"I'm sorry I've been acting strange these past few days, but it was because I wanted to ask you, Ms. Lulu Latoya Lips, will you marry me?"
"Oh, cupcake! I had no idea!" Lips gasped, dropping Attila, "Well, my answer is-"
Daniel didn't get to hear the end of Lulu's sentence. An overwhelming tightness gripped his stomach, a pain similar yet more intense than he'd experienced in the last day or so. It rocked him, he was unsure of how to react. He let out an involuntary moan, holding his stomach. Lulu's excited smile fell upon noticing her boyfriend was in pain. Dan remained hunched over on the floor. The gripping agony was now seizing his entire body. Lulu hastily knelt down in front of him.
"Are you alright? What's wrong?" She asked.
"…it hurts," Dan breathed. It was all he could say.
"What does…?" The sentence trailed off. Her eyes widened when she noticed his hands folded around his belly. "No…no, no, no. Are you-"
"I thought I was just having stomach cramps from the stress, but…they've been coming and going. I even felt it on the plane."
"You think…you think the babies are coming? Now?"
"I'm afraid so," he grimaced, hunching over on the floor.
"Alright, alright. Um, let's get up. Slowly."
Lulu took Daniel's arms and guided him off the ground. Chaos continued to ensue around them, but the couple seemed to be in their own little world. Daniel's grip on Lulu's tentacles tightened. He seemed to be in some state of shock.
"Hey," Lulu said, making him look at her, "It'll be okay, but we need to get you to a hospital."
"Sooner the better," Baldwin agreed.
She stuck one of his arms around her shoulders, and one of hers around his torso.
"I gotcha'," she assured him.
Baldwin nodded, trying to breathe. Lulu's head was swimming as she struggled to think of what to do next. She knew she had to stay calm, but take control of the situation. Knowing her boyfriend, he was already panicking internally. She didn't want the internal to become external. She looked around the restaurant, which was in utter chaos at this point. Not wanting to waste time, Lulu let out a shrill whistle, as piercing as she could manage it. The frantic activity screeched to a dead halt.
"Hey you!" she hollered at the looming hairless cat, "where's the nearest hospital?!"
The cat squinted, padding over to the squid and seahorse. He leaned in close to the couple. Baldwin was quaking at being so close to such a large animal, and one that could easily eat them, but Lips tried to suppress her anxiety and focus.
"We, um, we need to get to a hospital. Is there one nearby?" Lulu managed.
"Oh, if that's all," the cat's voice boomed, "there's one a few tanks away. It serves on a multispecies level, so you should be fine."
"Th-thank you," Dan choked out.
He wrapped his hand tighter around Lulu's shoulder, as he braced for the returning pain. Lulu settled Attila in her bag, "I don't think you can walk that far. I'll carry you," she said to Dan.
"I'm too heavy," he grimaced, shaking his head.
"I can take you, if you'd like," said the cat, and looked at all the anxious fish students, "all of you."
"What do you think, cupcake?" Lips asked Baldwin.
He hesitated. He was afraid of heights, and speed, and giant cats. But his fear of pain, and the fear for the babies' wellbeing, won out. "Okay."
And that's how they all ended up riding on the back of a giant hairless cat, crossing several habitats at a time, at a smooth accelerated pace. Most of the students were whooping and hollering about what a ride it was, but Lulu was too focused on her laboring boyfriend to pay much attention, and Baldwin was focusing on trying not to throw up.
"Danny, I want you to know," Lulu sighed, "about your proposal-"
Baldwin cupped a sweaty palm over her mouth, "It can wait," he groaned, forcing an uncomfortable smile. He was privately quite happy, lying in Lulu's arms the way he was, but the pain was ruining it for him. And it was awful. Baldwin tried to stay still, but at the very least his back was cramping brutally. Lulu could feel him tensing up when the pain hit, his hand wrapping tightly around her right tentacle. He seemed intently focused, quietly leaning his head into her shoulder.
"You're doing well, given the circumstances," Lulu said, her lips pecking his clenched fist.
He gave stunted chuckle through the grimace. They could feel the cat slowing his gallop. The bright white lights of the hospital shone in the dark of the evening. Ms. Lips gathered her pained boyfriend into her arms, carefully sliding off the neck of the cat. The student body of Baldwin's class alighted shortly behind. They reached the door and Lips turned back to the cat, giving a brief nod of thanks.
Lulu helped Dan get to the check-in desk of the ER, where he proceeded to hunch over the counter, head in hands. The nurse, who was a lizard, glanced up at the odd fish couple.
"Hi," Lulu began, "I'm, I mean, he's…we're…well, it's a little tricky…"
Suddenly the students began talking over one another, each making his or her voice louder in order to be heard. Ms. Lips tried to shush them calmly, but the activity was just too frenetic. Dan could see her looking a frazzled and anxious, and something inside him snapped.
"Will everyone just SHUT UP?!" He cried out.
The ER fell into a dead silence, all eyes on the distressed seahorse.
"Thank you," Baldwin said. He immediately turned to the nurse at the desk, spouting out his name, birthdate, and information regarding his pregnancy.
"Are all these kids yours?" the nurse asked, glancing at the crowd of students behind them. Bea, Oscar, and Milo gave a small wave.
"In a sense," Baldwin sighed.
"They won't be in the room during the delivery, though," Lulu quickly added.
"Thank Cod…" Dan mumbled.
The nurse called over another worker, who immediately fetched the pained seahorse a wheelchair. He took it gratefully, clenching the armrest with one hand while continuing to grip Lips' tentacle with the other.
"We can take you back now and get you settled," a different nurse said. This one was a gerbil.
Baldwin nodded, trying to breathe through the latest contraction. Lips petted his hair, attempting to comfort him the best she knew how. The nurse eyed Ms. Lips' bag, where Attila was chewing on the edge of the purse.
"Um, ma'am, we don't allow pets in this facility-"
"For the love of all that is good and holy," Baldwin growled through the pain, "do NOT say anything about the cat-fish!"
The nurse clammed up, but another nurse insisted that at the very least, the cat-fish could not go beyond the waiting room. Lulu chuckled at Baldwin's strained exhibition of love, and kissed Daniel's perspiring forehead. She pulled Attila out of her bag and walked over to the students.
"Bo Gregory, you're good with animals, aren't you?"
"Oh, yes ma'am, Ms. Lips."
"Watch my Attila for me. Don't let him wander."
Attila let out a mew of protest, but was ultimately comfortable in Bo's fins. Lulu hurried back to her boyfriend's side. Daniel took one of her tentacles in his shaking hand; the other gripped the armrest of the wheelchair.
"We'll come, too!" Bea piped up, dragging along Milo and Oscar.
"Uh, guys? I-Is that such a good-?" Oscar started.
"We can help!" Milo added.
The seahorse's hands clenched; his blood boiled. He was about to snap to snap again, but Lips interrupted him.
"Look, I know how badly you guys wanted us to get back together, and now that we are, we really need some time alone. Can you manage the rest of the students while we're gone?"
"Oh, totally!" Bea chimed.
"Great. Thank you." Ms. Lips said.
Lulu walked beside the wheelchair as it was being pushed briskly down the hall.
"You're good!" Dan said.
"I'm a counselor for a reason, honey," she said, "let's go have some babies."
LBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLB
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!"
The contraction got tighter and tighter. Baldwin shoved his fist deeper into the mattress. He thanked Cod he was not in a public ward. His breathing was a little frantic; water ran rapidly through the tubes taped down on his gills. Despite the fact that the medical tape was itchy on his neck, the tubing was definitely more comfortable than the bulky watersuit. Lulu Lips sat in a nearby chair, anxiety welling inside of her. Daniel's body visibly relaxed, letting out a gasp of relief. He leaned back against the pillow, cupping his hands over his face.
"Doing okay?" Lulu asked.
"Despite popular belief, this is not easy," Dan chuckled.
"I'm sorry." She rested one of her tentacles on his shoulder. He took in one of his hands, and bussed it against his lips.
"I'll live," he sighed.
"Oh Cod…what do I do? How can I help?"
"You're here. That's all I care about. Besides, I've done enough damage."
Lu cocked her head. "Why do you say that?"
Dan sat on the side of the bed, his tail hanging to the floor. "Are you kidding? I ruined your vacation, Lu! I interrupted your trip, I insulted you, insulted your pet, maxed out my credit card...okay, that one wasn't my fault…insulted you again, and messed up my own proposal by going into labor. Not to mentioned I ruined the kids' chance of ever getting to go on a field trip ever again, and I'm probably going to get fired when we get home! I am officially the worst teacher in the history of Freshwater High."
"You're not having a good weekend, are you?" Lulu smirked.
Dan sighed, letting his head hang for a moment.
"Alright, I can't comment on your quality as a teacher. Never been your student, but you didn't ruin my trip. I wanted you to come from square one."
He peeked up at his girlfriend. "Wait…you did? But, you never asked."
"Because I knew you'd drop everything and do it! And I knew you needed the time off for your leave. And…well…" she continued.
"And? And what?"
"I needed some time alone with my thoughts."
Baldwin's chest clenched. "Something wrong?"
"No, everything's great. It's just, we've been together for almost a year, and with the babies coming soon, I was thinking…I was thinking I might marry you."
The seahorse blushed deeply. "You were?"
"I decided to get away for a bit, try to give it some serious thought."
Dan smiled faintly, but it turned into a grimace when the pain hit again. He doubled over, his tail tensing and curling with the tightening.
"Cod, what do I do? How can I…oh!" Lulu pulled his hands into her grip. "Look at me. Breathe, alright?"
"Huh?"
"Breathe. Like in the class, remember?"
The squid and seahorse tried the rhythmic breathing for a moment, waiting for the contraction to pass. It finally eased up, and Dan leaned his head into Lu's chest.
"Okay," he groaned, "I'm done. I want the babies out now, please."
"I don't think it works like that," Lulu grinned, "but if it's any consolation, I think you're doing well. Especially seeing how this definitely wasn't part of your plan."
"Well, you're here. That was part of it."
Lulu thought for a moment. "Were you really worried you'd have the girls while I wasn't there? Is that why you followed me?"
"Part of it. When the doctor told me it'd be any day now…I believed him this time. I just wanted you to…I didn't want you to miss…"
"Why didn't you just ask me to stay? I would have."
"I got nervous…I knew if you stayed, I'd definitely have to propose. I didn't know how ready I was. And I didn't want to ruin your trip."
"I'm flattered by how much effort you actually made."
"I wanted you to know how sorry I was. I know I messed up."
Lulu joined her boyfriend on the bed, wrapping one tentacle around his shoulders.
"You didn't mess up; you were nervous. You didn't know what to say. Besides, you think I didn't know you had Bea talking in your ears?"
"The 'diddly-doo' gave it away, huh?"
"You think?"
His smile fell. "But, we're okay?"
Lips pretended to mull it over, before finally kissing him on the cheek. "Yeah, we're fine."
"Good. I didn't set up that nursery in your house to just pack it up again."
"OUR house, silly."
"Right," Baldwin paused, "our house."
He'd forgotten how much had changed.