A/N: Sorry for any grammar errors here. I don't own Lilo & Stitch.
Inside the Pelekai's residence...
A fairly tanned woman with blonde hair and dark brown eyes standing at 5'6'' wearing a big green mumu was pacing back and forth.
"Ashley," someone calls her name and she turns around, "Lilo?"
Lilo, a girl with tan skin, black hair and wearing a red mumu, continues, "You need to calm down. The last thing we need is for you to go into labor from stress. Also, it would upset the baby."
Ashley states eagerly, "I can't help it. It has been 4 months since last time Jumba visited me in person. I miss him so much."
Lilo comments concerned, "But, you're nearly 9 months. If you do too much, it could hurt the baby."
Ashley stops as she looks at her baby bump and thinks, 'Can't believe that I'm going to be a mother soon. And Jumba... Can't wait to see him again.'
Ashley walks to the bathroom looks through the full body mirror as she mutters, "I already knew I probably looked terrible, but I didn't think I'd look this bad."
She adds, "I look like a stuffed turkey."
She walks back outside and paces some more while Lilo tries to encourage her. "You look good Ashley. Really, you do."
She comments as she bites her cheek, "What if Jumba decides to change his mind about being the father? What if he decides to stay in outer space and never come back? What if he-"
Lilo runs over to her and soothingly speaks, "Ashley, please calm down. I'm sure Jumba would want to be the father. He'd never leave you like that."
She sighs, trying to calm herself down. Lilo leads Ashley to the couch and smiles, "Now, I'll be back in a minute. I'm just going to get Stitch and Angel here."
Ashley nods, "Okay."
She adds, "Also, when is Nani going to be out?"
Lilo answers, "Nani said that she'll being leaving her job at 5:00 pm."
Ashley nods again and Lilo exits the house through the front door. She closes her eyes and rubs her belly.
Few minutes later...
Ashley was watching TV until she hears a knock on the front door and jumps to her feet, "Lilo?"
"No," the voice speaks, "it's me Pleakely."
She hurriedly opens the door and Pleakley enters with the luggage as she scans for Jumba, but stops when she doesn't see him "Where's Jumba?"
Pleakley answers, "He's still back at the station. You wouldn't believe how packed that place is right now. We had to take numbers and wait for them to be called."
She closes the door, faces him and asks nervously, "So, how was Jumba?"
Pleakley smiles as he drops his luggage, "I've never seen him happier. He's ecstatic to see you again."
She asks still nervously, "Has he said anything about the baby?"
He answers, "Only that he is excited to start a family with you and the baby."
She smiles as she hugs him, "Thank you Pleakley."
They break the hug and Pleakley comments, "He'll be here in a couple of minutes. Just wait for him, okay."
She nods as Ashley walks to the couch while Pleakley puts his luggage inside his and Jumba's bedroom.
Meanwhile…
Jumba was sitting down on the chair near the station. The teleporter station resembles like any old airport; with the exception of no planes. Normally, you'll just enter the thing, set your destination and then it would beam you there in a flash; however, today was packed because most of the teleporters were down.
Jumba rummages through his jacket and pulls out a photo of Ashley.
He remembers the day when she told him about the news.
Flashback…
I was busy with my projects the Grand Councilwoman had assigned to me. I decided to take a break and went to the computer. Once I signed in, I realized I had a message from Ashley."
"Hmm?" I asked. "Why would she message me this late at night? Well… (Looks at the monitor for the time) So early in the morning."
I clicked on it and read it.
Dear Jumba,
I have some news to tell you and…it can't wait.
Love,
Ashley
"I wonder what the news could be?" I asked out loud.
I quickly signed myself into a vid call to Ashley's number. It connects and I see a yellow painted living room with a nice red long sofa, but doesn't see Ashley.
"Yes?" the voice asked and then screamed happily, "Oh! Jumba!"
I smiled, "Hey Ashley."
She entered into frame and waved at me, "Hey babe."
She worn a pink shirt with shorts and a small sweat jacket.
"I…Uh," I started, "I received your message. You said you want to tell me something?"
"Oh…" Ashley looks down as she sits down on the couch. "Yeah…"
She sadly looks away from the screen and I replied, "Whatever it is, it will be okay. If you're not comfortable speaking now, then we can wait for the right time for you to tell me."
She nodded as a few tears roll down her face and I added, "Hey, hey. I'm here, right. I'll always be there for you."
She rubbed her eyes and commented, "I…ah…I actually think right now is the right time to tell you."
She sniffled and added, "I'll be right back."
I wait for her and she walked back with some papers, then she took a deep breath and looked back to the screen. I looked at her and then to the papers she had in her hand.
"I'm…um," she stated, "I'm going to send it to you."
I nodded and in a few minutes, I see that she sent me something from that chat. I clicked on it and downloaded it. Once it was finished downloading, it opened and I read the documents thoroughly.
"Wait, what?" I asked as I look at it again and I muted my mic as I muttered to myself, "What does all of this mean?"
I read it once more time, "What? No way."
I feel my heart racing as my eyes widen and then I look at Ashley, "Are y-you serious?"
"What?" she asked and I sighed as I had forgotten I muted my mic.
I turned it back on and asked again nervously, "Are y-you serious?"
She nodded as she placed her hands on her belly and then back to the screen. I placed my own hand on my screen, almost as if I could feel it too.
She cried, "I didn't know how else to tell you about this."
"Please tell me that you aren't going to leave me because of this. Jumba, please, I'm begging you. Please, pretty please," she added.
I was awe-struck and couldn't say another thing.
She continued, "Jumba, babe. Please, just say something. I can't take it that you haven't said something since you asked me if I was serious. Tell me that we're in this together and you still love me and you will love this baby with all your heart. Tell me that this is the greatest thing ever in your life. Just, tell me something, please," she blurted out.
"T-This is weird, b-but I'm excited about this," I admitted to her. "Ashley, you need to know that no way I'm ever going to leave you. I'm not going to leave you because of this. Yes, I will be there with you. We are in this together and I love you as well as this baby with all my heart and this is, without a doubt, the greatest thing to ever happen to me."
She wiped her tears, "Y-you mean it?"
I commented, "Yes, I mean it."
She blew a kiss through the screen and spoke, "I love you."
I said smiling, "I love you too."
End of flashback…
He rubs it carefully as he mutters, "H-how am I going to be a father when I never let children come close to me? How can I be a dad when my father was always busy with work? I-I don't even know how to be compassionated with a baby, I-I actually never held one either."
He looks at the picture again and knew how true those words were. He looks through a window and notice that something was different about him this time. He looked...scared. He shook it off as nothing.
One hour later...
Ashley was once again pacing around with Lilo, Pleakley, Stitch and Angel in the living room. They were all trying to calm Ashley down and cheer her up. Pleakley was erratically dialing the phone to find Jumba's number. Ashley lightly laughs at the crowd as she gives them an eye roll.
"Guys," she speaks, "I'm alright. I know Jumba will be here soon."
She adds, "Besides, it's not like I'm going to spontaneously go to…"
She stops and grabs her belly and everyone looks at her.
Pleakley asks fearfully, "What? What is it?"
"I-I think my water just broke!" she cries dramatically as Pleakley shrieks and immediately turns his phone on while the others were trying to set her down.
She smiles and then laughs which causes everyone to stop and look at her.
"Guys, I'm joking. Seriously, I'm not about to go into labor in a snap. I still have a couple of weeks left before the due date," she explains to them and they look to her.
"For a woman of science," Pleakley comments, "you really know how to act. You could be a good actress."
She remarks with a smile and a curtsey, "Thanks Pleakley. That means a lot to me."
Pleakley replies, "Yeah, but next time don't do that again. If you kept that charade any longer, I would've called the hospital and demand they send down an ambulance and take you to the place."
During that moment...
Jumba was heading back into the station while in deep thought. 'In a couple of weeks the baby will be brought into this world that I have to help raise. She would be calling me dad. I would be one of the greatest influence on her for her entire life. She'll look up to me as if I'm a role model. But...I-I'm not exactly good role model material. I'm an ex-evil scientist and an ex-convict. What if...What if I teach her poorly? She would most likely turn into a criminal because she learned it from me.'
He stops in front of the entrance of the teleporter and just stood frozen.
Back on Earth another hour later…
Ashley went to the bathroom and examples herself carefully as she rubs her baby bump.
She whispers quietly, "You'll see your family soon baby girl. I hope you are healthy and are happy."
She leaves the bathroom and joins everyone back to the living room.
Ashley states, "Jumba still isn't back yet?"
"No," Lilo answers truthfully. "He still hasn't shown up yet."
Ashley speaks, "What's taking Jumba so long? He should've been back by now. I'm worried about him. What if something bad has happened to him? What if he is stranded at the station? What if they sent him to another place or planet?"
She cries, "What if he wanted to run away from me and the baby? What if he decided to go back to his research, stayed there and didn't tell me! I chased him away!"
"Oh no," Pleakley replies, "No, no, no. You didn't do anything like that."
Ashley comments, "Then why isn't he here yet? Explain that to me."
She turns to Pleakley and shouts, "You told me he was happy to be a father! If he's SO happy, why isn't he here! Tell me!"
Pleakley tries to calm her down, "Ashley, Ashley listen to me. I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation for this."
She cries some more and Angel, Lilo and Stitch cover their ears from her wails.
Lilo pulls Stitch by the arm and leaves the living room as they went to the backyard.
Lilo says, "Stitch, you've got to get to Jumba and bring him home. Please Stitch."
Stitch nods as he runs off to the closed Bed-And-Not-Breakfast. She sighs as she goes back inside the house and covers her ears from the cries.
Lilo sees that Ashley still shaking Pleakley angrily and she goes between them and stops it before it escalated any further. "Ashley, stop. This isn't good for you or for the baby. You're about to be a parent to a new life."
"But," Ashley comments as she hugs herself, "but...I-I don't think I can do this. I-I wish Jumba was here."
"He will be soon," Lilo states nicely as she goes over to Ashley.
"When is soon," Ashley retorts. "You know it as well as I do that he's not coming back. Not to Earth, not to Hawaii and not to me."
"Ashley please don't think like that," Pleakley replies as he stands behind Angel.
She turns towards them and speaks, "Why shouldn't I? It's obvious that he has made his choice."
Angel protests, "No. He'll be here. Just have more patience."
"You shouldn't be talking," Ashley remarks, "you have the love of your life always by your side. I haven't seen him in so many years because he was off doing work. I only saw him when he had some free time and that was minimally. Both of you can hug each other, kiss and hold hands. You can go to bed peacefully because you're in the arms of someone you love. Where's mine then, huh? He's somewhere in outer space and doesn't want anything to do with me. I can feel it. He's scared of being a parent. Does he think that I'm going to be the perfect mother? I'm going to be just as experienced as he is. Does that give me the right to avoid everyone I love because I'm so scared of messing up someone's life?"
"You know what Ashley," Lilo comments, "You're just going off of emotions and I know that right now you want to follow them. But, you overlooked one thing. Look at your stomach Ashley, just look. You're bearing a child right now. Just because Jumba isn't here right now you think that it's the end of the world. News flash, it's not. Jumba will be back and you and him will raise this baby to the best of your ability. You have something worth treasuring. Not only is that your life but it's the life growing inside of you. So don't try to isolate yourself because you feel lonely. We're here for you. All of us are here for you. We may not be as good as Jumba, but we can try. Why? Because ohana means family and family means no one get left behind or forgotten. We'll be with you."
Ashley was speechless by Lilo's statement and everything she said was true. She cries because she knew Lilo was right about everything. Lilo knew how Ashley was feeling. She covers her face as more tears roll down her cheeks and they everyone wraps their arms around her which causes her to break down more. She knew that they were there for her and that they are trying to help her.
She sputters as she cries, "I-I...I'm s-so sorry."
"Shhh, it's okay Ashley. Everything is going to be okay," Angel speaks honestly.
"Don't worry because we are here for you Ashley," Pleakley comments with a smile, "always and forever."
She nods at all of them while she continues to cry.
Meantime...
Jumba was on his computer, anxiously doing some minor things while trying to get his head and feels together.
"Jumba," he hears someone call his name but ignores them as he focuses back on his computer.
"Jumba," the person speaks louder and more annoyed; however, Jumba still ignored them.
"JUMBA!" the person shouts as they slam the computer down and Jumba looks at the owner's voice, "Stitch?"
"Jumba," Stitch asks, "what are you doing?"
Jumba answers, "Some last minute things before I go to the teleporter."
Stitch crosses his arms over his chest and Jumba questions, "What?"
"I don't believe you," Stitch states as he sees Jumba's face. "I don't believe that you've been working here."
Jumba speaks adverting his eyes, "You don't know that. I have a ton of projects to look over and papers to sign and-and..."
He yells at him, "What the heck is wrong with you!"
He continues, "How many trips have you missed?!"
Jumba doesn't answer the question and shakes his head as he looks down to his feet.
Stitch asks seriously, "Jumba, how many trips have you missed?"
Jumba still remained adamant in being silent.
Stitch comments, "Think about Ashley? If she were here right asking you this question, wouldn't she'd like an answer?"
Jumba sighs ashamed, "I...I missed twelve trips."
"Twelve trips..." Stitch repeats calmly, "...Twelve. Trips."
Then he explodes, "…. You missed TWELVE TRIPS!"
Jumba recoiled from Stitch's outburst.
Stitch tries to calm himself down as he looks at Jumba. He replies, "So what's really going on?"
Jumba sighs as he sets his bags aside and closes his hands together, resting his head on them.
Stitch asks a little nervous, "Jumba, are you okay?"
Jumba stutters, "Y-Yeah, I-I'm fine."
He then quickly stands up and paces, "I-I mean, why wouldn't I be. I-I'm about to be a father soon w-with a woman I-I love deeply."
He stops as he runs his fingers over his head and sighs before he admits what he it truly feeling, "I...I know that I'm not ready for this baby. I'm not ready for my first child."
He looks over to Stitch and sees Stitch isn't buying his "calm" act.
He continues truthfully, "What if after all that has happened and she changes."
"Changes?" Stitch asks confused.
"Yes," Jumba nods.
He adds, "I mean, once upon a time ex-wife truly loved me and then after I mention I wanted children with her; she changed. She became distant, cold, wretched and mean to me."
He looks at Stitch and asks, "Do you know why I created you?"
"To be weapons," Stitch answers and Jumba gently nods, "True, that was one reason. There was another reason though, I couldn't bring myself to admit it; until, we nearly lost you."
"Hmm?" Stitch looks at him confused.
"The other reason was," Jumba states, "I wanted to have a family and kids. Lilo showed me that I did have exactly what I wanted. You all are my greatest achievement."
Jumba shakes his head, "But now...I procreate life with a woman, who I love, and...I-I don't know if she'll want to be with me anymore. What if she's not the Ashley I fell in love with? What if the Ashley I fell in love with was nothing more than a mask of someone else."
"You think she's going to be different when you see her again, don't you?" Stitch asks Jumba and he nods his head while wiping tears away.
"Are you ashamed by her?" he questions Jumba and he looks directly at Stitch.
"I'm not," he protests, "I'm worried she'd be ashamed by me. How everyone will react to human-alien relationship while taking care of a human-alien hybrid child? I know it's not going to work out."
"How?" Stitch asks angrily, "How do you know it's going to end so badly?"
"I'm a scientist," Jumba exclaims heatedly, "I use facts to help with my deduction and reasoning! But, this is beyond my comfort zone! I'm actually scared of the unknown of this situation, okay! I usually know what to do, but I don't know about this!"
"Jumba," Stitch comments, "she cried for you."
"What?" he turns to Stitch as he continues, "She thought she drove you away because of her being pregnant. Do you want her to feel like that? Hurt, sad and alone."
"No," Jumba shakes his head, "I didn't want to hurt her. My intend was never to hurt her."
He adds as he feels a tear slide down his face, "Oh, Stitch... Stitch, what have I done?"
More tears cascade down as he continues, "I hurt someone I love too much all because I'm being too cowardly. I thought I was protecting her, but I was hurting her. Oh Stitch, I made a big mistake."
"Ih, you did," Stitch replies with droop ears.
He then asks Jumba, "So what are you going to do? Are you going to come back home with me or stay and miss the arrival of your first child? And probably lose the only person you've loved in awhile?"
More tears pass before his eyes as he wipes them, "I want to be with her, I do. But..."
Stitch interjects, "If you love her there should be no buts about this."
"Jumba," he continues, "you need to decide right now if you really want this. If you do, you'll have to work hard and prove to not only me, but Ashley as well. I know you're scared and rather than face your fears; stay to how you are. But, you'll never be happy with yourself. Knowing you could've started a family and then turning your back when you're so close, I couldn't handled that. I would fight, fight until I achieve that dream or goal. So Jumba, how bad do you want to be with Ashley?"
"Real bad," Jumba answers calming down.
"How bad do you want to be that baby girl's father?"
"I want that so badly too," Jumba admits.
Stitch offers his paw to him, "Then let's go home. Go back to where you truly belong."
Jumba nods and takes his paw, "Thank you, Stitch. Thank you so much."
Back on Earth...
Ashley was eating Chef Boyardee extra beefy ravioli out of a can with whip cream.
She asks with her mouthful, "I-I mean, am I really a bad person? Is that why Jumba is now ignoring me?"
Lilo calmly speaks, "He's not ignoring you, okay? Stitch is going to bring him home and you'll see how happy he'll be when he sees you."
Ashley swallows her food and replies, "He won't be as happy as I'll be though."
Her demeanor instantly changed and she was smiling happily while eating away.
Lilo turns back and sighs, 'I can't take much more of this? Stitch, please, PLEASE bring Jumba back home soon.'
She leaves the kitchen and walks into the living room with Pleakley and Angel on the couch and she plods down on it between them.
Pleakley asks, "SO, how is she?"
"Better," Lilo states as she rubs her head, "but I don't know how much longer we can keep her calm without calming ourselves as well."
Ring!
The doorbell rang loudly through the house and Ashley rushed to the door. "It's Jumba! He's here, he's here! He's FINALLY here!"
She opens the door and speaks, "He's actually he-...Huh?"
"Hi there," David smiles with a wave and Ashley sighs, "Oh, it's only you."
She walks back to the kitchen and he adds, "Well, hello to you too."
He enters the abode and turns to the gang while asking, "What's up with her?"
Angel answers, "She upset because Jumba isn't here yet."
Pleakley adds, "Yeah, so we've been trying to keep her calm for both her and the baby's sake."
Lilo asks him, "Why are you here David anyway?"
David snaps his fingers, "Oh yeah. Lilo, Nani wanted me to tell you that she's coming home late."
Lilo looks at the time, "But, it's 4:00pm already."
David shrugs, "There's nothing she can do."
She sighs, "Great."
Ashley yells loudly, "If that doorbell rings one more time, I'm not answering it."
Lilo counters, "But, Ashley you'll never know. Maybe third time is the charm."
Lilo hears silence and they all go to the kitchen and they see Ashley playing with the canned mess of ravioli and whipped cream, twirling the spoon around back and forth.
"Ashley," Lilo adds, "you can't give up yet."
"Lilo," Ashley speaks sadly as she turns her head away from the group, "Just stop. Just, please stop."
She continues, "I know what you're probably going to say, but I don't want to hear any of it. It's pretty obvious that Jumba has made his choice."
"Ashley...No," Pleakley comments sadly, "No, that's not true."
She stops playing with the spoon and faces them, "Stop, please stop lying to me. It makes prefect sense, I scared him. I could always tell that he was frighten and uneasy with me, this was the last thing that pushed him off the edge. I made him feel uncomfortable and now he doesn't want anything to do with me or our child."
David comments, "I'm sure the next time that doorbell rings it'll be-"
She interrupts him, "The next time that thing rings, I'm going to punch someone right in the face."
Ring...
She laughs, "Oh~ Oh, looks like someone has an early death wish."
She marches to the door and Lilo walks to her, "Ashley, you don't have to act out like that."
"Lilo," she replies as she tries to lean down to Lilo's level, "don't try to reason with an emotional and pregnant woman. You'll never win."
Ring...
She stands up and cracks her knuckles as she goes to the door. Lilo hollers, "Whoever is at the door right now! You should RUN!"
She opens the door swiftly and her rage and being upset blinded her.
"Hello-" she immediately cuts them off as she punches the person in the face without even taking a second to really get a good look at them.
"Ah...ga...Ash...ley," the person speaks as he falls back to the ground.
Another comments, "Wow, well that could've gone better."
She yells, "Well who asked you!"
She turns to the person and stops, "Stitch?"
Stitch nods and she looks back to the person she punched, "Oh no... Jumba. Oh, I'm so so sorry."
Lilo comes to the door and speaks, "Stitch, can you put Jumba on the couch?"
He nods as he picks him up with Ashley being pulled by Lilo so they could go inside.
Few minutes later...
"Oh...my face," Jumba groans as he comes out from the hit.
"Good, you're awake now," a voice speaks and Jumba tries to focus onto them. "Lilo?"
She laughs, "You know it."
She turns around as Jumba slowly sits up and mutters, "Oh, my face hurts."
While he was doing that, Lilo was hollering to the gang. "Hey everyone! Jumba's awake!"
They hear a lot of running with someone screaming, "Ashley, don't run so fast! Remember, you're pregnant!"
She was the first to reach him and wraps her arms around him, kissing his face.
"Oh baby, I'm so sorry for punching you like that."
He states with a smile, "It's all good. I think that was well deserved after all I put you through."
He adds with a frown, "I'm so sorry for breaking my promise with you, Ashley. I really, really am."
She shakes her head as she lays her forehead against his, "You didn't break my promise, you just lost your way because you wanted to deal with it yourself. I can understand you completely. That's why I forgive you and that's why I still love you."
"Oh Ashley," Jumba smiles as he gently hugs her.
She smiles as she kisses his forehead, "So happy to have my man back."
She sits beside Jumba as the others finally arrive into the room. There was a awkward silence consuming them for a few second, then unexpectedly... They all laugh at each other, sharing love and smiles too. Soon the gang leaves them alone for some quality time, which Jumba and Ashley were thankful for.
Ashley lays her head against Jumba as he gingerly places his hand on her belly.
"You know what I just realized, Jumba?"
"What, Ashley?"
"We're going to have a daughter any day now," Ashley whispered with a beaming smile on her face. "Can you imagine that?"
He nods happy, "Actually, now I can. I can see it all so clearly now. With the way you and I am with our smarts, Ashley, our daughter could be a nuclear scientist, extraterrabiologist, Captain of the Science team, no hands down."
They laugh together at his comment and Ashley adds, "When she's old enough, she can choose whatever subject suits her, Jumba. We're not going to make her into something she's not wanting to be."
He asks Ashley, "So, you hungry?"
She nods with a smile, "Yeah, actually I kinda am."
He sits up and walks away while Ashley gingerly rubs her belly, cooing at the life inside. "My baby girl, all I want is for you to be happy and healthy."
She adds, "Also, would like for you to stop kicking me every now and then because you got some strong feet. My baby. My first child."
She smiles happily, but then bends over her stomach and moans. "Oh...ow."
Jumba walks in with some sandwiches and juice, humming a happy tune. Until he sees Ashley's figure.
"Babe?" He asks as he hurriedly walks over to the couch, sitting Ashley's food down. "Are you okay?"
"I-I don't know. I think some-" She stops and lurches forward. Jumba quickly holds her before she falls onto the floor. He goes in front of her, kneeling down and rubbing her shoulders.
"Ashley is it time?" Jumba asks her, "Are you going into labor?"
"I don't know. I've never been in labor before. This is my first time," she states as she closes her eyes, "Jumba, did Nani arrive home yet?"
He shakes his head, "No, she's still at work."
Jumba leaves the living room and runs to the backyard as he screams, "Guys! Some help please!"
He bolts back inside and in a matter of seconds; the rest of the gang was surrounding them both.
"What's wrong Jumba?" Lilo asks panting as if she ran a mile in 9 minutes.
"It's Ashley..." he simply states as he holds her hand.
"Pleakley..." she groans, "call Nani. Call her now."
She looks to him, "Please call her now."
"Oh... I get it," Pleakley smirks widely, "you two are playing another joke on us."
"Pleakley... Call Nani this instant," she said quickly as she tries to get off of the couch and stand on her own two feet. Once again, Pleakley and the rest; except Jumba and David, smiled at her simply. They knew what she was doing. She was joking again to see Jumba's reaction.
They weren't going to fall for it a second time.
"Pleakley," she growls menacingly, "either call Nani now or the hospital; I-I think I'm going into labor."
"Everything's going to be fine," Jumba soothes Ashley.
Lilo walks over and said, "Do you feel any pain?"
She nods but then, shakes her head.
"Is that a yes or a no?" David asks confused.
"The pain comes and goes," she states as she winces her eyes.
She turns back to Pleakley, "I swear Pleakley, if you don't call the hospital right now; I'm going to rearrange your wigs, take your clothes and remake them for my daughter and you'll have to babysit her for the first month!"
"Oh my god it's happening," Stitch speaks excitedly, "Pleakley, I think she's being serious this time."
Pleakley immediately pales as he screams, "Oh my goodness!"
He yells, "The baby is coming! It's coming!"
He suggests, "We should teleport her to the hospital then!"
Jumba counters defensively, "Are you cray! That is essentially the worst idea I've ever heard! You can't teleport a pregnant woman to the hospital like that, it could harm her, the baby or both!"
Pleakley flinches back as Jumba continues, "In order for teleportation to work with the ones we have, we'd have to break down the molecules, allow them to float across the waves and then reassemble again! I'm not going to endanger my child before she's even born!"
He nods nervously at Jumba as Pleakley glups, "I-I'll be l-looking for my phone then."
He leaves the room quickly to his luggage. He fumbles in his luggage for his space-cell while Ashley grits her teeth, "Can someone please call Nani and tell her to get here this instant!"
"I need her help!" she screams as she pulls her hand and grabs onto Jumba's collar, "Can't someone please just find the stupid phone and tell her to get over here right now!"
Jumba looks over his shoulder confused while Lilo explains, "Nani went to all the birthing classes with Ashley and even promised to her help during the actual thing. Even though I told her were doing it through C-section, she'd said she'd drive me to the hospital at least."
Pleakley enters the room with his arm raised held high, screaming. "I found it! I found my phone!"
Suddenly, Ashley pushed herself off the couch, pushes aside Jumba as she glares at Pleakley dead in the eye. Pleakley then finds himself on the ground with Ashley working his space-cell.
She places it on her ear and waits for Nani's voice, "Pleakley? Pleakley, hello?"
"Nani..." Ashley pants while screaming, "Nani, I-I'm in labor! The baby is coming! I need you to come over here right now and take me to the stupid hospital! Please, Nani, please get over here quickly!"
Nani replies over the phone, "What! Ashley, you're in labor! This soon!"
Pleakley then screams as he sits up, "Ashley, push! Push, Ashley, push!"
Ashley glares at him, "Not now Pleakley! Wrong place, wrong time!"
Nani replies, "I'm going home right now! Just remain calm and wait for me."
She hung up the phone and throws it at Pleakley, "Now, go call the hospital! I hope Nani hurries up!"
Jumba carefully walks over to her and asks, "Honey, do you need something?"
Before she could even reply, Pleakley already was running around the place as he gathered things together. "Of course she needs things! We'll need to bring coats for the snow, coats for the unexpected rain, umbrellas to protect the baby from the harmful rays of the sun! We're going to need a lot of things!"
Lilo, Stitch and Angel lead her back to the couch as Pleakley continued to collect 'necessary items'.
"Pleakley," Ashley speaks, "I don't need the radio, cd player, plant, or coffee maker or pressure cooker! Put that stuff back right now!"
Angel lifts her ear and speaks, "I think I hear something?"
Stitch runs to the front door and hollers, "It's Nani! Her car is in the driveway!"
Ashley turns to Lilo and tries her best to calmly ask, "Lilo, sweetie... Can you please go to the guestroom and grab my purse and the baby bag."
She nods and quickly leaves, fearing that if she were to decline that Ashley would unleash her own fury onto her like she had done with Pleakley.
She turns to Jumba, "Jumba, you and me are going into Nani's car. Okay?"
He absentmindedly nods as she looks at David, "David, would you mind driving the rest to the hospital?"
He also concurs to Ashley's statement with a nod.
She closes her eyes as she grabs her stomach, "Ow! Okay! It's time for me to get to the hospital!"
Nani swiftly opens the door as she speaks, "Ashley, so sorry for taking so long. I had to explain everything to my boss and quickly drove down here."
Ashley hugs Nani, "Just happy you're here."
Nani smiles, "Of course. Now, we need to get you to the hospital so that my little niece can meet her Auntie Nani."
She helps Ashley out of the door as they walk to the car. "Ashley, careful now. Just sit down while I'll buckle you."
"Oh Nani..." Ashley speaks with watery tears, "Jumba seems so confused and disconnected and uncollected. Maybe he's not ready for this after all. What if we aren't ready for this child? Oh Lord, Nani, what if Jumba can't forgive me for punching him in the face? What if he doesn't want the child anymore and was lying about it ever since I told him! Oh, God, I'm doomed to have a life with a husband who doesn't love me because I had a kid when he didn't want one and he'll hate me forever, I'm a terrible person because of my anger and temper tantrums and violent behavior!—!"
"Ashley," Nani reasons to her as she grabs Ashley's hand, "Remember, you're the one way the kid? You're giving birth to the child, not Jumba, but you. Right now, you're priority No. 1. Now, stop worrying about the 'what ifs' in life. I know you are ready for this kid."
She smiles at Nani's words, "Do you really think it'll all turn out fine in the end?"
"Believe it," Nani nods, "He'll be fine, you'll be fine, and soon enough, once you're out of the hospital, you'll have a little buddle of joy to be fine with too!"
She closes the door to the Buggy and rushes inside to grab Jumba.
Few minutes later...
Cars flocked the road as traffic was bumper to bumper, with no one being able to get through.
Ashley was biting her lip as she grips on the armrest of the chair tightly. Jumba looks over to Ashley and speaks, "What are you feeling?"
She laughs, "Oh, if I wasn't in so much pain I would be so excited. I'd be ecstatic and crying happy tears."
She grabs onto Jumba's hand and had to balance out the pressure so she wouldn't hurt Jumba's hand.
He smiles as he turns back to the road; which is when Nani decided to do something she knew she'd regret doing.
She reverses the car, turns the wheel and goes along the curb.
Jumba pokes his head beside Nani and asks shocked, " Did you just went against Earth driving protocols?"
She reasons, "Jumba, it's all good. No one was on the curb at the moment. I didn't destroy any property and you're having a baby, remember?"
He nods as he reclines back to Ashley as Nani picks up the pace and speeds down the road. He turns to Ashley and could see she was crying, but he didn't know what to do. So, he turns Ashley's face to his and kisses her; although, it seems to have calmed her down somewhat, but he could tell that Ashley was really holding in all the pain.
"Ashley," Jumba comments gingerly, "It's all right to let go what you are really feeling?"
She shakes her head 'no', "No, I've done a lot of yelling and thrashing around. I don't want to yell at you."
He smiles, "I understand, but I'm telling you it's fine. It's just a segment of a process that has been done over and over with other couples before us and will continue after us."
She still shakes her head 'no', "I don't care. I don't want to hurt you anymore then I've already had."
Before Jumba could even say a thing, the car stops and he suspected they were by the hospital. He looks up and was sadly disappointed that they weren't there; instead, it was a busted traffic light with a police officer directing the flow of traffic.
"Oh..." Nani speaks as she closes her eyes, "I know this isn't going to be a good thing at all."
Before either Jumba or Ashley could ask what she meant by that; she plows through the traffic against the officer's signals.
"Nani!" Jumba and Ashley scream astonished.
"Hey!" She counters, "They other cars were taking their sweet time going through the traffic."
Jumba looks at Nani, 'I have never ever seen this side of Nani before. Was she always like this?'
Meanwhile Ashley also stares at Nani, 'Wow, where did this side of Nani come from? She's like a total bad ass rebel now.'
He shakes his head and looks back to Ashley as she grabs her stomach again.
"Ashley!" he calls out to her, "don't worry. You're going to be fine, baby."
"WOULD YOU STOP SAYING THAT! I KNOW I AM, I'M JUST IN FUCKING PAIN RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" She hollers at him, which made Jumba's eyes widen from the shock of her outburst while Nani snickers behind the wheel.
"Oh my god," she speaks, "I-I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to-"
He interjects, "No, no it's all good."
She counters, "No, it's not. I don't have any reason to yell at you when you're trying to help. I-" He was cut off by the sounds of sirens. I turned around to see that the police were behind us.
"Ugh, I'm going to get in so much trouble for this." Nani said before she sped up. She didn't slow down until they reached the hospital.
She tells them, "Go in there and tell the lady at the desk Ashley's' name. They already know what to do."
Both nod as Jumba gives Ashley a quick kiss before exiting out of the car and bolting towards the door. The officer was rushing into the parking lot and stopped by Nani's car, banging on the window.
Nani rolls it down and looks at the stern man, with an angry look on his face.
"We seriously need a talk, miss," the officer states as Nani awkwardly laughs.
Meanwhile...
Jumba runs through the front door, panting as he reaches the front desk. "A-As-Ash...Ashley Mary."
"Ashley Mary?" the nurse replies confused as she searches the name through the computer database But, she's not due until-"
"Next week I know! It's happening now," Jumba quickly explains.
"Oh my god!" She said, getting up from her chair. She runs over to a wheelchair and states, "We need to put her in the wheelchair right now then."
He nods and she follows him back out the front door, towards Nani's car again.
Jumba spots Ashley leaning against the car and yells, "Ashley!"
She turns to him and sees that he brought a nurse with a wheelchair.
Then...
They were brought back inside the hospital and then a doctor speaks, "Thankfully you friend Pleakley called about your news."
She orders the nurses that were nearby, "This woman is about to give birth! Find us a room this instant!"
They nod as stroll her with Jumba following close behind.
"Ashley," Jumba speaks, "I'm here. Okay, we'll get through this."
She replies angrily, "Just as long as they can stop this pain, I'm good."
He jokes, "My, Ashley... Sounds like you're in a little bit of pain there, right? So, let's wait for the drugs then."
He gives her his hand and she takes it, immediately squeezing it.
She adds lowly, "I hope these people have my drugs ready to help me delivery this baby or so help me... I will pray for the volcano to explode and make it rain fire, burning everything insight into ashes while I laugh and play on those graves."
Jumba looks to her scared as he tries to pry his hand free. "Um... Ashley, you're kinda hurting my hand now."
"Hurt?" she looks to him, "you don't even know the meaning of that word. What I'm feeling right now really hurts. This is real pain!"
She squeezes his hand harder, "This! This is but a fraction of the pain I'm feeling!"
He gasps, "Ow! Ashley, let's try to be reasonable about this-"
"Reasonable?" she repeats.
"Reasonable! I know how to be reasonable! Like I know who is responsible for this pain! You! You're the cause of all this pain I'm feeling! Why can't they give me any drugs here! We're... No, you! You! You're never having kids after this one, you hear me! Never are we doing this again. I hate you so much right now, damn it! Who said that having kids was a good idea?! I'll kill them on the spot! God, just give me something, anything even, to stop this damn pain!"
Jumba cries as he felt his hand stuck in a bear-trap like grip, "Ah~ Ow! Oh, please giver her the drugs now. Please, give her something. Anything at all, so she can stop killing my hand!"
They finally find a room and Ashley hesitantly releases Jumba's hand as he was excused to leave the room. He massages his aching hand, "It almost felt like she broke my hand. Any longer and I would've requested them to give me the drugs."
Few minutes later...
They open the door and Jumba enters inside the room and he sees Ashley in a hospital with a smile on her face. The nurses then give Jumba some scrubs and one speaks, "Hurry, put this on in the bathroom down to the left of you."
He nods as they again push him out of the room. He looks around and finds the bathroom. He goes inside and hastily puts on the scrubs as he exits the bathroom and walks back to the room where Ashley was. When he does, he sees that the doctor was already there and seem to brought some equipment with her.
She turns to the door and smiles, "Oh, sorry Mr. Jookiba. We were just wanting to see if her vitals were stable, among other things."
He smiles, "Oh, okay. That's good."
One of the nurses takes his clothes as they walk out of them room. He looks back to the scene before himself.
The doctor asks her, "Now, are you Ashley Mary Jookiba?"
"Yes," she exclaims loudly, "I'm Ashley Mary Jookia, who else would I be."
She smiles, "Don't worry Mrs. Jookiba, we will get your little girl out as soon as possible."
She adds, "Okay, so your contractions are far enough apart for us to still perform the cesarean. Ready?"
Ashley nervously nods yes. The doctor leaves along with the two nurses out of the room. Jumba walks over to Ashley and kneels before her as he takes her hand.
"So, you still in pain?" he asks her.
"No," she answers, "They injected me already. So, I won't feel a thing."
They both turn to the door and see the doctor smiles, "Well, it's time to get your baby out."
Few minutes later...
They were moved to an operating room as Jumba tries to calm down Ashley.
Ashley asks the doctor, "Hey, is the rest of the family here yet?"
"Almost," he replies, "they're still stuck in traffic."
"And Nani?" she asks, "Is she back yet?"
The doctor shrugs, "All I know is that they're coming soon."
Once again she leaves the room, giving some time for Jumba and Ashley to be alone.
She sighs annoyed and upset as she lays down on the table.
Jumba speaks to her, "Ashley, they'll be here soon enough and they see our child."
His eyes widened as he remembered something, "Ashley, we-we never thought about name for our child."
Her eyes also widened in the shock of realization, "Oh my... Y-You're right. I didn't even think of it back before."
She looks to him, "So what? Are we just going to wing it on naming our child?"
He shakes his head, "No, of course not. Okay? We'll figure this out together."
She smiles, "Fine."
He laughs, "Good, why not we play a quick round of science trivia then to help ease of minds and think of names."
"Jumba..." she groans, "I don't think right now would be an appropriate time for a game."
"Come on," he comments, "just a quick question."
She looks into his eyes and could tell he wasn't going to take no as an answer. "All right, one question and that's it."
He smiles, "Good. Now, let's play: Earth's Periodical Table of Element!"
She groans as he continues, "Now, what element is so-so for me?"
She scoffs, "Are you joking? There's so many."
He sighs, "Fine, I'll give you a hint then. It's in the Alkali metal group."
She ponders for a moment and then snaps her fingers, "K. Potassium, right?"
He nods, "You are correct."
They both laugh as she thinks back to the letter K.
"K. K...K," Ashley ponders some quick seconds and then Jumba asks, "What are you thinking now?"
"Playing that game," she explains, "has given me a thought actually. I want our daughter to have a 'K' in her name."
Jumba nods as he starts listing names, "Kiana, Kiya, Kimberly, Kathrine, Kate, Katrina, Kylee, Karen, Kaylie-"
"Wait..." she stops him, "I've the perfect name. Kayla."
Jumba smiles as he concurs with that, "Yeah, that's a beauty first name."
Ashley turns to him, "Would you like to think of a middle name for her too?"
He shakes his head, "No, I think I have one already."
The doctor returns with the nurses as she puts on her gloves, "All right now, time to delivery your daughter."
They walk over to Jumba and Ashley, giving them masks as they put the curtain up to block the view of Jumba and Ashley.
Jumba's P.O.V.
The doctors began to move around and ask for different supplies. I just kept my eyes on my love. She was smiling up at me and I was doing the same. All we had to do was wait for a few more minutes and we would have our little girl in our hands. I wanted to just scream in excitement but I knew the doctors were trying to concentrate.
I look to Ashley and smile, "Won't be long now."
She whispers tiredly, "I know. I can't believe that we're going to be parents."
"Yeah," he looks at her, "We're going to have a whole new journey for us. A new adventure."
She laughed a little when we were interrupted by a loud cry. I looked up and saw that they were taking her to clean her off.
"Mr. and Mrs. Jookiba, we are pleased to present you with your baby girl. First you can spend some time with her. We'll give you with the birth certificate to fill out once we've weighed her," they state as they walked over to us and I couldn't control my shaking.
"Do you want to hold her?" The nurse asked me.
I nodded my head and she placed her in my hands. She still had her eyes closed as she made small noises here and there. I leaned over and showed her to Ashley and her eyes began to fill with tears.
I pass her to Ashley and she smiles so big and bright.
"Hey, little girl," she whispered in awe. "Guess what, I'm your mommy. You little cute thing you. You're first name is Kayla. K-A-Y-L-A. Your daddy gets to give you your middle name. He was the big fella before me," she asked with her voice caught in her throat.
I laugh at that statement as I go down and hug them both. My family.
She hands Kayla back to me and I whisper softly but still contentedly, "Hey there, this is your daddy. You... You, my little one. My daughter and my greatest achievement of all. You were made by the love of not only science, but of two people who love one another and will love you too."
"We have to check her over to make sure she's fine." The nurse told me. I handed her over before looking at Ashley.
"We're officially parents." I told her before leaning down and connecting our lips.
Ashley's P.O.V.
We break our kiss as he leans his forehead against mine, making me smile.
"We're parents. I can't believe we're parents. We have a daughter. Can you believe this? It seems like yesterday we bumped into each other and now look where we ended up," I said nostalgically as I hear someone and see Nani and the rest of the family coming.
"So," I turn to Jumba, "What middle name do you have in mind?"
He simply states, "Margaret."
I ponder on the name, "Margaret. Kayla Margaret Jookiba... It does have a nice ring to it, don't you think."
He lightly laughs, "It's a wonderful name."
I sigh as I begin to close my eyes, "I-I'm...just going to fall asleep."
Before I could even hear what Jumba was saying, I was out like a light.
Hours later...
"Hey, Kayla. I'm your Auntie Nani, that's right. I'm your Auntie and you're the reason I almost got sent away to prison because I broke so many laws to help your parents get you. But it was worth it," Nani joke to her as she rocked her back and forth. She was holding Kayla in her pink blanket with her pink hat
Jumba asks, "Yeah, how did you manage that?"
She answers, "The officer gave me a warning after I told him the full story about how I was driving my Uncle and his girlfriend to the hospital to deliver their first child. He was more than please to let this one slide."
Jumba counters, "If I had done what you did, I would've be sent away indefinitely."
They lightly laugh as he asks, "What's taking them so long to get the other cousins?"
She shrugs, "I don't know?"
She adds as she hugs Jumba, "You and Ashley are going to make great parents."
He jests, "Like you and Lilo are going to make great aunties."
They laugh again and Nani asks, "So, Ashley still out?"
"Like a light," Jumba answers.
Ashley had been sleep for about three hours now. The doctors told everyone that it was going to happen because of all the drugs they put her under so she would be able to heal. She woke up a few times but mindlessly mumbled things before going back to sleep.
The cousins all stopped by to congratulate Jumba and Ashley, as well to see Baby Kayla. Although, it was hard to do because she would fuss, cry and wail sometimes.
Ashley woke up about an hour later and the nurses came in and cave her some medicine and checked her wound. She ate some of her food before she fed their daughter. Just before she started, Pleakley walked in and stated. "Beyond, young Earthling for the best formula ever! Pleakley's growing drink!"
Jumba immediately takes the drink and chucks it out the window, "No baby of mine is ever touching any of your food at this age. They'll never live pass a week."
Pleakley places his hand over his chest, "Well, I never..."
Ashley adds, "Sorry, but Jumba's right. I would like to see my daughter grow HEALTHY!"
She smiles as she fed their daughter again, "That's it little girl, that's it."
Lilo, David, Stitch, and Angel enter in and all look at Ashley. They "Aw" at the sight of the baby.
Angel asks, "So what's her name?"
Jumba and Ashley look to each other with a big smile and turn to them.
Ashley states, "Her full name is: Kayla Margaret Jookiba."
Stitch asks, "Are you two at all scared?"
"Definitely," Jumba answers while Ashley responds, "Of course."
They both lightly laugh as Jumba explains, "We surely weren't ready for this but we know that our love for our baby girl will be more than enough to keep the fear out of us."
He turns to his daughter, 'I'll always be with you, baby girl.'