Author's Note: So...here we are WAY earlier than usual. Since I'm updating now, I doubt I'll be updating this upcoming weekend as I have two papers that I need to do.

The response to the last chapter was sort of...meh. The reviews I did get were great, and thank you so much for reviewing! I certainly hope I get a bit of a better response to this chapter.

The song for this chapter is Imagine by John Lennon.

And as usual, I don't own/have anything to do with Skins.


Chapter 29: Imagine

Thursday, April 18th, 2014

"Ems," You whispered in my ear, disturbing me from sleep. I groaned and shrugged your arm off my shoulder. I hadn't been able to sleep well all night because you were tossing and turning and huffing and puffing because you couldn't get comfortable. You were almost two weeks overdue and were constantly uncomfortable. To say that your bump was rather big now would be like saying the Titanic hit a rather small iceberg. I tried my best to understand what you were going through, how uncomfortable it can be for your body to be carrying an extra thirty-five pounds. You put your hand on my shoulder and shook me roughly. "Ems!"

"Whaddaya wan', Naoms?" I muttered, still half asleep.

"I've been having contractions for the last two hours and they're now less than five minutes apart," you whispered back. My heart stopped. "My waters haven't broken yet."

With that, I sat up straight in bed and zoomed into action. I grabbed my cell phone and my robe, putting it on hastily while I phoned Anna. You got out of bed and went into the living room, walking much slower than usual and stopping before you made it to the staircase to hold onto the banister for support while you worked through a contraction. The phone rang four times before I got through.

"Hello," Anna answered, sounding horribly groggy. I looked at the clock and noted that it was four in the morning.

"Anna, it's Emily. Naomi's gone into labour. She's been having contractions for the last two hours and they're less than five minutes apart. Her waters haven't broken yet," I said, spewing out the facts as I walked into the nursery to check and see if Katie and Effy's lights were on. They were. Owen wasn't sleeping through the night just yet and I knew he usually woke up for a feeding at about this time.

"Okay, I'm on my way. We still have some time. Don't worry too much, Emily. I'll be there within the next hour," Anna replied. I hung up and walked back over to you. You were still working through a contraction and holding onto the banister for support.

"You okay?" I whispered as I pushed the palm of my hand into your lower back. You eased up slightly when I applied enough pressure, but didn't respond. When the contraction was over, you moved back into the bedroom and put your bathing suit on underneath your robe. You walked downstairs silently and I heard you starting to pump up the birthing pool. I put on my slippers and rushed down the stairs, peeking in the living room to see you sitting on the birthing ball I bought for you all those months ago, and Libby trying to figure out how the hell the pump for the birthing pool was working. I told you I was headed over to Katie and Effy's and received no response before I left. I ran across our adjoined front gardens in just my slippers and robe and knocked on the front door with a ring of urgency. Katie answered a few moments later, holding a half-awake Owen.

"Naomi's gone into labour," I said quickly. "She won't speak to me."

Effy climbed down the stairs, obviously still in her pyjamas, much like Katie was. She walked over to us and silently took Owen out of Katie's arms.

"You go for now," Effy said, looking at Katie who was pale with panic, much like she'd been at Owen's birth. "I'll finish feeding Owen and put him back to sleep. Come back in about an hour and I'll go over and stay until Naomi delivers or Owen needs feeding again, whichever happens first."

Katie nodded and grabbed her cell phone and house keys. Effy looked at me and smiled comfortingly. She wrapped me into a hug that squashed Owen between us, though he didn't make a single noise. Owen wasn't a very fussy baby. He rarely cried and spent quite a lot of his time sleeping and eating.

"Don't worry if she isn't speaking to you, Em. You know Naomi. She's probably going somewhere in that head of hers to try to escape the pain and prepare herself and she won't be able to focus on talking to you. I'll be over soon," Effy said, kissing me gently on the cheek. I leaned down and smoothed Owen's full head of hair before kissing him lightly on the forehead. He smelled of milk and spit and baby. It was an odd combination that made my heart melt. I loved that smell. Katie kissed her wife and son and we left, walking back across our adjoining front lawns and into my house.

I found you and Libby almost exactly where I left the two of you. You were sitting on your birthing ball and obviously going through another contraction, and Libby had jumped into the now fully inflated birthing pool and was sitting inside, watching you intently.

"Libby!" I scolded. "Get out of there!"

And Libby hopped right back out and walked over to sit next to Katie's feet. I walked over and helped you reposition yourself, in hopes that you might feel more comfortable. Katie showed me a few of the massages she used on Effy while she had been in labour and I began to use them on you, though you still weren't speaking. Katie settled herself right in, giving me tips on where I should put more pressure on your back and where I should have more of a gentle touch.

I was an absolute nervous wreck. What if something went wrong? What if we didn't have all the things we needed for Elouise? What if Anna didn't make it on time? Should I start filling up the birthing pool so you could get in there now? Should I check to see how dilated you were? How did I even do that? Your contractions were getting closer together and much stronger than before and I was seriously worried that I was going to have to deliver this baby myself and potentially ruin my brand new carpet in the living room. It seemed that with each passing contraction, I was becoming more and more worried. With you not speaking to me, I didn't have anyone to pull me out of my head and laugh at me for getting myself so worked up. You are the only thing I have in this world that really and truly matters to me, and without you, I realized that it was difficult to remember how to be the best version of myself. You were breathing heavily, an indication that you were having yet another contraction when Anna burst into the house and saved me from bursting into tears.

Anna went straight to work and started filling up the birthing pool, insisting that you got in there as soon as possible. You complied, not saying a single word while you did, though. I helped you out of your robe and into the pool, and I could tell that you were silently grateful for my help. Katie left a short while later, and Effy came over a few minutes after Katie left. Effy and I tried our best to help you through the contractions while Anna fussed about getting things ready.

"This is going to take much longer than Effy's birth did," Anna replied. "We might not have a baby here until tonight."

Upon hearing this, you let out a single groan. I know how you feel – I want this to be over as quickly as possible, too.

That groan was the only noise you made all day long – you didn't say a word while we added more hot water to the pool, or while Effy made breakfast for the both of us, or while I tried to feed you scrambled eggs. I only managed to feed you a little bit. I could tell you weren't hungry and were too scared and in too much pain to eat.

Effy left to feed Owen four times, always returning about half an hour later. You had your eyes closed most of the time, as though you were in some kind of meditative trance throughout the whole labour. When you did look at me, the blue eyes I knew and loved were filled with fear, and love and excitement. I knew that feeling well, as those feelings were echoed in my own eyes. We both looked at each other with fear, love and excitement on our wedding day, and we were doing it again today.

Elouise didn't start to crown until just past dinner time that evening. You didn't scream like Effy did (thank goodness, because it may have killed me to hear you scream in pain, my love), but you did grab my hands and look at me the whole time as your eyes (and my eyes) filled with unshed tears. Your pain is my pain, Naomi. I whispered words of encouragement to you, trying my best to be brave and strong for you, just like you'd been strong and brave for me so many times. You had already decided at our last midwife appointment that you weren't going to push unless you felt the need to, so all we had to do now was wait. Anna checked the baby's heartbeat periodically.

"This baby sure seems reluctant to be born," Anna joked almost an hour after Elouise had crowned. You closed your eyes and bit your lip, a sure sign that you were worried. I was worried, too.

"Is that something we should be worried about?" I asked, a tone of urgency filling my voice as I rubbed your back and pushed your hair away from your sweat-covered forehead.

"No, everything's fine. The baby's heartbeat is normal and Naomi is progressing, just slowly. I'd say we'll have Elouise out in 30-45 minutes from now."

And Anna was right. Almost exactly forty-five minutes after she said those words, you were holding our blonde-haired, blue-eyed daughter, who was positively screaming her head off and she sounded pissed. You smiled at me and leaned over to kiss me while Anna took a quick examination of our daughter.

"You did it," I said proudly against your lips. I felt you smile into our kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too," You replied, the first words you'd said all day long. Anna handed our daughter back to you and smiled at me.

"Would you like to cut the cord?" She asked, holding out a pair of scissors to me. I grimaced, though you laughed and urged me to 'just cut the damn thing'. So, I did. I cut the cord while you watched and tried to quiet our screaming daughter. You handed her to me after a few minutes. Anna urged me to leave the room and get Elouise bundled up while you had to deliver the placenta. Oddly enough, I wasn't disgusted by the thought – nothing about you disgusted me.

I held our daughter and stared at her in complete wonder while I put her nappy on. Anna had advised me not to put any clothes on her just yet. Elouise was staring at me with eyes that were just like yours. Her hands were balled up into little fists, as though that same passionate fire that burned in you also burned in our daughter. I swaddled her in a blanket, just like you'd taught me the first time we babysat Owen together. The swaddling seemed to calm Elouise down quite a bit. I traced my index finger gently over her face. I know she's still small, Naoms, and her face might change but I think she has your nose. Have I ever told you how much I love your nose? Maybe I didn't realize how much I love your nose until I saw it on the face of our daughter.

I walked downstairs with Elouise swaddled and cosy in my arms. You were finally out of that birthing pool and were wrapped up in a fluffy housecoat Effy must have thought to get for you. You walked over to me and wrapped your arms around us. You looked down at our daughter and smiled, your eyes welling up.

"She has your lips, Em," you whispered, making my own eyes well up. "Just like I imagined."

I know it isn't possible for her to have my lips, and I know you know that, too. But as soon as you said that, every doubt I had fled my mind. Our daughter was ours and nobody else's.


Author's Note: Please don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you thought!