Disclaimer: I don't own anything I didn't create.
A/N: I saw this ( ?qh=§ion=&q=Jack+x+Carly#/d2pv1l3 ) picture on deviantart and just HAD to write this! Read & Review!
Jack paced nervously outside the birthing room, counting the steps he took and gritting his teeth in worry as he listened to Carly's screams. They were married now, and she was a week overdue when her water broke at the screening of "The Signers V. Dark Signers: The Battle to Save the World". He didn't know how to express the sudden rush of fear he had felt when Carly had suddenly squeezed his hand more tightly than she had ever had from where she had been standing beside him. He had looked around to ask her what was wrong, automatically dropping his gaze from her wide, panicked eyes to where her other hand was resting tensely on her largely pregnant stomach, to the wet splotch on the carpet between her legs. It had only taken the painful absence of a heartbeat for him to work out was going on. He had swept her up in his arms and strode out of there as fast as his legs could carry him.
I paused for a moment during a momentary silence to look up at the ceiling with a tense, worried look, running my hand anxiously through my hair before another scream came and I started pacing again. A soft laugh came from the chairs that stood nailed to the floor on one side of the hallway. I looked up crossly, and Mai- Crow's kind wife and everyone's dear friend- met my gaze, smiling.
"She'll be fine Jack." She said kindly, a red-headed toddler clambering on and off of her lap while Crow sat beside her, looking lovingly down at the little brown-haired bundle in his arms that was their daughter; a barely noticeable baby bump just starting to shrink back into her body. "If I can get through it twice, so can Carly. The first time is always the easiest." She said kindly. I tried to smile at her for her effort, my hand jumping to the nape of my neck and turning to pace some more as Carly screamed again. "Sounds like it's nearly over anyway." She said absent-mindedly, and I looked at her to see that her eyes were slightly glassy. "I always screamed loudest at the end." Crow snorted softly, looking at her with a small smile and a shine in his eye, gently stroking little Anako's hair out of her eyes.
"Got that right." He smiled as he got lost in her eyes. "I'll never forget how worried I was, even though I already knew it'd go alright." I looked away, rolling my eyes. Hopeless romantics. I had to admit though, Crow had probably covered the whole hospital pacing when Mai was giving birth to their daughter, the second born. He had nearly run out of the hospital the first time, Yusei and I having held him back to his later gratitude. Speaking of Yusei… I glanced out of the corner of my eye at where Aki sat with her swollen stomach, 7 months along in her first pregnancy, Yusei's arm wrapped around her shoulder with his other hand resting gently on her baby belly, both of her hands over his as they looked lovingly into each other's eyes. I looked away and tried not to gag. They were worse than the other two.
"AH!" I jerked my head around to look at the delivery room door, my hands fisted and knuckles white with worry. That was her loudest scream yet. I clenched my teeth and swallowed, trying to hide my worried trembling. I, Jack Atlas, NEVER trembled! A second passed, and I heard the wailing of a child. I was frozen. Crying? I heard a short laugh from behind me, and I spun on my heel to see Crow smiling at me knowingly, and I looked over at Yusei to see his eyes shining with one of those little smiles of his. I heard the door swing open behind me.
"Jack Atlas?" I ignored the female nurses turning to stare at me and turned to see a doctor searching for me while holding the door open, and I nodded, catching his attention, stepping forward.
"Hai." He smiled widely. My heart flopped.
"You have a little girl." I nearly sagged in relief as Crow whooped softly but victoriously, and I'm sure Yusei and Aki were grinning and smiling respectively. "If you'll follow me." He nodded inside, and I reached out and held the door open. I let the door swing shut behind me, and I followed the doctor to the first door on the right, and he showed me in, smiling. If he followed me in, I wouldn't have noticed, my attention too focused solely on the beautiful, dark-haired woman resting on the bed in front of me, smiling at me exhaustedly and holding a dark-haired newborn to her chest, her thick glasses slipping down her nose.
"Jack." She said my name, and my heart melted. I smiled in relief and wonder, and was by her side in a moment, holding her hand and looking tenderly into her eyes.
"Carly." Her name slipped between my lips like a blessing, and she closed her eyes, smiling as she rested her head on the pillows propping her back up behind her. She opened her eyes and gazed at me lovingly.
"We have a daughter." She said, almost glowing, and nodded down towards her chest. That was when our daughter first took my breath away. Her head was resting just over Carly's breasts, her body small and soft-looking, tucked all up into a soft little bundle. Her hair was dark and thin, as soft-looking as the clouds, and she had the smallest little nose, but what struck me most of all was her little brown eyes, and the fact that she was looking at me and seemed to be smiling. I couldn't help but reach out gently, just to see if she was real, and I touched the back of her hand as softly as I could, which was as soft as silk. She hiccupped. I couldn't help but smile. Our little girl. "Do you want to hold her?"
"Who? Wha, wha?" I said incoherently, stunned and surprised as she carefully lifted the little girl-child off of her chest and pressed her to mine. Wrapping my arms around her tiny little form was a matter of natural paternal instinct as I held her to my heart, Carly reaching up to make sure that her head was resting comfortably against my heart. I could hardly breathe. This little girl-child in my arms was small enough for me to hold in my hands, and everything about her was exquisitely beautiful. Her eyes were a gentle brown like her mother's, but shaped like mine, looking into my eyes. I slowly started to breath again as I swore I saw her smile and close her eyes. I barely heard Carly sigh happily from the bed next to me, but I was too focused on this little girl-child I held over my heart. All was silent for a few moments, and that's when I felt it. A little, steady beating against my heart, so fragile and small, like a hummingbird. My eyes grew wide and my mouth slowly opened as I realized what it was. My little daughter's heart. My eyes started to prick and they softened as I smiled and lowered my head to softly kiss the top of my sleeping daughter's head, holding her all the closer to me.
"She's beautiful, isn't she? I was thinking of naming her Toriko." Little bird. I couldn't help but smile at her mother's unwitting choice of names. I nodded, resting my cheek lightly against the top of little Toriko's head.
"Sounds good." There was something I now realized. There was nothing quite like holding a child to your chest. Especially your own.