Prince of Tennis - Yanagi Renji - 008. Weeks.

[willowscry]

Title: Late to the Party
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Characters: Yanagi Renji, Yanagi Mizu, Yanagi Tori, Yanagi Kenichi
Prompt: 008. Weeks
Word Count: 4,129
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Renji deals with fatherly advice, thinking up a name for their child, and just trying to keep things as normal as possible.
Author's Notes:
My LDT found here



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

The house seemed rather quiet. It usually was when Renji arrived home from work. His routine never changed. He would make coffee for himself, then sit down at the kitchen table to grade his students' work for an hour, then start fixing dinner for him and his wife.

Renji had been thinking about the recent developments in their life. His wife was pregnant as well as his sister who was off in Tokyo with her husband and their first child. It would be odd if the two children were born within a week of each other. Then again, Renji was born within a half hour of his best friend, so maybe it wouldn't be.

Taking a sip of his coffee, he sighed. The papers before him were boring him. It was nothing that he hadn't read hundreds of times before. Though every now and again one of his students would give him a new outlook on a classic piece of literature.

"You're deep in thought." His wife said, coming up behind Renji and massaging his shoulders.

"I'm the one that should be doing that." Renji said quietly, though appreciating the gesture. "How are you feeling?"

"I wasn't as sick as I've been. I think the kid is finally settling in." Mizu said, smiling a little. "I still can't believe this."

Renji just chuckled. "I barely can as well. We've wanted this for a while though, why not now?"

Mizu rested her head on Renji's neck. "I kind of feel like I'm stealing Kana-chan's thunder."

"Just because she knew about her before we knew is nothing to be ashamed of." Renji said. "When are we going to tell everyone?"

"I think we can now. I'm fairly confident that this kid plans on sticking around now." Mizu smiled, sitting down across from him. "It's going to be so different around here with a kid."

Renji smiled as well. "Of course it is." He said, getting up to start dinner for them.

"I'm perfectly capable of cooking." Mizu said.

"I know, but I should get better at it before it becomes a necessity." Renji said. "Besides, it's not like I've ever poisoned anyone, unlike Sadaharu."

Mizu giggled at this. "So that's why Kana-chan banned him from the kitchen?"

"No, she did that purely in self-defense."

"It surprising to see you here alone." Tori said, setting a cup of tea down in front of Mizu.

"It was kind of quiet at home. Renji's at school supervising tennis practice, and I've cleaned about everything I could. I figured you wouldn't mind." Mizu smiled at her mother-in-law.

Tori smiled. "Of course not." She said, sipping at her tea. "You two aren't fighting are you?"

Mizu looked surprised. "We had our share, but we're fine." Mizu frowned a little. Mood swings were a given in the next few weeks. Hopefully Renji would be able to take them in stride.

"That's a look that says otherwise." Tori said.

"It's not that we're fighting…It's that we might be soon." Mizu admitted. "He's usually pretty good about not taking me seriously when I'm upset. And we usually make up before the end of the day, so it's not really a big deal with us."

Tori looked confused. "Why do you think you'll start fighting?" This didn't really make any sense to her.

Mizu blushed a little and was interrupted by the door opening and Renji announcing himself.

"Hello, stranger." Tori grinned. "Pour yourself some tea and join us. It's relationship therapy time apparently."

Renji groaned a little as he poured the tea for himself and joined the women at the table. "I wasn't aware there was something wrong…" Renji trailed off.

Mizu chuckled. "Your mother thinks we're fighting…I just mentioned that I'm a bit afraid that we might have some disagreements coming up."

Renji looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on him. "Have you told her yet?"

"I was just about to. Glad you're here for it now though." Mizu said.

"Tell me what?" Tori said, glancing at each of the kids.

"Remember what you were saying back at the family gathering in June?" Renji asked.

"About what?" Tori asked, looking a bit confused.

Mizu laughed a little. "About your son giving you some grandchildren." She said, and started grinning. "Your wish is coming true."

Tori stared for a moment before realization dawned on her. She started laughing. "Please tell me you're not joking." She said.

"Not joking." Mizu said, patting her belly. "It's still early, but I'm sure nothing is going to happen. I wanted to make sure before we told everyone though. It's been…about 10 weeks."

Renji was smiling during the whole exchange, letting the women take care of the womanly matters.

"That means…"

"It was just after the gathering that I found out." Mizu said. "I would have said something sooner, but like I said, I didn't want something to happen and then have everyone feel sorry for me if it did." Mizu said.

"I guess now I can understand what you mean about possibly fighting. I'm sure you two won't though." Tori looked at her son. "I'm sure you can survive this. After all, your father survived it twice." Tori grinned.

Renji just shook his head. "Where is father anyway?" He asked.

"In the home office, of course." Tori answered. She smiled. "Perhaps you should share the news with him."

Renji nodded, draining his tea in one gulp. "I can take a hint." He said. He probably didn't want to hear the horror stories his mother was planning on telling his wife.

Renji knocked on the door politely before entering the office. He took a seat on the couch that faced the window. His father looked over at his son. "I haven't seen you in a while." Kenichi said.

"Ah." Renji said. "Work sometimes gets in the way of life." He answered, smiling a little.

"You don't look like you've been working." Kenichi said, nodding at Renji's current state of dress in his tennis clothes.

"It's not work when it's fun." Renji said. "These boys work as hard as we ever did. They're keeping the old traditions alive." Renji said with a bit of pride for the boys he coached.

Kenichi smiled. "I'm sure you didn't come here for small talk though. What's on your mind?"

Renji felt a little odd. He'd never really had many long chats with his father, but he did respect the man. Renji looked at his father carefully. The long neck, the sharp chin, the long body he had inherited from him were quite obvious, while his hair and eye color was from his mother. Renji hated to admit it, but he looked a lot like his father.

Renji took a deep breath. "I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that you'll have another grandchild soon."

Kenichi looked up, blinking a little, then smiled. "We finally get one from you and Mizu-chan, hmm?" Renji nodded. "Let me guess, the women are talking about things us men really don't need to hear about."

Renji chuckled a little. "Pretty much." He said. "At least, I'm not sure I want to know about them."

Kenichi turned back to his work. "You know, it was easier to deal with the second time around. I didn't have to guess as to what was going on, nor did I end up on the couch as much as I did." Kenichi chuckled. "Yes, your mother kicked me out of bed a lot. And sometimes, it was just easier on me."

Renji stared a little at his father. This was not sounding good. "I'm sure this can't be as bad as you're making it out to be."

Kenichi snorted a little. "You'll find out soon enough." He said. "I hope yours gives you as much trouble as you did." Kenichi smiled fondly. "I don't think your mother ate anything other than tea and crackers for three months, and barely kept that down. And once you started kicking...I'm not sure either of us got much sleep then, not to mention having to take care of your sister on top of that.."

Renji shook his head. "I couldn't have been that bad."

"You were 40 weeks of hell." Kenichi said, grinning at his computer screen. "So how far along is she?"

"I believe the doctor said she was at least 10 weeks along. She's only slightly showing."

"Enjoy your next few weeks of freedom because you will be exhausted in more ways than one."

"Doesn't that come after the baby's born?"

"It starts the minute there is a baby." Kenichi warned. "You've handled a lot of things that life has thrown at you." Kenichi turned back to his son. "Honestly, I was worried about you at one point about ten years ago. Then you adjusted and made friends. And then it was a girlfriend who's now your wife. I have never seen any one as devoted to something or someone as much as you are. You've turned out to be a fine man."

Renji was surprised to hear such praise from his father. "Father…"

"You'll teach your children the same, I'm sure. You're already a great inspiration to many children already. I'm sure you can handle one of your own." Kenichi chuckled a little. "Oh, I'd like to offer one piece of advice if I may. If Kana and Mizu-chan both happen to go into labor at the same place and time….I would try to stay away from Sadaharu-kun."

Renji looked confused. He had always heard there was a bit of a scuffle surrounding his birth, but he had never actually heard the story because every time he asked, his parents would just change the topic. "So do I finally get to hear this story?" Renji asked.

"I suppose now it won't hurt. Your mother and Shiori were in labor in the same hospital. They had spent much of their mutual pregnancies together, sharing their own experiences. As you know, your mother was familiar with the process and Shiori was not. Shiori's husband had decided that he wasn't going to show up, so your mother asked me to check on her. And with two women in labor, it seemed like a good idea to do what was asked. I was just about to leave Shiori's room when her husband came in and landed a right hook on my face."

Renji looked on in horror. He knew Sadaharu's father wasn't exactly one of the nicest or kindest people in the world, but this seemed ridiculous. Kenichi smiled sadly.

"He seriously thought that Shiori had cheated on him, and he assumed that someone was me. It took a couple of doctors to pull us apart, even though all I was doing was defending myself." Kenichi shook his head. "So the short version is that Inui Katsuharu tried to beat the crap out of me. He actually got kicked out of the hospital and missed the birth of his son. Which happened about five hours later. I barely made it to see you, considering I had an ice pack to my face. You know, your mothers were hoping you'd be born on the same day. You just had to prove us wrong though."

Renji chuckled. "I like to make an entrance."

Kenichi chuckled. "Of course." He glanced at the clock. "You may want to save your wife from Tori's horror stories before she decides this is a bad idea."

Renji nodded, standing up to head out the door. "Renji." Renji turned around to look back at his father. "You'll get through this."

"Thanks." Renji said, heading back out to the kitchen.

Mizu was looking a bit pale. "Mother, what have you done to my wife?" Renji asked.

Mizu smiled. "It wasn't her. Just had a small bout of being sick that I wasn't expecting. Ready to go home?" She asked.

Tori smiled. "Don't stay away too long since you two are the ones that live closest to us. And don't forget to tell your sister about this. After all, even from far away you two can share your misery, right?" She grinned.

"We will." Renji promised, sliding his shoes on.

It was a few weeks later that Mizu finally noticed that her stomach was sticking out more than it should. "Hello there, kid." She said quietly, staring at herself in the mirror early on a Saturday morning. "Renji?"

"Hmm?" He mumbled, rolling over in bed, trying to get in some more sleep before he had to go supervise tennis practice again.

Mizu flopped down on the bed, grabbing his hand. "I'm starting to show." She said, placing his hand on her belly. Renji just wrapped his arm around her.

"That makes it just that much more real, doesn't it?" He said, burying his face into her side.

"You're being lazy." Mizu said tolerantly. "Sanada-kun would be kicking your ass."

"No, Seiichi would be more likely to do that." Renji mumbled, pulling her closer to him. "Any plans for this afternoon?"

"We really should start getting a room ready for the kid, shouldn't we?" Mizu said, closing her eyes. Sleep was so inviting right now.

"We can start that then" Renji agreed, kissing her neck.

"Don't start with that." Mizu said grumpily. "Definitely not in the mood."

Renji pulled away from her. "Sorry." He said, sitting up.

"Maybe later." Mizu said, curling up back into the blankets.

"That's not fair." Renji said, as he was getting dressed.

"I'll be awake when you get home. It's not fair that your kid is making me tired."

"Right." Renji said, kissing her before he left. "Have a nice nap then. I'll be home soon."

"Ren?" Mizu rolled over in the middle of the night and poked her husband in the chest.

"What?" He murmured. It had been a while, and Mizu was very obviously pregnant now. Renji was about to assume one of three things.

"I can't sleep." She complained. That was the second thing on Renji's mental list of things he was expecting. And when she couldn't sleep, she made sure he couldn't either.

"Back, heartburn, or being kicked?" He asked.

"All of the above." Mizu said, attempting to sit up. "So how much longer do we have?"

Renji smiled to himself. "Not much." He reassured her, rolling over and staring at her, sliding his hand over the baby. He loved feeling it kick. "You know, you're this far along, and we haven't discussed possible names for him." They had decided to find out ahead of time what sex the baby would be.

"Minor details, Ren." Mizu said.

"You must be feeling lazy." Renji said.

"Half asleep." Mizu replied. Those were the only times that she tended to shorten his name. "I suppose you have a point though." She said. "Well, can't name him after his grandfather, Kana got to it first."
"I'd suggest naming him after my grandfather, but…" Renji trailed off.

"Let me guess, you were, weren't you?" Renji nodded.

"Other grandfather?" Mizu asked. Certainly they couldn't be that uncreative in deciding on a name for their child.

"I wouldn't give another child a name like his. That, and I don't like him all that much." Renji answered.

"Okay, so we either come up something totally random, or we work with 'Ren'" Mizu suggested. Mizu laughed a bit. "You heard what the Sanadas named their son, right?"

Renji chuckled. "I heard. Leave it to Genichirou to be rather uncreative as well."

Mizu smiled. "We can be uncreative as well." She said as she racked her brain for anything that might sound good.

Renji shook his head. "You look like you're deep in thought. This isn't going to be good, is it?"

"Probably not.." Mizu said. "…I have to pee…" Renji sighed as she got out of bed to do so. "I heard that." She said as she made her way to the bathroom.

Renji flopped back while she was doing that to lie down and think. Naming a child was not something he was looking forward to. It needed to be unique, but not too much so. He felt the bed sink as Mizu returned. Renji looked over at her. "Any thoughts?"

"I hate this kid."

Renji sighed. "I meant on the name issue." He clarified.

"No." She said, turning her head towards him. "Has your sister decided on any names yet?"

"Apparently she's watched 'Ring' too many times, and Sadaharu likes the idea of at least one of his children being named after him, so at least one of them will be 'Sadako'"

Mizu laughed at that. "I didn't think Kana-chan would have been into horror movies."

"I didn't either, honestly." Renji shrugged, sitting up. "I suppose I don't mind if we do the same as everyone else seems to be doing. Though if anyone asks, he's named after his great-grandfather."

Mizu smiled. "Of course. Now that I know what we're working with…"

"I don't think we can leave it at just 'Ren' though…We'd get confused." Renji grinned.

"Yes, we would." Mizu smiled as well. "So something that can be shortened some other way."

The conversation was interrupted by the phone ringing. "Who calls at 2 in the morning?" Mizu muttered as Renji grabbed for the phone near the bed and answering, since it tended to mean a family emergency.

Renji held the phone a bit away from his ear, waiting for the caller to calm down. "Sadaharu, while I appreciate being informed of this fact, don't you think you should be with your wife?" Renji said calmly. "I see….Ah. I'm sure she doesn't mean it. Where's Kenjirou?...Good to know. You'll call us once the twins are born, right?" Renji chuckled a little. "Now go back in there before I do have to come knock some sense into you. You know Kana doesn't mean that."

Mizu raised an eyebrow. "I take it Kana-chan's in labor?" Renji nodded.

"Apparently she kicked Sadaharu out of the room for the moment." Renji shook his head. "It's amazing how he can lose his head in moments like this."

Mizu looked at him. "I'm going to laugh my head off if you do the same thing when this kid decides to show up. And if I remember right, isn't she delivering a bit early?"

"Twins sometimes come early was what they were told. So they were prepared for this possibility." Renji said.

"…I wonder if they ever came up for a name for the other one." Mizu said.

"I'm sure they'll think of something." Renji said. "Since we're back on the subject of names…"

"How does 'Rentarou' sound?" Mizu asked.

"Sounds better than anything I could come up with." Renji said, glancing at the clock. He had about three to four hours before he had to be awake. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

Mizu glared down at him. "If I have to suffer, so do you." She said. Renji sighed.

"Of course." He said sitting up, and hugging her.

"I love you, you know." Mizu whispered quietly as she leaned lightly back against him. Renji just nuzzled her neck as they both fell asleep like that.

The alarm clock rang at it's usual hour, stirring the two from their sleep. Renji grumbled as usual, then realized that he'd pretty much slept sitting up. Mizu was reaching for the alarm clock, about to throw it across the room before Renji stopped her arm and turned it off.

"I hate that thing." Mizu mumbled.

Renji smiled. He knew full well how much his wife hated that device. And she hated it even more now that she was supposed to be resting, but Renji still had to work.

Renji pulled on his dress shirt quietly, tucking it neatly into his pants. "Will you call me if you hear from Kana or Sadaharu? I'd like to know exactly when my nieces came into the world."

"I'll leave you a message." Mizu promised as the phone rang. "Or perhaps I won't have to."

"Such timing." Renji said, rolling his eyes as he answered it. Mizu sat up, curious as well. Renji was listening intently, smiling a little. "Are you glad you took my advice now?" He asked, after he was through listening. "Of course I am, Sadaharu. I need to get to work now though. We want to see them as soon as we can….You can kill two birds with one stone then, since I'm sure mother would like to meet her second and third grandbabies." Renji listened for a little longer before he was finally let go.

"I'm sure your boys are wondering where you are." Mizu said, noting the time.

"They know what to do." Renji insisted, but hurried up a bit more. "I'll see you later."

"Hey, what are their names?" Mizu called after him.

"Sadako and Hanako." Renji answered as he ran out the door.

A couple of weeks later, Renji was sitting at his desk at the school, staring at an email he had received from Seiichi who was currently in the United States with his own wife, and now child.

"Something wrong, Yanagi-kun?" It was one of Renji's co-workers.

"You know, you always ask me that, Takahashi-sensei." Renji said, smiling a little. "Just wondering how it is that Mizu and I ended up a bit late to the party."

Takahashi rose an eyebrow at that. Renji chuckled.

"My friends all had children before ours is even due. It's odd, really. Look at how long Mizu and I have been together. Logically, it should have been us."

Takahashi just shook his head. "Things like that happen…Does that include Sanada-kun? If I recall, wasn't he entirely against dating?"

Renji laughed. He remembered that quite well. "People do change. Though, apparently a misunderstanding led him to be married. Something about his parents thought he was peeping on her or something like that, and things went from there. They kind of grew on each other though." Renji told the story. "His wife and Mizu have become the best of friends though. And theirs is the oldest of the group, since he was born back in November. And I just got an email from Seiichi. His son was born a bit early, but they're doing fine." Renji stared at the screen.

"Mizu is almost due, isn't she?" Takahashi asked. Renji nodded.

"I just feel odd that we're the last ones. Even my sister had her children a few weeks ago - she had twins." Renji explained. "I still think it's odd that we've been together the longest, and it's taken this long."

"Yanagi-kun, would you have been ready for it before now? Rumors do tend to trickle down from the high school, you know. I don't know all the circumstances, but I heard that you two were engaged in high school."

Renji blushed an nodded.

"That's an awful long time to be together. You two had a lot of self control to not start a family before now. You just had to find that right moment, and this was it."

Renji chuckled a little. "I suppose so. Also, you sound a lot like my father did when we told him."

Takahashi grinned. "I have grown children of my own. Of course I know what I'm talking about."
Renji leaned back in his chair, relaxing a little. "I suppose we are ready finally." Renji glanced at the calendar. Mizu could go into labor at any moment. Something about the month of February was sticking out in his mind, but he couldn't quite place it. The only thing that he knew for sure was that his wife's birthday was soon, but that wasn't it. "And I think it's time I got home." Renji said, packing up the homework that still needed to be graded. "I'll see you tomorrow."

With Mizu being close, she was just pretty much waiting. She had spent most of her day cleaning everything in sight, making sure everything was just right.

Renji stared around the house once he got home. Furniture had been moved. Pictures had been rearranged on the walls. He could smell paint. "You were either bored, high on paint fumes, or you're nesting."

Mizu was sprawled out on the couch. "I’m thinking the latter. The house just doesn't feel right yet."

"Mizu, it's perfect. Quit worrying so much." Renji said.

"I know, I know." She said, looking down at her swollen belly. "I want this kid out of me."

Renji smiled. "He'll come out when he's ready to."

"I know. I have the feeling he's going to make a grand entrance." Renji chuckled.

"How grand can it be when the human race has been doing this for thousands of years?"

"I'm sure 'Tarou will agree with that as soon as he proves you wrong."