Air let out a sigh. "Kisame, they're due any day now… I'm scared." She swallowed, examining her wedding ring as Kisame slid into the bed with her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her curled form to him, kissing her hair and placing his hands on her swollen stomach.
"It's alright, Air, I'm scared, too." He fought a shudder, tightening his hold on her. "But it'll be so worth it."
She took a breath, allowing her eyes to close, one ear twitching a bit. "Mm-hmm…" She trailed off. Kisame could tell she was tired. She had been that way since she had been depressed… but it was no matter now, she was all right.
He couldn't fight the images coming into his mind, the horrified look on her face when he made her drink his blood. The starved, blank look throughout her whole body as she turned to face him, her eyes screaming with hunger and thirst, her lips parting and saying those words that drove the knife through his heart, you said you didn't want them… He shook his head. No, he shouldn't be thinking about that, he should be thinking about what will happen now. He let out a breath, speaking softy into her hair. "Let's just go to sleep, kay?" He kissed one of her ears, and a slight shudder rippled through her body. She nodded lightly in agreement, and soon she was out. Kisame smiled to himself, pulling her sleeping body as close to him as he could without waking her, his eyes shutting once again as he, too, slipped into sleep.
A few hours later, it was clear that it wasn't raining, for the first time in days. All was calm in the Akatsuki cave, the only sound being the occasional snore and the breathing of its occupants.
Suddenly, though, Air's eyes flashed open, her hands squeezing Kisame's with a vice-like grip. Her breath hitched for a moment, then, she let out a shriek of pure unadulterated pain.
Kisame jumped awake and yelped himself, pulling his hands away from hers and going into protective mode. "Air! Air, what's wrong???" He was afraid to touch her, she was still screaming. A few seconds later she stopped screaming, panting as if she'd just run a marathon. She was crying. Her hands were over her stomach, and every few seconds her face contorted into the same one it did when she was screaming.
Automatically, he understood. Oh, God, it's time. He swallowed before leaping off the bed, jostling her and making her scream again. "I'll be right back, I promise! I'll go get Itachi!" And in a flash he was out of the room, bounding down the hallway and pounding his fist on Itachi's bedroom door. "Itachi! Itachi, come quick! Itachi!" His voice was frantic, but not near as much as he really was.
With a sigh, Itachi answered his door and looked Kisame directly in the eyes. Having been reading just before, he was still dressed in his usual attire, holding his book in one hand. "What do you want, Kisame?"
Kisame stopped for a minute to catch his breath, cringing slightly at the sound of another scream coming from Air down the hallway. "Itachi, you need to help, it's Air…" He trailed off, swallowing. "It's time."
Itachi stood there for a moment, his face remaining blank, but dropping his book and flashing down the hallway into the room where Air resided.
Air hadn't moved from her position, other than curling up and holding her hands over her stomach, panting still, tears rolling down her face. Her eyes were shut tight, her face red and in pain.
Itachi looked over at Kisame. "We have to move her." The look on Kisame's face said that he was afraid to do that, too. Itachi sighed. "If we don't there could be difficulties. Hold her down if you must."
Kisame nodded. Anything that meant keeping Air unhurt, he would do. He strode over to Air, stroking her hair and saying softly, "Air, Air, you need to move…" He swallowed, kneeling at the bedside, wiping the tears away from her face, looking at her even though she wasn't looking at him. "Air, please, I know it hurts, but you need to move…"
She didn't budge, nor did she even open her eyes. She just whimpered for a moment before screaming again, this time for a shorter period of time, but louder.
Itachi was at her side in a second, the blank look remaining on his face. Without so much as a word, he reached out and grabbed Air by the shoulders, roughly dragging her down closer to the end of the end of the bed and turning her onto her back. She yelped and protested by thrashing a bit, unable to move around much due to the amount of movement coming from her belly.
When she was at the end of the bed, and Itachi let go of her, she turned on her side again and curled up, holding her stomach and whimpering, closing her eyes. "It hurts!!!!"
Kisame swallowed, mouthed the words "I'm sorry", and jumped on the bed again, grabbing her shoulders and pinning her on her back, then pulled her up so that she was leaning back on his knees, her head resting on his stomach. He kept his hands on her arms to keep her from thrashing around, though she was trying her hardest to curl up again.
Itachi had her ankles, and was having a hard time as it was keeping her from kicking his face. Her nightgown had by now rolled up just past the top of her thighs, going up a little more with each attempt to move. Kisame grimaced. He didn't like Itachi having that view of his wife, but he couldn't help it. He looked down at Air, who was attempting to thrash around, yet again. The look on her face was purely frantic… she was so afraid, her eyes were finally open, small sounds escaping her lips every few seconds, her breathing heavy.
Kisame stroked her face a bit, trying not to pay attention to the fact that Itachi was prying her legs apart. Air was looking in his eyes, swallowing every few seconds. She was in pain. He hated that, and tried not to think about that, either… he just thought about her. Her face, her hair, her smile… he tried so hard to imagine her smiling, but in the state she was in… it just wasn't possible for him.
Air looked into his eyes for another moment before her breath hitched, her eyes closing tightly, letting out another scream. He kept stroking the side of her face, waiting with her for the pain to pass. She brought her hands to grasp his wrists, her grip weak yet primal at the same time.
Itachi looked at Air, his face showing that he was actually very concerned. "Air, when I tell you, I need you to push as hard as you can, you hear me?" Air opened her eyes lightly, bit her lip and nodded at him. "Good." Was all he said before lowering himself to his knees and dropping out of their view. He stayed silent for a moment, Kisame watching Air's face as it changed expressions, darkening in shade for a few seconds before he heard Itachi speak again. "It's almost time for you to push, Air." She nodded again.
Kisame looked at her for a moment, his hand tracing along her features, through her hair, and back to the side of her face. "Air… Air, it's alright… It's okay, you're fine…" He would say anything to make her stop crying. She swallowed and mouthed the words "I'm sorry" to him as he once again wiped away her tears.
Her breathing remained heavy and sped up over the next few minutes, her ears folded flat against her head. Kisame shifted slightly so that he could lean down and kiss her forehead. He sighed and straightened himself again into his original position.
Itachi interrupted Air before she could say anything. "Air, it's time, push!"
Air's face contorted again and she groaned through her teeth, her face turning an even darker shade of red as she pushed. She kept at it for a moment, until Itachi said that she could relax, then she stopped, let out a gush of air and cried out in pain. Kisame stroked her cheek again, murmuring encouragements to her. "You're doing a great job, Air, I'm so proud of you, just keep going!" She kept her eyes closed and continued with her quickened breathing.
Itachi spoke up again, joining in the encouragements. "Air, he's absolutely right, you're doing wonderfully, the first one is almost here. It's almost time to push again, are you ready?" Air nodded after a moment, and Kisame spoke for her, saying that, yes, she was ready. Itachi nodded back at them and went back onto his knees. "Alright, ready, one, two, three, push!"
Kisame watched Air's face contort once more and felt her grip on his wrists tighten, but he kept going with the encouragements, hard as they were to hear over her screaming.
Itachi told her to stop. After a pause, a snip of scissors was heard, and then Itachi spoke. "It's a boy. Congratulations. Air, you won't have to push for a while yet." Air sighed and smiled up at Kisame, who looked back down at her and grinned as the sounds of a newborn baby crying filled the room. Kisame felt a new stream of tears fall down Air's face, and wiped them away, shifting around so that he could lean down and kiss her. She kissed him back for a brief moment before speaking, her voice tired and hoarse.
"Wh… Where is he? Let me hold him… please…" She said as Kisame took hold of her and moved her so that she was sitting more upright. Itachi was wiping the baby down with a cloth, so neither of the parents could see him just yet. But his cry sounded powerful and strong, making Kisame grin even more. He had a strong son, his wife was alright, and they still had another child to come. Air's grip on his hand tightened for a second, and he lifted her hand up to kiss the back of it.
Itachi came around the side of the bed, holding a bundle in his hands. He helped Air to hold the bundle, and then walked over to the other side of the room.
Kisame looked down at the small child in Air's arms. He had Air's skin color and red eyes, and one could even tell that he had small cat ears from under the cloth he was swaddled in. The most striking feature, though, was the fact that he had dark blue hair, like Kisame's.
Air's arms were shaking with the baby in them. Kisame reached down to help her out by also wrapping his arms around his son. He felt something warm in his heart, almost burning. He smiled down at the child and kissed Air's hair.
Airs swallowed, her voice hoarse, but at the same time, clear. "H-hello, Hideki." Kisame smiled, remembering the night they chose names. What would his other son be called, he wondered?
The two remained in their position for a few more minutes, staring at the baby until Itachi was at the bedside again. "Air, Kisame, it's time for the next baby to come." He reached down and took the baby from their arms. Air automatically reached for the baby, but Itachi had it out of her grasp. "You shouldn't squeeze him when you're pushing, Air." She watched him for a moment, then leaned back into Kisame and grabbed his hands.
"Okay, I'm ready." Itachi nodded to Air and Kisame, setting the baby down in the cradle they'd previously bought for the occasion.
Three hours later, Kisame walked back into the room. Air was lying back against the pillows, holding her children in either arm. She looked exhausted, her eyes half-closed, staring down at the babies.
Hideki looked just like his mother, but with his father's hair. Chiharu, the daughter, took Kisame by surprise. When Itachi placed the baby in Kisame's arms, he was astonished to see that Chiharu, like her father, had blue skin, yellow eyes, and gills. Her features were more like her mothers, and, even more to his surprise; she ended up having her mother's fiery red hair.
Air looked up at him and smiled weakly. "Aren't they beautiful?" She said. Her voice was still hoarse, and her face was still red, but she sounded happy.
Kisame sighed and smiled back, sitting on the bed next to her. "Yes, and they're strong, too." He reaches out and ran his fingers lightly across each child's face. Chiharu blinked and looked around, yellow eyes wide and curious. Hideki blinked, but went back to sleep. Kisame looked at Air and put his hand to her forehead. Her fever had gone down in the last few hours. "Does it still hurt?"
Air shrugged. "No, not really." She yawned. "I'm just really tired."
"Alright, let's get some sleep then." He stood and put the children in the cradle next to the bed, then crawled under the covers and kissed her forehead.
"Ah, don't do that, I'm all sweaty…" Air protested, but Kisame didn't care, nor listen as he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her waist, something he hadn't been able to do in a while due to her stomach. After a slight struggle, Air gave up, sighing and curling up into a ball. "Goodnight, Kisame, I love you."
Kisame looked at the clock and decided not to tell Air that it was morning, kissing her hair and closing his eyes. "Goodnight, Air. I love you, too."