Chapter 2

"Aw, cutie… did you have a good sleep?" Asuna giggled lightly to herself as she lifted her six month old out of his crib, holding Reyke close and kissing the top of his head. "You slept through the whole night, I'm so impressed!"

Reyke let out a small yawn, snuggling himself against Asuna. He wanted more sleep, that was obvious, but Asuna knew it was time to get him up and care for him like she did every day.

Before Reyke was born, Asuna was a front desk secretary at the hospital where her dear friend and sister-in-law, Sakura, worked. The second she found out about Reyke, she made it known to her boss that she would be quitting a month after he was born, and she did.

Asuna left the hospital and became a stay-at-home-mom, following after her own mother and happily spending each day with her child.

"I love you, cutie pie. What should we do while we wait for daddy to come home, hm? How about… well, how about we change your diaper, get you fed, and then we'll decide, eh?"

Reyke blinked, looking up Asuna with no idea what she was talking about. The six-month-old gave a small, happy gurgle with a smile on his face, making Asuna laugh as she laid him down on the changing table.

"All right sweetie. We'll just do whatever today."

+!+

Reyke stared at Asuna as she folded the laundry-it was mainly towels-and wished he could help her. He was barely six months old, but he thought that folding the laundry looked like a lot of fun to him. Whenever Asuna stopped folding to watch whatever it was she had on the TV, Reyke would pout and make a whining sound, which always made her look at him right away with a smile, asking what was wrong before he smiled and she kissed his forehead.

Asuna adored her tiny baby. She and Itachi had been married for seven years before Reyke was born, and during that time they had been through four miscarriages and a round and a half of medical tests, which only showed Asuna being positive for fertility problems. The whole ordeal broke her heart when she found out, as being a mother was the number one thing to do on her list (after getting married of course) and it felt like it was being stripped away from her piece by piece as they went to different doctors who told her a million different things and did nothing to help or give her hope that it could, one day, happen.

Itachi was the one to do that. Any time Asuna came home and told him what another doctor said, Itachi told her to get another opinion, to research her symptoms herself, and to definitely not give up hope.

"Even if we have to adopt, we will have a family one day, I promise."

Asuna heard that promise from Itachi every time she received a new diagnosis. Every time it made her cry and hug Itachi, it made her pour out her heart that she wanted a baby that was one hundred percent theirs and one that she carried inside of her. Itachi already knew all that, especially when they found out that Sasuke and Sakura were having their second child three years ago, and Asuna once again expressed her want to try for a baby.

Two years after that, they found they were having a baby of their own, and Asuna was put on weekly doctors' appointments that eventually turned to bi-weekly appointments as a precaution. Even then Reyke was two months early, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that the two had their first child, and they were ecstatic beyond belief.

Now, Reyke had been with them six months, after being released from the hospital at three weeks old, and he had yet to have even one problem since his early birth.

Reyke let out a whine, making Asuna look at him again, another smile on her face. "What is it? Why are you so whiny today?"

She picked him up off the couch cushion, hugging him and kissing his little cheek. "Oh! I bet you miss daddy, huh? Well, don't worry. He'll be home soon, and then we can do something together as a family, all right?"

Reyke whined once more, snuggling against Asuna and making noises with his pacifier, which made her laugh.

"What a sweetie you are…"

+!+

"Sakura said she was going to come over tomorrow with Sanosuke and Keiko so they could play with Reyke."

"Mm…"

"Itachi, are you even listening to me?"

"Of course, Asuna. You said Sakura is bringing Sanosuke and Keiko over tomorrow."

Asuna blinked while Itachi smirked. She honestly thought he wasn't listening, but who could listen to another person when they were holding Reyke? He was a happy, bubbly baby that could capture your attention in two seconds flat, making it hard for anyone or anything else to steal your attention.

And Asuna knew that was exactly what happened whenever she or Itachi got a hold of their son. Asuna would, inadvertently, drown people out while she had Reyke, giving him all the hugs and kisses she felt he deserved just for being born, just for being alive, while Itachi could easy direct all his attention to Reyke and still listen to those talking to him.

He had done so recently at his parents' house, scaring Asuna when she found out he was paying attention to her and Reyke, especially considering she had made a not so kind comment about someone they both knew, but that Itachi knew much better, and he felt the need to correct her for it.

"Well, fine, you were listening, good to know…" Asuna sighed, looking at Itachi and smiling at the soft look in his eyes, which he only ever held when he was looking at her or Reyke. "Itachi?"

"Yes?"

"If Reyke ends up being our only child, you'll be happy, right?"

"Of course. Did you think otherwise?" Itachi gave his wife a questioning look while she shrugged.

"No, not really. I was just… checking. You know, since I have PCOS(1) and I'm diabetic, it's unlikely we'll have another successful pregnancy, unless something can be done about my condition, and-"

Asuna stopped midsentence when Itachi kissed her, hoping it would keep her from getting upset about the situation.

"Asuna, you're rambling… really, I don't mind if Reyke is our only biological child, all right? He was a special blessing, and I'm glad for him."

Asuna blinked once again, smiling and nodding.

"Agreed. A very, very special little blessing…"

END CHAPTER 2

Author's Note: I have no idea how long this is going to be, so, please don't ask. :D

This, mostly, serves as an explanation chapter about why it took them so long to have a baby (after trying multiple times). Yes, I do plan to have chapters based before Reyke was born, with more explanation into why he was so important to Itachi and Asuna; I believe I will start that in the next few chapters.

PCOS stands for polycystic ovary syndrome. I would explain it, but I'm still reading about it. It's, basically, an imbalance of a woman's hormones. Cysts within the ovaries are common, but are not harmful. The cysts are what cause the hormone imbalance (got all this from the webmd website).

I'll see you guys for chapter three!

(did anyone else have problems with uploading on the site today? it took me all day to get this up)