Of All The Times to Go Into Labour...
"It's really coming down out there." Marty takes his jacket off and hangs it on the coatrack. Frasier, Daphne, Roz and Niles enter the apartment after him.
"Glad you all got here safely." Jasmine smiles, "Anybody for hot chocolate? It's freezing out there."
"Sounds great, love!" Niles kisses Jasmine on the cheek.
"I'll help you with that." Daphne takes off her jacket and follows Jasmine back into the kitchen, "Coming Roz?"
"Of course." She also enters the kitchen.
"So, how cold is it?" Jasmine asks, putting the kettle on to boil.
"Freezing, and the snow is coming down hard."
"The radio just said it's supposed to storm really badly tonight. Thank goodness you didn't get stuck out there in the car."
"That would have been terrible." Daphne agrees.
"Can you grab the whipped cream from the fridge, I'll grab the marshmallows." Jasmine asks Roz.
"Sure." After the kettle boiled, Jasmine made everyone hot chocolate, and Daphne brought them out to the dining room.
Once everyone had their drink, Niles proposed a toast, "To friendship."
"And to the supper which will be done in five." Jasmine added, laughing.
They ate supper together and Jasmine and Daphne cleared away the dishes. The second they came back into the living room, the power went out. Since it was early night, the windows offered no light at all.
Jasmine started hyperventilating, being also afraid of the dark. Knowing his way around the house, Niles navigated around everyone and grabbed Jasmine, "It's okay."
"I'll grab a flashlight, where do you keep one?" Marty took charge.
"In the kitchen, first drawer on the left." Niles tells him.
Marty returns in seconds with a flashlight, which he had turned on, "Do you have anymore?"
"That's it." Niles responds.
"But we have lots of scented candles." Jasmine offers, calmed down a fair bit by the light.
"Where do you keep those?"
"The closet across from the bathroom." Jasmine points upstairs.
"I can't navigate stairs with my cane, not in the dark."
"Give me the flashlight for a second, and I'll grab them." Jasmine holds out her hand for the flashlight.
"Okay." Marty puts it in her hand, "Make sure to grab a lighter as well."
Jasmine took off up the stairs.
There was silence for a second before there was an odd sound made by Roz.
"Roz, are you okay?" Frasier asks.
"My water just broke." She cries.
"Are you sure?"
"Well, I'm standing in a puddle of water, what do you think?" She responds sarcastically.
"Of all the times-" Frasier starts.
"Well, I'm so sorry to inconvenience you like this. It's not like I had many situations I'd prefer to have delivered than in the dark, in your fussy brother's living room, in the middle of a blizzard." Roz retorted sarcastically.
"What do we do?" Niles asks, to no one in particular.
"What's wrong?" Jasmine comes downstairs, with the flashlight and about a half dozen scented candles (the kind that are in glass containers and large).
"My water broke." Roz says loudly.
"Your what?!" Jasmine shines the flashlight on Roz's stomach, "...okay...um... I guess we have to take the stairs to the bottom floor..."
"I can't walk down flights of stairs, I'm having a baby."
"Frasier and Daphne, can you two help her? Jasmine'll go ahead with the flashlight. Niles, follow behind in case they need help. I'll follow as fast as I can. Is everyone good with that?" Marty takes charge.
They exit the apartment, Niles locking the door. And make their way to the staircase.
"Can we hurry this up? I can feel it- AH!" Roz's hand goes to her stomach and she cries out in pain, "I just had a contraction."
"We are going as fast as we can, unless you'd prefer to slide down the stairs." Frasier adds sarcastically.
"If you weren't helping me down a steep flight of stairs, I'd hit you for that remark..." Roz glares at Frasier.
"Everybody calm down, fighting won't get us down there any faster." Jasmine tries to help.
After 5 hellish minutes they make it down the stairs and open the door to the lobby. Something was off. Jasmine shined her flashlight at the glass of the building doors. The snow was four feet up them, there was no way they were going to get out of the building, much less drive to the hospital.
"What's holding everyone up?" Marty asks when he finally gets to the bottom.
"That." Jasmine shines on the door again.
"Oh."
"So, we have to choices." Daphne starts, "We go back upstairs, or you have your baby in the lobby."
"No way in hell I am having my baby in a lobby."
"So, back upstairs?" Jasmine offers.
"Yes." Roz grimaces.
