DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INCEPTION.
It happened exactly 3 days before it was supposed to.
Arthur was sitting absent minded in front of the television screen, newspaper in hands. He was thinking about what they would do tomorrow. Maybe a walk in the park? Lunch out perhaps?
It was then he heard a loud gasp from the kitchen, quickly accompanied by the sound of smashing glass.
His head snapped up. "Ari?"
After no response, he dropped the paper on the ground and ran into the kitchen. He froze when he saw Ariadne, doubled over, clutching her stomach, breathing heavily.
She looked up at him with large, scared eyes. "Arthur. It's happening."
Dumbfounded, Arthur stood by the door, eyes wide. "What's happening?"
She rolled her eyes. "My water just broke! The baby's coming."
The baby's coming. The words rang in Arthur's head like a fire drill. He quickly walked over and grabbed her hand.
"Let's go," he breathed. He had ran this situation over in his head a million times, but no planning had prepared him for this. He gently pulled her towards the front door.
"Arthur," Ariadne prompted, tugging on his hand.
Arthur turned around and met Ariadne's dark eyes with his. "What?"
"…I'm scared. What if something goes wrong? What if we don't get to the hospital in time, or what if-"
The feeling of his lips crashing against hers cut her off. He moved his hands up to her face, moving his lips against hers in an emotion that she couldn't quite place. Joy? Anxiety? They stood like that for only a moment before Arthur pulled away.
"Ari, you're so strong. I have no doubt that you can do this," he quietly said, keeping his hands on her cheeks. "And I'll be right there next to you."
Ariadne nodded. "I know."
Arthur smiled. "Now let's go, because this baby wants to meet it's mommy and daddy."
Arthur kept to his promise. Holding her hand through the random waves of pain, and speaking words of encouragement into her ear when she needed it.
The thing that mostly took up his mind was the fact that he was about to become a father. 9 Months had gone by, but they had been preparing for the baby in her stomach. He hadn't even considered what would happen when it was actually born. He'd focused on taking care of Ariadne, doing the right things, buying the right things, but he hadn't actually thought about what to do when it became a person.
And when the time came to deliver, Arthur remained stuck to her side. He had to give it to her, it looked like pretty hard work.
"Come on Ari, you can do it," he whispered into her ear, clutching onto her hand.
Moments later, Arthur heard the most terrifying sound he had every heard in his life. The baby's cry rung through the room, and Arthur froze. He looked over and felt a wave of amazement run through him.
There was their baby, newborn and clearly angry. It's tiny pink face was crying like there was no tomorrow. Arthur watched as they quickly bundled it in a dust pink blanket and handed it to a tired Ariadne.
"She's pretty loud, isn't she?"
Arthur's head was spinning. "She? I have a daughter?" The word sounded comfortable on his tongue.
He felt Ariadne's warm hand on his cheek. "Yes, we do. Here."
The tiny person was handed to him, and as he held her in his arms, it seems that nothing else mattered in that moment. He placed the lightest of kisses on her tiny forehead.
And he decided that even though he was unprepared, he would just take it as things come. But as long as he had Ariadne, and his new daughter, it didn't really matter.