Chapter Text
Utahime looked down observantly at her son's tightly shut lids. Waiting for the newborn to open his eyes felt like waiting for the other shoe to drop — a shoe that would most certainly change things.Had his birth shifted their world once more, just like his father's had, or would he have the chance to grow up like any other child?
Squirming in her arms, the baby slowly opened his eyes to reveal... blue.
Blue. But not the same otherworldly blue as his father's had been. Instead it was a duller, darker blue that reminded Utahime of a stormy sea rather than of a clear sky.
She was aware that a shade of blue like this was common in the Gojo clan, which meant that he either inherited plain blue eyes from that side of the family or they’d darken with time to look like hers.
Either way, at least for now, the baby resembled her the most because of the dark tuft of hair on the top of his head. It was unmistakable that it was the same shade that adorned her own head. So for now, she could avoid there being any obvious signs as to who fathered her son.
“So, mama,” the nurse who had handed her now clean baby said, interrupting Utahime's thoughts. “Are you ready to sign baby's birth certificate?”
Utahime looked up at the nurse. Picking a name hadn't been a difficult affair, and she had her heart set on one for months now.
Norikiyo.
Written with the same kanji Satoru's had been, plus one that meant pure.
So much for the secrecy, Utahime thought, internally scoffing at herself for wanting the paternity of her child to be a mystery while including the idiot's kanji in the name. But since he couldn't have his father's family name, a shared kanji was the next best thing, so that he could always have his father with him in some way.
After nodding to the nurse, Utahime's attention returned to her baby. Adjusting her hospital gown in the front, she placed little Norikiyo on the area of bare skin peeking out, just like the parenting books recommended. She wanted to enjoy a small moment of quiet peace with her baby before visitors were allowed in, as she was sure her parents and Shoko were waiting to meet the baby.
She couldn’t wait to show little Norikiyo to his auntie Shoko, the only person she had divulged her baby’s paternity to. As much as she wished her friend had helped with the delivery in case something went wrong and RCT was needed, she ultimately decided to give birth in a hospital.
Eventually, after Utahime’s parents came to see their grandson — a sweet moment filled with tears and a whole lot of gushing over the baby — it was Shoko’s turn to come into the room.
“He looks like Satoru,” Shoko immediately said upon looking at the newborn.
Utahime looked back down at her baby before looking back at her friend with an incredulous look.
“What?! Don’t say that!”
“He does. Look at his face.” Shoko very lightly tapped her fingertip to Norikiyo’s chubby cheek. The baby’s eyebrows and nose slightly scrunched at the sudden touch, but he ultimately remained calm.
“He’s too little to look like anyone right now. If anything, he looks like me. He has my hair.”
“What about his eyes?”
“Not freakishly blue, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Shoko chuckled. “Can I hold him?”
“Of course.”
Utahime gently held up baby Norikiyo from his spot on her chest and handed him to her friend. The infant squirmed a little, just as he had done when he left his mother’s hold so his grandparents could hold him, but quickly calmed down.
“He is very cute,” Shoko commented, matter-of-factly. “So, how are you feeling?”
“Physically or psychologically?”
“Both.”
“Exhausted. I just pushed out a three-point-four-kilogram secret love affair baby who, according to you, looks like his dead father, when it's supposed to be a huge secret. So yeah, exhausted.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “But… I already love him and being his mom so much, so I’m also very happy.”
Shoko looked at her friend and smiled. “I still can’t believe you’re an actual mom now. I mean, you’ve always been mom-like, but now you’re the real deal.”
“Tell me about it. A nurse called me ‘mama’ earlier, and if I hadn’t been holding Norikiyo, I wouldn't have realized she was talking to me. Of course I’ve had students accidentally call me ‘mom’ before, but it being an actual title I hold now is completely different. It feels a little jarring.”
“Norikiyo, huh? Pretty name for a pretty awesome little guy. Right, Kiyo-kun?” she spoke to the baby in her arms.
“I can almost hear Satoru saying something like ‘of course he’s awesome, he’s my son,’ if he were here.” Utahime looked down at her folded hands that sat on her lap. “I miss that idiot. I… I wish he were here right now.”
Tears began streaming down Utahime’s face. She hadn’t allowed herself to cry about missing Gojo ever since she found out she was pregnant a few weeks after he died, steeling the resolve that she had to be strong for her baby.
But now, as she imagined him holding their son with a proud smile on his face, the emotions were too strong and she was too tired to keep them in check, so she let the floodgates open.
She wished he had never died.