55 Years Old, Me, Becoming a Mother!? 15 [#CreativeAward2025 #EntertainmentOriginalWorkCategory]
The next morning.
Waking up to the nurse's check-up voice,
my whole body was sore...
A dull pain ran through my perineum, and even turning over was scary.
(...I'm a wreck...)
It was completely different from the "day after childbirth" I had imagined.
It was just... painful...
In the midst of that, Manabe arrived.
"Starting today, you'll be rooming in with your baby~"
Yuma was brought in on a baby bed,
still breathing softly in his sleep.
(...This child is Yuma...)
The depths of my chest felt warm and tingly.
But, it still didn't feel real somehow...
(I'm neither a father nor a mother, but... I will become a parentin my own way.)
A small sense of resolve sprouted within me.
***
Under Manabe's guidance,
I learned how to make formula and change diapers.
Measuring, water temperature, sterilization, how to burp him... every task was time-consuming and required more focus than I had imagined.
"Alright, now try doing it by yourself!
Let me know if there's anything you don't understand~"
Leaving those words behind casually, Manabe left the room.
(Wait... all of a sudden!?)
A little while later,
Yuma started to cry softly.
I try changing the diaper just as I was taught, but
thirty seconds in, I was already stuck...
“The tape... is this right? Hey, stop moving your legs...!”
At the mercy of Yuma’s thrashing,
the diaper keeps slipping off his bottom...
Even the hem of his clothes was damp,
and I was in a complete panic.
“H-hey, you’ve got to be kidding me...!? Why is it leaking this much?!”
Just then, Manabe came back to check on us.
“Oh my, oh my, let me help you!”
With a cheerful smile, Manabe efficiently handles the situation.
She secures his legs, and in the blink of an eye, a new diaper is on.
“Everyone is like this at first. No need to panic!!”
“...Y-yes...”
“You do it many times every day, so you’ll get used to it soon.”
(...Doing this every day... so many times...)
“Shall we try breastfeeding soon?”
Just as I’m told, I bring the small face close to my chest.
“Ow... ouch...!”
“...It’s bleeding a little, too. Are you okay?”
“I-I’ll do my best...”
My face twitched involuntarily.
“Don’t push yourself. Let’s take it slow.”
Even though it was said kindly, Kenichi couldn’t hide his agitation.
(Did everyone really do this normally, despite this much pain...)
The baby latched on naturally, and
the mothers fed them without showing any pain.
To think they do this every day as if it were nothing... I can’t believe it...
(...Is it only me... who is in pain?)
That raising a life would involve this much pain,
who could have ever told me...
However, this was still,
nothing more than just the prologue...
***
Night fell, and Kenichi finally tried to get some sleep.
But that was a misunderstanding.
Yuma was, if anything, even moreenergeticthan during the day.
Every three hours after eating...
No, it starts crying at even shorter intervals.
With a body still in pain, I change diapers,
give breast milk and formula.
Burp the baby, put it to sleep, clean up—
just when I think I can finally sit down, the crying echoes again...
(...You've got to be kidding me...)
I never imagined that "every three hours" would be this brutal.
(Please... let me sleep...)
Kenichi collapsed onto the bed just like that...
Knock, knock.
I wake up to the sound of knocking.
My eyelids are heavy, and my vision is blurry.
"Good morning. Were you able to sleep?"
The nurse who entered spoke to me gently.
It was already bright outside,
and the pale morning light was streaming into the hospital room.
"...No... well..."
In truth, I had barely slept at all.
But that was all I could say.
I had no choice but to accept that
this was the morning I became a "parent"...
"We can look after the baby for you.
Please don't push yourself, get some rest, Mother."
At those words, Kenichi was unable to reply for a moment.
Even though he was told to rest, for some reason, his chest felt tight.
(...Is it okay to leave them in someone else's care? No, but...)
He had somehow managed to get through last night, even though he was falling apart.
But he had reached his limit.
His thoughts were hazy, and he didn't even have the energy left to get up.
However, he felt guilty about leaving them in someone else's care...
"Please, Mother, try to recover your strength as much as you can."
"...Please, I'm counting on you."
It was all he could do to squeeze out the words.
Deep in his chest, something suddenly loosened, and tears threatened to well up.
Even though it was only for one day, perhaps without realizing it himself,
he had been wound up too tight...
After that, while he was still at the hospital, he made the most of the time they were being cared for
to prioritize recovering his body.
However,
a life where he could rely on others this much wouldn't last long...
***
The night before his scheduled discharge from the hospital.
Kenichi was filled with anxiety.
His body was still a wreck, and
breastfeeding, changing diapers, holding the baby... he didn't feel like he was doing any of it well.
(Can I really raise him at home starting tomorrow in this state...?)
Just as he was thinking that, Yuma's crying echoed through the hospital room once again.
“...Again...”
It wasn't his diaper or his milk, and
even when he picked him up to soothe him, nothing would make him stop crying.
Yuma's face turned bright red, and his voice grew louder and louder.
...Why?
With his anxiety and exhaustion, Kenichi's mind was becoming increasingly clouded.
At that moment, there was a knock, the hospital room door opened, and Manabe peeked inside.
Oh my, Yuma, what's the matter?
I have no idea...
It's been like this the whole time...
Kenichi lowered his gaze and muttered.
He'd stop crying if his mother held him, wouldn't he...
Is it because I'm not his mother...?
“It's not Miya” The guilt of
his own sense of helplessness merged together,
and the words just slipped out...
However, Manabe, who was right in front of him, didn't seem fazed at all.
She replied with a smile and a gentle tone.
What are you talking about? Even when a mom holds her baby, they still cry when they want to, you know?
...Huh?
“The reason it looks like they stop crying is because
Mom has taken care of that child so much,
and spent so much time together,“that she’s come to understand them.”Why they cry, and how to soothe them so they calm down...
She just has a few more tricks up her sleeve.”
Kenichi couldn't hide his surprise at those words...
Until now, he had always assumed that the reason the baby wouldn't stop crying
was because he was the father.
He had given up, believing that unless he was a “mother” like Yumi,
the child couldn't feel at ease.
Yumi surely wasn't a
“mother”from the very beginning...She struggled with a crying baby, sighed many times,
and through trial and error,
she gradually became a “mother”...
(...I didn't know anything...)
Yuma's crying gradually subsided,
and only his quiet breathing could be heard in his arms.
(...Finally, he stopped crying...)
“See, that was because you did your best, Miya.”
At Manabe's cheerful voice, Kenichi nodded slightly.
Starting tomorrow, life as a “parent”
would truly begin—