After regrouping on the space station, everyone shared their findings with Sandbar. After loading the information into the Harmony’s computers, they boarded their personal ships and flew down to the Earth. After entering the atmosphere, they dropped their landing gear and touched down safely.
They remembered Daring Do saying that the air on Earth was safe to breathe, so they only carried their mapping equipment when they deployed small shuttles from their ships. Once they were in the air, they started looking for the signs of life that Daring Do had mentioned. They did not need to search for long. They found two cities on the Earth, called Inkopolis and Splatsville, which were a great distance from each other. The main citizens in these cities walked on two legs and had hair that resembled the tentacles of either a squid or an octopus. During a time when they had landed near Inkopolis, they interviewed some of the citizens and learned that they were called “Inklings” and “Octarians”. There were other species too, but they only gathered the basic information on them, such as anatomy. For the most part, they learned about the history of both cities, in addition to how the planet’s original inhabitants were wiped out from rising water levels.
As they came close to arriving at Splatsville during a heavy thunderstorm, they spotted a car speeding to what appeared to be a hospital. However, the rain was falling fast and the vehicle soon had to slow down until the driver pulled over and safely came to a stop without crashing.
“I volunteer to see if they need help.”, said Smolder over the radio.
Sandbar acknowledged and the rest of the group continued to look around and chart the terrain in the area.
After converting her shuttle for mobility on land, Smolder put on her rain jacket, rushed to the vehicle, and met the two Inklings that were inside. The inkling in the passenger seat was female and was groaning in pain as she breathed heavily and clutched her bulged and swollen stomach.
“Are you two okay?”, asked Smolder over the rain after the driver opened his door.
“My name’s Michael. We’re not hurt, but we are a little shaken from our car skidding. We’re in a hurry to get to the hospital. My wife, Callie, is in labor.”, said the driver desperately as he stepped out.
“Oh my goodness gracious! I’ll be right back.”, said Smolder as she turned to run back to her shuttle.
Smolder came running back to Michael’s car in less than two minutes. She had a wheeled stretcher with her and helped Michael get Callie onto it after opening the passenger side door. In the meantime, Ocellus began to get concerned about what was happening with Smolder. To check on her, she called her via radio.
“Smolder, this is Ocellus. What’s going on?”, she asked nervously.
“Ocellus, I can’t talk right now. I have two Inklings that are about to be parents.”, said Smolder as she and Michael rushed Callie to the shuttle.
Once they were on-board and the doors were shut, Smolder opened a compartment labeled “Emergency Medical Supplies”. She proceeded to change into scrubs and then had Michael help her put a medical gown on Callie. After Smolder opened a platform that resembled a hospital bed, she had Callie put on a hairnet and then lie down. After Callie had laid down, which was painful for her, Smolder opened a cabinet in the medical compartment that contained the necessary tools for childbirth. Michael helped Callie stay calm while Smolder propped her legs up, covered her abdomen with a medical blanket, and readied an ultrasonic apparatus after putting on nitrile gloves and a hairnet.
As Smolder moved the ultrasound wand over Callie’s stomach, she looked closely at the screen to make sure that a normal delivery would be safe. Upon seeing that nothing was wrong, she turned back to face Callie, who was now in excruciating pain and starting to grit her teeth in order to cope.
“Has your water already broken?”, Smolder asked.
Callie shook her head as if saying no. Smolder proceeded to grab a pair of forceps and then carefully pierced the amniotic sac with the pointed tip. Once the membrane was ruptured, everyone heard a splash as warm fluid spilled out from under the medical blanket. When the fluid stopped, Smolder reached down between Callie’s legs.
“Callie, get ready to push.”, she said intently.
Callie held Michael’s hand nervously and then began to push once Smolder had said she was ready. With each push, Callie squeezed her eyes shut and groaned in pain.
“Callie, you are doing good. Give me one last push.”, said Smolder after three pushes.
Callie was already sweating profusely from the last three pushes. As she gave the last push, pain shot through her like lightning, and she screamed loudly in AGONY. She screamed so loud that everyone’s ears were ringing, including her own. After giving the final agonizing push, Callie felt a large relief and she lowered her head back as she began breathing heavily. Seconds after the pain had stopped, she and Michael gasped and looked up as they heard their child let out its first cry.
“Congratulations you two. It’s a boy.”, said Smolder as she pulled the squirming newborn inkling out from under the blanket for Callie and Michael to see.
Tears of happiness began to pour from both Callie and Michael’s eyes and they crushed each other in a hug.
“He’s just beautiful.”, Callie choked out through her tears.
“Michael, would you like to cut the cord?”, asked Smolder proudly as she held out a pair of surgical scissors to him after clamping the little baby’s umbilical cord.
“Yes please!”, said Michael through his tears as he reached out with his hand shaking.
Once Michael had calmed down, he took the surgical scissors in his right hand and cut through the cord with three firm squeezes to separate the placenta from his newborn son. As soon as Michael had cut the cord and given the scissors back to Smolder, he and Callie began clapping through their tears. Moments later, Smolder diapered the little baby after cleaning him off and then wrapped him snugly in a baby blanket.
After handing Callie her newborn son, Smolder changed back into her crew uniform. Then she opened the hatch and told Michael to follow her in the car. Michael nodded, dried his tears, and ran back outside. Once he had started his car’s engine and turned on the headlights, Smolder closed the shuttle’s door, ran to her seat and started the shuttle’s engine to drive to the hospital.
“Callie, only a doctor can assess your baby’s health. I’m not certified as a doctor, so I don’t have the required equipment to do so.”, Smolder said as she stepped on the gas and began driving.
“I understand.”, said Callie as tears continued to pour from her bright-gold eyes.
After radioing the hospital to give them a heads-up, Smolder noticed the rain was starting to let up. Arriving at the hospital’s emergency entrance, she opened a ramp on her shuttle in order to wheel Callie to the orderlies waiting outside. Before the orderlies wheeled Callie inside, they moved her to another stretcher so Smolder could keep hers. As Callie was wheeled into the hospital with Michael walking alongside her, Smolder radioed her friends.
“Guys, you may want to see this. Lock in on my position and meet me.”, she said.
“Copy that, Smolder. Ocellus relayed your news to us.”, replied Sandbar.
Everyone else arrived after converting their shuttles to drive on land. They were waiting inside when two of the orderlies, a female octoling named Mitzi and a male inkling named Garett, came out to meet them. At this point it had been 25 minutes since Smolder had helped Callie give birth to her son.
“Is one of you named Smolder?”, asked Mitzi.
Smolder raised her talons.
“Would all of you like to see Callie?”, asked Garett.
Everyone nodded and the nurses led them to the room where Callie was. She was lying back and lovingly cradling her son, who was now sleeping but still bundled up in warmth. Michael was sitting next to Callie in a chair and filling out paperwork for their son’s birth certificate, and they both had warm smiles on their faces. Callie was still crying her eyes out from being overjoyed after giving birth to her little squid.
“His name’s Taylor.”, said Callie through her tears.
“He’s full-term as well. Eight pounds, nine ounces, 18 inches long, and perfectly healthy.”, added Michael as he finished filling out the paperwork.
Everyone walked closer to see Taylor and their faces softened to the point of tears when they saw how cute he was.
“Smolder, how would you like to hold Taylor again?”, asked Callie through her sniffles as she held her son out to the kind orange dragon.
“I would be happy to hold him once more.”, answered Smolder through her tears as she extended her arms and took hold of Taylor.
After Smolder had taken the little baby into her arms and looked down at him, she began to smile warmly. Here she was, cradling the same little baby inkling whom 25 minutes ago, she had helped Callie give birth to. Taylor partially opened his eyes and smiled at the Young Six, which allowed them to see he had inherited the gene for Michael’s bright-red eyes. After drying her tears and giving Taylor back to Callie, Smolder pulled out an instant camera.
“Smile.”, she said.
Callie’s tears subsided as she and Michael looked towards Smolder while continuing to hold smiles on their faces. Smolder clicked the shutter twice to take two pictures. She gave one of the two pictures to Callie and Michael as a memory while she held onto the other.
A few minutes later, the Young Six left the hospital and got back on their shuttles to resume mapping out the Earth. As they passed over the oceans, they spotted a few islands but made sure to not get too close. By sunset, they had mapped out the entire world and they returned to the space station to get ready for heading home.