Rachel
It was around 10 pm when Rachel realized she couldn't ignore it anymore. She reached over to her phone on the bedside table.
"Dr. McCoy? It's Rachel, I think I'm going into labor." The furry mutant came upstairs and lifted the pregnant girl easily, carrying her down to the infirmary.
"Dr. McCoy, please, get a teleporter, I want Zac to know." A young teleporter was sent to retrieve Zac, if he was able to come.
~*~*~
"Zac? Zac Hanson? I'm from Xavier's Rachel's gone into labor."
Zac and Isaac
"What? Already?" Zac asked, eyes wide. "But-but she's not due until June..."
The Hansons had been preparing to get on their way to the next city.
"Guess she's premature," Isaac said. "Go on Zac. You know where we're staying next don't you?"
"Ye-eah..."
"We'll meet you there."
"O-okay..."
Not long thereafter, Zac appeared in the medlabs.
Rachel and Jessica
Rachel looked a little calmer when Zac appeared. A few moments later the teleporter, Chris, appeared with Jess, who was Rachel's lamaze coach.
"Zac, I'm scared, she's too early."
"It will be okay, Rache," Hank said, setting up the fetal monitor. "She's ready to come out now. We have an incubator, and many babies are born early and most are fine." Jess came over and held her best friend's hand.
"Hey bro," she said to Zac. "This wasn't the exact situation I was planning on seeing you again, but oh well. Do you need anything Rach?"
"I need these contractions to stop!" Rachel grunted. "I hate you." she said to Zac through clenched teeth.
Zac
"You say that like you don't think I've heard it before," Zac said dryly. "Here, if it make you feel any better, you can break my hand - err I mean hold it."
He offered his hand out, freezing it slightly so that Rach wouldn't break his hand. He needed it intact for the concert they had on Monday.
Rachel and Jessica
Rachel held onto Zac's hand like there was no tomorrow, while Jessi fed her ice chips. The contractions continued on and off for hours.
"Mom was never in labour for this long," Jessi commented at 9 am.
"This is completely expected," Hank said. "Some women are in labour for days, especially with their first child."
"DAYS?!?!!!!!!!" Rachel screamed as she twisted Zac's hand. She was tired, and ready for this baby to be born. There was a lull for a few moments, and Rachel suddenly looked frightened.
"Dr. McCoy? SOmething's wrong. She hasn't moved in a while." Hank looked at the monitor."
"Her chord may be twisted. Rachel, I think it's time we go in and get her." Rachel looked terrified.
Zac
Zac winced, but refrained from saying "Hey, I need this hand." Instead he chewed his lip, not really knowing what to say, or do, and all round feeling in the way.
Rachel and Jean
"Can they stay here?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, but they need to scrub up. Jean and I will preform an emergency c-section."
"Okay," Rachel said meekly. fifteen minutes later Jean gave her an injection and she couldn't feel anything, even though she was awake.
At 10:13 am on May first, Annie Evans-Hanson came into the world. Jean smiled at Zac.
"Would you like to cut the chord?"
Zac
Zac blinked.
"I... I... ahh yeah sure..." he stammered.
He accepted the tool and severed the ambilical cord.
Jessica and Rachel
"I'm gooing to take over here, now, Zac, just to check her out," Hank said, taking the baby girl. "WHy don't you stay with Rachel while Jean finishes suturing, and I'll let you know when you can see the baby."
"She's beautiful, Rach," Jessi promised her friend, who looked so pale and helpless, but happy. "Ten fingers and ten toes, they're all there." Jess stroked her friends hair away from her face.
"Oh, Zac, Mom said it was okay if I went back with you for a day or two, maybe catch your next show. It's been so long since I just hng out with my brothers."
Zac
Zac nodded.
"Okay, that'll rock," he said.
He moved his gaze back to Rachel for a moment, then towards the direction where Hank had taken Annie.
Rachel and Jean
Hank checked Annie out and then set her up in the incubator. She was very small, as was expected in a premie, but she was mostly healthy, her lungs were just small. He wheeled the incubator next to Rachel's bed, and went back to Toad and his other patients, leaving the girls in Jean's expert care.
"She's so little," Rachel said. "When can I hold her?"
"Soon," Jean said. "We have to make sure she's getting enough oxygen and staying warm enough. She needs a name."
"Annabelle," Rachel said. "But I don't know about a middle name."
"What's her last name," Jessi asked.
"Evans-Hanson."
Zac
"Oh see, this is where I can help," Zac nods. "Had to think of lots of names for when Dee Dee was born. Okay, lets see... Sarah. Sapphira. Fortuna? Maybe because she has Curse. Or Mallory. Or..."
He poked his tongue out, trying to remember some names he had looked out.
Rachel and Jessica
Rachel looked over at her daughter. "Is your name Annie? What's your middle name, you gonna tell us?" The baby kicked her tiny legs in the air. "Apparently, not yet," Rachel giggled.
"Hey beautiful, I'm your Auntie Jessi, and I'm going to spoil you rotten, that's my job."
Zac
"Annabelle Sarah Evans-Hanson?" Zac tried out. "Nah. Annabelle Iris Evens-Hanson? Hey I like that one."
He gave Rachel an endearing grin.
Rachel and Jean
"Iris, I like it," Rachel said. "Are you Annabelle Iris Evans-Hanson?" Rachel asked her daughter. Annie looked at her and opened her eyes, then shut them again. "I think so. Can I hold her Jean?" Jean looked at the monitors.
"I think so, for a little while. But she not for long. We have to make sure she gets enough oxygen." Jean set the tiny bay in Rachel's arms.
"Hi ANnie. I've waited so long to meet you. That's your daddy," she said, pointing to Zac. "He's a goofball, and you don't haveto ever do anything he tells you." Annie's bright blue eyes fixed on her daddy.
Zac
"That's right," Zac said. "If I ever tell you to do your chores or be nice to your mother, the last thing you should do is listen to me."
He nodded gravely.
Rachel
"Smartass. Would you like to hold your daughter?" Rachel asked her ex.
Zac
Zac smiled.
"Sure," he said.
He reached out for Annie.
Rachel and Jessica
Rachel placed her daughter in her father's arms, and smiled at how they looked together.
"She's got her daddy's eyes, and his cheekbones," Rachel said.
"Hope she doesn't get his girth," Jessi joked. "Look, she has mom's ears, and Rachel's nose."
Zac
"Nothing wrong with my girth," Zac muttered.
He peered down at his baby girl. Well, his latest one. He sure wasn't doing too badly. Three daughters and two sons.
Jessica and Rachel
"I'd rather my daughter not be a tank," Rachel mused. "Great for guys, but she's got my warrior blood in her. This one's going to be a dancer, I think, or a soccer player, just ask my kidneys," the new mom said. She looked over at the clock. "It's almost lunchtime. I might not be eating for two, but I'm hungry."
"I could eat," Jess said. "I'll leave you two to get to know your daughter, and I'll go grab something for the cafeteria for all of us." She kissed her brother's cheek and went off in search of food.
"You know," Rachel spoke up, "If the press ever does the math, and figures out how many children you fathered in the course of a year. . . " Rachel trailed off. "I will laugh my ass off. I've already got to work it off. Gotta get in shape again. I missed gymnastics, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I missed fighting, and I even missed training sessions with Wolverine. It'll be fun to get back in the saddle."
Toad & Hank
Toad rolled over in his bed, woken finally from his sedated sleep.
"Wot the f*ck?"
He blinked amber brown eyes at the assembled people and Hank grimaced faintly.
"Contain your language, sir. It is not appreciated."
Toad gestured rudely with one hand, sitting up and scratching at the bandages over his chest and face.
"Standin' by me question. Wot the *f*ck*? God, they're spawning. Gah."
Zac
Zac looked over at the green mutant.
"And that's so bad?" he asked. "Spawning, I mean. Although, I prefer the word 'breeding'. It sounds a little bit more sophisticated."
Rachel
Rachel giggled. "You do a lot of spawning, Zac. You're the Spawn King. You mind if I hold my daughter for a bit, before JEssi comes back?" Rachel asked, holding out her arms.
Toad & Hank
"More effin' bleeding 'earts," Toad snorted.
"Jist wot the world bloody doesn't need."
"May I remind you that you wuold be ash by now if the X-Men had not rescued you from the Friend of Humanity rally?" Hank said.
"F*ck yew. I didn't ask fer 'elp."
Zac
"Not the Spawn King," Zac objected as he handed Annie back to Rachel. "Just cause I've had five kids in less than a year..."
He smiled innocently.
"I much prefer: Master of the Horizontal MMMBop. Or maybe the Emperor of Impregantion. Or how about the Prince of Procreation. And then there's the Rajah of Reproduction. Or, or, or, Baron of Begotting!"
Rachel and Jean
Rachel rolled her eyes. "You've put too much thought into that, Zaccy-boy. Look, she's trying to suck," Rachel said as she held Annie to her breast. "Jess is taking a while, she's probably stopping to tell everybody she bumps into that I just had a baby. Expect a crowd," Rachel said.
"Oh no," Jean said as she checked Rachel's blood pressure. "Zac and Jessi, and that's it. ANybody else wants to visit and they can wait until tomorrow."
"Okay," Rachel said through a bit of a yawn. She was exhausted, but she was wired at the same time. Her, a mom, she couldn't believe it.
"Can somebody call my dad?" she asked.
"I'll have Scott do it," Jean said, and instructed her husband telepathically to let Mr. Evans know he was a grandfather.