CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

May 12th

36 weeks

"Oh, come on..." Cat grumbled as she dropped a book.

"I got it," April said as she picked up the book. "This is exactly why I carry my shit in my back pack."

"Yeah, I lean back far enough as it is, my backpack would just make it worse and my back's already killing me."

"Stand up straighter."

"I have a baby growing inside of me April, I can't just "stand up straighter". It'll put more pressure on my bladder and my pelvis and I'm already in pain."

"Maybe you should've waited until next week to start coming back to school..." April said, her brows stitching together in worry.

"Look, I just wanna get through these next few weeks of school and graduate. I'm tired of laying in bed. I'm sore. I hurt. Staying at home isn't gonna make it any better."

"Neither will coming to school."

"But it's not making it any worse either, so I'm okay with that."

"I don't like the back pain you're getting. I really think you should go home."

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine. I can deal with it."

"You can deal with what?" Jade asked.

"She's having back pain," April said.

"Can you not tell everyone my business?" Cat asked. "Jeez..."

"Back pain is normal in pregnancy," Jade said. "Especially in the third trimester."

"Yeah, but she's gone into labor a million times," April said. "And your mom put her on bed rest."

"Grace said I could come back to school if I was feeling up to it," Cat reminded her. "And I'm feeling fine, so shut up. You're getting on my nerves."

"Well someone's being a gank today."

"I'm tired! I'm hot, I walk with a waddle, I want this baby out of me, and I just wanna get to class so I can sit down, my back is killing me."

"We've got Sikowitz next period. I'm sure with it being lunch time he's not gonna care if we go in there. Especially with you being pregnant."

"Well then let's go, my back is starting to cramp up."

"I don't like the sound of that," April said as they started walking towards the class room.

"I don't like the feel of it."

As soon as they got to the class room, Cat sat down and let out a small breath, leaning back to crack her back.

"Don't do that, it could hurt the baby," April said.

"No it can't," Jade and Cat said.

"Don't be dumb," Jade said. "Cat cracking her back has nothing to do with the baby."

"I'm not dumb, I'm just worried," April said. "Jack ass. Don't you have someone to make out with? Like Beck?"

"He doesn't come in until the bell rings."

"I bet he doesn't come for a lot of things."

"He comes for me."

"Oh my god," Cat said.

"I know right?" April asked. "TMI, Jade."

"No."

"You wanna hear about her sex life? Freak."

After a few seconds of silence from the redhead, both other teenagers looked towards her. She had her chin to her chest, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands gripping her chair so hard her knuckles were white.

"Oh, shit," Jade said, rushing over to her and kneeling in front of her. "Hey, breathe, it's okay."

"What is it?" April asked, sitting next to Cat. "Catey, you gotta talk, what's wrong?"

"I need her out," Cat said.

"She's in labor," Jade said.

"Again?" April asked. "Jesus Christ."

"Are you pushing?" she asked, looking at Cat. "Don't push, okay? Wait it out, hold out for as long as you can, it's gonna be okay."

"Why is she pushing? Why are you pushing?"

"It relieves the pressure on her vagina," Jade said, taking her phone out of her pocket and dialing Beck's number. "Just keep breathing, Cat."

"Hello?" Beck asked.

"Grab Robbie and Tori and get to Sikowitz's class now."

"What's going on?"

Jade gasped, feeling a sudden wetness on her thighs. She looked down for a few seconds before lifting Cat's dress up. "Jesus."

"What? What's wrong?"

"Cat's water just broke and she's protruding already, get Robbie and Tori here immediately," she said before letting her phone fall to the ground. "I'm gonna take your panties off."

"What?" April asked. "Here?"

"Well, I need to see if she's crowning, but even if she's not, she's about to. Her vagina is protruding," she said, managing to pull Cat's underwear off. "Do you trust me, Baby Girl?"

"To do what?" Cat's voice cracked.

"I wanna see how dilated your cervix is. If you're dilated enough then you can push. You wanna push, don't you?"

"I want her out, please get her out."

"You don't even know how to check a cervix," April said.

"Yes I do. My mom made me and Beck learn how to deliver years ago. Cat, I can't check unless you tell me I can."

"Do it," Cat said.

"Get me the hand sanitizer."

April looked around for a few seconds before finally spotting the hand sanitizer. As Jade took her bracelets and rings off, the curly haired brunette grabbed the sanitizer and made her way back to the goth.

As soon as Jade got the sanitizer rubbed into her hands, she looked at April. "Help her to the stage. I need her on a flat surface."

Just as April helped Cat out of the chair, Beck, Tori and Robbie ran into the room.

"How is she?" Robbie asked, running over to Cat.

"I need to check and see how dilated she is, but I need her on the stage. Get her there pronto."

Robbie helped Cat to the stage and he sat behind her while Jade made her way to the edge of the stage and patted Cat's thigh.

"Spread your legs," Jade said. As soon as Cat's legs were apart, Jade gently felt around and let out a small sigh. "She's fully dilated," she said, looking at Beck.

"Oh, man," he said, walking to the stage and kneeling next to Jade. He lifted Cat's dress a little and nodded. "Someone let the principal know she's in labor, someone else call an ambulance, and someone else call Mrs. Valentine and Mrs. West."

"What are we gonna do until the ambulance gets here?" Robbie asked.

"We're gonna get this baby out."

"What? You don't know anything about delivering babies."

"Jade's mom made them learn," April said. "I'll call Mom, Tori go get Helen and see if you can find Andre to guard the door so no one comes in here."

"On it. Hang in there, Cat," Tori said before rushing out of the room.

"Do you think you're ready to push, Cat?" Jade asked.

"Please, please get her out," Cat's voice cracked.

"Go ahead, give us a little push."

Cat took a breath and started pushing, but within seconds let out a small cry and stopped. "It - it hurts my back, my - my tail bone is on fire."

Jade and Beck looked at each other for a few seconds.

"Help her up on her knees," Beck said.

As Robbie helped Cat to her knees, Jade got closer to the stage and ran her hands over Cat's legs soothingly. "We're gonna have to take your dress off Cat, it's in the way."

"No way, I'll be naked," Cat said.

"You can wear my shirt, but your dress is too long," Beck said. "You want this baby out, don't you?"

Cat nodded.

Beck and Robbie helped Cat out of her dress and Beck took his shirt off, helping her into it and pulling it down, just barely covering her bump. "Alright. Can I check and see how far down the baby is?" Beck asked.

Cat nodded again and Jade put some sanitizer in Beck's hand.

"Rub it in until it's dry, it'll burn if you check her when your hands are still wet," Jade said.

As soon as Beck's hands were dry, he felt around inside of Cat for a few seconds. "I can feel the head. It's pretty close. You wanna push?" he asked.

"I need her out, it hurts," Cat's voice cracked.

"Let's have us a baby then. Robbie, try to keep her steady. Cat, you put as much weight on me as you need to. This is gonna hurt a lot."

"I don't want it to hurt, please don't make it hurt."

"We can't do anything about the pain, Kitten," Jade said.

"How's it going in here?" Andre asked, poking his head in the door.

"She's about to start pushing. Don't let anyone into this room except Helen, paramedics, my mom or Cat's mom and Tori."

"Will do. Good luck, Little Red."

"I'm scared," Cat said.

"You have every right to be, it's your first baby," Beck said. "Push."

Cat stood on her knees and pushed, resting her hands on Beck's shoulders to steady herself as Robbie held her waist. "Ugh..."

"You're doing good, keep going."

She took a deep breath, pushing again and tightening her grip on Beck's shoulders.

April bit her lip and knelt next to Beck and Jade, running her hand over Cat's leg. "You got this, Catey. Keep going."

The redhead let go of her breath and breathed heavily for a few seconds before pushing again. "Oh my god..."

"You're crowning, keep pushing," Beck said.

"I don't want a crown, I don't feel like a princess right now."

"It means the baby's head is coming," Jade said. "Push again."

Cat took a breath and pushed.

"Good, keep going," Beck said. "That was a really good push, one more like that and the baby's head will be out."

"You can do it," April said.

"It hurts, please make it stop," Cat sobbed.

"The pain will stop as soon as the baby's out," Jade said.

"You can do this," Robbie said, kissing her shoulder. "You've got this. You're strong, you can do it. You wanna meet our baby, don't you?"

Cat sobbed again and nodded.

"You gotta push. Keep pushing, she's almost here."

Cat breathed heavily for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and pushing again.

"Push, push, push," Beck said just before the baby's head was completely visible and Cat let out a loud cry. "Good job Cat, her head's out."

"We gotta work on the shoulders and as soon as they're out, your baby will be here," Jade said. "Are you ready to push again?"

"No," Cat said. "I wanna go to the hospital."

"It's too late for that, the baby's half way here. You have to get her out, Cat."

"It hurts, I don't wanna do it anymore."

"We have to get her out, babe," Robbie said. "It's not safe, you have to push."

"It'll stop hurting soon Cat, I promise," Beck said. "But you have to push. You have to get the shoulders out. That's all we need is the shoulders and she'll be out. You can do this."

Cat let out a sob, resting her head against Beck's. "Please get her out, I need her out."

"Push."

The redhead took a deep breath and pushed, letting out a grunt. Another push, another grunt, and a cry later, Beck placed his hands between her legs, getting ready for the baby to arrive.

"One more, Cat. One more push and she's here."

"You can do it, Catey," April said. "You're so close, you can hold your baby in just a minute."

Cat breathed heavily and repositioned herself to get a steadier grip on Beck's shoulders. "One more push..."

"Just one more, Kitten," Jade said. "Are you ready to meet your baby?"

Cat nodded and sniffled.

"This is it, Cat," Beck said. "Take the deepest breath you can and push as hard as you can. Are you ready?"

"I want her out."

"Deep breath and push."

As Cat took the deepest breath of her life, she pushed as hard as she possibly could.

"Push, push, push, keep going."

Just a few seconds later, Cat let out a guttural scream and Beck held a crying baby to his chest, holding her so Cat and Robbie could see her face.

"Oh my god," April's voice cracked. "You did it, baby, she's here."

Cat let out a rack of sobs. "Oh, my baby," she said with a small laugh, carefully taking the messy newborn from her friend and resting her against her chest as she sat on her knees.

"I'm so proud of you," Robbie said, kissing her head.

"We just had a baby... oh my god, she's perfect, oh my gosh..."

"She's a cutie," Beck said.

"She's gonna be the perfect little gothic niece," Jade said, running her finger over the baby's cheek. "Hi, precious, I'm Aunt Jade."

"Thank you so much," Cat said, hugging Beck as she held the baby to her chest carefully. "I couldn't have done this without you, I love you. Both of you."

"We'd do anything for you, Cat," Beck said. "Besides, delivering my niece was pretty bad ass."

"You're so messy... I'm messy, she's messy, this whole thing is so messy and gross and you still helped me, I can't thank you enough."

"She's here, she's healthy and she's safe. I'm okay with the mess. How many uncles can say they delivered their niece? Probably not many. It was my honor."

Cat sniffled, looking at the baby and kissing her head. "Hi, baby girl... I'm your mommy..."