(A/N – Sorry for the delay once again guys, my brain was on total shutdown. From here on out, in the interests of spontaneity and to keep my remaining sanity, I'm not going to stick with my regular Saturday update schedule. Instead, I'm going for complete unpredictability and posting chapters on random days! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this "super sized" double chapter of "Nine Months in the Socks of the Motamiya's!")
Nine Months in the Socks of the Motamiya's – Chapter 26
"Awww, come on! I got to get to the hospital! My sister is going to have a baby!" Tai pleaded, hands clasped in front of him. "Can't we just call this a lesson learned and go?"
"I'm sorry sir, but the speed limit was posted several times down the highway." The police officer said, emotionless, as he continued scribbling on his clipboard. "You were doing 70 MPH in a 40 MPH zone."
"Aww, come on! You guys do three times that every day!" Tai argued. "What's your excuse, huh? What's your excuse?"
"We go that fast to catch up with speed demons like you." The officer said, handing the clipboard to Tai. "Sign on the bottom line please. By signing this, you're not pleading guilty or innocent—"
"Then why are you giving me the ticket!" Tai exclaimed, as he angrily and quickly wrote the kanji for his name.
"…if you wish to plead guilty and pay the fine," The officer continued, nonplused, tearing the ticket out of the clipboard. "You can go online to our website, mail in a payment, or go to the address on the back of the ticket before your court date." He handed Tai the ticket.
"Great. Just great." Tai said, slumping over the hood of the car. "A ticket. Just what I need." Tai looked up to see the officer writing on his clipboard again. "OH COME ON! WHAT NOW!"
The officer tapped the windshield where a small sticker with the numbers "10 14". "Your inspection sticker expired in October. It's the end of December. Moving violation."
"I didn't have time to get my stupid inspection sticker renewed! My wife was pregnant!" Tai exclaimed, pointing to a now fully embarrassed Sora and a sleeping Kenichi.
"Ma'am." The officer said, tipping his hat to Sora, "How old is the child?"
"Umm…one week." Sora said, smiling nervously, taking a sip from her soda.
"Sir, you had three months to get that taken care of. The drive through express inspection center only takes 15 minutes."
"Come on, officer. Lighten up. It's New Years Eve…we're about to start a whole new year. Can't we start this year off right?" Tai pleaded.
"You just used that argument on me with the speeding ticket sir. Once foolish, twice stupid. Sign on the bottom line please."
Once again, Tai slashed out the kanji characters for his name and hastily grabbed the ticket from the officer's hand when he finished.
"Have a happy new year sir, ma'am." The officer said, tipping his hat as he walked back to his squad car.
Tai slumped dejectedly into the drivers seat, the two tickets clenched in his hand. "I don't believe this!" He growled as the squad car drove past them. "Two tickets in a row!"
"Well, you WERE speeding and you DID have an expired sticker. Besides, didn't I ask you about your sticker three months ago?"
"Yeah, and I said I would get around to it." Tai said, throwing the tickets in the glove compartment.
"I kinda hoped you would get around to it before the ticket, not after." Sora sighed, gently rocking Kenichi in her arms. "Let's get to the hospital. I called Davis when you were slashing our budget. Kari dilated to seven centimeters and she's getting her epidural."
"Lets roll, then." Tai said, turning the key in the ignition.
Click! Click! Click!
"Huh. Let's try again." Tai muttered, turning the key.
Click! Click! Click!
Sora looked over at Tai with wide eyes. "Tai, what's going on? Why won't the car start?"
"It's nothing, Sora! The motor just needs a chance to rest a bit." Tai replied, a slight tremble in his voice as he tried, unsuccessfully, to fold his arms nonchalantly. He nervously strummed his fingers on his forearm.
After twenty seconds, Tai nervously turned the key in the ignition and was met with the same volley of clicks.
"I'm going to go take a quick peek under the hood and…umm…check the fluids. You can never have enough fluids in the car!" Tai said, pulling the handle under the dashboard. A loud pop accompanied the hood raising up from the body of the car. Tai jumped out and threw the hood open.
Sora watched through the small crack under the hood as Tai wiggled connection wires and tugged at the belts that connected the alternator to the engine. She then noticed that Tai was now fingering a small metal cap towards the front of the car. There was writing on the top in bright red ink.
"Please tell me that he's not about to…" Sora thought as she watched Tai take hold of the cap and twisted it to the right.
"Tai! No! That's the…"
POP! PSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH…
"GAHHHHHH!"
"AHHHHHHH! GOD! IT HURTS!"
"Don't worry, Kari-chan. It's almost done." Davis said, supporting his wife as she leaned against him.
"Not almost; is." The doctor said, taping the plastic catheter tubing to Kari's back. "I know it hurts when it first goes in, but in a few minutes, you won't be feeling much. You can lay back down now, but gently."
Davis slowly helped Kari lay back down on the bed as she swung her legs back onto the bed. "How are you feeling now, Kari?" he asked, taking her hand.
"I don't know which hurt more, the contractions or the needle in the back." Kari groaned, looking as the doctor punched a few numbers into the IV leading into Kari's back.
"Everybody says that. Trust me, you'll be feeling much better once the medicine kicks in. Are you feeling sick to your stomach, or dizzy?" The doctor asked, peeling off his gloves and flicking them into the garbage can.
"None of the above. I'm feeling a good bit better than I was earlier. It's not hurting as much." Kari replied.
"Good. Very good. Well my job here is done." The doctor said, pushing his medical cart out the door. "I'm going to lunch now, but I'll check back in on you guys later."
"Okay! Thanks doc!" Davis said waving as the doctor closed the door behind him. "Not too long now."
"Seven centimeters down, three left to go." Kari sighed, her hands resting on her stomach. "Where is Tai? I want him to be here."
"He got pulled over by the cops for speeding. 70 in a 40. He's on his way."
"70 in a 40!" Kari exclaimed, eyebrows shooting up. "Where?"
"On the Sakura turnpike." Davis sighed. "I heard Tai arguing with the cop over the phone. They're on there way though. Don't worry."
Knock, knock, knock.
"That must be the others. Come in." Davis called towards the door.
Yolei and TK slowly walked in the room with Akina sleeping soundly in her mother's arms. "Oh, Kari." Yolei said, first to the bed. "Poor thing, I know what you're going through. You must be in such pain."
"Actually, I just had my epidural, and I'm pretty comfortable right now." Kari explained, pointing to the IV next to her.
"What! You got pain medication!" Yolei exclaimed, staring the machine up and down. "How come we didn't get pain medication, TK?" Yolei said, rounding to face her husband.
"Because you don't like needles and you said, quote: 'I don't want to go into that bright, sterile environment being poked stabbed every thirty seconds.'"
"Well why didn't you talk me out of it!" Yolei exclaimed, stepping closer to TK.
"You wanted to do it so badly, and you said that the baby wanted to do it too!" TK retorted.
FWEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTT!
The group turned around to face Dr. McKnight, who was now taking two fingers out of his mouth.
"In case you guys forgotten," the black doctor said to the now silent group. "This IS a hospital. So unless you want to talk to my ninja doctor friend, who happens to know over three hundred ways to paralyze a human, I recommend you guys chill."
TK and Yolei fell silent, as Dr. McKnight walked over to the bed where Kari laid. "How are you feeling, Kari?"
"I'm feeling a bit better. Do you think my brother will make it on time?" Kari asked, eyes wide as the doctor studied the fetal heart monitor.
The black doctor looked up at the clock and arched his eyebrows. "I need to do an exam, so let's see if he'll make it." Dr. McKnight turned to TK and Yolei. "You two, outside."
"Oh, alright." Yolei relented, heading towards the door.
"Don't worry, Kari," TK said, smiling as he backed out the door. "We're right outside if you need us."
Once the door closed, Dr. McKnight began the exam. "Whoa! Kari, where was your brother the last time you called him?" he asked, looking up at her.
"On the Sakura expressway. Why?"
"You're dilating really fast, Kari. The baby is lower than I thought it would be at this stage. You're 8 centimeters dilated. In about two hours, maybe less if your labor goes progresses as it is, you'll have a kid."
"He's shooting out of there that fast, doc? Can't you slow him down?" Davis asked as Kari wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye.
Dr. McKnight stared at him. "I'm a doctor, not highway patrol. The baby comes as fast or as slow as it wants to. The only thing I recommend you do, Kari, to try and slow things down is get some sleep and don't get up and walk around. Walking only speed things up."
"I will doc, thank you." Kari said, making herself comfortable in the bed.
"I'll check back on you in a half hour. Have a nice sleep. Your final exam is only a few hours away." Dr. McKnight said, backing out the door.
"Don't worry, Kari-chan." Davis said, kissing Kari on the cheek. "I'll call Tai now and get an ETA for you, okay?"
"Ok. Dai-chan!" Kari called out as Davis walked towards the door. "Please tell him to hurry."
"I'll have him here before you know it."
"START YOU FREAKING THING, START!" Tai screamed, turning the key in the ignition with his burned, stained fingers while pounding on the gas pedal.
"Tai, why don't we call a tow truck or something?" Sora asked, gesturing to the cell phone on the dash.
"Sora, do you honestly think that there's a towing service in operation on new years eve?" Tai asked, continuing his key turning and pedal stomping. "Besides, those things are too expensive, and the shop they tow us to is even more expensive."
The car gave several resilient clicks, but didn't crank. Tai grabbed his screwdriver again and, muttering and grumbling, stormed out the driver's seat to the engine.
Sora sighed as Kenichi finished off the remainder of the milk in his bottle. "That's mommy's big boy." She cooed as she hefted Kenichi on her towel-draped shoulder. "Don't worry, Ken-chan. Daddy is going to get the car fixed…or die trying."
Beep! Beep! Be-be-be-beeep!
With her free hand, Sora picked up the cell phone, flipped it open, and cradled it between her shoulder and elbow, returning her hand to patting Kenichi's back.
"Hello? Davis? How's Kari? What! Eight centimeters already? Uh-huh? Oh, that's good, she got her epidural. We're still on the expressway. The car broke down, and Tai's trying to fix it."
"BURRRRRPPPP."
"That's mommy's big boy." Sora cooed, returning the baby to her arms. "Huh? No not you Davis. Yes, you're a big boy too. What? Well the car is making a clicking sound every time you turn the key. What? The battery? Hang on, I'll ask."
Sora pressed the window switch on the door and noticed that it was rolling down slowly. "Hey, Tai, did you check the battery, babe?"
"Ummm, no! It has a lot of white chalky stuff on the outside of the positive terminal! I thought I shouldn't mess with it." Tai called back.
"Davis says that the battery terminals are corroded and you need to clean them off with a wire brush!"
"And just where does Mr. Fix-It-who-knocked-up-my-sister thinks we're going to get a wire brush out here, huh! Tell me that!" Tai asked angrily.
After a minute, Sora called out. "He says you could also pour some Coca-Cola on the terminals and clean them off with just a towel!"
Tai stormed back to the car and grabbed the cell phone out of Sora's shoulder. "Okay, smart guy! Tell me, where in the name of h-e-double hockey sticks do you think we're going to get a freaking Coca-Cola? Where? Huh? Tell me wh—"
Tai was cut off when a small red and white can appeared in front of him. Sora looked up at him with a you're acting stupid again look on her face on her face.
Without another word into the cell phone, Tai took the soda can and a rag, gave Sora back the cell phone and slowly walked back up to the front of the car.
"Davis. I'm sorry. Tell Kari that we should be on our way in no time. Okay. I'll talk to you later. Bye-bye."
After a few minutes, Tai slammed the hood shut, slumped back in the drivers seat, stuck the key in the ignition, muttered "come on, baby, start for daddy." A few times and tuned it to "start".
The engine growled back to life, idling smoothly after twenty seconds. Tai sighed with relief as he closed the driver's door, shifted the car into gear and peeled off the shoulder of the road.
"I'm coming, little sister! I'm coming!" Tai said as the car sped off into the night. He looked at the green glowing numbers on the display that read 11:00. "Nothing is going to keep me from you now!"
POP!
It felt as though a balloon popped inside her. Kari quickly felt between her legs at the now wet spot underneath.
"Davis. I think my water just broke." Kari said to a now awoken Davis.
Davis jerked up from the couch he was sleeping on. "I'll get Dr. McKnight." He said, not bothering to put his shoes on as he padded out the door.
Kari sighed and looked at her now slightly damp hand. "Brother…please hurry. I don't think I can wait much longer."
After a few seconds, Davis and Dr. McKnight quickly came back in the door. The doctor lifted Kari's legs up and preformed an exam.
"Well, Kari. It looks as though this kid wants to come out and celebrate the New Year. You're at nine centimeters." The doctor said covering Kari's legs. "Just a bit more dilation and you'll be ready to push. Did your brother make it yet?"
"No, not yet." Kari said, worriedly as he began pressing buttons on her epidural IV.
"Well, I hope he can get here in the next thirty minutes or so," Dr. McKnight said, peeling off his gloves, "Because this kid is going to make its debut with or without him. I'm turning down your IV so you can start feeling your contractions. You'll need the sensation that you're pushing something in order to do it effectively."
Kari looked up at Davis worriedly, a tear now trickling down her cheek. "Davis…what if he doesn't make it?"
"Don't worry, Kari-chan. If I know Tai, he's probably right downstairs, trying to find a place to park now."
Tai growled as he slammed the front door shut behind him. He walked around to the back of the car, where the rim of the wheel now rested on the flat rubber tire.
"It's a flat! Great! How could we get a flat now!" Tai exclaimed, kicking the flat tire.
"Just change the tire out, Tai. The spare is in the back seat!" Sora called from the front. "We've got to get there!"
"I know that! Press the button in the glove compartment to pop the trunk!"
After a few seconds, the trunk lid popped open. Tai threw it open and pulled out the spare doughnut tire, jack, and a wrench. He shoved the jack under the car and started pumping.
"Hold on, sis. Hold on for as long as you can." Tai encouraged as he began furiously jacking the car into the air
"Tai!"
"I'm on my way. I'm on my way!" He continued, closing his eyes in determination and the strain of his job. "I can her you calling me! I'm on my way!"
"TAI!"
"I'm coming Kari! I'm coming!"
"TAICHI YAMAGI KAMIYA! STOP JACKING THE CAR!"
Tai opened his eyes and noticed that the car was now about three feet off the ground. He also noticed that Sora was still in the front seat, looking back at her husband with a combination of shock and you're being stupid.
"Whoops. Sorry Sora. Just hang on up there. I already got the car off the ground. It'll only take me a few minutes to change the tire and get back on the road again.
"Oh no, take your time." Sora said, dryly, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "Me and Kenichi are enjoying the view. Hey! I think we can see Mount Fuji from here!"
"Hardy, har har. Look, call Davis and let them know that we're on our way." Tai said, as he started unbolting the flat tire.
"I'm way ahead of you. Dialing now." Sora said, raising the phone to her ear. "From this height, I should be getting great reception!"
Tai bit his tongue as he continued unbolting the tire.
"OW, OW, OW, OW, OW!" Kari groaned as Dr. McKnight finished his exam. "It's hurting! It's hurting so bad!"
"I'm sorry Kari, but we've reached zero hour. You are ten centimeters dilated, and your contractions are less than thirty seconds apart." The doctor said, sympathetically. "It's time for you to deliver."
"Oh no…" Kari cried, looking up at the ceiling, her vision now blurry with tears. "But what about my brother? He's not here yet."
"Isn't there something you can do, doc?" Davis asked. "When I hung up with Sora, Tai was just finishing up with the tire."
"I'm am so sorry, guys. But we can't wait any longer. The baby is starting it's decent. I just felt the very top of its head." Dr. McKnight said, shaking his head as he set her legs in the delivery stirrups. "How far away is he?"
"10 minutes away." Davis said.
Dr. McKnight looked at the clock. "You can try to slow it down by not pushing, Kari.. Just breathe deeply and try not to push. That'll slow it down a bit. If he's not here in five minutes, we deliver. Agreed?"
"Agreed." Kari said, breathing slowly and deeply. "It's hurting so bad, and my body is telling me to push."
"Mind over matter, Kari." Dr. McKnight said, patting her hand. "Just order yourself to hold on for one minute, then another minute, then another. Take it one minute at a time. I'm going to get things ready. I'll be right back."
"Come on, Kari. You can do it. Just one minute at a time." Davis whispered in her ear as they joined hands.
"Dai-chan, I can't do it. I can't do it." Kari whimpered. "I have to push.'
"Come on, Kari-chan. You can hang on. Just five more minutes. Come on. Do it for Tai. Don't you want him to see his first niece or nephew?"
"Uh-huh…" Kari groaned in between breaths.
"Then just hold on, just a few more minutes. If you can hold this kid in you for nine months, you can hold it in for a few minutes."
"Brother…" Kari thought, as her breathing now eased into deep steady breaths. "Hurry, brother. Hurry."
To Be Continued…
(A/N – Long chapter, wasn't it? By far the longest! I know I'm evil for that cliffhanger, and even more evil for the random updates, but as a writer, I have to keep you, the readers, wanting more! I know I've been doing this for every single chapter since this story began, but I'm finally at the end of my rope. PLEASE LEAVE CONSTRUCTIVE REVIEWS! One line reviews aren't helping anyone, lest of all the progression of this story! "Great Story, Update Soon" is really getting on my nerves! If you feel the need to copy/paste reviews like that, then don't review! CONSTRUCTIVE REVIEWS ONLY! Thank you. Please be on the lookout for chapter 27 of "Nine Months in the Socks of the Motamiya's"! Thank you all for reading!)