Chapter Text
(The above image does not belong to me. Gif sourced from Google. All rights go to their respective owners.)
It's dark.
Quiet.
Your body feels numb all over.
What’s happening…?
Your consciousness is sitting on the line between comatose and astir. You feel a bit of fuzziness begin to tingle your limbs, crawling up from your toes all the way up to your eyelids, which twitch slightly. It is then your hearing returns to you, where you overhear a conversation going on between two people. You can’t discern the voices quite yet, but you try to listen in with what little cognition you have.
“...... probably………wake up soon…………certain of it…….worry”
“.........…hopefully so……….her beautiful eyes………soon”
Your hearing, still muddy, picks up bits and pieces of what is said; You’re still not sure what is happening or where you are, but you try your hardest to regain control of your exhausted body…….Exhausted? Why is the normally simple task of moving your arms and legs proving to be so difficult??? More importantly, why are you so exhausted??? It’s like your body is begging for nothing but sleep. For the life of you, you can’t remember. Maybe you can ask the two muffled voices when you force your eyes open.
If only that wasn’t as difficult.
Your body really didn’t want to get up.
Your arm starts to ache a bit, followed by a weird cold feeling running through your arm. Is this…an iv? Ah, that must mean you’re in a hospital of some kind, which, by process of elimination, leaves one possible answer: You’ve been hospitalized for something. But what??? You groan internally, being left with more questions than answers. Welp, if the feeling in your arm returned to notice this detail, then maybe you can open your eyes now. You do try, but moving them even an inch hurts. Not to mention your eyes are currently really itchy. You must have been crying. Great. Another answer that leads to even more questions. There's only two options left now: Try to force your eyes open, or try to speak instead. You barely got your eyes to even open, and you doubt your voice would cooperate for being so sleep deprived. So, that leaves the first option. Well, here goes nothing.
You squint your eyes a bit in preparation to open them, and, finally, after many failed attempts, you force them to open a small amount. Your vision is quite blurry, only able to make out rough shapes and colors. You blink rapidly, trying to get the itchy, dry feeling out of your eyes, and in the process notice two blurry figures, who seem to have turned to you after noticing your furious blinking. One of the two figures gets closer to you, and then, and only then, after blinking one more time, does your vision return to you, and just in time for the man in front of you to come into focus, as he raises a hand to gently comb through your hair, and you finally recognize who it is.
Reca, your husband of two and a half years.
He has a gentle look on his face, and an equally soft smile to match. His ruby eyes looked tired, his hair slightly disheveled, only wearing a white button up with rolled-up sleeves with an almost undone tie, and some brown slacks. You don’t talk just yet, afraid of what your voice might sound like, but luckily, you don’t have to.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” Reca says, quietly so as to not overstimulate you. He slowly leans in to give you a small kiss on the forehead, still stroking your hair affectionately. He says nothing else, just admiring you instead, waiting for you to be awake enough to speak.
You decide to look around the room instead(ha coward-im kidding pls dont click off-), eyes landing on a woman clad in a dark indigo blue cardigan, as well as an equally dark violet coat and hair that shined of periwinkle. You register in your brain that it’s Black Swan, Reca’s co-worker and closest confidant. She bore an enthralled look on her face, a smile not quite there, but you could tell she was simply playing observer, hand to her chin as she witnessed you and Reca’s one-sided interaction. It was then you remembered what exactly you opened your eyes for, and seeing both Reca and Black Swan in these states at this particular place, didn’t answer a single question you had running around in your still sleep-addled brain. So, you make a grand attempt at speech-
“......where are-” Your voice cracks. Horridly. So you stop that sentence halfway, but the meaning makes its way across anyways, two words seemingly enough for them to know what you were asking, and the woman with sparkling blue and yellow irises speaks up to answer.
“You’re in a hospital, dear. You’ve been out for roughly 9 hours now.” She lilts, arms crossed and stature shifting slightly. “I’m surprised you’re cognitive enough to even attempt to speak if I'm being honest. You were worn out by the end of it.” End if it? End of WHAT? You were done with being confused, so you attempt to speak again and, luckily, this time, you don’t have a voice crack. A bit of itchy throat and hoarseness, but it’s easier to speak now.
“...What is happening? Why am I hooked up to an IV? Why am I so tired??? ” You ask, looking at both Reca and Black Swan for an answer. They both look at each other for a moment, a knowing grin plastered on her face, and she nods at him to continue, Reca turning to you a second later. His breathing shudders for a second, and you almost notice tears in his eyes..? You’re about to ask him what’s wrong but then he reaches shaky hands up to cup your face in his hands. His eyes stutter shut and he leans his forehead against your for support, his eyes open once more, tears rolling down his cheeks and a small smile on his face.
“We’re parents now, mon chéri.”
And suddenly, all the knowledge of the past twelve hours of your life flooded your mind at once.
You remembered the immense pain you were in, the crying and screaming that came from you, and the intense grip you had on the bed sheets below you, and that sheer amount of pain had caused you to pass out when you finally brought you and Reca’s daughter into the world for the first time, exhausted from the strain such an action brought your body. Your eyes widen at the realization that Reca’s words brought you, and suddenly, a wave of emotions rolls over you.
You feel like you’re about to cry all over again.
Your pace of breathing slowly picks up, and you look into your husband's eyes, whose eyes are brimming with happiness and unshed tears. Your own eyes begin to well up, and a smile appears on your face.
“....We….You're-…I’m-” You struggle to say anything, too overwhelmed to speak any sentence beyond one word. He’s known you for so long that there’s no need for you to; He kisses you on the lips with added fervor than the forehead kiss, and you try your best to reciprocate. He only pulls away for air, eyes wide with happiness.
“You did so well……i’m so proud of you, my darling, beloved angel” He kisses you again, only this time, on either of your cheeks, or your nose; All over your face, really. He smiles into each one, trying to etch his affection into your skin like a Dremel carving intricate markings into a slate of wood. Black Swan smiles softly at you two’s interactions, hand resting against her chest.
She clears her throat a bit, which directs you and Reca’s attention to her. He blushes a bit, but isn’t embarrassed a bit about his display of affection for you, not one bit. It’s because the doctor was standing right next to her, waiting on you two to acknowledge her. He clears his own throat, before returning to his sitting position in the chair next to you, no longer hovering over you a bit, and looks at said doctor.
“ahem…Well…seems like someone’s finally awake.” She playfully speaks up. “ How are you feeling?”
You don’t give the question much thought. “Tired all over and aching.”
The md chuckles a bit at your response, and struts over to where your arm is being fed by iv, and gives it a once over before pulling out her stethoscope. “I figured. You screamed like you were on fire at one point” she says as she starts to check your pulse. Your face flushes almost instantly, and you look over to Black Swan, who struggles to bite back a laugh. Reca just shoots her a look, before she straightens up and stops. The doctor simply just grins. “Well, you’ll be happy to know that your baby girl is nice and healthy, and that she’s awake whenever you want to see her” Your face lights up, and you look over to the doctor. “Really?”
”Yep. Want me to bring her up?” You nod, before notice a warm hand gently grasping yours. You look over to notice Reca has taken to resting his hand on yours, the hand which his wedding ring rested on, a gentle reminder that you have known this man for many years, enough to build up such a strong relationship with him to the point of marriage and now, parenthood. You blush at the thought, before the doctor nods at the both of you and leaves the room. As soon as she leaves Reca’s eyesight, he leans over to kiss you on the cheek once more.
“I can’t wait for you to meet our beautiful Audrey, love.” He whispers against your cheek. Audrey. That was a name you both decided a while back. It had a nice ring to it, and Reca definitely seemed to love the name, it having a classic tone akin to that of a movie filmed on 8mm. You smile at the thought, imagining your beloved director eyeing your daughter from behind the equally 8mm thick glass that separated the two, admiring the small infant with glowing eyes. Your train of thought is interrupted when the doctor returns, holding a small child swaddled in a warm, woolen blanket. She trods over to you. “Here’s your daughter. Congratulations to the both of you.” She smiles, and slowly hands you your beloved Audrey.
She had the same Chestnut hair as Reca’s, with faint streaks of your own hair color hidden within the strands. Her eyes flutter open as you hold her, and you could see that she had also inherited his striking red eyes, albeit a lighter shade more akin to a freshly cooked shrimp, and instead of having little triangles as pupils, they were normal, like yours. Black Swan got the hint, and decided to depart to find some water for you, leaving you two to your own devices. Your heart almost stopped at seeing your daughter for the first time that day, eyes beginning to well up again, but before you can begin to cry, a warm hand caresses your cheek, using his thumb to wipe away any tears that threaten to fall. He looks at you and Audrey with nothing but pure unadulterated love in his eyes, resting his head against yours as you both admire your newborn baby girl. The thought of parenting scared you for the longest time, but only after dd Reca talk you out of your irrational fears did you begin to accept the idea But now, as you’re sitting here, infant in your arms and loving husband holding you both close, you wonder why on earth you could ever have been so worried about such a thing, because right now, you’re on cloud nine.
Time Skip: roughly a week later
Midnight. A time when most people are asleep; Including your husband, Reca, who was sound asleep on your luxurious king size bed. Yes, everyone slept peacefully that night…
…Everyone, except you, of course.
You were standing in the middle of Audrey’s nursery, trying to lull her back to sleep as she wailed relentlessly. You had no clue what she wanted, and was just trying to get her to calm down so you could rest. But she wouldn’t let up. At this point, you were scared that she would wake Reca up, and you didn’t want to wake the very man who’s already done most of the work around the house the first few days since your return home. You knew he was tired, and didn’t want to bother him. But alas, you can’t always get lucky, and things will always end the way you least expect it. You don’t even realize he’s already awake, until you feel an unexpected but familiar warmth envelop you from behind. You freeze up for a sec, only relaxing once realizing who the warmth belonged to.
“Dearest….?”He mutters into your neck, still holding you close.
A sigh leaves your mouth.”I’m sorry for waking you.”
“No apology needed, my love, and plus, it wasn’t you.” He pauses for a moment,”...You need to rest, dear. Let me take her.” He says while nuzzling your neck affectionately,
“But- ..You’ve already done so much for me these past two days..i know you must be tired.” You weakly protest.
“That is true. But you just gave birth to our daughter. That’s far more a strenuous task than simple housework, mon chéri.” He retorts, his embrace tightening slightly as you shift a bit.
You sigh once more, seemingly out of remarks to make. So, you simply sigh in defeat, turning around in his hold to face your husband. His hair was properly messy with bedhead, eyes staring affectionately into yours, arms re-adjusting to wrap around your waist and pull you into a somewhat awkward kiss, what with your daughter in the middle of the both of you. You kiss back, face heating up as you do. He pulls away, before removing his hands from you hips and reaching up to retrieve Audrey from you. You look at her one more time before hesitantly handing her over to Reca. Audrey beams in delight after he takes hold of her, calming down almost instantaneously. Your expression changes, seemingly hurt, and he’s quick to kiss you again, this time with a little more fervor. When he pulls away, he wraps his free arm around you and holds you close for a moment.
“......Why are you so much better at this than me?” You ponder aloud.”It’s almost like you’re her favorite.” He looks at you with a smile. “ Oh don’t say that, darling. You’re her mother. She’ll always love you just as much as she loves me” He nuzzles your nose before continuing,”You’re a wonderful mother. You’ve done so much for her that I cannot.” Reca finishes the thought by resting his forehead against yours, his eyes once again find your own, somber ones.”I love you, my beautiful, wonderful wife. You know that, right?” He asks; You respond with a nod.
“I do know that. I love you too, Reca.” You say, almost rhetorical. He simply smiles in return.
“I’m glad you do. Now…as for you..”He props up Audrey properly so he can look her in the eyes, “You are going to sleep if it’s the last thing i do young lady.” He lilts with a smirk. She does not respond, just sucks her binky furiously as she stares blankly at her father. “Oh, don’t give me that sass, little ma’am.” He nuzzles her, and that seems to wrestle a laugh out of Audrey, which makes you smile and giggle a bit. Reca looks over to you with a smile, happy that you’ve loosened up a bit. “Now, how about you give your mother one more kiss goodnight so she can go rest, hmm?” Audrey looks over to you, arm reaching out to hug you and give you a “kiss”, which is really just her nuzzling your face a bit, and making you kiss her stuffed rabbit instead. You wish her goodnight and Reca sneaks one last kiss from you before whispering good night to you as well, saying he’ll join you when Audrey is laid down. You step out of the room, and cuddle into the thick comforter in your bed. You feel the strength of lack-of-sleep overtake you, slowly but surely, and you doze off for a bit. You thought you felt a warmth envelop you right before you drifted, and that made you involuntarily smile, as you drifted off the sleep in Reca’s loving arms once more.
You both have a long future ahead of you;
｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ｡
ﾟ。 With Reca, you, and now, your newest little addition to the family.
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~End~