Handicapped in Hawai'i

Sixteen

January, 1995

By the Time New Year's finally rolled around, things were going better than ever for both of the handicapped musicians. Once he'd gotten his youngest child on more of a schedule, Rob'd finally made the decision to get back into the studio with his band. This made the third Time they'd embarked on such an endeavor with a new guitarist since Blues'd joined them, but they were willing to give it another shot to see if the third Time was the Charm or not. Granted, they'd a bit of a complication in that he'd brought Zep to the mainland with him so that his mother and aunt weren't under as much pressure, but he was a bigger help than they'd been anticipating.

        While the bassist was working to get his band back on track, rather than completely giving up on the last fifteen Years of his Life, Richie was working on just taking care of himself far better. He was still doing physical therapy to regain strength in his arm, which was still a bit weak from his shoulder replacement, but it was getting better. If nothing else, at least he'd been able to help with setting up his unborn daughter's nursery, which they'd almost run outta Time to do.

        Leilani was only a couple weeks away from the due date she'd been given when she'd first found out that she was pregnant, at best. Her belly almost looked like a boulder attached to her middle, just like her sister's had when she'd reached the same point in all three of her own pregnancies. She was uncomfortable more oft than she wasn't, but that wasta be expected with another nearly full-grown human taking up residence in her middle. But she didn't let that stop her from putting the final touches on her fiancé's wedding garb since it was all but done.

        Just as they'd agreed on the Summer previous, it was essentially a typical yukata from the waist up like one'd find over in Japan. They'd purposely made it a bit tighter around his torso so he wouldn't have to worry about any loose material causing him to trip. Another difference was that the sleeves were shorter than a Traditional mens' yukata to accommodate his walking on his hands.

        "I definitely can't wait for our big Day," the virtuoso sighed, pulling his shirt back on after one final fitting to make sure no other alterations were necessary.

        "I can't, either," she agreed, gingerly settling it on a hanger so it could be hung in their closet, but keep its shape. "Course, there's another Day I can't wait for just as much."

        "You and me, both," Richie chuckled, waiting on their bed for her to Return. "I'll readily admit that you're prolly more anxious than I am, but I can't wait to meet our baby girl, myself."

        "Ugh, I can never get her feet outta my ribs anymore," his fiancé grumbled, her smile proving that she wouldn't have it any other way as she rubbed her bulging belly.

        "If I could help ya with that, I would," he told her. "Butcha already Curse my name enough for putting her there."

        "Maybe, but we're both to blame when it's all said and done," Leilani admitted.

        "Yeah, that's definitely true," the virtuoso agreed. "But are we still agreed on her name?"

        "Elysia Noelani works for me," she said, nodding. "I mean, the Elysian Fields of Greek Mythology can kinda be considered another variant of Heaven, and I'm sure it's a form of Mist all its own."

        "At least it brings out both our heritage like Rob and Kailani managed to do for the most part," Richie mused. "'Cuz the Greek's sorely lacking anywhere else in my family."

        "I'm just glad that we agreed on Kotzen being enough Russian in her name!" his fiancé laughed. "'Cuz all the Russian given names we found for girls absolutely sucked."