Chapter 21: The Surprise

AN: I am so, so sorry for going MIA for so long! I've finished writing though, so I promise I will be able to upload everything over the next couple weeks.

Timeskip to 8 months pregnant

Madison hated the fact that she had ballooned. She didn't want to show ever, but now it was downright undeniable. It made it impossible to conceal her pregnancy and now it was in everyone's face every moment of every day. She had trouble moving sometimes, since her balance was now way off. She could function, of course, but sometimes it took a lot more effort than she was entirely willing to put in. It was just so much harder to move and everything hurt all the time, especially her back. God why did her back hurt so much? This was seriously the worst design for procreation ever. There has to be an easier way. There wasn't though, at least not for her. So she stubbornly fought through the pain as much as possible and snarled at people when she couldn't.

Roderick and Mason helped in any way they could, but there was only so much they could do when they weren't in all her classes. Every time she had to bend over and pick something up and she heard snickers behind her she had to fight to remind herself that this would all be worth it. And that punching them would be decidedly not worth it. She would get suspended or worse and she couldn't afford that. She needed to graduate. So she would grit her teeth and seal her emotions off until she could scream them later at Mason. Sometimes she couldn't rein in her tongue would end up screaming at someone and sounding like a crazy woman.

Today though, was different. She had been having slight pains in her abdomen all day and it was making her more irritated than normal. Seriously, it was driving her a little insane. She was ignoring them mostly, but when the combination of the effects of pregnancy, physical and hormonal, the pains, and the cruel gossip became too much, she exploded. She started screaming at anyone within earshot and it took Mason and reaching pulling her into a tight hug and petting her hair to calm her down. Her breathing slowed until another cramp hit. This one was stronger than her last one had been and she gripped her brother's hand until the pain passed.

"Are you okay?" Mason's voice was concerned. Worried, even. Madison waved him off, She was fine, after all. This was nothing to worry about. It was normal to feel tiny contractions at this stage in the pregnancy. They didn't stop though. They continued through the next class and lunch, getting stronger and more frequent. It was during the class after lunch that the pain got too intense for Madison to handle. She reached out and grabbed the hand of the nearest person, a Cheerio who immediately dropped down next to her.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Madison took a quiet second to acknowledge the irony of someone who had made her life very close to a living hell the last few months sounding so concerned before pain spiked again,

"I think my baby might be coming. Now." Madison's breathing had gotten significantly more labored and the Cheerio immediately grabbed some of the stronger guys in the class. When one of them looked like he might protest, her icy eyes reminded him why the Cheerios ruled the school, not the football team. He scurried to help scoop Madison up and bring her to the nurse while the girl ran ahead to let the nurse know what was happening and then to Mason and Roderick in turn to make sure everyone involved knew before finally heading back to class. She kept her lips sealed about the whole thing, after all, no better currency than a secret you won't tell.

The nurse took one look at Madison and insisted she be brought to the hospital. She was bundled into Mason's care with Roderick in the backseat with her as she tried to employ every breathing technique she'd learned. She was terrified, and so was Roderick based on his hands shaking. Mason on the other hand seemed perfectly calm. Perhaps he was gripping the wheel a touch too tightly and was going slightly over the speed limit, but he was clearly more in control of himself than anyone else in the car. Madison gripped Roderick's hands with shocking strength, concealing the shaking for the most part, though it was still there.

They arrived at the hospital quickly and filled out everything as quickly as possible to get admitted. There was nearly no delay, but every second felt like an hour to a panicking Madison as her contractions got progressively worse and more intense. When she was finally admitted and a doctor came in and did tests before looking at her rather helplessly. Roderick noticed first and caught Mason's eye and directed his attention to the young, nervous-looking doctor next to them.

"Well?" Roderick's tone was curt.

"Um, well, you see, um" the doctor sputtered. Mason added his glare to Roderick's and Madison looked more nervous than she already had.

"Answer the question." Mason spat out his words.

"The baby's in breech." The words exploded from the doctor and stunned the room into silence. Roderick was the first to recover his wits.

"So that means…a C-section? Right?" The doctor nodded and Madison fell back into her bed. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a few deep breaths. Her grip on the two guy's hands tightened and Roderick rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand to try to comfort her. Looking straight at the doctor, she swallowed the tears that threatened to spill.

"Let's cut me open then, shall we?" She turned to Mason and continued, "you need to call Mom and Dad, okay? If we don't tell them the baby is coming now they are going to be livid and then they might cut us off or something." Mason nodded to his sister. Roderick squeezed her hand again before stepping back to allow them to take her to surgery.

AN: Only 1 more chapter left!