Chapter Text
It was abnormal for Bayonetta to have morning sickness. If she ever were to be sick it would mainly be a slight cough or cold, Not being so ill she had to spew hunched over their shared bathroom toilet. As if she would allow herself to be ill to this extent. Jeanne became seriously concerned when this continued for about 3 weeks. This started only a couple of weeks after an annual party of theirs; they occasionally 'experiment' with a different partner for the night. Both of them found it a fun hobby to experience various sexual partners. Each woman was overly confident in their relationship for any jealousy to erupt when their partner was seeking a quick sexual outlet with another individual. When they found someone interesting they'd both discuss if the other was fine with spending the night (or the hour) with the person of interest; Guess you could label them as having an 'open relationship'. During one of their parties, Bayonetta did spend some time -within her words- a rather riveting gentleman. They spent an hour or so in the bedroom before Bayonetta returned with a satisfied grin to Jeanne. Ever since then, she has fallen ill and has had some odd behaviour. This has led to Jeanne generating a bothersome reason.
"Cereza, do you think this sickness is something more?" Jeanne couches beside her girlfriend, a glass of water in her left hand while her right tenderly rubs circles on Bayonetta's back. The Umbran witch had awakened at 2 in the morning to race straight into the bathroom. This resulted in Jeanne waking up to the sound of vomiting that bounced off the bathroom tiles. On impulse, she got out of bed to retrieve a glass of water for her partner. Bayonetta initially groans before lifting her head away from the toilet seat and reaching for the glass.
"Possibly..." Bayonetta lets out a heated sigh. She takes a quick sip of water, thanking Jeanne in the process. "I've had some sudden mood swings as well. Do you think I...?" Bayonetta stops herself as the thought grows. Morning sickness, odd food cravings, sudden mood swings: These are blatant symptoms of pregnancy. Could she seriously be a mother? It's not that she didn't want to be a mother but it's not something she desires either. Would she be a good mother anyway?
Jeanne lets out a breath of solace, hoping a store close by would be open. She stands up along with Bayonetta, holding her hands as support. "I'll be back in a moment." Jeanne leaves the bathroom, giving her girlfriend a moment to think and prepare for her next step. It didn't take long for Jeanne to return with a vital item. Bayonetta had already drunk the water, underwear dropped around her ankles while she sat on the toilet patiently waiting for Jeanne. She hands the sea blue box to Bayonetta, giving her a weak smile before shutting the bathroom door and heading back to their bed. Letting her thoughts take over as the minutes pass by.
...
There was an eerie silence in the air, Jeanne couldn't take a minute longer remaining in this awful state of agitation. Curling her fingers tighter around the bed covers, Jeanne's eyes stay glued to the closed bathroom door. Not so patiently waiting for her partner to come out and confirm whether their suspicions are true. In all honesty, both outcomes don't have much of an impact on Jeanne; she's mainly concerned about how her girlfriend feels about this situation. No matter what next step Cereza chooses Jeanne will 100% support her. They've been through so much, that there is no way an affair such as this will tear them apart. However, the thought of raising a child with Cereza was intriguing. The idea of raising the child, tutoring them to be a strong Umbran witch like themselves; the thought was somewhat appealing to the platinum knight.
The drawn creek of a door opening blinks Jeanne out of her pondering state. As the bathroom light pushes through the now-open bathroom doorway, Bayonetta emerges with her right hand behind her back. Jeanne stayed silent, leaving the silence to be broken by her partner. With an amused grin, she pulls her right hand out to reveal the stick's answer,
"Looks like I'm going to be a mummy."
It slightly amused the Umbra witches to see their friend's reactions to the big news; Enzo nearly spat out most of his drink upon hearing the supposed news from Bayonetta, Luka's eyes widen as his hand stops from further raising the glass of gin and tonic to his mouth and Rodin... well he's as expressive as he usually is. Through his sunglasses, he gave a careful stare to the witches before assembling an order of essentials and handing it over to the witches. He even suggests hitting up Enzo's wife for extra advice only for Enzo to respond with a shrug and an unsure answer about how his wife will react. Nevertheless, Enzo's wife was keen to offer books focused on pregnancy and any advice she had from her experiences. Luka -after engulfing his shock with delight- congrats the two and words of affirmation on how great parents they'll be. Despite their jobs being to murder angels and occasionally demons.
The first few weeks were rather... challenging. Ranging from morning sickness, sudden food cravings and emotions going from anger to sadness the next. The two witches, with support from their allies, were able to get through the various hurdles during Cereza's pregnancy. Cereza knew after these irritating hurdles that she wasn't planning to get pregnant again. When Bayonetta began to show she decided to take a long break from hunting angels and her profession as a nun. To be frank, this was one of the aspects of pregnancy Bayonetta hated. She has been slaying angels for as long as she can remember; to now take around an 8-month break is somewhat of a drawback. She wasn't used to staying at home for the majority of the day, busying herself with house chores or exercising in the garden with the beaming sun beating down on her. She's thankful that Jeanne or, hell, even Luka visiting during the day gave her some solace in the tedious routine. 25 weeks into the pregnancy, Bayonetta and Jeanne began brainstorming names for the child. They started with choosing a name if the child was going to be a girl; it took around 10 minutes until the witches agreed on the name Viola. Next was deciding on a name for a baby boy.
"What do you think of Laurent?" Jeanne inquires, her eyes scanning through the numerous baby names written on the paper. One of the books Enzo's wife had gifted to the two ladies contained suggestions of baby names, along with the names' origin and meanings. It surprised them that the book contained some 'outdated' names. As they read through the book they'd write down the names they have regard for on a piece of A4 paper.
Bayonetta puckers her lips thinking of the name before replying, "Not feeling it." She looks further down the list of names before her index finger points to one. "How about Karuo?"
Jeanne mainly shrugs, expressing her non-combatant opinion on the name. Both continue to scour the paper for a name that would catch their eye. Even though some names were exotic and sophisticated, they didn't jump out for the two witches. They preferred a name which would sound harmonious alongside their names.
It wasn't until Jeanne eyes a certain name, also its meaning. "Does Akira sound fitting to you Cereza?" In response, Bayonetta looks up from the paper. That name definitely caught her full attention. Leaning over the table to be closer to Jeanne's side, her eyes read the name's meaning,
' some variation of bright sunlight, intelligence or wisdom. This name can be written in different ways in kanji yet one of the most popular ways in Japanese is 明, a combination of 日, meaning sun and 月, meaning moon. The combination can be interpreted as ‘the light coming from the sun,’ ‘sunlight and moonlight’, ‘bright,’ ‘intelligent,’ or ‘truth.’
That is kind of ironic considering the two witches are purely followers of Darkness.
A subtle smile creeps onto Bayonetta's lips, "Actually, that name is rather charming." She takes a small pause to take a sip of her glass of water. Although Cereza would have preferred a cup of her favourite tea, she is only able to consume less than 200mg. She needed to cut back due to her pregnancy.
"I agree," Jeanne flips stands of hair that laid upon her shoulder to be behind her back. "We're sticking with Akira then."
"Rodin will sort out the surname for the birth certificate."
March 10, 4:25 AM
Bayonetta had just given birth to her baby boy around an hour ago. The doctors and nurses took him to examine his health and weight, Bayonetta was taken to a private room to relax after that intense experience in the meantime. Jeanne was absent to assemble some food and a beverage for the both of them; leaving her wife in the small room in peace. The curtains were slightly sheltering the window, allowing a break of day to pass into the room. Although she was comfy in the hospital bed, with two pillows to rest her head/back on and a soft pale duvet, Bayonetta couldn't sleep. She wanted him back in her arms again. To cuddle him and see those beautiful innocent grey eyes stare up in utter curiosity. That feeling of motherhood hit her like a tsunami upon cradling her son. A new sense of joy has been embedded in Bayonetta and Jeanne. Like always, Jeanne was by Cereza's side throughout it all and was able to witness their son's first moments in life. She could already perceive the power their child wields; he will surely become as strong as the two witches.
Two gentle knocks cut in on Bayonetta's thoughts, she looks up from her lap to see her wife enter the room gingerly. Clutched in both arms were some sealed sandwiches of ham and cheese, some sealed salads in plastic bowls and two bottles of water. Once her eyes meet Cereza's, she grins and walks toward the bedside. "Everything alright, Cereza?" Jeanne sets all of the contents in her arms on the nightside table before settling down on the leather blue cushion of the chair next to the bed. Bayonetta reaches for one of the bottles, taking the cap off before having a small amount of water.
She smacks her lips together as she gulps down the liquid, "Of course, I just can't wait to go home." In response, Jeanne nods understanding Bayonetta. She craves to relax in their cosy bed, watch some late TV and have a nice cup of tea. Along with their child gleefully asleep in the cot nearby. She joins Cereza in having some water, taking a bottle as well to drink some water. All they had to do now was wait for their son to be returned. In an attempt to pass time, Jeanne starts a new conversation,
"The boy has your eyes." The comment makes Cereza stop herself from biting into a sandwich she had just pulled out from its wrapping.
In the corner of Bayonetta's lip curves upwards, "He does. Do you think he'll have your hair?" That lightens the mood in the doleful-looking room.
"Hopefully he'll have my fashion sense."
Cereza raises an eyebrow at her wife's subtle playful response, "Are you implying that you have better fashion sense than me? When it comes to fashion, I'm sure that I am superior."
Jeanne crosses her arms across her chest about to react with a witty comeback, only for another sudden party to enter the room. Gently pushing the door with her back, she looks over her shoulder to see the two women in the room.
The nurse smiles as she enters the room, a bundle of joy safely wrapped in her arms. "Hello, sorry if I'm interrupting anything important." She turns allowing the door to shut behind her. The witches were now able to view the nurse's front, the infant in her hold was now fully visible. Bayonetta's face brightens at the sight of her son, sound asleep with a fluffy blue blanket wrapped around his tiny body. "Your son is very healthy. He has a good heart rate, moderate body temperature and doesn't seem to need any additional support." She beams at the witches, stepping to the opposite side of the bed. Bayonetta reaches her arms out, the nurse is quick to gently place the infant in his mummy's arms. His head rested on top of the crook of Bayonetta's right arm, he cuddled closer to her in his sleep. Jeanne shuffles her chair two so she is much closer to Cereza's side. Her left hand reaches over to gently caress her son's forehead, using her index and middle finger. Their nurse continues to explain they should prepare the appropriate clothing for the infant to wear and whether they prefer to spend a couple of hours in the hospital or they can go home in 2 hours. Jeanne's eyes focused on the nurse, nodding occasionally to express her understanding, as her two fingers gently moved up and down to massage her son's skin. Bayonetta was too fixated on her child to even look towards the nurse. She was too fixated on her beautiful child.
Her dear sweet child, Akira Kurusu.