AN: Sorry this has taken so long to get out. Hopefully ff won't give me any trouble when I try to post it.
The heat of summer was starting to affect everyone. Jack lay draped over the back of the couch with his shirt tossed over the back beside him. Jen sat next to him fanning herself with a magazine. It didn't help that the AC at the B&B was broken or that Bessie was having trouble finding someone to fix it. Pacey had offered to fix it but Bessie refused remembering the broken furnace from the year before. There were some things that Pacey just couldn't fix. Joey stood at the refrigerator with the freezer door open basking in the cold air. She was the only person that Bessie would let do it, because you do not deny a pregnant woman who is a week from her due date relief from the heat.
Mitch walked through the door carrying his toolbox and shook his head at the teenagers in the living room. He made his way to the back of the house wondering how none of them had driven Bessie crazy yet. He checked the vents first before going outside to check the unit. Ten minutes later the air conditioner kicked in. Bessie stopped just as he was about to leave.
"What did you do?"
"If just needed freezer fluid. It's like a car, you have to check that every year before you turn it on."
"I'll remember that for next year. Thanks Mitch."
"Don't mention it." He said opening the door.
Joey made her way into the living room as Bessie shut the door. She had a look of anguish on her face making Bessie wonder if something was wrong. She winced in pain making Jack and Jen stand from the couch.
"It's the babies isn't it?" Bessie asked putting her hands on Joey's stomach.
Joey nodded clinching her eyes shut.
"Jack, go get Pacey. He's out back." Bessie said pointing out the back door.
Pacey was inside a few seconds later helping Joey sit down on the couch.
"Do you think it's time?"
"I don't think so. My water hasn't broke."
"They could be Braxton Hicks contractions. Do you want to go to the hospital just in case?" Bessie asked running a hand through Joey's hair.
Joey nodded silently. Pacey and Jack helped her up then led her out to the truck. Bessie climbed behind the drivers seat as Pacey sat on the other side. Jen and Jack promised that they would stay Bodie got home then they would go to the hospital. Joey watched them through the rearview mirror hoping that this was a false alarm. She still had things she had to do before the babies came. There were last minute touches that needed to be done to their room. She knew she shouldn't have waited until the last minute to get them done.
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Late that night Joey lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. The babies were moving around more than normal. The doctor said that they were more than likely getting into transition. So it wouldn't be much longer before they were born. He had assured Joey that it would be within the next few days. He had added that he wouldn't be surprised if she were back in twenty-four hours. Would it really be that soon?
Jen and Jack had finished the room that afternoon so everything was ready. All they needed were the babies. Joey had thought long and hard about the two names she had come up with. She'd had dozens of names running through her mind before she finally found two she liked. Naming a baby was never easy, naming two of them was absolute torture.
She felt a sharp pain as one of them kicked her with all the strength they had. It steadily got worse to the point that Joey gritted her teeth to keep from crying out in pain. She sat up trying not to wake Pacey. He turned over blinking sleepily.
"You okay?"
"I'm not sure." Joey said taking a deep breath.
"What's wrong?" He asked sitting up.
"Right now it's just a jabbing pain. I thought that maybe one them was poking me, but it's getting worse."
"Do you want to get up and walk around?"
Usually that helped, but Joey had a feeling that it wouldn't do much good this time. But she was willing to try anything. She nodded as she held out her hand so that Pacey could help her up. She made her way down the hall as Pacey went to wake Bessie up. She felt something wet run down her leg and she groaned in frustration. Bessie came into the room rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"It's time." Joey said just above a whisper.
"Are you sure?" Bessie asked with a yawn.
"Unless the puddle on the floor is from ice cubes that melted I'd say yes." Joey said sarcastically.
"Sorry. Don't panic, Pacey get her out to the truck. Her bag is by the door. I'm going to tell Bodie we're leaving."
A nurse was helping her into a wheelchair twenty minutes later as Bessie and Pacey filled out paper work. Another contraction hit her making her grab the arms of the chair to keep her mind off the pain. It was times like this when she wished her mom were still around. Bessie was a great guardian, but she wasn't half the mom their mom had been. Pacey crouched in front of her trying to get her to look at him. Her eyes snapped open as he put a hand over hers. She smiled at him weakly trying to let him know that she appreciated that he was there.
Bessie was on the phone calling everyone she could think of. Joey could hear her apologizing again and again for calling so early and then say thank you to who she was talking to. She sat next to Joey taking hold of one of her hands. She squeezed it letting Joey know that she was there for her.
"Who were you talking to?"
"Gail. She's on her way. She said she'd call everyone else first thing in the morning. You'll probably still be in labor then."
Joey hoped not. She remembered when Bessie was in labor. But Bessie had it a lot worse. She hadn't been able to get to a hospital, she didn't have any medication, and she'd had Alexander on the Leery's living room floor. Joey counted her blessings that she was able to at least have something to take away the pain when it got too bad.
Joey rested her head on Pacey's shoulder as they waited to be admitted. Gail came in ten minutes later and sat with them as doctors and nurses rushed past them.
"Mrs. Potter?" A nurse said from the desk.
"Yes?" Joey said just above a whisper.
"We have a room ready for you. Mr. Witter would you come with us?"
Pacey pushed the wheelchair down the hall following the nurse silently. Thoughts were rushing in and out of his mind faster than he was used to. He remembered the first time he met Joey. How she had pushed him to the ground because he had taken one of her dolls and ripped the head off. He thought about when he had realized that he had feelings for her. It wasn't one moment, but a handful of them together. The talks they'd had the summer before, the time spent on the dock looking across at Dawson's in silence. How he had been her shoulder to cry on because she couldn't understand what she had done to push Dawson away.
It was strange how things could turn around in the course of a year. Dawson was still in the picture, but not the way any of them had expected him to be. Pacey had been Joey's rock and swooped in just when she needed him. He was always there, no questions asked. Joey wasn't used to that.
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By eight o' clock that morning things had changed. Joey was only three centimeters dilated. After being there for four hours she was starting to get restless. Grams had shown up with Jen and Jack at six. The two of them looked like the living dead but they were there. Jack had been able to get in touch with Andy and she was on her way over. So far no one had been able to talk to Dawson or Mitch though. Dawson was known for sleeping through the phone ringing, but Mitch wasn't.
Pacey sat next to the bed trying to sleep while a nurse came to check on Joey. She looked up with a smile before letting the blanket fall back down.
"You've dilated some more. You're five centimeters."
"At least it's something." Joey said under her breath.
The nurse left a minute later as Grams came in. She stood by the bed looking down at Joey. Joey still had her reservations about her, even if she hadn't turned out to be a witch. She smiled warmly before putting a hand on Joey's arm.
"You will be a wonderful mother. A little younger than most, but that just means that you'll have more experience."
"Thank you Mrs. Ryan." Joey said with returning her smile.
Gail walked into the room followed by Dawson before Evelyn could respond.
"I told you I would eventually get a hold of them." Gail said rolling her eyes.
Joey let out a laugh as Pacey shifted in his seat. He opened his eyes and the first person he saw was Dawson. He sat up a little straighter as Gail sat on the edge of the bed. Dawson walked over to him and knelt by the chair.
"Do you want to get out of here? Maybe get something to eat?"
"Go Pacey, I'll come find you if something happens." Gail said nodding her head.
Pacey followed Dawson across the room stopping just before he walked out the door. He looked over his shoulder at Joey smiling at how happy she looked. He had made that look happen. And he was going to try like hell to make her happy for as long as she would let him.
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They had all been in the waiting room waiting to hear something. Joey had been wheeled into the delivery room almost an hour ago. Jen sat in between Grams and Jack as Gail paced up and down the hall.
"Shouldn't she have had them by now?" Jen asked looking at Grams.
"It depends. She could be having complications."
"They would come and tell us if that happened." Gail said shaking her head.
"I wish Bessie or Pacey would come out and tell us something." Andy said from the corner.
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After being in labor for eight hours it was finally time to push. It wouldn't be much longer. Bessie stood on one side helping Joey hold up her legs while Pacey was on the other with a washcloth wiping the sweat off of Joey's forehead with one hand and holding her hand with the other. His knuckles had turned white but she wasn't crushing them. It was a small price to pay for the pain she was going through. She had opted out when the doctor had offered her something for the pain. If her mom and sister could do it without drugs than so could she.
A surge of pain ripped through Joey as she pushed with everything she had. Her lower body felt like it was on fire and that it was being ripped in half just before she heard a blood curdling scream. She let out a sigh of relief as the first baby was held up for her to see. It was taken away to be weighed and measured as she felt another contraction hit. She sucked in a deep breath as she pushed again. The contraction subsided as Bessie looked down at Joey.
"The baby is beautiful." She said with tears in her eyes.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" Joey asked as another contraction hit.
"I'll let you find out when they bring it over."
The same pain from before ripped through and she knew that the other baby was out. She let out a sigh of relief as Pacey checked to see the baby.
"They're both perfect." He said before kissing her forehead.
"When can I see them?"
"As soon as they're weighed and measured." The nurse said helping Joey lower her legs from the stirrups.
"I am so proud of you." Pacey said just above a whisper.
Joey looked over to where the babies were to see Bessie taking pictures. One of the babies was wrapped in a blanket and the nurse brought it over to Joey. She placed the baby in her arms and Joey felt tears forming in her eyes.
"Meet your son Mrs. Potter." The nurse said smiling down at the baby.
Joey laughed as she ran a finger down the baby's cheek. It was hard to tell who looked like but that didn't matter now. She was just glad that she was able to finally hold him. The nurse brought the other baby over as Joey adjusted the baby in her arms. Pacey laid next to her in bed looking down at his family.
"You have a beautiful baby girl."
"Can you believe this?" Joey asked excitedly.
"No." Pacey said with a laugh.
"I can't believe they're finally here."
"Should we tell everybody?"
"We should name them first."
"Yeah, what are their names?" Bessie asked standing beside the bed again."
"You go first." Joey said looking at Pacey.
"Gabriel Carter Witter."
"And Ella Grace Witter."
"I love both names." Bessie said wiping tears from her eyes.
Bessie left the room and soon Gail and Evelyn came into the room. They fussed over the babies as Jen, Jack, Dawson and Andy watched from the door. Jen and Jack came in next as Dawson and Andy said that they would come in next.
"We have a favor to ask of you two." Joey said watching the two of them.
Jack held Gabriel and Jen held Ella as Pacey sat next to Joey.
"Any time you want one us of to baby sit you know we will." Jack said making faces at Gabriel.
"It's more important than that." Joey said with a laugh.
"We want you to be their Godparents." Pacey said trying to be serious.
"Are you serious?" Jen asked looking up.
"You don't if you don't want to." Joey said giving them worried looks.
"Are you crazy? Of course we want to! Well, I do." Jack said handing Gabriel to Pacey.
"Count me in too." Jen said nodding.
Dawson stood at the door watching the four friends interact. Things were changing so fast that he felt like he couldn't keep up. But they were changing for the better. Pretty soon they would be starting school again. And then next year they would leave to go to college. Would the six of them stay friends? He didn't know, he had them now; that was all that mattered.
AN2: Only the Epilogue is left. I have another story I want to work on after I finish this one. But there won't be a sequel to this. At least I don't think so. As usual, let me know what you think.
