Luffy woke up from his afternoon nap on the deck and stretched One week till the due date he thought amidst a feeling of panic which he quickly attempted to suppress It will be fine! Babies are fun! he told himself, and he WAS looking forwards to the baby...he was just scared stiff at the same time, though he refused to admit it. What if it doesn't like me? He wondered, tilting his head sideways and scrunching up his face as the thought began to worry him. What if I'm a bad father... I mean, I never even knew my Dad... And the way my grandfather raised me... Luffy laughed at the memory of all the crazy things his grandfather had done during his childhood in order to 'train' him I am DEFINITELY not doing that to my kid Luffy decided, nodding his head. But still... What if I'm bad at this?. The thought had continued to plague him for the past few months, and every time he thought he had banished the fear, it resurfaced, even stronger then before.
Luffy was in the middle of this series of thoughts when he heard Nami cry out from her room. He jumped up and bolted to her door and knocked on it "Nami?" he asked "Are you ok?". "Luffy!!! Get Chopper!!" Nami called, sounding scared. Luffy ran down to the observatory where Chopper, Robin, Usopp and Brook were playing cards. He picked up the small reindeer in the middle of him saying "Usopp, do you have any 4's?" and ran with him back to Nami's room. "Whats wrong Luffy?" Chopper cried as he was dumped at the door to her bedroom. Behind them them the rest of the crew were arriving to find out what had happened.
"Nami! I have Chopper!" Luffy called. "Send him in...Please" Nami said, still sounding shaky. Luffy frowned and opened the door to let Chopper in. It took far longer then Luffy had ever had to wait before in his entire life, but after a while Chopper eventually came back out of the room. "Sanji! boil water! Usopp we need clean warm towels" Chopper commanded. But everyone just stood and stared at him "Nami is going into labor!" Chopper shouted, getting impatient. Everyone gaped "But! She isn't due for a week! We timed it so that we would be on an island!! WE ARNT ON AN ISLAND!" Usopp panicked. Chopper glared at him "Well its happening, now everyone do what I say". they all nodded, and pretty soon the crew was hard at work getting all the things that Chopper needed.
Once the initial excitement and panic had ended, and all the things that were requested had been handed over to the doctor, there turned out to be a lot of waiting involved. Robin, being the only other member of the crew apart from Chopper to not completely lose her head, was the only one allowed in the room with Nami apart from the little reindeer. And instructions were only called out to the rest of the Straw Hats when something had to be fetched. Apart from that they settled in to play cards and talk, all right outside Nami's door encase something was required.
"Oi, Luffy" Usopp said quietly over their game of cards. "Yo Usopp" Luffy said, grinning at him. "You nervous?" Usopp asked. "Why would I be nervous? Nami is the one in labor not me" Luffy asked, tilting his head sideways and frowning in confusion. Usopp sighed "You really are very simple" he said. Luffy just grinned, he would never admit it, but he really was insanely nervous. This is worse then fighting ANY of the strong people that I have had to battle! He decided.
After about 20 hours of waiting, Nami began to cry and shout louder from her room. Luffy and Usopp jumped at the noise. "Is Nami ok?? Whats wrong?" They both asked, worried. "Relax" Franky said from where he was lounging against a wall "Giving birth is supposed to be pretty painful, but unless Chopper says something you can assume that everything is going fine." "Eeeh?" Usopp asked "Is it really that bad?!". Franky nodded, and Sanji began his cries of "My poor Nami-swan!!!?". "Nami" Luffy said quietly. But then to his surprise he was suddenly hit on the side of his head, and before he knew it Sanji was on top of him and had hold of either side of his face and was stretching it "You are the reason that Nami-san is in pain right now!" He glared at his captain. However, this was too much for the other guys, and pretty soon everyone was engulfed in fits of laughter, including Sanji and Luffy. When Nami gave another cry of pain they all became serious again.
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4 hours later the door to Nami's room opened, and Robin stepped out smiling. Everyone jumped up and looked at her "Is she ok?" Luffy asked. Robin nodded still smiling "And the baby is fine!" she said happily. Everyone cheered until Robin held a finger to her lips to tell them to be quiet. They all hushed down "So?" Usopp asked, and everyone turned to look at him, "Is it a boy or a girl?". They all gasped and held in their breath as they waited for Robin's reply. "She is a beautiful baby girl" Robin said laughing. Everyone cheered again, but hushed down as soon as they remembered that Nami needed sleep. "Can we see her?" Brook and Sanji asked. Robin shook her head at their impatience, still smiling "So long as you are very quiet, Chopper said it was fine for you all to come in and look at her." everyone agreed to be on their best behavior and to not make a sound, so Robin stepped sideways in the open doorway and allowed them to enter.
Inside Chopper was finishing cleaning up, and on the bed lay Nami, sound asleep, holding the baby girl. Everyone crowded round to get a good look, and Luffy could only stare at the baby in wonder She is MYNE??? he couldn't believe that something this perfect could possibly be in anyway from him Though I understand her belonging to Nami He added silently, momentarily turning his gaze to his navigator. The little girl looked a lot like Nami, the same perfect features, but even in her sleep she was already smiling, and everyone could tell that she had Luffy's mouth, her hair was black and as Luffy lent over her she opened her deep blue eyes and gazed at him. Luffy grinned and she smiled back. "Already grinning, definitely Luffy's kid" Usopp whispered to the others, they all had to suppress laughter.
"Alright everyone" Chopper whispered "Nami and the baby need their sleep" everyone nodded and reluctantly left the room. Once they were a safe distance away Usopp and Zoro slapped Luffy on the back "And I was worried that she was gonna look exactly like you!" Usopp laughed. "I cant believe she has YOUR genes!" Zoro put in. Everyone laughed and joked for quite a while, though Luffy was too distracted to join in overly much. Robin decided that she would sleep down in the observatory for a while until the Mum and Baby were more recovered.
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The next day, after Nami had eaten her lunch and the baby had been fed, Chopper said that everyone could go back into the room for a visit, now that both the baby and Nami were awake. "Only for a short time though" Chopper said "Nami is still very worn out, and the baby needs a lot of sleep" everyone agreed instantly, and almost raced each other to the room, even Robin and Zoro couldn't completely hide their excitement. Chopper let them in and they all crowded round Nami's bed. "Woooowwwwwww Suuuppaaaa" Franky whistled.
"She sure looks like a little prune" Zoro put in causing everyone to collectively punch him on the top of the head.
"Hello little baby" Usopp said leaning over and smiling at her.
"Oi, Nami" Luffy said, elbowing Usopp out of the way "Can I hold her?". Nami agreed, and Luffy was handed the new baby. "What are you going to call her?" Brook asked.
"I dont know yet" Nami admitted with a glance at Luffy.
But Luffy had eyes only for his daughter "Namika" he said suddenly. Everyone went silent and looked at Luffy.
"Child of Nami" Chopper whispered.
"Mikan" Usopp said.
"Wave Flower" Robin said with a smile.
"Mika...The New Moon" Franky laughed.
"Monkey D. Mika" Zoro snorted, he had decided to include Luffy's middle name.
Everyone turned and looked at Nami, who had a big smile on her face. "Luffy! Thats a wonderful name! And it has such amazing meanings! And I think that she should definitely have your last name, since you are her father" Nami laughed and pretty soon everyone was celebrating and arguing over whose turn it was to hold Namika, or Mika as her name had been shortened. Far too quickly though, Mika began to fall asleep, and so did Nami. "Alright everyone" Chopper said with authority "You all need to leave now. My patients need rest" everyone reluctantly relinquished their hold over Mika, and Luffy (who had stolen her back from Usopp) carefully handed his daughter back to her mother.
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"What a blessing to have three wonderful mellorines on our ship!" Sanji was singing as he made dinner for everyone that evening, and for once he wasn't the only one in love. Everyone was hopless when it came to Mika, not one of the crew was left indifferent to her, she had them wrapped around her pinky and she had only been with them for a mere day!
After dinner everyone noticed that Luffy had disappeared. "I wonder where he got to?" Usopp asked Zoro "Who knows" Zoro replied, settling in for a post dinner nap. Usopp debated for a while before he decided to go looking for him, and caught sight of Luffy just as he snuck into Nami's room. Usopp tip toed over and cracked the door open, inside the dimly lit room Nami and Mika were sleeping in the bed. And there sat Luffy, just watching his daughter, apparently oblivious to the rest of the world. Usopp grinned and closed the door gently behind him as he left.
"Yo, Franky" Usopp said, striding into Franky's work space. Franky didn't look up "Your interrupting me" he replied. "I want you to help me build something for Mika". Franky paused and sat up "Like what?"
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A few days later Nami was finally strong enough to take a short trip outside of her room, Luffy carried the sleeping Mika carefully and walked behind Nami. Everyone crowded round the mother and baby, and soon the group of insanely strong men sat down next to Luffy and were cooing over the little girl unashamedly (Zoro stood slightly apart, but was quickly drawn into getting Mika to hold his finger). After a little while Usopp and Franky stood up to make an announcement.
Usopp cleared his throat "Nami" He said formally, everyone paused to look at him. "Franky and I - " .
"Have made you a SUUUUPPAAA Present" Franky finished. Nami looked at them questioningly, and Usopp pulled out a hand made, finely crafted, crib. It was made of dark red wood that had been well polished (It was perfectly safe Usopp and Franky quickly assured her) and all along the frame, in light golden yellow wood, were intricate carvings of treasure. Nami gaped at the crib "Its wonderful!!" she gushed, her eyes turning to Bellis at the sight of even fake treasure.
While Nami inspected the crib, Brook and Franky played and sung songs for Mika while Luffy held her and Usopp and Chopper danced, Robin watched and clapped. Sanji and Zoro were fighting in the background over who would get to hold her after Luffy.
"She doesn't want YOU to hold her curley-eyebrows" Zoro said
"No way does she want to go to some green haired shitty swordsman" Sanji retaliated. But just as they began to attack each other, a giggle made everyone freeze. Luffy was gaping at Mika with astonishment and everyone else wasn't far behind. "Did she just?" Nami asked stepping forwards. Luffy nodded, and then grinned at Mika "You just laughed!!" he said, bursting into laughter of his own. However he stopped when Mika once again, gave clear, audible giggles. "She is laughing ALREADY!?" Chopper asked, running forwards to check Mika for anything else that might be making the noise. Mika laughed again, causing everyone to gasp in astonishment. "I have never heard of babies laughing this early on..." Nami said slowly. "Neither have I" Chopper replied slackjawed.
Luffy just grinned proudly at his daughter as she decided that she had had enough for the day, and feel back asleep in his arms. After a while he took his gaze off of Mika and turned to looked at Nami, looking at her for so long that the others began to shuffle their feet, feeling awkward but reluctant to leave Mika. Finally Luffy just laughed softly and gave Mika to Nami so the two of them could both retire again for some more rest.
Mika continued to laugh, and for the first few months of her life she was an incredibly cheery baby, and slept through the night.
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It was almost 6 weeks before Nami and Mika were out and about with the crew all the time and participating in daily life, they had gradually increased their time out of the room, and now Mika could even be looked after by members of the crew other then Nami. Luffy rarely left either her or Nami alone, and even when Mika slept he stayed close by, waiting for her to wake up so that he could play with her again. Nami and the rest of the crew constantly laughed at the lengths that Luffy went to in order to get Mika to giggle when he was playing with her, and even with him being rubber it was surprising at the contortions his face could make and the noises he was capable of.
After a little while Mika was able to lift her head while she lay on her tummy, and then roll over. Both accomplishments caused a great deal of glee and celebration among her adoring fans. They had stopped off at a few islands since Mika had been born, but everyone agreed to anchor for a couple of months at each island they encountered that was well inhabited by good people, and was safe, in order prevent any of the unforeseen trouble that they usually attracted. Even Luffy was happy to forgo any new adventures for the time being so that Mika could be safe for the first few months of her life. They continued this for the next 4 islands, staying at each one for 3 months before moving on.
When Mika was 3 months old she began to cry in the middle of the night, and so her crib was moved up to the lookouts room so that whoever was on duty could also care for her when she woke up. Everyone loved this solution, as it meant that Nami didn't have to become sleep deprived, and whoever was on watch always enjoyed walking Mika around until she fell back asleep.
When she was 8 months old she learnt how to sit up, and by the time she was 10 months Mika was crawling at impressive speeds. After she had gotten into every dangerous thing on the ship more then once the crew learned to constantly keep an eye out for her. Luffy could only grin and laugh every time Mika broke something or got into someones important papers.