Hey babes! Back again with a new little piece for this series for ya! Been working on this one for a while, and I think I finally got it where I want it to be, so I'm giving it to you to read. So enjoy some beautiful fluff that I absolutely loved writing.

Enjoy!

Racing through the hallway at top speed, Mac nearly trips over his own two feet, his breathing heavy and his heart pounding away rapidly inside his chest. But he keeps running, following the signs on the walls to get to exactly where he needs to be. There probably isn't much time left, he might be cutting it close. He doesn't know if he'll live past tomorrow if he screws this up.

Finally reaching his destination, Mac skids to a stop, doing his best to get his breathing back under control as he pushes the door open and leans inside. "Am I too late?" His eyes land on his wife sitting up in the bed, her curly hair pulled back into a messy bun to keep it out of the way, and sweat already coating her skin. "I didn't miss anything, right?"

Riley tosses him a strained smile from the bed and reaches out a hand toward him. "No, Mac, you're right on time, thankfully. Doc says it should be any time now."

Mac lets out a relieved breath as he makes his way further into the room and strides over to the bed. He grabs Riley's outstretched hand and gives it a small squeeze as he rests his cheek against the top of her head. "I'm so glad I made it."

"Me too. I would hate for you to miss this."

"So would I." He smiles brightly as he reaches down to rest his other hand against his wife's heavily pregnant belly. "We almost didn't make it to exfil on time."

"Yeah, I know. And I would have killed you if you weren't here."

Mac smiles, stepping back to stand by Riley's head again, and brushes a few loose strands of hair out of her face. He presses a kiss to her forehead. "I know."

"Alright, Riley, I think we're about ready to start pushing now."

Mac locks eyes with Riley, giving her hand another squeeze and smiling encouragingly. "I'm right here, okay? You can do this."

Riley nods, letting out a breath. "I can do this." She sits back on the bed and focuses on the doctor, squeezing Mac's hand a little tighter.

Everything happens so quickly after that, but also painfully slow. He doesn't know how both sensations can happen at the same time, but somehow they do. He stays dutifully at Riley's side, encouraging her to push whenever she's instructed to do so by the doctor, and letting her squeeze the life out of his hand every single time. It's a small price to pay for what they're going to have at the end of all this. And Riley is enduring far more pain than he is, so he knows not to mention his hand at any point throughout the process. Or afterward, for that matter.

"Baby's almost here," the doctor announces. "I'm gonna need one more big push from you, Riley. As soon as you feel the contraction start, bear down and give it everything you've got."

Mac shifts closer to his wife, leaning down and resting his forehead against her temple, his eyes closing momentarily. "You've got this, Riles, I'm right here with you. You can do this."

"Here we go," the doctor speaks.

Mac shifts again so he's standing up a little taller, completely focused on the moment at hand. It's all so close. He barely even registers Riley's death grip on his hand when she's pushing, a scream escaping past her lips. But he just stays there, comforting her and supporting her, like any good husband would.

And then a sharp, piercing cry of an infant rings out, cutting right through all of his thoughts.

"It's a girl."

Mac knows he's crying. He knows that he has tears running down his face as watches the squirming newborn get placed directly onto Riley's bare chest, allowing mom and baby to start bonding immediately. The baby cries, her little arms and legs moving around as she gets used to her new environment. He thankfully remembers to snap a picture of their daughter's first moments in the world, something they'll both never forget but will still want to have a reminder of years later.

Draping an arm around the back of the bed and leaning down closer, Mac rests his cheek against the top of Riley's head. She's crying too, tears rolling down her cheeks as she gently grasps one of the newborn's hands. He tilts his head enough to kiss her hair and then focuses back on his daughter. She's the most beautiful baby he's ever seen, though he may be a bit biased on the subject.

"Would Dad like to cut the cord?"

Reluctantly pulling his attention away from his newborn daughter, he looks up at the doctor with wide eyes. "What?"

The doctor smiles, holding out a pair of medical scissors. "Would you like to cut the umbilical cord?"

He swallows thickly. "Uh, yeah." He follows the doctor's instruction, cutting exactly where indicated, and then returns to his family. He wants to relish in this moment they have as a family before everything starts moving again.

A few moments later, the baby is taken from Riley so the nurses can run some tests and check her over to make sure she's fine. He hovers, he knows that. But he just wants to make sure his little girl is okay. That everything is fine and she's as healthy as she can be. Thankfully, everything is perfect and the baby is returned to Riley's waiting arms, now all bundled up in a soft pink blanket and matching knit cap. She's so small but so beautiful, and he can't keep his eyes off of her.

"It almost seems unreal that she's finally here."

"I know. It's amazing. She's amazing." Riley lets out a huffed laugh, running the back of her finger down the baby's cheeks. "I can't believe this is real, Mac. We're parents."

He smiles and nods. "Yeah, we are. Best feeling in the world."

.

.

.

Finally, once Riley and the baby are situated in the recovery room, the three of them have time to breathe, to settle in as their own little family. Riley and the baby are perfectly fine and healthy and Mac is beyond thrilled. He doesn't know what he would have done if something happened to either of them. But now he doesn't have to stress over that. He can just focus on the good moments now.

Like sitting up in the hospital bed with his wife as Riley nurses their daughter with ease—the first time had been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster—both of them watching the baby with nothing but pure love and awe. He's never felt this intense of a love for someone before. It's vastly different from the love he has for Riley or the love he has for the members of his team. That love was all developed over their time spent together on missions and out in the world getting to know one another. This love was instantaneous, from the moment he found out about his daughter he knew he loved her completely and with his whole heart. And it's only grown in the short time she's been out in the world with them. And he knows it's just going to keep growing as his daughter hits each new milestone and starts exploring the world around her.

"You know," Mac speaks up softly, "it's a good thing we got her room ready when we did since she decided to surprise us a few days early."

Riley smiles. "Yeah. She's gonna sleep in our room the first few nights, though. I don't think I want to let her out of my sight just yet."

"I completely get it. She is pretty perfect. She still needs a name, though," he reminds his wife.

Riley pulls the baby away from her chest and carefully holds her up. "I know."

He eagerly takes the baby and follows the nurse's instructions from earlier, settling his daughter up by his shoulder against the burp rag that Riley had draped over for him. "Have you decided on any from the list?" he asks, referencing the list of names they started making once they found out they were having a girl. They'd managed to narrow it down some from their initial ideas, but have yet to decide on one. They know that they need to, but it's not something that can just be done so lightly. This is the name their daughter is going to have for the rest of her life, it needs to be as perfect as possible.

"Actually," Riley speaks up, her shirt back in place as she shifts on the bed to look up at him. "I think I did decide on a name."

"Really? Which one?"

"Ellen."

His entire body perks up at the name, his hand pausing its patting of his daughter's back momentarily as he looks at his wife. "Ellen?"

Riley nods her head and smiles. "Yeah, after your mom. I know it wasn't on the list, but I think it's perfect."

Mac simply smiles, a few tears streaming down his face as he leans down to kiss Riley's forehead. "I think it's perfect too. And we can use Grace as her middle name since we both liked that one."

"Ellen Grace. I love that."

Mac pulls his daughter down away from his shoulder once she's let out a burp and carefully holds her out, her head cradled securely in one hand while the other holds her rear. He smiles softly. "Ellen Grace MacGyver, the most perfect and beautiful baby girl in the world."

Riley leans against him, a smile on her face as she gently runs the back of one finger over their daughter's cheek. "Hi, Ellen," she says softly. "We're so happy to finally meet you."

They spend some more time bonding with their daughter, just their little family of three, before deciding to let the others come back and join them. They're both excited, to say the least, to introduce their daughter to their closest friends and family.

Mac doesn't exactly want to leave his family, but he knows everyone else has been waiting for a while and is eager to meet the new addition. So he finds his way out to the waiting room where the entire team, plus Diane, is waiting—Elwood's out of town for a few days since they all thought they'd have a little more time. Mac knows he's grinning like an idiot when everyone gets up to greet him, crowding around and shooting off question after question.

"Riley's fine," he tells them first thing, taking in the looks of relief and joy on everyone's faces. "She and the baby are both in perfect health."

"You gonna tell us if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Bozer asks. "I know the scan said it was a girl, but I've heard that those things can be wrong sometimes. Not that a boy wouldn't be cool too."

Mac chuckles at his friend's words. He smiles, looking at each person in front of him. "It's a girl. We have a daughter."

Jack instantly pulls him into a hug, clapping him on the back. "Congratulations, kid. I'm so happy for you two." He pulls back and smiles. "Really, I am."

Mac smiles. "Thanks, Jack. We're pretty happy too." He turns to Diane to find her already opening her arms for a hug which he gladly accepts. "Your granddaughter is absolutely beautiful," he tells his mother-in-law. "She definitely gets it from you and Riley."

Diane laughs quietly as they break the hug. She gently cups his chin and smiles. "Oh, I'm sure she gets some of her good genes from you too."

He smiles. "Thanks. Do you guys want to go see them?" he asks, glancing around. "The baby might be sleeping, but I think Riley should still be awake."

"Of course we want to see them, Blondie," Matty responds.

Mac chuckles. "Alright. Follow me, then." He steps away and leads them all down the hallway toward Riley's recovery room, an eager smile stretched across his face the entire time. He can hear them chatting quietly behind him, though it's mostly Bozer and Ashley going on about how excited they are to start spoiling the baby with gifts whenever an opportunity presents itself. He just smiles as he listens, glad that his daughter already has so many incredible people in her life.

Once they reach the room, Mac steps inside first and checks to make sure Riley's awake, and then he pushes the door open all the way to let the rest of them inside. He strides over to the bed and sits on the edge, draping his arm over Riley's shoulders and smiling down at the sleeping baby in her arms. It's a sight he knows he'll never get sick of seeing.

"Everyone," he speaks up, his eyes never leaving his daughter, "we'd like for you all to officially meet Ellen Grace MacGyver."

"That's your mom's name," Bozer speaks up.

Mac looks up at his friend and nods. "It was Riley's idea."

"I thought it would be nice," Riley says, leaning her head comfortably against his arm with a smile. "Mac's told me what he remembers about his mom, and how excited she would have been to be a grandmother. It just felt right."

"Well, it's a beautiful name, sweetheart," Diane says with a smile. "I am very proud of you."

Riley smiles. "Thanks, mom." Her eyes glance at each person in the room, her brows furrowing slightly. "Where's dad?"

"He's on his way. Might take him a while to get here, though."

"Okay. That's fine."

"So how are you feeling?" Desi speaks up from her place standing behind Ashley, her arms wrapped securely around the shorter woman's waist.

Riley lets out a breath and runs a hand through her hair. "I'm so sore. Giving birth is incredibly painful. Even with the epidural."

"I've heard it's worse than getting shot," Ashley remarks.

"Well, I wouldn't know for sure, seeing as I've never been shot before."

Mac smiles down at his wife, resting a hand on her leg and squeezing gently. "And let's try to keep it that way."

Riley smiles back at him. "Don't worry, babe, I'm not looking to jump in the middle of a firefight any time soon."

"Glad to hear it." He leans down to give her a quick kiss, smiling against her lips, momentarily forgetting about their friends and family still in the room.

"Alright, you know how much I love seeing you two so happy," Jack speaks up, pulling their attention away from each other, "but do I get to hold the kid now?" He has a giddy smile on his face, his eyes darting to the baby.

Bozer reaches out to press the back of his hand against Jack's chest to keep him in his place. "Hold up." He raises his eyebrows, staring pointedly at the older man. "What makes you think you get to hold the baby first? I'm Uncle Bozer, and I've known Mac the longest. I get to hold the baby first."

"Yeah, well, Grandpa Jack trumps all of that. I'm holding her first." Jack moves closer to the bed and carefully takes baby Ellen from Riley despite both hers and Mac's attempts at protesting. He takes a moment to situate the newborn baby in his arms and smiles softly down at her. He smiles brightly with tears shining in his eyes. "Hey there, sweetheart. It's so nice to meet you. You are going to be just as gorgeous as your mama when you're older, I can tell you that right now. And you...little darling, you are going to be so loved by every single person in this room."

Mac smiles at the scene, leaning back in the bed with his wife at his side, watching as everyone gathers around Jack to admire the newborn. He pulls Riley closer and drops a kiss to the top of her head. "Still can't believe this is our life now," he whispers.

Riley breathes deeply, resting her head against him again. "I know. It doesn't seem real yet. But it is. She's finally here, and we're finally parents. Everything's gonna change now."

"Maybe so." He looks down at her with a smile, grabbing her hand in his and giving it a small squeeze. "But the one thing that will never change is you and me. We're a team through and through. We can do this."

She smiles softly up at him, squeezing his hand gently. "Yeah, we can do this."

So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!