Author's Note: Another Word of the Day fic. Written years ago. Not edited.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
A Word of the Day Ficlet
By Kysra
It happens so fast - one minute they are arguing, the next they are at the hospital and she's hooked up to various colored wires and equipment that - for once - he has no knowledge of. His usually ordered mind is whirling and the noise of people moving around the room and Mai's pained whimpers and screams makes thinking rather difficult.
Which explains why, in a moment after the doctor announces she is ready to push, when he has settled himself at her side, his hand lying in her iron grip, he abandons all of his cherished well-made plans and blurts, "Tell me you'll marry me."
For a moment, she simply remains poised, chin to chest, and eyes glaring brightly toward her protruding, seething belly. And then her head turns and that glare becomes red with disbelief and anger. "What?"
He smirks a little (a twinge of contagious insanity, he'll insist later) as he takes in the beauty of her flushed and sweating face, the damp tendrils of hair sticking to her skin. Blithely, he slips an ice chip against her lips. "I'm asking you to marry me."
The nurse is saying another contraction is coming and that she needs to get ready; but Mai is still staring at him with an expression promising murder. "NO." It's emphatic and drawn out, a single syllable response infused with passion. Her hand closes tightly around his as her mouth clamps down around the ice chip, her eyes squeeze shut, and her entire body seizes as she bears down . . . 5, 4, 3, 2, . . .
Her entire body turns to jelly - her hand releasing in a jerking tremble - as she takes in air and lays back against the pillows. And as if he didn't hear her the first time: "Absolutely. NOT." She grounds out, shooting him a look that reminds him of pure vitriol.
His grin only grows in the face of her very obvious murderous rage. Sometimes he thinks it's the reason he loves her, this amusement she inspires even as her expression promises slow, painful death to him. "Why not?"
The nurses are glaring at him almost as hard as Mai is. The doctor asks him if this could wait until after the baby is safely born.
Mai seems to agree as she breathes through another push, growling, "You - huff - are not - pant - going to manipulate me . . long exhale . . while I'm this vulnerable."
He feels somewhat insulted (that she figured out what he was trying to do even with the mind-addling pain of unmedicated labor). "I'm not manipulating you."
Her eyes practically fire bullets into his brain even as she puffs up her cheeks to release long breaths in preparation for another push. "Then what the hell are you playing at, Naru?"
Distantly, he hears the doctor ask one of the nurse's, "Are they always like this?" As if the nurse would know. Naru decides then that perhaps honesty would serve him better in this situation. She is working hard to birth his child after all.
"I just want you to agree to an engagement. For the child's sake if not ours."
Her teeth are grinding so hard, even the doctor is wincing. "First you won't tell me you love me. Then you want me to have sex with you. I get pregnant and you order me to live with you, and now you are hijacking MY LABOR because you want me to say I'll marry you."
He nods sedately, suppressing a wince when she squeezes his hand so hard, the bones creek.
She doesn't seem impressed. "WELL, TOUGH!" Spit and ground tooth bits fly in his face just before she bears down again for ten long seconds, screaming at the top of her lungs.
The announcement is made that the baby is crowning. It's time to step up his game.
"Just say yes."
She lets out a sound that is part scream, part squeal, and part growl then reaches over, despite protests from the medical staff, to grab his collar, jerking him with surprising strength until they are nose-to-nose.
"Now you listen to me," her voice is steady and frighteningly calm. Her entire face is red with exertion and glistening with abundant sweat. Her hair is full damp and falling in stringy clumps. She is so beautiful when she's pissed. "This, right here, is not about you. It's not about me. It's about getting this baby out safely and I swear to Kami if you make me waste my breath any more about this, I will invite your parents to come live with us. Permanently."
He flat out laughs in her face and can't resist kissing her full on the mouth - wasted breath or no. She pushes him away with gusto as another contraction hits and she bears down on his hand, into her pelvis until - "The head's out! Miss Taniyama, I'm going to ease out the shoulders then one more push, okay?"
She nods, her neck limp and head bobbing weakly. He pushes the hair from her face, presses a cool damp cloth to her forehead, cheeks, mouth. "I love you."
Her eyes are half-lidded and exhausted as she whimpers. "Don't you ever give up?"
He smiles - a real one this time. It's a gift he's only given her one other time. "I want you . . . want to have sex with you." The doctor and nurses scoff even as they ready for the impending arrival. Mai's hand is soft in his. "I need to be with you."
She's crying now and he rubs a hand over her stomach in an effort to comfort her. "Everyday, Mai. I need to see you, talk to you. I want you to live with me. Forever."
Through her tears, she laughs a little desperately. "How did Gene put up with this all the time?" What she means is, How do you expect me to put up with you forever and not commit bloody murder?
He's bending over her, one hand caught up in hers, the other bracing himself with the bed rail, their foreheads touching. "I want this family." She sobs as he continues in a whisper. "Say yes."
"Miss Taniyama, a contraction is coming. Are you ready to meet your daughter?"
"Fine," she says softly, "but I'm not doing this because of you." He kisses her anyway, branding her with his grin.
"Of course not." He can't quite bring himself to not look triumphant and puff up slightly with pride.
Even as she gives one last push, Mai rolls her eyes, muttering, "Narcissistic bastard."
And then the air is filled with a kinetic sort of happiness (and the wailing cries of his baby girl), and he can't help but think their timing was absolutely perfect.
Word: Volte-face