Chapter 6: Contractions
Marshall looks at the puddle in the dirt, now turned to mud, he holds Everest close to him, as she wraps her front paws around him, while resting her head against his chest. She hasn't shown signs of labor yet.
"Are you ok?" Marshall asks her kissing the top of her head, he feels her nod against his chest in response. "Everest?"
"I'm scared" She finally says and shifts in his grasp, looking up into his eyes "I'm scared Marshall, going into labor out here? What if something h-"
He cuts her off "Katie gave me courses about delivering remember? I'll deliver our pups if I have to, and nothing will go wrong, i promise love"
Everest again places her head against his chest, it's so warm, his fur so soft "Shouldn't we go somewhere less open?"
"Wait a few moments, I don't want to move you if you start getting contractions" He says sitting himself closer to her "Just lay against me, relax" he kisses her head, she does what he says and lays down against him, her head still on his chest "I won't let anything bad happen, ok?"
"I trust you" Everest turns her head and kisses his chest "Marshall it's been 10 minutes can we please go somewhere else? I don't like being in the open like this, but when I could go into labor"
Marshall nods and helps her stand up "Get on, I'll carry you" he says lowering himself
Everest moves herself and climbs on him "We don't even know how many pups I'm carrying" she points out
"Yeah, I know that, but that's the fun part" He chuckles, and slowly stands to his paws. He looks around and spots a small tree in the distance, it stands by itself on a hill, and its branches are low to the ground, perfect for privacy and cover "I found the perfect spot" he smiles and slowly walks towards the tree
Everest suddenly grunts and a painful moan slips from her mouth, her grip around Marshall tightens, and she feels her lower stomach become tense, but as soon as the pain comes, it's gone again within seconds "M-Marshall..." she says holding onto him tightly
Marshall straight away knew what it was "First contraction! We have to time the minutes between them" he says making it to the tree before he activates his pup-tag "Ryder? Hello? It's Marshall" he receives no answer back so he tries again "Is anyone there? Everest's going into labor!"
Static is all he gets back
"We're alone aren't we?" Everest feels Marshall gently lift her off of him and she's placed deep within the tree's cover
"No, Everest, my love, we're not alone, we have each other" Marshall says digging a small hole and he gently drags Everest into it, and lays beside her, placing his paw across her belly
She looks into his eyes, feeling a bit more relaxed. But then she grunts again before clutching her belly "M-Mars-" she tries to say his name, but a moan cuts her off as she feels her lower body become tense again
"Sh, just let it happen" Marshall smiles warmly and holds her paw, she moans but then the contraction is over "7 minutes apart" he says and kissed her head
Tears escape Everest's eyes "That hurt more then the first one" she sighs, then feels Marshall lay beside her, pulling her close to his body
"Katie did warned us your contractions will become more intense, but don't fight them" Marshall runs his paws gently across her belly "Let them happen, ok?"
She nods and turns her head kissing his cheek "Why did it have to happen now? I'm not due for two weeks"
"Stress probably, not to mention we did mate" Marshall sighs "Maybe we shouldn't have mated" he feels responsible.
What if that's the reason she's going into Labor?
His thoughts are cut off, by Everest who again grunts and moans with pain, he feels her stomach go tense beneath his paw. Her moans are louder then last time, he looks at her eyes but she slams them shut, then the contraction is over again
"I need to examine you," Marshall moves himself to her lower region
She tries to roll on her side but groans.
"Let me help" He says gently rolling her over, then looks between her back-paws "You're not dilated yet, but your contractions are getting closer together"
"They're coming soon aren't they?" Everest asks him with a touch of fear in her voice, tears roll down her cheeks "I'm scared" she says again, this time she begins to sob.
Marshall is at her head within seconds "It's going to be alright, I'm the EMT pup remember I won't let anything happen to your or our pups, I promise Everest" he leans in and kisses her passionately.
He feels her body trembling with fear, so he deepens the kiss
"Just think once this is all over we'll be parents" Saying that he sees her smile slightly "We still need to think of names, oh! What about Marevest?"
Everest chuckles "That's not a name, you made it up silly" she smiles at him who kisses her forehead
"What names do you like?" Marshall questions moving himself right beside her as he wraps his paw tighter around her
She's quiet for a moment before she speaks "I like, Eclipse for a girl, like Lunar Eclipse" she says
"Well that's one name done" Marshall smiles and feels her stomach tense beneath his paw, but she doesn't seem to show any pain "Alright, so male name?" he asks noticing how her mind is taken off the contraction she's currently experiencing
"How do you like Spark?" Everest asks him, who smiles and kisses her cheek
"I love it" He says feeling the tension in her stomach disappear, he smirks at her
Everest lifts a brow "What?"
"You do realize you just had another contraction right?" He asks with a smile
"I did?" Everest sees Marshall nod "Oh, well I like both of those names" she doesn't seem to be bothered about the contractions anymore
"And I love them, so you know what? If we have a boy and a girl we'll use those names, they're beautiful names, just like you" Marshall gently massages her belly "It's going to be so amazing to hold our pups, and you know what is even more amazing? and awesome?" he feels her shake her head "I might even get to deliver them into the world"
Everest giggles, kissing his neck "I love you so much Marshall"
Before Marshall even had a chance to say anything back, she lets out a loud moan, he feels her belly go tense, a lot tenser then before
"I-it h-hurts" She grunts and moves her paw around Marshall, it holds him tightly
Marshall sees how much pain she's in and kisses her, passionately and deeply. She responds and kisses him back.
The touch of his lips pressed against hers, chases the pain from the contraction away and before she knew it, the contraction was over. But she continues the kiss, her paws exploring his body
Marshall smiles but gently pushes her away, before things get out of hand, or paws. "See? It's over" he says and she hugs him "And Everest, I love you as well"
"How many minutes are between my contractions now?" She asks him, in a more relaxed tone
"About 3, which means our pups will be coming sooner then we think" He replies, she frowns and he notices "But don't worry I'm here" he pressing his lips against hers, she returns the kiss again
Everest separates from the kiss, and waits for the next contraction to come.
But it doesn't.
5 minutes pass, then 7 minutes, 10, 13, 15, still no contraction.
Then it happens, she tightens her paws around Marshall's body, and feels her stomach tense tight, she bites her lip to stop herself from loudly yelping. The pain is intense, sweat begins to seep from her body, this contraction lasts merely 20 seconds, but it seems like forever.
Marshall is down between her back-legs and sees she's half way dilated, he glances at his mate who's breathing has increased as another contraction hits her "Everest, you need to slow your breathing down" he quickly goes back to her head and grabs it with his paws, her eyelids are shut tight "Look at me"
She opens her eyes, trying to breathe but she struggles to do so, her chest hurts, but the tension in her belly is released as the contraction ends.
"Marshall?!" A voice calls over Everest's heavy breathing
Marshall ignores the voice "Everest my love, listen you have to slow your breathing down, breathe with me" he turns her head and looks into her eyes, she nods "Inhale and hold your breath until I count to 3 then exhale"
She nods again
"Inhale" He tells her, and she does "Now hold it, 1... 2... 3... and exhale" she does again "Good, now repeat it" he places a kiss on her cheek as she repeats his process
While she's focused on her breathing, Marshall goes down between her back-legs again and gasps.
She's pretty much fully dilated, she's going to get the urge to push any moment
But another contraction hits her, she can't stop the moan and yelp which escapes her mouth, her stomach tenses, and her paws dig into the dirt beneath her. She focuses on her breathing, which is increasing again.
Marshall is at her head end, and kisses her forehead "Good girl, keep breathing like that" he says as the contraction lasts longer this time, a hand is placed on Marshall's head. He turns around to see the Medical Ranger Anna
Thank god
"Anna!" Marshall smiles happily then turns his attention back to Everest "but you were trapped in Ranger HQ"
Anna nods, as moans slip out Everest's mouth. "How far dilated is she?"
"Almost fully" Marshall replies a little relieved that Anna is here, he goes down to check but Anna places her hand on his head
"It's alright, I got this" She smiles and pulls her Medical bag in under the tree "You focus on comforting her, let me worry about the rest" She says pulling a large blanket out of the bag, then lifts Everest up and places her on it "That should be more comfy"
"Everest it's going to be alright" Marshall kisses her cheek then forehead "You ok?"
She nods as the contraction finally ends "I-it hurts s-so much"
Anna pulls out medical items, such as a few needles, some blankets, towels, medical scissors and others items "Here" she says and picks up a needle gently pushing it into Everest's side, then pulls the needle out once the liquid is injected "That should help"
"How did you know where we were? Or that she's having contractions?" Marshall asks looking up at the Medical Ranger who smiles warmly
"That would be us" Ranger's, Michael and Mark say together as they enter under the tree
Marshall sighs relieved
"We picked up your call to Ryder" Mark says pointing to his Ranger Communicator "Then we-"
Michael cuts him off "We tracked your pup-tag"
Smart
Anna examines Everest, who's eyes are closed "Marshall, Everest, they're coming"
Everest opens her eyes as she's gently rolled over onto her back "M-Marshall..." she says, and Anna spreads her back-legs softly and gently apart, a towel is placed near her rear.
It's really happening, I'm about to give birth...
A smile spreads across Everest's face, she glances up at Marshall who's smiling back at her, he brings his mouth to hers and kisses her.
Both Michael and Mark say Nawww at the same time
Anna chuckles but rolls her eyes "Come here, and let them kiss, I'll need both of your help since we don't know how many pups she's having"
"Huh?" Marshall stops kissing Everest and looks at Anna "How did you know?"
Again Anna chuckles "Katie told me, she said you wanted it to be a surprise, but I can tell you now, how many she's going to have" she says gently pushing on Everest's belly "Do you two love-pups want to know?"
Everest looks up at Marshall as he kisses her cheek, she nods at him
"Alright then," Marshall replies and sees Anna removes her hands from Everest's belly she holds one hand in the air, and folds down her thumb and pointer finger, leaving 3 fingers up.
Marshall grins then brings his mouth next to one of Everest's ears "We're going to be parents to 3 pups"
Before Everest could reply, she groans and moans loudly, her belly tenses hard and her muscle's begin to ache, she grabs hold Marshall's paw. Pain shoots through her lower body, she grunts closing her eyes tightly, more moans slip out.
But
This is not another contraction.
To be continued