Suzumeda Kaoru did not, under any circumstances, think about his daughter Kaori. Neither did his wife, Midori. Ever since she'd announced her pregnancy last winter, along with her intention to keep it, they'd been stunned when she up and left. It hurt that they hadn't heard from her.
They didn't know where she was, if she was still in school, when she would give birth or if she had already. They didn't know who the father was. All they knew was that she'd filed for and been granted emanicipation.
Kaoru was not really happy to be called in for an emergency at the hospital. Being a surgeon. he was called in to examine the victim of drunk driving accident. Apparently, the nurse briefed him, the victims- Konoha Akinori and his wife Kaori (his heart turned over at the name)- had been driving home from a function when an inebriated driver ran a light and smashed into the drivers' side. Which only happened because the quick thinking young man at the wheel spun the car so it would be his side to take the damage.
Kaoru listened to the nurse as she briefed him
"The husband is comatose but we're worried the wife is in shock and going into labour early, but she's unconscious for now." Nodding, Kaoru gloved up and stepped lightly into Konoha Akinori's exam room. His eyes widened when he saw the blond mop and young face covered in bruises. Carefully, he examined the patient, blinking in stupefaction when he realized Konoha-san was only eighteen. Once he'd completed the diagnoses, he headed out to the waiting room, which was a little crowded despite the hour. He called out the patients' name, walking over when someone flagged him down. His jaw dropped, almost literally, when he saw that the person who flagged him down was a handsome young man, seated beside a heavily pregnant teenager. His heavily pregnant teenage daughter, who was currently focusing on breathing, one hand pushing on the small of her back, the other cupping her belly.
She blinked when she saw him standing there, and her voice came out in a whisper as she begged frantically
"Aki? Is he alright, can I see him?" She tried to get up, doubling over on a wince, a bigger young man with salt and pepper hair gently hoisting her into his arms, quieting her pleas with simple words
"We'll visit him when the doctor tells us what's going on." The very handsome young man, who'd risen when Kaori did grasped her hand and admonished
"Konoha would be very unhappy with us if we let you stress yourself into premature labour." She whimpered in pain, probably from a contraction, so Kaoru hastily directed as he walked away
"He's over here, he's not pretty, but he'll heal fully, physically at least. He might be a little confused when he wakes, but his brain scan indicates that all damage was to his skin and ribcage, which again, will heal nicely, given time."
When he hears muttering from inside the room as he approaches, he cautions the man carrying Kaori
"He wasn't supposed to be awake yet, let me see."
Konoha is struggling to sit up, likely from the pain in his ribs and head. When he sees Kaoru, he barks
"Where's my wife?" Even as he struggles again. Mildly amused at his stubbornness and impressed that his first thought on waling is not his own pain, but his wife. Kaoru's kid, who he knows is panicking over her husband.
"Give me a minute, Konoha-kun." Kaoru ignores the sharp look that earns him, walking back out to ask the moment he sees Kaori's pale face as she leans against the wall
"Have you been examined yet?" the question comes out sharper then it should have, but it is effective, Kaori's wincing and then one of her companions explaining exasperatedly
"She refused treatment until she knew he'd be okay." Biting back a comment about how much like her mother she is, he flags down an orderly and demands an obstetrician be brought in ASAP. Only then does he open the door to let her in.
Kaori slowly, laboriously, makes her way to Konoha, where he lays in his bed, panting lightly, arm outstretched for her even now. She takes his hand, hobbles to his side, and squirms onto the bed until she's seated at his hip. Kaoru watches with no little surprise when Konoha tugs Kaori (gently, Konoha is always gentle with Kaori, he learns) into lying down on his hospital bed. Konoha runs his hands over her face, fingertips skimming the (surely) familiar features. He eases up onto his elbow, caressing the obvious mound of Kaori's pregnancy and murmuring in a low tone
"Were you good for Momma? You know she can't take care of you properly if you exhaust her." Kaori relaxes and then melts under Konoha's touch and beneath his sharp gaze. The obstetrician he'd called for had slid in the door, and she smiles a little when Konoha eases into a doze on Kaori's shoulder.
Warm but competent and whimsical enough to be more flexible than any other doctor he knows, it's a relief to know that Matsumoto Shikari-sensei will be the one to examine Kaori. He doesn't doubt his colleagues would all be professional, but the younger doctor is gentle in a way that reeks of feminine tact. She won't look down on Kaori for being pregnant so young and potentially miss something.
Shikari has a whispered conversation with Kaori, using her stethoscope to check both her and the baby's heartbeats. Konoha is still wrapped around as much of Kaori as her belly allows, and when Shikari asks if Kaori wants him to stay during her exam, the mans' eyes open to slits.
With a slight, sweet laugh, Shikari draws the curtains.
Kaori is fucking uncomfortable, laying there with her pants around her ankles and knees in the air. The only saving grace of this whole thing is that Aki is okay, Aki is holding her.
Matsumoto-sensei uses the speculum before gloving up her fingers and probing, frowning all the while. Finally, she says
"There's nothing wrong with you or the baby, Kaori-san, but I am concerned about something."
With little prompting, she explained that she was concerned about how giving birth would affect Kaori's body. Konoha listened with intense concentration, stiffening when Shikari recommended a few things he hadn't been aware of. Sensing more than seeing his frustration at not being enough for this girl he adores, Shikari chuckles and admonishes
"It's alright, you don't have to know every little thing, that's why we have doctors, Konoha-san."
Really though, it warms her heart to see a patient like Kaori. Most of her teen patients don't have the support of the father, let alone a veritable tribe of uncles. But Konoha hasn't seemed to even consider letting Kaori out of his sight.
Once Kaori is properly dressed again, Shikari draws back the curtains, kind of but not really surprised when she is greeted by the face of Suzumeda Midori. Perhaps, she reflects, there is something more than winter gloom behind Suzumeda-sensei's downcast manner. Pursing her lips, she strode out to file the papers that needed to be placed in Kaori's chart.
For her part, Suzumeda Midori was furious with her daughter. She'd been waiting for the police to turn up, asking for her to identify her baby. To find out that her runaway had filed for emancipation not as some kind of revenge but to marry the father of her child was both a shock and irritation.
They could have had a nice wedding! And, okay, she had to retract that statement after Akaashi-kun flipped through his phone to show her the photo from their wedding. Both in traditional clothes, Kaori beaming from the circle of Konoha-kuns' arms.
What settles the question of if they can approve of their son-in-law is when Kaori stiffens, holding her breath for all of a moment before Akinori pulls her close with a hissed
"Breathe." Fighting off a wince as Kaori breathes through the false labour.
It's startling, how much it hurts to see her daughter in pain. Kaori is so focused on Konoha, she doesn't notice her mother and father and friends are alarmed. Konoha whispers to her, words they can't catch, and it finally feels okay when she smiles at him. Turning onto her side and curling around her belly, Kaori sleepily registers the people around her, but Akinori chides softly
"Sleep, they won't let anything happen." To you, to the baby. Akaashi and Bokuto both nod, Konoha's promise amended to include him.
Midori and Kaoru take the time to get to know their daughters' people. Good thing too, they discover, because Konoha is set to play for the National team in a short time.
After Kaori awakens, Midori chides her daughter herself, though both she and Kaoru are relieved to reunite with Kaori. Konoha allows it, though he and a teammate are nearby.
By the time Kaori gives birth, she's mended fences with her parents. The birth itself is long, stressful and very painful. She knows she only held on through it all because Akinori guided her through the exercises and other little tricks to prepare for labour.
Kaoru is honestly a little stunned by just how much of a champ Konoha is. Unlike pretty much every other father to be, he takes things in an even stride, his ability to work with flying changes all the more astounding because of his youth.
After a long labour, Kaori pushes out a little boy, Konoha Akimaru. His uncles and grandfather beam with pride, while his father keeps an eye on both his son and wife. Auntie Yukie and grandma Midori both coo over how much he resembles his father, but Kaori's to busy fighting sleep to register much more than Konoha's murmurs.