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Warning- Excessive usage of '10'

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Theme 10: #10

Ten fingers. Ten toes.

Good. Tokio had not given birth to a mutant after all. That had been a concern.

From several feet away, he watched Tokio cradle their firstborn in the cacoon of her arms. A soft smile played on her features, as though nothing could ruin what was the proudest moment of her life.

There had been ten hours of a difficult labor—ten hours of him pacing nonstop outside while he was not allowed inside to comfort her, ten hours of frantically smoking cigarette after cigarette after cigarette, until the ground was littered with white stubs and he had none left to smoke.

The only thing he was aware of was the screams and moans of her agony, punctured finally by a shrill, tiny wail, and it was ten minutes later when the midwife came and told him he had a son.

A son.

The boy had winked his right eye ten times in the last five minutes—he hadn't blinked yet, it was as though his left eyelid could not quite function. Was there something else he needed to look out for besides finding the correct number of extremities? Should he still be worried? Was his son an idiot after all?

Since he had entered the room, Tokio had laid ten delicate kisses—and counting—upon the small red, wrinkled face. Tokio had declared that the baby was the most beautiful of sons the second her husband was in sight. Saitou didn't see it. He had never really warmed to children, and newborns were certainly not creatures of inexplicable beauty that Tokio seemed to think this one was.

"What are we going to call him, anata?" Tokio murmured, her light brown eyes searching his face, the joyous expression now seemingly a permanent feature.

He took a few steps closer, gazing down at the bundle imperiously.

"Tsutomu."

Her smile widened, and she gazed back down at the boy. "My little Tsu-chan," she cooed, rocking him gently. Saitou held back the snort of derision threatening to escape from his being.

"Are you ever going to hold him, Hajime?" Tokio asked softly from where she lay, and he couldn't help but notice she held the boy closer as she said those words. A tiny smirk played at his mouth.

"It seems you're not quite ready to give him up," he replied. He didn't want to hold anything that was so tiny and fragile anyway.

"You will have to sometime," she smiled slightly then glanced back down at her son.

His son.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. For once."

"I am always right, anata."

He harrumphed. He wasn't going to correct her this time; she had just given birth, after all. He must exercise patience.

It was hours later and night time; Saitou had just come back from a soba stand. He wasn't quite in the mood to demand Tokio to cook, anyway. He was sensitive on some levels.

He came upon them asleep, the infant resting against Tokio's shoulder. For a few moments, he could only stare.

Saitou took a step forward…then another…ten strides and he was standing beside the futon, watching them sleep. He crouched down besides them.

He should move the baby to his cradle. Tokio moved a lot in her sleep, she could roll over him and suffocate him without even knowing. Yes, Tokio was absentminded like that sometimes. He didn't want to deal with her crying about rolling over their baby.

And she'd blame him, when it would've been her that was undisciplined enough to roll all over the place while she slept, anyway.

It was a delicate procedure, removing a six pound baby from his sleeping mother's grasp without waking either, but Saitou somehow managed to pull it off. He had always done exceptionally well on first tries.

The baby mewled, moving slightly in his bundle of blankets, but he stilled after a few moments.

Good. The baby knew who was in charge. He was a quick learner.

It was only when he reached the little wooden cradle that he noticed the baby's eyes were open, and he was staring. They were gray. Saitou stared back.

The baby blinked.

A light chuckle burst from his mouth before he could stop it, and the baby blinked again.

He carefully laid the small bundle onto the pile of blankets they had set to cushion him, and he watched as Tsutomu's eyes drifted shut into sleep.


A/N- Sorry it took awhile, but I'm well...in college and stuff. Busy!Busy!Busy!

R&R please and thank you.

Edit: 1/16/12