Here it is—the moment he’d been anticipating for 9 whole months, ever since the day you’d found out about your pregnancy. He was absolutely ecstatic, and has treated you like a precious glass ornament ever since. He’d had an entire birth plan built up in his head, reassured himself a thousand times that everything would be okay—yet now, when the real thing is in motion, he’s a ball of panic.

You’re in the hospital bed, a couple different needles and IVs in your body, and Suguru decides right there and then that there’s no sight he hates more in the world than you in pain. You’re alright for the moment, your contractions are bringing you some discomfort—but really, he’s more stressed here than you are.

“Can’t you give her any more medication?” He asks one of the nurses, his voice a little strained as he tries not to snap. He’s brushing hair out of your eyes and squeezing your hand to comfort you, but it’s doing more for him than for you. “I thought she wasn’t supposed to be in any pain with the epidural.”