Chapter 26

David had called Kendall and had informed her of the precious days' goings on. She hadn't reacted well to the news, but that was to be expected. She had told David that she would be there as soon as she could find a sitter. It took her all of about thirty minutes to make it to the hospital. When David noticed her in the doorway, he excused himself out of the room and into the hall.

While David was out talking to Kendall in the hall, that left Jake and Amanda withs some time alone. Amanda decided she could use this time to talk with him. Tell him some things that she needed him to know. Just in case.

"Jake, you love her right? And you always plan on being there for her?" She asked, trying to match her eyes with his.

It took a second or two to process what she was talking about. "you know I do and I will."

"If I don't make it" she pushed out, tears falling.

"Don't say that. Don't even talk like that. You're not going to die." He told her sternly.

"You know there is a good chance I won't make it out of here and I need to know that you'll take care of her, love her."

"You're going to be here for her too. You're going to watch her grow up, be a mother to her. So just stop, right now. If David heard you talking like this, he'd" Jake stopped, not sure exactly what he was going bring up.

"That's why I waited for him to leave. Please just promise me." She pleaded. She just needed to hear the words to know her daughter would be okay.

"I promise. But I hate to tell you, you're going to be stuck here, with me and Dave and our constant fighting. You know I'm a Martin and Haywards and Martins don't go together." he joked trying to get her mind away from the fear. It wasn't good for anyone to think like that.

"He loves her." She told him wiping what was left of her tears from her cheeks.

"You sure about that?" he questioned. He realized from the look on her face that she knew he did. "I'm sorry. I'm glad. She can use all the love she can get." "I'm glad you found love. Even though it is with David Hayward. I could tell the moment he first walked in here, that it killed him to see you like that. And the way he's been these last couple hours. I've never seen him like that. So pained. So vulnerable."

"Thank you. I know it's taking a lot for you to admit that David is in deed capable of love." She half smiled. She could tell another contraction had hit and that her daughter would be here soon. Dr. Greene had told her she only had about an hour until her daughter would be here. And she was more than grateful. It had been so long and she could feel her body seemingly shutting down. She was so tired, she knew it wasn't good.

"What's going on? How's the baby? I can't believe she's been in here for more than a day and no one called and told me!" Kendall ranted.

"Everything is okay for now. I'm sorry Kendall, I just, It's been one hell of a day."

"Oh David I'm sorry." She apologized and pulled him into a hug he wasn't expecting. "I know this has to be hard on you. Both of you."

"You have no idea. Seeing her in that bed. It's killing me."

"She's going to be okay. You know it and I know it. And that baby girl, she's going to be fine. Everything's going to work out. It has too."

"I wish I could think like you. Convince myself that everything's going to be okay. But I can't. Knowing what I know, my experience as a doctor, won't let me."

"Well I'll just have to do all the hoping and positive thinking for both of us. Now you go back in there and make sure my goddaughter makes it safely into the world. Yes I expect to be her godmother. I mean I'm going to be right?" She said with small smile.

"I'll have to talk with Amanda about that, but I'm sure she'll agree. I'll let you know when you can see her."

"Hey where'd you go?" Amanda asked when he came back in the room.

"Um, Kendall's here. I was letting her know what was going on."

"Kendall's here?" She asked, surprised. She hadn't even realized Kendall didn't know about any of this.

"I called her. I thought she should know what's going on."

"Thank you." She told him, taking his hand in hers.

Dr. Greene came in the room to check on her progression. To his surprise she was fully dilated and the baby would be here in the next few minutes. "Remember, no pushing. I'll take it from here."

David kissed her on the forehead. Her daughter would be here soon. Our daughter, he thought to himself. Both of his hands now on the hand he was holding.

Only five minutes went by while Dr. Greene worked on getting her out. It was the first cry they heard that let them know she was here. "You have a seemingly healthy baby girl Ms. Dillon, Dr. Martin." Jake was quick to see her, and cut the cord. The nurses had taken her. She was checked out and wrapped up and handed to Jake.

"Hey there baby girl. Welcome to the world." Jake said softly to his daughter. "you're your dad and this here is your mom." He said moving to Amanda.

As soon as she could see her daughter she fell in love with her, well again. She already loved her before she was born but seeing her that just made it all the more real for her.

"Hi." She said softly to the baby, tears falling down her cheeks.

"I hate to break this meeting short, but the NICU is waiting for her. I promise it will be a short time until you visit her again." Dr. Greene interrupted while one of the nurses took their daughter from Jake.

David watched Amanda with awe. She had worked so hard to get to this point and seeing her so happy made him feel like everything in his life finally made sense. Yes he hated the fact that Jake was the one sharing in this moment. It should have been him. At least that's what he wished, that it was himself holding their child for the first time. But it wasn't and it didn't make him feel like any less of a father to her. As long as they were both in his life he could get through it, knowing that he would be happy. No matter if they never had another child, one that was biologically theirs. He knew that he didn't need that anymore, because he loved them. It was the bells and alarms that jarred him from his thoughts. She was unconscious.

"Amanda? Amanda, talk to me!" He said listening for breath sounds and her chest rising. "She's not breathing. I…I need a number 7 ET tube!" He ordered the closest nurse, Dr. Greene, anyone. "You go be with her." He told Jake, who wanted to help. He wanted to stay, make sure that Amanda would be okay. He knew that he couldn't stay here though. So he hesitantly went up to the NICU to be with his daughter. She needed to know someone was there for her, and he wasn't going to let her down.