Holding Out {LeviHan} || Requested

Chapter 9: What of these Feelings?

Jim's POV

Kellie and Haylee joined us when they heard the panicked call from my father. Our stares of worry continued to stay on our faces when we were told to wait in the waiting room as Mom underwent a C-Section. Dad's last words to me was that something went wrong with the birth- so it wouldn't be a natural one. He never specifically said what happened, so I had to assume the worse for it to be a C-Section.

An hour into the waiting, I had to go out and get some lunch for the four of us. Taiko had to come with me because I couldn't drive without someone with an actual driver's license. 

We were waiting behind a few cars at this nearby drive-thru place, ordering both of our meals plus Dad's. If Mom's pregnancy goes well... she can't eat outside food for a few days. Just hospital food. 

"Taiko..." 

"You think of it too?" He rose an eyebrow as we quickly pulled up and ordered our food. "That we... somehow caused this? Haylee did say-"

An aching pain as I tried to grasp the reality that was forced onto me. My temples erupting as a pulse. Eyes began to burn with tears brimming at them. What once was a steady heartbeat was now rapidly pounding against my chest. If anything- I would bet my cheeks were growing red in color. The real question was if it was from anger or embarrassment. Anger from the fact I might've caused this... or embarrassment to the family? Either way...

"We can deal with Mom later. For now... let's just see what's going on." Ding. I looked down at Taiko's phone, seeing Dad's message pop out. "What did he say?" Taiko asked as I picked up the phone to read.

"Mom's out of surgery now. Hurry up and get to the hospital as fast as you can. Time to meet the little one."

Taiko gave a slight chuckle as drove closer to the exit of the drive-thru. His eyes sparkling brown with a slight hint of curiosity. I knew exactly what he was asking- preparing on what to say to him about it. "He never really said the gender of our sibling, huh? What do you think-"

"Probably a boy." I said with an instant. "Dad's an only child, but on his side of the family, it's somewhat more likely to have boys. Mom's side... same thing. Her uncles are a handful. Thinking about it... look at us. Both boys."

He waved his hand a bit, shaking his head. "Statistics? Thought you'll hate that class-"

"Shut up." My arms crossed over my chest as I gave a heavy sigh. "I did inherit Mom's IQ... so did you. Weirdly, I'm more like Dad... seems like the only thing I have of Mom is... her IQ. With you... I... don't you wonder?"

"I've wondered a lot, Jim. I really did. Rumors around school... it's impossible to ignore. Even Dad came up to me to talk about it." Probably after the fact I brought it to Dad that these rumors even existed... "I asked for him to submit some DNA to get me tested... see who's truly my father."

"What did you come up with?"

"Dad's my biological father." Taiko chuckled, smiling softly as he picked up the food and started to drive back to the hospital. "I was taken aback... the rumors made it seem so real. Tested more than once- positive. We can check with our sibling and see if they are Dad's kid or not. Either way... we're whole."

I checked the food as we spoke a bit more about our family... then it really crossed my mind. "Taiko, do you wonder why Principal Smith spread those rumors? He's the one that brought it up to us... forcing us to spread the word about Mom-"

We all turned silent when we also realized that Principal Smith was another factor in the pregnancy crisis. Until we got there... we had to theorize about what caused the crisis. What nearly got Mom's miscarriage... I'm just glad... she's alive...

*   *   *

Our food was left in the same room with Mom as Dad took us to see our sibling. The gender remained unknown as we walked into the isolated room. A single baby within this capsule like thing. Pipes were connected into the see-through capsule. A squirming tiny baby was resting inside.

"Dad...?" I asked when Dad reached his hand into the capsule with his gloves. A smile on his face as he held the baby's hand. 

"Hanji named her Chyo. You do need to wear gloves- but you can hold her like this."

We put on gloves as I stared at the infant in the capsule. She barely had any hair... and the few strands that she did have was black. Her eyes were nearly bulging with brown eyes with a hint of silver. Bulging with the definition that you could hardly see any whites in her eyes.

She whimpers when her eyes were on me... but calmed down by holding Dad's finger. So fat and chubby...

"Chyo, huh...?" I wondered, feeling her miniature body. Her skin was almost transparent- unbelievably pale. "Dad, what happened...? To Mom..."

Dad stayed silent for a bit as he gave a hesitated sigh. "Something wasn't right... like her body wasn't acting the way it was supposed to be when giving birth. Given the fact she's gave birth too early... it must've been stress."

I remained silent while gazing at the infant. It was my fault. Stress... stress for her to get rid of this baby... she was so small and frail. I put my own ego in front of a possible sibling. The fact that I have a sister- a sister- was interesting. If she is straight, her boyfriend would need a good excuse to pass through 3 boys in her family. Older ones.

I must say... I was wrong about this...