Chapter 14

"God Jane, it hurts!" Maura groaned loudly as another contraction wrecked her body.

"I know, honey. I know." Jane kept her hands firmly on her wife's back where the nurse had showed her to keep pressure to relieve some of the pain. But it wasn't enough. Ten hours of labor, no baby. Maura was two weeks late and the past weeks had been hell. She was in constant pain, she was intensely uncomfortable and crying uncontrollably. Jane hated it. The normally put together, rational doctor was a mess of tears and pain. She wanted to take it away. If she could take the pain away and feel it herself, she would do so in a heartbeat. But all she could do was be with her wife, whisper soothing words of love and not leave her side for a second too long.

"I can't do this," Maura whimpered as she fell back against the cushions of the hospital bed. "I c-can't…"

"You can." Jane brushed some hair out of Maura's sweaty face and grabbed the damp washcloth from the nightstand, pressing it carefully against her forehead. "You're doing amazing, Maur. I'm so proud of you."

Maura shook her head as tears formed in her eyes.

"Yeah." Jane nodded and pressed her lips against her wife's sweaty temple, feeling the blonde trembling next to her. She sighed and carefully moved her over as she quickly slid in behind her, wrapping her arms around Maura's chest from behind.

Maura sighed deeply and rested back into Jane's arms, one of her hands resting on her pregnant belly, the other tangling with Jane's on her chest. "I just want it to be over," she whispered hoarsely.

"I know." Jane nuzzled into Maura's frizzy blond hair. "Before you know it, we'll be holding our beautiful baby in our arms. It'll be over soon."

"I'm only dilated four or five centimeters, Jane."

"Yeah, isn't that enough for a baby?" Jane smirked against her wife. "Let's just start pushing that kid out so we're done with it."

Maura let out a sad chuckle. "Jane."

"How big can a baby be?"

Maura shook her head, closing her eyes as she rested her temple against Jane's cheek. "Too big to push out of my vagina," she said, her voice suddenly fearful.

"Maur." Jane pulled her wife closer. "You're a doctor, you've been studying pregnancy, giving birth and babies for years ever since we tried to get pregnant. You know you can do it. Women are made for it, aren't they?"

Maura nodded weakly.

"And you are the strongest woman I've ever known. Pushing a kid out? That's peanuts!" Jane smiled as she heard a soft chuckle from her wife. "You can do it. I know you can. You're going to get through this and you're going to give us the most beautiful baby on the planet."

Before Maura could answer, another contraction started wrecking her body. She groaned and leaned forward, allowing Jane to press on the muscles in her back as she let her head fall down, squeezing her eyes shut to get through the pain.

When the contraction subsided, she slumped back against her wife, silent tears trickling down her cheeks. At the sight of those tears, Jane felt her throat closing up, her chest tightening. "You're so brave, Maur," she whispered huskily, "you're so amazing, so strong and so beautiful. I'm so proud to be your wife. We're going to have the most beautiful baby in the world, thanks to you."

Maura wasn't listening. She was crying silently as the pain slowly left her system. She took a deep, shuttering breath and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Jane?"

"Hm?"

"Could you get me some ice chips?"

"Of course." Jane kissed her wife's head and carefully slid out of the bed. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Give Anna a kiss from me, okay?" Maura smiled a sweet, tired smile as she mentioned their four-year old. "Tell her I'm alright."

Jane nodded, tears burning in her eyes. Maura was in a world of pain but she would never let her daughter know that. Anna would worry too much. "I will." Jane smiled and hurried towards the waiting room where her mother, Anna and Frankie were anxiously waiting for hours now. She fought the urge to run as she headed down the white walled hallways.

"Jane!" Frankie stood up as soon as he saw his sister. "Any news?"

"Mama!" Anna's eyes went wide and she immediately squirmed off Angela's lap to run towards her mother.

Jane smiled tiredly and scooped the girl up in her arms, pulling her close. "Hi, peanut."

"Where's Mommy? I want Mommy!"

"Mommy's still in the hospital room, honey." Jane sighed and pulled Anna's head to her chest as she looked at her mother and brother. "No news. Still the same situation."

"God, how long has she been at it?"

"I don't now, more than eight hours." Jane furrowed her brow and brushed her fingers through Anna's hair.

"Something wrong then?" Frankie asked in a concerned tone. "Why's it taking so long?"

Angela smiled and stood up from her chair. "It's not unusual. With Tommy, I spent twelve hours in that stupid room. Your father just pacing back and forth, drinking too much coffee and being a pain in the ass…"

"Whoa, Ma." Jane motioned at the little girl on her hip.

"I'm just sayin'!" Angela held up her hands. "I should've known that man was trouble back then."

"Yeah yeah." Frankie placed his hand on his mother's arm and looked back at Jane. "Anything we can do?"

"I was just gonna get some ice."

"I'm on it!" Angela immediately hurried off towards the machine in the corner of the room.

Jane smiled and shook her head before looking at Anna's head on her shoulder, seeing worry edged on her young face. She had grown, but she was quite short for her age. Her hair was slowly getting a darker shade of blond due to the lack of sunshine in winter, but her eyes still sparkled like the day they met her. She was getting more and more beautiful with each day that passed. "Mommy told me to say she's doing alright," Jane said softly, tucking a strand of hair behind Anna's ear. "And to give you a kiss from her." She took Anna's chin and quickly pecked her lips as she smiled at the girl. "She's gonna be okay."

"I wanna see Mommy."

Jane sighed. "You can't, baby. I'm sorry."

Anna's bottom lip quivered and Jane took a deep breath to compose herself. "You're going to have to stay with Grandma and Uncle Frankie just a bit longer. I promise to get you as soon as the baby is here, okay?"

"Okay." Anna wrapped her short arms around Jane's neck and snuggled in close. Jane saw her mother getting back and knew that she had to let her daughter go, not wanting to leave Maura for a minute too long.

"I have to go back to Mommy, peanut," Jane said softly as she pressed a kiss to Anna's forehead. "I'll give her a kiss back from you, okay?"

Anna smiled a tired smile and allowed Jane to hand the girl back to Angela. She took the cup of ice from her mother and was happy to see Anna resting comfortably on Angela's hip, her small body curled up into her grandmother's warm side.

"I'll be back if there's news!" Jane said when she was already heading back to her wife. When she entered the room, she saw Maura sitting on her hands and knees, biting her lip to keep from screaming out in pain. "Oh babe." Jane almost dropped the ice as she put it on the table and placed her hands on Maura's lower back, putting the pressure where she knew it would relieve some pain.

It must have been going for a while because Maura slumped back down after only a few seconds. "They're getting closer together," she mumbled, out of breath. "A n-nurse should-…"

"Already pushed the button." Jane brushed Maura's hair out of her face and gently helped her rest back against the pillows, pulling the blanket over her bare legs, the hospital gown ridden up during the contraction. She pressed her lips against her wife's sweaty cheek and carefully sat down on the edge of the bed. "That's a kiss from Anna."

"Hm." Maura closed her eyes. "How is she?"

Jane shrugged. "Worried about you. But she was okay with my mom."

"Good." Maura sighed deeply but groaned when another contraction hit her. She slumped forward again, closing her eyes, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Shh, it's almost over, babe," Jane said softly, "soon we'll be holding or beautiful son or daughter. It'll all be over soon."

Maura nodded in the middle of her contraction, but Jane was wrong. It wasn't over soon. The contractions were closer together but she wasn't dilated enough to start pushing yet. And to make it all worse, the nurse got a worried look on her face when she came in the third time that night to check up on her.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Maura said, her voice weak and defeated.

The nurse, an older lady named Ruth, shook her head. She adjusted the blankets and sighed. "The baby's in breech. I think we need to do a C-section."

Maura closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, watching nurse Ruth having a quick phone call with a doctor. "I wanted to have the baby in a natural way."

"Maur," Jane whispered, gently squeezing her wife's hand in hers. "A C-section is for the best. It's what our baby needs. And what you need."

Maura nodded, opening her eyes to look at Jane, fear and pain showing in her hazel eyes. "I know."

"We're going to take you to the delivery room, Dr. Isles." The nurse smiled reassuringly and pulled the blankets back up. "You'll be holding your baby soon."

Maura closed her eyes. "Thank God."

"You don't know if it's a boy or girl yet, do you?" she asked as she started moving the bed, motioning Jane to get up from her chair.

Jane shook her head. "Nope. We like the element of surprise."

"You're a doctor, Dr. Isles." Ruth smiled as she started wheeling the bed out of the room. "Haven't you seen it?"

Maura shook her head. "The baby was in a difficult position to tell. We didn't get more sonograms than necessary."

"I have a feeling it's gonna be a boy." Jane smirked. "Yeah, it's gonna be a boy."

"Don't listen to her," Maura said with a tired smile. "She relies on her instincts."

"Hey, my cop-gut doesn't betray me!"

Maura chuckled but her smile broke off when she had another contraction. The nurse quickened her pace and pushed the bed towards the delivery room where their baby would be brought into this world.

After that, it only took a short while. "She's almost here," the doctor said, holding out his hands to receive another instrument from his nurse, his glove covered in blood and other stuff Jane didn't want to know.

"You're almost done, Maur," Jane said as she felt her wife squeezing her hand. "You're-… Wait, did you say she?" she shot her attention towards the doctor, her eyes widening, her heartbeat speeding up. "She?"

The doctor looked up at them and smiled. "Yes."

"A girl?" Jane looked at Maura and saw a tired smile curling her lips. "We're having a girl…"

Maura nodded, bringing Jane's hand up to her lips to kiss her knuckles. "You and your cop-gut…"

"Oh you're halfway sedated and now you get sarcastic on me?" Jane chuckled and wrapped her arm tighter around her wife's shoulders.

Maura was about to reply when the doctor told her to push and a strangled cry sounded through the hospital room. She gasped and tears sprung to her eyes as the doctor brought up a tiny, wrinkled, purple little baby, covered in blood and gross stuff. They quickly cleaned her up and moved Maura's hospital gown to place the baby on her bare chest.

The baby's head was covered with dark hair, and a lot of it. Her tiny fist were shaking around, her feet peaking out from the white blanket she was wrapped in. Ten fingers, ten toes. She was breathing, crying, and moving. A healthy baby.

Jane didn't realize she was crying until she felt her tears falling into her own lap. She moved her shaking hand up and gently, carefully caressed the baby's damp cheek, smiling through her tears. "Hi," she whispered, her voice nothing more than a high-pitched whisper. "Welcome to the world, baby girl."

Maura's hands were trembling as they wrapped around the tiny baby on her chest, silent tears streaming down her face. She whimpered when the nurse reached out for the small girl. "No…"

"We're just going to examine her, Dr. Isles." Ruth smiled. "Shouldn't take more than a minute or two."

Maura nodded and watched as the nurse took their baby to weigh her and perform all the necessary tests to make sure everything was okay. "She's healthy," Maura whispered, her hand clinging to Jane's leg next to her. "And she's so beautiful."

Jane turned her attention towards her wife and saw extreme exhaustion as well as pure, unconditional love edged on her beautiful face. She gently cupped Maura's chin and pressed her lips against the blonde's for a sweet, loving kiss. "I love you," she whispered, smiling lovingly. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." Maura rested her forehead against Jane's and looked into her eyes for a while until the nurse came back with the baby, this time wrapped up in a pink blanket.

"Is it okay if I hand her to Mrs. Rizzoli so we can get you cleaned up, Dr. Isles?"

Maura just nodded, allowing the doctor to finish his stitches and clean up. Jane's mouth fell open as she took the tiny girl in her arms, smiling when her small fists waved out of her blanket. She made a gurgling sound and Jane met with the most beautiful dark baby-eyes she had ever seen. They were just like hers. Not quite as dark yet, but they would be one day. She would have the same curls as Jane, the same features, the same nose. Jane could already tell and she was already the proudest mother in the world. "Hi there," she whispered through her tears. "Hi beautiful."

The next hour was spent simply staring at their newborn baby. Just staring, crying and smiling happily. The nurse helped Maura out of her hospital gown, washing herself and changing into a pair of clean, silk pajamas. All the pain was forgotten. Yes, it was hell. But as soon as the baby latched on to Maura's breast for the first time, everything was forgotten. All that mattered was the beautiful baby in Maura's arms.

"You should tell the family," Maura whispered, her finger gently caressing the baby's cheek.

Jane nodded. "I know but what if she grows up when I'm away?"

Maura chuckled and slapped Jane's leg. "Go. And bring Anna, please?"

"Of course." Jane smirked and kissed her wife's lips before carefully pressing another kiss to the baby's forehead. She hurried back to the waiting room, her family jumping up when they saw her.

"And?" Angela asked, jumping up from her chair.

Jane smiled, composing herself for a second before speaking. "We have a baby girl."

The room broke out into excited squeals but Jane only had eye for Anna who had streaks of leftover tears on her pale cheeks as she reached up her arms towards her mother. While Angela was kissing her cheek, Frankie squeezing her arm and asking questions she didn't hear, she lifted Anna in her arms and pressed her lips against the girl's forehead.

"You have a sister, honey," she whispered. "A baby sister."

"Can I see her?" Anna asked, twirling her mother's curls around her small finger. "And Mommy?"

"Yeah." Jane kissed Anna's cheek and pulled her to her chest to look at her family. "Everything's perfectly healthy. She's gorgeous."

Angela smiled, getting choked up on her daughter's words. "Oh, my granddaughter! Can I see her? I want to meet her!"

"Uhm… Well… We just wanted some time with Anna first, if that's okay?"

Angela looked disappointed but Frankie stepped in. "Of course."

"Just come by with like, an hour or something. I'm sorry."

Angela smiled. "I understand. She needs you." She pointed at Anna and gently rubbed the girl's back. "She's been crying for you."

Jane nodded, pulling Anna close in her arms. "Yeah…"

"Go back to your wife!" Angela playfully pinched her daughter's arm, eliciting a chuckle. "And congratulate her from us."

"C'mon, peanut." She adjusted Anna on her hip and hurried back to the private hospital room.

Anna lifted her head from Jane's shoulder as she saw Maura through the glass in the wooden door. "Mommy!"

Jane chuckled and opened the door, causing Maura to lift her head and turn her attention away from the baby towards her wife and oldest daughter. "Hi, pretty girl," she smiled lovingly at Anna who squirmed out of Jane's arms to run towards her other mother.

"Mommy!"

"Be careful, honey." Jane smiled and closed the door behind her to lift Anna up on the bed.

Maura smiled at the little girl and looked at Jane. "Could you take her, please?" she asked softly as she handed the baby to her wife.

Jane carefully took the baby in her arms, sitting next to Maura on the bed as she watched Maura opening her arms for Anna. Anna climbed into her mother's lap but Maura hissed and stopped her. "Oh baby, just sit next to me, okay? Mommy's not quite ready for that yet."

Anna nodded and nestled in between her mothers, snuggling into Maura's side as her arms wrapped around the little girl. Maura's thumb brushed across Anna's cheek as Anna looked at her baby sister with wide eyes, filled with fear. "This is your sister, honey," Maura whispered, pressing a kiss on top of Anna's head. "You finally met the baby!"

"Yeah…" Anna's voice was soft and laced with exhaustion after sleeping for only a few hours that night. "What's the baby's name?"

"Well…" Maura looked at Jane and then back at the baby.

Jane smiled, staring at the gorgeous baby girl in her arms. She couldn't take her eyes of the little creature. She was slowly falling asleep, her dark eyes closing as she stopped squirming and relaxed in her mother's arms. She was without a doubt the most beautiful baby in the world. Jane knew all mothers thought that about their newborns but her baby daughter truly was the most beautiful of them all. She smiled and gently stroked the baby's cheek. "We were thinking, for a girl, Lillian," she replied softly. "Lily, for short,"

Anna nodded and leaned forward to look at the baby. "Hi, baby Lily."

A/N The baby is here! I know a lot of you wanted to read more pregnancy stuff but I don't want to take things too slow. There's always room for flashbacks though! Thank you so much for reading this story and being so kind, it means a lot to me! As always, I can use suggestions for storylines so don't hesitate to tell me what you would like to read. I love to get inspired by you all!