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“I’m pregnant.”
It takes approximately fifteen seconds for Kei to make sense of the words.
“You’re…” he starts, eyebrows drawing together. “You’re pregnant?"
Tadashi’s eyes shoot down to where his hands are folded in his lap, his legs crossed together where he sits on his shitty, too-small dorm bed. He chews on his bottom lip like he always does when he’s nervous before looking back up to meet Kei’s eyes.
He nods.
A breath whooshes out of Kei’s lungs, and he stands up from his end of the bed, starting to pace back and forth in front of it. The room is too small for him to take more than three steps in either direction, so after only a couple laps, he throws in the towel and turns back to face Tadashi.
“Are you sure?” he asks.
Tadashi nods again. “Yes. I took the test this morning.”
“You should take another.”
“I took three.”
Oh fuck. One test could be a false positive. But three?
“I’ve been feeling kinda… weird since my last heat, so I figured I’d take one just to check,” he continues. “And…” Tadashi lets out an awkward laugh. “And here we are.”
Kei begins to pace again, even if the dorm design makes it impractical.
“Tsukki,” Tadashi says, pulling up onto his knees and reaching forward to grab Kei’s hand and stop him. “Say something. Please.”
Kei turns to look at him. Tadashi’s cheeks are flushed pink, and his eyes look shiny like he’s on the verge of tears. His grip on Kei’s hand is tight, but his fingers feel slippery with sweat. There’s a sort of feral nervousness in his expression that makes the alpha side of Kei want to comfort him. That or destroy whatever it is that's causing him distress.
Instead, what comes out of Kei’s mouth is, “You weren’t supposed to get pregnant.”
Tadashi drops his hand, sitting back again. “I know.”
“We still have a semester of college left.”
“I know.”
“We’re not even mated yet.”
“I know.”
“We’ve been careful for years. We fuck up one time, and this happens?”
“I know.”
Kei makes a small grumbling noise, raking a hand through his hair. Tadashi is still struggling to meet his eyes, fiddling with his own hands to occupy himself. He looks upset. He looks scared. Both appropriate reactions to this, Kei figures. And not so far off from how Kei’s feeling.
“You have to get an abortion.”
Now, Tadashi looks up to meet his gaze.
His lips drop open, but then he closes them, grinding his teeth. He opens them again.
“No,” he says.
What?
“What?” Kei asks out loud.
“I—I don't want to get an abortion.”
What? Kei thinks again.
“Why not?”
Slowly, Tadashi’s hands come to rest on his stomach. This time, when he looks up to meet Kei’s eyes, his own look fierce.
“I just don't want to, okay?”
“So let me get this straight.” Kei crosses his arms in front of his chest. “You want to have a baby at twenty-two before we're even mated or married. You want to derail both of our futures. You want to ruin our lives when there's another, perfectly good option here?”
Tadashi’s eyes narrow, his cheeks turning even pinker. “Ruin our lives? You think having a baby with me will ruin your life?”
“You know that's not what I meant.”
“Well then what did you mean, Kei?” He stands up off the bed as well, staring angrily up at Kei from only a foot away.
“I mean that this isn't what we wanted. Or what we planned. And it doesn't have to happen. There's no reason we have to go through with this.”
“Well maybe I want to go through with it. Have you considered that?” Tadashi’s voice is rising now.
“Yeah? Well maybe I don't. And don't I at least get some say in this?”
“You're not the one growing a fucking human life inside of you, so no!” This time, his words decidedly come out as a shout. “If you don't want this, you don't have to be involved.”
Again, Kei finds himself saying, “What?”
“If you don't want this baby, then fine. It'll be mine. Not yours. You can get the fuck out.”
“Tadashi—” Kei starts, but Tadashi is already heading for the door, pulling it open.
“Leave, Tsukishima,” he says, his voice suddenly ice-cold and frighteningly calm. It makes Kei’s blood boil. He knows he's handling this badly. Of course he does. But he also doesn't know how he's supposed to be handling it.
“Fine,” he bites out through his teeth. He stomps out the door, and Tadashi slams it closed behind him.
Kei makes it halfway down the hallway before collapsing against the wall, pulling his knees to his chest and sinking down to the floor. He buries his head in his hands, and for the first time in as long as he can remember, Kei begins to cry.
Tadashi’s Heat
“Tsukki,” Tadashi groans out, grinding his hips backwards and burying his face deeper in the pillow.
“Yeah. Yeah, omega. Come on. Come on my cock,” Kei says, fingers digging so tight into Tadashi’s waist that it'll be a miracle if there aren't bruises there tomorrow. As it is, he’s already covered in marks—deep, purple hickies paint him from head to toe, and red scratch marks line his back and shoulders.
They're on day five of Tadashi’s heat, and things are starting to come to a head like they always do at the end. Soon, his heat will break, but now, they're more desperate than ever.
“So close,” Tadashi gasps. “‘M so close, Tsukki.”
Kei is close as well. He wants Tadashi to finish before him, but he's not sure how much longer he can hold on. Nothing turns him on more than his omega so beautifully bouncing back on his cock and begging for it. It won't be long before he hurtles over the edge.
He just needs to push Tadashi there first.
He brings a hand down hard on the side of Tadashi’s ass, knowing the mix of pain and pleasure will get him there faster, and sure enough, Tadashi whines and starts to push his hips back even faster.
“Come on, baby,” Kei says firmly, smacking him one more time. “You can do it. Come on, pretty boy. Come for me.”
Tadashi moans so loud it's nearly a scream. “I’m—I’m gonna—I’m gonna—”
And then right before he can come, Kei feels a snap and hears a popping noise.
“Oh fuck,” he says, starting to slide out of Tadashi’s ass. “The condom broke.”
Tadashi nearly sobs when Kei pulls out, trying to push backwards and chase the fullness, but Kei stops him with a hand to his hip.
“Give me two seconds. Let me get a new one.”
Tadashi whimpers and pleads the whole time Kei is scrambling for the discarded box of condoms they left on the floor. Finally, his fingers close around it, and he pulls it open, sticking his hand inside and fumbling around. He comes up empty.
“Oh fuck,” he says again. “We're out of condoms.”
Tadashi whines so loudly it's a miracle the walls don't shake. “Need you back inside,” he slurs out. “Need you, alpha. I can't take it. I need it.”
“Baby, I can't fuck you without a condom.”
Not anymore, at least. This is Tadashi’s first heat since high school without being on birth control, which means it's their first heat together having to use condoms. But the birth control had been causing more harm than good for Tadashi’s hormones recently, and his doctor suggested he come off of it for at least a little while. Kei’s been mourning the loss of being able to fuck him raw and come inside of him, but using the condoms is a worthwhile trade if being off birth control makes Tadashi feel better.
But this is an unforeseen complication.
They'd bought a whole box of condoms right before his heat, but clearly they'd underestimated how many they'd need. And now they're paying the price.
“Please, please, please, please, please,” Tadashi starts to beg.
“Tadashi—”
“I don't care!” he practically shouts, pushing his hips back again. The tip of Kei's cock barely catches on his rim, and it forces a hiss from his lips. “I—I can't—I need—”
“It's a bad idea,” Kei says with a gasp, but he can't help the way his hips start to grind forward, the tip of his bare cock close to pushing inside.
“Don't care,” Tadashi repeats breathlessly.
Frankly, Kei is starting to not care as well. They're almost at the end. This will probably be the last time they fuck. And really, what are the chances that Tadashi gets pregnant from one fuck without a condom?
“Please,” Tadashi repeats. “Please, Kei.”
He can't fight it. Kei needs to be inside him just as much as Tadashi needs him inside. Hands back on his hips, Kei pushes forward again, this time finally popping the head of his cock inside. Tadashi practically screams again, and a long groan leaves Kei’s throat.
He forgot how good it feels to fuck Tadashi bare like this. In theory, it shouldn't feel that different, and sensationally, it doesn't really. It's the mental element that makes it so much better. It's the feral, alpha part of Kei that wants to claim, to own, and to breed that sighs in pleasure at the feeling of Tadashi’s tight walls squeezing around his uncovered cock.
Kei snakes a hand around to grab Tadashi’s cock, starting to stroke it in time with his thrusts, and it only takes a couple of good pulls before Tadashi is shouting out and coming in his fist. He barely produces any cum with how many orgasms he's had in the last few days, but the way his hole tightens around Kei’s cock as he finishes pushes Kei over the edge as well. With a shout of his own, he empties himself inside of Tadashi, his knot popping into place and locking them together.
They stay like that for the few minutes it takes for his knot to deflate, Kei’s knees starting to go sore while Tadashi slumps with his ass in the air and face in the pillow like a fucked-out ragdoll. Kei isn't even entirely sure he's still conscious. Finally, when his knot goes down, Kei spreads Tadashi’s ass apart to pull out, and watches with heavy breaths as his hole flutters and cum drips out of it.
Good, he thinks. That's how it's supposed to be.
But he wasn't supposed to get pregnant. The odds were in their favor. Because, really, what were the chances?
But neither of them have ever been so lucky.
Present Day
Kei gives himself thirty minutes to get it under control before calling for help.
The phone rings where it’s pressed up against his ear. For a second, he thinks no one will pick up, but just before it can go to voicemail, there’s a click and then a voice saying, “Hey, man! What’s going on?”
“Yamaguchi is pregnant.”
There is a very long, very unpleasant pause.
“He’s what?” Kuroo shouts.
“He’s pregnant.”
“Holy fucking shit, man.” Kei can practically hear Kuroo running his hands through his messy head of hair. “And it’s yours?”
“Yes, it’s fucking mine,” Kei hisses. “Obviously.”
“Just checking!” Kuroo lets out an exhale. “I mean, how did this even happen? I thought you guys were being careful.”
“We were. And then we weren’t careful for about five minutes at the end of his last heat and this happened.”
“Fucking shit,” Kuroo repeats. “What are you guys going to do?”
“I told him he has to get an abortion, of course.”
There's another very long, very unpleasant pause. Then, Kuroo says, “You told him what?”
“That he has to get an abortion.”
“You— Wait, take a step back,” Kuroo says. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Kei sighs, taking off his glasses to rub at his eyes. “He told me he was pregnant. I told him he has to get an abortion. He said no. Then he said I didn't have to be involved and kicked me out of the room.” Kei stops for a second, then adds, “I think he might have broken up with me.”
“Tadashi broke up with you?”
“I think so.”
Once again, Kuroo pauses, then finally, he lets out a surprisingly loud laugh. Kei pulls the phone back from the ear instinctively.
“Ah, man,” Kuroo says. “You fucked up. I mean, you seriously fucked up.”
“What? How?”
“Your omega told you he was pregnant, and you didn't even ask him what he wanted. You just told him what he had to do.”
“Well, this is obviously the right—”
“There's no obviously. This is not something you get to decide for him. And I'm sure he was terrified to tell you and you reacting the way you did didn’t help anything.”
“How do you know how I reacted?”
“Because I know you.” Kuroo laughs again. “He needed you to comfort him. Be there for him. And instead I'm sure you panicked and gave him shit. And then you left.”
“He kicked me out!”
“And you shouldn't have left no matter what. You should have stayed with him even if he told you to leave.”
Kei makes an indeterminate, grumbling noise. He has a feeling Kuroo is onto something, but he doesn't want to admit it. He still thinks he was right: Tadashi should be getting an abortion. But maybe he reacted badly. Maybe he should have been softer. Maybe he shouldn't have left.
“I'm just fucking scared, okay?” Kei finally admits, feeling his cheeks heat up. He hates showing weakness like this. “I'm scared and I don't think having this baby is the right choice.”
“Yeah, but it's his body. Your opinion isn't the only one that matters here.”
“So what if it was you and Kenma? You'd just be okay with it?”
There's a moment of silence, then Kuroo says, “Yeah, I’d probably be scared as fuck too. And I'd want Kenma to have talked to me about it before making a final decision. But I love him and I want to be with him no matter what. So I'd support him and we'd figure it out.” Another pause. Then, “You just have to decide what's important to you here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, do you want to be with him? Like, for the long haul? For real? Because you've been together, like, forever, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to stay together forever.”
The answer is instant: “Of course I want to be with him forever.”
“And if he has this baby, do you want to be involved? Or could you be okay with stepping aside? Not having anything to do with it?”
This one is a bit harder, but finally, Kei comes to a decision: “I would want to be involved. I wouldn't want some kid of mine running around without me in its life. Thinking I… That I didn’t want it.”
“Even if you didn't at first?”
“Even then.”
“Okay,” Kuroo says. “Then I think this is pretty easy.”
“Yeah,” Kei exhales. “I guess it kind of is.”
“You've gotta apologize though. Like, grovel.”
Kei groans, rubbing at his eyes again. “Yeah, I know.”
“It’ll be okay, Tsukki. You guys don't have to do this alone. You've got people.”
Kei knows that Kuroo is right. Their families will be shocked and freaked out, but they'll want to be involved. And their friends will be there also. Kuroo and Kenma, Bokuto and Akaashi, and, of course, their old teammates. They'll have a support system. People rooting for them.
“Thank you, Kuroo.”
Kei can practically hear the smile in Kuroo’s voice as he replies, “Anytime. Go get your man.”
***
Kei gives it another two days before returning to Tadashi. He needs the time to really think, and to get his thoughts fully together.
He's still upset. He still doesn't really think they're ready. But he understands how much he hurt Tadashi by acting the way he did. He wants to fix it.
And most of all, he's knows that what Kuroo helped him figure out is the important part. Even if Kei doesn't think it's a good idea, he wants to be part of this. If Tadashi is set on having this baby, Kei wants to be part of its life. And he wants to be part of Tadashi’s still. Always.
He isn't sure Tadashi will answer when he knocks on his door, but after nearly thirty seconds, he does.
Honestly, he looks like a wreck. His cheeks are ruddy, and his eyes are bloodshot and swollen like he's been crying nonstop. His lips look red and bitten, and his hair is so messy that it's clear he hasn't showered in days.
When he sees Kei on the other side of the door, he slams it closed.
Kei probably deserves that.
“Tadashi,” he says, hand pressed to the door. “I know you're upset. Please talk to me. Please let me apologize.”
Finally, the door opens just a sliver.
“You want to apologize?” he whispers.
Kei nods. “Yes.”
Tadashi pulls the door open fully and lets Kei inside, stepping back to sit cross-legged again on his bed. Kei shuts the door and stands against it, hands balled into nervous fists at his sides.
“Go on then,” Tadashi prompts.
“I'm sorry,” Kei says first, “for how I acted. How I responded.”
“Okay.”
“I was caught off guard. And scared. But it wasn't fair to you.”
“Okay.”
“And I love you,” Kei says, because he hasn't said it yet, and he didn't say it last time. And he needs Tadashi to know. “I love you, and if what you want is to have this baby, then I will support you. I will help you and we can raise it together. I just—” He crosses to the bed, crouching down in front of it and taking Tadashi’s hands in his. “I just want you to be happy. And I want to be with you. Always.”
Tadashi’s bottom lip quivers, and with a sob, he throws himself into Kei’s arms.
“I love you too,” he cries out. “I love you and I'm sorry. I'm sorry this happened. It's all my fault.”
Kei pulls back enough to look at him. “How is it your fault?”
“I begged you to fuck me without a condom.”
“Yeah, and I did it, so it's both of our faults, really.”
That startles a small, hiccupy laugh out of Tadashi, and he wipes at his eyes. Kei takes his hands again.
“Tadashi, are you sure this is what you want?” he asks, because he has to. He needs him to be really sure.
“I—I know it's stupid,” Tadashi replies after a beat. “I know we're young and not mated and all of those things. And, believe me, I know that abortion is a great option and it's great that we live in a world that recognizes that and lets me have a choice. But I…” His hands come down to rest on his stomach again. “But now that I know it's here… I just don’t want to get rid of it. I know it'll be hard and scary, but I want it. Even if it's not the way things should have gone.”
“It is going to be hard and scary,” Kei says, because it is.
“But I think we can do it. If anyone can, it's us.”
And even though he's scared shitless, Kei has to agree.
***
The first doctor’s appointment is a test of their resolve. The office’s lights are overly-bright, and it smells strongly of chemicals that make Kei want to wrinkle his nose. The doctor makes him nervous in a way doctors so often do, and Tadashi looks green the entire time. But finally, they exit the office with a due date and a scheduled next appointment and a bunch of random vitamins that Kei is sure as fuck going to make sure Tadashi actually takes.
(He's going to be difficult about it. Kei knows he will.)
Telling their families is no a walk in the park either. Tadashi’s parents do a valiant job of trying to convince him to get an abortion also. But Tadashi sticks to his guns, and Kei backs him up this time. Now that they've decided that this is what they're doing, Kei is determined. And he isn't going to let anybody make Tadashi feel bad about this decision. He already did enough of that for a lifetime.
Kei’s family is a bit more understanding, but he can tell they're worried as well.
“Will you be alright to finish out the semester?” his mother asks Yamaguchi.
He nods. “It should be fine. We'll be long graduated by the time the baby comes. I might feel a little sick towards the end, but I can push through.”
Their friends are far less worried and far more excited. Hinata talks so loudly through the phone that Tadashi has to hold it several inches from his ear the whole time. Kuroo and Kenma pretend not to already know when they tell them. Bokuto sends them a freaking fruit basket with a dumb note that's signed From Uncle Bo and Uncle Kaashi.
Kei pretends to hate it, but secretly places it in his bedside drawer to save.
The semester passes both far too fast and far too slowly. Tadashi starts to get morning sickness, and Kei wishes there was something he could do to help him. He hates that they're still living in separate dorms, and begins to spend too much time fantasizing about when they graduate and can move into an apartment together. He knows it's stupid, but living separately, he always feels like he's missing something. They spend most of their time taking turns sleeping over in each other’s dorms, but sometimes when they have an early class or Kei has an early volleyball practice, they have to sleep separately, and Kei hates that. He’s always preferred sleeping next to Tadashi, but now, it's nearly painful not to. He figures it's the alpha part of him that continually longs to be close to his omega, especially now that he's pregnant.
Kei is surprised by how territorial and protective he's gotten. He knows it's an instinctual thing, to want to protect his mate and child, but it's almost debilitating. Every time they're apart, all he does is worry about Tadashi and the baby. And every time they're together, he’s on high-alert, constantly vigilant to any and all threats.
“You're ridiculous,” Tadashi tells him one time, after Kei nearly growls at another alpha who gets too close to him. “I'm fine, you know.”
“I know,” Kei agrees. “I can't help it.”
“Yeah,” Tadashi sighs. “I guess I get that.”
Tadashi has his own slew of new omega things that have started since he got pregnant. He's touchier, and softer when it's just the two of them. But he's jumpier in public, more often than not tucking himself against Kei’s side and skittering away from other alphas. Tadashi has always been more comfortable around betas and other omegas, but it's even more noticeable now. He'll barely let anyone touch him besides Kei, and their omega friends. One time, Bokuto threw his arm around him and Tadashi flinched. But he'll let Kenma and Akaashi hold his hand and cuddle him if they want to. In fact, he seems to crave it, comforted by contact from other omegas.
It's like normal Tadashi, but pumped up on steroids.
Kei knows it'll all only get more pronounced as he gets further along, and then everything will change again when the baby comes. He can't get over how much their lives have already changed, so very fast.
***
Finally, they graduate college, and Kei gets to watch as Tadashi struts across that stage, his belly swollen and visible. It fills him with a burst of pride he hadn't been expecting.
Yeah, he thinks smugly, that's my omega. He finished college pregnant. He's just special like that.
Fuck, he's getting sappier and sappier. High school him would hate him now.
Moving into their new apartment is one of the longest days of Kei’s life. Tadashi tries to help carry the boxes, but Kei won't let him. Instead, he makes him sit on the floor in the air conditioning, watching as he, Kuroo, Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kenma carry in all their stuff. Tadashi grumbles the whole time about being useless, but Kei ignores it. He's not letting him do manual labor while nearly six months pregnant. He's barely been letting him do anything since he started showing.
The first night as they're going to sleep in their new bed together, Tadashi bursts into tears.
“I'm sorry!” he sobs over and over again. “I don't know why I'm crying!”
“It's just the hormones,” Kei replies, running a hand through Tadashi’s hair. He's entered the crying stage of his pregnancy now, bursting into tears over the smallest things.
“I just love you,” Tadashi sobs. “I love you so much.”
“Yeah,” Kei sighs. “I love you too.”
***
A couple weeks later, Kei is woken by Tadashi shaking his arm and going, “Tsukki. Tsukki.”
“What?” Kei asks, sitting up and scrambling for his glasses on the bedside table. “What's wrong?”
Tadashi shakes his head. “Nothing. Just…”
He grabs Kei’s hand and places it on his belly.
For a few moments, there's nothing. Then, all of the sudden, Kei feels movement beneath his hand.
“Oh my god,” he says. “Is the baby—”
“Kicking.”
Kei presses his hand a little bit harder, feeling the kicking more clearly and firmly. It's insane. He can't believe there's a tiny person inside Tadashi, moving around. He can't believe that tiny person is theirs. They made it.
Obviously this has been real to Kei the whole time, but this is the moment where it really starts to feel real.
Kei takes his hand away, leaning down and pressing his lips to Tadashi’s belly, right where the baby is kicking.
“Hey there, little guy,” he says quietly. “You feeling jumpy tonight?”
Tadashi makes a small noise, and Kei looks up at him, eyebrows drawing together.
“It's nothing,” Tadashi says. “He just… He started doing it more when you spoke.” He pauses for a second and then smiles. “I think he likes the sound of your voice.”
“He?”
Tadashi’s cheeks turn bright pink. “It's just a feeling,” he says.
They'd decided to keep the gender of the baby a surprise. But Kei has that same gut feeling now that Tadashi has said it.
“So he likes the sound of my voice?” Kei teases.
Tadashi’s cheeks grow pinker. “That or he hates it. He—oof—he definitely is having some kind of reaction to it.”
Kei chuckles, turning back to Tadashi’s stomach to give it another kiss. When he pulls away he says, “This is very cute, but you're going to have to stop. Otherwise you're going to keep your daddy up all night, and he has work in the morning.”
Tadashi lets out a small, bubbly giggle that has Kei fighting back a smile.
He, Kei thinks. He doesn't care either way, but he thinks he likes the sound of that.
***
“What are we going to name him?” Tadashi asks one evening, about eight months in.
They haven't discussed that yet, but Kei figures now is about time. And he's been thinking about it. At least a bit.
“I don't know,” Kei replies, putting down the book he'd been reading. “Do you have any feelings about it?”
Tadashi shrugs. “Not really. Do you?”
“I like Ren,” Kei says. “I think that one’s nice.”
“Ren?”
“Yeah.”
Tadashi smiles. “I like that too.”
Kei leans forward and pecks a kiss on his lips. “So Ren it is.”
“We should probably come up with a girl one as well,” Tadashi says after a minute. “Just in case.”
“Tomorrow,” Kei says, picking up his book again. “I'll think about it.”
“‘Kay, Tsukki.”
***
Tadashi goes into labor on a Saturday night. And terrifyingly, Kei is in another city.
“I could take a break from the team,” Kei had said a few weeks before. “I don't like the idea of going to away games. Of being away from you, even if it's only for a night.”
Tadashi had waved him off. “It's fine, Tsukki. You don't have that many of them. What are the chances I go into labor while you're not here?”
Yet again, Kei is astounded by their bad luck.
“Did your water already break?” Kei asks into the phone, throwing his shit into his bag and sprinting out of the locker room. He finished his game to about twenty missed calls from Tadashi and knew right away what was happening.
“Yes, about forty minutes ago,” Tadashi replies. He sounds shockingly calm considering he’s in labor with Kei hours away.
“Are you at the hospital yet?”
“Yes, I called a cab. I just got here. How long will it take you to get back?”
Kei puts Tadashi on speaker and pulls up Maps, typing in the address of the Sendai hospital. He curses under his breath as the time loads.
“At least five hours.”
There's a moment of silence, and then Tadashi very quietly says, “Okay.”
Kei has known Tadashi plenty long enough to read everything contained in that okay.
“It's going to be alright, Tadashi,” Kei says very carefully “I'm going to make it.”
Tadashi lets out a shaky breath. Then he repeats, “Okay.”
“Did you call your parents?”
Tadashi sighs. “They're not picking up. I think they've already gone to sleep. And yours are still out of town, right?”
Kei groans. “Yes.”
His parents went on vacation for a couple weeks. Bad timing. Of course.
Finally, Kei reaches his car. “I'm getting in the car now. I will see you in a few hours. I love you.”
“Love you more.”
The line goes dead just as Kei is climbing into the car and starting the ignition. He is beyond thankful that he took his own car to the game, even if it was inconvenient to not ride with the rest of the team. But he's been driving to games ever since Tadashi hit thirty-seven weeks, exactly for this reason.
As he pulls out and gets on the road, he grabs his phone again, waiting until he hits a stoplight to quickly navigate to his contacts and make another call. It rings for a few moments before connecting.
“Hey, Tsukki!” Suga says from the other line. “What's going on?”
“Yamaguchi just went into labor,” Kei replies quickly. “And I am five hours away because I was at an away game. And he couldn't even get in contact with me for almost an hour, and I am literally freaking the fuck out that I'm going to miss it and he's gonna have to give birth alone so—”
“Tsukki,” Suga interrupts. “Breathe.”
Kei pauses, sucking in a breath. He forces himself to take several, trying to get his heartbeat under control.
When he finally feels less like he's about to pass out and crash the car, he says, “Is there any chance you and Daichi could go to the hospital to be with him? At least until I get there? Neither of our parents can be there and I don't want him to be alone. If you're busy or about to go to bed or something, that's fine, I just don't know who else to—”
“Of course,” Suga says. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
Kei lets out a massive exhale. “Okay, thank you so much.”
“What’s your ETA?”
“About five hours.”
“Okay.” Kei hears Suga scuffling around, and then he pulls the receiver back and shouts, “Daichi!”
“Yeah?” Kei hears Daichi say in the background.
“Yamaguchi is in labor and Tsukki is five hours away.”
“Oh shit.” There's a noise as Daichi takes the phone. “Hey, Tsukishima. Do you want us to head to the hospital?”
“Yes, please.”
“Okay, sounds good. I'll text Yamaguchi to let him know we're on our way.”
Voice a bit distant, Suga calls, “And we'll see you soon!”
“Thank you,” Kei says, letting out another exhale. “Thank you so much.”
As they hang up the phone, Kei lets himself have a moment of relief. Thank fuck for Daichi and Suga, who still live close by and love still playing the older sibling roles, even now that Kei and Tadashi are fully grown adults. At least now Tadashi won't have to be alone.
Then he lets himself have a moment of panic.
Most labors are long, he knows. Especially first ones. It very well might take Yamaguchi more than five to six hours to have the baby.
It also might not.
Kei really doesn't want to miss it. He really, really doesn't want to miss it. If he does, he doesn't think he'll ever forgive himself for going to this game. He'll have to quit the team. Retire from volleyball forever.
(Perhaps he's being a bit dramatic, but Kei thinks he's entitled to some drama at this moment.)
But then, Kei shoves down the panic. He doesn't have the energy for it. He cannot spend the next five hours in this car worrying about the possibility of missing his child’s birth. So instead, he turns on the radio. He drowns out the thoughts. He forces himself to think about nothing.
***
Kei doesn't check his phone the whole time he's driving. Some of it is that he doesn't want to crash the car, but most of it is that he doesn't want to know. He doesn't want to know if he's already missed it.
Finally, he pulls into the Sendai Hospital parking lot and goes sprinting out the car, clicking on his phone for the first time in five hours.
He has several missed texts from Suga.
Sugawara Koushi: Just got here. He's doing well. Seems a little bit nervous but otherwise okay.
Sugawara Koushi: Sounds like it's going to be a little while.
Sugawara Koushi: Contractions are getting worse.
Sugawara Koushi: Okay this is now moving faster than before.
Sugawara Koushi: Are you getting close?
And then the last, from just fifteen minutes before:
Sugawara Koushi: I really really hope you're close.
Kei runs into the hospital, skidding to a stop in front of the help desk.
“My mate is in labor,” he pants out. “Yamaguchi Tadashi.”
The man at the desk putters around on the computer for a moment, but then looks up to meet Kei’s eyes. “Room forty-seven. Good luck!”
Kei sprints down the hall, nearly knocking two nurses over on his way towards the right room. When he reaches a door labeled forty-seven, he wrenches it open, pushing inside.
Tadashi is sitting in the hospital bed, legs spread and doctor perched between them. Suga is standing next to the bed, gripping his hand, and Daichi is standing on the other side of the room, a slightly terrified look on his face.
Tadashi is screaming.
“Oh thank god,” Suga says, looking over at Kei, who's still standing in the doorway. “You're here.”
Tadashi stops screaming for a moment, eyes shooting over to Kei’s, and then he lets out a sob.
“You're here,” he cries. “You made it.”
“I made it,” Kei says, crossing the room to Tadashi’s other side, leaning down to kiss his sweaty forehead and taking his hand.
“We'll give you guys some space. We’ll be out in the waiting room if you need us,” Suga says, pulling away from Tadashi.
“Thank you,” Kei says again, “for coming.”
Suga smiles at him. “Anytime.”
He and Daichi leave the room just as the doctor says, “I need you to keep pushing, Tadashi.”
Tadashi clamps down on Kei’s hand, starting to scream again. Kei yelps a little, but forces himself to ignore the pain. Tadashi needs him right now.
“You're so close,” the doctor says. “The baby is crowning. Just a little bit more.”
“Come on, baby,” Kei encourages. “You can do it. Come on, Tadashi.”
Tadashi screams even louder, but just a minute later, the room becomes filled with a different sound.
A baby crying.
Kei looks over just in time to see the doctor lifting the baby. It's so small, and honestly a bit gross—covered in blood and a bunch of other gunk. But Kei stares at it, mesmerized.
Their baby. They have a baby.
“You've got a healthy baby boy,” the doctor says.
“Boy,” Kei says with disbelief. “It's a boy. You were right.”
Tadashi reaches out his hands. “Give me him. I want to see him,” he says.
The doctor hands him over, and Tadashi brings the baby to his chest, laying him down against it.
“He's so small,” Tadashi slurs. “He's so tiny.”
“Yeah.” Kei exhales. “He is.”
“He looks like you.”
Kei laughs. “How can you tell when he's all gross like that?”
“I can just tell.”
Kei laughs again, leaning down closer over the baby. He kisses his gross little forehead.
“Hi there, Ren,” he whispers, then his eyes shoot up to meet Tadashi’s. “We're still going with that one, right?”
Tadashi shakily nods. “Yeah. Yamaguchi Ren.”
Kei raises an eyebrow. “He's getting your name?”
“Well, I am the one who birthed him. Mostly alone, might I add.”
A warm flush spreads across Kei’s cheeks, but finally he says, “Okay, I think that's reasonable. Does this mean I have to take your name when we mate and get married?”
“Are you proposing to me right now, Tsukki?”
Kei's blush intensifies.
“Shut up. You know I'm going to marry you,” he shoots back.
Tadashi hums, leaning back further on the bed, Ren still pressed against his chest. His eyes flutter closed. “Can it be soon?”
“Yeah, Tadashi,” Kei replies. “It can be soon.”
***
They spend some time doing new baby activities—cutting the umbilical cord and getting Ren and Tadashi cleaned up and such—before Daichi and Suga come back to fawn over Ren. Finally, the two of them head home to get some rest after a very, very long night.
Kei feels exhausted as well, but not enough to sleep. Tadashi should be sleeping, probably, but instead, he's leaning back in the hospital bed, Kei squeezed next to him and head on Kei’s shoulder. Ren is clutched in his arms, and he is asleep.
“I think he looks like you,” Kei says.
“No.” Tadashi shakes his head against Kei’s shoulder. “He's your little twin. He's probably going to be ridiculously tall. We should start him in volleyball as soon as he's walking. Kageyama will be so pleased.”
Kei snorts out a laugh before turning enough to kiss the crown of Tadashi’s head.
They fall into silence for a couple of minutes, but then Kei whispers, “He’s perfect.”
“Yeah.” Tadashi sighs. “Perfect.”
They're silent for a few minutes more. Once again, it's Kei who breaks it, this time to say, “It’s still going to be hard.”
“I know,” Tadashi agrees. “But it's worth it. He's worth it.”
And Kei has never agreed with anything more.