Yes, a new story by me... Sorry. I'm going to update my other one again soon. This one, well, other than this first chapter, it'll probably be a really long time before it gets updated. Which means I'm labeling this as a one shot for the moment. There's a full story that goes with it, but it's a story that's not written, and The Pain of Love takes priority right now. So this lonely chapter is it. Hope you like it, and please leave a review on your way out. Thanks!
Disclaimer: If they were mine, well, we don't want to know what would happen if they were mine...
Chapter 1
"Kyo, I think it's time," Tohru said, gently shaking the orange haired man beside her. "Kyo, wake up."
"Hrnhhh," Kyo grunted into his pillow, still mostly asleep.
"Kyo, wake up. It's time to go to the hospital. The baby is coming."
"Mmmmm," Kyo rolled over, slowly gaining awareness of what his wife was saying. "Baby? Now? Why do you want to do that now, Tohru? You're pregnant already; having sex won't make you more pregnant."
"No, Kyo. I don't want to make a baby. I'm going to have a baby," Tohru said continuing to shake him in an effort to rouse him.
Finally, he opened his crimson eyes and found himself staring into Tohru's eyes as her face contorted with the pain of another contraction. His eyes widened as he understood why she was waking him up at such a ridiculous hour of the night. "But it's too early, isn't it?" he said.
"Kyo, I thought you would have figured this out by now. Babies come at any time in the morning that they feel like."
"No, that's not what I meant. I thought you weren't due for a while yet."
Tohru's face contorted again in pain. "Tell that to the baby," she said as the pain faded. "Call Hatori."
Her words caused him to leap into action. He raced through the house, pulling on pants as he dialed Hatori's number, pulling on a shirt as he finished speaking with the doctor, then realizing the shirt was on backward. Suddenly remembering their other children, Kyo dialed Kagura's number as he fixed his shirt.
Phone calls made, he ran back upstairs and found Tohru sitting calmly on the bed, explaining to their oldest child, Takeo, that Kagura was going to be watching him and his sister for a little while. Kyo stood in the doorway gasping for breath. He was exhausted from his frantic running around at two in the morning.
He wondered how she could be so calm. This had been a difficult pregnancy for her. There had been many complications thus far, and now the baby was early. Kyo's mind was racing, praying that she and the baby were going to be ok, and there she sat, happy as a lark in between painful contractions.
Despite her serene face, he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was going to go terribly wrong. The sound of Kagura's car pulling up to the house broke his thoughts. Takeo raced downstairs and flung his five-year-old self onto Kagura, promptly turning her into a boar. She laughed and nuzzled the young boy. Her laughter stopped however when she saw Kyo. She saw his worried expression, and she understood why. None of Tohru's other pregnancies had been this difficult, though all of them had had their share of complications. This one though, quite frankly it was a miracle she had carried the pregnancy this far, considering how many complications there had been. And now, the baby was early. Nearly two months early if Kagura remembered right when Tohru had said she was due.
Tohru made her way down the stairs slowly. She had to pause every few steps as stronger and stronger contractions overpowered her. It worried her how fast the labor seemed to be progressing, but no matter how worried she was, there was no way she was going to show those fears to Kyo. He was worried enough about her as it was. She knew perfectly well the potential problems associated with a baby born two months early. She sighed, pausing again to let the contraction pass. As long as they got to the hospital in time, she was sure everything would be fine.
At the hospital several hours later, Tohru nearly screamed in pain at the latest contraction. This was bad. It hurt far worse than any other labor she'd gone through yet, and the drugs they'd given her for the pain hadn't taken effect yet. Or perhaps they had. She couldn't tell anymore. Her head swam in the short time between contractions, and when the pain came again she gripped Kyo's hand in an attempt to relieve some of the pain in her body. Tohru nearly screamed again, and then relaxed. They were lessening. The next contraction that came didn't hurt nearly as badly as the one before it. She sighed in relief. The medicine must be finally taking effect.
Kyo winced in pain of his own as Tohru squeezed again. He couldn't remember her being like this with the other two pregnancies. And then he noticed that she wasn't squeezing so hard. His hand wasn't throbbing in pain every thirty seconds.
"Tohru, you ok?" he asked, knowing that there was no good reason she should be in less pain now than when they'd given her some painkillers over an hour ago. Surely the drugs had taken effect long ago.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I think that stuff they gave me is just finally taking effect."
Kyo worried. He knew better. Something was wrong, and he didn't know what it could be. He glanced at the monitor near her bed as another contraction wracked her body, and he saw to his dismay that it really was far less intense than any she had had in the previous two hours. "I'm going to go get Hatori, ok? I'll be right back," he said, giving her hand a quick squeeze before exiting the room.
Tohru wondered what he could be so concerned about. It was just the painkillers finally working. What could be wrong?
Hatori entered and examined Tohru. He found that Kyo was right; the contractions were significantly decreasing in intensity. Remaining in the room for the next half hour or so to monitor her and the baby, he hoped the contractions would pick up again. If not, there would have to be a C-section, and he didn't want to have to put Tohru through that. Normally, since the baby was so early, he would have been happy the contractions had stopped. It would have meant that it could potentially continue on in the mother until it was full-term. However, her water had broken already, and that meant the baby had to be delivered tonight.
When the contractions didn't pick up at all, Hatori took Kyo into the hall and explained the situation to him. He was worried about doing the C-section because Tohru's blood pressure had been all over the place since arriving, but he knew that if they didn't do it, they would almost surely lose the baby.
Kyo was torn. Have the surgery and potentially lose the love of his life, or don't and lose their baby. How could anyone make that decision? He sighed. He knew what Tohru would say when Hatori explained it to her.
Kyo had been right. After Hatori explained the situation and all potential consequences, she had immediately, without second thought, agreed to the C-section. That's where she was now, in surgery. He wasn't allowed in with her, since it was an "emergency" C-section. Instead, he had to sit out in the waiting room, worried out of his mind. Looking at his watch for the fiftieth time, he noted that it was finally seven. It had been five hours since she'd woken him. It seemed like it had been longer.
Suddenly, Kyo saw Hatori enter the waiting room. The look on the dragon's face caused his heart to sink into the pit of his stomach. Reluctantly Kyo walked over to his older cousin.
"Kyo, I-" Hatori's voice faltered. He couldn't destroy the boy like this. But it had to be said. "Kyo, it's a boy." He mentally slapped himself. He couldn't believe how hard it was for him to tell Kyo.
"And Tohru?" Kyo asked, fearing the worst, knowing that the worst was probably what he was going to be hearing.
"I'm sorry, Kyo. She- There was nothing we could do. We tried everything. I'm so sorry."
Kyo felt his knees buckle. His whole body went numb. Tohru. Dear, sweet Tohru. Gone. Gone giving birth to their son. How could he have let this happen to her? His mind was shutting down. Kyo felt strong arms wrapping themselves around him, and he collapsed into those arms. Sobs wracked his body; nothing felt real. He couldn't understand how someone so wonderful could be gone, just like that. No, it couldn't be real. She couldn't be dead. No. No!
Hatori held Kyo as the orange haired boy cried. He felt his own tears begin to stream down his face as he thought of the wonderful girl that was now gone from their lives forever.