"Well Carly, it looks like you're dilated to a centimeter." The nurse informs her.

"What?!" Freddie panics and Carly squeezes his hand nervously.

"Don't worry. Expectant mothers can be dilated a centimeter for up to a month before the baby's actually due. So don't worry unless her water breaks before then. But everything's looking good so I'll see you next week!"

The nurse throws her gloves in the trash as she leaves the room and Freddie and Carly anxiously smiles at each other.

"Wow." Freddie mutters under his breath.

"Yeah, that's so… scary." She groans.

Carly and Freddie return home and walk through the front door, finding Spencer on the couch and Sam in the kitchen.

"Hey kiddos! What did the doctor say?" Spencer asks curiously.

"I'm dilated to a centimeter!" Carly exclaims.

"But the doctor said it could be another month, even if the baby is dropped into the pelvis." Freddie infers and Carly groans uncomfortably at the thought.

"Hey! Did you know that when you're fully dilated, that your cervix is the size of a bagel?" Sam comes in from the kitchen and amusingly watches the terrified expression form on her friend's face.

"Ow." Carly groans in discomfort of the conversation.

"Sam, that wasn't nice." Spencer looks at her, trying to contain his laughter.

"But it was so easy." Sam mumbles, smirking to herself.

"You guys… people have been giving me trouble at school already, so i'd appreciate if you'd lay off the teasing, alright?" Carly moans.

"I'm sorry kid, but what did you expect them to do? Throw you a parade for being the first and only junior at Ridge Way to get pregnant?" He asks sarcastically, with a hint of sympathy.

"No…" She mumbles as she leans into Spencer on the couch and he puts his arm around her.

XXX

The doorbell rings and Carly, her lap being occupied by a stray cat Spencer brought home accidentally earlier that day, was slow to get up and answer, but figuring it was Sam, and that she'd barge in at any second, she didn't say anything.

"Hey Carls!" Sam says as she drops the chain she had just broken off their front door.

"Told you." She thought to herself.

"Hey Sam! It's early! Why are you up, and more importantly, here?"

Sam walks over and drops the chain into Carly's hand, and points to the Cat occupying her lap.

"What's that?" She asks.

"Spencer brought it home. So tell me why you're here, and also why you felt the need to break the chain off the door when you knew we'd still be home?"

"I have something important to tell you." She warns her, plopping a newspaper article on Carly's lap.

"What's this?" Carly asks amused.

"Just read it!" Sam pushes.

Carly lifts the paper to eye level and begins reading the title, first silently, then again, repeat the terrifying title out loud.

"City defunds and closes adoption agency and Social offices? Oh my gosh!" She repeats.

"I know! Mrs. Benson is gonna lose her job!"

"Which means she can't help Ellie!"

Before Carly can respond, her doorbell rings again and Sam watches from the couch as Carly swings the door open to reveal a tearful Ellie, a small duffle bag in her left hand and her phone in her right. Her hair lay flat against her rounded face, water dripping off the tips of her damp hair from the light mist of the seattle rain shower outside.

"Ellie?" Carly asks surprised as she pulls the small brunette into the apartment and walks to the kitchen to grab a towel.

"They.. they can't help me anymore and I'll have nowhere to go!" She mutters, bursting into tears as she drops her bag and collapses into the armchair by the door, burying her face into the arm.

XXX

Waiting for the baby felt like the most nerve wracking experience Carly had ever faced. Playing the waiting game was never fun for her, even as a child waiting for Spencer to return from the smoothie, being patient was never fun and was something she had learned to be over time. Now, at every little kick, or anything close to a contraction she thought she had felt, She would jump to the conclusion and startle herself. It became a weary game, and everyone grew tired of the false alarms.

After learning that she was having false labor contractions, and when she had real ones, she was assured by the doctor she would know it, Carly felt herself relax a little bit, and tried to focus on her junior finals at the end of the month, just a few days before her baby was due. And to make matters worse, she and Freddie had yet to find a name.

Carly walks down the steps of her school, struggling to carry her books while waddling down, and approached her locker, turning the lock and shoving her books in her locker all at once, her moodiness making her more tired and irritable by the day.

"Hey Carls, did you-woah!" She stops, noticing the brunette's massive bedhead.

"Can you not? I've been up all night peeing and being unable to find a position that is comfortable to sleep in, and once I do, i'm out of breath!" She grumbles.

Sam rolls her eyes and looks at her phone, ready to change the subject.

"Hey, we have two minutes to get to Mr. Henning's. Can you make it or do you need a fake nurse's slip again."

"No, you can go. I'll catch up with you when I get there." She smirks.

Carly bumps into Freddie in the hall and he grabs her arm as he smiles at her without saying a word. She silently whispers 'thank you' to him and he just nods, walking her to her class.

Carly shifts uncomfortably on her seat as she struggles to pay any attention to the nature week lesson. Sam notices and nudges her, but Carly just brushes it off.

It wasn't until she had a sudden, drawn out cramp, waves of muscles tightening and contracting, that she reached over to Sam and gripped her shoulder, leaning over and breathing deeply to resolve the discomfort.

"Ooh." Carly moans as she exhales.

"Carls?Are you sure you're okay?" She whispers in order not to draw attention to them.

Through gritted teeth, Carly shakes her head, lifting herself off the seat and starting toward the door, before another contraction would hit. As she leaves, Sam scampers behind her, finding Carly leaning against a locker in the hallway, catching her breath, a painful expression spread across her face.

"Give me your phone, we're calling Spencer!" Sam demands.

"Only since this nine this morning, but they're still pretty far apart. It could be hours before this baby comes." Carly tries to reassure her.

"Um, last time I checked, giving birth at school wasn't apart of our graduation requirements." Sam snaps sarcastically out of sheer worry for her friend.

It rings for a few times before Spencer picks up.

"Hey Carls!" He says surprised.

"Hey Spencer, it's Sam. I think Carly's in labor! Meet us at the hospital."