Chapter Text
The cold that crept into the room was enough to lure him out of slumber. He turned over and outstretched his hand to reach to pull her in. When he found nothing but empty space in her spot, his eyes opened panicked.
He threw the covers off of himself and get out of bed, going first to the bathroom. If she had gone into labor and didn’t wake him up immediately, he suspected she’d be there. But when he found the door wide open and the light off, he knew she couldn’t be there.
He let out a sigh of relief, but more panic rised in him. If she wasn’t there, then where was she? He looked into every room of their home, but eventually found her in the last place he had looked: the nursery.
The nursery had been set up for weeks now. She had insisted on it as soon as the rest of the house got situated. They had chosen to keep the sex of the baby a mystery, so the room was decorated in pale shades of yellow and green. Most of the furniture was pressed against the wall, the middle of the room being open space for the baby to eventually crawl on. Set in the corner and out towards the middle of the room was a white rocking chair, something she had practically begged for despite the room being filled.
She was sitting in the rocking chair with her hands cradling her large stomach. She looked half asleep, eyes closed as her hands instinctively rubbed her stomach. It was a sight he hadn’t seen before, but it looked oh so natural for her. How often did she sneak in here at night?
“Mai?” His voice was soft as he walked in, but the soon-to-be mother couldn’t hear him. Upon closer inspection, he saw a pair of headphones in her ears. He reached out and gently put a hand on her shoulder, startling the woman.
Mai pulled out one of the headphones and tilted her head to the side. “Yeah?”
“Daydreaming, are we?” Trunks teased and kneeled down beside of her.
“I’m not daydreaming.” She spoke, giving him a sheepish grin. “I’m very much so in reality.”
“Oh?” He raised a brow.
Mai held out the headphone she just had in her ear. “Listen…”
Trunks gave her a weird look, but accepted and placed the headphone in his ear. Instantly he could hear the fast, hummingbird heartbeat of their angel. It was something he had heard a dozen times before. Yet it always made his heart leaped from joy.
“They were so active they woke me up.” She smiled and looked down at her stomach. “You can definitely tell they’re a Saiyan child. I’m surprised they haven’t broken any ribs with all that kicking.”
“Heh, sorry…”
“It’s not your fault.” She leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. “I like it. It lets me know they’re okay.”
“Does it?” Trunks took the headphone out and handed it back to her.
She took out her own and set them aside, nodding her head at his question. “Well they’re moving, they’re alive. I don’t care how many hours I’m kept awake. As long as they’re okay, I’m okay.” She hummed and perked up suddenly. “Give me your hand.”
He furrowed his brows and gave up his hand to her. She took ahold of it and guided it across her belly. They sat there for a few seconds. Trunks was going to ask her what she was doing, but just before he could open his mouth he felt the soft yet strong kick from the child.
His face instantly lit up. He knew it had even before he looked at to see her excited face. He shifted himself to be kneeling in front of her, leaning forward to press his cheek against her stomach and wrapped his arms around her as best as he could. He could feel her laugh.
“What are you doing?” She placed a hand on top of his head, messing with his bedhead.
He didn’t answer, but he pulled away from her and leaned up closer to where he was nearly face to face with her. “Any day now, Mai. Any day now and we’ll have a family…”
“We already have a family.” She said and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his lips. He smiled and returned the gesture, feeling her arms wrap around his neck. They pulled away after a few seconds, both grinning from ear to ear.
“Well, I think it’s time for Mama to come back to bed.” Trunks commented and stood up, holding out his hand to help her.
Mai sighed and rolled her eyes. “If this child would ever let me get sleep.” She answered and took a hold of his hand. As she pulled herself up, however, she paused, her face going white.
“...” Trunks didn’t like the look on her face, a hole being burned into his gut. “What’s wrong?”
He watched as she looked down, following her eyes to see the same thing she did. Her pajama pants had suddenly become soaked, the ground at her feet also wet. “I...I think my water broke…”
They had been there for hours. At first, they had been allowed in the room with her. It wasn’t a sight she truly wanted to see. She didn’t like seeing someone who looked nearly identical to her laying in a bed with wires and tubes coming from different places. It was...surreal. Something that made her uncomfortable.
When the doctor had come in to help her push, they had to be escorted out. The former agent didn’t blame her. She wouldn’t want more of an audience than she had to have either. Or maybe it was policy. Either way, all she knew was she didn’t have to see what birth looked like. But it felt like she had been pushing for so long. It had been almost an hour since they had to leave with no sign that the baby had been born.
She felt exhausted from their hours here, not to mention they had come very early in the morning to just sit around. She leaned her head against Trunks’ shoulder, rubbing her thumb against the hand she held. She wanted to sleep. Wanted to take a nap. She truly didn’t understand how the man and his mother were still awake.
She had nearly gotten her wish when he shifted and upset her position. She groaned and sat up, shaking her head a bit to wake herself up. If she still had her long hair, there was no doubt that she would have hit Trunks in the face. But she had grown fond of the bob haircut, deciding to keep it rather than grow it out like she had originally planned.
“Sorry…” Trunks murmured when she sat up, looking over to her with furrowed brows. “It shouldn’t be much longer.”
“It better not be. I’ll go home to take a nap if it is.” She commented with a small smile, leaning her head back down on his shoulder.
“You can’t tell me that you’re not somehow excited about the baby.” Trunks leaned his head on top of hers.
“Eh, they’re never cute when they first come out.” She shrugged a shoulder and closed her eyes, taking in a deep inhale.
“That’s unexpected…” He murmured.
“How so?”
“You always talked to her about how excited and happy you were for them. You even went to her baby shower…”
“The baby shower was tacky in my opinion.” Mai opened her eyes and sat up, turning her body to face him. “It’s called being nice. I...don’t really like kids, but I couldn’t just tell her that I disliked them. She might take it personal.”
“Huh, I always thought you’d like kids.” He shrugged a shoulder and looked at her. “I take it you’d never want kids then?”
“I wouldn’t say never, but more than likely, no.” She crossed her arms and slouched down into her chair. “If I were to have kids, I don’t think I could give birth like she is. I’d request it be removed from my body rather than pushed out.”
Trunks remained quiet for a moment, glancing over to his mother. Mai followed his eyes and saw her flipping through a magazine completely lost in her own world. “I can agree with you on that.”
“...On what?”
“Not really wanting kids…” He murmured softly and looked back at her. He frowned. “I don’t think I could do it. I’ve never really had a paternal figure. You could argue Gohan I suppose, but he was more like an older brother than anything. I’m afraid I wouldn’t do so well parenting.”
“I’m the same way…” She paused and looked down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers in her lap. “I...I really didn’t have a mother growing up. One that I can remember at least. I was always on my own.”
Trunks wrapped an arm around Mai’s shoulder and pulled her closer to him, pressing a faint kiss to the top of her head. “I guess neither of us are ready for parenting, are we?”
“Oh, hell no. I’d end up swearing in front of the thing, and they’ll just keep repeating me.”
Trunks laughed and leaned his head against hers. “Knowing you, they’ll ask what the baby’s name is and you’ll say ‘fuck’.”
Mai rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hold back her smile. “You know me so well.”
They sat there in serenity for a few minutes. Mai leaning against Trunks with his arm around her. It was a sense of security she had to get used to, but had grown to feel empty without. She hadn’t agreed to PDA easily, fighting tooth and nail about it until she had finally given in. But it had been something she enjoyed now, loving the way people glanced at her and wondered how a nobody like her could get with a man like him.
When the doors to the patient wing opened, Mai sat up, unsettling the man who was using her for support. The three of them stood up to greet him, Bulma grinning from ear to ear when he delivered the news.
“It’s a girl!”
She was beyond exhausted, but no longer in extreme amounts of pain. Her legs were about the only thing that still hurt. They were sore and numb, having felt like she just ran about a hundred miles with no breaks. Her mind was already blocking out the pain she experienced, filling her thoughts with unconditional love for the baby that laid against her chest.
Mai was beyond in love. It was something she didn’t think she’d ever be able to feel. The baby girl was perfect. She was an angel with her black hair and those light eyes that Mai prayed would never fade to dark brown. She was ethereal.
Her attention from her daughter was broken when the door to her overnight room opened. She was prepared to argue once more with the doctor about going home tomorrow, insisting that she didn’t need two nights to recover. But she was taken aback when she saw Trunks walk in with the alternate versions of themselves as well as Bulma.
The oldest woman gasped when she saw the mother and child, her face instantly lighting up with joy. “How precious! She’s so tiny!” Bulma declared as she walked over to get a better look. “Oh my, what an angel…”
“I thought she’d be bigger, honestly.” Mai grinned and looked down at the baby. “Considering how much weight I gained. But I guess that must have just been all the sweets.”
“Well then, she better grow up to be a sweet, sweet girl.” Bulma sanitized and washed her hands, reaching out for the small bundle in Mai’s arms. “May I?”
“Oh! Of course.” Mai was startled and sat up, transferring her over to her grandmother. “Oh, be careful. She’s been fussy with the nurses…”
“I will, I will. It’s not the first newborn I’ve held.” Bulma walked away from Mai’s bedside to sit in a chair pressed against the wall in front of her bed.
Mai’s eyes left the child when Trunks sat down next to her, setting his hand on top of hers. She glanced over at Trunks and smiled at the almost proud look in his eyes, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to his lips.
“What’s her name?”
Her own voice asked the question. She looked up to see the woman standing beside of Bulma, her hand reached out to gently stroke the newborn’s soft skin.
The couple looked at each other, a smile creeping up onto both of their features. They looked back at the other Mai to see her staring with a raised brow before they both answered.
“Hope.”