In her time with the bandits Rouge had occasionally visited Fuusha, while her pregnancy allowed it, and had made fast friends with a lady who ran the little tavern there. Makino was her name, and she had been making a return visit up at the bandits' cabin when it had happened. A month too soon, but it happened.

"The baby is coming!" Rouge gasped out, a hand pressed to her extended abdomen while a sharp and painful contraction hit her out of nowhere. There was a wetness on her thighs and legs, and she didn't have to look down at the forming puddle to know that her water had broken.

Dadan immediately started shooing the bandits out of the cabin while Makino fetched some water to heat over the fire. Once the cabin was cleared of the menfolk Dadan promptly began to freak out. She had never done something like this before. Ever.

"Get some towels," Rouge said in a pained voice, giving the red-haired bandit some direction. She had already laid down on a pile of cushions kept out in the main room and was trying to pace her breathing.

Makino came back in with a bucket of water and poured it into the kettle hanging over the fire. "How far apart have the contractions been?" She asked as she walked over to where Rouge was. With Fuusha being a small town she had a bit of experience in midwifery.

"Four, no three minutes." She grunted as another contraction came, the pain sharp. It passed after a moment and she smiled weakly up at Makino.

"I've got the towels," Dadan called out as she returned to the main room of the cabin, a bundle of clean towels in her arms.

"Bring them over here," Makino said in a gentle tone as she knelt in front of Rouge.

-TSoB-

Garp had been eating breakfast in the mess hall when one of the News Coos landed in front of him. A thin cream-colored envelope was promptly waved in front of his face, making the Vice Admiral glare. The News Coo froze at his expression, so he took the envelope from the gull and shooed it off. It gave him a sullen look but flew off, not willing to press Garp for payment.

Grumbling about the audacity of the News Coo he examined the envelope and frowned as he recognized Makino's handwriting. Why would she be sending him a letter here? He blinked slowly, trying to think of a reason why she would even contact him. He couldn't come up with any, as he was unaware of the friendship that she and Rouge had struck up.

Glancing around at the marines scattered around the mess hall, Garp frowned slightly and got up from his table. He waved off a few people who called to him then made his way out to the hallway. Turning the envelope over in his hand, he carefully opened it and pulled out the single sheet of paper inside. He read over the letter several times, a smiling widening on his face while tears of joy ran down his cheeks.

Completely uncaring as to his rank and composure, he ran down the hall once he stuffed the letter into the pocket of his suit jacket. Within a matter of minutes he had reached Sengoku's office and entered without even bother to knock. "I'd like to use my vacation time!" He proclaimed loudly, not even taking a second to check and see if the Fleet Admiral was busy.

Sengoku had thankfully been writing up reports to send to the Gorosei, but he was still irritated with Garp's intrusion. "And you couldn't put in a formal request to use your vacation time?" He asked in a sharp tone, which went unheeded by the Vice Admiral.

""No! I just got some really good news and would like to use my vacation time!" Despite he excitement over the news contained in the letter from Makino, Garp was conscious of not revealing anything to do with the birth of Gol D. Roger's child, let alone that he actually had one. There was a hunt going on for Rouge and the child, and he was aware of that, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from visiting. He also knew how to throw someone off of his trail, as protecting them was of absolute importance.

"If you absolutely must." Sengoku gave a weary sigh and pulled out a leave request form that he knew he would fill out for Monkey D. Garp. The man was too impatient to stay and do it himself. "How much of your vacation would you like to use?"

"All of it!" Garp grinned widely and snagged some rice crackers from Sengoku's death. After that he left before Sengoku could even protest, as he had a few months of vacation stored up.