Kim lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She'd been in there pretty much all day, avoiding her mother. They'd fought and talked forever about the freaking birth control pills. Nothing she said seemed to make a bit of difference to them. They just kept harping on why she felt she had to lie.

Finally, though, she'd lost her temper and yelled back.

"I'm not lying! I haven't had sex, okay? God! I haven't even ever taken one!" She'd stood stiffly in the family room, her mom sitting on the couch, a hand on her hugely pregnant belly, while her dad paced around the room.

Sam and Aurelan glanced at each other.

"Then why do you have-"

"None of your business," she'd snapped, then forced herself to stand tall as her father's face darkened in anger.

"You watch your tone, and your words Kimberly," he'd said harshly. "Until you're 18 AND out of our house, what you do is our business."

"Then I can't wait to leave," she'd muttered insolently.

And then Uncle Jim had called saying Uncle Leo was sick, and she'd been able to escape to her room while her dad had gone to pick up Janie and Jo. Her mom had knocked on her door shortly after he left, but she'd ignored her. And Kim ignored her own feelings when her mom said, "We worry because we love you, honey. That's all."

When her dad got back with Janie and Jo, he'd knocked on her door and peaked in when she didn't respond. She'd pretended to be asleep, and he'd left her room without saying anything.

To her relief.

Mostly.

Part of her wished he'd insisted to talk to her.

And now, it was the next day and she was still just hiding in her room, aside from sneaking out to use the bathroom. Afraid that if she left the fighting would start again, because even though her dad had gone to work, her mom was still here working from home. Janie was here too, somewhere. Thankfully not bothering her right now.

Sighing, Kim rolled over on her bed and picked up her cell.

Downstairs, Aurelan shifted uncomfortably, her back spasming again. Groaning, she stood and stretched as much as she was able to, her hands pressing into her lower back. She'd been experiencing pretty consistent back pain since last night, but this was by far the worst it's been. She was trying to get some work done, but she couldn't sit comfortably enough anymore to concentrate on anything. Carefully, she tried some gentle side to side twists, hoping to ease the tightness.

"Baby," she said, rubbing her belly. "You come on out any time now."

"Mom?" Janie yelled from the family room. "I'm hungry!"

Suppressing a rush of frustration that she knew was only because of how uncomfortable she was, she called back, "Well come make yourself something!" even as she headed into the kitchen to meet her daughter there. Janie skipped into the room and swung the refrigerator door open.

"I think I want a grilled cheese sandwich," she said. "Can I make it?"

Aurelan had been fostering an independence in her soon-to-be-not-youngest in preparation of not being as available, and Janie was eating it up. It actually made her wonder if she and Sam had been babying Janie a bit too much.

"Yup, go right ahead. I'll watch," Aurelan replied. Janie happily moved around the kitchen, pulling out the various items she'd need. It still made Aurelan nervous to see her daughter cooking on the stovetop, but she was careful and very good at it.

Halfway through the process, Aurelan again felt her back spasming and she gripped the edge of the counter, gritting her teeth. This time it seemed slower to ease up and she thought she felt some tightening around her belly, too. When the worst of it was over, she looked up to see her daughter staring at her with concerned wide blue eyes.

"Are you okay, Mama?" Janie asked.

Forcing herself to stand up straight and again stretch as much as she was able, she nodded. "I'm fine, honey. Just having a little backache because I'm so huge." She nodded at the pan where the grilled cheese was cooking. "Looks like that's about done."

She watched, and didn't interfere, while Janie carefully transferred her sandwich to a plate, turned off the stove and put the pan in the sink with some soapy water. She cut her sandwich in half, and added the knife to the soapy pan.

"You sure you're ok?" Janie asked again.

"Yes, Darling. I'm fine. Go eat your sandwich and don't make a mess."

Once Janie was back in the family room, Aurelan got her cell and did some quick Googling. Though she wasn't one to diagnose herself with the help of the internet, this was a little different. In just a few moments, she had a likely answer.

Back labor.

How long had she been experiencing pain that was technically labor pain? She wasn't sure. Her backache woke her in the middle of the night. Or, she thought it was just a backache. Well, it had been just a backache for weeks now. She really didn't know when it had actually become back labor. At least since this early morning. Hours.

She kept a hand on her belly as she briefly considered her options. Although the health scare they'd had about the baby's developing heart had ultimately turned out to be what everyone believed was a false alarm, Aurelan couldn't shake the fear that maybe they were wrong. She wasn't one hundred percent sure she was in labor, and she knew that even if she was, it could be hours and hours before the baby's arrival was close enough to warrant going to the hospital. Technically, she had a couple of weeks to go before her due date.

But this little boy was a miracle, and there was no way she wanted to risk having him anywhere but at a hospital with all of the life-saving equipment and doctors available to them. Making a decision, she sent a quick text to her oldest – who was still sulking in her room.

Upstairs, Kim heard a text come in. She picked up her phone and rolled her eyes when she saw it was from her mother. She momentarily entertained the thought of just ignoring it, but given the impending arrival of her little brother, she knew she couldn't.

911 I need you down here now. Baby alert.

Kim gasped and sat up. Gripping her phone, she hurried off her bed and out of her room, and down the front stairs.

"Mom?" she called as she went.

"Kitchen," Aurelan replied. And moments later, Kim was hurrying through the door.

"What? What's wrong? Is it time?" she asked. Her earlier annoyance at her mother's over-emotional yelling was gone as she ran her eyes over her. She didn't look like she was in any distress.

"Nothing's wrong….but yes, it might be time."

"Might be? Don't you know?" Kim asked.

Aurelan explained that she thought she might be having back labor, and if that was the case, she might have been contracting for quite a while.

"But I don't know for sure…I didn't have back labor with you or Janie," she said.

"Well, okay…what do we do?" Kim asked. "Like, should I call an ambulance? Or Dad?"

"No…no…my water hasn't broken, so I don't think an ambulance is necessary. And your dad is closer to the hospital where he is…no reason to make him come all the way here. I want you to drive me. You up for it?" Aurelan asked.

"Yeah, yeah, totally," Kim said. "You just….sit and rest. Is your bag already in the car? And I'll get Janie, and I'll call Uncle Jim. I'll be ready to go in just a few minutes. Do you want a hot or cold pack for your back?"

And just like that, she watched her sullen, annoyed (and annoying) teenage daughter become a responsible young woman as she quickly made the preparations to leave for the hospital. Another wave of pain engulfed her, sending fiery bands into her back, and this time she noted the time, making a note on her phone of the duration of what she was now pretty sure was a contraction, and when it finally started letting up, though the pain in her back didn't completely go away.

Dr. Phil Soretz entered Leonard McCoy's room, chart in hand. He was pleased to see his patient sitting up, dressed, and relaxing back on the made bed, idly flipping through the few channels the hospital offered.

"Leonard, feeling better today?" he asked, coming into the room. He read through the notes on the chart, seeing that his temperature had registered as normal for the last five checks.

"Almost perfect," Leonard replied, sitting up and turning the tv off. He held up the arm that still had the IV, the last of medication to knock out any possible infection just about gone from the bag. "You guys gave me the good stuff."

Phil smiled, and ran a critical eye over his patient. Color was much better today, and he seemed back to normal. "Great. Can you lay back for me…I just want to check to see if you're still tender."

Leonard found the control for the bed and did as he was asked, pulling his shirt up to expose his abdomen. He quashed a rush of nerves at possibly being asked to submit to another DRE. He didn't think he could go through that without Jim. If it came up, he decided, he'd just decline.

Phil took his time pressing in various areas, paying attention especially to where he got the strongest reaction last night. "Pain?" he asked, noticing a slight wince.

"A bit. Nothing like before, though. Now when you press it feels like a dull achy cramp. Last night it felt like a hot knife to the gut."

"Good, well, we'll send you home with oral antibiotics, and you know the drill. Lay off the red meat, things with seeds…strawberries, poppy seeds, sesame seeds…and now that you know what a flare-up feels like, if you think you feel one coming, let your doctor know."

Leonard nodded as he sat up, pulling his shirt back down. He was familiar with the drill. As he'd told Jim, this was something that tended to run in his family.

"There's one more thing I wanted to talk to you about…" Phil said. He glanced at the open door and gently pushed it closed. Leonard's eyebrows went up, wondering if he was about to get bad news about something the CT picked up. But he didn't have to wait long, as his expression conveyed his concern. "Oh, nothing's wrong," Phil said quickly. "Physically you're fine."

"Glad to hear it," Leonard said emphatically. "So what…?"

"You seemed…distressed…by the DRE last night. Now, I know you weren't feeling well, but it seemed like a, well almost like a PTSD reaction."

Leonard felt himself flushing and Phil paused.

"Leonard, if something happened, I can refer you to someone to talk to. And if Jim…"

"No," Leonard cut him off sharply. But Phil misunderstood his response.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of. Abuse of a partner can happen—"

"Phil," Leonard stopped him again. He looked at the doctor, and made an effort to calm his temper. Phil was just being a concerned doctor. He hadn't known Leonard was gay until last night. He tried to imagine what all the pieces of a puzzle he didn't understand might look like from Phil's point of view. But he couldn't let Phil think Jim was the problem. That was unacceptable.

"Look…something did happen to me. But it was a long time ago. I was still an undergrad. It was…traumatic. And I didn't deal with it properly for a long time. But I have…still am now…with a psychologist. Jim and I have been together for years…and he…" Leonard paused, embarrassed to be talking about something so personal with a colleague he didn't really know.

"Anything you say to me will be held in the strictest confidence. Everything falls under doctor/patient confidentiality," Phil said, as Leonard's pause stretched on.

Leonard nodded, appreciating his assurance. "Jim's the only person I've…" He couldn't say it. Not to someone he didn't know. "I'd not ever allowed a DRE before."

Phil nodded, reading between the lines. "Okay. I just needed to check."

"I understand. I'm fine. Thank you," Leonard said, ending the conversation just as there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" he called.

"Daddy!" Joanna said as she burst into the room. Leonard smiled and opened his arms, catching his daughter in a hug as she rushed to him. "Are you ok? You looked so sick last night. I was so scared."

"I'm sorry you were scared, darlin'," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her head. "I'm fine. Where's Jim?"

"Oh, um….he was right behind me…" she pulled away to look over her shoulder and noticed Phil for the first time. "Oh…uh, hi," she said quietly, leaning back into her father's embrace. Leonard gave her a squeeze and dropped a kiss on her head.

"Jo, this is the doctor who fixed me up, Dr. Soretz. Phil, this is my daughter, Joanna," Leonard said.

"Hi Joanna," Phil said.

"Hello," she replied. "Thank you for taking care of my dad."

"It was my pleasure, Jo. Leonard, you're ready to go. I'll have a nurse come in and remove your IV, and I'll have the script for the oral antibiotics filled here. Other than that, if nothing changes and you feel fine, make an appointment with your own physician in two weeks. Sooner, of course, if you start having pain or running a fever again. Or come back here."

Jim came to the door as Phil was leaving, and they exchanged pleasantries quickly.

"Hi," Jim said, coming into the room. Leonard stood and they kissed. Jim was happy to see his partner looking completely like himself again, and he hugged him tightly. "You're looking good," Jim said.

"Feeling almost perfect," Leonard said. "Did the furniture get to the house okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. We've got something more important to talk about though," Jim said, a smile on his face. "Guess who just called me?"

"I don't know…Estelle. They're giving us the house for free," Leonard kidded.

Jim snorted. "I wish. Nope…it was Janie. Kim is driving Aurelan here now. She's in labor."

Leonard's eyebrows shot up. "No shit!" he exclaimed as Joanna clapped and bounced with excitement.

"The baby's coming?" she asked excitedly. "Are they almost here?"

"Yup, they're almost here. They called Sam, too, and he'll be here any minute."

"So, I guess we'll take the girls home," Leonard said.

Jim nodded. "That's the plan." He gestured to the IV Leonard was still hooked up to. "Are you good to go?"

"Yes, I'm just waiting for the nurse to come in and remove this and then we can go. I can pick my prescription up from the hospital pharmacy on the way out."

When they reached the lobby of the maternity center, they found Sam already there, pacing back and forth, his hair standing on end.

"Sam," Jim said, getting his attention and catching him in a brief but heartfelt hug. "Have you heard from them again?"

"Jim…Leonard…are you okay?"

"Fine, Sam, I'm fine."

Nodding distractedly, he focused back on Jim. "A few minutes ago. Janie called and relayed from Kim that they were about five minutes away."

"What took them so long?" Jim asked.

"Traffic…a car accident, I think."

"Well, when they get here, you just focus on your wife. We got the girls," Leonard said.

"Thanks, Leonard. I – I could hear her in the background. Trying to control herself, but obviously in pain. Janie sounded like she was crying."

Until she heard that, Joanna had been a silent listener. But wanting to help in some way she said, "Don't worry, Uncle Sam. We'll help Janie feel better. My dad can explain everything really well."

Sam smiled at her and squeezed her shoulder. "Thanks Jo, that makes me feel better."

Knowing they would be there any minute, Jim, Leonard, Sam and Jo went to the front doors of the maternity center. Leonard clipped his badge to his shirt, informed the staff of what was going on and grabbed a wheelchair, and Sam started on the minimal paperwork. They were pre-registered to deliver here, so there wasn't much. When he finished Jo brought the clipboard inside to the reception area.

"Here they are," Sam said, watching as the familiar van turned in to the street that led to the circular drive in front of the entrance to the maternity center. "Thank God."

As soon as Kim pulled in, Sam opened the door for his wife. She was pale and soaked with sweat, and never more relieved to see her husband. He reached for her and she sank into his arms. He gently helped to settle her in the wheelchair.

"Hey Love. How're you doing?"

"Did you seriously just ask me that?" she said through a groan.

Kim got out of the driver's side and ran around to the other side as Jim opened the door for Janie and helped her out.

"Dad! Dad! Mom thinks she's been having back labor!"

"Thank you for taking such good care of your mother," Sam said. "I got her from here. You two stay with Jim and Leonard."

"We'll park the van for you!" Jim called after Sam as he hurried his wife inside. He'd settled Janie on his hip, and turned his head to look at her as she rested her head on his shoulder. He noticed she was a little teary-eyed, and he gave her a squeeze.

"Janie, your baby brother is coming today!" he said. "Isn't that great?"

Janie nodded, and Kim came over to rub her sister's back. "Mom sounded like she was really hurting, huh?" Janie nodded again and rubbed her eyes against Jim's shoulder.

"She'll be just fine, Janie," Leonard said, picking up Aurelan's bag. "Now that she's here, she can have medicine to make her feel better, and then – in a while – the baby will be born." He smiled at her. "You trust me?"

Janie nodded, and wiggled in her uncle's arms. Taking the hint, Jim put her down and Joanna took her hand.

"Kim, will you wait here with Janie and Jo?" Leonard asked. "Jim, if you want to go park the car, I'll bring them their bag, and then we can leave the car keys here with them, too."

"Sure," Kim said. The girls waited patiently while Jim and Leonard completed those tasks. Once done, the talked about what to do next. Kim and Janie wanted to wait at the hospital, but Jim and Leonard still had a lot to do before the final day in the apartment.

"You could leave us here," Kim said. "I can take care of Janie."

"I have no doubt you can, Kim, but I promised Sam we'd take care of you," Jim said, glancing at Leonard for support.

He nodded. "I just wouldn't feel right leavin' you all here, especially since there's no way to know how long it'll take."

Kim looked disappointed, but kept quiet. Jim knew she was less likely to argue with Leonard.

"How about this," Leonard suggested. "I'll ask a doctor friend of mine to keep up with what's going on, and when it's closer to when the baby is coming, we'll come right back. In the meantime, you girls must be hungry."

"Well, I did leave my grilled cheese at home," Janie said. "I am pretty hungry."

Jim smiled and ruffled her hair affectionately. Like a true Kirk, the way to persuade her was almost always through her stomach.

"Mom thought it wasn't going to be too long because of the timing of her contractions," Kim said. "So, how about this….how about we eat here, check on mom one more time, and if it still looks like it's going to be a while, we'll go with you."

"That works for me!" Janie said.

"Me too!" Joanna agreed.

Leonard and Jim looked at each other, both realizing they were out-voted. Leonard shrugged, acknowledging that this was more Jim's call than his. Jim gave him a little smile in return.

"Deal. Lead the way to the cafeteria, Bones!"