2 ½ months of your reading and my writing leads to this chapter. I can't believe JML actually computed the labor hours. ^^ I just did a reasonable estimate. Inhale deeply, then exhale. I can do this. Inhale, exhale……….
Well, then. Here goes nothing……….
……………………………………..
"Let's do this, Kaoru."
Misao handed Kenshin a damp towel, which he patted through Kaoru's sweaty face. She breathed heavily as he did so, and enjoyed the short reprieve from the pain and the pushing.
"Are you ready now, Kaoru-san?" Megumi asked from the bottom end. Her intensely focused eyes belied the doctor's lack of sleep. Kaoru nodded with a huff and a puff. "Alright……..one…..two…….three………PUSH!" Megumi ordered.
"NOT YET!!"
"What do you mean not yet?!"
"Just what I said! Not yet! I don't know why, but I just feel he's not coming yet!"
"HE?!" Kenshin interrupted. "This is a girl, not a boy!"
"I'm not fighting you right now about that," Kaoru retorted. "Megumi, please wait!"
"Look, how am I supposed to know when to tell you to push?!" Megumi screamed from between Kaoru's legs.
"LADIES! Both of you, shut up, please!" Kenshin implored. "You're making my headache worse!" Immediate silence resulted.
He took on an air of authority. He offered Kaoru one of his hands to hold. "Squeeze when you're ready, understood, Kaoru-dono?" He then looked at Megumi. "I'll call your attention when she does that. You can give orders from there. Misao-dono, have that towel ready every five minutes, and please get us a glass of water. Everything settled?"
"Have you done this before, Ken-san?" Megumi had to ask, surprised at his control of the situation.
"No, but I've learned that someone has to step up and be a leader to avoid chaos." Kenshin grinned.
Roughly ten minutes of small talk resumed. The girls let Kenshin have it. They told him every maligning thing he said while he was inebriated. They defended themselves with everything in the book, from rationalizing their actions to calling him names. While Kenshin had a rough idea of what he said, the poor man could not believe that he spoke all of that out. He could only apologize profusely, with promises never to do that again.
"You definitely won't! We won't let you get your hands on that much sake again!" Kaoru managed to quip. She leaned herself on Kenshin, while Kenshin stroked her hair with his free hand.
"Yeah! You're a disgrace to your heavy-drinking master!" Misao added.
"I trained with him, but I never said I'll BE like him, Misao-dono!" Kenshin returned.
That was when Kaoru winced and squeezed the blood out of Kenshin's hand. "Megumi-dono, NOW!"
Megumi returned to her intense and focused gaze. "One…….two……..three……….PUSH, Kaoru!"
Kaoru pushed as much of her weight down as she possibly could, for as long as she possibly could. She then relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. Kenshin grabbed for the towel and pressed it to her face.
"Breathe slowly now, Kaoru………in and out……in and out……." Megumi directed from her end.
"Oh, PLEASE, no more of that 'in and out, in and out' thing; I've had quite enough of that from Misao-chan……." Kaoru complained. "I'll breathe in and out when I want to, alright?"
Five minutes of peace. Misao gave Kaoru a glass of cool well water, which was received gratefully. It was now five o'clock in the morning, and the men were beginning to stir.
"Stop yelling in there! We can't sleep!" Sanosuke demanded from the opposite room.
"Try giving birth for once, Sano!" Kaoru shouted back. "AAACKKK!" She gave Kenshin's hand a vice grip.
"One……….two………three…………PUSH!" came Megumi's directions. Kenshin found himself bearing down in unison.
"I'm NOT getting married, if I have to go through THAT!" Misao noted.
"You'll probably take that back after a few months, Misao-dono," Kenshin replied with a wide smile. Once again he took the glass of water from her and gave it to Kaoru.
"Another one, anata!" Kaoru exclaimed in between gulps.
"Wait! Not too fast, Kaoru-san!" Megumi warned. "Breathe in and out, in and out……."
"It's not as easy as it sounds, Megumi! Get yourself a husband and feel this for yourself!"
"Why you------"
"LADIES!"
"Shut up yourself, Kenshin!" Kaoru released the pain on her husband. "AAACKK! Why did I EVER agree to getting into bed with you?!"
"Whose idea was it in the first place, Kaoru-dono?!" Kenshin half-angrily replied.
"Cut it out, you two! Now you can push, Kaoru-san………..one……two……..three…….push!"
Many more minutes of continuous pushing, bantering, and shouting resulted---yet Megumi only barely saw the baby's head. This however encouraged the party to keep on with determination. Misao kept moving in between Megumi and Kaoru, wiping sweat from their faces, desperately avoiding the view from Megumi's end. Blood was one thing. Birthing matter was quite another.
Kenshin's held hand was pressed into a formless mass by his wife's tight grip. Kaoru found it impossible to let go. There was security and love in that hand, which she felt coursing through her whole body, and even into the new life she tried to bring out. This baby might grow up to be someone completely different, but it was definitely her husband's flesh and blood , through and through. She knew it in her soul.
Kenshin still did not know half of what he was doing, yet he found it easy to follow his wife's cues. He held her hand as she needed support, he established control as she needed stability, he backed off as she released tension. True, she was screaming more than he had ever heard her scream in three years of knowing her, which included several major fights. But he felt, more than before, the strong, iron will of the young woman he admired from the day he met her. He gained strength in the hand he held. He believed in the love he previously refused to fully comprehend.
Misao admired the couple she served right now. Underneath all the bantering and shouting, she felt the meeting of two souls into one. This was their baby, and they were bringing it into the world together. Someday, she hoped, she would find someone to share her whole being with, to bear a new life with. She wished with all her heart it would be her Aoshi-sama, but………she wasn't so sure right now……….Just the same. Himura and Kaoru-san were not an ideal couple, to be sure, but Misao had found much in her stay that she wanted to be in her future married life.
"We're halfway through," Megumi announced. "Head and arms are out. Several more good pushes will get out the legs."
The couple nodded understanding. Just then Kaoru gave the signal again. "Ready at your end, Megumi-dono?"
"Yes, Ken-san. One……two…..three…….PUSH!"
"HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS, MEGUMI?!" Kaoru demanded to know.
"Just a few minutes more. Relax, breathe in and out…………" Megumi calmly instructed.
"SHUT-----"
"I will have no more useless screaming out of you, koishii, understand?" Kenshin intervened, rather sternly.
"S-S-Sure, anata…….." Kaoru surrendered.
"Now, please do what Megumi-dono says." The firm voice remained.
Kaoru was too scared to reply. She looked up, expecting flaming golden eyes. Instead, she found gentle purple ones. All was well. She smiled and held his hand tighter.
Then she squeezed it to a pulp.
"Now, Megumi-dono!"
"Push for all you are worth, Kaoru! This is the last one!"
"AAAAAAAAH!"
A minute of silence.
Then a new cry.
A baby's cry.
Exultant faces were now on the new mother and father as they heard those loud and hearty cries.
"Ka-Ka-Kaoru!" No honorifics. "Kaoru! You've done it, Kaoru!"
"I couldn't have done it without you, Kenshin…….." and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
Nine months of joy, sorrow, hard work, arguments, misunderstandings, and small rewards. It all came to this.
It was all worth it.
"Not so fast, you two, not so fast," Megumi interrupted the celebration. "I need one last little push from you, Kaoru-san. We have to get the last of the cord and the birthing matter out, alright?"
Kaoru complied without a murmur. Megumi then cut the cord and performed other necessary doctor's duties.
Misao instinctively had a warm blanket ready. She waited patiently as Megumi washed the baby, and laid it inside the blanket. She then silently carried it into the waiting arms of the mother. This was one of the few times that Misao had no words.
Kaoru immediately cuddled and fondled the new life in front of her. "Hello, little one!" she greeted. "Oh, so you're a redhead, too, just like your chichi!"
"Ah, but the baby has your eyes, Kaoru!" Kenshin added, as he gazed at the little thing she held, staring intently at the small tufts of red on its head with mixed feelings. "But a redheaded girl? That's a little hard to believe!"
"Anata, anata, you never give up, do you?" Kaoru cooed, and lifted the lower half of the blanket. "I win, Kenshin! It's a boy."
Megumi finished up from between Kaoru's legs while the couple enjoyed their first few minutes with the baby. She then proceeded to teach Kaoru how to nurse the baby. Kenshin in the meantime scurried to their bedroom for some clothes, and told the men the good news.
"Yahoo! A baby!" Yahiko cheered.
"Congratulations, ol' pal!" Sanosuke slapped his friend hard on the back.
"Congratulations," Aoshi added.
"Now, we celebrate!" Yahiko and Sanosuke joined in a chorus.
"NO, we don't," came Kenshin's severe reply.
"Huh?"
Kenshin handed Yahiko some little clothes, part of the set that came from Enishi. "Give this to Kaoru-dono. Then you will leave them in peace. None of them had had any sleep since last night. They are all dead tired, I am sure, so you will allow them to get some rest." He found his own futon still laid out. He went over to it and lay down. "As for me, this pounding headache refuses to go away…………….just get your own breakfast, will you please?"
"But, Kenshin------"
Kenshin was already fast asleep.
Half an hour later, Megumi entered the bedroom, carrying a sleeping baby. Misao was behind her, guiding and supporting Kaoru. She helped her lie down beside her husband, as Megumi placed the baby in the basket crib and positioned it beside Kaoru. Kaoru snuggled close to Kenshin's warm body, and was soon in the land of dreams as well. The other two women quickly found places for themselves near them and slept the sleep of the weary.
As the rest of the world slowly came alive with the rising of the sun, peace and quiet reigned in the Kamiya dojo. A bomb could have fallen on a nearby house, and none of the four people asleep would have noticed.
Yahiko came home for lunch to find them still in the land of Nod. The baby was perfectly fine.
Kenshin's and Kaoru's hands were clasped together, over his heart.
……………………………..
"chichi"—daddy
DON'T GO YET! There's one last chapter coming!
Any suggestions for baby names? I know the baby already has one that Watsuki gave, but a couple has to go through the name game, right?
I'll see you all one last time, alright?