And things intensify!
Riella and the baby are mine, and Tai, Techno and Sparrow are Tatyana Witwicky's!
Chapter 6: Slaggit! Now?
Riella paced the base, in robot mode, with a sigh. She was bored out of her processor. Almost everyone was off base; they'd picked up a Decepticon signal in some other country and gone after it. Ratchet, however, had refused to let her go, pointing out the extreme risk she would be taking given how close she was to delivery. Prowl hadn't liked leaving her behind at all, even though she would be safe, but Optimus had insisted they needed the tactician, although he was distracted.
Ratchet and Optimus were right, of course – it was too risky for Riella to go anywhere near a fight, and they did need Prowl's help – but still, she hated having nothing to do. The only ones around were Sideswipe, who hadn't been able to go because he was still recovering from an injury, and Sam, Tai and her sparklings, Leo, who was visiting for a few days, and a couple soldiers. Sideswipe had even stopped pulling pranks, complaining that there was no one to pull them on. At least Agent Galloway had been noticeably absent from base for a while. Riella's lip components curved into a smirk at the memory of his expression when she'd chased him all the way to his car.
"Hi, Riella. How ya feeling?"
Riella turned to see Tai, with Techno in her arms and Sparrow running around a few feet behind her, looking up at her with a smile. "Alright. A few little twinges every now and then; I think we're getting pretty close. But other than that I'm feeling good."
"Twinges?" Tai looked confused.
Riella sat down, so that she was closer to the other technorganic. "The spark chamber has to expand to let the new spark out. It's similar to human contractions, but in reverse. The twinging is the spark chamber preparing to expand. It wouldn't normally be too painful, but because of my organic components, my spark chamber isn't quite formed the way it should be, making the expansion quite painful."
"Oooh. Bet you're not looking forward to that."
"You can bet a lot on that." Riella rolled her optics. "But at least this time Ratchet confirms there's only one. Last time it was twins. That was…unpleasant."
"Yeow." Tai almost looked sympathetic. "Is he - or she, or it, whatever - moving? Can I feel it?"
"Yes, there is a pulse, and yes, you can." Riella guided the girl's hand to the lower part of her chest. "Right there. You'll feel two spark pulses. Should feel like a little heartbeat."
"Aww," Tai cooed. "There it is! Can you feel it all the time?"
"Yes, as of three days ago. It keeps me awake sometimes, but it's not as bad as the twins were." Riella shrugged.
"You're lucky you don't gain weight," the technorganic commented. "Man, was I miserable for the last few weeks! Will it be hard for you to deliver it?"
"Yes, it will. It hurts to have the spark chamber expand, and it takes a long time for the spark to work its way out. The process is very similar to human labor." Riella could feel the spark pulsing a bit harder, and rubbed a hand over her spark chamber, trying to calm it down.
"So you decided not to have Ratchet tell you what it is?"
"Yes, we decided to wait and see. That was what we did with the twins. I think it may be a femme, though. Don't ask why, I'm not sure." Riella tried to send reassuring pulses to the little spark; it was incredibly active at the moment.
"I can't wait, and neither can Sparrow." Tai giggled. "You got a name picked yet?"
"Well, we have a few in mind, but..." Riella's voice trailed off, and she caught her breath, pressing her hand over her spark chamber.
"What's wrong? Riella, are you okay?"
"Yes. Sometimes the pulses hurt like that." The older technorganic managed to relax. "An unfortunate side effect of having a second spark inside a small spark chamber."
Sideswipe came outside, talking animatedly to Sam and Leo about some prank he'd pulled back in training. "…so then we just sat there and watched him run around looking for it! Oh, hi. How ya doing, Riella?"
"I'll live, Sides. Bored and tired. You?" She winced a bit.
"I'm good. Sunny just called. Said they're en route to the signal location right now. Apparently it keeps moving. Lennox says they've got it this time, though."
"Well, that's good." Riella tried to relax. "Sam, Leo, how are you?"
"Oh, we're awesome, man!" Leo spun around, indicating the base. "It's summer vacation, and instead of having to work, we get to stay here! It's freaking awesome!"
Sideswipe knelt beside Riella with a worried expression. "Seriously, Riella, are you okay? You don't look so good."
"I said I'm alright, Sides - oh slag!" Riella doubled over, pressing both hands against her spark chamber. "Ow..."
"Riella!" Sideswipe grabbed her, holding her upright, as the humans stared in horror. "What's going on?"
Tai gasped. "Riella, please tell me that's not what it looked like..."
Riella couldn't speak for a moment, until the pressure eased. "Well...I didn't want anyone to worry, and I hoped it was just pre-delivery twinges, but..."
"The sparkling's coming? Now?" Sam's eyes widened.
"I think so, yes." Riella leaned against Sideswipe for support. "Primus, I forgot how much it hurts."
"Okay, okay, okay, nobody panic, sparkling on the way, somebody call Ratchet!" Sam was just as panicked as he'd been when the Autobots had first arrived.
"Do something! Somebody, anybody, do something, we need help!" Leo was hyperventilating.
"Riella! It's okay, don't panic, everything's going to be fine..." Tai knelt beside Riella, eye and disguised optic wide. "I don't know how to do this...but it's fine."
"Of all the times! Help! I can't deliver a sparkling, this is NOT GOOD, why couldn't it have waited two slagging days..." Sideswipe held Riella up, talking almost as fast as Bluestreak. "Fraggit, somebody please tell me they know what to do, because I DON'T!"
Riella rolled her optics with a groan. It figured. "Okay, that's enough! All of you, shut up!"
Everyone shut up and looked at Riella, who was struggling to her feet with help from Sideswipe. "Listen to me. This is not the first time I've done this. This is how it works. Nothing's gone wrong yet. Sam, Leo, I need you two to calm down and stop panicking. You are not helping. Sides, help me get to the medbay, then we'll comm Ratchet and tell him what's going on. Everything is ready, and I know what to do, so we're going to be just fine. Got it?"