The gang made a dash for the limousine that Angel had bought some time back. They all climbed in and Vaggie started up the engine and took off in a flash.
Alastor was still on the phone with Charlie who was screaming and crying from the painful contractions.
"Hang on Charlie, we'll be right there!" Alastor told her assuringly, "Please...please hurry!" Charlie cried, Alastor hung up and she hung up too.
She was still at the post office. She was alone, in labor, at the post office. When her contractions started the people flew into a panic and took her into one of the back rooms. They laid her on a table where they sorted the mail and the postman that the gang ran into constantly was left to stay with her so she wouldn't be entirely alone.
"Do you know how to do deliveries?" Charlie asked, "Sure, I've made tons of them." The post man said, "No, not mail deliveries! child deliveries!" Charlie yelled, "Oh, then no." The postman said realizing the difference, Charlie then let out a bloodcurdling scream.
"Hang on, Charlie. We're coming to help you." Alastor said to himself, they sped down the street through downtown Pentagram City. They made a sharp then around one corner almost running over an innocent citizen by mistake.
"You crazy kids watch where you're going!" He yelled shaking his fist angrily in the air, they continued to speed down the streets and turn around corners. Before they knew it, they were at the post office. They burst through the doors looking around for Charlie. Then their eyes fell upon a lady behind the counter where people would pick up packages.
"Hey, have you seen a woman in labor? About this tall, blonde hair, super cute?" Alastor said panicking but out of breath, the lady behind the desk immediately knew who he was talking about and came out from the behind the counter and walked towards the door that led to the back room.
"Oh yes, right this way." She said, she opened the door for them and they all hurried past her and into the back room and she followed letting the door close behind her.
Charlie was crying and screaming in pain and saw the gang run in. Their eyes were only on her.
"Guys." She said, Alastor immediately ran to her side and held her hand tight. She squeezed his hand so hard to show him how much pain she was in. Alastor winced a little bit but shook it off and decided to pull through it, for her.
"Alastor, thank goodness. I didn't think you'd make it in time." She said wincing in pain, "It's okay, I'm here for you. We're all here for you." Alastor told her, just then, some medics came into the room wheeling in a gurney.
"Okay, so you're the mother?" One of the paramedics asked, "Yes, I am." Charlie said nodding, "Name?" The other paramedic said,
"Charlie." Charlie replied, "Okay, let's get her up on the gurney." Said the paramedics who asked Charlie for her name, the two paramedics lifted Charlie up onto the gurney and wheeled her out of the room.
They boarded Charlie onto an ambulance and Alastor decided to go with her while everyone else took the limousine to the hospital. The drive was quiet.
A few minutes later they arrived at the hospital and they wheeled Charlie in with a wheel chair. There was a normal woman working at the front desk and was a little confused when she saw three male demons and two female demons.
"Can I help you?" The lady asked, "Yes, we have a friend who's in labor, we need to get to her room, pronto!" Vaggie said gasping for breath, "What's her name?" She asked, "Charlie." Vaggie replied, "Hm, let me see..." The woman said looking down at some papers she filed, then she looked back up at them with a smile.
"Here she is! I found her, she's in the E.R. Just go down the hall and make a left, fifth door on your right." The woman replied, "Oh thank goodness." Vaggie said putting her hand to her chest, "We can't thank you enough!" She said so relieved, "It's no trouble." The woman said still beaming, she walked out from behind the desk and gestured to the long hallway to her right.
"Right this way." She said, she began to walk down the hall and they all followed her closely behind. Once they entered the small room, they saw Charlie lying down in the hospital bed and the nurse smiled and said, "Let us know if there's anything you need." Then without another word left the room.
Alastor was at Charlie's side while everyone just sat in chairs that were in the room. Everyone was just waiting for something to happen. Alastor was clenching Charlie's hand tight and she was breathing heavily in and out.
"Are you okay?" Alastor asked her worried, Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." She replied, "I'm tough, I can bare through this." "Okay." Alastor nodded, but he still held her hand in case if something suddenly happened that would hurt or put her into shock.
After a few minutes the doctor came in and smiled. "So, here is the mother-to-be." She said, Charlie sat up but winced in pain.
"Yes doctor, I am." She smiled, "What's your name, dear?" She asked, "Charlie." Charlie replied, "Okay, now Charlie I'm going to check how dilated you are. We'll also see how far your contractions are apart." Charlie didn't say anything, she just nodded.
The doctor checked her to see how dilated she was. Then she timed her contractions to five minutes apart. "How long have you been in labor?" She asked, "About an hour." Charlie responded, "Okay, in about a few hours we will start pushing." She said, "If you want, we can give you an epidural." The doctor said, "A what?" Angel asked giving the doctor a confused look, the doctor turned to him and the others and was about to answer when Husk cut in.
"An epidural is a medicine that they inject into the back to make deliveries less painful...If Charlie takes it, she will still feel pain, but not as much as she's experiencing right now." He finished gesturing to Charlie who was struggling and wincing in pain.
Alastor looked up to the doctor, then back at Charlie. Charlie clenched her teeth tightly and cried out a small cry of pain. "We'll..we'll take it." She said struggling to ensure the pain that was currently shooting through her body. The doctor wrote it down on her clipboard. "Alrighty then." She said, and with that, left the room.
"Alastor...I'm scared." Charlie said with her lip quivering, "It's okay to be scared." He told her, "But think about the positive side of this...We're having kids, we're bringing five new demons into existence. That means something to me and I bet it does to you too."
"It does." Charlie said nodding, after a while the doctor came back in and she said, "Okay Charlie, I'm going to check to see if you're ready to push." The doctor then looked back at the others.
"I'm sorry I forgot to mention this, but I'm afraid that I have to ask you all to leave." She said,
"What?!" Angel yelled, "We are not leaving Charlie's side." Vaggie said standing up,
"I'm sorry but it's the hospital's rules." The doctor said sadly shaking her head, "Ugh! Fine we'll leave." Niffty said with attitude as she hopped down from her chair, everyone walked out of the room and Vaggie was the last to leave.
Vaggie turned. "Charlie? Alastor? Don't worry guys we'll be right outside." She said, Charlie sat up leaning back on her palms. "Thanks Vaggie." She said with a smile, Vaggie smiled and nodded and then turned and left.
Three hours later the gang was still waiting for the babies to be born.
"Ugh, why is it taking so long?!" Angel complained, "Angel she's giving birth to kids not ordering a pizza." Vaggie said sarcastically, "I know that but I don't think I can wait any longer the suspense is killing me!" Angel exaggerated, Vaggie rolled her eyes and looked down at Niffty who was sitting in her chair kicking her legs while looking at them.
Vaggie sighed and went back to staring at the blank wall in front of them. She was worried about Charlie, she was worried if the babies were going to be alright, she was afraid...if that was ever going to happen to her.
She never had a child before. She was worried if something would happen to it, if something would happen to her. She shuddered at the thought of having a child. Angel noticed her shaking and put a hand on her shoulder.
"What's on your mind?" He asked, Vaggie looked at him with that look of worry still on her face.
"I'm afraid that this will happen to me someday." She said, "Charlie sounds like she's in pain in there and I'm worried about what would happen to the kids, what would happen to me." She hung her head low looking like she was about to cry. Angel just took her hand. She looked up at the Spider Demon with teary eyes and a quivering mouth. He just shot her a smile and told her, "You won't have to because I would be right by your side." Vaggie smiled and began to shed tears of joy. She put her other hand over his hand that was still holding her other one. She looked at him still smiling and the two kissed.
Charlie continued to scream in pain and agony. Alastor was still holding her hand not even entertaining the thought of letting go.
"No one told me that this would hurt so much!" Charlie cried out, "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be much longer." Alastor told her, Charlie just shot him a dirty look and said sarcastically, "Really? Gee thanks that helps a lot." Alastor just held her hand tighter and said, "Just breathe, just breathe." Charlie breathed heavily in and out. Alastor wished he could help her more.
"Charlie, when it hurts, just give my hand a squeeze." He told her, Charlie nodded and just continued to breathe.
"Ow...ow...OW!" Charlie shrieked, she squeezed Alastor's hand to share her pain and he winced at the home crushing pain that was going through his hand.
"Charlie, that really hurts." Alastor winced again, "Great, now you know how it feels." Charlie said, she continued to struggle and then let out another ear-piercing shriek. Alastor still didn't let go despite the pain his poor hand was going through.
Everyone was still waiting outside and were quiet when Niffty broke the silence.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" She asked, Husk looked at the one-eyed demon and responded, "She should be fine, she seemed most stable when she went into labor, the babies will be fine." "Yeah, Charlie's strong, she'll pull through." Vaggie said, they all fell quiet again then it was Angel's turn to break the silence.
He turned to Vaggie. "Vaggie, can I just say something?" He asked her, "Yeah, sure Angel." Vaggie responded,
"Vaggie, it's been quite a while since we first met. When I first checked into the hotel. When we first met I thought you were a vision beyond anything I've ever seen. I love you and everything about you makes me crazy! You know, in a good way."
Vaggie just smiled and Husk and Niffty had their eyes on the couple as well.
"I love how you're so smart, I love how you just bring light to every dark situation, I love how you laugh at my silliness and support me in everything I do. I love how you always have a plan and that you are always so kind and patient and how you are only mean when you have to be. I guess I just love you Vaggie."
Husk and Niffty awed around them and Vaggie had tears forming in her eyes. No one had ever said anything so nice about her. Back at the hotel, boys would not waste their breathe on her and thought she was too much of a boy. But now, someone finally saw her as what she was...an independent woman.
"What are you saying?" Vaggie asked smiling, Angel got down on one knee. "Vaggie..." He pulled out a ring box, "Would you bestow upon me the great privilege of being yours forever?" He asked, he opened the box to reveal a gorgeous diamond ring in the center of the box.
Vaggie couldn't hold it all in anymore. She burst out into tears and hugged the Spider Demon tightly.
"Yes." She said in a choked voice, "Yes yes yes a thousand times yes." He put the ring on her finger and they hugged again while Husk and Niffty applauded around them.
"Congratulations guys." Niffty said smiling brighter than ever, "Yes, congratulations." Husk said giving them a smile and a nod. Just then the doctor came in and said, "Excuse me, are you all with Miss Charlie?" She asked, "Yes we are." Vaggie responded nodding, everyone jumped out of their seats at the mention of Charlie. "Is she okay doctor? Are the babies born yet?" She asked,
"Not yet, but we have given her her epidural and she is just about ready to push." "Okay." Vaggie nodded, everyone calmly sat back down and the doctor nodded back as well.
"We will let you know when the babies are born." She said, and with that, she left.
Niffty then looked at Vaggie and spoke up, "Vaggie?"
Vaggie looked at her. "Yes, Niffty?" She replied, "Where do babies come from?" She asked, Vaggie's eyes widened and everyone was staring at them.
Angel began to laugh. "You haven't given her the talk yet?" Vaggie shot him a death glare. "I've been busy." She said trying to hide her embarrassment, "Niffty, come with me. It's not something to talk about here." They both stood up and she took her hand and she took her over to an emptier area of the waiting room.
The doctor reentered the room where Charlie and Alastor were still waiting for the time she could start pushing.
"Okay Charlie, you're ready to start pushing now." The doctor said smiling, "Oh thank goodness! Because I don't think I can take this pain anymore." Charlie said, she sat up and the doctor began to start the procedure.
Charlie looked over at Alastor who was still holding her hand. "Alastor, I'm scared! For once in my life I'm scared!"
"Don't be." Alastor said, "I'm right here and I'm not leaving your side." Charlie smiled, just then the doctor cleared her throat and spoke up. "Okay Charlie, now push!" Charlie pushed hard, her eyes shut right and her teeth clenched tightly and then released and fell back onto her pillow and breathed heavily in and out again.
"Okay Charlie let's do that again." The doctor said, Charlie sat up again and pushed and they counted to 10. Then she let go again.
"Okay, a few more times and the babies will be born." The doctor explained, Charlie began to cry. "Let's do this!" She said suddenly full of confidence, "Let's have our babies!"
Everyone was still waiting outside in the waiting room down the hall. They could hear Charlie crying and screaming louder than ever. They had never heard her scream before because she normally wasn't scared of anything but she was apparently scared of this. Niffty and Vaggie came back and they sat down. Niffty's eye was wide and Vaggie went back to talking with the others.
Angel leaned in. "How much did she tell 'ya?" He asked, Niffty's eye was still wide. "Everything." She said, but everything was cut short and they finally heard nothing for a minute. For a whole 60 seconds they heard nothing but silence. Everything was quiet. They only assumed that the people in the neighboring hospital rooms were now heaving sighs of relief from no longer having to hear Charlie's screams.
"What happened?" Angel asked, "I don't know." Vaggie replied, "I think it's over, I think that-."
Suddenly there was a loud high pitched scream unlike any other scream the gang had ever heard. The scream was so loud that they could've sworn the entire hallway and waiting room shook and that it could be heard all throughout Hell. The scream lasted for one whole minute and they all cringed and covered their ears so they could block out the scream and wouldn't lose their hearing.
Suddenly the scream fell quiet. The gang uncovered their ears and everything was silent. They waited a few minutes and hoped everything was okay now.
Charlie fell back on her pillow. Sweat was streaming down her face, neck, and chest and she was breathing in the air shakily. She had done it, she had given birth to their children. Alastor looked over his wife in worry and disbelief of what just happened and in shock from the scream he had just experienced.
She looked over at him. She smiled. "We did it, Alastor...we did it..." She said still struggling to breathe. The doctor came in holding three pink bundles and two blue bundles in her arms. Something was slowly moving around inside them.
"Congratulations Miss Charlie you have given birth to three healthy baby girls and two healthy baby boys." Charlie sat up and outstretched her arms.
"Can I see them?" She asked, "Absolutely." The doctor smiled, she walked over to her bed and handed the bundles to Alastor who hugged them tightly and handed them to his wife. Charlie took the pink and blue bundles in her arms. She pulled the blankets down to reveal the faces of five sleeping babies. And from what Charlie and Alastor could see, they all looked a lot like them but with a few differences. One of the girls had pink hair with deer ears with black lining on the bottom and top of the hair and on the ears just like her dad, pale skin and red cheeks like her mom, her eyes were red with slotted pupils and her sclera was light yellow in color, her eyelids had a dark red shade to add depth, her nose had black color on the tip, and her teeth were sharp with a light yellowish color. One of the boys had hair that looked exactly like his twin sister's but it was orange mixed with blonde hair and had antlers on the top, his face, nose, and teeth looked exactly his sister's but his eyes were light yellow with round pupils and his sclera was colored in dark red. One of the girls had red and pink hair that looked just like her mom's and deer ears with dark red lining that looked exactly her dad's, her skin color looked just like her dad's and she had red cheeks just like mom, her eyes were red with round pupils and her sclera was light yellow in color, her eyelids had a dark red shade to add depth, her nose looked just like her mom's, and she had golden sharp teeth. One of the boys had short blonde hair just like his mom, he had pale skin and red cheeks like his mom, his eyes were red with round pupils, his eyelids were dark red, his nose was just like his dad's, his teeth were normal, and he had red demon horns protruding from his head. And one of the girls had blonde hair like her mom with red at the bottom, skin color like her dad, her eyes were light red with round pupils, her sclera was dark red, her nose looked like her dad's, and her teeth were just like her mom's. Alastor lowered himself to Charlie's level next to her bed and they both looked lovingly at their children. Alastor stroked the babies' cheeks and they just beamed at their newborn children. The baby girl with pink hair and the baby boy with orange and blonde hair and antlers opened their eyes and let out a soft yawn and looked at their parents and smiled and closed their eyes again. The baby girl with red hair opened her eyes and looked at her parents with a smile before she let out a soft giggle and headed back to sleep. The baby boy with short blonde hair and demon horns opened his eyes and looked at his mom who smiled down at him but he didn't seem interested in her, Charlie frowned before she remembered something her dad taught her if a baby doesn't like her, "Honey, can you look at mommy?". The baby boy looked up at his mom just in time for her to kiss him on the forehead, he looked at his mom and smiled before heading back to sleep. And the baby girl with blonde and red hair fluttered her eyes open and looked at her parents and smiled and closed her eyes again. Charlie and Alastor didn't say anything after that and enjoyed this moment of silence for they knew it would soon be broken by the cheerful sounds of their friends.
The doctor walked back into the waiting room where everyone was still waiting silently.
"Excuse me." She said, "Yes?" Vaggie said looking up at the doctor, "Miss Charlie and Alastor have had their babies and would like to see you."
"Are the babies healthy?" Vaggie asked worried standing up, the doctor smiled and nodded. "Yes, very healthy. Right this way." She said pointing her arm towards the hallway, everyone stood up and stretched their arms and legs out and then followed the doctor down the hall to Charlie's room.
They entered the room where they saw Charlie and Alastor still smiling down at their sleeping babies. They looked up at the gang and smiled at them. The gang came deeper into the rather small hospital room.
"Shh, they're still asleep." Charlie said in a whisper, "How are they?" Vaggie asked in a whisper, "They're perfect." Charlie smiled with tears gleaming in her eyes, "They're beautiful." Alastor said happy as well, Charlie pulled the blankets down a little more so they could see the babies better. They gasped at the sight of the innocent baby boys and girls.
"They look beautiful." Vaggie smiled, "Would you like to hold them?" Charlie asked, "Oh no I couldn't." Vaggie said shaking her head, "Oh come on, just for a second." Charlie said, she handed Vaggie the baby girl with pink hair and Vaggie took it willingly. She beamed down at the gorgeous infant wrapped up in her pink blankets. The baby girl opened its eyes and pulled lightly on her hair. Vaggie just smiled and then handed her to Angel.
"Aww Angel, isn't she beautiful?" Vaggie said in awe at the newborn infant, suddenly the infant pulled on Angel's cheek.
"Ow!" Angel said rubbing his cheek in pain, everyone laughed around him. He looked back down at the baby and she smiled and just giggled, suddenly he was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. He looked back at Charlie who was staring at him impatiently.
"What?" Angel asked kind of offended, "Hello? Pass the baby over to Husk and Niffty... They haven't been able to see her yet." Charlie said,
"Oh, sorry." Angel said now blushing from embarrassment, he handed the newborn to Husk who just smiled at the infant and looked at her unsure if he would want to have one of those as his own someday. He passed it over to Niffty to whom the baby cooed at. She whispered to her, "I'm gonna be your best friend." She smiled and let out a light baby laugh and Niffty handed her back to Charlie and Alastor. They repeated this action with the other four babies and they seemed to like everyone they saw. Then Vaggie asked the big question.
"So, what are you going to name them?"
"Hmm." Charlie said stroking the pink hair baby girl's head, "That's a good question, I think I'll name this one... Elizabeth."
Alastor stroked his daughter's head and said, "You know what? That sounds perfect! Elizabeth it is."
"And what about the baby boy with the orange and blonde hair?" Vaggie asked,
"I'll name this one Alexander." Charlie replied,
"Okay, and what about this little girl?" Angel said petting the redhead baby girl,
"I think I'll go with Allette." Charlie smiled at him and her daughter,
"Alright, what about the boy with the demon horns?" Husk asked pointing at the baby boy with blonde hair and demon horns,
"I'll call him Charles." Charlie said as he stroked her baby's cheek,
"So, what are you gonna name the baby that looks like you but with red eyes?" Niffty asked,
"I'll name her Christina." Charlie replied as she smiled at her daughter.
Everyone cheered for the babies' new names and the doctor came in again.
"Good news, Charlie. We will be able to let you go soon." She said with a smile, "Oh thank you so much." Charlie said gratefully, "Just relax and we'll fill out the paperwork and you'll be free to go. Oh, and one more thing. What are your children's names?"
"Elizabeth, Alexander, Allette, Charles, and Christina." Charlie said smiling with pride, the doctor then wrote them down on an elegant looking piece of paper and said "Elizabeth", "Alexander", "Allette", "Charles", and "Christina" as she filled the paper out. She then held the paper out to Charlie. "This is for you." Charlie took the paper and realized it was Elizabeth, Alexander, Allette, Charles, and Christina's birth certificate. She smiled up at the doctor and said, "Thank you so much." The doctor smiled and gave a nod and left the group alone again.
"This is the happiest day of my life." Charlie said, she looked happy and Alastor put a hand on her shoulder. "Mine too, Charlie." Everyone looked at them happy and then Vaggie spoke up, "Speaking of happiest day, there's something I want to show you, Charlie."
"And what is it, Vaggie?" Charlie asked her best friend.
"Charlie, you and Alastor are not gonna believe what just happened while we were waiting for you to give birth, look." Vaggie said, she held out her left hand where the diamond ring was now resting on her ring finger. Charlie and Alastor both gasped at the sight of the ring.
"Vaggie...is that what I think it is?" Charlie said staring down at the ring, "It is, Charlie. Me and Angel are engaged."
Alastor heard this, "En-en-en-en-engaged?!" He said in complete shock, then he fell over and fainted.
"Alastor?" Husk said worried, "Alastor!" Angel yelled, they all ran over to the "Radio Demon". They grabbed a bowl of water and towel from one of the side tables. They took the wet towel out of the bowl and wiped Alastor's head with it. Finally he came to.
"What...What happened?" He asked groggily, "Oh it was the news that made you pass out." Vaggie explained,
"What..what are you talking about?" Alastor asked, Vaggie showed Alastor the ring on her finger. "Me and Angel are engaged." Alastor suddenly fainted again. They wiped his head some more and he came to again. This time Alastor sat up and swatted away the cloth that Vaggie was holding.
"Okay, this time you don't need to remind me." He said, everyone began to laugh.
"Wait, what happened before you guys came to the post office?" Charlie asked, everyone stood up. "It's a long story." Alastor smiled,
They all exited the hospital and the sun was now setting over the horizon. Alastor had explained to her of what happened back in the forest with The Mad Hatter and getting help from the I.M.P. to kill her. That made the whole Mad Hatter event less confusing for Charlie. They all smiled at the setting sun but were exhausted from the day's events. With the arrival of the new babies. Everything was FINALLY perfect. There was nothing that was going to cause trouble for them. They knew that for sure they were happy. They were happy now, they just knew it.
"Alastor, you were right..." Charlie said, "We've come a long way from where we began. First we opened the hotel, then you agreed to help me. Then we confessed our feelings to each other, then we got married." "And now we've had babies." Charlie said, "We didn't let those events be the end, but whole new beginnings. Now we're all finally happy and nothing will try to ruin this special moment we're all having..."
"She's right..." Vaggie said putting an arm around Charlie's shoulder, "This just may be the start of a whole new beginning..."