Month two
Barricade was doing some desk work when all of a sudden he felt sick and threw up his morning Energon into the trash bin right next to his desk and as such he decided to comm Ratchet just in case something was seriously wrong with him or the sparkling
::Ratchet...am I supposed to be bringing up my morning Energon?::
::Congratulations, you have what humans call morning sickness, it happens to most human females though some never experience the symptom, this should pass by the fourth month of your pregnancy, though it doesn't always according to my research, I'll see what we can do to help you keep your Energon down, though it might be that you'll simply have to take in smaller amounts over the day to compensate, but we'll see what works and what doesn't::
That wasn't the only thing that happened during the second month, everyone started to notice that Barricade was...off somehow but they weren't exactly sure how yet, but they knew they would find out soon enough
Month three
Fortunately Ratchet found a solution where Barricade could have his normal Energon rations and not be quite as sick as initially. They also learned the meaning of the words mood swings and cravings in the third month which was what was starting in the second month but hadn't fully appeared until the third month of pregnancy. They found this out the hard way one day when Bluestreak asked him to sign basic paperwork for the second time that week that really needed his signature since it was a supply requisition form
"I said no! I don't want this stupid paperwork and if you ask me again I will knock you senseless!"
Five minutes later he was apologizing to Bluestreak and then asking for something sweet. He was also starting to show his pregnancy through a slight baby bump, which wasn't normal in a Cybertronian pregnancy
Month four
Ratchet had finally been forced to bring in human co-workers to help him handle Barricade's pregnancy since it was more human than Cybertronian and that meant that he was completely out of his element
"Ratchet...are the human doctors really necessary?"
"Unfortunately for your health and the health of your sparkling they are, I am out of my depth Barricade, normally a Cybertronian female wouldn't be showing their pregnancy except through their energy field, plus they're much shorter than human pregnancies, if you were female you would be having your sparkling by the end of the month by opening your chest plate and the sparkling separating from your spark pain free and being put into a protoform, unfortunately due to the materials we've both read" (as soon as Barricade confirmed he was keeping the sparkling Ratchet demanded he and Barricade read up everything on human pregnancy's and made sure that Barricade followed through. Barricade wasn't too thrilled to learn that the actual birth was going to be painful unless he miscarried his sparkling, even with drugs to help) "I need help with your condition since this could be as unpredictable as a human pregnancy could be"
"Fine I just...I just don't feel comfortable with it even knowing that they're our allies"
"I know, but unfortunately this is the safest option for you and your sparkling"
"I understand, at least they're under doctor/patient confidentiality still"
"True, we made sure of that a long time ago when we first came to Earth"
"So when do I meet them?"
"Next appointment, and by the way it's more obvious that you're pregnant"
"I thought as much"
Because Barricade was indeed starting to show more in regards to his pregnancy, he was also starting to get tired occasionally and he knew that the exhaustion would only get worse as the pregnancy progressed
"They're also going to be bringing in some of their own equipment that I have never used before, according to them it's needed since my energy scans only tell me if the sparkling is still there and they feel that's not enough...they've made sure it's Cybertronian sized since according to them they've wanted us to have this piece of equipment for ages but have never given it to us due to lack of need. They apparently test it regularly so they know that it works perfectly"
"When's the appointment?"
"Next week, they want to get it in as early as possible to detect problems as soon as possible"
"Understood"
Next week Barricade was back in medbay and saw a big machine that he was uncertain what it's use was for, and Ratchet was just as confused by his facial expression. The human doctor's took one look at Barricade, shrugged and then asked him to lie down on his back
"Why are you taking this so calmly?"
"We heard one of you had been captured and experimented on but were never informed of who, due to our long association with your people and the EDC we have gotten slightly used to the unusual, now then this will probably feel a little weird but everything is safe, we use this on our human patients all the time, Ratchet take the bottle next to you and squeeze it's contents onto the device connected to the monitor with a wire, use only enough to cover the device, if more is needed than squeeze the exact same amount again, but it shouldn't be needed we don't think, once that's done put it onto Barricade's...um baby bump since I can't tell if that's his chest or his abdomen"
Ratchet squeezes the bottle onto the part of the device as instructed but immediately stops before he goes any further
"What is this?"
"That is gel, it will allow the device to move around easily and smoothly without harming his body, don't worry we've made sure that the gel is harmless to Cybertronians"
Ratchet looks dubious but does as instructed and as one since Barricade was looking at the monitor as well both Ratchet and Barricade gasp in shock, but Barricade is the one to speak up
"Is that...is that my sparkling?"
"Indeed it is Barricade, now then from what we can tell everything seems to be developing normally, though we're not entirely sure with Cybertronian pregnancies if this is the same, but from a human standpoint everything is good so far, too early to tell if it's male or female for a human, but as far as I understand you guys don't know until the sparkling is in it's protoform what it's going to be"
"Actually the sparkling gives off it's own energy field and I can already tell it's a male, found that out last week but since we weren't sure about what this equipment does we both agreed that I wouldn't tell him until today"
"Ah, that's good to know in case this happens again to another Cybertronian"
"So once a month we'll do this scan then?"
"Sonogram Ratchet, and actually...for the first month we'd like weekly Sonograms and then bi-weekly after that, but that's up to Barricade"
"I think...I think I would like to go with that plan since this is all new to us"
"Very well, we'll see you next week then"
Month five
Things progressed smoothly that month, the weekly Sonogram showed the sparkling developing into a healthy baby with no complications and Barricade was doing fine as well with Energon intake and his bump was slowly getting to the point where he would need a new desk soon
"Well, looks like we can go to bi-weekly Sonograms unless a problem develops"
"How am I personally progressing?"
"You're doing good Barricade, though I do admit that I would like to see you on supplements soon"
"What for?"
"You're getting tired way too easily according to Ratchet, normally a human female would be tired near the end of the pregnancy and also the beginning, but five months...that's a bit unusual unless you're not getting enough rest or nutrients, it does happen sometimes, but the baby is fine and past the point of there being twins unless one is hiding"
"Okay, so two weeks from now?"
"Two weeks from now"
Month six
Things were going okay when suddenly before the next Sonogram appointment there was an emergency with Barricade. He was simply in the rec room watching TV and drinking his Energon when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in the area where he was carrying the sparkling
"Guys...help...hurts..."
Jazz and Prowl rush Barricade to the medbay where Ratchet's equipment gave off all sorts of crazy readings, fortunately he managed to help Barricade through the incident with drugs which knocked him out cold for seventeen hours. When he came to he had a worried medic by his bedside
"Barricade, I think we need to make an emergency appointment with the Sonogram, I need to check on the sparkling, the readings I'm getting are...confusing to say the least"
"Do it, I need to know for sure myself, I...I don't have a bond with my sparkling Ratchet, I don't know if it's okay or not, if I still have a sparkling"
The next day the doctors came in and the Sonogram showed that the sparkling was still there and healthy
(Sighs) "I need to know two things, what was the pain like and how do Cybertronian pregnancies normally work?"
"The pain was sharp, sudden, but with the help of Ratchet's drugs before I went to sleep I noticed that things were settled and the pain was no longer there, there's also a bond with the sparkling while it's still inside the carrier, it develops near the end of the carrying period, what you would call the pregnancy, but I still haven't felt the bond develop"
"It could be that it won't until near the end of this pregnancy" (sighs) "in the meantime I need to explain something about human pregnancies I'm not sure you actually read on since you might have felt it was unnecessary data, there's two conditions you need to be aware of, one is called a stillbirth where the baby is born already dead, normally there's nothing on the parents side that caused it, it just happens, the other is early contractions which lead to a premature baby if not stopped in time because the baby is born months early, it's called premature labor. What happened to you was the beginning stages of that exact scenario of premature labor. Now then Ratchet stopped it in time and your baby is healthy, however just like with human pregnancies I'm afraid that you're going on complete bed rest effective immediately if you want to keep your sparkling, we may lessen the restriction as time passes after this incident but more than likely not, the only moving you'll be doing is taking care of bodily functions, bathing and eating"
"Barricade for your safety and the safety of the sparkling, until told otherwise I am keeping you in the medbay while you're on complete bed rest so that I can continuously monitor your condition, this might not be the case with human medicine but..."
"I understand Ratchet, this scared me too"
Month seven
Barricade was still stuck in the medbay and bored
"Hey, so you're still on complete bed rest?"
"Yep, the humans are coming tomorrow and reevaluating, after the scare we had I'm back to weekly appointments, but in the meantime...I'm bored Jazz give me something to do"
"Sorry Barricade, no work Ratchet's orders and they're backed up by the Primes and Galvatron"
"I know I'm not allowed to work but...if you could find books, movies, shows or games I haven't read, done or seen that would be nice, as it is..."
Barricade stops and Jazz got worried when he didn't continue after a moment
"Barricade?"
"Jazz...feel...they're kicking...and...and I have a bond...oh I can feel my sparkling through a bond"
The human doctors are informed of both pieces of information the next day before the Sonogram is even done
"That's unusual, normally they would have been kicking at least two months ago, guess development is a bit different, as for the bond that's wonderful news Barricade, we could definitely use that in the future to know if the sparkling is still alright if another incident like last month happens"
Once the Sonogram is done the doctors consult with Ratchet briefly and then they go back out to Barricade
"Okay, we're lifting the complete bed rest restriction Barricade, but you're still on weekly appointments for everyone's safety, and we have to warn you that if you almost gave birth prematurely once there's a chance that it could happen again and next time might not be stopped so start expecting your little one and make whatever preparations are needed still in overdrive"
"Don't worry everything is basically ready now, all that we're waiting for is the little one to emerge and some slight modifications are still needed to my quarters, mostly Energon for the sparkling, some toys and apparently a crib...something about the one already being put together used for something else instead by Wheeljack accidentally"
"Oh I know what happened to that one, Wheeljack decided that the crib needed 'upgrades' without telling anyone and melted the thing, he's been told that if he tries anything on this one that he's mine after Prowl gets through with him"
Month eight
Wheeljack apologized and made sure to leave the new crib alone...not that he could actually gain access to it with it locked in Barricade's quarters under a bio-lock with only the Primes, Galvatron, Ratchet and Prowl having an override. Barricade himself was back in medbay until his sparkling was delivered because the supplements just weren't cutting it anymore and he needed to be monitored to make sure his energy levels were stable after he collapsed once in the rec room due to low energy right after taking in his daily Energon
"So...stuck in here until the birth than?"
"Yes, it's the only way to keep both of us safe"
"Well the good news is that everything seems fine and except for your energy issues you should have a normal ending to the carrying period, by the end of next month your sparkling will be born. Now then we have to ask if you want a natural birth or with drugs, I have to warn you even with drugs it will hurt, but not as badly as without"
"About that...Ratchet has banned me from taking any drugs during the birth"
"Ratchet..."
"Sorry, originally I was all for drugging him up, but I did some tests and the drugs needed are too dangerous for him to have, it's going to have to be a natural birth the entire time"
"Fine, but if he needs an emergency c-section all bets are off and you're just going to have to do your best to keep him and the sparkling alive"
"I know, we both know that, we've discussed the possibility of that exact scenario a few times in between appointments"
"Good, at least you're aware of the possibilities"
"So...I get to meet my little one next month"
"Yes...next month"
Month nine
Barricade was trying to get some sleep and not succeeding, having been uncomfortable all day, Ratchet and First Aid had both asked him if anything was wrong and he had said that he was simply unable to get into a comfortable position that day, since that had happened several times the last few weeks none of them had thought anything of it, until while he was taking a shower to cool down due to feeling overheated he felt a sharp pain once again, but this time it was accompanied by a gush of liquid going down his legs
"RATCHET!"
Ratchet, who was in the medbay constantly now for Barricade's sake was immediately by his side
"What's wrong Barricade?"
"It's time...the sparkling...it's coming"
"Okay...okay let's just get you lying down while I call the humans over here, fortunately they've been on emergency standby since the beginning of the month"
Fifteen minutes later the human medics were there and confirmed that Barricade was definitely in labor
"Now then, this could be a while, but at the same time maybe not, have you been feeling anything odd today Barricade?"
"Just unable to get comfortable, but since that has been happening the last few weeks none of us thought anything of it"
"Okay, you basically went through the early stages of labor without noticing it, but it could still take some time, let's see how dilated you are and go from there"
Barricade unfortunately wasn't dilated enough
"So far it's going slowly but steadily, you're going to be on monitors for safety and we're going to check through a Sonogram"
Two hours later he wasn't dilated enough and in fact hadn't made any progress, unfortunately he was also starting to actually be in pain
"Okay, this is how things will go, unless you tell us otherwise we're going to check on you every two hours for the first three checks, than we'll go every hour until it's time for you to push, in the meantime we'll also do Sonogram checks just to make sure that the sparkling is in the correct position to be born, so that's what we'll do now"
They do a Sonogram check and see that the sparkling's position was correct
"Okay, while it may not be time the sparkling is in the correct position once you're ready to push"
"Ratchet are you sure that you can't give me anything?"
"Sorry Barricade, it really is too dangerous for you"
"It hurts Ratchet"
"I know, I'll be keeping an eye on you, don't forget we've discussed giving you the medicine if it becomes an emergency, but only then for both your safety and the safety of the sparkling, I don't want to do an emergency c-section if I don't have to, right now besides the pain you and the sparkling are doing fine I promise"
"Oh...I wish this could just be over with by now...this is really starting to hurt...oh man...do they have to take so long to arrive?"
The next three checks remain the same and by that time Barricade was in so much pain that he was starting to shout profanity against the enemy that had captured him, it was mostly in Cybertronian but a few times it was in English which meant that the human team also understood
"Okay, it's been six hours and not much progress, however things are still okay so we won't intervene with the body, but due to the unusual nature of what's happening what we've decided is that if the sparkling hasn't come by the end of thirty-six hours than we'll do a c-section, if you or the sparkling suddenly show distress before that we'll also do a c-section"
"Ratchet...it hurts...so much...I just...want this...to be...over with..."
"I know, I know, there might be something I can give you to allow you some rest while we wait okay?"
"Thanks...I would...appreciate that...a lot"
Ratchet gives him the medication and he's watched the entire hour for sudden complications, once the hourly check is done the medics all retreat to Ratchet's office to discuss things
"Ratchet, we're concerned about his emotional condition, he may have taken to this surprise exceedingly well but pain will affect his emotions, the fact that you can't give him anything is worrying because pain itself can induce stress to the pregnancy, in humans that is potentially quite dangerous"
"I know, but all we can do is keep an eye on them, I truly wish I could actually give him something but unfortunately I can't"
"We know"
The pattern of hourly checks with no progress would continue for another seventeen hours when finally progress was made once more, by that time Barricade was awake and in even more pain, but stable so the medics were all reluctant to do anything that could endanger their patients. Barricade though made a declaration that wasn't fully dismissed, but also wasn't fully understood as the warning sign it was in regards to Barricade's health
"Ratchet...I'm so...tired...don't know...how much...longer I...can take...my condition...feeling weaker...every hour"
"I know...I know...guys I think he's reaching his limit"
"We know Ratchet, however his body isn't giving any further indications that he's actually ready to deliver his sparkling. All we can really say is that we'll up the checks to every half hour and also start keeping a closer eye on the monitors for distress, even human females get extremely exhausted as labor continues, however there's a very thin line between not intervening enough and too much intervention at this stage of the labor and we don't want to do anything that risks either patient"
"Can you...at least...find something...for the...pain?"
"Sorry Barricade, while you were asleep I did exactly that and there's nothing, and I can't give you anything for sleep since it's too soon"
"Understood...hope this...ends soon...so tired...need rest"
"We know Barricade, we know, the good news is that you've dilated a half a centimeter, which is progress, slow progress but progress, hopefully it shouldn't be much longer now"
When Barricade speaks up again, his voice is barely a whisper forcing Ratchet to be close for the conversation, which naturally also meant the conversation would be quiet and not heard by Ratchet's human colleagues
"Ratchet?"
"Yes Barricade?"
"If...I don't...make it...make sure...that...my little...one is...cared for"
"Don't talk like that Barricade...you'll be fine I promise"
"Promise...please...feeling...so weak...not...normal...exhaustion"
"Yes it is...I promise it's normal Barricade...I deliberately kept you from the amount of research I did, you're most likely in what's called protracted labor...it happens and as labor continues human females tend to get more exhausted, you're almost there Barricade, as far as I know you're near the halfway point...just a little longer and you'll be holding your little one in your arms"
"Ratchet...just...promise...please...need...to...know that...they'll be...cared for...if I...die"
"Okay...Okay Barricade I promise, your little one will be cared for if anything happens to you"
"Thank...you"
Barricade would remain quiet except for his exclamations of pain on occasion and when he had to take care of personal business for the rest of the time that he was waiting for the signals that would mean that his body was finally ready to deliver the sparkling. At the thirty hour mark the check revealed that he was finally dilated enough to actually give birth, by which point the medics were extremely relieved because they were getting close to telling Ratchet that they were going to push the timetable up by three hours since they had noticed that Barricade and the sparkling were actually starting to show signs that the protracted labor was beginning to stress them, it wasn't at the dangerous levels but it was getting close enough for them to make the call that if he remained stable they would deliver the sparkling via c-section in three hours
"Okay, Barricade you're going to feel pressure and like you need to push, once that feeling arrives I want you to push as hard as you can with me counting back from ten"
"I need to push"
"Okay...ten..nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one...breath"
Barricade breaths harshly and soon feels like he needs to push again, he goes through this stage six different times with screaming, including profanity in Cybertronian in-between due to his level of pain by that point when suddenly he heard the doctor tell him news he was waiting for, unfortunately by that point he was also completely exhausted since it had already been a thirty hour ordeal
"I see the head, okay one more push and he should be out"
"I...I can't...too tired"
"Come on Barricade, this is the last one, all you need to do is push one more time and you can see your sparkling in person"
"I...I can't...Ratchet...too tired...not...going to...last...fading fast"
That's when Ratchet's human colleague speaks up
"Barricade...I know you're tired, but you need to push, for the sake of your sparkling I need you to push one last time Barricade, otherwise your sparkling could die"
"I...I'll try...not sure...if I...can though...but...I'll try"
Barricade pushes one last time and soon hears his sparkling cry for the first time and finally catches his breath when he feels a familiar sensation right as the human doctor declares him almost finished, his body forcing him to catch a second wind to deliver his surprise second sparkling
"Just the afterbirth and everything will be finished"
"Uh...guys...I don't think I'm done..."
"WHAT?!"
Barricade pushed three more times and a second sparkling was born, Barricade caught his breath again when he felt another contraction, very briefly thinking it was just the afterbirth but quickly realizing that he had been carrying at least triplets the entire time and no one had known about it, he knew that he wouldn't last much longer though because his body was warning him he was going into stasis, but it was also forcing him to stay conscious long enough to safely deliver his third and final sparkling into the world
"Twins...you have twins Barricade...unless...do you feel like there's another?"
"Not...sure but I think...nope there's...definitely another"
"TRIPLETS?! YOU'RE HAVING SECRET TRIPLETS?!"
"YES I'M HAVING TRIPLETS! I HATE HUMAN EQUIPMENT, AHH!...IF IT HAD CAUGHT THIS...AAAHHH!...I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN CAUGHT BY SURPRISE...AAAHHH!...THIS HURTS...SO MUCH...GAGH!...WISH WE HAD...NGH!...DONE THE C-SECTION...OUCH! AND BEEN...DONE WITH IT...AAAAHHHHH!...OH MAN I WANT IT OUT NOW!...GAGH!"
Barricade pushes another four times and indeed had triplets, after his third sparkling he finished it up with the afterbirth only a minute later and was completely and totally exhausted by that point immediately entering recharge stasis, however because of that no one would know that just as Barricade had finished pushing his third sparkling out of his body he felt like something had ripped apart in his chest until it was almost too late. The triplets were put into Cybertronian incubators for their own safety since this was the first time that a protoform had been grown inside a Cybertronian
"They're out Barricade...you just delivered three sparklings...Barricade...Barricade do you hear me?"
"No good guys, I do believe he's in recharge stasis, his body lasting just long enough to deliver his third sparkling"
"It's no wonder, multiples are hard on human bodies, with the fact that this isn't normal for your species combined with it being surprise multiples it's no wonder he's exhausted"
"How did we miss triplets anyways...and just how dangerous was his birthing?"
"Very dangerous, it would have been safer to do a c-section, not sure if you noticed but the monitors were starting to show him being unstable near the end, as for how we missed triplets...well it happens even with human pregnancies"
"I noticed, thought it was just the stress of giving birth like a human would...guess I'm keeping all four of them under observation for a few days"
"Not a bad idea actually, we'd like to also monitor the situation the entire time he's stuck here...just in case"
"No problem with me"
"And by the way, when we say starting to become unstable, we mean that he was on the verge of us telling you to start preparing for a c-section in three hours if he either remained in his current condition or slowly started to get even worse"
"That I didn't notice, I only noticed it as he was...bearing down I believe you call it with the first sparkling"
"Well like I said, it would have been better for us to just do a c-section instead, not just because of the fact that it was triplets but because of his and their very health being at risk right at the point of being dilated enough to push, as it was we were watching very closely to see if the other one needed a c-section when he declared he needed to push again once his first was out"
"Fortunately it didn't happen"
"But it could have, now then I believe you have some people waiting to hear word on Barricade and the sparklings"
"Right, by the way how long did his labor take?"
The doctors look at the clock and are slightly surprised at how long it had taken for the sparklings to arrive once labor had progressed to the point that Barricade could actually give birth to his sparklings
"Thirty and a half hours, the initial thirty hours waiting for him to be dilated enough and then another half hour for him to actually give birth to his children"
"Understood, geeze, that's long even for you humans"
"Yes...it is"
Ratchet then goes outside to a waiting crowd and is suddenly very thankful that the medbay was soundproofed
"How are they Ratchet?"
"Barricade is weak and need to be kept a close eye on for a few days, we also discovered a little surprise...it turns out that Barricade was carrying triplets, the spark split during the time it would have into three without anyone noticing it, all four of them will be in the medbay until I release Barricade at the very least, but so far the triplets are doing fine"
"Triplets?...oh boy three times the trouble, and we need two more cribs"
"Yes, and by the way, he just endured a thirty and a half hour ordeal which is why he's so weak and tired, no one is allowed in until tomorrow at the earliest"
