push for me

BANG!

“Oh shit! What was that?”

“Don’t worry, honey. I’ve got this!”

Their car fishtailed violently as their rear right tire ran over road debris, causing a severe puncture. The driver managed to peer at her right hand mirror and saw what were chunks of vulcanized rubber flying off and coming to rest on the pavement. Although at the very edge of crashing, she managed to get the car slowed down enough to be able to drive straight and regain control.

“Looks like we’ve got a flat, honey.”

“Mom, I knew this trip was a bad idea.”

“Now, now… We’ll be okay. It’s getting dark, though, and we’ve sprung a flat tire. We need to get some place where we can get help.”

“But, mom. There’s nothing for miles except desert and road!”

“Wait, I recall a town along this route where we can get help. It’s just a few miles from here, there should be a fork in the road somewhere here…”

“Really now…”

“Oh, wait… There it is! Right there! We’ll be okay, I promise.”

As she reached the fork, the driver saw two signs that read:

<< Westborough City - 52 miles< >Harmonville - 2.5 miles >>

Realizing that they had a long way to go before they would be home, the driver pulled onto the road leading to the small town, not knowing that it would be start of an unexpected adventure.

After a short drive, they arrived at the town of Harmonville. They were greeted by rather rundown looking buildings, old rusting cars and the occasional call of a raven. Seeing a gasoline station, the driver pulled into it and managed to park it alongside one of the pumps. Gingerly, she removed her seatbelt, slid out of her seat and lifted her gravid form as she stood up. She waddled around looking for someone who could help.

“Hello… Hello… Anybody here? We need help, we’ve got a flat tire. Anyone here, we need help… Hello!”

Her call went unanswered. The driver looked around and decided to enter the convenience store. As she pushed the door open and stepped into the doorway, there was a loud creak from the ceiling and the boards suddenly fell, hitting the floor as she disappeared in a cloud of dust. Hearing the sound, the passenger rushed out of her seat and hurried over toward where the driver was last seen.

“Mom! MOM! MOOOOOOOOOOM! Are you okay? Speak to me! MOOOOOM!”

“I’m okay, Amanda! I’m okay. Got out of the way in the nick of time. Whew!”

“Don’t ever scare me like that again! I was worried you were badly hurt!”

“You know I’m tougher than that, it’ll take more than that to stop me.”

“You may be award-winning ob-gyne Cathy James-Fullerton after today, but that doesn’t make you invulnerable, mom.”

Amanda helped her mom walk toward their car. After taking a few minutes to catch her breath, the doctor came to her own conclusion.

“Looks like this gas station is abandoned. And it appears no one’s been here awhile. We may be here on our own. I’ll call for help.”

She took her phone and tried dialing her boyfriend, but she was met with an error tone. She also got an error while trying to send a text message, indicating it had failed to send. Checking her phone, she saw the signal was very weak, which explained it all.

“Honey, my phone has a weak signal. Can you try calling Steve for help?”

Amanda pulled her phone from her bag and noticed her signal was weak as well, despite being on a different network. She walked around for a bit but there was no improvement. She was also unable to get through call or text.

“Mom, no signal. I can’t get through, either.

“It’s okay, dear. But it looks like we’re going to have to fix the flat ourselves.”

“Are you kidding? Neither of us are in any shape to carry anything heavy!”

“Well, we’re by ourselves out here so we’ve got no choice. Help me get the tire jack from the trunk.”

The women headed to the trunk and upon opening it, tried getting the jackscrew and spare tire. After taking the jackscrew out, they then tried lifting the heavy spare tire out. Suddenly, Cathy groaned loudly and dropped her end of the tire, nearly causing it to fall on Amanda’s feet.

“Mom, what the hell?! You… You’re… Mom, are you okay?!”

The doctor was clutching her distended belly as she panted after letting out a long low groan. At her feet was a large wet spot. The mother and daughter looked at each other and instantly knew what happened. Cathy’s water had broken and it was now a race against time against possible infection – or worse.

“I’ll be okay, Amanda. Hoo boy, that was one strong contraction!”

“I’m scared, mom.”

“I’ll be fine, dear. This isn’t the first time I’ve had a baby.”

“You’re carrying twins. Aren’t you worried?”

“Panicking isn’t going to help us. We’re going to have to manage here if we can’t get back on the ro… Hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo haaaaah.”

She was cut off by another contraction as she leaned over her daughter. As it passed, she looked up and saw her daughter’s worried face.

“Amanda, we’ll get through this. We’ll be fine. Let’s get my bag ready just in case.”

As Cathy reached for her bag, she happened to look at the passenger seat and saw a large wet stain where her daughter had sat. She then took a look at Amanda, who tried to hide her wincing face.

“Honey, is there something you want to tell me?”

“Mom…”

“Amanda dear, I saw your seat just now. Unless you really had to pee and you weren’t telling me…”

“All right, all right already! My water broke just as we were leaving the parking lot. And I… I’ve had a few contractions. Mild, far apart, not very painful. I didn’t want you to panic, I was hoping I’d tell you when we got back to the city so we’d go to the hospital then. I’m so sorry, mom.” *sniff* *sniff*

Cathy opened her arms and hugged her daughter tightly.

“There, there. I may be a doctor, but I still worry about my firstborn. Not only will you be a mother soon, but also a big sister. And I need you now, because there’s a possibility that if we can’t get help soon, it’ll be just us. But I need your commitment to be honest with me.”

“I promise, mom. I’m sorry. Ooh!”

This time, it was Amanda’s turn to lean on her mom as a contraction took hold. She held onto her mom’s shoulders as she slowly breathed the pain away.

“How far apart are your contractions?”

“I don’t know… Like 5-6 minutes apart, I guess.”

“Honey, I think we may have our babies here. We’ll be fine, but we have to trust and look out for each other. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“I see a drugstore across the street, I’ll check if maybe there are supplies we can use. Grab your things, and meet me at the neighboring pool hall. Our babies may be born tonight.”

Despite their advanced pregnancies, both women were soon scrambling to get themselves ready. They knew their babies could come soon and they were in an abandoned town with little more than their wits and each other to survive.

10:00 PM. Cathy had been nervously timing her contractions, which were growing ever more frequent and intense. Despite attempts to get a better signal on their phones to contact help, they were stuck in the abandoned town of Harmonville, where she had stopped to get help after their car’s tire suffered a serious blowout, nearly causing an accident. Her mind began wandering to the events of night before…

Catherine “Cathy” James grew up an animal lover on her parents’ farm and initially wanted to be a veterinarian. She especially enjoyed taking care of the pregnant animals and helping them give birth, which eventually led her to become an obstetrician-gynecologist. She had earned many awards and honors in her 18 years as a doctor, and was known to be medically conservative in nature, often taking the “aggressively safe” route when handling cases. For instance, she believed even the smallest sign of trouble for mother or infant could be grounds for performing a Caesarean section instead of a normal vaginal delivery. She also advocated having a battery of specialists for every patient of hers to monitor for even the most minor of health issues. But now that she was miles away from help with only her daughter to rely on (and both of them expecting babies at that), she felt her blood running cold in fear and apprehension.

Her musing was cut short by Amanda’s screams:

“Aaaaaaaaaaah! Oooooooooooooooowwww! Oh God, make it stop! Ngrrrrrrrrh! Gaaaaaaaaah! Mom, I can’t… I can’t!”

Rushing over, she let her daughter lie on the dirty couch nearby.

“It’s okay, dear. I’m here.”

“Noooooooooo! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgh! We’re stuck… Hmmmmmnnnnh… In the middle… Grrrrrrrh… Of nowhere! And it’s….. Oooooooooooh! It’s all your… Nyaaaaaaaaaaaah… Fault!”

“Amanda, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

“Not helping, mom! Guyaaaaaaaaaah! Ooooooooooowww!”

“Listen, I… I… Ooooooooooooh! Just take my had… Aaaaaaaaah… And breath… Ooooooooowww… Like in Lamaze class… Hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo hee hee…”

“Hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo… Haaaaaaaaaah! Mom, it’s okay. You’ve got this.”

“Hee hee hoo hoo hee hee… Oooooooooh! Oh my!”

“Mom, about what I said earlier… I’m sorry. I know the award meant that much to you, especially after dad left us…”

“But I forgot the most important thing in my life… You, and my grandchildren.”

“I love you– Oh, oh, here it comes again!”

“Breathe, Amanda. Just breathe like we were taught in class!”

“Hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo…”

“Very good, very– Oooooh! Hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo…”

“Hee hee hoo hoo… Haaaaaaah! They’re getting closer, mom.

“Hee hee hoo hoo… Aaaaaaaah! I’ll need to check how dilated you are, okay?

Quickly, Cathy raised her daughter’s gown upward and gently removed her underwear. After taking a quick look, she looked back at Amanda.

“Honey, you’re fully dilated. You’ve gotten past the worst part, so I need you to push on the next contraction.“

Just then, she began to feel her own belly harden with an intense contraction. She leaned on the couch as her daughter watched on helplessly.

“Hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo… I can… Do this… Hee hee hoo hoo…”

“Mom?”

“Hee hee hoo hoo… I’ll be fine… Hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo… Just let me get into position.”

Knowing her daughter needed her more, she steadied herself to continue breathing as she knelt near her daughter’s feet. She could feel the first of her twins pressing further down the birth canal as she fought the urge to push.

“Mom, it hurts. I have to push!”

“Okay, Amanda. Go, I’ve got you!”

“Hrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnngh! Hee hee hoo hoo… Ngggggggggrrrrrrrrrh!”

“That’s it, you’re… Hee hee hoo hoo… Doing good, honey! Hee hee hee… Hoooooh!”

“Mmmmmmmmmmmppppph! Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggh! Haaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“You’re starting– Hee hee hoo hoo– to crown! Hee hee hoo hoo… I see the very top of the head! Keep– Hrrrrrrrrrrngggggh –Going!”

“Guyaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Whew! Mom, are you okay?”

“The babies are getting closer. But you need me.”

“Mom, I’m scared.”

“We’ll be fine, honey… Nggggrrrh. Let’s deliver your baby, shall we?”

“I’m worried about you, mom!”

“Let’s get my grandchild out, then you help me with your twin siblings. Deal?”

“Oooooookay… Deal.”

“Good, push when you’re ready.”

“Okay, here it comes. Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrgh! Hee hee hoo hoo…. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnngh! Hee hee hoo hoo…. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmnnh!”

12:15 AM. Although Amanda’s baby was starting to crown with each good push, it kept sliding back nearly the same amount. She struggled with the slow progress as the pain and fatigue were beginning to wear her down. Meanwhile, Cathy continued to keep mental tabs of the situation as she felt her own twins starting to emerge, spreading her lips wider and wider. They were both drenched in sweat as it matted their hair, leaving strands everywhere on their faces. The doctor was exhausted but she knew her daughter needed her as it was her first birth. And the baby that was coming looked to be a big one.

“Hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hee hee hoo… Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmffff!”

“That’s it– Hee hee hoo hoo hoo… You’re almost there!”

“Hee hee hoo hoo… Oh, it’s burning! It burns! Oooooooooow!”

“Don’t lose your focus, young lady! Hee hee hoo hoo… The baby is stretching you wide!”

“Ooooooooooow! Mom, I can’t do it!”

“Yes, you— Hoo hoo hoo! Yes, you can! You’re stretching very well… Hee hee hee haaah! Keep breathing, don’t push! Dooooooooooon’t puuuuuuuuuuuush! Ngrrrrrrrrrrh! Hee hee hee hee hoo hoo hoooooooh!

Amanda’s baby was now at full crown, stretching her so wide even her experienced mom was in awe. Quickly, she worked the soft tissues around the baby’s head, as they turned paper-thin and angry red from being pulled taut around the baby’s head. After a tense moment, the rest of the head slipped out, revealing its face.

“Oooooooooooooh my goooooooooooood!”

“Very good, sweet– Hee hee hoo hoo– Head’s out, checking for the cord!”

“Hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry, mooooom! I need to push… Hee hee hee hoo hoo hoo!”

“Aaaaaaand done! Amanda, just the shoulder— Hoo hoo hoo– and the baby should be here!”

“Hnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrh!”

“Left shoulder out— Hoo hoo hoo!”

“Ngaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggh!”

Amanda’s baby emerged in a gush of fluid and her mom worked frantically to clear the nose and throat to help it to cry. The first of her twins was now crowning and she started to feel a bulge in her soaked underwear, but she had to make sure her grandchild was okay. She struggled up to her feet and held the newborn boy up as she rubbed and gave it a few slaps, to which she was relieved to hear a lusty cry. She then handed the baby to Amanda, who was now crying as she took him in her arms. No sooner has she handed him off when Cathy let out a long, deep and loud moan as she reached for the nearby pool table.

“Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh! They’re– Nnngh– Coming! Must… Mmmmph… Lie… On.. Table!”

“Mom, I can see the head! Am on my way!”

As the doctor struggled to lift her legs up to the table, Amanda could clearly see thick dark hair emerging from the vagina. Seeing the urgency of the situation, she clutched her baby close to her chest as she got up off the couch and helped get her mom get on the table. Assuming the supine position, Cathy spread her legs as wide as she could, wedging her heels against the corner pockets of the table.

“Mom, I can see the head. It’s right there!”

“Oh…. Hnnnnnnggggghhh… Good! Gotta… Push…. Hmmmmmmmph… It… Ouuuuuuuuut!”

“You’re doing great, mom! And this looks pretty big, too. Now remember to let yourself stretch.”

“Hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo hee hee hoo hoo…”

“That’s it… That’s it… You’re doing good!”

“I’m so tired, I can’t do it anymore!”

“You can do it, mom! I know you can!”

“I just want this to end…”

“You have to give birth to both of them, you’re a strong woman and you can do it!”

“Ooookay, okay… Here it comes again!”

“Alright, mom… Just breathe it away. It’s your turn to stretch.”

“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh god!”

While deftly holding her baby in one hand, Amanda managed to guide the emerging head slowly with the other as it finally popped out with a splash. She felt around for a cord but felt none.

“Very good, mom. He’s almost out.”

“Oh… Oh goodness! I haven’t felt that in so long! How’s the baby?”

“My baby’s fine, mom. Now let’s get to yours. Time for the shoulders.”

“Yes, need to push them out. Come ooooooooooon baaaaaaaaaaaby…. Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggrrrrrrh!”

“That’s it, he’s almost out! Keep it up, mom!”

“Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrgaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The shoulders popped out follow by the rest of the body as the first twin was born. Although smaller than Amanda’s baby, it was still large for its size and wailed loudly as it emerged and was placed gently on the table. Cathy then leaned forward and took the baby in her arms, placing it close to her chest. She started to shed a tear realizing what had just happened. Her joy was short-lived, however, as she soon felt another contraction signaling the coming of the second twin.

“Hee hee hoo hoo… It’s coming! Hee hee… The twin… Hoo hoo… It’s almost there!”

“That’s it, mom! Start pushing!”

“Nrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggh! Haaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!”

“I can see it! It’s coming, it’s almost here!”

“How… Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… Far out… Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggh… Is it?”

“Almost there! I can see it’s… It’s… Butt?!”

The second twin was indeed coming out buttocks first, evidenced by the dark meconium that started to flow out and a small amount of pee as well.

“Hee hee… Shit! Hoo hoo… That’s normal… Hee hee.. For twins… Hoo hoo… You need… Hee hee… To catch… Hoo hoo… It’s body… Hee hee… Once it’s… Hnnnnnnnnnnnuuuuuuuurrrrrgh! Out! Hoo hoo hoo…”

“I can’t do this, mom. I might hurt your baby!”

“Amanda, I need you to do this. And I know you can do this. You’ve given birth to a big baby, helped deliver the first of your twin siblings, and you can do the second. Just keep check– Ooooooooh! Gotta push! Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh!”

“Okay, mom. Keep going, it’s coming out!”

“Hnnnnnnnnnnnnrrrrrrrrrgggggggh! Mmmmmmmmmmrrrrrrrrfffffffuck!”

Slowly, the buttocks emerged as she pushed with all she had. Slowly, the buttocks were followed by the penis and testicles, thighs, calves and eventually feet in a rush of fluid.

“You’re doing great! Feet and legs are out, body is halfway out. Can you push the rest of him out?”

“I’ll try… Support the baby until it’s full born, okay? Huuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrh!”

“That’s it, it’s sliding out. Oh, there goes the arms and hands!”

The second twin was now almost fully emerged, appearing like a headless doll’s body with the head still inside her birth canal. Amanda had managed to lay her baby on the pool table to free both hands to help out. She supported the baby’s torso as instructed, to avoid the head getting stuck as it was being born.

“Good job, mom. You’re amazing!”

“Not as amazing as the daughter I raised, sweetie.”

“I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there as often as I should’ve been.”

“I love you, mom.”

“And I love you too, dear. I just want this to be over with, so we can hold them.”

“You mean my brother and sister?”

“Yes, exactly. The next contraction is taking a while, though.”

“Have you thought of names, mom?”

“Not yet, you?”

“Not yet. But we’ll see later, after we get our cords cut.”

“Amanda, here it comes…”

“Okay, when you’re ready, mom.”

“Hhhhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

At that moment, the large head popped free from the birth canal, leaving the last of her waters to drain from her birth canal. Quickly, Cathy picked up her second twin and sobbed loudly as she had finally accomplished a feat she never though possible.

“Are you okay, mom?”

“I’m fine, dear. Never thought I could deliver such huge babies naturally, let alone twins on a pool table!”

“You did it, mom. What an achievement!”

“No. We did it. Go get my bag, let’s cut the cords.”

After cutting their respective umbilical cords of their babies, they got cleaned up and prepared for a night away from home in their car under the stars with their babies in their arms. Mother and daughter would take turns watching over each other throughout the night, and they managed to get the tire replaced in the morning safely making their way to a hospital in the city. They got more than they bargained for that night, but they got a happy ending. All five of them.

"please dad, let it come out, i know it's not supposed to take this long to crown!! it's been an hour!! please just take your hand off and let it come out-"

The night of the accident, Jesse had decided to let his guard down. He went to a club, hoping to find some solace in the company of others. He met a mysterious man, Scott, whose eyes sparkled with mischief and promise. They shared a night of passion, a rare moment of connection in his otherwise solitary life. But the morning after, as he was crossing the street, everything went black. The world around him spun into oblivion as a car struck him, sending him hurtling through the air.

The next thing Jesse knew, he was waking up in a cold, sterile room, surrounded by doctors and nurses in blue scrubs, their faces a blur of concern. He tried to sit up, but a searing pain shot through his abdomen, and he realized with horror that he was in a hospital gown, with his legs in stirrups. His mind raced back to the night before, trying to piece together what had happened. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of Scott's body against his, and now...

"Don't worry," a gentle voice assured him, "You're going to be okay. You've been in a coma for nine months."

Jesse's eyes shot open, panic setting in. The last thing he remembered was the impact, the sound of screeching tires, and then nothing. "What?" he croaked, his voice unused to speech.

The doctor, a short, round man with a kind smile and spectacles that magnified his eyes, patted his hand reassuringly. "You've been in a coma for the past nine months, Jesse. There was a car accident, but you're safe now."

"But..." Jesse's eyes widened in shock as he looked down at his bulging belly, the reality of his situation sinking in. "I'm pregnant?"

The doctor nodded solemnly, "Yes, you are. With triplets, in fact."

Jesse's mind reeled. He had gone from a night of unbridled freedom to the most primal, life-altering experience imaginable. The room spun as he tried to process the words. His hands trembled as they reached for his distended stomach, feeling the unmistakable firmness of life within. It was a stark contrast to the softness of his beard, a new addition that seemed to have grown during his slumber. He had never felt so alienated from his own body.

The doctor, Dr. Pendelhurst, explained the situation calmly, as if delivering a weather report. "The accident caused some complications, but we've managed to keep you stable. The babies are healthy, but you're in labor. We need to deliver them now."

Jesse's heart raced, his thoughts a jumbled mess of disbelief and fear. He looked around the room, searching for something familiar, but all he saw were unblinking monitors and gleaming medical instruments. "Triplets?" he managed to ask, his voice a mere whisper.

Dr. Pendelhurst nodded, his expression a mix of professional calm and sympathy. "Yes, three healthy babies, all ready to meet you."

Jesse's eyes filled with tears, the weight of his new reality crashing down on him. "But I'm a man," he whispered, his hand still resting on the unfamiliar mound of his stomach.

Dr. Pendelhurst's smile never wavered. "And you will always be a man, Jesse. But right now, you're also a soon-to-be father."

Jesse's head swam with the words. The doctor had used the correct pronoun, acknowledging him as the man he was, and yet, the situation was anything but typical. The nurses began to prep him for delivery, explaining each step in a way that was both efficient and empathetic. They knew he had been asleep for the entirety of his pregnancy, and the suddenness of it all must have been overwhelming.

"You've got this, Jesse," Dr. Pendelhurst said, patting his shoulder. "We're going to get you through this, and then we can talk about everything else."

Jesse nodded, trying to focus on the task at hand. The contractions were coming closer together, and the pain was increasing with each one. He took a deep breath as the nurse offered him a mirror. "This might help," she said gently, placing it at just the right angle so he could see the unthinkable.

In the reflection, Jesse saw his face, altered by the growth of a beard that was thick and unkempt. The sight of his crowning was surreal, a part of himself that he had never anticipated seeing. He closed his eyes, trying to reconcile the image of the man he had worked so hard to become with the womanly act of giving birth. But when he opened them again, the determination set in. He was going to be a father, and he would do whatever it took to bring his babies into the world safely.

The next contraction hit him like a sledgehammer, and he gritted his teeth, focusing on the coaching of the nurses and Dr. Pendelhurst. Despite his weakened state, Jesse pushed with all the strength he could muster, feeling the babies move within him. His mind raced with questions about Scott, the triplets, and what kind of future lay ahead. Would Scott want to be involved? Would they raise the babies together? Or would he be a single father?

As he pushed and the first baby's head began to emerge, he couldn't help but think about his own mother, who had passed away when he was young. He had always felt a void in his life, a lack of guidance and acceptance that had fueled his desire to find his true identity. Now, as he was about to bring new lives into the world, he hoped that he could fill that void with love and support for his children, regardless of the circumstances.

The pain was intense, his body screaming with the effort of expelling the triplets. Each contraction brought a fresh wave of agony, but he pushed through it, his mind a whirlwind of emotions. He watched in the mirror as his vagina stretched and pulsed around the first baby's head, feeling the unfamiliar sensation of his body betraying his male identity. It was as if his soul was being torn apart, but he knew he had to endure this to become the man he truly was, a man who could bear children.

The room was a flurry of activity, the medical staff moving with the precision of a well-oiled machine. Jesse was the center of their attention, his body a vessel for the miracle of life. He tried to ignore the beeping monitors and the cold touch of the instruments, focusing instead on the warmth of the nurse's hand in his.

A spurt of fluid shot out like a geyser from his nether regions, the force of it causing a momentary distraction from the pressure building within him. It was a stark reminder of the alien process his body was going through, a stark contrast to the dryness of his mouth and the furrow of his brow. The doctor's eyes widened slightly as he caught the glint of the fluid in the artificial lights, a silent acknowledgment of the moment's significance.

The head of the first baby, a tiny, wrinkled visage crowned with a mop of dark hair, began to emerge from the stretched folds of his vagina. It was a bizarre, almost grotesque sight, yet one that filled Jesse with a strange mix of fascination and fear. He could see the tiny features, the scrunched-up nose and the squinted eyes, as if the child was already bracing for the harshness of the world. It was like watching a creature from another dimension, one that was a part of him yet utterly foreign.

As the contraction peaked, another blast of fluid, like a miniature fountain, shot out from around the baby's head, showering the doctor's face with a fine mist. Dr. Pendelhurst's eyes widened for a split second, but his expression remained calm and focused. He quickly wiped the fluid away with his gloved hand and said, "Good job, Jesse. You're almost there."

Jesse's eyes were glued to the mirror, watching as the first baby's head slowly emerged. It was a surreal sight, like watching a scene from a sci-fi movie where someone's stomach is being invaded by an alien creature. But this was no alien—this was his child, a part of him that he had never anticipated. The pressure was immense, and he could feel his body stretching in ways it had never been meant to. Yet, there was a strange sense of empowerment in the pain, a connection to the most primal of human experiences.

The nurses encouraged him, their voices a symphony of calmness in the chaos of his mind. Dr. Pendelhurst was a steady presence, guiding him through the motions with a gentle authority. With each contraction, the head of the first baby grew more visible, a tiny human being fighting its way into the world. Jesse's muscles burned with the effort, and he could feel the beginnings of exhaustion setting in. He had been asleep for nine months, after all, and his body had not had the luxury of preparing for this marathon of a delivery.

But there was no time for fatigue. There was a relief. Then, the nurse held up the first baby, a squalling, purple-hued creature that seemed so out of place in the stark hospital light. "It's a boy," she said with a smile.

Jesse's eyes widened, and he felt a tear slip down his cheek. A boy. He had never felt so much love and fear melded into one overwhelming emotion. The nurse placed the baby on his chest, and despite the pain, the baby's warmth and the sound of his cries felt like a balm to Jesse's soul. He had never felt more alive, more connected to the world around him.

But the moment was fleeting. The doctor's voice brought him back to reality. "We need to get the next one out, Jesse. You're doing great."

Jesse nodded, his gaze still on the baby in his arms. The nurse took the child away to clean him up, and the room grew tense again. He could feel the pressure building once more, and his body began to tense up involuntarily. The next contraction hit, and he pushed with everything he had, the pain almost unbearable. The doctor's face was a mask of concentration as he helped guide the next baby into the world.

"Come on, Jesse," Dr. Pendelhurst said, his voice soothing yet firm. "You can do this."

Jesse looked into the mirror again, his eyes glazed with tears and sweat, watching the next baby begin its journey into the world. His body was stretched to its limits, the pain unlike anything he had ever experienced. Yet, as he gazed upon the tiny form emerging from within, he felt a sense of awe and responsibility. He was not just a man anymore—he was a creator of life.

The baby's head appeared, and Jesse's screams echoed through the room, a primal sound that seemed to resonate with the very essence of existence. The doctor and nurses were a blur of motion around him, but their faces were etched with concern and support. Each one of them knew the gravity of this moment, the unprecedented nature of a man giving birth to triplets.

"Come on, Jesse," Dr. Pendelhurst coached, his voice a steady beacon in the storm of pain and confusion. "You're almost there."

Jesse nodded, his vision blurring as the second contraction took hold. He panted heavily, feeling the head of the second baby inch closer and closer to the world outside. It was a bizarre, almost out-of-body experience, watching the crown of another human emerge from his body—a body that was, in every other way, unmistakably male. Yet, here he was, a man in labor, a contradiction of nature that seemed to defy all logic.

The nurse's voice grew more urgent, "Push now, Jesse! You're doing so well!"

With a roar that seemed to come from the very core of his being, Jesse pushed again, his body straining and trembling with the effort. The head of the second baby emerged, and with it, a cascade of emotions. He felt a strange sense of pride and accomplishment, coupled with the stark realization of his new reality. The nurse took the second baby and laid it beside the first, a tiny girl with a shock of bright red hair.

"You're doing amazing," Dr. Pendelhurst encouraged, his voice a gentle reminder of the world outside Jesse's pain. "One more to go."

His babies lay on a nearby warming tray, their cries piercing the air like the sweetest of melodies. Jesse's eyes darted between the two, trying to take in every detail. They were perfect, tiny miracles that had somehow grown within him. His heart swelled with love and fear, a whirlwind of emotions he had never felt before.

But the third baby was not ready to be born just yet. It lingered inside him, as if it knew the gravity of the situation and was biding its time, perhaps even questioning whether it wanted to enter this peculiar world. Jesse took deep, ragged breaths, trying to gather his strength for the final delivery. The nurses wiped the sweat from his brow and offered gentle encouragement.

Dr. Pendelhurst, his own expression a mix of wonder and concern, felt the third baby's position through the stretched skin of Jesse's abdomen. "Baby C is in a good position," he murmured, his fingers probing the contours of the unborn child. The doctor's touch was firm yet delicate, a dance of medical precision and human empathy. "Just breathe through the contractions. You've been doing wonderful."

Jesse's eyes remained on the mirror, his lips parted slightly as he focused on the unthinkable task ahead. The crown of the baby's head was now resting just behind his lips, a bizarre and intimate moment where the barrier between life and birth was the thinnest. He took a deep breath, his chest heaving with the effort, and nodded to the doctor.

"Okay," he rasped, his voice cracking. "I'm ready."

The room grew quiet, save for the steady beep of the monitors and the muffled sobs that escaped from his chest. The nurse offered a sympathetic nod, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. "You're doing so well, Jesse."

He took another deep breath, feeling the pressure build once more. His body, once a bastion of masculine certainty, was now a battleground of primal instincts. The baby's head inched closer, the crown of dark hair now peeking out like a tiny sun from the horizon of his stretched flesh. The sight was surreal, a blend of terror and wonder that no words could ever capture.

"Keep going, Jesse," Dr. Pendelhurst urged, his voice a beacon of calm in the tumultuous sea of pain. "You're almost there."

Jesse's eyes remained glued to the mirror, his breaths coming in ragged gasps as the crown of the third baby's head began to emerge. The skin of his stomach stretched taut, a canvas of agony painted with the crimson of his effort. The nurse squeezed his hand, her grip firm yet gentle, a silent testament to the unity of their shared humanity in this most unhuman of moments. The room was a symphony of anticipation and anxiety, the cries of the first two babies a distant melody that seemed to urge their sibling forth.

The baby's head inched out with the torturous sluggishness of a moon rising through dense fog. Each push felt like the earth shifting beneath him, as if his very essence was being torn apart and reshaped into something new. The nurse's voice grew more insistent, "Come on, Jesse, just a little more!" Her words seemed to be the only thing anchoring him to reality.

The room was a blur of blue scrubs and gleaming steel, the smell of antiseptic and the coppery scent of fresh life mingling in the air. The only constant was the pain, a living, breathing entity that consumed him whole. Yet, amidst the agony, there was a strange serenity, a sense of purpose that transcended the boundaries of his identity.

"Almost there," Dr. Pendelhurst said, his voice a soothing balm to Jesse's frayed nerves. "Just a bit more."

Jesse's eyes remained locked on the mirror, the sweat stinging his eyes as he pushed with every fiber of his being. The baby's head was out now, and the doctor's gloved hand cradled it gently, ensuring the umbilical cord wasn't caught around the little neck. But the shoulders, oh, the shoulders—they remained stubbornly lodged inside, refusing to emerge into the cold, unyielding world. The doctor's expression grew slightly concerned, a furrow appearing between his brows.

"Come on, Jesse," Dr. Pendelhurst said, his voice still a bastion of calm. "You're doing so well. Lets get this baby out."

The nurse's grip on his hand tightened as another contraction began to build. Jesse took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving the mirror. The shoulders remained lodged, a stubborn barricade that refused to be breached. His body tensed, the pain unlike anything he had ever known, a symphony of agony that seemed to resonate through every atom of his being. He pushed again, the muscles in his abdomen bulging like a mountain range under the strain.

"Come on, Jesse," Dr. Pendelhurst urged, his own voice tight with tension. "You can do it."

Jesse's eyes remained locked on the mirror, his breaths coming in ragged gasps as the third baby's shoulders remained lodged, the umbilical cord a thin, pulsing ribbon connecting them. His mind was a swirl of thoughts, each one more overwhelming than the last. How had this happened? How would he tell Scott? Would he ever hold his babies without feeling like a freak? But as the doctor's words sank in, Jesse found a new resolve. He was a man, a man who had overcome so much to become who he was, and he would not be undone by this. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the final push.

The contraction hit him like a tidal wave, his body bucking against the restraints as he bore down with all his might. The doctor's hand was a comforting presence, guiding the baby's head with gentle but firm strokes. "Come on, Jesse," Dr. Pendelhurst coached, his voice a beacon of calm in the chaos. "You've got this."

With a final, Herculean push, the third baby's shoulders emerged, sliding out with a wet pop. The room erupted into applause and congratulations, the tension dissipating like fog in the sunlight. Dr. Pendelhurst carefully cradled the tiny form, a third miracle, and held it up for Jesse to see. "It's a girl," he announced, a smile playing on his lips.

The nurse took the baby and began the process of cleaning her, her movements swift and practiced. Jesse lay there, panting, his body feeling both empty and oddly complete. The pain had receded, leaving only the throb of his new reality in its wake. He watched the nurse's every move with hawk-like intensity, his eyes never leaving the tiny, squalling bundle of life that had just been a part of him.

The nurse looked up, noticing the rapt attention, and offered a soft smile. "Would you like to hold her?"

Jesse nodded, his eyes never leaving the baby girl. His heart felt as if it would burst with love and fear. He had never felt so vulnerable, so exposed. The nurse carefully placed the squalling newborn in his arms, her tiny fingers curling around one of his, and for a moment, everything else in the room faded away. The pain, the confusion, the questions—it all melted into the warmth of her fragile body against his chest.

“What have we here?” Dr. Green asked as she saw the paramedics wheel in the gurney. “Male, 36 years old. Labor, water broken, strong contractions!” “Right. Room 4 is free, get him in there…” the doctor nodded. Another delivery. It was all in a day’s work.

“So, what’s your name?” she asked the birthing father as she entered the room he had been placed in, minutes later. “It’s… it’s Troy…” he managed to get out, between clenched teeth. “Well Troy, I’m Dr. Green and I’ll be delivering your baby today. Is anyone else joining us? A mother or co-father perhaps?” “He’s - uh - we’re not together anymore. He didn’t want… well, this,” Troy was panting, huffing and puffing as he spoke. “All right, it’s you and me, then. I take it it’s your first baby?” He nodded. “OK, and how long have you been in labor?” the doctor asked as she pulled on her exam gloves. “Not very long, only like… two hours… but I think it’s going to come very soon!” Troy moaned. “Right, I’m taking your blanket now, Troy,” Dr. Green said, as she took the white piece of fabrick covering him. He was lying in the bed wearing only a hospital gown now, and the garment was much too short to cover his large pregnant belly. 

“Now, I need you to spread your legs wide for me, “ she said. He lifted his knees and opened up, so she could reach the area between his legs. “Good. I’m going to feel your cervix now, and see if you’re fully dilated.” With that, she let two fingers enter his anus, and probe him deeply. “Oh! No need to check the dilation, your baby is already in the birth canal!” She smiled at him. “Well done, Troy. That means it’s time to push.”

Quickly, she angled the bed so that it tilted upward, making it easier for her to reach his opening, while his upper body was pointing down towards the floor. “Right, Troy, it’s time to get your baby out. Give me a good push now!”

“Iiiirgghh!” Troy grunted as he pushed. Dr. Green let her gloved fingers sink into him again. “Good, good, the baby is coming now. Push again!” He complied, clenching his fists with effort “Irrrrggghhh-aaahhh!” “Good boy. You’re going to have this baby out just like that. Now, spread those legs a little wider, and push again.” She helped him move his legs further apart, making it easier for her to get a good view. “Push, Troy! Come on, now, push hard!”

“IIiiirrgghhh! Aaaaah!”

“That’s it, push!”

“Ooooooow! Aaaarrrgghhh!”

“Keep pushing! Good! Push! Good boy!”

After a few minutes, she finally said the words he’d been waiting to hear. “The baby is crowning now! Just a few more pushes and it’ll be born!” “Iiirrrggghhhh!” Another strongpush brought the head further out, and he felt his anus burn like never before. “Aaaaaah! It hurts so bad!” “It’s almost over, now,” she comforted him. 

“Here we go! Here we go! Here comes the head! Push now!” “Iiiiirrrggghhh!” With another grunt and a push the baby’s head came out of his opening. “Good job! You’re going to be a daddy any minute now!” Dr. Green held the head between her hands as she was leaning over the bed. “One more big push!”

“Aaaaaaaarrrgggggg!” Troy was making a lot of noise as he pushed again, feeling the baby’s body slide out of him. “Oh! Oh! OH!” “That’s it, just a bit more… Push! Push!” 

The Johnson family sedan was a closed system. A steel-and-plastic capsule, windowed to the world, careening through sun-dappled cottonwood and pine between miles and miles of Mississippi pine forest. Cool, recirculated air rushed past Linda Johnson’s face and lips, thick with the residual scent of pine car freshener. The gentle vibration of the car on the pavement was like a metronome beneath her, keeping time with the external hum of an interstate highway on a Friday afternoon in May. A perfect microcosm of their lives. Fragile and about to shatter.

Linda was shifting in the passenger seat. She was accustomed to long stretches of uncomfortable silence. It had been her lot, along with the important but underappreciated work of driving, ever since she and her husband, Mark, had become parents eleven years ago. But today had been different. This morning had come with a low, rhythmic throbbing in her abdomen. She had put off even acknowledging it, in the false belief that if she didn’t notice, it wasn’t real. She’d gone about the family’s business as usual: work calls, packing suitcases, and drop-offs at daycare and school for Chloe, ten, and Ethan, sixteen. The pain in her core had built slowly, imperceptibly, from dawn until about two hours into their trip. Now it was distinct. It came in waves. During each, it felt like someone was stabbing a large screwdriver into her lower back and pelvis and holding it there. The pain was focused, narrowed in on one small spot of fleshy tissue. During each contraction, she gritted her teeth and thought of anything but the long, slow journey of that imaginary tool through her body.

“You’re quiet, Lin,” Mark said, sliding his hand from the steering wheel to rest on her knee. She flinched at his touch, her whole body suddenly alert to him, to his presence.

“I’m fine,” she said. She glanced at her phone in her lap, where she’d been quietly timing her contractions. Five minutes apart, each lasting sixty seconds. Textbook active labor. The flicker of the phone screen was reflected in her wide, fearful eyes.

“You just look… tired,” she continued. “Maybe we could stop at the next rest stop? I could use a walk.”

A walk. She’d had delusions of more, she admitted. Of pulling over before the pain became overwhelming and going to the hospital. Of at least managing to keep her pants dry. She imagined a sterile gurney, a calming epidural, and a place where she could wail into a sterile pillow.

“Chloe,” the nine-year-old said from the backseat. Her voice was small but authoritative. “Mom’s breathing that way in the how-to videos. The hee-hee-hoo kind.” Chloe’s nose was buried in a thin, dog-eared library copy of The Birth Partner. It was neither an ebook nor an audiobook, as she had originally tried to check out, but a physical volume. She’d checked it out with quiet determination when she first learned of the pregnancy. “Is it called the uterine surge, Mom? Are the contractions syncopated or symmetrical?”

“Chloe, give your mother a minute,” Mark said, gently, but his eyes kept darting back to his wife’s profile in the passenger seat. Sweat glinted on her temple. Her nostrils flared with each perfunctory exhale.

“I’m just going by the data,” Chloe continued, unruffled. “The context is relevant for any biological event.”

The next contraction did not politely wait for her to finish her sentence. It slammed into her like the grinding of tectonic plates. It started deep in the bowels of her and traveled outward through every vein and nerve ending, like slow lava, stopping at nothing in its wake. The pain was all-encompassing, and she couldn’t help but groan.

“Linda?” Mark said sharply, tugging his hand back to his own steering wheel.

“It’s… gonna be okay,” she panted out, but at the peak of the pain, which coalesced to a white-hot knot of pressure against her spine, the word petered out into a sob. “It’s…just a big one.”

Ethan yanked his earbuds from his ears. He’d been staring at the trees rushing past, daydreaming. But a sound like a cross between a growl and a bellow, a sound he’d never heard his mother make before, was enough to jolt him out of his reverie. “Whoa. Mom? Dad, we need to stop.”

“There’s nowhere for miles, son,” Mark said. His voice was edged with panic. The car lurched forward as he mashed the accelerator pedal. The GPS navigation system embedded in the dashboard cheerfully informed them the next hospital was 68 miles away.

It happened not with a trickle, but a tsunami. During her next contraction, a cataclysmic, back-arching wall of pain that made her cry out, a hot stream shot from her. It splashed with a sharp noise across the passenger seat. The smell hit them all at once: thick, heavy, sweet, salty, and metallic. Like cut flesh, like intestines.

“Oh, God,” Linda sobbed. She sank down against the seat, humiliated and terrified. “Mark, my water… broke. It’s happening. Now.”

The interior of the car became deathly silent, filled with the whine of the engine and a stupefied lack of comprehension. Chloe leaned forward, white-knuckled into the plastic backseat headrest. “The amniotic fluid is clear; that’s a good sign. And there’s no meconium. That’s another good sign.”

“A good sign?” Ethan demanded, his voice breaking. “We’re in the fucking car! Dad, just STOP.”

“And deliver your sister on the gravel shoulder with eighteen-wheelers screaming past?” Mark’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel. “Okay. If this is where we are, we have to get her to the hospital. I’m getting us there.” His eyes flicked around the small screen in the dashboard. No exits. No signs for gas stations. Not a single speck of civilization for miles and miles. “Linda, I need you to do this. You can do this, Lin. You’re strong. Just breathe and focus. Breathe and focus.”

But her body was beyond being reasoned with. The pain spiked like a lightning bolt, and suddenly, there was another sensation. It was all-consuming, a physical need so strong that all of her concentration and willpower could not match it. “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t!” She panted, her voice frayed and small. “The baby… I need to push. The baby’s coming. I NEED TO PUSH.”

There was a primal, grinding noise as she sank down into her seat and brought her hands to her abdomen. She covered her lower stomach and pelvis in small, shaking fists of sundress fabric and began to scream. The sound echoed around the car, a full-throated wail of effort and pain.

“Ethan, Chloe,” Mark said, all bluster and battlefield general. “We need to get her to the back of the car. Now. Ethan, can you help me flip the seats around?”

There was a sudden burst of action in the car. Ethan, on a rush of adrenaline, dove across the center console at Linda’s feet while she, half crazed with the pressure building in her pelvis and abdomen, awkwardly and very slowly began to shuffle backward in the seat, knees creaking and folding onto themselves as she crossed over the seatbelt across her chest. Chloe was on her feet, hurling open the suitcases stowed behind their seats, flinging snack bags and school backpacks onto the floor behind the front seats. The car, normally a well-organized place of efficiency and comfort for their three-person family, was now a crowded, unmanageable, crappy delivery room.

Linda collapsed onto her makeshift bed on the floor, the front seat a makeshift backboard, her legs braced before her, bent and wobbling. The car suddenly felt cavernous, a cold, sterile opera house, the inside of which was a choral drama of blood and tissue. Linda stared at the inside of the roof fabric, at all the things she was not ready to think about.

“Okay, Mom,” Chloe said, kneeling by her head, mopping her forehead with a greasy fast-food napkin. “The book says to wait until you feel the peak of the contraction and then take a deep breath, tuck your chin, and push into your bottom. You should avoid screaming; it’s an energy waster. Visualize, Mom. Use the power of your mind.”

“I don’t… care… about your stupid book!” Linda grunted, but on the next wave, she heeded Chloe’s advice. She gasped in a lungful of air, curled forward, and used every muscle she possessed to bear down. A long, ragged, straining moan came from Linda’s throat.

“I can see it!” Chloe exclaimed, peering over the sightlines between her mother’s legs with the intense, unfettered focus of a research scientist. “It’s the head! It’s crowning! There’s so much hair! It’s dark, like Ethan’s hair.”

Ethan, who had wriggled all the way around the front passenger seat, felt the color drain from his face. The sight was transfixing and awful at once. His mother’s body was contorting in a way he did not know possible, torn asunder by some primal force of nature. Raw human tissue was visible before him, red and oozing and shiny. A wrinkled, blood-and-placental-mucus-smeared patch of scalp, its tiny umbilical cord dangling off like an afterthought. It was both grotesque and awe-inspiring, the most graphic and intimate thing Ethan had ever seen. The sight of his mother this exposed and distorted, her intestines and organs as obvious to him as the bones in his hands, ripped away a final layer of any remnants of childhood innocence. Ethan had never been scared of childbirth, a process he’d heard about and seen via videos with Chloe and even held contractions with during a birthing class his mom had taken two years ago. But this. This right here was the abject, physical reality of what he and his siblings were built from. Of his own generation and life. He was shuddering with the reality of it, in awe of his mother’s body and its will to keep working, to stretch and push and tear and yield, in a way he didn’t know he was capable of.

“It’s not coming!” Linda cried after a Herculean effort of pushing with no evidence of progress. The rending, burning sensation inside her was absolute and unyielding. “It’s stuck!”

“It’s not stuck, Mom; you’re just in the ring of fire phase,” Chloe explained. Her voice was quiet, but her small hands were shaking. “Your perineum needs to stretch to its maximum diameter. You have to fight through the burn.”

“I CAN’T!”

“You have to!” Mark’s voice barked from the driver’s seat. His face was sweaty and streaked with tears. “You’re the strongest person I know, Lin. You’re the strongest person I know! Push our baby out!”

His words rang in her head. And on the next contraction, Linda, barely able to breathe or think, found her reserves. On Chloe’s signal, she screamed and pushed. A ripping, burning stretch deep in her pelvis and thighs, a sensation that her very insides were giving way, and then, with one final desperate heave, an astonishing, sudden release.

The baby’s head shot out with a squelching, sticky pop.

“The head is out!” Chloe squeaked. “She’s facing down; that’s a good sign! Okay, Ethan, we need to check for the cord.”

Ethan, fumbling as if in a dream, reached down between his mother’s legs. His fingers were so large compared to the tiny, purple-tinged head before him. He poked his index finger into the nape of the neck. He found the cord, and it was there, a slippery, loose structure, but it was not wrapped, not tight. “The cord is clear,” he reported, his voice a deep and foreign rumble.

“Okay, Mom,” Chloe said. “The next contraction should bring the shoulders. One more big push!”

Linda was on her last nerve. On the brink of some other plane of existence, where everything was pain and energy and screaming and no longer discernible. But a piece of her was listening to Chloe. A persistent, stubborn piece that wouldn’t let her give up. A piece that heard her children’s whispers and the sound of her own baby kicking, fluttering around her eardrums. With one final, desperate wail, she summoned the last of her wits and power and pushed.

It did not emerge slowly and serenely. It was a glorious, gushing, wet, awful cascade, as if the baby had been torn out in one awful rush. The shoulders slipped out first, one, then another, covered in blood and amniotic fluid, and then the rest of the body all at once, in one horrific wave. With one final burst, as if on cue, the placenta released, washing over the backseat carpet in a greater flood of blood and amniotic fluid, and then it was all over.

Laid out, naked and slick with fluids, in Ethan’s flannel shirt, in Ethan’s unsteady, unsure hands, the new baby writhed and shook. The tiny, limp, blue-tinged body, born too soon and not expected to survive, drew a quick, ragged breath.

And then the baby screamed.

It was a full-throated, desperate, raging cry, a refusal to be born dead. The wail filled the car, drowning out the din of engine, air, and road, bouncing from wall to wall. Limbs thrashed. Skin paled blue, then flushed to a furious, beautiful pink in seconds. A spit bubble and strand of dark hair the baby wiped across her nose. The baby was wet and slick with blood and vernix. A blubbery purple patch of scalp over her newly delivered scalp, blood pooling over one dark eye. And the cry, a healthy, roaring cry, the life force of a new human being ringing around the car and flooding every cell of her mother’s body with disbelief and exultation and love. The baby screamed.

“She’s crying!” Chloe shrieked, bouncing on her knees. “Mom! She’s perfect! You did it! She’s here!”

Linda, shaking and exhausted, raised her head. The sight of her baby daughter, pink and screaming in her son’s awkward, unsteady, shocked hands, was the sort of euphoria-inducing experience that rivaled any pain she’d ever felt in her entire life. She laughed, a wet, sobbing laugh, and cried, tears running down her cheeks. She laughed and cried and loved and was awed and overcome.

Ethan stared at the thing in his hands, connected to his mother by this pulsing, living cord. His mother was tear-streaked, exhausted, and relieved. She smelled of pine air freshener, sweat, and placenta. But the sound of the baby’s cry had hit him like a sledgehammer. She was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. He was no longer afraid. He was in wonder.

“Mark,” Linda wept, reaching a shaking hand into the back of his headrest. “Mark, she’s here. She’s here. It’s a girl.”

Mark finally lowered his shoulders, which had been hunched around his ears for the better part of an hour. He emitted a single, ragged sob that ended in a choked snort of air. He continued driving, his eyes streaming quiet tears, searching for the signs to the hospital now just twenty minutes away. It was not over, not by a long shot: they’d still need to deal with placental delivery and the cord, the cleaning, and what the hell to do with these kids. But it was done; it was over. The hard part was over. It was May; the family was on vacation; they were alive and safe, and on the other side of the door was their newest member, snuggling into the skin of their son.

In the backseat, Chloe was already issuing instructions, pushing through the shock and adrenaline. “Ethan, keep her tilted with Mom. She needs to stay warm. Dad, is there a towel in the trunk? And we should be monitoring for the placenta. It should detach within thirty minutes, Mom; it’ll feel like more cramps.”

“nnnnNNNNAAGGH- please, get out. uh uh, why won’t you come out? rrrrRRRAAAAH! get out of me! come on! nnGGHHHHHH OH GOD, PLEASE.”

they pull their legs back so hard it hurts, but it doesn’t matter. they have to birth, no matter what. their pussy is bloodless and numb stretched around the top of the baby’s head. it makes them panicked and angry to push so desperately. the feeling of the head being juuust on the brink of popping out. it fills and stretches their pussy as they bear down, its slipping out slowly, then they stop to pant and it slips back right to where it was.

“guh, uh! UH. UHHHHHHHH! GET OUT OF ME.”

Almost Made It

"This fucking snow, man!" Claire shouted, carefully navigating the van through the snail speed highway traffic while hunched over the wheel.

"Just don't push, Zack, we'll be at the hospital soon," Gus encouraged, dabbing a sweat soaked cloth on Zacks forehead.

"C-coming out, its fucking coming out! FUCK IT BURNS" Zacks voice trembled, eyes wide as his body pushed his far overdue baby through his canal. He couldn't stop it, he couldn't breathe the growing crown away. His legs couldn't stay closed anymore with the bowling ball wedged in his hips.

They should have left the dorms earlier. He should have just have left when his waters broken instead of being forced in a cramped SUV with a sea of cars in front of them and a wall of snow painting the scenary white.

He was so cavalier, so fucking confident, about being pregnant and giving birth. It would was an easy task right? No need for doctors to poke and prod him right? Even for a college student? The way his belly dropped and angled downward as 40 weeks became 41 and 42 didn't deter him. The feeling of having a head wedged so deep in his hips it flared his gait. The back pain, the oversensitive and poked out belly button, the constant writhing of movement didn't break his belief he could do it in the dorms.

Then the overwhelming pain and reality of labor came. The growing feeling of dread as his thighs were coated with his waters. The pressure that drove so deep in his pelvis that it somehow made sitting still and moving maddening.

Now, Zacks legs were spread as wide he could take them in his clothes, belly low, bare and uneven between them. The crotch of his thick, cotton-lined jeans were soaked through and the skin of his pussy was brushing against the fabric as his baby pulled him wide. It has been hours in traffic and He was doing his best to listen to Gus but the pressure — the need was telling him otherwise.

"You can do it just breathe, just keeping breathing, we're almost the-"

"SHUT UP, IM FUCKING TRYING!" Zack snapped, his fingers digging into car seat and the taut skin of his belly.

The band around Zack's belly wrapped tighter, the ring of fire grew wider and hotter.

Zacks mouth opened wide to let out a choked cry as his overdue baby surged forward with just the force of his body. The crotch of his jeans bowled outward, muddy red fluid dripped through the fabric. The pressure mounted and mounted, building upon the prolonged state of his body's resistance. The desire to give in slammed at his psyche. His stomach compressed into a tight ball of muscle as it fought against his tight jeans to pull the lips of vagina to the widest it had ever been.

"I NEED TO FUCKING PUSHAAAAUUUGH," Zack screamed, back arching, giving into his body’s demands. His hands scrambled for the waistband of his jeans to pull them down.

"W-wait!" Gus tried to stop him.

Zack only managed to get them down to his thighs but that was enough for the tight stretch of the crown released with his first push. The head and shoulders slid out of him with a flush fluid. His body recoiled into the seat as his baby shot into his pants. His ears rang and his vision distant as Gus reached into Zacks sagging jeans and pulled out a huge baby.

"You did it, Zack! You fucking did it!" Gus praised.

Zack looked down at the mess he just made of Claire's floor and his baby. His still swollen, stretch mark riddled belly heaved with his breath. His baby squirmed in the hands of Gus as he put them on his chest. Never again, he never wanted to give birth naturally again.

Zack breathed a sigh of relief just at the feeling of being empty. The placenta would be out soon enough and then he'd finally be done with this ordeal. Slight contractions were still making his stomach seize and he could feel it coming forward.

The traffic was still going at a crawl but the hospital was in sight. Zack shifted uncomfortably in his seat — a stronger contraction pushed something firm into his canal. He ignored it...then another contraction rippled through him even stronger than the previous.

"Somethings wrong...it doesn't feel right," Zack's brow furrowed as he grasped his contracting belly. The placenta was hard; it hurt him more than the head that just burst out of him. His swollen belly twisted beneath his palm. "Fucking hurting — uuuuuGGGHH!"

"What...oh fuck me," Gus muttered to himself.

Then a familiar pain spread through out his cervix until it felt like it would snap. The contractions power hiked up in intensity sending Zack into another bout of crying.

"Why! Why is this fucking happening!" Zack gripped his stomach with his free hand. "Why couldn't this be easy?!"

Gus quickly took the baby from Zack as he fell into the depths of his pain. Claire pulled the SUV into the hospital lot.

"What the hell is going on now!" Claire shouted.

"I don't know, just pull into the ER lot!" Gus wrapped the baby in a spare blanket.

Zack was once again struggling not to push. But he was wide open without the will to close his legs forcefully, he realized hours ago that that just made the pain worse.

Claire skidded the car to a halt infront of the ER and ran out the SUV to get help. Gus was trying to calm Zack down with his words to no avail.

The intense drive to push appeared in his mind again. His body forced everything down until he felt his canal filled.

"Need to push...oh my fucking God I need to push! ITS A FUCKING TWIN!" Zack shrieked as the realization hit him.

"Just hold on until the nurses get here!" Gus' head flicked back and forth between his friend and the ER doors.

Zack writhed in his seat, face red as he tried to listen. Just like before, it didn't matter if he didn't want to push, his body was doing all of the work. His hips flared, body quivering, his canal filled to the brim once more.

"It's coming out! ITS COMING OUT!" Zack head sank into the headrest, the ring of fire returned.

The ER doors burst open, a nurse and Claire ran through the snow with a wheelchair. Gus wrapped his arm under Zacks and tried to pull him out of the car. The weight of the enormous head crashed downward as Zack got lifted sending bolts of pain flashing through pussy.

"S-stop! Can't hold it in like this!" Zack begged.

Gus ignored him and kept moving his friend out of the seat. The heavy belly Zack still carried was stung by the cold as were his fluid covered thighs. Each inch Gus pulled him he could feel burn intensify and grow along with a contraction.

"C'mon we're so close!" Gus encouraged.

"Too late, its too late!" Zacks eyes went wide.

The contraction took hold at full strength and Zacks belly turned into a stress reddened ball of muscle. Zacks foot hit the snow and his mouth drew open into a screech that echoed through the hospital campus. His hand gripped the door and the other clawed into Gus' shoulder as the head and shoulders of his overdue baby fell through his stretched canal and into his soaked pants.

You get the idea to show your prize off to your now blackout drunk friends and hunt him down. The smell of birth hits you when you enter the main bedroom and you look under the bed to see him crowning with a heavy pup. Now you're pissed that he tried to give birth in secret and drag him out by his tail, ignoring how he snaps and begs to be left alone.

You keep dragging him by his tail all the way to the living room where you decide to scruff and hold him up like the trophy he is, all while your friends gawk and make comments about how painfully overdue he must be.

The torture begins now that you have an audience. For his first punishment, you push the pup all the way through his tight pussy as he dangles in your grip, still being held up by the extra skin around his neck. He trembles and kicks and begs and wails as your friends laugh and encourage you to do something else.

When you drop him on the floor, you see how aggressively he begins to push and decide to occupy the space between his legs with your dick. He screams and tries to pull away from your powerful thrusts but he's too weak from the birth and abuse. He's completely overpowered with no option other than to take it and push.

You tell your friends how good it feels when he squeezes down and ask if they'd like a turn. Soon enough, he's being passed around to every drunken breeder in the house then back to you as you want to be the last person to fill his canal before allowing him to give birth.

By the time it's all done, he's not even pushing. His body is doing all of the work and the contractions have his pups falling out one by one as he lays broken and despondent on the floor.

You tell your friends you'll stuff him with another litter within the next few weeks. A couple of them say they'll consider knocking their toys up at the same time and force them into labor all at once to host a real birth party next year.

Oh I totally could! It’s still a relatively new kink of mine, but it presses a lot of buttons in my head.

You didn’t specify, so here’s a list:

- Imagine a possessive, proud dom pushing a crowning child back into their helpless sub’s womb, the sub face-down on their knees. The dom insists that the child pre-term and it needs more time to gestate - and, while that could be the case, it could also be a dom that enjoys seeing their sub marked like that, carrying their child…Or it could be a dom that loves showing their sub just how much power they hold over them.

- A big werewolf alpha refusing to let a human breeder, tiny in comparison, give birth, because they’re obsessed with the picture of them carrying the alpha’s pups. The alpha shoves their cock deep into their breeder’s hole, and knots them to make sure the babies aren’t getting out anytime soon. The human breeder is pinned in place, straining against the alpha’s knot and children both while the alpha growls about how pretty their screaming is.

- Aliens running experiments on the gestation times of different species, letting a hapless incubator push a child out halfway before determining that it’s not ready yet and shoving it back inside. This could happen multiple times with the same child, and sometimes there would be more than one species of young in the subject’s womb at once. Either way, the poor incubator has to put up with not being allowed to push.

Yes, yes ... need to push, please 🥺 Feel, the babies are so low, it's so much pressure ... I can't take it any longer, please I need to give birth already - 'm so full, need them out ... please 😣