(Author's Note: So SO sorry I never updated this over here. Here's the rest.)
i"Lu!"/i Baldwin cried out in pure agony.
"Who's 'Lou?'" Asked Dr. Gillian.
"Short for 'Lulu,'" Lulu Lips muttered, wiping Daniel's forehead with the soaked rag. "I'm here, baby. You've got this."
Her other tentacle was practically blue at this point from the amount of pressure Baldwin's hand had been putting on it. In a span of a little under an hour, three of the four babies had been delivered. The second came a little slower than her eager sister, but still fairly quick at fifteen minutes later. The third arrived even faster in the following ten minutes. The fourth, however, was more than content with taking her sweet time. It had been almost forty minutes of nonstop pain; forty minutes, and she wasn't even crowning yet. Daniel's pigment had gone completely white from stress and effort. Lulu was terrified something was wrong, although the doctor had assured the couple that both Baldwin and the baby's condition were completely stable, and that some babies took longer to arrive than others.
Stable? Dan had forgotten the meaning of the word.
"I can't! I just…I can't! She isn't coming!" He panted. His whole body was shaking violently as he lay back against the mound of pillows.
"And you haven't felt a need to push or-" Dr. Gillian began.
"No!" Baldwin snapped. He let out a muffled sob of exhaustion, burying his face in the crook of his elbow. He drew shuddering breaths, willing the pain away, trying to disappear, anything.
"Is there ianything/i you can do?" Lulu pleaded, almost as terrified and exhausted as her fiancé was.
Dr. Gillian regarded the seahorse's still-distended pouch. She softly placed her fins at either side of the mound and felt for the position of the last fry. Though uncontrollably quaking, Baldwin tried to lie still.
"I think the baby might be transverse," she explained.
"What…what does that…mean?" Daniel breathed.
"She's sideways, neither head up nor down," Gillian continued, "she may have to be delivered surgically."
"Oh Cod!" Lulu gasped. Dan said nothing; he wondered if even a caesarean might be a relief at this point.
"It's not certain yet. I want to try one other thing first to see if we can turn her."
"Yes, yes," Lu nodded eagerly, "anything."
When she looked at him, Baldwin also gave a small nod.
"I'll be frank, it won't be comfortable-"
"More uncomfortable than almost hour of iconstant agony/i?!" Daniel growled, then laughed. Dryly, cynically, angrily. Even Lulu was a bit perturbed by his behavior.
The doctor didn't respond, but turned to another nurse and mumbled an order. The nurse took off through the delivery room doors. The doctor then turned back to a more than irate Baldwin.
"Do you think you can kneel on your tail for me?" Dr. Gillian asked. "I need you down at the end of the bed. Your tail should give you some leverage with pushing."
"I told you! I don't need to-"
"You will. I promise," she patted the end of the bed expectantly.
Without being asked, Lulu gripped the underside of Dan's arms and helped him push himself up onto his tail, which coiled underneath him like a cushion. He slowly moved towards the end of the bed, until he and Dr. Gillian were inches apart. She smiled at him, though he merely scowled, and looked back at the squid.
"Get behind him," Gillian commanded.
Lulu didn't hesitate, positioning herself on the bed, kneeling behind her laboring boyfriend. She gave him a soft kiss on the nape of his neck, which elicited a small smile from the otherwise panicked Baldwin. She wasn't going anywhere, a comforting reminder. The nurse from before came back, wheeling in a metal tank of what the squid and seahorse assumed was water.
"Now, when a seahorse is in its normal habitat for delivery, water," Dr. Gillian began, "he's able to use a flow of water in and out of the brood pouch to help expel the fry."
"But…he's not in water..." Lulu said tiredly, realizing she was stating the obvious.
"Exactly. I think this might be why the baby's having trouble transitioning. Perhaps, if we were to get some water flowing into the pouch, and with a little external manipulation, I think we can get her into the right position."
Daniel wanted to add something, but another wave of pain crashed upon him, and he did nothing but doubled over and moaned. One hand wrapped around his swollen pouch, as the other grabbed the bed, keeping him from falling forward. Lulu firmly held his shoulders.
"Okay, okay, fine! Let's do it! Quickly!" He snapped, nearing his breaking point.
Dr. Gillian had him lean back into Lulu's arms, as she situated the nozzle of the tubing into the opening of Dan's brood pouch. The nozzle itself looked like a larger version of a dentist's water pick, and it was cold and metallic inside the warm pouch. It wasn't a comfortable sensation, and Daniel had to fight every urge to squirm away. Instead, he gripped both of Lulu's tentacles in his hands, as he tried to breathe through it and maintain happy thoughts, which was definitely a challenge.
"Listen, you're going to want to push when I start this process, and it's very important that you fight it. Pant through the pain. I'll let you know when you can push again. Alright?"
'No. This whole endeavor is far from alright,' Daniel thought, but nodded sternly.
"You got this. You've managed three out of four, and you can do this one, too." Lulu whispered, and he held onto her even tighter.
He felt the initial flow of water, and already it gave him that familiar sense of pressure. He gritted his teeth, and with every nerve in his body, he fought it. The pressure came on even stronger, more unbearable, as Dr. Gillian began trying to turn the baby. Daniel immediately felt the fry shift deep within him, and he let out a cry of pain. Then he felt Lulu nuzzle her head against his neck, softly hushing him, and he forced himself back to into a rhythmic panting.
"I…I'm not sure I can…" he whimpered.
"You are so close, just a few more minutes," she whispered, "and I am so, so proud of you."
Daniel squeezed his eyes shut, panting frantically as the pressure reached an excruciating peak. Gasping aloud, his whole body shuddered as he felt something give. He looked down to see a head, covered in curls, just an inch or so beneath the opening. He cackled, exhausted and relieved that Dr. Gillian's plan had actually worked. Said doctor quickly removed the pump, and asked a nurse to fetch more towels for the water that was now backflowing out of the pouch.
"Alright! When you feel the next contraction, you can-"
Baldwin let out a loud moan, curling over his stomach, and pushing as hard as he possibly could. He could feel the last baby thrashing impatiently, working almost as hard as he was, wanting nothing more than to get free. Now that she had been repositioned, she was coming just as quickly as her three sisters. Dr. Gillian carefully guided the head through the opening in one contraction, and the shoulders in the next, the father taking it all like a pro at that point. He was miserable, but the end was in sight. Daniel could practically feel the excitement and happiness radiating off of Lulu, still situated right behind him. And with the very last contraction, the babe emerged crying, having been already exposed to water. Having assured she was well and taken care of, Baldwin collapsed against Lulu's chest. She inched them both closer to the head of the bed, Daniel's head resting wearily on her shoulder.
He looked up at her, giving a trembling smile. "Hey."
"Hi there." She sniffed. She was outright crying in the face of all that had just happened; she wasn't sure she had ever stopped crying since the birth of the first fry. "You…you alright?"
"Mm," he nodded, his head barely moving.
She kissed him, deeply and passionately, her heart swelling in her chest. "I am so ridiculously proud of you. You're such a trooper," she gushed.
"Lu…you're so mushy…"
"You love it."
"Yeah…"
The couple barely had a moment for just them, only a few seconds, and then were interrupted by a child-laden nurse. And then there they were. All four babies were placed into their father's arms. The girls were so tiny, they fit effortlessly curled up together against his bare chest. Each baby was no bigger than a half of Baldwin's forearm, and were all bright green, unlike their currently very pale father. One baby was asleep, another had discovered how tasty her thumb was, one's hand was resting in her sister's hair, preparing to yank it, and the last, and newest, was just staring up at her dad with enormous eyes.
"Hey, you," Baldwin grinned at them.
"Oh, Danny…they're perfect. They really are," Lips wrapped her arms around his, staring deeply at the four newborns.
"I'm…I'm your dad." He was amazed words like these were coming from his mouth.
"And I'm…" Lulu hesitated, what she was wanting to say was stuck in her throat. She noticed that one of the four babies had a cropping of red hair. Like her mom.
Her ireal/i mom. Suddenly, Lulu felt ill.
"Lu?" Dan looked up at her, concerned. She avoided his gaze, remaining silent, but she was still crying.
Daniel suddenly understood, and looked back down at the infants.
"I'm your dad," he repeated, "and that's your mom. And, Cod knows, we are so happy for you to finally be here."
The squid beamed. "I'm really their mom?" Lulu said, a question that sounded also like a statement.
"Of course you are. What did you think you were?"
"Moral support?" She chuckled, wiping her eyes.
"Well here, 'moral support,' your babies need time with their mother."
With careful maneuvering, Baldwin managed to shift two of the girls into Lulu's arm, which, being much longer than Baldwin's, easily accommodated both of the babies. Settled once more, they cozied up to Lulu's chest, neither upset by the change of arrangements.
"See? You're a natural," Dan smirked.
She chuckled quietly to herself, completely amazed. She softly kissed each head, taking it all in. "I'm a mommy," she whispered, giggling gleefully.
"And with minimal effort," Daniel sighed. He was still incredibly sore.
"After what you just did, I'll take diaper duty for the first year."
"Be careful what you say. I may take you up on that offer," he said, carefully prying one of the baby's hands out of her sister's hair.
"You at least need to sleep for a year to recover from everything you've been through tonight," she smirked.
"Alright, for ithat/i, you can definitely sign me up."
Lulu Lips returned to the now very empty maternity waiting room. Despite the fact that all the students had originally accompanied them, only Bea, Oscar, and Milo remained.
"Ms. Lips…" Bea drawled, "are you real? Or are you a mirage?"
"Um, I'm definitely real. You okay? Need to refill your watersuit?"
"No," she sighed, "I'm just a little tired…and phone-deprived."
"Where is everybody?" she asked.
"They went back to the hotel. Bo Gregory said he'd keep Attila for the evening," Oscar said, rubbing his tired eyes, then grimaced. "As much as we wanted to go with them, Milo insisted on us staying put."
Milo exited a nearby bathroom, noticed the new patron, and immediately threw himself on the ground in front of Ms. Lips.
"Ms. Lips! Did he LIVE?! Don't lie to me, woman!" Milo cried, wrapping his fins around her lower arms.
"Milo, get off me," she picked him up and set him aside. "He's fine. They're all fine."
"Four babies? Are they really all girls? Are they cute?!" Bea squealed.
"Yes, yes, and very," Ms. Lips grinned.
"Aww, yay! Can we see them?" Bea continued.
"Can we hold them?!" Milo screeched.
Lips frowned. "I'm not so sure now's the best time for all that…"
Bea and Milo shared a dual groan of disappointment, while Oscar looked mildly relieved.
"Guys, he's really tired. We all are. Go back to the hotel, get some sleep, and we'll let you all meet them tomorrow. Okay?"
"Technically, it IS tomorrow," Bea pointed to the clock. It read 2:45AM.
"Oh wonderful…" Lulu sighed.
"Ms. Lips, could you at least give him this card I made? It's special!" Milo said, shoving a piece of paper into her tentacles.
She took a quick glance at the juvenile-level artistry, sighed inwardly, and shoved it in her pocket. "Sure, Milo. No problem."
She began leading the three fish to the exit, until Bea stopped in her tracks.
"Wait! You have to tell us! We waited all night!"
"Tell you what? You know everything," Lips asked.
"You know, did you…say 'yes?'" Bea asked, her fingers crossed.
"That seems really personal…" Oscar mumbled.
"Shut up, Oscar," Bea whispered.
"Oh, it's really no big deal. Yes, I accepted."
"Ooh, congrats! That's wonderful!" Bea clapped.
"I guess that is pretty exciting," Oscar said.
Milo was so excited, he looked like he might blow a fuse. Ms. Lips placed a tentacle on his head and held him at arm's length. "Please don't hug me, Milo."
Even a counselor had her limits.