Surrogacy

-chapter 25-

rated for language / adult themes

Week 14 1/2

In the palm of his hand he held the book he hadn't picked up in a few days and his curiosity had been begging him to read the words on the page. Casually leaning against the island in the middle of the kitchen, Sasuke flipped through the pages he already read until the week 14 caught his eye. As his eyes scanned the words of the book he absentmindedly took a bite of the baby carrot he held within his right hands fingers.

Your baby is now the size of your clenched fist! He raised a brow, took the last bit of his carrot in his mouth, and clenched his right fist. Perhaps since the book was a reference to mothers that his fist was much too large - and it seemed that way, since his clenched fist seemed much too big. Developments this week would be the roof of your baby's mouth! The baby is also sporting a thin coating of hair to keep him warm - but don't fret, once your baby gets all of the baby fat it will shed. His face twisted a tiny bit. "Gross." Just the mere thought of a hairy baby sent shivers down his spine.

Week sixteen was just around the corner, causing his curiosity to spike through the roof. Would the baby turn out to be his little girl or the Uchiha heir. What did he want more? A little girl wouldn't be that much work, would she? He guessed his son would only be a little shit like he was when he was a young child and he didn't know if he wanted to deal with that just yet. But then again he didn't know if he could relate to his daughter. Would she not like him? Would his own son not like him? Did he even want to know the gender right away or have it be a surprise?

He paced down the hallway of his house and found himself in the archway to the nursery. Plain. Blanched walls with winnowy drapes and just a simple crib propped up against the wall to the right. At first he never saw any faults in the nursery because the baby wouldn't be able to differentiate the colors and simply wouldn't care what color their room was painted. But as he stood there looking into this room he felt a odd vibe that his child would be depressed in this ugly room.

So he stood there, rubbing his chin as he envisioned what he wanted. If it was a girl he knew he didn't want a pink room. There was to be no pink paint in his house whatsoever so he settled on the subtle yellow color, like sunshine. If it was a boy he'd paint it the standard blue or green. They needed a changing table or his life would get a lot harder. The drapes could stay the same to have at least a little bit of white to contrast the colors he knew would invade the room. He wasn't too keen on having the floors littered with toys that would break his feet so he'd have to invest in some storage devices..

Sasuke let out a long sigh. If he wanted to have these things ready then he'd have to learn what his child would be. But then he always imagined learning the gender when it was actually in this world. He tapped his foot against the hardwood. To know what his baby was, or to surprise himself in six-ish months.

Gender neutral, he had to surprise himself, so he was going with gender neutral. Yellow was neutral, wasn't it? Green he supposed could be used in both ways, as long as it wasn't too dark.

He left right after that thought and returned hours later.

In the middle of the room was a large cardboard box with a printed picture on the side. It was a white and light colored wooden changing table. Then beside it were two silver cans of paint. Inside those cans was light green pain he deemed worthy for either his son or his daughter. Then he bought a paint roller and tray, painters tape for the trimmings on the wall he wanted to keep white, bassinet, a large white shaggy rug, and a mattress protector. He felt like he only conquered a little bit of the battle.

He carefully undid the lid of the paint and stared into the solid green color with a smirk. He set the tray beside the can and slowly poured a decent amount into it, feeling more and more sure about his decision. He stood up and peeled off the starter of the tape and turned toward the North wall where the window was situated. He wanted the sills and trim to remain white so as carefully as he could, he covered it with the tape and when he was done, he flicked his wrist and the tape fell to the ground. He knelt back down, undid the wrapper of the paint roller, and dipped it into the tray. He was no professional painter but he knew the basis. You put the roller to the wall. So that's what he did.

He worked and worked on that wall until he was satisfied and his nostrils burned with the smell of paint, but a smirk remained on his face, yet when he stared at the three other walls that were still white he let out a long dramatic sigh. He began to start on the other wall with a sinking heart.

When finished he sat down on the hardwood floor and let his head sink low. He was used to doing a lot of work during missions but this was excruciatingly painfully dull. But it was finally done and when he looked at his end result he smiled. The plain began to wash away with the bright color that would welcome his baby into their new home. So he cleaned up and by the time the paint had finished drying the baby changing table was completely constructed. He was the only one that was good at following instructions.

He laid the rug down in the room and fitted the mattress protector to said mattress and clapped his hands together once.

Now this was a room he was okay to let his child sleep in.

...

Ten days had passed and Sasuke and Karin found themselves in the clinic once more.

They were escorted to Ms. Nao's office and were greeted warmly, Sakura already was being set up on the grey pleather chair. She gave the couple a warm smile and suppressed the larger smile that desperately wanted to surface. The gel was gently being rubbed along the smooth slightly curved surface of Sakura's belly and the tension settled in.

Karin didn't particularly notice the tension because her eyes were busy wandering the office and it's different toys and gadgets.

"Do you want the 3D image?" Ms. Nao questioned calmly as she held both of the transducers in her hands with a raised brow. "We can do both, so what will be first."

"The regular one first." He stated, he liked to have the 3D image last so he could end the meeting on a good note.

Sakura's eyes were affixed to the monitor that was spinning around with different images as Ms. Nao rolled the first transducer along her stomach. The familiar sound of the baby's heartbeat filled the room and they all somewhat looked relieved. "The heartbeat is good." Ms. Nao said with a smile. "And they look to be growing at a good rate... With the 3D ultrasound the gender of the baby will be more easy to notice. Is anyone against seeing the gender?"

Karin looked over to Sasuke and cocked her head. "I want to know, but Sasuke doesn't."

Ms. Nao nodded her head. "I'll have the results printed out and secured in a folder for your eyes only then. In the meantime we'll focus on the parts of the baby that wont give away the gender." They nodded to her words and watched as the monitor returned to it's dull black image. She switched out the transducers and re-applied its cold tip to Sakura's belly.

The orange and black image resurfaced and was showing off his child's tiny sleeping face. At week sixteen his child was about four to five inches long and those tiny little ears Sasuke spotted most likely could hear voices and begin to get used to them. In front of their tiny little face was their balled up fists with the tiny intricate details in the knuckle and the little fingers that were curled inside of their palm. They had a tiny little button nose and two perfectly shaped eyelids that were glued shut in their deep slumber. He smiled because it was almost like he had his little baby in his arms.

"Wow.." Sakura piped up with a soothing voice, a smile curling up on her lips as she laid her jade eyes upon the face of that child. "That's amazing."

As the three reveled with the image in front of them, Ms. Nao tapped a small green circular button and the printer on the counter began to chatter loudly, sucking in a blank sheet of paper to print its words on. When they finished, she set the transducer on the silver tray beside the monitor and paced over to the counter and printer, sliding the paper into a small brown folder quietly. She twirled around and walked back over to Karin, holding it in front of her.

"The gender's inside."

Karin took the folder between her fingers and opened it up in front of her face. Sasuke took a cautious step back so he could avoid accidentally peering at the gender. Karin's eyes darted from side to side as she read the words and a small smile found its way to her mouth as she found what she was looking for. She gazed over at Sasuke. "I'm ready to go home."

When they returned home Sasuke made his way over into the kitchen for a glass of water but Karin went down the hallway casually until a bright light caught her eye. She snapped her neck to the side and saw something she never noticed. She took a rather hesitant step inside of the nursery and a large smile found it's way to her face. The nursery before she and Sasuke never really cared for. It was a baby and had no real preference to what color they wanted their room. "Sasuke must have done this.." She murmured to herself as she leaned against the wall. It was a beautiful shade of green that would suit a little girls room or a little boys room, and was definitely prettier to look at than the old white walls.

"You know, at the meeting you didn't seem all too thrilled to see the baby." Sasuke's voice shattered through her thoughts and she gazed over to him. He was leaning in the doorway to the nursery with a glass of water in his hand.

She shrugged lightly. "It's harder for me to connect to that baby. It's your baby, Sakura's holding that baby so she has a natural bond with it... It's just harder for me to make a connection with it." She licked her lips. "It'll take time."

They stood in silence as she continued to gaze around the room in complete awe. "But the nursery is beautiful."

I've decided against showing the gender of the baby until it's birth! Yippee! :)

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto