Another Birth Day

Keiko screamed in surprise and a small bit of terror until she recognized the dark haired man sitting at her counter eating a bowl of cereal. She punched him in the shoulder as she walked by.

"Dammit, Shika! Quit being so damn creepy," she admonished him.

Shikamaru had a way of appearing unexpectedly and scaring the hell out of a person. He always had ever since him and Naruto were little boys. Apparently he was home on leave from the army and had come to visit his friend.

Keiko opened the refrigerator to get one of the jars of breast milk that she had stored up for the baby. One was missing. Oh, no, surely he didn't.

"Hey, Shika, where did you get the milk for your cereal?" she asked, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"From the top shelf. It tastes weird. Is there sugar or something added to this?" he inquired.

"Uh, no. Nothing added to it," she answered, taking one of the jars out to fix a bottle for the baby. She silently poured the milk into a baby bottle and he stopped eating to watch.

"You can't give him cow's milk at his age," Shikamaru said, staring at her.

"It's not cow's milk."

"Goat?"

"No, honey. It's something else." She almost lost it and began laughing. It was terribly disappointing when the boy simply shrugged and went back to eating. He was an amazing UNDER reactor.

"You taste good. Your husband is lucky enough to get it from the tap," he stated flatly without even a hint of a grin on his face.

Keiko made a noise of disgust and muttered "pervert" before quickly walking away. She returned to the baby's room where Naruto sat with Takeshi in his lap. They decided to call him by his middle name which meant warrior because he was stubborn and always fighting them about something. Right now it would be the baby bottle because he wanted mama, but they had to wean him for the impending birth of their next child.

"Good luck with that, Daddy. I've got to go to work," she said, kissing him briefly on the lips.

"I love you. I love you too," he stated in a baby talk voice kissing her belly.

Their baby girl would arrive any day now. This pregnancy had been flawless with no complications, not even morning sickness.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a few minutes?" Shikamaru asked her as she passed through the kitchen to go to her office.

"Sure. I've got a few minutes before my next patient. Come on," she replied, beckoning him to follow her.

"Keiko, I've done something really, really bad. I feel horrible about it and I don't know what to do," he said, plopping down heavily in the chair in front of her.

"What could you have possibly done so bad?" she inquired, pulling out the file of her next patient to browse through it. She fully expected him to tell her he just broken up with a girl or possible worst case scenario gotten a girl pregnant.

"Keiko, I had sex with my mom," he blurted bluntly.

Keiko was glad she had been sitting down. Her head jerked up to stare at the young man in disbelief. His dark eyes darted around the room avoiding her intense gaze. "You what?"

"I couldn't help it. I've been curious ever since that day I caught you and Naruto in your pool. I wanted you but I couldn't do that to my best friend. I became obsessed with the relationship you two have. You're so happy and you love each other so much. I-I w-wanted that for myself," he stammered, still refusing to look at her.

Oh, god! How does she handle this? Yoshino was still a lovely and youthful looking woman. Keiko had watched the heads of young and old men alike turn to gaze at the dark haired dark eyed beauty when they have been out on a shopping trip or at lunch. It would not be hard for the woman to find a young lover if she were inclined to do so, but she had her husband.

Keiko took a deep breath and did her best to gather her wits. She decided to go into professional mode so she could handle this. With her fingers steepled beneath her chin she requested for him to go on and tell her exactly what happened. She willed herself not to be upset as she listened to his story because really it was not much different her situation.

Shikamaru explained to her that his father had to work a few midnight shifts while he's been home visiting. He had not been with a girl in quite a while and a combination of lust and curiosity got the best of him one night. At first he just planned to touch a little bit to arouse himself more then go masturbate. Unfortunately when his mother did not wake up, he kept pushing his limits until finally he was inside of her. In her half asleep state, she had allowed him to have sex with her and had even enjoyed it because she had mistaken her son for her husband. The father and son did look an awful lot alike and were even the same size and build now that Shikamaru had grown up.

She now knew the reason for his sudden appearance here this morning.

"Does she even know what happened?" Keiko asked, staring at the nervous man. It was odd to see him upset about anything because was always so calm and unaffected about everything. Even the breast milk revelation had gone without a reaction other than a shrug. But this disturbed him terribly.

"No. I don't think so. She hasn't said anything. I just couldn't stand the guilt any longer," he murmured, lacing and unlacing his fingers.

"Do you want to do it again?" she inquired, staring at him hard. When he stopped and made eye contact with her, she said, "Tell me the truth. Not what you think I want to hear."

"Yes."

Dammit. That was definitely what she did not want to hear, but it was the truth. What in the hell does she do now?

"I've asked Shika to stay with us for a few days," Keiko told her husband as she got into bed that night.

"He told you about his mom?" Naruto asked, looking up from the book he was reading for one of his classes.

Keiko had to smile. They were like an old married couple already. She absentmindedly massaged her belly as the baby began kicking around.

"She's moving?" he asked, dropping the book quickly. He put his hands then his ear against her belly. "Ow!" he grunted softly because the baby kicked him in the ear. "She's going to be a soccer player."

Keiko was amazed how him and his best friend told each other everything. They knew every single thing about each other and were completely withholding judgment on all of it. Until now, she had never withheld any from Yoshino but this confession had to be between her and her best friend's son. He had come to her in a professional capacity therefore she could not breach that confidentiality. Besides, how do you drop that kind of emotional bomb on someone? 'You'll want to sit down for this Yoshino. You know when you had sex the other night? That wasn't your husband that was your son.' There was no easy or good way to break that kind of news. She shook her head as if to erase the thought. That was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. She slid her fingers through her husband's soft blond hair, smiling to herself as he talked to the baby inside of her.

"How much longer, Mama?" he asked, rubbing her belly in big circles.

Keiko was surprised when her whole body winced in reaction and a sharp pain sliced through her belly. It wasn't a reaction to him calling her mama. She had gotten over that when she was pregnant with Takeshi. "Uh, now, I think," she replied, grabbing her belly when it happened again. She felt a surge of wetness as if she had accidentally released her bladder. Her water had broken.

"Sweetie, you better call Tsunade. She will have to make a house call," she said, struggling to get up between contractions. She made her way to bathroom to retrieve several thick towels and to undress.

Little sister wasn't going to be stubborn like Takeshi, she was ready to come out NOW! The contractions were coming so hard and fast she almost did not have time to feel the pain. She was standing beside the bed when the urge to push took her over.

"Naruto!" she screamed, refusing to do as her beckoned her to.

"She'll be here in thirty minutes," he said, coming back into the room.

"Holy shit!" Shikamaru yelled, staring at her naked backside as she clung to the bed. There was nothing sensual or sexually exciting about a woman in labor despite her being naked.

"This baby isn't going to wait thirty minutes. Shika, get behind me and hold me up under the arms," she ordered, crouching down on the floor and for all the world looking like a bloated little toad. The men probably would have laughed if they hadn't been horrified. A woman's body, especially during pregnancy, was an intriguing yet terrifying, mystical thing to them. "Naruto, you get ready to catch your daughter."

Both men did as ordered getting into their positions. Naruto sat on the floor between her legs with a towel ready to grab their daughter when she made her entrance. Shikamaru closed his eyes willing himself not to faint as he struggled to hold onto her while hunkered down to push and howled like a banshee. They continued to do this for what he thought was a long time but in reality was only about twenty minutes. A few times he yelled along with her as if to help.

"I've got her!" the triumphant father unexpectedly yelled, wrapping the towel around the quiet infant. "She's not crying! Why isn't she crying?"

"Go get that blue sucky thingie and use it on her mouth and nose so she can breathe. Then she will cry," Keiko instructed, panting heavily. She took the baby from him while he went to get the item. She moved toward the bed with her unlikely birthing partner's help.

"Keiko, I think you just gave me the best therapy I ever could have hoped for. I will never EVER touch her again. And quite possibly no other woman either," he said, pulling the blankets over trembling body.

"Oh, honey. Don't say that. You'll make beautiful babies with some woman someday. Just a woman other than Yoshino," she responded breathlessly.

"Got it!" Naruto exclaimed, suctioning the baby's nose and mouth. He was finally able to breathe again himself when a wail filled the room.

"Did I miss it?" Tsunade asked when she walked in the door behind the father of two.

"Yep, you missed all the fun. It was almost over with before I knew what was happening. It was unbelievable," Keiko said, handing her friend and doctor the baby.

"Well, every pregnancy and birth are different," she remarked, clamping the cord and handing the scissors to Naruto to cut it. "Way to go, Big Daddy. Not many men can say they delivered their own child. I'm proud of you for holding it together."

"Shouldn't we be getting them to the hospital?" the embarrassed blond asked, rubbing the back of his head self consciously.

"Yes. Yes, we should," Tsunade answered suddenly noticing Shikamaru in the room. "Who's this cute young thing?"

"That's Naruto's best friend, Shikamaru. He did an outstanding job as my birthing partner," Keiko answered, putting her arms around her husband's neck as he prepared to lift her up after wrapping her in the sheet from the bed. "He's looking for a cougar is you'd be interested."

"Keiko!" both people yelled at her before exchanging embarrassed looks with each other.

"That was just evil," Naruto chided her with an amused smile.

"Well, he's got a mommy complex and she seemed to like him so why not?"

"You do have a point there."

Keiko Miyako: Keiko after her mother whose name meant blessing and Miyako for beautiful night because that was when she was born. She would be called Miyako, then Koko, when her eyes turned a gorgeous shade of chocolate brown like her mother's. It wasn't spelled the same but it sounded like the word for chocolate. Her hair, what little of it there was to grace her scalp, was a golden color like sunflowers which pleased her devoted father and her disposition was just as sunny and bright as her hair. What had begun as unlikely couple three years earlier had now developed into a happy family of four.