(Thursday, March 12th, 2020)
Michael sat on his flight back to Australia to finish off the last leg of the tour. He put his sock-clad feet under his own body as he leant against the window, his eyes looking out at the many dark clouds below him.
He always liked traveling early in the morning because the cities below him would illuminate the clouds to the most beautiful colors. Everything seemed at peace.
Everything was not at peace.
Luke dialed Ashton's number as fast as he could as he began sweaty in fear. A groggy voiced tried to answer, only to be cut off by the blonde.
"They're coming! Fuck, Ashton!"
Ash's eyes barely stayed open as his right arm hung over the bed. "Hm? Who's coming?"
"I'm in fucking labor!"
The brunette quickly bolted up, his head going numb. "What? Now?!"
Luke groaned out as another shot of pain ricocheted through his system.
"Oh, my God. Okay, okay. Take breaths, yeah? Let me get the girls, I'll be over there in five." Ashton pulled on the dirty sweatpants that laid on the floor, running into the closed bedroom door in his fast hurry. "When did it start?"
"I woke up half an hour ago—," he breathed in deeply as he bent over in pain, "—I'm dying."
"You're not dying, where are you?" Ashton leant down over Ivona's bed first, shaking her awake.
Her bright eyes flickered open, confused as to why her father was disturbing her sleep at six in the morning.
She quickly caught on, seeing the rush in Ash's eyes and the phone pressed to his ear. She got out of bed, her light blue nightgown swishing with every step as she hopped to Bella's bed, getting her up as well.
Ashton rushed down their stairs, tripping over the boxes of unpacked items. They only just moved into their new house and everything was stressing him out. The four girls coming early was not something he needed at this moment.
"I'm still in my bedroom," he croaked out a sob, "It hurts."
"We'll get you nice and medicated soon." He grabbed his keys, his two girls following behind him like ducklings. Ashton buckled them into their car seats before rushing to pull out of their driveway. "Let me call the hospital so they're ready for you, okay? I'm two minutes away, I promise."
Luke wiped at his forehead as he pushed his phone away. He could feel sweat all over his body as he began to lose feeling in his fingertips. He felt awful. It was worse than his strike of pneumonia at twelve, or mono of sixteen. It was worse than his broken nose at eight, or snapped elbow at ten. It was as if all the pain he has ever experienced was shooting through his body and squeezing his oversized torso.
He used all the power he could to push his hands off of his bed, quickly falling into a step and grabbing the golden door knob to keep balance. He continued these shaking and painful steps all the way to the last step of the long stairs.
He was out of breath and crying by the time Ashton rushed in.
His best friend came to his side, holding him up—one hand on his lower back, another under his very large bump. "Let's get you to the car, they have everything ready. Your doctor is on her way there now."
There was something comforting in Luke's mind that he had Ashton—a man whom's been through the almost same exact surgery—at his side.
"Really hurts," he gasped out two words.
"I know, I know. Let's lay you in the back." Ashton got him outside, making sure to lock the door quickly behind them as he continued to support Luke.
Ash helped him into his car, forcing the girls to move to the very back as the pregnant blonde laid across the middle seats.
"I'm never going through this again."
"I know." Ashton began pulling out of the long driveway, trying not to crash into the trees nor bushes. He had tendencies to run over everything.
Michael turned on his phone when the wheels hit tarmac. He sipped at a tea in his hands as he began taking out his earbuds. His ears hurt from blaring heavy music for over fourteen hours.
"Fuck!" He shouted.
He looked up, his manager shooting him a glare.
"Luke had the girls! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Mike yelled a little quieter.
Calum perked up in his seat, unbuckling the seatbelt and jumping over to Michael's section. He took the smart phone from his best friend's hands, reading the updates from Ashton.
Michael pressed the call button before he was able to read every last message. He tapped his foot and ran a hand through his hair, pulling at the strands. He wasn't sure what to do.
"Please don't yell, I got enough of that from your husband," Ash begged as he picked up.
He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Is he okay?! That's all I need to know."
"Yes, Luke is fine. They're putting him back together, all your girls are in incubators right now. They can't breathe on their own, but they told me they're very healthy for pre-mature quadruplets."
He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as he began to cry. He bit down on his lip as reassuring words flew into his ears.
"When can I see Luke or my babies?"
Ash peaked through the glass window of the surgery room, watching Luke giggle and poke at a nurses smock. "He's a little loopy right now. Luke is very, very, very medicated, he's gonna knock out at any moment now."
Michael sat back in his seat, letting the rest of the flight begin to leave. "Did everything go fine?"
"He cried, a lot. We got to the hospital and he just cried some more. They got an IV in him and he stopped crying once it kicked in."
Mike sighed at the thought of his love in pain. "You promise he's okay?"
Ashton laughed as he walked down the hallway, checking up on his two girls asleep in the hospital cot once more. "I promise you, he's fine. If he's still awake when they wheel him in the room then I'll FaceTime you, but I highly doubt he'll be."
"How long did it take?"
"We got to the hospital around 6:15 this morning," Ash informed him, walking back to the door where Luke was, "They took out the first baby—the kicker—around 7:50, then the last wasn't until about 10:30."
"That's a lot of babies."
"Haven't named them yet, Luke didn't want to until you were actually at his side. They're just baby one through four right now."
"Are they cute?"
Ashton stood on his tippy toes, peaking in at the four incubators keeping the babies safe. "Can I be blunt with you?"
"Always."
"Babies are kind of ugly when they're first born. They're blotchy and red. By the time you get here they'll be beautiful." Ashton stood out of the way as they took down the blue covering hiding Luke from seeing his torso. He could see the blonde was knocked out cold, his eyes closed lightly. "Your babe is asleep."
"Damn." Michael took a deep breath, finally ready to get off the large plane. The crew were the only people left on the flying metal can, all waiting for a cue to leave into the terminal. He stood up, grabbing the rest of his iced tea and walking through the door. "Call me when he is awake, even if he's still a little high."
Michael got Luke high once, only once way back in the college days. Mike wasn't a junkie, but he did need the feeling of being high here and there. It was a release from his heavy brain, and he used to need it back then.
He doesn't anymore.
Mike remembers Luke's eyes turned red as he giggled at everything. He laughed at the burnt out lightbulb, at the smear in Mike's mirror, at the overflowing garbage can. Michael wasn't sure if it was going to be the same type of high when he woke up.
Four hours and two flights booked later, Luke was awake.
Ashton pulled up his computer—he grabbed it when he went home to drop off the girls with the nice neighbor. He pulled up Skype, not surprised when Michael's bubble popped up immediately.
It started ringing as Luke looked around the room. "It's in my head."
"No, it's not, Luke. We've been over this, it's just the clock." Ashton sighed as he looked up at the hazy boy.
He laid back down, resting his head to face Ashton. "Where are my girls? Like, my girls, not yours. Mine." Luke made it very clear that he was very excited.
"They're in incubators staying nice in healthy. We can bring them to you when you're feeling a bit better." Ashton furrowed his eyebrows in frustration when Michael didn't answer the call. He tried again, figuring the boy was asleep next to his lap top.
"Chickens? Did I birth chickens?"
Ashton tried not to break his serious persona. "No, Lukey. They're humans."
His eyes began to water, "Why did you see them without me?"
"Please don't start crying. I thought we were done with this."
"Are you breaking up with me?!" Luke shouted.
At that exact moment, Michael's face appeared on the screen in front of Ash. His once happy face turning to confusion. "Whoa, what have you two been doing while I was away?" He joked.
"Luke is high as hell right now."
"Hell is low, you would know," Luke corrected. He looked back up at the ceiling, his feet tapping to an imaginary beat in his head.
"Ah, I see," Mike said between laughs.
Ashton moved a desk top from the side of Luke's hospital bed, placing the laptop in front of him. "Say hi to your husband."
"Hi, Husband," Luke said.
Michael smiled at him, "Hi, Baby. How are you feeling?"
The two engaged in a casual conversation as Mike traced over Luke's tired features. His blue eyes were glassy, his hair flat and in his face. His skin was tinted a grey, yet his cheeks stood more rosy red than normal.
A nurse walked in, Ashton stood up, greeting her at the door. He explained the situation they were in, asking for a way Michael could see his four unnamed girls.
Luke laid back in bed as Ashton came back to his seat. He turned the laptop so Mike could now see Ash's tired face and soul. "They're bringing the newest Clifford babies in, give them a few minutes." He looked at Michael's background, it was an airport lounge. Mike was truly waiting around for the flight back to America. He didn't play around. "Is my boyfriend with you? I don't even know if he's coming back."
Michael turned the screen, showing a sound asleep Cal curled up in a chair. "Yeah, he misses you dearly. He'll take any opportunity to come home."
Ashton smiled. The two were interrupted by four nurses wheeling in the babies. He stood up, still carrying the laptop, and giving them room.
Michael's eyes widened as he looked at their squirming bodies. They were actually real. They weren't just in Luke's belly anymore. Now they were actual living, breathing, moving creatures breathing the same air as Michael.
He couldn't help but to sob like a child. "Holy shit," he whispered.
"Look at all those chickens," Luke whispered before falling back into a deep, deep, deep slumber.