Holtz excused herself to the bathroom for a few minutes. She had been walking in the firehouse with Abby and making sure she took it easy. She had also texted her dad happily that her wife was in labor and sent Patty a picture of Abby looking tired and grumpy while curled up with a heating pad and a mug of tea. But it was after two and all she wanted to do was yawn and close her eyes. Maybe she needed a cup of coffee, or even better, a really large soda. She was finishing up washing her hands when she heard a small knock on the door.
"Yeah?" she called out.
"Can you grab a towel when you come out?" said Abby. There was a short pause. "My water just broke."
Holtz gasped slightly and got a couple down from the cabinet. Abby took one from her when she opened the bathroom door and started dabbing at the wet spots on her pants.
"Thanks. It was like the dam burst on my legs."
"At least you know you're dilating," said Holtzmann, trying to help Abby's feelings.
"And now the contractions are going to be even worse since the baby's head has no cushion," said the brunette. She went and put the other towel on the floor with a sigh.
"The fluid was clear at least, no merconium." Abby groaned, shaking her head. "So much stuff is coming out of me. The mucus plug, and-"
"All normal," broke in Holtz. "And a sign that your labor is progressing."
Abby made a face as Holtzmann bent down and picked up the slightly damp towel and wiping the floor. She went and threw it in the laundry basket in the bathroom.
"Egbert will be making an appearance whether you like it or not," grinned Holtzmann. "Sorry Abs, dem's the rules."
"Can I bend them a little?"
"As long as you put them back in place when you're done." Holtz laughed, her eyes crinkling in humor as Abby grumbled and went off the bedroom to get some dry clothes before heading back to the bathroom. The nuclear engineer really wanted to tease her wife, but she knew she couldn't push her very far. Contractions were very real, and if Holtz was honest with herself, a very scary thing. Seeing Abby in any sort of pain was almost as bad as the anguish she had felt when Abby had been taken through the portal. She had berated herself for a long time about not acting that day.
But it had all worked out for the better, like this would. Soon enough, there would be a baby in their arms to love and protect. Holtz looked at the bag by the door, the familiar silver sheen covered in stickers. She wondered for a brief moment if she had everything they needed.
Abby came back out of the bathroom and headed to the bedroom. Holtz stood in the doorway as she watched her wife curl up in bed on her left side. Holtzmann went back out into the living room and came back with a bottle of water for them both, along with snagging Abby's body pillow. She handed the latter to her lover and sat the other two on her bedside table. She was beginning to think her wife was headed towards active labor even if they weren't quite there by the numbers.
"Hey," she said to Abby, crawling into bed with a grin. "Just think, in a few hours, you can again be victim to the Holtzmann prank catalog, which is more impressive than those old Sears Christmas catalogs. I mean by far, Abs."
Abby smiled a little at that, which helped Holtz's spirits. She had been afraid her wife was going to completely buckle down and be serious and easily irritated.
"Want some tequila?"
"Ohgodyesplease," said Abby into the body pillow. She was beginning another contraction and Holtz took her hand to comfort her. She coached her to push out the pain with deep breaths.
"Three shots at least. Heavy on the salt and lime."
"Mmhmm," said Holtz, kissing Abby's forehead. "You want to try to take a nap?" When she didn't respond, Holtzmann knew she wanted to be headed in that direction. Abby had already taken one right after eating but was ready for another one. Maybe she would rest a while and completely miss the last little bit of time before they had to go to the hospital. Holtz closed her eyes too and wondered if she could squeeze in a cat nap.
Abby blinked wearily as she awoke. She was starting a contraction and rubbed her back, letting out a deep breath and taking in another one slowly. She really needed to go to the bathroom. Holtzmann was curled up beside her, seemingly at rest. When Abby moved to get up, Holtz's hand reached out to pull her close.
"Jills," said Abby softly, rubbing her lover's blonde hair. "I need to pee."
"Getting up means you have to be awake and going back to working your way through your contractions." Abby smiled at sleepy Holtzmann trying to be responsible, but not responsible. It was cute. She kissed Holtz's temple.
"Honey, you're going to have to get up." She rubbed Holtzmann's side.
"Don't wanna."
"You can stay here, but I'm going to go to the couch after going to the bathroom and try to read for a while while timing these contractions."
The whine that came from Holtz made Abby laugh softly.
"You are so cute when you're sleepy." She rubbed Holtz's hip and started to sit up. The contraction had moved from her back and worked its way around her sides. She went to stand, but all her attention was laser focused on that contraction. That was definitely new. She didn't realize she had closed her eyes and was holding onto the edge of the bed until she felt Holtzmann putting her arms around her and taking her hands.
"Lean back and relax."
"I thought I was," Abby said after a moment. There was still a little pain in her back and she wiggled a little, hoping it'd ease off.
"You've gotten off easy till now."
"I wouldn't call it easy," groused Abby.
"Bathroom," said Holtz. "Then we can see where you are."
Holtzmann held her wife close. They were walking in Patty's office on the second floor. Abby's labor had stalled just a little bit, so they had taken to walking again. Things had progressed a little, so there was a small feeling of encouragement. But they were both tired and they still had a long way to go. Holtz rubbed Abby's left side teasingly as she held her against her body.
"Just imagine, tomorrow night I get to see you feeding this little one."
"If they're here by then. I think I'm going to be stuck forever in these contractions," whimpered Abby. Holtz could feel the rise and fall of Abby's chest against hers as she tensed up. They both could hear the hum of the machines running across the hall in the lab. It was a welcome white noise for Holtzmann to the little whimpers and whines of her wife. She was working on rubbing the small of Abby's back when Holtz heard her hiss.
"It's nothing," said Abby when the blonde picked up her face by her chin. "Baby's moving and kicking me."
"They're getting excited," said Holtz. She laid a soft kiss on Abby's lips. "Mommy's body is trying to push them out. It's a really tight squeeze."
"That's what they get for deciding to be gestated in me," said Abby with a groan.
"Better than me," said Holtz. She let Abby go and patted her hips. "Do you see how not wide this pelvis is?" She shook her hips like Elvis, which made Abby laugh.
"You weren't born in Mississippi or have a passion for white sequined jumpsuits to be able to do that."
"I could," pondered Holtz. "I could become the next big thing to hit the music world, Abby." The brunette groaned at that.
"If you start craving fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, I'm going to get Patty to smack the ghost of Elvis out of you and back to Memphis so Marc Cohen can sing about it."
When Erin got to work the next morning, she had expected that Holtz had run off to the hospital with Abby and hadn't texted them to let them know anything about the baby yet. What she hadn't expected to see Holtzmann standing outside of the firehouse next to a cab with Kevin.
"Morning!" she greeted Erin. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"
"What are you... still doing here?" asked Erin, not sure if that was the right words or not.
"Abby's labor slowed down between the eight and five minute marks late last night," shrugged Holtz. "They said since she nor the baby was showing any signs of distress just to keep her walking and things would eventually progress. Been at five minutes for a little over an hour now. Sent Kevin to flag down this beauty and now we'll be off." Erin followed Holtz inside. Abby was standing at her desk, obviously dealing with a contraction.
"Cab's here honey," said Holtz, rubbing Abby's shoulders. "And so is Erin." Abby nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out once it was over.
"I swear this kid has your humor. They're still kicking me during contractions," said Abby, leaning into Holtz a little.
"Funny how the baby isn't even blood kin to Holtzmann and she or he already has her most annoying qualities," smirked Erin.
"I can't wait to teach them the ropes," grinned Holtz. "It's going to be awesome."
"Let's not worry about that til they're old enough to walk," said Abby, patting Holtz on the arm. "And just get to the hospital where there are painkillers."
"Thinking about that epidural again huh?" asked Erin.
"If I don't kill Holtz first and they cart me off to jail," said Abby, pushing on her wife. The blonde winked and picked up their bag when Erin came around and hugged Abby. The brunette leaned into her best friend, closing her eyes and enjoying the comfort.
"Come on Abs," said Holtzmann. "We need to go get you checked in." Abby pulled away from Erin and they started walking off.
"Good luck!" said Erin. "Call us if you need anything."
"Tequila!" yelled back Abby. Erin watched as Holtz's grip on Abby's hand relaxed and went to her hip as she whispered in Abby's ear. They had both stopped walking as Erin could only assume Abby was having another contraction. She went to her desk and pulled her phone out of her purse and texted Patty. She was happy to get to meet Baby Yates-Holtzmann soon. She hoped it wouldn't be long after their home study next month till she and David could find their little one and they all could be one giant family.
If they even found a little one. David had been talking about a boy, maybe 8 or 10. Erin smiled at the thought, thinking about David having a son. He had issues due to injuries from when he was a child that had left him to be less than fertile. He had never thought of having children since he couldn't. Erin could only guess that adoption had never really entered his mind till she had come around to the idea. She was really happy that he was trying. Although she could easily have done the same thing Holtz and Abby had done, she had to admit, taking in a child with emotional scars of just wanting to be loved and cared for just reminded her so much of being a child and wishing for an adult who just understood what she was going through.
And while she had never had that, she ended up with a best friend who did when she was older. While Erin knew she could never be their child's best friend, she could be that understanding parent.
She smiled a little, thinking of gold stars and juice boxes.
A passing staff member of the hospital stopped and offered a hand to Abby out of the taxi and up on the sidewalk when she opened the door.
"Guess you'll be heading to the maternity ward then huh?" he said with a wink, patting Holtz on the shoulder as she came around the cab to help.
"I think you just got the sympathetic new dad pat," laughed Abby, rubbing her side as Holtzmann as she got their bag out of the trunk.
"That's it. I've been accepted. I'm now one of them," she said with a grin. "I can make all the dad jokes."
"You just keep thinking that honey," said Abby, patting Holtzmann on the shoulder. Holtz pouted at her.
"You want to be the dad now, I see how it is." Abby shook her head ruefully and headed for the door instead of waiting on her wife. Holtz jogged quickly over and held the door, trying not to grin when her wife had to stop just inside for a contraction. When Abby looked back up, Holtzmann was stroking her hair. She didn't say anything, just led Abby over to the elevators and headed in. Abby was rubbing her back when a couple more people got on the elevator behind them.
"Benny, my man!" said Holtz. "Hadn't seen you in a while. What the hell are you doing here?"
"My sister's here in the hospital. She just had an appendectomy," he said, looking surprised at the two. "Abby's-"
"About to have our baby," said Holtzmann. "Don't mind her if she seems a little cranky."
"Benny," greeted Abby.
"Maybe I should stop by later," grinned Benny. "And meet the brand new baby Ghostbuster."
"Oh geez," said Abby. "Benny, don't make this weird." She was amused however that he still looked the same as Holtz chatted with him a minute or two while going up in the elevator. He was still wearing the same jackets and beanies he did since he worked at the Chinese restaurant. Not that she couldn't say much. She had been wearing her green jacket over 25 years and she was pretty sure Holtzmann's leather one was just as old.
"I'll bring you a present!" he yelled back as he got off of the elevator on the 8th floor.
"And there it goes," she said with a sigh. At this point, Abby was going to be happy to lay down and let them monitor her contractions. She was tired. But she knew she'd have to be poked and prodded to see how far along she was. That was the not going to be the fun part. That, and once she was admitted, she would be wearing one of the godawful hospital gowns with everything hanging out that she had never really liked. The thought made her feel a little nauseous (although she was already nauseous as it were earlier) as they had made their way to the nurses' desk in the labor and delivery department from the elevator.
"Abigail Yates," she heard Holtz say. A contraction was starting to build up in her back when the nurse had asked for her birth date and she closed her eyes and put her hands out against the station's wooden front. She heard the nurse and Holtz both laugh softly before her wife gave her birth date. Abby was glad they had pre-registered and all she had to sign was one thing. It wasn't long till another nurse came up with a wheelchair.
"Need a ride?" he said with a grin. Abby wasn't going to argue as she sat down, relieved to be off her feet. It was a short ride down to an exam room where her blood pressure and weight were checked first. She wasn't even surprised when she was told she needed to give a urine sample and to undress for a pelvic exam. At least they would be left alone for a few minutes. Holtz had already pushed the pack against the wall and was sitting casually. Abby rubbed her wife's shoulder as she passed. It didn't take long for her to come back into the room and settled down up on the exam table and with a sheet over her legs. Holtz came over and was rubbing her neck.
"More stirrups," she teased, rubbing Abby's shoulders. When Abby didn't respond or make a snarky comment, she knew her lover was having a contraction. She helped her focus for a few minutes, just breathing in and out and concentrating on the calm around them in that moment.
It wasn't much longer till there was a knock on the door and a female nurse and doctor walked in. Holtz went back to her seat while the doctor greeted Abby and the nurse pulled up an ultrasound machine. The blonde engineer helped answer her wife's questions. She hadn't been surprised that Abby was struggling to think of what time her water broke or how close her contractions were. She was in the middle of living them. When the doctor finished doing an internal exam and told them that she was about 80% effaced and dilated about six centimeters, Holtzmann hoped Abby would take that as good news. The doctor was rubbing the transducer over her lower abdomen when another contraction came. She nodded to the nurse and the doctor asked Abby about her water breaking again. When the doctor put away the ultrasound wand, Holtz frowned, wondering if something was wrong. But instead, the doctor was taking off her gloves and helping Abby sit back up. She told her that it wouldn't be much longer, even offering her a smile and wishing her luck as the nurse was putting away the machine. They both left after the doctor told Abby she could get redressed and that they would be transferring her to a delivery room. When she came back out, Holtz tugged on her hand and made her sit down in her chair.
"You need anything?" she said softly.
"Just you and for these contractions to stop," said Abby. Holtz chuckled at that.
"Peanut's got to come first." Abby clung to Holtzmann's leather jacket. Holtzmann pushed up her yellow tinted glasses and stroked her lover's cheek.
"You'll get there soon enough and we'll have a cryin' and screamin' baby to take care of that will drive everyone around us bonkers."
"And us too, probably."
"Yep, always with the insanity in our home." She offered a hand up to Abby. "Your chariot has arrived." The nurse came over and fastened a hospital bracelet around Abby's wrist. Holtz helped hold the chair as Abby got in.
"Nice day for a joyride," said Holtz. Abby laughed at the look the nurse gave her. Holtz grinned cheekily, hoisting the pack on her shoulder while the labor and delivery nurse took over the chair and wheeled Abby down another corridor and to a room. The brunette was a little surprised upon entering. This was not one of the labor and delivery rooms they had seen when they had preregistered and taken the tour. She looked over to Holtzmann confused, who kissed her right temple.
"Happy birth day, honey. I did a little arranging to get one of the labor and delivery suites. Private, sound proof, and all the comforts of home while you recover."
"Which organ did you sell?" asked Abby, her eyes going down Holtz's torso like she was going to see scars through her clothes.
"Nothing that was important," said Holtz with a wave of her hand as she sat down the pack with a small groan.
"I think we packed too much stuff Abs."
"You packed too much. I still don't know what all you've got in there besides what I had packed for myself already," said Abby with a wince as she got to her feet. The nurse gave her instructions to go ahead and change into a gown and that she needed to attach electrodes to her abdomen so they could monitor the baby's heart rate and her contractions for a little bit. Abby decided to go ahead and get it over with. It wasn't like she was going to get out of not being in pants. She handed Holtz her clothes after coming out of the bathroom. The hospital bed actually looked warm and inviting with the fluffy copper and brown blanket with matching sheets. It was much larger than she had expected it to be. There was probably room for Holtz to climb in with her. The nurse started attaching electrodes on her abdomen.
"At least we're wireless," the nurse teased. When Abby started rubbing her side, she went over to a nearby monitor and checked the settings. "Just relax for about thirty minutes and let us get a few readings, and we can go from there." She nodded to Holtz and left.
"What all do you have in there anyway?" asked Abby, gesturing to the silver bag. Holtz patted it.
"Your stuff, my stuff, the baby's going home stuff, and some snacks." Abby sighed.
"Please tell me you brought something healthier to eat that five cans of Pringles."
Holtz scoffed. "It's only four. I'm not a complete heathen. We're only going to be here for 48 hours."
Abby winced. "You hope." She started taking deep breaths, trying not to focus on the contraction. "My labor's slowed down once. It could do it again."
"Nope," said Holtz. "Little Elijah or Eliana will be born today."
Abby looked at her wife strangely. "This is the first time you've actually called them by their potential names."
"That's because they're almost here," said Holtz, coming over and leaning on the bed railing. She kissed Abby on the forehead. "Do you want a snack? I think they have some yogurt cups with fresh fruit and such in the mini fridge over there. But I've got all the good junk food. Your favorite white cheddar cheese in the string variety and whole grain crackers. If you ask nicely I might share the peanut butter and apple slices."
"You call that good junk food?" said Abby, making a face.
"No, you get the nice, healthy food because you're in labor and need energy. I get all the good junk food. The chips, the chocolate bars, mac and cheese cups..."
"You're just being annoying on principle, aren't you?" Holtz rubbed Abby's shoulder.
"Got to do something to keep your mind off the pain." She glanced at Abby's eyes as if looking for a sign. "Or are you going to get the epidural?"
"I don't know," said Abby, making a face. "Still haven't decided I guess."
"Better be making your mind up soon," said Holtzmann. "It won't be long till they are only going to be two minutes apart." Abby looked over at the machine that was recording her contractions. She wondered how much longer that would be.