What Happened in the Morning...

It's Time...

The months passed slowly and painfully, with Alice now six-and-a-half months pregnant. Her pregnancy had lasted this long, but her mate worried that he wouldn't be able to stall the birth any longer. But since she was about to finish her second trimester, Ratchet started letting his guard a little bit. But that didn't mean she wasn't at risk still; in fact, he forced her to stay in bed to try and prevent the birth since she started experiencing labor pains at only five-and-a-half months. All the time laying on the mattress has made the bedridden Alice completely miserable. To make it up to her, Ratchet decided to take a break from work to spend more time with Alice. He decided to stay by her side, stroking her belly lovingly and telling the twins stories about his many adventures, as he was doing at this moment.

"...And then, Clank entered the other dimension and went to save Vendra while I stayed and fought Mr. Eye. After a few shots from Mr. Zurkon and couple of shots from my blaster, I whipped out my RYNO and took Mr. Eye down with one last shot," he said, resting his head onto her stomach. Alice giggled.

"Careful, Ratchet," she said, stroking his ears. "The twins might grow careless if you keep telling them stories like that." Ratchet chortled gently as he lifted his head.

"All I want is for my children to be proud of their father," he said. "I would want at least one of them to follow in my footsteps; I would have so much to teach him or her."

"Well, you're going to be the father of twins, Ratchet," she said. "Odds are, the boy would want to be like you. But I'm sure you'll love them both the same."

"But of course, honey," he said, planting a kiss on her fore head. "As long as the twins are healthy." She stroked his cheek, which made Ratchet purr. Both of them felt the baby (they weren't sure which one) starting to kick in reaction to his purring. Ratchet couldn't help but notice Alice frowning.

"Don't worry. At least you have only about one and half months left to wait before it's safe for the twins to be born," he said while rubbing her belly again. "Then you can get out of bed." Alice smiled. Just about then, she felt another kick, a lot stronger than the last one.

"Wow," she said, rubbing her belly. "These little ones are pretty much ready to come into the world." Ratchet opened his eyes in shock.

"I'm afraid you guys will just have to wait," he said, rubbing her stomach. "We don't want to risk your mother's life."

____________
One month later

The next couple weeks passed a little faster. Now Alice was seven-and-a-half months pregnant; she only had half a month left before her body was accustomed enough to deliver the babies. Considering her constant sleeping, weird cravings, and morning sickness, Ratchet was not one to rest easy. His constant worry for the twins to born at any moment has had him restless for the last couple months. Thankfully, his boss at work understood his stress at the moment and offered him a year off for taking care of the kids.

It was a peaceful morning with the couple just chatting about the nursery they decorated. Since the apartment has two bedrooms, they turned the guest room into a nursery. They couldn't decide on what color to paint the room since they were expecting both a boy and girl, but then they decided to paint it a pale yellow color. They also bought two cribs and a bunch of other supplies: it was too stressful for the couple to throw a baby shower so as usual, they took matters into their own hands. Ratchet insisted that Alice stayed home to prevent a premature birth from happening and he went by himself to find everything. He tried to make it fast since again, anything could happen while he was gone. So just to be safe, he invited his friend, Talwyn and her robot companions, Cronk and Zephyr to keep an eye on her in case something happened.

He returned home to find Talwyn telling Alice about her father, Max Apogee.

"...He's collected so many Lombax artifacts, you must be so proud of him," he heard Alice tell Talwyn.

"Of course I am," she said before growing solemn. "But one day, pirates raided our space station, and the Lombax Secret artifact was the only thing they took. My father went after them, but never came back." Alice rubbed her shoulder.

"Don't worry," she said. "I'm sure he's still out there somewhere." Talwyn gave her a gentle smile when suddenly Ratchet came into the room.

"Hey, honey," he said, giving Alice a kiss. "How are you feeling?"

"Just a little tired," she said. She glanced over to Talwyn while Ratchet sat next to her on the bed. "And I think I found our godmother." Ratchet raised an eyebrow.

"What's a godmother?" Alice giggled as she realized he had no idea what that was.

"A godmother is responsible for protecting the child and obliged to provide for the physical and spiritual needs of the infant if the parents are absent," she explained. Ratchet felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. Alice realized what he was thinking and quickly tried to reassure him. "No, nothing like that, don't worry. I promise you, Ratchet. I will not die."

"Thanks Alice," he said, hugging her carefully as to not to hurt her belly. Suddenly, a noticeable pop was heard, which startled everyone in the room.  Ratchet stood up to see a small puddle on the bed and her dress was a little wet

"Whoops," he said, giggling a little. "It seems you had an accident." Alice gave him a blank stare.

"Um, Ratchet?" she said. "That's not pee. At least I don't think it is." Ratchet looked at her, his face as pale as a white sheet.

"...Oh no," he said, becoming panicked. Alice realized what happened and started to feel a pain in her abdomen.

"My water just broke," she said, causing everyone in the room to panic.

"Don't move,Alice," Ratchet ordered. "Stay right there." He turned to Cronk and Zephyr. "Guys, we need water! Lots of water! We need to keep her hydrated during the delivery." Once the robots left the room, Alice stared at him, completely bewildered.

"I'm fine guys," she said. "I don't feel anything." The robots came back to the room with plenty of water. Ratchet instructed them to hold her legs open, and he asked Talwyn to deliver the babies when each came out one by one. If they delayed any longer, chances are one of the twins will die from lack of oxygen.

"Guys, you're overreacting," Alice spoke, trying to tone down the drama. "I really don't feel anything." Ratchet stood up and held her hands tightly as he breathed heavily.

"You're going to feel some pain soon, honey," he said. "I'm afraid it's time..."