5 hours earlier…
Seth walked into the locker room, Amanda smiling.
"Do I look like an appropriate groomsman or what?" Seth responded.
Amanda nodded… but then Seth noticed her cringe and rub her stomach as she took a deep breath.
"Are you okay?" Seth questioned, having his hand on her right shoulder.
"Yeah… I thought they were just Braxton Hicks contractions and would go away but… the pain between this and the last one are hours apart." Amanda responded, Seth turning alarmed.
"Do you want me to get Finn?!" Seth questioned once more, before pulling out his phone.
"Look, we need to go through with the wedding or Yukie's gonna frickin' lose it. Seth, it's gonna be who knows how many hours before I have this baby… so just stay calm for me, okay?" Amanda responded once the pain had edged off.
"Okay, okay…" Seth responded… before he yelled for Finn, who ran in and over to Amanda. "Stay by her side!" He replied.
"Warn the medics to be on alert, okay? Mandy, you feeling okay?" Finn asked, turning from Seth to Amanda.
"Yeah… yeah, the pain's gone." Amanda responded before Seth left and found one of the medics, a young woman who had just started out on the medics team.
She nodded once he told her and the woman rushed off… and Seth looked up to the ceiling as if he was looking up to the heavens, the second youngest of The Shield feeling fear.
"I don't know what your plan is, Lord… but please make sure that Mandy and her baby go through this perfectly." Seth whispered before he headed down the hallway…
Present time…
Amanda was once again leaned against the bed, Finn rubbing his right hand up and down her left shoulder as she breathed in and out… and Hiroki walked in.
"Is it okay for me to come in?" Hiroki questioned.
"Yeah… how's everyone out there?" Amanda asked… glancing at a clock told her it was about 1:30 in the morning and she was about 5 centimeters dilated so she and Finn had guessed that it would be either just after sunrise or into the morning that Liam would be born.
She had first felt at eleven in the morning… and the doctor had reassured her that the time frame was different with every woman but it was normal for a first time mother to go through its entirety for well over 24 hours.
"Well, everything's quiet now. Yukie and Baron just had their wedding, but they wanted you two to be there for them. Luna decided to wander off after my old man left her alone for a few seconds, but don't worry we found her." Hiroki explained.
"He's not going anywhere near Liam unless one of us is in the room." Finn responded, lightly dabbing a cool washcloth on Amanda's head.
Yeah, but Baron decided to take care of him, since he was responsible to watch Luna." Hiroki replied.
Amanda nodded, looking out into the hallway… curled up next to a sleeping Hunter was his middle child Murphy, her eyes also closed.
At about 4:30 in the morning, Dean was on his fourth cup of coffee… and then saw Sami and Kevin.
"About time!" Dean replied.
"Traffic was hectic! Is she okay?!" Kevin responded.
"Last I heard, Mandy was only getting a short window of reprieve between contractions… Liam's definitely wanting to meet us all soon." Dean explained.
"Has she asked for an epidural?" Sami asked.
"No and I don't think she will." Dean responded as a half asleep Chihiro walked over to them.
"Wow, I didn't know she was going to be that tough. Like when Yukie screamed her ass off giving birth to Luna in the locker room." Chihiro explained, while stretching her arms.
"Women are insanely strong." Dean responded… but Chihiro knew that he was a nervous wreck.
"Just chill the fuck out alright, it's no biggie." Chihiro responded.
"She's basically family to me, I just-" Dean replied before he and the others heard Amanda yelling in French before hearing a sharp smack and walked over… and saw Hiroki rubbing his left forearm.
"What did I do?!" Hiroki questioned.
"Don't take it personally, she's just in a lot of pain." Leonie, Finn's mom, responded gently.
"Yeah, but don't take it out on me, Mandy. Do that to Finn! Yukie already did that to me, knocking me out in a instant headbutt." Hiroki whined.
"If I could do that, I would! Suggesting pain medication…" Amanda yelled, Finn rubbing his right hand up and down her left wrist as she squeezed his left hand until the pain stopped in what she knew would only be temporary.
She had been attempting to rest when another painful contraction woke her, stronger than the ones she had felt beforehand.
"Hey, guys, I've brought-" Yukie started to say, before Hiroki pushed her towards Amanda. "What the?" She started to ask, before Hiroki started backing away.
"You take care of that she-beast, she's your damn friend!" Hiroki explained, before running out of the room.
"Oh… kay, then." Yukie said slowly, before looking back at Amanda. "So, how are you, Mandy?" She questioned gently, before resting her hand on Amanda's right one.
"Calming down… he's one impatient baby." Amanda answered as Yukie looked at the doctor.
"She's right, she's about 9 centimeters dilated so it shouldn't be long before the little one is here." The doctor replied.
"Well, at least you're not breaking people's hands." Yukie stated with a smile.
"Finn won't voice it but I think I broke his." Amanda responded.
"I'm okay, you just need to stay focused. You're in a lot of pain." Finn replied before they kissed.
"He's right. You better listen to your husband instead of breaking off the next hand you've touch." Yukie explained, before looking back at Amanda. "I don't understand why Hiroki left me in here with you." She responded.
"I smacked his wrist…" Amanda admitted, Yukie knowing it wasn't out of clear thought for Amanda to do that.
"Still he ran out of here like a crying baby." Yukie explained.
"I think he's scared of her." Finn responded.
Amanda squeezed his hand again as another contraction hit her and having been timing them, Yukie counted 4 minutes.
"And this time, it's not my hand!" Yukie responded.
For a second, Amanda thought she saw a flash of light that wasn't from the hospital room… and she knew who was here.
