A/N: Every Season in "BT" has 90 days, like the seasons in a year, but these ones have a definite start and end like our months. Get me? ~ Mika

Pre-"Deny Thy Father..."

As Jak saw the last Metal Head flop down, he leapt on the Dune Hopper and sped away as quickly as he could, heart racing, back to Spargus where he knew the carrier that lifted him between the edge of the Wasteland and Haven City was waiting. Over the communicator he heard heavy breathing and knew he didn't have much time. Bombing and jumping over Marauders, he grew more and more anxious, reaching a peak when he ran into difficulties in the seemingly random patches of water he found in the vast desert.

These were soon resolved by a series of boost-jumps, however, and Jak reached the carrier, braking before he crashed into it.

"Jak, are you still there?" a breathless voice panted over the comm.

"Hang on, Keir, I'm coming!" Jak yelled back, leaping into the carrier, holding on as it took off jerkily, almost sending the duo catapulting across the other side of it.

"You're gonna miss it by the time you get there, ya know that?"

"And you were present at your first child's birth?" Jak grumbled at his best friend, irate as hell. The one day Metal Heads had chosen to go after some Precursor artefacts and it had to be today, this very day, the 75th day of Summer. He and Keira had been waiting for this day since they were given the all-clear at the three-month scan they had attended.

"And second, and third." Daxter counted them off. "And when Tess pushes out my fourth I'mma be there as well,"

"Fourth?" Jak exclaimed. "Precursors, Dax, how many ya planning on having?"

"Oh, seven, minimum,"

"You realise your sex life's gonna dive right down – "

"Buddy, this is me you're talkin' to," Daxter reasoned. "My sheet-life's never dived, and it's not going to n – OW!"

The carrier landed with a bump, the door lowering slower than Jak would have liked.

"Ya know, buddy, you can slow down time, remember?" Daxter reminded him.

Shaking his head in embarrassment, Jak landed on the ground, summoning his Light powers, bent his knees and clapped his hands above his head. He took off as everything slowed, turning blue in his peripheral vision. Stealing a Zoomer, he took off as fast as the vehicle would go, being careful to avoid sharp corners and walls. Sometimes, however, it was inevitable, especially given Haven's jagged design.

Eventually, he reached his home and let the very much battered Zoomer crash and explode into the opposite wall, soaring off it before he could get hurt, unfreezing time. Just as he got to the door, Tess opened it, a furious look on her face.

"Where have you been? She's crowning!"

Jak looked at Daxter. "You coming?"

"To see Keira give birth?" The ottsel screwed up his face. "Hot as she is, no thankyou, buddy."

"In that case, I'm off; Tess, where is she?" Jak panted to both respective ottsels, urgency running through his veins.

"This way, dark boy!" Tess ordered, sprinting off ahead of Jak, who rolled his eyes at the "dark boy" comment but let it slide, following her. The female ottsel reached his and Keira's bedroom – hospitals being far too dangerous as he was being hunted by Roah – and pushed open the door, revealing a physically-compromised Keira, looking like she had a fitness ball above her open legs.

"Last time I saw you like that we were– "

"GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW, JAK MAR, OR YOU WILL NEVER HAVE SEX AGAIN!" she growled, breathing hard, face screwed up in pain. Jak, not wishing to lose anything between his legs, scurried over to his wife through the medical team surrounding the bed and taking her hand. Wrapping her fingers around hers, she gripped them so tightly they quickly turned purple.

As important as this was, Jak seemed to blank out the forthcoming hours as the night drew in. Finally, Keira gave one last ear-shattering scream and one last push, her breathing shallow as she did. Jak looked up at the heart monitor beside her, noticing with alarm that it was dropping quickly. The doctors and nurses swarmed it like a hive of white wumpbees, inspecting the newborn, saying things but their words were buzzing to Jak. His exhausted wife slid down in the bed, looking even more tired and thinner than ever, her skin ashen-pale, the Dark Eco poisoning her.

"Damascus..." she murmured. "Where's Damascus..."

Her husband held her close, tears springing to his eyes as the words the doctors said finally made sense to his ears.

"Heart rate critical..."

"Dark Eco poisoning..."

"...hospital..."

Suddenly, the machine began beeping frantically, and Jak, made to let go of Keira, was hurried out of the room despite numerous protests. Numbed, he could only stand outside and wait for news, muffled shouts, beeps, his bedroom a hive of activity.

When the door burst open, both Keira and the newborn child were on a stretcher and a container respectively, being carried away from him.

"Where are you going?" he yelled.

"Sir, we're taking your wife and baby to A&E. They're both in need of stability – No, wait here, we will let you know when they are stable,"

"That's my whole family there!" the anxious warrior yelled. "If they die..." It's my fault.

"I understand, sir, but you must remain here until they are stable,"

"And when will that be?"

"As soon as possible," the medic tried to assure the new father.

Jak sighed, defeated. "Just...tell me something. My baby. A...a boy or a girl?"

"A boy," the medic replied, a small smile on her face. "A beautiful little boy. Congratulations."

Was that who Keira was calling Damascus? The blonde wondered, nodding vaguely. "Th-thanks,"

Another small smile. The veteran could tell the medic was new at this. "We'll call you when they're both stable. I promise." With those words, she turned and followed the other white-clad men and women out the door, leaving the warrior feeling useless and defeated.

He sat on the floor, not fully knowing what to do, or indeed, how to feel.

"You nearly killed Keira...When Keira was pregnant with you. You had inherited my Light and Dark powers and they'd manifested in the womb. It nearly killed her. You and Keira were so ill after you were born because of the powers, I thought I'd lose both of you. At one point you were both at death's door. For six months, I was just so angry with myself..."

– Jak to Damas Jr.
'Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise'
"What Sorrow Craves Acquaintance At My Hand?"