Chapter 21 :
Family :
About 20 minutes later Jane and Maura driven by Constance finally arrived to the hospital and were immediately welcome by Dr Thomas.
"So your little guy decided to grace us with his presence on your big day hum?"Dr Thomas joked helping two other physicians carrying Jane from the back of the car to the gurney.
"I swear to God if you don't pull him out soon I'm going to rip your eyes out and push them down your throat with my bare hands you hear me!" Jane yelled grabbing her scrubs pulling her closer to her.
"Alright Jane, I'm going to help you the best I can. Maura, how close are the contractions?"Dr Thomas replied unimpressed by Jane's threat.
"Every 3 minutes for the past 15 minutes, her water broke in the car and she's dilated about 9 centimeters."Maura replied amniotic fluid all over her wedding dress.
"Alright people let's move her directly to OB!"Pushing the gurney towards the elevator Dr Thomas was determined to make this birth as smooth as possible especially considering that one of the parent was a Doctor. After allowing Maura to follow her for several weeks she knew her well enough to know that she was probably more nervous than Jane and was probably already considering every case scenario possible in her head.
Following the gurney Maura was split between being excited about finally meeting her son and being scared to death. Even if she was a Doctor and had followed Dr Thomas for the past few weeks to improve her knowledge she was still anxious. She had enough knowledge to be able to picture every possible case scenario but didn't know how she would react if anything bad were to happen.
"Maura...It hurts..." Jane muttered flipping on her side her legs lifted up against her belly as a violent contraction stroke her entire body making it excruciating for her to even breath.
"I'm here baby. They're going to give you something for the pain soon.I love you."Holding Jane's hand kissing her forehead Maura could almost feel the contraction through Jane's hand.
Arriving on the 2 second floor Jane was immediately given pain killer and her and her baby were immediately placed on monitoring and Maura was immediately given scrubs and gloves.
Laying in bed Jane was in excruciating pain, the contractions went from being manageable and every 10 minutes an hour ago to every 3 minutes making it almost impossible for her to breath.
"Alright Jane it looks like you're fully dilated and I can already see his head. I'm sorry but it's too late for the epidural, we're going to have to do this the old fashion way alright?"Sitting at the end of the bed cracking her fingers and her neck Dt Thomas knew that without an epidural things would have t happen fast if she didn't want Jane to pass out from the pain.
"How is that possible? I was fine an hour ago!" Arching her back as another contraction stroke her body Jane was split between being relieved that she wouldn't have to go through hours and hours of labour and being pissed at her son for deciding to show up so fast without giving her time to prepare.
"Well he's half Rizzoli, patience has never been one of your strongest quality." Maura smiled sitting on the edge of the face whipping the sweat of her fiancee's face.
As unexpected as this was Maura was relieved that Jane wouldn't have to go through hours of painful labour. She knew that the quicker the baby arrived the easier recovery would be for both of them and that as strong as she was both mentally and physically Jane would probably not be able to handle the pain much longer.
"He's half Isles too I thought you guys never showed up unannounced ?"Jane replied trying to breath as she was taught to during birth class.
"Maybe he's a bit mad at us for getting married without him being present."Maura replied smiling as the thought that this baby was "half-Isles". Even if she was adopted and clearly had taken more after her adoptive mother than her biological father Maura spent the past 8 months wondering how much of Dean this baby would inherit. She was scared that because he was a boy he would ressemble him physically, or might inherit his voice or his way of walking. Even if she never confessed it to Jane but Maura had spent 8 months praying that their son would inherit the Rizzoli's physical trades knowing how painful it would be for Jane to look at her child every day if he looked too much like his father. She knew that it would destroy Jane to have to watch her child growing up being the replica of the man who had abused her vulnerability and had treated her like a piece of meat and who had threatened her afterwards.
Sitting at the end of the bed waiting for the next contraction so she could ask Jane to push Dr Thomas was amazed by their chemistry and the deep bond they appeared to be sharing. When most women would yell at their panicked and overwhelmed partner blaming them for the situation and pain they were in Jane and Maura were relatively quiet and were actually joking.
"Alright Jane, when the next contraction comes I want you to push as hard as you can alright?"Dr Thomas instructed placing her hands between Jane's legs ready to support the baby's head.
"I don't think I can do this it hurts too much."Feeling the next contraction coming, overwhelmed by the pain Jane found herself incapable of pushing or maintaining regular breathing.
"Jane look at me, you can do this, you're the strongest woman I know, you're my hero and soon you're going to be our son's hero. So do as Dr Thomas says, nothing is going to happen to you, I promise."Cupping Jane's face trying to calm her down so she could refocus on her breathing rather than on the pain Maura suddenly felt that everything they had talked about, everything they had pictured was finally coming true. She had spent the past 8 months promising Jane that everything would be alright, that she would be there to hold her hand every step of the way and a few minutes from meeting her son Maura finally understood the meaning of the words wife and mother.
"Yes...HOLLY FUCKKKKK!" Jane let out pushing as hard as she could as another violent contraction stroke.
Feeling her baby literally tearing her private parts appart with his head and his shoulders first Jane suddenly regretting complaining about the pain she felt after the shooting. She had been shot at, pinned on the floor by Hoyt, stabbed once had broken her left clavicle and her nose twice but nothing could compare to giving birth without an epidural.
"Alright Jane, the shoulders are out now, you're doing great. When the next contraction comes I want you to push harder alright."Dr Thomas instructed still sitting between Jane legs holding the baby's head and shoulders.
"Alright baby, you're almost there. Come on!"Encouraging Jane Maura could barely feel her left hand because she was squeezing it so hard every time she pushed, but it didn't matter, if breaking her hands helped Jane relieving some the pain she was more than happy to accept it.
Sitting up in bed pushing as hard as she could for the next 30 minutes Jane could barely keep her eyes open. Her head was spinning and her vision was blurry and her heart was almost bursting out of her chest at every single contraction. She knew that she wouldn't be able to handle the pain much longer so she pushed one last time hoping it would be enough. As she was finally giving up feeling her eyes slowly closing Jane was suddenly brought back to reality by the most beautiful voice she ever heard.
"Congratulations ladies, he's gorgeous." Dr Thomas said as she stood up holding their son in her arms.
"Oh Jane...he's..."Feeling the tears streaming down her face Maura was overwhelmed by feelings of happiness and extreme pride. After being raised to hide her emotions and stay stoic in any situation she couldn't hide her emotions anymore, after years of feeling lonely and fearing that she was going to die alone Maura had a family, a son and a wife who adored her and who she loved more than anything in the world and for whom she would give her life.
"Is he alright?"Slightly opening her eyes Jane was able to see her son, to hear him cry literally opening his little arms towards them.
"Yes he is, Maura, would you like to clamp and cut the umbilical cord?"Dr Thomas offered handing Maura the cord clamp knowing how important this procedure was to her.
"Yes Please." Holding the cord clamp in her hand, clamping the cord first and cutting it afterwards Maura's hand were surprisingly steady, she wasn't shaking or scared, she was amazed by how energetic her son eyes and how deep his eyes already were.
"Alright Jane, the nurse is going to take your son away for a couple of minutes to clean him up alright?In the mean time I'm going to help you expulse the placenta . The good new is that he's fully detached from the uterine wall so I won't have to inject you with oxytocin so just relax alright?"Dr Thomas said walking away with the baby in her arms.
"Did you see how adorable he already is?Jane?"Maura asked taking her gloves off.
"Yeah he's a Rizzoli, he's probably gonna break hearts later on."Jane muttered closing her eyes finally allowing herself body to shut down.
"Poor thing."Maura pouted kissing Jane's head as she witnessed her fiancee quickly falling asleep after spending over an hour pushing giving birth to their son without an epidural.
"She is courageous, trust me I have been there and giving birth without the epidural is excruciating. Now that the placenta is out, how about I go check on your son while my resident takes care of Jane?"Dr Thomas offered taking her gloves off.
"Okay."Nodding Maura was unable to keep her eyes off Jane, her courage and devotion were no secret to her but what she had just witnessed, that gift she had given her was probably the most courageous thing she had ever done.
A few minutes later Dr Thomas came back holding the baby's in her arm wrapped in a blanket.
"Here he is. He was completely checked out and is perfectly healthy, congratulation Maura. Have you finally found a name?"Dr Thomas asked gently dropping the baby in his mother's warm arms.
"Louis Rizzoli-Isles."Maura smiled gently kissing his forehead jiggling him from side to side.
"That's a wonderful name."
"Please don't tell me you want to name our son after a french king?"Jane mumbled slowly opening her eyes.
"Yes I do. Louis the 14th was and still is the longest reigning monarch in the history of european monarchy and was also known as the "Sun King" and looking at our little angel here I think that's a name that would fit him very well. Besides you told me I would be able to choose the name, so don't even start arguing with me here." Maura replied sitting on the edge of Jane's bed.
"Alright, alright Louis it is. He's an Isles after all so he's almost royalty anyway . Do you mind if I hold him for a minute before my mother barges in?"Sitting up in bed after only a few minutes of rest Jane was both emotionally exhausted but was determined to hold her son before taking any rest even if it was only for a couple of minutes.
"Sure. Here you go, hold his head."Maura replied delicately handing the precious child to Jane.
"Oh he's...Oh Maura, how did we managed this?"Literrally feeling her arms melting as she was holding her son in her arms Jane's suddenly forgot about all the pain she has been through over the past few hours and the doubts that 8 months ago almost pushed her towards abortion.
"I didn't do anything Jane...You did all the heavy lifting, thank you." Maura sobbed rubbing Louis little face with her thumb.
"No, thank you. If you hadn't been there to convince me that I would make a good mother I would have aborted, thank you so much for everything you did for us Maura. I love you."Jane replied leaning over pressing her lips against Maura's.
"I love you too. We're a family now and I promise I'm going to take care of both of you until death to us part."Maura replied her voice slightly shaking.
Holding each other Jane, Maura and the little Louis almost forgot the presence of the Doctor who was stitching Jane up. Finally together the little family couldn't hear or see anything around them, all they knew was that they were going to love and take care of each other for the rest of their lives knowing that no evil biological father, no serial killer or mobster could take them appart as long as they had each other. Holding their son both Maura and Jane forgot about the fears that had been haunting them for the past 8 months, the baby was healthy, Jane had given birth without any complication and Dean had waived his parental rights so Maura could adopt Louis. Yes trying to recover both physically and emotionally the two mothers had a feeling that this moment was not the end of the journey for them but rather the beginning of the longest, toughest and most fulfilling journey someone could take : parenthood and they couldn't wait to take the little Louis home to finally enjoy him and start building the rest of their lives together as a family.
Alright guys what do you think?I know this chapter could have been better but after writing two birth for other stories I wasn't inspired to write more and I didn't want to hurt either Jane or the baby cause that would have not been originial. I think the real challenge is going to be the next few months, how they're going to deal with raising a baby, how it's probably going to hurt their relationship, how 's jane is going to respond the post natal pain...Will Maura stay home for ever?Will Jane go back to work as soon as possible?Will Dean show up?Those are questions I have not dealt with in "I almost lost you."
Should be fun and interesting...
PS: What do you think about the name?