"I am not having this baby until he gets here, and that's final!" Alicia snarled at Max. "That's an order," she said to the baby.
Max wanted to laugh, but Alicia had been in labor for a little over nine hours, and it was starting to look doubtful if Zack would make it. Alicia had gone into labor, but there was major rioting in the city, and she hadn't been able to get anywhere. Buildings were being burned, and cars flipped over no matter who was in them. She had hoped it was false labor since she wasn't due for a couple more weeks, but after about two hours the contractions were becoming regular and more intense. Kendra had been with her, and she knew well enough that this was real labor.
Oddly enough, Alicia and Kendra had become good friends from the time they met. Kendra said it was because she was an outcast after hooking up with Walter. It was supposed to be a joke, but you had to wonder a little. It was a strange combination, but since both Alicia and Kendra were bumbling through learning domesticity, they had found a common bond. Kendra was almost as excited about Max's "nephew" as Alicia was.
Kendra had called Walter, and he managed to get some help to his little cupcake and her friend. He approved of Alicia far more than Max. She was so much nicer than Max ever was. He had yet to meet Max's brother, but he was sure that Zack had to be less of a jerk than Max. A riot squad had ended up outside of the apartment building, and took them to Logan's place. They called the doctor, and started to wait. Max had called Zack, and he promised to be there as soon as he could.
Kendra had gotten things ready while they waited for Dr. Kershaw. Sebastian had recommended him as a very trustworthy doctor. He'd been shocked to hear about the medical history involved, but was excited to see what would happen. So far, as far as he could tell everything was going along quite well. He'd said it would take a while to get through the tail end of the riot, but Alicia probably wouldn't have the baby for another ten hours or so. He'd forgotten Manticore efficiency. They appeared to do everything as efficiently as possible, including giving birth.
Kendra was quite the OB nurse. Her mother had died when she was seven, and when she was nine her father remarried. Her stepmother promptly had six kids in eight years. After the Pulse, the births were all at home. She'd learned how to assist in the labor and delivery, and clean up the baby once born. She didn't know the real reason why Alicia was so determined not to go to a hospital, but she accepted that the reason was Alicia just didn't trust hospitals. It was a common attitude in this world.
Now, hours later, Alicia was well into hard labor. She knew she could deal with pain. She'd been stabbed before and had laughed it off. She'd broken bones and had to walk on a cracked ankle. But this…this hurt! It felt like her lower abdomen was trying to turn itself inside out with every contraction. He's never touching me again, she thought furiously as another contraction started to build.
"Oh God," she groaned. Max held her hand as the pain crested, and then receded slightly. Logan had tried to help with the handholding thing, but learned another valuable lesson he hoped he would use later. When the genetically engineered go into labor, they can crack bones without even meaning to. Max was going to be bruised as it was.
"Breathe with it," Kendra said, trying to coach her in Lamaze. A few minutes later another contraction came on even stronger this time, and Alicia was panting, biting her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. This really hurt!
She was going to kill Zack. She had wanted to go to LA. Seattle wasn't all that much of a thrill to her, and to be honest, she'd rather have Jhondie around than Max and Logan. Jhondie seemed much more normal, more like the way she wanted her son to be raised. Zack had asked her to stay here. It was the way he said it that told her Seattle was more central to where he had the fivers stashed than LA was. And, worse case scenario, Logan would be able to get her to a safe location faster than Jhondie could. Alicia had agreed, at least until the baby was born. She'd stayed, and he still wasn't here. If he dared show his face around here she was going to tell him what a no good son of a bitch lousy jerk of a self-centered…
"OK, Alicia, you're ready to start pushing now," Dr. Kershaw said, interrupting her mental rant.
"No," she snapped, and then cried out as another pain swept over her. She didn't notice that she about brought Max to her knees when her hand clamped down. "Oh God," she groaned again. "I don't want to do this anymore."
"Then get ready to push with the next contraction," he replied calmly, the veteran of many rants from women in labor. He checked the monitor hooked to her. It wouldn't be long now. She was fully dilated, and the baby was in position. He was a little surprised at how fast this was going with her first child, but when dealing with a person like Alicia, he had no idea what could happen.
"Okay," the doctor said, watching the monitor, "here it comes, push until I say stop. Ready? Push!"
She couldn't stop the small scream as she strained. Contractions had been bad? What was this kid doing, disemboweling on his way out? Vaguely she heard a door slam, and suddenly Max was jerked away, and an arm came around her, a hand gripping hers.
"Keep pushing," Dr. Kershaw ordered. "You're doing good…three…two…one…ok, relax."
She was gasping already, soaked with sweat as she looked up into Zack's face. "You asshole!" she yelled at him. "You go running around, leaving me all alone, and you're not there when I needed you!" She cursed a few more times rather creatively. It was a good thing Zack didn't really have a mother. She would be rather embarrassed to have such disturbing things about her behavior brought up. "Get out! And don't you even think about touching me again or I swear I'll…" Alicia suddenly cried out as the next contraction started.
"You're almost there," Kendra encouraged her, watching for the crowning. "You're doing great!"
Alicia didn't feel like she was doing great as she pushed again, feeling like she was getting nowhere. Zack didn't let her go for a second, bracing her back as she squeezed as hard as she could. In another minute she was just going to reach up there and yank the kid out herself. She fell back, panting. Her eyes met Zack's again.
"I'm sorry," she suddenly sobbed. "I didn't mean that, I don't want you to go, it just hurts so bad."
"It's alright love," he said, not sure how to react to the pain in her eyes. He'd seen her running around with broken ribs and not once complain about hurting, but now it was his fault now she was in this much pain. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise." He let her go and quickly took off his riding jacket and gloves.
"Okay," the doctor interrupted, "time for another."
"No," she gasped, and then looked at Zack. "I can't do this, please, it hurts too much."
Zack would have given anything to be able to call this off just to get rid of the pain in her face. "You can do it," he said softly. "You can do anything, you always could."
The contraction hit fiercely, and with Zack's encouragement she bore down hard, every muscle in her body tense to the point of breaking, and then she felt something give deep inside of her.
"Oh my God, there's his head!" Kendra squealed. Max came around. This was something they never taught at Manticore, and she wanted to know what it was all about.
"One more time," Dr. Kershaw ordered. "Ready…set…push!"
Zack felt the bones in his hand grind as she tensed once more. "Keep going," he encouraged. "Almost there, love, it's almost over." If it wasn't she was going to snap his hand off at the wrist.
And then they all heard the cry of a newborn baby. It was 12:04 AM on Independence Day.
Alicia couldn't help the tears as she heard her baby's strong, healthy, and very indignant wail. She looked up at Zack, and both of them were laughing and crying at the same time as the doctor announced it was a boy. Kendra cleaned him up quickly as Dr. Kershaw took care of Alicia, and then she placed the child in his mother's arms. She didn't notice Kendra shooing everyone from the room.
"He's so tiny," she whispered. She'd held guns bigger than him before. Kendra had said something about him weighing seven pounds, nine ounces, but she was too entranced by this tiny creature she and Zack had created together to listen. Zack slid in behind her so that Alicia had her back to his chest, his arm moving beneath hers so that they were both holding their tiny baby.
"I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life," he whispered back. She touched her baby's hand, marveling at the fingers, so perfectly shaped. Her finger touched his palm, and he clinched it tightly. He blinked, and then looked up at his parents solemnly. Alicia could almost hear him thinking, I've got too much to do to be this helpless. He looked like Zack already.
She looked up at Zack, and he looked down at her. They kissed briefly, and when they separated, she could see every bit of the love he had for his family shining out in his eyes. "He's perfect," she said happily. She looked back at her new son. "You've got a lot ahead of you," she said softly. "You'll be the first one to have the chance to right the wrongs. Your daddy was a victim of it, and I helped perpetuate it, but you my little love are a blank slate altogether." She touched his face, and he yawned hugely, his eyes closing. He'd had a tough day.
There was a knock on the door, and Max, Logan, and Kendra came in. Max never thought she'd see the day Zack would ever have that particular expression on his face as he stared at the baby in Alicia's arms. It was still a picturesque scene, just seeing the happiness on both their faces.
"You come up with a name yet?" Max asked.
"Daniel Cole Raleigh," Zack said firmly. He pretended not to notice Max's grimace. They'd already picked out the name, and they knew what it meant. Anyone else knowing was irrelevant. Daniel was for Dana, Cole was for everything he had done for them, and Raleigh was the last name they had been using.
Alicia knew Zack wouldn't want their son being a Lydecker, so she asked him if there was a last name he used. He'd said Raleigh, and she thought it was fitting. He had been a great explorer whose much smaller fleet had outmaneuvered and eventually helped to destroy the huge Spanish Armada. It suited Zack. She thought of something else, and almost laughed herself sick until she could tell Zack. Sir Walter Raleigh had also defied his Queen and run off to marry his lover when she wouldn't give permission for them to marry. Fitting.
"Daniel Cole," Logan said quickly, before Max could make any unnecessary comments. "It has a nice ring to it."
"Sure does," Kendra echoed.
Max finally had to smile. It was their kid. She hung with guys with names like Sketchy and Herbal. She'd find a better name for the kid. He was her nephew after all.
Daniel smacked his little lips a few times, and sighed in his sleep. He was warm and safe at that moment, and he knew instinctively that the people around him would always keep it that way.