Chapter 9: The Delivery
Haida hadn't spoken a word in twenty minutes and merely stared intensely out the window of Tadando's limo.
"Can't this thing move any faster!?" Shoji almost growled while anxiously sitting beside Tatsuya.
"I must abide by traffic laws and safety." ENI-O replied.
Tadano sat beside Haida with his trademark carefree smile and placed a hand on Haida's shoulder.
"ENI-O will get us to the hospital faster than any living driver."
Despite Tadano's comforting words, Haida's mind remained fixed on Retsuko.
"Everything's going to be alright. Trust in the Lord, my son." Tatsuya said.
Haida took a deep breath and nodded before looking up.
"Watch over Retsuko." He pleaded.
At the hospital, Retsuko screamed in agony while a doctor and nurse tried to get her set up in a bed.
"How far apart are the contractions?" The dingo doctor asked his nurse.
"Still pretty early. We have a while to go." She replied.
"Ehhh!" Retsuko cried. The pain was worse than anything she experienced in her entire life, and now she'd have to endure it even longer.
Outside the room, her friends anxiously waited while another nurse kept back her mother and Yuuri.
"What do you mean we can't go in!? I'm her mother!" The red-panda almost snarled.
"If you think you're going to keep us out!-" Gori started until she looked up at the incredibly large and imposing elephant nurse who loomed over the women with an intimidating expression.
"No one else comes in." The nurse huffed while crossing her big meaty arms. Gori and Retsuko's mother backed up while the other women each sweatdropped.
Yuuri, however, stood her ground.
"Did you hear me?" The nurse huffed again at the hyena.
"Yuuri, we should-" Retsuko's mother started until Yuuri grabbed the nurse by the collar of her shirt and dragged the massive woman down to eye level.
"Are you denying me the right to see my grandchildren's birth?" Retsuko's mother and the other women went pale, but the nurse trembled like a raddle when she saw a more terrifying and psychotic expression on Yuuri's face than anything any of them ever saw or thought imaginable.
"I can assure you, Hell is a real place, and if you stand between me and my grandchildren, I'll send you there. Right now." Yuuri didn't growl, but her dark voice made the nurse wet herself.
With a swift throw, the massive nurse flew through the hallway, crashing into a laundry cart and rolled away. Two more nurses and a doctor nearby saw this while sweating profusely.
"Does anyone else intend to stop me from entering?" The doctor sprinted to the doorway and opened it for Yuuri.
"Consider the hospital bill on us." He muttered, nearly choking on his words while bowing.
Yuuri turned to Retsuko's mother and Gori.
"Are you coming?"
Both women were almost too afraid to enter but slowly followed Yuuri.
Just before they could enter, Yuuri heard rapid footsteps approaching and a familiar voice.
"Retsuko!" She looked over at her son who sprinted like a professional athlete.
"Haida! She's in here!" Yuuri cleared the way for Haida to enter, the doctor handing him a face covering.
"Ahhhh!" Retsuko wailed, the unparalleled agony only worsening with each passing moment.
"Rage."
"Make it stop!" She roared.
"Retsuko!" Without losing her fury, Retsuko turned to Haida who now stood over her.
"It's ok, I'm here, I-" Before Haida could finish, Retsuko ensnared his right hand in a death grip that felt like iron.
"You did this to me!" She snarled, Haida grunting in pain.
"... It's ok. It's going to be ok." He groaned.
"Stop saying that!"
"...I was talking to myself." Haida admitted.
Yuuri and Retsuko's mothers stood in the corner, Gori having decided to wait outside. After a minute, Shoji and Tatsuya came in beside their wives.
"How's Retsuko doing!?" Shoji asked almost frantically. His wife merely emphasized their daughter and her screams, not to mention Haida's throbbing hand from Retsuko's iron grip.
"She looks to be in more pain than you were. Not to mention the stress of this crazy hospital." Shoji said.
"Eh?" Yuuri and Restuko's mother asked while turning to him.
"On our way in, we saw some nurse get dragged away on a gurney."
Retsuko's mother sweat dropped while turning to Yuuri with a terrified look. Tatsuya noticed his wife's smile and chuckled.
"I'm sorry I missed that."
As Retsuko's labor dragged on, the others waited outside and listened to her cries of near-endless pain.
"Ohh this brings back memories! My first child was quite painful, my second wasn't as bad, the third was worse than the first-" Kabea went on, much to OTM's chagrin.
Fenneko and Akira tried to ignore the wailing as they flirted with each other. Tadano and Puko saw this with some amusement. However, Retsuko's agony soon made Puko cringe.
"Geez, am I glad I don't have to do this." Tadano nodded.
"I suppose some people have to have kids, though."
Puko shrugged.
"Retsuko's having three, that can cover for me and someone else."
Tadano chuckled.
"I suppose that's true."
Tadano had never been so close to someone giving birth, let alone his ex. Despite his calm exterior, he felt perplexed on the inside, and Puko noticed this.
"Tadano, are you ok?"
"It's just strange, is all. When I created ENI-O, I felt as if I created life. Ever since then, I've felt so much pride and devotion towards ENI-O. I wonder if that's how parents feel?"
Puko heard something in Tadano's voice that she hadn't expected. It almost sounded like his opinion on the subject was changing. Puko began to sweatdrop nervously, particularly when she heard Retsuko scream again.
"...Oh great."
Haida felt as if his hand was ready to shatter into dozens of pieces after a few hours of Retsuko mercilessly clamping down on it.
"She's in more pain than me. She's in more pain than me." Haida muttered to himself.
"Just breathe deeply, Retsuko, you're doing great!" Her mother cried out, only causing her daughter more stress.
"How much longer!?"
"Ahhh! There we are! You're ready to push."
"Retsuko, it's time to push." Haida said.
Gritting her teeth, Retsuko began to push only for the pain to get worse.
"Rage."
"Delivery! Endless pain every waking moment! Sweat, agony, and lament! Everyone around me saying it's alright, none endure it as I do! Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it-"
"Retsuko." Haida muttered.
Retsuko stopped when she heard something else, a soft wailing from a baby. Before Retsuko could react, she heard two more voices crying out, just like the first. The pain in her body began to fade, and Retsuko saw Haida tremble as the doctor handed him three small figures wrapped in cloth.
Their parents lost their ability to speak and merely watched with overwhelming emotion as Haida came closer to Retsuko. At that moment, her heart raced even faster than it did during labor until she saw them at last. Three newborn babies, a red-panda girl, a hyena boy, and a coyote girl.
"Retsuko, they're here. Our children." Haida's eyes swelled up with tears of overwhelming emotion. Retsuko felt just as overwhelmed and trembled as she took them from Haida. Nine months of pain, discomfort, and constant stress, but in the end, she held three babies, her babies. Retsuko's eyes almost glittered as she looked at them, the most beautiful things she'd ever laid eyes on. She couldn't describe it, but Retsuko felt more love and passion for the infants in her arms than anything else in the world. At that moment, nothing else mattered but them. Feeling her eyes moisten, Retsuko held them close with a loving smile.
"Haida, thank you."
"Let me through!" Retsuko's mother pushed past the doctor and nearly floated when she saw her three grandchildren.
"They're even more beautiful than I imagined! Shoji! She looks just like you!" Retsuko's mother cried as she stroked one of her granddaughters.
Yuuri approached Retsuko from the other side and similarly doted over the other two.
The great burden of pregnancy finally ended for Retsuko and Haida, but a new challenge was now before them. Haida thought about providing for and protecting his children above anything else, but eventually, his father snapped him out of the trance.
"The easy part's over now."
Taking a deep breath, Haida nodded.
"Now begins the best part." Tatsuya added while holding an arm around his son's shoulder.
After a few minutes, Haida sat on the bed beside Retsuko while holding his newborn son.
"Have you decided on names yet?" The nurse asked as she approached with a clipboard. Retsuko nodded at Haida who smiled back at the nurse.
"Yes. Sakura, Ichika" Haida said pointing to his red-panda and coyote daughters respectively. Haida then looked directly at his son.
"And Tatsuya."
Hearing this nearly made Haida's father tremble. For Yuuri, she felt her eyes swell up with tears. At that moment she realized that all resentment between her husband and son was gone. Shoji sighed with a bit of disappointment but didn't show any unhappiness. How could he? He and his wife looked upon their grandchildren with the same love they felt upon Retsuko's birth.