Ken felt his heart beating wildly in his chest as he was led through the winding halls of the hospital to the birthing suite. As he entered the spacious room, his eyes moved to the hospital bed where his beautiful wife was waiting.
"Ai!" he called out, rushing past the nurse who had led him this far.
He grabbed her hands, bringing them up to his mouth and kissing them, "Sorry I'm late, I rushed over as fast as I could." He explained.
Ai smiled softly and shook her head, "You're here in time, that's all that matters."
Ken who was still in his Ligers uniform, stuck out like a sore thumb. Even if the hospital staff had not known his identity as a baseball player before, they sure knew now. After all, how many other civilians were 6'6 and dressed in full baseball gear?
"How are you feeling? Does it hurt?" Ken asked worriedly, his hand gently resting upon her bulging belly.
"Mmm, it hurts a bit but I'm okay now." She said, reassuring him.
Naomi stood up and bowed slightly towards Ken before heading towards the door.
"Naomi, thank you for taking care of her when I couldn't." Ken intercepted her and said his thanks.
"You don't need to thank me for looking after my daughter," she said softly, "But I'll leave this next part to you. Keep her safe okay?"
Ken nodded, bowing deeper in response, "Leave it to me."
Ai said her goodbyes to her mother and soon it was just the two of them and an excited midwife who couldn't keep her eyes off Ken. It was to the point where even through her pain, Ai couldn't help but notice.
Being hypersensitive at this moment, Ken realized what was happening. He pat Ai's hand and turned, deciding to say some words to the midwife.
"Hey, I'd be happy to sign some stuff for you a little later if we can focus on delivering my children right now. Would that be okay?" He asked, trying to sound calm.
The midwife's face faltered, as if she'd just realized her rudeness.
"I'm so sorry! That was so unprofessional of me." She said, feeling embarrassed.
She walked over and apologized to Ai directly, thankfully defusing the situation.
"Argh!" Ai grunted in the next moment, a sign that the next set of contractions had started.
The midwife retrieved a stopwatch from her pocket and began to time it. When they were done, she recorded the time on the sheet and started the stopwatch again.
"What are you writing down?" Ken asked, his worry evident.
"I'm timing how long the contractions go for and how far apart they are. We use this and cervical dilation to monitor when its show time." She explained patiently to him.
Of course Ken knew these terms, he had studied for this exact moment. However, the more he read, the more nervous he got. For some reason, every medical text he'd read would always explain the complications that could arise at each stage.
This was not good for his mental health, so he had stopped before fully understanding the process.
"So when dilation gets to 10 centimeters, its time to deliver?" he asked.
She looked pleasantly surprised and nodded, "Correct. Someone has been doing their research."
After some back and forth, Ken pulled up a chair and sat beside his wife, holding her hand. From this point onward it was a waiting game. All he could do was support Ai in this moment, silently praying that everything would go smoothly.
The contractions began to go for longer and more frequently in the next 3 hours. With every set of contractions, the pain seemed to increase for Ai who had been doing her best to keep calm.
Ken's fingers were pale and began to tingle from lack of circulation thanks to Ai's grip. However, he didn't utter a word of complaint, not when his wife was experiencing far more pain than he could fathom.
"You look so beautiful, you're literally glowing." Ken said, kissing her hand.
Ai looked at him suspiciously, letting out a breathy sigh, "I look like a cow right now…" she replied.
"Hey! Don't say that about my beautiful wife." Ken said playfully.
The moment was touching, but it was quickly ruined by the midwife who interrupted them for the next cervical examination. The two sat beside each other and waited for the results.
"Would you look at that, it seems we're ready to go." The midwife raised her head and smiled, taking off her gloves.
Hearing that the time was approaching, both Ken and Ai's nerves became even more frayed. Though a big part of them couldn't wait for everything to be over.
"We confirmed that your twins are both in the right position for birth, so the stage is set. Listen to your body and push when it feels like you need to, I'll be here to coach you through it okay?"
Both Ken and Ai nodded, even though the instruction was only for the latter.
"Now, get into a position where you feel comfortable. You can lay on your back or side, or if you want to stand up and lean over the bed, that is also okay." The midwife stated.
"Oh, don't worry. I've never dropped a baby in my life," she assured them, "well… a newborn baby anyway."
Both Ai and Ken shared a look, wordlessly deciding to stay laying on her back.
"Alright, well let's do this team." The nurse clapped her hands together before going and grabbing a fresh set of gloves.
Not long later, the biggest set of contractions came, making the others look like a joke. Ai couldn't help but let out a grunt of pain, squeezing Ken's hand even tighter.
"Control your breathing and push when your body tells you to." The midwife said, her voice calm and in control.
"You can do this baby, I'm right here." Ken said, bringing her hands to his mouth and kissing them.