“We’re having a baby.”

Yixing was silent as he absorbed the words, coffee still dripping from the corner of his mouth. Then he exploded with the three hundred and one things his mind thought Xiuying should be doing.

“Are you sure? It’s not time yet! She’s supposed to come three days from now!!”

The scoff Xiuying let out was loud on the phone. “Oh, I think I’d know when I’m in labor. And one thing about babies? They don’t care much about arrival schedules.”

“You’re sure? Okay, okay, you should sit down. No! No, lay down! Rest! Your parents! I have to call your parents! Wait, what time is it now in London? No, I’ll call my parents!”

“Yixing-“

“The bag! I have to get the bag! Where is the hospital? The doctor! Where the hell is he?!”

“YIXING!”

Yixing stopped, panting hard and gripping his phone so hard he was surprised it hasn’t break yet.

“Yixing, calm down. I’ll get the bag and call both of our parents, and wait for you at home. Just drive carefully, okay?”

Yixing nodded rapidly. “Okay. Okay….If you have any pain, or blood, or….Xiuying, I love you.”

Her laugh was only half what it usually is but it calmed him down a bit. “Love you too, worrywart. See you in a while.”

The dial tone startled him and he grabbed his bag, nearly upending it while muttering the whereabouts of his car keys under his breath. A hand caught his wrist, stopping his search and Yixing looked up to see Luhan, an excited and anxious grin lighting his face.

“I’ll drive you home then to the hospital; I don’t think you can drive like this.”

Yixing could only nod dumbly, already running through the doorway with Luhan running besides him all the while shouting “Get out of the way! Father-to-be on the move here!”

Yixing ran through his entertainment company amidst the cheers and congratulations yelled by the many employees he passed by, sliding around corners and more than once almost colliding into another person but miraculously they reached the car park unhindered and he jumped into Luhan’s car.

Luckily his company was only fifteen minutes from their home and when he burst through the front door he found Xiuying sitting on the couch’s armrest, one hand cradling her stomach as she gazed intently at the timer on her mobile phone.

“How long?” Yixing asked, even as the panic threatened to close up his throat fully. They’ve been preparing for this for nearly nine months and her due date isn’t for a few days. And Yixing doesn’t think he’s ready.

“Two minutes apart for over an hour,” Xiuying spoke out with a grimace, hunching down.

Yixing didn’t even realize how badly his hands were shaking until he felt how still Xiuying was as he pulled her up and led her outside where Luhan waited in the car with the motor still running, only pausing to grab the bag sitting by the door.

Luhan was jittery though he still sent Xiuying an excited grin as Yixing settled her into the car, taking the seat beside her.

“How are you, Xiuying?” He glanced at her through the rearview mirror.

“Ready for the drugs,” she replied with a wry grin. “Go cervix, go!”

Yixing fretted over her, hands trying caress any part of her body he could touch, finally touching her stomach. “Just….just hang in there okay, Xiuying? We’re almost at the hospital, baby.”

Xiuying’s eyes sparkled with mirth. “Soon there’ll be two of us whom you call that.”

Yixing laughed, startled and weak but even before it was halfway done it stopped abruptly when Xiuying gripped his hand with her fingernails.

“Yixing…” she whimpered, biting into her lower lip.

“Sshh…..It’s okay, it’s okay baby. Just…just try to breath, okay? You can break every bone in my hands if you want.”

Xiuying opened her eyes to wink weakly. “Maybe later, I can still hold on for now. Can I get that promise in writing, though?”

He swiped his thumb over her knuckles. “Anything you want, baby.”

“Hey, not wanting to disturb the family moment here.” Yixing turned ahead to Luhan, an anxious and slightly petrified glint in the older man’s eyes. “But…you’re not planning to give birth in my car, right?”

“Luhan…..”

“I just had the upholstery changed last week! And it’s Italian imported leather too!” Luhan blabbered on, missing the way Yixing shook his head frantically, having already caught the murderous glare Xiuying have. “I mean, I know it’s an emergency but can you wait until we get to the hospital? Because frankly this is freaking me out! I mean, you guys are like my closest friends but this is much too intimate for my comfort, if you kn-“

Xiuying growled and lurched forward, grabbing the neck of Luhan’s shirt so hard his head bounced back into the headrest.

“Drive. Faster. Before I murder you.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yixing pressed down kisses into Xiuying’s hair every once in a while, letting her dig half-moons into his palm and just held still, not wanting to annoy her.

A bed was ready for her almost immediately at the hospital, and she was a full three centimeters dilated as the nurses stated once they checked her. Xiuying leaned against him as they numbed her down, leaving the room so she could relax with the monitor on her belly.

“Where’s Luhan?”

Yixing chuckled and hid his grin into her hand. “I think he went back to the office to get my car, but I’m not too sure. Last time I saw him he was spacing off into air, mumbling something about how a bit of his life died when your water broke in his car.”

Xiuying’s laugh was still loud even in this situation and Yixing reveled in it. “I don’t know whether to be embarrassed or laughed at him.”

“Hey, he’s the one who proclaimed himself as our baby’s godfather; he should be along for the ride from the earliest point.” He shrugged easily. “And I’ll make sure he’ll get new upholstery for his car later on.”

Xiuying smiled, pulling him down so she could kiss him. “If later on I tell you I hate you and never want to see you, don’t believe it, okay?”

He pushed the sweaty bangs from her forehead. “Of course, baby, I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Yixing let out a choked laugh, kissing her temple. “You’re doing so well, baby, so brave. God, I’d be crying on the floor by now if I were you.”

“Imagine the world’s biggest needle trying to squeeze out of your-“

He blanched. “Please Xiuying, I don’t need that imagery. It’s bad enough watching you go through it.”

She groaned quietly as a wave of pain passed through her and Yixing tightened his hold on her hand. Once it passed she took a deep breath and grinned wryly “Well, let just hope it’ll be quick.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was not quick.

Yixing lost count of how many hours he’d been there, just holding to Xiuying’s hand, his world narrowing down to his tiny family.

Both his parents and Xiuying’s parents had call, promising to come as soon as possible. Luhan had come and gone, giving him his car keys and still looking slightly green around the edges. Doctor Shèng had come from time to time, checking on her progress and patting her shoulder in sympathy, telling her they will wait some more.   

By midnight Xiuying had stolen the smallest of catnaps, a minute here, a minute there. She had passed five, six, eight centimeters, and Yixing was besides her through it all. One of the nurses brought him a sandwich and some juice a few hours ago, when they had brought her the light meal she was allowed.

Around dawn Yixing woke up from his doze to found Xiuying fumbled for the nurse button, pushing it. “What’s up, baby?”

“I need to push,” she said, groaning. “Or I’m going to get out of this bed and hit someone. No more five more minutes, child,” she patted her bulging stomach.  “It’s time to come out.”

Yixing stood up, arms flailing everywhere in panic, at loss at what to do. “You’d fall to the floor if you got out of bed, baby. You can’t even feel your toes!”

“I’d catch someone on the way down.” Her breath caught as her face contorted. “Yixing...”

“Oh, baby,” Yixing mumbled as he kissed her temples, hating to see her in so much pain. “ Oh, Xiuying. Soon.”

The nurse ran into the room, and with one look at Xiuying immediately called for the doctor. “You’re having a baby!” she exulted as she stepped out.

“No kidding, Sherlock!” Xiuying muttered, a mixture of a scowl and a pained grimace painting her face.

Five minutes wasn’t an overestimate. The nurse had barely made it back into the room before the next contraction started.

“Need to push!” Xiuying nearly shouted, her hand clamping on Yixing’s, almost cutting off his circulation.

“The doctor’s coming down the hallway. He’ll be here in just a second.”

And not a second too late. Doctor Shèng burst through the door, confident gait and a wide smile on. “Alright then, let’s get this baby out.”

The room exploded into a hive of activities, filled with loud noises. The overhead lights were too harsh and the antiseptic smell of the hospital was pungent and Yixing felt his head spinning.

He was at a loss for any meaningful words. Anything he could be saying he’d already been yammering on with for the last few hours. Instead he just tightened his grasp on Xiuying’s hand and kisses each of her knuckles. At the epicenter of the din and pandemonium around him, his world tapered down to the rough sound of Xiuying’s heavy breathing and mewling.

The hold on his hand tightened and just when he was sure Xiuying would come true on his promise and break his hand, his ears sharpened to the unmistakable sound of a baby crying, and he turned his head abruptly.

The baby was slimy and pale purple and seemed very, very, unhappy judging by the very loud way she was crying but she was the single most perfect thing Yixing ever seen in his life.

One of the nurses held out a pair of surgical scissors and gestured for Yixing to cut the umbilical cord. Yixing let go of Xiuying’s hand for the first time in hours, getting up on weak knees, eyes still focusing on the tiny bundle on the doctor’s arms and knew there are tears pouring down his face, hearing Xiuying’s own choked sob behind him.

The baby’s tiny arms flailed and her skinny legs kicked around as the nurses rushed to clean her off and having her weighed in and checked.

“Six pounds, ten ounces,” the nurse announced. “A big girl. And lots of hair!”

“You’ll have trouble with her, guys,” Doctor Shèng said with glee, peeking at the baby as she was wrapped in a little pink blanket and head covered in a little cotton cap. “She’s gorgeous.”

“No dating until she’s thirty five at least,” Yixing had immediately said. And then trailed into silence once the nurse put the warm, pink bundle in Xiuying’s arms.

The baby was calmer now, light eyes darting here and there as if wanting to take in the new world around her. And Yixing still marveled at the fact that the baby was here, that she was real. She had been an abstract idea before, but now she was here, a person, a real, tiny person with perfect little ten fingers and toes and a loud voice to counter.

One of the nurses very kindly picked up the camera they had brought and snapped a picture, but Yixing couldn’t take his eyes off the small miracle he’d just been a part of.

Xiuying trailed her finger down the baby’s cheek, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Hey there, baby girl. Your bàbà and I have been waiting to meet you.”

“She’s beautiful,” Yixing whispered reverently as he rubbed a thumb over a chubby, pink cheek. He tightened his other arm around Xiuying’s shoulder, pressing kisses into her hair. “She’s so, so beautiful. Thank you, Xiuying….I,” he swallowed down another sob, the words stuck in his throat. “….thank you.”

She leaned up for a kiss and when they broke apart her eyes told him she knew what he couldn’t put into words. He pecked her lips once more, before they both turned back to the baby.

“Looks like you,” she said, grinning up at him.

“I think she looks more like you. Her ears maybe mine, but definitely your nose and mouth.”

The baby yawned and showed off her gummy mouth, and there in perfect clarity was a very prominent and deep dimple on her left cheek.

Xiuying laughed and cried and cooed some more and Yixing tightened his arm around her while his other hand was laid on the pink bundle, happier than he ever been with two of the most precious people in his life right in his arms.

“She’s us,” he said in finality, feeling his own laughter choked with sobs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The room was quiet, a stark contrast from where it was a hubbub of activities just under an hour ago.

Xiuying was sleeping deeply, drugged by the doctor so she could finally rest after being awake for almost seventeen hours. She refused it at first, telling them she was fine and would sleep later when she is tired, but Yixing knew that she was only running on adrenaline and he’d been thankful when the nurse added something on her IV to calm her.

He directed his attention back to the tightly wrapped pink bundle in his arms. A small face peeked out; red and still slightly prune-y face with pink lips and a shock of thick black hair.

Yixing couldn’t stop marveling at how tiny she was. He never thought his hands were big, just the normal size, but now they looked gargantuan dwarfing the baby as he rocked his daughter carefully, unable to put her down on the small bassinets the nurse had rolled into the room.

The baby made a little mewling sound as Yixing lifted her up slightly so he could nuzzle her head. He crooned at her, a strange mixture of words and songs and lullabies. He inhaled her sweet, powdery clean, baby smell, felt the softness of her skin, and closed his eyes.

He imagined her first word and midnight feedings. He imagined her first step and blobs of baby food running down his chest. He imagined the first day of school, the first fight, groundings, sitting down to imaginary tea-parties and father-daughter dances around the living room.

He painted a picture of their life with her on the inside of his eyelids, drawing from hours upon hours of imagining. He opened his eyes and lock gazes with his daughter.

“You’re perfect,” he whispered slowly, grinning when the baby yawned and tried to open her eyes only to snap them shut again. “You’re my daughter and you’re perfect and I promise I’ll love you forever.”

He dropped a gentle kiss on top of the cotton cap that covered her hair, readjusting the blanket so the baby isn’t swaddled too tight even though the nurses said it was more comfortable for her.

“My Meiying.”

And it's done~! :D

I always did plan to only have this fic with just 9 chapters, leading from the pregnancy to the birth and now it's complete! Though I might do an epilogue of sorts, what with the baby's first few days and all, what do you think?

Thank you for going along with the ride; I hope you'd enjoy reading this :DD <333