Chapter Text
Family Ties
Chapter 3
First Moments
“Would you like to hold him?” Tohru asked, smiling at her husband weakly and clearly exhausted. She was covered with sweat and wearing a hospital gown. There was blood everywhere. There was blood on the bed, on Tohru, and on the little bundle she carried in her arms. Even so, Kyo had never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life. He smiled widely but was nervous at the same time.
“Sure.” Kyo said nervously. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he knew that this kid was going to have the best life. He would make sure of it. A tear escaped his eye and landed on the bundle of blankets that the baby was swaddled with. “Hi, Hajime.” He said, rocking the baby slowly back and forth.
A nurse came in and broke Kyo from his reverie. “I’ll take him to be cleaned now.” She said and gently took Hajime from Kyo’s arms. Kyo gladly handed him over to the nurse knowing she was just doing her job. However, he felt a little sad letting him go already.
Kyo couldn’t help but wonder how his own father could have hated him so much. He couldn’t even imagine hating Hajime in the way he was hated by his own father. If I hadn’t been possessed by the Cat would my father have loved me the same way I love Hajime? Kyo wondered, but dismissed immediately, knowing his father was just a bad man and an alcoholic.
The nurse returned and gave the baby back to Tohru so that he could begin nursing. Kyo stood back as the nurse showed her what to do. Once the baby was settled, the nurse left them and Kyo sat down on the chair next to the hospital bed.
“How are you feeling?” Kyo asked and grabbed Tohru’s hand. He gently rubbed the back of her fingers.
“I’ve never been better.” She said hoarsely. She was clearly exhausted, but she had that goofy smile planted on her face. “I’m just going to close my eyes for a moment.”
In a matter of seconds, he could hear her breathing even out. She was sleeping. Since it looked like Hajime had finished and he had read that you shouldn’t sleep while breastfeeding, he took Hajime from her and held him.
Kyo decided he should at least try to burp him. He had read a lot of books on how to do it, so he tried. Kyo took a towel and placed it over his shoulder and placed Hajime onto it and gently rubbed his back. In no time, the baby was letting out very tiny burps that he almost couldn’t hear.
Hajime looked up at him sleepily and yawned. Kyo just rocked him back and forth again until Hajime’s eyes closed, and he fell asleep.
Kyo took a moment to study Hajime. His hair was a dead giveaway that Kyo was his father. It was a diluted orange color, not quite as bright as Kyo’s but still striking. Like all babies, his eyes were blue, but Kyo wondered what color they would end up. His facial features were very much like Kyo’s from what he could see on the newborns face. Kyo couldn’t help but smile down at him and hold him close. “I love you.” He whispered to the infant so as not to wake Tohru.
Tohru woke up after what felt like minutes. “Kyo. Where is he?” She said, panicked. Kyo was sitting in the chair next to the bedside. It was green and the plastic-feeling fabric was starting to fray, but it wasn’t too uncomfortable.
“He’s fine, I laid him down in the crib so that he could get some rest. You should be doing the same.” Kyo told her. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. He couldn’t help but feel so happy though. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this happy. The only day that rivaled this one was the day that Tohru became his wife. He loved her so incredibly much.
Tohru relaxed once she looked over and saw Hajime sleeping soundly in his crib. He was tucked in an orange blanket that reminded her of his beautiful hair. His hair was blowing lightly with the slight breeze that managed to make its way through the window. “Is he cold?” she asked, worried for her baby.
“He’s fine. I can take care of him for now. You rest.” Kyo guided her back into a laying down position and tucked her in as well. She looked at him defiantly, but ultimately gave in to her exhaustion and fell back to sleep.
Kyo couldn’t wait to get his family back home, but it looked like they would be there for at least a couple of days.
Over the next day or so, they had visitors often. Kazuma made it out to see them which was a nice surprise. Since they lived so far away from their relatives, they weren’t even sure if they would have any visitors at all.
“You look well.” Kazuma said to Tohru. He smiled at her. He looked over to Hajime. “Wow. He looks just like you, Kyo.”
Kyo blushed at this and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, it seems that way.” He folded his arms then and smiled from ear to ear. “He’s adorable though. Don’t you think?”
“He is definitely that.” Kazuma laughed.
“Master.” Tohru interjected. “Would you like to hold him?” He loved it when she called him that. It was like they were both his kids. They were both his kids, but it just made him feel warm inside having Tohru call him that.
“I’d love to.” Kazuma said.
He took Hajime from Tohru and held him gently. He was careful to support the head as babies did not have this ability on their own. He swayed Hajime back and forth until he was settled. Hajime looked up at him and he felt like it was Kyo looking at him all over again. It gave him a genuinely nice feeling. If only they lived closer so that he could watch Hajime grow up.
“He’s very beautiful. You both did an amazing job.”
“I think so too, Master.” Tohru said, and Kazuma returned the infant to his mother.
After a few days, as expected, they made it back home. Tohru was happy that they were going back to their house, and she would get to sleep in her own bed. She hadn’t felt so exhausted in her entire life as she had over the last couple days. Between giving birth and then taking care of Hajime she was wiped out. Even though Kyo was very attentive and helpful, she had a lot of sleep to catch up on.
In general, Hajime was a particularly good baby. He slept through the night after the first few day’s home and was pretty easy to take care of. Tohru was still on maternity leave, but she was starting to wonder if she would be able to return to her job. She didn’t really like the idea of a stranger taking care of her son all day, particularly when he is so small. She also didn’t like the idea of making Kyo the sole earner for all 3 of them.
Tohru sat at the table absentmindedly twisting her wedding band around her finger. Kyo saw this and walked up to her. “What’s wrong?” He asked. Tohru jerked her head up, startled to see him.
“N-nothing.” She said nervously and stopped fidgeting. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
He knelt to the floor where she was sitting and held her. “What’s wrong?” He asked. He didn’t know what could possibly be troubling her. He had read about postpartum depression and wondered if maybe that’s what it was. “Am I blind to your pain?” He asked again when she didn’t answer his first question.
Uncontrollable sobs came from Tohru’s eyes. “I want everyone to be happy. But for everyone to be happy, I have to be unhappy.” Over the years she had opened up and at least told Kyo her feelings. Sometimes he had to coax the information out of her, but sometimes not. He supposed this came from her having to hide her true self from her mother for so many years pretending to be someone she wasn’t.
“You know I’ll do anything to make you smile. What is it?” He held her tighter, not letting her go. If his past had taught him anything it was not to take for granted the power of human contact. He wanted nothing more than to soothe her fears and frustrations in that moment.
She pulled back from him so that she could look into his eyes. But then she rested her head on his shoulder and spoke into it. “I don’t want a stranger to take care of Hajime. He’s mine.”
Kyo smiled. Relieved that this was a simple problem. He pulled her back to look into her eyes. “You don’t have to go back to work if you don’t want to. I swore on your mother’s grave that I would take care of you and protect you. If that means that you have to quit your job, you can. We will be fine.” He hugged her again. “You don’t have to work so hard, Tohru. I can take care of us.” He kissed the side of her head.
Finally, she is vocalizing her wants and needs. He thought.
“I love you.” She said.
“I love you, too.” He answered.
At that, Hajime started wailing. “I guess he’s hungry again.” Kyo said.
“Yeah.” Tohru said with a smile. Kyo wiped the tears out of her eyes.
Kyo went into their backyard to do some yard work while Tohru attended to Hajime. He couldn’t believe that she would think that he would force her to go back to work if it weren’t something she wanted. Things were tight but they were far from struggling and he was sure it would work out well. If needed he would pick up some extra shifts at the Dojo. Besides, eventually, Tohru would go back to work so they would only have to deal with this for the time being until Hajime started school. He just wanted Tohru to be happy and he would do whatever he had to do to make that a reality.
Tohru watched Kyo leave into the backyard, then sat in the rocking chair that Kazuma had gifted them and held her baby while feeding him. Once he had had his fill, she burped him and started rocking him gently to sleep in the chair. She was at peace and loved every moment she got to spend with her little Hajime. She loved him in a way she never thought she could love another person. He was a piece of her and Kyo together, tangible proof of their love.
Once Hajime was asleep, Tohru gently got up out of the chair and walked him into their bedroom. His crib was set up in there for the time being. They still needed to get the nursery ready but wanted him to stay with them in their room for the first few months. This would make caring for him through the night a little easier. Tohru laid him down in his crib and covered him with a blanket and tucked him in.
Once that was done, she walked over to the bed and laid down. She was feeling much better, but still knew that she should sleep while she could. She closed her eyes, and she was out like a light.