Winnie hated hospitals. She knew it was wrong feel such an absolute emotion but for hospitals she made an exception. She hated the sterile soap smell, the way the doctors in the ER looked around with either glee at possible trauma with fatigue over an endless stream of patients. She especially hated seeing the red-eyed looks of people receiving news their loved ones were never coming back.

She'd been a loved one, first in her final year of university when her father had breast cancer and he'd undergone surgery to excise the tumour before it spread. That was always a conversation starter, a man with breast cancer, she thought. Of course, the second time she'd been the loved she she was the one under the knife after her car accident had smashed her knee to hell and back. Aaron and Rachel had been discharged with a concussion and twelve stitches between them. Winnie on the other hand had had two surgeries on her knee in eight days, and she'd awoken from the second one to her mother telling her it could have been avoided altogether if they'd been at her house instead of Winnie being out with Rachel the Bitch. That was how Gabriella referred to Pietr's second wife, Rachel the Bitch like she was referring to Ivan the Terrible or something.

But Winnie personal squeamishness was not the top priority right now. Jules being in labour without her man there was.

'Okay, okay, just breathe, deep and slow as best you can,' she encouraged her friend as she timed the contraction, saw the spikes on the monitor come down to what Winnie believed was normal. 'There, you made it through another one.'

'So much fucking easier in the movies,' was Jules' replied between inhales and exhales. 'There they have perfect lighting and hair and makeup. I feel like a pasty, pale sweating whale.'

'Doctor Seuss would be proud of your rhymes.' Still Winnie stood up, pulled out the make-up kit from Jules' hospital bag. Skipping mascara would be a good plan since she suspected that Jules would probably cry at some point and she doubted her friend wanted to look like Alice Cooper in her new-mama pictures. 'Here we are. Close your eyes.'

Jules did so dutifully, rubbing her hands over her rock-solid belly. 'You're good at this,' she commented.

'I worked in a cosmetic shop in high school, doing that free makeover thing for girls going to a fancy event if they purchased their war-paint there.'

'I meant mommying. Word is you took Spike on a crash-test daddy drive.'

Winnie tightened her fingers on the eyeshadow wand. 'Word travels fast and it wasn't like I was testing the waters...exactly.'

'What was it, then?'

'For one, helping Ed out. I like Issy and they needed help I figured Spike would let me do most of the heavy lifting but he...he wanted to help.'

'Well what did you expect? Spike wants a family, I'm presuming, with you somewhere down the line.'

'Jules, I really don't feel like talking about that right now.'

'Why not?' Jules opened her eyes, blinking rapidly while Winnie selected lip colour.

'Because it's about you right now.' Winnie unscrewed the cap, began to dab Sephora's Rose Bouquet Shine-Tastic gloss on her friend's cracked and dried lips. 'My issues will still be here tomorrow.'

'What's wrong? What did he do?'

'Nothing at all, it's just...everyone keeps teasing us, and just like before, it makes me both wanna dig my heels in. We both know it's a big deal to take me overseas to meet the family, having everyone make a joke of it doesn't help.'

'Winnie-'

'Is it because you think Spike is weak? That he has an eye for the wrong girls all the time? Or were you just getting a kick out of us being your walking talking dolls? I'm sorry.' Winnie held up a hand before Jules could say anything. 'You're pregnant and in labour and I'm bitching at you. That's not right.'

'You're not right about all of it.' Jules waited until Winnie was done, smacked her lips together before chewing another ice chip. 'We were almost as excited as you and Spike that you two got together. We felt like... like the viewers at home watching the longing couple on a TV drama finally getting together.'

'It felt more like you were the cheesy parents coming in to be super-obnoxious customers when the teenager gets their first job at Extreme Pita or something.'

'If that's how it came across...' Jules trailed off and shook her head. 'I can't speak for anyone else but if I made you feel that way, then I'm truly sorry for it.'

'You...' Winnie fought to find the right words, then shook her head. 'I'm sorry Jules, I can't do this, I can't dump this on you. You've trying to bring a baby into the world, it's all about you right now.'

'Okay.' Jules wiggled around to ease the cramp in her back. 'You're right you're absolutely right, I am the centre of attention and what I want is to hear this story from my friend so that I don't have time to be scared about my husband not being here.'

'Funny.'

'Spill it, Constable.'

Winnie sincerely considered leaving, changing the subject, even flat-out lying but one look at Jules' sincerely worried eyes had her defense crumbling. 'I don't know how to say it without sounding like a self-pitying, whiny idiot. I...I keep waiting for the day when you guys will tell me it's all a dream or a prank or something. That you're just putting up with me because of Mike. What if his family is the same way?'

'How do you mean?'

'You guys are Mike's family here. You knew me beforehand but you didn't really know me, and you made me feel welcomed by being those goofy people to give us something to be distracted about so neither of us felt so nervous. I don't have that advantage over in Naples.'

It was round-about but Jules could see the picture Winnie painted nonetheless. 'You're scared they'll reject you, and that's going to make Mike question things?'

'No I'm scared they'll smile politely and then make rude comments behind my back just like...my family.'

'Oh, sweetie.' Jules reached out to rub her hand over Winnie's shoulder. 'Your mom?'

'Yeah. You should hear the way they talk about people behind their backs, not just total strangers but my mom's siblings, my step-mom, even Aaron and my dad and it makes me think, what do they say about me?'

'Winnie, there isn't a single thing I say about you when you're not around I wouldn't feel comfortable saying to your face.' Jules shook her head once more. 'And I'm more than willing to bet that the best parts of you, the parts that Spike sees in your that make him love you so much, those are the things his family will see right away. Oh...oh no.'

'Another contraction?' At Jules' nod, Winnie immediately forgot her own pathetic problems, grabbed her friend's hand so their palms were flat against each other. She felt Jules squeeze tightly as Winnie kept her eyes focused, steady, calm while Jules breathed as deeply as she could.

'There we go, there we go, that's good, that's really good,' she encouraged her. When the contraction eased off once more, Winnie gave her a wide smile. 'You're so amazing, Jules, you really are.'

'You too. No, I mean it,' she replied when Winnie went to protest. 'You have no idea your own strength some days. If your future Italian in-laws saw you right now, they'd be like damn, Winnie's the kind that makes a good mother.'

'Remind me of someone else in this room.'

Winnie looked over, felt her world tilt a little. Sam and Spike were standing in the doorway, still in their uniforms; Sam was across the room in three strides, kissing Jules' lips, brow cheeks, basically anywhere he could touch her. 'I got here a fast as Spike could drive, my love,' he murmured to her.

'He makes the Toronto Indy look like a camel race.'

'How are you, are you okay so far?'

'Yeah, Winnie and I were having some girl-time,' Jules replied on a gentle, loving smile. 'She's been with me the whole time.'

'OF course I was,' Winnie replied, sincerely shocked. 'What did you think I was going to do?'

'Winona.' Spike murmured her name, gave a little tilt of the head. Though Winnie wanted to fly into his arms she forced herself to walk, instead taking his hand to head to the family waiting room down the hallway. His fingers found hers, holding fast as they sat down on the couch. 'How you doing? I know these places aren't your favourite.'

'Well I feel only slightly more uncomfortable with the fact I just told Jules how fucking frightened their teasing about the trip to Italy makes me.'

'You mean the part where you keep freaking out that they won't like you.' Spike shook his head. 'Did she have any girl-on-girl words of wisdom?'

'She said that the parts of me that make you love me so much are the things they'll be able to see right away.'

'Jules is very smart.' Spike knew he'd said the same thing to her, but he also knew that sometimes you just needed to hear it from a friend for confirmation so you knew your loved one wasn't just kissing your ass, particularly if sex was on the horizon. 'Did it make you feel better?'

'To talk about that, yes. But...' Winnie sighed, pushed a hand through her hair. 'I hate hospitals.'

'I know. You never say you hate things, so I know how strongly you feel.'

'I'm scared for Jules, I'm scared for the baby and Sam. Complications arise all the time. What if a crazed intern cuts a wire or something? Or there is a shooter lose in the hospital we don't know about, maybe the attending scrub nurse in the OR has an undiagnosed infection?'

'You watch too much Grey's Anatomy,' Spike laughed, knowing exactly where she drew such ideas from. 'That is overblown Hollywood drama. This is real life. Nine times out of ten, the worst thing that happens-'

'Don't go there.' Winnie's eyes went flat like a shark's. 'Don't you think of something going fucking wrong for Jules and Sam. She got shot and he nearly died on their wedding day. Their bad luck is over.'

'Okay, okay.' Spike could see Winnie was reaching her limit with being cooped up in a hospital for so long. He knew even when her dad was having his cancer surgery her stepmom had taken her and two-year-old Aaron out for lunch so that they would have something to do instead of going stir-crazy in the hospital. 'Wanna head across the street? Extreme Pita's open till one.'

Winnie let out a laugh, involuntary and light-hearted. 'I think that sounds perfect.'

'Come on, let's go tell Sam and Jules we'll be right back.'

They headed back towards Jules' room, saw Doctor Pike leaving along with one of the nurses. Winnie felt her insides clench, then loosen when she walked in, saw Sam changed out of his uniform into scrubs. 'What's going on?'

'They gave me the epidural. I'm going into the OR in an hour tops,' Jules replied, then looked at Sam. 'My Sam-tastic hubby is going to be right there. He made it.'

'I sure did, Jules. And when you're back in your room, everyone will be here to see you and the baby.' He kissed Jules' brow, then motioned for Spike and Winnie to do the same.

'Good luck honey, you'll be great,' Winnie told her, giving her hand one last squeeze.

'You'll be cool in there Sam?' Spike asked him, and Sam, despite looking rattled beyond anything Spike had ever seen on the job, nodded firmly.

'You betcha. Next time you see me, I'll be telling you to come visit me and the baby in the nursery.'


The waiting was absolute hell, not just for Winnie but everyone. They'd no sooner left the birthing suite when Raf, Leah and Ed arrived, all changed out of their uniforms and carrying brightly wrapped parcels. Spike guided them towards the family room where they saw Winnie sacked out on the couch, her back turned away from them.

'What's with her?' Leah asked.

'Winnie was up at four this morning for a twelve hour shift,' Spike replied. 'Then she was making dinner for Jules and herself like I said.'

'Mike?' Winnie's voice was full of sleepy irritation. She rolled over, saw the rest of Team One and she bolted up, swiping at the corners of her mouth. She drooled in her sleep, something she only liked Spike to know about. 'Oh, hey guys, didn't hear you come in! I'm up, just feed me some coffee, I'll be good.'

'Here.' Ed passed her a Tim Hortons cup. 'Half-decaf, half hot chocolate. Your man said you like those instead of straight coffee.'

'That is correct.' Winnie breathed deep the bittersweet scent of coffee and chocolate together, took a sip. 'Oh this is heaven, thank you so much. Any news on the baby yet?'

'Nothing yet,' Spike replied. He tried to imagine what it was Sam was feeling, and all he kept circling back to was how it would feel for Winnie to be the one having a c-section, himself the nervous papa to be. 'But I supppose babies do their own thing, right?'

'Issy sure did,' Ed agreed, ettling himself into the armchair and flipping teh TV on quietly. 'Scared me and Sophie half to death and back but she's a toddler relishing her terrible-twos now. Which reminds me. She wants Sophie to make your veggie soup, Winnie.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, she said it was 'way good',' Ed added, complete with air quotes. 'Her way of saying it's awesome. Hey!'

They all looked over at the doorway, saw Sam looking more than a little disheveled. His eyes were red-rimmed, totally expected given the emotional roller-coaster he'd been on with his wife in the last few hours. 'Hey guys, have you been waiting long?'

'No, just got here. What's the word?'

'I...Jules is fine. So is our daughter.'

'A little girl!' Winnie was on her feet and rushing over to give Sam a hug. 'A little girl, oh what's her name? Can we see her? How is Jules?'

'Jules is a champion, and she is currently getting some much needed sleep. Our daughter is up in the nursery. That's standard procedure for c-section babies here, to make sure their vitals are stable post-op.'

'What's her name?' Leah asked, coming over to give Sam a hug too.

'Her name...' Sam laughed a little, swiped at his eyes. 'Her name is Madison Jewel Winona Braddock. Madison after Jules' mom, Jewel as a play on Jules' name, and...Winona for you, Win.'

'Me?' Winnie felt tears spring to her eyes, Spike's hands on her shoulders. 'Why me?'

'Because you were there taking care of Jules when she was in labour and she aid you were the best coach she could have asked for if I wasn't there with her. She was terrified and you made her feel safe, and I cannot thank you enough for that.'

Sam reached over, pulled Winnie close; she clumsily patted his back as she fought to keep her voice clear. 'Thank you.'

'Tell you what, I've got tomorrow off, why don't I have a kitchen day and bring you guys something nice and healthy and homemade? I'll even throw in some cookies.'

'Sounds awesome.'

'We'll be back in the morning for visiting our,' Ed told the new daddy, grinning widely. 'Get some rest now while you can. You'll need it.'

'Congrats again, man,' Spike added, then lacing his fingers through Winnie's tugged her out of the room towards the elevator.

She was quiet the whole way home, which didn't surprise him. When Winnie needed time to work through her own emotions she went quiet before she spilled her guts to anyone, including him so Spike wasn't offended by her silence.

The moment they were naked despite the winter temperatures outside and tucked into bed, it came - a quiet little tremble at first, until Spike gathered Winnie close and she let everything she'd kept to herself come pouring out in great heaving sobs against his bare shoulder.

'That's it, just get it out, my love,' he told her, kissing her cheek.

'Oh God Mike, I was so scared for her. What the fuck do I know, I'm no doctor.'

'From the sounds of Sam, you did exactly right.' Spike brushed away a fresh tear with his thumb. 'What do you need from me?'

'Love me. Just take me away from it all and love me.'

Spike nodded, kissing her lips this time, rolling so she was pinned beneath him. 'I do. I will.'