And here we are with the final chapter! Thanks for following it through. I hope you have enjoyed reading it. 3

Chapter 21: Epilogue
Sora sighed deeply as she walked into her living room. She didn't remember having so much trouble walking when she was about to give birth to Yumi. She was beyond relieved when she sat on her couch and stretched her legs over it.
"I can't tell you how good it is to be sitting down. I hate walking so slow. My feet are swollen and I just want this baby to be born already."
"Not a long way to go now." Yamato said as he walked in too. "It will be over before you know it."
"I know. I'm just really tired." She looked at him. "Where's Yumi?"
"She's in her bedroom still sleeping. I thought I'd let her sleep a little more today, since there's no school."
"She deserves it. It hasn't been easy for her. She spent six years thinking her father was dead." She looked at him. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. You did what you thought it was best for her at the time."
"Yeah." Sora winced in pain for a moment and rubbed the side of her big belly.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I just got kicked my ribs really hard now. The baby is moving a lot right now."
"Really?" Yamato sat beside her and immediately placed his hand over her stomach. He couldn't hide his smile when he felt a kick right into his palms. For a moment he forgot it wasn't his child, but he still considered it to be. "I'm surprised you didn't want to know whether it's a boy or a girl."
"It doesn't make a difference to me." She placed her hand over his and they exchanged a look. "I found out Yumi was a girl a couple of weeks before I was due, actually. Taichi "accidentally" let it slip."
"That's something he would do." He laughed. "So he knew it and you didn't?"
"That's right." Sora nodded. "He went with me to every single appointment I had and even cried with me when we first heard her heartbeat. In fact, I'm pretty sure he cried more than me."
"I'm not surprised at all."
"I wasn't either." She squeezed his hand a little tighter. "Yamato, can I ask you something?"
"Of course. What is it?"
"Do you feel like the father of this baby? I mean, I know this is an inappropriate question, but I just saw how happy you were with the kick and have been by my side throughout my pregnancy. I love you for it, but I have to know."
"I do." He confessed. "Maybe I'm just getting to experience everything I missed with Yumi, but it's so great. The idea of being a father was a distant dream for me when I was eighteen, but now it's everything I've wanted."
"You dreamed of being a father?"
"Yeah, I wanted to have a family of my own. And I've always known it would be with you. Life is crazy sometimes."
"Tell me about it. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe we're here again." She sat up, getting closer to him.
"I know what you mean. But it's real, we're here. And so is our little family. I'm gonna love this one just as much as I love Yumi."
"Geez, thank you." She teased him with a smile.
"I love you too, of course."
"Of course? I'm hurt." She placed her hand over her heart. "I love you too, by the way."
"I know you do." Yamato leaned over and kissed her passionately.
"Oh God." Sora broke their kiss suddenly and looked down at her pants. "This can't be happening."
"What is it?"
"My water just broke."
"What?!" He stood up in a hurry and looked at her. "What are we supposed to do then?"
"Okay, you need to breathe." She stood up very calmly and walked around like nothing was happening. "I'm just gonna grab my bag and the baby's one and then we can go."
"What about Yumi?"
"We need to wake her up. There's no rush though."
"No rush?!" He asked desperately. "How can you stay so calm about this? You're having a baby!"
"I am, but we still have some time since I still haven't… ow!" She pressed her palm against the wall and held the bottom of her belly with her other hand while she slightly bent forward.
"What happened?"
"I just had a contraction." Sora looked at him. "I think we need to get going now."
"Okay, okay." Yamato looked around, completely lost and unsure of what to do first. "I'll just…"
"Wake Yumi up."
"Wake Yumi up, yeah." He nodded and went to her bedroom, but stopped before he could open it. "But she won't be ready fast enough, so what do we do?"
"I'll… eh… I'll call Taichi and see if he can come here fast. Maybe we still have some time until… ow!"
"Sora, I don't think we can wait any longer or the baby will be born here."
"I can't believe he was in such a hurry to come out he anticipated these two weeks."
"Isn't it normal for these things to happen?"
"Sometimes, yes. But I was expecting I'd get to forty weeks, like Yumi did."
"Well, every baby is different, I suppose."
"That's true. I'll just call Taichi and see if he can take care of her."
"Alright. In the meantime I'll wake her up."
"Thank you." She stood on her toes and kissed him briefly before dialing Taichi's number.

****

Hikari stared at her reflection in the mirror and sighed with frustration. Her belly was supposed to be shown at least a little, but her genetics didn't work in her favor so far.
"Nothing yet?" Ken asked as he leaned against the door.
"No." She fixed her hair and put on some sunscreen on her face. "I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever have a big round belly at some point.""Of course you are. And you're going to be the most beautiful pregnant woman in the world."
She couldn't help but smile. "You would say that, I'm your fiancee."
"I'm simply stating a fact."
"Of course you are." She tried to push him away so she could walk out of the bathroom, but he seized the opportunity to wrap his arms around her and pull her towards him. She couldn't help but giggle. "Sneaky."
"Like you didn't like it."
"I didn't say anything." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his.

****

Taichi arrived as fast as he could to Sora's apartment. He was somewhat out of breath due to running on her floor.
"I'm sorry! I hope I'm not too late." He blinked when he noticed Sora was calmly sitting on a chair. "What are you doing?"
"I'm having tea."
"Aren't you having your baby right now?"
"Yeah." Sora looked down at her belly and rubbed it gently. "This little one decided to come out a little earlier."
"And Yamato didn't take you to the hospital yet?" He asked desperately and looked around her apartment. "Is he here? Did you call him?"
"Chill out, Taichi. Everything is under control. I'm not having any contractions at the moment."
"Still, you need to go to the hospital." Taichi grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "Things can change in a matter of seconds."
"I know, I've been through that before, remember?"
"Oh, hey, Taichi. You're finally here." Yamato walked in with Yumi in his arms.
"You've been here the whole time?" Taichi asked astonished and looked from one of his best friends to the other one. "Your girlfriend, fiancee, wife or whatever she is is in labor and you're cool about it?"
"I'm not cool about it. I was freaking out a while ago."
"That's true, I can confirm that."
"Take her to the hospital… right now." He shouted with despair. "I'll stay with Yumi until she's allowed to visit you three."
"Great, thank you." Yamato threw the baby's bag over his shoulder and then placed his hand over Sora's shoulder. "We'll call you when the baby arrives."
"I'll be waiting. Don't take too long."
"We'll try."
Taichi watched them leave and then turned to Yumi. "Who's ready to party?"

****

"I told you he'd be angry to see us still at home."
"Well, we didn't have a choice." Sora walked into the elevator and leaned against one of its wall. "We had to wait until he came to stay with Yumi."
"We could have just taken her with us and let her be part of that moment too."
"I know, and it pains me to exclude her from it. But it was the best decision. She will meet her little brother or sister later today, hopefully."
"How are the contractions going?"
"They are stronger sometimes and the time gap is getting shorter, but I'm managing it. How did I go up there?"
"You hid it pretty well, I'm impressed. I wouldn't be able to do it myself."
"Of course you wouldn't. Men usually can't handle getting sick, let alone giving birth to a baby."
"Sadly, that's true. Women are tougher." Yamato rested his hand on her belly and couldn't help but smile feeling the baby move immediately.
"He or she already knows you."
"Of course. How could he or she not know his or her father?"
"It's crazy."
"What is crazy?"
"That we're here again… together. I know I've said this quite a few times and it seems redundant at this point, but I still find it hard to believe sometimes."
"To think life put us back together in the most surreal way possible. I met Yumi without knowing it was her."
"I think surreal is a perfect word to describe it, yeah."
"I'm so glad she's accepting me now."
"Me too." She looked at him and smiled. "I knew it wouldn't take that long though. It's not her nature to be so hostile towards someone. Not for a long time, at least."
"I see. But the circumstances were completely different here. She found out her father was alive all along."
"Yeah, it's a difficult situation. I probably would've reacted to it way worse than she did. I'm surprised at how she faced it after the initial shock."
"How would you react?"
"I would… ow!" Sora held Yamato's hand tight.
"Another contraction?"
"That's right, and a strong one this time. There are coming more often now."
"We're almost there. Not too long until you hold the baby in your arms."
"I'm looking forward to it, believe me." She said before she winced in pain due to another strong contraction.

****

Mimi and Koushiro had decided to go shopping for their baby. Actually, they already had most of the things they needed, but she had enjoyed it so much they agreed to go again. It'd also be a great opportunity to spend some time together.
"It's such a nice day, isn't it?" She ate a bit of her strawberry ice-cream and smiled.
"Yes, it is." He nodded. "And the mall isn't too crowded either. It's perfect."
"I know. Thanks for doing this with me."
"You're welcome. I want to be involved in it as much as I can."
"That's makes me very happy. I always thought I'd be doing this with Sora. We had this deal we would go shopping for our babies together, but…"
"Why don't you call her then?"
"What?"
"Call her." Koushiro repeated. "You two have had such a beautiful friendship it's a shame to let it end like this."
"Well, she doesn't want to talk or see me anymore, so there's nothing I can do." Mimi shrugged. "Except accept it and move on with my life."
"A lot of things have changed since then, Mimi. At that time she couldn't forgive you, but maybe she can do it now."
"You really think so?"
"I know so."
"Okay.' She couldn't help but smile, feeling a little more confident. "I'll try calling her later then. Right now I just want to buy baby clothes."
"So let's do that." He reached for her hand and they headed to the baby store.

****

Sora was already sitting on a hospital bed and wearing a gown. All that was left to do was wait until she was enough dilated to give birth to her second child. Yamato was sitting on an armchair sending a message to someone.
"Are you alright?" He asked her, though his eyes were still on his phone. "Do you need anything?"
"Can you take the baby out?"
"That's the only thing I can't do, I'm sorry."
"Ugh." She leaned back against her pillow and folded her arms angrily. "This is so frustrating."
"I know, but there's nothing we can do."

Things escalated very fast in the following hours for Sora and she was finally in labor. Yamato stood by her side and held her hand within his, being as encouraging as he could. At some point she thought she was going to pass out and he seemed to have noticed it.
"Stay with me, Sora." He begged. "Stay awake."
"I don't think I can do this anymore."
"Yes, you can. You're almost there, just a little more."
"One final push, Sora. Come on."
Sora gathered all the strength she had left and bent herself forward, screaming loudly. She started panting and felt her whole body relax when the baby's cry echoed in the room. She was completely exhausted.
"Can you check on the baby?" She looked at Yamato, pleading with her eyes.
"Of course." He kissed her hand and then disappeared from her sight.
He had trouble getting himself together when he looked at her baby. He couldn't help but wonder if he would be feeling the same if it was Yumi instead.
"So? How is he or she?"
"He. It's a boy."
"A boy?" She covered her mouth with her hand, and tears fell from her eyes like two waterfalls. "Now there's one of each."
"Are you the father?" The nurse asked when she walked to them carrying the baby.
"No, I…"
"Yes, he is." Sora interrupted him, still looking at her newborn baby. She held him close to her body and couldn't help but think he was the most beautiful baby in the world.
"He has your eyes. Actually, he's your replica."
"He is. It's only fair, if you ask me. Yumi looks exactly like you."
"Congratulations, parents."
"Thank you." Yamato replied with a smile and then glanced at his girlfriend bonding with their son.
"Hello, little one." She caressed his red hair softly and he sighed deeply. "Welcome to this world. Mommy and daddy were anxious to meet you. Do you want to hold him?"
"Can I?"
"Of course! You're the father, after all."
He picked him up from her arms and the baby immediately wrapped his tiny hand around his finger. Yamato would've never thought he'd feel such a strong feeling. Yumi was already a child when they met, so they were completely different emotions. That didn't mean he didn't love his daughter, though.
"My son." A smile came to his lips. It felt so good to say it out loud.
"Do you want to choose his name?"
"What? A name?" He looked at him. "How about Kouji."
"I like it." Sora stared at them, completely emotional. "Kouji it is."