Naru's Point of View:
I have never seen anything so perfect.
Her eyes are large. One brown; one blue. Both filled with innocence and intelligence. A little button nose. A full head of hair that seemed to be brown in the light and black in the dark. The pink blanket wrapped around her is in perfect contrast with her pale skin.
She gazes up at me with the same unconditional love that her mother always has. I look over to see my fiancée asleep in the hospital bed. She'd passed out a few seconds ago.
The door opens with Lin and Madoka entering. Gin is gazing around the room curiously when his eyes land on my newborn daughter.
Madoka gasps, holding a hand to her heart, her other arm holding her son, "She's precious."
"What's her name?" Lin asks with a smile, coming to sit next to me and gaze at her appreciatively.
"Mayu Angel." My voice is quiet and I know I sound choked up. Seeing Mai like that nearly killed me, but the minute we both heard the screaming of our baby, we'd looked at each other and I knew that the suffering and pain we'd both gone through, Mai with labor and me seeing the love of my life like that, we both knew that it was all worth it.
She is worth it.
"The angel of gentle truth." Madoka says, obviously knowing the old bedtime story behind my daughter's name, "I'm going to assume that Mai didn't pick the name?" I toss her a look and she laughs, peeking my irritation. But then Angel yawns, bringing me back to my first thought:
Perfect.
3rd Person's Point of View:
Luella's eyes open when that familiar ring tone chimes through the room. Next to her, Martin groans, prompting her to answer the lit up cell phone. Luella sits up and slides the green box across the screen, "Yes yes?"
"The baby is here!" Madoka squeals in to the phone.
Luella gasps dramatically, excitement and happiness filling her veins before she turns and begins beating on Martin's butt. He always sleeps on his stomach, so this is how she normally wakes him up. Martin jerks, giving her a wide eyed look before realization dawns and he's grinning, jumping up with Luella.
"What room number?"
"Three-five-two-five." Madoka says, a knowing tilt to her voice.
Luella laughs. On a phone number pad, 3525 translates to 'E-J-A-J', which are the twins' American names. Luella never asked why their Japanese mother named them with what should be considered abbreviations, then again, she's not so sure the boys knew.
"We'll be there in a few minutes."
—•—•—
Ayako would pick up the phone and smash it on to the ground if she didn't know that Mai could be giving birth any day now. Next to her, Monk chuckles when she groans loudly. The rockstar sits up, kissing his wife on the forehead before reaching over her for her phone. Ayako looks up to see his six-pack pretty close to her face and smirks, leaning up and licking them.
Monk freezes, looking down at her with a playful glare before snatching the phone up and answering with a quick, "Hello?" … … "Really?!" Ayako jumps up, trying to strain her ears as Monk starts to bounce in place, "We're on our way!"
Monk throws the phone down and the married couple begins to dress. All the while, Ayako sings a song as they drive down the highway with an upbeat tune to her voice. It may be three a.m., but this had to be the best way to start the day.
—•—•—
John's big brown eyes blink open as his phone vibrates underneath his pillow. The small children that were currently sleeping in odd positions all over his bed shift and moan grumpily. They'd all begged to stay in his room that night. They'd said it was because tonight was special; at the time, he hadn't really believe them.
"Madoka?" John says her name in a question, wondering why Madoka of all people is calling him at three in the morning.
"Mai gave birth!"
John gasps, standing as quickly as he can and grabbing his clothes. Once he's in the bathroom, he whispers, "What room?"
"Three-five-two-five." Madoka says, her voice filled with happiness and glee.
"I'm on my way." John says, smiling as he hangs up and begins to dress.
Today is special.
—•—•—
Masako hates being woken up. It annoys her to an extreme level and it didn't help that she was very warm sleeping between Haru and Shuto. The two men had easily become her best friends and they all often had sleepovers. However, she hated being woken up, even if it's by Haru's cutesy sleep-filled eyes.
"Masa-chan, your phone is ringing." Haru says, nearly passing back out on top of her.
Masako sighs irritably, barking in to the phone, "What?!"
"Drink some coffee and drag your ass with Haru and Shuto!" Madoka barks back, never one to take any of Masako's crap, "Mai gave birth!"
Masako jerks in to an upright position. Both boys look up at her with confused expressions and Masako grins at the darkness, "What room number?"
"Three-five-two-five." Madoka says before hanging up. Masako ignores it, quickly telling the boys the situation before standing up and moving to get dressed in her kimono.
—•—•—
Yasu doesn't know her name.
He'd been out drinking with a few of his friends and then the next thing he knows he's waking up naked next to this really hot chick with a huge tattoo on her side. Some kind of garden.
He glances at his lit up digital clock. Three a.m.? What the hell is he doing up at three a.m.?
His phone rings again and he realizes why. He snatches it up, answering none too quietly, "Madoka? What's up?"
"Mai—"
"Mai gave birth?!" Yasu exclaims, already understanding what she's trying to say.
Madoka squeals, obviously over the moon, "Yes! Yasu get over here! She's the most perfect thing I've ever seen!" Then the line goes dead.
Yasu grins, quickly grabbing his clothes and growing them on. He writes a note to the girl but just incase he writes one to his roommate. The two guys go way back and Yasu knew he'd take care of the enraged female for him.
Yasu grins to himself again as he thinks about the baby.
Daddy's little girl.
Mai's Point of View:
I'm so tired, but I have to wake up. I don't really understand why until my eyes open and immediately I see Naru… holding on to a little pink bundle. He doesn't realize I'm awake as he continues to rock her gentle up and down. True to the definition of daddy's little girl, Angel is dozing in his arms. She's only a couple of hours old and she's already got him wrapped around her finger.
Thatta girl.
"How adorable." I say softly, feeling my chest warm.
Naru looks up, smiling when he sees me. Then he looks back down at Angel and says, "Mommy is up. Do you want to go say good morning?"
I think I just fell ten times harder for this man. The dark haired man stands and makes his way to me. When he reaches me, I hold out my arms for him to place our daughter in them. Angel fusses for a moment before settling down and looking up at me.
"Her eyes are brilliant." I say, gently caressing her pale cheek. My hair is pushed away from my face and I look up, only to have gentle lips pressed to my own. On instinct, I kiss him back. The kiss is sweet, gentle and loving. He pulls away. I look up at him with a questioning gaze, "What was that for?"
"I'm not sure." He tells me, his voice is quiet as he sits on the bed next to my legs. He quickly picks them up, tucking the blanket around them, then setting them on his lap. He looks at me with intense blue eyes, "Maybe it was just me saying 'I love you' or 'I'm happy' but then I think I'd be lying. I think it was more along the lines of 'thank you.'"
I'm getting choked up by now, but I still respond, "Thank you?"
Naru gazes at me, his expression intense but loving all the same, "Thank you for keeping the nightmares away. Thank you for understanding me. Thank you for putting up with my faults. Thank you for moving in with me. Thank you for living with me. Thank you for giving me her. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being you." His eyes are alive with emotion and I can't help the little tears running down my face. It makes me cry because he just makes me so… happy. Naru never had been one for thank you's and emotions. I sniffle and wipe my cheeks as Angel makes a noise of distress.
I look down at her to see her gazing up at me in wonder. I smile, unable to stop the tears of pure bliss from leaving my eyes. The only thing I can say is, "It's alright, my little angel. Daddy and mommy are here. We aren't going anywhere."
Naru squeezes my leg, and that's all that needs to be said.
3rd Person's Point of View:
All of the SPR members seem to get there at the same time. The nine of them don't even speak to each other; they all swiftly pass nurses who chime that it's after visiting hours and quickly race up the stairs and to Mai's room.
Madoka and Lin are standing outside the door way with Gin when they all arrive. They're watching through the small window on the door. The Koujo family turns to see all of SPR standing there bed wrangled and out of breath. Madoka grins and ushers them all over so that they'll peer through the tiny window.
"Oh my…" Luella whispers, as starstruck as the rest of them as they watch Mai smile at Naru. Naru reaches over Mai and smooths the hair down on their daughters head, then he looks up at Mai, a slow smile settling over his face.
"They're…" Martin tries to find the right words.
"Perfect together." John fills in, smiling as everyone agrees with him.
Yasu chuckles, "Alright. Enough sentimentals." His Japanese accent is surprisingly crisp. The dark haired man surges forward, and throws open the door with a loud bang, "Where's my new favorite female?!"
Mai's Point of View:
Three days later, I'm allowed to leave the hospital. Madoka and Lin temporarily take over the office so that Naru can be home with Angel and I.
"And this is your new home," I say to a silent Angel. She's watching me with large multi-colored eyes and an aloof face. She's only a few days old and she's already so much like her father.
Arms circle my waist and I relax in to Naru's embrace. He kisses my neck before peering over it to look at our Mayu Tenshi. Her name was chosen by both of us. Naru had originally suggested it after I told him an old bedtime story that my mom used to tell me when I was young.
The story always revolved around this angel that had been cast out of heaven for her crimes. She'd fallen in love with a sinful human and apparently that wasn't okay. The human she'd fallen for was a dark and twisted soul, with no hope of redemption. Mayu no Tenshi was her name. The angel of gentle truth. She somehow managed to make the human see the error of his ways, and they'd fallen in love. Of course the human never became perfect, but he tried. The Mayu no Tenshi and the human died together and are said to be back in heaven.
I remember when I first told Naru the story, he'd been silent, and then he'd said, "If we have a little girl, I want to name her Mayu Tenshi."
"Why?" I'd asked.
"Because you saved me, Mai." His eyes had been intense as he stared at me in the dark of our bedroom. His hand bruised my stomach, "We can only take so much until we've had enough, Mai. We're only human, but you're my angel. You're my savior. Without you, I'd probably be just as dark and twisted as the human from the story."
His admission had brought me to tears. Naru didn't much like to talk about his feelings, but I love it when he does.
I look around our home and smile to myself. This is the start of our life together. I look back down at Angel to see her looking up at the two of us. A slow and innocent smile stretches across her face, and I grin back. It's the start of our family.
One year later...
"Mai, calm down." Madoka tells me, as all of the girls (and Haru) fuss over my dress, hair, and make up.
"I can't." I say, feeling myself begin to hyperventilate. Even as I stare at myself in the mirror, I wonder if it's good enough? Naru had told me to pick whatever I wanted, but what if he doesn't like it and I ruin the entire thing?
"Mai, it's your wedding day. This is about you, not my idiot son. So stop worrying." Luella tells me in a calm voice.
My wedding day. Yes. Naru and I are finally getting married. Even though all of my baby far from having Angel isn't gone, I'm still able to fit in the same size clothing. Angel just turned a year a few months ago, and believe me when I say she is the smart one year old in the world. She may not be able to talk yet, but she's already potty trained, she can tell shapes and colors. She can even count.
Definitely Naru's daughter.
I look at myself in the mirror. The dress hugs me tight and in all the right places. The snugness stops at my hips and flares out slightly in a silky waterfall. Silver jewels are placed strategically over my bosom and to just before the flare of the dress begins. It's a pure white that I thought wouldn't look any good on me. However, it makes my eyes pop, even with out the make up. My face looks as perfect as I've ever seen it. My eyes lashes appear long and thick, with my eyebrows plucked to perfection. My hair has grown even longer since Angel was born, and it's curled perfectly, with the tendrils ending around my belly button area.
"You look so gorgeous." Haru gushes, his suit black and straight and all types of adorable on him.
"These dresses look so much better on us than I thought they would," Masako tells me, playing with the silk.
"This is going to be great." Masako chimes, happily standing next to me with my bouquet. She's been ecstatic when Naru and I had asked her and Lin to be our Maid of Honor and Best Man. Lin had shown it a little less, but I think he was just as happy.
"Mai, everyone's rea—" Monk begins, but stops when he steps fully in to the room and sees me. His eyes water, "Jou-chan, you look…" I turn around to look at him and smile. He grins back, "You look beautiful."
"Mommy!" A small voice says. I turn to see Angel walking in with a dolled up Aiko.
"Mai-chan looks so pretty!" The beautiful nine year old says, holding my daughter's hand. I smile at her and thank her with a light heart. I bend and reach my arms out for my daughter to run to me. She throws herself at me and I catch her, swinging her around with a laugh.
"Mai," Monk calls me. I look up to see him holding out his hand, "Come on. Let's bring you down that isle and get you two married."
•
"And now we have the vows. Mai?"
"Naru, when I first met you, I hated you. You were an egotistical narcissist with a horrible tea addiction. Actually, you still are," everyone around us laughs, "But I love you any way. I can put up with it because I love that about you. I love how confident you are, and how even you have to have something for your own comfort. You're my rock, even though I know that most of the time you don't see it that way. You're caring, loving, gentle when you want to be, and giving to a fault. Although most people probably wouldn't believe me if I told them that, " more laughter, "I love you for you. I love you because you're yourself, and to me, you're perfect."
"And now Oliver."
"You're an idiot. You break everything and trip over flat surfaces. You run in to the same walls all the time and you can't keep your bedside table clean for anything. You seem to never listen to a thing I say and just go head first in to any trouble you can find because you feel it's your duty to protect everyone," everyone stares at us in shock, "However, you have this light around you. When you enter a room, everyone seems to become happier. When you pass by someone in the hall, their eyes follow you. You smile and the entire world stops to stare because you're just that bright. You're sweet, lovable and selfless to a fault. You don't realize how beautiful you are because you're an idiot, and that just makes you all the more beautiful. You've always been able to somehow keep the darkness away and bring in the light. You're my light, Mai."
"Oh, Naru."
"And now I'll ask, do you, Mai Miu Taniyama, take this man, Oliver EJ Davis to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do."
"And do you, Oliver EJ Davis, take this woman, Mai Miu Taniyama to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part, for as long as you both shall live?"
"That's a stupid question."
"Naru!"
"Fine. Yes. I do."
"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife," John grins at us, "You may now kiss the bride."
Naru doesn't waste any time in grabbing my hips and bringing me to him. He kisses me full on the mouth in front of the entire group. Everyone stands up and applauds as Naru continues to kiss me. Finally, he apparently needs air because he pulls away only to rest his forehead on mine.
I look up at him, "I can't believe you said that."
He lets out a chuckle, "It was a stupid question. Of course I want to marry you."
I grin up at him, and just like that, we're married, and everything is perfect.