Two weeks have passed since that night, Ritsu and Masamune were happier than ever. Hell, Masamune practically skips into his department like a shojo character. Which somehow helps with the job, but sometimes scares other people on that floor because they are used to him being moody and scary. With each day that passed, Ritsu got closer to her due date, which made the couple both scared and excited. Soon enough, Ritsu will be taking her maternity leave.

"Are you sure you should go into work today, you're about ready to burst." Masamune asked as he lifted Ritsu out of the car with a groan, feeling the weight already.

Ritsu held onto Masamune as they walked into the building, "I'll be fine, this meeting is very important and I can't flake out like last time just because I lacked sleep." she said, passing by some workers who awed at how close they are to each other.

"As important as this meeting is, I still don't like the idea of you stressing yourself over it, especially with your due date drawing near. Kurosaki did say that due dates can change frequently, you'll either be late or early. I don't know which is scarier." Masamune said, having taken Ichiru's advice to heart since this is something new to the both of them.

"Sounds like our jobs." Ritsu joked, comparing their writer's deadline to her pregnancy before she assured him, "I'll be fine, I promise, after today, I'll take my maternity leave. If anything happens, you'll be the first I'll call." she said, as the elevator opened before they stepped inside, pressing their floor buttons.

Masamune used the elevator's temporary privacy to bring Ritsu into a kiss, which she welcomed as she returned it, no longer feeling ashamed to do this at work. The made out for a good ten seconds before the elevator arrived on Masamune's floor, a few coworkers blushed, glancing at the couple's make out session before Masamune pulled away to start work at his department, glaring at anyone who dared judge him and Ritsu.

The couple went about their jobs at their separate department until Ritsu had to go to her meeting to discuss the sales of her author's books where she is currently arguing with the sales department.

"We should print at least 200,000 for this book's first print." Ritsu repeated, feeling the book can sell out in a month with how popular the author is.

"Not possible, number's to high, 150,000 should be the right amount." Yokozawa countered, being in his business mode, but refused to be harsh around an extremely pregnant woman. He has some standards.

"And if they sell out with customers wanting more, don't you think we should-ohhhhhhh!" Ritsu groaned when she felt a sudden sharp pain, making her clutch her belly as people around the room started to stand up in alarm.

"Onodera, are you alright?" Yokozawa asked, not expecting this kind of reaction from a coworker.

Ritsu let out a breath once the pain passed, "I'm fine, I-" she cut herself off when the sound of trickling filled the conference room, accompanied a drenched seat she was currently sitting in.

"...I think my water just broke."

Masamune was typing away at his computer when the company's phone rang, which he immediately answered, "This is the Emerald, Takano speaking." the person on the other line was Yokozawa who sounded panicked and made it hard for him to understand, "Wait, hold on, slow down, what exactly is going on?" after five seconds, Masamune shot to his feet in panic, "RIGHT NOW?!" he shouted, scaring everyone on the floor as he slammed the phone down and grabbing his stuff before making a mad dash out of the department.

"It's okay Ritsu, Masamune's on his way." Yokozawa said as he and Kirishima walked beside her around the room because the latter said it helped with the contractions. As soon as her water broke, the meeting came to an immediate halt where Isaka ordered everyone out of the room and for the janitor to take the ruined chair away from the company. The ones who remained were Yokozawa, Kirishima, Isaka and Asahina.

"Is he bringing the car?" Ritsu breathed slowly, trying to handle her contractions.

"I don't think a ride to the hospital is possible." Asahina informed everyone after she looked at the traffic on her phone. Everyone looked at her in confusion before she explained, "Apparently the road collapsed so there's traffic everywhere." everyone's eyes widened, "WHAT?!"

Ritsu gripped Yokozawa's hand tighter as another contraction hit her, "Are you kidding me?!" she exclaimed in disbelief and pain before Masamune burst into the room, "Ritsu, are you alright?" he said, immediately spotting Ritsu.

"No, I'm not alright, someone decided their deadline is today, and traffic is shit everywhere, so we can't even go to the fucking hospital!" Ritsu shouted, not at all happy with her current situation and was on the verge of breaking Yokozawa's hand.

"Right, dumb question." Masamune said, feeling foolish and clueless in this situation, "I do not know what to do." he said, trying not to panic.

Ritsu breathed out slowly, "Isn't today Ichiru's day off?"

It only took a nanosecond for Masamune to fish out his phone and the number. It rang a couple times before the person on the other line picked up, "Hello, Kurosaki speaking."

"Kurosaki, it's me, Takano, I need your help, Ritsu's water broke and we have no way of getting to the hospital in time." Masamune quickly explained, needing that woman's help more than ever.

"What? Tell me this wasn't during work." Ichiru said on the other line, the rustling of clothes and moving around in the background caught Masamune's ear.

"How'd you know? Nevermind, how fast can you get to Marakawa?" Masamune asked, hoping she can get here fast...immediately.

"Traffic isn't bad from my house to Marakawa, I'll be there in ten minutes at most, I'm leaving the apartment right now. Haru-san, how fast is your car?" Ichiru said to the other person with her before she hung up.

Masamune shut his phone, "Ichiru will be here in ten minutes." he told Ritsu who continued to walk with Yokozawa and Kirishima.

"Ten minutes? Are you sure she can't get here soo-oh shit!" Ritsu's contractions got closer as Yokozawa winced from the painful grip. Turning to Masamune with gritted teeth, "Masamune, this is your girlfriend, so it should be your hand she's breaking."

Masamune quickly switched places with Yokozawa who was clenching and unclenching his hand in order to get some feeling back into his appendage.

"I'm gonna give your Father a call." Isaka announced before leaving the room to make said call with his secretary following behind him.

"Crap, I need to tell the printers that we'll be behind...again. But with good reason this time." Yokozawa added, referring to Ritsu who walked around the room with Masamune and Kirishima before running out of the room.

"Kirishima-san, I know he's your boyfriend, but why did that feel like he ran away out of fear?" Ritsu asked the woman beside her as she was helped along.

Kirishima shrugged, "Eh, he comes off as Mister Macho Man, but he doesn't know how to handle the women's problems without freaking out. But, you gotta love him." Kirishima smiled, making Ritsu laugh a little, which helped with the pain before she was escorted to a chair, which happens to be the Isaka's because it was the most comfortable.

"Okay, just stay right there and breathe, I'm gonna go get some water. Be right back." Kirishima instructed before she darted out of the room, leaving Ritsu and Masamune alone as the latter rubbed her back to soothe her pain.

"You'll be okay Ritsu, Ichiru will get here very soon." Masamune assured her as she went through her breathing exercises.

"There's no way I'm ready for this." Ritsu panted, sweat building on her brow as she squeezed his hand.

"It's okay Ritsu, you can do this, the pain is only temporary." Masamune assured her, trying to alleviate her pain.

"No...No, I'm not ready to be a Mother. Babies make Mothers crazy, I'm gonna go crazy, I'll keep making mistakes, I'll start blaming you, please don't leave me." Ritsu started to cry, afraid of what's to come the moment the baby is born.

Masamune continued to rub her back, "You're just feeling emotional right now, we can do this together, I promise." he said, just as afraid as she is, but ready to take on this task of parenthood.

Ritsu breathed, "Are we even going to be good parents? Our childhoods were shit, how are we gonna make a good example for the baby?" she exclaimed, her eyes locked on Masamune's as tears started to build.

"Just because my parents and your Mom were terrible parents, doesn't mean we will be. This baby is going to have a happy and wonderful life." Masamune said, refusing to repeat his parents' mistakes.

"Do you truly believe that?" Ritsu asked, still taking her deep breaths as Masamune squeezed her hand in support.

"I know it." Masamune smiled before adding, "Look at the last 9 months, I can't remember having that much fun with you. We had our bad moments, but we made something good out of it. That's what you and I do best, we find the best out of the worst situations, and this baby will be happy to have you as it's Mother. This is our new chapter that we'll be writing together, it's going to be an adventure, and I'll be with you every step of the way." Masamune finished, watching as happy and painful tears streamed down her face as she leaned into him, "I'm so happy." she sobbed as Masamune hugged gently and securely.

"Now get out." Ritsu unexpectedly said, making Masamune pull away in confusion, "But I thought you wanted-"

"No, not you." Ritsu said before yelling at her bump, "GET OOOOOOUUUUUUUUUTTTTTT!"

Isaka came into the room with a relieved smile as he waved his phone in the air with Asahina behind him with blankets for Onodera, "Okay, your Dad is on his way, he just cancelled his meeting-is that my chair?" he cut himself off when he realized that his precious chair is being used by a pregnant woman.

"GET OUT!" Ritsu shouted at Isaka, not in the mood to deal with the chairman and his complaints over his second favorite chair.

Isaka flinched, quickly backing away to leave that chair to it's doom until he was outside of the room.

"Isaka-san, is Onodera-san in there?" Isaka turned to his right to see Ichiru approach with a determined face and a medical bag in her hand with a man following behind her.

Isaka pointed in the room, directing Ichiru who dashed passed him to get to her patient. Isaka turned to the second visitor and realized who it was, "Haruhiko, what are you doing here?" he asked in surprise, catching the disheveled hair and tilted glasses on the ever stoic businessman.

Haruhiko adjusted his glasses, "I gave her a ride. We were having lunch." he lied, knowing what his childhood friend will say if he knew the truth.

Isaka smiled in a sly manner, "Really, then why is your fly open?" Haruhiko glanced down briefly and quickly zipped it up, his face flushed as Isaka continued to grin, "How'd you meet her?" Haruhiko responded by walking away, "Oh c'mon, I need to know, tell me." Isaka gave chase, wanting to know the details.

"Okay, people, time for the same song and dance; how close are the contractions?" Ichiru asked as she settled her medical bag right next to her and opened it to bring out the supplies she needed for this kind of birth.

"Oh...they're pretty...constant." Masamune winced when he felt the bones in his hand start to crack.

"Good, means you're ready." Ichiru said as she took the blankets from Asahina and laid one over her legs for privacy and another to the side for the baby. Kirishima came in with a basin of warm water, "I got warm water." she said as she set it on the conference table beside Ichiru.

Ichiru nodded at the two women, "Thank you very much, I'll take it from here. Could you close the door on your way out please?" she requested, laying out her medical tools and putting on her gloves.

Kirishima and Asahina nodded before leaving the room to see some people gathering before closing the door to give the three people some privacy.

"Okay, Ritsu, lean back, carefully." Ichiru instructed, Masamune helped Ritsu lean back slowly, her knees parted and legs covered by the blanket. "You've done this kind of birth before, right?" Masamune felt the need to ask.

"Standard protocol, one pushes the other catches. Sounds like a trust exercise." Ichiru answered, making Ritsu laugh despite the pain.

"Good, now, take a deep breath, and when I say push, you push." Ichiru instructed, having received training for this birth.

Ritsu nodded, still gripping Masamune's hand before taking a deep breath, waiting for the signal, "Push!" upon that word, she summoned her strength and pushed with all her might, grunting with the effort.

"Alright, you're doing good, this is moving along faster than anticipated." Ichiru said, feeling for the baby that was on it's way. "Get ready, and...push!" Ritsu pushed again, just wanting this to be over.

"Okay, better, the baby's coming. Now, just one more, give it everything you got. Ready...push!" Ichiru gently took hold of the baby's head, and gently pulled as Ritsu pushed, finally birthed a baby.

Ritsu fell back, relief filling her as the sound of a baby crying filled her ears, happy tears streaming down her face as Ichiru cut the umbilical cord and brought the baby to the warm water to clean her before wrapping it in a blanket, "Congratulations, you have a daughter." Ichiru announced, presenting the newborn to the couple.

The moment Ichiru placed the baby in Ritsu's arms, she and Masamune immediately fell in love with their daughter, "Masa-kun, we have a daughter." she laughed as tear streamed down her face as Masamune hugged her and the baby, his eyes filling with tears as he looked at the most fragile creature in Ritsu's arms. He only imagined this moment with Ritsu many times, but this, what he feels, it puts every imagination to shame as the baby nestled in her Mother's arms.

The couple barely heard the knock as Ichiru wiped her hands on a towel, "It's safe to come in now." she said, granting permission for them to enter.

The door opened, revealing Isaka who peaked in warily before opening it fully, "The ambulance has just arrived." he said, taking in the scene of Masamune and Ritsu practically enamored with their precious bundle. Isaka felt tears coming to his eyes, "I'm...gonna go over there." his voice cracked as he slowly left the room, not wanting his tears to show.

It was all a blur for everyone when the paramedics arrived and rolled Ritsu out of the building and drove her to the hospital to make sure her and the baby were healthy. Masamune never once left her side for the duration of the ride, and when Ritsu was brought in for check up and taken to the recovery room. Once Ritsu and their daughter was confirmed to be healthy, all three of them laid in the recovery bed as Masamune wrote down the paperwork for their baby's birth certificate.

"How about Rika, it's a strong and beautiful name." Masamune suggested, sitting beside Ritsu who sat upright, cuddling their daughter.

Ritsu smiled, "It's perfect for her." she said, feeling overwhelmed with happiness as she held their little Rika.

Masamune chuckled, "Rika Onodera-Takano." he tested out the name, loving the way it rolled off his tongue.

Ritsu shook her head, "MmMm, Takano-Onodera." she switched the hyphenated names, liking that arrangement better.

"I hate hyphens. How are we going to agree on her last name?" Masamune asked gently, already having a solution.

"I don't know." Ritsu answered, not taking her eyes off of Rika fora second.

"Marry me?" Masamune whispered, watching as Ritsu froze for a second before turning her head to Masamune who held a velvet box in his hand. Her breath caught in her throat, surprise clear across her face, "How long have you been holding that?" she asked, tearing her eyes away from the box to meet Masamune's eyes that were full of love.

"Two weeks. I was waiting for the right moment. I know this is not a romantic setting, but I believe now is a perfect moment for us. I want to be your husband, if you'll have me." Masamune said, his eyes telling her what he wants, what he has always wanted since getting together with her.

Ritsu felt her heart pound in happiness, this was something she didn't expect, yet anticipated for a long time. She accepted her feeling for him a long time ago, no longer denying what he means to her. Over the past nine months, they were practically husband and wife in everything but name, time to make it official.

"Yes." Ritsu nodded, tears leaving her eyes again as she smiled in overwhelming happiness. Masamune smiled as well before taking the ring out of the box and slipping it onto her ring finger. Once it was securely on her finger, he kissed it before kissing her on the lips, showing her how relieved and happy he felt to finally have her.

The sound of Rika cooing brought their attention back to her, "Hey, baby girl, your Mommy and I are getting married, we're gonna be a family." Masamune said to little Rika, letting her wrap her tiny fingers around his index finger, giving him a gummy smile that caused them to laugh and smile at their little girl.

This is what they've been waiting for, their daughter and their love. Nothing could get any better than this.

Well everyone, that concludes the story. I know some of you want me to continue, but I don't want to go into detail since you all know that they live happily ever after. None of you were expecting Haruhiko, were you? I like to say that I am proud of this chapter. Also, the longest story I have ever written.

For my final request for this story, tell me what's your favorite chapter, what you consider the most heart breaking moment and what you found the funniest.

One more thing, thank you to all of my reviewers and followers, I'm happy to have written for each and everyone of you. Thank you.