CHAPTER 28

The town in which Laila lived was small and on a far corner of a developing country. It had just the basic shops and services to live, like fresh food, some clothing stores and a couple other places to buy medicine and other stuff at. Being so small, the nearest hospital and full sized market were two hours away. There was only one TV channel and people had to walk almost a kilometer to get a cellphone signal. Killua and Hayuri had agreed to stay in this place, noting this it would be much unlikely for Illumi to find them in such a place. Killua had argued at first, saying that he would go nuts without internet for so long, but had finally accepted that it was their best choice.

However, since there was no hospital in there and they could not go to a bigger city, the baby would have to be born at Laila house. Killua and Hayuri were kind of scared at first, thinking that it was too dangerous, but Laila convinced them otherwise. She said that she had given birth to four babies at home and that almost every woman in there also had. The local midwives were experienced and kind and they would safely help the deliverance. Laila also stated that having a natural birth with no painkillers was the best way to give birth to; she claimed that mother's strength stemmed from that ritual moment. Killua had listened to her shamanic sort of explanation with a raised eyebrow, but Hayuri seemed pretty interested in all of that. Killua had wanted to say something to that ridiculous superstitious stuff, but decided against it. The chances of meeting his brother when going to a hospital were higher than Hayuri having any kind of complications anyways.

Another problem that they had found was that the town didn't have a bank and no shops allowed payment through credit card or any of the sorts. So, in view that they didn't have much cash - still enough to live there for over a half a year, but not enough to put them at ease - they had to find jobs. The kind that regular people did. Killua had offered that Hayuri stayed home, but she refused. She wanted to keep working before and after the baby was born. They talked a lady that owned one of the few clothing stores into allowing them to take half a shift in turns. One of them would work a couple mornings and the other would do it the other working days. Killua had complained at first; he had never imagined himself doing such a thing to earn money. Ever. Besides the pay was terribly low, it barely covered the basic expenses of one person. Thankfully, they had enough cash to complement that salary and support themselves. Killua wondered how people in that town managed to support their families with a whole shift's income only. He thought for a while if it would be too dangerous to go out to a major city to get more cash, but Hayuri managed to convince him otherwise. If Illumi found them now, they would probably lose, since she was in no condition to fight.

Slowly, they settled into a comfortable routine. Killua would work Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the shop, while Hayuri covered for the rest of the days. The shift would end at 2 pm sharp and they would eat lunch with Laila. Whoever stayed back at home would help her with the house chores. In the afternoons, Killua and Hayuri would go out to the woods to train. Killua would train his overall abilities, while Hayuri focused on training her nen. In the evening they would head back home, prepare lunch with Laila and talk afterwards about anything that came to mind.

Killua had found out two things during these couple hours that the three of them spent talking every day. First of all, he had grown to care about their landlady. Laila was kind and had and almost dark sense of humor; always joking about the most serious subjects and teasing them to no end. However, she seemed to have tact too, because she never joked about anything that might be hurtful to them. When she was serious, she also was an unexpectedly wise and informed woman; she knew all about economy and politics; naturalism and ecology; craftsmanship's and ancient techniques. Killua was kind of surprised at this fact, since he had assumed that she was an ignorant small town old lady. It was no surprise that Hayuri respected her so much; he kind of did too by now.

The second thing he learned during this time of the day was that pregnant women being really sensitive was not a myth. Not sensitive in a bad way... but it was notorious. The first time that an almost ridiculous outburst happened was when Laila had been telling them about a disease that bunnies got. It was due to eating too much lettuce - apparently they couldn't live only off lettuce as some people thought - and it was locally known as wet-butt. Hayuri opened her eyes and murmured something along the lines of 'wet-butt.. small bunnies...poor things'. She couldn't finish what she was saying, because she chocked on her own tears and cried. It had been so hilarious and ridiculous that Killua had had to laugh. He had tried not to - hard - but couldn't hold it in and, what started as a small chuckle, soon became a loud laughter. Apparently, this didn't make Hayuri mad - which he had expected - but served to show her what she had actually been crying about. In the end, the three of them laughed about it for minutes until their cheeks hurt.

Every day at night, Killua and Hayuri would go to sleep together. Sometimes they lay next to each other and talk - or not at all - until sleep took over. Other times they would make love and every time it was great. Killua had come to know Hayuri's body like the palm of his hand and could make the most of every night they shared. Her belly had gotten real big though, and their movements had been restricted to a couple positions. On the other hand, her pleasure had increased with and, the size of her stomach, and she was tighter too. So it was a good improvement on sex for both of them.

Hayuri, on the other hand, was also getting tired to being pregnant. The first seven or so months had been fine. She could move around and actually rest if she sat down or lay down. However, by now she was constantly tired and the baby was pressing so much against her ribcage that she was out of breath most of the time. She had to wake up many times every night to pee, her bladder about to burst under the pressure of 8 or 9 kg. Her feet were sometimes swollen and it hurt to walk; thankfully Killua's sharp eyes always noticed this and he would always offer the massage her feet until they felt better. He also helped her get cream on her belly every night. She constantly felt tired and big, but Killua made her feel so loved that she almost forgot all about it.

One night two days before their due date, Hayuri woke up in the middle of the night, which had repeatedly happened every night. However, this time she didn't wake up with a full bladder. Hayuri slowly sat up to a sharp pain on her lower back. She massaged it for a while until it was gone and then went back to sleep. She had barely closer her eyes when another stab came to her belly. She watched the clock and wrote down the time at which the stab had happened. She tried to sleep for a couple hours, which didn't prove to be fruitful, since regular stabs to her sides and back woke her every 5 minutes (according to her notes).

"Killua." She said shaking him awake.

"Hmm?" He mumbled half asleep.

"I think it's time." She said and he jerked to a sitting position.

"The baby?" He questioned with wide eyes.

"Yes, look." She handed him her notes. "I've been having contractions every five to eight minutes for almost three hours."

"Three hours? Why didn't you wake me up before?"

"I'm sure that there's still at least some hours left. So I let you-"Hayuri didn't finish as another contraction came to her. She growled lowly and scrubbed her soreness firmly.

"Are you all right?" He seemed suddenly worried.

Hayuri nodded silently and breathed deeply. Finally she spoke and asked that he fetched Laila, which he immediately did. Not thirty seconds later, Laila came in through the door followed by Killua.

"Sweetheart, how are you?" She said and put a reassuring hand on her shoulders.
"Ehh.. now I'm fine. I think the baby's coming." She said and handed her the notes she had been taking.

"Well, it certainly seems so. Where does it hurt?"

"Mostly my lower back and sides."

"Then there's still time left. It's seven in the morning anyways."

Laila left to set some things for later and Killua sat down next to Hayuri with a sigh.
"I can't believe it's time already."

"Yeah." She smiled and held his hand. Not ten seconds later, another contraction hit her and she spoke with a strained voice. "Rub my lower back."

Killua did so as she leaned forward to hold her weight on her hands. After a while, she felt the unexplainable need to walk. So she did, and for a long time. She walked in circles and leaned on the dining table as her contractions went by. Killua sat there with her and rubbed her back every time she was in pain.

Killua watched over Hayuri as Laila made breakfast for them. They sat down, trying to act casually and talk while eating their toast and fruit.

After 10 am., Hayuri's contractions got stronger; the stabbing feeling sharper and more regular. Laila told her to get into the bathtub saying that it would ease her pain and she left to find the midwife.

Hayuri threw her clothes off and sat inside the streaming water. She released a breath that she had been holding and looked at Killua, who was sitting on the closed toilet.

"This really helps."

And it did; her tight belly muscles relaxed a bit at the heat of the water around her. She sat there for minutes and Killua caressed her hair smoothly as they talked about light subjects. Time flew by like this and soon the midwife had arrived.

"Hello, honey. My name is Claire and I'll help you out through your labor."

"Hey." Hayuri smiled as she wasn't currently having a contraction. "I'm Hayuri. Is Killua allowed to stay?"

"Of course. May I check how far along you are?"

Hayuri nodded, got off the water and sat on a chair that someone had brought in.
"Five centimeters." The midwife stated after checking her dilatation. "How long have you been in labor?"

"I think the contractions started at a regular pace at 4 am." Killua answered for her.

"So it's been 7 hours." She wrote down. "I'd say we are half the way through, but it's only a rough estimation."

"It hasn't been half that bad." Hayuri said with slight surprise. The midwife simply smiled a knowing smile and Hayuri wondered if things would get more difficult.
Every time a contraction hit Hayuri, she had to breathe in and out and crouch or bend to allow her muscles to stretch better. Slowly, the pain got sharper.

Hayuri didn't know how long it had been, but she had been hungry and had needed to eat some fruit and drink water two times already. The sky got colored in red and purple, as night slowly crept on them. At some point, the pain was so strong that Hayuri thought that she wouldn't be able to live through it.

"It hurts too much." She whimpered and held Killua's constant hand more tightly. "I feel like I'm gonna die."

"You are fine." The midwife assured her. "Just go with the flow."

Hayuri closed her eyes and tried to endure the painful contractions as they came. By now, she had to whimper and tremble every time she was hit by the pain, feeling as though her body was being torn apart. It wasn't only incredibly painful, but she had been in labor for almost 18 hours and she felt emotionally and mentally drained. She didn't even recognize people around her anymore. When her contractions passed by, her eyes would sometimes find Killua, who was always sitting next to her. He was constantly there holding her with an expression filled with intent and care.

At one point Hayuri was so tired and so desperate that she started mumbling almost incoherently.

"Make it stop. I can't do this." Hayuri sobbed and trembled. "I can't. I never thought it would hurt so much."

Hayuri sobbed and Killua was about to say something, but the midwife stopped him with her raised palm and shaking head. He bit down the words on his throat as the frustration and impotence of seeing her like that grew even more.

An hour went by like this, and Hayuri had practically forgotten who she was and where she was. The pain had numbed her thoughts and emotions, her body working only by instinct. She didn't even notice that she was practically naked as she strolled around the room and that her hair was sticking to her sweaty forehead. Damn, someone could take a photo of her right now and she wouldn't have noticed.
Suddenly, her senses came back to her in a rush and she stood up on instinct. She turned to look at the three people with her with an animal glint in her eyes. Determination shining in them in resemblance of the eyes of a wild animal.

"Now." She practically growled and the midwife nodded. Hayuri crouched down and Laila immediately got behind her to hold her weight. Killua sat down in front of her, next to Claire, as Hayuri started to push. Suddenly, water splashed out of her and onto the floor; her water had broken.

Her wild screams echoed through the room and her eyebrows slightly furrowed with intent. Killua had always thought that such a scene would be disgusting to watch, but at this moment he couldn't help but be amazed. It truly seemed that what Laila had said months ago was true; somehow the strength and determination shone brighter in Hayuri's eyes now. Her pain and exhaustion didn't seem to bother her anymore. Killua felt a deep sense of pride for Hayuri and thought that he admired her even more now. He heard as her screams became almost guttural and saw something appear from within her.

Hayuri could feel her body tighten around something; her skin feeling like it was on fire around it. She didn't know how she did it, but her animal mind took over and she somehow pushed with a might she didn't know she possessed. Not five minutes later, she felt something slip out of her and her belly suddenly felt empty.
When she looked up she was met with the sweetest image she had ever seen.

Killua was sitting right in front of her with a small baby in his hands, which were covered by fluids and some blood. However, his expression was awestruck and there was great emotion in his glassy eyes. Hayuri leaned over to him and stretched her hands to her child. He handed it over to her and she was surprised at how light it was and how natural it came to her to hold it close – and she had never held a baby before.

The baby was warm and fragile and it felt as though it was meant to stay there skin to skin with her. The midwife wrapped them in a thick warm blanket and moved them over to the bed. She didn't even notice her own shaky steps, since her whole being was filled with her child.

Hayuri felt Killua wrap his arms around her and looked at him to notice that there were tears streaming down his face. She smiled at him and nuzzled his cheek with her nose. He chuckled and tightened his hold on her, not wanting to speak and ruin the sort if magic that had slowly come upon them.

The midwife checked on their pulse and general health, but didn't say anything, which probably meant that they were all right.

"It's a boy." Laila said, and only then it occurred to Hayuri that, for some reason, she had known all along.

"Welcome home, Yamato." She smiled, thinking that the name they had picked if it were to be a boy suited him perfectly.

After a while, the baby moved its head back and forth as if searching for something. Hayuri moved him and, as soon as he was next to her breast, he started feeding himself.

Killua sat behind the two of them with a huge twirl of emotions in his chest. Happiness, fulfillment and pride like he had never thought he would be able to feel. The raw strength of the experience still kept him in complete awe. Also, there was a strong sense of responsibility within him and he silently made a vow.

I swear on my life, I will never allow harm to come to either of you.

A/N: OK, this was a huge chapter for me. When my son was born it was a huge experience and I wanted it to be as powerful in this fanfiction as it is in real life. (YES I have a son, YES I write fanfiction still, And YES I should write more thoroughly, but I don't invest much time in this!). Anyways, let me know what you think.

MadokaMagica1998: Heh, it'll come. And also, you don't need a partner to have a sex life. Although with someone else it gets better! LOL. Thank you for reviewing!