When he hung up, Hiei sat back down on the couch, scarcely able to believe it. The baby was actually coming now, when Kurama was still abroad. What the hell was he going to do? His doctor said he could give birth alone, but he didn't want to. Another contraction in his back hit him hard, which made her words awfully difficult to believe anyway. He did need someone else here. But who?
The first people to come to mind were Yukina and Shiori, but Hiei had some issues with that, mostly involving embarrassment during the birth; neither of them had ever seen those parts of him before, and he would prefer to keep it that way. Besides, although both of them were mothers, male pregnancies didn't work the same way female ones did, and some of the process would be not just embarrassing but a little difficult to explain, especially to Shiori, a human. And it would occur at a time when Hiei definitely would not be in the mood for explaining.
No, that would never work. But who else was there? Everyone else Hiei could think of would be embarrassing, annoying, useless, or some combination of the three. Yusuke had been helpful to Hiei when his labor with Masaki first started, but he'd be little help during the birth itself, especially without Kurama around. When Keiko went into labor with little Yusuke Jr. three years ago, Yusuke had completely freaked out, and it had actually been up to Kurama to drive Keiko to the hospital. Yusuke had at least stayed in the delivery room and held Keiko's hand, but that was it. The idea of him being helpful during a home birth was laughable.
And there were others who would know what they were doing, but they all had other problems. Shizuru had been the one to help Botan when their daughter, Hana, was born a few months after Masaki, but again, what would a human female know about this? And she'd never given birth herself. Botan had, but she had always gotten on Hiei's nerves, even if their children were best friends. Besides, the only female Hiei would ever feel comfortable with assisting in the birth was Dr. Setchi, and even that had taken a bit of getting used to.
Maybe I should just go to the hospital, Hiei thought. Just so he wouldn't have to be alone. It wasn't what he wanted, but Kurama being in New York during the birth wasn't what he wanted either. He was standing up, his communicator in hand, prepared to dial Dr. Setchi again, when it rang in his hand, nearly causing him to drop it.
"H-Hello?" said Hiei, putting the speakerphone on. It was Homura.
"Good morning, son," he said. "I just wanted to check up on you and Masaki, with Kurama all the way in that New Pork place."
"New York," Hiei corrected him. "And we're fine."
"Are you sure?" said Homura. "You don't look very good."
"Well, I'm thirty-eight weeks pregnant today," Hiei reminded him. "What do you exp…ergh!"
It took all of Hiei's efforts not to yell out at the most recent pain in his back, but Homura seemed to sense that there was a problem, anyway.
"Are you sure you're all right, Hiei?" he asked.
"Yes," Hiei lied, not really wanting to get into it. "I'm always in a lot of pain these days. You know, you've been there."
"All right," Homura said. "I just had a feeling I should call. I suppose you could call it a parent thing…" He paused, and Hiei could hear a smile in his voice. "Well, you know what I mean."
Hiei remembered the odd feeling he'd had starting last evening and all the way into the morning. So it really had been intuition.
"It's hard being here with Masaki with Kurama gone for only a few days," Hiei confessed. "I don't know how you were alone for years with Ru-Ru. Weren't you scared to give birth alone?"
There was silence for a moment, and Hiei was glad when Homura filled it.
"I didn't know another thing to do," he said finally. "It was either step up and be a good father to Ru-Ru, or sink into defeat, dragging her down with me. I couldn't let that happen. She was all I had after those accursed bandits killed Denki. Sometimes I think I was just lucky that the birth went as well as it did, but other times I think she was the one who kept my spirit strong."
Hiei felt the words sink in deeply, remembering how Kurama had been severely injured just before Masaki was born, and how hard it had been for Hiei to survive alone when his husband had been at death's door. If there was one reason to keep going, it was the new baby. He realized he was still standing and that his feet were hurting, but when he went to plop down onto the couch, he was startled to hear the quietest "pop," followed by the sensation of warm liquid soaking the back of his pants. He gasped audibly.
"What's wrong, Hiei?" Homura kept saying, but Hiei was frozen in shock. If his water had broken, it was official. The baby was coming, and soon.
"Father, I-I have to go," said Hiei, his voice shaking. "I have to—ahhh!"
"What's going on?" Homura demanded, his voice laced with concern. "What's wrong?"
"Fucking—hurts like a—bitch!" Hiei spat out, forgetting that he had his father on the phone and a little kid in the next room, forgetting himself. Of course, now that his water had broken, this was the worst contraction yet, and it seemed to last a lot longer, if it wasn't Hiei's imagination. When it was over, he tried to stand up to see if the couch was stained, but he couldn't move.
"I'm coming over," said Homura, and he hung up.
It was about that moment that Masaki came running into the room, anxiety evident all over his face. It was clear he'd sensed the same feelings in Hiei.
"Touchan!" he cried. "Touchan, are you okay?"
"I-I'm okay, Masaki," Hiei grunted, leaning over, his elbows on his knees.
"But then why are you in pain?" Masaki's big green eyes were filled with tears, and his bottom lip was trembling.
"Well, it turns out you were right," Hiei replied, trying to smile as he wiped sweat off his forehead. "Your baby brother is coming early. And your grandpa is coming to help us."
…
By the time Homura arrived at the apartment, Ru-Ru in tow, Hiei was actually glad his father had taken it upon himself to stop by. Way too much of his energy was going towards keeping Masaki calm and demonstrating that this was a good thing. And that wasn't easy to do when you were on the floor on your hands and knees, howling in pain.
Hiei looked up when he heard the knocks, his soaking-wet bangs hanging in his face. He meant to call, "It's open," but the best he could get out was a weak, "Father!"
The door opened, and in came Homura, with Ru-Ru right behind him. Hiei didn't have to ask why she was there; since she was only seven, Homura couldn't leave her behind in Makai, so whenever he went anywhere, he had to bring her along.
"Ru-Ru," said Homura, "why don't you watch TV with Masaki?"
"Okay," Ru-Ru replied brightly, heading over to Masaki, who despite Hiei's best efforts was still visibly upset. "Come on, Masaki, we get to watch TV!"
"Wait." Hiei got up to kneel, however difficult that was, and held out his arms to try and give his son a hug, despite his belly getting in the way. When he was done, he set one hand on Masaki's shoulder, using the other to wipe away the child's tears. "Masaki? Can you listen to Touchan?"
Masaki nodded, but it was accompanied by a sob; he was obviously terrified out of his mind.
"I know this looks scary," Hiei began, "but please believe me, there's nothing to worry about. I'm not hurt, I'm not in any danger, and soon you'll get to meet your baby brother. You and Ru-Ru can watch TV and have all the cookies you want, okay?"
"But…but Otou-san says I can't have cookies for breakfast," said Masaki, sniffling.
"Well, what Otou-san doesn't know won't hurt him," Hiei replied, giving Masaki a kiss on the head and letting Ru-Ru guide him to the living room TV. Homura helped Hiei to his feet.
"Can we go to the bedroom?" Hiei panted, wanting to get out of the living room before he had another contraction.
"Of course," said Homura, helping Hiei walk down the hallway to the bedrooms. "I suppose it's safe to assume you're in labor?"
"Yes," Hiei said miserably. "But it's not like it was last time at all. It was all in my back…and it only just started hurting in my stomach."
"Well, I'm afraid I wouldn't know exactly, because I never had a second child," said Homura gently as they entered Kurama and Hiei's bedroom. "But I do know that every pregnancy is different. You'll get through this, Hiei, I promise."
"I know I'll survive, Father, but it's just so hard," Hiei moaned as he lowered himself back onto the bed, dreading another contraction. "The baby's two weeks early, and I don't have Kurama aro—owww…!"
Hiei's words were cut off once more by another contraction, this time easy to feel in both his back and his abdomen. That was when he remembered he hadn't been timing them, so he didn't even know if his labor was progressing or not, but it was difficult to care at this point.
…
Several hours passed with no sign of the baby, and Hiei's pain increased with every contraction. By two in the afternoon, he was sitting backwards on the toilet, leaning on the toilet tank in an attempt to relieve a little of the pain. It wasn't really working. Homura had helped him change into a yukata, since he couldn't be wearing any pants. The contractions were almost on top of each other, with hardly a break in between, and it was getting impossible to tolerate.
"I can't take this anymore," Hiei moaned, and he meant it. He knew he couldn't do it. This baby was much harder on him than his predecessor. Wasn't the second baby supposed to be easier? Whatever happened to "been there, birthed that"?
"Hiei, you're doing a great job," said Homura, massaging Hiei's back. "I know it feels like you can't do this right now, but soon this will all be over, and the baby will be here, just like you told Masaki."
But the laboring demon couldn't respond, due to more pain on the way. Eighty seconds later, when the contraction was finally over with, Hiei was still very angry and frustrated, and he let Homura know it.
"This is a load of crap!" he shouted, feeling sweat dripping down his temples. "It wasn't supposed to be this way! I was supposed to have this baby with Kurama! But he had to go off to fucking New York and leave me alone here! WHAT AN ASSHOLE!"
"I know," said Homura, as Hiei was hit by another contraction. Homura got him a cold wet washcloth for his forehead, which was some small comfort. Hiei was even more enraged when he remembered that Kurama was the one who had gotten him pregnant in the first place. Kurama could go on business trips and do whatever he wanted, while Hiei was stuck home taking care of their first child and birthing their second. It wasn't fair.
When it was around three in the afternoon, Hiei felt something shift deep inside him, and he knew that feeling—it was the feeling of needing to take the biggest dump of his life. And when you were in labor, that meant it was time to push.
"Oh, shit," Hiei cursed, breathing into the pressure. There was no sense in trying to stop it, of course, especially since this was a sign that the birth was nearing its end. "Father?"
"Yes, Hiei?"
"I-I think I need to push," said Hiei, and then there was that urge again. "No…I know it."
"Great!" said Homura. He had been forcing a smile the entire time, trying to stay calm for his son, but Hiei could tell that the cheerfulness was genuine this time. "Go for it, son. Don't hold back."
Hiei got up off the toilet, and leaned on the sink, trying to get some of the pressure off his back. Since that was where the baby's head was, of course Hiei's back pain would increase on the final leg of the little one's journey out. But as soon as another contraction came along, he was struck by the most irresistible urge to squat down on the floor instead, one hand on the toilet seat for support, the other in Homura's, squeezing it tight.
Judging by his facial expressions and the many loud grunts, moans, and other assorted noises that seemed to come from deep inside him, one would guess that Hiei was in terrible pain, but in reality he was more relieved than anything else. At least this was a feeling he remembered. It felt rather exhilarating, almost pleasurable to push, to be able to surrender to what his body needed to do.
The only time it hurt to push was when the baby was crowning. That burned like hell, and Hiei was howling at the sensation, but Homura was there, holding his hand and encouraging him, and that helped a lot more than Hiei thought it would. To be honest, when he was thinking of support people to call, he was surprised Homura hadn't even come to mind. He should've been the first choice—well, the second, after Kurama. Hiei reached his hand down to feel a small wet tuft of hair on a medium-sized, round head before he had to push again and the rest of the baby's head popped right out.
Hiei was still being vocal, because that was the only way he could truly express how he felt. Making noise just felt natural when he was giving birth to his baby, and he couldn't really stop it. The head was out, and he knew that after he got the shoulders out, he would be done. The need to push consumed all of him, so much that the feeling of being stretched to his limits barely registered. With his hand, he felt the baby's hair, his eyes, his ears, his nose…It made his heart skip a beat. After so many months of carrying this baby around inside, he was finally here—well, almost.
Push! Hiei's body screamed, and he screamed too as the baby's shoulders and body slipped out with only two more pushes. The baby landed right in Hiei's strong hand, with one last "Ohhh…" escaping from his tired throat, and the sound of a newborn's watery cries soon filled the bathroom.
Homura let out a wordless breath of air, his crimson-red eyes sparkling with joy, as Hiei lifted the squalling baby into his arms. Despite having done this before, the first moment of holding the baby against his chest was just as magical as the first time around. The baby had the same hair color and texture as Kurama's—in fact, he looked almost exactly like the baby human Shuichi—and his little hands were balled into fists as he wailed. He was also scorching hot, which told Hiei right away that they had another fire demon in the family.
"You're here," Hiei whispered, his eyes filling with tears. One of them escaped and turned into a large, blue, shiny stone, which Hiei caught in his hand. It was warm for a few seconds, and then it turned cool. Hiei leaned against the toilet, sitting on the floor, while Homura fetched him a clean towel to wrap the baby in.
"Hiei, he's beautiful," said Homura, smiling down at his brand-new grandson.
"He's a fire demon, too," Hiei added. "Just like you and me."
"And me!" came a shrill voice from the bathroom doorway, and both Homura and Hiei looked up to see Ru-Ru standing in the doorway, Masaki hovering uncertainly behind her. She turned to her young nephew and smiled, leading him in. "It's okay, Masaki. The baby's right in here."
Hiei realized tears were still streaming down his face, turning into yellow stones, and he didn't want Masaki to be scared again, so he said, "Don't worry, Masaki. These are happy tears."
"I know," said Masaki, running to Hiei and giving him a hug. "It feels happy in here!"
This was the happiest Hiei had seen Masaki since…well, since as long as he could remember. Normally, immediately after giving birth, a demon would lash out at anyone who even made a sudden movement around the baby, even the baby's father. But for some reason, Hiei felt just fine when Masaki snuggled up against him contentedly. Hiei would never have thought of himself as a place of safety and comfort for anyone, especially not a child, but it was clear that, as Kurama said, "life is what happens when you're planning something else."
"Shall we call Kurama?" Homura asked. "This is something I think he should know about."
"Actually…" Hiei smiled, still feeling hot tears in his eyes. "I was wondering what to get him as a welcome-back gift. I think this will make a wonderful surprise. Besides, I don't want to miss the look on his face."