Beautiful Stranger

by Cordogg

Doc Hudson was an attractive fellow to her. But there was their huge age difference and she had her own ills with public image. Hudson enjoyed the single life all those decades until that mysterious beauty wandered into his territory. Both help others along the way. This is Doc Hudson/oc, other major Cars characters.

36. Birth

This one is a long chapter. I hope you will enjoy it!

Chapter Thirty-six

Birth

Prince was relaxing at Flo's cafe. She had been put on maternity leave a month ago but it was driving her crazy to just hang around the garage. She loved working at Flo's. Flo totally objected to her "working" but she was okay with Prince hanging around, as long as she didn't try to do anything heavy. She had enough weight to haul around as it was. Both sides of her were bulging outwards, giving her a weird appearance from the front, and her under belly was practically scraping the ground when she moved. Her back ached frequently because of it and according to what she heard, this was normal.

She enjoyed being pregnant, feeling the baby move about and all of that, but at the same time she couldn't wait for it to be over. He-or she-was a lot of added weight on Prince and sometimes kicked one of it's rims the wrong way, painfully jabbing Prince into certain areas. All four of her axles, even her oil pan cramped constantly from the added pressure, her tires sank under it but she managed. As long as she periodically stopped to rest she was fine. She found herself going to the ladies' lounge more than she liked to relieve herself among other things. The one real thing she did like about expecting was that she didn't have to worry about leak cycles. They ceased for the full nine months of carrying, a welcome break for her. She certainly didn't miss those.

She had fixed up the baby area of the garage by the final few weeks of her gestation. Doc had to hand it to her, she had very elegant tastes. He was right, she was a lot like a "Madonna" or even "Prince" type. Vogue like them. Very expensive jester dolls and French clowns with the black-teared eyes adorned a corner of the garage in a pile along with the statue of an elf. Doc was fine with the jesters and clowns but he wasn't crazy about all of the other "girlie" dolls like the Victorian ones because, he argued, what if the baby turned out to be a boy. He didn't want his son, if it was one to be "girlified". But Prince assured him if it indeed was a boy then she would put away the female-looking ones and get more "boy" things. She didn't want a "girlized" son either. Neither parent would turn on the kid should he-or she-wind up being attracted to the same sex, of course not. They'd claim it no matter what lifestyle it "chose". But Prince said she just put the Victorian era out to make the area look nice.

A tiny crib was custom-made at her request, one of an exquisite design. The railings were intricately carved and were a combination of various ancient Celtic symbols and American Native symbols. Little carvings of hoop dancers, totem poles and Irish shamrocks and Celtic Crosses adorned the wooden fixtures. The same symbols were engraved into the metal parts of the crib. Prince chose the symbols in honor of her husband, the half-Irish/half-Comanche Hudson Hornet. He was flattered by it. To honor her own Scottish roots she had bagpipes carved into the wooden sections as well. Their child was going to be a mixture of Irish, Scottish and Comanche so it was fitting. No surprise that yes, she added a canopy cover over the little crib. A miniature gray one made of taffeta, silk and rayon, triple-layered and thick. The sheer taffeta was closest to the inside of the crib. Prince and her canopies.

The bedding was satin and silk. Normally she would have chosen cotton and would most likely change to it later but for now being as excited as she was about motherhood, she opted for all-out luxury for her pending little new arrival. Why settle for plain cotton when she could have more expensive fabrics thanks to her husband? He didn't just have the cash for it; it was his idea in fact to have such an expensive crib. He insisted on the finest and most expensive crib for his baby. Prince told him that expensive didn't exactly mean that it was better. She originally wanted a standard crib from a store but Doc was having none of it. No ands, ifs or buts about it. She gave in and went along with it just to appease him. After all, he was paying for it. This one was very sturdy indeed, and solid like a well made regular crib, just very fancy. She chose a pastel gray theme as she didn't know yet what the baby's gender was. A soft gray was unisex enough, it would be appropriate for either sex.

And she had decided that she didn't want to know what she was having. She wanted to be surprised in the labor room. Both Doc and Dr. Schumacher knew what it was; it was a boy. As advanced as medicine was now, the baby's sex could be detected when the mother was six or seven months along. Most couples were anxious to know in advance what their unborn child would be so that they could prep for the baby's arrival accordingly. Even old-school Doc was eager to find out but Prince was a different breed. She requested that she not be told so she could find out the "traditional way" what it was. It would add to the experience of giving birth, she said. Both doctors respected her wishes. Only they knew what Prince was carrying and they both kept silent about it.

Prince also opted for a natural childbirth. No drugs, nothing. Doc asked her if she was sure, and she was adamant. He was wary but supported her decision. She was the one that would be doing all of the work; it was only appropriate that she called the shots on it. He was told females had a higher pain tolerance than males. But he didn't know as he wasn't one and could never have a child. He had a nagging feeling Prince would renege on her desire for the natural route in the midst of her labor; he had seen it before because he wound up giving mothers an injection right before stage two. Because they begged him to. Few of them ever went all the way with it but he held enormous admiration for those brave enough to go all the way. But his favorite case was Flo when he delivered her first. To this day, he and Flo joked about it. She let Ramone have it, and all but cursed Doc out. It was the last time she ever tried "natural". With her second pregnancy, she ordered - not asked - Doc to dope her up.

Flo kept a cautious eye on Prince, ensuring she didn't try to do anything strenuous. Honestly she felt Prince should be home as she was due any day now. But she was fine with her being in the cafe as long as all she did was greet and seat customers. This was all she was allowed to do and for Prince this was better than nothing.

x

Prince did spend time wondering what kind of frame her child would have. Would he or she have a sleek one like her, hinting at a sports car model? Or would it be more along Doc's kind? Old models like his could very easily be custom-made. There was no shortage of cars who often chose an older look for a child whose shapes leaned in such a way. There were many vehicles far younger than Prince who were quite satisfied with the permanent antique or "period piece" looks their parents selected as their first fitting. And of course, when they reached adulthood, vehicles could remodify themselves as they saw fit, pick another design. If they did that often involved a surgical-like procedure to have certain sections of their natural frames altered to accommodate their new styles. This in turn usually meant a long and painful recovery and to most cars it wasn't worth it.

Again, most vehicles tended to stick with whatever frames they came into this world with, and were content with it when their parents took them to the body shop for their first shells. In fact, it really wasn't the parents' call; it was the doctors' and those in Ramone's profession so-to-speak who determined what the little tyke or tykette would turn into. They had the trained eyes to do so. They could just look at an infant, see how they were shaping out and determine what type of automobile it would become. So, parents usually just accepted what the doctors or body artists told them.

Maybe her child would be a mix of both her and Doc. It DID happen; some vehicles looked like both parents. They had such a unique design that they really couldn't wear any of the known hundreds of versions of year/make/models already out there. In these instances they had to have custom body shells made specifically for them and no two were alike. There were cars driving around with looks no other vehicle had, or ever would have. Prince recalled one case in Las Vegas of seeing one who appeared to be a cross between a truck and a car. His front was elongated and truck-like, his midsection was that of a car followed by a rather short flatbed. He may have indeed looked strange, his shape but he certainly wasn't unattractive. He was a strange attractive. He definitely turned heads everywhere he went, had many friends, and had no problem attracting the attention of the ladies. It turned out that his father was a truck while his mother was a car. And he just happened to be born somewhat like both. He was known as a "hybrid".

Any vehicle that was born naturally with the shapes of both parents, assuming both parents were different, were known as such. Prince began to envision a hybrid of her and Doc. Maybe the baby would morph to be low to the ground like her sleek build but look like Doc in the front, with his grill and everything. It certainly didn't look ugly just… different. There were no ugly cars in this world. More than likely it probably wouldn't look like either. Maybe have Doc's eyes but it would become a truck. Jeep maybe? Or an SUV. Mini cooper? She grinned at the idea of a "dwarf" or micro-car, also nicknamed "smart cars". They were no smarter than any other vehicles but they were indeed tiny and adorably cute even as adults. An image came to Prince's mind of she and Doc producing a dwarf car like a Smart fortwo or a Fiat like Luigi. A Smart K! Couples produced micro-"smart" cars all the time.

Whatever it turned out to be, it would have the full love and support of both her and Doc. Whether it became a 1957 Chevy Bel Air or a 2010 Honda Civic sedan, it was her baby. She would love it no less.

x

She was brought out of musing by a dull pain. Not overly painful, but more like a mild cramp in her side. She wasn't sure what to make of it because she had already gone to the hospital twice, each time it turned out to be a false alarm. And that was after she had to sit there for hours to make sure it was indeed fake. She knew Doc and Michael meant no harm in it and held nothing against them for it. And Flo told her false alarms were to be expected. Most moms-to-be had them. But Prince was in no mood to lie around for several more hours before being told: "You can go home. It's a false reading."

But she was overdue now, by four days to be exact. In fact, Michael had ordered if she didn't begin labor naturally by Sunday she would have to come in and be induced into it with Michael digging a rod—and one of his rims—up in her. And according to Flo that really was no fun because she had it done with her second daughter. Doc was the one who induced it. Inducing labor was done by manually breaking the sac that merely started the real thing, that's all. It just encouraged nature to take over. It was breaking it that was harrowing. According to several moms it was almost as painful as the actual birthing itself. This particular "cramp" however felt different, even from the "false cramps". She felt another and it wasn't even as strong as the first.

She decided to head to the girls' lounge to check herself in the mirror but as she pulled out of the corner there was a strange noise. It was an intense splashing sound akin to someone suddenly dumping a large bucket of water or other type of fluid. Something she likened to a gush coming out of HER. She glanced at the floor under her tires, dismayed to find she was standing in what looked like water with some tinges of oil here and there. The entire cafe was full of patrons and many of them noticed it, too. She didn't even realize others were looking at her as she examined the floor beneath her. She knew all this came out of an intimate area of her body and that's when the horror hit her. It was as if she had peed all over herself-in full view of a crowded diner!

Terror and shame etched itself across her features, too afraid to move. Did she just uncontrollably piss on herself? And not even in privacy at that! She had never been pregnant; she didn't know. Flo on the other hand knew exactly what was up, as did several other females who happened to be mothers. They and a few gentlemen hurried to Prince, who was still standing there, shaking on her tires. They suddenly felt weak, her tires. Especially her back ones. Was this what they meant by "water breaking"? She wasn't sure if that was it or if it was the other thing.

It had been explained to her that she might break first. Some mothers did, others didn't "break the sac" until the actual pushing stage. Still others didn't even rupture then, which at that point the doctor or midwife had to physically break the sac by inserting a tube-like apparatus along with a latexed rim. It was called "breaking the sac" when it had to be done by a physician or other. And when this route was taken, Prince heard, it hurt beyond fucking belief as one mom told her. Half of someone's rim was going up in the poor mother, perhaps the whole thing depending on where the baby rested in the canal. Though she was accustomed to it, she thought Doc's macho anatomy hurt the first time, gynecological apparatuses digging up her hurt, she heard babies' bodies hurt coming out and if she had to get her sac broken, that would hurt.

She would at least be spared that misery. Ninety percent of the time a mother's water ruptured naturally either before or during labor and it was painless if it did either way. The misery came when someone had to rupture it for her. Still, she couldn't believe this happened in full view of nearly a hundred witnesses. Why couldn't this wait until she got to the girls' room? Prince long concluded that the female pan canal was awesome; they were versitile. Things had a love affair with it. There was no end of interesting objects going in or coming out of it. All sorts of nifty things could go up in it, and come out.

Monthly flows, newborns, guys' pipes, doctors's instruments. Now apparently the contents of what cocooned her child in its watery lodge as well. She was certain that this was the water breaking thing everybody spoke of. It had to be. Sure enough her boss confirmed it.

"Your water just broke; you gotta get to the hospital- NOW." Flo was at her side at an instant. Prince was gaping at her, somewhat assured in the knowledge that at least she didn't wee on herself in public but it was still an embarrassing predicament to have her sac rupture in front of onlookers. She started to remark about the mess she made of the floor but Flo stopped her. "Forget this flo'; hospital-NOW." Flo urged as she and several onlookers escorted her out.

Prince cruised slowly, amazingly she was quite calm. Her insides fluttered as she felt the baby move and she could feel pressure in the lower region of her under carriage. It was very prominent by the beginning entrance of the oil pan, an indication that its head was pushing against it. This time it was real. The breaking of her sac was a sure fire sign that the baby was on its way. This time there was nothing false about it.

Doc was out with Sheriff when he received the call. He was on his way.

x

Prince was calm but both excited and scared. She didn't know what to expect. She had undergone several breathing exercises with Doc and Michael, but now that all went out the door. She had forgotten it all. She was quiet in the elevator ride down to the basement. And still she kept her serenity as she parked on the double hydraulic lift, the same one she was on almost a year ago when Doc decided to acquaint his tongue with her sacred temple on their first date. This same lift was not only for female exams; it was also the standard obstetrical table. Doc came striding in, showing no fear or nervousness whatsoever. The truth was, he was a little on edge because it was his child about to be born, but he would be strong for Prince. If he started flipping out it would just make her freak out even more when her real work began. He immediately went to her side, grinning.

"So this is it. We're about to be parents." he winked. Prince could hardly contain her excitement.

"Yes, it is." she etched yet the largest smile Doc had ever seen, appearing on the verge of tears. She felt euphoric, like her body was preparing itself for something major. Michael flipped the switch to lift the table up just a few feet so that he could have a good inspection of Prince from below.

"{Well, yes, you are ready my lady. If all goes well, which I'm sure it will, we will have some little rims here shortly.}" he said to her.

Prince heard of how long a delivery could take, especially for the first time. She knew she could very well be here for the rest of the day, well into the next day. For the next several hours nothing extraordinary occurred. Periodically Prince drove around the inside of the medical office as well as outside in brief breaks to relieve the increasing pressure in her interior with Doc readily at her side.

Then she would periodically get back on the lift to be lifted up so that Michael could see how far along her pan opening expanded. He found that each time she had expanded several inches more. Females were amazing pieces of work Michael concluded, how they could be made of metal like males, yet certain parts of them were able to bend, flex, if not stretch-like rubber. These intimate areas could never be "made" in a body shop or duplicated. Either cars had them at birth or didn't and obviously, if they had them, it meant they were girls. There were reasons why they were born with frames that had such expandable metal pieces, something no guy car could ever have. If girls were to bear the next generation, they had to be born like this.

About twenty hours after the onset Prince was nearing the end of stage one, and she grew increasingly restless on the now-lowered lift. As her contractions increased in strength so did the discomfort they caused. She was squirming about, hissing in pain and periodically emitted a heartbreaking wail of agony when a particularly strong contraction took hold of her. Tia stayed readily by her, instantly moving into position to let Prince lean on her as much as she needed to while cooing to her to take it slow. Doc was at her other side lending his fatherly support. A monitor was strapped around her back half which linked to a cardiogram, the tiny wavelength displaying her child's vital signs. There was calm for now.

"Do you want the epidural?" Doc asked quietly for a final time, hoping that she would cave in and just take it. He didn't like seeing her in this kind of pain. Prince didn't hear him but arched slowly, her face contorted in gradual discomfort as another crept on her.

"Ow-OWWWWWWWW! Chrysler-AHHHH! *hu-urrrrrrRRRRRTS*! AHHHHHHHH! Stop it you're hurting me please! Monarch-PLEASE!" She didn't know if she was speaking to a boy or a girl and didn't give two craps at that moment. But already she had begun addressing whatever it was in her belly by what was to become its official name. She writhed up against Tia as she pleaded for her unborn baby to stop hurting her. She practically screamed at one point as she unconsciously now rubbed up against Doc. One of her front wheels clawed haplessly at nothing in particular in front of her.

"*Ssssssss* Uh-h-hHAAAAAAA!". She then tore off the ice cool towel Tia had placed upon her top along with an f-bomb that tore from her voice. "F-fffffFUCK!" She liberated the expletive with a brutal sob due to an especially severe cramp near her widening oil pan. She was oblivious to her sudden foul language; her only wish was to get the horrendous contraction to subside.

"Shit; ow-OWWWWWWW! SHIT! God damnet stop it already...!" she broke down into a literal sob as that same wheel reached under her undercarriage front, not that it could get to ground zero. She squirmed even more and let out short gasp. She keened even louder as the rock-hard contraction continued to wrack her. Just as quickly said labor pain subsided and she fell into a state of serene near-sleep. Tia looked at Doc and smiled, wondering if a baby was worth this kind of turmoil. But she knew she was about to witness a beautiful act of nature, even if for the moment the mother didn't look too beautiful shrieking curse words.

Periodically Michael or Becky would check her with an internal examination to see how far along she was. They were uncomfortable enough when she wasn't expecting but were especially grueling during labor. All this just to have a baby. She had to undergo one each hour and they were necessary to determine the baby's position in her, how far it moved along and how far she had dilated. Doc could see that she wasn't just hurting from them, she was put out of countenance by them. And they really were painful during contracting. But as a doctor he knew they were needed. He'd done many. And this was explained to her in birthing class.

Throughout the day visitors came and went to keep Prince and Doc company.

At their request, Tia and DJ decided to view the birth because Tia was now five months along herself. After such a tragic end to her last pregnancy she was ecstatic to learn she was carrying again. So Doc and Prince thought it would be fitting for the young couple to remain behind and see firsthand what to expect when Tia's time came.

Michael had begun preparing himself. He had to have his front wheels removed by the forklift nurse Abby. The floor was already sterilized and having washed his rims in the sink, they were sprayed with an iodine solution and dried. Now rubber pads covered them. Having long mastered the art of getting about on two front rims like Doc he quickly made his way over to the birthing lift. It looked bizarre to see him hopping unbalanced without front tires but this was standard procedure. Everyone present had to have their front tires removed, washed and covered with pads.

Even Prince's fronts were removed as it was likely she might try to touch the newborn as it was coming out. She was the only one not required to have rubber pads. If she felt her baby it was fitting for her to actually feel it with her own metal. Being covered made the experience pointless. There was no guarantee she would want to do it either being that she'd probably be too scared or in too much pain. If anything, she might try to "suck" the baby back inside of her during the most painful moments. Not that it would even work. A futile move to be sure but Michael had witnessed this several times, as did Doc. Or even worse, a first- time mother would try to clamp her back wheels shut in haste to get it over with, although such a move was more likely to hinder the child's emergence than help it. Such a reflex could injure the newborn in the process. And this was why someone would have to be prepared to hold her back wheels.

Two others employed an effective tactic of forcing them apart, which was excruciating enough to make the mother stop. It would also force her to push. In the old days right up until the late nineteen-sixties, a mother's back wheels were locked down into stirrups for this very reason. They were either strapped or cuffed down, spread wide apart to keep them out of the obstetrician's way. Midwives decried the practice as did many mothers who felt it was inhumane to chain a mother's limbs as if she was a prisoner to the birthing cot she was on and stirrups during delivery were done away with by the early eighties. Even the obstetrical branch frowned on it, as many doctors saw no need to lock a mother's back appendages down during delivery. They agreed along with midwives that there was no need when others present in the room could simply hold the mother's wheels apart and out of their way. It was more personal to hold her back wheels for her, and added to her experience of having her baby. Not to mention most mothers were in too much pain to bother kicking the physician at the business end of them anyway.

Doc was one of many "new age" obstetricians that abhorred the practice which was officially (and finally) banned by 1981. From then on it was universally agreed that the only time a female needed to be latched down in stirrups was when she was getting a yearly internal exam, and not while having a baby. By the time Dr. Schumacher came into practice stirrup birthing had long been obsolete. Prince kept her back tires on but they were clean as she was fully washed and prepped for delivery. After the delivery everyone would hop to Luigi's to have their tires bolted back on by Guido while Abby would see to Prince's. Also present was Becky, one of Doc's and Michael's RNs. A mom herself to three children, she was all too familiar with the process Prince was about to go through. She was busy prepping the area where the newborn would be examined after his bonding time with Mom ended, but she came over often to check up on everyone and offer her support to Prince.

As time passed Prince became slightly uncomfortable with the idea of going natural, but kept quiet about it, determined to go all the way with it. Many in the medical and science profession believed that natural birthing was so painful due to the confirmation that females enjoyed sex more than males did. Engaging was twice as wonderful for the female gender, apparently, as a way to "make up" for the agony of bearing a child. Childbearing indeed was a traumatic process on the mother both mentally and physically. With this coming to mind, Prince was secretly beginning to wish her fantastic romps with Doc had never happened. If what she was feeling now was the price to pay for Doc's ability to bring her such satisfaction on the mat... well... she wasn't sure if it was worth it.

A shot of some sort was beginning to sound appealing. She held back, falsely believing she had plenty of time to request a sedative if she really felt she needed it so she opted to wait it out. After the display she put on with the intensifying contractions Doc was sure she would opt for the epidural in no time. He knew it was no "display". She truly was in that amount of tribulation. He had felt many a laboring mother's hard-as-stone undercarriage in the midst of a contraction whilst in a prone position and could only guess how incredibly bad it must hurt. Just watching a visibly contracting underside looked painful. And that was only stage one. He couldn't begin to envision how much trauma stage two-the bearing down stage-contractions inflicted.

How Prince was reacting to hers, he had seen it before, and suspected at any time she would cave in to a request for pain killers. When it never materialized he was impressed because she stubbornly toughed it out. She did so because she thought one could be given at any time. Again, she failed to pay attention to this important note during Lamaze class which pointed out the cutoff time for an epidural. Watching an actual birth video had made her queasy thus she left the room in the middle of it returning sporadically during parts of it. She was about to pay dearly for her inattention to such detail.

x

10:23 P.M. Prince was now having second thoughts about natural birthing. Flo warned her about it. She had her first daughter naturally. No anesthetics, no epidurals, no nothing. In 1977 Flo was on a "hippie trip" she stated, and chose to have Ramone's first through natural childbirth. She admitted to Prince she was sorry she tried it. With her second she did have sedatives and while bearing down was still painful, it was bearable. The first time around she was on a "nature- Mother Earth kick" and decided on natural childbirth. She was yelling at Doc to pull her out because she could take no more of "Tha' Burn" she told Prince.

Flo made sure that with her second daughter, she got something for it. As soon as she got to Doc's hospital, she was all too eager for Doc to have a go at her with that syringe. She made sure she got "shot up" with baby number 2. It was a labor that had Doc smiling. Prince wished she had gotten the shot earlier but now she waited too late. She couldn't be given any sedative now as she was too far along in stage 2 for it. Even if she was given one now it would only dull the pain minutely. At this point to alleviate even some of her discomfort meant risking her baby being born heavily sedated, or even fatally drugged. She had begged for painkillers fifteen minutes ago, but Michael softly informed her that she was too far along for it, and both Becky and Doc agreed. There was no turning back now and all they could do was offer all their support to see her through it. She accepted defeat; she wanted natural childbirth and now she was going to undergo it, whether she wanted it or not.

Doc would never know what labor pains felt like, but having delivered many babies, he saw firsthand what mothers who chose the natural option went through. It may have been natural done that way for thousands of years, but it looked far more excruciating than those he administered some form of painkiller to. He only encountered one who was amazingly calm through her contractions, and let out a gasping cry only at the end when the baby slid out. Every female was different he was sure; each felt different levels of pain, and every delivery was different for every mother. First-timers like Prince were the most terrified, clearly. Those who had undergone it before appeared much more prepared, including dealing with the pain. But Doc had partaken in some multiple pregnancies whose successive deliveries were more painful with than with their first-born. Whatever the case, he was sure childbirth was harrowing for the mother. Prince's contractions had increased tenfold. She was now in full-blown hard labor, beginning the second stage of pushing down. She had sank completely against the lift, panting hard. Tia, at Michael's command had placed a wet towel across Prince's top. The cool water helped as did Tia rubbing her side. Michael was under the lift, watching and counting.

"{Breathe in, now... push. Push-push-push..}" he coaxed as Prince did so and strained with all of her might.

Her insides felt like they were about to crack open. She gritted her teeth in agony before letting out a loud gasp. Then she was suddenly hit with a major contraction. Chrysler this was painful. Her whole body was wracked in agony, trembling against Doc and Tia. DJ was below where Michael was, silently awestruck by what he was seeing. He hadn't said one word since Prince began stage 2. He didn't need to. His face gave way to what he was feeling. He was not at all repulsed by what he was witnessing. Now that she was crowning, this was the time to flip Prince over. Mothers began the initial second stages of labor upright, allowing gravity to help push the baby down. But once the infant was emerging near the mother's opening, she was moved into a position of partially leaning/almost lying on her back.

It was more work for her to keep pushing but this was necessary to help the doctor help guide the newborn out. No car had axles long enough to allow him to reach up and grasp the baby as it emerged from it's mother on a hydraulic lift; it simply wasn't feasible. Having her lie in an almost prone position made it much easier for the doctor to grasp the newborn, help pull it out if necessary. As a last resort, if emergency extraction was needed to get it out, the mother was already in position for it. The lift was rotated backwards until Prince was nearly lying on her back in immense pain. As the gurney turned, the swishing noise of the fetal pace monitor grew louder. The tiny device that tracked her baby's beating became visible, snugly strapped low on her belly.

At this point Prince truly didn't care that everyone in the room was treated to the magnificent view of her crotch. Three present had already seen that part of her; her devoted lover was one. Michael and Becky had viewed it too during her regular checkups so what did it matter that now Tia and DJ got a clear shot of it? With every sense in her body focused solely these god-awful contractions the last thing she was preoccupied with was who saw what near her back wheels. She didn't even notice she had been positioned almost on her back, her mind was in such overdrive from focusing on delivering.

The most sexually intimate sections of her under frame were laid out in front of everybody in all of their glory, and she was in too much agony to care about it. She just wanted this to be over. Doc watched her undercarriage undergo a minimal change in shape and identified it as a contraction. It was a hard one because the seeming insignificant movement meant her carrying unit was hardening to a powerful degree. Just as he predicted, Prince's reaction to it was stressed. She suddenly shrieked as she curled upwards against him, involuntarily bearing down. She couldn't help it, the painful contraction automatically forced her to start pushing whether or not she was prepared to do so. She felt that large knot down there inch forward. She could even feel her pan canal widening as she did even though the baby was still situated in her carrying unit. Immediately Doc began stroking her undercarriage. Touch did wonders to laboring moms. Something as simple as a limb stroke offered some relief.

"Go with it. Go with it." he whispered softly to her. She was trying to.

It was like her reproductive parts had minds of their own, focused on suddenly evicting her kid rather than letting her catch her breath. Tia took to caressing her head area while DJ and Doc took position near the end, each one of them gingerly holding one of her back tires. Both stroked and rubbed her rear axles which was said to help relax the mother and it did. Prince drifted into a realm of brief solace because DJ and Doc massaging her lower half was soothing. As was Tia's head rub. The red Ferrari had situated himself between Doc and DJ at the end, ready to help deliver. His front rims were covered up with latex. In a swift manner he brandished a stick tipped with a sterile sponge soaked in iodine, and rubbed the bottom half of the Lamborghini's undercarriage with it, including that place that would be the primary focus from which the baby would make its debut. The brownish solution was slightly cold as it trickled downwards and collected on a disposable pad placed on the lift for this purpose. Prince's brief hiatus was rudely interrupted by a particularly harsh contraction, one so strong that it sent her entire body jolting in pain. She wailed.

"{Push Prince.}" Michael instructed. She was trying. She was weak. She had been in labor all day, the last two hours of it in this pushing stage. She was exhausted and hurting.

"Don't give up Prince; you gots ta be strong." DJ encouraged softly and patted her tire he held. He proceeded to gently rub her outstretched axle more, watching in awe at the small shape appearing to grow before him. They all were urging her on with Tia unknowingly even groaning along with Prince.

"Your little baby's coming for you." Tia whispered in Prince's side view as the Lamborghini collapsed flat on her back. She was sobbing now, her frame trembling from the agony.

"Prince. Listen to me. There is a little baby in there that wants to see its mommy. It wants to see how beautiful it's mother really is. And the only way it will know is if she helps to push him out. You can do it my love. He wants to see you. Or she wants to see you." Doc told her intimately.

"I'm so tired. I'm scared. I'm so tired, it hurts too much. I can't do it. I CAN'T." Prince wept against him.

"{Ja you can. Little Prince or Little Hudson wants to meet you.} " Michael pressed her. Her enlarged under-side heaving up and down with each breath she took. Doc started rubbing her underbelly in a circular motion while murmuring soothing words to her.

"It's okay My Love. Just breathe calm, breathe easy. You're moving him with your breathing. Easy little one." He now quietly told his unborn. Peace descended in the room as all participants focused on the task at hand of making Prince as comfortable as possible. She appeared to be asleep, with Tia softly stroking her sides. DJ watched Doc gently stroke his wife's undercarriage. "It's okay." he softly addressed the bulge in the middle of Prince's belly as well as Prince herself.

DJ noticed it was as if Doc was addressing both her and the unborn baby as well. It appeared to soothe the mother just like Tia's head rub. So DJ decided to do some gentle stroking of his own, the lower side of Prince's underside nearest to him. He felt her slightly draw her wheel back from him momentarily and then relax it, indicating she was positively affected by his method. Several calm minutes had passed and Prince appeared to have fallen asleep. But relaxation was short-lived.

x

Her ever widening oil pan, she could feel it expanding to—what seemed to her—a physically impossible diameter. And with it she felt crampy turbulence rising. She began moaning again as she felt another contraction coming. "Push." Doc cooed discreetly to her. Michael was smiling. Prince's groan turned into a near- scream. It hurt so much but her body was focused solely on the intricate set of pieces in her under carriage designed to push her child into the world. Feeling a stinging sensation where the emerging infant was she let out a series of strangled gasps and heaving breaths. The sensation increased with a sense of burning around her opening.

"OWWW! IT'S BURNING!" The distressed Lamborghini cried out as she squirmed against the table.

"{I know. I know. It's your baby's head putting pressure down there. It's just the baby's head. You're stretching beautifully.}" Michael began to firmly knead the supple metal around her opening that encased the infant's emerging head, which was more visible. He kneaded spot right above her pan to help stretch the metal over the visible mass. The relief was instantaneous but temporary.

Becky whispered softly to her. "Beautiful stretching. What you're experiencing is the Ring of Fire. They call it the Ring of Fire because once the head starts crown it feels like your opening's on fire. It'll subside very soon; you should get numb and not feel it at all in a minute."

"This will hurt; I'm sorry love." Doc warned her.

"OWWWW!" Prince shrieked when Doc started pushing into her undercarriage while Michael tended to guiding the infant's top out. Doc's strong limb began a deep massage against Prince's underbelly.

"NOOOOO! OWWW! *sob* PLEASE!" she screeched pitifully. She made a futile attempt to dislodge him from pressing down into her undercarriage with her rims but he was too strong. Tia grasped one of her rims and softly comforted her.

"It's okay Prince; just breathe and push." she told her.

"I know this hurts you My Love. I know. I know. I'm just helping you push down. Go with it, go with it; go with it. Take a breath and push for me." Doc instructed her sweetly.

The deep kneading was painful but necessary. The urge to bear down was strong and she inhaled before bearing down with all her might. Her exquisite body curled upward as if attempting to roll herself into a ball and it was not at all by choice. Her own body revolted, pushing against her will whether she was ready for it or not. Nature was taking its course by not waiting for her to to push. This was where her prepared breathing lessons came in but she had forgotten it all. Now Doc instructed her calmly, coaxing her to push with the contractions. She was fighting them out of fear. But her body wasn't giving her a choice. It was bearing down without her consent. She could feel the rebellion. Her whole pan which felt like the size of the table she was lying on was constricting of its own accord and she could feel the bulge moving near the top.

"Oh, I see it!" DJ became calmly excited.

As the mass grew near Prince's entrance the burn intensified. She felt like she was going to rip. The head was suddenly pushed halfway out. Her eyes shot wide open with a loud gasp. They were the widest Doc had ever seen them open to. She arched, then curled upwards. letting out a sudden shriek of agony.

"OH! OWWW!. OUCH! Stop it please!" she pleaded.

As her body coiled up her right front rim shot out as she suddenly stretched her axle, attempting to paw at the searing pain near her lower half. In the process of doing so both of her lower wheels attempted to retract backwards to clamp shut against the throbbing source of that pain. But Doc and DJ both held her lower extremities steadfast. They were much stronger than she was, and easily prevented her from jolting free of their grasps.

"{I know. I know. Its the baby's head stretching you; just push for me.}" Michael encouraged.

"It's coming. It's his head Prince; he's making his appearance!" Becky soothed her as she massaged the other side of Prince's lower half. Like Doc's hers too was hurting her. She tried to yank her tires free of DJ's and Doc's grips. The back wheel DJ grasped began to tremble. He noticed her other in Doc's shook also and became inconspicuously alarmed by it.

"Her limbs' tremblin' like crazy Nurse Becky. Why' she shakin' like this?" he whispered to Becky. She could see the slight anxiety in his eyes.

"It's normal... the pressure from the baby's head is pushing against the nerves in her back limbs that control that area of her lower body. So they're going a bit haywire on her; she can't control it, but she's okay. She might feel some numbness shortly from it. The head emerging causes that whole area to go numb, including your back suspensions. You feel pain in your undercarriage but at least you go numb 'down there'. A natural sedative. Keep rubbing her like you're doing. Trust me it's soothing to her." Becky softly reassured him.

DJ nodded and did as he was instructed. Prince's back wheels trembling was barely noticeable but definitely felt in his hold. To him it looked excruciating but maybe it wasn't. He cut his girlfriend a worried look but Tia was too immersed in congratulating Prince on a good job. So he could expect Tia to do this when she was having her baby. The obstetrician instinct in Doc kicked in, and he forced the wheel he was holding even wider apart and back, while DJ quickly followed suit by imitating Doc's move with Prince's other wheel. A pure scream erupted from her throat as pain shot from her rear clear into her undercarriage from their move, stimulating her to bear against it. Doc urged her to push.

"Onnnne. Twoooo. Three. Four. Keep pushing. Go with it My Love." Doc coached. Prince's upper half came up off the table, her gasping wails broken and groping at any side thing she could grip with her rims. Tia kept the towel in place. She had no choice but to counter the discomfort with a strained push. She finally got her breathing under control and after several seconds exhaled deeply. "Now relax." Doc encouraged. Collapsing, Prince relaxed momentarily. She felt a warm expulsion of something exiting her body and tried vainly to cover her exposure with a rim. Becky immediately blocked her, and began cooing to her.

"Yes sweetie it is what you think it is but no one is concerned about that okay? It's a mixture of that and sac fluid; it's a normal process, it's okay. You're pushing a baby out of you which means its head is pressing down on your waste unit. Whatever's in that is gonna come out with it. And this is why we recommended to you to not drink anything at all after labor started. This right here." She humorously made light of the situation and this garnered some chuckles from everyone else, but Prince didn't hear her.

"Oh my god; why am I peeing?! I'm peeing on myself?!" Prince begged someone, anyone.

Once again she felt as though she had relieved on herself without warning. And this time she had. Worse yet it was lengthy. The mini waterfall she felt flowing from her lasted a full twelve seconds or so. She could actually hear it splattering on the floor because, caught off-guard, Michael hadn't packed enough towels under her for such a mishap. But he swiftly responded by doing so, catching the remainder with the rapidly-soaking towels he quickly placed by her. He was too preoccupied with assisting the delivery to care about a wet floor. Prince felt the stream steadily coming. There seemed to be no end to it, even when it died down into a weak drizzle. She was praying for it to cease but it seemed taunt her. no one else seemed to care but it did little to comfort her. She was beyond ashamed. She was humiliated.

"It's also sac fluid My Love, but this is why I warned you about drinking all that soda hours ago." Doc swiftly pointed out to her as he massaged her side. He had caught her red-handed drinking it earlier. He wanted to laugh but knew this was serious business. But he was smiling. He warned her that she might regret that craving for two bottles of Fanta Strawberry soda. She might have an accident, he told her she'd be sorry. Becky was in agreement with him.

"It happens honey; it's also gestation fluid trapped behind your baby. And it's the other thing as well but it happens sometimes. It happened with my second. Don't feel bad." Even when a mother's water ruptured, not all of the fluid was initially evacuated. It was common for some of it to remain in sac with the baby only to be expelled later during active pushing or as it was born. But Prince had peed on herself in view of everyone there and was beside herself over it but she heard the reassurances.

Still she deeply regretted drinking all of that soda during her first stages. She wasn't supposed to suck on anything but ice cubes. She would not make the same mistake. IF there was a second time. She had decided not to go through having a baby again. One was enough. She sincerely hoped Doc enjoyed this little one's coming as this was it for her.

"{Yes you're peeing, and no, we don't care. You're focused on more important things right now so no worries. I see it all the time; you're not the first so don't feel bad. More sac fluid, a little extra making its way out. It's alright my lady. This is perfectly normal. It happens.}." Michael's voice was soft-spoken as he discreetly wiped Prince down with the gauzes Becky handed him. He had seen it before. Becky moved to the other side opposite of Doc and softly rubbed Prince's side.

"So don't be embarrassed honey. No one here cares about that, okay. No one is even thinking about that, are we." she said looking at DJ since he was closest to her.

"No we're not." DJ agreed. He wasn't even aware it happened because he was watching Doc when Prince blurted it out. And even then, when he did look to where Michael was he noticed that the collection of gauze around Prince's opening was soaked. Still he thought nothing of it. Even DJ knew that a laboring mother was bound to push something other than a baby out like water, or whatever. He didn't care. He patted Prince's tire again. Tia was talking to her, calming her down as well.

"You're pushing. It's gonna happen. When you're bearing down what's left inside of you is gonna spurt out like that; you don't have any control over that. WE want to see your baby and we want you to see your baby; we don't care that you 'peed on yourself', even though that is what it was." Becky consoled. Prince had now forgotten about the episode as she sensed another cramp coming. She no longer cared about peeing in front of everybody; all that mattered to her was bearing down. Having her baby was more pressing.

"Believe me sweetie I know how you feel. I've gone thru this three times now and it hurts but the end result will all be worth it I promise you." Becky told her calmly. Prince's discomfort was gone for now. Minutes later it was coming again and Doc repeated his earlier instructions to her. "Go with it. Deep breath and push. Just go with it." Becky coached her.

Prince obeyed her and Doc, inhaling in and straining. She let out a good pant then bore down. This time she was more collected. Until the mother of all contractions hit. She suddenly went rigid from it and howled. Once again she tried to get at the severe sting below with one of her free limbs. Doc's grasp on it was ginger. He noticed that this time she refrained from bearing down... it wasn't strong enough to make her push with it so he rightfully concluded she was too terrified of it hurting to do so. Being a first-time mother going through this, he understood completely. Again, he could never know what it was like but after having heard from every female who was a mother he was told at some point each was too fearful to do it with their first. Out of fear of tearing, new mothers told them because it felt as though they would. And in some cases they actually did if their openings were too tight or the head was too large.

Sometimes a physician had to do a small incision to widen the baby's passage through near the entrance. It was not fatal, not even in the the past as stitches easily fixed the mom up, however recovering from them was no joyride, so he was informed. Added to this was the understandable terror of the pain first-time mothers felt during the pushing stage. They were about to push something very large out. The majority of them were simply too scared to bear down on their own even when encouraged to do it. It was one of several reasons why first deliveries tended to be the longest as those present encouraged new mothers to go at their own pace rather than try to hurry them along. "Own pace" often translating into letting them resist bearing down until they were struck with a contraction powerful enough to the point where they had no option but to bear down with it.

Coupled with the fact that "virgin carrying chambers" that never harbored a baby before had to do something they had never done before, which was constrict so it was a process that could take a lengthy amount of time. Even though it was their function to incubate and expel a baby out, if they had never been subjected to it before it took some time for them become acclimated to their primary purpose. A first-time labor and delivery usually lasted an entire twenty-four hours at least, and some stretched into days. Once a female had given birth at least once, any subsequent pregnancies were often much shorter by comparison although they still tended to last hours. Anywhere from six to twelve hours was the norm for second and third deliveries, and so on.

Even still, they were long-at least to a laboring mom-but one who had already been through it once knew what to expect. Doc noticed on each delivery he did in those cases the mothers were much more collected and prepared for it. They still yelled because it still hurt like the devil but they seemed ready for it. They didn't even have to be told when to push because they knew when this time around, and generally just wanted it to be over. No one had to "encourage" them in that instance because most of them wanted to hurry up and get the damn baby out already. So he was told by many. It was no less grueling for them but at least they were determined to speed their second, third, or fourth-born offspring along into their new world with an organized beauty he couldn't fathom. They had a job to do, get their child out of their bodies and focused. First or fifth labor, it was always a miracle but first ones could be downright terrifying for new moms.

So they chose to wait until nature hit them with a contraction strong enough to make them cooperate. Obstetricians and midwives understood this as well as any mother present who had already undergone the process, so no one saw the need to urge her start pushing during moments such as these. Delivery was never to be rushed. Still Doc decided to offer the encouragement he had to others in his wife's position.

"Sweetheart... I won't pretend to know how this feels to you. I don't. But what I do know is you've nurtured this little one inside you for nine loving months. The title of "mother" has only begun for you, but your work of allowing our child to grow inside you is done. This is an individual that needs to separate from you as the individual it was meant to be. Let him or her go My Love. I know the pain is frightening you, but let him go. Go with it, and let him go." A tranquil look crept across Prince's face as she heard her husband's words. Her eyes were closed but she finally heeded him. She decided to obey and, choosing bravery, began straining.

"{GOOD!}" Michael commended her effort.

Right in the middle of bearing down she was nailed with a severely painful body cramp. This time she almost succeeded at swatting at that god-awful spot where her baby's head was. This time, it was truly more than she could take. DJ now encouraged Prince to bear down, even moving to stop her from blocking her opening with her flailing right rim. He blocked it with his own, instead guiding it to reach down and touch the emerging head. In complete agony, Prince continued to let out pitiful yelps between each breath she drew as she honed in on DJ's instructions.

Intrigued, Doc began to watch DJ, and finally, let him take over the coaching. DJ had expressed apprehension about being a labor coach when Tia's time came, but with Prince he was doing an amazing job. Unintentionally, he had begun taking over what should have been Doc's job. The boy highly impressed him. Prince was too focused on the task of birthing to notice; she only knew that a soothing voice was speaking to her and it was helping. Tia was too focused on Prince's comfort to notice while Michael did notice, saw that Doc was not bothered by it and focused on the object in front of him slowly sliding into the outside world. Doc gave a heartfelt smile as he watched DJ continue on. DJ watched Prince collapse back on the table.

"Prince. PRINCE. Hey; hey. Don't try to stop it. Okay? Let him come out. Or her. You feel that?" he asked her. She curled up again, reaching out. "That's your baby's head comin' out." DJ almost whispered to Prince as he guided her rim to the prominent crest in question. In her prone position she couldn't see it but she certainly felt the top of her child's body. Coming out of her body. HER child. It was partially out, stretching her to her limit. It felt as though someone had taken a blow torch to that area. It was a horrendous sensation. The burning feel gave way to a numbing sensation. It was the unborn's head that had caused the numbness around her opening, a natural painkiller designed to make his exit from her easier. Now everyone was encouraging her to look into the refracted mirror over her where she could get a view of the baby emerging. Now she could feel, and see. She shut her eyes momentarily then reopened them, focusing again on the image closest to her head of the baby's head.

"Feel it? He' comin' to greet you! He needs you to be strong and help him get out." He, Doc, Tia and Michael all saw the middle part of Prince's under carriage suddenly constrict; it was a visible contraction. She suddenly jerked from it, gasping desperately. Her entire body began cramping once again. She let out a piercing yelp prompting DJ into action as he began massaging her lower half while bracing her back tire and instructing her to push. She collapsed flat and did so with a grueling strain as he counted. "One, two, three, four, c'mon you got it girl! And deep breath and relax! Yo that was great! See? You're doin' it! Push 'fo me; c'mon." She pushed again. "Almost out! Almost out, you' doin good. He's getting there." DJ coaxed Prince.

Doc was in his own world right now. The King was right. Just like King, watching his wife suffer was both troubling and touching to Doc. A strange thought process Doc couldn't explain. For some unknown reason, watching a life he created causing pain to her elegant frame was beautiful to watch. It was disturbing to him that in its journey to the outside world, the hardship it was inflicting on her body was a beautiful thing.

Prince collapsed against Tia, gasping heavily. It was halfway out. Awakened from his warm slumber in such a rude fashion to be met with the hostile air and strange noises, the newborn started messing up his face in an instant. He let out a strangled cry. A small but loud wail pierced the room. Her baby wasn't even fully out and he had began crying! Only his head and half of his body was visible, and he was crying. Generally newborns didn't start crying until they were fully-delivered because the pan canal contracting on their tiny bodies prevented them. And many didn't cry at all even after being born. It was exceptionally rare for a partially-born infant to start vocalizing its arrival while still halfway in the mother's birth canal. Prince wasn't the only one in distress; his own delivery was as stressful to him as it was for his mother. Perhaps not as painful. Everyone in the room got excited on hearing that little mewl.

"How beautiful! He's not even fully out yet and he's crying; his little voice!" Tia squealed in delight. DJ was thunderstruck.

"You hear him? That's him! That's your baby!" Becky beamed. Doc was smiling.

"He's so beautiful Prince; listen to him!" he told her. Prince immediately began sobbing as she heard her partially-born baby's voice for the very first time ever. HER baby. His little cries. She could feel more of him easily sliding out of her.

"Welcome to our world little man! Or little lady!" DJ greeted the near-extracted glob Michael was guiding out. Doc's eyes slightly widened fixated on what he was seeing. Prince let out one final wail, stiffened against Tia, then gritted her teeth. Her eyes shot open for a second time with a gasp. Everyone in the room was encouraging her on, gleefully praising her.

"He's coming, he's coming I see him!" Becky praised. "Oh my gosh... this is so beautiful!" Tia was beside herself with elation while DJ commended Prince for a job well done. "You' doin it Mommy! Look at 'cho baby. Look in the mirror Mama; look up; there he is howling' for ya.!" he exclaimed, rubbing Prince's back axle. She could see him, almost completely emerged as she stared into the mirror hanging directly over her on the ceiling. She still didn't know if it was a son or daughter. It was just common for "he" to be automatically used as the standard rather than "she". Male or female, it was screaming at the top of its tiny vocals. "Or SHE'S howling for ya! That's your baby right there in the mirror." DJ threw in. One of it's small back rims was twisted rather excruciatingly into the side of Prince's pan canal; she felt the severe pinch it caused while Michael gingerly straightened it out. She winced with a slight arch.

"{Just maneuvering his little back wheel here; it was stuck in you.} The Ferrari explained.

"Ow-owwwww!" she cried weakly. She knew well this tiny being had no concept of pain, much less knew that its equivalent to a human foot was causing Mommy so much discomfort at the moment. Dr. Schumacher's grasp gently clutched the little form that slipped out with a final gush of remaining gestational fluid.

x

"{Oh he's a big one...and here he comes... say: 'Hello Mommy! Here I am!'}". Michael's voice mimicked the newborn welcoming his mother for the first time as his now-soiled wheels pulled out what was remaining of the indiscernible mass of metal and naked rims. The newborn's frame was still soft. It was curled into a little ball of dripping wetness, and heaved a few choking coughs. Doc's mouth moved in a silent

"Oh my." Prince rested in Tia's wheels, completely spent and weeping. "Oh baby; at long last I finally get to meet you... waited so long to see you. I'm here now. I'm Mommy." Prince's murmuring sobs reached out to her child. Her words were meant for him only as she temporarily blocked out every other soul in the room in that moment to concentrate on comforting him in her hold. His unfocused eyes were glazed over, not yet familiar with the shock of being out of their watery environment. Michael immediately placed the slithering little life on Prince's under carriage. He had a strong voice on him as his crying was hearty. His struggling against her was evidence that he was strong and healthy. "I'm here. It's me; I'm here. Shhh... hush your cries little one; I'm here. It's okay; I'm here." Prince sobbed at the feeling of it, him or her, on top of her. Squirming on her.

The time was 12:46 A.M. December 25th, Christmas Day. Today was also Doc's birthday. The greatest birthday and Christmas gift ever given to him was today. Right away Michael set about extracting the placental after mass that was still in Prince's canal, encouraging her squeeze down. As she focused on her baby she still did as she was told. Delivering the after mass was not nearly as painful as the infant was, but it wasn't "comfortable", either. It felt more like a large glob sliding effortlessly out of her. In the refracted mirror above her she saw it once Michael got hold of it; it looked like a strange alien she had delivered. Months ago she asked Becky to save it for her after she and Becky came across an interesting website, so Becky honored her wish. Michael just assumed Becky would dispose of it in a biological waste receptacle as was the usual case, so it could be burned. So he didn't question it when Becky took it. Now that the baby was delivered, it was useless, therefore, disposable.

He had heard stories that some mothers did questionable things with their after masses like get them bronzed and mounted, but more often than not, mothers didn't care what happened to them. The most important thing attached to theirs-the newborn-was what they wanted so most didn't care what became of them after delivery. Becky placed the organ in a large ziplock back and into a freezer to give to Prince later. What Prince had planned for hers she did not know, but if she wanted to hold on to it, so be it. Prince didn't plan to tell Doc she was even saving it because she figured it would probably gross him out. She saw no point in telling him really because he probably wouldn't care that she was keeping it. With that resolved, Prince focused on her child.

It was confirmed long ago by science and medicine alike that the newly-born could hear the voices of the maternal in the womb. They imprinted on that voice at the moment of arrival. The howling newborn entered a state of calmness as he identified that voice telling him to quiet his cries. The voice he heard for months in his watery enclave. That same voice was now indicating he was apparently safe. All he sensed before was that that voice was in great distress for some reason. Child immediately recognized mother by imprinting on her familiar voice, sensing that whatever cataclysm had befallen her before was now over. He silenced and held still against Prince's warm underbelly, completely oblivious to the fact that he was the reason for said distress and cataclysm.

"I'm here little one." Prince whispered to him again. He began to stir at that reassuring tone again, then immediately began groping blindly for nourishment with his tiny front rims. Doc guided his mouth to a nodule protruding from the top area of where Prince's right front wheel was.

"Come on little fellow, get fed. Mommy's been saving this milk just for you. Trust me, kid, it tastes awesome." Although the murmuring Doc didn't intend to be heard DJ did accidentally hear the last remark and right away understood what Doc meant. He had been tempted to try it with Tia and planned to. A sneaky grin warped across his face as he watched Doc try to get his son to nurse. But still he saw the tender scene before him for what it was: a new father gingerly positioning the mother's feed line to allow the hungry newborn to feed from her. And this really touched DJ. A tiny stream of a white squirted out of Prince prompting her husband to put it near the child's mouth. The baby was still too disillusioned from being born to notice it. "Come on little guy... latch on." he murmured to himself as he used discretion in fondling his wife's feed line after pulling it out near her right front.

Gently, he squeezed and massaged it to stimulate her milk flow. It felt slightly erotic but probably because he was her husband, but then Prince felt him maneuver it. The baby was struggling to find the one thing separating it from its food source. It's only instinct was to suck, yet all its tiny mouth met was the side of Prince's tube. Doc gently forced the newborn to instantly latch on and Prince could feel suctioning from her body as the infant hungrily fed from the sustaining reservoir of fluids that had been building up in her system for the past several months. The only food her child would need for the next year or so of his life, her body had spent months preparing.

"It's over my love. It's over. You have a boy. We have a son. Thank you for giving him to me." Doc whispered to her.

She was so overcome all she could do was weep. She didn't need to see him just yet; she knew her son was beautiful. Inside of her the nourishment line that connected him to her only supplied him with enough to sustain his growth. But for nine months he developed inside of her with an empty tank. Now that he was out and no longer attached to that support line, immediate hunger had set in. First and foremost he entered this world starving. Prince's maternal instinct immediately took over as she mentally bonded with the firm feel of the newborn feeding from her. Feeding him overrode everything else in that moment to her. She even shut herself off from everyone else around her, so focused was she on feeling the new life huddled against her.

Doc kissed her side view, and then planted a kiss on the head of his son, completely disregarding that he had yet to be cleaned off. He came out of Prince, his wife, and every part of her was sacred to Doc. Yes, even her "piss". While Tia thought it was touching DJ was secretly a bit grossed out by watching his old pal kiss his kid before he was cleaned up. But he never showed it. While he thought childbirth was miraculous and all 'that, watching Daddy kiss the newborn right out of the oven without even so much as a wipe down killed it for him.

Amused, he had zero intention of doing the same thing when it was Tia's turn. Clearly Doc was a different mentality. What made up his Prince also made up his son.

"Merry Christmas Darling. Here is your birthday present as well." Prince smiled through her tears at the Hornet.

"Thank you, Prince, for giving me my son." he repeated softly to her. He gazed serenely down at his child and stroked his tiny back. "Monarch Hudson Spirit Warrior. Welcome." he said the full name he selected for his son.

x

Doc was outside in the chilly frost, beyond content.

"Doc?" DJ pulled up.

"I didn't mean to take over what should've been yo' Daddy moment. I'm so sorry."

"Son, I'm not at all bothered by it. I'm glad you did it. You got Prince through it and you did a great job coaching. I don't think you'll have anything to worry about when Tia needs you." Doc's gleeful response was all the encouragement DJ needed. He would do just fine with his girlfriend.

"Hey uh... tell her not to even trip over dat peein' episode back there. I saw it but jus' didn't wanna say nothin' to her bout it. You know. Wasn't my place to say nothin' no way but I kinda' lied to her when I told her I didn't see it." he muttered sheepishly.

"You saw it too, did you?" Doc grinned at him and DJ chuckled.

"Not that I was tryina' look but I just happened to be looking at that spot when... she peed on herself."

"I suspect she drank quite a bit of Fanta because it took forever for her stop weeing, didn't it?" Doc quipped knowing DJ wouldn't dispute it and he didn't.

"You ain' jokin', man. Homegirl took one of those long-ass 8 ball pisses. The kind homies be streamin' after downing too many forties. Endless stream all up on the poor kid's head, man. Eyes, face and everything, man. What Prince did, that was just straight-up ghetto. I'm sorry but her takin' a wee on Monarch was funny." DJ had to voice his opinion. The entire time he talked, his description sent Doc over the edge with raucous laughter. "Poor baby. And poor mommy too; I know she didn't plan for that to happen. I won't forget that shit though. That was an extra-long piss at that G. Prince set a world record."

"I can say without guilt that," Doc started casually as he watched the light drizzle of snow blanket his tire he lifted outwards "watching her go on herself was very unbecoming of a Lamborghini. I'm disappointed in her, because that was very... unLamborghini-like." DJ began to burst into a hearty series of chuckles before Doc could finish his sentence.

"That's a good one Doc." Doc was feeling giddy enough to have a one-on-one "dude moment" with DJ while playfully taunting the stereotype of mythical perfection Lamborghinis were supposedly good at. He knew they were just that: myths. They had to relieve themselves like anyone else. Lamborghinis weren't "perfect".

"Well it is. She's supposed to be this perfect sports car you know. She supposed to be flawless but she poorly represents her kind. She's a flawed diamond, son, trust me. She just needs to be polished a bit more is all. I mean, the likes of her going to the ladies' room on herself in front of everybody was memorable to say the least. Not only does she snore loudly but she brought my son into this world by peeing all over his head."

"She snores too?!" DJ seemed almost too happy. It was good to know he wasn't the only snorer in Radiator Springs.

"Yep. I married a snorer. Hard to picture her one I know and she's as loud as you. Now she's pissed on my kid."

"Never tell her that." DJ gave him some advice.

"I won't trust me. Everything embarrasses her. But the minute she heard Monarch she probably forgot she even did it. Trust me kid, they usually do. Most probably don't care. Many mothers have told me they hurt too much to care. Others have told me they didn't even know they went until their husbands mentioned it. They said they felt so numb down there once the kid's head starts cresting they couldn't feel it; didn't know they were peeing at all. But I've also had fathers tell me their wives didn't even know they relieved themselves on the delivery lift until they told them about it. But the one thing is, it always only happens to mothers who drink liquids during labor. Those fool hardy enough to drink before delivering. I've seen it a dozen times. It always happens to mothers who actually drink something in the first stage of labor. By the second stage all that extra fluid they just consumed has to come out some kind of way. Prince is hardly the first I've ever seen relieve on herself while delivering. Doesn't help that Monarch was a tad bit on the big side. Quite a load she was carrying there."

DJ was no doctor but even he marveled at Monarch's size. By newborn standards Monarch was large, and he had seen newborns before. Just days old and they seemed a bit smaller than him. He had heard of larger babies being delivered. The mom could do it the old-fashioned way, depending on just how big the kid was. Sometimes an extraction was needed but there were those like Prince who toughed it out like troopers. Now that he thought about it he marveled more at how she was able to push something that big out of such a small space. It made him suddenly cringe because wow...that really had to hurt. From watching Prince's delivery he concluded that labor indeed had to be a harrowing deal for the mother. Again, he was no medical expert but he guessed Doc was right about Monarch's size pushing on her insides in some fashion while she was straining.

"Even Nurse Becky was a bad girl once; she told me with her second she had some coffee because she just wanted it. She just had to have it. Had several cups of it and wound up going all over her second daughter. Poor little girl got some of Mom's urine in her mouth actually, and swallowed it." Doc recalled.

"Uuuuuu-uuuuuuuggghhh!" DJ sneered in true disgust, mixing his disdain with a wide grin as he laughed some more.

"She said that's what her midwife told her. It looks disgusting but it's pretty harmless to the newborn. At the end of day all the kid cares about is getting warm and dry, huddling under Mom and a nice, fat feed tube to suck on. Newborns don't care about being peed on. It's not even disgusting to those of us in the medical profession like me and Michael, and Becky. We see it so much it's not a big deal to us. It may be to the father if he sees it although many fathers are too busy just watching their children's emergence to really care about it. The mothers might be a little embarrassed but they usually get over it soon enough. That's why it's ideal for them not to drink anything once labor starts. Ice cubes only to check their thirst." Doc told him.

"No eating, no drinking all day while havin' a baby. Damn that's gotta suck. A mother's gotta be hungry as heck while in labor." DJ pondered. There was a good reason for it, he was told. If she ate anything she might throw up during labor. As for drinking anything she'd most likely do what Prince accidentally did. But he figured she was too preoccupied with having the baby to truly care about thirst or gnawing hunger pains. Both were instantly overridden by the desire to welcome her child into the world. Still it had to suck. "I'm glad I'ma dude, fo' real. Cuz that shit looks painful but fo' real though, sometimes I wonder what it's like to be a lady. I know you think this is strange but sometimes I actually wish I could be a female just for one day... jus' ta see what dey go through. Well I stand corrected; maybe for a whole week, cuz' I'd like ta experience everything they do." The Hornet gawked at him.

"Everything?"

"Yeah! Why not? Well not the gettin' pregnant/havin-a-baby part. I'll pass on that. But everything else I'd like to experience. What it would be like to have a dude be a gentleman an' open doors for you. Askin' you ta dance in da club. Bein hawked at cuz how you look; Shoppin for accessories. Why dey like shoppin' so much. I'd like to know. Maybe get laid like one yeah cuz I often wonder what females feel on the mat. Maybe have a monthly thing... jus to see what its like. Are cramps really all that bad. Sometimes I wonder what it feels like for a girl-like that Madonna song. Y' know I've run into a bunch of dudes who have posed that same question to me. They wonder. Even Wingo an' Boost dun' said it to me. Snotty too."

"I think a lot of us wonder at times what it's like to be female." Doc told him honestly.

"You ever feel like that, Doc?"

"Yeah. Actually I do. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be in their wheels for a day. I'll always be happy to be what I am but I can't lie and say I've never been curious about living like one." Doc candidly agreed with DJ.

"Seein' yo' kid born... that was deep. It is a miracle." The Scion concluded. Doc couldn't argue. He still had trouble believing he was a dad now, when practically a year ago he was a bachelor living a romantically-repressed existence.

x

Prince relaxed in her recovery room that evening, huddled on her mat with the baby curled into a little ball almost under her. He was not abnormally large but was a bit larger than average. Monarch weighed almost two pounds more than an average newborn. She didn't deliver a newborn. She delivered an almost six-month-old. Sometimes it happened, she was told, that mothers were surprised with a heavy baby. Unbeknownst to her, even Michael contemplated making a small incision to widen her up upon seeing him crown. She learned later this was why he started massaging her pan opening with some force as the kid's shape almost ripped her. Luckily he didn't have to. Michael had observed in past deliveries some females were able to pull off delivering large babies with the help of massage. Such a technique often prevented a mother from tearing, which prevented the unpleasant stitches that would have resulted from a tear.

Prince shivered at the thought of being sewn up down there. There was no way in hell that could possibly feel hot, no matter what pain ointments were applied. But then if a kid's head could come out, stitches had to be a piece of cake. Maybe. She felt a small sense of supreme accomplishment. Michael confirmed long ago Prince was able to have Monarch normally, but even he was surprised by his size. No matter, Prince did beautifully. He was proud of her.

Like most laboring moms she was never at any high risk of dying, but Prince understood now that mother love was strong enough to cause a mother to forfeit her own life to save her baby's. She already knew she had a beast mechanism somewhere in her in the event anyone came into her room to do harm to the little life under her. She was sure a ferocious side she never knew she had would rear its monstrous head if any harm came to him. Fuck her own safety, protecting this kid would be her top priority. Weird indeed, considering just hours earlier she was ready to strangle Monarch with his own cord line for subjecting her to that kind of torment. While the contractions were going on, that is. The second she heard him screaming all that angst flew out the window, suddenly replaced by a powerful urge to just cradle him against her, and make him calm. And now, she would fight with everything she had to protect him if a threat arose. To the death if necessary.

X

Lounging on her mat, she felt a hot rush of liquid gush out of her. Frigging leaking. It felt gross and she knew soon her soaking pad would need changing. Everything had been thrown out of order by Monarch's residence inside and was attempting to rearrange itself within her. Aside from the extreme soreness she felt, she also felt anything she drank would go splashing out of the opposite end of her...she felt so wide at that. Ultimately Doc did this to her. She stared at the baby. Dark amusement came to her. He, too, did this shit to her. She smiled.

He was a voracious feeder. And he had a strong suck - almost as strong as Doc's. And it was loud, too. Prince had seen many nursing babies, some quieter than others but overall they couldn't be heard from a distance. Monarch was another story. He was greedy and made his gluttony known because his tiny head would shake wildly when he sensed her feed tube anywhere near his mouth. It was almost like he could smell it. When he got his lips on it he clamped down with force, and, cue the noisy suctioning. It was quite comical to Prince.

According to Doc, he was the "Most eatin'est newborn he had ever seen."

Prince's lower half cramped terribly with something she likened to an extremely painful leaking but it was tolerable. Quite literally she was having the leak cycle from hell right now. So much so that she was lying on top of a large absorbent cotton pad, a maternity pad used just for this reason. It had to be changed by Abby or another nurse every hour. According to Michael and the nurses, Prince would have to put up with this mother of dripping for at least a month. A month-long period. Nice. Post-delivery leaking was much heavier and longer. After all she carried something the size of a tire around in her shielded in gallons of fluid for months on end. She then had to push something that size out of her hoo-hah for hours on end, so there was bound to be some major "cycling" going on once Monarch came out.

And for a few months her normal ones would be out of wack also; she could have two in one month. Lovely. She did have a bone to pick with those who had carried before and hid from her including Flo... no one told her she would pass oil clots the size of fucking hubcaps post-delivery. She had been doing it for hours now, and Becky told her she'd likely continue to do so for several more days. This was a baby she harbored in her for months, not a normal cycle, so she could plan on dripping huge globs for some time. All of this just for him. And him.

With the second thought she looked down at the baby. Becky was accurate in her prediction because he was worth all of it. She refocused her attention back on the news station she was watching, feeling Monarch nibbling on her feed line. She felt another sharp cramp and her back wheel flinched slightly. She had been told to expect it as it was her carrying unit gradually constricting down to it's normal size. Her undercarriage had immediately returned to it's flat state but her inner components were stretched and were continuing to shrink down. It would take several months for them to revert to their pre-pregnant state.

Feeding him actually made it a bit more bothersome because when he sucked hard she'd suddenly feel a sharp "contraction" in conjunction with it. Something about a nursing newborn stimulating the mother's gestation chamber to shrink; it was a hormone thing Flo told her. Michael told her the same thing and so did several other moms. They all declared tube feeding as best because, according to them, it would help her heal faster. Plus it was the natural way, anyway. That's what they were there for so why use a bottle? Her feed tubes served another purpose; they were sexual objects to her husband. But she noticed a huge difference. When Doc sucked on them she found it highly arousing. But as her son nursed from them the feelings he stirred in her were strictly maternal. She saw him as being fed, drawing his food from her body and there was nothing "arousing" about it. This was their intended purpose, and to feel the baby sucking on them generated a strong sense of protectiveness in Prince, as if she had to guard him until he filled his belly. This was a mothering instinct, she knew.

She smiled softly at Monarch as he suckled her intently. She had been given a strong pill for the cramping not long ago after reassurances that it wouldn't flow into the substance her body produced for her son. She was finally convinced that it would not seep into her lactation and so she took it. It had yet to alleviate the discomfort, but she concluded with what she'd heard many moms say. Being a mom was neat. But having a baby sucked. Maybe dad thought it was "neat" to witness. Babies, too, were neat but the having them part was anything but "neat". Being pregnant was fun though it could be physically draining but childbirth was a doozy. But as Prince peered down at the baby she was reminded of how he was truly worth any post-delivery vexation she felt at the moment.

"Like your father, you're Mommy's lifeline, do you know that?" her seductive voice queried him sweetly. "The two of you complete me, you know that? Mommy loves you Little One. I love you so much. Thank you for coming into my life. Like your father you give me purpose for existing." Even without Doc and her son, she had purpose for existing because of the many friends she had here in Radiator Springs; they alone gave her reason to love life. Heaven forbid something happened to either of them but the town would take care of her and she knew it. They became her lifeline also. But there was no mistaking Doc and her son played huge roles in it. As she watched Monarch she already decided that yes, she would do it all over again just for Doc. "I'm sorry for peeing on you while you were being born. Mommy couldn't help it. She did a bad thing by drinking some soda and it came out on you."

She didn't know that Doc was eavesdropping by the doorway and silently began snickering. He wanted to laugh aloud. She was still in a sort of denial about all of this. She came here to off herself over a cliff and wound up being impregnated by someone over twice her age two months later. Just two months after trying to kill herself she wound up carrying this little guy. Now she had this little heir that was hers, with a loving husband to match. A true gentleman who made her feel alive, gave her reason to live and had his way with her. Doc was helping her heal emotionally, mentally and physically. And now the son he planted inside of her was helping her heal in all three aspects as well. Prince was still in shock at her turn of luck. She had to smile at the irony.

As she was still weakened from her ordeal, a pillow had been placed under her front tire to keep it and her upper part up at a slight angle so that the infant could nurse from her. But the Lamborghini's slightly lifted wheel hovered protectively over her child. Doc watched the tender scenario from the doorway. As he approached Prince gazed demurely up at him.

She seemed to emit a loving look that read: "Look at our little son, Hudson. YOUR son." The look of a mother quietly adoring her little creation. Her piercing eyes shifted at the flat screen turned on by her mat. Doc saw it too, and began to watch the screen. It was on a major news network and the ticker tape scrolled across the bottom.

"'Dr. Hudson Spirit Warrior, a.k.a. 1950s race car "Fabulous Hudson Hornet" and wife welcome newborn baby boy. The racing legend's wife gave birth to couple's son, Monarch, early this morning. Sources confirm it is the first child for both. Today is also the racing legend's birthday. This day's date, December 25th, 2010. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Monarch and dad Doc Hudson." Prince beamed secretly with pride. Her baby was special enough to have his arrival broadcast on television. She looked at Doc, who came over to inspect the newborn.

"Well kid, welcome into this big, wide world." he told him. Now he addressed the mother. "You gave my son life. Thank you, again."

"You contributed to it, Love." her tone was meek. He began speaking to her in French.

"{Tout ce que j'ai contribué était une graine. Il était vous qui l'avez fait grandir, l'avez ensuite apporté quatrième à la surface comme un jeune arbre.}" It was so handsome, how he spoke it. She didn't know he spoke French. He began learning it in high school and stuck with it, perfecting it during his 2-year stay in Paris in the mid-60s. "Translation: 'All I contributed was a seed. It was you who made it grow, then brought it fourth above ground as a sapling.' That's what I said to you, just now." he explained.

"Thank you for planting him in my garden." she concluded. She slowly sought to kiss him and did. He still couldn't believe he had a little family. She felt Monarch's small back rim prodding her relentlessly into her underside as he nursed, almost as if he was trying to knead more milk from her. He definitely had his sire's strength. But she was beginning to wonder the same thing as Doc... this was one, greedy-ass kid. Exactly how much did this kid need to eat? It was a humorous thought but she felt the suckling stop, telling her he had his fill. For now. The couple spent their family time with Doc staying overnight in Recovery.