36.

~ In the way of all children, Lucy Anne Romero forever mythologized her birth. It was hard for her to grasp the notion that her parents had existed before she was ever even thought of. That they had lead lives separate not only from each other for years, but without ever even thinking of her. That they believed that they were complete without her.

She wondered what she had been before she had been theirs. Before she belonged to them and whispered her name at birth. Before she had officially existed at all. Was she a ghost? Did she hover over her mother and father like some kind of unseen wisdom of things to come? That first spark that drew her parents together at all, was that really Lucy? Perhaps working some unknowable and instantly forgotten magic that would lead to her creation and the event of her birth.

~ Norma would never forget Lucy's birth either. She would often tell her daughter, from the time before her baby could even talk, about the day she was born.

~ Norma had woken up sore that morning. Her physical exertion with her husband had taken more out of her than she realized. She had slept heavily afterwards and didn't even stir when Alex left her to go to work.

A sharp pain in her lower back jolted her awake and she let out a groan. She had slept in an odd position and the weight of the baby was pressing down on her spine.

It took a few tries for her to roll herself out of bed. She imagined this must be how a hippo rolls out bed when she almost lost her balance due to the unwieldy weight and size of her belly.

"Just a few more weeks." she sighed heavily. "Eviction notice is in the mail, young lady."

Norma was ready for the baby to arrive already. She had enjoyed pregnancy up until now. Her size causing her to knock things over everywhere she went and be unable to pick them up again. She had short bursts of energy and then was exhausted for hours. Her body wasn't her own anymore and she wanted to have the slim, athletic grace she had taken for granted all these years to come back.

She felt her temper become shorter to. Whenever she was resting and she would hear Alex slam the microwave door, it irked her like never before. Noises seemed to echo through out the house and she was starting to believe Alex was doing it on purpose. She resisted saying anything about it. She knew it was just the irritation of having a distorted body, sore feet and swollen breasts.

"Ouch!" Norma gasped sharply and held her breath. A pain ripped down her back and wouldn't let go.

She tried to rub away the soreness when it finally released and was able to breath normal again. She decided to take a shower in the hopes that the hot water would relax away the soreness in her body. All that extra physical exertion last night had probably messed her back up. Norma avoided mirrors as she undressed and waited for the water to heat up. Another pain rippling through her back that mad her breath catch again.

It never occurred to her that she was in active labor. That the back spasms were really contractions warning her that she would be delivering the baby today. She started washing her hair through the discomfort and that was when she felt it. Saw her baby turn as if it was some sort of horror movie and she was housing an alien life just under her skin.

"Oh no." she breathed in slight shock. She saw the water by her feet turning pink and flow quickly down the drain. She was bleeding already and the pain in her back made her seize up in discomfort.

'Ok. I'm having contractions.' she thought with the illusion of calmness. 'I'm having contractions and I'm in labor.'

She allowed herself a few panicked breaths before calming down and turning the water off. The spots of red blood now landed on her feet and weren't washed away.

'It's okay. Some bleeding is normal.' she reminded herself and reached for Alex's dark blue robe. Her own robe hardly fit her anymore and she liked the feel of his clothing protecting her naked body as she carefully waddled out of the bathroom and into the living room where her phone was.

Another pain made her stop everything and she had to fight the urge to push. It seemed so natural to push just now. The only way to alleviate the pain was to push.

"Oh no." Norma panted slightly and felt between her legs for evidence the baby was crowning. She couldn't feel anything and the pain has lessened.

'That was barely two minutes.' she thought worriedly. 'Maybe not even that. I have to call Alex.'

She had meant to call him first, but the fear of actually giving birth in the house alone was terrifying. She pictured herself bleeding out on her kitchen floor before Alex ever picked up the phone. She called 911 instead and winced in discomfort at another painful contraction.

"I'm in labor." Norma gasped to the operator. The woman on the other end asked if she could make it to the emergency room, is there anyone there to take her.

"No, No!" Norma cried. "I'm alone! I can't even stand up. The contractions are less than a minute apart now. Hurry!"

She had barely given them the address before another contraction caused her to cry out in pain. She tried not to push but couldn't help it. She could feel her daughter move towards the birth canal.

She sighed in relief when the paramedics arrived and broke down the door after their Sheriff had locked it on his way to work. Mrs. Romero unable to do anything but try not to have her baby in the kitchen.

"You are crowning." the lead paramedic said after a brief examination. His hands firmly pressing around her belly.

"She's too soon." Norma panted. "She's a month too soon."

"We can't push her back in, Mrs. Romero." the paramedic said.

"Can she make it to the ER?" another paramedic asked.

"Yes!" Norma cried hopefully. "Yes, please."

"Do not push if you feel another contraction." a third paramedic said. "Baby is starting to crown and you'll need to save your strength."

It was a hard thing not to push when the contractions were telling her that if she only raised her legs up and bore down, the baby would be out.

"Active labor and a crowning head!" the paramedic shouted when Norma was wheeled into the ER.

She was pleased to see doctor Swift was there. Just like her last visit.
"Mrs. Romero." he said kindly. "What seems to be the trouble?"

"I'm having this baby!" she screamed at him. A nurse skirted away from her in terror.

"Let's have a look." Swift said before the paramedics could take her off the stretcher.

"She started crowning at home." Norma heard a voice say before another contraction seized her body and refused to let go.

"She'd a doing a lot more than crowning. Heads out." Swift said in a concerned voice.

Norma let out a cry and pushed.

"Stop!" Swift ordered and Norma felt the doctor turn the baby.

"What's wrong?" she cried gripping tightly to the railing.

"Clamp." Swift ordered.
"The cord?" Norma breathed. "It's around her neck?"

Swift didn't answer and Norma felt more pressure as he moved the baby around again.

"Not anymore." Swift said reassuringly. "She's ready to be born, Mrs. Romero so next contraction I need you to push with all you have."

"Alright." Norma nodded. She barely made it off the ambulance stretcher when she felt the hard contraction grip her belly and she bore down.

"Beautiful." Swift said and Norma hardly had a chance to see the pink mass being swaddled and cleaned by a nurse.

She winced at the feel of Swift's hands taking lose the afterbirth and then, just as suddenly as it came, the birth was over. Norma had been in labor for barely an hour.

~ "I can't hear her!" Norma cried when she felt her own body had calmed down. She still felt the faint ghosts of contractions, but they were fading.

"Nurse, the mother needs to hear the baby cry." Swift ordered. He had helped Norma into a hospital gown and out of Alex's bathrobe. Sheriff Romero would be mad that she had given birth to their daughter in it.

Norma breathed a sigh of relief when Swift, apparently an expert, had taken the swaddled, wrinkled baby, gave her a gentle pat on the bottom and sent the newborn crying.

"Airway is clear, she's breathing on her own." Swift said gently placing her daughter on Norma's chest.

"Oh!" Norma cried with more love than she ever thought possible at seeing a baby. It hadn't been like this with Dylan or even Norman. She could feel that her daughter was different somehow. It was then that the baby told her her name.

Norma saw her wrinkled, annoyed little face and felt the name Lucy flood through her.
"Hello, Lucy." Norma sighed happily. She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks as Lucy, her crying stopped for now, tried to open her eyes and looked at her mother in amazement.

"Hello!" Norma laughed. "You just couldn't wait to get here!"

Lucy looked back at her mother innocently and, seeming tired of all the drama, closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
"She's okay, right?" Norma asked Swift. "She was a month early."

"She seems fine." Swift said serenely. "I'll have our pediatrician look her over but for now, the two of you just rest."

Norma reluctantly handed her baby over to the nurse who put her in a clear plastic bassinet. She had barely closed her eyes when Alex made his own grand entrance. His expression equally amazed that Lucy was already here.

"She just couldn't wait." Norma sighed weakly. She felt exhausted and ready to sleep forever. The sight of Alex, the cranky Sheriff of White Pine Bay, holding his newborn daughter, dressed all in pink, made her heart want to take flight. He had never looked more handsome than he did now. Never seemed more protective than when he held their baby with such gentleness.

His expression mirrored their daughters. One of innocent shock that such a thing had happened. Norma couldn't help but see what her husband must have looked like as a child himself. His face no longer serious and stoic. His expression still disbelieving that he had a daughter at all.

~ Lucy was perfect. She was early, but still perfect in every way possible.

Alex had returned to the hospital the next morning with a change of clothes for Norma and the baby bag for Lucy. Norma had to teach him how to change Lucy. The fearless Sheriff was intimidated by the still wrinkled newborn who cried so fiercely at him.

"It's alright." Norma said soothingly while she corrected her husband and secured the dipper better.

"I've got the car seat in the back of the SUV." Alex told her hopefully. Clearly unsure of his parenting abilities just now.

Norma carefully maneuvered Lucy on her lap and the baby fell asleep.

Emma had sent them the blue sweater Elliot had worn and outgrown too quickly. It seemed only fitting that Lucy wear it home now. The baby seeming not to care about fashion and only wanted sleep, milk and to be changed competently.

"Everything's okay? Are you sure she's alright? She came so early." Alex asked for the hundredth time. Norma tried not to scold him when, in his nervousness, he dropped the dipper bag and sent it's contents everywhere.
"She's fine, Alex." Norma said holding Lucy more securely. "I think we're both ready to go home now."

Her husband only looked worriedly over their sleeping daughter.

"Are you happy, Norma?" he asked without preamble.

"Yes." she smiled contently. She glanced at Lucy who slept on indifferently. "We're happy."

~ Whenever Lucy was told about the grand adventure of her birth, her mother seemed to take on the role of damsel in distress and her father as the handsome prince who arrived too late. In Lucy's mind, she was the true hero of the story. The star of the show who rescued her own mother just by being born in a hospital. Lucy was proud of the fact she had such a dramatic entrance into life and that it was an entertaining story told all the time.

How horrible it must be to be normal! To be born in a hospital on your selected due date at the convenance of everyone else. To be surgically removed from her mother like some babies were. No, she was pleased with her birth. Happy to know her ever fearless father had been afraid of her as a baby. Pleased that he had loved her from the moment he saw her. Pleased she had magically whispered her name to her mother. Proving, as if she needed to prove anything, that Lucy really WAS magical.

That her birth was planned eons ago in an age of magic and she was enchanted stardust floating around the sky. That when she finally located her mother and father, she had to use all her magic to push them together so that her birth in human form would be assured.

Yes, that was the only logical explanation.