AN: Ok, folks! Here's the next installment! I hope it's alright and as always, please review and let me know what you all think.

tishbing

Chapter Thirty-Six

McCoy watched almost helplessly as the team lifted and shuffled Liz to the operating theater. Her protests went unheard as they laid her flat and cut away her clothing to expose her swollen abdomen to Dr. M'Benga who was prepped and ready to start. McCoy's hands rarely shook but right now they were fumbling to put on his mask and gown to be able to be next to Liz during her cesarean. The blaring biobed alarms did nothing to ease his struggles and he dropped his third mask on the floor.

"Goddammit!" He snarled.

A much steadier set of hands came from behind him and deftly tied his mask in place. He spun to meet Christine Chapel who was smiling brightly.

"Everything's going to be fine, Len. We got to her in time and M'Benga's confident that the baby will be ok. Thirty-five weeks is close enough to full term for there to be very little risk."

He tried to nod his head but all that resulted from his efforts was a twitch. She seemed to understand his nervousness and promptly shoved him in the small of the back to the table that Liz was laying on. Her arms held out to her sides in a T shape with monitors and equipment softly beeping and recording her bio signs. Her features were pale under the bright lights and she was as terrified as him. He could feel it rolling off of her in waves.

"Hey." He whispered and gripped her hand tightly. Her grip was much weaker than the last time and he absently noted the medications that Baker was pushing through her IV. His staff made him proud with how well trained they were.

"I didn't know when I chose to stay. I'm so sorry." She hiccuped as a sob tore through her.

He gently pressed a kiss to her forehead through the mask he was wearing and could feel the prickling of tears in his own eyes. He blinked them back.

"It's ok, Liz. You're here now and safe." He squeezed her hand again as if to convey his forgiveness.

"We're at the uterus now, Leonard. Did you want to cut the cord?"

M'Benga's voice wafted over the curtain separating him from the team working. He turned to Liz, silently asking permission and she gave a tired nod.

By the time he moved to the side of the bed, he could see M'Benga pulling and twisting the head and shoulders of a very tiny infant. His hands became numb and his heart started to beat hard against his ribs. Every fear came riding to the surface as he waited while M'Benga cleared the nose and mouth. There was no sound. The world seemed to stop and he could hear a rushing in his ears.

He watched M'Benga start to turn the baby and cut the cord himself. He quickly passed the limp bundle to Chapel's waiting arms where she immediately started briskly rubbing the bundle and placing an oxygen mask over the nose and mouth at a rarely used bassinet on the side. The bright heat lamp accentuating the blue tones of his child's skin.

"Chris?" He asked quietly.

He waited...and then he heard a tiny cough and wail. His legs wobbled as a wave of relief came over him. That cry was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard and this time he let his tears fall.

"Is she ok?" Liz's tired voice called out.

He hadn't even looked to see if it was a boy or a girl.

"She's perfect, Liz." Chris answered for him as she worked. She made fast work of swaddling the tiny, now pink bundle. Before she closed the blanket, Leonard reached out a hand to touch the tiny flailing fist and his breath caught when five tiny fingers closed around his own large digit.

Chapel finished her ministrations and picked up his daughter, holding her in one arm while she used her other to steer a very shell-shocked Leonard McCoy to a chair that had been placed by Liz's head. Once she pressed him into it, she gently placed the baby in his arms.

"Congratulations. Have you picked out a name?" Chapel enquired.

Leonard looked at Liz who had tears running down her own face as she looked at the precious cargo she had carried for eight months.

"I had wanted to name her Joanna. If that's ok?" She asked Leonard.

"That's a perfect name." He held the tiny bundle, that was now blinking green eyes at the bright lights, closer to him. "Joanna, it is."

It was another hour before everyone in sickbay had stabilized and they readied themselves for the jump to get home. He held tightly to Liz with one hand and Joanna's bassinet with the other as the ship shuddered and shook. Joanna's frightened cries became louder as equipment started to fall and lights sparked out all around them.

"Come on, Jim. Get us home." He prayed and squeezed tighter to his two charges.

The light above them shattered, sending sparks raining down on them. Liz screamed as a jolt ran through the ship, causing her to jerk against the safety harness. Her medical alarms screamed in vivid contrast to the calm that was now suddenly befalling the ship.

"Attention all hands. We have successfully exited the time stream and arrived home."

A cheer rose from everyone in the medical bay but Leonard's eyes were focused on Liz. She had his hand in a death grip, her jaw tense and her eyes were screwed shut with pain.

"It's ok. Don't worry. I've got you." He murmured gently and ran a hand through her curly hair.

"M'Benga! I need you." McCoy shouted over the din of celebrating officers.

It wasn't long before his colleague was running a tricorder over Liz's tense form and setting a series of tests going using the biobed to attain more sensitive readings. M'Benga gently lifted Liz's blanket and gown to palpitate her abdomen. A frown creased his dark features as he watched Liz's agonized reaction to his checks.

"Geoff? I can see her blood pressure dropping, her pulse climbing and she's in far more pain than she should be. She's bleeding." McCoy whispered harshly.

His grip on her hand turned vise-like as he waited for M'Benga to confirm what he already knew.

"Yes." He turned to Liz. "The jolt from the ship caused your internal stitches to tear."

Liz gripped back, just as tight and closed her eyes.

"We have to operate again. I'm sorry."

McCoy wanted to be with her but Chapel had come and ushered him away from her the second they had her sedated and back in the OR. He held the tiny baby that she had given him and absently rocked her while his gaze was fixed on the doors. He felt hollow.

"Bones?"

McCoy jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. His nerves were frayed beyond measure. Liz had been back there for over an hour and he hadn't been able to find out what was going on.

"Hey, Jim." He mumbled, still staring forward.

Kirk leaned into his line of vision as he kneeled in front of him.

"She's cute. She has your scowl." Kirk indicated the tiny bundle and gave a weak smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"She has Liz's eyes." He told Jim. He took a deep breath that ended in a choked sob.

"Oh God, Jim. What if we went through all of that just to lose her again?"

Just as Jim pulled him into a careful hug, the doors opened to a grim-faced M'Benga. He knelt down to McCoy and Kirk and he felt his heart drop.

"No." He whispered.

Geoff put a gentle hand on McCoy's other shoulder and took a deep breath. His throat seemed to close and it felt like his chest was being squeezed as he tried to hold it together.

"She's ok, Len. She lost a lot of blood and we had to do a partial hysterectomy but she'll be fine. Right now she needs to rest and so do you."

He felt the bands around his chest loosen and he was able to breath again but he stubbornly shook his head.

"No. I...I need to be there for her." His eyes blurred with tears he stubbornly refused to let fall. He held Joanna tighter as though Liz could feel him through their daughter.

M'Benga's dark brown eyes softened but he shook his head.

"Len, let us do our job. She's going to be asleep for a good eight hours after a post-op check."

He started to shake as the adrenaline in his system started to wane now that he knew Liz was going to be ok. Jim gently pried Joanna out of his arms and he slumped in on himself.

"I don't think I could sleep after today." He put his head in his hands and stared at his feet when he felt the prick to the side of his neck. His head snapped up to see Christine looking at him sympathetically.

"I...I have to be there for...for them."

The world started to go grey and he soon slumped over as sleep claimed him.

Kirk watched as Chapel and M'Benga carefully moved Bones onto a biobed next to Liz. He smiled when he realized that Chris had made sure that they would see each other the moment they woke. He regarded the small bundle he held and smiled. The baby yawned exposing a tiny tongue and mouth full of gums and blinked bright green eyes at him. A warm feeling settled in his chest at the sight of her. She really was too cute.

"Captain?"

He jerked up and screwed his face into a serious expression at Nurse Chapel's knowing look.

"Yes?" He cleared his throat.

"Would you like to feed Joanna?" She held out a small bottle of formula and washcloth to him which he took slowly.

"Well...only if you're too busy." He tried to shrug nonchalantly.

She smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Of course, captain. We really appreciate you helping us out." She said sarcastically and walked off laughing at his expression of disbelief.

It was a while later when Surok and Spock came down to the medical bay to see a spit-up covered captain. He was trying to wipe the mess off his uniform.

"Captain?" Spock questioned.

He gave up trying to clean his gold command tunic and pulled it off to just have on his black undershirt. Both vulcans eyed him with raised eyebrows and identical glints of amusement in their eyes.

"Yes?" He snapped.

Spock spoke first.

"The crew was concerned that they had not heard anything." He eyed the sleeping baby. "I surmise that everyone is in adequate health?"

"Miss Parker had some complications but she'll recover. Bones is sleeping and this" He waved a hand towards the bassinet. "is Joanna McCoy. All five pounds three ounces of her."

Surok nodded slowly, a small smile quirking his lips.

"It is as I had surmised. The universe is trying to repair itself, though in unexpected ways."

He viewed the sleeping couple near them with sad eyes.

"My own Dr. McCoy had a child named Joanna but it had been with his ex-wife Jocelyn. This version did not. The gift of parenthood shaped him in ways that this Leonard will benefit from. It will soften his brusque manner and the added bonus of having the woman he loves being a part of his life will help him heal from his past."

Jim frowned at that statement.

"So you knew?"

A slow nod from the aged Vulcan caused his frown to deepen.

"Then why did you erase the tricorders?" He asked.

Surok sighed and sat down next to Kirk.

"I know that if you had known this then that would have been the sole reason for your journey into the past. You and your crew needed to come up with a more valid reason than Miss Parker's pregnancy to have risked breaking the rules. Without that information you were able to find a way to adequately bend the rules to suit everyone's needs."

Kirk shook his head feeling a small bubble of irritation at being manipulated. Though the end result was a good one, he didn't appreciate being played.

"Jim, I know that you are angry with what I did but I assure you it was not out of a belief that you are incapable or unable to understand. I did it to ensure a successful outcome for all parties involved."

His irritation waned as he followed Surok's gaze to where Bones and Liz slept peacefully. He supposed he was right. He still had a bunch of paperwork, though. Trying to explain this was going to be a serious undertaking. Spock seemed to read his mind and stepped forward.

"I believe that we should work together on our mission reports and debriefing to ensure that they...correspond."

Kirk's face lit up in a smile.

"You're going to lie?"

Spock stiffened.

"No, captain. Vulcans do not lie. I merely wish to ensure the accuracy of our paperwork."

Kirk laughed and clapped a hand on his first officer's shoulder.

"Of course, Spock. Thanks from both Dr. McCoy and me."

Liz groaned and tried to move but her arms and legs were heavy. She felt a dull ache on her lower abdomen but it didn't seem to bother her. She felt...like she was floating. She could hear the sounds of people whispering around her and she slowly opened her eyes. The bright lights caused her to blink a few times to be able to focus and soon she saw a very haggard looking Leonard leaning over her. Deep purple crescents were under his eyes and his hair was sticking up on the side accentuating the crazed look in his eyes.

"Hi." She croaked. Her throat was raw and she still felt so tired.

"Hi."

He sounded as rough as her. A grin split his face and it helped him look younger. She could see the tension slowly start to ebb away in his shoulders and neck.

"Elizabeth Parker. You are never leaving my side again. You get into way too much trouble."

She huffed a small laugh, grimacing as her belly shook. She saw him reach behind him and grab a hypo before gently pressing it to her neck. It was a minute before the pain ebbed away.

"Thanks." She tried to turn her head but it was so hard. She eventually conceded defeat and laid still.

"Is the baby ok?"

He nodded. She could see tears welling up in his eyes and she moved her hand to grasp his.

"Are you ok?" She continued.

"I am now." He gave her hand a small squeeze as if he was afraid he'd break her and then he turned away from her and walked away. She was about to try and get up when he came back to her, holding their baby girl.

A little fist was clutched around the blankets and her tiny head had a swirl of brown fuzz. When Liz looked closer she could see that she had the same nose as Leonard and her eyes had the same shape but instead of a warm brown, they were a bright emerald.

He leaned close to the baby and stage whispered with a smile.

"Miss Joanna, meet your momma and if she'll have me..." He looked at her and locked his gaze on her. "my wife."

Liz felt her heart flutter and her own tears stung at her eyes.

"Yes." She whispered and he beamed back at her.