I'm glad you guys liked the prologue! Here comes the next chapter! ALSO: Keep your eye out for the next chapter of Time Race! Hopefully will be up by this weekend!

Chapter 1: "Begin The Spiral Downwards..."

Several moments passed in silence, aside from Cassidy's laboured breathing.

Duck blinked. "....Why?"

Icy slapped the back of his head. "DUDE! You scared her into labour!"

Mairi jumped up and squealed in excitement. "It's tiiiiiiiime!!!"

With all the new commotion, Cale was wide awake. "Mommy? What's wrong?" She was starting to cry from confusion and drowsiness.

Mairi, seeing this, immediately snatched Cale away from Tech and cuddled, talking to the upset girl sweetly. "Your mummy has to go to the hospital right now, sweetie."

"Why?" Cale questioned, her lime green eyes wide.

"Your baby sister's gonna be born soon." Even though none of the gang knew what the baby was, Mairi wanted the baby to be a girl, simply because Cale wanted a sister.

Ace, Tech, Rev, Slam, Duck, Seth, Quick, Lexi, and Icy all sighed and slapped their foreheads. Now there was no chance of getting Cale to sleep.

Ace looked at Tech. "You guys go ahead. Slam and I'll stay here and watch de twins and Quinton."

Duck raised a hand to join them, but Mairi grabbed that hand and pulled him beside her. "You are coming with me and you will stay at the hospital and help me entertain Cale."

"No."

"You'll do as you're told."

"Why?"

"Because you scared me and I'm mad at you."

.ORANGE TRIANGLE.

"Now, just relax... the doctor will come in a few moments..." The nurse, a light brown-haired young woman, smiled encouragingly at Cassidy before leaving the room.

Cassidy felt Tech squeeze her hand. "I'm okay, Tech." She breathed in, trying to calm her nerves. Cassidy's fear of doctors, hospitals, and needles was very deep-rooted, and there was a good chance she'd never get over it.

Icy gave her freind a light punch in the arm. "Yeah, Tech. She'll be fine."

Cassidy giggled. "Remember how he reacted when I was pregnant with Cale?"

Icy burst out laughing. "Who could forget?!"

(Flashback...)

Duck wandered into the kitchen, only to see Cassidy doubled-over in pain, gasping for breath.

"Cassidy? Are... are you okay?" He asked, slightly worried.

"Duck... It's a contraction..."

"Uh............ huh." Duck muttered, still confused.

Cassidy rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna be having the baby soon."

"GAH!" He gasped. "Ohnoohno! Not this! Anything but this! I'm doomed!!!"

"Duck.."

"Doomed!"

"DUCK!"

Duck froze and stared at Cassidy with wide eyes.

"Get Tech..."

Duck blinked. He stood silent for a moment, before blurting out. "I know! I'll get Tech! Don't worry, I'll save you!"

Cassidy rolled her eyes once more. Less than a minute later, Tech entered the kitchen and ran up to her. "Cass! What's wrong?"

"What does it look like?" Cassidy moaned. "Tech... I think..."

Tech nodded, and continued to nod. For several minutes, actually. Ace walked in to see what the commotion. He pointed at Tech "Is he okay?"

"I think I might have broken his brain." Cassidy sighed, straightening herself.

Tech was still kneeled where Cassidy had been, nodding, staring off into space. Finally, he seemed to snap out of it, and he stood up slowly. "I..........I'm gonna be a father!"

Cassidy gently petted his head. "Yes, you are Tech...." She giggled.

"I.....I..... Ifeeldizzy..." Tech mumbled before collapsing on the ground.

Duck's eyes shot open. "Holy crap! He actually FAINTED! ICY! QUICK! MAZZ! YOU'VE GOTTA COME SEE THIS!" He shouted out, laughing.

(End flashback)

Tech rolled his eyes. "Very funny you two. Do you see me fainting this time around?"

"Not yet." Icy snickered.

"Because this time you're a pro." Cassidy giggled.

Just then, the door opened and a tall, slim lady, around her early fourties or so, walked in, carrying a clipboard. "Hello! How are we doing today?"

Cassidy smiled. She was glad their doctor was this particular lady. Sweet and gentle, she had helped Cassidy deal with her fear. "Good."

The lady smiled back. She had helped deliver Cale, but she and the young coyote went further back...

(Flashback)

Cassidy stared at the young doctor with wide eyes. She felt like she knew her... from where, though?

The doctor returned her look, then glanced at the clipboard in her arms. "Cassidy Coyote..... you were in the hospital about.... four years ago.... the meteor...

Cassidy blinked. "Yes. I was. I remember that."

"Do you remember who was your nurse?"

Cassidy gazed at her for a moment. "My nurse........ was you! Nurse Marilynne!"

The lady smiled. "Now I'm Doctor Marilynne."

"I remember you telling me how you wanted to be a doctor..."

Marilynne nodded. "I was in the middle of my courses for that. And here I am now. And here you are now. You've changed a lot."

Cassidy blushed. "Yeah... But you did help."

"You were such a nervous wreck back then. You didn't trust anyone as far as you could throw them. And the doctors weren't your favourite people in the world...."

(End Flashback..)

.BLUE TRIANGLE.

Cale snuggled up in Mairi's lap, clutching her school reading book. "Aunty Mairi? Where's Daddy?"

Mairi wrapped her arms around her neice. "He's with your mummy right now."

"Oh..." Cale said. "Can I go in there too?"

"No, Possum.. We have to stay out here. Only daddies and mummies are allowed in the room. But later they'll move your mummy to a different room and then we can visit her. Okay?"

Cale nodded. "Wanna hear me read my story for school?"

Mairi hugged her. "Of course, Princess!!"

"D-dan....huh-had... a... pig. The... pig's.... name... was.....Puh-Pet! Pet...is...a pig. Pet is..... big. Pat.... Pet's...buhhhh... back! Pet... llluh... likes.....pats..... Dan.. pats.... the........pig!"

Duck sat beside Mairi, bored out of his mind. He glanced at the pile of magazines, but there wasn't very much that interested him. He stared up at the ceiling. Hey.. there's a tile with a crack in it. He wondered if it leaked when it rained. Probably not, otherwise they would have fixed it. He then glanced at Mairi, whose full attention was on Cale. He smiled lop-sidedly. He had to admit, the scene was pretty cute. He gazed at Mairi for a few moments.... until she realized that he was staring at her.

Mairi smiled. "Bubbyy!!!" She whispered, not wanting to interrupt Cale's story. She quickly reached out with the arm closest to Duck and wrapped it part around his head and partly around his neck, pulling him into a tight, almost suffocating hug.

Quick, who was sitting next to Duck, giggled. "Bubbbyyy...." She whispered, poking him in the arm. "...muy lindo!"

Duck glared at her before attempting to free himself from Mairi's grasp. It took him a while, as the tall lyre bird was unusually strong. That is, until Duck remembered his powers, and quacked himself out of Mairi's arms.

Seth shifted and settled himself closer to Quick. "I hope Tech's handling this better than he did last time.."

.SILVER TRIANGLE.

Tech bit his lip nervously. It had been a couple of hours already, and nothing had happened yet. 'Relax..' He told himself, 'Mazz told you, this stage could take hours...' But he was still very worried. Cassidy was quickly becoming tired and weak. This was almost completely different than when Cale was born.

Cassidy moaned. This was the worst pain she'd ever been through, this was worse than with Cale. She shoved all thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on her breathing. She felt Tech's hand on her arm. Inside she wanted to smile at him like she usually did, but the pain was too much and a small growl escaped from her.

Tech's eyes widened a bit, and he let go, sitting back in his chair. If only his father were here, but his mother hadn't been feeling good the past couple of days, and Bailey had just finished her college entrance exams, and was no doubt tired from staying up late and studying. Tech closed his eyes and remembered his father's advice....

"What should I do, Dad? I've never seen her like this! She's never been this mad at me!"

"What is happening to Cassidy is something that happens to every woman. I went through the same thing with your mother. I felt the same way as you did. I didn't know what to do."

"But what should I do?"

"Simple. Be there for her."

"I've been trying that! But she just gets even more angry!"

"Cassidy is the kind of girl who doesn't like to be alone, but she can't stand her personal space being invaded... Play it by ear, if what you're doing seems to make things worse, back off a little bit, but still show your support. She'll still be mad, but it's only the pain talking."

.GREEN TRIANGLE.

Hours had passed. The hospital was next to empty. Cale had fallen asleep in Icy's lap. Every few minutes, she'd wake up, move to either another position or another lap, then fall asleep again. Eventually, she had fallen asleep in each of her aunts and uncles' laps at least once.

Icy yawned and leaned her head back against the couch, drowsiness beginning to take over her. Her eyelids dropped, then her body began sliding towards Rev, who was wide-awake.

Quick had fallen asleep in Seth's arms. Seth soon was snoring, as well.

Mairi looked at all of them, then at Duck, who held up his hands in defense. "Don't even."

Mairi pouted. "Fine." She stood up, walked to Rev, who was currently holding Cale in his lap, scooped Cale up, then plopped herself back down beside Duck, and gently cuddled Cale.

Cale yawned, and rubbed her eyes a bit before falling back into sleep once again. Mairi looked at her watch. '10:36 AM' it read. But that was AcmeAustralian time. Even though the others had told her to at least change it, Mairi refused to. She liked it that way, it reminded her of home. Plus, now that she had learned to figure out what time it was in Acmetropolis by her AcmeAustralian watch, she felt really smart.

So, in reality, it was about.... 1 in the morning.

Duck yawned. This was getting contagious. Mairi felt like it. But she didn't want to. However, she soon felt herself getting drowsy. Soon, she had fallen asleep as well, most of her leaning against Duck. But he didn't mind. He was already asleep.

Tech walked into the room to find everyone out like lights. He quickly shook them awake. "Guys...." He couldn't help but smile widely.

Mairi was awake in three seconds. "Is the baby born? How's Cassidy doing?"

Tech placed a finger to his lips, gesturing to Cale. "I need you guys to take Cale home. She needs better sleep than this."

"Dude! Spill it already! Boy or girl?" Icy demanded.

Tech's smile grew. "Girl. A beautiful little girl." But then he frowned. "But Cassidy... she's not okay..."

"What?!" Quick gasped, trying not to wake Cale.

"Cass.. she lost a lot of blood... she's very weak right now..."

(END CHAPTER)

_ *faints from mentioning of blood* O.O