CHAPTER 11: THE MONTHS AFTER PART 2
"Hope.. what on earth are you doing?"
The silverine gave her a cheeky smile in return as he continued to fidget about with the headphones in his hand. He eagerly placed them on his wife's stomach, earning him a puzzled look from her.
"I'm just doing something I read in one of the baby guidebooks."
"Uh-huh..." Her eyebrows furrowed into a doubtful look, seemingly unconvinced yet by Hope's all too dubious explanation.
With a music player in hand, the silverine searched through the sea of playlists in his device, his finger finally pressing on the play button once he came upon a special playlist - 'peaceful_baby_music' as he'd taken to naming it.
"I heard that if you play music, it helps soothe the baby in the womb."
"Hmm.. now that you mention it.. Serah did tell me something about playing music for her baby when she was pregnant," the rosette replied. "But before that..," she said as she took off the headphones from her stomach, "I need to make sure you're letting our little girl listen to the good type of music."
Hope laughed at his wife's insistence. He found it cute of her to be so skeptical of his musical tastes. "Alright, go ahead, have a listen. I made an entire playlist just for her, and all of the songs are calming if I do say so myself," he said, wearing a confident grin.
"I'll be the judge of that," Lightning replied with a teasing little smile on her face.
As soon as she wore the headphones on her ears, she'd expected the blaring noises of a cacophony of instruments blasting at her eardrums. But instead, what she heard was the soft melodies of the violins and the gentle voices of the choir playing in the background. The doubtful face she'd had a second ago was replaced with one of serenity and calmness. Not bad…
The silverine's lips curved into a smirk as he saw his wife entranced in his peaceful selection of music. "It's kinda calming, right?"
"Not bad.. not bad at all. I guess this'll do fine for her," the rosette said with a small smile on her lips.
Lightning took the headphones off from her ears, placing them on her stomach so that each headpiece sat comfortably on the sides of her stomach.
"Now while our little sweetheart's being soothed, maybe someone else needs to be soothed as well?," the silverine asked as he waggled his eyebrows, his lips wearing a cheeky smirk.
"What are you suggesting, Hope?"
He didn't say anything in response, instead placing the music player right beside where Lightning was sitting on their living room carpet. He sat down right behind her, her back facing him.
"Hope, what are you-"
A tingling sensation rushed down her spine when she felt her husband's lips coming into contact with the nape of her neck. A gasp escaped from her lips almost involuntarily. She turned her head towards the silverine behind her and that cheeky grin he had from earlier still hadn't left his face.
Oh, he definitely knew that Lightning would react that way. The grin on his face said it all. That part of her body felt the most vulnerable to her, and Hope was all too happy to take advantage of it. The rosette shot a glare at her husband, seemingly flustered by his teasing smirk.
"H-Hope, don't you dare try anything else," she tried to say with a serious tone. But her heart would not betray her true feelings, and instead her words had come out almost like an embarrassed stutter.
"Oh come on, Light. Don't be like that..," he said with a light chuckle, "..I'm just trying to get you to relax."
But Lightning was beginning to feel a little skeptical with her cheeky husband. There was no knowing what other 'surprises' he had up his sleeve.
"Just turn around, Light," the silverine said with a reassuring smile on his face. But that doubtful look on his wife's face was enough for him to know that she wouldn't budge. "Alright, I promise I won't do anything else like that, ok?," he said as he jokingly placed one hand on his chest.
Fine… Lightning reluctantly turned her head forward again, exposing her back towards her husband once more.
But instead of another kiss like she'd expected, Lightning instead felt her husband's warm hands press themselves onto her shoulder, his fingers rubbing up and down and left to right in a rhythmic fashion. He pressed into her muscles, pushing out all the tension that was trapped within her after all this time. Oh.. this is nice.
"I noticed how much you've had to go through these past few months. So I think giving you a massage is something that's been long overdue," the silverine said as he continued to press his hands up and down his wife's back.
A massage.. when was the last time she'd had one of those? She was never one to like being massaged, but now… now it felt all too good. All the knots in her muscles were being loosened, and she could feel the back aches that had been plaguing her for the past few months beginning to disappear. The rosette let out a quiet moan as she felt Hope hit that perfect spot on her back that had been aching for so long.
A smile crept up to the silverine's lips. It was always nice to see Lightning so relaxed like this. "Feeling good, honey?"
Lightning only nodded in return. Hope couldn't see it, but the rosette was in a trance-like state, feeling pure bliss as her husband massage up and down her spine.
They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity; Lightning enjoying the massage in silent bliss with the occasional moans that she'd let out when her husband's hands rubbed just the right spot.
In the meantime, Lightning could finally relax and look back to how the last few months had been to her. Lately, it felt as if her stomach had grown even larger than she could possibly have imagined, with all the usual pregnancy symptoms being amplified along with it.
But Hope had gone through along with it in stride. Even when she'd craved for a piece of cake in the dead of night, he was already out of the door and off towards a nearby grocery store just to get one for her. He was determined about this, Lightning could tell - and she couldn't have been more grateful for having a husband like him.
Yet, the most stressful and anxiety inducing moment during the past few months of her pregnancy hadn't even been her morning sickness or the pains. No.. it was the time they'd actually decided to go for an ultrasound and find out the gender of their baby, along with its health conditions.
She could still remember it; the cold bite of the winter wind, the rapid beating of her heart...
She felt like she was being suffocated by the amount of scarves and winter clothes that were covering her body. She'd protested, but as usual…
"Light, you need to wrap yourself up."
The rosette groaned in annoyance, but still put up with her husband's insistence on wearing so much neckwear. Yet truth be told, she found it endearing of him to be so deeply concerned for her well-being.
The silverine placed a beanie on his wife's head, fitting it so that it sat comfortably on her - although all that really did was earn him a glare of annoyance from the rosette.
The ride in the car was uneventful, but once they arrived at the local clinic, both of them could feel their hearts beating wildly in anticipation.
As they made their way through the white halls of the clinic, their anticipation only grew. Hope could feel Lightning's hand wrapped around his, feeling her grip on him tighten. He noticed the anxiousness in her blue eyes. They'd talked about this.. about how it didn't matter what the gender of the baby was. Because either way, they'd love it more than the world itself - but they just couldn't help but feel anxious to find out.
They entered the doctor's office, and before she knew it, Lightning was already on the examining table after having had all those layers of winter jackets and scarves set aside. The doctor had placed a small device on her stomach, with a monitor beside her that was yet to display any image.
The screen flickered on, a hazy and blurry image being displayed on the screen. But it was all too clear what the image was displaying.
They could make out the shape of the baby in the image, its head and shape easily recognisable among the fuzzy black and white of the screen. Its little hands were visible as well, along with its tiny legs. The two stared in amazement, awed at their first look of the little person growing in Lightning's tummy.
Hope couldn't believe his eyes. He'd seen images of ultrasounds before in his field of work.. but to see one of his own child - it was almost magical. "Woah.."
The doctor began studying and examining the image much more closely, most likely searching for any defects in the baby. But Lightning and Hope were all too busy gawking at the image on the screen to even notice the observations that the doctor had been doing.
"Well, the baby looks very healthy so far. No defects or any illnesses that I can see from the ultrasound."
Hope and Lightning breathed out a big sigh of relief they hadn't even known they'd been holding this entire time. Thank goodness their baby didn't have any health problems, but what they really wanted to know was-
"What's the gender of the baby?," Lightning asked almost impatiently. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest, anxious to know the answer to her question.
The doctor chuckled lightly to himself at the rosette's eagerness. "By the looks of it, it's going to be a girl."
"R-really?," the silverine asked almost in disbelief. "How can you tell?" His face was calm and there was a small smile on his lips, but it was nothing compared to the joy he felt in his heart. Inside, he was practically jumping up and down in unbridled happiness. He couldn't even believe it, he was going to have a daughter!
"Well, you see Mr Estheim..," the doctor went on to give a lengthy explanation, one involving biology and anatomy - and one that Lightning paid no heed to.
Instead, all she could think about right then was the fact that she was going to have a daughter. She started to wonder.. would her little baby look like her? Would she have the same hair colour as her? Or would she have her husband's silver locks? So many questions... But what she was sure about was how elated she felt, and she couldn't stop herself from wearing a big smile on her face.
"If you two would like, we can even get a picture of this ultrasound image prepared for you - with an additional fee of course," the doctor chimed in.
"Yes!" Hope exclaimed almost too enthusiastically. "Y-yes..," he coughed, "..we'd like that."
"Of course, Mr. Estheim. I'll go get that picture for you right away," the doctor said with a smile before going off to some other room.
As soon as the doctor had left the room, Hope turned his gaze towards his wife who was still lying down on the examining table. There was a satisfied and sly smirk on her lips, one that conveyed those very words he was expecting to hear from her ever since the confirmation of their baby's gender.
"I told you so"
Hope shook his head as he laughed warmly. "I know, I know. Guess your gut was right after all."
Eventually, right when Hope's hands were just beginning to feel numb after massaging the rosette's shoulders and back non-stop, he felt Lightning's hand on his own. She turned around to face him, a satisfied smile adorned on her face.
"That's enough, Hope." She leaned in closer to his face. "Thank you," she whispered before planting a kiss on her husband's lips.
"You're very welcome, Light," he said with a wide grin on his face. But his grin faded almost instantly, instead replaced by one of wonder as his eyes darted towards his wife's belly. He could see the kicks of the little baby inside of Lightning's belly stretching out on her skin.
Lightning chuckled through her nose at the sight of her husband, finding it quite amusing and endearing seeing him so amazed at their little baby's kicks. "She's pretty lively right now. Guess she's gotten a little bored of your 'peaceful' music."
As Hope laid his hand on her stomach, he felt the baby kick into his palm. There was no way he'd ever get tired of feeling that. "Hmm.. that might be the case," he said with a chuckle from his lips.
"Maybe..," Lightning said as she began to take off the headphones that had been on her stomach for the past hour, "..she wants to hear her daddy's voice?"
Hope couldn't stop his lips from breaking into a wide smile. "Well.. it has been some time since I last had a talk with my little girl."
Lightning chuckled. Really… it's only been half a day.
The rosette inched herself towards the couch, leaning her back against the cushions as she continued to sit on the carpet. She patted her stomach, inviting Hope to come closer and talk to their little girl who was all too eager to hear her father's voice again.
Hope leaned in closer, repositioning himself so that his body laid down comfortably on the carpet while his head rested on his wife's belly. With his ear so close, he could practically hear the movements of their baby inside her stomach.
"Hey sweetheart..," he began. Almost instantly, he felt the kicks from the baby intensify. She was definitely excited to hear her daddy's voice again, and Hope was all too happy to know it as he stared googly-eyed at Lightning's belly.
"Daddy's missed you too sweetheart. Mwaah~.'' He smooched his wife's baby bump all over, unable to stop himself from giggling so giddily and joyfully at the thought of talking with his little baby.
After he was done giving his barrage of kisses, he leaned his head back down to rest on Lightning's belly again, his hand stroking it gently as if the baby was right there under his fingertips. "I hope you haven't been giving your mommy too much trouble."
"Oh, she's been a naughty one, kicking up her mommy when she's sleeping," Lightning said jokingly with a laugh.
The silverine laughed heartily along with her. "That just means she wants her mommy's attention."
The rosette chuckled in return. "Or perhaps she's just excited to finally get out."
Hope smiled back at his wife, a certain feeling of excitement and eagerness filling his heart once he realised how soon they were going to have a child. The silverine sighed, wishing that time would just go faster until their little girl was born.
"I can't wait until you're born, sweetheart. Daddy can't wait to tell you about all the adventures your mommy and I had together," he said as he ran his fingers across the baby bump.
"Adventures?," the rosette asked with a hint of amusement to her voice. "I wouldn't call those times 'adventures' you know."
"Then what would you rather call them?"
Lightning rubber her chin in thought. "I'd call them..crazy-world-ending-missions-that-we-needed to-do-or-else-we'd-die. That sort of thing," she said almost bluntly.
"Those are still adventures."
"Whatever…," the rosette huffed in feigned annoyance. "But.. that all feels like a dream now - like it was all just some bad nightmare."
"Yea.. I feel that way too. It almost doesn't feel real to know that we fought gods and fal'Cie once," Hope said, his voice taking on a serious tone compared to the cheery one he'd had a few seconds ago.
He turned his gaze up towards the rosette. "We really have come a long way, haven't we Light? I never would've imagined beyond my wildest dreams that I'd be having a child with you."
"Heh.. me neither. The soldier and the grumpy teenager getting married in another life and having children.. almost sounds like a fairy tale," the rosette replied cheekily.
"Hey, I'm not a grumpy teenager anymore now am I?," the silverine said with a joking pout.
"No..," Lightning said as she brushed the strands of silver hair covering the silverine's face, revealing his emerald eyes staring back at her, "..I guess you aren't anymore." She leaned in closer, planting a kiss on her husband's forehead.
A satisfied smile formed on the silverine's visage. The rosette's lips formed a smile of their own, but there was a hint of deviousness hidden behind them.
"You know honey..," the rosette began as she trailed her fingers along her belly, "..your daddy used to be an angry teenager when I first met him."
"H-hey, she doesn't need to know that!," the silverine said almost flustered.
"But then he grew up to become the best leader that humanity had ever known, and he even managed to build his own city," the rosette continued with a smirk.
Hope sighed in relief. "Now that's better." A smirk appeared on his own lips, "But I have a story about your mommy too."
Oh, so this is how you're gonna play it? "Hope, don't you dare-"
"Your mommy used to be a soldier once. She was fierce, and she kicked major butt! Heck, she even beat up your Uncle Snow!," he said with a laugh.
The look on his wife's face was anything but an appreciation of his words, but he had more to say than just that.
"But as fierce as she may have been, she had a heart of gold. She helped daddy become better, and even saved daddy countless of times. She made me stronger, and helped me in more ways than she'll ever know. I owe my life to your mommy, and I couldn't be happier to have you with her," he said before giving one big kiss on Lightning's belly.
He looked up to see his wife's expression, a warm smile on her visage greeting his eyes. "Satisfied?," Hope asked teasingly.
"Hmm.. perhaps," she replied with a grin.
The silverine chuckled as he shook his head. "Your mother's a hard one to please, you know that sweetheart?," he whispered to the baby bump under his face.
"You say the word sweetheart so much you've almost convinced me that it was her name," the rosette joked.
"Hmm…" Now that he realised it, Lightning was right. He'd been calling their little baby 'sweetheart' all this time, and he hadn't even thought of a name for her yet. "Well, we haven't decided on any name yet. You have any ideas?"
"I don't know.. I don't think I'm even ready to decide yet."
"How about.. Claire Jr.?"
"Very funny Hope," the rosette said before promptly flicking her husband's nose in return as an amused smile flashed across her face. "But we are not going to name our baby Claire Jr."
"Hmm.. then what about.. Rain!"
"Rain?"
"Ya know.. Rain, Lightning," the silverine said as he waggled his eyebrows.
"What.." It finally clicked in her head, and once the realisation came, Lightning almost burst out in laughter at the idea. "Was that a pun, Hope?" she said amidst her ill-controlled giggles. She had to admit, that was pretty clever of him.
The cheeky smile on Hope's face was all it took to answer her question. "I'm being serious, Hope! We need to find a good name for our baby," she said as she jokingly smacked his shoulder.
Once his own laughter began to die down, the silverine began recollecting his thoughts. He took Lightning's hands into his own, placing both of them onto her stomach while his own hands lay over hers. "Light.. I want you to name her."
"Me?" She sighed. "I don't think I'm ready yet," the rosette replied, her eyes averting Hope's gaze. She honestly had nothing coming up in her brain at the moment.
"Then we'll name her when the time is right," he said reassuringly, earning him a small smile from the rosette. "But for now, I think I'll just stick to calling her sweetheart."
By now she was already deep into her third trimester, the months having gone by like a flash. Soon, if things went well, she'd finally have a child.
Lately, it seemed that there was an abundance of helping hands at her disposal - something she found almost a little jarring. Serah and Nora had been keeping themselves by her side, keeping her company and passing along some much needed parenting advice. Suffice to say, she was glad to have them around.
But as for the men.. that was a different story. They were almost like maids at this point; Hope and Bartholomew as well as Snow on some occasions running around the house preparing anything and everything for her, whether it be meals or even cleaning the house.
She appreciated it, really. But she felt like she could've done all of that herself. It felt a little jarring to have them doing everything for her. But you need to lie down and rest, honey, he'd say. But.. she couldn't deny that she found it really endearing of them.
Her storeroom had also been filled to the brim with all manners of baby items, generously given to her by none other than Serah and the rest of the gang during the countless baby showers she'd had. At least she didn't have to buy any of her own baby clothes for now.
While Serah and Nora kept his wife company, Hope could spend a little time chatting with his one and only brother-in-law.
"Snow..," the silverine called as he continued his routine of washing the dishes. But his hands were jittering, with some of the plates in his hand almost falling flat against the surface of the kitchen counter.
"What's up, lil' bro?," the blonde giant replied as he appeared in the kitchen with more plates in his hands.
Hope mentally groaned at the sight. As if i didn't have enough plates… But he tossed the thought aside, focusing back to what he wanted to ask Snow.
"I.. need to ask you a question."
"Go ahead. I'm sure I've got a few more pieces of advice up my sleeve," Snow said with a confident grin as he placed the rest of the dishes into the sink.
Hope sighed, recollecting his words. "How did you feel before Serah gave birth?"
Snow was a little taken aback at the silverine's question, but it didn't take him long to understand what Hope was trying to ask him.
"Ah, I see. You feel worried, don't you?," Snow said as he leaned his back against the kitchen counter.
Hope nodded faintly in confirmation. Truth be told, he wasn't worried - he was scared. And Snow could see that stressed look in Hope's eyes. He placed a hand on the silverine's shoulder, rubbing it lightly to soothe him.
"I'm scared, Snow. I don't know what'll happen during Light's labour and there's just so much that can go wrong. And what if it does go wrong-"
"I understand Hope," the blonde giant said cutting him off before his grim thoughts could overwhelm his stressed mind. "I know how you feel. I was like that too before Serah gave birth. I was scared shitless before Austin was born, and I felt just like you; worried that something would go wrong," Snow said sincerely.
"I won't sugarcoat it, lil' bro. Those hours of labour will feel like the most stressful moments in your life." Snow could practically hear his brother-in-law gulp in fear. "But.. once it's over… once your little baby's right there in your arms - it'll feel like the happiest time of your life. Trust me on this one, Hope."
Words alone weren't enough to dissipate the fears he had, but it was enough to give a shred of hope to the silverine. He just needed to get through the hardest part, and then she'd be here, in his arms. Hope breathed in, trying to calm himself.
"Thanks Snow."
"Don't mention it, lil' bro..," he said as he slung his arm around the silverine's shoulder. "Trust me, this'll all be worth it."
Now, the dark of night was starting to set in, and Bartholomew and Nora had already gone home after a full day of spending time with the couple. Snow had gone home as well to help Serah with their 3 year-old baby. Now.. it was just her and Hope relaxing in their bedroom.
"You feeling ok, Light?"
With her head leaned on the headboard, she looked up towards the silverine towering above her. "Yeah.. fine Hope," she said nonchalantly as she concentrated her attention towards the book she was reading.
"Alright. I'm going to the toilet for awhile so just call me if you need anything, ok?"
The rosette sighed. "I'll be fine, Hope. You don't need to worry about me so much you know," Lightning said as she gave a reassuring smile to her husband.
"I know, I know," he said leaning down towards his wife. "I just want to make sure, that's all." He kissed her lips for a moment, before leaning back up and planting a kiss on her forehead.
He made his way towards the toilet, occasionally stealing some glances towards the rosette relaxing on the bed. He just couldn't help but be concerned - and who could blame him? She was already so deep into her third trimester, it was just a matter of time before the baby was going to pop out.
As he opened the door to the toilet, he took one last glance at the rosette, seeing her look calm and relaxed reading that book of hers. Lightning noticed the pair of eyes staring at her, giving the silverine at the other end of the room a reassuring smile. I'll be fine, she mouthed to him.
Hope smiled back, but felt reluctant to let his wife out of his gaze. Eventually, he went into the bathroom - much to his dismay - closing the door behind him. He lazily turned on the tap, letting the water run freely into the sink. He took a little of the water into his hands, rubbing it all over his face to wash over the ever-noticeable eyebags on his visage. He was tired, exhausted, but most of all - worried. He just didn't know what to expect, and truth be told.. he was scared.
But he tossed the thought aside, instead focusing on cleaning up his dreadful looking face. He picked up his toothbrush, letting the running water cover every inch of its bristles. He squeezed the toothpaste almost haphazardly, making it overflow on the toothbrush. He was too exhausted and anxious to care anymore. He brought the toothbrush up to his mouth, beginning his usual night routine-
"Hope!"
In a flash, the silverine had tossed the toothbrush to the ground, slamming the door wide open before rushing into the bedroom. As soon as he'd heard her voice, his body and mind went into full alert mode, every fibre in his body shifting into overdrive.
Once he opened the bathroom door, he could feel the blood leaving his face upon seeing the sight in front of him. Lightning was laying upon the bed with her arms hugging her body tightly, her groans of pain sending a shiver down Hope's spine.
"Hope.. help.."
"Light!," he shouted in shock before rushing towards her side. "Light! Please, talk to me!," he said in a frantic panic as he held his wife in his arms.
"I think my..," she said before another bout of pain flashed through her body. "Ngrnnh," she groaned out in pain as she clutched her stomach with immense force. She was in agony, but she sucked it up, needing so desperately to tell Hope...
"I think my water broke."