Neji had never been more blessed. He had a beautiful wife and an adorable baby on the way, he couldn't ask for anything better. Tenten was five months into her pregnancy and was already showing. Neji soon found out that his new favorite thing to do was to rub the baby bump.
Seeing Tenten with a baby bump was so endearing and enticing so he could not help it if he wanted to take her right in the kitchen. There were things he had to go through like Tenten's mood swings and cravings at ungodly hours but he was happy doing them.
Neji smiled serenely as he imagined his family in the future. After this, they would have another child and another. Eight children should be enough, right? They would be one big happy family... But Neji knew that was not the case.
His vision was already dimming and his strength waned daily. He found it difficult to lift a simple mallet and had to push himself in the smithery. Neji was afraid he would never live to see his child. He was afraid of leaving Tenten alone in the world with their child. He was afraid of how he was going to break the news down to Tenten.
His wife would be sad and angry with him for hiding his illness but he did it thinking about her. Neji made up his mind to tell her by the end of the week but as usual, Tenten was always one step ahead. It happened one afternoon in their house.
Neji had just dropped the basin he used to fetch some water for Tenten's use when he figured that he could not breathe. It felt like his chest was constricting and his air passages were closing up. Trying his best not to make a noise that will alert Tenten, he wanted to move to the smithery but his legs gave way beneath him and he fell.
"Anata?" Tenten called from their shared room and when she heard no answer, she came outside only to find her husband heaving on the ground. "Anata!" Tenten ran to him and helped him to sit up but Neji still could not breathe.
The latter coughed suddenly and blood and mucus splashed unto the floor. Tenten's eyes swelled to the size of saucers as Neji kept coughing up blood and mucus. He kept heaving and trying to catch his breath but could not and the only thing Tenten could do was to watch with horror stricken eyes as her husband died before her.
"N-Neji!"
After a few minutes of heaving, his chest finally opened and he was able to catch breath. Neji took a lungful of the much needed air and looked at Tenten. She had tears in her cocoa eyes and she was angry with him.
"Tenten..." He started but she cut him short.
"Do not Tenten me. How long were you planning to keep this a secret from me?" Tenten asked spitefully.
"I was going to tell you..."
"Tell me when?! When I wake up one morning and you refuse to rise?! When I suddenly hear news that my husband has kicked the bucket?! Tell me when, Neji!" The tears flowed from Tenten's eyes freely. She though he was well! She thought she would be able to grow old with him!
"I am sorry for keeping it from you Tenten, I did not want you to worry is all." Neji apologized but he was just making excuses and he knew it. Tenten deserved to know.
"How could I not worry? You are my husband, it is my obligation to worry for you. I am your wife, I was supposed to be your confidant! You- you have been suffering alone all this time when I was supposed to share in your suffering!" Tenten yelled. Neji just knelt there, speechless. He had no words to say. "You put on a facade for me for my wellbeing but you did not put my feelings into consideration. I do not want to lose you, Neji...!"
Tenten bawled and started hiccupping from her tears but Neji could not help but love this woman even more. He stood up and embraced her without caring about the blood on his clothes. "I am sorry Tenten." He whispered. "I was selfish in my judgement. I thought I would ease you from your worries but I did it in my best interests only. I am deeply sorry. Please forgive me."
Tenten sniffed as her waterworks reduced and buried her head in his chest. "You are forgiven. Do not keep secrets from me again. I want to care for you and worry about you. I want to comfort you and hold you. I want to be there for you."
"I swear not to keep secrets from you again." Neji promised and kissed her forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too."
The two of them separated with a start when a sudden kick came from Tenten's belly. A grin spread upon Tenten's face as she rubbed her bump.
"Did you feel that?" She asked an awe stricken Neji who just nodded. He was breathless.
"I did." He breathed. "I did!" He hugged Tenten again and spoke to the baby this time. "I love you, my child." Once again the baby kicked.
Tenten giggled at her husband's antics and wrapped her arms around him. "I also love you, my child." She cooed.
"I love you both so much." Neji confessed and kissed Tenten's hair. The grief from earlier was gone and replaced with stronger feelings of love for each other and their unborn child.
Neji found himself panicking when Tenten suddenly announced that her water had broken. He ran the fastest he could to the midwives and worked up a mini whirlwind just from pacing outside the room. His heart leapt with joy when the sound of the baby's cries reached his ears.
"Congratulations for it is a girl." The midwife said to him with a big smile but Neji was barely paying attention. The woman collected the baby from Tenten and assisted him in carrying the child. The baby was so chubby and her rosy cheeks shined under the lantern. Pale curious eyes gazed at her father and Neji just melted. She was a carbon copy of him.
"Aoi." He named her. "Aoi-Sora." She was his blue sky, the only place he could spread his wings so freely and fly. "Aoi-Sora."
"Come, for Sora has to feed." The midwife collected the baby from him and handed her carefully to her mother. Neji watched as she greedily sucked on breast milk in awe while his legs carried him over to Tenten's side. His wife looked up at him with a small exhausted smile and leaned her head on his torso while he wrapped an arm around her.
"Thank you." He whispered against her hair and pressed a kiss there. "Thank you so much, my darling."
"Neji." Tenten bit back the urge to tease him for crying and smiled instead. She looked at her daughter and held her small body close. She had a family with the man she loved.
~ x ~
"Tenten, let us go for a stroll." Neji announced as he came out from his shared room with his wife. A blur of dark brown ran and hugged him on the leg which almost caused him to topple over. "Aoi!"
Innocent lavender eyes looked up at him with adoration and wonder. "Ne ne otou-chan, where are we going?" The young girl asked with bubbling excitement. She might look like him but her personality was more like Tenten's.
Before Neji could answer, another blur of brown ran to him and hugged his leg. It was his son, Nejire, trying to copy what his sister just did. He could only babble and squealed incoherent words instead of normal speech though because he was only a year old. Nejire had Tenten's cinnamon brown hair and eyes but the shape of his face and behavioural tendencies was his father's.
Neji knelt to his children's levels and kissed their foreheads. "It is a surprise." He spoke, answering Aoi's question.
"Eeeh?! I don't like surprises!" Aoi complained and crossed her arms with a pout. Nejire babbled what he thought resembled what his sister just said and crossed his chibi hands too with an exaggerated pout. They both inherited their mother's cute pouting habit, it seems.
"I don't like surprises also." An additional voice said behind the children. Tenten came to stand behind them and crossed her arms with a pout too which caused Neji to scoff.
"Look at you three ganging up on me!" He feigned indignation. "I shall not be victim of your cute pouting."
"Yes you shall!" Tenten yelled.
"Yes you shall!" Aoi seconded.
"Bebusha!" Nejire supported.
"Get him!" With a war cry, they all jumped on Neji causing him to fall with a yelp. Tenten was on his right with a cute irresistible pout on her lips, Nejire lied in his chest with an adorable chibi pout on his chibi lips and Aoi-Sora was on his left with a heart melting pout on her lips.
Neji laughed and shook his head. "I yield!" He chuckled. "My family is just too adorable to resist." The three let out victorious squeals and danced around in triumph.
"Yaaaaaaah!" Aoi and Nejire screamed in delight as they ran through the wheat field.
"Sora! Neji-kun! Don't go too far away from your father and I!" Tenten yelled after her children while Neji chuckled. Something was off about Neji today, Tenten could feel it in her bones.
They chose a spot and lied down on the grass with their children at each of their sides.
"Tenten." Neji called solemnly. Just then Tenten felt her heart dive into her stomach. Everywhere was suddenly quiet as the girl with two buns realized that...
It was time.
Thank you for sticking with this story for this long. Just another chapter and we're done. Thanks for reading!