Chapter Text
“Easy now,” May says slowly, a bead of sweat racing down her brow as she carefully slides her spatula under the pancake cooking on the griddle. “Just one flip and it’ll be perfect. Readyyyyyyyy-- Go!”
With a flick of her wrist, May sends the pancake soaring in the air like a diver jumping off a diving board; it rolls over and over as it sails upward, like one of Johnny’s coins after he flips it, before smacking down on the sizzling hot griddle with a thwump. Letting go of the breath she was holding when she sees the flapjack landed on its uncooked side, May wipes her forehead on the back of her arm as she cracks a triumphant grin.
“Phew! Alrighty, another perfect strawberry pancake coming right up! And how is the bacon coming along?” May looks over at the fry pan next to her and the four strips of crispy, golden brown bacon sizzling in their own fat inside it.
“Perfect, absolutely perfect! Oh, Bridget is gonna love this!” May says as she takes the bacon out and places it on a towel. “Okay so: four strips of bacon, done; three hot and fluffy strawberry pancakes, almost done; eggs cooked over easy, also done; aaaaaand a little bowel of fried pickle slices with creamy buttermilk dressing for dipping. Everything is just-- *gasp* Janis!”
Like a thief caught in the spotlight, Janis freezes in place with her open mouth inches away from one of the bacon slices. She lifts her head up and looks at May, her giant yellow eyes sparkling with innocence .
“Mrrp?” Janis chirps.
“Janis, step away from the bacon.”
Janis looks down at the plate of steaming hot savory goodness before looking back up at May. Without breaking eye contact, the feline felon starts lowering her head down to the plate, mouth opening wider with every inch she takes.
“Janis, don’t you dare,” May says in her captain voice, causing the cat to pause for a moment before she begins her descent a new.
“That is not your bacon Janis, that is Bridget’s bacon. You stop right now!” Janis’ ears flick at Bridget’s name and her head pulls back, standing up straight at the side of the plate.
“Good kitty. If you’re hungry, I can open up a can of tuna and--”
Before she can finish her suggestion, Janis’ face shoots down at the plate like an eagle swooping in for a kill, and sinks her little fangs into the closest strip of bacon.
“Damn it, Janis! Drop it right now, bacon thief!” May shouts at the cat as she runs across the kitchen counter. She lunges at the feline, missing her entirely as Janis leaps across to the counter on the opposite side, and slides into the bottles of cooking oil that the cat was standing in front of.
Spinning around to glare at the villainous feline, the color drains from May’s face as Janis climbs into one of the cabinets and places a paw against a jar of chocolate chips.
May holds her hands in front of her as her voice begins to waver, “E-easy now Janis. How about you step away from the jar, and then I can crack open a can of tuna and you can have that instead of that yucky, fatty, unhealthy bacon. What do you say?”
Without missing a beat, Janis pushes against the jar and sends it hurtling to the ground. Diving down with her hands in front of her, May catches the jar just as it is about to shatter across the kitchen floor. Sighing with relief, May starts to get back up when she hears clattering above her; looking up, she blanches as Janis starts raining down more jars and glass bottles down from the spice wrack above.
Quickly setting the chocolate chip jar down, May starts catching a deluge of breakable kitchen ware as it rains onto the floor; she catches a jar of cardamom, snatches a pot of saffron, intercepts a jug of Italian herb seasoning, and manages to grab three bottles of garlic powder.
As she snags a jar of honey and places it gently on the floor, she looks up and her face catches a bag of white flour that explodes like a smoke bomb. May shakes off the flour and jumps to her feet, eyes scanning the kitchen for the pilfering pussy cat when she spots Janis standing on the window sill, a smug look on her face as the bacon dangles in her mouth mockingly. Before she can say a word, the cat turns around and hops down into the mess hall, the sound of her claws skittering on the hardwood floor as she runs away.
“Janis!” May shouts as she runs out of the kitchen. “Come back here, bacon thief! If swear, if you do not bring back that bacon right now, I’m kicking you out at the next port!”
Janis looks back at May as she gets closer to the door, gloating at the captain by waving her savory prize behind her like a capture flag. Just as she turns around, her victory all but assured, she runs head first into a pair of salmon pink shoes. Before she can flee, the giant scoops the kitty into her arms and presses her against her apron.
“Leap!” May says relieved as she waves at the cook.
Leap looks up from the squirming feline in her arms and gives the captain a confused smile. “Morning May! What’s going on here?”
“Trying to catch a thief. Now then, I’ll be taking this back, thank you very much,” May says as she yanks the bacon from Janis’ mouth. “Thanks Leap, you just saved Mother’s Day!”
Leap cocks an eyebrow. “I did?”
May nods and smiles at the bewildered cook, she then waves her to follow behind her as she leads the group back into the kitchen. As they cross the threshold into the kitchen, May throws her hand out and says proudly, “Behold! Bridget’s Mother’s Day special breakfaaaa-oh my goodness.”
May’s hand droops along with her smile as she looks at the mess before her; bottles toppled over, cracked egg shells and pancake batter caking the front counter, the once orderly and neat back shelves in complete disarray, jars quietly rolling on the ground with the sways of the ship, dirty bowls thrown haphazardly next to the sink, and a fine coat of flour covering most the back counter and floor like a fine blanket of snow.
“I, uh,” May starts as she turns back to Leap, “I can explain this.”
Just then a fire ignites in the fry pan. May quickly grabs the bag of flour from the floor and dumps the remaining contents onto the grease fire before shutting the kitchen stove off. As she lets out a sigh of relief, she freezes as she feels an aura of murderous intent coming up from behind; slowly turning around as if on rusty hinges, May blanches when she looks up into Leaps blank face and intense, burning eyes.
“I-I-I’m so sorry Leap! I swear I was going to clean up my mess once I was done, but then Janis snuck in and stole some bacon; and I tried to get it back but she started running, and she was up on the shelf knocking things down and I managed to catch all of them, but then she threw a bag of flour on my face and I… I’ll go get the mop.”
As May starts to head out of the room, Leap stops as she feels a firm hand grab her shoulder. She tenses up, her body bracing for the inevitable storm of chastisement she so rightfully deserves, but starts to relax when Leap’s grip loosens up. Turning back, the ship cook smiles down at her with a warm (but tired) smile.
“It’s fine, deary. I know that Janis can get rambunctious when it comes to bacon and honestly, it could have been a lot worse.”
“So, you’re not mad?”
“Oh I’m livid. But not at you, just at this,” Leap shoots a glare down at Janis as the cat continues to struggle in her embrace, “little devil. So, what was this about a Mother’s Day breakfast for Bridget?”
A giant, proud grin dawns on May’s face as she bashfully rubs the back of her still floured head. “Yeah, I thought I’d surprise her with all her favorites for Mother’s Day. Oh no-- I forgot to check if her breakfast was okay!”
Spinning toward the front counter, May inspects the four dishes she made and lets out a relieved sigh. “Oh thank goodness, it’s all in one piece. If anything had happened to this, I don’t know what I would have done.”
Leap steps up beside May and looks over the dishes, nodding and humming in approval. “You did good. I’m sure Bridget will love these.”
“Heehee, thanks! She deserves the best after everything she’s had to put up with for the past week.”
“How is she doing? Is she still feeling sea sick?”
May shakes her head. “Thankfully no, she got over that pretty quickly. I n fact she says that the ship rocking is actually really soothing.”
“That’s good, I’m glad she’s feeling better. How close is she now?”
“12 days, 7 hours, and 32 minutes,” May says proudly with a beaming grin.
“Oh my, you have it down to the minute! I’m impressed.”
“Hehe, well it’s really more of a rough estimate. Faust said the baby should come either on the 24th or 25th, but could be earlier or later than that. Still, I’m so excited; we’re gonna be moms!!”
Leap smiles as she looks at May with a nostalgic look in her eyes. “Hard to believe that the quiet little girl that Johnny brought in would become the upstanding woman standing next to me. I’m so proud of you May.”
“Thank you. Oh,” May leans in front of Leap to reach for the pans on the stove top, “let me get these out of the way.”
Leap puts her hand on May’s and stops the brunette in her place. “No need, deary, I’ll take care of cleaning. You go on and take Bridget her breakfast.”
“You sure? I don’t mind cleaning up; I mean I did cause most of this mess.”
“I’m sure. Besides, you don’t want her food getting cold before you can give to her. Now go before I throw you out of here.”
May smiles up at Leap before pulling the cook into a hug. “Thanks Leap.”
Leap leans down and hugs May back. “You’re welcome deary.”
Letting each other go, May grabs the serving tray she had put aside earlier and places the dishes on it before heading out into the mess hall. With one last wave good bye to Leap (and Janis, who is still safely secured in her arm), May walks out into the corridor and makes for the lift next to the staircase at the end.
May presses a button next to the elevator door with an arrow pointing up and waits as the lift slowly descends to her floor. The finished red wood doors slide open silently and May walks into the elevator car, hitting the button for the 5 th floor, and leaning back on one of the brass hand rails that line the walls of the car as it begins to ascend. Once she settles in, May looks up at the floor indicator and watches as the bronze dolphin hand on the indicator travels along the arc of bronze floor numbers on the indicator, each floor she passes making the indicator ping before chiming 5 times as it starts to slow to a halt.
As the doors slide open, May slips between them and stars heading up the corridor with a peppy tune on her lips and a spring her in step. It doesn’t take her long to come to her and Bridget’s cabin, her chest feeling lighter as she puts her hand on the door handle and pushes the door in. Inside the brightly lit cabin, Bridget sits on the edge of the bed in a light blue gown with her hands on her very round tummy as Roger stands next to her, rubbing her arm.
“Goooood morning Biscuit!” May says loudly as she strolls into the room. “I made you something special; bacon and eggs with strawberry pancakes and fried pickles, just like you like it.”
Bridget looks up and her pale face lightens a little. “May, thank God you’re here! Listen, I need to--”
“Nope, you don’t need to do a thing, I got it,” May says as she places the tray on the nightstand. “There we go. I’m sorry if it’s a little cold; Janis tried to steal some bacon, so I had to chase her around the kitchen to get it back.”
“That’s really sweat of you, babe, I appreciate. But listen, there’s something I need to tell you--”
“Hey you don’t have to say a thing; your presence is my Mother’s Day present. Speaking of,” May kneels down and talks to Bridget’s tummy, “Morning Satsuki! How’s my other love doing today?”
Bridget clears her throat before talking down to May, “Actually that’s what I need to talk to you about. You see--”
“Oh!” May exclaims as she smacks her forehead. “I forgot to make scones! I’m so sorry Bridget, I’ll just pop back down to the kitchen and--”
“MAY!”
May whirls around to Bridget, slightly shocked and confused by the sudden shout. “Yes? What’s wrong, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, it’s just.” Bridget purses her lips as she starts to fidget with a bit of her gown. She looks up at May, a worried smile on her face as she tells her wife, “My water broke.”
May blinks at Bridget. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I said my water broke.”
May pauses, sweat beginning to form on her brow as she tries to put on a smile. “Are you sure though? I mean you thought your water broke the other day, but then it turned out it was just p--”
“I used the litmus papers that Sephy gave me and I checked it twice; it’s amniotic fluid.”
More sweat starts to run down May’s face as her voice wavers as she speaks, “B-b-but you’re not due for like another week or two.”
“I know. Satsuki’s coming early.”
May looks down at Bridget’s belly, then up at Bridget, then back down, then up again. The cogs and wheels start turning in her head until the simultaneously exciting and horrifying reality dawns on her; the baby is coming.
“Okay,” May says, doing her best to keep her voice level as she proceeds to freak out on the inside. “Just-- just give me one second to make a quick call.”
“Sure,” Bridget says as she heads back to the bed, lowering her self back on the edge with the help of Roger.
May walks over to the door as she presses her hand to her ear and dials a call to April, her heart and mind racing as the dial tone plays.
Beeep. Beeep. Beeep. Click. “Hey May, what’s up?”
“Hiiiiiiii April!” May says in a cheerful(?) and calm(?) voice. “Say, are you on the bridge right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Goooood! Can you tell me our current heading and ETA to our next destination?”
“Oh sure. Give me a sec.”
May covers the magical earpiece as she whispers to Bridget, “Are you having contractions?”
Roger goes over to the nightstand and pulls out a sheet of paper from under the food tray before speaking. “Her first contraction started 45 minutes ago at 7 minute intervals.”
“AH!” Bridget groans as she clutches her belly. May and Roger rush to her side, May frantically asking her if she is alright before she replies weakly, “I’m fine. Just-- nnn, just contractions.”
The earpiece crackles back to life as April comes back. “You still there May?”
“YES!” May shouts quickly as she stands at attention.
“… Okaaaaay. Uhm, we are about 300 clicks south of Bermuda and traveling at 14 Knots. The storm near Puerto Rico is still going last we checked, so we’re going to have to take a pretty big detour to get around it; should be about a week or so before we reach Georgetown.”
“Okay, great! That’s great, thank you so much for getting me all of that. Say, I have a question; are we able to get to Georgetown faster, or maybe go to a closer port?”
April hums to herself on the other line for a moment before grunting out a negative. “The storm’s made all the waters near Puerto Rico and the surrounding islands too dangerous to traverse by sea. If we had enough fuel for the main engines we could potentially go airborne and get somewhere in less than an hour, but unless you have a few hundred gallons I didn’t know about stashed away somewhere, I think we’ll have to make due with the auxiliaries.”
“Mhm, okay, I see. Could we head back to Bermuda?”
“Not unless you want to say hi to the USS Willis and book all of us rooms in US federal prison. Why do you want to make landfall all of a sudden?”
“Well the thing is, Bridget’s water may have sorta, kinda… broke.”
There is a long pause on the other end of the line before April’s voice comes back. “Are you sure it isn’t pee? Remember the other day when she--”
“She checked, it isn’t.”
Bridget pulls on May’s sleeve. “She asked if it was pee, didn’t she?”
May silently nods her head as April speaks up again. “But isn’t she supposed to have the baby in, like, a week or two?”
“That’s what I said. But apparently Satsuki wants to come out early.”
“W-- well how much time do we have?”
“I don’t know. Faust said that once she goes into labor the baby will come within 24 hours; so they’ll be here soon.”
“Oh.” May can hear the realization in April’s voice. “What do we do?”
“I… I don’t know.”
As silence fills the space between them, anxiety’s long, bony claws grasp at May’s throat and shoulders. The mental specter brings May closer, pressing its cold, dead lips to her ear as it starts to whisper questions to herself:
W hat do they do? Should they try to lift off and fly somewhere? What if they run out of fuel and crash ?
But if they don’t try then they won’t be able to get to a hospital in time. What will happen to Bridget and the baby then? Can Sephy deliver a baby with no equipment and no experience?
What if something goes wrong during the delivery? What if the baby needs special care that only a hospital can provide?
What if they die? What if Bridget dies?
What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…? What if…?
“What if we cut through the Triangle?”
The new voice that chimes in on the call and May latches onto it like a golden life preserver thrown into the whirlpool of despair she was drowning in.
“March?” April says with alarm. “ How did you get on this call? This is a secured line.”
“Novel showed me how to hack into a call. Anyway listen; if we cut through the Triangle, we can reach Havana in less than 10 minutes.”
“That may be, but the Bermuda Triangle is way too dangerous and unpredictable. If we go in there we’ll loose all communications, our instruments will go haywire, and we could hit a wormhole and wind up God knows where. It’s a bad idea.”
“Wait,” May interjects. “March, are you sure we can get through the Triangle safely?”
“Captain!” April protests.
“Absolutely Cap’n!” March chirps with a smile that can be heard in her voice. “You guys remember a few years back when July, Febby, and I did that smuggling job for Madam Scarlet in the Caribbean?”
May groans as the visage of the mob boss Madam Scarlet, an evil woman with bone white hair and cold gray eyes whose always in a black pants suit with a red silk dress shirt, pops into her mind. “I try to not to think of her whenever possible.”
“Well,” March continues, “back then our route took us through the Bermuda Triangle. And to ensure we don’t get lost and lose all of her precious cargo, she gave us a map of all the wormholes and where they go, and it isn’t affected by the Triangle’s weirdness. We can use it to plot a course to Havana, and it updates in real-time so we won’t be caught off guard if the wormholes shift.”
“Why did she let you keep it?” April asks thoroughly flummoxed.
“I asked.”
“And that worked?” There is a pause after April asks her question before she lets out a frustrated groan. “Still, it’s a pretty big gamble; the ship could still lose power while we’re flying through the Triangle. What do you say, Captain; do we go with March’s plan or try something else?”
May presses her face into her hands as she weighs her options. Going into the Triangle could get them to a hospital in minutes, but it could also leave them stranded in the best case scenario, or it could kill them in the worst. She could call Testament to try and teleport Bridget off the ship, but she doesn’t know how that will affect the baby. But if she does nothing then they will have to try and deliver a baby on the ship, and they are certainly not equipped to do that.
Removing her face from her hands she looks over at Bridget, who has been quietly watching her on the side of the bed. She tries to put on a supportive face, but May can see how much the pain from the contractions are wearing down on her beloved wife. Padding over to Bridget, May kneels down and takes her wife’s hand into hers as they gaze into each other’s eyes.
“We have a way to get to a hospital before the baby comes. But it’s dangerous; at best we’ll end up stranded in the middle of the ocean, and at worst we’ll...”
May casts her eyes to the floor, unable to finish the rest of her sentence. She would die before she let any harm come to Bridget or their baby, and she would never willingly put them in harms way; but if she doesn’t do anything and takes the ‘safe’ option, she could be walking them into danger anyway. As a storm of doubt and anxiety rages inside her mind, she feels a gentle squeeze around her hands that brings her face back up where Bridget’s warm, loving gaze captures her.
“May,” Bridget says in a tender voice that begins to brush away the storm clouds above her. “I know that you would never do anything that would harm me or the baby. If you think that this is the best course of action, then I’ll trust your judgment. I believe in you, my love.”
Bridget’s words are like a timely breeze in the sails after weeks without wind. Though she still worries about her wife and unborn child’s safety, she knows what she has to do.
May turns to Roger as the bear stands next to Bridget on the bed. “Can you keep them safe?”
Roger slaps his right paw over his heart. “I would lay down my life in a heart beat if it would keep Bridget and Satsuki safe.”
“And me?”
“… I’d need to think about it for a day or two.”
May chuckles before patting Roger on the head. “Thanks cotton brains.”
“Any time, half-pint.”
May stands up from the floor and puts her hand to her earpiece, taking a calming breath before donning her captain voice and speaking clearly and confidently into the magical mic.
“Attention crew, this is your captain speaking. A few minutes ago Bridget started going into the early stages of labor, and so we have less than 24 hours before Satsuki will be born. As it currently stands we will be unable to reach a port before the baby comes, and we do not have the facilities onboard for a birth. However, we have come up with a plan that can get us to a port before the baby comes.
“This plan involves going through the Bermuda Triangle and navigating the wormholes therein to cut down our flight time. Due to the unpredictable nature of the Triangle I cannot guarantee that the plan will work flawlessly; there is a chance that something unforeseen may happen that will delay or terminate our flight.”
May’s legs start to buckle under the weight of command as its intense gravity sinks onto her shoulders. As she feels herself sinking deeper into the floor, something soft and warm grabs her free hand; looking down, she sees Bridget’s reassuring smile looking back at her. May squeezes her wife’s hand as she feels stability return to her legs.
“Even so, I will do everything in my power to ensure that we get to shore safely. I know that this is a lot to ask, and so I will put this to a vote: all those in favor of flying into the Bermuda Triangle, turn on your commpieces and say ‘aye’.”
Silence follows May’s proclamation, a silence that fills her with dread the longer it drags on. After what feels like an hour of waiting, May’s commpiece hums as the crew tunes into her frequency, and a loud, deafening shout rings out in her ear.
“AYE!”
“Aye,” Bridget adds with beaming smile that lights up May’s chest.
“Alright. Any opposed, say ‘nay’.”
Not even crickets chime in during the full minute of silence that follows. Confidence swelling her chest, May stands up straight and loudly proclaims to her crew, “The ayes have it, we’re taking her through the Triangle! April, check our current fuel reserves and calculate the maximum amount of air time we can maintain.”
“Aye aye, captain!”
“March, I want you to double check your map and make sure that it is working properly. Be sure to also have any power cells, batteries, whatever it runs on on hand; I don’t want it dying on us while we’re in the air, and if it does I want it back online in less than 5 seconds.”
“You got it, cap’n!”
“Novel, inspect the main engines and do what you can to minimize fuel consumption.”
“Roger roger!”
“Octy, check cloud cover and compile the most recent weather data for the Caribbean. Get it to me as soon as you are able to.”
“A-aye aye, c-captain.”
“Sephy, prepare sickbay in case we need to deliver the baby onboard.”
“Understood, captain.”
“The rest of the crew, secure anything that might move during take-off. Once you’re done, report to me for new assignments.”
“Aye aye, May-May~” “Aye aye, capitaine.” “You got it, boss!” “On it, cap’n.” “Aye aye, deary.” “Meow!”
“I want us prepped and ready to launch in one hour. Thank you everyone, over and out.” May drops onto the bed next to Bridget and lets out a deep sigh as her body tries to melt into the mattress. “Acting like a captain is stressful.”
“Well, I think you did very well Captain May.” Bridget leans in and gives May a peck on the cheek that makes the brunette blush. “For a job well done-- Oh!”
Bridget clutches her stomach as she grits her teeth. May and Roger hold onto her and rock her gently through her contraction, doing all they can to help ease the pain. After a few intense minutes, Bridget’s body relaxes and she starts breathing normally again.
“I-I’m fine now, thank you both.”
May looks over at Roger as the bear writes something down on the paper he had earlier. “Any change?”
Roger shakes his head. “Still 7 minutes.”
“Okay. Call me if they get down to 5 minutes.”
“Will do, pipsqueak.”
May rolls her eyes at the comment with an amused smile on her lips. She looks back at Bridget and brings her wife’s hands up to her lips and kisses them tenderly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”
“Okay. Be careful May.”
“Of course.” May leans in and sear her lips to Bridget’s, staying as long as she possibly can before reluctantly pulling away from her beloved. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
With one last kiss on Bridget’s forehead, May jumps off the bed and runs out into the hallway, pulling up her comm link as she shifts into captain mode.