NaruHina: Postscripts

Fifty-five

Good day! I've read about that one drabble wherein Hinata discovered she's pregnant for the first time , um do you think you can write a continuation about Naruto's reaction? Millions thanks! and more power to you author-sama

He found it fitting that some of the most momentous events in his life happened at the entranceway.

This was where Hinata had come out to meet him and greeted him with, "Welcome home, Naruto."

The first time in his life that somebody had responded when he said, "I'm home."

The love had been so clear to see shining in her eyes, even though she hadn't realized then that it was his first time being greeted with those very words in his apartment.

Those words had changed his life.

Now, it seemed as if something significant was about to happen, too.

So it was so appropriate to see her standing there again, seemingly anxious and joyful at the same time.

A part of him sensed something was different today when Hinata came out into the entranceway quietly and she didn't say, "Welcome back, Naruto," as she often did.

Something on her face made him pause from taking off his shoes and made him straighten up slowly.

She stood quietly and waited until he looked her in the eyes.

She was smiling.

And he knew.

It was in the tender way she laid a hand on her stomach, a pale hand on her pink shirt, as if she was already fiercely prepared to protect the life inside, ready to give up hers for this tiny being in her womb.

He would never forget the expression on her face, the eyes luminous with joy, her lips gently smiling as she said, "Baby, Naruto."

Two words.

That was all she could manage.

In their conversations, Hinata was usually slow and measured when she spoke and when she would voice her thoughts. But today, the emotion and the feelings of joy made her stumble over the right words to tell him the news. Her lips quivered when she whispered it to him, when she'd just blurted out the news that would change their lives forever. She hadn't even been able to wait for him to come properly into the living room because she'd been so impatient to see him and to share her happiness.

So here they stood, in his entranceway, as he felt his world changing again.

Baby.

He was going to be a father.

Joy flooded him first. There was a new addition to their little family. Naruto suddenly remembered meeting his father for the first time and smiled to himself. Somehow, he suddenly felt like he knew how Minato must have felt when he'd punched him in the gut.

Because Naruto felt the same way right now. It must be similar, this breathlessness that gripped him at the enormity of this news.

Then anxiety hit. Could he do it? Could he be a father? To this child?

Fatherhood, the weight of it suddenly felt heavy.

Then fierce resolve slowly flooded him.

Of course, he could.

He was always, always ready to face what life threw at him. It was the very fabric of his being.

Before Hinata had come into his life, he'd been able to face the darkness. But now that she was with him, it seemed as if every moment was filled with light.

But even more now as they stood in the entranceway, Hinata still cradling her stomach gently.

Naruto knew that the only thing he could do at the moment was hug his wife, kiss her on the lips, and say to her, "Thank god, Hinata! I'm so happy!"

He continued embracing her, kept his eyes closed because the tears threatened to spill over. But he murmured against her hair, the thought that kept repeating in his head, "A baby! Our baby."

And as he placed his hand over hers, over the life they'd created, he thought, I love you. I already love you, little one.