Chapter Text
Ren Amamiya has lived a great life. He has a supportive family, friends, and a beautiful wife he would do absolutely anything for.
He's done things in his life others couldn't even think of doing. He's fought gods, taken down criminal empires, died and came back to have the world. And yet…
As he glanced up into the mirror, you would've thought he was insane. His hair was slick with sweat, deep bags were under his eyes, and stubble decorated his chin and lower half of his face.
He looked around the hospital bathroom, swallowing heavily at the silence that accompanied him. He shook it off and turned on the water, running it over his face as he rubbed his palms over his eyes.
“Well, that's something I'd thought I'd never see.” A sarcastic, but also concerned and caring, voice entered Ren’s ears.
He looked towards the entrance of the bathroom, smiling softly at the sight of his brother-in-law. “Hey, Taro.” He greeted the taller man quietly.
Taro shook his head as he pushed himself off the doorway. “Shit, Ren, you look like hell.” He commented with a wince once he got closer.
“Gee, thanks.” Came Ren's response. He didn't bother trying to stop the hand that came to rest under his chin as Taro looked him over.
“When was the last time you slept?” He asked, concern seeping into his voice. “You look like you've been up for days.”
Ren thought for a moment, though that was difficult as his brain was practically mush from the last few days. “Uhm…” He swallowed again. “I took a nap after I came back from hunting down that, er, drug smuggler.”
Taro blinked once. Twice. Thrice. “Y-You mean the one you caught last week?!” He demanded, moving his hand to Ren's shoulder. “Ren!”
“What? I’ve been busy.” He defended with a scowl as he stepped away. “It’s been a crazy couple of days, in case you didn’t know.”
Taro huffed and shook his head. “Considering Kiri’s been unable to keep her mouth shut about this our entire drive here…?” He trailed off before wrapping an arm around Ren’s shoulders. “C’mon.”
Ren raised an eyebrow, but allowed Taro to pull him along nonetheless. “And where are we going?” He couldn’t help but ask.
“Just for a walk.” He reasoned with one of his signature grins. “We need to get you some fresh air.”
“B-But, Sumi—”
“Will be fine for a few minutes.” He reassured him with a squeeze. “She’s been here for two days. Everything looks great, doctors are saying she’s perfectly healthy and so is your kid.” He smiled softly. “Cut yourself some slack and be selfish for a little bit, okay?”
When Ren still looked unconvinced, Taro sighed dramatically and held up his phone. “Look, Kiriko’s going to call me as soon as any changes happen. If that happens then we can come straight back. Deal?”
Ren finally nodded softly. “Deal.”
Taro noticeably brightened. “Great! Now come on, let’s go grab you something to eat.” He led Ren towards a resting area where a small number of people were gathered. He wasn’t that surprised, it was the middle of the night, after all.
Ren bought a small sandwich and a drink while Taro simply grabbed a soda and a cookie, of which he was waving around absently as Ren ate.
“Honestly, you look terrible, I haven’t seen you this bad since we went out drinking the night after our graduation.” He commented with a frown. When Ren didn’t respond, his frown deepened and he sat up. “Listen, if you can’t take care of yourself, how are you going to take care of a kid?”
Ren froze, sandwich half-way through the air before he put it down slowly. “I…” He swallowed heavily. “I don’t know.” He answered softly. “I want to believe that I’ll make a good father, but—”
“Stop.” Taro held up his hand. “That wasn’t why I asked.” He shook his head with a smile. “Ren, you’re going to make a great dad, I promise. Sumire’s going to make a great mom. You’ll be perfect parents.”
Ren turned his gaze downward as he ran his hands over his face. “Do you think I’m ready to be a dad?” He asked, looking up at his brother with a frown. “Genuinely, do you? I’m only 27, I’m still young.”
“Ren, you and Sumire were practically destined to be together.” He said with an easy grin. “You two could’ve had a kid right out of high school and I wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised.” He teased with a playful jab to his ribs.
Ren didn't bother commenting that he had thought of having a child with Sumire much earlier, if only to avoid the teasing from his brother. “Maybe, but I’d rather Sumire be focused on her gymnastics than worried about having a kid, y’know?”
“True.” He conceded with a grin and a nod. “Look on the bright side, think of all the tricks you can teach your kid, Mr. Phantom.” He said, lowering his voice with a wink. “Your kid will be a superstar.”
Ren finally cracked a grin at that. “Yeah, she’ll be beautiful and talented.”
Taro raised a teasing eyebrow. “ ‘She’ , huh?” He leaned forward with a grin. “Already figured out the gender?”
Ren shook his head. “No, but Sumire’s certain we’re going to have a daughter, and I’m right there with her.” He smiled lovingly at the table, thinking of a small girl with Sumire’s eyes and his wild crow’s nest for hair with a grin the size of the sun.
“Oh boy, you got that love-struck smile on your face.” Taro commented with a sigh. “Honestly, it amazes me how you, after all this time, can still be so damn lovesick.”
“It's easy when I'm married to the most beautiful girl in the world.” Ren responded, playfully shoving at Taro's shoulder.
Taro shook his head and wrapped an arm around Ren's shoulders, pulling his brother into a gentle embrace. “Everything’s gonna be fine, Ren.” He said softly. “I know it, you know it. Sumire's one of the strongest women I know, she's going to be fine.” He grinned lazily. “If anything, this'll be a cakewalk for her.”
Ren sighed but had a small smile nonetheless. “Yeah, you're right. Sumi’s going to be fine, I just gotta have faith, right?”
Taro gave him a squeeze. “That's the spirit, Ren.” He opened his mouth when he perked up at something on the other side of the cafe. “Kiri?” He whispered, the grip on Ren's shoulders going lax.
Ren followed his gaze before it landed on a familiar face. Kiriko Kurusu-Kazama stood just in the doorway, her hair not in its signature ponytail but rather freely flowing down, and breathing heavily. “Kiriko?” He called out, hoping to garner her attention.
He was successful, as she whipped her head up at the sound of his voice, and Ren found a small smile growing before it flattened at the glare she sent the two's way. “YOU!” She growled, running over and grabbing Taro by his jacket, lifting him up. “The baby is coming and you have the audacity to sit here with the dad and eat?!”
Ren froze. “T-The baby is c-coming?” He murmured with wide eyes, a moment passed before he shot up to his feet.
Taro looked panicked. “I-I thought I told you to call me!”
Kiriko huffed. “Oh, I did, genius . YOU NEVER PICKED UP!”
Taro yelped and reached for his phone, only to nearly drop it. “I-I guess I forgot I put it on silent…”
“You idiot!” Kiriko scowled and slapped him upside the head.
“Uh, uhm…” Taro grabbed Ren's hand. “Looks like we're running, brother.” He said before taking off into a sprint, away from his angry wife.
“Taro Kazama, I swear to EVERYTHING HOLY…!”
Ren didn’t catch the last part of his sister’s sentence as Taro pulled him around a corner, shooting him one of his trademark grins. “We’ll deal with that later.” He assured him as they rushed through the hospital; which Ren wasn’t even sure was allowed, but he wasn’t going to try telling Taro that.
They arrived at Sumire’s room in record time, and without running anyone over, so Ren’ll consider that a win. He was about to enter when Kiriko came rushing up, grabbing Taro by the arm and dragging him away.
“I’ll be stealing your boyfriend for a little bit, Ren.” She practically growled as she threw Taro around a corner with a look that Ren’s only seen a few times on her. He mentally sent his luck to the brunet before taking a deep breath and pushing open the door to her room.
He was greeted by a doctor and two nurses, who smiled at him gently, causing his nerves to go down substantially. He turned his gaze over to the bed, and felt his lips twitch up at the sight of his wife.
Sumire’s hair was matted down, her glasses discarded on the table next to the bed. She was dressed in a hospital gown and looked to be seconds away from strangling the nearest person.
She never looked more perfect.
He rushed to her side, sitting down on a chair next to her with a small smile. He was rewarded with a scowl, as she immediately reached out to grip his hand with strength he initially believed his wife was incapable of having outside the Metaverse.
“Where have you been ?” She hissed with a glare that only made Ren’s smile widen.
“Taro dragged me around to get me out of my slump, he’s with Kiriko.” He answered softly, despite the amount of crushing pressure his hand was currently undergoing. “They’ll join us soon, depending on how Kiriko’s feeling considering we almost missed this.”
She nodded stiffly and let out a harsh breath. “I-I’ll give him a talking to myself.”
“After this, beautiful.” He murmured, pressing a kiss to the back of her palm.
“You’re doing great, Mrs. Amamiya.” The head doctor said gently. “Just a little bit more and you’ll be the mother of a gorgeous girl.”
Ren decided not to pay attention to whatever happened next, merely keeping his eyes on his wife, making sure that she was focusing all of her strength into pushing the baby out instead of ripping off his hand. Though that proved to be a bit difficult when she just wouldn’t stop being adorable.
“Y’know, we’re going to have to start wondering about school.”
“Not Shujin, for sure.”
“I wonder how Mom and Dad are going to react.”
“Best grandparents ever, I would think.”
“We’re never having sex again, by the way.”
“Eh, I doubt that.”
After a few more minutes of that, The doctor let out a breath and came back up with a smile and holding a small bundle in his hands. A baby. He passed it off to the nurse with a smile. “Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Amamiya, you’re now the proud maker of…” He trailed off before he suddenly went back down. “Ah, it seems we have another.”
Ren froze, as did Sumire. “A-Another?” He muttered, breathing hitching in his throat.
“It appears so, twins, by the looks of it.” The doctor looked up with a smile. “I hate to ask you for more, Mrs. Amamiya, but I’m going to need some more effort.” He turned to Ren. “Mr. Amamiya, I ask that you hold your daughter, close proximity to her mother and father will help, as well as skin-to-skin contact.”
Ren didn’t have time to react before the nurse handed him his daughter. His daughter. His and Sumire’s child. He gently looked down at the bundle in his hands, taking note of the full head of raven-hair and long eyelashes just like her father. Ren shifted his hold on her as quickly and softly as he could as he held her close.
This was his kid. He helped make this. Well, he and Sumire did, but the point still stands that this was his daughter. He and Sumire were now officially parents to this tiny, pudgy, wonderful thing. They’ve discussed names briefly, but they were never able to settle on any; but looking at her now, Ren can only say one.
“Hello, Hanako.” He said softly, running a finger across her cheek. “I’m your father, it’s nice to meet you.”
Hanako Amamiya stirred before her eyes opened slowly, silver irises just like her father stared back at him. She blinked a few times before her mouth opened in a toothless grin and she gripped tightly at Ren’s finger.
Ren couldn’t help the smile that arose on his face, which he suspected was the size of the sun as he reached down to press a tender kiss to her forehead. He looked up at Sumire’s harsh gasp, only for his gaze to slide towards the other bundle in the doctor’s arms.
“Well.” The doctor chuckled softly. “Let me rephrase my original statement: Congratulations, Mr and Mrs. Amamiya, you are now the proud maker of a pair of beautiful girls.” He said, handing their second daughter to Sumire, who was practically dripping sweat. “I’ll go grab Mr and Mrs. Kazama, for now, you two enjoy yourselves, we’ll do a checkup on them soon.” He smiled and slid out of the room.
Ren looked at Sumire. Sumire looked at Ren, and the latter wasted no time in shedding off his shirt and climbing onto the bed next to her and resting their heads together. Sumire lifted the bundle in her arms, showing Ren a head of brown hair and chocolate eyes, who blinked curiously at her father.
“I was thinking… Kasumi.” Sumire said softly, looking at Ren with nothing short of adoration in her eyes. “She’s the spitting image of her aunt, isn’t she?”
Ren nodded as he reached to brush a thumb over her tiny cheek. “Yes, she is.” He replied quietly. He shifted and moved Hanako up to show the newborn her mother. “This is your mom, Hanako.”
“Hanako…” Sumire breathed with a small smile. “They’re perfect, Ren.”
“They’re ours.” He said, pressing a kiss to her wet hair, not bothered by the sweat at all. “Yours and mine.”
The door opened to reveal an out of breath Taro as he squeezed into the room with Kiriko hot on his heels. He froze once his eyes landed on the couple and they’re newborns, pointing between the twins while blinking mutely.
Kiriko opened her mouth once she got to his side, only for it to snap shut at the sight of the family. “You…?” She took a few steps closer and collapsed into a chair on Sumire’s side. “They’re… perfect.” She whispered as she looked on with nothing but love and care in her eyes.
“Of course. They’re ours.” Ren couldn’t help but quip as he sat up and held out Hanako to Taro, who freezed in his tracks and hesitated. Ren rolled his eyes as he passed the baby to his brother. “C’mon, Taro, you gotta practice being an uncle sooner or later.” He teased with a grin.
Taro gently held the baby in his arms, letting out a soft breath. “Uncle, huh?” He said with a shake of his head. “I’ll be the coolest uncle in the world for you, baby girl.” He said, winking at his niece, causing her to grip his finger.
“And I’ll be the best aunt for you, little monster.” Kiriko cooed as she waggled her fingers above Kasumi. “Trust me, I’ll teach you all the ways to torment your parents.”
Ren and Sumire shared a look before they rolled their eyes in unison. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as he gazed adoringly at Hanako, while Sumire did the same for Kasumi.
He knew this was only the beginning of something amazing.