Nothing Will Ever Change That
Chapter 117: Delivery
A/N- This chapter was proof-read by Frost-Eva-04. Thanks for the help!
A/A/N- Yeah, well, I'm in a pretty good mood right now (at the time of me posting this chapter, I wrote it awhile ago). My high school just got their asses handed to them in our Bone Game (long story, ask me in a review if you want to know), and the ending score was 14 to 49… yeah, we lost! But, the good news is that marching band had one hell of a time! I actually got onto the field and 'party boy'ed the mascot (watch Jackass and you'll get it). Now, I told you that to tell you this; I'm going over my epilogue right now, and maybe I'll change a few things! You all might be a little happy when that comes around! Anyway, here's the moral of my short story – if in doubt, make an ass of yourself and everyone will get into a good mood. See ya'll later!
Asuka/Shinji's Room – Four Months Later – 7:00 PM
"Ugh… you know, Dietlinde never kicked as much as this…" ever since my sixth month in Asuka has been kicking, elbowing, punching, and God only knows what else. Aside from two broken ribs and a serious case of urinary discomfort, nothing new has happened. Cass has seemed to open up a little bit more, but he still won't talk about Sam. I call her every other day; mainly talking about how our day has been. She seems really happy back 'home', but I still think she should come home.
"It'll all be worth it though, you're almost done," Shinji continues to message my feet as I lay on the bed.
"Yeah, easy for you to say, you don't have to carry around this little devil… why does she have to be so hyper…?" this is SO my last baby! Just as I was starting to relax, I hear Dietlinde whining through the baby monitor Akagi gave us last week.
"I'll be right back," Shinji starts to get up, but so do I.
"No, I'll do it," using my fists against the bed to force myself to my feet, I struggle to get up, "I've barely seen Dietlinde today anyway…" he sits back down and I walk down the hall, Dietlinde whining getting louder as I do, "I'm coming… just hold on…" when I finally make it to her room, I see Dietlinde on her back with eyes clenched ready to cry. I lean into her crib and pick her up.
"M-Mommy…" she buries her face in my chest crying and I smile down on her.
"It's okay honey, shhh," she looked up at me with a quivering bottom lip and tears running down her face, "Are you hungry?" she slowly nods, "Okay, let's go grab something, we can feed your sister while we're there too!" come to think of it, I'm pretty hungry, "Hey Shinji? Why don't you start on dinner while I feed Dietlinde?"
"Okay, sure, what do you want?" I meet Shinji outside of our bedroom and we start to walk towards the kitchen.
"I really don't care, whatever you-" Shinji stops in his tracks – and frankly, so do I – when we see that Cass has cooked.
"Oh, hey guys, I was just finishing up!" is he high or something? He never cooks!
"Y-You… cooked…?" I swear, I damn near dropped Dietlinde! This dish smells familiar for some reason…
"Yeah, I hope you like your native food Asuka!" native? Wait a second… I know this dish!
"Those are Duesseldorfer potato mushrooms! I used to eat those all the time back when I was little!" he sets down all the plates and Shinji simply stares at the food, "You have to try this Shinji! They're amazing!" my smile instantly turns upside down when I realize something, "Ah crap… I gotta feed Dietlinde… can you put mine in the microwave Cass?"
"Don't worry about it, I'll feed her. You just enjoy!" why is he being so nice… wait… he's going to FEED Dietlinde?!
"Are… you sure? You've never fed a baby before…" I hand him Dietlinde and she looks up at him with a confused face.
"I think I can manage, thanks," he sets Dietlinde in her high-chair and slowly begins to spoon feed her. Wow… he's actually doing pretty good… and she's trusting him so much… that's new…
"As… uka… water…" I look over to see Shinji with a mouth full of the food and his face turning a nice shade of red… oh this is too much!
"Awww, my little Shinji can't handle a little spice?" he starts to sweat and soon falls back onto the floor, "Oh come on, it can't be that bad!" I take a bite and soon freeze up myself after forcing a swallow, "Cass… what spices did you use…?"
"Oh, I used this green stuff in the fridge. I couldn't read the label, it was all smeared, but I could read the word 'hot' on it!" for the love of God… please don't tell me he used what I think he used… I open the fridge and pick up the container he was talking about.
"Cass… call an ambulance…"
---
One Hour Later – Living Room
"Uhhhhhhh…" I grasp my stomach in pain both from Asuka kicking and the Wasabi taking it's toll, "How much of that crap did you use…?" Shinji's been passed out for a good hour now – he never did have any tolerance to spice.
"Um… about half a cup… I'm sooo sorry!"
"Apologize to Asuka… she's not liking the stuff either… how's Dietlinde?" he put her back in her crib after he finished feeding her.
"Yeah, she fell asleep awhile ago… can I do anything for you?" how about never cooking again? Ever?
"No, thanks… I'm just going to go to bed… tell Shinji to meet me in there when he gets up…" I struggle to the bedroom and fall back onto our bed. After turning off the light and getting under the covers, I find it impossible to get asleep due to the burning in my stomach. Eventually, I was able to get to sleep, but not after a couple hours of pain from Asuka!
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10:00 AM – Asuka/Shinji's Room
"As… uka…" I wake up to Shinji mutter my name… of course, he could be dreaming of our baby… but that's aside from the fact! I wonder what time he came in last night, it had to be pretty late because I was up for quite awhile.
"Uh…" great… looks like Asuka is up too and already kicking… and pushing on my bladder damnit! After rushing into the bathroom for my bladder and a slight case of morning sickness – damnit I hate that part – I head out into the living room to sit and watch some TV. Of course, with my luck, the doorbell was ringing and there wasn't anyone but me to get it. At first, I debated just ignoring it, but something drove me to answer it… ten minutes later after the person didn't stop ringing.
"I'm coming damnit!" I force myself to my feet and walk over to the door. I swear to God, if this is some door-to-door salesman I'm going to kill him… when I open the door I was met with a very familiar face… and a very new, small face, "Cass… get down here… CASS!"
"Jeez Asuka, you don't need to yell like that, you're going to wake up Blaze," she chuckles slightly, "Um… mind if I come in? I've had a long day… and one hell of a week!" how the hell is she here…?
"Yeah… sure…" she walks in and somehow immediately finds a chair and sits down, "How did… but you… and the… what the hell?!"
"Can't get your words out, eh? Well, long story short, I delivered a few weeks early, but Blaze is okay. After I gave birth, I was in the hospital for a few days before they let me go. After that, I flew back here… as for why… even I couldn't tell you that. I didn't want to come back, but something made me…" just then, Cass walked in due to my yelling.
"What's all the yelling about? I already apologized about… Sam?!" I swear, his eyes damn near pop out of his head.
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Sam 'looks' down at her baby.
"I… Is that…?" Sam slowly nods.
"This is your son," Cass slowly makes his way towards Sam and his sleeping child. With more skill then anyone gave him credit for, he picked Blaze up, "He was born a week ago, so be gentle."
"Yeah…" a small tear forms in his eye and soon falls onto Blaze's light blue draw-string gown, "Are… you okay? How did your delivery go?"
"Well, because I was so small, Blaze just decided he was coming out early! But the actual delivery… wow… nothing can be compared to that," tell me about it…
"I'm so sorry Sam…" she perked up, "I should have been there… I should have been there to help you through it… I wasn't there for his birth… I missed it… I meant to go back to Miami but…" he better not be trying to make up excuses! Apologizing is one thing, but don't make up some lie!
"Don't worry about it. I thought about calling you, but I didn't want to put you through that stress," ouch… that had to hurt…
"Hold on… I gotta go wake up Shinji…" he has to see this! I hurry into our room and shove at his shoulder, "Shinji, wake up!"
"Asuka…? Let me sleep a little more… ten more minutes…"
"Sam's back!" his eyes pop open and he leaps out of bed, rushing into the living room, "Jeez… he didn't even rush that much when I gave birth…" obviously going slower then him, I follow into the living room. When I get there, I see him hugging a now standing Sam.
"I haven't seen you in so long!" Sam was laughing her ass off by now.
"Yeah, nice to be back… can you let me go now? I'm still sore from the delivery…" he lets her go and laughs nervously.
"Sorry about that…" by now, Blaze has woken up and is staring up at Cass with a very confused face. His bright green eyes were examining his father closely, almost as if he knew who Cass was. With Blaze now awake, his features are more noticeable. He's defiantly Cass's baby! His short red hair was exactly the shade of Cass's, and his eyes were a beautiful shade of green.
"Amazing, isn't it?" I break the silence with a simple comment, "To hold your baby in your arms? That's probably the best feeling a parent could ever experience," Cass slowly nods.
"Ah crap… I completely forgot all of Blaze's stuff! I brought his clothes but I forgot his crib… damnit… I need to go call Miguel and have him send it over," Sam starts to get up, but Shinji guides her back down.
"Don't worry about it, I'll go get a crib. Do you need anything else?" wow… that was pretty nice of Shinji… of course, he IS my husband!
"Thanks, and no, that's it. He's still breast feeding… how long do I breast feed for though?"
"Well, I kinda screwed up with Dietlinde, but Akagi said for about a year. You start with baby food at three months," Sam damn near faints… I can see why though! Breast feeding sucks!
"Aw damnit! It hurts though!" she's not exaggerating, it really does. Hell, I didn't wear a bra for the first month because of that fact!
"I know… at least you won't be in it alone, I'm due in a little over a week," Akagi says a month, but I've been going through nesting lately and all mothers say that nesting happens about a week before delivery.
"So, I'll quick run out and grab a crib, just let me go get changed," Shinji walks back into our room, obviously to get dressed.
"Okay! I think that mommy and daddy need to catch up on a few things, so why don't I take you and give you a quick bath?" I casually take Blaze, giving Sam and Cass a hint to sit down and talk, "I'll be in the downstairs bathroom if either of you need me!" the curious young child was once again swooped into another person's arms.
"Mmmmm…" Blaze began to simply make sounds – not whining, I think he was just exploring his own body.
"You know, I was planning on Asuka using the infant bather first, but you beat her to it!" Ritsuko gave us this tub-looking thing that sits in our normal tub, but it's made for babies so we won't have to bath them in the sink like we did with Dietlinde… let's just use Blaze as a test subject, eh?
Within a few minutes, I had the bath running and Blaze stripped and in the infant tub. Blaze seems like a fairly calm baby compared to most, he isn't struggling at all. Seems like Sam already has him in check!
"Ugh…" damnit Asuka, can't you keep still for at least a few minutes?
---
Ten Minutes Later
"Okay… so maybe you're more of a handful then I gave you credit for…" okay, I'm SO glad I didn't have a boy! First, he began to pee with me over him… yeah, that didn't turn out too good. Then he felt that he had to empty his bowls… how fun! Seriously, I've bathed this kid three times now, next time he'll be doing it! "Okay, let's get you out to mommy and daddy," I pick him up after dressing him and walk back into the living room to see a half heart warming, half discussing sight; Sam sitting on Cass's lap making out with him… a lot. I clear my throat and the both pull back.
"Asuka! Y-You're done!" Cass turns bright red as he speaks.
"Yeah, but apparently you two aren't… how about you go into your room next time, eh?" I hand Blaze to Cass with a smile and begin to walk into the bathroom, "Tell Shinji that I'm in the bath when he gets back, I need to relax a little," I close the door behind me and turn on the facet, "I haven't taken a nice relaxing bath in God only knows how long…" at this stage of the pregnancy, it's always hard to even get my shirt off, so by the time I was completely nude, the tub was absolutely full. With a slight bit of pain, I reach over and turn off the water, then lower myself in the hot water, "Mmmmm…" this felt amazing! Letting myself be consumed by the seemingly godly fluid, I lay my head back and relax.
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Ten Minutes Later
I realized that I would need help getting out of the tub quite awhile ago, so I really hope Shinji was home! The water was starting to get cold… nothing's worse then a cold bath… especially for me, because last time I took a cold shower Asuka made me pay for it!
"Hey Shinji? You there?" this wasn't too well planned on my part… "Anyone? Hello?" I start to raise my voice, but I get the feeling that no one is even in the area. Damnit… "COME ON!" someone HAD to have heard that!
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Five Minutes Later
"Apparently not…" I lay my head back and close my eyes, and soon feel an extremely familiar feeling, "Oh my God… SHINJI! Shinji, get in here! Anyone! Please help!" I struggle to get out myself, but there's just no way, "Seriously, come on! My water just broke! Someone get in here NOW!" damnit! "Please…" I feel tears start to run down my face, "I can't do this alone… ShinjIII!!" I'm sobbing like a baby by now. I really can't do this alone… I'm scared…
"Asuka? Are you okay?" I hear Cass's voice through the closed door… thank God!
"No! I-I mean… yeah, just get Shinji! Hurry!" why did it have to be HIM?
"I can't, he's still out. He called a few minutes ago, he said that-" I really don't care right now!
"Just get in here! My water just broke and I can't get out of the tub!" I'm just recently getting over him seeing my butt let alone everything! "Anytime now Cass! Just come in damnit!" he bursts in the door with a deep blush on, "Just help me out of here!" I hold up my arm and he pulls me out of the tub quicker then I expected, making me dizzy from getting up too fast.
"D-Do you need help g-getting dressed…?" he was turned around and staring straight ahead. At any other time, I would have laughed, but I just had my first contraction and that wasn't exactly something to laugh about.
"No… just go get the car started, I'll meet you out there…" he runs off to the van and I struggle into a shirt and underwear. Yes, that's all I'm going to wear because they strip me and put me in a hospital gown anyway! Rushing through the house – what would be considered rushing for me – I eventually get outside to see Cass in a running van.
"Cass, hurry," I climb into the van, "I'm starting to get contractions…" I feel a hand on my shoulder and I nearly jump out of my skin.
"Shinji said that he'll met you at the hospital," why didn't he just come home? The hospital is WAY farther away them the house! "He told me to tell you that he's okay, it was just a concussion," okay, what the hell?!
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" I whip around to look at Sam and was hit with another contraction, "UGH!"
"You didn't know? Cass, I told you to tell her!" she slaps his shoulder quite hard.
"Well excuse me if I felt a little rushed! I'm doing eighty in a residential as it is!" Sam lets out a long sigh.
"Okay, sorry I have to be the one to tell you this Asuka, Shinji was in a car accident on the way over here. Some teenager was going for a joy ride and hit him head on. Shinji was knocked out and ended up with a sprain in his neck, but apparently he also got a concussion. He's fine though, just a little shaken up," okay REALLY not what I needed right now!
"O-Okay… as long as he's okay…" I feel my pulse racing and my head pounding, "Please hurry Cass… this isn't going to take long…" seriously… this is going to be a short as fuck delivery…
"We're still a good ten minutes from the hospital, sorry," Jesus, with the speed he's going I'm surprised we're not there yet! "Just… try and relax…" both me and Sam look at him with the 'you're an idiot' face.
"You're an idiot," we both say in unison.
---
Hospital – Five Minutes Later
"Jeez Asuka, you didn't need to punch that woman in the chest," I was being rolled down a long hall by some nurse with Sam and Cass at my sides.
"I'm going into labor! She told me to get to the back of the line! Fuck that!"
"But she was at least eighty and blind!" like I give a fuck! She shouldn't speak to people that can still breed like that!
"Okay miss, enough yelling, you're just going to stress the baby," I bite my tongue, holding back a smart-ass comment. We finally get into a room and I was quickly set up on a bed with my legs raised and spread.
"Cass, quit staring!" he turns around quickly in a blush.
"Asuka?" Shinji comes rushing into the room… damn, he got screwed up! His neck was in a thick foam brace and he had stitches going across the upper right side of his head. Not too long, but it was noticeable.
"About time! Okay, Sam and Cass, thanks for the help but please leave," without a word they rush out of the room, "Damn Shinji…" I smile and grab his hand, "You just had to end up in the hospital along with… me…" my eyes shoot wide open, "SHIT! We forgot Dietlinde! Son of a bitch! Shinji, tell Cass to go back home and watch after Dietlinde, but to NOT bring her here!"
"Okay, I'll be right back," he seemed calm for the circumstances! I can't believe we forgot Dietlinde! Shinji comes rushing back into the room just as I have another contraction, "He went back, don't worry about her," he once again grabs my hand and smiles down on me, "You'll do fine."
---
Six Hours Into Delivery – 1:45 AM
"AHHH!!!" I push once again, and I'm damn near about to pass out. My clothes are drenched in sweat and my head feels like it's about to explode.
"Come on Asuka, you're almost done, one more push," squeezing his hand hard one last time, I push as hard as I possibly could and I feel an enormous pressure release from my body. For a couple of seconds, I didn't hear anything, which made my heart sink. Where's the crying? Where's my baby?
"A-As… uka…" I close my eyes and mutter her name. After a quick slapping noise, the sound of a little girl's crying echoes through the room. I let out a weak smile and laugh slightly, "That's… my baby…" closing my eyes, I try hard to catch my breath.
"You did great Asuka," I feel Shinji peck my forehead, "You can relax now, we'll take it from here," it's not even that I fall asleep, I just flat pass out after Shinji was done talking. I had absolutely zero energy; I don't know how I even managed to breath! It was odd though, I knew that I couldn't control my body, but I was completely aware of everything around me. I was being taken to yet another room, and I somehow knew that Shinji was at my side the entire time. In a couple of hours, I finally gain the energy to open my eyes to see Shinji still holding my hand and staring at a live TV on mute.
"I did great, huh?" he looks over at me with a smile. I'm sure that I looked like crap at this point with my half closed eyes and pale face, but I really didn't care. I was happy to see my husband, and that was all that mattered.
"You did amazing. You want to go see Asuka?" I give a weak nod and he lifts me onto a wheelchair, pushing me down that familiar hall once again.
"I can't believe that she was premature too… I wonder what caused that…"
"It doesn't matter, she's fine and is able to support herself," we finally get to the window overlooking all the recently born babies – which was only about three for some reason. Being the only girl in the room, she was easy to pick out.
"Red hair…"
"Yep, she's another one of yours!" though she did have red hair, she defiantly had Shinji's facial features. Her eyes could not have possibly been more like his! At least I don't have another clone of myself… not that it would be a bad thing of course!
"Mommy!" my head whips to the side to see Cass holding a smiling Dietlinde with Sam next to him. Dietlinde had her arms outstretched to me with the biggest smile I've ever seen on her. I smile back at her as Cass hands me my first-born.
"Hey honey… mommy's been through hell today, you know that?" she closes her smiling eyes and inhales my scent.
"Cass, I told you not to-"
"No, don't worry about it, I needed to see her. Thanks Cass…" I kiss Dietlinde on the forehead with a smile, "You have a little sister now Dietlinde… you're going to have to take care of her…" soon enough, Dietlinde was asleep in my arms, never losing her smile.
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The Next Day – 6:00 PM
I've been asleep most of the day, just trying to make up for my recently lost energy. I haven't been able to hold my baby as of yet because she needed her own sleep, but we're getting ready to go home right now. Cass took Dietlinde back home last night, a hospital is no place for a baby like her – she's spent too much time in it as it is. Apparently she never woke up, so that's an up-side.
"Okay, I think we have everything together… aside from our new baby!" Shinji wraps his arm around my shoulders as we walk down the gloomy hall.
"Yeah… I've been dying to hold her all day!" when we finally get to the fish bowl like room, I see that Asuka was awake a crying alone. Smiling slightly, I walk into the room alone and – without a word – pick her tiny body up. She instantly stops her crying and looks up at me with teary, curious eyes, "Hi honey… welcome to the world…" I think that just hearing my heart beat through my shirt calmed her, because within about five minutes in that room, she fell asleep. I walk out of the room to see Shinji crying with a small smile on.
"You two are so beautiful…" I walk over and peck him on the cheek.
"Let's go home Shinji," he once again wraps his arm around me as we walk out of the hospital. Cass parked under an over-hang so that Asuka wouldn't be irritated by the light. When we get into the car, I take the back seat for myself while Shinji sits up front with Cass. The entire way home I was gently stroking Asuka's short red hair, only sending her into a deeper sleep.
"She's beautiful you two," Cass whispers above the humming of the car.
"Thanks…" after about half an hour, we end up back at the house – which had a crib already set up by Cass specifically for Asuka. I set her in right away and sit next to her crib along side Shinji. Dietlinde's crib was perpendicular to Asuka's, both meeting each other at the head. Both of our children were happily asleep – both of them completely oblivious to the world around them. Neither even realized that they had a sister, let alone what was in store for them.
"Dietlinde Ikari…"
"Asuka Ikari…" we both mutter our children's names. We're a family now, and nothing will ever change that.
A/N- Ah… nothing like a heart warming chapter to calm the soul… gotta love the delivery chapters, eh? Well, not much to say here at all aside from Dietlinde better get used to not having the kind of attention she's used to… eh, she'll be fine! (hopefully) Next chapter will be yet another heart-warmer, so be ready for some tears, I promise! Check out the next chapter… you know what? I'm not gonna say the chapter name cuz it's kind of a spoiler! Keep on keepin' on!
A/A/N- Okay, check out the forum on this story, that's all I gotta say. Forget the first topic, but look at the second one.