The deviant android looked down at the puddle of fluid that had collected on the floor and his LED shifted into red. It was just past two in the morning and Connor was the only one still awake in the house. Stepping over the puddle carefully with the intention of mopping it up later on Connor waddled into the bathroom and stopped at the sink as his belly dropped lower and a horrible vice like grip began squeezing his abdomen.

"Ow..." Connor groaned in pain as quietly as possible. "This is very painful."

As soon as the contract let up he waddled over to the bathtub and stepped inside. He had to use the walls to keep his balance as he slid down to the bottom of the tub and worked to remove his fluid soaked jeans. Freeing his legs from the jeans Connor pushed them down around his ankles and grabbed onto the sides of the tub as another contraction suddenly burned through him.

"Ow..."

Sumo had heard Connor's pained groans and followed the heavily pregnant android into the bathroom. Whining loudly the dog pressed his nose against Connor's rapidly contracting stomach and backed away.

"Easy." Connor pleaded as he rubbed his hands over his belly as the contraction finally let up. "You're not in position yet."

Running another ultrasound over his belly Connor saw that the baby was still face up but now she was sideways. Her head was resting against his right side and her feet were pressing up against his left side. Laying with her back down over the birth canal was preventing the baby from being born.

"Shit."

Connor pressed his hands over the dome of his stomach and his right side to reposition the baby but the motion hurt almost as badly as the contractions that were quickly trying to force the baby out of his body. Connor tried to endure the pain and move the baby but as soon as another contraction began he pulled his hands back and groaned in pain louder than he intended.

"...I'm sorry." Panting in pain and frustration Connor apologized to the baby. "I'm trying to help you Sophie."

"Connor?" Hank walked into the bathroom and knelt beside the tub. "Holy shit. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"It's late."

"Damn it Connor. You're in labor and I already told you that I'm going to let you go through this alone."

"Did I wake you?"

"Sumo woke me up scratching at my door. And then I heard you going through a contraction." Hank helped Connor pull off his oversized hoodie and then put his hand down on Connor's bare stomach under the hem of the gray t-shirt he was still wearing. "How far apart are the contractions?"

"There are sporadic and only last-"

Hank felt Connor's entire stomach suddenly tighten under his hand. It also relaxed just as quickly.

"She isn't in position and the amniotic sac has already ruptured."

"It did?"

"Yes."

"Then are you supposed to be bleeding?"

Connor looked down toward his legs and saw a steady flow of thirium running from his body and down the drain. "I don't know."

"Fucking great. I'm getting you thirium."

"I'm going to try to get the baby into proper position."

Once again Connor pressed his hands against the sides of his stomach to try to reposition the baby but another contraction made his recoil his hands in utter pain. "OW! FUCK!"

"Pain is normal." Hank put a pouch of cold thirium on the edge of the tub along with a strong shoe string, and placed a towel down between Connor's legs. "Breathe through it."

"Hank the pain is from the baby not being in the correct position and me trying to move her. Contractions seem to be triggered by me applying pressure to the womb whenever I try to move her."

"Where is she right now?"

"Laying face up with her back straight down. Her head is here," he moved his hand over the side of his belly as he spoke. "and her feet are here."

"I'll move her."

"What?"

"You can't do it because of the pain but she needs to move. I'm going to move her for you."

Connor knew Hank was right and decided to brace himself. Putting his feet against the end of the tub Connor braced himself up and used his hands to grip the side of the tub as he prepared for the pain. "Do it. Save her."

"Save her?"

"She can't be delivered like this. Do what it takes to help me save her."

"Yeah, right." Hank put both hands on Connor's stomach and pressed down.

Connor groaned in pain as another contraction started and Hank began turning the baby with controlled pressure. Hank felt the baby beginning to move but the contraction squeezing the bio-component made it difficult. As the contraction let up Hank applied more pressure and felt the baby finally slip into the correct position. A weight shifted from Connor's hips and angled downward toward the pit of his lower abdomen.

"Got her!"

Breathing deeply Connor ran another ultrasound with his shaking hands and confirmed that the baby was in the correct position. "She is beginning to descend. Thank you for helping me."

"Why are you having contractions like that?"

"The womb bio-component was installed without the correct software. It is reacting on its own and against my will and I cannot override it."

"But why does it do that every time pressure gets added to your stomach?"

"The pressure must be triggering a physical response and initiating the contractions."

"You said your water broke, did you do it?"

"No. I was pacing and felt a small pressure twice before the amniotic sac ruptured. I will clean the floor."

"Forget the fucking floor. How long has this been going on?"

"Four minutes."

"How far are you dilated?"

"For android surrogates full dilation always accompanies the rupture of the amniotic sac. I can begin pushing as soon as the next contraction puts her in position."

"And how car down is she?"

"Now that she is in position she is lined up with the birth canal and is steadily descending. Next contraction should have her full engaged and I can begin pushing."

Hank grabbed another towel and knelt on the floor. "Well, you should apply pressure to your stomach. Help put her in place."

Connor took in a few deep breaths causing his engorged stomach to heave up and down with each breath. Placing his hands on top of his belly he pushed down and initiated a contraction that squeezed the bio-component so tightly that it was visible even to Hank. Connor groaned in pain and held the pressure on his stomach until he felt the baby descend further into the birth canal and line up in his pelvis.

"Stop!" Hank shouted and pushed Connor's hands back.

"...Wh-Why?"

"You need to breathe through the pain and take short breaks in between contractions. You'll overheat or some shit."

Connor seemed to understand and put his hand over the center of his chest. "My thirium pump is cycling thirium quicker than average."

"See? Take a moment to breathe and wait for the next contraction without provoking it."

"You've been through this before."

"Yeah. I helped Susan deliver the baby in the emergency room of the hospital. She was too far into her labor to make it up to the maternity wing."

"I didn't know that."

"Why would you? That's not normal everyday conversation."

Connor returned his hands to his stomach but he didn't add pressure. Lightly he rubbed his hands over the dome of his stomach and monitored the baby's vitals with his exposed palms. "Her heart rate is stable which means she isn't in danger of cord compression."

"What about your thirium volume?"

"I'm down to ninety three percent."

"That seems like a lot of blood to me."

"I will drink the thirium once I've delivered."

"Why not now?"

"If a contraction begins while my system is trying to adjust my thirium volume it might cause a complication."

"Whatever. It's your body."

"Ow!" Connor groaned as he braced himself and began to push with the latest contraction.

"Remember to breathe."

Connor pushed with all of his strength until the contraction ended. The baby had slipped further down and remained in place. "...She's moving."

Hank saw more blue tinted blood beginning to run from Connor's body. "You're still bleeding."

"Isn't that normal during childbirth?"

"Yeah but not this much before the baby is even crowning."

"When should-" Pushing again as another contraction hit him Connor focused on the baby and less on himself.

"That's good." Hank checked on Connor but didn't see the baby yet. "Keep pushing like that and she'll be born in a few more minutes."

Connor pushed with each contraction and did so for as long as possible. With each contraction he could feel the baby descending by centimeters but would also retract and return to her earlier position inside the birth canal. After almost an hour without any progress Connor was exhausted and had lost much more blood than would be seen as normal in any healthy delivery.

"Connor stop pushing." Hank tore open the thirium pouch and pressed it to the deviant android's chin.

"She's... She's stuck."

"I can tell. Drink this I'll see if I help you push her out."

"How?"

"I can either push down on your stomach or get more invasive."

Connor greedily drank the offer thirium and panted in his breaths as he felt his core beginning to overheat. "Try pushing on my stomach first. If that doesn't work then do whatever you have to do in order to get her out."

"Tell me when you're ready."

The next contraction hit and Connor began to push. Hank pushed his hand down on Connor's stomach and watched for any sign of the baby but just as before nothing happened. Same with the following two contractions.

"Connor she's too big to be born like this."

"No. Keep trying. I can feel her moving down further and staying down now. You are helping her."

"Alright. Then let's try again."

Connor pushed again and he could feel the baby finally inching down. As the contraction came to an end he put his hands on both sides of his belly and held them there to gauge the baby's vitals. "Hank?"

"I can see the head now."

"Hank you need to push her back in."

"What? Why?"

"Her heart rate is dropping. I think the cord is getting compressed."

"Shit." Hank begrudgingly put his hand down between Connor's legs and gently pushed the baby back inside the birth canal up toward the womb bio-component from where she had begun descending. "Did that help?"

"Yes. Her heart rate is improving."

"Connor you need to think of a way to get her out a different way."

"Hank I know how to get her out but it won't be pleasant. For either or us."

"I am NOT going to cut into your body."

"You don't have to. Get me a knife and I'll do it."

"What? You're going to cut into your own stomach?!"

"I have to. She is too big to be born she needs to be delivered through a c-section or she will die."

"Fuck. Okay. I'll get you a knife but I'm going to do the cutting. Your hand is going to be too unsteady from the pain."

"I can't ask you to do that."

"It's a good thing I just volunteered."

Connor leaned back in the tub and rubbed his hands over his stomach again. "Hank is a good guy. He's going to help you, Sophie."

With a sharp hunting knife in his hand Hank held the blade in the sink and poured some rubbing alcohol over the metal and dried it off. Placing another clean towel on the edge of the tub Hank knelt down again and put his hand over the dome of Connor's stomach. "Where do I cut?"

"I will remove my skin and the second layer of latex. It'll expose the womb bio-component and allow you clear access."

"That's so fucked up."

"Please focus." Connor's skin disappeared and revealed the gray tinted second layer that was equally distended by the full womb behind it. "Once this layer is gone you'll be able to cut into the surface of the womb and reach Sophie."

"You fucking named her..."

"I couldn't stop myself Hank. She's-"

"Fucking hell." Hank saw the bio-component contract again and knew that if the baby slipped down again she wouldn't be able to breathe. "Move the layer!"

Connor pressed his fingers to the side of the layer he pulled it free of the metal frame holding it in place and exposed the dark blue tinted womb for Hank to see.

"Shit..."

"Please Hank!"

"Alright, fine. How deep do I cut?"

"Cut from left to right just enough to hold the bio-component open and pull her out."

"This is going to hurt you."

"I know. But it's necessary to save her."

"Fucking fuck. Stop being noble!" Pressing the tip of the knife into the womb toward the left Hank held his breath and prepared to cut. "I'm sorry about this."

Connor groaned in pain again but didn't move as the knife sliced into the womb causing blue blood to spill out quickly. "Hurry!"

Hank put aside the knife and reached both hands inside the womb and located the baby. "I got her."

"Pull her out!"

Carefully Hank put his hands under her head and shoulders as he lifted her up and out of the birth canal and back through the opening sliced into the womb from where she had grown.

"Fuck! The cord's around her neck." Laying the baby covered in blue blood down on the towel on the floor beside him Hank unwrapped the cord from around her neck and tied it off with the shoe string. "I'm going to cut the cord."

Connor looked down over the edge of the tub at the newborn baby and watched as Hank worked to save her. "Do it."

Cutting through the cord Hank used the towel to rub her chest to clean her up and to get her to cry. "Come on, come on..." Cleaning her airways with a second towel Hank pleaded with the newborn to respond. "Breathe."

A high pitched shriek and then a cry filled the air as the baby took her first breath and responded to the somewhat aggressive motion of Hank's hand.

"...She's alive." Connor muttered as his eyes fell shut.

"Yeah, she made it Connor."

The baby screamed louder and hank swaddled her in the towel. "How are you doing?"

Connor didn't answer and looked as though he had fallen asleep.

"Connor?" Hank reacted quickly and placed the swaddled newborn down into the sink out of the way as he checked on the bleeding deviant android. "Connor open your eyes."

When the android didn't respond Hank pressed his hand to Connor's chest and felt no movement.

"Fuck!"

Grabbing onto the other towels he applied pressure to the still bleeding bio-component when he decided that it'd be easier to remove it entirely. Without the unnecessary bio-component inside the android's body there would be nothing for him to bleed from and it'd ensure nothing like this ever happened again.

"Son of a bitch."

Fishing his hands inside Connor's abdomen he located the metal socket holding the bio-component in place and twisted it free. Pulling the rubbery object out of Connor's body he wrapped it up in another towel and threw it in the trash can beside the toilet. Packing another towel inside Connor's abdomen Hank packed off what equated to a wound and pressed his ear to Connor's chest.

The deviant android's thirium pump wasn't pumping.

"Shit!"

Hank wrapped his arms around Connor's chest and hauled the deviant android out of the tub and onto the floor. The baby was still crying which meant she was still breathing and now Hank had to get Connor to do the same thing.

"Breathe." Hank rubbed his knuckles down Connor's chest but the sternal rub doesn't work on androids since they don't have a sternum. The LED in Connor's head was still red but not blinking anymore. "Damn it! Breathe!"

Interlocking his fingers together Hank put his hands over the center of Connor's chest and pushed down. Each compression made the deviant android's body jerk in response.

"Breathe! You're not dying because of this mess!"

Connor took in a gasping breath and his thirium pump stuttered back into motion.

"Thank fuck." Hank stopped the compressions and began wiping the blood off of Connor's abdomen. "Now I have two helpless idiots to take care of."


Two days passed and Connor's system finally rebooted. Opening his eyes he found himself laying on his bed wearing a pair of clean sweatpants and had white gauze wrapped over his entire abdomen. His flat abdomen. He was no longer pregnant and he could no longer feel the baby kicking him.

"...Sophie."

"It's about time you woke up."

Connor saw Hank standing in the doorway and saw that he hadn't slept in the two days since he had given birth. "You saved me."

"And the baby."

"I saw her before I entered emergency stasis mode. She was beautiful."

"Yeah. Not bad for a bald chick."

Connor felt himself beginning to cry and looked away from Hank. "I wish I could've said goodbye to her."

"About that-"

A loud cry echoed from down the hallway and made Connor look.

"Hank?"

"Hold on."

Connor lifted his head and watched Hank disappear from sight only to return to the bedroom with a small baby girl in his arms. "...Hank?"

"Look, I know you got attached to her and I knew you would've been all mopey and shit if you didn't get to see her for yourself. So, here you go."

Connor let Hank gently place the newborn baby into his arms as he stayed on the bed. Looking down at the baby Connor saw that she was dressed up in a onesie and had a fresh clean diaper. The baby calmed quickly under Connor's touch and settled down against his chest.

"You've been taking care of her?"

"I have emergency baby supplies in the trunk of the car and I'm not going to neglect a newborn for crying out loud!"

"No, no! I meant you've been taking care of her while I was in stasis mode for two days. You didn't take her to the hospital and have been taking care of her as if she were your own. Thank you."

Hank stared at the baby as Connor held her gently against his chest. The LED in Connor's head was cycling blue and he seemed completely calm. "You're right."

"Right about what?"

"That what happened wasn't your fault OR her fault. I was mad at her for existing even though no one could control it. When you were out of it I cleaned you up and patched up your stomach as best as I could. I had her wrapped up in a towel and I had my hand on the doorknob ready to take her out to the hospital when she started crying again."

"Why'd that stop you?"

"It reminded me of Cole. I carried Cole inside the house and he cried as soon as I opened the door. It was like I was reliving the past and suddenly I realized that no matter where she goes or who takes her in you'll always be her father. And no one would be able to love her as much as you do."

"Love?"

"Connor no one goes through that the way you did without love being there in some way. You stayed hidden away to keep her safe, monitored her every step of the way, drank that weirdly altered blue blood, spoke to her, fucking named her even when I told you not to and you were willing to risk your own life just to save hers. That's love."

"She's innocent. And my life-"

"If you say your life is any less valuable than a human life I'm going to throw you in the garbage disposal."

"I wouldn't fit."

"My point is Sophie is your daughter. You have every right to raise her and take care of her."

"...Sophie?"

"That's her name."

"Yes I know. But you've never used it before."

"Well I didn't see her as her before. I was wrong and you were right. If you want to keep Sophie then I'll help you. But if you want to give her up for adoption I'll help you with that too."

Connor looked at the small baby squirming on his chest and saw she had dark blue eyes and a tuft of dark colored hair already forming over her head.

"I want to keep her."

"Alright. I'll get a contact down at the secretary of state to help us out."

"How?"

"We're going to take her to the hospital and say she was abandoned on our doorstep and that we're going to take her in. Legally you can't because you're an android but I can. She'll legally be under my name but you're still her father and get to call all the shots."

"Thank you Hank."

"Yeah whatever. Just know I've already changed her diaper seven times so the rest are all yours."

"That won't be a problem." Connor cuddled Sophie a little closer to his chest and smiled a little. "I'll do everything for her."

-End-