A/N: Hi hi. Penultimate chapter afoot. Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuush. Lol. Baby is a'comin' :D I won't waffle as I will probably not stop, haha.

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who voted for naming the baby. There is a winner and this will be revealed in all its glory in the next chapter which will also be the final chapter.

As always, thanks to everyone who is still reading and a big, big thanks to those who take the time to review. It means more to me now than it ever did. And, thank you to calim for the beta and suggestions. You make me a better writer with every chapter that comes :)

Get ready to spread em… (almost) :P

On we go…

# - Betty signing

Chapter 60

Grissom and Sara had just been shown what the many bits of equipment around the bed could be used for during the final states of labor when another contraction struck. As the pain slowly subsided, he dabbed at her cheeks with a tissue then took the offered glass of water from Catherine.

"Drink this," he said as he handed the glass to Sara.

"Thanks." Sara gulped the water down quickly, letting out a huge sigh once she'd finished. "I foresee losing my voice by the time this is over."

"Ah, you wait until the screaming really starts," Catherine teased. "I have ear plugs in my bag."

As Sara laughed, Grissom shot Catherine a lofted eyebrow and she smiled at him.

Janet approached, pushing a machine. "While we have break in contractions, I need to check your blood pressure and temperature. Okay?"

Still catching her breath, Sara nodded.

"How are you coping with the contractions now? You still have a little more time for the epidural."

Sara held her arm out to the nurse, watching as she wrapped the cuff around it.

"Hurts more and more," she admitted. "Everyone that comes brings a whole new meaning to the word pain."

"They will," Janet confirmed. "And it will only get worse so think very carefully about the pain relief that we have offered, okay?"

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Sara huffed out a breath. "Yeah," she whispered. "The last half hour or so, it has been tempting."

Giving her patient a quick look, Janet then recorded the blood pressure reading. "Pressure is a little high, so we need to keep a close eye on that."

Grissom blinked. "Is that bad?"

Taking the cuff off, Janet grabbed a thermometer. "It can lead to complications but as long as we monitor it, and keep it down, it won't change a thing. Lift your arm for me, Sara," she requested, slipping the thermometer under Sara's armpit as she did so. "Keep your water intake up as much as you can. So far you're doing great, but it will help your BP the more you drink."

"Okay," Sara whispered, shooting a slightly worried glance to her husband. For once, she looked more worried than him.

"You'll be fine," he insisted, squeezing her hand. "We can control this, so try not to worry about it."

Smiling at him, she nodded, proud for once he was being positive rather than a worrywart.

"And what about my temperature?" she asked, returning her attention to the nurse. "I do feel a bit hot."

Retrieving the thermometer, Janet checked the reading. "Feeling hot is very natural. A lot of pressure is being put on your body. You're exerting yourself, you're sweating, dehydrating and an increase in body heat is very normal." She held up the thermometer for them to see. "Temperature is fine."

"Good, good," Sara sighed, relieved at least that was okay.

Mia came across and pushed the blood pressure machine out of the way. "Shall we show you the bed and try to get that out of the way before another contraction comes because," she checked her watch, "the way you have been going, one will be along very shortly."

Frowning and looking confused, Grissom glanced at the bed. "Um, we can see the bed so what do you mean?"

Sara snickered as she pushed herself up from the chair. Quickly, he slipped an arm behind her to help.

"You don't think I'm just going to lie down and the baby will pop out do you?"

Playfully, his eyes narrowed. "Humor me. I'm not used to having babies."

Her lips pursed at him. "I never would have guessed."

"Come on you two," Catherine urged. "Or Sara will be sitting down again before we get through this."

"Yes, Mom," Grissom shot back.

Catherine held up a finger. "Watch it. And you do need to call your Mom soon as we are getting close. Don't forget."

"Heaven forbid," he kidded, moving with everyone a few steps across the room.

As Mia shifted to the head of the bed, grabbed the pillows and dropped them onto a chair, she pressed a button on a small control panel and the bed came to life.

The trio watched in fascination as a quiet mechanical noise whizzed through the room and the bed split down the middle, folding in on itself. It was almost like watching a Transformers movie. Within seconds it looked like a chair. Two cushioned stirrups at the bottom for Sara's legs were pulled from underneath and two handles clipped up at either side.

"And this," Janet began, reaching to the top of the bed, "is a hold bar."

She tugged on the thin rope and a half-moon shaped cushioned bar swooped over the bed, coming to rest just below the center.

"Ha," Sara laughed. "I thought that was just for decoration."

Mia gave a soft laugh. "It's very good for you to grab, squeeze and crush to your hearts content if you don't want to use the handles. Yes, partner's hands are fantastic to comfort you but when we are hitting the final hurdle, it can be very painful for them as well. So, the bar will be just what you need."

Pursing her lips, Sara reached for Grissom's hand, softly stroking it before looking at him. "It appears I worried about squishing you for nothing."

He leaned in close. "I can deal with a little squishing."

Sara gave his arm a gentle squeeze and then looked in the direction of the door as an unfamiliar lady entered. "And I think the hands-on help has arrived."

Grissom's eyes flicked to the door, all attention falling on the woman in the white coat, probably in her mid-forties, long hair tied back and welcoming smile as she approached them.

"Good evening," then woman announced, glancing at Buddy as he started to wag his tail.

But anything else she wanted to say was interrupted by Sara growling and then doubling over, the predicted contraction arriving with the worst timing.

Placing a comforting hand on Sara's back, Grissom urged her to sit then watched the new arrival chatting quietly with her colleagues. He strained to catch what they were saying but couldn't make out much of anything.

"That's it, honey," he said positively, cringing as she cried out in one harsh squeal making his stomach turn a bit. "Remember what we learned. Puff out your cheeks and breathe."

Tipping her sweaty and reddening face up to look at her husband, she watched as he gave her a smile and panted along with her. If it wasn't for the pain ripping through her body she might have laughed.

"Come on," he said again, continuing to blow out his cheeks. "In and out, in and out."

Nodding, she mimicked what he was doing. Pain. Blow. Pain. Inhale. Pain. Blow.

Pain.

Pain.

"Aghhhh," she stammered, her hand grabbing Grissom's knee and squeezing.

Grissom sighed with relief it wasn't the other leg considering her grip was pretty hard. Yes, it was healed but they both knew his knee still gave him pain every so often. However, it was unlikely Sara would even be thinking about that given their current position, so he had to make sure he did.

One last shallow cry slipped from Sara's lips before she relaxed back against Grissom's arm, her head lolling onto his shoulder. Holding her close, he kissed the top of her head, feeling her body shake as she tried to get much needed air back into her body.

"You're doing so well," he whispered.

After a few seconds, Sara cleared her throat and sat up, waving a hand in front of her face as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. "I'm so hot."

Grissom didn't know if the tears were from emotion or pain but didn't have time to ponder when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Tipping back his head, Catherine offered a tissue and he quickly took it.

"Just keep on breathing," he guided Sara handing her the tissue.

Trying to do that, she saw the nurses coming back their way and stop in front of them.

"Sorry," Sara apologized, wiping her eyes before focusing on the new face standing before her.

"No need to apologize," the woman said softly. "You're in labor and I certainly don't expect you to hold in a contraction so we can talk."

Sara laughed. "I guess not."

Pushing himself up, eager to move things along knowing how much pain his wife was in, Grissom held out his hand.

"Gil," he announced as the nurse shook his hand. "Our friend, Catherine, Buddy and…"

"Sara," she finished for him.

He let out a soft sigh. "Yeah. I'm sure you know all this already."

She nodded. "I'm Chloe. I will be here to help my colleagues bring your baby into the world."

Nipping on his lip, Grissom glanced to the other nurses. "And what were you just talking about? You know when you came in."

"Sorry, he can't help himself," Sara said, taking Catherine's hand so she could help her up, still trying to catch her breath as she did so. "It's nice to meet you even if my husband is being a little rude."

Grissom frowned at her. "I'm not being rude. I was only asking a question."

That said, Janet handed Chloe a clipboard.

"I was just asking how we're getting on," Chloe answered, glancing over the charts. "You haven't asked for an epidural, Sara, is that right?"

"That's right," Sara confirmed, holding a hand to her back. Standing was becoming a real effort now. "Trying to do it without."

Immediately, Grissom saw the discomfort on her face. "Maybe you should sit back down," he suggested.

"Why don't you come lie on the bed," Chloe suggested. "I think I should give you a check, see how much further along we are and, considering your contraction pattern and pain, we might need to keep you on the monitor now."

"Okay," Sara mumbled. She tugged on Grissom's arm. "Go call your mother because this might be the last chance you get."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yes. Catherine will be with me. Go."

"I'll only be a minute."

Smiling as Catherine slipped an arm around her waist, they moved towards the bed.

"Be as long as you need. It's not like I'm going anywhere."

CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI

30 minutes later

Over 9cm's dilated, the most brutal contraction yet had just fizzled out. Sara thumped back against the pillows, eyes closed, gusts of hot air blowing from her lips while sweat trickled down her cheeks. Catherine squeezed her left hand while Grissom dabbed her face with a tissue on the right.

"I feel sick," she mumbled.

Concern highlighted Grissom's face and his eyes flicked to Chloe, whose attention was drawn from the fetal monitor readout to him before looking at her patient.

"Let's sit you up a little more," Chloe advised.

Passing the readout to Mia, Chloe nodded at Janet to tip up the bed a bit. Swapping places with Catherine, she slid her arm behind Sara's back as the bed rose. "Just keep your breathing as steady and deep as you can. Nausea is natural at this point in time and should hopefully pass quickly. Deep breaths will help."

Sara blew her cheeks out. "I hope so."

Grissom ran a gentle finger across her cheek. "Do you want some water?"

Shaking her head, Sara shuffled her butt, dropping a hand between the suction cups attached to her exposed tummy and rubbing. "Not sure I could keep it down right now."

"We're increasing," Mia said, tapping a few buttons on the monitor.

Eyes darting around, Grissom floated his glance between all the nurses. "Meaning?"

Catherine leaned into him. "It's almost time," she told him.

Now he swallowed, taking in a deep breath of his own.

"Sorry to interrupt…"

The unfamiliar voice that came into the room drew everyone's attention to the doorway and the nurse stood there.

New paragraph "Your mom is here, Mr. Grissom."

"Oh," he muttered, eyes finding his wife's.

Raising her hand, Sara patted his arm. "Go say hello but quickly, okay?"

Nodding, he swiftly kissed her and rushed from the room. Smiling, Sara tipped her head back.

"How much longer do you think it will be?" she asked.

Chloe glanced at the monitor then the report Mia held out to her.

"Given my experience I'd say no longer than half an hour before we reach 2nd stage labor."

Sara noticed as she frowned and then moved away to gather a folder from underneath the monitor. Watching as the nurse read through several bits of paper, Sara found her own frown coming uncertain about what Chloe was doing.

"Everything okay?"

"I don't see a decision about 3rd stage labor," Chloe said. Her head tipped to Janet. "Have we discussed that?"

"Um, no," Janet said. "Not yet."

Sara was confused. "I… erm. What do you mean?"

"The placenta delivery," Chloe advised lightly, smiling encouragingly. "Some people decide before labor and it's in the notes. I need to know before we start delivering the baby which option we're taking."

"Ooohhhh," she almost laughed. "Sorry. I'm not used to all the 'stage' terms."

Chloe's smile grew. "No one ever is."

CSICSICSICSICSICSICSI

Outside the room, Grissom followed the nurse a few rooms down to a family waiting room. Stepping inside he was immediately greeted by his mother and Patrick coming right toward him.

# "How is she?" # Betty asked impatiently.

"We're close," Grissom answered. "Really close and she's doing amazingly well so far."

# "This is so exciting. How's she dealing with the pain?" #

Grissom's head tipped from side to side. "She's starting to struggle a bit."

# "Is she having an epidural?" #

"So far she's said no."

Betty looked surprised. # "Oh. Well, it's her choice and she's a better woman than me if she doesn't have one." #

"You had one?" he asked.

She patted his arm. # "Yes. I'm not ashamed of it. You were like trying to get a stubborn rock out of a pinhead." #

His eyebrows shot to the ceiling and Patrick laughed.

"That's such a great image for your son, Mom, thanks."

Betty smiled brightly. # "You are both making me so proud. Now you better go. We'll be right here ready to say hello to my granddaughter when she arrives. And, if you need us before you know where we are." #

"Okay," Grissom agreed. "Do you need anything?"

# "No." # Betty shook her head. # "The nurse will look after us now go." #

Giving a nervous sigh, Grissom nodded. "I'll see you soon."

Rushing back to the delivery suite Grissom heard what he assumed was the end of a conversation.

"Either way has pro's and con's," he heard Chloe say. "But it's totally your decision. It's just easier for us to know which option you've chosen as you could be pretty incoherent right after the birth to make these types of decisions. And we need to have the injection prepared if that's the route you want to take."

Catching Grissom standing there, Sara threw him a tired smile. "Hey."

His eyes twitched as he neared, slipping past Catherine to take Sara's hand. "Hey."

"Your mom okay?" she asked.

"She's fine. In the waiting room with Patrick." He brushed fingers through her hair. "What did I miss? What are you all talking about?"

"Placenta," Sara said flatly.

Head tipping back, his nose screw up a bit. "Err what?"

"You know," she continued. "The afterbirth."

Grissom cleared his throat. "Yes, dear, I know what the placenta is."

She snorted, squeezing his hand. "I need to decide how I deliver it as there are two options and they ideally need to know before I hit the 'legs spread baby is coming out' stage."

Catherine laughed then looked down at Buddy who was panting. "I'm just going to give Mister some water," she chuckled, patting her leg for the dog to follow her.

"You and my mother really know how to give me such lovely images," he responded humorously. Giving him a tooth filled grin, Sara rubbed her belly. "So, have we decided which option?" he asked.

Now Sara sighed. "It's a harder decision than I thought. Quicker with the injection but risk of vomiting and high blood pressure or spend longer pushing and have a higher chance of blood loss."

Nipping on his lip, Grissom looked at Chloe. "What would you recommend?"

"It's difficult for me to recommend on this one. However, the more popular option is to take the injection. Another hour of pushing after giving birth can be really taxing and painful for a lot of women."

Grissom looked surprised. "It can take that long?" She nodded and Grissom's eyes found his wife's. "I want you to go through as little pain as possible but whatever you want to do, I'm right here to support you."

No, he didn't want her to have to go through an extra hour of exerting pain if there was something that could speed up the process, but he knew how she felt about drugs and whatever choice she made, he'd be there.

He squeezed her hand and Sara smiled at the loving look he was giving her.

"Let's go with the injection," she said, eyes still looking into her husband's. Their loving gaze remained locked until Chloe's voice broke up the moment.

"Sara, are you sure?"

Slowly, Sara glanced at the nurse and she nodded. "Yes. I'm sure."

A/N: Are you ready? One more chapter to go… :)