Firework sat in the kitchen, drinking some orange soda that he had been craving the entirety of his pregnancy. It was late at night, about midnight. He was careful with his hoofsteps as to not wake up his husband and their daughter. Soon, Moonbow would be a big sister; Firework was due any day now. He took a look at the clock on the microwave and decided he should head to bed. His lower abdomen was hurting, so maybe if he hit the hay early he’d be able to sleep through the pain, he reasoned.
 
He headed towards Moonbow’s room to kiss her good night then headed towards his own bedroom. He found Dusk sound asleep, not making a noise other than his light breathing. “That meeting must’ve really tuckered him out” Firework thought as he chuckled quietly.
 
As he tucked himself into bed, the pain in his abdomen just kept getting worse. This had been happening on and off for a couple hours now. The pain would last for about 10 minutes, but then eventually go away on its own. Firework’s eyes became heavy as the pain slowly went away, and soon enough he was asleep.
 

 
Firework woke up to painful contractions. His foal was usually moving about a whole lot, day and night, but now he was still. He could feel him though; he was definitely nearing labor.
 
“Dusky, Dusk?” He nudged his husband. “Wake up!”
 
Dusk woke up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Everything alright?”
 
“I think I’m giving birth, I’m not sure though. Shit, what if I am? I’m not ready yet!” Firework began to tear up, experiencing another one of the mood swings that had come with his pregnancy.
 
“Hey, it’s alright! Why don’t we go visit the doctor to check? Can you feel him?”
 
Firework wiped a tear from his eye. “He’s definitely dropped within the last couple hours. Maybe we should go.”
 
Dusk grabbed the bag he had prepared a couple days prior. Inside was things they would need for the hospital, and a pre-written letter that was to be sent to Twilight if they needed a babysitter. Dusk picked up the letter and used his magic to send it off to his minute. Just a minute later, a burst of magic in the room revealed Twilight Sparkle, who had teleported from her castle.
 
“Hi Mother! We should go now. Do you have Moonbow?” Dusk asked. He looked over at Firework, who was sitting down on the couch and wincing as the contractions got worse
 
“Of course!”
 
As she said this, Moonbow came into the living room, woken up by all the commotion.
 
“Oh, hello Grandma,” She said tiredly as she rubbed her eyes. “Where are Dad and Pop going?”
 
“We’ll be back in a bit sweetheart,” Dusk assured her, “Your baby brother may be coming!”
 
“Oh okay!” Moonbow suddenly perked up at the thought of being a big sister.
 
With that, Dusk helped Firework up, and they set off to the hospital where their son would be born.
 

 
Upon arrival, Dusk wasted no time in running straight to the front desk. “My husba-er, wife seems to be going into labor. She’s really close to her due date. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was. We need a delivery room!”
 
“Oh, of course,” the receptionist nodded. “Nurse, we have a patient here who thinks she’s in labor. I need you to take them to go check how dilated she is.”
 
The nurse nodded as she grabbed a wheelchair and escorted Firework on it. Dusk walked beside them as they headed towards the maternity ward.
 
“You’re definitely going into labor, ma’am. I’m going to need to transport you to the delivery room”
 
“Wait, what? Buck, I’m actually giving birth to my kid today?” Firework began to panic.
 
“Yes, you are. I’m going to help you, alright? I to need you to lay down on the stretcher. From there, we’ll send you into the delivery room.”
 
“Fine…” Firework struggled on to the stretcher and gripped Dusk’s hoof as the nurse, now accompanied by other nurses, wheeled him into the delivery room.
 
“Man, this is gonna hurt.”
 

 
“It’s a boy!”
 
Dusk sighed in relief, watching the doctor bathe his newborn as ne nuzzled his panting, sweat-soaked husband. “It’s alright Firework, it’s over.”
 
“He’s very healthy. Handsome as well!” The doctor smiled proudly as she gave the baby to his proud parents.
 
Firework almost couldn’t believe this was happening. The long and torturous pregnancy, the seemingly-neverending labor, all of that was over. And now, in his arms, was his son.
 
“You made it through. I know it was tough, but you made it. I knew you could.” Dusk hugged his husband and smiled as he looked down at his baby boy.
 
The pegasus looked down at the baby as well. It was tough. Not only the pregnancy and childbirth, but everything that came before that. The family tragedy. The struggles with addiction. The despair. None of it mattered anymore as he gazed down at his son, who made everything worth it.
 
But he couldn’t help but notice that the colt looked a lot like his husband’s father. It was funny, considering all he had heard about the stallion. Considering that Dusk had just met his real father a few weeks ago. Firework couldn’t begin to imagine what Dusk was thinking, but he knew that with somepony like Dusky as his dad, the kid would turn out better than fine.
 
He turned to Dusk as he felt his hoof brush against his face—he hadn’t realized he was crying—and smiled. “Look at him, his coat looks an awful lot like his great grandma Windy’s mane. And look Dusky! His mane is practically the same color as you!”
 
Dusk chuckled as he kissed his husband on the cheek. “He has different shades of blue in his mane. I’ll bet that darker patch comes from you. He’s also got fuzzy little wings.”
 
“Yeah, he does,” Firework gazed back down and took in the baby’s features once again—everything from his tiny little hooves, to the blue tuft of hair on his head, to his fuzzy orange coat…orange like the drink that had helped him through all the hard times.
 
“Hey, y’know what we should name him?”
 
“What?”
 
Firework smirked. “Orange Soda.”
 
“Orange Soda? You mean like the type you’ve been drinking?”
 
Firework nodded.
 
“It’s perfect,” Dusk smiled down at the foal…or Orange Soda, as he should say.
 
The doctor walked in with a birth certificate in hoof. “Have you come up with any names?”
 
“Yes, we have,” the two stallions exchanged a glance.
 
“We’re calling him Orange Soda!”
 
The doctor cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “Orange…Soda? As in the drink? It’s…an interesting name. Are you su-“
 
“Yeah, we’re sure,” Firework waved her off. “Just write it down. It’s our name and we’re proud of it. We’re proud of him.”
 
He didn’t know if it was mare hormones or actual emotion, but as Firework looked between his husband and his son, a new wave of tears welled up in his eyes. And as he could see from Dusk’s expression, he was feeling the same as he was. They held on to each other, crying but also laughing…from pride, from relief, from happiness, from all the emotions they’d been going through that now bubbled to the surface. None of the pain of the past mattered anymore; all they cared about was their family.
 
Their embrace was interrupted by a whimpering coming from the bundle in their arms.
 
“I think he’s hungry,” Dusk remarked, “You should feed him.”
 
“Aw man, really?” Firework laughed, brushing a hoof across his eyes, “I still have to do all that girly stuff? Let him suck on my tits?”
 
“Yes,” Dusk chuckled, “But only for a few more weeks, until the spell wears off. You can do it.”
 
“Yeah, I know,” Firework smiled once again at his son. “I’ve dealt with worse. I can handle this.”