Hanna was having serious doubts about showing up to this wedding. Aria had managed to find her a dress that matched what the bridesmaids would be wearing, but was both big and flattering enough to suit her pregnant figure, and she promised her friend that she would show up early to help with hair and makeup, but she wasn't feeling it. What she was feeling was pain. It wasn't constant; it would come and go, and come and go, lasting only for a few seconds at a time. She knew what they were, but she was afraid to take them at face value. Besides, Doctor Wilson had warned her about false contractions. For all she knew, she could've been dealing with those. The blonde stood, bent and leaning on the back of the couch, trying to breathe through the pain she was feeling. She stopped, however, when she heard her fiance's footsteps coming down the stairs. She didn't want him to see her like this and think that something was wrong. "You look beautiful," Caleb said, adjusting his tie as he walked towards her. "Thanks." There was a hint of pain in her smile, but Caleb didn't notice.
"Are you ready to go," she questioned, distancing herself from the couch and moving towards him instead. The pain had subsided yet again (thankfully), and she wanted to be in the car and on her way to the wedding before it came back. "I was just about to ask you the same question," he replied, wrapping his arms around her, bringing her close, and pressing a kiss to her lips once he was close enough. "Go wait in the car. I'll grab the keys."
The blonde waddled out to the car and got into the passenger seat. After a few minutes of waiting, she felt the pain again. If she had been counting the time between the pains, she would've known that it was six minutes; Doctor Wilson had told her to consider heading to the hospital once they hit the six minute mark. But Hanna wasn't counting. Once again, Caleb appeared at the most inconvenient time, and she was forced to try to cover up her pain with a smile. Once he was in the car with his seatbelt fastened, the male leaned over and kissed her fiancee on the cheek. "Try not to upstage the bride, alright?" he whispered, before putting the key in the ignition and pulling out of the driveway.
The highway was packed. Cars were packed bumper to bumper, and it looked as if they were going to be adding another hour or so to the drive. Caleb let out an exasperated sigh and rested back against the cushioning of the drivers' seat. Hanna tried her best to ignore the pain she was feeling. She looked over at her fiance, whose eyes were fixed on the car ahead of him. "Can you see where the jam ends from here?" She sounded like she was in pain. He shook his head. The furthest he could see was a few cars up, and it looked as if they were far from the end as well. "We're gonna be here for a while... Are you alright?" he asked, taking his eyes off of the lines of cars for a moment to look at her. She nodded, but another surge of pain struck her midsection and caused her to grimace. Cue the concerned look from Caleb. If her tone of voice wasn't enough to tell him that something was wrong, her facial expression was. "Was that a contraction?" She nodded, and tears began to stream down her cheeks.
The male's dark eyes widened, and he scrambled to grab his iPhone. "We should time these, right? That's what Doctor Wilson said?" He had half a mind to get out of the car, grab Hanna, and bridal-carry her all the way to the hospital like some guy out of a movie, but he wasn't some guy out of a movie, and the best he could do was keep track of the contractions and hope traffic would clear up quickly. Hanna gripped his free hand, needing something other than the handle of the roof to hold onto. By Caleb's count, the contraction lasted a full minute, but it felt like more on her end. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand and mumbled words of encouragement, hoping that they would be enough to keep her calm for a while; if they worked, at least one of them would be calm. Another contraction came shortly after; just a little bit over three minutes. Caleb was racking his brain, trying to remember what the OB-GYN had told them about the timing. They were supposed to make their way to the hospital at six minutes, and active labor was supposed to start at— He was drawing a blank.
The contractions kept getting closer and closer together. Hanna forehead was beaded with sweat, and her hair was damp. Caleb's hand was sore from being squeezed so much, but he was too distracted by the current situation to notice. "Han, I think... I think we're gonna have to move you to the back of the car," he said, getting out and walking around to help her. Some of the surrounding drivers honked at him as he did, but he ignored them. If they knew what they were truly honking at, they wouldn't have. The blonde slid into the back seat and laid down, body perpendicular to the road. Caleb climbed in as well, glancing towards the front of the car to make sure he wasn't obstructing traffic any further. "I'm gonna block you no matter what, but... The underwear is gonna need to come off." The blonde didn't like the sound of that. They were in the middle of the highway. She didn't want random drivers to see her business, especially not in the condition it was now. But Caleb was shielding her, and she trusted him not to allow that to happen. So, she reached down and removed the fabric. From where Caleb was standing, he could have sworn he could see the top of the baby's head.
He didn't know anything about delivering babies, but there was no one there to help them. He needed to take charge and deliver his son. Since he couldn't offer her his hand to hold, he took off his tie and folded it. Perhaps biting on something would've been enough to distract her from the pain. "Alright, Han, I'm gonna need you to push, okay?" Hanna shook her head, but he persisted. "Han, the sooner we get this baby out, the sooner we can get you to the hospital." She was sobbing at this point. This wasn't how she pictured the birth of her firstborn. She wanted to be in a hospital, with enough drugs coursing through her veins for her to forget the pain. She wanted Caleb to wear the scrubs that were specifically set aside for fathers, and she wanted to wear one of those ugly pink hospital gowns. She didn't want to be in the middle of the a highway without any pain relief, having to hope and pray that she wouldn't bleed all over her dress. "Han, push." The blonde pushed, and screamed, and then pushed some more. Caleb waited with shaky hands to retrieve his son.
Fifteen minutes later, he did. Traffic was still at a standstill, but now there was another person in the car with them. Hanna was so out of it that Caleb wasn't sure she even fully realized what just happened. He'd cut the cord on his own, with a Swiss Army knife and a foldable comb, bumped the newborn's back to free up his windpipe, and wrapped him in a blanket he was keeping in the trunk. Hanna was holding him now; Caleb had returned to the drivers seat, but was looking back at them fondly through the rear view mirror. "You did good, Han," he told her, trying to meet her eyes. "He's perfect," she replied, unable to take her eyes off of the infant's soft blue ones. They matched hers, just like Caleb had wanted them to. She ran her fingers through the tiny patch of dark hair he had on his head. It was just like Caleb's, but much softer.
A ringing cellphone interrupted their family moment; it was a call from Spencer, wondering where they were. Caleb took the call, allowing Hanna some time to rest. The blonde listened to his end of the call anyway though. "Yeah, we're alright. It's this traffic, you know?" There was a coy smile on his lips. He wasn't going to tell the others just yet. Hanna knew he wasn't going to say anything. "I don't know if we'll be able to make it up there. We already missed the wedding, and Hanna's pretty tired. Once we get out, I think we're just gonna head back." The new mother looked back down at the infant, who had just fallen asleep in her arms. "Someone else is tired too," she said softly, planting a soft kiss to the infant's forehead. Looking back on when she first found out she was pregnant, she regretted even questioning whether or not she wanted to keep this child. He was adorable. She was in love with him, and he wasn't even an hour old yet. "Yeah, traffic's moving now. We're just gonna turn back, but we'll give you a call later, alright?"
Hanna waited until she was sure Caleb had hung up the phone to speak up again. "Where are we gonna tell them?" she asked, trying to get comfortable without waking up the sleeping baby. "Let's give it a couple of hours. Right now, we need to focus on getting you and Caleb Jr. to the hospital." She smirked at him. "What makes you think we're calling him Caleb Jr.?" she asked, watching as the cars around them started to move again. "Caleb's a great name." He was joking. That name wasn't even on the shortlist. The last time they talked about it, the list was made up of three names Hanna liked and one that he did; in hindsight, he hadn't picked the best names. "No it's not. I don't know why anybody would ever want to name their child that." She was joking as well. "Neither do I, honestly."
"I used to like Carson, but I think that would be a bit too ironic," she told him, using one hand to gesture around the car. "Like, that name just screams 'born on a highway.'" He chuckled. "Carson Toyota Rivers. How do you like the sound of that?" The baby stirred in Hanna's arms. "Look at that. That name was so awful, it nearly woke him up." The couple laughed, softly, of course, so as not to actually wake the baby. "He looks like a Blake," Hanna said after calming down at bit. Caleb nodded, trying not to seem too smug. Blake was the only name of his that made it. That was part of the reason Hanna chose it. "Blake Rivers has a nice ring to it... Blake Matthew Rivers. That was one of the names you liked, right, babe? Matthew?" It was Hanna's turn to nod. "Do you like that, Blake?" she questioned, as if the infant was actually able to understand or respond to her. "Blake it is."
It didn't take too long for them to get to a hospital. It was only a twenty minute drive between where they were and Rosewood. Hanna had fallen asleep cradling the infant, so Caleb tried his best to keep the drive as smooth as possible. When they got there, the nurses took Blake to the nursery, presumably to make sure he didn't need any intensive medical attention and to get his required shots, and Hanna to a room in the maternity wing. She was regretting wanting that ugly pink hospital gown now, but her only other option was the bloody dress, and there was no way she was going to stay in that for any longer than she needed to. Caleb followed Blake's nurses first, making sure everything was under control before heading over to the room they'd put Hanna in.
He sat down at the side of her bed and held her hand, gently caressing the back of it with his thumb. "You can go back to sleep, you know." She smiled and shook her head. "I caught my second wind." That wasn't completely true. She was still tired, but she doubted she was going to be able to fall back asleep until Blake was sorted out. Deep down, she knew everything was alright, but she just needed to hear it. Caleb wasn't completely convinced, but he didn't push it. "Well, how are you feeling otherwise?" She shrugged. "Sore." Her midsection still ached, and the medicine they had given her for pain was taking a while to kick in. "But good otherwise. Happy," she added. He pulled out his phone and began to scroll through his contacts list. "Good enough to make the call?" he questioned, stopping at Ashley's name. Hanna nodded, but then paused. "You don't want to call your mom first?" He shook his head. "I want her to hear it from us this time." He pressed the call button, and the two of them waited anxiously for her to answer the phone. They could hardly even wait until the phone clicked, signaling that she had answered, to start speaking.
"Mom, guess what?" Hanna began, sitting up so that she wouldn't sound like she was laying down. "What?" Ashley questioned. She sounded concerned, but the blonde wanted to play for a bit. "Well, we were on our way to Aria and Ezra's wedding, and there was a traffic jam." There was a sigh on the other end of the line; a relieved sigh. "So that's why you didn't come," the red-headed grandmother began. "I was afraid something happened with the baby." Hanna and Caleb exchanged glances, and tried their hardest not to laugh. "Well..." Caleb interjected, still looking at Hanna. "That's kind of why we called you." Silence, and then more concerned from Ashley. "What happened?" She sounded afraid. Hanna felt bad for dragging this out for so long, but she knew her mother would be happy when they finally got the point across. "Your grandson decided that the highway was the perfect place to make his first appearance." More silence. "Hanna, did you—" The blonde nodded, as if her mother could see her through the phone. Just then, the nurses wheeled Blake back into the room in a hospital bassinet. "Yeah... Would you like to meet your grandson?" she questioned, signalling to one of the nurses to bring the bassinet closer to the bed, and then taking the phone away from Caleb and starting FaceTime. "This is Blake Matthew Rivers," she said dreamily, holding the phone just above the baby's body.
The older woman cooed at her newborn grandson through the phone, bringing a smile to both Hanna and Caleb's faces. "You can come by and see him if you want. I think they wanna keep us here overnight, and I would love for you to see him in person." It took all of two seconds for the older woman to make up her mind. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Do you want me to bring you anything?" she asked, before telling Ted to start the car. Hanna looked at Caleb, who shook his head. "Just bring yourself." That ended the call, and Hanna handed the phone back to Caleb. "We should probably call your mom now," she suggested, reaching into the bassinet and taking Blake out. "On it," he replied, tapping his mother's contact name and pressing the dial button. "She's gonna wanna come out and visit," he said, more to himself as the phone rang. "Mom, guess what?" he began, mimicking Hanna's greeting to her own mother. "Did Hanna have the baby?" Claudia asked. Caleb shot Hanna a surprised look. He hadn't expected her to guess correctly on the first try. "Yeah. Wanna see him?" Before she could respond, he switched the phone over to FaceTime and held the camera out in front of them so it could capture the three of them. Then, he brought it closer so the camera was only on Blake. "Blake Matthew Rivers," he informed, shutting FaceTime off and going back to the audio call. More cooing from a different grandmother. "We would love it if you came out here to meet him, Claudia," Hanna said, styling the infants dark tufts with her fingers. "And bring the boys."
"We'll be on the first flight out of LAX in the morning," the woman promised. "Alright. We'll see you then," Caleb replied before ending the call. He checked the time on his phone, and then showed it to Hanna. "Think the reception's over yet?" She shook her head. It had only been a couple of hours. "No... But we can text them all later." Caleb grinned. "Sounds perfect," he replied, leaning down to kiss his fiance, and then even further down to kiss his son. Hanna yawned. The sudden burst of energy was gone now. "Do you want to hold him?" she asked sleepily. Caleb nodded. He hadn't actually had a chance to hold the child since they were on the highway, and even then, it was only for a couple of moments. "Of course."
Author's note: I saw that a lot of you wanted Caleb to deliver the baby himself, and even though they weren't in the middle of a storm like some of you wanted, I tried my best to give you what you asked for! Let me know what you think!