Willow ran upstairs and came back with her contingency plan, reading down it.

"Okay, okay, it's 7.10pm so…take Spring Av, down Hope…left at Olive…okay, okay. Bag, I need the bag!"

Willow ran upstairs again, while Tara, who had been shocked into silence that she was in labour, two weeks early, regained her senses and went into the hallway, just as the redhead came pounding down the stairs, hospital bag in hand.

She was repeating 'having a baby, having a bag' over and over again in what Tara could only assume was a mantra to keep herself calm, although it didn't seem to be working as the redhead was rushing around frantically.

Tara was shocked again when her wife burst out the front door and into her Mercedes, starting it and driving off into the night. The brunette opened the front door and leant against the door frame, waiting, thankful she wasn't having a contraction whilst the smaller girl was apparently freaking out.

Less than a minute later the car speed up outside the house, coming to an abrupt halt before Willow jumped out and ran towards the brunette.

"I'm so, so sorry, love, I'm so sorry," she gushed, still in a panic.

Tara grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye.

"Willow, I need you to be calm for me, 'cause I'm going to have a contraction any minute and I'm gonna need you for that. I know she's early, but it's all gonna be okay. Now, are you ready?"

"Gonna have a baby?" Willow asked, slightly dazed.

"Gonna have a baby," Tara confirmed.

The redhead took a deep breath and grabbed her wife's hand, leading them towards the car.

"You should get in the back to try and ease the contractions. I'm gonna have us in the hospital in eleven minutes tops and then I'm gonna be beside you, holding your hand for the entire time."

Willow held the door open for the back seat and the brunette made herself comfortable while the smaller girl moved towards the driver seat, starting the engine. Almost as soon as they had started towards the hospital, Tara got a contraction, grabbing onto the headrest of the passenger seat as the pain shot through her.

"I know it's hard, try and breath through it, honey," Willow encouraged from the front, speeding up a bit in an effort to get to the hospital faster.

Tara took some deep breaths and the pain subsided, only to come back even stronger three minutes later. She groaned in agony, clutching her stomach.

Willow stayed quiet, wanting nothing more than to just hold her wife's hand. A few minutes later she pulled into the hospital car park. She jumped out and opened the door for Tara, helping her out and into the hospital.

"Pregnant, labour, wife, help," the redhead panted out when they got to the reception area.

A helpful nurse smiled and stood, grabbing a wheelchair before walking over to them. Tara gladly sat.

"How far apart are the contractions?" the nurse asked

"Three minutes," Willow answered.

"Well then, lets get you up to maternity and get a doctor."

The nurse wheeled Tara towards the elevator, Willow right beside her.

They arrived on the maternity ward and Tara got into a room and into a gown. Halfway through tying the string another big contraction hit her and she grabbed onto the metal sidebar of the bed. The redhead rushed over and quickly finished tying, before helping her wife into the bed, holding her hand the entire time.

"Willow," the brunette almost sobbed, squeezing the hand in hers.

"You are so strong, baby. You can do this."

"Strong like an Amazon?" Tara asked, the pain abating.

"You've got to stop watching all those Xena episodes," Willow joked.

The brunette chuckled, her grip on the redhead's hand loosening.

Willow dropped a kiss on her girl's forehead just as a young female doctor walked in the room.

"Good evening, ladies, I'm Dr. Bartlett. I know you were expecting Dr. Robinson, but she's away on holiday this week."

"Yea, Tara's two weeks early," Willow said, warming to this new doctor instantly.

"So is it okay if I go ahead and see how we're getting along?"

"Of course," Tara nodded, lying back and putting her feet in the stirrups, the pain she was currently feeling overriding any embarrassment, unlike any other time she had been in this position.

A midwife came into the room and stood beside the doctor who was pulling on gloves. She began her examination.

"Eight centimetres dilated and fully effaced. You're well on your way. How long have you been getting contractions?"

"I've been getting pains since yesterday – ow! – night, but I didn't think it was anything," Tara said through gritted teeth.

"And you're water broke?"

"About thirty minutes ago," Willow said as she felt the grip on her hand tighten again.

The doctor put her hands on the brunette's stomach and felt around for a minute before Tara let out a loud scream, almost breaking her wife's hand in the process.

"Drugs, drugs, give her drugs!" Willow shouted.

"I'm afraid she's too far along, labour is progressing too quickly. The good news is your baby is in the correct position and at this rate I don't think it will be long before you're ready to deliver. I know the pain is intense, Tara, but it seems you'll have a relatively short labour. I've delivered babies who've refused to come out for over forty hours."

Tara barely registered what the doctor had said, her eyes were shut tight and she was concentrating solely on her breathing.

"Clare here is a midwife and she's going to stay in here with you to monitor your progress. I'll be back soon to see how we're getting on."

Dr. Bartlett handed Tara's chart to Clare, a middle-aged midwife who had a friendly face and a warm smile and turned to leave the room.

"You're doing very well, Tara," Clare said as she put a blood pressure cuff on the brunette's arm, along with a small clip on her finger and two straps around her abdomen, "These are just going to monitor your blood pressure, oxygen as well as the baby's heart rate and your contractions."

She pointed at a screen that was next to the bed.

"This shows us exactly what's going on, and," she flipped a switch, a strong heartbeat filling the room, "We can hear if the baby goes into distress."

Willow nodded, fascinated at the science, but more concerned with her wife being in such pain.

"Can I get you anything, baby? Ice chips? Massage? Help you move into a more comfortable position?"

"Get. Your. Daughter. Out of me!" Tara almost screamed, eyes still shut tight.

"Um. Okay. Is that a yes to ice chips?" Willow asked nervously.

"Don't you dare leave me."

"I'll get the ice," Clare offered, leaving the room.

Tara whimpered again as a contraction tore through her.

"This is all your fault. You put her in me, now get her out, get her out," she said hysterically, not caring that what she was saying wasn't making any sense.

"Technically, honey, I didn't -"

Tara shot the redhead a death glare, stopping her mid-sentence. Willow leaned down so she was addressing the brunette's stomach.

"Okay, baby girl, you need to come out soon. Please. Before your Mama turns into a homicidal maniac," she said the last part under her breath, but was apparently not quiet enough.

"I heard that."

Willow straightened up and looked her wife in the eye.

"I'm sorry. But what you're doing is so amazing. Just a little longer and we can see our daughter, our little girl."

"Willow, I can't do this," the brunette sobbed.

"We can do this. Remember your letter? We can do anything together, our family, that's what you told me. We can get through anything."

Clare watched from the doorway as the redhead leaned and tenderly kissed her wife, smiling at the loving interaction. When they pulled apart, she entered the room, ice chips in hand and gave them to Willow. The smaller girl offered some chips to Tara who took them gratefully.

Time passed in a flurry of beeping, painful groans and gentle words of encouragement until finally Dr. Bartlett, after a examination, uttered the words that Tara had been both dreading and looking forward to all night.

"It's time to push."

Willow took one of Tara's hands between both of hers and gave her a reassuring look as the doctor continued talking.

"I'm going to count down from three and then I want you to start pushing as hard as you can, okay?"

Tara nodded her understanding and braced herself.

"Three…two…one."

Tara pushed with all her might, squeezing Willow's hand on one side of her and the metal bar on the bed with the other.

"You're doing great, Tara, I can see the head. Another big push for me now."

Tara pushed again as Willow whispered in her ear.

"I love you so much, you are so beautiful, I love you, I love you."

"Almost there, Tara. One last push and you can meet your baby."

Tara took a deep breath and pushed as hard as could, exhaling and collapsing back on the bed as she felt a kind of relaxation and vaguely heard the sound of cries, the rush of blood in her head making listening very difficult. Less than a second later, she realised it was her baby that was crying and all her senses came back. She looked up at her wife who was crying, then down to see a rather large baby being cleaned off and checked over.

Before she even had time to register it, the baby was wrapped in a blanket and lying in her arms, Willow standing beside her, looking down in awe.

"Will, look. A redhead," Tara said in wonder, tracing the outline of the tuft of red hair the baby in her arms had. The baby gurgled and looked up between her two mothers.

"Your eyes," Willow said quietly, "She has your eyes. They're the exact same shade as yours."

They both continued looking down, just staring at their daughter in complete amazement. A nurse wrote something on Tara's chart, before putting it back on the bed frame with a loud 'metal against metal' sound.

"23 inches and 10.5 pounds. That's a big girl you've got there."

"10 and a half pounds?" Willow asked, turning to her wife, "You are the most amazing woman in the world."

Tara smiled, feeling nothing but joy as she continued to cradle the life in her arms.

"Do you have a name chosen yet?" the nurse asked again.

"Um, yea," Willow answered, letting her gaze drop to her daughter once again, stroking her cheek, "Welcome to the world Emma Juliette Rosenberg-Maclay."


A few hours later, the couple were alone in the hospital room, both sitting up in the bed, Willow holding their sleeping daughter between them. Tara was exhausted from the physical strain that the labour had been but couldn't bring herself to sleep when she could be sitting with her family instead.

"I still can't believe we made this," she said softly, not wanting to wake the baby.

"I can't believe she's here. She's so tiny."

"Tiny, yea. You're not the one who pushed her out of you."

Willow turned, careful not to disturb the sleeping girl in her arms and kissed her wife.

"Thank you for giving me a family."

"Thank you for being a part of our family," Tara said with a loving smile, then smirked, "I don't know how I'm gonna deal with two redheads from now on."

"I can't promise we won't gang up on you sometimes…" Willow joked quietly.

The family fell into a silence, parents watching the steady breathing of their newborn until Willow broke the quiet a few minutes later.

"It's funny, isn't it? I mean, our story, us, it started at Emma's. And now with this little Emma, it's like we could begin a whole new book."