Something woke Church up. At first he thought it could have been the breeze that had somehow gotten in. Or maybe was it that whatever drug Caboose had given him had worn off. Finally he decided that the only way he'd know anything was by opening his eyes. Someone had turned on the lights and their glare was painful to his eyes. At least he figured out what that breeze was about.
"What are you doing, Tex?"
Tex let the sheets drop and wiped her hands on a rag. "Checking."
"Checking what?"
"Checking how much longer until the baby comes."
"And?"
She gave him a look. "Guess why you woke up."
Church swallowed hard. "Where's Caboose?"
"He'll be here soon," Tex said, pulling the sheets up again. Church felt her warm hands on his ankles; she was moving his legs apart. Suddenly Church wondered if he should be embarrassed or not. They had dated and this was nothing Tex hadn't done before… except this time there was a baby involved. "Be glad the drugs haven't worn off yet."
"Why?"
"The contractions you normally would be feeling…" She didn't need to finish her train of thought. He knew what those contractions would be like.
Something was happening in him but he couldn't put his finger on in. It wasn't painful or unpleasant but for some reason it was making him freak out slightly.
Caboose came in then. His expression was hard to read; he was both overjoyed and worried. Church smiled. This was one of the reasons why he had fallen in love with the guy. As tacky as it sounded, Caboose had become his sunshine. Caboose was his everything. Well, Caboose along with this baby.
"Okay."
Caboose looked at Tex. "'Okay' what?"
"Okay the baby's coming. Start pushing."
For a moment Church thought about not doing anything of the sort but something inside him told him it would do him no good whatsoever. He pushed.
Suddenly that unknown sensation became painful. Church's breath came in shallow pants. He wanted to scream; he felt like he was being split in two. There was no fucking way he could do this. No way in hell. He didn't know what he was thinking when he got the idea being pregnant was a good thing, but it was a bad. So unbelievably bad. And painful and…
Then Caboose's hand snaked its way into Church's. The contact felt good. As did the kiss that was placed on his forehead. Remember that Caboose is here. With him here I think I can do this.
It hurt, yes. He ripped, yes. He wanted to stop, yes. But he did it. He could feel the baby give a few last kicks before it left his body forever. And as the baby left his body, so did his strength. It was as if all his strength was flowing into his child. Perhaps it was his last gift to his first and only child. Before all his strength was gone, fear and sadness consumed him. Then something Franz had said to him came back. "It's not like you haven't done this before." This was true. Have strength, you can do this, Church told himself.
Caboose jumped up as he heard his baby cry. It was a beautiful sound. He knew right then this moment was something he would never ever forget. Today he was happy. Today was the best day ever. How could it not be? Here was his baby, being held up for him to see by Tex. His baby… His son was beautiful. Yes he was still wet and a little bloody but beautiful. Words were failing him.
"God, Church. He's beautiful…."
Then something changed. Caboose realized the hand he was still holding was slack. It felt strange. Something was different from how it had been a moment ago. Caboose looked back at Church and his heart broke. No… No…
"Church? … CHURCH!!"