Fred and Barbara were ecstatic to have a baby. Ever since Lucille and Henry had Jacob, they both wanted to have a baby to take care of and when Barbara became pregnant eight years later, they where over the moon. They where finally able to experience first hand everything they had been through with Henry and Lucille and it felt so right to them. However, Fred hadn't fully prepared for when the baby actually came. When Barbara was pregnant, it was them waiting for the baby to arrive and the excitement of the idea of being a parent. But when it came round to Barbara going through labor and the process of dealing with a newborn, he wasn't in the slightest prepared. So when Barbara called him over to the bathroom at Henry and Lucille's house with the news that her water broke, he froze. Barbara, being a week over her due date and being uncomfortable, was completely ready to be a parent and called her sister-in-law when Fred just stared at her. Lucille came running to make sure Barbara and the baby where okay.
"Are you okay?" she asked when she ran past the still frozen Fred. She immediately noticed Barbara's drenched skirt and knew that the other woman's water had broken. Fred just looked at Lucille, unsure of what to do.
"She's pregnant," Fred said before Barbara could say anything. Both women looked at Fred and laughed.
"I know that, honey," Lucille said.
"No, I mean, she's going to have this baby soon," Fred said, again stating the obvious. Lucille knew this state of mind that men often go through when their wife's were about to have a baby. Her husband had done the same thing. Looking back at Barbara, she figured she could send her sister-in-law with Henry while she calmed Fred down.
"Henry," she said loudly. "Can you come here, honey?" she asked when Henry responded. Henry came, a bit quickly because he knew Barbara was due any day now. When he was standing with everyone, Lucille added, "Can you get her to the car. Her water just broke." Henry nodded his head and helped Barbara walk past the rest of the family, grabbing her things and then out to the car. Lucille thanked her husband before walking up to Fred. Fred just watched as his brother and wife walk by.
"Fred, sweetheart," Lucille said as she walked in front of Fred and grabbed his hands. Fred looked down at Lucille, unsure of what was happening. He was in shock and he was worried about his wife. "She's going to be okay. In a matter of hours, your little girl or boy will be here and everything will be okay," she added. Fred just nodded his head at this and then everything finally sank in.
"Okay," he replied. "Okay, she will be fine, though, right?" he asked his sister-in-law. All he wanted was his wife to be okay, that's all that mattered.
"You where there when I had Jacob, remember?" Lucille asked. "And I was fine," she added with a laugh. "By the time you got there, it was almost time to push because you where so late," she added with more laughter at the memory. Fred smiled at the memory as well. That's when an excited Jacob came into the room. He had heard the commotion from upstairs and when he saw his father pass through the hallway with his aunt Barbara, he figured it was time for the baby to come.
"Is the baby coming?" he asked his mom and uncle. Lucille looked over at her son and smiled.
"Yeah, but it probably won't be for a while," she replied. Jacob just smiled. He was excited to have another baby in the family because he was an only child and he had no one to play with.
"I'm going to be a cousin," he said happily. "Are you excited to be a dad, Uncle Fred?" Fred just looked at Jacob and started panicking again. He wasn't even sure if he ever stopped panicking.
"I'm going to be a father," he said as he looked at Lucille again with a look of pure terror.
"It's going to be okay, Fred," Lucille replied, trying to hold back laughter. "When you hold him or her for the first time, all of this will melt away. I promise," she added. This managed to put Fred's mind at ease long enough for all three of them to get into the car with Barbara and Henry and drive to the hospital. Unlike Jacob's birth, which took eight hours of painful labor, Maggie Langston came into the world two hours after Barbara was checked into the hospital. After Barbara held her for a few minutes, she passed her seven-pound daughter over to her husband, who happened to be standing by Lucille. When he had her comfortably settled in his loving arms, he absolutely melted at the sight of Maggie, who had been named after his mother.
"She's beautiful," he breathed, completely unaware of his surroundings. Both Barbara and Lucille looked at Fred with the happiest expressions on their faces. Barbara because she knew how much Fred wanted a little girl and finally seeing him hold her, and Lucille because of how worried he was only a few hours before.
"She has your nose," Lucille said as she looked at Maggie from next to Fred. Fred looked up at the sound of Lucille's and then down at her. He moved Maggie around so he was holding her in one arm and wrapped his other arm around Lucille. He pulled her in for a tight one-armed hug.
"How bad was I freaking out earlier?" he asked, almost mockingly. Lucille looked up at Fred and just laughed.
"Just a little bit," Lucille replied with a laugh, who had wrapped her arm around Fred's body. "Anyway," she added after her laughter died down. "We should probably get Jacob home and leave you two to spend some time with your daughter," she added as she looked around at the couch in the corner. Her son had been tucked in before Barbara's water broke, so he was tired from all the excitement this late at night. "Congratulations, you guys," she added as she untangled herself from her brother-in-law and walked over to her son. Both of them thanked her as she woke Jacob up. He stood up and Lucille wrapped her arm around him lovingly so he could lean some of his weight on her. He sleepily wrapped his arm around her waist and the two of them walked out before finding Henry walking back from the bathroom. The three of them then went home, leaving the happy family in their room.