I know that I should wait to post this after my current story is finished, but it wouldn't wait. After "New York", I was stunned by the response – especially by all the reviewers who pointed out that Joss must have chosen Jessica for the baby. Well, they were correct! Now here is how it came about.

Dedicated to everyone who refuses to let the greatest love ever to grace our TV sets die.

Song prompt: "Share My World" by Mary J. Blige

Share My World

John Reese had one bad habit – okay, one really bad habit he didn't like to admit having: he smoked. It was more of a crutch to relieve stress, and it helped him to relax – and without them, there was no doubt the CIA would have done him in long before Snow and Stanton had tried to get their revenge. But since leaving his job and going incognito, he hadn't had the urge to smoke…at least until now.

Reaching in his suit pocket for a pack, he cursed in frustration as his hand came up empty. His fingers itched to hold the thin white cancer stick. His lungs begged to be filled with the sharp pungent aroma of nicotine. God, I need a cigarette!

"My mom," Taylor Carter's voice broke in, "she's going to be alright?" John turned to look at the young man sitting in the hard plastic chair bolted to the floor of the waiting room.

One year away from being an adult, Taylor wanted to consider himself a man, but as he watched the man he considered as close to a father as possible pace restlessly, he didn't feel like an adult. He wanted his mom.

"I'm sure she's fine, son," John comforted. Empty words, but what could he say? He couldn't lie and tell Taylor that all would be great once the doctor came back, but that would be lying. Although the CIA did expect him to bend certain rules, he couldn't lie to Joss's son.

"How much longer?" Taylor's eyes searched John's for the truth.

John shook his head. "I don't know." He had no idea how long these things took. He aced Recon Training, and he could disassemble and reassemble a hand gun in under ten seconds, but when it came to medicine and biology…he barely passed. The most he knew about the human body could be condensed down into the frog he had to dissect in ninth grade.

"Can you ask someone, please?"

Before John could answer, Fusco rushed into the room. Haggard looking, tie askew, he looked as though he had just been spun dry. "How is she?" He tried to draw in a steadying breath.

"What are you doing here?"

Fusco harrumphed. "Did you really think I would miss out on your big moment, Boy Wonder?" He sat down beside Taylor. "I'm vying for more than godfather out of this."

"No news." John craned his neck to see if anyone was coming down the hall. The familiar sound of Finch's limp echoed off the polished white tiles. "Harold," he acknowledged as his mentor crossed the threshold.

"Any word?" Finch sat down opposite Taylor. From the looks on the three faces in the room, he already has his answer.

"Any way you can get your machine to tunnel into the medical records department and find out?" John asked under his breath.

"Doesn't work that way, John," Finch answered.

John's heart clenched with despair. "Then what good is it, Harold?"

"What's up with the gloomy looks?" Shaw asked as she sauntered in to join the motley crew of beleaguered men.

"There's no news," Fusco spoke up.

Shaw shrugged indifferently. "That's not necessarily a bad thing," she replied. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a Snickers bar.

"Have a little couth, Shaw," Fusco chastised with an incredulous look. "Now's not the time to break out the lunch bucket."

She rolled her eyes. "This isn't for me." She tossed the candy bar toward Reese. "I think you need this more than I do."

John looked down at the oblong object in his hands. "Uh, thanks. But I'm not hungry."

"Eat the damn candy bar, John, before you pass out and have to get admitted too," she ordered evenly.

"I won't pass out. I've been through worse."

Her eyebrows rose in mock surprise. "Worse than this? I may have to remind you that hospitals don't give 'two for one' rates. Unless Harold here buys the hospital."

"Ms. Shaw…" Finch protested.

"I can see why you turned to capturing the bad guys instead of treating them. Your bedside manner speaks volumes," John replied as a smile tugged at his mouth.

I'll make sure I'm your tending. Now eat."

John tore the wrapping off the candy and took a bite. "Where's Bear?"

"At the library waiting."

"You didn't bring him?"

"I'm sure that Joss will understand if we are one short," Shaw remarked. "Besides, I don't think he would be able to join in the celebration of you becoming a father." She let out a long breath. "Now if we could get you to stop pacing."

A knock on the door frame caused them all to look up. A doctor dressed in a white coat, a stethoscope hung around his neck, stepped into the room. Instantly Taylor and Finch were on their feet. Reese thrust the snack toward Shaw.

"Detective Joss Carter's family?" the doctor asked.

"Right here, doctor," John answered. "How is she?"

The doctor looked down at the chart in his hands. "She's doing well. Everything is moving along as it should. We got the baby turned, so we won't have to do a Cesarean." A sigh of relief filled the room. "She is, however, asking for you."

"Me?" John wondered if he had heard the doctor correctly.

"You are John Warren, aren't you?"

Reese thought for a moment. "Well…yes…" he hesitated. "I…"

"Come with me and we'll get you scrubbed up."

Reese threw a look of despair toward his friends. "I don't know if I should…" He tried to think of anything reasonable to opt out of Joss's request. The doctor guided him out of the waiting room and down the long corridor.

"It's just down here." He pushed the button to swing open the double doors. "If you'll wash up and put on those scrubs hanging behind you, the nurse will escort you to your wife."

Stunned, Reese did as he was told. A few minutes later he was led by a stout nurse to the Labour & Delivery Room.

"Are you ready?" she asked and opened the door before he could reply.

"John!" Joss called out breathlessly between pants. Her hand on her swollen abdomen, her eyes brightened at the sight of the man she loved. "You're here. I didn't think…"

He held a finger against her lips. "I'm here now. They wouldn't let me in until they knew for sure what was going on."

"I don't want another Cesarean." She shook her head at the thought.

"The doctor said everything is okay and it won't be required." He wiped the stray tears from her cheeks. His heart overflowed with love that he didn't think was possible. He grabbed her free hand and pressed it to his lips.

"How's Taylor?"

"Probably one step below me in the nerves department." He looked at the monitor. The beeping was slowing down and Joss was beginning to relax. "Finch, Fusco, and Shaw are with him."

"My mother? Is she here?"

"She's on her way. It was bad luck that you decided to go into labour on the wrong side of the bridge at rush hour," he teased.

"I didn't decide," Joss contradicted, "the baby did. Speaking of baby, did you choose a name?"

He looked flummoxed. "I thought we did."

"No, we didn't."

John tried to appear calm, but he was on the spot and she was demanding an answer. Now. "How about Lionel?"

"Lionel? Lionel Warren?" Joss shot him a look of incredulity.

"We can always go back to 'Reese' as the last name." Joss shot him a scathing look. "O…kay…" He went down the short list. "Harold?"

"I like Benjamin."

John nodded. "What if it's a girl?"

"She's never going to stand a chance when it comes time to date. You and Harold and Lionel watching her every move… No."

"I am sure the convent Harold finds for her will have sufficient security." Or it better. Either way, he would take care of it.

"This isn't going to work. I…I…oh, boy," she gasped. "Here comes another contraction." Her eyes looked fearfully into John's. "I'm scared, John."

"I'm here with you." His hand tightened around her to help comfort her. He hated seeing her in pain. "Just breathe."

"Don't leave me."

John blinked back the sudden rush of tears that blinded his vision. "Joss, sweetheart, you're stuck with me, remember?" he choked out around the lump in his throat.

"Yeah," she sniffled. "Ow. Is it over?"

"Yes."

The door opened and a doctor walked inside. Giving Joss a beaming smile, she reached over and pulled on a pair of latex gloves. "Hello, Joss. I'm Doctor Lamb. This must be your husband," she acknowledged John. "How are you, Joss?"

"I want to push."

"I understand." Doctor Lamb sat down at the end of the bed. "I need to check you. So don't push." Joss tried to hold still while the doctor examined her progress. "It looks good. Okay, Joss, on the next contraction, I am going to need you to push. Are you ready?"

Joss looked at John, then nodded. "I'm ready," she confirmed. "Let's do this."
**************

"She's really pretty, Mom," Taylor whispered. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he stared in awe at his newborn sister. He wanted to touch her, but he held back. What if she started crying? He didn't want to risk that, so he just looked. But his heart burst with love.

"She's beautiful," Zoe remarked as she leaned over and smoothed the black curls on the baby's head. "She looks just like you, Joss."

"Thank you." Joss cradled the small bundle in her arms.

"Cute," Shaw praised with a small smile. She still didn't know what all the fuss was about, but even she had to admit that this little one was slowly tugging at her heart.

"May I hold her?" Fusco asked.

"Sure." Joss handed the baby over to her partner. With expert hands, Fusco took the baby. Pushing the blanket aside, he appeared to be looking for something.

"What's wrong?" Joss asked.

"I'm looking for her cape. Since she got her good looks from you, I thought maybe she inherited Wonder Boy's cape," Fusco replied tongue in cheek.

"I'm sure she got something from me," Reese assured his friend.

"Hopefully the ability to kick ass," Zoe chuckled.

"No guy is going to be messing with you, angel," Fusco assured his goddaughter. "Uncle Lionel is going to make sure of it." The baby gurgled. He looked up, surprised. "I think she smiled at me!"

"It's gas," Shaw said in her usual deadpan tone. "I wouldn't get too excited."

"I have a kid," Fusco returned stoutly, "and that was a smile. You were smiling at Uncle Lionel, weren't you…?" He looked at Joss. "What is her name?"

"We don't have one," John admitted with a slight wince. Everyone looked at John and Joss.

"Wait! You're telling me that this angel is nameless?" Fusco's eyes narrowed. "Some parent you make. I should lock you up right now…"

"I'm sure that John helped pick a name," Finch defended his friend. "You did, didn't you?" He gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Fusco, it's alright," Joss tried to defuse the moment. "I have a name for her. First, may I have my baby back?" She impatiently held out her hands until her baby was safe and secure in her arms. Cuddling the infant to her breast, she held out her hand to John. Taking his hand, she pulled him down beside her.

"It's because of two people, that all of us are where we are now," Joss's voice halted with emotion. Blinking fast, she tried to swallow around the huge lump in her throat. "So…I want you all to meet Jessica Grace."

Finch's eyes met with John's as the room fell silent.

John's voice was strained when he tried to speak. "Joss…are you sure?" His blue eyes searched her brown ones for any sign of the moment being a cruel trick. He knew that she knew what that name meant to him.

"If it wasn't for Jessica, you wouldn't have found your way to me." The tears flowed freely down Joss's cheeks. "And if it hadn't been for Grace," she looked at Finch, "well…I want to honour you too."

John squeezed Joss's hand. "If you're sure…"

"Only if it's okay with you."

Looking at the miracle of life swaddled in his beloved's arms, John considered if it was okay to finally let go. But when he tested his heart, it didn't hurt. Not anymore.

"I think Jessie would have liked it," John replied with a smile that shone both on his face and in his eyes. Dipping his head, he kissed Joss. "I love you."

Joss looked at the friends and family crowded into the small room. She felt John's hand on hers to let her know that he would always be there for her. Could she be any more blessed?

Taylor leaned over to kiss Jessica on the forehead. "Hello, Jessica Grace," he greeted.

And for everyone to see, she smiled.

The End.