Warning: If you find yourself uncomfortable when it comes to someone giving birth, you may want to skip some of it.

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Chapter 7 – A New Arrival

Spring had come earlier than expected that year. The snow that had kept almost everyone indoors had now melted away and joined the streams and ocean. Some of the trees had started to bud and the ground was slowly starting to become green again with grass and small sprouts. Duster had become exceedingly uneasy knowing that the baby would arrive any day now. The mother was starting to feel the same way but she was happy about that. Not only would the long wait be over but she could go back to the things she normally did, including not dressing so girly. It was getting late and the two were getting dinner prepared. The thief was able to calm down for a bit until he heard Kumatora give a soft groan. 

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yeah, just another cramp. I don’t know why but they have been happening all afternoon. It’s annoying the hell out of me.”

Duster became a bit nervous. Please don’t tell me that it will be time soon he thought to himself.

“I’ve also been on my feet for a while. Maybe I’ll feel better after relaxing for a bit,” the princess added.

“That…that would be a good idea. I’ll take care of things here.”

“Okay.” She went over to sit down by the table and almost lost her balance. “Damn it!”

Oh, no.

“Can you help me a bit?”

Thank goodness, not yet. 

“Don’t just stand there, help me!”

“Right, right.”

The thief held the chair in place so she got rest without it knocking over or her falling to the ground. “I can’t wait until this whole mess is over,” she groaned.

“Mess? I thought you were actually looking forward to having the child.”

“I am it’s just everything else. I can hardly do anything on my own, I’m constantly sore and tired, and I want to stop wearing these stupid dresses.” Kumatora pulled out one side of the dress’s skirt and dropped it.

“I actually liked seeing you in something different for a change.”

“Too bad. I’m going to back to my regular clothes once it’s born.” A minute later sharp pain hit her out of nowhere. It felt as if she was being sneak attacked by an enemy that wasn’t noticed until it was too late. Kumatora couldn’t help but let out a sharp groan through her teeth. “Now I know why…I was hurting all this time…” she stated, holding her large belly. “I think the baby is coming…” 

“Now?”

“Now.”
 
He lost his composure and ended up knocking a cup off the table and as he staggered back, right over the other chair and into the wall. The thief now sat on the ground from tripping and his head was sore from ramming it into the wall. 

“You’re making things worse!” she yelled at him.

“I’m sorry!”

“Don’t apologize, just get some help!”

Duster scurried to his feet and ran out the door as soon as possible, forgetting to close the door behind him. Who do I ask for help? The thief thought as he ran to the town square. He was so worried about Kumatora that he ended up bumping into Flint. Duster fell to the ground onto his behind, not noticing what had happened.

“Duster, what’s the matter?” the cowboy asked as he helped him up.

“I need to get help. Kumatora went into labor,” Duster responded in a panic.

“All right, just relax.”

“I can’t relax knowing the person I love is about to have my baby!”

“Okay. Go and get Tessie. She’ll know what to do.”

The thief nodded and took off to get her. Flint sighed and fixed his hat, hoping that he could handle the situation. His son approached him with a few of the sheep following behind. They had somehow gotten out of their pen and he was taking them back home.

“Dad, what’s going on?” Lucas asked 

“It seems that Kumatora is going to have the baby.”

Lucas became nervous knowing that the time had finally come. “Is there anything I can do to help too?” he asked.

“Probably not but don’t worry about it too much. Duster went to get Tessie. She knows how to handle these kinds of situations.”

The blonde sighed in relief knowing that it was being taken care of. “All right. I just feel like I should do something to help. “I know. I’ll go help Kumatora while Duster goes to get Tessie.” 

Lucas took off just like Duster had a minute before, this time towards where his expectant friend was waiting for some assistance. Since the door was left open by the careless father-to-be, there was no shame in barging in, especially in a tense situation like this. The princess was trying to make her way to the bedroom, still in pain. As soon as the thief had ran out the door, her water broke and she felt that it would be better for her to lie down instead of sitting up. She sat in the middle of the floor with wet trail from where she was sitting before to her current position. The boy went over to her side and tried to help her to her feet.

“Lucas?” Kumatora asked the blonde. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard you were going to have the baby and I wanted to help in some way,” he responded as the two got up.

“What about Duster getting help?”

“He’s doing that too. I was starting to get worried about you so I came to lend a hand until he came back.”

She let out a weak smile as the two slowly made their way to the bedroom. Lucas helped his friend get comfortable as they waited for the thief and future father to return, with a few awkward moments in the process.

During this time, Duster had his way to the inn. It was just like the one that had existed in the village several years ago before all of the changes occurred. It was even taken care of by the same three people: Jackie, Betsy, and Tessie. Even in this new world, people still came to Tazmily, but as passers-by. Most of who came to stop for a rest were looking for a new place to call home while others were just exploring, either looking for others who had survived or to answer the call to adventure.

“Tessie!” Duster shouted as he ran into the building. Jackie and Betsy couldn’t help but stare as he charged inside in a panic. Tessie came out of one of the rooms and noticed the thief.

“Oh, Duster,” she asked. “What’s wrong? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No, worse. Kumatora has gotten into labor and I need your help. Flint told me to get you because he said you would know what to do.”

 “It was a good thing that he told you to get me. I was the one who helped Hinawa deliver the twins,” she responded.

“That’s a relief, I guess.”

“Shouldn’t you two get going then?” Betsy asked.

Duster grabbed Tessie by the hand and pulled her along. “Slow down!” she begged. “I know you’re in a rush but you don’t need to pull my arm out of its socket.”

“I’m sorry.” He slowed down his pace a bit so that she could keep up and catch her breath. “I’m really worried about her.”

“I can understand. This is your first child and your reaction is quite natural.” 

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“What’s taking so long?” Kumatora asked while trying to deal with the pain.

“Do you want me to go and make sure everything is okay?”

“I’d rather have you stay here just in case something happens.”

“Okay.” Lucas became even more nervous, hoping that nothing would happen before Duster returned. The blonde was no stranger to intense situations, but this was the first time he was involved in one that had to do with a woman in labor. What made it even more nerve-wracking was that the mother was one of his closest friends.

The thief retuned with the help they needed but all he saw was an unoccupied chair and a mess on the floor. “Kumatora, where are you?” he asked, now a bit scared. 

“Relax, I’m in here!” a voice shouted from the other room. Duster sighed in relief and the two went on in. She was in bed with one arm clutching to the blanket and the other on her swelled stomach. What he didn’t expect to see was Lucas in the room with her, sitting on his bed.

“Don’t worry. Nothing happened,” the blonde said quickly, not knowing how his friend would react. Duster just smiled and sat down next to him.

“Did you help her out while I went to get Tessie?” the thief asked.

“Yes.”

“Thank you.” He briefly embraced Lucas before Kumatora shouted quietly in pain. No matter how much she was hurting, the princess refused to scream like a weakling.

“I better get going now,” the boy told them. “It’s getting late and I’m…starting to get a bit uncomfortable…”

“All right. We’ll let you know if anything comes up,” Duster told him.

“Also, can you tell Jackie and Betsy that I may not be back for a while?” Tessie asked the blonde. “It may take quite a long time.”

“Might?” Kumatora asked, annoyed while trying to deal with the pain.

“It varies from person to person and it usually takes quite a while for a first timer.”

“Fine…”

Lucas left to go relay the message before heading home. Tessie proceeded to check on the expectant mother by undoing the bottom of the bed sheets. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Kumatora asked in surprise. Duster was a bit shocked as well with what she was doing.

“I need to do this in order to know when the baby will come.” She responded. “Right now you haven’t gotten very far. However, you may be ready in a short amount of time or it will take several hours.”

4 hours had passed and there wasn’t much progress after. The sun had all ready set and a crescent moon shone through the window from behind a nearby tree.

“How long is this going to take?” Kumatora groaned.

“Judging by how far along you are compared to a couple of hours ago, it will probably take a while.”

“That doesn’t help me at all! Just tell me how much longer!”

“A few hours at least. Perhaps even a day.”

“A day?! I can’t deal with this crap for a day! I’ve gone through pain for one lifetime and I want this damn thing taken out of me!!!”

“Please calm down, Kumatora,” Duster begged. “There’s no need to be unreasonable.”

“I can be as unreasonable as I want to be!” she snapped at the thief.

“Don’t take it personally,” Tessie told him. “Yelling is just one of the ways that someone in pain lets off pressure. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything I can do to help with that.”

“So I have to deal with it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s just great. I better not be lying here all night,” Kumatora complained before letting out another groan.

They had to do just that, much to the mother-to-be’s dismay. Everyone was getting tired waiting through the night for the time to deliver. Duster let Tessie rest on his bed until she was needed and he sat in a chair next to Kumatora, out like a candle. Even with the stress of what was happening, it seemed like he could fall asleep just about any time or anywhere. Kumatora kept on nodding off but woke up every now and then with each contraction. Soon they became so constant that she could no longer do so. The princess had never been in so much pain before in her life. She needed something to grab on to to help ease it a bit. Since the child’s father was the closest person to her, she grabbed the thief’s hand and squeezed it tightly. This disturbed Duster from his slumber.

“What are you…?”

“Don’t ask, just deal with it,” she said through her teeth, interrupting him before shouting out again to deal with the contractions. “Crap! When will all of this be over?!”

Kumatora’s cry got Tessie’s attention and she checked one more time.

“Don’t worry. You’re just about ready to deliver.”

“Should I leave now?” he asked nervously. This was the first time Duster had been around someone who was about to give birth and he didn’t know what to expect.

“NO!” Kumatora shouted in pain. “I would feel better if you stayed here.”

“Also, I’m going to need your help,” Tessie added. The thief swallowed a bit. “Don’t worry, I just a couple of blankets and some water.” Duster sighed in relief and went to get them. At least he didn’t have to see anything he didn’t need to see. Luckily he was able to bring them to her just before Kumatora began to deliver the baby. 

“Get the hell over here!” she yelled at him. He did as he was told and went right over to her side but not without running into the chair he was sitting in earlier. “How clumsy can you be, you moron?!”

“I’m sorry!” Duster apologized.

“All right, now I need you to push,” Tessie told her.

Kumatora did as she was told while cutting off circulation to the thief’s hand.

“You’re squeezing me too hard.”

“Shut your trap and deal with it!”

“That was a good one. I need you to do that again.”

Kumatora repeated the process but not without shouting again. “I hate this! Why did it have to happen to me?!”

“You’re doing great. Now, push.”

“I can’t feel my hand…” Duster stated.

Kumatora grabbed him by the collar and brought his face close to hers. “Listen, you moron!” she shouted. “I’m in more pain than any person should be forced to go through and all you can think about is your stupid hand?!”

The thief thought it was best to stay silent this time around. Her hair began to get soaked with sweat from all of pushing and she was starting to get worn out.

“I need you to push again.”

“All, right Kumatora, you can do it. Don’t give in now.” 

“Shut the hell up! I’m doing the best that I can!”

“I got the head now, just one more good push.”

“This had better be it! I’m tired from staying up all night and I don’t want keep on doing this!”

“This is the last one, I promise.”

She put all of her might into one lash push. There was no way she was going to give up just because she was tired. As soon as dawn arrived, a sharp cry was heard but not from the mother. It was the baby as it came into the world with the new day. All of the pressures of the night before seemed to have disappeared with the newborn’s cry.

“Well?” Kumatora asked, out of breath.

“It’s a girl,” Tessie smiled to them. “A bit on the small side but she seems healthy.”

“There’s only one, right?”

“Just one.”

The new mother sighed in relief and lied back on the pillows behind her.

“You did great, Kumatora. I’m proud of you,” the thief said to her.

“Thanks,” she smiled weakly.

After everything was cleaned up, Tessie brought over the child, which was now wrapped in a soft maroon blanket and gave her to the mother. “Be very careful with her.” The baby was still fussing but her cries were not as loud. 

“I can handle it.” The baby started to calm down as Kumatora cradled her in her arms. Surprisingly, she had a full head of reddish hair and hazel eyes, which were kept half-open. The princess was content that she looked like a normal baby; nothing out of the ordinary, which meant nothing to worry about. “She doesn’t really look like a Hikari now that I look at her.”

“Then what are we going to name her?” Duster asked.

The new mother stared at the little bundle when she noticed something about the babe. “You know, she kind of reminds me Lucas’s late brother.”

“She kind of does, doesn’t she?”

Kumatora smiled. “I just thought of a great name for her.”

“What?” the thief asked.

“Clara.”

“That’s an interesting name. I like it.”

“Clara it is then.”

The newborn yawned and got comfortable in her mother’s arms, falling asleep. “You go ahead and take her now,” she told the baby’s father.

Duster carefully took the child into his arms and couldn’t help but smile. Even though the whole thing started with an accident and a strange machine, the thief was still happy because he was able to help create a new life. What was even a greater joy was that it was with the person he loved, not just someone he didn’t really care for with his whole heart. Clara snuggled closer to her father and clung to his shirt. It was so cute that he felt as if his heart had melted. Who would have thought that such a small creature would bring so much bliss into their lives? As soon as his daughter had fallen asleep, Duster carefully placed her in a small cradle that had been sitting in the room for a few months, waiting for the child that would one day lay its head in it.

“Now let me go over a few things with you. First off, it’s going to take a lot of work raising a child and she’ll need a lot of attention. Both of you will have to work together taking care of her.”

“That’s obvious,” Kumatora stated.

“My next concern is how you plan on feeding the baby for the first few months or so. Do you plan on breast feeding her?”

“What?! No, no, no, no, NO! There is no way I’m going to be doing that!” she declared, waving her arms back and forth and shaking her head.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s just that mother’s milk is always best for a newborn.”

“Good,” Kumatora said as she sighed in relief knowing that she didn’t need to feed her child in that manner. Duster made his way to the door before being stopped by the princess. “Where are you going?”

“I promised Lucas I would let him know if anything happened.” The thief responded. “Also, you should probably rest.”

“All right. You better be back later okay?”

“Okay.”

“I should leave as well to let everybody know that everything is okay,” Tessie added.

“This is personal!” Kumatora shouted. “Why do you want to tell everyone?”

“News travels fast here. It was going to be a matter of time before everybody knows anyways.”

“Right, I forgot about that.”

“Just get some sleep and I’ll come back tomorrow to see if everything is fine.”

Kumatora nodded and got herself comfortable. The night before took a lot out of both her and the baby and rest was what they needed.

Duster was still a bit tired from staying up for most of the night as well but he was too cheerful to take a nap. He was a father now, though it was a bit weird that his daughter wasn’t conceived in the usual way. It didn’t matter to him anyways. He loved the new baby and her mother will all of his heart. As soon as the thief got to the home of his friend, he saw that no one was around, which was quite odd for this time in the morning. Boney, as usual, was in his doghouse and lifted his head to see who it was. As soon as he saw the thief, he went right over to him, wagging his tail.

“Hi there, Boney,” Duster greeted before petting the dog. “Have you seen Lucas anywhere? I want to tell him that she had the baby this morning.”

The baby’s here? the dog answered excitedly with a small bark.

“Yep.”

Boney was so happy that he couldn’t help but jump onto the thief and lick him. Yay! We should go get Lucas and tell him! he whined.

 “All right, calm down. Just show me where Lucas is.”

Okay. The dog promptly got off and led Duster to where his owner was. Though it was still early, the blonde was all ready up and taking care of something for his father. Boney ran right over to the blonde’s side and barked happily It’s here! It’s here!

“What’s here, Boney?” Lucas asked.

“The baby,” Duster answered, who was standing right behind him. 

The boy couldn’t help but turn around with a big grin on his face. “Is everything okay? Is it a boy or a girl? What does the baby look like?” Lucas questioned rapidly.

“Calm down,” the thief chuckled.

“Sorry, I’m just really excited.”

“Everything’s fine. Kumatora had a baby girl a little while ago and I couldn’t be happier.”

“That’s great! Can I go and see them?”

“Probably tomorrow. We’re all worn out from staying up so late.”

“Aww, okay. Hey, do you think you should tell your dad as well?”

“You’re right. I better tell him that he’s got a granddaughter.” Duster took off for Wes’s place with so much energy that you couldn’t really tell that he was feeling drained from being awake for such a long time. The thief arrived there in a flash and before knocking, took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm down. His heart was still pounding as he rapped on the door and waited for his father to answer.

“Oh, hello,” Wes greeted him at the doorway. “I’m surprised to see you here this early.”

“Well, I’ve been up all night.” his son told him. “I just came by to let you know that you have a granddaughter now,” 

Wes just stood there, silent for a bit, not sure how to react. After a minute of awkward silence, the old thief, now a grandfather, spoke up. “That good…no, that’s great news but why didn’t you tell me earlier when she was having it?”

“I’m sorry. I was in such a panic…”

“You know what, forget it. I’m just glad you told me. They’re doing fine, right?”

“Kumatora and the baby are fine. They’re just recuperating from last night.”

“Good. I’m surprised you’re not tired as well. You’re not much of a night owl.”

“Actually, I am. I just wanted to let you and Lucas know about the baby first.”

“Well since I know now, you can head back, rest and help take care of your daughter.”

“Okay.” The new father was about to return home until a question popped up in his mind after remembering what he had promised Lucas. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Why?” Wes asked just as he was about to close the door.

“I thought you would want to come over and see her.”

“Is that an invite?”

“I guess so,” Duster shrugged.

“In that case, I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“All right. See you tomorrow.”

Duster promptly returned home and quietly entered so that he wouldn’t wake Kumatora and the baby. Fatigue was starting to catch up to him after that burst of adrenaline and all he wanted to do now was sleep. The thief quietly fell onto his bed, not noticing the lump under the covers.

“Ow…” a muffled voice cried out.

“Huh?” He got up and lifted the sheets to find Rope Snake lying there. “I’m sorry, Rope Snake. I didn’t see you there. Are you okay?”

“I was fine until you almost squished me,” answered the reptile. “Now if you excuse me, I want to go back to sleep. I had to stay up all night hiding under the bed because of all of the noise.”

“Yeah, Kumatora was having the baby.”

“She was? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I forgot all about you.”

“That’s all right. All I want to do now is sleep.”

“Same here.”

Rope Snake slithered his way off the bed and got comfortable somewhere else in the room while Duster fell face first onto his pillow. In a matter of minutes, all of the home’s occupants were fast asleep, making up for what they had lost the night before.