Gunner stared at Kenzie for a moment in disbelief before struggling out of the covers. Instantly he was at her side, guiding her back to the bed.

"Sit down, baby. How do you feel? Any pain?"

Kenzie thought for a moment, after the initial shock of her water breaking, she felt...okay. "No pain, I feel fine."

Gunner nodded, looking back and forth rapidly before seeing his cell on his nightstand. He flopped on the bed, reached out and grabbed it, climbed back off the bed and dialled. "Yeah, Doc. It's me, Kenz's water broke...okay, Kenzie? Any contractions?"

Kenzie shook her head.

"No, nothing...okay...yeah, thanks Doc, see you soon." Gunner hung up and dropped to his knees in front of Kenzie. "Doc's on his way over, he says you don't need to go in yet if you're not having contractions. We'll just wait a bit here before we go in, okay?" Gunner was keyed up, but trying to stay calm. Kenzie felt herself relax, she trusted Doc and she trusted Gunner.

"Calm down, baby. Dr. Kovacs says first labours are usually really long, it could be hours before I have to go in." She reached out, gently touched Gunner's cheek, trying to pass along some of her tranquility. "I'm going to have a shower."

Gunner stood, eyeing her worriedly. He reached out distractedly to help Kenzie to her feet. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I'm not giving birth in the next ten minutes, Gun. But I'd like to clean up a bit." Kenzie gestured to her feet, vaguely embarrassed by the mess she'd made.

"Yeah, okay. Go ahead, babe. I'll clean this up." Still distracted, Gunner left the room.

Kenzie grinned. It was going to be a long day for Gunner.

Walking into the bathroom, Kenzie started the shower and stepped under the spray. She'd just wet her hair and was letting the hot water course down her tight back muscles when Gunner stuck his head in the shower with her.

"You okay?" He asked, startling Kenzie and making her shriek, jumping away from him.

"God, Gunner! You trying to scare the babies out of me?"

Gunner flushed. "Sorry, baby... Are you?"

"I'm fine. I'll be out in a minute."

Nodding distractedly, Gunner pulled his head back out.

Kenzie left the shower a few minutes later, feeling much cleaner. She was just finished dressing when Gunner hurried back into the room. Kenzie grinned; he was kind of cute when he was flustered.

"Any contractions?"

"No, I'm still okay. Babe, you're going to have to calm down, it's going to be a long day."

Kenzie moved to stand in front of Gunner. He looked down at her quizzically. She reached up and rubbed his upper arms for a moment before slinging her arms loosely around his hips and clasping her hands together at the small of his back. Leaning forward, she bumped her forehead against his chest and grinned up at him. "It's a marathon, not a sprint, big man."

Gunner smiled widely back, leaning down to kiss her forehead. Ruger barked from the living room, signalling that Doc had arrived.

"C'mon, baby." Gunner swept Kenzie up in his arms, bridal style, laughing as she screeched and stomped downstairs.


Hours later, Kenzie was still only experiencing random twinges, nothing that came close to contractions. Gunner was beside himself, pacing and fussing like a gigantic mother hen. It was a sight to see; even in stressful combat situations and during dangerous missions Gunner was the calm, laid back one, the steadying force the rest of the team unconsciously drew serenity from. It took a lot to wind his engine up, and Kenzie had never seen Gunner so agitated before, not even when Ramsey had been on the loose. Then Gunner had been able to draw from his combat experience, facing a new and dangerous enemy, but this was new territory, and Kenzie worried that Gunner would wear himself out before anything even really started to happen.

By mid afternoon Doc had phoned Dr. Kovacs and they'd decided that Kenzie should come in. From there they'd decide whether to start administering Oxytocin to jump start Kenzie's labour. Gunner fussed about, grabbing Kenzie's overnight bag and pillow and managing to make four trips out to the Land cruiser without bringing either item with him. Kenzie grinned and carried them herself, rolling her eyes good-naturedly at her giant man as he returned from his fifth trip to the Cruiser and now had an emergency blanket from the back compartment in his hands. Mars had come by earlier to take Ruger home with him and Turk was independent enough to be left alone.

Gunner calmed down once they were on the road and he had to stay busy shifting gears at stop signs and traffic lights. They made it to the hospital in one piece, Kenzie and Doc laughing like hyenas when Gunner managed to stall the Cruiser at a red light and jolted himself forward, hitting the horn and startling an old woman in the crosswalk. The old woman then flipped them the bird, making Doc and Kenzie howl all the more.

Once in the hospital they found the Labour and Delivery ward and checked in. Doc left with a promise to come by later and Gunner paced nervously while the nurse asked Kenzie questions. The nurse strapped monitors to Kenzie's belly to track the twin's heart rates. She checked Kenzie and declared that she wasn't dilated at all and she'd find Dr. Kovacs to come talk to Kenzie and Gunner about their options.

After a few minutes Amelia came in the room and the nurse filled her in on Kenzie's stats. Amelia smiled at Gunner as he grumbled in the corner and then turned to Kenzie.

"Alright, Kenzie, Gunner. We don't need to start panicking yet. Let's give you a few more hours to see if you start labour naturally and then see if we need to add on medication. Does that work?"

Kenzie glanced at Gunner who looked a little shell-shocked and had since they'd hit the ward. "Yeah, okay. Let's wait a few more hours."

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit to see how you're doing." With a smile, Amelia left. The nurse followed a few minutes later and Gunner flopped in the chair.

"How are you doing, babe?" Kenzie asked wryly.

Gunner shook his head.


By early evening Kenzie was starting to feel some real contractions and Gunner was finally able to stress for real. The team had trickled in and gathered informally, taking over the waiting room and setting up shop. Kenzie was handling her pain well, surprising the medical staff but not the Expendables, who knew what she was capable of. When contractions hit, Kenzie would go quiet, almost meditative; holding Gunner's hand and taking deep breaths. Occasionally she'd let out a small gasp or moan, but refrained from wailing and screaming like a pair of women down the hallway, who seemed to be in competition with each other over who could be the loudest. Kenzie found the warm bath to be extremely relaxing, and spent a great deal of time in there. Gunner even ended up in there with her, wearing his swim trunks and sitting behind her; Kenzie's back to his chest, murmuring soothingly in her ear as she breathed through each contraction. Amelia determined that Twin A, or Hans, was in the lowest position and would be the first to be born.

Finally, closing in on 10:30 that night, Amelia announced that Kenzie was fully dilated and ready to push. Because the twins were six weeks early, each would have a NICU nurse and doctor waiting to receive them, and as a precaution, Amelia had Kenzie moved to an operating room just in case anything happened, something she explained she did with all of her early and/or multiples births.

Gunner's hands shook slightly as he pulled on a mask and hair cover. He'd already dressed in blue surgical scrubs and had stretched booties over his shoes. A nurse waited to lead him into the operating room. Gunner sat beside Kenzie and tried to smile reassuringly at her but the glisten of tears in his eyes gave him away. He took her hand and squeezed it, taking a deep steadying breath.

With coaching from Amelia and the two nurses at her sides, Kenzie quickly caught on to the proper way to push and, although it seemed forever to Gunner, was soon crowning.

"I see brown hair." Amelia smiled, looking up at Kenzie. A few pushes later, she held up a tiny, crying baby.

"It's a boy!" She announced happily.

Gunner felt tears course down his cheeks as he turned to Kenzie, smiling hugely and, pulling the mask away he leaned down, pressing a kiss to her lips as he cried. Kenzie was crying too, and grinned up at him as he pulled away. Their son was briefly shown to them before being passed quickly to the waiting hands of a NICU nurse, who rapidly began rubbing him clean as the doctor checked his vitals.

Gunner moved to stand and go over to see their baby closer when Kenzie gasped and Amelia said in surprise. "Already? Twin B's not wasting any time!" Stunned, Gunner sat back down as Kenzie started to push again.

"Little one's impatient." Amelia observed wryly. Kenzie and Gunner traded a glance, that sounded just like Dolph.

Amelia looked up at Kenzie with raised eyebrows. "Blonde hair this time...and it's a GIRL!"

Kenzie and Gunner stared at each other in shock. Dolph was a girl?!

"Holy shit, baby." Gunner grinned, stroking Kenzie's hair back from her sweating forehead. They watched as Amelia held their screaming daughter up for them for a few moments and then handed her to the other NICU nurse and doctor.

"You did it, baby. I'm so proud of you." Gunner crooned.

Kenzie smiled back at him, looking exhausted but so happy at the same time. Gunner's heart soared as he looked back over at their tiny babies, surrounded by medical staff and crying loudly, healthily. A little boy and a little girl.

Suddenly, Amelia said sharply. "Where's that blood coming from?"

Time seemed to stop as Gunner turned his head to look down at Kenzie and his heart faltered in his chest. Kenzie had gone white as a ghost and was staring at Gunner with wide, terrified eyes.

"Gunner?" She whispered hoarsely. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she sagged lifelessly into the pillow.