"What's so wrong with Andy?" Cat asks, her face lighting up Jade's phone while they video chat

"I just don't like the way it sounds." Jade shrugs "Kinda reminds me of some douchey jock in an eighties movie, not a cute little boy. Besides...I'm not entirely convinced the baby is actually a boy."

"So just go to the doctor and find out, Jade." Cat sighs with a smile "I know it's driving you crazy."

"Andrew doesn't want to." Jade reminds her "If I go behind his back and find out...I dunno, it just feels like a betrayal. Not an awesome start to parenthood. Besides, there's only about a month or so left before the kid gets here anyways."

"Yeah well you're trying to hold on as long as you can, remember?" Cat reminds her "That baby cannot come out of you if I can't be there to meet him right away."

"Sorry I couldn't plan my pregnancy around your tour schedule." Jade teases "What happens, happens. Hopefully it's the week you're in Los Angeles...but I'm kind of over being pregnant so if he wants to come out before then, I'm going to have no choice but to let him."

"Have you guys even thought of any girl's names?" Cat asks

"Not a one." Jade admits "Andrew really wants a boy, like he absolutely refuses to talk about the possibility of it being a girl. I feel like if I play into that narrative, it will for sure be a girl and we'll have nothing prepared. But whenever I stray from Team Boy-All-The-Way he gets upset, so I'm just trying to balance things where I can. We painted the walls gray...the clothes are pretty gender neutral for the most part..."

The baby's nursery is in fact grey. All of the decor and bedding is grey and white with an occasional yellow accent. Andrew hasn't had much interest in shopping for clothes, so Jade has made sure to select outfits and blankets that are gender neutral as well. She doesn't want to jinx anything...but part of her really is worried about how her fiancé will react if the baby isn't a boy.

"Caterina is always a great go-to name." Cat tells her "I've heard it's rising on the 'Trending Baby Names' list."

"Oh is it now?" Jade smirks

"That's just what I've heard." Cat holds her hands up in playful surrender "But I should be getting going, it's after midnight here."

"Where are you again?"

"Indianapolis."

"Well, I won't keep you then." Jade smiles "Goodnight, Cat."

"Goodnight, Jadey."

With a sad smile Jade grabs her phone from where she had it propped up and sets it on the dresser beside her, then goes back to the pile of baby clothes she had been folding. While she's happy that her best friend is living her dream, she does miss her while she's away on tour.

"Can you not, please?" Jade sighs, rubbing her bump as the baby kicks her ribs yet again

She's dropped and is carrying low, it's obvious to her and anyone who looks at her, which means that the baby could arrive anytime. Her due date is still a few weeks off, and there's still a lot that needs to get done beforehand. Andrew is working with an artist to put the finishing touches on an album, and has been working late almost every night to do so. Jade still has two episode scrips to write, and edit, before she can really feel comfortable going on maternity leave. The other writers have promised that they will make sure everything gets done in her absence, but she wants to make sure her input is where it needs to be.

Jade is nervous too. Not so much about the delivery itself, she knows that's going to be hard and hurt quite a bit and she's accepted that, but about being a mother. She thought that the more her pregnancy progressed, the closer she was to meeting her baby, the better she would feel...but that hasn't been the case. She's worried about whether or not she's up for the task, and Andrew hasn't been the most comforting. All he's done is tell her to 'give it time', which hasn't been reassuring at all.

"Just hang in there for a few more weeks, kiddo." She whispers quietly, placing a hand where she had felt the last kick "We're not quite ready for you yet."

Of course, Jade goes into labor at thirty-eight weeks, two weeks before her due date. She had read somewhere that women usually end up going past their due dates with their first baby, but her pregnancy had been anything but typical.

Everything happens rather quickly. They arrive at the hospital at around eleven in the morning and by two in the afternoon, Jade is dilated enough to start pushing. She and Andrew both had anticipated a long night of contractions and checking dilation, so while the idea of not having to suffer through hours of agonizing labor is comforting...Jade finds herself a bit frantic as the nurses begin prepping for the baby's arrival.

"You've got this..." Andrew offers her a reassuring smile as he tucks a lose strand of hair behind her ear "Just think of what's waiting for you at the end of all of it."

"I know." Jade grabs his hand "It's just...it's happening, you know?"

"I know it is." He chuckles "You're going to do great."

"Am I?"

"You are." Andrew presses a kiss to her forehead "Hey, tell me something...how'd you get this scar?"

It's his attempt to get her mind off of everything going on around them, but he's also curious. It's not an overly obvious scar, definitely faded with time, only about an inch and a half long and right above her right eyebrow.

"S'nothing, really." Jade tells him "I was in a car accident when I was in high school."

"I didn't know that."

"I've probably never mentioned it because it wasn't really a big deal." She admits "The window shattered and glass cut my forehead, I needed a few stitches...but otherwise I was fine."

It's the first time she's thought about Beck Oliver in quite a while.

There isn't much time to focus on him though, because a nurse instructs her to start pushing when she feels her next contraction.

"You've got this." Andrew presses a kiss to the back of her hand and squeezes it tightly "I love you."

"I love you."

Even though she had gotten an epidural, Jade feels like she's going drug-free. If contractions had felt like period cramps on steroids, then she has no idea what the hell to compare actually pushing to. She wants to cry and scream but she also feels like she can't. Andrew tells her on more than one occasion that she's squeezing his hand hard enough to break it, and no one in the room knows if he means it in a playful or angry way. He stays encouraging through it all though, and thank goodness...because Jade needs some encouragement. It takes her an hour to get the baby's shoulders out.

"One more big push!" The doctor assures her "I just need a little bit more of 'em to grab!"

"Just a little bit more..." Andrew whispers to her, pressing a kiss to her temple "One more push and we can meet our son..."

"One more..." Jade repeats "I can do one more."

"I know you can." Andrew grins "I know you can."

When her next contraction hits, Jade focuses all of her strength and energy into one last push, grimacing and clenching her teeth as she squeezes Andrew's hand. Eventually she feels relief from the pressure that had been put on her pelvis, and not long after a baby is crying.

"You did it!" Andrew cheers, taking her face in her hands to kiss her "Look, baby. You did it!"

"Congratulations!" The doctor says to them both "It's a girl!"