Chapter 4: Surprise

"Shit… shit… shit!" Rad quickly pulled into a parking spot and ran to the passenger door of the ute, opening it for Frisky.

She grunted as he offered her his arm, the two walking together toward the emergency room, pausing a moment as another contraction nearly brought Frisky to her knees. "Gah!" She screamed.

Rad held her up and tensed, What the fuck am I supposed to do?! "It's okay. You're gonna be okay…" He tried reassuring her as they reached the entry door. As they stepped over the threshold he shouted to the woman at the reception desk. "I need a doctor! My wife's in labor, and she's two months early!"

***PT***

"Come on, pick up, pick up…" Rad mumbled as he paced the hallway outside of the room where Frisky was. After two rings there was a reply.

"Hello?" Bandit blearily replied, rubbing his eyes as he sat up in bed.

"Oh thank God!" Rad nearly laughed.

"Rad, is that you?" Bandit asked, dryly opening and closing his mouth, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth as he looked at the caller ID on screen.

"Ban, I need some help. You know I don't ask for shit often, so trust me when I say it's serious."

Bandit sat up and got out of bed, walking out to the balcony. Chilli stirred, but remained sleeping. Bandit leaned against the railing a moment, taking in the cold air of the night before replying. "What is it, Rad?"

"Frisky's in labor. Like, seriously in labor. She's most of the way dilated and the doctor says it's happening now."

Bandit blinked. "Wait, I thought she wasn't due until October?"

"She's early. We don't know why. Everything looked normal on the last ultrasound we had. I'm freaking out. Why is it happening now? What if it's a miscarriage?!"

Bandit breathed out slowly, "Rad I need you to listen to me closely. Take a deep breath in."

"Okay."

"Hold it." Bandit paused. "Listen as I count down. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…" He paused, "Breathe out."

Rad exhaled.

"Let's do that again." Bandit instructed, working through the process two more times.

"Okay. Thanks." Rad said, "But seriously mate, what if something goes wrong?"

"You love Frisky, right?"

"Of course, she's my wife!" Rad replied, a slight anger in his voice.

"I wasn't implying you don't." Bandit said hastily, "But you'd do anything for her?"

"Absolutely!"

"Then no matter what happens you'll figure it out." Bandit paused, "I'm guessing you called me instead of Stripe because of Baxter and Bingo?"

Rad was quiet a moment, "Yeah. I kinda hoped you'd have advice."

Bandit grasped the railing as he tilted forward, "You know about Baxter, but you don't know what happened after the miscarriage. It took a lot of time-A lot of fucking time-to finally start to get back to normal. It, well, it hurt. But we talked and we went to therapy and we got through it. If that is what this is, I promise you that Chilli and I will be there to help you two through it. He was supposed to be our first; we know how much it hurts."

Rad looked down at the linoleum tiles. He knew that Bandit had been through a lot with the death of their first and he felt sorry for bringing it up. "Sorry… I know it still's sore for you two."

"Hey, it had to be done. And now for Bingo?" Bandit suggested.

"Well, it would be nice to know what to expect if it is a pre-me." Rad admitted.

"The hardest part is that you won't be allowed to hold her. Not for the first few months." Bandit choked back a sob as he thought about looking at his little girl behind a wall of Plexiglas, tubes sticking from her nose and mouth as she wiggled in the little box. "You two'll go home and it'll be waiting. Waiting until you can finally have your baby. And even once you can, chances are there'll be complications. Bingo's got celiacs, not to mention a few other problems with her kidneys. She'll have them for life, but she's here. That's what matters."

***PT***

It was the next afternoon when Frisky was fully ready to go and Rad was once again panicking. While he'd taken classes on how to be a father, none of them had gone over the actual birthing process. The doctors were in and out. The nurses were constantly saying things he didn't understand. As much as he tried to be comforting Frisky was still screaming, ready but not quite ready, and he was petrified of making a mistake. He quickly excused himself under the pretense of using the restroom, but really to get some help. He tried to call and get some sort of advice, but he hadn't had any luck. He tried to call both his brothers, but neither was available at the moment. As it turned out Bandit was on a conference call at work and can't get off, and Stripe was in a mandatory meeting with HR because a coworker of his did something reprehensible.

Rad cursed his luck and tried dialing Chilli-Maybe Bandit's at home and she can talk to him? Again he went straight to voicemail. Chilli's phone buzzed on the table as she was busy with her kids. It's the end of a long week and they're all playing in the yard as they enjoy the last few days before school resumes. Rad wracked his brain. Okay, Trixie then. She can get Stripe. Again voicemail. Trixie was on shift.

In a last ditch effort he tried Brandy, who answered on the third ring. "Hello?" She replied, the unidentified number being listed as local. "Look, whatever it is I don't want any." She stated. As she was about to hang up, expecting a sales pitch, she heard a familiar voice.

"Wait, Brandy, it's me, it's Rad!"

"Rad?"

"Yes!"

"Did you change your number?"

Rad reddened slightly, having forgotten to inform her of the change. "Um, yeah. I accidentally dropped my old phone off a tower on the rig and had to get a new one. They couldn't give me the same number."

"Oh, well, sorry. I get so many spam calls." She shook her head.

"Mama!" Austin called from the playpen. "Mama!"

"Hold on one sec." Brandy said, walking over from where she'd been making lunch to check on Austin. "Hey Aus, what's up?"

He pointed at her and stuck his tongue out before giggling.

"Oh, you just wanted some attention, didn't cha?"

He nodded.

"Okay, I promise we can play in a minute. I need to finish lunch." She shifted the phone back to listen to Rad. "Sorry, Austin needed me, what do you need?"

"Frisky's in labor and she's about to give birth. I have no fucking idea what to do!" Rad shouted.

Brandy's brow rose, "Wait, isn't she due in, like, two months?"

"Which is why I'm freaking out!" He paused, "That and her vagina looks like it's got a furry softball about to pop out of it."

"Oh, that means she's crowning, it's almost time. You've gotta get back in there!"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"You are there for emotional support. Let the doctors and nurses do their jobs and be encouraging. Let her hold your arm and try to keep her calm." Brandy thought back to Chilli helping during Austin's birth. "It's gonna be messy and you might feel sick looking at it, it's a lot of blood and other stuff that comes out. After the little guy you've got the placenta, then she's done. Right now, get in there and be your normal charming stupid self."

"Hey!"

"You know what I mean, now move!"

***PT***

Shortly after Rad ended their call Brandy sent a message on the group chat giving the situation to everyone.

Frisky: Hey, just got off the phone with Rad. He and Frisky are in the hospital. She's in labor and about to give birth.

A minute later a flurry of text replied came in.

Stripe: So that's why he tried to call me. I'm stuck in a meeting, but as soon as I'm done I'll head over to the hospital. Trix, want me to grab the girls?

Trixie: I can get them. The school's on my way home. I just finished my shift. What's another few hours? I've only been up fourteen so far.

Bandit: Ouch. Once again, thank you for your service. He called me last night and sounded freaked out. Was he any calmer?

Brandy: No, not really.

Chilli: I'll get the girls and Russell over. We'll meet you at the hospital.

Stripe: Should someone tell Frisky's family?

Bandit: You know any of their numbers?

Stripe: Her one older brother owns a catering company my work uses sometimes. I guess I could try their number?

Chilli: Worth a shot.

Twenty minutes later the collective Heeler-Cattle family was sitting in the waiting room of the Brisbane Memorial Hospital. It was the first time that Muffin, Socks, and Austin got to meet their new cousin.

"So you're our new cousin?" Muffin asked, looking at the German Shepherd mix. "But you don't look like us."

"Muffy!" Stripe corrected.

"That's cause he's adopted." Socks stated. "But he's still family, just like Austin."

Austin looked at the older boy, the nearly two year old not really sure what to say. So he blew a raspberry.

Russell smiled and signed his introduction. The two girls looked at him with puzzled faces. Austin just waved in reply.

"What?" Muffin asked.

"Russell said hello and told you his name." Bingo said. "He uses his hands to talk."

"Oh, okay." Muffin nodded. "How do I talk back to him?"

"Well…" Bluey said.

It was another two hours before any news came from the delivery room. In that time Russell had managed to instruct Muffin and Socks in a few basic phrases and the kids generally got along, playing with the limited selection of toys in the waiting room.

Frisky's brothers and parents had also arrived, along with Chris and Bob. The grandparents chatted while the Heelers and Cattles got to meet Frisky's brothers. Neither was married, and neither had intent to. Of the twins Franklin was the caterer and Fritz was the architect. Both preferred their work to family life, at least at the moment.

It was as Fritz started to explain his recent work that Rad appeared out the double doors. He was wearing a nervous grin and was drenched in sweat.

"Well, good news?" Chris asked.

"Yes, all good news." Rad nodded, "Unexpected, but good."

"Unexpected?" Bandit asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Well, remember how we said we were having a boy?"

"We have another granddaughter?" Bob guessed.

"No, it's a boy!" Rad stated before he paused showing a picture on his phone of a small bundled tot, "And another boy!" He scrolled to the next picture. A second pause, "And a third boy!" He moved to the final picture revealing an exhausted Frisky and Rad sitting side by side holding three small bundles.

The room was silent a moment aside from Austin fiddling with a zipper on his mother's jacket.

"What?" Chilli asked flatly.

"We had triplets." Rad sheepishly grinned, waving his hands slightly. "Surprise?"

"But, wait, how?" Stripe asked.

"Well, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much…" Rad snarked.

"Shut it. All of us had kids before you. We know how it works." Stripe snipped back, "How'd they not see the other two?"

"Turns out the ultrasound missed the two in the back." Rad paused, "Well, that or we missed the fact that they changed every time we got a new scan."

"So, wait, we have THREE new cousins?" Socks asked.

"Yes." Rad nodded happily.

The kids went ballistic. Russell was taken aback a moment by the enthusiasm before remembering how happy his family was when he showed up, so he politely clapped along until the cheering died down.

"What are their names?" Bingo asked.

"Darren, Dominic, and David." Rad supplied.

"What are you gonna do? There's no way you can fit three kids in your apartment." Stripe asked, thinking of the small bachelor's pad that Frisky and Rad had jury-rigged with a nursery.

"We need to get you baby stuff! You need two more of everything!" Chilli declared.

"Can you even fit three car seats in your ute?" Brandy asked.

"Yeah… There's a lot for us to figure out." Rad admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "But most importantly we have three healthy, happy babies to add to the Heeler line!"

"And I guess she said no more, right?" Bandit remarked, a raised eyebrow as he glanced at Stripe-both having gotten the big snip themselves.

"Oh, absolutely not." Rad shook his head. "There's no way in hell we're doing this again."

"Then come brother, we have something to discuss." Stripe smiled evilly as he and Bandit led Rad to the side to talk a moment.

***PT***

Over the next few days the major issues were ironed out. First Rad managed to secure a transfer for his job that evening so that he could be there to help Frisky with their three sudden additions. After calling his boss and threatening to either quit or be transferred he managed to secure a transfer to a refinery on the outskirts of the city. The next morning Rad traded in the ute for an SUV. He was heartbroken, the ute being one of his favorite cars, but does so knowing that ultimately there was no way to fir three infant car seats in its small backseat. It was decided that for the time being the apartment will suffice, but Brandy knows about a few empty units in her building that are larger and will get them one when it's available-her landlord owes her one, and that's all she say on it.

A week later they were cleared to be released and Rad and Frisky were officially parents. Thankfully they weren't on their own, as they had their parents, siblings, and shared quasi-sister-in-law to help. The only wrinkle was that no one else in their family had had litters (well, aside from Frisky's mother having her twin brothers) and they had no idea the chaos that the three would have in store for them in the years to come.

***Author's Note***

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you did, please feel free to comment. If you didn't, leave a comment suggesting what you'd like for next time. I should have another chapter of Society coming up in a day or two, and hopefully some updates with my other collabs in the near future. In any case, thanks for reading!