It's been a week so far. Wolfwood is making himself at home. Him and Vash get along so well; I love to see them laugh. I've been sick since yesterday though, hurting so bad I can't get out of bed. Meryl wanted me to go to the doctor, but the nearest hospital is hours away, and I don't think I could last that long without passing out in the heat.

~¤~Ignorance~¤~

Lily had woken up early, and gotten some cereal for herself, and for her father. Vash was so lazy, Lily had to spoon feed him, but she seemed to enjoy it. Vash did too, but he didn't enjoy when she missed and got milk in his nose. Wolfwood was already awake, and he looked very sleepy. When Meryl inquired as to why he was so groggy, Wolfwood simply replied "I found out the hard way, Millie kicks in her sleep."

The weather was nice out, not too hot, and not too cold. Vash fell asleep again after breakfast, so Wolfwood had to go outside with Lily. Lily insisted on wearing her cat ears outside, and as a result, the other kids seemed to think she was a bit off. They always asked, "Why do you have those silly cat ears on your head?" and Lily would always reply, "Because I like cats." The lack of explanation caused the other kids to avoid her, so she ended up sitting in the sand by herself and making large piles of sand.

Misty slowly emerged from Vash's room, and flopped down onto the couch, a rag on her forehead. She pulled the rag down slowly to cover her eyes. She flinched, and said to herself, "This couch feels awful." Just then, she felt something on her hips. She looked down and saw a pair of scared hands creeping up her sides. She screamed and got off of the couch Vash was still laying on. After a well-deserved slap from both Meryl and Misty, Vash got off of the couch and sulked in the corner, muttering "She laid on me."

Meryl let Misty have the couch for the time being, while she calmly coaxed Vash out of his corner. "VASH! You left this entire place a mess last night! Clean it up! Now, get up!"

"But Misty drank most of it!" Vash stood up and began gathering bottles.

"She's a guest in this house, albeit a guest with a drinking problem."

Misty rubbed her forehead with the rag, and slowly got up, going to the bathroom. She was in the same mood all afternoon, until she checked on Millie to see what her problem was.

Millie was up now, and stripping her bed of it's sheets. She dropped them in the corner and sat down, panting. Misty sighed and smiled a little and walked over.

"Mind if I give you an exam? I'm a fully certified doctor." Misty put her medical bag down.

"Well, I suppose it would do me some good." Misty got her things out and lifted Millie's shirt slightly. Misty took her stethoscope and took a listen to Millie's tummy.

"How have you been feeling lately?"

"Well, since yesterday, I've had these awful cramps. They come in waves and it's getting worse." Misty furrowed her brow, and replied, "Can you tell me were it hurts, exactly?"

As Millie moved her hands she flinched and groaned. She placed her hands on the lower part of her bulging stomach. Again, Misty was a little perplexed. She got up and walked to the dirty sheets, looking at them.

"These sheets are wet. Millie, did you sleep in these sheets last night?"

Millie blushed and nodded.

Misty sighed and got Millie up. She yelled for Meryl, Wolfwood and Vash to come into the room. When they came in, she didn't give them any change to ask what was going on or why she yelled.

"Wolfwood, I need you to get some blankets, a pillow and a change of clothes for Millie. Vash, I need you to get my medical supplies all in one spot and in the front passenger seat of my car. Meryl, I need two things from you. A bucket of wet warm rags and a pile of dry towels, as many as you can get. Go!" Without a word from any of them, Vash Wolfwood and Meryl went off to do their appointed tasks. Misty walked Millie to her car, and turned the air conditioning on. With some help, Millie laid down in the back and relaxed a little. Wolfwood sat at Millie's head, letting her lay her head in his lap, while Misty made Vash Drive. Meryl sat up front, and Misty sat in the back at Millie's feet. Lily was left to sit at Meryl's feet.

"Vash, I need you to drive to New Oregon. I know it's a 4 hours trip, but keep at 50 miles an hour and we should get there." Misty began laying towels down. Wolfwood frowned.

"What's going on!? You've been ordering us around this whole time, what's going on!?"

"Millie's been in labor for almost 24 hours. Her water broke during the night, and the rest of the labor was passed off as cramps. Meryl, I need some gloves and iodine."

Meryl passed Misty what she needed, and Misty checked how far along the baby was after removing Millie's undergarments. "As far as I can tell, she's only got a few more hours to go."

Vash's face was frozen in a portrait of pure fear and pressure. He looked like he was about to explode. Meryl looked over, and blinked. "Vash, you're shaking like a leaf. What's wrong? Misty's a doctor. Or." Meryl grinned, "Is it that you've never seen a woman give birth?"

Vash nodded his head slowly. Meryl laughed and put Lily in her lap. "There's no way you're going to survive your kids being born if you can't even handle a little blood, or pressure for that matter."

Vash continued to dive nervously along. For an hour, Vash got more and more concerned and nervous with each scream Millie let out from the back. Finally, Misty shouted "Stop the car, Vash!" So, he did, rather quickly. Lily fell off of Meryl's lap and back into the floorboard, and Wolfwood was jolted forward, his head hitting Meryl's. Before anyone could yell at him, Vash was already out of the car. Misty slowly dragged Millie out, and with Wolfwood's help, laid her on a thick layer of towels and pillows.

"Vash, Meryl, come here. Vash, you to give me the blankets and towels as I ask for them, and Meryl, I need you to keep handing me supplies."

Wolfwood turned blue as he sat down and actually looked under Millie's dress. Sure, it wasn't anything new to him, but now his child was coming out of it, and it just hit him. He got back up, moved closer to Millie's head, and laid her head back on his lap. Then, he froze like that. As soon as Vash sat down, he turned green and passed out, so Meryl took his job over.

"You men need to toughen up. Just because there's a little mucus and fluid doesn't mean it's a gross terrible thing." She got some new gloves from Meryl and sighed.

"Oh, I think it's a wonderful thing," Wolfwood replied, "It's not that I think it's gross, it's just that, I just realized I made the thing coming out of her."

"I know! It's all your fault!" Millie screamed and crushed his hand in her grip as a strong contraction hit her.

"Millie, you have to push now. The baby can't wait any longer." Misty got some wet rags and put them on Millie's stomach. After bracing her feet against the side of the car, Millie pushed as hard as she could.

"Alright, hold that for 10 seconds," Misty said as she checked the progress of the baby, "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5-"

"-4 3 2 1!" Millie took in a breath and relaxed. After the second push, the head crowned, and Vash woke up to see it. He simply said "Eeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww!" and moved so he couldn't see the baby.

After a few minutes, it got a little darker outside. Millie pushed as much as she could, but she was already tired, which made things difficult.

"One more time, Millie! It's almost out! I've got arms, 10 fingers, and a belly."

Wolfwood moved to see the child, and to his surprise, he didn't get sick. He smiled from ear to ear, and moves Misty aside. As the child finally came out, Wolfwood picked it up and pulled the cord out along with the cascade of fluid. Misty smiled and got the mucus out of the baby's mouth. As it took its first breaths, it cried loudly. Wolfwood laughed, and hugged it to him.

"I'm sorry to break up this family moment, but I need to cut the cord." Misty smiled at Wolfwood. He nodded and handed the baby over. As Misty cut the cord, she looked around. "I don't have anything to tie it with." As Vash peeked over to see the baby, Meryl took her ribbon off and handed it to Misty. She tied the cord with it, and wrapped the tiny crying bundle up in a blanket. Millie smiled and took the Baby after being propped up on the side of the car. She carefully took the baby, and cradled it in her arms. As it calmed down and fell asleep, she asked, "Is it a girl or a boy?"