Born For War

One More Night

The months following that night were suspiciously calm, Denki and Nejere recovered from their wounds and Ochaco did the same. There was a sort of uneasiness, around the base, as her stomach grew, and it became more and more likely that she would be giving birth on the base. Deku refused to leave her side, and so Katsuki wasn't sure what to do, he wanted to get them out of that hellhole, but Deku was worried about Ochako going into labor while he was away. He said he had to be absolutely sure they would be ending it if he was leaving his wife's side and Katsuki wasn't sure what that meant, he couldn't be absolutely sure of anything, but he also understood Deku's reluctance to leave Ochako in her current state, so he waited. He let Deku sleep in the same room as his wife for months, but he made sure to keep him aware that he was needed to stop her eventually.

"Deku I think we need to-" he frowned when he saw Deku's eyes well up with tears, he huffed "What the hell Deku? I've never seen you drag your feet like this!"

"I just-I.. Last time I left base I missed three months.. What if I leave and miss even more? I-I've made peace with missing my child's birth. I can't make peace with missing any more!"

"Well I hate to break it to you but if you plan to continue hero work, you're going to miss a lot more than that."
Deku frowned "Well, maybe I don't." he sighed
"What?"

"I don't know if I can keep doing this, Kacchan. I'm not making any decisions right now, but, if we go home, I-I'm at least taking some paternity leave."

Katsuki nodded "Okay. Well. I'm sure we can do that, alright? But right now.. I think we need to worry about getting everyone home, don't you?

Deku nodded, wiping his eyes "C-can I have tonight? To say good bye?"

"Of course." Katsuki sighed, looking at him with a frown, "everything is going to be okay though. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Deku nodded sadly "Who is going to protect her?"
"Shoto. Yaoyorozu. La Million. Any of the other hundred heroes here."
Deku nodded sadly "I guess you're right." he murmured, wiping his eyes "But I won't be there."
"I think Cheeks has come to terms with you going out to save the world. She knew what she was signing up for."
Deku nodded sadly "But I just keep asking her to sacrifice more and more.."

"Well you will both get a break soon." Katsuki sighed, looking at Deku and sighed at his feet.

Deku nodded his head "I hope so." he turned around, going back to his wife who was curled up with Toga when he got to their room.
"Can we have some privacy?"

Toga nodded "okay." She sighed, standing up and leaving the room. Deku wrapped his arms around his wife, wrapping an arm around her belly gently as he yawned.

"I love you." He murmured, "I love you so much." he whimpered, beginning to cry
Ochako started crying too, holding him back "You have to go don't you?"
"In the morning. But I'll be home before you know it! And I'll be the best father ever! I-I'll take paternity leave, and make sure you get plenty of sleep and we'll be a happy family! you me and Toshinori!"

Ochako nodded sadly, she had always known it was likely he wouldn't be there when she had their baby, just being faced with it made her so sad. Deku looked at her sadly, kissing her and rubbing her belly.
"I'll be home soon. I promise." He rested his forehead against hers and sighed, closing his eyes "I love you both so much."
"We love you too." She murmured Deku looked at her sadly, pressing his lips to her belly with a sigh

"I-I'm going to end this, a-and maybe our baby will be born in a hospital, or at the very least, she can sleep in a bed of her very own." he murmured he thought about his apartment, no doubt in poor condition, and Ochako hadn't been pregnant when they came here, so they would need to prepare their home for the baby they had conceived in hell.

"we'll have to buy him his very own bed.. and a car seat and-"

"don't stress yourself out mochi. Everything is okay."

She nodded her head, she wasn't sure how far along she was, seven or eight months, her child was due soon. she knew that. Deku pressed a hand to her belly with a sigh, He stood up after a minute.
"should we go find Toga?"
"Do you want her to come back?"
"We should discuss your birth plan. Do you want her to have a vial of my blood so you can feel safer? She has my mannerisms and speech patterns down, so i-if you need to feel like I'm there-" Deku started to cry again, what was he doing? He was doing what was necessary. He told himself.

Ochako nodded sadly "that would be nice."

Deku nodded, kissing her gently "we'll talk to her about it later. Okay. I will make sure you are comfortable." Nothing was going to make up for him missing this. One day his child would be reminding him that he wasn't there for her birth as part of her villain origin story. He hugged his wife close, kissing her.

"Please forgive me for not being here." he sighed, "and I hope our child will too."
"Deku.. You're going to save me and our baby and all of our friends. Of course we forgive you. You're the number one hero. It's your responsibility."
"Well maybe after this.. I don't need to be the number one hero anymore." Deku murmured
Ochako frowned "You don't mean that."
"I do. I want to be there for you and for Toshinori. I.. I am not going to raise a Shigaraki. I'm going to be a good dad." he pressed his face to her belly and kissed it before looking up at her "Which means nothing can be more important than her."

"Deku I-"

Deku shook his head "I.. I just.." he cried softly, holding his wife close as he stood up and kissed her gently.
"I love you Ocha. I love our baby. You know that right?"
"Of course I know that." Ochako said softly
"And I'm not going to be a deadbeat. I swear. I'm going to be there the whole time!"

"Okay." Ochako murmured, cocking her head to the side "I know you are. I wouldn't have asked to have a baby if I thought you would be a bad father."
"But you said! When we started trying! You said I was never home.. that-that I wasn't stable and you were worried one day I wouldn't come home."
"And I will always be worried about that, but it's okay."
"How? How are you okay with that?"
"Because I love you! I've loved you since I was a kid! I don't know who I am without you!" 
"But you don't seem to know who you are with me either!" Deku sighed

"Deku. I am pregnant with your child you are going back into battle tomorrow. This really isn't the time to be  bringing up our past fights.. Let's talk about our future. Our past has no place tonight." 

Deku nodded, kissing between her eyes "Okay. That's-that's fair enough." 
Ochako's hand pressed to his cheek, forcing the thoughts that this might be their last night together from her head as she sighed. Deku kissed her deeply, pulling her into his lap and holding her close. 
"I love you. He murmured." 
"I love you." She replied, looking at his eyes, "and Kazuku loves you too." She purred 

Deku smiled at her, looking at her belly and smiling a little bit more, that was his baby growing in there, he was going to be a father. He would go, fight this war, and when he came home he just might be a daddy.. He looked at her eyes and sighed 

"What can I do for you tonight?" 

"Just hold me.. Tell me about.. whatever you want to talk about." 

Deku nodded his head sadly, feeling like she was feeding him his last meal. There was no saying if or when he was coming home. He supposed it would be nice to hold her for one more night. Feel his child stirring and hear her breathing for one more night. He sighed, 

"I'll talk to Toga in the morning. Tonight is just about you and me." 
Ochako smiled weakly, kissing him gently 

{The very first version of this story I wrote a year ago had Ochako get pregnant on this night instead of before they were at war. She was also Deku's ex wife instead of his wife and hid the pregnancy from him until someone told him and he got upset.}