Eight months. I stared at the calendar. Eight months. Everyone had left, and I got just about everything I needed. Tons of clothes, formula, diapers, and other such essentials that they took back with them so we didn't have much to bring back ourselves. My parents and I have gone back and forth, and they would check out different apartments and houses under our budget and with enough space. We settled on one and it was officially ours, and my parents would pay it off for us as a baby shower present. On top of that, Kyo was going to sell his car to buy a new one when we got in America. As soon as I was able to get a job, I would save up as much as I could, and get a car of my own. It was also decided that we would stay with my parents until the house was ready.
The month of April dragged on slowly, and everyone around me, in my classes and at work, was getting more worried with each and every step I took. If I didn't pout at Kyo, I wouldn't even be allowed out of bed.
"I don't know why we have to go to the main house for stinking doctor's appointment. Hatori should come to us. I mean who does he think he is? You're eight months pregnant and five times the size of a balloon! You shouldn't be on your feet!" Kyo complained as we drove there.
"Kyo… it's fine. It's not like the world is going to come to a complete stop if I happen to fall when I get out of the car." I said blaze.
"YES IT WILL!" Kyo retorted. I looked at him fondly, almost in tears as I relived it. It was truly, in my opinion, a heart stopping moment. He cared.
"Kyo, are you nervous about being a dad?" Kisa asked. Kyo froze.
"Ah... Kisa, I think you hit it right on the nose. Kyo's a nervous wreck about being a dad next month." I said. I looked out the window. "Though to be honest, I'm barely able to keep my hands steady anymore. I get nervous about it all… all of the time."
Kisa shifted and sat back more in her seat, and Kyo reached over and held my hand. I smiled, not bothering to look over at him.
"The baby is turning out wonderfully." Hatori said. "She has everything going in order. All you need to do is have her."
"The sooner the better, so to speak." I said, sighing.
"Have you come up with a name yet?" He asked. I gasped and put a hand to my head.
"That's what we've been forgetting." I said.
"We'll probably think that up the day she comes." Kyo said. "It's always said that brings good luck or something rather."
"I guess I'll see you in a few weeks." Hatori said.
"Oh how painful that will be, literally." I said. I got down and we parted.
A couple weeks later, I sat with Kyo, watching a movie. The woman was wondering why she couldn't hold onto a guy longer than a month, when I felt a kick.
"Oh..." I gasped he looked over.
"You okay?" He asked. I nodded.
"Just a kick." I said. Kisa was asleep on the opposite couch. Kyo put a hand on my stomach and I smiled. We continued watching, until the pain shot into my stomach.
"Ah!" I exclaimed. I leaned forward, my stomach hurting terribly than any stomach ache.
"Gah! Are you all right! What's going on?" Kyo asked, becoming worried.
"It… hurts… get me to Ha…Ha…to…to…ri..." I said. Kisa slowly woke up.
"Sissy?"
"Kisa! Kisa call up Hatori. Say that Andrea has a um... um…" I screeched in pain. "A really bad tummy ache."
-Kyo-
Kisa ran off to the phone and I went to the door, opening it up.
"Why the heck did we have to live all the way up here?" I wondered. I helped her up. "Come on... step after step…"
"Dammit Kyo! I can't walk!" She snapped. I sighed and picked her up, and started carrying her to the door. Kisa returned to my side, locking the door behind us, my car keys in her hand. We rushed in the elevator, rushing down before I put her in the car and made sure Kisa was in the back before pressing down hard on the gas pedal and leaving for the hospital at Hatori's.
"Is sissy going to be all right?" Kisa asked, worried in the back seat. I nervously looked over at her.
"I'll be just fine Kisa…" Andrea reassured, turning to look back at Kisa, pain clearly in her face before shock overwhelmed her. She tensed and paled as she starred straight ahead.
"The… baby…" She whispered.
"What?" I asked, suddenly beginning to freak out at how pale she really was.
"The baby… is early. Kyo, she's early! Oh my god!" She exclaimed, covering her face with her hands in a gasp.
I felt my heart clench and my breathing stop as I held it. My pulse raced as I pushed a little harder on the gas.
"It'll… It'll be just fine." I cooed. She began taking deep breaths, scared to death as she sat there.
"Kisa, as soon as we get there I want you to rush into the main house and get Hatori, all right?" I said. She nodded quickly, sitting by the door, a thumb on her seatbelt button and the other hand on the door.
I bit my lip as we finally made it, trying to ignore her moans and groans beside me. Oh god… Let's hope nothing's wrong. As soon as I made it out front, I hit the breaks and turned off the car, and Kisa dashed out, slamming her door and opening Andrea's before opening the doors to the main house, and sprinting in the direction of Hatori's.
I took off my own seatbelt and hers, and then got out, slamming my door then going over to her side and helping her out. Her knees shook as she stood and soon buckled beneath her, only to be caught by Hatori.
"What seems to be the problem?" He asked. We lifted her up and hauled her through the main house grounds over to the health wing where Hatori's office was. Kisa held open the doors. We put her down on the patient's table.
"Kisa, I would like you to wait outside." Hatori commanded. She nodded and went out into the waiting room area.
"What's going on? Is she having the baby?" I exclaimed. Hatori put a hand on her stomach, then took a quick once over with the stethoscope. He pushed lightly on her lower belly, and she groaned a little, and I held her hand.
"Everything's fine." Hatori said. He went over to a cabinet and grabbed a bottle. Then he went into this small bucket and took out a needle. He filled up the needle and came back over before lifting up her shirt slightly and injecting her lower stomach with a little bit of the medicine then going over to her arm and inserting the rest.
"She's just having some pre-labor cramps on the early side, that's all. She's just getting hit a littler harder than most pregnant women." Hatori said calmly. I sighed in relief and gave her hand a quick squeeze.
"Will we be able to go home now?" I asked. Hatori adjusted his shirt.
"I'm afraid I'll have to keep her here until the baby is born." Hatori said. My eyes widened.
"What? Why, I mean." I began. I looked down at her, eyes closed as she recovered from the contractions. "Where will she be staying?"
"In the next room here." Hatori said, going over to a door and opening it. "We should move her there now."
When she was transported, I sat by her side, moving her hair out of her eyes. She smiled and slowly opened her eyes. I wiped my hand along her jaw and kissed her forehead.
"Andrea, you're going to have to stay here until you have the baby. For safety precautions in case anymore pre-birth contractions strike up again. By the way Kisa and Kyo were running around frantically, they seemed to be worried out of their minds, so you staying would probably ease them on going through this again… at least until you two decide to have another child." Hatori said. I looked at her and the two of us instantly blushed, wide eyed.
"Well then, Kyo I think you should be on your way home." Hatori said. I stood, sternly.
"How could I? When she's here, she's outrageously tired and could have the baby any day now! I can't leave this room." I said. She looked at me, surprised.
"Kyo…" She said.
"I don't want to miss it." I said.
"There's no getting through to you, I guess." Hatori said, sighing. "I'll allow it."
-Andrea-
Nothing was really all that big. Everyone came to visit me, worried as ever. Flattered, yet… not. My parents and brother came two days after my scare. They came worried more than anything, and I had to convince my dad and brother that it wasn't Kyo's fault and it was just a natural thing and I happened to unfortunately have to go through it. Then… came the big day.
"Good morning beautiful." Kyo whispered, kissing my cheek. I smiled and turned, and he pressed his lips to mine, deepening the kiss before quickly breaking it off when Hatori walked in.
"We're going to get you into a maternity gown, then put you in the main room. So… here's the gown you have to change into." Hatori said. He put a hospital Velcro gown on my lap. "Then we'll just hang out until labor kicks in."
"La... la... labor? You mean… that's not just some joke that moms tell their kids?" I asked, half joking. Hatori smiled and shook his head then dragged out Kyo. I sighed as they shut the door and tried my best and eventually got it on. I laid down and Hatori returned with Kyo, and they rolled me out into the main room. I was given the space I needed and everything was shut as everyone just hung out there waiting for my water to break.
"Oh yes… we'll get through it." Kyo said, kissing my forehead.
"More like I'll get through it with the help of Hatori and you panicking in the waiting room." I said, half joking. "You had your fun and now I have to pop out a decorative pillow."
"Um… you jinxed yourself." My mom said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You're water… just broke." She said.
"Oh my- oh my god, Hatori!" Kyo and I exclaimed at once. Hatori jumped up and filed everyone out. He put a blanket over my knees, put my knees in those loops and as soon as contractions started, we got to… a very painful on my part…work.
-Kyo-
I paced around the room, everyone sitting around somewhere. I had no idea what to do… what to say… so I just began pacing around the room.
"You should sit down before you wear a trench in the floor." Yuki said. I shot him a glare but sat down, putting my head in my hands. I heard a yell from the next room and fidgeted uncomfortably. Her mom came over and rubbed my back reassuringly.
"She'll be fine, Kyo. Just relax." She whispered. That calmed me down some until another yell came and every hair on my body went on end. Her mom chuckled and looking over at her brother and father, they seemed to be really pale.
"This is just a natural birth. It's supposed to be painful unfortunately." She said. Her father calmed down completely but her brother remained alert.
I picked up my cell and called master.
"Hello?"
"Master? Master! Ah! Um… could you come to the hospital?"
"What's wrong Kyo, did something happen?"
"Sort of. Andrea… um... is having the baby now."
"Oh! I'll be over shortly!"
Another yell came and I looked up at the door. What on Earth was going on in there? I wondered and wondered, worried and worried, and all I wanted was to be in there and holding her hand, but Hatori didn't want me fainting like previous new fathers have, so I had to stay in the lobby.
-Andrea-
I thought it would hurt… like a stomach ache... but I was wrong.
It was a thousand times worse.
Hatori snapped on his rubber gloves and instructed me to breathe, so I did, just like how it was in those movies. I clenched the fabric on the mattress, my feet up in the air.
"Ready? Now push." He instructed. I did, and it hurt so badly, that I involuntarily yelled. He counted "One… two… three… four… five… now breathe."
I took a moment. My diaphragm was going up and down and up and down. I clamped my eyes shut for a moment before opening them.
"How… much... farther?" I asked.
"I can barely see the baby's head. So maybe three or four times." Hatori said, calmly. I grunted. "Now push... one… two."
I pushed harder than I expected and he looked a little worried. I looked at him.
"Don't push too hard. What you did last time was fine." He said. I nodded as I started breathing. A nurse I've never seen before put a cold wash cloth on my forehead. I waited for instruction and pushed again. Breathing… then push again.
"Good, good, good." Hatori said. "One more time aught to do it. I just need the rest of the head and shoulders."
I nodded and he told me what to do, so I pushed again.
"One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… breathe" He said. I leaned back completely and began breathing. Then a small whimper reached my ears, then a small cry. Hatori smiled at me and handed the baby to the nurse, who went into the next room to clean her up. Then Hatori turned to me.
"Okay." He said. Shortly after, I completed the afterbirth.
I gulped and leaned back. He put my feet down, removing the blanket and such. Then he put a heap of towels on another bed, and brought me over so that one could be cleaned. He pushed it off in a different direction, then refreshed the washcloth and wiped my face, a pure smile on his face. The nurse came back in with the baby, all bundled up in a pink blanket. She handed be the baby and wiped my face again, dabbing it with a paper towel to dry a little. I smiled at her and she went to the door before leaving and going into another room.
-Kyo-
I sighed in relief when the yelling stopped, but that got me worried. There might've been a complication. My heart raced further until a nurse came out and grinned.
"Kyo Sohma? You may come in now." I smiled and looked at everyone else letting out the air they inhaled. Master ran in through the door and I smiled. He walked over to me
"Well?" He asked.
"I was just called in." I said. "You can take my seat." He nodded and went off.
I walked over to the door and smiled before walking in and shutting the door. I looked up and saw her.
I smiled, looking at her, just standing there. Her hair was everywhere, her face was strained and tired, but… holding a bundle of pink in her arms… and being as beautiful as she is any other time… makes her even more beautiful.
She looked up at me and smiled, fighting to keep her eyes open. I walked over to her side and took a seat in one of the higher chairs so I'd be upright next to her.
I looked over, looking at the quiet, sleepy baby girl in her arms and couldn't help but smile. I kissed Andrea on the forehead. She smiled and handed me the baby, small and soft like a loaf of bread. I looked at her and she nodded at me, and I took the baby from her, holding it like she was.
"Like this?" I asked. She grinned and nodded. I smiled, and then looked down at the baby. She whined a little and I got nervous, in case she didn't like me. Instead she twitched her nose and stayed asleep. Andrea giggled and I looked over, nervously smiling.
"What should we name her?" I asked. She sleepily looked at me.
"How about… Saya?" She suggested. I looked down at her.
"Sa… Saya?" I asked. She nodded. I looked down at the baby. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at me curiously. I smiled at her.
"Hello Saya." I said softly. She cooed a grin on her face. I smiled and looked at Andrea. She was sleeping. "Look Saya… that's mommy. Mommy's asleep."
I smiled down at her as she looked up at me. I smiled and poked her gently in the nose.
"Someone's Miss Giggles." I said, teasingly. She brought out her hand and reached for my finger. I let her grab it and nervously laughed when she gave my finger a death grip.
Hatori came in and put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him smiling down at me.
"You can leave as soon as she's rested." Hatori said. "I suggest you have someone go and get you a few things you'll need to bring her home."
"Right." I said. "Can I go out there, or should I wait?"
"I'd wait until Andrea's ready and rested. Along with the baby." Hatori said. "Did you name her yet?"
"Yeah. … Andrea named her… Saya." I said.
Hatori smiled, and took the baby into the next room for rest. I yawned and leaned against the bed, falling asleep as Hatori went out into the waiting room and let everyone know what happened, and allowed them to leave. Her parents, Kazuma, and Kisa went to our apartment and rested there.
