Chapter 10—Baby Girl

Hello loyal readers, I'm back! Sorry it took so long to update, don't hate me. I appreciate all of the reviews and love hearing from you. Anyway, let's get to reading.

"April, calm down. Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! Jackson get some help please." April had never felt pain like this in her entire life. She was scared not only for herself, but for her daughter, too.

Jackson wanted so badly to panic, but knew that he couldn't for April's sake. He pushed the Call button to send for a nurse. A young woman walked in a couple of minutes and checked over April's vitals, and just when she was about to page their OB, April stopped her.

"Wait! I'm in preterm labor and I want only the best for my daughter so I need you—"

"It's already taken care," Catherine Avery announced as she walked into her daughter-in-law's hospital room.

"Richard is on his way to the airport as we speak to pick up Addison Montgomery. She was in Portland for a consult and agreed to come when Richard called her. She was able to find someone to take her on an emergency flight, and will be here in about an hour." She stopped talking when she noticed the looks on their faces.

"What?"

"Well, actually, mom," Jackson started, "that's who April wanted to deliver the baby. I can't believe Webber thought of it first."

Jackson looked at April as she continued her breathing exercises. They locked eyes and she squeezed his hand hard.

"It's okay, babe. She's going to get here in time. You two are going to make it, okay?"

April didn't answer, only nodded her head in agreement. The truth: she was scared to death! Things were going to change for them soon.

One hour later…

April's labor was going slowly and her normal OB was actually stuck in traffic, which made her even more nervous. But nothing could compare to the pain. Something inside of her soul knew that something was wrong. But what?

She wouldn't have to wonder long because someone was coming…

Richard and Addison walked into the hospital side by side, as he explained the current situation going on with April Avery. Addison nodded her head as he talked and briefed her on the case.

"Okay, Richard, I understand. Now, I need you get the family out of the way so that we can properly take care of mother and baby. I'm going to need someone from Peds to help me out..."

"Not a problem. I've got Dr. Robbins and she is more than willing to assist you with the baby."

"Great! Now it's your turn to relax. Grandpa." Addison laughed as she walked away.

"Hello, April. Jackson. It's nice to properly meet you both, I'm Dr. Addison Montgomery. Nurse, how far is she dilated?"

"Four centimeters, doctor."

"Alright, April, according to your chart this pregnancy is progressing is very slowly, but you seem to be in more pain than what I would like. I'm going to do an ultrasound just to get a good look at the baby. Alright?"

April and Jackson just nodded their heads up and down, as the nurse hooked up the ultrasound machine. Once finished, Addison applied the cold gel to her stomach. As she moved wand around, Addison immediately spotted what she was looking for.

"Okay, April I don't want to alarm you, but the placenta is becoming detached from the uterine wall. This is what is causing your severe pain, and why there has been some bleeding. We really don't have the time to debate this, so we are going to have to perform a C-Section to get this baby out, if we don't, we take a high risk of you hemorrhaging and we could lose both you and the baby. Nurse, we need to book and OR. Jackson, you are more than welcome to be in the room with her, I think she's going to need you. If you two are on board, I'm going to go update your family, give you two a few minutes before we need to get ready to go, okay?"

The nurse left in the room took April's vitals, and monitored the baby's heartbeat before stepping out into the hallway.

"April, you've been really quiet, baby. I know you're scared so am I." Jackson looked at his wife with worried eyes and noticed that she was crying. He sat down on the bed in front her asked her what was wrong. After a couple of minutes, April's crying died down a little, enough for her to speak.

"Jackson, listen to me, okay? If something happens in there, and you have to make choice between me and our daughter...I need you to save her. Please."

April watched as Jackson slowly stood up from the bed and crossed the room to lean up against the wall. He had his hands covering his face. He was in shock at what just came out of her mouth.

"Are you serious? April, I can't, baby. Please don't ask me to..."

"Jackson. I need you to promise me that you save her. Will you do that?" April begged him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"April, you can't expect me to chose to live without you. I can't do that. I can't do that myself or to our daughter, baby please." He walked over to get down on his knees before he kept speaking.

"Baby, don't make me do this please. Addison is the best at what she does and you will survive this."

"Okay, but if I don't, I need to know that you two are going to be together." Before he could respond, Addison came back into the room and slowly looked at their faces.

"We're ready."

"How could she be so stupid to get caught. I told her to wait until no one was around. Now she's in prison and might lose her medical license. Nice going, Stephanie."

Leah was walking around a private, hidden corridor of the hospital. She was watching from a doorway as Stephanie was handcuffed and escorted out of April's room. Pretty sure that no one saw her, she slipped away and bolted downstairs. She refused to be caught so easily. Revenge was number one on her mind, and now she had one more reason: that bitch Kepner had gotten her best friend arrested. Stopping to look at herself in a mirror, Leah decided she needed a pep talk.

"You are going to get revenge for both of you. None of them deserve to be happy. Arizona has screwed you over by going back to that slutty wife of hers, and Jackson didn't even stop those cops when they took Steph away. It's up to you now, and we will not fail."

With one final look, Leah quietly tip-toed up the nearest flight of stairs. Careful not to be seen.

A steady beeping could be heard in the operating room as Addison and Arizona were prepping for April's emergency C-Section. They both looked up to see the usual suspects sitting in the observation booth: Meredith, Dereck, Miranda, Christina, Owen, Callie, and Alex. Since he begged and pleaded, Richard Webber was also allowed to watch from the booth.

"Okay, April, we are going to go ahead and get started. The medication should be working and you won't feel anything from the waist down. I'm going to go as quickly as I can to get the baby out and hand her off to Dr. Robbins. I need you to stay focused and keep breathing, your husband is right here with you. Jackson, you can stay up near April, just talk to her and keep her calm, you can check down here with me from time to time as we go along and watch only what you can handle okay? Let's go."

Jackson's nose and mouth were covered by a mask, so April could only see his eyes. He caressed her cheek with one hand, while the other was being gripped by her own hand.

"You're doing great, baby, just keep breathing okay? Stay focused and it'll be over soon." She just nodded her head and continued to look into his eyes, not wanting to see anything else, fearful that it might break her focus.

"Okay, April, I'm inside the uterus right now and I'm going to get a grip on the baby so that I can gently pull her out. You're going to feel a lot of pressure, but I need you to keep breathing and relax as much as possible."

There was no noise in the room while Addison went to work to take the baby out.

"I've almost got her now, keep breathing April, we're in the homestretch here."

With one slight, final tug, Addison announced, "I got her. Congratulations you two, she's beautiful." She quickly gave the baby to Arizona who took her over to be weighed and measured.

April heard a slight crying sound from their little girl, and the noise immediately made April burst into tears. Jackson simply touched his forehead to hers and let out a small sigh of relief.

"She's about 1 1/2 pounds, 10 inches long." Arizona looked to her friends as she spoke. She wrapped the baby in a blanket, then put her in an incubator to go to the NICU, where her parents could come see her as soon as April was recovered.

"Alright, we're going to close up and get you into recovery, so that you and your daughter can have a proper introduction, April."

Ten minutes later...

Richard located Catherine and the other family members. He told them that everything went fine, but they would have to wait for Addison before a definite answer could be given. Just then, Catherine saw her son come through the doors.

"Jackson, sweetheart, are you alright? How's April?"

Jackson looked at his family and let them in on everything that had happened.

"April did great. She's headed to recovery soon, then they'll let us see the baby. She's only 1 1/2 pounds, so we've got a long road to recovery ahead of us, but I'm confident that Dr. Robbins is going to take care of her. I love you guys, but I gotta go meet April in her room. We'll call you in as soon as she's settled. I promise."

When April woke up half an hour later, she could see her husband sitting in a chair, staring out the window. She smiled as she thought of how truly blessed she was. This man was her husband, her friend, her partner. And now, he was the father of her child. He was also apparently psychic, because he quickly turned his head to look into her green eyes.

"Hey, beautiful. You're awake."

"Yeah I am. How's the baby, did you go see her?"

"Not yet, I wanted to wait for you to wake up. We still have to name her," Jackson said as he kissed the back of April's hand.

"I know, I've been thinking about that actually," April replied with a smile.

"You have? And what did you come up with?"

"Brooke."

"Brooke?" Jackson was kind of shocked at his wife's name choice.

"Yes, Brooke. Brooke Alexandria Avery."

Jackson gave a tiny laugh at the entire name. He loved it and told her so.

"I say we sign that birth certificate, Mrs. Avery."

In the hallway...

Leah was fully incognito as she watched the new parents laughing and talking, while they were signing papers.

"Good luck naming a baby you don't have." Leah uttered as she shot them one last look as she headed down the NICU.

The parents began to file into the new hospital room April had been assigned. Her mother and father walked over to give her hugs, while Jackson and his mom took in the sight of his wife with her parents.

When April asked where her sisters were, her mother informed her that they had taken everyone's belongings to a nearby hotel. But they were just avoiding the elephant the room.

Joe Kepner had to know, "How are you feeling, baby girl?"

"I'm fine, daddy. A little tired, but I'm good."

"Well, that's to expected," they heard Dr. Montgomery say she walked into the room. "April's body has been through quite an ordeal and now she really does need to take it easy. You are looking great and your vitals are stable. I just spoke to Dr. Robbins and they are getting the baby completely set up downstairs, you can go see her in about 45 minutes, maybe sooner. We are just going to monitor you and keep an eye on everything for next 24 hours, alright? I'll be right here in the hospital if you need me, just page me. I'll be back to check on you."

"Thank you," April said as the woman walked out of the room. She looked at Jackson with wide eyes and reached for his hand as her face lit up with a bright smile. He came to sit next to her on the bed.

"Jackson, should we tell them?"

"Tell us what sweetie?" Karen Kepner never was good at being patient.

"We've chosen a name for our daughter," Jackson announced.

"Yes, her name is Brooke Alexandria Avery."

"Oh, I love it," Catherine exclaimed.

Jackson and April laughed, and he leaned over to give her kiss on her lips. She felt content, safe, and loved. She watched her father roll his eyes as he watched her mother and Catherine talk about their new granddaughter and all of the great things they would do with her. She could feel Jackson reach for her hand and place it at his lips.

I'm so blessed, was April's last thought before everything went black.

Jackson turned around to look at April as her head went backwards onto her pillow. He checked her pulse, but could not feel anything.

"Somebody help me! My wife's crashing, please!"

Suddenly, the room was swarmed with doctors and nurses. Addison quickly jogged inside and begged Jackson, and his family, to wait in the hallway. They obeyed and stood outside, watching them work on April. Jackson's eyes began to fill up with tears as he watched the entire scene unfold. That's when he heard it.

A long continuous beep, followed by Addison saying the words no one wants to hear, "We're losing her."

"APRIL!"

Come on it wouldn't be my story without a cliffhanger. Please leave me any comments and questions, I love hearing your ideas about where you want this story to go. Coming up...April's life hang in the balance once again, will she come back to her new family? Leah's headed to see baby Brooke, but what's the big plan? Also, a long overdue surprise from Jackson will be revealed. Stay tuned...