Chapter Summary: Lea's parents and brother drop in unannounced in San Jose…and the drama starts.

AN: I must warn you, I do get a little TMI with some details (and maybe with labor and childbirth two chapters later). But I hope you all enjoy :)

Since the end of July, Lea had been trying a variety of different methods to naturally induce her labor - exercising, taking tremendously long walks around the block, acupuncture, acupressure, red raspberry leaf tea, a bunch of other herbal remedies, dates, pineapples, eggplants, balsamic vinegar, spicy foods, evening primrose oil, castor oil, nipple stimulation, and of course...sex.

Sex was the method she tried the most because the orgasms were nice distractions from the discomfort she was feeling...and it was also one of the few methods Shaun approved of and agreed with. It was also good for him because that meant having a lot of sex.

On the other hand, eating spicy foods and castor oil were methods she was never attempting again as all they did was make her feel like crap even more than she already was. Castor oil tasted terrible and gave her diarrhea while tortilla chips doused in a bunch of hot sauce gave her terrible heartburn all night. She wished she listened to Shaun, her mom, and pretty much almost everyone else who told her that they wouldn't recommend that.

However, nothing seemed to bring on her labor as she hoped they would…but it didn't really surprise Shaun so much as many babies tend to be born after their due date. Once Lea's actual due date (July 29th) passed, he didn't think that this baby was arriving in July. Their daughter's birthday was definitely going to be in August...and it was certainly true because today was August 5th and Lea was still miserably pregnant.

Also, if she heard one more "you're huge", "have you tried so-and-so", "enjoy your sleep now", or "babies come out on their own time" from anyone, she was going to scream.

Well, this baby needs to hurry her little ass up, Lea thought angrily and impatiently.

A week had already passed since Lea's scheduled due date and if her labor didn't start by August 12th, she was going to need to be induced medically. There was actually a possibility that this little girl was going to share a birthday with her Uncle Steve, whose birthday was the day after tomorrow. Speaking of Steve, Shaun thought it was sad that his brother was never going to know his niece...and he thought the same thing when Lea was pregnant with Eleanor.

Hopefully, labor was going to happen soon before the 12th...and the signs were thankfully showing that labor was fast approaching. For instance, the baby has dropped lower, she was getting cramps and increased back pain, she had diarrhea, she lost her mucus plug yesterday, and she was also currently one centimeter dilated as of yesterday.

As of right now, she was returning to her apartment and coming back from getting a soothing, unwinding pedicure. A woman from BabyCenter wrote in her birth story that she heard that pedicures could bring on labor from the pressure points of massage. Then, she went and got one and went into labor that evening, and she thought it was the pedicure that brought on her labor. So, Lea decided to try it once she got off work at 5:00 pm.

Shaun also warned Lea that what happened to that woman was probably just the placebo effect and that the story was anecdotal...in which Lea did kind of agree with him, but the bigger truth was that Lea just wanted a pedicure and to treat herself.

The treatment was great and it distracted her from the lower back pain and indigestion she'd been experiencing since she got off of work, but still, nothing happened afterward…which is actually what Lea disappointingly expected would happen.

Her flip-flops made slightly loud squeaky noises as she stepped out of the elevator and waddled to her and Shaun's apartment door, wanting to go straight to sleep…only to see that she now had unexpected and uninvited company over, waiting for her to unlock the door for them.

Standing outside her door were her parents smiling and happy to see her and her brother sulking beside them, obviously not in a good mood to be here. She guessed that her parents must have forced him to come with them, and they were pretty much mimicking her standing right outside of Shaun's apartment after she got back from Hershey after her dreams were crushed.

Perfect! What are they doing here? She pondered in annoyance as she was not in the mood for socializing right now considering that she wasn't feeling good, so she put on a fake smile and then started talking.

"Were you guys just waiting here for me for hours? You could have sent me a text to let me know you were here."

"Don't worry about that, we just got here 20 minutes ago! Aren't you going to say 'hello', Lulu?" Her dad chuckled, he and her mom pulling her in for a tight hug and touching her belly; Donnie just standing at the side and impatiently just wanting to go inside and have something to eat or drink.

"Okay, hello," sighed Lea defeatedly, accepting the hugs and belly rubs from her parents.

"Honey, oh! Look at you!" Her mom raved in tears as she admired her daughter's swollen, protuberant, gravid belly. "Any day now!"

The four Dilallos lounged in the living room and conversed with each other…but Donnie was mostly quiet. Lea was originally going to make some tea in the kitchen for all of them, but Pam insisted that she fix up the tea instead because she told her daughter that she should rest and relax.

"Why didn't you guys warn me that you were coming? I understand that you always notify me at the last minute, but you usually always tell me that you're coming the day before you arrive," Lea questioned, sipping her raspberry leaf tea and trying not to express that she was a bit grumpy.

"We wanted to go ahead and surprise you with a visit," replied Mike, smiling. "Our first grandchild is also about to be born and we want to be there for that. We'll only be here for a week. Also, bringing Donnie here for him to meet his niece or nephew would probably do him some good and maybe help him with his road to recovery. We also don't trust him to be by himself right now considering what happened five weeks ago."

"He does have Raul, who seems cool, but I don't think a boyfriend you meet in rehab is reliable and adequate company," added Pam. "We're afraid of him overdosing again."

Donnie rolled his eyes and took a sip of his tea and chewed on his crackers, obviously hating that his parents were almost treating him like a child in his thirties. "You don't have to be condescending about it," he muttered under his breath, which Pam and Mike didn't hear.

"Look, I know Dilallos like to drop in unannounced, but Shaun hates surprises," sighed Lea with frustration, her hands resting on her belly as she sank into the couch. "If he came home first instead of me, he'd probably panic, especially if we didn't get a chance to clean up or if he had a bad day at work and wasn't in the mood for mingling."

"Well, first, you texted us that you might need to get induced next week," explained Pam, ignoring what her daughter said. "Then yesterday, you tell us that you're dilated a centimeter and that your mucus plug came loose. So, I think this baby is definitely coming before the 12th."

"Labor is unpredictable, Mom," said Lea, dreading and fearing that she was going to have another stillbirth once the word "unpredictable" came out of her mouth. Thankfully, the baby was still alive right now because she could feel her moving around.

"I know, honey…but I've given birth twice," beamed Pam. "With Donnie, I went into labor the next day after mine came loose. With you, I went into labor within hours after it happened."

"Mom, that's just your experience," remarked Donnie with a snide comment, managing to get a chuckle and a smile out of himself. "Also, I know that I'm not a doctor, but childbirth experiences are definitely not part of genetics."

"Exactly," agreed Lea, laughing with her brother. "If Shaun was here right now, he'd be telling you that you shouldn't rely on anecdotal evidence."

"Speaking of Shaun, where is he?" Mike asked curiously. "It's 7:00 in the evening, shouldn't he be home by now?"

"Being a surgeon isn't a regular 9 to 5 job, Dad," reminded Lea, rolling her eyes. "He's working until 10:00 tonight. So, you'll probably be asleep by the time he comes home."

There was also a celebration going on in the residents' lounge after 10:00 to celebrate the final year of residency for all departments, in which Andrews, Lim, Claire, Park, and Morgan were attending, but Shaun wasn't…not just because he hated big parties, but also because he wanted to spend more time with his pregnant wife before the baby comes.

"Poor Shaun," muttered Donnie, smiling at Lea.

Lea felt shocked that Donnie wasn't acting all pissed off with her, given that he refused to speak to her during both of her pregnancies, her wedding, and also since the disaster in Hershey.

When Lea and Donnie were growing up, Donnie always seemed to be the golden child getting straight A's compared to Lea, who was always the screw-up getting C's and B's and only one or two A's. Unfortunately, that did account for her low self-esteem issues of the past and present and also led her to make some poor choices. Her Grandpa Rod and Grandma Eleanor were pretty much the only ones who would give her positive reinforcement to boost her some confidence.

However, since Lea married Shaun and was now having a successful pregnancy so far, the situation seemed to be the exact opposite.

Pam and Mike would usually praise Donnie for his success while telling Lea that she needed to do better. Besides Travis (until they got married way too young), they didn't like anyone she dated. Well, to be fair, most of the guys she has dated between Travis and Shaun weren't the best (especially since one of them was her 45-year-old physics professor who already had a wife and two children), but her parents had terrible expectations about her boyfriends even before they were given the chance to meet them.

Meanwhile, Pam and Mike never hated anyone Donnie dated (they were still skeptical about Raul, though). However, the thing was that Donnie never dated anyone in high school, except for just a girlfriend that only lasted six months and a few other dates from girls that he turned down. That was probably because he figured out at some point that he was gay, but their parents weren't really accepting about it at first. They were accepting now, but when he came out during his freshman year of college, things were ugly at first, especially with a few super conservative relatives. Lea accepted the fact that her brother was gay immediately when he told her, as she was the first person he told.

Their parents did adore Eric, Donnie's boyfriend prior to Raul, and also didn't really have a deep hatred for any of the men he dated. For every man Lea dated before Shaun, Pam and Mike would always have a conversation about how good Travis was doing in his life.

"So, Lea did you hear about Travis?" They would ask.

And although it did feel refreshing for Lea that her parents didn't talk about her ex-husband every time they would visit her and Shaun and also for the fact that they were actually proud of her for once in her life, she felt terrible that Donnie was now feeling like a screw-up.

While Pam and Mike were gushing over their excitement over becoming grandparents towards Lea, gently rubbing their hands on her protruding belly and enjoying the euphoria of feeling their grandchild kick, it also seemed to make Lea feel a bit uncomfortable not only because she wanted some personal space, but also because she felt like this was unfair to her brother.

"So, tell me about your new boyfriend," Lea intervened awkwardly, wanting to make Donnie feel included and talk about his life and the good things that were happening…other than the things going on in her life. "What's he like? I do want to meet him. I also think we should talk about something else besides the baby."

"He's a nice guy, and I wanted to bring Raul for support, but Mom and Dad wouldn't let me," raged Donnie, shooting a dirty look towards his parents.

"You met him in rehab, son," defended Mike. "Look, I like the guy, but this is a challenging relationship for both of you as you both are recovering alcoholics. This is also a family event…and we're not sure if things will last between you and Raul just yet."

"Lea is also in a challenging relationship…and I don't think you two have considered the possibility that your grandchild might be autistic! Have you?" Donnie seethed, which caused a long awkward silence. "And honestly, I think meeting my new niece or nephew would help Raul, too. He hasn't met all of my family yet, which is my little sister, my brother-in-law, and my niece or nephew that is about to born."

"And we didn't think Lea was mature enough to be in a relationship with an autistic man at first, and it took us a while to fully believe in her until she became pregnant," Pam joined in, rising from her seat on the couch. "However, it was really disappointing when she called to tell us that the baby died."

Hearing her mom's comment made Lea upset deep down inside, and she tried to hold back her tears.

As her parents and Donnie argued and feuded, Lea felt trapped in the middle and uncomfortable as she listened. She wanted to defend her brother, but she couldn't think of the correct words she should use as she awkwardly watched and listened to the argument…which was very upsetting and she couldn't wait until Shaun got home, which was pretty much in a couple of hours.

She also just thought about what Donnie mentioned about the possibility of this baby inheriting Shaun's autism. Although it wouldn't be a problem for Lea and Shaun, they both feared how Pam and Mike would handle their granddaughter if she was autistic like her father (and they also considered it and thought about it when Lea was pregnant with Eleanor). Sure, they didn't have any issues with Shaun's autistic traits (most of the time), but interaction with a son-in-law was different from interaction with grandchildren.

Suddenly, Lea's thoughts were interrupted when she felt what she thought was either Braxton Hicks or an actual contraction. The pain started low, rose until it peaked, and then finally ebbed away. When she touched her abdomen, it felt hard. The pain caused her to wince loudly a little bit and clutch her belly, which caught the attention of her parents and Donnie in a worrisome manner.

"Lea, are you alright?" Pam queried, immediately walking over towards her daughter. "Was that a contraction?"

"No, I'm fine," sighed Lea. "I think it's just Braxton Hicks."

"Wait, you think?" Mike questioned, looking uneasy and doubting that it was what his daughter was having.

"Really? I don't think so," Pam raised her eyebrow, placing her hand on Lea's shoulder. "I think you might be going into labor. Are you having any pressing lower back pain or indigestion right now?"

"Um, yes," replied Lea with a sigh as she stared at the ceiling. "I've had them all evening since 5:00 pm. Why?"

"Because I think you might already be in labor. It's exactly how my first labor went with Donnie when I was in early labor, and it was the same with you," shared Pam. "You're also already dilating and you lost your mucus plug. So, it's pretty obvious."

Lea thought about it and then realized that her mother was probably right. For one thing, unlike the typical Braxton Hicks she had, this contraction (she had another one similar to this one 20 minutes ago at 7:26 pm) lasted around 45 seconds and it was much more intense.

"I actually had one like 20 minutes ago, but I thought it was just Braxton Hicks," confessed Lea.

"Nope, you're definitely in labor, dear," advised Pam. "I think you've been in labor for at least two hours."

"Yeah, I think you should call Shaun and let him know that he needs to come home," agreed Mike.

"You don't need to go to the hospital right now, and it's probably going to be a long time before you actually need to go there," added Pam.

"Okay," breathed Lea, surprisingly calm. "I don't want to go to the hospital just yet anyway. Also, you're going to need to scram once Shaun comes."

Lea then called Shaun, Dr. Vargas, and Naomi, explaining to them what was going on. They all agreed that she was in early labor. Shaun confirmed that he was coming home immediately.

In addition, Lea also sent Shaun a text, telling him that her parents and brother were here so he wouldn't be so shocked to see them when he came home.

Shaun came home around 8:00, two hours before his shift was scheduled to end. Dr. Lim told him to go ahead and head home since his wife was in latent labor and that he should probably spend some time with her. After receiving a bunch of "congratulations" from his co-workers and other people at the hospital before he left to wait for the bus, he sent a text to Debbie and Dr. Glassman informing them of what was happening.

While he was riding the bus back, he was experiencing a variety of different emotions - excitement, relief, anticipation, uncertainty, anxiety, and fear. He even received a very humorous text from Morgan.

MORGAN: Again, congrats! Tell Lea that I wish her a happy pushing!

Shaun then responded to Morgan's text.

SHAUN: I think you mean to wish her a short, smooth, and empowering pushing because she'll most likely be in a lot of pain while she does it, but I'll tell her you said that.

Just like Lea wanted, her parents and brother went back to their hotel as soon as he came home (only after Shaun and Donnie introduced themselves) because she and Shaun believed it should just be the two of them during this most crucial moment of their lives.

Throughout the latent phase of Lea's labor, she and Shaun had light snacks, folded and rearranged some baby clothes, went on an evening walk around the block, did some yoga, watched TV, finished packing their hospital bags as well as make sure that everything they needed was packed, timed the contractions, used the bathroom, took a shower together, and practiced their breathing exercises.

Shaun also wanted to check Lea's blood pressure every 15 minutes, which didn't bother Lea too much since she was afraid of a complication developing (especially preeclampsia)…and if they went before her contractions followed the 5-1-1 rule and there wasn't anything happening out of the ordinary, the hospital would have just sent them home. Thankfully, her blood pressure remained at a normal level and was nothing to be concerned about.

So far, nothing worrisome was happening to Lea just yet. Her vaginal discharge was normal and odorless, she had no sudden pain followed by vaginal bleeding, she was feeling a perfect amount of fetal activity, and she didn't have green amniotic fluid (her waters haven't even broken yet).

Lea's contractions so far were painful, yet tolerable; although they were going to continue to get worse and more intense as her labor progresses. Shaun thought it was important for Lea to be relaxed as much as she could because she needed to save her strength for active labor and the pushing stage later on.

The couple tried to get some sleep as it was nighttime, but because they lost their last baby, the number one thing that clouded their heads was the anxiety over another stillbirth. So, they tried their best to distract themselves and manage their uneasiness.

They finally fell asleep at 6:00 am, but then were soon awoken at 8:45 am when Lea's contractions became stronger and more frequent, definitely fitting the 5-1-1 rule and approaching active labor.

At 9:15 am, they finally left for St. Bonaventure, telling Dr. Vargas, Pam, Mike, Donnie, Dr. Glassman, and Debbie that they were on their way to the hospital. Naomi was going to meet them there and so was their family, except they were going to be stuck in the waiting room.

Shaun and Lea arrived at the hospital at 9:21, and when Dr. Vargas checked her, she was at three centimeters…pretty much almost pushing four centimeters.

AN: So, there you have it! Lea has finally gone into labor…which she will be in for the next two chapters. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review and share your thoughts about it and the story.