out their items.