"She has no idea we're here right?" Sam asked, walking through the hospital with Kat, Aaliyah and I.

"No, I will warn you, she's in a lot of pain" I informed them, Sam nodding as we clicked the elevator button.

"No shit Colby she's in labor" Kat laughed, walking onto the elevator.

"How has it been to watch her go through the process?" Sam asked, Aaliyah texting on her phone.

"Really weird man, it sucks seeing her in pain. It's weird to be there next to Gabe"

"Weird how?" Sam asked, leaning against the wall of the elevator.

"It seems like a competition. Like he wants to be the first to do everything. I get it's his baby, but where was he when she was told to go to the hospital? In fucking New York. It pisses me off how much he's gone for being so competitive and possessive, and like he keeps calling her pet names and shit. I don't know, just pisses me off" I grumbled, Kat eyeing me.

"Wouldn't it be a good thing if they got back together?" Kat questioned, Aaliyah now perking up.

"If who got back together? Leigh and Gabe?" She asked and she nodded, all of us confused when she laughed. "That ship has sailed. I know it has sailed because she dated Silas. Leigh is loyal. Either she's all in or she's out. Gabriel is not her favorite person anymore" She said like it was common knowledge, the four of us walking off the elevator.

"Down the hall, turn left, room 504" I told them all, starting the wall down the white hallway.

"Didn't she break up with Silas because of Gabe?" Kat questioned, Aliyah shaking her head.

"No, she started to see Silas as a friend, and it really sucked because once she left him, he ghosted her. She hasn't heard from Silas or Aimee. She talked about how it reminded her of when she left Gabe, and how she lost all of her friends. It sucks ya know. I try to invite her to things... but things aren't how they used to be. She isn't the same girl I used to know. Drugs, prison, rehab and bad relationships really fuck a person up. I'm just glad she's at least crawling. I hope one day I can see her on her feet, smiling and accomplished. Now let's go meet my godchild!" Aaliyah opened the hospital door, walking in first, myself following behind her.

"Hey, how's it going?" She asked, Sam and Kat waiting at the doorway.

"I'm in so much pain, don't get pregnant, holy shit" Leighton's face was scrunched up and I saw the monitor tracking her contractions.

"I'm sorry Leigh, are you up for visitors?" She asked and Leighton nodded.

"It's nice not to feel alone. You guys just missed Logan and Landon. Look, Landon brought a cute stuffed bear" Leighton pointed to the counter in front of us, placed against the wall next to us.

"That's cute, Colby has a surprise for you" Aaliyah led with, Leighton quickly turning her head to look at me.

I stepped out of the way and Kat and Sam walked in.

"Oh my God!" She squealed, "You guys are supposed to be on vacation! I told you guys to stay!" She lectured, Kat and Sam smiling as they walked over to greet her.

"Surprise!" Kat hugged the very sweaty and swollen pregnant woman.

"We didn't mean to make you cry! Come on Kat, let's go back to Hawaii!" Sam jokingly tugged Katrina's arm, Leighton shaking her head. "They're happy tears for once!" She assured, wiping them away.

"We heard you're in pain, did you get the epidural?" Kat asked, Leigh shaking her head.

"Not yet. Don't mind my throw up bucket. Don't look in there. The stronger my contractions are, I get nauseous. I don't know if it's the pain, the baby, or the Pitocin. I heard with the Cervidil a lot of girls threw up. I didn't throw up when it was in. It mainly just made me sore and uncomfortable, if that's even more possible. Maybe its aftermath of that? I'm not sure. It's apparently common though. Oh! Before I forget, if you need the bathroom, there is one by the nurses station! That bathroom has a cup thing in the toilet to measure my urine" She told them, pointing at the room next to me.

"Damn Leigh, you got all kinds of special treatment" Sam laughed.

Leighton explained all the monitors and talked about her contractions, giving them the run down before having Kat take a photo of her in the hospital bed.

"So what helps the contractions?" Kat asked, looking around the room and seeing a few things laying out.

"Um.. well right now I have a peanut ball between my legs. It's supposed to help me dilate, I think. I'd show you, but I just got comfy. That exercise ball has been nice. Um.. I did some labor stretches on the yoga mat. A lot of my time is moving around to try and relieve pain, or get myself to dilate more" She explained, grabbing her giant bottle of water.

"So when does labor start? Are you in it or?" Sam asked and Leighton shrugged.

"I think I'm in what's considered active labor? I read anywhere between 4 to 6 is what determines active labor, and that's when things really start to progress. I didn't start the induction process till 8pm yesterday because we were trying to see if we could lower my blood pressure. They put me on a magnesium drip to prevent seizures since they were concerned I'd need an emergency c-section. With my drug background, I was nervous to get all this medication.. but it's medically necessary to keep me and baby alive so..." She trailed off and we all watched her take a deep breath, scrunching her face up and slowly breathing out. "God these are a pain in the ass" She exhaled, breathing in through her nose again and then looking back at us. "Sorry" she apologized, but Sam shook his head.

"Don't apologize for going through something completely normal. Visiting hours end at 10:30, right?" He asked and Leigh nodded.

"I'm allowed one to two people overnight. It's been Gabe and Colby here lately. The people here kind of come and go. My mom and dad come when they can, Aaliyah comes when she gets off work. My siblings come after school. It all depends" She said in a state of fact tone.

"I call you on my lunch breaks!" Aaliyah defended, making her presence known again.

"That's true. What's more important on that phone of yours than your best friend in labor?" Leighton questioned, seeming to have noticed that Aaliyah's attention was glued to her phone.

"Oh um.. nothing, sorry" She apologized, putting it away.

"It's fine, will someone help me up? I need to pee. I figured if four of you are going to stand around, I don't need to hit the nurses button" she smirked, Sam and I helping her up.

10:30 rolled around and Sam, Kat and Aaliyah left to go home, deciding that since I have already been here, that I'd stay.

"Where did Gabe go?" I asked, holding the blue exercise ball steady.

"To call his mom I think. I don't know and I don't care" She muttered, stretching her back out against the ball.

"I feel a lot of my contract- oh" she exhaled, stopping to breathe. Her eyes squeezed shut, her cheeks turning red as her lip quivered, a tear falling down her face when she opened her eyes again. "God this sucks. It's like the worst period.. whew.. period ..ah.. cramps ever" she breathed out, her fingers pressing into the side of her stomach near her hips.

I gave her a minute to breathe, quickly learning that she likes peace and quiet during a contraction after Gabe tried to talk her through one.

"As I was saying, I can feel a lot of the contractions in my lower back. With my period I mainly felt it lower abdomen.. these.. It's like fire across my lower back and hips. Like if someone was stabbing you with a knife that was on fire" She explained, and I stayed quiet, unsure what to say.

She had been having some pretty bad contractions lately, so I was nervous to make a sound whilst she was in pain.

"I'm not gonna lie, I know I'm supposed to be resting... but it's been really nice having friends and family here. It helps take my mind off what's happening for a bit. You know, that is until a contraction hits like a mother fucker" she laughed, looking over at the monitor tracking them. "Baby has kept a steady heartbeat which is good. My blood pressure has gone down quite a bit. It's still high, but nothing like it was Wednesday" She said, now looking at the monitor that was tracking the baby's stats.

"Have you hit the 5 1 1? That is what it's called...right?" I asked and she shook her head.

"Yes that's what it's called, and no I have no. Contractions are around 10 to 15 minutes apart. I think they said I'm a 6? Which means I'm officially in active labor. No one seemed to tell me that Pitocin contractions hurt way worse than normal ones" she glared at no one in particular.

Around 11:40 Leighton and Gabe started dozing off while I texted Sam, asking how things were coming along before falling asleep against the wall.

When I woke up, I heard a nurse speaking softly, the room dark.

"Take a deep breath in and out for me" she coached, and I saw Leighton had something on her face which made me jump up.

"What's wrong with her?!" I asked frantically, the nurse now seeing I'm awake.

"She's okay. She's struggling to breathe through some contractions. This mask is giving her oxygen" The older nurse explained and I nodded slowly, still very out of it as I tried to comprehend the information given.

I looked over and Gabe was still asleep on the sofa, his phone lit up next to him.

I walked over to plug in his phone for him, knowing he wanted to before he fell asleep.

"There you go, feeling better?" The nurse asked, but an auditable reply fell short.

I plugged in Gabe's phone, causing the screen to light up, just to see a new message from someone named Zara that read "Well hopefully it won't take too long, New York misses you!!" Which made my heart race a little.

Who was Zara?

"I'm going to grab Dr. Hughes and I'll be right back" The nurse said, which made me quickly turn around.

"What's going on?" I asked, Leighton still having the oxygen mask on.

"They're... breaking.. my.. water" she said slowly through the mask and my eyes widened.

"Should I wake him?" I asked and she nodded.

It took about 7 minutes for Leighton's doctor to get here and she apologized for having to turn on the lights in the room, Gabe squeezing his eyes shut at the light change.

"Why are you breaking her water?" Gabe asked, blinking rapidly.

"She's been in labor, meaning contractions and dilating for 30 hours Active labor meaning she's 4 to 6 centimeters dilated for 5 hours. For her health and the baby's, if we don't want an emergency c-section, I need her labor to progress quicker. Breaking her water should help" She explained. "She's 100% effaced, she's ready, baby is ready, I just need her vagina to be ready" Dr. Hughes said and I snickered saying, "In bed" which made Leighton roll her eyes, Dr. Hughes laughed and Gabriel shot me a dirty look.

"So how long till labor once you break her water?" Gabe asked, my eyes focused on Leighton as she groaned through a contraction, Dr. Hughes and I looked over at the monitor to see it mapped out.

"You stayed pretty quiet for such a big one" Dr. Hughes noted and I chuckled replying "That's what she said" which made Leightons eyes widen.

"Colby!" She scolded but I grinned when the doctor laughed.

"What?! She knows you had sex! How do you think you got in this position" I laughed, forgetting Gabe was even in the room.

"I brought you here for emotional support-" She started and I grinned at her, cutting her off saying "and I also brought comedic relief!"

"Alright, do you want the boys in the room for this?" Dr. Hughes asked, holding a medical tool.

"What the hell is that?" Leigh asked, seeing the metal medical instrument.

"It's the hook we use to break the amniotic sack. It kind of looks like a crochet hook" She chuckled, showing all of us the tool.

"So that's just getting shoved up my vagina?" Leigh asked and Dr. Hughes nodded.

"Yeah I hold it like this" She held it between two fingers, and I insert my fingers into your cervix and basically hit the sack like you'd pop a balloon, and the water will gush down" she said and both Leigh and I's eyes widened.

"Wait so like.. I'm just gonna like.. pee myself?" Leighton asked, Dr. Hughes nodded.

"Sort of. I'm ready whenever you are, are they staying?" Dr. Hughes asked and Leigh let us decide.

Both of us stayed and Leighton told me to come stand by her head, not wanting me to look at her vagina which made me roll her eyes.

"I wasn't looking in the first place" I grumbled, now standing by her shoulder.

"Yeah well now is not the time to look at my hoo-ha"

"Leighton with all due respect, there is nothing remotely attractive about watching you be in pain and having basically a crochet hook shoved up your vagina, breaking your water" I told her and she rolled her eyes, taking the oxygen mask back.

"I personally think you look irresistible baby" Gabe chimed in and I mentally scoffed.

Fucking weirdo

"Shut up Gabriel" She grumbled, leaning back against the hospital bed.

"Oh my god!" She said loudly, and next thing we all knew, a shit load of clear liquid seeped on what looked to be a puppy pad.

"Cole, don't look!" Leigh said and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm intrigued! Can I look please?" I asked and she sighed.

"Fine but don't look at my lady parts!"

"Wouldn't dream of it" I grumbled, stepping forward to see the ginormous clear spot on the literal puppy pad.

"You had a lot of amniotic fluid Ms. Fox" Dr. Hughes laughed, grabbing a new pad to place under Leighton.

"Colby, get back here! Friends don't look at other friend's vaginas unless their name is Aaliyah Johnson" Leighton scolded and I rolled my eyes yet again.

"I wasn't looking at your vagina. Sorry, this whole labor thing is interesting to me. I just wanted to see" I sighed and she gave me a small smile, nodding.

~

"You're doing amazing, Leighton. Breath baby" Gabriel coached and I chuckled to myself watching Leighton glare at him.

"Shut the fuck- AHHH-UP!" She yelled and I glanced over at the machine watching her contraction spike. "Fuck!" She groaned, breathing heavily as Gabriel rubbed her back. "Stop fucking touching me or I will cut off your penis" She growled, myself struggling to hold back my laugh, wanting to keep my dick.

"Fucking hell man!" Leighton moaned, her body rocking back and forth as her knees rested against the yoga mat, her arms rested on top of the exercise ball. "Ohh shit" She let out another low groan, widening her hips more so she was in more of a squat, her thighs low to the ground as she held her position.

"You got this Leighton, you're incredible" Gabe complimented and I stayed quiet, watching her breathe out slowly as she flipped him off.

"Don't make a sex joke but-" she stopped and I watched her groan, rocking forward again, her hips pushing down a little as she rocked. "God damnit!" she groaned loudly, her eyes closed as she tried to breathe.

"Leighton, are you grinding on the floor?" Gabe asked, snickering a little, and I've never seen her so mad before.

"GET THE FUCK OUT NOW!" She screamed, and my eyes widened watching him jump.

"Leigh-"

"NO! I'M IN SO MUCH FUCKING PAIN BECAUSE OF YOU! SHUT UP OR AHHHHHH- FUCK YOU" She yelled, her face scrunching up and she groaned loudly, her hips starting to rock again.

"Cole-Colby- ahhhhh fuck!" She groaned, resting her head against the ball.

"Yeah?" I asked, not sure what to do since she didn't want to be talked to or touched.

"Press.. fuck! Press on my.... On my- shit" she let out an exhale, moving slowly back and forth. "Hips, please" she begged and I quickly moved.

"How? Where?" I asked, having no idea how to help her.

"Here let me do it" Gabe said, walking over.

"Don't fucking touch me! You're pissing me off. I didn't fucking ask you. I told you to get out. Shut up" she hissed, her back arching inwards as she moved forward, her legs spreading.

"Where do I-"

"FUCK! Someone's timing.. fuck me! Timing them... right?" Leighton asked, letting out a loud exhale after letting out a deep groan.

It sucked so bad to see her in so much pain. Her face was covered in tears and she kept throwing up, breathing heavily and letting out all kinds of discomfort noises.

It was currently 4:37am on November 25th, and Leighton had been having pretty bad contractions for about half an hour.

I could tell Gabe was half asleep since we've been up since they broke her water... I just couldn't tell if he was disrespecting her wishes of not being talked to and touched because he wanted to, or because he only slept 3 and a half hours.

Leighton hasn't slept since a little after Sam and Kat left, so in my personal opinion her baby daddy needed to get it together.

The door opened and a nurse walked over to us.

"Everything okay?" She asked and Leighton looked like she wanted to kill her.

"Does it look okay?!" Leighton snapped, her head resting against her arms.

"I meant the yelling... Can I get you anything? Do you want to be checked?" She asked and Leighton groaned again, her hands shaking a little.

"Can you..... can you.. woooo..." Leigh let out a deep breath. "Teach.. him.. how to... oh my god" she groaned. "Hands on hips, oh god" she groaned and the nurse quickly understood what she wanted.

"Okay so I put my hands here" the nurse placed her hands on the back of Leighton hips, more towards the outside. "And I press in to relieve the pressure. We like to call it hugging the hips. You want to push her hips firmly but gently at the same time inwards like this" She showed, pressing Leightons hips together.

"Oh my god! Thank fuck" Leighton moaned, collapsing against the workout ball.

"Leighton? I'm going to let go and let him do it, okay?" She informed and Leigh nodded.

I placed my hands on her hips, feeling the skin squish a bit as I pushed both hands towards the center of her back.

"Oh my god, that feels good" She moaned.

"Your heart rate is coming down" The nurse stated. "Baby is 158 which is good" She spoke aloud and I saw she was holding Leightons chart.

She went into the bathroom and came back with a rag.

She wiped Leightons forehead before laying it along the back of Leightons neck.

"Oh these suck. The nurse... the nurse from.. wooo-ohmygod!" She groaned loudly, her body rocking a little more.

I removed my hands, glancing over at Gabriel, seeing him on his phone.