The Litter

Disclaimer: They don't belong to me, unfortunately. Well, I guess Steven and the other characters I made up are mine.
A/N: This is yet another crazy idea that came from my demented little mind. Special thanks to Meg for helping me pound the details and to Jeanne for listening to my sugar-induced craziness.


"Logan! Logan! Wake up now! We gotta go!" Max yelled into her husband's ear.
"Where? What?" Logan managed to say as soon as he was remotely conscious.
"You know damn well where! Now get up!"
"Oh. OH!! Are you sure this time?"
"Um, yeah. In case you haven't noticed my side of the bed is completely soaked."
"Ok. Let me get ready." He got up and started to get dressed.
"If you don't move it, these kids are gonna be born on our bed." Max was obviously ready to go, so he just pulled his jeans on and grabbed a shirt. She grabbed her bag and they left the apartment.
Within in minutes they were at the ER of Metro Medical.
"Oh yeah, this brings back memories," Logan said, his voice full of sarcasm.
"Just shut up and come on! These kids aren't gonna wait much longer!" Max grabbed Logan by his shirt and drug him to the desk.
They went through the usual process for maternity patients and before they knew it, an orderly had Max in a wheelchair and they were headed for the elevator that would take them upstairs.
"Can we move it a bit? I really don't wanna bear all for the rest of the world. Privacy issue," Max asked the orderly as they got onto the elevator.
"Just hang on. We're almost there," he responded, pushing the button for the maternity ward.
"Let me ask you something, uh," she glanced at his ID tag, "Steven. Have you ever been in labor or had children?"
"No."
"That's what I thought. Now until, you do, don't tell me to 'hang on a minute' because I can't stop them. They'll come when they want to and I'd prefer not to have my children here," Max told him as politely as she could.
Logan just stood there laughing to himself as this poor guy got chewed out by Max.
"Um, we're here now Mrs. Cale," Steven said, timidly, as the doors opened.
"Don't worry. She's always like this," Logan whispered to Steven, who nodded in acknowledgement.
"I heard that!"
"Um, let's just get you into your room and get you ready, shall we?" Steven wheeled her up to the desk.
"Mrs. Cale?" the nurse asked.
"Yes she is," Logan responded before Max could spout off another rude or sarcastic compliment.
"I think I can still answer for myself. Just because I'm pregnant does not mean I am mute," she shot Logan a dirty look.
"Ok. Let's get you settled in room 452 and then Dr. Carr will be in to see you," the nurse said as she walked around behind the wheelchair and headed for Max's room.
"What a coincidence," Logan whispered in her ear.
"Excuse me?" the nurse asked curiously.
"Uh, inside joke," Max nervously replied.
"Ok, well, here we are. Let's get you settled," she replied as she reached down to help Max out of the chair.
"I'll be in the hall," Logan said as he kissed Max's forehead.
"Ok. I'll see you in a minute," Max replied as Logan walked out the door.
The nurse brought Max a gown and got her into bed.
"Can I get you anything before I go?" she asked as she headed out the door.
"No just send my husband in," Max replied as she reached for the pitcher of water on the nightstand.
"Ok."
Logan reentered the room and saw Max propped up on the bed.
"Acting like the queen you are?" he asked with a grin.
"Of course. And don't be thinking that I'm happy with you," she replied.
"And why wouldn't you be happy with me?"
"It's not just my fault I'm here."
"Oh you poor thing. I thought Manticore engineered you so it wouldn't hurt that much."
"They did, but I'm kinda uncomfortable with this whole hospital thing. Couldn't we have just had Sam deliver the kids at home? We did all my appointments there."
"Max, you know perfectly well that there could be problems with one or all of the kids."
"I know that, but I'm still not comfortable with all the nurses and everything. The number of people that are gonna be here is the size of a small army!"
"Max, please, it's only five people."
"That's easy for you to say. It's not…. Hi Sam," Max greeted the doctor.
"Hi Max. Hi Logan," Sam replied as he shook Logan's hand. "Let's check and see how far you are."
"Ok," Max said as she scooted up on the pillows.
"Wow! Um, Max are you ready to push?" Sam asked her.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Well one of the babies is on its way and it will be here very soon," he said as he put on his gown and gloves. "Ok. On the count of three, push. One, two, three!"
Max pushed and to the great surprise of everyone, that was all it took for the first baby to come out.
"Congratulations! It's a girl!" Sam announced
"Wow! That was easy! Now if the other three are that fast, we'll be done in a matter of minutes," Max said as Sam held her daughter up.
Logan looked at his daughter and did a double take. She looked like Sketchy.
"Must be my eyes," he thought as he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes.
He put his glasses on just in time for baby two's birth.
"Congratulations! It's a girl!" Sam announced again.
Logan looked at his daughter and did another double take. This one looked like Normal.
"Come on Cale! You know you're just seeing things," he told himself as baby three made her appearance.
"Congratulations! It's another girl!" Sam announced yet again.
Logan looked at his other daughter and then at his wife. This time, the baby looked like him. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"See? You got yourself all worked up over nothing," he told himself as baby four came into the world.
"Congratulations! It's another girl! And that's all of them," Sam announced as they began cleaning Max up.
Logan looked at his fourth daughter and wondered if he was really ok. He looked again and this time he was totally sure that he was seeing things because there was no way this baby could be black. Or was there.
"Max, honey. I have a question," he said to a very nervous looking Max.
"Logan, before you ask, yes I did sleep with other men. I'm so sorry. I was in heat and I couldn't control myself. I'm so sorry," she told him as she started to cry.
"Well how come you didn't tell me?"
"I was sure all of them were yours until the other day when I heard from Jondie. She said she had triplets from three different men and then I realized that with my feline DNA, the same thing could happen to me."
"Oh God. Why didn't you tell me before…" Logan started to say. He never finished thought because he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard someone saying his name.
"Logan? Honey? Wake up! It's time!"