Chapter 157: Another New Addition (Short)
With the school year now over, I once again found my summer vacation cut short as the child growing inside my womb demanded to be birthed, the daughter between Kurenai and I finally wanting to meet us all.
I once more found myself in the hospital, waiting in silence inside the maternity room and staring quietly at the wall, keeping my mind clear as I tried to not fret about the return to that pain I had experienced once before.
My stomach was large, and I sighed as I stroked the exposed flesh, my hand smoothly rubbing my belly as I envisioned the baby that grew within.
Kurenai was with me, sitting beside me with clear worry in her eyes as she too recalled the events of last year, when she had been subject to the throes of childbirth just as I had.
Our other two wives, Anko and Cameia, were sadly away on mission, completing their quota needed for the next few months so that they could receive the stipend the village gives its Shinobi when they take a break.
It would appear that the current mission is more demanding then they believed, since they said they would be back by early this morning, but here we were, the sun slowly descending to the horizon...
Though, admittedly, the lack of a pacing Anko was doing wonders for my control over my thin emotions, and I hated to admit that the reassurance of having Kurenai alone beside me was worth more than Anko and Cameia being present.
One was a nervous wreck who hated seeing us in pain that she wasn't inflicting, while the other was a quiet, soothing giant, but lacked in the ability to keep you buoyed in reality with her silence.
Kurenai was a healthy mix, and considering she knew what was going to happen, well... I was glad she was sitting there, by my side...
The time in the hospital felt stretched out - almost like a Genjutsu had been cast on me - and I waited in fragile silence for the beginning of my labor.
Night fell, and our room was illuminated by soft yellow lights and a scented candle, keeping my senses stimulated enough to provide distraction from the sterility of the room.
Holding Kurenai's hand, I let her know when I felt the baby beginning to move, and my raven haired wife got up and quickly found the doctor and nurses, getting them to join me as the pain erupted once again.
Hours slowly stretched by, pain assaulting my body as our baby girl fought to get free, and thankfully, unlike the previous year, my birth went smoother, lasting only to around noon - roughly ten or eleven hours long.
The birth was much quicker, and not before long I was laying there in my hospital bed, feeling drained and exhausted, but so relieved as I held a swaddled baby to my chest, both Kurenai and I looking down at her features with warmth.
"It seems... that your eyes are a rather... dominant trait, Nai..."
I smiled tiredly at my wife, and she grinned back at me as she noted our daughters bright ruby red eyes - lighter than Akari's, but still strikingly red.
Her flesh was pale while her hair was rather interesting; black with a few streaks of auburn crowning her small, soft head.
She cried energetically as she laid in my arms, those wide red eyes focused on me as she made her presence known to the world, causing me to smile.
"Welcome to the world of the living, little one... your two sisters are waiting for you back home... Do you want to meet them?"
My baby stopped crying when I gently stroked her cute button nose, her small fingers reaching for mine as she grabbed it, holding it against her face.
"What should we name her, Koko?"
Kurenai rested her head on my shoulder, her long hair falling down over her face as she looked at our daughter lovingly, leaving the name up to me.
"Hmm... Maybe... Tomoe. Tomoe Mitarashi. Let's hope that she attains the wisdom that her name means, while also being as fierce at it suggests."
We both stared down at the red eyed Tomoe, who looked back at us quietly, her head tilted to the side as she studied the two faces of her parents, before reaching her small hands out and smiling widely at us.