BLEACHED

130: Desperate time calls for desperate measure

Penelope stares at her a moment longer, still amazed that a woman like her would still be willing, after all the warning she's got about her, to forgive her and give her a chance.

Now she can see why Domen is so attached to her.

She doesn't stop giving chances.

"I would only lie to you later on, why would you not think that?" Penelope asks and Lavender tilts her head to the side with a smile.

"Because you're asking me. So I know you wouldn't."

"What a strange woman you are." Penelope clicks her tongue and looks away, unable to answer either of her questions when she doesn't know the answers herself.

"So are you-." Lavender cuts her sentence short as she widens her eyes while staring at Penelope who glances back at her, confused at why she suddenly stopped talking.

Lavender drops her gaze down to her thighs and grips her dress tightly whilst clenching her jaw.

Penelope follows her gaze down to her laps as well but doesn't really know what's going on as she watches Lavender reach her hand down to just between her thighs, pinching her knees together.

"What's wrong with you?" Penelope asks with a raised brow as she watches Lavender close her eyes and take a deep and shaky breath.

"I think... I think I'm in labour?" Lavender glances at Penelope worriedly, getting her to raise a brow in question.

"You aren't full term." Penelope points out and Lavender nods her head in agreement.

"I-I know but... My water broke yesterday and... Uh..." Lavender pauses once more as she closes her eyes again and clenches her stomach. "I... I think I'm really about to give birth... I can feel my muscles... Cramping so much."

Penelope stares at her for a moment longer before realizing she might actually be telling the truth.

She gets up to her feet and quickly grabs Lavender's hand, taking her out of the office in an instant as she rushes to the reception area. Though she's barely using any of her strength to walk as Penelope is dragging her along, she can feel each step triggering all her muscles to push against her will, despite her trying her best to hold back.

"Hey! You aren't supposed to leave-."

"-Do you know how to deliver a baby? No? Then get out of my way, idiots!" Penelope hisses as the woman from earlier tries to stop her.

The other officers simply watch her take Lavender, who is in visible pain, away and out of the building.

"Which car?" Penelope asks as she glances down at Lavender who is now breathing in such a controlled and restrictive way, trying to reduce the pressure in her body.

"B-Black...." She flinches as she presses her lips together. "H-Here are the keys."

She places the keys in Penelope's hand and she quickly walks over to the only black car in the parking lot and places Lavender in the backseat as she steps into the front driver's seat.

Having spent so long being driven around than driving, she almost forgets how to drive, luckily, she's not completely clueless and manages to get the car into the road with less problems.

"Just hold on until we get there." Penelope says as she glances up at the mirror then back to the road. "It's not like you can't."

Lavender doesn't reply as a visible layer of sweat covers her forehead while she performs her restrictive breathing. Trying her hardest to keep her own body from pushing against her will.

She pinches her knees tighter as the feeling only grows worse by the second, getting her to lean her head back onto the seat as she holds both hands on her stomach.

Penelope sighs in frustration that she has to be in this situation. To drive a woman ready to pop her baby out when she's facing her own problems brought upon her by her son.

"Penelope... I can't!" Lavender frantically shakes her head in denial as she grabs the front passenger seat. "It's coming... I can't stop it...."

"Are you sure? You can hold on for ten more minutes-."

"You don't understand! I can't-." She stops mid way as she sits back and screams out as she holds onto her stomach. "I... think the baby's coming!"

Penelope quickly pulls over to the side of the slightly empty road next to barely any shops around and some trees here and there.

She steps out of the car as Lavender groans out loud, fear evident in her eyes as she's fails to hold on long enough to reach the hospital.

She felt the baby coming, and it is.

"Bring your legs towards me and get them as wide as you can." Penelope says as she grabs the seat and rolls it back to give Lavender some room.

Lavender does as told and widens her eyes as her back curves when her body can't wait any longer.

She grabs onto the seat belt and clenches it hard as she screams out while her body forces her into submission, to set the baby free.

Penelope doesn't give her any more instructions as she carefully reaches her hands out and holds onto the baby's head as it emerges.

Its sharp cry nearly bursts her ears as finally, the baby rests in her hands, warm and soft to the touch.

Unlike how little the baby should be, it almost looks like a normal baby at full term.

Heavy too.

Penelope stares down at the baby in her hands, entirely taken aback at the fact that she's just delivered a baby that looks perfectly fine.

A baby that is crying out and full of life.

Snapping out of it, Penelope carefully places the baby on the seat and takes her cotton cardigan off, wrapping it around the baby before taking it back into her arms.

Lavender sits herself against the chair, feeling the after effects of the first time birthing a baby, unsure of how it could have gone if she had others to help, but now drained entirely as she turns her gaze to the crying baby in Penelope's arms.

Slowly turning her gaze from the baby, she stares at Penelope, trying to read her expression as Penelope's eyes remain glued on the crying baby, her eyes vacant, unreadable and uncertain.

Here's her chance, to get rid of them both, claim it's a bad delivery and that there was nothing she could do for them.

It's the perfect opportunity.

"... Is it a boy?" Lavender asks to dissolve her nervousness as she watches Penelope covers the baby's feet in the cardigan, covering all its skin that is exposed to the air around her, unmindful of the fact her top is getting dirty.

"It's a girl, actually." Penelope smiles for the first time as she stares down at the baby still crying loudly.

The baby feeling irritated that it had to be born early.

Penelope sighs as she watches the baby girl calm down a bit before bringing her to Lavender who carefully takes her baby into her arms, smiling as she sees the baby is clearly fine.

"Buckle up, we need to get to the hospital." Penelope explains as she reaches into the car and straps Lavender in before closing the door and steps into the driver's seat.

"Thank you, by the way." Lavender smiles at Penelope who raises a brow while driving into the road. "For not leaving me..."

"What else would you have done?" Penelope says as she grips the steering wheel. "As much as you are annoying... You needed help."

"Either way, I'm glad you're the first one to see her and hold her." Lavender says as she glances down at the baby that is making small noises now that it's warm and in its mother's comforting arms. "Your great grand daughter."

Penelope drops her gaze from the rearview mirror as her grip on the steering wheel tightens with the uneasy feeling in her stomach.