Chapter 42. - Giving Birth -

For the next several hours nothing extraordinary occurred. In an attempt to relieve the ever-increasing pressure on her birth canal, Sally would get off the lift and drive around the hospital. Lightning was always at her side, but a lot calmer. Throughout the day, Sly and Charlie came and went to keep Lightning from completely freaking out. During a break: Lightning drove outside and looked up at the sky with a sigh. He couldn't believe how close Sally was to having the baby. Lightning was excited, but he was both scared and jubilant. Lightning loved the thought he was going to be a father. It's been something he has been dreaming about since they learned Sally was pregnant.

Ten hours later: Sally was nearing the end of stage one and she grew increasingly restless. Her contractions increased in strength and so did the discomfort they caused. Hunter parked next to Sally and let her lean on her as she encouraged Sally to breathe through the pain. Lightning was on the other side lending his fatherly support. Periodically Zoë or Jackie would check Sally's progress with a pelvic examination. The exams were uncomfortable when she wasn't pregnant, now in labor, they were painful. The pelvic examinations were necessary to determine the baby's position and how far she had dilated. Sally was secretly beginning to wish her fantastic bedroom romps with Lightning had never happened. Four hours later: Lightning was ushered out to the waiting room, as Hunter and Zoë prepped Sally for delivery, he would be allowed back in as soon as they got Sally settled. Sylvester stayed with Lightning to keep him company. Charlie was sitting on Sly's hood watching cartoons on his I-pad. Lightning paced, shaking like Mater when he heard the story of the Ghostlight. Sly gave Lightning a pat. Lightning looked over to him, just smiling.

"I know what you are going through." Sly said "I was a nervous wreck when Hunter went into labor."

Lightning didn't say a thing, he wasn't sure if he opened his mouth, if he would scream or squeal. Charlie, with his eyes half shut from sleep, watched as Lightning drove back and forth, back and forth. Lightning stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Sally scream.

"Lightning." Jackie said with a smile "Follow me."

Before Lightning left, Sly put Charlie into his carrier.

"If you need me, I'll be here." He said "It shouldn't be long now."

Lightning meekly followed Jackie. Just as Lightning pushed past the delivery room door: Sally screamed in pain. Lightning rushed to Sally. Tears in his eyes, he kissed her as if it were their last, just as he always did. Lightning could hear soft beeps from the monitors that tracked the baby's engine rhythms, as well as Sally's. Sally's contractions had increased tenfold. She was now in second stage of labor. Sally had an I.V. started and she had been given a mild sedative.

"Can I have another painkiller or something?" Sally asked "Whatever you gave me isn't working."

"I can't give you anything else. To completely alleviate your pain means risking your baby being born heavily sedated, or even fatally drugged…" Zoë said as a strong labor pain hit "Lightning, I need you to park next to Sally."

"Ok, I'll do whatever you need me to do." Lightning said "It's killing me to see Sally in this much pain."

Lightning edged towards the lift and halted.

"What is it Lightning?" Zoë noticed the hesitation "Sally needs you at her side."

"I faint at the sight of oil!" Lightning confessed sheepishly. "It's the one thing I can't stand seeing."

"If you get on that side of the lift you won't see any." Zoe said "I promise."

"O-OK." Lightning stuttered and jumped to Sally's side "I'm here sweetheart."

He gently nosed Sally's fender. Hunter had placed a cool, wet towel across Sally's roof. Zoë was under the lift, watching and counting.

"Excellent Sally, breathe in." She said "Good, now... push… push… push."

Sally strained with all of her might, gritted her teeth in agony, before letting out a loud cry and then falling back to the lift panting. A major contraction suddenly hit. Sally could not hold in a scream of pain as she trembled against Lightning and Hunter.

At this point, Sally was totally naked. With every nerve in her body focused solely on the contractions, Sally wasn't worried about who saw what. Lightning watched Sally's undercarriage undergo a change in shape and identified it as a contraction. Just as he predicted, Sally suddenly shrieked as she curled upwards. The contraction automatically forced Sally to start pushing whether or not she was prepared to do so. It was like her body had a mind of its own, focused solely on evicting the baby. Lightning took to caressing her hood. Hunter took a position at Sally's rear, gingerly putting one of her back tires in a birthing stirrup. Jackie put the other rear tire in the other birthing stirrup. Both Hunter and Jackie rubbed Sally's rear axle, which was helping her to relax. Sally drifted into a realm of brief solace. Zoë had parked herself between Sally's rear axles ready to deliver the baby, her front tires were covered up with sterile coverings. Sally's brief hiatus was rudely interrupted by a harsh contraction, one so strong that it sent her screaming in pain.

"Push Sally." Zoë instructed "You're almost done."

Sally was getting very tired. She had been in labor all day and the last two hours she had been in this 'pushing' stage.

"Don't give up." Hunter said "The baby is almost here."

"Lightning I'm scared…" Sally said as she began to cry "I can't…"

"Shhhh... It's ok." Lightning said as he caressed her tire and kissed her fender "The baby's coming."

He shut his eyes, feeling the tears running down his face, Lightning loved that they were having a baby, but seeing Sally in pain was tearing him apart.

"I can't do this!" Sally gasped "I can't no, no way!"

"Sally you have too." Hunter said "You have to dig deep!"

"I can't…" Sally moaned "I can't…"

"YES you can!" Hunter said "You have too! Now PUSH!"

Sally's moaning turned into shrieking as Zoë counted the long ten-second push. Lightning shut his eyes as Sally screamed in pain.

"Everything's going to be alright." Zoë comforted "You're doing great!"

Sally began moaning as she felt another contraction coming.

"Come on...Push." Hunter cooed sympathetically "You're almost there."

Sally let out a series of strangled gasps and heaving breaths before bearing down with all her might.

Sally felt a stinging sensation coming from her vaginal opening and it grew worse by the moment.

"OWWW!" Sally cried out "It burns!"

"I know. I know. It's your baby's hood." Zoë said as she began to firmly knead the supple metal around her opening "This should help."

"OWWW!" Sally shrieked when Jackie took over kneading "Stop, it hurts!"

As Zoë guided the infant's hood out, Hunter grasped one of Sally's front tires and comforted her. "It's okay Sally." Hunter said "Just breathe and push." The urge to bear down was strong and she inhaled before bearing down with all her might. As the mass grew near Sally's entrance the pain intensified. The baby's hood was suddenly pushed halfway out. Sally arched, letting out a sudden shriek of agony. Sally attempted to pull her rear wheels backwards in an attempt to stop the throbbing pain. The birthing stirrups held her back wheels steadfast.

"Alright Sally!" Zoe said "I need a big push!"

Lightning looked over where Zoë and Jackie were working and found… a bunch of things just sticking out and… He started to pass out. Lightning quickly looked away, feeling himself starting to regain his strength. Zoë and Jackie were encouraging Sally to look into the mirror where she could see her baby being born. Sally shut her eyes momentarily then reopened them, focusing on the image of her baby's hood. Sally's under carriage suddenly constricted. She jerked from it, gasping desperately.

"One, two, three, four, c'mon you're doing it!" Hunter encouraged "You're doin' it Push! C'mon!"

Sally pushed again.

"The baby is almost out!" Zoë said "Just one more big push!"

Just when Lightning didn't think Sally could take anymore, he heard fluid pour on to the floor.

"Congratulations!" Zoë said as she pulled out an oil covered white mass "You have a girl!"

All newborn cars are born white, and in a few weeks' time their natural paint job would fade in. The newborn was a little ball of dripping wetness. She coughed a few times then started to scream. Zoë laid the baby on Sally's undercarriage and examined her.

"She's breathing fine." Zoë said over the crying newborn "Airways are clear. You have yourselves a beautiful baby girl. Quite healthy, strong, and very, very loud."

"Can… can I hold her?" Lightning asked gently "Please?"

"She's your daughter… of course you can." Zoë said as she carefully placed the baby on Lightning's hood "Just make sure she doesn't fall off."

The baby stopped crying for a moment and stared at the big red thing. Lightning took the baby over to Sally so she could see her. Zoë noted the time 9:36PM. Zoë set about extracting the after birth. Delivering the afterbirth was not painful as the infant was, but it wasn't comfortable either. It felt more like a large glob sliding effortlessly out of her. Months ago, Sally asked Jackie to save it. Sally and Flo came across an interesting website. Jackie placed the afterbirth in a large bag and put it into a freezer. Sally didn't tell Lightning she was saving it, she was planning to gross him out with it, then have it bronzed.

A girl, a baby girl? Lightning stood there looking at the little breathing miracle sitting on his hood, only seeing tiny eyelids with immensely dark eyelashes. Jackie finished cleaning the baby off.

"She's gonna be a spunky one like her momma." Zoë said "It'll be interesting to see what her final color will be."

The baby had little twinges of purple starting to set in around her fenders and windows, a perfect mix of her parent's colors. She was also a mix of her parent's vehicle types. Lightning thought the baby looked perfect and imagined all the things they would do together as a family. Sally wept as she saw her daughter for the first time.

"It's for the best if the baby nurses now." Zoë said "I'm not surprised she isn't demanding something to eat."

Just on cue, the baby let out a cry, then immediately began groping blindly for nourishment with her tiny front rims. Zoë placed the newborn on Sally's undercarriage and Lightning guided her mouth to the nipple. Sally felt the baby struggling. Her only instinct was to suck, yet the baby's mouth could not find the nipple. Jackie gently forced the newborn to latch on to Sally's breast, Then wrapped her in a soft pink blanket as the baby hungrily nursed.

"It's a good sign that baby is hungry." Zoë said as she watched the newborn nurse "Looks like she's going to have her father's appetite."

Lightning just sat there in awe.

A few minutes later:

"She's so beautiful." Lightning said proudly has he nuzzled Sally "Our two has become three."

As soon as the newborn was finished nursing, Zoë examined Sally. She found her exhausted, but fine. Sally was moved from the lift to a bed, where she could rest comfortably.

"She's going to be just like her mother." Lightning said "It'll be two against one."

"I don't think so." Sally smiled "She's going to be a daddy's girl. Look for yourself."

Sally gently nudged the baby, encouraging her to open her eyes. The baby whimpered softly and slowly opened her eyes. She looked blearily around, trying to focus on the larger forms around her. She turned her gaze to her parents showing her stunning bright blue eyes… a McQueen trademark. Sally giggled at how Lightning tilted his hood a bit to get a better look at the baby, as the baby was studying him back.

"Look at the color of her eyes, she's going to be a heartbreaker." Sally said "It'll be funny to see how you handle that."

"She's never going to date." Lightning said "If any boy wants to date her, I'll piss Frank the combine off and let him take his wrath out on him."

"I see the protective daddy syndrome is kicking in all ready." Jackie said "It's always a good sign."

Lightning couldn't help but grin wider as he gently caressed his daughter with his tire, causing the newborn to fall asleep.

"Do you have a name for her?" Jackie asked "We need it for her records… no rush though."

Lightning looked at Sally.

"It's something that we never really discussed." She said "We wanted to wait."

"That's okay." Jackie smiled "For now, we'll put down 'Baby Girl McQueen'.

Congratulations you two." Jackie nodded to the new family and went to check on her other patients.

AN: There's only one chapter left!

COMMENTS:

Guest 2-

Such a sweetheart Lightning is spoiling and comforting Sally.- Lightning does all the cute things newlyweds do.

I won't lie. You women really do look beautiful even through pregnancy.- Since I don't have human kids(my kids have 4 legs and a tail), I wouldn't know.

No-one other than Sally can make Lightning rev to the redline. It's that personality that can't be matched. Oh! Double trouble Sly and Hunter are having here. Aww no poor Charlie! Then again children are naive.- You know how clumsy kids are, always hurting themselves.

Nice in Sally mentioning to Flo and Ramone about being the Godparents.- I think it was your idea.

Fair enough about Doc being the serrate Grandfather.- He kinda is, if you stop and think about it.(And if you've read the next story)

I know Lightning doesn't give an ounce of oil for Brody but he's more bothered by the fact his parents are having to deal with his shit.- Yep.

With a nature as bad as Brody's. Lightning knows Brody will never get any better.- But that's how families work, you never really give up on them, no matter now mean and nasty they get.

Oh God baby's coming! Very alarming by Lightning bursting in but he wanted to be there so no arguing with that.- All fathers freak out when they know the baby is coming. Being a racecar, doesn't help Lightning to be calm about anything.

Yeah I know how busy Lightning and Sally will be with their baby. They'll be showing off a lot. A very hyperactive racer they'll have- You got that right. But I'm not giving anything away.

I do not own Cars or any of its characters. PIXAR AND DISNEY CLAIM THAT RIGHT. READING ENJOYMENT ONLY

Please read and review! I need criticism and encouragements! Rated M for language and sex.