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He woke up as soon as you left the bed, suddenly on high alert as he watched you quickly waddle to the bathroom. Maybe he was being overprotective and cautious, but you were reaching the final stretch of your pregnancy, and he was going to have to leave.
Satoru waited for a few minutes, but when the toilet flushed and he didn’t notice you or the baby’s energy move, he got up. Bare feet padded quickly, opening the door to see you bending over the sink, eyes squeezed shut as a labored breath escaped your mouth.
Lost in your pain, you didn’t notice your husband come in, jumping suddenly when a warm hand cupped your swollen belly, bringing a small ounce of relief as he gently lifted it up. “You’re up early.” You strained, speaking through clenched teeth as the pain didn’t stop like it normally did.
“Something is happening. What’s wrong?” Satoru was quick to grab one of your hands, feeling the pressure your grip was inflicting on the wooden table top.
“Nothing, just a little pain.” You lied; he could see the sweat forming on your brow as the pain only got worse. The band on your lower stomach tightened with no remorse; it had started doing this last night, but you skillfully ignored it for your husband’s sake.
“I’m calling the school, I’m not going.” He quickly decided, letting go of your hand and belly to run into your room.
“No,” You hissed, pausing for a long moment as you finally felt your muscles relax. “Toru, I’m okay, really. Let’s go back to bed, I want to hold you before you leave.”
Your movement was slow, a hand reaching for your husband's arm as you waddled around him. Satoru was wrapped around you immediately, an arm resting against your shoulders and the other behind your knees. In a swift motion, you were in his arms, your husband quickly pulling back the blankets so he could set you down.
“I’m going to call Shoko.” Satoru didn’t seem to be listening to you, the panic was easily visible on his face as he pulled his phone off the nightstand. “What are you feeling? I’ll tell her.”
“Toru, darling, I’m fine.” You still tried to convince him, but he wasn’t having it; he was frowning at you now. “I am, it’s just those practice ones Shoko told me about— Braxton Hicks, just pretend contractions.”
“What if they aren’t? Y-you’ve never done this before.” His voice was so small, almost unrecognizable, since it was coming from the strongest sorcerer. “I’m gone five days, I can’t leave you here alone this close to the baby coming.”
“Our Mochi needs to cook another three weeks; he’s not coming soon, darling.” You gently held his face, looking at his kneeling form. You weren’t getting to him; the situation was already decided for him, and there was no changing it.
“This is too much. I can’t leave you.” Satoru shook his head, unable to stay still any longer. He walked the width of the bed, hands digging through his disheveled hair. “Someone else can deal with this,” He firmly declared.
“Are you even listening to me? I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. You’re having contractions, I don’t care if they are fake. Your body wouldn’t start this if something wasn’t happening!” His phone was in his hand, white knuckles held it with a death grip. You’d never seen him this frantic in years, and you felt the tears welling in your eyes.
This was all your fault.
Unable to hide it, you felt your vision blur, losing the ability to see your husband in front of you. Opening your mouth, you were quick to apologize, everything now bursting from your falling walls. You were stopping him from working, from saving everyone. What was wrong with you?
“Darling, baby, please calm down.” Satoru’s voice called out. Warm hands found your face and pulled you over to see him. But you couldn’t with all these tears, and that just made you cry harder.
Stupid hormones.
You didn’t want him to go; you were doing so good at keeping it from him, but now it was all in the open. You were going to keep him from saving people, and they were going to die now, thanks to you. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault,” you whimpered, reaching to wrap around Satoru’s neck.
“Shh, baby, you don’t need to apologize. Nothing is your fault.” Your husband's words were so soft and sincere. His embrace was bringing so much comfort to you, and now you were going to lose it for five whole days.
“I don’t want you to go, but you have to,” You cried loudly, and your husband only grew more distraught, the decision to leave only becoming easier to make. He wasn’t going, not when you were like this.
Knowing we weren’t going to get any more sleep, he turned the lamp on, illuminating the tear stains smeared on your glowing cheeks. Even like this, he couldn’t help but smile, his heart fluttering with love.
“I won’t go, honey, I promise. I’m going to step out and call some people, I’ll be right back,” he squeezed your hand, gently brushing across your knuckles with his thumb. “Is that okay?” He asked, not pulling away until he heard it from you.
“Don’t be too long,” You softly said with a wobble on your lips, hesitating to pull away. But Satoru leaned forward and kissed both of your cheeks.
“I won’t be gone longer than a second; that’s a promise, my darling.”
~~~
The Braxton Hicks in the end were false, but that didn’t stop your husband from being glued to your side. Anything you might have wanted he got for you, even to go to the bathroom he carried you there. You were spoiled, but you didn’t care.
Eventually, the bliss of his company had to come to an end. Instead of reassigning his last mission, they just postponed it, not accepting any further excuses from Satoru. It was final, and he was going this time.
You were better equipped for it this time around, thankfully with minimal pain, but that was traded for the new frequency. It was nothing in comparison with last week's episode, so Satoru was easily persuaded, even though he would rather chop his foot off than leave.
“I’ll be okay, I promise. Shoko said I’m okay.” You said, blinking back tears, but you excused them for your still out-of-whack hormones. “Mochi is feeling great, he’s lovingly pressed against my ribs and kicking my kidney as we speak.”
“I’ll be quick, okay, you won’t even notice I’m gone.” Satoru was strained, his hands not able to pull away from you. His car was there to pick him up, he felt his phone call for the fifth time. “I love you,” He pressed a soft kiss to your lips, “and you too, be good for mommy.” He tenderly held your stomach, pressing a soft kiss to the side.
“We love you too, come back safe.” You always told him, even if you knew he would. Something about saying that always made you feel better.
“I will, darling.” He finally moved away, pushing his blindfold up his face. This was going to be a hard week.
~~~
There was a knock on the door that pulled you from your nap, You weren’t expecting anyone this afternoon, so confusion took over. With a long sigh, you started to rock back and forth, trying to gain whatever momentum you could to fight your losing battle against gravity. And to make it worse, you heard the knock again.
Fucking wait a minute!
Finally on your feet, you walked as quickly as your swollen 37-week-old pregnancy feet could take you. So not fast. But you were almost there when a sharp pain toppled you, folding you like a chair as you frantically tried to find the wall to hold.
“Shit!” You felt the air leave your lungs as your stomach tightened. Your little Mochi was sitting lower now, you could feel him resting snugly against your bladder. Something was different about these, they hurt a lot more than the old ones.
“Mom?” You looked up quickly, finding Megumi at the end of the hall looking wide-eyed and panicked. “Are you okay?”
You nodded, dropping your head back to the ground before pushing yourself up, but there were more than just Megumi’s hands on you.
“Is the baby coming?” Yuuji’s panicked voice sounded in your right ear.
“You dumbass there’s still two more weeks before her due date!” Nobara hissed beside you.
“Just shut up!” Megumi quickly snapped, You could hear how distraught your son was, his voice shaking and so were his hands. Gently covering them with your own, you squeezed.
“He was just moving, I’m perfectly okay. He’s running out of room, so it hurts a little more.” You put on your best smile. It was half a lie, but the last thing you wanted was to panic your son and his friends. But why were they here?
“I didn’t know you were coming tonight. I would have made us dinner. I’m sorry, guys,” you softly pouted. “Let me make something quickly.”
“Don’t!” All three exclaimed, holding you in place.
“We brought food from that Thai place you like,” Megumi explained to you, practically glued to your side like he did when he was a kid. “And Yuuji brought some movies you might want to watch.”
“You didn’t need to do all that lovely’s.” Your heart swelled, and all the kids beamed at you. “Thank you all, let’s not let the food get cold.” Your son was excitedly kicking your ribs as you spoke, so you tried to hurry.
“I got it, Please sit down.” Megumi cut you off when you went to pick up the bag. He was going to walk away quickly if it wasn’t for your arms wrapping around him.
“Thank you, honey, but you don’t need to worry. I’m sure Toru texted you, but I’m fine.” Judging by the way he froze when you mentioned his dad, you knew your inkling was true.
“We’re just worried,” He mumbled, not daring to look at you for a long moment. You’d know what’s wrong otherwise. “I just don’t want something to happen.” When he finally looked up, and you understood what he was referring to, he was worried you’d end up like his sister or worse.
“I’ll be okay, I promise.” You squeezed him tight, trying not to cry over how big he was. What happened to that little boy Satoru brought home? How did he get so big in the blink of an eye?
But that thought was thrown away when Yuuji called for you. “What movie do you want to watch?” He asked, holding up all your options. You felt Megumi escape before you could say anything else, so you waddled over to the other boy.
“Not that one.” You cringed thinking about when Satoru made you watch the first Human Earthworm. “How about you pick something funny?” You ruffled his hair and scooted around him to get the blankets from the closet, but Nobara was already there.
“Sit!” She pointed to the already prepared spot for you. You gave up trying to fight them and listened, waiting for them to come join you.
Yuuji got the movie set up, Nobara tucked the blankets around you, and your son came out moments later with your food and something to drink. Guess you do get spoiled when your husband is gone.
“You guys are so sweet.” You smiled, excited to dig in. Not knowing how much your husband bribed these kids, you ended up having to assume a lot. They brought all your favorite pillows and extra blankets, they even lifted your legs to put the footrest on it.
You couldn’t help but happily sigh; all of this would have been perfect if it wasn’t for your son pushing uncomfortably against your lower pelvis. But you were determined to spite him and enjoy these simple moments before chaos most likely rained down after producing the Gojo heir.
The dawning realization of having to see your father-in-law soon was an awful one, you just prayed your husband could continue to fight off the clan like he did during your pregnancy. Thankfully, your son stopped all those thoughts with a swift kick to your bladder.
Emergency time.
Setting the plate down, you grunted and scooted, trying to get to the edge of the seat to stand. The first years were busy getting their own food, so at least they didn’t have to see you struggle, looking somewhat like a beached whale or a flipped turtle. With each passing moment, you feel your son punch your bladder over and over. Looks like someone is going to master black flash on your poor organs.
“I’m going to pee,” you told the kids, knowing they’d worry if they found you missing. But a loud clamor of feet made you look to see them in the doorway, the boys' pointy elbows digging into Nobara’s side. “Alone,” you now feel like you had to reiterate.
“Oh, thank god!” Nobara ran past the boys to get her food. “No mall trip was going to save me from that embarrassment.”
“Be nice! Gojo sensei is really worried.” Yuuji followed her, but Megumi lingered.
“I’m fine, honey. Your dad doesn’t know what he’s talking about. This baby is staying here if it’s the last thing I do.” You waved your hands at him and waddled off.
As you walked, you did think how nice it would have been to have your husband around, your stomach now feeling heavy as the baby moved lower with no care about your poor back. And maybe it was the low-sitting baby that caused another pain, once again sending you frantically in search of the bathroom counter.
“Fuck!” You hissed, your free hand holding your stomach tight as you tried to breathe through this but it felt like the air was sucked out of the room leaving you with this unbearable feeling. These practice contractions were getting out of hand, fuck this.
After what felt like an eternity, the pain subsided, the muscles finally relaxing enough for you to sit down on the side of the bath. God, a bath sounded so nice, but you had little faith in your ability to get back out. That was going to be the first thing you did when your husband got back.
Finishing what you came here to do, you finally came back out to the kids. Ignoring how worried they looked, you had three egg rolls calling your name.
“Let’s start. Surprisingly, Toru hasn’t made me watch this yet.” You tried to avoid the obvious elephant, only hooking one of them.
“I think you’ll like it!” Yuuji beamed, “Megumi and I watched it last night!” Immediately, the other boy became bright red, trying to hide behind his box of pad thai.
“You two are gross,” Nobara huffed beside you, and you laughed. At least there wasn’t going to be a shortage of shenanigans tonight.
The Furby: how are thingsss 🧍♀️
You: My bladder is public enemy #1 for your lovely son
You: but otherwise fine,,, thank you for the egg rolls, how’d you know?
The Furby: you’ve been my wife for almost a decade, I’d be ashamed to not know your love for egg rolls rivals your love for me
You: you’re right. I hardly miss you now
The Furby: (¬､¬)
The Furby: take that back right now
You: no
The Furby: I’m canceling the order of crepes headed your way
You: I’ll divorce you
You didn’t get to see his response before you felt another urge to pee. Here we go again, you lasted a whole twenty minutes; that must have been a new record. Huffing again, you wiggled out of the nest the kids put you in.
There were a lot of murmurs around you before Yuuji shot up and gently offered his help. He was a sweet boy, so obviously, you couldn’t say no. Taking his hand, he gently counted and lifted, successfully getting you to your feet with no ounce of effort crossing his face.
“Thank you—” Oh shit, you felt your bladder pressure relieve itself, no no no! Universe why? Not on the poor kid, that was humiliating enough— why was there so much? Fuck! Why did that hurt?
Yuuji was unable to step away, suddenly locked in a death grip as pain flared around your stomach and back, causing you to cry out loudly.
“What did you do?!” Nobara screamed beside you, feet flying from the floor as a puddle soaked you and Yuuji.
“Mom?” Megumi was flying from his seat, looking down in horror as you writhed in pain and stood in, “Blood! You’re bleeding!” He stood in shock.
“Shoko,” you hissed, crying out again, “call Shoko,” but no one moved, shooting each other glances over your head. “I know this is scary— but seriously, call Shoko!” You were growing agitated, snapping at the poor kids.
“She just left for Kyoto,” Yuuji spoke up, practically whimpering at the confession. “There’s a new kid they found that has a reversal technique, so she’s training them.”
“Megumi, dad, call…” You trailed off as you tried to think through this pain, but nothing was coming to you. Shit when was this one going to stop.
“Megumi, snap out of it!” Yuuji wanted to touch him, but there was no way he could escape your grip. “Nobara, do something!”
“I’m just going to call Shoko, she can tell us what to do!” She went rushing from the room, hand covering her mouth as she obviously tried not to get sick.
“I need to sit.” You broke away from Yuuji and fell back down into your chair, not caring that you had soaked it. Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck, you felt tears welling in your eyes. He’s not here, this can’t be happening when he’s not here. This baby wasn’t supposed to come yet, so why was this happening?
“Dad!” Megumi’s panicked words broke you from your spell, looking at your youngest as he shook. Next to him was Yuuji, the poor kid looking conflicted about who to help. “Baby,” Megumi could scarcely get out. “Now, baby, now.”
“Shoko said—” Nobara screamed, causing everyone to jump. You weren’t even able to look up to see what was causing her to do that, firm hands were on your stomach and shoulder.
“Toru, he’s early!” You didn’t even need to look up to know it was your husband. The tears you wanted to hide from the kids came flowing out. You held his arms tightly when you tried to speak again, but the pain came back.
“Honey, hey!” Satoru was alarmed by the pressure you exerted on him, but he dealt with it. “Breath, you need to breathe through it.” He pressed his nose to your cheek, gently coaxing you with his honeyed words. “He’s just so excited to see us, yeah? He couldn’t wait to meet his beautiful mama.” he kissed your sweaty hair. “And we’re so excited, right?”
“Y-yes,” you hissed, but you tried to take a labored breath with him. He cooed softly, a short laugh leaving his lips.
“You’re doing so good, baby. Give it a few more seconds, and it will stop,” your husband promised, gently rubbing your neck with his thumb, waiting for the tension to subside. When it finally did, he took a small step back and looked at the kids.
Nobara still had the phone, he could hear Shoko yelling for someone to answer her on the other end. He was going to deal with that in a minute, but for now, he turned to the boys, Megumi being the top of his priority.
“Hey, it’s fine, Megs.” he begrudgingly took a step away from you, gently wrapping his arms around his shoulders. “You’re going to meet your little brother, and it will be just fine.” But his words didn’t seem to be reaching him, he looked sickly and almost green. “Yuuji, take him on the balcony.”
“No, I don’t want to leave Mom,” Megumi tried to say confidently, but his voice was shaking. Satoru looked at the other boy, and he just nodded, gently pushing his friend out with little resistance.
“I’ll be okay,” you confirmed, finally able to breathe now that the contraction had subsided.
“Gojo, Shoko—”
Everyone could hear her snap on the other side of the line, something about castrating him to prevent future heirs if he didn’t tell her what was happening that instant.
“Her water broke,” Satoru told her, unable to stop the smile on his face. He was scared shitless if he was honest, but the baby was coming.
“And we are sure it’s not pee?” she asked, sounding like she was in a rush on the other side.
“Yes, there’s some blood, it looks like.” Satoru relayed the scene he saw in front of him.
“Take her to the bathroom and make sure she’s not actively bleeding. I have a train in an hour back to Tokyo, I’ll be there as quickly as I can.” Shoko explained to him. “Also time the contractions. Do you remember what I told you?”
“Yes, minute long, less than five minutes in between, and if she does that for more than two hours, we have a baby coming soon.” Satoru proudly stated. “I’m stupid, but I’m not dumb—”
“Ask how long it’s been.”
“Honey, how much time is between the contractions?” Satoru softly asked, but you just reached for the phone.
“About fifteen to twenty minutes,” You told her, trying your best not to shake.
“You’re a ways off then, hon. Okay. Have Satoru get you the things we talked about to help you relax; movement is your friend. If anything changes or you think you need to go to the hospital, just go. I’ll be there as quickly as possible.” Shoko quickly ranted, “You’re going to do great.”
“Thank you, I’ll see you soon.”
“Yoga ball time!” Satoru sang, wasting no time to gently help you up. “Let’s get this baby out!”
~~~
A shrill cry silenced the room, the baby announcing to the world that he had arrived, all the air he had in his lungs immediately being spent. You felt your husband's hands tense on your shoulder as he looked at the alien-looking thing in Shoko’s grasp. If you had the strength, you would have looked to see the tears in his eyes and the smile on his face, but you were already enamored with the baby in front of you.
“Here he is, a healthy boy.” Shoko smiled at the two of you, but she was ignored as the baby’s parents poured every ounce of attention into him.
He softly cried against you, but your arms reached around him, gently embracing your baby as tears came flooding out. Relief and love bloomed in your chest as you looked down at him, facing his head of white hair. Just like his dad.
“Toru, look,” you couldn’t help but cry, looking at your husband as if he hadn’t been glued to your son the moment he saw him.
“He’s beautiful baby, fuck look at him,” Satoru took his eyes off him for a short moment, he needed to thank the woman that made this all possible. “Thank you, thank you, baby, thank you,” he chanted like a prayer as he pressed kiss after kiss to your forehead.
Shoko smiled at the parents, allowing them a few more moments before she stepped in. “I’m going to take him just for a moment to clean him off. Dad, would you like to cut the umbilical cord?” She asked, waiting to take the baby, sensing the hesitation from you. Satoru nodded like a madman, stepping forward to help with his baby.
With the cord cut, they helped you deliver the afterbirth, everyone laughing as you cursed with relief once it was out. While they weighed the baby, you let yourself finally relax for the first time in days, Satoru at your side the entire time.
“I’m so proud of you, I love you so much.” He gently whispered in your ear, not wishing to bother you too much, but it needed to be said. He was so overwhelmed by your mere presence, remembering the last time he felt like this was when they adopted their first two kids.
“I love you too,” you were barely able to slur as your head fell into the pillows. Instantaneously, you felt his gentle hands cup your head, his thumb brushing your messy hair from your face.
“Here he is. Are you okay to hold him, hon?” Shoko came back gently asking, but as much as you wanted to, you had to say no, gently reaching for your husband.
The strongest seemed to freeze, his mind never really preparing himself for this moment. He looked nervous down at his son, his white hair now standing in stark contrast with the rest of him and the gentle reminder that this baby was his.
“Okay,” He said timidly, but Shoko helped him, making him look like a natural. “Look!” He giggled, gently bouncing the bundle. You smiled, gently rubbing the baby’s tummy.
“You are lucky he came early; he’s the biggest baby I’ve ever delivered.” She looked exasperated, but then again, she looked at your husband and couldn’t be that surprised.
“And you were worried he wasn’t ready!” Satoru softly jokes, feeling confident enough to take one of his hands off so he could rub his son’s chubby cheek.
“We need a name still,” you softly murmured, straining your neck to see him again. Thankfully, he was brought down to your level, and you couldn’t help but frown. “My genes didn’t even try.” Satoru just laughed.
“What about Haku?”
When he didn’t say anything, you looked up, worried, was it that bad? Instead, you found tears in his eyes and a huge grin on his face.
“I think that’s perfect, my little Haku,” he cooed, and the baby let out a loud cry. “I think he likes it.”
“Why don’t you go tell everyone?” You smiled, realizing everyone was still waiting for your son’s arrival in Shoko’s office. Megumi was surely moments from passing out from worry.
He just nodded, kissing the top of your head and then the baby’s cheek. Stepping out, it didn’t take long before you could hear him announce his son. Meanwhile, you looked down at him, coming face to face with his father's eyes,
“You’re going to be so special, my little Haku,” you whispered, kissing him softly.