Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Baby of Mine ❯ Welcome to the World ( Chapter 36 )

Welcome to the World!

Ryou woke up the next morning and saw Marik sitting by her bedside. Ryou opened her eyes to see Marik holding her hand. Marik kissed her hand.

"Ryou? Good morning."

"Marik? Marik? Why are you here?"

Marik smiled at her. "I wanted to tell you, Ryou, that I really appreciate you and what you are doing."

Ryou smiled and sat up, her belly proving difficult for her to move. "It's no problem, Marik. I'm glad you are excited about this as I am."

Ryou's back arched as she rubbed her side. "What shall we call the baby, Marik?"

Marik sat beside her as Bakura snored behind them. "I wanted my son named after an Egyptian god because he shines so brightly. He will be my sunshine. I want to name him Aten."

"Aten…I like it. What about a middle name? What about…Bakari? It sounds like Bakura. Aten Bakari. What about a last name?"

Marik sighed and brushed his hair back. "Well, Aten Bakari Ishtar or Aten Bakari Itemri. Hmm…"

Ryou hugged Marik. "Aten can have your name, Marik. He is your son, after all."

She looked down at her belly and rubbed it. "You like that? Aten Bakari Ishtar? This kid loves his back rubbed."

Marik put his hand on her and felt the crown of the baby's head. Bakura rolled over and yawned.

"Ishtar, what are you doing here?"

"I am spending time with my baby, Bakura."

Bakura climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Marik followed him as Ryou took her medication.

"Bakura, I have something to tell you."

"It better be important. What?"

"I quit my job last night."

Bakura covered his eyes. "Why? Why would you quit?"

Marik leaned against the door. "I wasn't making enough money. I hated the work."

Bakura sniffed. "Is that coming off of you?"

"Seto found me drunk last night. Malik told me."

"Drunk? Why?"

"I didn't think I would be a good father. I thought I could never live up to Ryou's expectations."

Bakura leaned to Marik. "Ryou expects very little from us, Marik. All she needs is for us to love her. That is it."

Marik sighed. "I guess. I just wish I could help her."

"After breakfast, let's get Malik to school and then you and I are going to look for a job."

Marik sighed. Malik ran down the steps with Marik. Marik fed him breakfast and his hikari left for school. Bakura returned to Ryou and kissed her belly and hugged her.

"So, what shall we name our baby?"

"Well, yami. You are my dark. I am your light. I thought also that our daughter would enrich our lives. She will be beautiful. I want to call her Aria. Aria…Kanika."

"Kanika means black. Do you really want to name her after beautiful music and darkness?"

"Yami, you are my dark. You are her father. I will love you both and my son."

Bakura hugged her and she followed him downstairs where Marik was making breakfast.

"Marik and I have to go out for a while, Ryou. Will you be ok by yourself?"

Ryou nodded. "I'll be fine, Bakura. I'm just going to sit on the couch today. I began a pair of booties last night." Ryou went to the living room and returned with crocheted booties. "I got the blue ones done last night." Ryou held up tiny booties that she made and sat at the table with the pink yarn and half-knitted booties. Ryou knitted and smiled on the couch until Marik and Bakura left. They kissed her as they left the house.

Ryou knit the booties and looked at her belly. Her daughter had calmed down. She wasn't moving, but her son was jumping and arching his back making her feel uncomfortable. Ryou rubbed her side. "Settle down, Aten. Come on, baby."

Ryou grabbed a quart of milk and guzzled it down and the baby settled. "That's my boy."

Ryou heard a knock at the door and struggled off the couch. "Who is it?"

"Mr. Daniels, Ryou. Open up!"

Ryou opened the door and Mr. Daniels stood there. "I have to talk about your father, Ryou."

Ryou invited him in and he sat on the chair. "Ryou, your dad has posted bail."

"WHAT?? I thought he couldn't post bail!"

"He did, Ryou. Do you have anybody here for you?"

Ryou gripped the couch. "No. Bakura and Marik are out and Malik is at school."

"So you are alone and unprotected. That isn't good, Ryou."

Ryou gripped the seat harder as she turned to Mr. Daniels. "Wait! Mr. Daniels doesn't know I am a girl and pregnant!" Ryou turned to Mr. Daniels. "You aren't Mr. Daniels!!"

Mr. Daniels stood up and walked over to Ryou as she tried to stand up. Daniels grabbed her shirt pulling her up out of the seat roughly. Ryou's heart began to race as Daniels laughed cruelly.

"You are all alone…no one to protect you."

"M…Mr. Daniels? Let me go." She felt Aten jump inside of her and Aria began to kick making Ryou lose her footing. "Sh..babies…it'll be alright."

Daniels was surrounded by a bright light and Anubis took form in front of her. She gasped and tried to break free. She felt a pain across her belly as Aten stretched.

"What's the matter, my little rat? Cinetti's soul too much for you to handle?" Anubis pushed her back onto the sofa as her heart began to race. Her hands began to shake and she began to pant.

"Anubis…take Cinetti's souls out of me. I don't want my children to be subjected to him!"

"Your children will be nothing more than empty shells if I take Cinetti away. Do you want to give birth to shells?"

Ryou felt Aten jump again and she began to cry. "Don't hurt them, Anubis. They did nothing to you."

"No..but your husband did. My vendetta is with Bakura."

Ryou tried to get up, but Anubis threw her back again.

"You have survived the pregnancy, Ryou. That was not in my plans."

Ryou snarled. "Bakura takes care of me! He wouldn't let me die."

"I have one more opportunity, Ryou, to eliminate you." Anubis brought out the dagger and Ryou grabbed her large scissors and stabbed the arm that grabbed her. Anubis screamed out and Ryou struggled off of the couch. Anubis grabbed her collar of her shirt. "I don't need a knife to assure your death."

Ryou was terrified. Anubis held the dagger to her throat and she suddenly felt a strange pain.

Anubis put his hand on her belly and she sobbed. "It's time for the children of darkness to be born."

Ryou felt something warm crawl down her leg.

"I don't need a dagger to bleed you to death. Nature will do that for me." Anubis dropped Ryou on the ground and she clutched her belly. Anubis disappeared.

\\ Ryou? \\

// Yami….I'm …..something's wrong again…..Anubis…..//

\\ Ryou?? \\

// Yami…I'm bleeding…hurry. //

\\ Hold on, Ryou. We'll be right there. \\

Ryou called Yami and Yami called Seto and got Grandpa's car. Yami arrived with Yugi and ran inside. Ryou was laying in a puddle of liquid and holding her belly. She was crying and holding her belly. Marik looked at the puddle when he came in and held his mouth. Marik ran upstairs where spitting and choking noises were heard. Bakura grabbed blankets and baby clothes for the infants.

"Yami….Anubis was here…."

Bakura kissed her cheek. "Alright, Ryou. We'll get you to the hospital. You're alright now."

Marik ran back downstairs and they heard Seto's limo screech to a halt. Bakura and Marik carried Ryou to Yami's car. Seto and Joey grabbed more baby essentials and they sped off to the hospital.

**********************

Ryou was wheeled to the emergency room again in full labor. Ryou, to Bakura's amazement, wasn't cursing, but she was sweating profusely and she whimpered as if in pain. They asked Marik and Bakura if they wanted to help in the delivery. Bakura thought Marik shouldn't even come near the operating room consider Marik's penchant for having a weak stomach. Marik wanted to see his son when he was born.

Ryou cried as they put an IV in her to sedate her and pump in medicine. The doctors did an emergency ultrasound. The baby girl was doing fine, but her brother's heartbeat was erratic and it was becoming unstable. There were signs of distress. A traditional birth would be dangerous for the boy. Instead, they voted on the C-section.

Ryou was numbed and they pumped oxygen into her lungs. The doctors made an incision on Ryou's belly and Marik went to Ryou's side to comfort her and tell her how it was all going to be alright.

"I'm scared, Marik."

"I know, Ryou."

The doctors made another small cut and reached into Ryou. "You'll feel some slight pressure, Ryou." Ryou could feel the doctors reaching into her and she winced. Moments later, Bakura watched them take out a tiny baby.

They turned to Bakura. "Congratulations, it's a girl! "Do you want to cut the cord?"

Bakura took the instrument and cut through the cord.

They took the baby and immediately began to clear its lungs. The baby girl's cries echoed through the air. The doctors cleaned her quickly and wrapped her in a blanket. They weighed her at 5 pounds 9 ounces and gave her to Bakura. The baby cried and arched its back in its father's arms. Bakura looked at the tiny baby in his arms…his baby. His creation.

"Hello, Aria. I'm…your daddy."

The baby stopped crying and its baby blue eyes looked up at her father.

Marik and Bakura switched places. Bakura showed Ryou her new baby girl. Marik waited impatiently for his own child. The doctors reached in and tried to pull the baby out.

"This baby is completely wrapped in its own cord."

"What??? Aten?"

The doctors pulled out the baby and untangled him. They cut the cord around the baby's leg, neck, and torso. They cleaned out the baby's windpipe and a tiny squeal filled the room. Aten was only 3 pounds 2 ounces. He was very small and thin enough to see his bones.

"Congratulations! It's a boy!"

The doctors cleaned the baby. Marik reached out for it, but the doctors immediately put the baby in an incubator.

"I didn't get a chance to hold my son!"

"Your son is too thin to breathe on his own. His vital signs are erratic."

Marik returned to Ryou. "I'm sorry, Ryou. I can't show you our son."

The doctors soaked up the blood and Ryou smiled at Marik. "It's ok…Marik……………..I……"

"Her blood pressure's dropping."

"Heart rate dropping."

"She's lost a lot of blood."

Marik kissed her. "No, Ryou."

A nurse took Aria and Bakura and Marik had to leave the room. Instead, they watched behind the glass as the doctors tried desperately to save Ryou.

"Come on, Ryou. Make it. Fight," Bakura prayed.

"I never got a chance to hold Aten," Marik sighed.

Bakura put his arm on Marik's shoulder as they saw the monitors improving around Ryou. "Aten will be fine, Marik. I didn't want to let my little girl go."

Bakura and Marik returned to the waiting room where Seto, Joey, Yami and Yugi waited.

"Any news?" Yugi asked excitedly.

"We have a son and a daughter."

The group cheered. Even Seto Kaiba enjoyed a quick grin.

"My son is very sick," Marik added. "They don't think he's going to make it."

Marik sat down waiting to hear the news. The waiting was cruel. Five hours. Marik waited five hours before a nurse came in and told Marik he could see his son. Marik walked into the room slowly where infants were lined up in their incubators.

"We'll put him with his mother when she gets a room. We're going to keep her overnight. Her kids will be with her."

"Is my son going to be ok?"

"He's a tough little guy. He'll pull through. We have his heart stabilized and we fed his sister. His sister was very hungry."

Bakura chuckled thinking of Ryou and her constant eating.

Marik looked down at the small baby connected to monitors. Marik placed his hand into the unit and was able to cover his son completely with his hand. Just as he did in the womb, Aten curled up and nuzzled into the hand. Marik held his hand there as he felt the tiny bump below his hand, the beating of his son's heart.

Bakura held onto Aria and rocked her against his shoulder.

Marik looked down at his son again. Aten gripped Marik's thumb and immediately began to suck on it. "Welcome to the world, Aten Bakari Ishtar. My little boy."

Next Chappie: Aunt Yami and who knew Seto had a soft spot for babies???