Delivery Route

Logline: After learning that his ex-girlfriend is nine months pregnant and trapped in her home from a weather disaster, an irresponsible high school senior must act as labor coach for the birth of his child, over video chat. 

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Synopsis: 

Kyle receives a video call from his ex-girlfriend Rochelle. He hasn't talked to her since he ghosted her and moved three hours away to live with his dad eight-plus months ago, and he's shocked to see that she’s hugely pregnant.

Rochelle has called him because she’s in early labor. Her midwife, with whom she’d planned a homebirth, is currently MIA, likely due to massive flooding in Rochelle’s area.

Eager to escape the awkward responsibility of helping Rochelle give birth, Kyle gets in touch with his physician sister Leslie. Leslie says he needs to convince hospital-averse Rochelle to call 911 and get to the hospital. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to because Rochelle had a traumatic hospital experience in her childhood when her parents died. Leslie is unable to stay on the chat to help them further because she has to go in to her own hospital for work.

Kyle attempts to force Rochelle to call 911 by threatening to hang up, but she starts discussing what his dad would say about “manning up” and taking responsibility. Kyle reluctantly agrees to stay on the chat and help her. 

As he half-heartedly helps her prepare for labor and looks for ways to get off the hook, the two of them start to re-bond over past times. When Kyle’s video cuts out, Rochelle accuses him of hanging up on her, and she tries to no avail to get some honest answers out of him.

Rochelle’s foster mother Mariana tries to call her three times. Rochelle doesn’t want to talk to Mariana, so Kyle agrees to take care of it. As he listens to this woman insult Rochelle’s decisions, he exaggerates his commitment to Rochelle and says he’ll take care of everything.

Rochelle asks Kyle if he meant it, but he evades the question. Her labor starts progressing rapidly, and he scrambles to try and find a way to slow it down. Leslie is able to come back briefly to talk Rochelle through checking her own cervix dilation. Leslie also privately tells Kyle that he can do all of this despite how his dad said Rochelle would be better off without him.

Leslie has to leave urgently, and Rochelle soon feels the urge to push. As Kyle watches and listens to her say that his kid is about to be born, he panics. The video begins to stutter. And he can’t take it. He hangs up.

Kyle is able to talk with Leslie again for a moment, and she tells him he needs to forget what their dad told him. Kyle tries to call his dad and leaves a video message, realizing as he speaks that his dad is full of B.S.

Kyle calls Rochelle back and talks her through pushing. He tells her why he ghosted her, and they begin to reconcile, making plans. A few agonized pushes later, their baby is born. Kyle meets his daughter over video and prepares to drive to them, saying he’ll swim through the floodwater if he has to.