It's tiny baby Redpath-Clarkson time! Thank you all for reading, and as always reviews make my day! Enjoy!

"Isobel Redpath?" Tom had called ahead, so the hospital were expecting them.
"Izzie" she hissed through gritted teeth, she'd corrected too many people, too many times to count, over the past few months. She was in no mood to be polite now. Tom gave an apologetic glance towards the woman, who seemed unfazed by Izzie's rudeness.
"How long ago did her waters break?" She addressed Tom now, only adding to Izzie's annoyance.
"About.." Izzie glanced at the clock above the desk, before closing her eyes, teeth clenching against the pain as another contraction rippled through her abdomen.
"Half an hour ago" Tom finished for her, hand rubbing at the small of her back as she leaned against the desk and rocked slightly from side to side. He positioned the wheelchair behind her and, after some protest, she leaned back into it.
"Three minutes apart" Tom continued to answer the midwife's questions calmly.
"Doesn't feel right" Izzie winced, clutching the arms of the wheelchair.
"It's going to be okay," Tom's hand rested on her shoulder. A porter arrived and began to wheel her away from him. One of her hands flew to her side, bracing against the sharp pain running down her ribs, the other trailed out behind them in an attempt to grab at Tom's hand.
"I'm here Iz, I'm right here" he jogged alongside her.

"A little earlier than we were expecting you," the doctor arrived just as Tom had helped Izzie onto the bed, "I'm just going to assess how things are progressing, see what our plan of action is" he said with a bright smile. The doctor positioned himself to internally examine Izzie, whose wide eyes looked to Tom. There she was again, her anxieties getting in the way of Tom's happy moments. He gripped her hands between his, stilling their shaking. No matter how many times he said it would be okay, she knew something was wrong; it was far too early and there was something she just couldn't shake about the way the labour pains shot down her legs. She panted through yet another contraction, her body twisting her in discomfort against the paper thin hospital sheets. When the doctor emerged from under the sheet covering Izzie's lower half, his bright smile had disappeared. The blood drained from Izzie's face and all she could think was that whatever she'd done in a previous life must have been pretty bloody awful.
"Deep breaths," Tom encouraged, looking between Izzie's fear stricken face and the doctors stony one. He removed his stethoscope from his ears, placing it neatly begind his neck with two hands,
"I'm going to ask them to prep you for surgery Isobel, I'm afraid the baby won't cope with the stress of a natural birth at this point" he raised his body from the stool. Izzie twisted towards Tom, tears streaming down her face
"Don't let them take me, I want," she sobbed "I want to be there Tom," he wiped wet hair from her forehead, placing his lips where it had been. She gripped his shirt with white knuckles, pulling him closer as another contraction washed over her, "I don't want to miss it" she ground out as a midwife and nurse burst into the room.

Izzie's head snapped round to meet their faces, her own contorted into a snarl. "I don't want your drugs," she hissed at them, "I want," a sharp pain rippled down her spine, causing her to whimper, "I need, to push!" She cried out. By now Izzie was on her knees, still grasping Tom's shirt in tight fists near his collar. His large hands covered hers, and his forehead leaned in towards her. She flopped forward onto her hands and knees, breath and contractions both now coming hard and fast. The doctors words echoed in her head, and she fought against her own body, trying her hardest not to push. Tom looked to the hospital staff, who were now backing out of the room. Typical of his Izzie, he thought, raging until she got her own way. Only this time he wasn't sure that her way was best. He looked down at her in awe. Even now, battling against pain he couldn't begin to imagine, she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on.

A couple of minutes later the same doctor returned. He hooked Izzie up to a machine Tom recognised from their brief hospital visit a few weeks prior. The familiar ear phones now nowhere to be seen, instead the doctor flicked a switch and the glorious sound of their daughters heartbeat filled the room. That's what should have happened; only the sound that came from the machine was small and weak. Pale grey feeling in comparison to the sunshine yellow he'd felt last time he heard it. "Izzie," Tom cupped her face between his hands, forcing her to make eye contact, "please" he said. Her head shook briefly, jaw clenched, before she broke eye contact. Her rage now focused on the doctor, "I need to," she panted, the doctor nodded.
"That's your choice, Miss Redpath. I'll send your midwife back in" Izzie's face broke into a smile, the first one Tom had seen since that moment on the stairs, as relief washed over her. She knew her body better than any doctor, she had fought and she had won. She turned back to Tom, "hand" she commanded, "left hand" he obliged and he swiftly realised why she'd been so specific.

Izzie had remained on her hands and knees, Tom balanced on the birthing ball beside the bed. She had pushed her way through thirty minutes of contractions, and he'd been awestruck for every single minute. "One more, one more big push" the midwife's chirpy voice encouraged. She looked up, meeting Tom's eyes as she bent her knees further pushing herself into the bed. She gritted her teeth one more time, preparing herself. Izzie let out a long low moan as she felt the pressure between her legs suddenly release. Both her and Tom snapped their heads round as they heard the sound of a newborn baby cry. Izzie's arms gave way and Tom leapt up to catch her.

Ten minutes later she had melted back into the pillows, exhaustion clear across her features. "You did amazingly Izzie," he kissed her forehead, then leaned back into the chair beside her bed. "I love you" she cooed back to him, her fingers entwined in his, "I was so scared, but you make everything okay." The doctor knocked at the door before pushing it open, "congratulations" he smiled, holding his hand out for Tom to take, "sometimes mother knows best" he turned to Izzie, "I've checked her over and everything looks good, considering. She'll have to stay in the NICU until at least her original due date though," he patted her shoulder as he turned to leave, "breathing tubes, feeding tubes, you know the drill there Izzie" he smiled in mock innocence as he closed the door behind him.

Relief washed over Tom at the doctors words, their baby was okay, would be okay. He was riding on such a high that he'd missed the poison arrow that had been shot right at Izzie. Her hands shook and she tried to steady them, pasting a smile on her face she turned to Tom. She silently prayed that he hadn't picked up on it, that she wouldn't have to explain. She didn't think she could relive that pain, not right now, not after experiencing such painful joy again. Tom's forehead wrinkled, "Izzie, what did he mean by 'you know the drill'?!" Her heart sank.