It happened so suddenly; he wasn't ready for this, no, no, no. He wanted it to stop, Stars.

"What the hell is going on?" Shouted Cinder, from the backseat; she was angry—more than usually—and for a moment Thorne feared for his own life. He wanted to kill Kai for having a reunion in the other side of the planet just that day. He would kill him, if he survived. "I swear, Thorne, if we don't arrive at— oh, no, not anoth—"

And then she screamed in pain, again, and Thorne had to cover his ears or he was sure they would bleed, he was sure. He always missed Cress when they were not together, but he missed her so much more than normally right there. He missed a doctor, too. So much.

"We are almost there," he lied, since they were not even close; the hospital was so far away and the stupid car didn't go well and the traffic was horrible and oh, Cinder, why now? "How you doing?"

She shouted in response.

Thorne closed his eyes and recalled the day she had messaged him, saying that she and Kai had a very big surprise for Cress and him, that they should come over for a few days. Cress was in France with Scarlet and Ze'ev and their little monsters, so Thorne had come alone.

He had never thought that the surprise was Cinder being eight months pregnant. And that Kai had to go to Australia to talk with the president or whatever and Thorne would be there with Cinder just in case.

Well, he didn't like the case. At all.

Cinder cried and he had to turn around to see that, because he had never seen her crying and yelling that much. Big tears ran down her cheeks and she was repeatedly bending and unbending her legs all over the seat, like she couldn't find the perfect position. She seemed really in pain, and that made Thorne feel useless; he couldn't do anything to ease her, and they wouldn't reach the hospital in time.

"For crying out loud, Thorne, I am dying over here. Dying. Get me to the freaking hospital right now!"

He forced his mouth to stay close while he parked the car on the side of the road. Cinder sat, he didn't know how, and punched his arm.

"Hey," he complained.

"What are you—" she contorted her face in a painful one and lied down again, holding her big belly. It was weird, seeing her like that; he had always thought that Cinder would never, ever had kids. "Please, please, please, make it stop."

I can't, and that is what is driving me crazy. "If I could do something to make it stop, I would have done it a long time ago, you idiot. Just... stay calm."

Shit.

"What? You know that giving birth is the second most painful thing in the world?"

She was so furious he decided that shutting his mouth would the best for his own good.

He got off the car and opened one of the back door, facing her legs. She kicked his face with her foot, the metallic foot, making Thorne fall backwards, holding his nose; he tasted blood on his lips and his hands were gooey. He cursed under his breath while Cinder tried to look at him over her stomach, which was a little bit complicated.

"Are you on the floor?" She asked. Thorne would've laugh if it hadn't hurt.

"You just broke my nose!" He shouted, putting himself together because, Stars, Stars, Stars, Cinder was having a baby. He could not just lie down on the dirt, no matter how bad his nose hurt.

Geez, it really hurt.

"Oh, I am really sorry." She pouted at him. "That must really hurt!"

Now she was being mean. More than she normally was. Thorne blamed the baby.

He got up and, when he looked at her, he realised one more time how bad she was feeling, though she tried to cover the pain with sarcasm. She was sobbing and her face was sweaty and she was holding a very damaged plastic bottle in her right hand; he was about to cry, too, since he couldn't stand seeing his best friend like that. Scarlet had said that giving birth was beautiful, but Cinder seemed really screwed.

"I want Kai," she sobbed, like a child.

"I want Cress," he sobbed, like a child.

Then he had an idea. He looked for Cinder's phone in her bag and after he found out what the password was—because Cinder was a little too busy and Cress had taught him well—, he called Kai. It took him four calls to respond.

"Oh man," Thorne sighed, then put the call in video chat mode and pass Cinder the phone.

"Oh you asshole," she kissed the screen and continued crying.

Thorne did the same thing but now with his phone. Cress, with her beautiful short hair and her bright blue eyes and her gorgeous smile appeared almost instantly with a baby in her arms. She said, "Hi, love. Look at little Jimmy, he is so cute… What happened to your nose?"

Thorne loved her so freaking much; he wanted to kiss the screen, too, but he had something more important to do. He pointed the phone camera towards Cinder, who was talking to Kai—or insulting him, he wasn't so sure—and he heard Cress gasping. He sniffed, and it hurt. "Doesn't matter. I need you," he murmured, facing her again.

"She is giving birth in a car? Scarlet!" She shouted, and Scarlet appeared before him, Cress now gone. He wanted her, not Scarlet. He was about to having a heart attack.

"You have to get rid of her panties, you idiot," she said.

Thorne stared blankly at her. "I have to what?"

Scarlet was trying not to laugh, he could see that in her red cheeks, her bright eyes. "How do you think the baby is going to get out?"

"Don't say 'get out', that's weird. Cinder," Thorne turned to her, "I have to take off your panties."

"I am gonna die," she answered. "Okay. Okay. Yes, why not? You are going to remind me of this for the rest of my life, are— Oh my— Thorne. Thorne. It is here. Now."

"Thorne," it was Kai's voice now, "man, I trust you. Take care of her."

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much," said Cinder.

He took off her panties, and he had to look away instantly. What the hell was that? It couldn't be human. His phone's screen was now covered with a lot of people, and he had to take a breath before looking at whatever that was again. It could be a head, now he thought about it. Or maybe an egg. Oh, thank the Stars he was not a girl.

Cinder screamed and a woman appeared, her face looking at Cinder, then at him, then at Cinder again. He heard something, but he was now only Cinder's. They were going to make it, the baby was going to be okay, Cinder was going to be okay.

He was going to have a trauma for the rest of his life, but still.

He cupped his hands around the head that was emerging from his friend, and someone told her to push, push, push. Cinder cried, Thorne cried, and the baby was almost there; he could see his little chest now, his belly button... which never ended. And just like that, the baby was in his arms, his shirt covered in blood, his nose covered in blood. He... she was crying more than Cinder, more than Thorne. A woman behind him gave him a towel, and he wrapped the baby in it, like a burrito.

"Oh my Stars," Cinder cried. "Let me see him, let me see him."

"It's a girl," he answered, passing her the baby, carefully. The people around the car applauded, oohed, and Thorne smiled, seeing how Cinder touched the baby's face, how Kai cried on the other side of the world. "My little burrito."

She laughed and kissed the baby's forehead.

He took his phone again, and it was Cress now, only her. She was smiling, and he felt good. "You are the best," she said.

"What? You didn't know that until now? Auch." He smirked.

She giggled. "I was thinking... I want one of them. I want one baby."

Throne went pale and passed out.