Chapter Text
42 weeks and 18 hours…
Temari paces the room again. She should have expected this. Those lazy genes… It's impossible. How can someone be lazy before he's even born?
Everyone has their babies in their arms. Everyone had a nice, easy, quick birth. For Kami sake, Chocho was born so fast that they barely had time to get to a room! But no, she couldn't have that! She needs to wait 42 weeks and endure 18 hours of pain!
"Tem… Don't you want to take a sit?"
"No! Walking helps the birth process... You… AW!" Her face scrunches up in pain. She feels his arms supporting her and leans in his touch.
"I know, I know… But you have to relax a bit, trouble. You'll be exhausted before he's born…"
"18 hours, Shika! 18 freaking hours! And I'm nowhere close to give birth than I was yesterday! Damn genes…"
"Tem… Stop it. I know! You are tired, you are impatient, but you are close. So, so close! And you are doing great!" He gently pushes her to the bed. "Look at me, love… You are so brave! It's close, ok?"
She looks at him. He's exhausted too. The minute she told him that she was in labour, he dropped everything and run to her side. Literally! He dropped a stack of papers on the floor and run for the hospital. She bets that Kakashi is laughing until now.
Temari gives him a weak smile. "Thanks… I know, I'm insufferable. But… I just want to meet him… Everyone is cooing and holding and looking at their babies… And I'm… I'm empty armed… I just want to see him… To make sure this is real…" She winces again as another wave of pain hits her…
"It is real, love! You are almost there. We are almost there." His voice is so soft, so sure, so calm… She can't doubt him. She never did, but when he says something in THAT voice, she can't doubt him.
Well, even the smartest person can make mistakes… And "almost" can mean almost every length of time, right?
2 hours later and she is ready to bit his head off. And he is sure that he won't survive much longer.
"Do you want me to call Tsunade?" He hesitates
"I. WANT. DRUGS." She can barely scream between bouts of pain.
"Sorry, girl, too late for that. I think that you are almost ready…" Tsunade smiles from the door and walks in, putting on gloves.
"I'm done with the 'almost' thing! Take him out of me! NOW!"
Shikamaru winces and rubs his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, Tsunade… She's a little… Stressed out…"
The way Temari squeezes his hand tells him that if he doesn't shut up, he'll end limbless pretty soon.
"Relax Shikamaru, I'm used to this." Tsunade finishes her quick exam and smiles to her. "Temari, it's time. When you feel the next contraction, push. As hard as you can, okay?"
She nods weakly before another wave of pain hit her. And hits her really hard.
"I… I can't! I can't do it!" She pants and shakes, her eyes shining with tears.
"Yes, you can. Look at me… Tem, look at me. It's now, okay? Come on…"
That voice again… That voice and she is lost. She can believe in whatever he says. She can believe that the sun is squared, that the sky is green, and that the sea is dry. And that she can give birth.
So she pushes through the pain, the uncertainty and the fear. She pushes through her self-doubt, her traumas and her past. She just pushes through.
Two more pushes and a wail fills the room. Well, maybe not a wail, it's more like a loud whimper… Lazy genes… Those lazy genes.
Tsunade smiles and wraps the baby before put him in her chest. "Congratulations… He is perfect…" She whispers.
They don't hear her. The world melted around them. They are the only ones in there. Both of them and him. Their precious baby, their son.
"He's… he's perfect…" Temari whispers. She looks at him. She takes in every little part of him. She counts his fingers and his toes. She caresses his soft cheeks and kisses his head. Tears blur her sight when her eyes met Shikamaru's.
"He's more than perfect… He's so beautiful… So, tiny…" Shikamaru chokes on his own tears. "Oh Tem… Thank you, trouble… Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you so much… I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love you! And him…"
"I didn't make him alone… He's just like you… Look at him! He has your hair… And your laziness, by the way! But I love you that way…"
He chuckles. "But he has your eyes. And that sparkle in them… Your sparkle… He'll be so great… Just like his mom…"
They fell silent for a moment. A bubble of peace and fulfilment is created around them. The only sounds in the room are the soft noises that the tiny person on his mother’s arms does.
"You know…” Temari’s whisper breaks the silence. “He needs a name… We can't keep calling him 'the baby' or something like that… Any ideas?"
"Well… I would like to keep the 'Shika' tradition… If you are okay with that, of course…" He seems so hesitant and cautious that she laughs.
"And I have a choice? If I stop the next Ino-Shika-Cho trio because of a name, Ino will kill me… Painfully…" She smiles softly at him. "I'm calling him Shika since I found that I was pregnant…"
"You are… I never heard you!" He seems genuinely surprised.
"I would never let you hear me talking to my belly! It's… stupid…"
"I talked to your belly!"
"Yeah, and it's stupid…"
"Troublesome…" He sighs. "Back to the naming thing… Shika… what?"
"I don't know… I never thought about it… For me he's just Shika… from the beginning…"
"We can't call him just Shika… You call ME that! It'll be troublesome…"
"I know… but he is… He is so perfect, so… great… He’s holds such a big destiny, a bright future… I don't know a name that suits him…"
"Great… He's great… Just that! Dai… Shikadai… Our perfect Shikadai…"
"Shikadai…" The name rolls in her mouth like sweet chestnuts and warm tea. Like it's mean to be. "Our little Shikadai… Born to be great…"
Later, when she's finally asleep, when the visitors stop bothering them (they have the most annoying, loud, obnoxious and loving friends in the world!), when his mother finally leaves, wiping tears and mumbling congratulations, when the nurses stop coming in and out. Later, when the silence finally feels the room again, Shikamaru picks up his son and cradles him.
The baby slowly opens his eyes, mumbling soft noises around his pacifier.
"Hi baby… Hi Shikadai… I'm your father, do you know that? But don't call me that, it's to… formal… I don't do formal. Dad? Maybe daddy? I would like daddy… Until you grow up, right? You'll grow up and go on your way and stop calling me that, I know. It's okay. But we have a lot of time before that…" Shikamaru smiles. "I'm rambling in here, aren't I? Let's begin again. Hi Shikadai, I'm your daddy!"
The man stands up and starts pacing the room, walking to the window.
"I can't wait… I can't wait to see you grow up, to hear your first words, watch your first steps, walking you to academy for the first time. I'll try, okay? I swear that I'll try to be there. I'll be there for you, I promise. You are the most important thing in my world. You and your mom… And I'll try my best to be there to watch you grow, to see you conquer the world."
He smiles softly at his son, peacefully sucking his pacifier, wide awake in his arms. He fits in there. He belongs there.
"I wish I could keep you here. Safe in my arms. But you won't let me do that, right? You'll be a feisty little thing, like your mom… No one will be able to stop you, not even your old man… But you have my genes too… You are driving your mom insane since before you were born, your lazy thing… You'll love to take a nap and watch clouds with me too…"
Shikamaru glances at the window. The village lights fading away, giving space to the stars to shine.
He sighs at the sight. The village spreads at his feet and the sky spreads above his head like a reminder of how big the world is. And how dark it could be…
For a moment, he’s scared of it. The world is too big and too dark for the tiny ray of light that lies in his arms.
He glances at his son’s eyes and all the fear dissolves. It’s like Temari’s eyes staring at him with the same confidence, reassurance and brightness that only her can carry.
"Shikadai… Big name that we give you… But don't worry. You'll be great… You are great… Can I tell you a secret?" He looks at the bed, making sure that she's still a sleep. "I love you so much, little fawn. So, so much that I don't even know how I don't burst. I'll love you no matter what. So… be feisty or lazy or great or average, I don't care. Just… try to be happy, okay? And remember… I'll love you till the end... And I'll always be there for you…"
Little he knows that the smile in Temari's face isn't from a nice dream…