Eight Hours
Hour One
Raleigh Becket sat in his chair in the hallway and waited, trying to focus on anything other than what his wife was currently going through.
Mako's occasional screams of pain were making that very hard to do, however.
"Can I get you anything, Mister Beckett?"
"No," Raleigh told the nurse, struggling not to sound tense. "I'm fine. Just… if you get the chance, tell Mako I'm here, all right?"
The nurse smiled and nodded.
"Of course," she said. "I'll be sure to let her know."
Raleigh sighed and stared at the wall across from him, forcing his hand to slowly unclench out of a fist as Mako's scream cut through the calm of the hospital once again.
Hour Two
Raleigh decided to go get lunch after the tension became too much to bear— he figured that punching a hole through the wall of the hospital hallway wouldn't be looked upon kindly by the staff. The walk up to the cafeteria did little to clear his head, though, and Raleigh thought he could feel Mako's discomfort in the corner of his mind even as he tried to distance himself from it. Maybe it was a side-effect of the Drift, but whatever it was made Raleigh feel wretched.
He wanted to help Mako, to ease her pain, and there was nothing he could do. He felt worthless, for the first time in years, and it was maddening.
"Hey, Becket boy!" a familiar voice called out, drawing Raleigh's eyes over across the cafeteria. "What're you doing here?"
Raleigh got his food and walked over to join Tendo Choi at his table, explaining the situation. Tendo frowned in sympathy, drinking from his glass of water as Raleigh took a bite out of his chicken.
"I know how that feels, man," Tendo said, "and I'm sorry. But Mako'll get through this. She's been through a lot worse. Allison made it out the other end fine— I'm here for Gabriel's one year check-up, matter of fact."
"Congratulations," Raleigh said, forcing himself to smile. "Crazy to think it's already been a year."
"Tell me about it, man," Tendo said, shaking his head. "It's like, you blink and they get older. It's ridiculous. I can barely keep up with the little guy any more. Where he gets all that energy, I wish I knew."
Raleigh chuckled, eating his lunch and trying to force his sense of unease out of his mind. But it stayed there, lodged like a splinter and refusing to go away.
"I just want to be there for her," he said, "but there's nothing I can do."
"You're here for her now, man," Tendo said, his voice serious. "That counts for a lot. You know how many husbands just sit this part out and wait for the good news to come along once everything's over and done with?" Tendo shook his head. "Way to many, Becket boy. Way too many."
Raleigh finished his lunch in silence, before bidding farewell to his friend and leaving the cafeteria.
Hour Four
Raleigh returned to his empty chair in the hallway after spending an hour walking around trying not to hate himself, feeling worse and worse as each minute ticked by and he still hadn't thought of some miraculous solution to Mako's current painful situation. Raleigh found his thoughts drifting to Yancy, and he chuckled to himself as he thought about what his brother would think about this.
"You're way in over your head, kid," Raleigh could hear him saying. "I mean, I'm happy for you, but do you have any idea what this is gonna be like? No, you don't. Have fun, buddy."
Raleigh smiled, but it faded from his face as he heard Mako groan in pain again.
She could get through this, he knew it. But that didn't mean it didn't suck, all the same.
Hour Six
Raleigh was about ready to slam his head straight through the wall, property damage fees be damned. How had humanity not already evolved a way to make this whole thing painless? Was it some sort of sick joke?
And would anyone really care if he put a hole in the wall with his head?
"Mister Becket!"
Raleigh turned at the sound of his name, surprised to see Marshal Hercules Hansen walking down the hall towards him. Raleigh instinctively snapped to attention, before he remembered that the Marshal technically wasn't his commanding officer anymore. He relaxed, and Herc smiled as he came within arms-length and extended his hand.
"Congratulations," Herc said, as Raleigh took his hand. "To be honest, I was wondering when I'd be able to say that. Took you two long enough."
"We've been trying," Raleigh replied with a thin smile. "Just didn't work out until now."
The sound of Mako groaning loudly again shattered the moment, and Raleigh grimaced again as his hands clenched by his sides.
"Was it this bad for you, sir?" he asked, and Herc sighed.
"It was," the Marshal answered. "But it turned out all right in the end."
The silence that settled between them was melancholy, and it wasn't long before Herc cleared his throat and spoke again, changing the subject.
"The Pan Pacific Council has re-initiated the Jaeger Program," he said. "On a smaller scale, to help with the rebuilding effort. But the Jaegers will still need pilots, even if they are a lot shorter."
"And you want to know if we'd be part of that, sir?"
Herc nodded. Raleigh smiled, shrugging.
"That's sort of outta my hands at this point," he answered. "But I can tell you that we'd need at least a few years before deciding one way or the other."
The Marshal smiled.
"I understand. Just keep it in mind," he said, as he took a seat in the chair next to Raleigh's.
"What?" Herc asked, as Raleigh looked at him, surprised. "You think I'm gonna leave you to sit through this alone? Don't be an idiot, Raleigh."
Raleigh smiled, relieved.
"I appreciate it, sir," he said, taking a seat next to Herc.
Hour Seven
"Shouldn't she be done by now?"
"She'll be done when she's done," Herc said, putting a hand on Raleigh's shoulder. "Everyone's different."
Raleigh could hear Mako soldiering through the final steps of the process, and grit his teeth.
"Sir, can I ask you a personal question?"
"You can," Herc replied. "And you can drop the 'Sir', if you feel like it."
"When it was your turn," Raleigh said, "were you scared?"
Herc chuckled, shaking his head.
"Honestly," he said, "I was terrified. About as scared as I've ever been in my life. I didn't tell anyone, but I was. It's normal."
"I just…" Raleigh trailed off, sighing. "I just don't want to mess it up. I owe her that."
"You won't," Herc assured him, speaking with conviction. "I've seen you fight and kill Kaiju that would make most people piss themselves, Raleigh. Compared to that, being a parent is only a little bit harder. You'll be fine. And it's not like you'll be doing it alone, either," Herc finished, and Raleigh smiled.
"Thank you, sir," he said. "I hope you're right."
Herc smiled in kind.
"Trust me," he said, getting up and looking down at Raleigh with an unreadable expression. "I am."
Hour Eight
"Mister Becket? You can come in now."
Raleigh stared at the doctor for a few long moments, not quite trusting his legs to carry him all the way to Mako's room without causing him to trip and fall like an idiot. Slowly but surely, he put one foot in front of the other and walked towards the door.
When he stepped through the threshold, what Raleigh saw made his breath catch in his throat. He never thought he would be lucky enough to live through the Kaiju war and be able to settle down with Mako, let alone see what was in front of him at this moment.
Mako was lying on her bed, looking exhausted and happier than Raleigh had ever seen her before. A swaddled bundle was cradled against her chest, and Raleigh could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he walked over to Mako's bedside.
"Are you… is she…" Raleigh stopped himself, catching his breath and trying again. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," Mako said, still grinning, as the newborn shifted and turned her head towards Raleigh. Her eyes widened and she reached out a tiny hand towards her father, making an insistent noise.
"Looks like she wants you to hold her," the doctor said with a smile. "She recognizes your voice, Mister Becket."
Raleigh reached out with slightly trembling hands and took his daughter from Mako, cradling the newborn against his chest as she looked up at him with big, blue eyes.
"Hey, Yuriko," Raleigh said softly, brushing one of his hands gently along the top of her head, where dark hair had already begun to grow.
"Welcome to the family."
Yuriko gurgled contentedly, reaching up and gripping one of Raleigh's fingers as tightly as she could. Raleigh smiled, rocking his daughter gently back to sleep as he sat down on the bed next to Mako.
"She's beautiful," Raleigh told his wife, and Mako smiled.
"Of course she is," she said. "She's ours."
Raleigh kept his laugh restrained behind a smile, not wanting to wake the newborn cradled in his arms. He handed Yuriko back to Mako, who kept rocking her daughter back and forth and began singing a lullaby in Japanese.
It was a lullaby Raleigh recognized from Mako's memories in the Drift. He smiled once again, blinking away the tears of happiness at the corners of his eyes.
…
…
A/N: :-D