Kairi is born at the witching hour of the 13th on a Friday in winter; quite an uncommon birthday all things considered but then, no one really plans when their child comes into the world. She was two and half weeks early, but only spent three days in intensive care, adapting to her new environment as easily as her father lugs a new acquisition into the walk-in. She's a little underweight and short but that's to be expected and when she opens her eyes, they're as sparkling blue as her mother's, wide eyed and curious. A small tuft of golden brown hair sits atop her head. She was perfect in every sense of the word and a true testament to how genes coalesce and create something so beautiful and magnificently united and unique. Sure, plenty of kids looked more like one parent than the other, but her parents were ecstatic she looked like both of them right now.
The walk home, after both mother and daughter were healthy enough to be discharged, wears out the baby newborn, nestled into the crook of her mother's arms, hiding her face from the bright sunlight. They walk around to the back entrance of their house so as not to disturb their child by entering through the store. Moving silently through the recently repaired of squeaky floorboards house, they finally reach their destination, a nursery just across from their bedroom. Laying Kairi down in the crib and adjusting the binkie in her mouth to sit more securely, the new parents watch their daughter sleep peacefully, a look of awe on their faces.
"I still can't believe you did that."
"Oh, honey, it takes two to tango."
A slight cough of embarrassment. "You gave her life."
"Yeah...I did, didn't I?" it was whispered.
"I love you, Izumi."
"I love you, Sig."
Izumi turned and leaned up on her tiptoes to give her husband a sweet kiss, lingering in the embrace as long as her legs would hold her up. She was still recovering from labor and the fear of losing her child due to the early delivery. But all was well now. Sig's hand rested gently on her lower back, holding her steady but he let go when he felt her tremble and rest on the flats of her feet again.
"God, I don't want to go to our room and rest. I just want to sit and watch her," Izumi whispered, forehead against Sig's stomach. She felt a slight rumble which meant he was chuckling at her.
"Then curl up in the rocking chair. I'll bring a blanket and a glass of water in, then I think I'll let Mason have the afternoon off, okay?"
Izumi looked up at him. "Thank you, honey," she said, kissing his lips briefly this time before moving over to the rocking chair and adjusting its position to get a better angle on their sleeping angel. When Sig did return, he also had the novel Izumi had been reading in the hospital during her recuperation, just in case she couldn't bring herself to sleep in the chair but grew bored.
"I imagine Mason will want to come see her. Tell him it's okay but to be quiet," Izumi said, when Sig placed the blanket over her legs. She loved Mason as though he were her own little brother and was glad he decided to stay in Dublith after coming to visit his big brother, Sig, shortly after the two married and opened their butcher shop. He had apparently really liked the Dublith weather, and society; just enough city to not be boring, but country enough to enjoy nature. He learned butchery quickly, and his living here gave Izumi a competent and willing sparring partner closer in size to her.
Sig only grunted an answer this time and left his little family in the shaded, amber light of the nursery. There was no question he was smitten with Kairi, she was of his blood and so small and adorable, but he was a little nervous that with his size he may mishandle her. Unlike her fearless mother, Kairi didn't yet know how to counteract any clumsiness due to his cumbersome form, and he didn't expect her to, so he was at square one. He needed to figure it out and quickly cause he wanted to bond with his daughter. He was determined to do his best.
After relieving Mason of shop duty, knowing the sunset was going to be amazing tonight and his little brother liked to take photos of things like that in order to recreate them in drawings, the rest of the afternoon went by peacefully. Sig dealt with his customers in the same proficient manner as ever, but every so often someone would gain the courage to ask if something was up, pointing out he had a slight smile on his face. Not much of a talker, he would say that his daughter was born and they were finally home from the hospital. Most were used to his concise answers and left it at that, willing to wait to see a photo posted in the store, or hear about the girl from Izumi, but others, tourists probably-and yes even in winter, Dublth had tourists-asked for more details. Sig reverted to his shy, one answer self or grunting in ascent if they asked a question he didn't have to elaborate on, like if she looked more like him or Izumi.
When he had finally closed up shop for the dar, his suspicions were confirmed as he saw Mason sitting on the back porch of the residential side of their house with a drawing pad in hand, taking note of the sunset over the water. He climbed the stairs to his bedroom, refraining from peeking into the nursery because he wanted to change out of his clothes before seeing their daughter. When he finally did enter, he saw Izumi with the top few buttons of her blouse open and their daughter latched to her breast, suckling softly. Sig walked in as quietly as he could and knelt on the floor beside his wife, reaching out a hand to carefully rest on Kairi's head, reveling at how soft her skin felt.
"Any trouble?"
"No, she's latching much quicker than in the hospital. It's such a surreal feeling, intimate and precious."
"The books say it's part of the maternal bonding process, yeah?"
Izumi hummed in agreement, eyes completely focused on the child in her arms. "Thank you."
Sig smiled. This wasn't the first time she had thanked him and he knew exactly what she was referring to now. Izumi took to her pregnancy like a fish to water or moths to flames, basking in the glow and preening like a peacock. She thanked him throughout her pregnancy, right before her mood cracked and flipped during labor, and before they all came home. She thanked him for giving her a child, but he should be thanking her. He just donated some DNA, whereas she carried their child for eight and a half months, went through ten hours of labor and days of absolute terror, wondering if their daughter would survive her early entrance to this world. Instead of saying all this again he leaned closer and kissed Izumi's cheek.
A light pop of a noise brought the parents out of their reverie and the tiniest of yawns occurred. Izumi rolled her shoulder slightly, still getting used to holding mostly still while breastfeeding so Kairi's latch would be secure. She moved their child away from her body, toward Sig.
"Will you hold her please?"
Sig's brown eyes widened for a moment in fear. He knew he should, he had to, Izumi wanted to re-button her shirt, probably wanted to stretch, and was giving him the chance to work on controlling his movements and strength, but he froze. Finally shaking his head and stealing his resolve, he nodded and reached out for their daughter. All strain and worry on his face melted away when Kairi was in his arm, yes, one arm, she was so small she was barely the length of even Izumi's forearm so he wasn't too surprised when she rested against his chest. Time seemed to stand still as he knelt there, staring into the serene face of his daughter, their daughter, who looked up at him with such trust and adoration even if she couldn't articulate those emotions on her own yet.
The arm on his shoulder drew his eyes up and into the gorgeous blue of his wife, a soft smirk on her face. "See, I told you, you got this. Come, let's go make supper," she said, and left the nursery, leaving it to her partner in life to bring their child downstairs or put her to bed again if he felt Kairi was too tired to remain awake much longer. She really did choose an amazing man to go down this path with. Izumi knew they were going to be great parents.
