TK and Kari spent a while in the halls before heading back. TK gave Kari a novel from the hospital gift shop as they lived through the contractions one at a time. It was almost dawn before Dr. Greystone came back in. She checked Kari's progress.
"Okay, here's the deal. When women are in labor, the contractions start slowly, and then gradually get closer and closer together. Normal." TK and Kari nodded. This wasn't news to them. "However, Kari's contractions are getting more numerous faster than usual. Uncommon, but not unheard of. It just means that you'll be parents sooner than expected."
"How much sooner?" TK asked.
"Probably in a few more hours."
"A few more hours! But before you said-"
"Before her contractions were an hour apart. Now Kari, relax and remember your breathing. I'll be back to check on you soon, but right now, you need to prepare yourselves. It won't be long now. Oh, and you might want to wake your friends up. It's gonna be kinda hard to push Kari's bed outta here with them sprawled all over the floor. We could run them over, I suppose, but then I think I'd lose my job." She walked out of the room, chuckling to herself.
"Hey! Dr. Greystone losing her job! There's an idea!"
"TK!"
"I'm joking, I'm joking."
"She's right though. You should wake them up."
"Okay, fine." He went into the waiting room. "Okay guys. Time to get up. Rise and shine!"
"Mmmf."
"Five more minutes."
"Coffee!"
"I never knew the floor was so hard."
"Good morning to you too." TK muttered. But the coffee sounded good, so he went to the cafeteria to get some. Of course, when he came back, most of his friends were still asleep.
"Don't worry, Tiki." Smiled Matt when he saw TK's face. "I'll wake 'em up for ya."
Something in Matt's voice make TK turn. "If you yell 'fire'..."
"Of course not. That joke's old now." He got up and started talking to the sleeping masses one by one.
"Hey, Mimi," he started, "The mall is having a big shoe sale today."
Mimi sat up, suddenly alert. "Shoes!" she squealed. Then she saw Joe, Cody, and Sora hiding giggles and scowled. "That was not funny, Matt! One should never joke about shoes."
Matt moved on. "Izzy, guess what? Dr. Greystone said that Kari is giving birth to three raccoons."
Izzy's eyes snapped open. "But that's scientifically impossible."
"Davis, wake up! You have to be at work in five minutes!" Matt shouted.
"Oh good. I'm early." Davis opened his eyes and smiled, having heard everything from before. Matt stared at him.
"Okay." He said. "This is taking too long. EVERYBODY GET UP BEFORE I POUR THIS HOT POT OF COFFEE ON YOUR HEAD!" There was an immediate stir.
TK sighed and shook his head. "Whatever works…"
"The girls are still asleep?" Armadillomon asked as he ate his Pop-Tart. "How late did they stay up?"
"Oh, you know girls. Get 'em together and they'll talk all night." Gabumon said.
"What happens if they're still asleep when the egg hatches?"
"Are you kidding? Gatomon'll wake up, no doubt. No way they'll still be asleep."
"You know, a few months ago I might've questioned that theory, but now I believe you."
An hour later, TK poured himself his third cup of coffee for the day.
"Whoa, man, go easy on that stuff." Tai advised.
"Hey, you try staying up all night and see how you feel at the end of it!" TK defended, sipping the dark liquid, then almost spit it out when a shriek came from the other room. "Kari! Are you okay, baby? Bad contraction?"
Kari shook her head. "Sorry. I got kind of surprised. It's just…wet."
"Your water broke." Said Dr. Greystone, coming into the room. "And your contractions are closer together. When you feel an urge to push, gimme a buzz and we'll transfer you to Delivery." Kari nodded her understanding, and Dr. Greystone left the couple alone.
TK got on his knees so that he was eye-level with Kari. "Honey," He started. "We're having a baby this morning."
"I know." She answered. "Everything's going to change."
"Not everything." He smiled. "I'll still love you."
"Awww." Tai and Matt joked.
"Shut up you guys!" Exclaimed Mimi.
"This is the good part!" Said Sora.
TK rolled his eyes and kicked the door between the waiting room and Kari's bed closed. Kari stifled a giggle. She kissed her husband lovingly, but not long enough.
"Oooh!" She grimaced halfway through. "Con-trac-tion!"
Gatomon dealt the cards.
"Do you have any threes, Biomon?" She asked.
"Go fish."
"Yay!" Gatomon picked an anchovy from the little tin in the middle of the circle. She popped it in her mouth and gave a satisfied swallow.
"Palamon, any eights?" Asked Biomon.
"Go fish."
"Eew." She picked up the anchovy with revulsion. "Uh, you can have it." She gave it to Gatomon.
"Do we have to play 'Go Fish?' It's getting old." Palamon complained.
"Yeah. I don't like this game. It's so much more fun when I play it with Sora."
"Are you kidding? This is great. Best game in the world." Biomon and Palamon glared at the cat. "Okay fine. Have it your way." And she reluctantly reshuffled the cards.
"Gaaaaaaaah!" Kari screamed.
"Okay, Kari. Worst is over… okay…there." TK let go of her hand.
"Whew!" Kari gasped. "That was a bad one!"
"Don't have to tell me." TK massaged his fingers.
"TK. I think it's time. Nori won't wait much longer."
TK jumped up. "Whoa, now? Okay, uh, we'll… we'll get Dr. Greystone! That's it! Yeah! Now, I'm going to find her, but I'll send someone else in for you! Whatever you do, don't panic!" From the way TK was jumping around, Kari could tell that he was trying to take his own advice.
TK ran out into the waiting room. "It's time, everybody! The baby's coming!"
Joe immediately got up from his seat when he saw how shaky TK was. "TK, calm down. Kari will be fine. Deep breaths." Joe breathed with TK before he quieted.
"Wow. I used to think that only the women did breathing exercises." Matt joked.
"Now go to the front desk out in the hall and ask them to page Dr. Greystone." Joe ordered.
"Okay." TK said, and was off.
Gatomon looked up from her card game, a sense of urgency in her eyes. At the same instant, Patamon turned away from the TV. They got up simultaneously and rushed toward their egg.
"It's hatching!" Patamon whispered excitedly.
"Yeah." Gatomon snuggled next to her husband and, as they watched, the egg started to vibrate. The others came over, enthralled with this little scene.
"Alright Kari. To the delivery room!" Dr. Greystone unhooked her bed from the wall and wheeled it down the hall. The digidestined followed, intent on witnessing the whole event. They paraded down the hall to the elevator. "Sorry guys, but, big as these elevators are, you aren't all going to fit." Dr. Greystone, Kari, and TK got in the elevator and closed the door, and Tai immediately began pushing the button for the next elevator.
"Tai, pushing the button repeatedly won't make the elevator come any faster." Yolei informed him.
"Well, better excessive button-pushing than pacing." Matt said. "That can get really annoying, believe me."
The elevator finally arrived and everyone climbed onboard. Tai tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator pinged through the floors.
"Now let's see." Dr. Greystone was saying when Tai raced into the room. "You said that the only people you wanted in with you two were the brothers, right?"
"You'd better believe it!" Tai yelled.
"Fine. Well get them in here and let's have this kid!" Dr. Greystone didn't have to tell Tai twice. He, and Matt, who was there by now, went into the room while the others settled themselves in their new space.
"At least we have chairs now." Davis said.
"Tai, Matt, I want you back here." Kari ordered, motioning to her sides.
"Oh, come on Kari. Why can't I stand over here?" Tai objected, standing at the foot of the bed.
"Oh please. I might be in labor, but I still have my decency."
"What decency? Remember when we were really little and Mom bathed us in the same tub? This is practically the same!"
"No it isn't."
"Kari, all the action's gonna be here! I wanna experience the miracle of life!"
"You can experience it from my point of view. You're going to have to become a father yourself if you want to see it head on."
Tai gave in, knowing that he'd never win this one.
"What are you doing here?" Dr. Greystone asked the new doctor coming in through the doorway. "Dr. Kossel is supposed to be helping me with this birth."
"She couldn't make it today, believe it or not. Some kind of freak belly button incident." The doctor said. "And, of course, I was the only one available."
"But I thought that this is your vacation week."
"Yeah, but it's alright. I practically live here anyway." He put on some gloves.
"Um, excuse me!" TK interrupted. "But who the heck is this?"
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Dr. Greystone apologized. "Takashis and brothers, I'd like you to meet Dr. McKnight. Apparently he'll be helping deliver the baby."
"And he'd better do it quick!" Kari said through clenched teeth.
"How far along is she?"
"She's feeling the need to push and is fully dilated. Looks like a smooth, easy birth."
"Great. Let's do this." The doctors got into position.
"Okay, Kari. Next contraction, push!"
"Aaargh!"
"Push! Good. Don't forget to breathe. Right." This came from TK, coaxing Kari through the whole thing. "Ohmigosh! I see it!" He exclaimed as the tip of the head became visible. Tai whimpered a bit, partly because he couldn't see it and partially because Kari had his fingers in an uncomfortable death grip.
"Look!" Armidillomon shouted. A teeny crack formed at the top of the egg. Patamon got up and pressed the tag and crest to one side of the egg, and Gatomon did the same with the digivice to the other side.
Tentomon gave Izzy's pad of paper to Veemon. "You have fingers. Take notes." He ordered.
"All right. Head's almost out. One more push!" Kari took a deep breath.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Did you hear something?" Gabumon asked.
"Look!"
The crack grew bigger.
Beads of sweat rolled down Kari's face as she panted for breath. Matt and Tai craned their necks for a first look at their nephew's face.
"Oh my god…" TK breathed. "He's beautiful…"
"We're not there yet." Dr. Greystone warned. We've still got the shoulders to go. But worst part's over."
Kari strained with all of her dwindling strength, and the shoulder's slowly emerged.
The top of the egg cracked off. Patamon gazed down at the quivering fuzzy white ball inside.
"Okay Dad." Dr. McKnight said. "Pull him out."
"Me?" TK said weakly.
"Unless you want Kari to push him out by herself."
"Oh god, no! TK, do it!" Kari said.
TK grasped the baby where Dr. McKnight showed him and gently pulled.
Patamon grasped the white snowball by its sides and gently pulled.
TK took the baby out and held it in front of him. Nori's face crumpled and he broke out in a shrill cry.
"Perfect." Said Dr. Greystone.
Patamon held the baby out and gave him to Gatomon.
"He's perfect." He said.
TK gave Nori to his wife. "Look honey. It's our son."
"Our son."