Blades calmly came through the groundbridge as he stood and watched the rest of his former recruits make their way over to him.

"Thanks for coming Blades", Hoist said.

"Hotshot would be out here to greet you too, but he's refusing to leave Medix's side", Wedge said.

"I can understand that", Blades said kindly, "where are they now?"

"In the medical bay with Ratchet", Whirl said immediately, "I can take you there."

"Thank you", Blades said as he followed the female copter.

As Whirl walked, she explained what was going on, "Last I checked on them was 5 minutes ago. Ratchet has already been here for half an hour and has been encouraging Medix to walk around. Energon has not been broken yet."

When they reached the medical bay, Blades turned to Whirl, "I appreciate you keeping me up to date, Whirl. Go back to your team and resume everything as normal. I will update all of you if any changes are made."

Whirl nodded as Blades went inside, stealing a quick peek inside to see Hotshot coaching Medix as they danced around the room.

When the door finally closed, Whirl let a small smile escape her faceplate as she returned to the rest of her team.

-----------------------------------------

Blades and Ratchet stood off to the side as they watched Hotshot and Medix's performance.

Hotshot stayed cheerful as he danced around the room with his mate, "Come on baby! Dance with me like you did at our wedding!"

"With less twerking", Blades joked.

Medix laughed at that as his mate kept him moving.

As they continued  to dance with each other, Blades took this moment to speak with Ratchet.

"So, why dancing?"

"Medix hated walking around and wouldn't keep his trap shut about it. So I suggested that he try dancing. It achieves the same goal: moving. Plus he seemed to like it better when Hotshot joined in."

"So what will we do if he gets tired of this?", Blades asked.

"We distract him with making him talk and think of other things", Ratchet said smoothly, "just watch Hotshot. He knows what to do."

A few more minutes passes before Medix can't move around anymore. He stopped dancing as he buried his face into Hotshot's chestplate, laughing while slightly out of breath.

Hotshot held his mate close as he giggled, "you're so cute honey. Dancing with your big belly. I bet our sparkling will become a dancer after what you just did!"

Medix giggled sweetly but then groaned softly when his contractions started becoming more and more intense due to his lack of mobility.

Hotshot looked over at Ratchet and nodded as Ratchet gave him a confirmation nod. He then looked down at his mate who was gripping his arms tightly, "hey babe? Mind telling me all of the shenanigans that went down during the reception at our wedding?"

Medix chuckled softly while he involuntarily started walking around the room with his mate, "you mean the whole thing?"

"Tomayto. Tomahto.", Hotshot said as he walked with his mate.

Medix couldn't stop smiling as he went over every detail of the reception, "-so excited to see us come out and get the party started. Oh my goodness we had a LOT of guests there! Thank Primus you were with me the entire time."

"Yeah because I knew you were an introvert", Hotshot smirked.

Medix nuzzled him as they kept walking, "and you're an extrovert."

"Which makes you two the perfect pair", Ratchet said sarcastically.

It worked. Medix went into full-on rant mode, "we really are! We complete each other! He's the brawn, I'm the brains! He's the yin to my yang!-"

"Uhh... might wanna switch that last one babe."

"No I'm pretty sure I'm right."

Blades stifled a laugh, clearly being entertained by this.

Ratchet let a small smirk escape as Hotshot steered Medix back to what he was talking about earlier.

"Oh the wedding!", Medix exclaimed.

"No, the reception", Hotshot said softly.

Medix rolled his optics as he continued his story, "-Wedge accidentally caught the garter despite him not being interested. That was hysterical!!"

"What's even better was that I intended for it to land on him when I threw it."

"You did?!"

"I did! It was so WORTH IT! His face was priceless!"

They both laughed as they kept walking.

"Oh but the funniest part has to be when you took that garter off of me. How far did you have to reach up in my pants?", Medix joked.

"Far up enough that I knew how to get you here", Hotshot said as he placed his large servos on his mate's belly.

Ratchet actually bursted out laughing at that.

-----------------------------------------

As the hours have passed, so have the countless amount of contractions.

However, with each one came another that was stronger.

Hotshot remained calm as his mate clung to him who kept whimpering as each contraction came through.

Hotshot kept his mate close as he looked down at him, "you want to lay down?"

Medix shook his helm as he choked back a sob.

Hotshot gently rested their forehelms together, looking deeply in his mate's optics as they filled with tears, "does it hurt?"

The look Medix gave him screamed 'yes dumbass'.

Blades spoke up, "there's a good chance he has transitioned from early labor to active labor."

"Get him on the berth", Ratchet ordered, "if his energon doesn't break now, then I will have to-"

Suddenly, the rescue alarms went off causing everyone in the medical bay to jump slightly.

Hotshot growled as his mate whimpered in his arms, "dammit Wedge! I told him to turn those off-"

Hotshot froze when Medix cut him off with a surprised shriek.

Ratchet snorted softly, "actually, it's a good thing he didn't. It ended up helping your sparkmate."

Hotshot's optics widened as he looked down at his stunned mate, seeing light blue liquid drip down his thighs.

"Your energon broke?"

Medix gathered enough strength to speak, "y-yes..."

Hotshot looked over at Ratchet, "Ratchet?"

"Get him on the berth", Ratchet said softly.

Hotshot then carefully lifted up his mate bridal style as he walked over to the berth, setting him down gently as Blades had everything ready.

Medix immediately grabbed his mate's servo, intertwining their digits together as he whimpered at another strong contraction.

Hotshot knew it was time for him to really kick it into gear, "you okay?"

"Y-Yeah...", Medix said as he whimpered at another contraction.

Hotshot knew that was a lie.

But he stayed silent as he leaned down and kissed his mate.

Medix let out a small grunt as another contraction hit him shortly after, "H-Hotshot..."

"Right here baby", Hotshot said as he gently squeezed his mate's servo, "I'm right here."

"I-It....", Medix yelped as another contraction ripped through him, "It hurts!"

Hotshot looked up at Blades, "is it too late for an epidural?"

"I'm afraid so...", Blades said softly, "His contractions are becoming far too frequent and intense that it'll almost be impossible for it to start taking affect by the time the sparkling is emerging."

"Which could be at any time", Ratchet said.

Hotshot stayed calm as he sat down next to his whimpering mate, bringing him into his arms to comfort him.

Medix buried his helm into his mate's chestplate as tears fell from his optics, "I-I'm.... s-scared...."

Hotshot kissed his mate's helm as he held him close, "it's okay baby... Everything is going to be okay. I'm right here. Blades is here. Ratchet is here. You're going to be okay."

Medix yelped as another contraction hit him hard.

Hotshot looked over at Ratchet as his mate squeezed his arm, "Ratchet?"

"Lay him down", Ratchet ordered, "let's get that sparkling out."

-----------------------------------------

Medix screamed as another contraction tore through him.

"Push Medix! You need to push!", Blades encouraged.

Medix pushed, screaming loudly as he death gripped Hotshot's servo, "IT HURTS!"

Hotshot winced at the deathgrip but remained calm as he spoke to his mate, "keep going babe. You're doing so good."

Medix screamed more when he had to push again, eventually bursting into tears from the overwhelming amount of pain.

Ratchet and Blades started preparing for the sparkling as it started its emergence.

"The sparkling is emerging", Ratchet said to Hotshot as Medix kept crying.

"What should I do?", Hotshot asked.

"You've been doing it", Ratchet said as he went back to work.

Hotshot looked back at his mate and stayed calm as he got close, "it's almost over baby. Our sparkling is emerging now. You've been doing so good, but now I need you to give it your all..."

Hotshot then rested their forehelms together, "what do ya say? Let's finally see our little gift from above."

After receiving a sweet kiss from his mate, Medix began pushing with all of his might. Each push became more painful than the last, but Medix stayed strong.

Until it was time for the final push.

Medix was exhausted as all of his strength was drained from him.

Hotshot gripped his mate's servo, "come on baby! I can see our sparkling!! They're almost out! Just one more push!!"

Medix was out of breath as he breathed hard, "I... I c-can't-"

"Take some deep breaths Medix, then just push", Blades said softly.

Medix took some deep breaths, found what little strength he had left, then gave it his all into the final push.

His screams were deafening.

But they didn't last for long.

Medix slumped back into the berth as he felt his sparkling slip out of him, his optics closing from exhaustion as the faint crying of his newborn echoed throughout his processor.