Now Is the Time to Panic
"My goodness! My gracious!
When will this day be done?
Will it be a girl
Or will I have a son?"
— Dexter's Dad, Dexter's Laboratory
"Yes, thank you again, Mr. President. It's been a pleasure working with NASA," Izuku said, smiling to himself as he leaned back at his desk. "I'm looking forward to the next joint hero training exercise as well as the moon landing. Have a good evening."
The American president said his own goodbyes, and Izuku hung up the phone, then tapped a few notes to himself into his computer. Things were going well with the plans for the new UN sponsored hero team, as well as the Japanese and American moon base that was being constructed. Finally, after centuries of stagnation, the human race was moving forward, and peace really was coming to the world.
Izuku glanced out the window, looking down on the rebuilt Tokyo. It had been just over four years since the end of the Quirk Civil War, and life was slowly, but surely, returning to normal. Well, as normal as it ever was for Izuku these days.
He could see a few people flying by using their quirks, staying in the designated skylanes. The Quirk Reform laws had been passed a few months ago, and while things were still getting ironed out they were going well. He absently reached for his cup of coffee, taking a sip before setting it back down. It was still early in the morning, but to call the United States he'd had to come in due to the time differential.
"Izuku!" Mei said, barging into his office. "It is time."
"Ok, just a sec. Mei, do you think I should send Fumikage or Hitoshi to head up our UN delegation during the next training exercise?" Izuku asked absently. He answered his own question as Mei waddled forward. "Hmm, probably Shinso. Tokoyami's still dealing with those weapons runners with the Korean government."
He looked up as Mei came up to his desk, standing and smiling. She looked great, even if she also somewhat resembled a beached whale at this point. A grease stained, somewhat rumpled beached whale, as even at nearly nine months pregnant she refused to not work on their latest inventions. Which was good as the moon base probably wouldn't have been constructed without her endless stream of creations.
"Izuku, it is time," Mei repeated, taking Izuku's hand and tugging at it.
"Time for what?" Izuku asked, confused. He glanced at his calendar. Surely he wasn't missing anything? Life as the head of the new Hero and Quirk Administration was busy, that was certain. He barely had time to go out on patrol these days, or help Mei in the workshop more than an hour or two a day.
"Our baby, it is time. Come on, we need to go to the hospital," Mei said, continuing to tug at Izuku.
Izuku's eyes went very, very wide. "Oh God, Mei, you're in labor?"
"Yes, I am very sure, this is what Hari and everyone else said it would feel like," Mei explained. "So we need to go to the hospital."
"Oh God, yes, we-Burnin!" Izuku shrieked as he smashed the emergency button on his desk. "Burnin I need you!"
Burnin crashed into the room, her fire's burning brightly, eyes wide, ready to fight. She was currently Izuku's Head of Operations, and sort of served as his aide as well as his eyes and ears in the field.
"What, what is it? Villains? A disaster?" Burnin demanded, looking around the room wildly.
"The baby!" Izuku gasped. "I've got to go! Cancel all my appointments! You're in charge!"
"Oh." Burnin relaxed, eyeing Mei. "That time huh?"
"Yes," Mei said, still pulling on Izuku's arm. "It is alright, we have lots of time we-"
The windows folded in, letting the wind howl into the room as the Ultra Armor pulled into the docking bay. Izuku grabbed on to Mei, pulling her forward, then jumping into his suit and slamming the emergency beacon. The armor folded in about him, then he scooped up Mei in his arms. "We're going, keep everything safe! Don't forget the meeting with the Prime Minister, give my apologies!" Izuku shouted. Whatever Burnin said back was lost in the wind, and Izuku jetted away from the building.
"Ha! I was going to say we should take a car, but this is much better!" Mei laughed, grinning excitedly as they flew across Tokyo. "We will take our baby to have a baby!"
Izuku frantically navigated to their chosen hospital, then dove hard, only breaking at the last moment and sending out a blast of air as he landed by the Emergency Room. He disengaged the Ultra Armor, then picked up Mei in both arms and ran for the doors.
"Izuku! Put me down! I can still walk!" Mei protested, but he was too focused to notice. Panicked doctors and nurses were running for him, calling to ask what the emergency was.
"The baby!" Izuku gasped, handing a somewhat irate Mei over to them. "She's having the baby! You have to help her!"
"What, is that it?" one of the doctors demanded, obviously incredulous. "Well, I suppose it's about time. Come on, Mrs. Midoriya, let's get you to a room."
"The contractions just started," Mei huffed as she was led away. "He is being cute, but also very annoying. I told him we have lots of time, but he did not listen."
Izuku raced back to the Ultra Armor, scrambling in and activating the comm unit.
"This is Lemillion," Togata's voice said on the other side before Izuku could speak. "Izuku, I saw your distress beacon, I'm on the way with the others, what's the emergency?"
"The baby!" Izuku gasped. "I need to call my dad! Sorry!"
"What? The baby? Izuku are you-"
But Izuku hung up and quickly dialed a well known number.
"Hatsume Motors. If it's broke, we fix it," Shu Hatsume's gruff voice said from the otherside.
"DadMeishavingthebabywereatthehospitalandthedoctorshaveherbutIdontknwowhattodo," Izuku babbled.
"What? Izuku? Son, slow down. I caught Mei, and hospital? Is something wrong or-no, she's just having the baby, isn't she?"
Izuku nodded frantically, then realized this wasn't a video call and gasped, "Yes!"
"Oh, well, that's alright then. We'll just close up shop and be over in a bit. Call your mother too, she'll want to know," Mr. Hatsume said, then hung up.
Izuku started to dial again, but another call came in.
"Midoriya, this is Chief Tsukauchi, we've got your distress signal, but when I called Lemillion he couldn't respond, I think he was coughing? And Burnin just laughed at me. What's going on? I'm mobilizing my officers now."
"Mei, baby, now," Izuku gasped. "Have to call mom, sorry bye."
Then he hung up and called his mother.
"Well, good morning, Izuku! Glad you could finally find time to call me," Inko said. "I've just been looking at baby clothes, and wondering what sort you and Mei-"
"MomMeishavingthebabyrightnowwereatthehospitalandIcalleddadandhescomingbutIdontknowwhattodowillshebeOK?"
"What?!" Inko wailed. "MeishavingababyrightnowohmygodIllberighttheredontmovebesafe!"
And then she hung up. Izuku fought down his panic and sprinted back inside, leaving the Ultra Armor sitting there as several curious civilians started to approach, and two police cars screeched into the hospital parking lot, sirens wailing.
"Where's Mei?" Izuku shouted as he ran up to the desk, his eyes wild, breathing hard.
The receptionist pursed her lips. "You're going to be one of those, aren't you, Power Suit?"
"One of what? Where? Where's Mei? Is she OK? Is the baby OK?" Izuku demaneed, activating his laser module on his arm and scanning the room. The only people there shied back from him slightly, save for several children who were pointing and babbling to their parents excitedly, even the girl with the obviously broken arm.
"Yeah. You're definitely going to be one of those," she sighed. She picked up a phone. "We've got a NDD here. Yes, it's Midoriya. Yes, I know who he is, he's still a New Distraught Dad. Look, it's either you deal with him, or I either whack him over the head or drug him with enough morphine to calm him down."
She hung up and smiled at Izuku, who realized he was trembling slightly and deactivated his laser module. "We'll just have a special team to come down to talk to you, Mr. Midoriya. Don't worry, your wife is just fine. She's been shown to a room and we've got our best team on the case."
"Ok, but you have to make sure she's OK!" Izuku babbled. "I need to see her! Where is she?"
"Mr. Midoriya?"
Izuku spun to face the new voice, which was a worn out looking older doctor. "Why don't you come with me. Everything's going to be just fine, just relax."
Izuku followed the doctor to another waiting room, still asking where Mei was and if she was going to be alright. The doctor patiently told him everything was going to be fine each time, and he just had to wait.
It was only a few minutes later that his mother flew into the room, escorted by two very amused looking police officers. Izuku and Inko both held each other, cried, and babbled, while the officers talked to the now very exasperated doctor.
"Um, Director Midoriya, sir? One of us will go keep an eye on your wife, the other will make sure no one runs off with the Ultra Armor."
"Yes, but is Mei OK?" Izuku demanded. "She's having a baby! What about the baby? Is it alright?"
"Um, yes, I'll just let the good doctor here explain all that. We'll be just outside."
As they left, Izuku heard one of them whisper to the other, "Jesus, I can't hardly believe that's the same guy who killed Re-Destro, led the resistance, and fought with the Demon against Shigaraki."
"Oh, it's him alright. Ever seen him at big press conferences? He gets nearly the same way, especially when his wife isn't there."
"Well I know he's one scary son of a bitch when the chips are down, but I didn't know a grown man could cry so much. You sure he's really quirkless? I think him and his mother must have some sort of crying quirk."
Izuku ignored all of that, and demanded of the doctor to know if Mei was OK and when the baby would be there.
"Well, she's not quite fully dilated yet, and the contractions are still fairly mild, so it will be some time. Just relax, Mr. Midoriya, she's in good hands. Our best doctors and healing quirks are with her right now."
That only led to Izuku and Inko blubbering and wailing even more, until Izuku's inlaws arrived.
"Uh-huh. I figured," Shu Hatsume said when he walked in. He glanced at his wife, who seemed to have developed a coughing fit. "You want to talk Inko down out of that tree she's in while I handle the boy?"
"Sure. Inko, why don't you come sit with me? Let's just have a little chat. I brought you some knitting, you like that, don't you? Yes, we'll just knit some baby clothes and talk."
Inko trembled as she sat down, still weeping and crying as she knitted and babbled to Noriko.
"Mei's having the baby," Izuku repeated to Shu, who was talking to the doctor. "She needs to be OK! I alerted everyone there was an emergency and-"
"Yeah, I know, cause Togata called me and couldn't damn well stop laughing. Tried to get me to record you because, and I quote, 'it would be hilarious.' But we're not gonna do that. Got you some medicine on the way, son." Shu reached into his overall's pocket and pulled out at flask.
"That's normally not allowed," the doctor sighed. "But frankly if it will calm him down I'm all for it. I've got other things to attend to, let me know if you need me."
"I'll handle him, I was about the same way my first time too," Shu promised. Then grimaced slightly. "Well, maybe not this bad. Jesus, you better not do this every time, son."
"I don't need medicine, Mei needs medicine!" Izuku cried, grabbing the bottle and looking around frantically. "We need to get it to her."
"Yeah, no, this is for you. And maybe your mother too. Here, take a swig."
Izuku pulled the cork out easily, then took a long drink. He had to-"What is that?" Izuku coughed, wiping his lips and staring at the bottle.
"Triple distilled whiskey," Shu said. He passed the bottle to his wife, who poured a cup for Inko and forced it on her, even as she continued to knit and weep. "Have another taste. Gonna be hours yet, and I ain't puttin' up with yer nonsense the whole time."
Izuku did have a few more drinks, which did help him relax, but he was still frantic to see Mei.
"Yeah, we ain't puttin' your panicky ass in that room with my little girl," Shu told him. "That would just get her excited, and that's the last thing we need. Plus, if you see her in pain, you're liable to do something real dumb."
"What, Mei's hurt, who did it?" Izuku demanded, looking around. "I'll kill them!"
"No you ain't,' Shu told him, grabbing Iuzku's laser module and pushing it back in.
"Why not?" Izuku snapped.
Shu laughed. "Because it was you who did it to her, you poor dumb bastard!"
"Oh."
It was, in fact, a very long day, and a rather long night. Izuku ended up falling asleep for a few hours thanks to the alcohol, snoring on his mother's shoulder as they both slept.
At last, in the small hours of the morning, a new doctor came to see Izuku. "Mr. Midoriya? We're ready for you."
"Is Mei OK?" Izuku demanded, hurring over and wringing his hands.
"She's just fine," the doctor assured him. She gently put her hand on his shoulder, steering him down the hall. "Right this way sir."
They took Izuku to a room where a different, tired looking policeman nodded to him. "Congratulations, sir."
Izuku hurried in, where a drawn, worn looking Mei was lying on a bed, holding a small wrapped bundle. "Izuku," she whispered. "Look. We did make a super cute baby. Our best yet."
Gingerly, Izuku reached down, picking up the tiny little person, which sniffed and started to cry.
"Shhh, shhh, it's OK," Izuku said, rocking gently. He looked to the doctor, who smiled.
"Congratulations, your daughter is quite healthy, Mr. Midoriya. She's 3.1 kilos, and 44.4 centimeters. Your wife is just fine, she was quite, um, vocal, throughout the delivery."
Izuku knelt next to Mei, smiling as he looked down at their daughter. Mei took her back, and the infant quieted, snuggling up to Mei and going to sleep.
"She's beautiful," Izuku said, his vision swimming from tears. "Just like you."
"Yes," Mei agreed. "Her hair is just like yours." Indeed, though there was little of it, there was a faint green tint to the few hairs on their baby's head.
Izuku felt his pulse race slightly. "What about, her eyes?"
Mei smiled. "Do not worry. It does not matter. She is our baby, either way."
"Yeah, I guess," Izuku agreed. He couldn't help leaning over to peek, quickly pulling down an eyelid to check. Yellow, with odd crosshairs. Just like her mother.
Well, that was alright.
"Welcome, Sumiye," Izuku said, stroking his daughter's head. "We've been waiting for you."
He took out his phone, then snapped a quick picture. He typed out a quick message, then sent it off.
"Was that for Hari?" Mei asked.
"Oh, I should send her one too," Izuku said, opening up his phone and quickly typing out a message in the group chat for their friends and family. "No, that one was for old Maijima. He did say he wanted pictures from the delivery room."