Kurama had managed to pull himself together for Hiei's sake as soon as he possibly could, as soon as he could process the news. And as he drove into town again, he tried to convince himself that Hiei was making the right choice. Not because they couldn't give the baby a good home; Kurama was sure they could. But the baby should go to a family where both parents wanted it, not just one. Besides, what guarantee was there that Hiei would be thrilled to be pregnant once he got used to the idea? He had never wanted children. Kurama had been so happy about the baby that he hadn't even considered what Hiei might be feeling.

Despite the fact that Kurama had never met this baby, he still felt like he lost something. It didn't matter that maybe, later on, he and Hiei could actually plan to have a child when they were ready. Babies weren't just like cookies, where if you dropped one on the floor you could always just get another one. Kurama wanted this baby in particular. It may still be the size of a seed and inside Hiei, but it was still his child, and he was still its father, and he still loved it. Just the thought that he would watch it grow over the months, interact with it, and stay by Hiei's side during the birth, only to have to give the child to someone else, seemed to rip his heart to shreds.

I would have been such a good father, Kurama told himself, blinking tears out of his eyes. But in order to prove that, I have to do the right thing, no matter how hard it is.

It had been agonizing enough to put all the shopping bags and the stuffed gorilla back in the trunk of the car, but he had to take it all out again, piece by piece, until finally everything but the diapers (which he would return to the drugstore) were sitting on the doorstep of Megumi's secondhand shop. Since they were gifts, Kurama didn't have to go inside and make a return, but by way of explanation, he left a little note on top of the pile that read, False alarm.

Doing the return at the drugstore wasn't a lot of fun, either.

"I'd like to make a return," Kurama said tonelessly to the girl at the customer service desk, setting the diapers down on her counter.

"Certainly, sir," she replied brightly. "Do you have a receipt for it?"

"Yes," he said, handing it over. "It should all be in order."

As the cashier did the return, Kurama watched everyday life pass him by, while he stood alone on the sidelines. The usually reserved fox-demon was using every ounce of willpower he had to keep from breaking down. It suddenly seemed like there were babies and young children everywhere, out in the parking lot, in the quickly-forming line behind him, in the store. Toddlers ran around begging their parents for candy; tiny newborns slept peacefully in buggies; mothers and fathers held young ones of varying ages and played with them, loving them so much. There even seemed to be more pregnant women out and about than normal.

Watching the children and their parents, Kurama felt such an ache, a longing, even jealousy that they got to keep their babies and he didn't get to keep his. He was a father now, with a child he would never get to raise.

"Sir? Sir!" Kurama was snapped out of his brooding by the cashier's voice.

"Excuse me?" he said, jolting to attention.

"You need to swipe your credit card," she told him, indicating.

"Oh. Sorry about that." Kurama swiped his card, but it was declined.

"Try it again," she said, and he did, but it still didn't work. Kurama swiped it over and over again, trying to fight back tears that betrayed the frustration and heartbreak underneath his cool exterior.

"Why won't this thing work?" he demanded.

"Maybe the magnetic strip has dust on it," the girl suggested. "See if you can wipe it off."

Kurama started wiping the magnetic strip off with his shirt, but apparently the other customers in line were getting restless.

"What's the hold-up?" someone yelled. "I'm trying to do a return here, you bastard!"

"Hey, we don't call people names like that," the cashier chided, sticking her head out to look at the impatient person.

"You know what? Keep them! I don't care!" Kurama shouted, dropping the diapers on the counter and storming out the doors, ignoring the cashier's call for him to come back. He didn't want to go home, especially because he didn't really feel like helping Hiei look into the adoption process, but he knew he couldn't stay out forever, now that his errands were done.

When Kurama finally arrived back home, he headed straight for the living room couch and turned on the TV, staring unseeingly at the screen. Whatever crap they were reporting on today, he didn't hear a single word of it. Unfortunately, since the TV was turned up so loud, he didn't hear Hiei approaching until the smaller demon was right behind him.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Hiei!" Kurama scolded, turning around. "If you're going to stand behind me, at least say something."

"You said you were going to help me put the baby up for adoption," Hiei reminded him.

"I'm aware, Hiei, but can you please give me a break?" Kurama was trying to keep his tone even. "This wasn't exactly my best day ever, you know."

"Oh, boo-hoo," Hiei said sarcastically. "At least you're not fucking pregnant!"

"Hiei!" Kurama snapped. "Watch the language!"

"Shut up!" Hiei now sounded tearful again, as well as furious. "I guess I'm going to have to do all the work on my own, then!"

"Listen, Hiei…" Kurama took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Why don't I just try and track down a good elemental obstetrician, and you can research adoption on the computer?"

"Your dumb ningen computer won't do any good," Hiei declared. "I want the baby to be adopted by a Makaian family."

"Well, the concept is the same," Kurama told him. "You can still read things like testimonies from adoptive parents and adopted children."

"Oh…okay," said Hiei, and with that, he shuffled into Kurama's home office. Meanwhile, Kurama debated over where to get started. They couldn't use the computer to find their doctor, since they needed a Makaian doctor, and naturally, any human medical website would only have listings for human doctors. Hmm…maybe one of their old friends had a referral?

Kurama was very glad right then that he had invented a phone that could communicate between the two worlds, and that he and all his friends had exchanged phone numbers at the last Makai Tournament. Kurama figured that if he wanted a reference to an elemental doctor, he should probably talk to an elemental demon…and the first elementals to come to mind were Touya and Jin, the former Shinobi. They lived together, supposedly as "roommates," although Kurama and Hiei both suspected they were a little more than that.

"Hello?" said Touya when he picked up the phone.

"Good afternoon, Touya," said Kurama. "It's me, Kurama."

"Kurama!" Touya repeated. "I haven't heard from you in quite some time now. How are you?"

"Fine," Kurama lied. "How are you?"

"Better than ever," Touya replied. "Jin and I are officially an item."

"That's wonderful," said Kurama, feeling just a little bit better. "I'm so happy you two decided to come out of the closet."

"We probably wouldn't have done if you and Hiei hadn't inspired us," said Touya. "When you two got engaged, we realized we shouldn't have to hide our relationship, either. The truth is, we were a couple long before the Dark Tournament, but not even the other Shinobi knew."

"Well, I'm glad we could inspire you, Touya. You should never have to hide who you love because of what other people think," Kurama told him. "Anyway, speaking of Hiei…I'm afraid he's fallen pregnant."

"Hiei's pregnant?" Touya sounded shocked. "Congratulations, Kurama. Can I tell Jin?"

"That's up to you, but don't get too excited," Kurama warned him. "We've decided to put it up for adoption."

"Oh," said Touya. "Then…may I ask why you're calling? Jin and I aren't really looking to adopt a child right now."

"It's not that," said Kurama. "I was just wondering if you could refer us to a good obstetrician, preferably one that specializes in elementals."

"I see," said Touya. "Well, you're in luck, because I know somebody. Well, I know of somebody. We've never met, but I can refer you to someone."

"Who is it?" Kurama asked, feeling just a little bit of hope enter his heart again. Even if they couldn't keep the baby, at least they would be able to have someone competent overseeing the pregnancy.

"Risho's sister, Setchi," Touya answered. "She works at a hospital for elementals in what used to be Raizen's territory. She's not just an obstetrician, but a family doctor as well, which means she works with pregnant youkai, new parents, and children. And she specializes in elementals, as well as being one herself. So she should be perfect for Hiei."

"Do you happen to have the address of the hospital?"

"I'm sorry, I don't," Touya apologized. "I can give you the phone number, but the place shouldn't be hard to find. I know she works at the biggest hospital in the biggest of Raizen's cities. So you can't miss it."

"I'm sure we'll be able to find it," Kurama reassured him. "Thank you, Touya."

"Anytime," the Ice Master replied cheerfully, and he gave Kurama the non-emergency number for the hospital where Dr. Setchi worked. "Um, good luck with finding a new home for the baby."

"I appreciate it," said Kurama. Somehow, acting like he also wanted to put the baby up for adoption made it hurt a little bit less, even if it meant he had to fool himself. "Have a nice day."

"Same to you," said Touya.

After they had hung up, Kurama decided to visit the office to check on his pregnant husband, but when he got closer, he could hear the sound of a woman screaming like she was being tortured. That didn't sound much like any adoption testimony he'd ever heard of, so he went in to investigate and was greeted by what must have been the most graphic childbirth video on the Internet. The poor woman was clearly stretched to the max, with a baby's head halfway out. Hiei, meanwhile, was frozen in his seat, his wide eyes locked on the monitor. Kurama quickly ran over and turned it off.

"Hiei," said Kurama, "what did I tell you about downloading things onto my work computer? I only have one gigabyte left of storage, which is half of what it came with, and who knows what kind of viruses could be—"

"Did you see that baby's head?" Hiei interrupted hoarsely. "It was the size of a fucking bowling ball!"

"Hiei, I know that seemed painful," Kurama told him calmly, "but I'm sure when the baby is born, it will all be worth it."

"Easy for you to say!" Hiei wailed. "You don't have to do it!"

"Come on, now," Kurama coaxed. "What happened to the brave, strong man I married?"

"The baby tore his ass open!"

"Listen, Hiei—"

"Did you know twelve to nineteen hours of labor is normal for a first-time birth?!" Hiei demanded, his voice wavering out of control. "I know what it's like to endure hours and hours of nonstop pain, Kurama, and that's without the water breaking and the dilating and the bleeding and the BABY COMING OUT MY ASSHOLE!"

Kurama set his hands on Hiei's shaking shoulders, massaging them to help him calm down, since it looked like he was close to having a panic attack.

"You were supposed to be doing research on adoption, Hiei," Kurama said calmly. "It looks like you were doing some early research on childbirth instead."

"I can't do this, Kurama." Hiei looked up, the fear clear to see in his eyes. "I just can't."

"Yes, you can, honey," said Kurama, bending down and giving him a kiss. "I know you can. I'll be with you the entire time, and you're a strong person. One of the strongest."

"Does it matter?" said Hiei. "What do you expect childbirth to be like, a tournament match?"

"Not exactly," Kurama told him. "But you have a strong body, and that's very important when giving birth."

Hiei swiveled the desk chair away from Kurama and stared down at the ground, his fingers playing with his Hiruseki stone.

"I hate to admit it," he said quietly, "but I'm afraid. More afraid than I've ever been. And not just of giving birth. It's everything."

"But that's okay, Hiei," Kurama replied, wrapping his arms around Hiei's neck. "That's perfectly normal. In fact, it would be stranger if you weren't a little scared."

"I'm not a little scared, I'm a lot scared," Hiei said back. "I feel like I have a death sentence on July 19."

"Why? What's on July 19?"

"That's when the baby's coming, isn't it?" said Hiei. "It's nine months after yesterday."

"Well, yes, but you don't count nine months after the day you find out, Hiei," Kurama told him. "The symptoms don't show up right away. Besides, an elemental demon pregnancy isn't exactly nine months."

"Then…how far along am I?" Hiei asked nervously.

"Based on when you were last fertile, Hiei, I would say about six weeks," Kurama replied. "The baby was conceived four weeks ago—"

"Then shouldn't I be only four weeks along?"

"No, because the fertile window is in the middle of the elemental reproductive cycle," Kurama explained. "Your body needs two weeks to get ready to host a baby, and those two weeks count as the first two weeks of pregnancy. So the age of the unborn baby is always two weeks less than the amount of weeks you've been pregnant. I've calculated your due date to be June 16, 1997, and you have about thirty-four weeks left to go, assuming the baby comes right on time."

Hiei's look of terror had been replaced by utter confusion.

"I guess so," he said finally. "You really did put a lot of thought into this, didn't you?"

"Of course I have," said Kurama softly. "I don't know if you realize it, honey, but you're doing something incredible. Somewhere in Makai, there's a couple that wants a baby, but can't make one of their own, for whatever reason. Yet months and months from now, their happiness will be complete, and it will all be thanks to you and the wonderful gift you gave them—a child to call their own."

"But I thought you wanted to keep the baby," said Hiei.

"I'm not going to pretend I don't, Hiei, but if you feel you're not ready, it would be wrong of me to force you to keep it," Kurama said. "Your responsibility as a parent is to do what you feel is best for the baby's well-being, and I realize that's exactly what you're doing."

"Thanks, Kurama." Hiei sighed. "I guess I was trying to put that into words. But I have another question."

"Anything."

"When I was looking for a video to download, I couldn't find one of a man giving birth," Hiei said. "There were only women."

"Well, that would be because male humans can't give birth," Kurama explained. Sometimes he forgot how much Hiei really had yet to learn about the human world. "Both male and female youkai can bear children, but in the human species, only women can do it."

"That's weird," said Hiei. "Why can't men do it? Are they not allowed?"

"No, they literally can't," said Kurama. "Human men don't have a ninshinsu, a reproductive cycle, or a birth canal, like male youkai do. The baby would have no way to form, nowhere to grow, and nowhere to come out. In addition to that, sperm can't fertilize spirit energy the way it can fertilize demon energy. Human women can have children because the elemental female reproductive cycle is basically identical to that of a human female."

"But what if there are two men who want a child?" Hiei asked.

"They can adopt, or they can use a surrogate mother, where one is the biological father and the other is sort of like a stepfather. They usually conceive the baby in a lab and a doctor puts it inside the woman, where it can grow like a normal baby."

"Speaking of doctors," said Hiei, "did you find one for the baby?"

"Touya knew of an elemental who specializes in family medicine with other elementals," Kurama replied, smiling. "I think we should make an appointment."

"Sure." Hiei shrugged. "I'd feel a lot better if the doctor has gone through what I have."

"Good," said Kurama. "The hospital we're going to is in the largest city in Raizen's former territory. Touya gave me the hospital's phone number, though he doesn't have the address. Do you think you might have been there before?"

"I stay away from cities, and hospitals, too," Hiei answered. "I can heal myself. But I bet Yusuke's been there. You should call him for directions after you make the appointment."

"I'll make the appointment right now, then," said Kurama. "It's recommended that we start our prenatal visits as soon as possible, and they might not be able to fit us in right away."

"Okay," said Hiei. "I guess I'll just read more about adoption. And I won't download any more videos."

While Hiei was on the computer, Kurama called the hospital and made an appointment with the receptionist for nine in the morning the following Tuesday. After that, he gave Yusuke a call.

"Hey, Kurama!" said Yusuke. "How's it going?"

"Fine," Kurama told him, figuring he could explain later. "Listen, Hiei's seeing a new doctor in Makai, and her office is in the biggest city in Raizen's territory. Our appointment is a week from Tuesday at nine, and we were wondering if you could show us how to get there."

"I don't think I could be much help, because that ancestral dad of mine lived far away from the city," said Yusuke. "But you can always have Reikai set up a portal. I'll talk to Koenma, okay?"

"Thank you, Yusuke." Kurama smiled to himself. "I knew I could count on you."