Eleven Months
Part 2
Suppose for a minute that from the first contraction to birth of a foal, one had a lot of time to figure things out. Maybe hours even before there was even a chance the baby would be born. While this could very easily be considered worse on the mother, it would give ample time to get things ready and make sure the mother was in a nice, safe environment to give birth. After the birth of his first son, Chip had often thought how nice it would be to have a little more time.
Of course, things weren’t that simple. Chip knew he had, at best, 30 minutes before his wife would start giving birth. Just half an hour (and more likely, less than that) to make sure his wife was nice and safe in a hospital bed with a nurse and doctor to look after her.
Still, this was wasn’t his first child, and he knew if at least one pony there could keep a cool level head, everything would turn out fine.
With an urgency and speed she hadn’t mustered in quite some many moons, Love Tap was off the bed and on her feet.
Chip quickly attempted to follow suit, but instead got tangled in the covers and fell off the bed. He landing in a heap of failing limbs and blankets on the floor with a ‘Thup!’ and an “Ooof!”
Love Tap looked down at her husband. “Are you alright, dear?”
Chip was up like a shot and placed his forehooves on Love Tap’s shoulders. “The… the baby is coming!” he stammered out.
Love Tap nodded. “Yes, hence the need to get to the hospital,” she said calmly.
“Wha… What do we doOoOoOoOoo?!” Chip cried.
“Yeah, Mom…” Gibson said in a concerned, unsure tone. “What do we do?”
Love Tap winced as another contraction flickered pain through her body.
“AH! SEE!” Chip said. “No time to waste, darling! Hop on my back!” Chip cried as he lowered himself to the floor.
Love Tap smacked a forehoof against her face. “Cart,” she uttered simply.
“Wha…?” Chip replied in a confused tone.
“The hospital loaned us a cart so you could take me there when I started contractions,” Love Tap said.
“Oh…” Chip said as he stood back up to his hooves. “Right… so I guess I should… Uh…”
“Go outside and get it ready?” Love Tap suggested.
“Right! That!” Chip said with a smile. As soon as it arrived, his smile transformed back into a panicky frown. “Wait! How are you going to get down the stairs?!”
Love Tap sighed, “I can manage stairs, Chip.”
“Are you sure?” Chips asked in a concerned tone.
Love Tap nodded. “Besides! Gibson will help me.” Love Tap looked down at her soon. “Won’t you, sweetie?”
Gibson smiled and nodded. “Sure, mom!”
Chip darted uncertain eyes between his wife and son. “Are you sure, you’ll be okay?”
“Oh for Celestia’s sake, Chip!” Love Tap cried. “I just need to get outside. Now unless you’ve miraculously learned what to do when a foal is being born, I suggest you get the cart ready.”
“Uh, okay… but…”
Love Tap winced as another painful contraction wracked her body. “GO!” she cried.
Chip’s eyes went wide as he quickly about faced out of the room and bolted for the stairs.
“AAAAAHHH!”
‘Smash!’
“OOOOFFF!”
‘Crash!’
Love Tap and Gibson cringed as they heard what could only be the sounds of an adult pony falling down the stairs with accompanying pained cries.
“AIEEEE!”
‘Bang!’
“WHAAAA!”
‘Thud!’
“… OW…”
“Uh… Darling?” Love Tap said in an unsure tone.
“Dad? Are you alright?” Gibson called out.
“I’M OKAY!” Chip cried. “Just uh… watch that first step… and all the steps that come after it.”
Love Tap just smiled and shook her head. “Come on Gibson, help mommy outside.”
Gibson nodded. “Um-hmm!” he hummed happily.
Soon, Love Tap and Gibson were sitting outside in a small, wooden cart that was hitched to Chip.
Chip looked back into the cart with a worried expression. Love Tap’s breathing had already become labored as the contractions increased in frequency and severity.
“Are you okay?” Chip asked.
Love Tap shot Chip an annoyed look. “Huff… puff… No. In fact, you should probably take me to the hospital.”
Gibson chuckled to himself at his mom’s little quip.
“Oh… right…” Chip said as he turned forward. He quickly broke into a gallop away from the house and through Ponyville as ponies began to wave and give good wishes to the couple.
“Heya, Chippy!” A young, walleyed, grey pegasus called out from above. “How’s the baby coming along?”
“Hey, Derpy!” Chip called back as he galloped through the city streets. “It’s coming along NOW!”
“Oh, geez! Well, good—OOF!” Derpy came to a sudden stop courtesy of a flag pull sticking up on the side of the street. “—luUuUuUuUk~!” she offered dizzily as her eyes rolled around and around.
“Good day, Chip.” A young, elegant looking earth pony mare with a grey coat and long black hair called out. “How is—”
“CAN’T TALK NOW, OCTAVIA!” Chip cried as he sped passed the mare. “WIFE HAVING BABY!”
“Oh… WELL, GOOD LUCK AND GOOD HEALTH AND ALL THAT!” Octavia called out.
“Hi, Chip!” An orange mare with a curly green mane called out.
“CAN’T TALK, GOLDEN HARVEST! BABY! HOSPITAL! COMING SOON! AAAAAAAAAAAH!” Chip cried as he speed past.
“GOOD LUCK!” Golden Harvest called out.
Love Tap slowly made her way to the front of the cart, her breathing becoming increasingly labored. “Huff… puff… Darling… huff… why do you know so many… puff… mares?”
“Because this town is like eighty percent mares!” Chip exclaimed.
“Oh… huff… puff… good point.”
“HEY! Is this a party wagon?!”
Love Tap and Gibson looked over the side at an excited-looking young, pink filly with a curly pink mane and tail who was somehow running backwards and keeping up perfectly with the speeding cart. Her legs where a blur of motion as she looked up at the cart’s occupants with a giant grin.
“Hey, Pinkie!” Gibson said. “No, we’re not heading towards a party. My mom’s going to give birth to my new baby brother!”
Pinkie’s eyes went wide. “GASP! Aaawesome~! Are you going to throw him a party?!”
Gibson paused and thought about this. “Uh… I don’t think so, Pinkie. I don’t think there’s birthday parties for children who are zero years old.”
“There isn’t?!” Pinkie cried. “Well maybe somepony she get on that.”
“Uh… you could always do it,” Gibson suggested.
“Double gasp!” Pinkie exclaimed. “You’re right! I should start figuring out what a zero year birthday event would be like right now!” Pinkie smiled wide and waved as she began to distance herself from the cart. “See you later, Gibson!”
“Bye, Pinkie!” Gibson said as he waved.
“Huff… Puff… She seemed nice…” Love Tap said.
Gibson shrugged. “Sure, in small doses. I mean… if somepony had to spend, like, a week with her, they’d probably end up crazy.”
“Huuuh…” Love Tap replied thoughtfully.
The cart started slowing and finally coming to a stop in front of Ponyville’s three story tall hospital, a large ‘H’ shaped building with a light yellow exterior and brown roof.
Chip collapsed in a heap as he desperately attempted to catch his breath.
Love Tap calmly opened the cart and stepped onto the ground, wincing slightly as yet another contraction assaulted her.
“Are you alright, Mom?” Gibson asked. “Do you need me to help you walk inside?”
“I’m fine, sweetie. Go help your father.”
Gibson nodded. “Right mom!”
Gibson helped Chip up to his hooves and the trio calmly made their way into the hospital made up of teal painted walls over wooden floors
Behind a receptionist’s desk, a young earth pony mare with a white coat, pale pink mane tied in a bun, and nurse’s hat nodded politely at the three. “Hello, Love Tap, Chip, Gibson, is everything going alright with the pr—”
“I’M HAVING MY BABY LIKE RIGHT NOW!” Love Tap cried in a panicky tone as she rushed up to the desk. “I NEED TO SEE DR. STABLE, STAT!”
“Uh… Right away!” The nurse pony exclaimed. In a flash, she was on the other side of the desk with a wheelchair. Chip and the nurse quickly loaded up Love Tap onto the chair. The nurse quickly ran behind the chair and pushed it into the hospital.
Chip and Gibson broke into a gallop, keeping up with the young nurse.
“Don’t worry, darling,” Chip said. “We’ll get you in a bed and get an epidural for you right away.”
“Epiwhirl?” Gibson asked.
Love Tap shook her head. “Huff… puff… No way! I chickened out with Gibson! I’m going to beat this thing this time!”
Chip frowned. “You’re going to beat… contraction pain?”
Love Tap smiled. “Huff… puff… You bet!”
*Two minutes later*
“GIVE ME THE DRUGS! GIVE ME THE DRUGS! GIVE ME THE DRUGS!” Love Tap cried from her hospital bed.
A caramel colored unicorn stallion with a brown mane wearing a lab coat over a blue shirt and tie turned towards the nurse pony. “Nurse Redheart? Prepare the patient for epidural.”
Nurse Redheart nodded. “Right away, doctor.” She positioned herself alongside Love Tap and leaned the tan mare upright.
“It’s alright, honey!” Chip said as he clasped one of his wife’s hooves in his own forehooves. “You’re going to get through this!”
“Easy for YOU to say!” Love Tap hissed out.
“I meant specifically the next few moments before the doctor administers anesthesia.” Chip qualified.
“Ane…anastasia?” Gibson asked.
“Oh…” Love Tap relied in a much softer tone. “That makes a lot more sense.”
Dr. Stable was soon behind Love Tap with a rather large needle and syringe. “Alright, you’re going to feel a few quick pricks here…”
Love Tap nodded. “Sa…sure…” she stammered out. “As long is it—OW! Hey, that was a bit more than a pr…” Love Tap’s pupils started to dilate as a smile slowly poured its way onto her face like syrup onto a stack of pancakes.
“Uh, are you okay, mom?” Gibson asked.
“I’m fine, sweetie.” Love Tap replied as she laid back down on her side, facing Chip. She smiled playfully at him. “Hehe… mustache…” Love Tap cooed as she began playfully batting at her husband’s facial hair.
“Uhhh…” Chip turned towards Dr. Stable. “How much time do we have left?”
“Mustache… mustache…” Love Tap murmured happily to herself.
Dr. Stable turned towards Chip with a serious look on his face. “Not long now, Micro—”
Chip winced. “CHIP, please.” He shot Dr. Stable an unamused look. “Otherwise I’m going to refer to you as ‘Boarding’.”
Dr. Stable chuckled. “Alright, Chip.” He’s countenance returned to a serious one. “Birthing could start at any—”
“HHHHHGGHHHNNNN!” Love Tap cried as she suddenly doubled over on herself.
“—moment.”
Nurse Redheart and Dr. Stable quickly bolted towards Love Tap’s flank.
“Uh, Gibson?” Chip called from his wife’s side. “You might want to sit back here with me…”
Gibson shook his head. “No way! I want to see the miracle of childbirth! This is my baby brother being born! I bet it’s really ne—”
“Alright, the membrane is just starting to emerge!” Dr. Stable said.
Gibson looked up as his eyes went wide and his pupils shrank to pin-pricks. “I no longer want to see the miracle of childbirth,” he announced as he trotted over to his father and set on his haunches.
“You’re doing good, Love Tap.” Redheart said. “Just keep pushing.”
“Eeeeuuughgg!” Love Tap cried painfully. “That’s exactly what I’m doing!” she added in an irritated tone.
Dr. Stable frowned. “Uh-oh, we have a red bag delivery.”
“Wha… what does that mean?!” Chip asked in a concerned tone.
“It means the placenta has separated early! We need to get this foal delivered quickly.”
“Placenwha?! I DON’T KNOW WHAT ALL THESE BIG WORDS MEAN!” Gibson cried as he stood up on his hooves.
“You don’t want to know!” Chip exclaimed.
“Oh…” Gibson said calmly. “Alright then.” Gibson sat back down on his haunches.
Chip looked up at Dr. Stable. “Can you do anything?!”
“Of course!” Dr. Stable said. He looked up at Chip and flashed a wry grin. “You didn’t think they hand out medical degrees just for looking pretty, did you?”
Chip rolled his eyes. “Going by your appearance? Not for an instant.”
Love Tap darted fierce looking eyes between Chip and Dr. Stable. “Would you two kindly STOP GOOFING OFF AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT MY NEWBORN SON!?”
“Uh… sorry honey…” Chip said weakly.
“Don’t worry,” Dr. Stable said as his horn began to glow a bright, light-blue color. “I’ve done this dozens of times. Uh… I’m afraid it might feel a bit… weird…”
Love Tap rolled her eyes. “There’s a living thing coming out of me! I think things feel as weird as they possibly—”
A brilliant blue glow began to emanate from around Love Tap’s flank. Her eyes quickly widened as her pupils quickly began to drown in the growing sea of her sapphire-blue irises.
“—I was wrong,” she said simply.
“Wow! Magic is so cool!” Gibson said.
Chip just smiled. “You think that sort of magic is cool, you should see what your mom can do.”
Gibson looked up at his father with an unamused expression. “Mom can’t do any magic, she’s an earth pony.”
Chip chuckled. “Trust me. Your mom can do all kinds of things I’ve never seen a pony do before.” Chip patted his son’s head gently with a forehoof. “They just only work on a certain type on pony.”
Gibson looked at his dad quizzically. “Certain type of pony? What do you mean?”
Chip just smiled. “You’ll see.”
“Nurse! The tray!” Dr. Stable barked out.
Nurse Redheart quickly dashed for a tray of medical equipment, gripped it in her mouth and trotted over to Dr. Stable who levitated a small, sharp scalpel.
In a few more, tense seconds, the delivery room was pierced by the sound of a high-pitched, shrill cry.
“HeehhheehhWhouaaaWHOUAAAAAAAHOUAAAAAAAAHOUAAAAAAAA…!”
Gibson quickly placed his forehooves over his ears. “Geez! That’s some crying.”
Teary eyed, Chip chuckled to himself and placed a gentle forehoof on his, now eldest, son’s shoulder. “Get used to it, I’m sure we’ll be hearing lots of it for a while…”
Love Tap looked up with concern. “Is the baby alright?! Is everything okay?!”
Nurse Redheart turned towards Love Tap and smiled. “He’s fine everything is fine,” Redheart assured. “Dr. Stable is just cleaning him.”
“HOUAAAAAAAAHOUAAAAAAAA…!”
Dr. Stable chuckled to himself. “Heh, he certainly doesn’t seem to like it.” The brown newborn foal with a fiery red and brown mane floated in front of Dr. Stable as a light blue glow surrounded him. Dr. Stable gently wiped the foal clean with a towel before Redheart walked up and wrapped a blue blanket around him.
“HOUAAAAAAAAHOUAAAAAAAAHOUAAAAAAAAAAAAA…!”
“Geez!” Gibson exclaimed. He looked up at his father. “Do you think he has an off switch?”
Chip chuckled. “I’m guessing he has the same off switch you did at his age.”
Gibson shot his dad a confused look.
Love Tap looked out at her newborn son, a concerned look still on her face. “Can I… Can I hold him?”
“HOUAAAAAAAAHOUAAAAAAAAAAAHOUAAAAAAAA…!”
“Of course!” Redheart said as she stepped away, allowing Dr. Stable to approach and gently lower the newborn foal into Love Tap’s waiting arms.
“HOUAAAAAAAAHOUAAA—” Almost immediately upon contact with his mother, the newborn foal ceased crying and the room went quiet.
“Dad,” Gipson whispered out quietly. “I wanna see…”
Teary eyed, Chip quietly lowered himself and scooped up Gibson into his forearms, sitting up and leaning against the hospital bed so he and his son could see their new family member.
Love Tap smiled tenderly at her new child as she enjoyed the feeling of warmth in her arms and against her chest. The weight that had grown slowly over eleven months was gone, replaced by the tiny bundle she held and a feeling of joy that felt to Love Tap is if it had enveloped her, like a warm blanket fresh from a dryer.
“Hello Button Mash,” Love Tap cooed to the tiny colt that stared back at her with large, amber eyes. “I’m your mother…”—The tears in Love Tap’s eyes began to flow freely down her cheeks as she gently rocked her son back and forth—“…and I’m going to take care of you… for as long as you need me to.”
The End