A New Life.
Awaiting the arrival of a new baby is an emotional experience. Nine months of anticipation, mixed with excitement, and of course, some anxiety.
From the first scan; where parents wait nervously, to find out if their baby is going to be healthy. To the perilous, often violent birth; when the newborn is forced from its safe, warm, aqueous environment, into a strange new world, where it will be loved and cherished by his or her parents, and doted on by grandparents.
Such an event was being nervously anticipated within the Mutou household; any day now.
Yugi sat down at the kitchen table with his mug of tea and opened up his lap top. The time was now nine thirty in the morning. Since he only had one class to take later on today, he had called the university and told them that he would be working from home this morning. He did have plenty of admin work to do, along with some assignments to grade, which could easily be done at home. Giving him the chance to look after Little Atem, while Anzu got some much needed rest.
Poor Anzu, she had not had much sleep last night due to heartburn and an irritable bladder, caused by the baby kicking and stretching itself out. He felt terrible that there was nothing he could do to ease her discomfort in these final days of pregnancy. For now though he would leave her sleeping and help by just being here for her when she woke up.
However, it soon became apparent that he wasn't going to get very much work done! Little Atem had other ideas, and was determined to make the most of having his father at home by demanding that Yugi play games with him. "Daddy, play ball?" Yugi looked up to see him holding a football made of soft foam rubber.
"I have work to do son." He sighed when he noticed the puppy eyes and disappointed pout on Little Atem's face. "Okay, okay," he relented, "but we will have to play ball outside."
As soon as they had put their shoes on, they went out into the garden for a kick about with the ball.
::::::::::::
Sitting up slowly and feeling rather cumbersome, Anzu blinked at the clock on the night stand. Ten fifteen! How had she managed to sleep in so late?
Feeling like a beached whale, she got out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom before her bladder could explode. Once relieved she pulled on her dressing gown and went downstairs. She was feeling slightly anxious. Had Yugi gone to work? If so, who had he left Little Atem with?
She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Yugi's lap top on the kitchen table, and the back door wide open. Trust him to be so good as to stay home so that he could look after her. With the birth imminent, he had been fretting about her well being the last few days
She could hear their voices filled with laughter outside in the garden.
"Hey! You're awake." Yugi came running over to her as she stepped out into the garden. "How are you feeling this morning?" He asked anxiously.
"Like a hippopotamus," she grumbled, rubbing her swollen tummy. "The baby is pressing on my bladder and I can hardly move."
"C'mon," he took her gently by the arm and steered her back inside the house "I will make you something to eat and drink." Her face was showing her discomfort.
Anzu sat down on the sofa and elevated her legs so that she was laying comfortably, with her head propped up by cushions. "Thank you Yugi. I would love a mug of warm milk."
Little Atem climbed up onto the sofa and cuddled up to her. "Mummy not a popomus!"
Anzu laughed. "No sweetie, just big and pregnant." She suddenly felt a feeling of tension pulse through her pregnant belly; braxton hicks.
The baby was also moving around quite a bit. She grimaced. "Ouch! That was a hard kick."
Noticing her sons confused look she took his hand. "Would you like to feel our baby move?" He nodded enthusiastically, so she lifted her lacy vest top and placed his hand over where the baby had just kicked. He pulled his hand away suddenly, gasping when the baby kicked and pushed at his hand with its little foot.
"That funny!" He giggled. He was not afraid because Anzu had let him feel the baby kicking before, but this was a far more powerful kick than he had previously experienced.
Yugi came back in with a tray of drinks and handed Anzu her warm milk. He offered her a chocolate biscuit, which she declined.
Little Atem took the biscuit instead. "Baby kick me!" He informed his father excitedly.
"Did he now?"
"She," Anzu corrected.
"Or she." Yugi wasn't worried if it was a boy or a girl, just as long as it was healthy. Although a girl would be nice, he guessed. "Oh wow! I just saw that." He placed his hand lovingly over a large bump that had appeared on Anzu's tummy, distorting her distended abdomen. He could feel the baby shifting underneath his hand. "Hello little one." He bent forward and kissed the protruding bump.
"I think you just kissed her bottom Yugi!" Anzu laughed and then winced as the baby levered its legs up under her diaphragm.
"Daddy kiss baby's bottom." Little Atem found this highly amusing and started chuckling.
"I will bite your bottom!" Yugi responded jokingly, putting him over his shoulder and making growling noises. Little Atem giggled and attempted to cover his own bottom with his hands as Yugi pretended that he was going to bite him.
Anzu laughed at their silly playfulness, before suddenly feeling the desperate need to pee. "I need to use the bathroom...again!" She levered herself off the sofa and plodded awkwardly toward the downstairs cloakroom. She was especially uncomfortable today.
She had just reached the doorway when she felt a wetness trickle down her leg. Oh hell no, she had wet herself!
While standing still for a few seconds to compose herself, it suddenly dawned on her that she hadn't wet herself. It was her waters that had just broken! "Yugi?" She called shakily. He didn't hear her because Atem's giggles were rather loud and Yugi was making growling noises as he chased him around the sitting room. "YUGI?" Her shout seemed to work. He and Atem stopped their game and looked straight at her.
"Anzu! Are you alright?" He said, sounding worried.
"My waters just broke." Her voice almost came out as a squeak.
"Mummy just did wee wee on floor!" Little Atem pointed at the puddle and could not stifle his amusement. He didn't understand that it meant that the baby was imminent.
Yugi's jaw fell open for a second before he spoke. "Oh my god! What do we do?" He then answered his own question. "We need to get to the hospital. I must phone mum.. and work and.. and," he panicked.
"Stop panicking Yugi!" Anzu snapped, feeling slightly irritable. They had a birth plan, and they had been through what they needed to do. So why was he flapping about like a headless chicken?
She took a deep breath and composed herself. She was uncomfortable but at the same time she felt a calmness overcome her. She had given birth before so she knew what to do. It would all go perfectly to plan. "I will go upstairs to clean myself up and fetch my bag. You ring the midwife and tell her we are on our way to the hospital. We can drop Atem off at your mum's on the way there. Okay?"
"Yes, I'm okay now. Even though I was expecting it, it was still a shock." Composing himself, he dialled the numbers that he had stored in his phone.
::::::::::::
"Damn it!" Yugi cursed. They seemed to be catching every single red traffic light, and Anzu was starting to get strong contractions. She was trying to stay in control, but he could see that she was in some pain, by the way her knuckles were turning white as she gripped the edges of the car seat. He looked at her with concern. "You okay?"
She nodded and sucked in a breath. "Ooh, that one.. urgh.. was a bit stronger." Her face was a little grey, while at the same time her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes looked a little glassy. Yugi frowned and rubbed her arm gently.
"Just hold on okay?" He had visions of them delivering the baby in the car, in the middle of the road! Thank God his mother had decided bring Atem the hospital and look after him there for them. She would at least know roughly what to do.
Yugi dumped the car right outside the main entrance, in the first parking bay they could find. It said on call doctors only. Sod getting a parking ticket.
"It's okay Yugi. You take Anzu up to the maternity ward. I will park the car legally, and then bring Atem up to find you," his mother offered.
"Thanks mum. You're an angel." He helped Anzu out of the passenger seat, and then went to the boot and grabbed her bag.
They got half way along the corridor when Anzu let out a moan and dropped to her knees. Yugi knelt down and put his arm around her shoulders. "It's okay, come on we need to get to the birthing ward," he tried to soothe.
He helped her to stand. Looking around, he hoped that a member of staff might come to their rescue with a wheel chair or something to help, but there was no one about other than a few visitors to the hospital who threw them slightly concerned and strange looks, but didn't offer any assistance.
Once safely in the lift, which seemed to take an age to arrive, they were finally able to make it onto the maternity ward, where they were met by a midwife and shown to a birthing room.
The midwife put Anzu on a monitor and checked the baby's heart rate, along with Anzu's blood pressure and heart rate. Everything was normal.
When the midwife examined Anzu, she noted that she was well into the second stage of labour and that they had arrived just in time; she was fully dilated, meaning the baby would not be too much longer in arriving. Yugi squeezed Anzu's hand reassuringly and wiped a strand of hair away from her now slightly sweaty face with his hand. The contractions were now coming every couple of minutes and growing in intensity.
Yugi's mother arrived and popped her head in to see how they were getting on. Judging by the sound of a strangled scream, it wouldn't be long. She smiled lovingly at the sight of her son's concerned face. "I will take Atem to the play room Yugi. Good luck Anzu dear."
"Thank you Mrs Mu. ." Anzu grabbed the gas and air and sucked furiously on the mouth piece. 'Breathe, breathe, breathe,' she repeated over and over in her mind as she rode out the painful wave of her contraction. Somewhere in the background she could hear the midwife praising her efforts and telling her it was time to start pushing down.
"That's good Anzu, you are doing really well." Yugi was holding her against himself and rubbing her back as instructed by the midwife. Anzu knew he was trying to help, but still wanted to tell him to fuck off. It was his fault that she was bloody pregnant in the first place. Why, oh why, was she doing this? She was trying her hardest and was getting frustrated with them telling her what to do. She hardly ever swore but had the overwhelming urge to do so.
"Fu.c.k...!" She tried her best to suppress another scream of pain and did as she was told, by pushing down. She clung to Yugi's arm and with her dulled senses and extreme focus on pushing the baby out, was completely unaware that she was digging her fingers into his arm.
Yugi wished that he could shoulder some of the burden for her. He felt so helpless that all he could do was comfort her and issue small words of encouragement. She squeezed his arm so tightly that he thought it would leave a bruise, but he doubted that the indentations left by her nails were anything like as painful as what she was experiencing right now.
He suddenly heard the midwife confirm that the baby's head was now crowned and would he like to see it? He had been a bit squeamish the first time they had been through this, but he no longer felt that way, so he peered down to where the midwife was positioned between Anzu's legs. While he was awed a the sight of the bloodied little head, with its soggy strands of black hair, he was also horrified at the same time. Mother of Ra! How on earth did women do this? He could feel tears of joy, mixed with fear and admiration for his wife prickling at his eyes.
The midwife continued encouraging her. She was doing well apparently, although Anzu felt anything but well right at this moment. She just wanted to get this over with.
"Anzu the baby is almost out. Come on you can do it. One more push." Yugi was also doing his best to encourage her from his position of peering between her legs.
The relief that it might almost be over filled her with adrenalin and was gaving her some more strength. "Can you see our baby Yugi?" Strangely, she didn't care that her husband was peering at her nether regions, watching her trying to push a bowling ball out of her vagina! She let out a strange, strangled laugh at her weird thoughts. All she wanted now was to hold her baby.
Yugi gave her a quizzical look when she laughed. Assuming it was a mixture of the gas and air she had been sucking on, along with the pain, he just smiled and nodded. "Yes, and it has loads of hair, just like Atem had when he was born." His voice sounded emotional as he moved back to her side and kissed her clammy forehead. "I love you. You're doing amazing," he muttered his admiration for his wife, feeling sure that if men had to go through this, the human race would probably be extinct by now.
With one tumultuous effort, the tiny infant was out. Seconds later a stuttering, shrill cry pierced the air. Yugi sniffed, wiping away his tears of joy as he and Anzu looked at each other lovingly for a second, before turning their gaze to the infant.
"Congratulations, you have a baby girl," the midwife smiled warmly as she lifted the wrinkly, pink infant onto Anzu's chest. "Would dad like to cut the cord?"
"Erm.." Yugi hesitated a moment, and then nodded enthusiastically. "Yes please." He had been too shocked by the violence of birth and afraid to do this when Atem had been born. This time he felt more prepared and controlled.
Yugi placed his arm around Anzu as she cradled their new baby daughter lovingly. "She is perfect Yugi. We should call her Akemi. It means bright and beautiful," she breathed. She felt tired, uncomfortable and revolting, but filled with happiness at the same time.
He nodded. "Akemi. She is beautiful, just like you." He leaned in closer to Anzu and they kissed.
"I will go and get Atem, and give you time to get cleaned up."
The midwife was waiting to weigh and clean baby Akemi. And also check that everything was all okay with Anzu. Yugi gently lifted his new daughter and carried her over to the scales and placed her gently down. 6Lb 13oz. That was two ounces less than Atem had weighed when he was born.
Yugi noticed how dainty her little hands and feet were in comparison to Atem's. He wondered if she would inherit his wild Mutou hair? It was difficult to tell at the moment. He kind of hoped not, as he wasn't sure if it would suit his dainty, beautiful little girl.
Reluctantly leaving his new daughter, he left the room and headed to the relatives room, where there was also a small children's play area. He found his mother sat on a little stool, chatting to another woman while helping Little Atem, who was playing at a table with another boy of around four. They were sticking coloured shapes and glitter onto cards; it looked a bit messy!
Yugi couldn't keep the huge beaming smile from his face as he approached his mother, who turned and stood to greet him with wide expectant eyes.
"Anzu just had a baby girl. Akemi." His voice thick with emotion. "Mother and baby are doing fine."
"Oh, I'm so thrilled Yugi." His overjoyed mother reached up and threw her arms around him, hugging her son. She had often worried about her shy little boy when he was growing up. But seeing the strong, confident man he had grown into made her feel so proud and happy. He was successful in life, married to a lovely girl and had given her two lovely grandchildren. She looked up at him and couldn't stop herself from crying. "Oh Yugi! I'm so proud of you."
"Hey, hey mum!" He felt embarrassed. "I.. I didn't really do much. Anzu did all the hard work."
"Daddy!" Little Atem jumped up, full of excitement. Yugi let go of his mother and turned his attention to his son. "Look daddy? I maked card for mummy and baby." He held up the glue and glitter covered card.
"That's really nice. Mummy will love it," Yugi said kindly. "Shall we write something inside it?"
"Yes," was accompanied with an enthusiastic nod.
The card was still a bit wet from the glue, but Yugi helped by guiding his hand to write dear mummy and Akemi. Love Atem inside the card.
"Your little sisters name is Akemi. Would you like to come and meet her now?"
Little Atem nodded, but looked slightly apprehensive and wanted Yugi to carry him. He was a little unsure about what this little sister everyone seemed so overjoyed about would be like. To him it was a big bump in mummy's tummy; how had it got out? So he clung to Yugi like a limpet as he was carried to the delivery room to meet Akemi.
Yugi opened the door slightly and peered in. Anzu was nowhere to be seen and he felt his heart jump with a rush of panic.
"Ah Yugi-San. Anzu is just enjoying a bath." She smiled sweetly at Atem. "Have you come to meet your little sister?" The midwife lifted the little bundle, and handed her to Yugi. "Your daughter is in perfect health."
Yugi placed Atem down and took his newborn daughter gently. He thanked the midwife and smiled lovingly at Akemi as he cradled her in his arms. She had been dressed in a pale yellow baby grow which looked enormous on her; even though it was newborn size! On her head was a little knitted yellow hat to keep her delicate head warm and protected. Baby Akemi made a funny, high pitched, croaky crying sound. Little Atem couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. His father had discarded him in favour of this ugly, wrinkled thing that made a horrid sound.
Yugi's mother noticed her grandson's scowl immediately and scooped him into her arms. "Your baby sister is very helpless right now. So you will need to be a good big brother and help look after her. Would you like to meet her now?"
Little Atem folded his arms. "NO!"
"Hey! Temmy." Yugi noticed his reluctance and beckoned him over as he sat down in the chair. "Come and meet your little sister? She won't bite you. Nana will take a photo, but you will have to change that face of yours, or the camera will break," he chuckled.
Atem scrunched his face up. "No... that silly." Cameras didn't break if you pulled a face, did they?
He nervously approached and Yugi snaked his free arm around his waist and pulled him close. Little Atem rested his head against Yugi's chest and scrutinised his sister carefully. She didn't look all that bad. In fact he quite liked her. He wanted to touch her but was frightened, so he glanced up at Yugi for conformation as he reached a hand towards her.
Yugi smiled at him and kissed his forehead. "It's okay, go ahead, but be very gentle. Talk to her, but don't shout."
Doing as instructed, Little Atem gently touched her delicate little hand that was balled into a tiny fist. When he did she reacted by opening and closing her hand and moved her head and body at the contact. She made a croaky squeak and moved her mouth in the way that babies do when they want to be fed.
"Funny baby," he laughed. "Hello, I Atem! I bigbrother." Forgetting himself, he bellowed big rather loudly and boisterously, making the baby jump. She immediately started crying. Yugi hugged her to his shoulder and made gentle shushing sounds. "I told you to be gentle," he hissed at Little Atem in between soothing her, and not realising that he was scowling angrily at his son. This had the effect of upsetting Little Atem and he too started to cry.
"It's okay sweetie," Yugi's mother stepped forward to soothe him. "Daddy didn't mean to snap at you like that." She was a little bit cross with Yugi.
"I not like baby," Atem cried.
"Oh Temmy, you don't mean that darling." She wrapped her arms round the rather unhappy little boy, giving Yugi a stern look and mouthing. "Go easy on him, it's a lot for him to take in."
Feeling guilty, Yugi got up. "Here mum. Would you like to cuddle your granddaughter."
He handed the newborn to his mother so that he could comfort his son. "I'm sorry for sounding cross with you," he hugged Little Atem, who ceased his crying instantly now that he had his father's attention. "Just because we have a new baby, it doesn't mean that we don't love you any more. We will always love you. Okay?"
Little Atem nodded. "K."
He ruffled his sons hair and wiped away his tears. "How about, I take you swimming tomorrow and then go for a burger? We can see if uncle Jou wants to come too."
"Baby come?" His little face brightened with anticipation.
"No, we can't take her swimming yet, she's too small. Mummy will stay home to rest and take care of her. She will need mummy for the next few months, and you and me will have to look after them both, because mummy will get tired easily."
At that same moment the door to the adjoining bathroom opened and Anzu emerged looking relaxed and happy in her silky, pale peach pyjamas, slippers and a cream dressing gown. She smiled when she saw Yugi, his mother and Little Atem bonding with Akemi.
As soon as he saw her Little Atem ran to her. "Mummy! We have baby!"
Anzu bent down to him wearily and took his hands in hers. "That's right sweetie. We have named her Akemi, and she is your baby sister." He nodded his understanding and Anzu smiled lovingly. She could see the dried tear stains on his cheeks, but didn't say anything. She would talk to Yugi quietly when they were alone. They would need to make sure that Little Atem still got plenty of love and attention. After all, he'd had their undivided attention for three years and now he was going to have to share that attention with Akemi.
The midwife called the porter in with a wheel chair so that she could be moved to the ward, where she would need to stay for a few hours at least, before being allowed home. Anzu was keen to give Akemi her first feed, so that she could truly bond with her new baby.
Later that day, Anzu decided to go home. She was given the option of of staying at the hospital over night, but the comfort of her own home and bed was far more appealing. Anzu was in good health and this was her second baby; she was confident and everything was going well with feeding, so she was allowed to go.
And so began the first of many sleepless nights, of three hourly feeds and endless nappy changing.
The end.
I hope you liked and it wasn't too graphic. I don't want to put anyone off having kids! I can assure you it is worth it.