Soul twiddled his thumbs as sweat poured down his forehead, anxious and scared. Maka's grunts and screams could be heard from in the hallway, and it chilled him every time one reached his ears. There was another one.
Surely giving birth can't take this long? he thought. I hope Maka's okay.
He sighed; Spirit's pacing caught his eyes. Spirit walked back and forth for what seemed like forever, wincing slightly every time he heard Maka. Both he and Soul had tried to get into the room, but Stein had said to stay out. He knew it would be better that way.
Suddenly Maka's screams grew louder, her father and her husband rushed over to the doors and pounded on them with their fists.
"STEIN IF YOU'RE HURTING MY DAUGHTER I WILL SLICE YOU INTO SO MANY PIECES YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO STITCH YOURSELF TOGETHER AGAIN!" Spirit yelled, and continued to pound on the door.
"SAME GOES HERE!" Soul shouted. "THAT'S MY WIFE, SHE BETTER BE OK!"
Suddenly the screaming stopped. Dead silence lay thick over the hallway. Spirit couldn't take it anymore; he thrust out his leg and busted down the door. He and soul quickly ran into the room through the self-made entrance.
"Maka! Maka are you-" Soul and Spirit were cut off in unison as their eyes gazed upon Maka, a small bundle cradled in her arms. Stein stood to the left, hands in his pockets.
"Come and meet your new member of the family, boys," he said, calm and cool as usual.
They walked over to the bed where Maka lay, and almost broke into tears of joy. Soul wiped them away, but Spirit knelt and cried, "I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M A GRANDFATHER!" Stein rolled his eyes.
"He's beautiful, Maka," Soul said, caressing the cheek of the infant.
"She, Soul. It's a she," Maka corrected softly.
"She's beautiful. What are we gonna name her?" Soul asked quietly, Spirit happily crying and rolling on the floor in the background.
"Ghost. Let's name her Ghost."
"Ghost. Yeah. It has a nice ring to it."
Soul and Maka hugged the child, and Stein smiled. "If that's all, I'm going to go home." He walked out and down the hallway, opening and closing the big doors behind him. He walked over to his motorcycle, patterned with stitches like almost everything he owned, started it up, and drove off back to his house.
Once he reached it, Stein hopped off of his bike and put it into the garage, pulling the door down as he left. He walked up the familiar pathway and opened the door. "I'm home!" he called out. Almost as soon as it rang out, a little dark blonde-haired girl, about three, came running to the front door from the living room. She cantered up and hugged Stein.
"Daddy!" she exclaimed.
"Hey, Sukina. What've you been doing this whole time?"
"Mommy was reading me a story!"
Moments after the remark, a woman walked out of the living room and down the hallway to her husband; Medusa. She came up and kissed Stein firmly on the lips, withdrawing back after to look at his face.
"Missed you all day, anything happen?" she said sweetly, obviously deprived of the coldness and cruelty she once possessed, now a loving wife and mother.
"Maka had her baby," Stein replied. "A girl. Soul and Spirit were thrilled."
"I bet," Medusa commented. "I would ask you to tell them congrats, but our history isn't exactly that clean. It's better off if we don't pass on that message."
"Yeah. Hard to believe it's only been three years since this little one was born," he said, and picked up the toddler. She giggled with delight as he rested her on his shoulder.
"Time's flown by, hasn't it, Stein?"
"It has, Medusa. Indeed it has." Sukina's stomach grumbled, and Medusa chuckled slightly.
"I think we should get some dinner, someone's obviously hungry!" Medusa said. She kissed Stein on the cheek and walked into the kitchen. He set Sukina down and watched her scamper off to the kitchen to "help" her mother.