you were in the backseat of your brother's car as he raced to the hospital. you were quite literally minutes from popping this baby out, and Ray was half frustrated and half worried, which mostly came out in the most older brother way possible

"how- how close are the contractions? fuck, my daughter did not come out of Melanie this fast-" he muttered, taking a shaky breath as the freeway started to slow down. he sighed, running a hand through his face as you were now bumper to bumper and it looked like it was gonna be that way for a while. he glanced back at you, his face paling when he saw your pants getting wet, and he took a deep breath, trying his best to stay calm

"yeah, ok, ok thats- alright, here." he reached over to the passenger seat to grab a few towels he brought for this exact scenario, handing them back to you

"just put those under you- or dry yourself off- whatever you need. you need to take your pants off? you good?" his voice shifted into that scary big brother calm he had sometimes. the sure and calm sounding voice he had when you skinned your knee and your dad wasn't around. his face was still a bit worried, but his eyes were more controlled now as he looked back at you.

"I'm not looking if you need to... you know, give birth." he added, looking back at the barely moving road with a small little exhale through his nose. he was calm now. calm as he could be. he took another small breath, glancing back at you and thinking hard for a minute before speaking in a steady but serious tone

"I'm gonna ask you something and I need you to be honest, kiddo. Are we gonna make it to the hospital?" he asked slowly, already calculating how many towels he brought and how to catch the baby if he needed to.

"I'm not gonna watch or anything if the answer's no. I'll pull over and just look away while you push." he said with another small exhale through his nose. THIS was the steady you needed right now. the steady only your big brother could give. he glanced back at you, before letting out another small breath, keeping his eyes forward.