[hockeypreg2]

"Caleb? Baby?" Zach said softly, resting a hand on his back. "I'll get you a prettier gown. I'm sure Jen can find something." Caleb didn't respond and Zach felt lost, not knowing what to do. "Please baby, don't shut me out. I'll do whatever you need."

Zach sighed and squeezed himself onto the bed, gathering Caleb in his arms, being careful of the monitor on his belly and the cables on his chest. "I love you."

[Sam260]

Caleb sniffled and held the hand that came around his body, playing with his boyfriend's fingers with his own "I wanted... a big family... Zach... how are we ever going to have more kids... if my body can't handle it?" Caleb asked quietly.

He turned again, slowly, and curled up against Zach's body, tears streaking down his face as he buried his face against Zach's chest "I - I... i just wanted to have a few kids... so they wouldn't be so lonely... so they'd have someone looking out for them as they got older..." Caleb let out a small sob into Zach's chest "How am... am I going to do that... now?"

[hockeypreg2]

"We'll figure it out," Zach promised him, holding him tightly and letting Caleb cry. "We don't need to worry about it right now, but I promise we'll figure that out when the time comes. Let's just get this little one here safely and worry about more kids later."

He tilted Caleb's chin up to wipe away the tears. "Okay?"

[Sam260]

Caleb nodded and sniffled as he curled up again, "Okay..." he whispered hoarsely - having shed far too many tears today, he was finally starting to lose his voice.

----

It took a little longer than expected for Caleb to be released from the hospital, Dr. Simmons having found an actual - very serious - problem with the additional tests they had run on Caleb. He was not only suffering from low blood pressure, but he had an arrhythmia that was alternatively slowing his heart rate down, or speeding it up too fast, depending on his current mood.

It was a common pregnancy side-effect and would clear up after their son was born. It just meant that Caleb really did need to stay off his feet as much as possible and stay away from stressful situations.

So, now Caleb was forced onto full-time bed rest because of it. Dr. Simmons and Dr. Evans both agreed that it would be more beneficial to keep Caleb from moving as much as possible - showers were scheduled to once a week and only if he had a place to sit down. He was not allowed to submerge himself in the bath tub because of the small area of his placenta that had started to detach, the submersion would only make things worse.

Caleb hated it, and complained about it frequently. He had already watched all of the shows he liked on Netflix, Hulu, and even Playstation VUE no longer held his interest. He had read all of his favorite books and even some new authors... He was only one week away from his ninth month of pregnancy and he didn't know how much more of this 'bed rest' thing he could take.

Turning, once again, onto his side, he sighed and stared at Zach's silhouette. He was tired of sleeping, but watching as Zach slept, it was at least better than soap operas. Caleb reached out and poked Zach's cheek "I'm bored..." It was almost two in the morning, and he had been sleeping, but something woke him up and because he couldn't really do more than lay there, it wasn't like he could investigate if it were an external nuisance that had woke him, or if it was an internal.

[hockeypreg2]

Zach startled awake when Caleb poked him, making a very undignified snorting noise. He looked over at him, eyes wide. "Are you in labor?"

His heart was beating quickly and he felt sweat break out on his forehead. Oh god, this was it. What was he going to do? Okay, okay. They had a plan. A plan he couldn't remember at all right now.

"I don't remember the plan. What's the plan, Caleb? Oh god, don't push the baby out right now. I don't remember the plan."

[Sam260]

Caleb didn't think he was in labor - Yes, he had been feeling more Braxton-hicks contractions, but somehow he was sure that he would know the difference between the fake ones and the real ones. Caleb shrugged a shoulder "You don't need the plan... Not yet, anyway... I don't think I'm in labor, I'm just bored..." he sighed and scooted closer to Zach, laying his head on his boyfriend's shoulder.

"I've been in this bed all day, all night, for the past month and a half... and I've gone through everything... Sorted out clothes... I'm just bored."

[hockeypreg2]

"Oh," Zach said, bringing his hand up to stroke Caleb's side automatically. His heart rate started to slow down and he began to breathe a little slower. "Okay, good. That's good. Not the bored, the not being in labor."

He yawned so wide his jaw cracked. "What do you want to do?"

[Sam260]

Caleb shrugged again and sighed quietly -- Zach would feel that Caleb's skin felt tighter than normal on his sides, and his stomach, while usually higher up, seemed to be dropped lower than what it had been when they went to bed that night. Caleb was in active labor and didn't even know it.

"I know what I want to do... It just happens to be everything that I *can't* do right now." Caleb huffed and pushed his leg over Zach's legs "I want to have sex. I want to take a bath, in the tub, with bubbles. I want to go for a five mile run and get all sorts of sweaty. I want to walk, Zach..."

[hockeypreg2]

"I know," Zach said, pressing a kiss to Caleb's forehead. He kept rubbing his side, feeling how tight his belly was. "What about a back rub? I can do that for you and that always feels good, right?"

Zach moved his hand around to the front of Caleb's belly, surprised to feel that it was lower than normal. "Everything feeling okay?"

[Sam260]

Caleb nodded slowly "Mh..." he groaned quietly and then shook his head "I think I just wet the bed..." he said quietly, very slowly pushing himself up into a seated position and tossing the covers back - the sheets were definitely wet now, but there was a definite lack of ammonia-smell. "Christ... I feel like a five year old again." Caleb pouted as he turned and slung his feet over the edge of the bed.

He was still completely oblivious, despite the contractions rippling his stomach in a subtle way -- he had obviously grown used to the braxton-hicks pains, and these were small contractions in comparison to what would be coming later "Help me get cleaned up? I'm sure Dr. Evan's won't mind if I'm out of bed for a few minutes to get the bed changed and me clean again..."

[hockeypreg2]

"I'll help you up," Zach said, getting out of the bed. He hurried to the other side of the bed to loop his arm around Caleb's waist to help him to his feet. His belly was definitely low now and when Zach touched it, he could feel it tighten under his hand. He looked back at the bed and then at Caleb. "Babe, I don't think you wet the bed. I ... I think you are in labor."

[Sam260]

Caleb laughed and shook his head slowly "No way." he said as he stood on shaky legs, taking a deep breath slowly "If I was in labor, don't you think I'd feel it? All I feel right now, is wet..." Caleb grasped onto the edge of the bed and slowly started shuffling toward the bathroom, Zach hovering close-by.

"I can't be in labor - I don't feel any pain, baby isn't pushing against any of my internal organs... Everything is fine - besides, we still have a month and one week of incubation left before this one is supposed to be born... Don't rush this."

[hockeypreg2]

"Okay," Zach said cautiously. He kept an arm around Caleb as they slowly made their way to the bathroom. He was not at all convinced that Caleb was right. In fact he was pretty sure Caleb was completely wrong. There was fluid dripping down Caleb's leg and he didn't seem to notice at all.

"So I'm going to sit you in the shower," Zach said, lifting Caleb up and carrying him the rest of the way. "Stay sitting down and rinse off while I clean up and change the sheets. Wash your hair if you want. Enjoy the surprise shower."

[Sam260]

Caleb nodded and smiled up at Zach as he was settled in the shower chair "Okay... Thanks babe!" Caleb enthused as he reached out to adjust the water faucets to the perfect temperature. He let the water rain down on him, just soaking in the wonderful heat as the steam started building up.

Zach left to go change the sheets, leaving Caleb to wash himself up - he started by shampooing and conditioning his hair, and of course it felt wonderful; relaxing even. He wished it were Zach washing his hair; the man knew how to wash hair, if nothing else. After he was sure all the conditioner was out, he grabbed a wash cloth and soaped it up before slowly moving it around his body - and that's when he noticed the tight belly and how low his stomach was sitting "Zacchhh!" he wailed, panic immediately setting in - this was not normal, not at all.

He tried standing up, but the shower tiles were slippery and he only managed a foot of ground before dropping back into the shower chair with a pained groan as a strong contraction finally made itself known, ripping through Caleb's body like a tornado.

[hockeypreg2]

Zach stripped the sheets off, tossing them aside. The bed was soaked. There was no way Caleb's water hadn't broken. They were definitely going to have to replace the mattress. He wasn't going to worry about that now. He called Jen first, alerting her, and then called Dr. Evans to let him know that Caleb's water had broken.

Caleb's cry sent him running back into the bathroom, feet sliding on the tile. "I'm right here." He stepped into the shower, clothes still on and knelt in front of Caleb, taking his hands so he could squeeze them. "Breath for me. You have to breath during the contractions."

[Sam260]

Caleb let out a shuddering breath which came out more like a sob "Zach... It's not time... it's not, it's not... We still have one week, and two days left before he's supposed to be born." Caleb was shaking his head rapidly, tear drops and water drops mixing together on his cheeks "We don't have a name... we don't have... we don't have a car seat yet... it hasn't arrived... I only ordered it two days ago! How..." Caleb broke off into a pained howl and dug his fingers into Zach's hand as another contraction rocked through his body.

Sobbing in full-force now, Caleb bent over his stomach and laid his head on Zach's shoulder "We aren't ready for this, we can't do it... I can't do it, Zach... I don't wanna have this baby... not here, not in the shower... I can't do it!"

[hockeypreg2]

"We're not having the baby in the shower," Zach promised him. He ran his hands down Caleb's back, petting him. "We're going to finish your shower and I'm going to dry you off. Then we're going to get you dressed and into the car and drive to the hospital where Dr. Evans will be waiting for us. I've already called her so she knows we're coming."

Zach kissed the top of his head. "You are surprised and scared right now but you can do this. I know you can. And I will be right there with you the whole time."

[Sam260]

Caleb nodded and together him and Zach worked to finish cleaning his body up - they dried off and got into clean, dry, clothes. Caleb looked down at the shirt he was wearing and sighed softly. He was wearing his tie-dyed tank top that said "It's a Coming Out Party" -- they had specifically bought this shirt for this day; he was also wearing a pair of baggy and loose sweatpants - something easy to slip out of when it was time.

Zach had to half-carry half-walk Caleb down to the car, the contractions were coming strong and fast, about three minutes apart from each other "We're going to make it to the hospital on time, right Zach?" Caleb asked worriedly, biting on his bottom lip as he was helped into the front passenger seat of the SUV.

[hockeypreg2]

"We definitely are. No babies are being born in the car," Zach promised him, sounding much calmer then he actually was. Only one of them was allowed to panic and since Caleb was the one actually in labor, he earned the right to panic. So Zach shoved down his panic and drove carefully to the hospital as Caleb groaned and panted through contractions next to him, squeezing his hand the whole time.

Zach threw on his hazards out in front of the ER and would have kissed Dr. Evans if it wouldn't have been inappropriate when he saw her and two nurses waiting for them with a wheelchair.

"Katy will park your car," said Dr. Evans when Zach got out. She opened Caleb's door. "Good morning, Caleb. No baby born in the car, right? That never comes out of the upholstery."

[Sam260]

Caleb tried to laugh, but it only sounded like a weak and distraught wheeze of breath as it came out of him "The fluids or the baby itself?" Caleb asked as he was carefully moved from the passenger seat of Zach's SUV and onto the wheelchair.

Dr. Evan's lightly slapped Caleb's shoulder once he was settled in the chair "The fluids you goof. It's good to see you still have you sense of humor, but I'm not so fond of the way you're breathing. How does your heart feel right now, Caleb?" she asked as they started down the hallway at a relatively quick pace.

Caleb groaned weakly and shook his head "Like... Like I could... run a hundred... miles..." Caleb said through gasped breaths.