The Toyota started again, made a swift U-turn, and rushed in the opposite direction.
"Not too fast." complained Angie. "You don't want to get us killed."
"Sorry. I'm a bit nervy now. Are you in pain?"
"I feel contractions. But it's okay. It's bearable for now."
They were driving south towards the city center.
The sun had suddenly been obliterated by dark clouds. A few small rain droplets started to slowly appear on the windshield, and the wipers went on.
"What do they say about rainy childbirths?" said Marvin. "Isn't it supposed to be a sign of good luck?"
"It's about rainy weddings." answered Angie.
Fluffy was watching thoughtfully the darkened sky through the window, without saying a word.
Meanwhile, Angie's contractions were becoming more and more intense, and the discomfort made her let out a soft whine.
"It's okay, breathe deeply. Just breathe."
A heavy rain was now falling on the car and on the road, forcing Marvin to slow down a bit. The visibility was poor, since waves of water were sliding down the windshield, and the wipers, at full speed, were not enough to sweep it clear.
"Oh, bummer!"
Marvin had to brake and stop, because a traffic jam caused by the pouring rain was blocking the way.
"Can you believe that? It had to happen now. Where does all this rain suddenly come from? I thought the weather was supposed to be fine until the end of the week.
"I don't know." answered Angie, moaning a bit. "But relax, we're going to make it to the hospital."
After a short while, the traffic jam sorted itself out, and they were finally able to drive safely to the central hospital.
The intensity of the rain had decreased, but a great flash illuminated the sky just before the car entered in the subterranean parking lot.
"Wow! Have you seen that?"
"I have." answered Fluffy. "And I don't quite like that…"
"It's just a storm. Don't worry. We've arrived safely."
Marvin stopped the engine.
"Can you walk?" he asked his wife.
"I think so."
"Then, let's go. Easy, easy… I'm going to help you."
He got out of the car.
"Fluffy, you should better stay here."
The cat disagreed, calmly but in a very firm manner, indicating that she'd already made her mind.
"Why do you want to come? This is not a place for cats."
"My instinct tells me it's better if I come."
"But… but how are we going to take you with us?"
"I'll simply walk along."
"But, with all due respect, we're not supposed to come to a maternity ward with an animal. Nobody walks his cat in a hospital. It would be weird."
"They will barely notice me."
Since Angie was starting to feel pain again, Marvin stopped arguing, and they all walked to the elevator. A few moments later, at the reception desk, Marvin indicated that his wife was in labor and that her waters had broken.
They had to wait a bit, then a white door opened and a nurse came out of it. She took Angie with her, and asked Marvin to remain in the waiting room. The door closed.
Marvin sat down with Fluffy next to him. No one in the waiting room was paying much attention to the cat, though, even if some looked at them askance.
The white door opened again, and the nurse asked for Marvin.
"Please come inside" she said. "You can go with your wife now. But… I'm sorry sir, the cat has to stay out."
When she heard this, Fluffy rushed inside and ran very fast across the hallway.
"Hey!" protested the nurse. "I told you, animals are not allowed inside."
"I'm sorry. She's very fast. I can't do much to catch her." said Marvin, walking in with a shrug.
The nurse, however, lead him to the room where Angie was now lying down in a bed, and breathing rapidly. She was connected to several monitoring devices. As soon as the nurse went away, Fluffy showed again and came with them in the room.
"It's going to be fine." said Marvin, trying to comfort his wife and give her courage.
"I know."
Not paying much attention to them, Fluffy went straight to the other end of the room, jumped on the table that was there next to Angie's bed, and started watching outside through the window pane. The sky was covered by fuzzy dark rainclouds in the distance, which seemed loaded with electricity. Lightnings were continuously disrupting the remote clouds, illuminating them here and there in a disordered pattern. Fluffy's yellow eyes were watching attentively.
At that moment, a young brunette in a blue uniform walked in the room. She smiled and introduced herself.
"Hi, my name is Penelope, and I'm your midwife. I'm going to take care of you." Then she asked a few questions about how Angie was feeling.
"But, I see we've got a beautiful cat here. I'm really sorry, but animals are not allowed in our hospital."
"Oh, but she's my lucky star!" answered Angie. "She's got to stay. It will help me. Please. She won't disturb anyone."
The midwife got close to Fluffy, smiled at her, and gently caressed her head.
"Oh wow, she's so beautiful! And her fur is so soft and fluffy. Never touched something as soft before. Everything looks so perfect about this cat, it's incredible… except the tail."
Penelope walked back to the room's entrance.
"Okay, since this is an individual room, she can maybe stay with you. I go check. I'll be back soon, don't worry."
"Thank you!"
The midwife walked away, and Fluffy was still staring at the room's door. She asked Marvin and Angie, or maybe she asked herself in disbelief :
"What did she mean "except the tail"?"
Angie had another painful contraction and wanted Marvin to hold her hand.
"Breathe, honey. That's it… Breathe.
"I mean…" continued Fluffy "What could it possibly mean "except the tail"?
"Nothing. Your tail is fine. Keep breathing."
Angie moaned and squeezed Marvin's hand.
"But… what could possibly be wrong with my tail?!"
"Your tail is perfect, Fluffy. She was completely deluded, okay? Now, if you don't mind, we've got more urgent business here…"
The curve which was monitoring the intensity of Angie's contractions showed a sudden peak on the screen and she released a short and muffled scream. After that, she fell back on the pillow with a bit of temporary relief.
As she was breathing heavily, she slowly turned her head on a one side on the pillow. What she saw then through the window caught her numbed attention.
The black clouds were still vibrating with electric activity, but it seemed that the lightning bolts were even more frantic than before. It looked like a piece of metal forgotten inside a microwave oven, provoking many electric shocks.
"What is this?" asked Angie's tired voice. "It doesn't look natural…"
By the time Marvin went to check the window, the lightnings had started to turn purple.
"What the hell…?"
"My tail… I can't believe it. How dares she criticize my tail?"
"Uh, Fluffy?"
Now the clouds were slowly separating. Something was moving out of them. Something dark and gigantic, it seemed. All surrounded with purple electric bolts, it was like a dark crystal whose geometrical polished surface was slowly gliding in the sky. It was coming in their direction.
"Holly Molly!"
"MY tail! How dares she?"
"Fluffy! Fluffy, snap out of it! Look at that thing!"
There was no possible doubt: it was the gigantic alien spaceship which had been terrorizing the inhabitants of the Earth in the last days. Now it was coming out of the clouds, in all its frightening majesty, with its dark body and its round spots of purple lights on. Slowly, it was creeping towards them, like a nightmare.