The Road So Far

NOW

[January 2014 - 9 Months Pregnant - Bunker Kitchen - Suddenly bacon is delicious again]

Officially my due date, which meant that I had four pairs of eyes watching me like a hawk everywhere I went and one pair of eyes that couldn’t care less. Cas was a sore loser after Dean got the best of him in the library after our handfasting. He begrudgingly stuck around to help with warding the bunker, but only after Dean promised to explain the point of Survivor and other reality tv shows. It was better than when he was hooked on porn so Dean was ok with it.

Dean, Sam, Jody, and I were sitting down to breakfast when Rowena came in. Normally, she made an entrance, even after living with us the last few months. Today, she just walked in, wearing a pair of my sweatpants and one of Dean’s flannel shirts.

“Rowena, are you feeling ok?” I asked as I took a bite of bacon.

Suddenly all I wanted was bacon. I was even putting it in my ice cream, much to Dean’s dismay. Pickles and ice cream he understood, but he couldn’t abide bacon and ice cream.

“The longer I keep the shield up, the more it takes from me,” she said.

Sam slid her a mug of black coffee down the table.

“Thank you, Samuel. Katherine, are you feeling any different today?”

“Afraid not, I’m starting to think this baby is never coming out.”

Jody smiled. “That is a common frustration this late in pregnancy, I know how much the waiting sucks.”

“Kate, have you lost your mucus plug yet?”

I stared at Sam. The audacity must have been on clearance because damn.

“Sam, no offense, but I’m not talking to you–or anyone else at this table–about my mucus plug,” I said.

“Guys,” Dean’s voice was coming through from a mouth full of waffles, “I’m eating. Besides, she’s been having Braxton-Hicks all morning.”

I shot him a look from across the table.

“What? You have.”

“How did you know that?” I asked, “I didn’t say anything.”

“You tense up when you get one, and your shoulders kind of rise up towards your ears,” he said, as if it was obvious, and took another bite of his waffle.

I sighed and stood to refill my bacon plate, when a massive gush of warm liquid poured down my legs. Please don’t be pee, please don’t be pee.

“And that would be your water, looks like baby does want to come out after all!” Jody cried.

Thank god.

Dean was at my side in a flash. I expected him to hover but instead he took my hand.

“Come on,” he said, “I bet you want to change out of those clothes. I’ll help if you want.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

As he was helping me peel the soaking pants off my leg, the first “real” contraction hit. It felt like if a Braxton-Hicks contraction had a baby with a period cramp. Not exactly painful, but definitely noticeable.

“Ow!” I said.

“Sorry, did I pinch you?” Dean asked, freezing.

“No, I just had a contraction.”

“Oh, ok.”

His breathing quickened and I braced myself for the onslaught of questions.

“Do you want to put new pants on or do you want your nightgown?”

I hadn’t expected that one.

“Nightgown please.”

Once I was in my nightgown, I felt another contraction coming on. My stomach tightened, the whole thing was hard as a rock.

“Man, this feels so weird,” I said, pulling Dean’s hand to my belly.

“Whoa, that’s wild.”

Dean kept biting his lip, and I could see the anxiety written all over his face, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

“I saw that walking is good to get the contractions going regularly, if you want to try that, or if you want to try to rest while they aren’t bad yet.”

“Let’s walk, I don’t think I can sit still right now.”

As we walked down the hall towards the library, another contraction rolled in–stronger this time.

“Oww,” I said, leaning against Dean.

“Did you feel that?” he asked.

“Yeah, that was a little stronger.”

“No, the floor vibrated.”

“I didn’t notice, I was a little preoccupied.”

Once we made it to the library, we turned and started walking back to the bedroom again. It was two more laps before I felt anything else. The floor was definitely vibrating.

“What the hell–ow!”

Another contraction. As it faded away, so did the floor vibration. Oh no.

“Dean,” I gasped, “The vibrations are happening at the same time as the contractions.”

He cleared his throat.

“Ok, let’s have a chat with Rowena.”

Sam appeared from around the corner.

“We have a problem,” he said to Dean, “Rowena passed out, I just left her in the infirmary with Jody.”

Dean and I looked from Sam to each other. If Rowena was fully unconscious, that meant our shield was down-down.

“Infirmary?” I said.

“A1,” he said.

One bite at a time.

As we walked into the infirmary, I had to stop and lean on the door frame through another contraction. This time, more than the floor vibrated. The glass cases and bottles rattled and didn’t stop until the contraction passed.

“What was that?” Jody asked.

“A Cambion contraction,” I said, “And they’re getting stronger.”

Jody nodded.

“Kate, you do whatever is comfortable–”

“On it!” I said, walking over to one of the beds and leaning forward on my arms against the edge.

“Boys, help me get everything breakable off the shelves.”

They worked quickly, packing what they could into drawers or boxes, there was no telling when the next contraction would hit.

“Kate, do you want me to check to see how far you are?”

I shook my head, I could feel vibrations coming up through the floor. The next contraction hit me like a Mack truck and I squeezed my eyes as well as the bedsheets. Before the contraction finished, I felt a hot pressure on my lower back. It didn’t erase the pain, but countered it, taking the edge off. When the pain subsided, I let out a breath and turned to see Dean with his hands on my back.

“Whatever that was,” I said between breaths, “do it again for the next one.”

“Roger that.”

We didn’t have long to wait, the next one came about fifteen minutes later. Jody was keeping a log of how often and how long they were. The vibrations always started in the floor, it was like an aftershock of an earthquake, but it came first like a warning.

“Breathe through the pain,” Jody reminded me as Dean applied counter pressure on my back.

I meant to let out a breath but instead it came out as a low moan.

“Good, noises mean you’re breathing,” she said.

I felt a strong whoosh of air in front of me and when I opened my eyes, I saw Cas standing in the middle of the infirmary.

“Now’s not a good time, Cas!” Dean said.

“Dean, whatever the Cambion is doing to the building is breaking all the wards and sigils. The beacon is the strongest it’s ever been and our defenses are falling. If we are going to stand any chance against Kenneth and his army, we need to get them back up now.”

Sweat had started forming on my forehead, soaking my hair and sticking it to my face. Dean tucked a wet strand behind my ear and leaned in to give me a kiss.

“Go,” I said when he pulled away, “I’ll be fine with you on my six.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he whispered before planting one last, lingering kiss on my sweaty forehead.

“Here,” Sam handed a walkie-talkie to Dean and one to Jody, “I have these for all of us since we’re not sure how the Wi-Fi’s gonna hold up.”

“Great idea, Sammy,” Dean clipped his to the collar of his henley, “Let’s go kick some demon ass!”

The boys had no sooner rushed out of the room when another contraction started up. It was the strongest so far and I moaned hard. Jody took over with the counter pressure, I would have hugged her if it hadn’t hurt so much. Glass continued to rattle but so far nothing sounded broken, yet.

“How about a check?” Jody asked.

I nodded, “Ok, but don’t tell me if it’s less than five centimeters.”

“Deal.”

Jody didn’t say anything. Shit. This was gonna take a while.

“Is it more than one at least?” I asked as she threw away her gloves.

“More than two!”

That was something. The walkie-talkie crackled on the table where Jody’s left it when she checked me.

“Come in Eagle’s Nest, this is Papa Eagle, over,” came Dean’s voice.

“Papa Eagle, this is Mama Eagle,” I said, “What’s your twenty?”

Jody raised her eyebrows at me and I shrugged.

“If you can’t have fun then why bother?” I asked her.

“Mama Eagle, Vulture and Falcon each took a wing, pun intended–”

“I better not be Vulture Dean,” said Sam.

“Why do I have to use this?” asked Cas.

Jody and I burst into giggles. Rowena stirred on the bed and Jody went over to her.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” she asked.

“Like I need to sleep for a fortnight,” Rowena said as she sat up, putting a hand to her temple, “But I’ll manage.”

The floor started to rumble, another contraction was coming, and it was going to be a big one.

“Is that what I think it is?” Rowena asked, getting to her feet.

“Oh yeah,” said Jody, her hands bracing my back and already applying the sweet counter pressure.

This contraction hit hard, fast, and different. It started at the top of my stomach and rolled downwards, like watching a wall of summer rain sweep down the street. This time, not only did the glass rattle, but so did the walls. The lights also flickered, not wanting to be left out I guess, which made me worry about having to deliver in the dark.

“Not to worry, dear,” said Rowena with a flourish.

Candles lined the floor and walls, no need to worry about the cinderblock catching fire. The worst they could do is scorch the paint and honestly the infirmary needed a new coat anyway.

“Oh dear,” she swayed a little and put a hand on the bed to steady herself, “Someone–or something–is hitting the shield from the outside.”

“He’s here,” I gasped, forgetting for a second that I was pregnant and flashing back to Kenneth possessing Dean.

Jody shot Rowena a dirty look then grabbed the walkie.

“This is Eagle’s Nest, we’ve got company at the door, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.”