A/N: Thank you once again for all of your reviews, PM's and words of encouragement. I know I always say this, but I really do appreciate every review that you lovely people take the time to send me.

This is the penultimate chapter in what was only going to be a 5 chapter story! I'd like to warn everyone before you read this chapter that it contains scenes of labour and childbirth, nothing graphic, but consider yourself warned. I think I've gone a little more OOC than normal with this one

I'd like to send special thanks to the fantastic WIWJ for her very kind permission for me to use a name that she used for her "Fairwells"/"Extracted" universe. If you haven't read them yet then please go and read. Everything she writes is just pure magic. You won't be disappointed.

Lastly special thanks to two very special ladies, Purdy's Pal and DaisyDay. Words can not describe how special you both are to me.

11

Fiona drew in a ragged breath when the car came to a stop outside the new house. Madeline turned her head to regard the younger woman worriedly as she squirmed in the passenger seat.

"I'm going to call Sam and we'll get you inside, okay," she told her softly, reaching over to run her hand over her arm. "It's going to be okay."

Fiona shook her head and slammed her eyes shut. Her breath was coming out in raggedy gasps as her body contorted uncomfortably.

"I…I need…arghhhh," groaning loudly she pulled herself forward and rested her head on the side window, trying to let the coolness of the glass ease the heat raging throughout her body. "It's too early…" she gasped, her voice catching on a sob. "I can't …have… her yet…"

"Honey, babies tend to come when they want to, and right now, she wants to." Opening the door, Madeline climbed out of the car and rushed over to the front door, pushing it open with a loud bang as she screamed Sam's name.

By the time he hurried out to the see what the commotion was, Fiona was already out of the car and leaning over the hood, breathing rapidly. Madeline moved to stand beside her and placed an arm around her intending to help but Fiona just shook her head rapidly and groaned out a long drawn out moan.

"Tell me when the contraction ends," Madeline told her gently, rubbing the palm of her hand over her back. "It's going to be okay sweetheart."

Sam started to panic when he saw Fiona in so much pain. He knew childbirth was a painful time for women but he'd never witnessed it first hand. It scared him to see the usually strong young woman hunched over onto the car and unable to move. Reaching into his pocket he fumbled with his cell phone and scrolled through the phone book until he found Peter Manson's number and hit dial.

Back at the car, Fiona let out a long breath and turned towards Madeline with a relieved nod of her head, "Okay," she managed shakily before she leaned on the older woman and began the slow walk towards the house.

"Slow steps honey," Madeline told her encouragingly, walking her through the doorway. Fiona nodded and tried to smile, but she was terrified. She didn't want to do this alone, despite how many times she'd tried to convince herself that she would be absolutely fine.

"Peter will be here in a couple of hours, but he said if they get at least five minutes apart to call him and he'll get here as soon as he can," Sam told the two women anxiously as he paced back and forth holding his cell phone to his ear. He closed his eyes with frustration when he connected to Michael's voice mail once again. With a groan he waited for the beep of the recording and lowered his voice. "Fi's in labour Mikey, call as soon as you get this. Or better still get your ass here RIGHT NOW."

Closing off the phone, Sam threw it onto the sofa before hurrying towards one of the bedrooms where Madeline had taken Fiona. He got there just in time to see Madeline pulling off Fiona's shoes and helping her sit back onto the bed.

"I'll go and wait for Mike to call," he suggested nervously, wanting to be as far away from the two women as possible. Moving swiftly towards the door he looked back briefly over his shoulder before making a quick exit. "I'll be outside if you need me."

Fiona watched him practically run from the room and shook her head with amusement. She couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for him.

"It's going to be a while yet Fi," Madeline told her as she reached out to push a clump of damp hair away from her face. "Do you want me to draw you a bath? It'll make you feel better."

Fiona looked down at her swollen ankles and drew out a long shaky breath. "Yeah," she nodded slowly. "Thanks Madeline."

"No problem honey," the older woman beamed a smile down at her and smoothed the palm of her hand over her clammy cheek. "Everything's going to be okay."

"I hope so," Fiona's eyes flittered around worriedly, coming to settle on the stack of new folded baby clothes that were piled neatly on the dresser. "I haven't even sorted anything out for her…she wasn't supposed to be here yet…"

"You'll have plenty of time to do that, Fi," Madeline told her gently. "Just sit down for a few minutes while I start the water running. Have you got anything comfortable you want to wear while you're having her?"

Fiona's gaze shot to the other woman's, her eyes widening with dismay. Shaking her head she closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath to calm her raging heartbeat. When she opened her eyes again she nodded towards the drawers beside the bed.

"I'll wear one of Michael's t-shirts."

"Fi," Madeline stepped closer towards her and held firmly onto her shoulders. "I know it's scary the first time, but by the time it's all over and you have that baby in your arms; you won't remember any of this."

"Are you sure about that?" Fiona asked with a small smile. "According to my mother she remembered every detail about all of us and what we put her through! Especially my brother Patrick's big hard head!"

"Well, you remember it after," Madeline grinned. "But not right away."

Pushing herself forward, Fiona took a breath and got to her feet when Madeline stepped away from her side. Leaning over towards Michael's dresser drawers she pulled one open and rummaged inside until she found one of her favourite t-shirts and placed it onto the bed.

"Right, I'll start getting your bath ready," Madeline told her with a proud smile as she turned to walk towards the en-suite bathroom. "Come in when you're ready honey."

When Sam came back into the room twenty minutes later, Fiona was sitting on the side of the bed, wearing one of Michael's t-shirts and towel drying her hair. Madeline was sorting through the pile of tiny pink outfits and holding them up for Fiona's approval. The room had an air of calm about it which unnerved him even more.

"Okay, what do we need?" he asked quickly, his voice rising in pitch nervously. "Clean towels, hot water… I'll get the Camera…" he turned around so fast that he crashed into the door frame and caused a large bump to form over his forehead. "Jeeze," he moaned, clamping the palm of his hand over his head just as Fiona shifted backwards and groaned.

"What is it?" he asked frantically, his injury already forgotten. He came over towards the bed and stood a short distance away, not knowing what to say. "You wanna hold my hand or something?"

Both women stopped what they were doing and stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. Madeline couldn't help but chuckle softly when he started to pace, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

"Anyone would think this was your baby!"

"That is not funny, Maddie," Sam huffed.

Fiona looked at the pair of them and started to shift forward, pulling herself off of the mattress to stand up beside the bed and lift the edges of the duvet cover, giving it a tug.

"Fiona," Madeline gasped. "What are you doing?"

"I am not ruining my new linens," she protested. "It took me weeks to find the right ones to go with this room…I am not havi—" her voice broke off into a gasp and she leant forward over the bed and slowly sank down to her knees. She grabbed a handful of the duvet in her hands, clenching the material so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She leaned into the cover, burying her face into it and let out a muffled wail that set Sam off pacing again.

"I'm gonna try Mikey again," he told them quickly and turned on his heel to race out of the room.

Madeline leaned in closer and rubbed her lower back. She could feel Fiona's contorted muscles straining in spasms beneath her hands. All the while she spoke soft words of encouragement, hoping to ease the younger woman's anguished cries.

"It's going to be okay," she soothed. "They're every twenty-five minutes, so it'll be a while yet. You're doing great."

Fiona lifted her head and ran a shaky hand over her sweat soaked forehead. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes clamped tightly shut as tried to stop the small whimpers from leaving her lips.

"It's okay to scream," Madeline told her softly as she continued to rub her back. "Yell, swear, scream…it'll make you feel better."

"I…want Michael…here…" she panted as she tried to catch her breath. "He should…be here…"

"I know," Madeline told her soothingly. "Sam's trying to call him now. He'll be here honey. He wouldn't miss this for anything."

Her words were lost through Fiona's feral cry as the contraction ripped through her body, leaving her gasping for breath until the pain eased away again after a few minutes and she couldn't stop her whole body from shaking when she tried to move.

"Oh goooood," she breathed in a ragged breath as she slowly climbed back to her feet again, her legs feeling like jelly. Gripping the duvet she started to pull the material until Madeline reached out to still her hands, batting them away to yank the cover and bottom sheet off of the bed in one movement and throwing them onto the floor.

"There," she told her. "They're off. Satisfied now?"

"No," Fiona snapped angrily through gritted teeth. "This is a new bed…I'm going to ruin the mattress…"

"Okay," Madeline sighed heavily and moved over towards the closet to find the discarded plastic wrappings that had covered the new mattress and pulled it over to the bed, flattening the plastic over the surface. "Where do you keep your old sheets?"

"They're in the closet on the top shelf," Fiona stood back upright and watched as Madeline took charge and marched across to the shelves inside to pull out a folded grey sheet and brought it back to the bed.

Holding on to the corners, Madeline skilfully tossed the sheet in the air until the sheet flittered down over the plastic sheeting, covering the mattress in a blanket of grey.

"There, now sit," she ordered, keeping her movements gentle as she manoeuvred the younger woman back onto the bed.

Fiona did as she was told and sat back against the headboard, watching Madeline affectionately as she smoothed the sheets down and tucked them under the mattress.

"Thank you Madeline."

Fiona's small voice stopped her movements and when she turned to tell her that it was normal to be irritable, the helpless look in Fiona's eyes brought her over to sit beside her. Taking hold of her hand, Madeline squeezed her fingers and patted her hand.

"It's okay sweetheart," she smiled. "You'll be yelling abuse to anyone who looks at you when the contractions get worse."

"They get worse?" Fiona gasped dramatically and leaned her head backwards. "I swear I'm gonna kill Michael if he doesn't get back here soon."

"I believe you," Madeline told her with a bright smile. "I need a cigarette. Will you be okay for a few minutes?"

"I'll be fine," Fiona told her reassuringly. "Go…can you bring a bottle of water in with you when you come back?"

"Sure," Madeline told her with a smile as she left the room.

000

Two hours later and the calmness in the room had all but vanished as Fiona groaned in pain when another gripping contraction ripped through her body. Madeline sat by her side, her knuckles turning white when Fiona crushed her hand as the pain bore through her. She laid on the bed, now in full blown labour, her body contorting on the bed as she lifted her legs only to drop them back down onto the bed again.

"Breathe through it honey," Madeline soothed as she reached for the cool washcloth and laid it over her forehead, letting the water droplets trickle down into her already damp hair.

"Wh…where's…Michael…?" Fiona gasped on a sob a when the pain started to dip again, allowing her to catch her breath.

"He'll be here," Madeline told her reassuringly as she picked up the wash cloth from her forehead and wiped it over Fiona's clammy face.

"You said that hours ago," Fiona's voice caught in between a groan and a sob as she untangled Madeline's hand from her own and struggled to sit up. "I need…him…here…"

"I know baby," Madeline's voice caught in her throat when she tried to keep the welling emotion from her voice. Reaching out a hand she smoothed her fingers over Fiona's glistening forehead. "Soon, he'll be here. I promise."

"I need my…phone," Fiona growled angrily, her face wet with perspiration. "I'm going… to call him and tell him…what a bastard…he is…"

"You can tell him when he gets here," Madeline told her with a small chuckle as she held a bottle of water out to her. "I'll help you. We'll do it together."

Fiona huffed a deep breath when she managed to pull herself up onto her elbows and take the offered water that Madeline held to her. She took a long sip, swallowing down the cool liquid gratefully before handing the bottle back to Madeline's waiting hand.

"I'm so tired," she moaned miserably, laying back into the pillows with a frustrated groan. "I want…this…thing outta me…"

"Close your eyes for a few minutes," Madeline told her, keeping her voice as gentle as she could. "Rest between the contractions."

The bedroom door opened slowly and Peter Manson stepped into the room carrying his medical bag.

"How are we doing?" He asked cheerily when he moved over towards the bed. "How far apart are the contractions?"

"They're coming every ten min—" Madeline started to say but stopped when Fiona gripped onto her hand again and started to groan when the pain of another powerful contractions started to build up through her abdomen. She squeezed down on Madeline's hand hard, and let out a sound that was somewhere between a sob and a scream. She squirmed around the bed, lifting her legs and dropping them again as her free hand groped at her stomach, flattening her palm to try and use the heat to ease the pain.

"Can't you give her something?" Madeline asked him desperately. "She's been in labour for seven hours. "She's exhausted."

"No…" Fiona wheezed through the pain. "No…drugs…"

"But Fi—"

"NO…drugs…"

Peter placed his bag onto the floor and pulled out a pair of latex gloves, snapping them onto his hands before sitting onto the edge of the bed.

"Tell me when the contraction ends and we'll see how far along you are," he directed his voice towards Fiona who had shifted onto her side and yanked her hand away from Madeline's, to place it onto her stomach with her other one.

She was breathing and sobbing both at the same time, squirming on the bed until the peak of the contraction started to ebb away, letting her breathing fan out.

"You better do it now," she groaned, letting her hands drop from her stomach. She didn't resist when the doctor parted her knees and started his examination; all she wanted was for this to be over. She winced when he examined her further and laid her head back into the pillows until he had finished.

"You're six centimetre's," he told her with a knowing smile. "You're almost there now."

Taking off his gloves he put them into a plastic bag and sealed the top before going into the bathroom to wash his hands.

"Can you help me to…move," Fiona asked tiredly when Madeline reached out to help her kneel onto the bed. Shuffling forward, Fiona reached out her hands and wrapped her fingers around the metal bed frame and manoeuvred her body into a more comfortable position. Nodding her head to Madeline's offer of water, she smiled through her exhaustion to take the water from her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Madeline told her tearfully. Reaching up a hand to swipe at her eyes, she offered Fiona a reassuring smile. "You're doing great sweetheart."

000

Three hours later Sam paced back and forth outside the bedroom door as Fiona's painful screams filled the air. He was terrified for her, and he was becoming more and more frantic by every passing second. The phone in his hand began vibrating and he snatched it up quickly, looking at the caller ID. Holding the phone to his ear he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mikey, where the hell are you brother? You need to get here."

"We're pulling up to the house now, Sam." Michael's voice came through the crackling line and Sam had to strain to hear him. "Jesse broke all kinds of traffic violations. How's Fi?"

"Not good Mike," Sam's voice shook as he spoke. "It sounds bad in there. Your mom and Pete are in with her…hang on," he gasped in a breath when the door opened and Madeline came outside. "Your mom's here, I'll give her the phone."

Thrusting the phone towards Madeline who just stared at it numbly, Sam stood back and ran a worried hand through his hair. The screams had died down into silence again and he didn't know if that was good or bad. He couldn't ever remember being this terrified before in his whole life.

The door flew open and Michael charged through, throwing his bags and coat onto the floor not caring where they landed. Madeline reached out to him as he started past her, stopping him before he got to the bedroom door.

Madeline's eyes filled with emotion as she squeezed his arm. "You should be so proud of her honey, she's done so well."

"Thanks Ma," he told her with a watery smile as he bent down to press a kiss to her cheek before heading towards the closed bedroom door.

Fiona's head snapped up when he came through the door. Her whole face was contorted with pain as she sobbed out his name, bringing him to her side in one swift movement.

"Where the HELL have you been?" she groaned out as she grasped his waiting hand. "You said…you'd be here…"

"I'm here now," he told her quickly, reaching out to wrap his arms around her. "I'm here…breathe…."

"They're too fast," she groaned when another wave of pain slowly subsided.

"Michael...I...argghh—" taking a breath Fiona tried holding her hands over her stomach, hoping that the heat would ease the pain this time but nothing was helping. Clamping her jaw shut she squeezed her eyes closed and tried to breathe through her nose but the pain was getting stronger with each passing contraction leaving her almost no time to recover.

She shifted her legs uncomfortably, modesty long forgotten as the pain began to slowly get worse and worse as time went on.

Michael stroked her hair as he sat by her side, massaging her lower back when another contractions gripped her body and he found himself leaning forward wrapping his hands around one of hers while he continued to massage with the other.

"Oh god," she breathed, "here comes another one." She scrunched up her face in pain, trying to even out her breath, but it was becoming difficult to even breathe.

Michael held his breath when his knuckles turned white. Fiona was squeezing his hand so hard that he lost the feeling in his fingers, but he didn't care. He just needed to stop the pain for her. He felt so helpless when all he wanted to do was take the pain away from her.

."Tell me when the contraction has eased Fiona and we'll have a look to see how far you've dilated okay?" Peter told her as he pulled on a new latex glove.

"k," Fiona nodded through clenched teeth, letting out a slow breath as the contraction started to die away.

"You'd better do it now," she mumbled tiredly "they're coming so fast."

"That's good Fiona the strong ones work the best," he smiled as she came to examine her quickly before another contraction overtook her body again. "You're a solid 8 only 2 more to go."

She panted heavily as the pain ripped through her insides, so strong it took her breath away making it hard for her to breathe.

"Lean on me," Michael told her desperately, dipping his shoulders so that she could loop her joined hands around his neck. Moving up slightly he lifted her so that the pressure left her back, providing her with a little relief until another strong contraction gripped her.

"I wanna push," she managed to groan as the overwhelming urge took her over, causing her teeth to clench as she moaned loudly.

"Not yet," Peter soothed. "Let's just have a look."

He didn't get to finish as another contraction came in the wake of the first, taking over Fiona's body like something possessed. She squeezed Michael's neck hard and groaned painfully, her voice breaking on a sob.

"I want to go the loft."

"Fi, it's okay," he felt his voice breaking when he leaned back and saw the pain in her eyes. He'd never felt so helpless in his whole life.

"It's not okay," she sobbed into him. "I want to go to the loft. I don't want to do this anymore."

"It won't be long now," he told her gently, holding her close to him as much as he could.

"They said that hours ago," she told him angrily, only to sob his name as another powerful wave overtook her body.

The doctor bent to examine her again, trying to be as gentle as he could.

"Okay Fiona that last contraction did the job, so on the next contraction I want you to take a deep breath and push down for me."

"Did you hear that Fi?" Michael said softly, rubbing her back gently as he helped her into a more comfortable position. When she was back on the bed, laying half on her back and half sitting, he stood up to let the doctor move to the other side of the bed only to have Fiona's panic stricken eyes darting to his face.

"Michael?"

"It's okay, I'm here," he told her, moving quickly back to her side. He saw her breathing coming erratically again as he held onto her tightly as she gripped his hand hard with the contraction, groaning through her teeth as she pushed.

"That's good Fiona," the doctor told her encouragingly when she pushed hard again.

One contraction followed another until half an hour later a baby's cries erupted into the room to mingle with relieved sobs and triumphant cries from the people in the room outside.

Fiona fell backwards onto the pillows exhausted as the doctor lifted their daughter and laid her onto her chest.

Michael couldn't keep the welling tears from falling from his eyes as he leaned over their baby to kiss Fiona first on the forehead and then her lips, before leaning down to kiss their little daughter's head.

"She's so beautiful," Fiona sobbed, reaching up to him to tangle her fingers around his. "Look at her…"

"She's perfect," he nodded through a haze of emotion before he leant down to kiss Fiona again, whispering over and over how much he loved her.

A few minutes later after Peter cut the cord, cleaned her up and weighed her, he handed Michael a tiny disposable diaper and watched in amusement when the new father looked at it like some kind of unexploded bomb.

"You'll have to learn quickly," Peter told him, chuckling at Michael's discomfort. "I need to check your wife over now."

Michael just nodded at him and pulled the diaper open and got to grips with putting it on his daughter. When he managed to get it secured onto his little girl he grinned triumphantly and lifted the tiny pink romper suit, looking at it with much the same puzzlement as the diaper.

"Okay," he sighed, looking at the poppers and then the baby. "Let's do this."

000

Half an hour later, Fiona had showered and changed while Michael had called his mother in to meet her granddaughter, placing the tiny baby in her arms while he stripped the bed and remade it. When Fiona walked slowly back towards the bed, she cast Madeline a heartfelt smile.

Michael waited for her to settle under the covers and helped her sit back against the pillows before lifting their new baby daughter from her grandmother and placed her in her mother's arms.

Fiona gazed down at her for a long time; mesmerized by the love she felt bursting from her heart. She gazed up at Michael again, feeling that same love flowing from his eyes as he leaned down to lift his baby daughter into his arms while Fiona made herself a little more comfortable.

Madeline got up from the chair and walked over towards Fiona, holding out her hand to the younger woman who leaned forward to pull her into a tight embrace. Both women sniffed back tears when Madeline pulled away to place a soft kiss onto her forehead.

"I am so proud of you sweetheart," Madeline told her with a bright smile.

"I couldn't have got through it without you," Fiona told her, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. "Thank you for being here with me."

"Oh honey, I love you. Where else would I be?" Madeline told her tearfully. "Now get some rest okay, I'm going to do the same."

Squeezing Fiona's hand one more time she turned to her son who was gazing down at the baby in his arms with what she could only describe as complete devotion. She rubbed her hand against his arm and reached up to place a kiss onto his cheek then leant over him to kiss her little granddaughter, before leaving the room.

Michael was speechless; he didn't know what to say anymore. He had fallen in love with this little baby the instant he knew she existed and even more so now that she was here. His eyes left her face to gaze down to her mother's who was looking tired but extremely happy. She was gazing up at him with tears in her eyes as she watched him.

"She's got your chin," he whispered as he came to sit down beside her on the bed, leaning over to kiss her lips, "and your nose."

"Michael," Fiona whispered as she leant against his arm to look over at their sleeping daughter. "I know we were only going to keep with one name for her, but I want to give her your mother's name. She was amazing…"

"What do you think Claire?" Michael asked his baby daughter as he watched her tiny mouth open and close. "I think she likes it."

Claire started to wriggle in his arms and make small noises as she pushed against him and he took that as his cue to hand her back to her mother.

Fiona smiled up at him adoringly and settled Claire against her breast, closing her eyes briefly when she leaned back against the pillows. Michael shuffled closer to sit down beside her and watched the scene before him in wonderment. He didn't think there could be anything in the world right now that could pull him away from his new family.

When Claire fell back to sleep again, Fiona handed her to Michael and offered him a tired smile.

"Michael, I think it's time we introduced her to her new family," she told him dreamily.

Michael felt as if he was floating on air as he cradled his daughter against his chest and moved to open the bedroom door and out to where Claire's new family were waiting to meet her

TBC in the final chapter