Chapter Summary: Let's have a baby!
*Jane The Vigin-esque Latin Lover narration style
Okay friends, we've reached the climax of our tale, I know, exciting right! Let's recap how far we've come:
As you know, Abby and Buck met during an intense 9-1-1 call. It lead to a strong friendship and a one hell of a first meeting when she needed his help finding her mother, who had Alzheimer's. One full moon and several dates later found them in a relationship. A relationship laced with family disasters, both their pasts coming back to haunt them, new friends, and the arrival of the surprise of an impending baby girl. Everything was finally falling into place for Abby and Buck, until the death of her mother happened. Resigned and numb, Abby took a break from herself to make sure her mother had the best funeral service that she could put together. After all was said and done, she'd found new hope for the future and that, friends, was where we left off.
The day of "little Ginger's" (what? You didn't think I'd tell you her name now, did you?) birth would be a story they'd tell her for years to come. So much happened when this little girl decided she was ready to burst into the world. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Let's start from the beginning shall we.
When Abigail Lillian Clark was 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant, she was completely over it. Her hobbies included eating, sleeping, and being constantly kicked by her bundle of joy, in no particular order.
The baby also seemed to have some hobbies as well: growing, forcing her mother to eat, and moving around while her mother is trying to sleep, in that particular order.
Abby groaned as she felt another kick. It wasn't exactly painful, but it was uncomfortable and made finding a comfortable position that much harder.
"She's kicking again?" Buck asked as he got ready for his work shift. It was Buck's last shift before he goes on leave for the baby. Abby was already on leave due to her being placed on bed rest 3 weeks prior.
"When is she not?" She sat up against the headboard, going back to sleep completely given up on now.
"You know—"
"Don't even think about it. I love you, but your over protection is a little nerve wracking. I can still handle myself, you know" was what Abby wanted to say.
What she actually said was: "go please, we'll be fine, Jared will be here soon to keep me company anyway. Go!" She said as she got up from the bed and practically pushed him out the door.
"Alright! I'm going, I'm going!" He threw his hands up in surrender and grabbed his car keys. She followed him to the front door. Turning towards her he said, "I love you," as he leaned down to kiss her.
"I love you, too," she declared and he walked out the door. She closed the door, leaned back against it and sighed. She loved Buck, she swears she does, but his overprotection, while adorable and appreciated, had become a source of annoyance for her.
Abby looked down at her belly. "Okay, baby girl, what do you say to eating some cereal and finding something to watch on Netflix until your uncle gets here?" She received a soft kick in response. "I knew you would like that."
It was another couple of hours before Abby heard a knock on the door. Abby went to get up but, yeah, nope, she was finally comfortable. "It's open," she shouted out.
"Do you make it a habit of leaving the door unlocked?" Jared asked as he walked through the front door. "I could have been a burglar, for all you knew."
"Yeah, because burglars politely knock on doors, right?" The sarcasm oozed from Abby's voice.
"Alright, smart ass," Jared said as he leaned down to hug his sister. "How are you two doing today?"
"We're good. She's calm right now because I'm awake. She's apparently gotten to the point where she can't stand when I'm asleep."
"She's just getting you ready for when she gets here. You think you haven't slept now..." Jared commented as she looked down at her phone, receiving a call from Matt.
"Do you need to get that?"
"No, it's just Matt. I'll call him back later." It's not that she didn't want to talk with him.
"How are things between the two of you?" Jared asked showing just how out of it he'd stayed. He's talked with both his siblings since Thanksgiving Day, but he never brought up the argument, deciding the two of them needed to work this out for themselves without his intervention.
"Better," was the only thing she could come up with. Their relationship had started to mend after she told him about the baby and after the death of their mother. It definitely put a lot of things into perspective for both of them. He still didn't like it, she could tell, but he was tolerant. She was okay with that.
"That's good. I was a little worried for a second. You know how stubborn the two of you can be." Oh, did she ever.
"I know, I know" she winced feeling a sharp pain in her belly.
"You okay over there?"
"Yeah, guess the baby didn't like the position I was sitting in?"
"How often has that been happening?"
"On and off for the last few days. I've been feeling them in my belly and my back." Abby stands as her discomfort grows a little more, placing a hand on her back and the other on her protruded belly.
"How far apart have they been?" He asks growing a little more concerned.
"I don't know, a few hours maybe." She's become annoyed with that question. Buck had asked her more than several times. "I'm not in labor. Ginger knows she's supposed to stay in there until it's time for her to come out."
Jared chuckled. "You know it's funny, you never told me why you guys call her Ginger. Is that going to be her name or something?" (Is this where we finally learn what the name is going to be?)
"Nice try," Abby tells him. (Not yet.) "you'll learn the name we decided on after she's here. He calls her that because he's convinced that she's going to look like me. Red hair and..." a sharp pain interrupted her words. "Ah, shit."
Abby held on to the chair she was near as the pain washed over her. She felt Jared's hand on her back. When it was finally over she was able to stand up straight. She was becoming a little frightened. The last thing she wanted was for the baby to come early. Maybe these were more of those Braxton Hicks contractions she had a couple of weeks ago.
As she sent a silent prayer that this was nothing to worry about, Jared said, "maybe we need to go to the hospital."
"No, I'm fine, I'm good now. I've read about this. I know it's just my body getting ready for the baby. Nothing to worry about." Abby tried to convince Jared (and herself) that everything was fine.
"Abby, Maya has had two kids. Now I know every woman is different, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that you might be in labor."
"Jared, I'm okay, and besides my water hasn't broken yet." (Oh really.)
As if on cue, Abby felt a distinct pop in a place where things didn't need to be popping and the slow trickle of fluid down her legs. "Oh come on." she mumbled.
She didn't have to look up from the spot where the fluid was pooling on the floor to know her brother was looking at her. "Looks like we're going to the hospital."
Conceding that it was time for that, Abby went to change into some dry clothing. While she told Jared to get the bag they had packed from the closet. Her emotions were all over the place when they had gotten into Jared's car and were on their way to the hospital.
"Just two more weeks, right?" Chim asked Buck as he sat down at the table.
"Less than. It's crazy right?" Buck was still in disbelief. Even though he'd been by her side, watching their child grow within her, it was still mind blowing that they were going to have a baby. He was going to be a dad.
"That's one way to put it." Hen joked lightly.
Buck rolled his eyes and was about to respond when Bobby and a guy he'd never met came up the stairs.
"Hey guys listen up. Since we're about to be a man down for the next couple of months," Bobby smiled at Buck referring to his paternity leave, "They thought we could do with an extra helping hand around here. This is Eddie Diaz, the new hire.
Everybody gave him a warm welcome, except Buck. He didn't hate the guy, it was just something about him, that felt almost... he didn't know. It took them all of 2 seconds to hire someone else. He was only going to be gone for 3 months. It wasn't like he wasn't coming back.
"...yeah, I was in the military, I just got back from Iraq about a year ago..." Buck over heard Diaz say when he zoned back into the conversation happening near him. Of course he did. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he thought about how well Diaz seemed to be fitting in, nothing how his first day went down. (You don't want to know, you really don't.)
He walked away from where the rest were doing their little "meet and greet" and over near the railing. A few moments later he felt a hand on his shoulder, he could tell it was Bobby. He didn't turn around.
"I would ask you how you feel about the new guy, but something tells me that I already know. He's not here to replace you, Buck." Buck and Bobby knew that their superiors still had problems with his past behaviors and have been watching him like a hawk. "You've grown on me, I'm not letting them get rid of you that easily." Bobby patted Buck on the back.
The moment was interrupted when the intercom announced their next emergency. A house fire. At that both men raced down the stairs to grab their gear and leave.
This was her 3rd time trying to call Buck, but he wasn't answering. She figured that he was deep into an emergency that required all of his attention. She was excited and scared and she needed him.
Another contraction hit, this one with a bit more force than the last and all of the pain was concentrated into her lower back. It was early, not too early, but still early enough to convince her that something could go wrong. It also didn't help that she had a bad feeling. She couldn't put her finger on what or why, but she had an inkling that something bad was going to happen. (That's not ominous at all.)
The pain finally subsided for the moment but it left a dull ache in her back that was making her uncomfortable. "Hey, look at me," Jared reached for her hand without taking his eyes off the road. "It's gonna be fine Abby. Just think, the next time you go home you're going to have my beautiful, healthy little niece with you." Abby forced a small smile at his words and he changed the subject. "Matt said the earliest flight he and Beth could catch back to Los Angeles was tomorrow morning."
She nodded in acceptance of that. Abby tried to call Buck again getting his voicemail. Abby wanted to throw her phone in frustration as worry started to take over.
"Buck's still not answering?" Jared asked.
"No." This wasn't like him, she's never known him not to answer. Abby didn't make it a habit of calling him when he was working, but when she did, he answered, no matter what. The only time he didn't he... She took a couple of calming breaths, getting herself worked up wasn't good, especially now.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine, he's going to be here," Jared reassured her as best he could are he pulled into the entrance of the hospital.
Unfortunately that didn't make Abby feel any better.
They entered the hospital and after Jared's rather boisterous announcement that his sister was having a baby, the nurses had gotten her admitted and set up in a room on the maternity floor. While Abby put on her gown, Jared stepped out to make phone calls.
"Okay, Ms. Clark, we called Dr. Sarin, she'll be here within the next hour or so," a doctor said when she walked in the door. The nurse that came with her worked to get her set up with a fetal monitor and the doctor gave her an exam to test how dilated she was. "Oh wow, 6 centimeters. You're moving right along." She was glad of that, the last thing Abby wanted was a lengthy labor.
Abby was going to comment, but was interrupted by the onset of another contraction. Jared walked back in and quickly moved towards the bed and took her hand in support. She squeezed his hand tightly as the pain gripped her. Never being much of a screamer (in that regard, anyway), she bared the pain in silence. Her brother cried in pain, though, at the grip on his fingers.
"Sorry," she murmured as she let go of his hand and gained the ability to speak again.
"It's fine. I just forgot how strong you were." He said as he flexed his fingers and cracked his knuckles.
Turning back to the doctor and nurse, who were chuckling at the scene before the, Abby asked, "so about that epidural..."
"Of course, I think I can get one of those for you." She made a note on her tablet. "Okay guys, I'll get the anesthesiologist down and I'll back to check how you're progressing in a bit."
She thanked the doctor and the nurse. "Still no word?" She asked Jared after they walked out.
Knowing what she was referring to he answered, "From Buck, no." A fresh wave of emotion hit her and she felt the tears welling up in her eyes. "So I just started calling everyone in your phone that worked with him. Bobby didn't answer either, but Athena did. She did answer. She said they were all at the scene of a bad accident and she promised she was going to get Buck here as soon as she possibly could."
Abby forced a small smile at that and wiped her eyes. It gave her hope. "Okay, sweet girl, I know we talked about this going by quickly, but I need you to hold on a little longer, so your daddy can make it. I know he wouldn't want to miss your big entrance." She said to her stomach, "we can't wait to meet you." (We all know what follows by sweet, hopeful moments right?)
They arrived to the chaotic scene to find two adults and three small children, assumed to be the home's occupants, standing around outside, all wearing dirty clothing and no shoes. The home was engulfed in flames that were spreading by the second. While Buck and Diaz headed up to start tackling the blaze and Hen and Chim went to tend to check the state of the people, Bobby went to talk to Athena to get more information on what happened.
"Hey, what," Bobby spotted the drying blood trailing down Athena's arm and the small gash it was coming from. "You're bleeding."
"Oh, yeah, I cut myself trying on some broken glass from the window. The home went up pretty quickly. The oldest child had broken a bedroom window to get out. I'm fine. Promise." Bobby wasn't even going to attempt to get Athena to get herself checked before everything had calmed down. (Some battles were just left not fought) Changing the subject, she told him. "According to the oldest child, Chandler, she and her brother were doing this 'really cool trick' they saw on YouTube. They ended up setting the curtains on fire and it spread. Parents were asleep the entire time."
"Those the parents?" He indicated towards to two adults who looked completely out of it.
"Yep. High as shit, both of them. Coming down, sure, but definitely still tweaking. Mom tried to spin some story about they had just gotten off work. I don't believe it."
"Everybody out?" Bobby asked.
"Chandler said they are. The parents aren't talking, calling themselves distrustful of cops. Hmm, I'll bet."
"Okay, be careful."
"You too."
Bobby and Athena split up to tend to their duties. Bobby went to assist Buck and Eddie and Athena went to see how things were going with the parents.
"... get that fucking light out of my eyes, bitch," the mother swatted at Hen, as Athena walked up to them. Chim was next to her, checking the father for injuries.
"Ma'am I need to do this, to ensure that you don't have any injuries." Hen responded, not letting the woman's combativeness test her patience.
"Everything okay over here?" Athena asked. The woman became very quiet when she saw Athena.
"Yep, everything's fine, just trying to check her out." Hen placed the light back in her bag, "other than the obvious, she's fine."
"They both are." Chim added.
The obvious being their frail frames the sores on their bodies, and the track marks lining both of their arms. It hurt Athena to her heart, what was happening, knowing that there were small children involved. (#dontdodrugs)
When Hen and Chim walked back towards the truck, Athena asked, "so do you want to tell me your names now, or?"
The mother made a show of not wanting to talk to her. The father just sat unmoving, but just as silent.
"You know I'm going to find out, one way or the other right? So let's just cut our losses here."
Silence.
"Alright, suit yourselves." Athena walked away and pulled her radio towards her, "dispatch, I need you to check an address for me and also phone child services and get them to send someone out to their location," she rattled off the address as she walked towards her vehicle.
It didn't take them long to get back to her. The homeowner, who was now deceased, left the home to her nephew, Turner Clayborne, and his wife, Brittany Maddox. She was also told that a social worker is en route to the house now. She ran the names in her computer and the mugshots that popped up looked exactly like the people she was just talking with. (Shocking, right?)
She was going to have another chat with them, one that involved handcuffs, Miranda rights, and a discussion of warrants for the manufacturing and distribution of meth, when her phone rang. She looked at her phone, not recognizing the number. "Who the hell...," she answered the unknown number.
"Am I speaking with Athena Grant?" The familiar sounding voice asked her.
"Yes, who is this?"
"This is Abby's brother, Jared. We met at Buck and Abby's baby shower. I found your number in her phone."
"Oh yeah, I remember you. Is everything okay?"
"Abby's in labor. She and I have been trying to call Buck. I even tried calling Bobby. No one was answering."
"Oh my god! We've been in the middle of dealing with this call and I don't think either of them are near their phones. I'll see if I can get Buck pulled out so we can get him to the hospital. We'll get him there as soon as possible."
"Okay, great! Thanks! Abby's been freaking out because she's scared that he's not going to make it."
"Oh he'll be there. I promise."
"Thanks again Athena, I'll let Abby know."
"She's okay though, right?"
"Oh yeah, she's doing good. In a lot of pain, but good."
"Good to hear. I'll work on getting daddy there."
"Alright. I'll let Abby know."
"Alright, bye." Athena said as she hung up. She smiled as she ran over to another sergeant on scene, filling her in on what she found, that child services was on the way and delegating her to make the arrest of the parents. She looked around not seeing Buck.
"Hey Bobby, where's Buck?" Athena asked almost frantically.
"He went inside with Diaz to do a sweep of the home. Why?"
"Abby's in labor. Her brother just called me. I know the two of you discussed what would happen if a situation like this came up. I was trying to see if there was anyway we could spare him. I have no problem escorting him to the hospital," Bobby looked around at the scene. The children were in the back of an ambulance ready for transport to the hospital, they were working to put out the fire. Everything seemed in control enough where they could spare him.
"Captain Nash to firefighters Buckley and Diaz. Do you copy?"
"Yeah, loud and clear Cap. We're almost done here. Everything's good. Nothing of significance. We're just checking the basement, after that, we'll be out to ." Bobby and Athena looked taken back by that.
"I thought this was a single level home?" Athena asked more than stated.
"So did I." With a little worry he said into the radio, "alright, let me know when you're about to come out."
"Alright Bobby, I..." he paused and the sound of glass breaking could be heard, "what the hell is all this?"
"Oh shit, Buck, that's a propane tank, we gotta..." they'd heard Diaz's voice say before the connection was cut.
"What's happening guys? Buck! Eddie! Captain Bobby Nash to firefighters Evan Buckley and Edmundo Diaz, do you copy me?" As he still heard silence, he grabbed his helmet and was set to take off inside the house when the explosion happened. Bobby grabbed Athena as they all braced for impact. They all looked on, frozen in horror, fearing the worst.
(Don't say I didn't warn you. Now would be the perfect time to check back in with Abby.)
"Alright, how are you doing, momma?" Dr. Sarin asked Abby as she walked into the room. Jared went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Abby was looking down at her phone, debating on whether or not to call Buck's parents and tell them what's happening, she wanted to wait until he got here, but...
"Doing good."
"That epidural has got you feeling good huh?" She asked as she sat on the stool in front of the bed and gave Abby another pelvic exam.
"Oh my god, yes. No pain. I just feel like a dull pressure now every time I'm having a contraction, I think."
"That's good to hear. A calm mom makes for a good delivery," She leaned up and took off her gloves, "alright everything is looking good, you're about 8 cm dilated now, fetal heart rate is nice and strong. From the looks of it, you'll have you'll have your little girl by the end of the day, even the next few hours."
"That's good," she sighed, "thats really good" she leaned her head back against the pillows. She looked at her phone hoping that something from Buck. As more time continued to pass, her worry was trying to turn into full blown panic. She knew this was the worst possible time to panic. (A calm mom makes for a good delivery, after all)
"Still no sign of Evan?" Dr. Sarin asked.
Without turning to look at her, Abby shook her head.
"I have no doubt in my mind that he would be here if he could and whatever is keeping him must be pretty freaking important." Dr. Sarin tried to be comforting.
Abby tried, tried hard, to remember that. The life of a first responder. "At this point, I don't think I care if he misses the birth anymore, well, that's not my main concern anyway. I just want to know that he's okay." This was bringing back horrible memories of the last time Buck was injured during a call.
Dr. Sarin, not knowing what to say to quell Abby's worry, laid a comforting hand on her knee. "I have a really good feeling about today, I know that probably doesn't help, (she was right, it didn't) but I know it's going to be okay," she stepped back to gather her things, "I'll be back to check your progress in an hour."
As soon as the doctor left, Abby breathed out a heavy sigh, placing a hand on her belly. It wouldn't be long, until her daughter would be here. She was already told that since she was full term, the doctor wasn't concerned with anything being underdeveloped, so that lessened her worries about delivering early. All Abby wanted was for her baby and her boyfriend to be okay and safe.
Jared returned to the room, carrying what, she assumed, was some snacks he picked up. "Still okay? Hungry or thirsty at all?" He asked.
"No, we're fine."
She didn't ask him the unspoken question hanging between them, already knowing the answer. He didn't say anything because he, unfortunately, didn't have the answer that she wanted to hear.
It was another 2 hours before the doctor could come back to check on Abby again. She moved along at a speed that pleased both of them. "Someone's eager to meet mommy," Dr. Sarin commented with a smile.
"How will I know, you know, when it's time?" Abby asked.
"Woo, that's a tough one to answer, everyone's different. I guess the best answer I can give is: you'll know. I know that's probably not the most helpful, but your body will tell you when it's time. Trust me on that one."
Abby nodded, satisfied with the answer.
"Okay, well you know the drill, I'll be back to check on you." With that the doctor took her leave.
It wasn't 45 minutes later, when Abby woke up sweating, she knew the hospital hadn't turned on any heat, so she didn't know what was happening to her. She also felt a lot of pressure pushing downward. She pulled her hair tie off her wrist and pulled her hair up in a messy bun.
"Hey, are you okay, what's wrong?" Her brother asked, putting his book down and quickly walking over to his sister.
"I don't know, but I'm sweating and I think I feel the urge to push." (Showtime!)
(After we check on our other situation, of course.)
Buck opened his eyes to the world spinning around him and a loud ringing in his ears. He rubbed his eyes as he tried to sit up. His whole body protested the action as it gave way to a dull ache. He also smelled the strong scent of copper, so he knew he was bleeding from somewhere.
As his vision cleared, he looked to see Diaz about 10 feet from him. He was moving, so he seemed to be alright, too. He got up on shaky legs and walked over to where his coworker was sitting.
"Hey, man, you good?" His own muffled voice sounding far away from him.
Diaz didn't speak, but he did nod. Helping him to his feet, he saw that Diaz couldn't support any weight on one of his legs, most likely hurting his ankle. Putting the man's arm around his shoulders, they walked around the house to the front.
Buck avoided looking at the burning home, not wanting to be reminded just how close he had come to dying just now.
When they were in sight of the others, they came rushing up to him. EMTs took Diaz from him and guided him over to the ambulance. The ringing in his ears had stopped and the frantic voices of his team didn't sound so far away.
"Buck! Eddie! Thank god! Are you okay? What happened in there?" Bobby asked as he lead Buck over to the truck to be checked out.
"Yeah, I think so," he ground out as sat on the back and started to strip off his gear. "Yeah, we were doing a walk through to make sure nothing was in the house. So we went down to check everything. The smoke had made it hard to see. I had bumped into some stuff. Diaz spotted the propane tank and we bolted. Just in time, it seemed like. Thankfully the basement was a walkout, as soon as we got out, the blast happened. I think it blew us both back another few feet."
"I'm just glad both of you seem to be okay." Bobby said.
"Yeah we were really, really lucky." Buck said.
Bobby had decided to give Buck a minute to be looked over before he let him in on what else was going on.
Once Hen had finished stitching the wound on Buck's head and declaring he was no more damaged than usual, telling him that was a hell of a close call.
"Love you too, Hen." He told her as she rolled her eyes.
He got in the truck to get his phone, finding the device dead. He cursed as he remembered he forgot to charge his phone last night. He needed to call Abby, he hadn't checked in with her all day and she was probably worried.
When he got back out of the truck Athena came up to him, "Buck," she said before he interrupted.
"Hey, can I use your phone? I need to call Abby to check on her." He asked hurriedly.
"That's what I need to tell you," Buck squinted his eyes in confusion, "Abby's brother called me when neither of them could get ahold of you or Bobby. Abby went into labor. They're at Good Samaritan."
Buck inhaled sharply, shocked at the news. They were sure she was going to carry til her due date. "Holy shit!" He scrubbed his hands over his face. He couldn't tell if it was the news making him lightheaded or residual injury from the blast. Either way, that wasn't his main focus at the moment. Hen and Chim, who were close by, were saying their congratulations.
"Yeah, dad, it's time." She said. He quickly stripped off the rest of his gear and threw it in the truck.
"I gotta get to the hospital! Oh shit, you said Good Samaritan right? That's all the way across town it'll still take us about an hour to get there even with light traffic." He didn't want to miss much more than he already had.
"Lucky for you I promised to get you there personally. Lights and sirens, baby. Just think of it as your personal police escort."
Hugging Athena tightly, he expressed his gratitude. Bobby told him they'd be at the hospital once they finished clearing the scene. Quickly walking to Athena's squad car at a speed that wasn't going to make him dizzy, he got in, and they raced down the road.
Even with lights and sirens, the ride to the hospital was still too long for his tastes. He tried to call Abby and Jared from Athena's phone but neither of them answered. He was praying that everything was okay and that he hadn't missed the birth of the baby.
They eventually made to the hospital, within half an hour. Athena parked quickly and both of them practically ran inside, going up to the 5th floor. He was antsy and anxious the entire ride. Once the doors opened he went to the nurse's station.
"Hi, what room is Abigail Clark in?" He asked the nurse sitting at the desk.
"And you would be?" She asked, eying him suspiciously.
"Oh, um, sorry, Evan Buckley, I'm the father of the baby." She typed something into the computer and buck tapped his fingers impatiently.
"Okay. I see you listed here. She's in room 515, just down the hall here."
"Thank you so much!"
He looked back towards Athena who waved him off, telling him that she was going to be in the waiting room to wait for the others.
"...six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Alright Abby, you can relax," Buck heard as he walked into the room.
At the sound of the door, Jared looked up to see him and so did Abby. "You made it, you're here." Abby said tiredly. Jared moved out of the way and Buck went to her side. "You really are here, right, it's not the exhaustion making me delusional?" Abby asked.
"No, baby, I'm really here," he kissed her, "I'm so sorry! It was a really intense situation and my phone died and—"
"I doesn't matter right now, we can talk about all of it later, for now, I'm just glad that you're here and you're okay, well, mostly," She ran her fingers across the bandage above his eye.
"Dad's finally able to join the party." Dr. Sarin commented. "How about you climb behind her, help her get a little leverage on this next push."
Quickly stripping off his shoes, the nurses helped Abby lean forward, Buck got behind Abby in the bed. He placed his hands over hers, under her thighs to help hold them up. Abby sighed contently as she leaned back into him. Just as soon as she relax she tensed up again.
"Alright guys, get ready for another guest for Thanksgiving. I need you to give a good strong push, Abby."
Abby nodded and Buck whispered words of encouragement to her as she pushed.
The doctor urged Abby to keep going.
It wasn't long until Abby collapsed against him, completely spent, and they heard the loud wails of their new born daughter fill the quiet space.
When Gina Scarlett Buckley was less than an hour old, she had accomplished so much. The most important: being the apple of her father's eye. Evan Buckley couldn't be more in love with the baby in his arms and her mother, if he tried. Abigail Clark couldn't be anymore in love with the two people before her.
The doctor had given the baby a clean bill of health. They'd gotten the baby cleaned up and gave her back to her waiting parents. Everyone had walked out to give the new family some bonding time.
Jared told her he was going to call Maya, Matt, and Carla to let them all know. They had gone about calling Buck's sister and parents to let them know as well. When all the screaming and tears of joy and light anger at not being notified sooner they'd all promised they'd be on the next flight to Los Angeles.
"Told you she was going to have red hair," Buck said.
She rolled her eyes at the comment.
"You're so beautiful, like your momma," he winked at Abby as he kissed the baby on the forehead.
She was exhausted, but she was mesmerized by the scene taking place in front of her. Watching her family. It was so weird to think that she had a family of her own, that she was a mom now. This was new territory for both of them. Just watching Buck, she had no doubt in her mind that he was going to be an amazing father. She was excited and couldn't wait to see what the future held for all of them.