August 18th started out as any other morning recently. Addison had just begun her maternity leave a few days prior, so she didn't rush out of bed as she normally did. She kissed Zed goodbye as he headed out to work and then she sat to watch some 80's shows. She had been having slight contractions for a couple of days so when she experienced another one, it didn't concern her much.

Addison went into the kitchen to pour a bowl of cereal when another contraction hit, this one harder.

She grabbed the chair for a moment and then stood up. "Well, ok. That wasn't too bad. Settle down there, little miss," she said to the baby.

After watching some more TV, she went back to the kitchen for some more cereal when another contraction hit, this one slightly harder still.

"Well, maybe now I'll start getting concerned," she sighed. She sat in the kitchen chair and rested a moment. Once she felt better again, she stood up, but this time she was met with a mess.

"Ok!" she screeched. "Ok, now we get concerned!"

Addison grabbed her phone and quickly dialed Zed.

"Why hello, gorgeous. What's up?" he answered.

"Zed! Wa… broke… sure… to do… Home!" was all he could hear.

"Addy? What? You keep breaking up."

"Wat… oke! ime…. Go!"

"Hold on. I'm going to get out of the lab and call you back."

She groaned in frustration and went to get cleaned up. "He'll figure it out," she mumbled as she changed and grabbed her pre-packed bag and sat on the couch.

Zed only worked about 10 minutes away, so Addison wasn't too worried. About a minute later, he burst through the door, phone to his ear.

"Addy! Why aren't you answering?"

She took the phone from him and glanced at the screen.

"You didn't hit 'send,' dear. Everything ok?" she asked sweetly.

"Um, no! Not if you were trying to tell me your water broke!"

"Well, it's gonna have to be ok," she said as she patted his cheek. "Should I drive?" she asked sweetly as she handed him the bag and went out the door.

"Addison!" he chastised as he followed.

Once they got to the hospital (thankfully in one piece after Zed's panicky driving) and all checked into a room, Zed flopped into the chair.

"How are you so calm?" he asked.

"I'm not. But if I start freaking out like you, then we're screwed."

"I'm not freaking out!" Zed protested.

"You couldn't remember our last name when we got here," Addison teased.

"Well, to be fair, it's really long!"

"Yes, dear, it is."

He stuck his tongue out at her. "Are you feeling any better?"

"For the moment. But the contractions are definitely coming quicker. Where's the doctor? We need to talk epidurals here."

"Do you want me to go look for him?"

"No. Not yet. Maybe soon."

"You want some of those yummy ice chips the nurse was talking about?" Zed asked.

"Pass. I'm glad I ate before this all started."

"Well, if you want some, maybe we can pretend they're steak!"

"Maybe you can pretend ice chips are steak. To me, they are definitely just frozen water bits."

He shrugged, unsure of how to make her feel better about it. But just then, a contraction hit and Addison whined in pain. Zed rubbed her back, but felt absolutely useless as he watched his wife go through this. Somehow, telling her to "breathe" just didn't seem all that helpful.

Once it was over, Addison was quiet for a moment. "Zed, I'm scared."

"Of what? I know I've been accused of being fearless, but that's you, gorgeous. You've got this!"

"What if I don't? What if I can't do this? What if the epidural doesn't work? What if I can't get her out? What if I do get her out and I'm still a lousy mother? It's not like I had a fantastic loving model! What if—"

"Addy, stop right there. Now you've reached freaking out and we can't have 2 of us freaking out. Listen to me." He took both of her hands into his. "You can do this. The meds will work. You will get her out because you are a warrior! And you are already a fantastic mother. You are the most nurturing person I know! You're always taking care of our group and, let's face it; you're always taking care of me."

"I don't know about that…"

"No, you are. What little I remember about my mom is that she was so much like you: caring, strong, diligent, not afraid to keep us in line, but so patient with us too, willing to take a backseat to everyone else's needs. Oh, Addison, you are the perfect mom. And this little girl is so lucky to have you."

Addison burst into tears and covered her face with her hands. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry I made you think about your mom!"

"What? No. No, Addy, that was not the point of that story!" He took her hands away from her face and replaced them with his own, forcing her to look at him. "I'm glad I brought her up. I want to think of her today! God, she would have loved you so much! She would probably have taken you and Zoey to spa dates and have slumber parties. But more than anything, she would have loved to see that big ol' belly of yours—" He stopped at Addison's glare. "Pregnant belly! Adorable, regular sized, pregnant belly! Ok, still, she would be over the moon to be a Grandma and she'd be so happy that you were giving her that chance."

Just then, Zevon spoke from the doorway. "He's right you know. She would have been doing a little dance today. She'd be sitting here helping with your breathing and telling you about her labor with this one." He jutted his thumb at Zed and laughed. "And she'd be smiling… Oh, she'd be smiling." He paused for a second. "But Addy, she is here. She's thrilled with how happy you've made our boy. Because I sure am."

"Pops!" Addy whined happily. "Thank you!" She turned to Zed. "And thank you too. I love you."

"I love you too, gorgeous."

He took her hands again and instantly regretted it as a contraction began and she squeezed him tightly.

"Addy, whoa, is it time to get the doctor?" he said, trying to keep the pain from his voice.

"Get me drugs," she growled just before the pain began to subside.

"On it!" Zed said as he ran from the room.

Zevon chuckled quietly. From day one, he always thought Addison reminded him of his sweet wife. Today was no different.

"Addy," he said, approaching with caution. "Do you want me to call anyone?"

"Could you call Eliza? She can tell everyone else. We only called you and my parents so far."

"Yep, I'll definitely tell her. But I'll tell them to wait, yeah?"

"Yeah. Things are a little moody here, and I'd rather not have everyone see me like this."

Zevon sat next to her. "Everything you're doing is completely normal. And listen, Zed is strong, so don't feel like you need to hold back on him. If you want to scream, do it. Cry, squeeze his hand, sit in silence, whatever. He wants to be here for you, and I'm guessing he doesn't know how. And I'm guessing that because I was the same way."

Zed returned then. "Ok, anesthesiologist is on her way and Dr. Grate will be in to check on you in about 15 minutes."

Addison sighed. "Ok, I like a plan."

Zevon stood. "All right. I'm going to call Eliza and have her spread the word. And I'll be out in the waiting room if you need anything. Addison, I'll send your parents along when they get here."

"No rush. I'd rather you be here anyway," she replied.

Her father-in-law didn't know how to respond to that without crying, so he nodded, kissed the top of Addison's head, clapped Zed on the shoulder, and left.

Finally, the anesthesiologist entered and made Addison one of the happiest moms on the planet.

Her nurse came in and checked the monitors. "How are you feeling, hun?"

"Feeling good. Why?" Addison replied.

"Because you're having a doozy of a contraction right now!"

"I am?" Addison happily asked.

The nurse could only grin. "Yep! Those meds are amazing, yeah? Okee doke. I'm going to check on my other mama and then I'll be back."

Addison nodded and she turned on the TV.

The hours passed and Addison's parents and Zed's dad wandered in and out, checking on them. Eliza and Bree texted constantly asking for updates.

Zed grumbled as he checked his phone. "Honestly, do they not understand, 'I'll text you when she's here?' What else do they want to know? 'Addy said no to the ice chips again'? Geez…"

"They mean well?" Addison attempted.

"They mean to drive me insane. And it's working!"

"Look, they stalked us when they thought we might have eloped. Of course they're going to keep tabs now. This is how they operate."

At that moment, Dr. Grate returned. "Well, let's see how things are progressing, yeah?" He did a quick examination and found that, "I think you're about ready there, Addison. You ready to have a baby?"

"If I say no, will it change anything?" Addison replied, only half-joking as things started happening very quickly around her.

"Um, no."

"That's kinda what I figured," Addison sighed.

"Ok, keep breathing, and push for as long as we count. Get ready and… push!"

Zed grabbed her hand and counted her through each push. He whispered encouragement and I love yous into her ear. During her brief breaks, he would softly and slowly sing "Someday" to her. Anything to relax her even a little bit.

And finally, a cry was heard and a squirmy, squishy baby was put onto Addison's chest.

She sobbed with happiness as she first looked at their sweet daughter.

"Oh, Zed! She's perfect!"

"She is, she really is!"

"Hi, sweet girl," Addison sobbed.

And Zed cried right along with her as he cut the cord.

When the nurse took the baby away for cleanup and measuring, Addison grabbed Zed's shirt. "You stay with her and make sure she's ok," she commanded.

"You got it," he replied.

True to his word, he never left the baby's side, even when the nurses really wanted him out of the way. And when she was returned to her mama's arms, Zed sat as close as he could to his girls.

Dr. Grate smiled at the couple. "Look, I know your family and friends are probably chomping at the bit to know her name, but I'm just as curious. Can you tell now? I promise I'll let them think they learned first!"

Addison laughed at the doctor's pleading. "Ok! We'd like you to meet Zara Hope Necrodopolous."

"It's a beautiful name! Any significance?"

"Zara was my mother's name," Zed answered. "And it means princess, so there's that. And Hope, well, that part's obvious."

Dr. Grate held out his arms and Addison reluctantly handed the baby back over. He smiled down on the infant. (A moment that Zed happily caught in a picture.) "Well, hello, little Zara. You are a beautiful little girl and I know how much your Mommy and Daddy love you. I want you to live up to that big name they gave you. But I know you will. Princess Hope… you're going to bring hope to a lot of people. I'm so glad I got to meet you."

He placed a gentle kiss to the baby's forehead and gave her to Zed.

"Your mom would be very proud, I'm sure," the doctor said.

Zed could only nod as he stared down at his daughter.

Dr. Grate cleared his throat to keep from getting emotional. "Well, they'll move you to a room soon and I'll be in to check on you later. Congratulations to all of you."

After he left, Zed gave the baby back to Addison so she could nurse. Addison was happy that things seemed to be going well with Zara and her duel heritage didn't seem to be affecting anything at all. Once she was done eating and was burped, Zara began to fall back to sleep.

Addison took the little pink and blue hat off her head to see her hair.

"Well, the old wives tale is true here. Heartburn equals a head full of hair. And she definitely got yours," Addison said with a laugh, showing off Zara's head full of green hair.

Zed laughed, though, as he noticed something. "Well, not entirely."

On either side of the baby's head was a strand of snow white hair.

"Looks like she got some of yours too."

Addison began to laugh as a memory hit her.

Zed quirked an eyebrow. "Care to share what's so funny?"

"Do you remember how we went to the Light Garden after the block party? And you said you wondered if our kids would have green and white striped hair?"

Zed joined her laughter at that. "Yeah, and I felt like an idiot for fear of scaring you off! But this is better than I expected. I kinda worried she'd look like a spearmint candy!"

"Well, there's no guarantee her hair will stay like this anyway. Who knows? It might get dark one day like your human hair."

Zed wanted to make a joke about his dark human hair and Addison's white hair giving their daughter skunk hair, but he wisely decided against it.

"Doesn't matter whose hair she ends up with," he told her. "She's going to be beautiful. Inside and out. She's a little bit of both worlds and completely awesome."

"We should talk to your dad or Dr. Zolbar about any zombie tendencies she might show. I don't know how soon after you were born you needed a Z-band."

"Pretty immediate from what I recall hearing, but she seems cool as a cucumber," Zed said happily.

"Yeah, she hasn't tried to eat me yet," Addison said with a tired laugh.

"Get some rest, gorgeous. You deserve it! I'll watch Zara and we'll be right here when you wake up. And then we'll text Eliza and once we're in the other room, we'll have her release the hounds."

"Ok." Addison didn't really want to pass Zara over, but she knew she really should share after all. And a nap, no matter how short, sounded heavenly.

As she drifted off to sleep, she heard Zed speaking softly to their newborn daughter and she couldn't help but smile.