Because their baby was borderline premature, they had to stay in the hospital for a few days, making sure he met his milestones and was feeding properly. Neither of them could bear to leave him, or each other, so they both stayed. It was good for Naruto as well, it meant he got the fluids and supplements Sakura and Tsunade prescribed as IV's, to help his body overcome the total exhaustion it had been through.

Sakura had been teaching them how feed and change their baby, and he was glad to have someone he trusted to teach them all these things and share these first few days. They spent hours just staring at their baby son, completely enamoured by him.

It turned out that babies didn't sleep through the night, they had to feed every couple of hours. Naruto pulled the warmed milk from its water bath, and held the bottle out to Neji.

"There you go, Dad."

Neji's eyes snapped up to meet his and he blushed when he realised what he'd said.

"It's still hard to believe, huh?"

"Yes and no. He is a miracle, but it also feels like he's been part of our family forever."

He knew what Neji meant because it was impossible to imagine a world without their baby son now.

Neji took the bottle from him with a smile.

"Thanks, Papa."

Neji cradled their baby to feed him. Even though it was only a small amount, it still took twenty minutes for the baby to finish. Not that Neji wouldn't have been happy sitting there all night, and Naruto loved watching the soft look on his face as he tended to such a delicate task, and the love that he could feel radiating from him.

After the baby was burped and sleeping again, Naruto lay down on the bed. He was exhausted, but it was different to anything he'd felt before. It wasn't like being battle-weary, it was just a feeling that he wanted to sleep for days.

"Neji, come here," Naruto requested. Neji climbed onto the narrow bed with him, laying on his back so that Naruto could tuck into his side and rest his head on Neji's chest in their usual position. It felt so good to be back in his male form, fitting together with Neji like he used to. Neji curled an arm around his shoulders.

"Are you tired?" he asked, obviously knowing the answer was yes, but wondering if Neji felt this same exhaustion that he did.

"Yes, but it's a satisfying kind of feeling."

"Yeah. It means we're taking good care of him, huh?"

"Yes," Neji agreed, pressing a kiss to his hair, fingers gently tracing up and down his arm. "Naruto, I told you once that my love for you wouldn't change, but I know now that isn't true. It's grown. When I think of what you've accomplished for us, when I see you with our child, I don't know how my heart doesn't burst it's so full of love for you and him."

"Same," Naruto admitted, snuggling in. He didn't need to say anything else, they both knew how amazing it was after the childhoods they'd had. The future looked so bright. He closed his eyes and gave in to the pull of sleep, beyond content to have Neji beside him and their son safe and well in the world.

xxx

Sakura arrived for the early shift, heading straight to check on Naruto and the baby. She was still in awe of what he'd done, his child was an incredible achievement. He didn't just wait for the family he always wanted, he made it for himself. I'm so proud of him.

She stepped into the room and couldn't help smiling to herself when she saw Naruto and Neji curled together asleep on the narrow bed. They're hopeless.

She left them for the moment and checked on the baby first. He was small, but he was healthy, and was progressing well. He was an adorable little thing too, but that tracked given his parents, not that she'd ever admit that out loud.

She found the baby was sleeping too, and checked the feed chart, seeing that he wasn't quite due for another feed yet. She smiled again at the sleeping family and decided to give them all another half an hour's rest. They'd earned it.