With only one week until the much anticipated due date Kat was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. She laid her head back against the edge of the bathtub as she heard the door creak open. She glanced briefly around the shower curtain, Dante had collected a clean towel and a change of clothes for her. The young hunter was unphased by the sight of her nude body by now, his eyelids didn't even flicker as he glanced down to hand her the towel. She had been crying.

"Kat?" The young mother-to-be shied away from him to hide her puffy, tell tale eyes. Dante wasn't so easily fooled. With one hand, he cupped one side of her face and softly coaxed her to look in his direction as he crouched beside the bath tub.
"Just hurts..." She muttered nervously as she took the towel from her partner's hand, standing up carefully. With one hand, Dante helped her lift her weight as his other palm pressed against the taut skin of her stomach.
"What hurts?" The dark haired nephilim furrowed his brow.
She whimpered in pain, clutching her own stomach with her tattooed hands. There was a strong, rhythmic tensing to be felt just under her skin. Dante's eyes flickered from her stomach to her face as he forgot to breathe, going pale as his lips separated to speak before he could find the words.

"Are those...?" Dante spoke sheepishly as his mouth went dry as his heartbeat became noticable in his chest. Before Kat could even answer, a sharp hiss escaped her as she arched her back in pain.

"I-I don't know.." Her eyes clamped shut as she winced. Dante searched the room in a mild panic for his phone, grabbing it from the windowsill and wrapping an arm around her shoulder to comfort her as he put the device to his ear, calling for an ambulance. The inexperienced first time father briefly explained the situation to the midwife who took over the conversation quite hastily.

"That definitely sounds like labor, bring her down as soon as you can, and try to keep her comfortable." The elderly woman cheerfully answered, but Dante was less impressed.

"What? No ambulance?" The nephilim barked as Kat's discomfort became worse with each contraction. "No sir, you'll just have to drive her yourself." After hanging up with a couple of curses, Dante knelt down in front of the obviously distressed by now.

"Kat, you're gonna be okay. We're gonna get you in the car okay...?" Kat was in too much pain to disagree so with a whimper she simply nodded. Dante stood her up and supported her as they walked out to the black Audi. They both stopped just short of the vehicle as a gush of water hit the floor from between Kat's feet. An already nervous Dante jolted at the sound of the impact on the gravel and Kat clutching his arm, whimpering his name. The couple looked down to see that her waters had indeed broken, but that wasn't the worrying part. There was a worrying amount of blood that filled the small pool beneath her.

"S-shit...!" The halfbreed's heart raced as he got her into the back of the car as quickly as he could, taking the wheel and praying to every god he could think of for their safety as he sped out of the iron gate, tearing up the streets as he headed for the hospital. Kat's agonizing cries spurred him forward as he weaved through traffic and ran countless red lights. "You're gonna be okay. I promise. I promise..." He repeated those words over and over again, more to reassure himself than anyone else. So focused on getting his distressed partner to hospital, he completely blanked the wails of police sirens behind him.

After an intense ten minute drive, they reached the hospital. Dante parked up carelessly and helped Kat out with care as police cars surrounded them in the car park. All the officers left their vehicles to question the already notorious half demon as he covered Kat's nude body with his over sized jacket, since the towel she came out in barely covered her. "Excuse me si-" One of the heavier officers was blanked as the preoccupied young man scooped his female companion into his arms and headed towards the front entrance of the building.

"I don't have time for this." Dante snapped in reply. Kat's breathing was unsteady and labored as she clutched her stomach and tried to pull the jacket to cover herself in his arms, it was fairly obvious what was wrong with her. The uniformed officers looked around at each other, surprised and mildly confused as this was barely the first time they had chased Dante down, but never had they seen him doing something so selfless. They quickly backed off and gave him benefit of the doubt, getting into their assigned vehicles and promptly leaving to give them some peace as he took her into the reception area of the hospital.

Dante kicked the revolving door to force it to open faster, carrying Kat straight to the reception desk. "She's having a baby, she needs attention now." Dante had never been a patient man, but today he was given a reason for that. Intimidated by his piercing stare, the formally dressed receptionist swiftly got her booked in and a midwife contacted before calling a colleague to escort the couple to the correct ward. "S-something ain't right, water came out and there was blood and..." He tripped over his own words as the nurse wheeled Kat in a wheelchair to an empty room, this was easily the most scared he'd ever felt.

Once the door was shut, Dante and the nurse lifted Kat onto the bed for examination. Dante sat by her shoulder on the edge of the mattress and stroked her hair to comfort her as the nurse and a midwife prepared for her. The raven haired mother-to-be tensed up slightly and clenched a fist as she felt two cold, gloved fingers press against her sore, intimate entrance. She was never comfortable with anyone there, not even Dante. Not after what her foster father did to her. Dante knew this well by now and hushed her softly as he placed his warm hand over her cold, clenched fist.

"Its alright sweetheart, I just need to see what's going on down here, is that okay?" The older midwife spoke in a motherly tone to try and relax Kat as much as possible. Kat panted and nervously nodded down to the woman by her feet, the pain gradually becoming unbearable. "J-just get it out, please..!" She begged and grasped the warm, large hand that belonged to her partner.

After an uncomfortable minute of intimate examination, the nurse changed her slightly bloodied gloves for a pair of clean ones. "Okay, there's been a bit of a tear while Baby's made their way down Miss Katherine." Kat looked up towards Dante as she listened to the woman's voice. "I think its safe to say he's well on his way." The nurse chuckled with her colleague to try and make light of the situation, but after what the pair had just been through, it was a rather tough crowd. There was a brief silence before a loud, painful howl escaped Kat and her back arched like a bow, her eyes clamped shut.

Dante wiped the nervous sweat from his forehead and attempted to comfort her as much as he could. Surely it couldn't be much longer now. Mercifully, the midwife retrieved a gas canister of pain relief to offer her some form of physical comfort, to which she gladly took part in. That brought a little more of a quiet atmosphere at least, though Dante was sure most of the time she was just making noise because she simply didn't know what else she could do.

Several painful hours passed and Dante was battling a migraine, brought on by the bright hospital lights and the symphony of painful sounds coming out of Kat's mouth. He caught sight of the hospital staff muttering subtly among themselves, looking quite concerned. Kat had been pushing for around half an hour without much progress, which brought her to tears on at least two occasions. The half-blood grew increasingly worried as Kat grew more and more exhausted with nothing to show for her efforts.

"W-whats wrong...?" Dante demanded answers. All the delivery teams eyes turned to face him as the head midwife was left with the awful job of explaining things to a potentially hostile parent-to-be. "As you probably know sir, Miss Blackmoore's a very petite young woman. Its perfectly normal for first births to be difficult." Difficult. For a midwife to say it was difficult worried Dante deeply. "Difficult? I thought all-"

"The baby seems to be too much for her birth canal and pelvic to cope with, it is rather large after all. Miss Katherine is only small herself." Kat whimpered as she heard the less than promising statements. "We're going to have to intervene, we have to ask that you please leave the room." it was almost as if Dante's heart stopped in his chest.

"I'm not leaving, she needs me." He held Kat's hand tight, too many times had he failed to protect and comfort her when she needed it most. He wasn't abandoning her this time.

"Please sir, I know this is difficult for you both." She spoke in a stern tone and stared him in the eye, he had no choice at the mercy of the medical staff. His glance dropped to the floor before he gave Kat a long, loving kiss on the forehead to tell her it was all going to be okay - then being escorted out by a supporting nurse.

All he could do was wait.