Surrendering
Third Trimester
By the time Yuna was seven months pregnant, Kurama found himself living in her apartment. There was no decision, no big announcement. One day he just found that all his stuff was there, perfectly integrated with hers. Neither of them talked about love, or what their relationship was. When they went out, they were easily mistaken for husband and wife, which Yuna was already too tired to correct. It was just easier that way, so why complicate things? While this was happening, Yuna realized that her stomach was almost getting to be too heavy for her. Pain constantly seared through her lower back, no matter how much Kurama massaged it, and even sitting had become a chore. Plus, she kept having to pee again, which was horrible. It was the middle of December, but she found herself throwing off the covers in the evenings, trying to find a comfortable position, which seemed impossible.
One evening, a few days shy of January, Yuna and Kurama found themselves on the couch. Yuna was reading one of her pregnancy books with her head on Kurama's lap, the most comfortable she had been in the last few weeks. Kurama was reading a book as well, his hand resting on the spot on Yuna's stomach where one of the babies was kicking. It was like a little game, the baby seemed to try to find where Kurama's hand was and kicked it incessantly. The other baby seemed to be asleep.
"Listen to this," Yuna said, advancing one chapter in the book. "In the seventh month, your babies will now double in size in preparation for their birth. With the uterus persistently growing and stretching as your twins gain in size and weight, each symptom becomes amplified. Ligament pain and pressure of the uterus are increasing. Frequent urination is making a comeback. Edema can be causing swollen extremities. Fatigue is getting worse and if you don't already have them, hemorrhoids will likely make an appearance."
"That sounds horrifying," Kurama said, leaning forward to look at the page.
"Will you still want to live here even if I have swollen limbs, a flabby stomach and giant breasts?" She asked him, looking up at his bright green eyes. He smiled and kissed the top of her forehead.
"You're more beautiful than you give yourself credit for," he said. "Plus, I happen to like the state of your breasts at the moment. It's interesting."
"Yeah, tell yourself that when they start leaking," Yuna told him, jumping as a sudden pain hit her on her side. Kurama asked if she was okay and she nodded, putting the book aside. It was just one of those things that come with an expanding uterus.
"Dr. Kawamura scheduled your appointments every two weeks now," Kurama noted. "You're carrying twins, so there's a higher chance that you may deliver earlier."
Yuna no longer responded, as she had fallen asleep on his lap. Kurama smiled and rubbed his hand against her belly again, as if telling the twins to go to sleep as well.
Kurama found himself asleep on the couch hours later. He'd adjusted his position so his head was against the back of the couch, Yuna's head was now on his stomach. He checked the time and it was two in the morning. Wondering why on earth he was awake already, he felt his phone vibrating on the couch next to him. It was Kuwabara, and knowing the man, it could be about anything from a meteor about to hit the planet to something cute that his cat did. He picked up the call.
"Hello?" He asked politely.
"Dude, you have to come to the house, Yukina's water broke and she needs someone to deliver the baby," he said quickly, and in the background he actually heard Yukina's repressed screams.
"Why can't you take her to the hospital?" Kurama asked, rubbing his eyes. He may know a thing or two about babies, but he didn't know why he suddenly became the expert on childbirth.
"Because according to her, she's past that," Kuwabara said. "Hurry!"
Then he hung up. Yuna, needing to pee, was already awake, slowly making her way to the bathroom. Kurama quickly fixed himself up and walked slowly to the bathroom door.
"Uhm...I'll be going out for a bit," he said, and she emerged from the bathroom to give him an odd look. "At 2am?" she asked.
"Yes, it seems Yukina is about to give birth, and she can no longer go to the hospital," Kurama explained. "You're welcome to come, if you like."
Thinking that it would be good for her to see before she gives birth, Yuna nodded.
A few minutes later, they were in Yukina and Kuwabara's living room. Kuwabara had apparently also invited Yusuke and Keiko to join in the festivities. Shizuru and Hiei were there as well. No sooner had Kurama and Yuna entered did Kuwabara emerge from the bedroom and go straight to his redhead friend.
"THANK GOD," he said, placing his hand on Kurama's shoulders. "I have no idea what the hell I'm supposed to do."
"And you think he does?" Hiei spat from the windowsill he was sitting in. Yuna sank into the couch with Keiko as Kuwabara turned to him.
"Will you shut up? I don't remember inviting you here!" Kuwabara exclaimed, but Kurama calmed him down.
"Let me go in to see her," he said, following the man into the bedroom. Yukina was sitting up on top of the covers with her enormous belly, looking relatively calm for someone who was supposed to be past the point of a hospital. As a contraction hit, she shut her eyes and gripped Kuwabara's hand firmly, the most sound she was making muted by clamping her lips together.
"Yukina, sweetie, it's okay if you want to scream," Keiko said, having followed Kurama inside and patting her leg. Yukina assured her friend she was fine as Kurama checked her cervix.
"Oh my-" then he turned to Kuwabara. "How long as she been having contractions?"
"An hour or two," Kuwabara said with a shrug. "Her water broke when we were sleeping."
"She's ten centimeters dilated," he pointed out. "She has to start pushing...right now. Keiko, can you get some sheets? Kuwabara, I'm going to need you to hold her hand."
"Yuna!" Yukina suddenly exclaimed in the middle of a contraction. "She has to see this!"
The girl in question was brought in, along with Yusuke. Shizuru had opted not to see her niece or nephew shooting out of her sister-in-law's vagina, thank you very much. Kazuma and Keiko held Yukina's hands, helping her up as Kurama asked her to push.
"OH MY GOD, WHAT IS THAT?!" Yusuke exclaimed, seeing something peeking out Yukina's cervix.
"That's part of the baby's head," Kurama explained. "We still have a few more pushes to go, Yukina. Aaaand push!"
This time, Yukina actually screamed, a bloodcurdling sound of terror that she seemed to have reserved especially for the occasion. Yuna actually grabbed Yusuke's arm in fear as he continued to stare at the foreign object Kurama was coaxing out of the tiny girl. Yukina collapsed backwards into the bed, taking deep breaths and leaning against Kuwabara for strength. Kurama asked her to push again.
"STOP IT KURAMA, IT'S NOT HAPPENING!" This time it was Yuna who had screamed alongside Yukina. The sooner this had happened the sooner the baby's head popped out, the rest of the body sliding out in one last push. Both Yuna and Yusuke looked just about ready to throw up or pass out at what had transpired. Kurama was beaming as Yukina and Kuwabara's daughter cried out. The umbilical cord was cut, and soon the baby was in Yukina's arms, the new parents glowing with happiness at the arrival of the little girl.
"We'll give you guys a minute," Keiko said, kissing her friend's cheek as they all rejoined Hiei and Shizuru in the living room.
"Well?" Shizuru asked, chewing her nicotine gum.
"Go in and see for yourself," Kurama told her with a smile. "You too," he said, this time directing it to Hiei, who obliged.
"That...was the scariest thing I had ever seen," Yuna said, sitting on the couch next to Keiko. "I mean...how, how, how was Yukina able to do that? That baby was huge!"
She seemed to be in some state of shock, which Kurama thought was quite funny.
"I think she will need to have reconstruction surgery after," Yusuke said, shaking his head. "Like a vaginaplasty or something."
"But they looked so happy after, didn't they?" Keiko asked, looking at the direction of the room with a smile on her face. Kurama had to agree.
"No way," Yuna said, crossing her arms over her gigantic chest, resting it on her swollen belly as she leaned back against the couch. "These babies will have to stay in here because I am NOT doing that."
"I second the motion," Yusuke agreed. Kurama and Keiko just smiled at the two and chalked it up to tiredness.
By four in the morning, Hina Kazuma was asleep on Yukina's side and everyone had gone home. Yuna insisted that Kurama sleep beside her on the bed because honestly, that whole experience had terrified her. The redhead smiled and kissed her lips, kissing the top of her stomach as well.
"Don't worry," he said to her. "I guarantee yours will be worse."
About a week after Hina was born, Yuna was given her maternity leave from the preschool. Honestly, the entire experience of seeing Yukina give birth gave Yuna more panic than she'd initially thought. What if she simply couldn't push that hard? Had one of her babies turned already? What if she didn't make it to the hospital? People died of childbirth all the time...would she be one of them? These thoughts, the never ending kicking from the twins and the immense pain she was getting from her own body was overwhelming.
It was her last day, and she was just saying goodbye to the children when a sharp pain gripped at her sides, like someone was trying to squeeze her stomach. Suddenly the pain her back intensified, and she felt her legs cramping up a little.
"What's wrong Miss Yuna?" Maiko asked, as worried about his favorite teacher as ever.
"Oh, it's nothing, sweetie," Yuna assured him, but the pain she felt told her otherwise. "Uhm...can someone call for Miss Nami? I think I have to go to the hospital," she said, trying her best not to scream out in pain in front of the kids. Her vision was blurring, and the last thing she saw before she passed out were bright white dots.
Yuna opened her eyes and easily recognized the bright whites of the hospital. Her hands immediately touched her stomach, as if afraid that she was no longer pregnant. She was. Kurama jumped up from wherever he had been sitting to take her hand.
"Yuna," he said. She turned to her head to him, and she could see Keiko as well, looking worried. She could hear beeping somewhere in the room, and wires were attached to her stomach.
"What happened?" she asked them. "I'm still pregnant."
"Dr. Kawamura said you were having Braxton Hicks contractions," Keiko explained. "False labor. But you must have been stressed, because you passed out."
"Everything's fine," Kurama told her. "They'll keep you here for a couple of hours, just to make sure you don't develop a fever or start vomiting. But you have to be on bed rest, at least for another month or until the babies are born."
"O-okay," Yuna said, wondering why on earth she was suddenly so tired. Her eyelids fluttered and she saw Yusuke coming into the room. Kurama kissed the side of her temple.
"Go to sleep. We'll be home soon," he told her, and she did.
Preeclampsia. That was the official name for what Yuna had. Dr. Kawamura assured her that this happened a lot with twin pregnancies, and a few weeks of bed rest would do her just fine. Kurama had taken a leave of absence from work as well, just to make sure that Yuna would be okay. While she was lying down and stressing out, he had been going around the house, packing the bag she would need at the hospital, planning the routes they could take, just in case. He was a cautious planner, but this was the kind of planning that calmed him down. She lay in bed next to him, her hand on her belly, humming a song.
"How are you feeling?" Kurama asked.
"A little worried," she confessed. "I'm almost eight months pregnant, you know."
"I know," Kurama said, kissing her shoulder. "Time flies by so fast."
"Then you will finally realize that you're a pregnophile," she told him, giggling. Kurama propped up his head with his hand.
"Now why do you keep calling me that?" He asked her. "Do you really doubt how much I like you?"
Yuna shrugged. "I don't know," she confessed to him. "Maybe I'm scared that you're only here for me because I'm pregnant with Yusuke and Keiko's baby. That after this, you, them...everything will go back to the way it was. That terrifies me, because I can never imagine going back to that kind of life."
Kurama pushed himself up and kissed her on the lips. "Never," he promised her. "You know your pregnancy is just my excuse to remain close to you? I...I love you, Yuna."
There. That was all the confession they needed to get all that confusion and avoidance over with. Let Kurama be the one who said it first. Yuna's eyes widened for a moment, her heart actually skipping a beat.
"I-I love you too," she stammered, leaning forward and giving him a kiss.
With only one week to go until her eighth month, Botan figured it was high time that she throw Keiko a baby shower. Not wanting Yuna to feel left out, Keiko asked if they could have it in her bedroom. Which they did. Botan and Shizuru hung up streamers and decorations while Yuna assembled party favors in bed. Yukina brought Hina with her while she made enough food for a small army. when Keiko arrived, they played games, ate cake, cooed over the sight of Hina yawning and tried to guess when Yuna was going to give birth. At the shower, she'd had a run of false labor, which had put everyone on edge for a moment until they wandered into the topic. At this point they were all sitting in a circle, Yukina and Yuna on the bed with Hina asleep in between them, Keiko and Botan on chairs at the opposite side, their feet propped up. Shizuru was talking to someone on the phone in the living room.
"I for one hope it will be soon," Botan exclaimed, "I can't wait to meet those twins!"
"And I can't wait to be out of bed again," Yuna sighed, leaning backwards. "Keiko, you are so lucky you don't have to do this."
"Are you kidding?" Keiko asked, shaking her head. "I would do anything to be in your position right now." She sighed putting her feet back on the floor. "It feels so weird to not be so involved in this process."
"Oh Keiko," Yuna said with a smile, her hands on her stomach. "This is nothing. It's just nine months. You get the twins for the rest of your life. You just have to wait a little while longer."
"Aww, cuddle party!" Botan said, and everyone climbed into the bed with Yuna. Yukina mentioned that the babies should hear them now, and Keiko placed her hand over Yuna's stomach.
"Hey kids," she said softly, giggling at the feeling of the babies kicking against her hand. "I can't wait to meet you both."
A few weeks later, on a rainy March day, Yuna was on her feet again and bigger than ever. Her back felt like it could break at any second, if the babies didn't kick it out of commission first. Kurama had gone to have breakfast with his mom for the morning, and Yuna had been left alone for the first time in a long time. "Which is awesome, because his breathing was starting to annoy me," Yuna told the twins as she awkwardly walked to the kitchen for a glass of water. She jumped when thunder clapped behind her, and lighting shot across the sky.
"What the heck," she said, looking out her window. The sky was incredibly dark and rain was falling in the buckets. "It's a storm," she said, shivering in a knit sweater as the skirt on her floor length dress swept across her bare feet. "Guys, we gotta stay in bed," she said, shaking her head as the went into the bedroom. Although she could walk around again, Yuna realized it didn't take long before she wanted to lie down again. She had just settled into bed, closing her eyes and humming when a sharp pain suddenly hit her. She girt her teeth, and the pain passed quickly.
"What was that?" She looked down at her stomach. It may have been just another round of false labor but this felt...different. Getting a little worried, she was about to grab her phone to call Kurama when he burst through the door. She screamed and he looked at her in surprise, as if wondering what was happening.
"Kurama!" Yuna exclaimed. "I think...I think I-"
"I know," he said, coming forward to kiss her on the lips. "I love you too."
"Oh my god!" She said as water came trickling on to the bed. Kurama was currently kissing her neck and looked at her in surprise. "Really?" He asked, "Already?"
"No, dude!" She exclaimed, pushing him off the bed. "My water just broke, I-I-I have to go to the hospital."
They made it to the hospital in no time at all. Kurama was soaking wet because he'd insisted Yuna take the only umbrella there, while she was cursing at every contraction that came her way. Dr. Kawamura was already on her way, so Yuna was brought into one of the rooms,holding Kurama's hand as another contraction hit her. She took deep breaths as Kurama easer her beck into the pillows.
"That was good, love," he said, kissing the back of her hand. "I'll go see what's keeping the doctor. Yusuke and Keiko should be on their way."
Yuna smiled and nodded as Kurama exited the room for a moment. Yuna barely had two minutes alone to process her current situation when Keiko burst into the room, a doctor not far behind her.
"Yuna!" She exclaimed, rushing to hug her as the unfamiliar doctor checked something on the fetal monitor behind them. "Oh my god, I'm so excited this is happening! Are you alright?"
Her answer came at once when Yuna had another contraction. Keiko helped her along, saying soothing words and holding her hand. Once the pain had passed, the doctor cleared her throat.
"Yuna?" she asked, and the two women looked up at her.
"Dr. Kawamura got trapped in the storm," she said. "My name's Dr. Bei Fong, and you're ready to go to the delivery room now."
"No, no wait," Yuna said immediately. "I can't go into labor! We don't know if the second baby's turned since last week, Kurama's not here, and Yusuke is-aaaarrrgh!" She bent forward again, her stomach stopping her from saying anything else. Keiko took her hand and looked at her friend.
"Yuna," she said, "You can do this. Kurama will be here with Yusuke any minute now...hopefully. I'm going to be there in the room with you, and everything will be okay. Okay? Do you trust me?"
Yuna nodded and threw her arms around Keiko. "You're my best friend, you know that?" she asked the girl who smiled and hugged her back.
"You're mine too."
Kurama sneezed in the lobby as he spotted the man he was looking for. Yusuke looked a little lost, and extremely worried. At least ten heads turned sharply towards the man who was currently spreading his germs through the hospital, Yusuke was included.
"Dude, what the fuck happened to you?" Yusuke asked, coming towards Kurama.
"I forgot the second umbrella," he said sheepishly as Yusuke threw his jacket over his friend. "Christ man," Yusuke said, the both of them walking to the heater.
"Why are you here?" Kurama asked his friend, pulling back his wild, red hair out of his face.
"I'm here because I don't want to go in there," he said, indicating the hallway where Yuna and Keiko were. "I'm fucking terrified I might mess up. I'm not exactly the best dad material, given that I barely finished high school, drink a lot and only quit smoking three months ago. I mean, these are twins. They're coming, Kurama. I mean, facing Toguro or Sensui was nothing compared to this fear I have now. Fuck."
Kurama pulled the jacket closer to himself, wondering slightly if he was going to get sick out of this. He was probably going to.
"You know you looked like a worried dad a second ago, back there," Kurama pointed out, smiling. "And this is happening. In a few hours, you're going to get there."
He sneezed again. Yup. He was definitely going to get sick after this. "We're all rooting for you, by the way."
"URAMESHI, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!" Keiko's voice boomed through the hall. Kurama and Yusuke turned their heads just in time to see Yuna being brought to the delivery room, panting and holding Keiko's hand.
"Here we go," Kurama said with a smile, taking off Yusuke's jacket and following the girls into the room.
The next few minutes were all a blur. Yuna thought she'd passed out from a combination of fear and pain. She would remember blood and screaming and many bright lights. She wouldn't remember how she got into a birthing room. She would barely remember the doctor saying, "The head is crowning, it's time to start pushing."
"But what about the other baby?"
"We'll see what happens, you need to push," Dr. Bei Fong said, peeking under the sheet. Kurama was standing beside Yuna, holding her hand and helping her along. Keiko had a hand tucked under Yuna's leg while Yusuke had the other.
Yuna looked to Kurama for help and he said, "They're coming, Yuna."
Then she felt some part of herself tearing away as it pushed lower. The pain had a life of it's own as it twisted and stretched, straining against her. She was growing weak and her body was doing most of the pushing for her.
"Yes!" Yusuke cried as Kurama took over on his side. He moved over to Dr. Bei Fong, no longer fazed at what he was looking at. "I can see the head! Our baby has hair!" She tensed up and pushed once more, silently, until she heard the doctor say, "Congratulations on baby number one," She held up a tiny baby, covered in blood and fluid.
Yuna suddenly remembered one of the things Kurama told her. "They will love you unconditionally, they will come to you when their parents are driving them up the wall. If you choose to be in their life, they will never be to far away."
Then the room was filled with a baby's loud cries. There was a moment of wonderful awe as Keiko lay eyes with her son for the first time. He was there. Measured, weighed and declared perfect, and in Keiko's arms in less then a minute. Standing to the side with Yusuke, she cradled him in her arms, his tiny hand wrapped around her finger.
"Friends," Dr. Bei Fong said, calling the couple back to the table. "I feel that baby number two is about to coming out."
"No! Nooooo! Please, I don't want to do this anymore!" Yuna cried, throwing her head back and pulling Kurama towards herself. "Please, please, I don't want to..."
"No backing out now, love," Kurama said, kissing the top of her head.
"Is the baby still breeched?" Yuna asked the doctor, and she shook her head.
"This'll be quick and smooth if you start pushing at the next contraction," Dr. Bei Fong told her as Keiko came to her side, with Yusuke not far behind.
"We're here for you," Keiko said.
And then everything kind of melted away after that.
Yuna was aware that she was in the hospital. She was aware of the room around her, and of the emptiness around her. It was like she was right back to where she'd started, by herself, in bed with nothing. Tears were coming and gushing out of her eyes uncontrollably, with her hands around her much flatter stomach. Somewhere in the hospital, Yusuke and Keiko were holding their twin babies, laughing and being happy while she...she was here.
Suddenly, two warm arms wrapped around her, filling her with certain warmth. Kurama pulled her closer to him, his face buried in her neck, kissing her while she cried.
"I just," She said to him. "I just need a minute."
"Take all the time you need," he whispered, closing his eyes and trying to stop his tears too.