"I totes' need some Kiliane and James pregnancy stuff. How does he deal with her going into labor? Is he around or off on a mission?"

I received the above question from fruitchews on tumblr, and this was my response. Just a short headcanon drabble. :)

This is such an excellent question! And it's a great story that Kiliane loves to tell, over and over. James...not so much.

You see, he'd accepted that you can't make plans when it comes to Kiliane. But he was determined that the birth of his children would be the exception. They would plan for and be prepared for every possible thing that could happen. It's pretty common for twins to be born early, so he started his paternity leave when she was a about 32 weeks along. He had their bag packed and sitting next to the front door, he had put together all of the furniture in the nursery. He'd also read about fifty books and a thousand extranet articles on everything that he could possibly expect to happen.

He was driving Kiliane crazy, of course. She loved him, and she loved that he was so determined to make everything go smoothly. But the constant hovering and the endless questions were enough to make anyone go insane, let alone a woman who was in the final stages of her pregnancy. So she made up a ridiculous story about how she absolutely needed a very specific, very obscure brand of herbal tea, and he needed to go track it down for her.

It was an excellent plan to get a couple of hours to herself-until she went into labor. James was in the middle of the health food store the next town over when he got her call. He panicked. Nowhere in all of his planning did he account for the fact that he wouldn't be there. He received many concerned looks as he ran through the store proclaiming that he was having a baby and people needed to get out of his way.

Miranda was able to drive Kiliane to the hospital, and James had to meet them there. He arrived just in time. She ended up needed a cesarean, and he hurriedly put on his scrubs and mask and cap and turned to walk into the OR. Turned right into a shelf as a matter of fact, the nurse's "Watch out!" arriving a half a second too late as the world went dark.

He still made it. James got to see both of his babies come into the world. He just had to do it with one eye, because the other was swollen shut.

And now when anyone asks why his head is cut from all of the pictures from that day, Kiliane gleefully tells the story while James silently reminds himself that the only thing you can ever count on when it comes to her is that you can't count on anything.

But if he's perfectly honest with himself, he wouldn't have it any other way.