"Keigo. Keigo, wake up."
The feathered man rolled over to blink at his bed mate. She was curled around her stomach, face lined with pain. "Wha's wrong?"
"I think—" she cringed. "I think I'm in labor."
He jolted upright. "What?"
She was thirty four weeks into her pregnancy. It was way too early.
He fumbled for his phone, messaging the commission doctor as feathers darted around the room to bring her overnight bag, a loose dress, and his clothes.
"Contractions woke me up. They're about three minutes apart, I think. I laid here for half an hour or so before waking you up."
"Oh baby bird. You should've woken me up right away." He kissed the top of her head before guiding her toward the door. After a brief hesitation, he swept her into a bridal carry.
"Keigo! I can walk, you know."
He shook his head. "But you don't need to. I'm capable of carrying you to the elevator just fine."
There was a birth suite set up in the agency clinic now, just waiting for Ayumu to go into labor. They'd been hoping not to need it for two more weeks at least, but it was better to be ready.
The doctor responded that she was on her way, and Keigo sighed in relief. When the doors opened three floors below, a feather rushed forward to slip under the locked door to the clinic and open it up.
"Here we are, dove. Doc'll be here in a few." He laid her on the bed, seating himself immediately beside her and stroking her hair back lovingly. That was how the doctor found them, the small woman rushing in with a nurse immediately behind her.
"How long have you been having contractions?"
"About half an hour before I texted—"
Dr. Reiji narrowed her eyes and pushed up her glasses. "I was asking Ayumu. Believe it or not, seeing if she can talk through her contractions is important."
"Ha-half an hour or so," she stuttered, taking a deep breath as another contraction hit.
The woman hummed and began setting everything up. She was the foremost doctor of obstetrics in Japan, hired by the commission as soon as Ayumu had been rescued for this very purpose. "Let's see how far along you are. Maybe we can manage to put this off a few more weeks."
It was at that unfortunate moment that the (now former) president of the commission called and Keigo had to excuse himself.
"Is she in labor? How long—"
"Geez, the doctor just got here, Misaki. Think you could give the woman enough time to check Ayumu out first?"
He could hear jingling and shuffling on the other end of the line. "Whatever. Text me any updates. I'll be there in—" there was a pause— "twenty minutes."
"I don't think that's—"
"See you soon." The little hangup tone sounded in his ear and Keigo sighed.
When he entered the birthing suite again, it was clear they were not going to be able to put off labor for a few more weeks. Ayumu was already dilated enough to start pushing.
"This is one of the swiftest progressions I've ever seen. These kids are impatient."
He took his seat again, taking Ayumu's smaller hand in his own for her to grip.
"Fuck this. Just cut them out."
"Natural birth is better," the doctor told her. "Trust me."
"Then can you drug me or something?"
"Too late for that. Push."
Wasn't it supposed to take hours to get to this point? Instead, he found himself wincing as Ayumu gripped him with more strength than he thought she had, grunting and bearing down from an almost crouched position on the bed. Maybe one of the kids was bolstering her strength via Quirk or something; she was gonna break a finger at this point.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," she chanted in time with her squeezes.
It wasn't that he thought labor would be easy or anything, but it had never seemed so gruesome in the movies and on television. There wound up being more blood, more weirdness, and a lot more cursing than he'd imagined.
At one point the former president had stepped in only for the laboring woman to roar, "Get the hell out!" The nurse hurriedly rushed the other woman into the main clinic, then returned.
The girl was born first, a pink, squalling little thing weighing in at five pounds exactly. Her brother was born half an hour later, four pounds, fourteen ounces. Both were declared fairly healthy for being as early as they were, and they returned to their mother's hold after quick measurements and use of the doctor's quirk.
There was more than one reason why Reiji was the best; her quirk enabled her to assist with healing and development. While it was risky to do too much lest she shock premature babies, a quick hit to each ensured they shouldn't be too far behind. The lungs particularly were a risk this early on.
And they were hungry because of it, both eagerly latching onto Ayumu when she was ready to try breastfeeding.
He took the girl while she fed the boy, holding the little thing like she was made of glass. "Have you thought of names?" Keigo asked after a short silence.
"I was thinking of Hanako for the girl."
He stroked his thumb along one cheek. "Hanako, huh? I like it." He smiled as the girl yawned. She certainly shone to him, with her wrinkled little face and soft, tiny fists.
"It was my grandmother's name." Ayumu's voice was soft, sleepy, the adrenaline of labor replaced with contentment.
He hummed, glancing fondly at the sweaty, tired woman. "And the boy?"
She hesitated, frowning as she stared down at the little bundle. I like Daiki. Since it has a similar meaning."
Keigo wondered why she'd hesitated, but decided to respond, "It's a good name."
I don't remember when I thought of it. But I also just like Dai as a shortened version." Her thumb stroked along the peach-fuzz head of the newborn.
Keigo was going to respond, but the door opened to reveal his old caretaker, and the new mother spoke first.
"Out."
"Miss Sato—"
"Out."
"I'll go talk to her." He laid Hanako with her mother.
Misaki was pacing up and down, a cigarette unlit in her hand. "You were supposed to text me."
"I was a little busy," he said.
"Now that they're born, we need to rerun the paternity tests, figure out exactly what's going on there. It will also help us be better prepared for their possible quirks."
"Yeah, I'm not sure she cares."
The woman rolled her eyes. "They need tests anyway. I would prefer to have consent." He scoffed. "You need to talk to her about her attitude, Keigo. The way she speaks to me—"
"Can you blame her? You know she's seen some of my memories. She knows the kind of shit the commission has put me through."
"Oh, please." She tried to pull on the cigarette, but belatedly remembered it was still not lit. "You volunteered to work with us."
"Yeah, well. I don't think she's gonna be okay with the twins doing the same."
"It's a good thing she's not their only parent."
The feathers sharpened on his wings at the thought. "I don't think I'm okay with it either."
Rin's eyes narrowed. "Are you threatening me, Keigo?"
"No. Should I?"
"Of course not. You know I wouldn't hurt those babies."
"I know you aren't against putting them in harm's way, either," he countered.
"Right now, all I want is for us to have an idea of the possible capabilities of these kids." She sighed and flicked the cigarette as though ashing it. "If one has something like Decay, we really do need to be prepared."
"Ayumu is just about the perfect parent for a kid with a Quirk like that," he said. "All she needs to do is hold him— or her— and it'll stop. For that matter, I can lift the kid with a feather and handle it that way." Keigo turned toward the door.
"Regardless, the results will be here soon."
He rounded on her. "You bitch. You had the doctor draw blood samples already."
"Of course I did," she scoffed. "Like I said, there's more than just paternity we are checking for, so don't get all high and mighty on me. I'm looking out for those kids."
"Be sure you are, or it's not just Ayumu you'll need to worry about."
"And you'd do well to remember the contract you signed," she reminded him.
"Cross me and you'll find out how little I give a damn."
The pair stared at one another for a moment before he decided his point had been made. Keigo returned to the new mother and the twins. The girl was latched now, her brother and her mother both asleep.