Unexpected
Chapter 1 of 3
a little note: this fic is meant to be SasuIno, I'm not bashing the couple!
Her wedding hadn't been in a castle, she didn't have a seven tier cake, nor twelve bridesmaids clad in bright pink chiffon gowns. Her father didn't walk her down the aisle, and she didn't wear a big white princess dress. The only detail of her dream wedding that came true was the groom, but life is so ironic that it gave her what she wanted in the most twisted way possible.
Sasuke didn't get down on one knee in a room full of roses and asked her to marry him. He never told her she was the woman he loved and whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. As a matter of fact, Sasuke couldn't even stand her presence and the circumstances that lead them to marriage were unfortunate.
She prayed for a negative result. Let it be a minus sign, please. But after two minutes went by her fears were confirmed. Just like what the other four home pregnancy tests she took had shown , she was expecting.
It had been a mistake, a very stupid one. She had been on the pill for almost four years, how could she have forgotten to take it for two days in a row? She wanted kids, two or three, but not now, and not like this. Not when she was in the middle of establishing her private practice. Not when the father of her baby was a man that she occasionally met with for sex and nothing more.
They knew each other from the private school they attended. He was the dream of every girl: handsome and mysterious (I will teach my daughter to look beyond that when she likes a boy, she thought rolling her eyes at her old shallow self). She lost track of him after graduating high school. Apparently he had left the country and didn't come back until years later.
It was at Naruto and Sakura's wedding that everything began. Sasuke had found her drunk in the staircase of the hotel were the reception was held, crying because she would never find a love as pure as theirs. He ended up feeling sorry for her and taken her to his suite. When the raven haired Uchiha came, the name that left his lips was the bride's, and Ino knew then that it hadn't been pity… he had slept with her out of spite.
Ino should have save her dignity and walked away, never to see him again after that. But like a moth drawn to a flame, every time he called she answered. Their encounters were always late, they never spoke words other than moans and grunts, and they never spent the night together. She knew she deserved something better, someone better, but she kept lying to herself saying that Sasuke could pick any other woman. The fact that he was choosing her meant she was special. She realized she had been so wrong when she told him the news.
"You did it on purpose" he accused her, his words heavy with hatred, his eyes dark and cold. "You've always been obsessed with me and this is part of your plan to keep me tied to you".
She wanted to slap him, but disrespecting herself even further, her eyes begun tearing up. Sasuke rolled his eyes and huffed annoyed, and she couldn't find any words to defend herself.
She wasted the last opportunity she had to make things right with herself, and agreed to marry him. Rationally she knew he had only asked because it was the 'correct' thing to do, but –again– an inner voice told her that this would bring them together, and he would love her in the end.
After signing up their marriage's certificate in Konoha's Clerk Office, she moved in with him. Living together didn't change anything: he didn't warm up to her, but some nights he would seek her body to satisfy his urges. That was the only contact they had, and it ended when her pregnancy became more noticeable.
Even though they were married, she felt like a single parent already. Sasuke never went to any of the prenatal controls with her; he didn't help her preparing the essential things for the baby's arrival. He didn't even show any interest when she asked if he wanted to know the sex of the baby when the ultrasound had revealed it.
By the way, it was a girl and her name would be Inori.
Sweetly she touched her prominent belly. She was twenty weeks pregnant, half way there! Now she didn't care if her relationship with Sasuke improved or not. She had fallen in love with someone else, and she couldn't wait to have meet her. She was going to be a mommy.
§§§
Sasuke woke up in the early morning, way before his alarm went off. He felt something wet against his thigh. He blindly touched the sheets underneath the cover with one hand, while he tried to find the nightstand lamp's switch with the other. When the light brightened the dark bedroom, he watched in horror that a crimson coloured fluid covered his hand.
"Shit" he took off the cover. Shit, shit, shit. Ino's blood stained the white sheets like a somber pool. "Ino" he called her, gently shaking her by the shoulders.
Cerulean eyes half opened in confusion. What time was it? What did he want? Why was he looking at her like that?
§§§
The ER physician confirmed what both of them already knew. Ino had had a miscarriage. He couldn't give them a cause, sometimes those things happened and it was hard to find an explanation. That wasn't enough for her.
Just a few weeks ago everything had been fine, her controls didn't show any abnormality. So, why had her daughter's heart stop beating?
The doctor explained that given her gestational stage they would have to induce labor to remove the fetus. My daughter, she wanted to say. It wasn't a fetus, it was Inori Uchiha-Yamanaka. But she was too shocked to speak.
Once again, life had proven to be extremely cruel. She had to deliver her stillborn baby. She had to put herself through that extenuating process knowing that she would never hear her daughter's first cry, that her tiny hand would never wrap around her finger, and that her little eyes would never look at her.
After the nurse administered the hormones for stimulating labor, she sank in bed wishing for the mattress to swallow her. She wanted to disappear. She waited for hours, the contractions started and soon she found herself pushing but she couldn't feel the pain. All her senses were mourning the loss of her child.
Her daughter came to this world sleeping peacefully. Time froze when the nurse put her in her arms. She was so little, less than ten inches, and very red. She was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Softly she caressed her tiny hands, her tiny feet, and the scarce dark hairs adorning her tiny head.
The nurse had seen many of these situations, and she suggested they recorded it. Years later, when Ino looked at the photos of her daughter, she was glad to have taken her advice.
Sasuke had been there the entire time. He was like a shadow in the corner of the room. When the nurse asked him to pose for the camera, he complied. The woman had called him 'dad', and that really angered Ino. Of course, the nurse was not to blame; after all it was normal that she would assume that Sasuke was a loving and caring husband because he was there. But he hadn't been before, not in five months. He didn't deserve the title.
However, what bothered her even more was when he asked if he could hold her. No, she had wanted to scream, Inori was hers not his; but at the end she gave in. It would have been childish and selfish not to, he had also contributed to Inori's existence.
The staff allowed them to be with her for the rest of the day, but they had to take her away eventually. When that moment came, she cried. It was the last time she'd see her.
A/N
In memory of all the babies who left this world too early and their families.
This fic was inspired by a similar situation that happened to my family. This is more common than you imagine, and if you research you'll find there's a lot of uncertainty. Please be conscious when asking couples about when will they start having children, they might be going through this struggle. If this has happened to you or your family, know youre not alone …there's a lot of help out there.
Thanks for reading, English is not my first language so if there's any flaws please let me know!
Is there any other of my stories you'd like me to translate?
Alessandra
