"He is beauty, inside and out.

He is the silver lining in a world of darkness.

He is my light."

― Marie Lu, Prodigy

Emily gritted her teeth as the contraction washed over her. The position change wasn't helping, her back spasming each time. She got to her feet and started to shuffle around the room, hoping that the movement would lessen, or at least shift the pain. Tara and Penelope stood in the doorway and waited for Emily to turn before they walked in.

"How's it going, Mama?" Tara asked, placing a bottle of juice and a bowl of broth on the table.

"Remind me to murder my husband once he gets here." Emily mumbled as she moved to the bed. Tara opened the juice, dropped a straw in it and passed it to her friend. "Small slow sips." She ordered gently.

Nodding, Emily took a tiny sip and looked over at Penelope. "Any news from Derek?"

The blonde shook her head, and looked at her phone. "I'll go down and wait for him." She gave her friend a soft smile. "You're doing so well, Em."

Emily didn't reply, but leaned back on the bed with an exhausted sigh, her hands rubbing her belly. "He promised." She whispered softly, her eyes closing. "When we tried to get pregnant, he promised that I would never be alone."

Tara went to open her mouth when hurried heavied footsteps down the hall and into the room. Derek ran in and rushed to his wife's bedside.

"I'm so sorry, there was a traffic jam and we had to take another route and…" He pressed his hand against her cheek.

Emily exhaled softly and leaned into his touch. "You're here.' She whispered, her voice heavy with unspoken pain and relief.

"I'm here, Princess." He gave Tara and Penelope a smile and they took the hint and left the room. "You're so incredible." He whispered, helping Emily to her feet, looping her arms over his shoulders, his hands resting on her hips. She allowed him to hold her weight as they swayed to unheard music, her face buried in his chest, his scent grounding her. A contraction hit her, the tension making her breath hitch and instinctively, as though guided by an unseen force, he dragged his hands down to her back and held her ferociously close, massaging firmly. She moaned softly, but didn't pull away, and it felt like the right thing to do, so he kept at it until he felt the muscles beneath his hands relax. Only then did he let her go. Emily pulled away and Derek was happy to see, and slightly surprised to see, a smile crossing her face.

"Thank you, Derek." She whispered softly, relief written all over her face. "I've been having back labour on top of regular labour and that's the only thing that works for it." She said quietly.

"What is?"

"You pressing hard and rubbing like that." She said quietly. "It wasn't too bad at first but…" Her face crumpled and Derek pulled her close and helped her to sit on the bed. He'd be damned if Emily would cry another tear on his watch.

"Shhhhhhhhhh…" Derek cooed softly. "That was before, I'm here now. You are not alone." He gently pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

Nodding softly, Emily looked up at him with deep soulful trusting eyes. "I'm going to need you to keep telling me that." She said softly. "When the next contraction comes. I need you to press on my back like it's a brick wall and keep telling me that I'm not alone."

"You can do this." He said softly, climbing in the bed behind her, slotting her between her legs and wrapped his arms around her. She sighed a deep sigh of contentment as she leaned against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her.

"We can do this." Emily corrected softly. "You got lots of work to do buddy, I'm only at 2 cm the last time they checked."

He smiled and peppered kisses on her skin. "Then let's do it. Let's have these babies."

Emily leaned against him and closed her eyes. "Let's have these babies."

The hours ticked by and Derek and Emily fell into a rhythm. When the contraction would hit, she would lean as far forward as she could and Derek would ball his fists and would press them into her back. Hard. Harder than he thought he should. Hard enough that he thought he was hurting her, but she assured him otherwise.

Dr. Montgomery had been in and out of their room and Emily had progressed to 7 cm, though they were already on hour 20 of labour, but she assured them that things were moving well.

"Do you want to go to the shower?" Derek whispered as another contraction wracked her small body. The team had been in and out, but they had mostly left them alone, minus JJ. The blonde had stuck around and fluttered in and out of the room bringing broth and popsicles and solid food for Derek.

Nodding, Emily slowly got to her feet and shuffled over to the washroom, infinitely glad that they had a private birthing suite with a huge shower. Her gown was tossed aside and she climbed into the warm stream of water. Derek stepped in his swim trunks and he wrapped his arms around her, the hot water pounding on her back. They swayed as the water and his hands tried to loosen her tight muscles. Her arms wrapped around his neck, burying her face in his chest as a groan spilled from her lips. They swayed until the contraction passed and he loosened his grip.

"You're so amazing." He said softly, over the sound of the pounding water. "I'm awed by you, Emily. You are the most incredible person I know."

They stayed in the shower through a few more contractions before he turned it off and gently dried her and got her back into the hospital gown. Helping her into bed, Derek quickly went and changed before climbing in behind her. JJ slipped back into the room and gave the two of them a soft smile. She sat by Emily's side and took her hand. "You're doing awesome." The blonde said softly. "We are all so proud of you."

It could have been a few minutes or hours before Emily slumped back on Derek's chest after the latest contraction. "I can't do it anymore, Derek." She whispered. "I'm so tired, I can't do it."

"Hey," Derek whispered softly, using a cool washcloth to wipe her forehead. "It's almost over, and remember what they said in birthing classes? When you feel like you can't go on anymore? It means it's almost time."

She nodded and exhaled loudly, squeezing Derek's hand and looking down at her best friend. A few moments later, the doctor came in, and with a hint of giddiness in her voice, announced that it was time. Derek watched his wife, with a strength that he didn't quite know that she possessed suddenly take control. The woman who claimed that she was exhausted and said she couldn't go on, was replaced by a steady, calm, determined woman possessed by a power he'd only seen once before. If she was in pain, neither he nor JJ knew. He'd somewhat expected a room full of cheerleading nurses, but Emily was in charge. Her body was in complete control. All of her energy was devoted to guiding their babies safely into the world and she had no use for the swearing and hitting that he expected. All he could do was hold her gently and marvel in awe at the miracle that he was witnessing.

After a few minutes, Dr. Montgomery looked up and gave them a gentle smile. Normally she would tell the couple to reach down and feel the baby's head, and to offer the father a chance to catch the baby and cut the cord, but they all knew that this was not a normal situation. Even had there been just one baby, 31 weeks was still 9 weeks premature and the mother was high risk. The risks were even greater with multiples. "Alright Emily, you're going to start pushing." She said with a smile.

Derek squeezed her hand gently. He was going to be a father. In a few moments he was going to be a father. A few moments later, Emily's cry split the air, a roar of triumph and quickly the red headed doctor scooped the tiny infant into her arms and quickly cut the cord.

Silence.

Derek kissed Emiy's head and looked down at JJ who was shooting panicked looks over her shoulder. They should hear something by now. Finally a gurgle and a weak wail. JJ reached over and squeezed Emily's hand, giving her a smile, tears pricking in the corners of her blue eyes.

"It's a boy." The doctor called out, surrounded by nurses and other staff.

It was amazing how someone could feel so alone in a room full of people. A shudder ran through Emily's body and JJ carefully pulled a blanket over her. Her body tightened again, not at the same viciousness, though she knew that it was only a temporary reprieve. Her head throbbed, cold sweat running down her body in rivers. The sound of an alarm filled the room. Derek looked to his left, seeing the monitor blaring.

Dr. Montgomery was beside them in a flash and she looked at Emily, checking her vitals. "Emily? Your blood pressure is getting pretty high. Let's get this other baby out before it goes into distress." She looked at Derek, her lips in a thin hard line. "Derek, you need to get out from behind Emily." Her voice left no room for arguments. "Emily, we need to adjust your position. The baby is face down, which makes it a harder delivery." She explained. "And a higher chance of the cord being pinched which will harm the baby."

Emily leaned forward as her husband slipped out from behind her and gripped her other hand.

The doctor did a quick check before nodding. "Alright Emily, the next contraction I need you to push again."

She was exhausted and in pain. Her whole body seemed to be on fire. Nodding, Emily looked to her left and caught Derek's gaze. She could count on her hand the number of times his eyes had possessed that look. The next contraction hit and Emily, squeezing both Derek and JJ's hands pushed. For the second time that day she felt her body stretched to the limit and finally Baby B slid from her body.

They were again met by silence before the panicked words of the medical professionals filled the room. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was supposed to have their babies in her arms, not with the doctors.

Panic and desperation washed over Emily as she strained to listen for a cry. She looked at Derek who gently leaned down and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "You did so good, Princess." He whispered trying to hide the fear in his voice.

He got up and walked towards the doctors, where his babies were, when he heard an angry squawk and a wail.

"You have a baby girl." Dr. Montgomery called over the noise. She looked at Emily and quickly rushed over.

His wife was flushed, her normally pale skin red and sweaty. He rushed back to Emily, his panicked gaze flicking between her and the blonde at her side. The redheaded doctor sat between his wife's legs, one hand firmly on her abdomen. He wasn't sure what happened, when it happened, but he gripped Emily's hand until it went slack.

He watched the blood pour from his wife's body, the red warm coppery substance spilling onto his shoes, watching as his wife's face turned from red to white to grey and finally to yellow.

They were pushed out of the room, standing in the hallway, their red footprints on the ugly grey tile.

"SO?"

Derek turned slowly, tears in his eyes. The team stared at him and he stared back at JJ. Taala shook her head softly and stepped forward. Derek turned on his heel, his shoes sticking to the tiles as he ran down the hallway.