The front door opened and slammed shut. Isaac could hear pounding footsteps outside the door to their room. Suddenly, the door flew open.

"Where's Mom and Dad?" Taylor huffed, trying to catch his breath.

"I think Mom is..."

"Come on! Where?"

"What is wrong with you?" The paper in Tay's hand caught his eye. "What's that?"

"A nightmare."

Isaac got up and snatched the paper away from Taylor. "Yikes! What the heck is this?"

"That stupid reporter from the restaurant. Can you believe that actually printed that?"

"It's gonna happen, Tay. They're gonna write stories about us. It's just the position we're in right now. We have to get used to it."

"That's fine for you to say, but your not the one whose face is plastered in color with the caption 'Angry Hanson' underneath it." Taylor grabbed the paper back and left the room in search of his parents. He knew they would make everything better.

The whole family was shocked by the news story and decided to send a 'no comment' reply to the rest of the press. For the next few weeks, Tulsa was buzzing with other wild stories about the 'antics' of the Hanson boys -- everything from Isaac getting a girl pregnant to Zac shooting puppies with a sling-shot. It was only a matter of time before the national tabloids got ahold of the stories. The Hanson family was determined to put a stop to the rumors before it got that far. But all the stress on the family was not good for one crucial member. Diana got weaker and weaker as her due date approached.

"I can get you some crackers," Zac asked his mother thoughtfully. In his arms he cuddled Wickit, the fuzzy brown pup that made a home at the Hanson's for the past few weeks.

Diana layed in her bed, trying to enjoy yet another episode of Saved by the Bell She wasn't sure, but she figured they must show the program at least 10 times a day. "That's alright, honey. Uh, would you mind taking the dog out of here? I swear I must be allergic or something."

"No you love Wicky." Zac kissed the squirming dog, which looked desperate to be free of Zac's grasp.

"Sure honey, but I think I'll love him from afar okay?"

"Okay." He shuffled out of the room and into the living room where Taylor was watching the same episode of Saved by the Bell. Wickit managed to free himself and scampered into the kitchen. "I am soooooo bored."

"Bored? How can you be bored. We've been working non-stop. MOE and rehearsing, not to mention fighting off those scummy tabloid people."

"I'm still bored." He slumped back into the couch next to his brother.

"How's Mom?"

"She looked all stressed out and tired -- as usual."

"I'm worried about her...and the baby. I mean, what if she goes into labor and the baby's not ready. She's been under so much stress that could happen."

"No...no it couldn't."

"Sure it could. It happens all the time."

"It does not! Take that back, Tay."

"Stop being such a baby. I'm telling the truth."

"You are such a jerk." Zac didn't want to believe that his mother was in any kind of danger, or the baby for that matter. Of all the older siblings, Zac held on a little tighter to her.

"And you're weird." Taylor just ignored the distraught look on Zac's face. They sat in silence for awhile. A small yell from their parent's bedroom broke the silence. It was Diana calling for their father. Nobody responded. She once again called for Walker.

"Dad! Mom's calling you!" Tay yelled into the air. There was still no response. "He must be trying to fix your bike out back." Diana called again. This time, Zac and Taylor got up to see what all the yelling was about.

"What, Mom?" Tay whined. He peaked his head into the bedroom.

Calmly, Diana pushed her legs over the side of the bed and reached for her jacket. "I need you to get your father. My water broke."

"What?" Zac wasn't sure he had heard right.

"My water broke. I am having the baby. Now go get your father," she said quietly.

Zac and Taylor looked at each other wide-eyed. They darted for the screen door and outside. Isaac and Walker stood out back trying to re-attach the metal handle Zac had managed to break off when he crashed into a tree.

"Dad! Dad!" they both yelled.

Isaac could see the two figures waving their hands and yelling. "Hey Dad, look at that. What weirdos."

Walker looked up. He chuckled. "You know that I don't like the names you guys call each other."

"What? Your the one that nicknamed Zac 'the dweeb'."

"But that was an affectionate nickname."

"Dad!" Tay finally stopped running, but not without almost barreling over Ike first. "Mom is..." he tried to catch his breath. He motioned to Zac, who was also red in the face.

"Mom...she is in...wait, we ran...really fast and...she's..."

"If you don't have anything important to say then..."

"Shut up, Ike. Dad, Mom is in labor...I think." Taylor finally managed to get out.

"Ah, okay," he said matter of factly. He calmly started to put the bike back in the shed.

"Dad, she's in labor!" Zac yelled.

"Yes, I heard Zac. Guys," he smiled. "it's okay. Did she seem like she was having contractions?"

"Um, no actually. She just said her water broke."

"She wasn't screaming like she was when she was in labor with Mack." Zac added.

The three boys started to mumble to each other about how frantic and crazy she was when Mack was born.

"So aren't we going to the hospital now?" Tay anxiously asked, pulling his father in the direction of the house.

"Yes, yes. Now please let go of my shirt Taylor."

From the house emerged Jessica, screaming at the top of her lungs. "She fainted! Mommy fainted!"

When Walker heard this, he bolted towards the house and nearly pulled the screen door off it's hinges to get inside. Jessica was crying by now. Avery, who had been taking a nap saw her older sister crying and began to wail herself, not knowing why she was doing so. When Walker reached their bedroom, Diana was sitting on the floor grasping her head. The kids followed him in and they all crowded around their mother.

"Are you okay? Can you get up?" Walker asked, a frightened look in his eye.

"Yes, I'm fine. I think I got up too suddenly, that's all."

Zac stood in the doorway away from the rest of the group, clutching on to Wickit. When the family all headed for the van, he lagged behind.

"Zac, come on!" yelled Isaac.

He put Wickit down and slowly left the house. He stared at the van full of people and his mother in the front seat, looking green in the face.

"Zac!" A voice from behind him yelled.

He turned and saw Manda in her front yard. He gave her a pained look as he walked away and climbed into the van.

"What is wrong with you?" Taylor scolded as he pushed his younger brother to the back of the van.

Zac leaned against the window, trying to ignore the comotion coming from the front. Never before, not even when Mackenzie was born, did he feel this worried. Maybe it was because he was older. Maybe it was because he now understood how much could go wrong. His brothers were joking up front about the hot nurses they were going to pick up at the hospital. Jessica and Avery had calmed down and were asking their mother what contractions feel like. But Zac stayed quiet, watching every movement his mom made.