Saro's Album

Saro Smasher

Zoro moved his hand on the bed in his sleep. He opened his eyes when he didn't find anyone beside him. He sat up and looked around the room. It was six in the evening according to the alarm clock and he was alone in the room. Zoro got out of bed and went into the drawing room.

Sanji was busy in the kitchen adjacent to the drawing room while Saro was playing on his own near the sofa. Zoro walked into the kitchen and peered over Sanji's shoulder.

Zoro: "What're you doing?"

Sanji: (still focussing on the work he was doing) "Preparing for dinner."

Zoro: "Hm."

Zoro kept staring at Sanji's back thoughtfully for a moment and then he embraced Sanji from behind resting his hands over his wife's tummy over his panda apron. He placed a kiss on Sanji's neck.

This sudden behaviour made Sanji blush but he didn't let it show in his voice.

Sanji: (cool voice) "Continue and you won't be getting any evening snacks Marimo."

Zoro backed off with a kicked puppy face. He then went over to where Saro was playing.

Sanji: (smirking to himself) "Baka Marimo"

Saro had become a procrawler by now so much that when the chibi was on a crawling spree it gave both Zoro and Sanji a good exercise. He also got bored easily and kept shifting from one toy to another and when he ran out of interesting toys he would immediately crawl off and pull at anything that came within his reach. The result was the unfortunate and untimely demise of a lot of objects around the house be it Sanji's favourite flower pot or Zoro's portable speaker... (Author: "It's a long list. May their souls rest in peace.")

Now for those of you thinking that one shouldn't be keeping these things near a child to begin with, well you're yet to learn of Saro's favourite hobby these days that earned him the name, "THE SARO SMASHER" from Sanji. According to his mother, this program activated in Saro's mind at random times of the day making him suddenly dash off in any direction, crawling at full speed till he eventually collided head first into something. As a result even if objects were kept out of his reach it didn't necessarily guarantee their safety.

The child after bonking his head would finally calm down and sit, feeling his forehead with his tiny paws. The place would already have formed a lump and his pale skin would become red. Saro's lips would quiver and his sparkly, green eyes would water up and he would burst into tears. He would only stop after he had been petted and kissed a lot of times on his "ouchie" by his "mama" and "papa". However, he wouldn't learn his lesson. Bottom line of the story, Saro couldn't sit still for long.

One day coming home from office Zoro saw a spectacular scene when he opened the door. A butt naked Saro crawling out of the bedroom at full speed followed by a crawling Sanji holding a new diaper and chasing after him. Saro, who was thoroughly enjoying this game of tag smiling his million dollar smile crawled up his papa's leg and was finally caught by Zoro. (Author: "Finally he was made to wear the diaper.")

Zoro couldn't bear to see Saro cry every time he bonked his head. One Sunday Sanji woke up to find Zoro sitting on the drawing room floor and cushions spread all around him. Zoro was fixing one cushion to the wall a few inches above the floor with the help of nails. The man was so engrossed in hammering the nails that he didn't notice when Sanji called him.

This pissed off Sanji and he landed a well deserved kick on Zoro's head making the later stop his work to rub his head and look back angrily at Sanji.

Zoro: (mad) "What the hell was that for?"

Sanji: (crouching down beside Zoro speaks in a relaxed tone) "What're you up to kuso Marimo?"

Zoro: (beaming proudly all of sudden) "You'll see when Saro wakes up!"

Sanji: (taken aback) "Uh.... o-okay."

Sanji started preparing breakfast while Zoro continued with his work. By the time Saro woke up Zoro had applied cushions to the entire length of two walls in the drawing room but was now out of cushions.

Saro came out and saw the change in decoration. He didn't like it and immediately turned about crawling at full speed back into the bedroom. However, Zoro intercepted him and put him back on the drawing room floor closing the door to the bedroom behind him.

Saro looked around him for a moment. The bedroom was off limits. The two walls of the drawing room he liked most had changed. One side was the kitchen where his "mama" was busy while the remaining wall was blocked by the sofa.

Saro puffed up his marshmallow cheeks in dismay. As his pink lower lip quivered on the verge of tears he scanned the room once more and dashed off towards the centre table. The child crawled under the table and suddenly sat up hitting his head hard on the wood in the process.

Saro cried out in pain and Zoro and Sanji rushed to him at once. They moved the table and Sanji took Saro in his arms, patting and blowing on his head gently to ease the pain. Zoro sat down beside them with a defeated look on his face.

Zoro: (helpless voice) "It's still useless after using all those cushions....."

Sanji: (irritated) "What are you going on about stupid Marimo?" (He was still patting Saro's head)

Zoro: "Saro still got hurt and I am already out of cushions!"

Sanji: "Well obviously he got hurt! How would cushioning only that portion of the wall protect him?"

Zoro: (awed voice) "So should I use the pillows too?"

Sanji: (very irritated) "You ...will stay away from my pillows!" (Threatening voice and deadly stare at Zoro)

Sanji handing Saro over to Zoro said, "Hold him. I'll show you how it's done!"

Sanji went into the bedroom and came out in a while with a bag in hand. He placed it on the sofa and brought out a small, black, children's helmet out of it with round white ears on top.

Sanji: (holding out the helmet for Saro to see) "Who wants to be Panda Man?"

Saro looked at the object for a moment with teary eyes while sitting on Zoro's lap. The chibi's face immediately brightened up, his eyes glinted with curiosity and a smile spread across his face. He got down from his papa's lap and went to his mama. Sanji fastened the lock of the helmet strap securely around Saro's face and let him off.

Saro went around in every possible direction gleefully, wearing the helmet and bonking into places. However, the helmet protected him from injury while the rubber ears made a sound every time they got squished. Saro loved the sound and the helmet met with his immediate approval. Sanji smiled at the child standing beside Zoro.

Zoro however, wasn't pleased at this and turned about sitting cross legged on the floor. Sanji bent down beside him but he just turned away his face.

Sanji: "So .... What has gotten into you?"

Zoro just shook his head in reply.

Sanji stifled a laugh and said in a serious tone, "Well you did a good job on your own so how about a treat with fine wine tonight after Saro falls asleep?"

Zoro: (without turning around) "You'll also make snacks?"

Sanji: "Only if you remove these cushions first and put things back to how they were before!"

Zoro turns around immediately and nods while blushing.

Sanji: "OK then!" (Smiles his lovely smile making Zoro blush harder)

Sanji : (internal thought while walking back in to the kitchen) "How am I still keeping my sanity while taking care of these two kids I wonder?..."