BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAH!! Yes the moment is finally here!! It's kinda long but it's here!
"Aaaaaauugghh!!Arrrgh!!"
"You're doing great Jero! You're fully dilated now. Just a little bit longer."
"You said that…45… minutes ago Naru-chan." Jero's voice was tipped with agitation and sounded weak and breathless. Naruko looked down at the floor.
The past three hours have been hell for Jero. It was too late at this point to attempt the scheduled c-section. The temporary uterus is contracting erratically and being a male, Jero's lower body muscles are not built to push out a child. He bleeds out occasionally, so the threat of hemorrhage is very real.
Jero grabbed the sheets and clenched his teeth. "Is it another contraction, Jero?"
He nodded shoving his head back into the pillow.
I struggled to stop the bleeding. Jero writhed on the bed grabbing his head to suppress a cry. I was nearly out of chakra using just enough to end the bleeding for good, so at the moment I felt helpless to ease Jero's pain without medication. This being the first ever experiment of its kind, I was hesitant to use medications, fearing harm to the children. I jotted down notes in a log I had been keeping since the beginning of the experiment of anything that seemed important at the time.
The contraction faded and Jero's head fell back against the pillow as he whimpered slightly with each breath. I looked at his charts again. 'This is taking way too long. The first baby should have at least started crowning by now. Maybe there's something wrong with the position of the fetuses or maybe Jero is tensing up too much' I looked up at Jero in fright, realizing I had thought out loud. He laid, his arms crossed over his eyes. I gave a sigh of relief when I saw he wasn't crying. He seemed to be resting. I wasn't sure if he had passed out or was asleep as I stepped forward. Something about him made me stop to take a closer look. My head seemed to mist over.
This was the same man that I knew at the academy growing up, graduating top of his class to become team captain of my squad. The same man who had saved my life countless times on the battle field. The one I totally fell in love with without even realizing it at the time. The strongest man I knew, now carrying inside him our two children. It only made me admire him more.
The curve of his stomach made a large mound in the center of the bed. I could remember 4 months ago, as his stomach grew, he would frame his arms around it; His left arm resting on top and his right supporting the bottom. He would look so beautiful, I never wanted to let him out of my sight. It was a
strong, lovably soft, beauty that his pregnancy seemed to only accentuate. Before I knew it I was already sitting on the side of the bed unable to keep my eyes off of him.
"What're you doing?"Jero asked in a tired tone, almost breaking me from my fog.
I looked at him and smiled. "Remembering why I fell in love with you in the first place."
A small blush could be seen through flushed cheeks as he looked at his stomach mound. "This isn't me."He stated softly rubbing his belly over the sheets. My smile dissipated.
'How could he think that? Does he hate himself? Does he hate me for it?'
To Jero's surprise I climbed onto the bed and sat behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist and holding him close.
"No, Jero. This is you. You're just protecting something a little bit more."Jero's eyes widened, remembering what he had told Aritomo, hours earlier. Abruptly, the numb ache in his lower abdomen grew into a screaming contraction once more. Naruko grabbed his hand. "It's going to be okay, Jero. Just breathe." Jero nodded and breathed steadily until another pain hit him. He tensed up and groaned though clenched teeth. Jero fell back on Naruko, who squeezed his hand tighter. She saw the problem immediately.
As the contraction faded Naruko wiped the sweat from Jero's face. "Jero, don't tense up next time. If you keep tensing up like that we'll never get through this." She suggested in a worried tone. Jero nodded, clearly exhausted. Naruko was concerned.
She began massaging his shoulders and back. This seemed to calm him down. She rubbed his lower back which seemed to be where most of his pain resided. Jero mumbled something to himself, truly relaxing for the first time in a few years. She moved her hands to his stomach and massaged all the tense muscles there, causing Jero to burst out laughing, prompting Naruko to start tickling him. Jero and Naruko laughed and giggled more than they could ever have remembered; she seemed to almost be making up for lost time. Finally Naruko stopped and let Jero catch his breath. Wiping tears from the corners of his eyes, Jero laid back and rested against her, his hands resting on top of hers as she rubbed a tender spot on his belly. "I hope we can always be like this Jero." Naruko cooed into his ear. Jero smirked softly, feeling another contraction coming, but getting what Naruko meant. "Me too…"
Suddenly, Jero grabbed Naruko's hand and squeezed it tightly. Naruko looked down at Jero, who stared back with dark, wide eyes.
"Naruko, they're coming. Th-they're almost here! I can feel it!" Jero winced in pain. "Naruko! Th-they're t-tearing….Auuuggghhh!!"
Naruko leaped off the bed and put on a face mask. She lifted the sheet and assessed the situation. "C'mon Jero. Push." She ordered. It was only a few seconds before she saw a head appear. Jero screamed louder, panting ferociously. Naruko was stunned for a moment, actually seeing a baby made it feel so real.
"NARUKO!!" Jero cried out breaking her from her daze.
"Jero, once more."
"AAARRGGHHH!! Hff!!Hff!! GRRRAAAAAHHH!!" Jero's screams got stronger as the baby was pushed out further and further, splitting the narrow birth canal wider.
"You're almost there! Again!"
"Aaaaaaaauuuuuccchhhhhh!!Hff! Hff! Naruko! No, no! I c-can't do it!!" Jero pleaded.
"Jero! Please! We've come so far! She's almost here! Just one more time, okay!"
"HRRRAAAAAAAHHHH!! Hff! Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrggghhhh!! AAAAH!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
The high pitched cries of little Tsubame filled the room. Jero fell back onto the pillow crying and gasping for breath as he clutched his stomach. "Oh, Jero!! She's beautiful!" I tied and cut the umbilical cord, quickly rushing her away to be cleaned and vaccinated. As I washed away all the blood and fluid I marveled at how much she looked like Jero. Same dark hair and pale skin, but she seemed to have my eyes.
I cooed to her as she whimpered softly, clearly missing the warmth and safety of Jero's womb. I weighed Tsubame and nearly cried having to give her the shots that made her scream out in pain. After a lot of searching I was able to find the diapers and one-sies in a drawer. I picked yellow one and snapped it on her, it being a gender neutral color. She didn't seem the kind of baby for pink. I wrapped her in a thermal blanket and made my way back to Jero's room.
I found him asleep breathing softly, but still holding his belly. As I stepped forward his tired eyes opened slowly. I placed Tsubame in his arms and walked to the end of the bed to clean up the afterbirth he had delivered during my absence. He held her there, unable to take his eyes off of her. Tsubame yawned sleepily and wriggled causing Jero freak-out slightly. I smiled. "She takes after her father."
"What if I break her?" he breathed softly, unable to avert his loving gaze. "Don't worry, Jero. If she's anything like you, she's stronger than you think. You delivered an eight pound two ounce baby tonight. Tell me when you feel the other baby coming."
After some time I finished cleaning and looked over the sheet to see Jero holding Tsubame close. His face was soft and gentle next to hers. Serene for the first time in hours. But something seemed wrong. Where was the second baby? It should have been here by now. What if it has complications? How would I tell Jero? The thought took me back to the day we thought we lost them? I can't make Jero go through that again! Even if everything is fine, in his current condition delivery of the second child could kill him too. As these questions swirled in my head I came to a conclusion. Using as much medical chakra as I could spare, I healed the torn canal the baby ripped through Jero. I rushed to the storage room grabbing a small vial and filling a syringe with its contents popping a hyrogan as I walked out.
I entered the room once more, standing next to Jero and my daughter as he held her tenderly. I rubbed his arm to numb it finally sticking the needle and injecting the fluid into his shoulder. "I love you Na-" Jero stopped mid sentence to see me placing the empty needle on the side table. His eyes glanced from the table to me. I leaned in and kissed his forehead, his eyes still bewildered as I stood up straight, lifting Tsubame from his arms.
"I love you, too Jero. I hope you can forgive me for this." His head fell back against the pillow as his eye lids began to get heavy. "Naru-cha-" his voice faded as his eyelids shut.
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Ohhhh...interesting...Well anyways! I hope you guys are happy now that the first baby was delivered. I know I am! whew! It took long enough!! I know, I know! Writers block is a beast! Well I hope you liked it and the next one will be out soon! Easy Reading!