Hey everyone! *nervous wave*

I'm so sorry for the long delay! Work/life has been stressful and also this chapter has been difficult. I think I rewrote the middle section at least 3 times while trying to make it realistic. The timing/pacing(?) still isn't perfect but I'm kind of tired of editing this chapter and need to move on. I have a vague outline for the next chapter but nothing written, hopefully it won't be too long of a wait for the next update.

Reminder that I'm not a medical professional and have never been pregnant or in labor.

Sharon is 35 weeks pregnant.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 25

*Thursday October 21st* - Station

Karen set down her pen and looked at Carlton from where he sat across from her at the table in her office. "I must say, Carlton, I'm very impressed with how much of a team player you have become lately. Being a good leader is not only about taking lead on investigations, but also delegating work and helping others grow in their careers. You keep improving like this, and I would be happy to nominate you to succeed me as Chief. In another 5 or 10 years." She smiled.

"Thank you, Karen." Carlton nodded.

"We are all a team, a family, and we should be supporting each other. And now that we are done with your performance review, I would like to address your family leave request."

Carlton cleared his throat and sat up straighter. "The union contract says that I get 12 weeks of full paid leave, with the option of extending it up to 6 months with any available PTO I have."

"Yes, but you only requested 4 months off, starting the week that the baby is due."

"So what's the problem?"

"Sometimes babies come early. And with the... unique situation that Sharon is in, it might be best to be with her a week or two beforehand, just in case."

"The baby is a Lassiter, and we're always on time."

Karen shook her head. "From what Henry has told me, their family tends to be a couple of weeks early."

"So you're saying I should start it a week earlier?"

"I think you should start next week."

"There is not much to do right now before the baby is due, it will be more productive for me to work for a few more weeks."

"This has nothing to do with productivity. In fact, I believe…." Karen sighed as the desk phone rang. "Excuse me." She got up and went to her desk. "Vick... I'm in a meeting right now, are you able to take a message...I see, well, patch her through." She held out the phone to Carlton. "Sharon called the station, asking for you, and was very upset."

Carlton frowned as he stood up and took the phone. He barely had to wait a second before he heard Sharon breathing heavily. "Sharon? What's wrong?!"

"Lassie! Help!" Sharon whined in pain.

"What's happening?" Carlton tried to take a deep breath to stay calm as he pressed the phone closer to his ear.

"M-my whole body….*gasp* Everything hurts. It's, mmm, it's like when my body changes genders….like when it didn't wanna change."

"Where's your father?"

"I don't, I don't remember. GAH! I think he left an hour ago."

"I'm heading over now." Carlton looked up as Karen stepped out of her office to call Juliet over.

"Wait! Don't hang up!"

"I have to in order to leave, you're the one who called the station."

"I dropped my phone, couldn't …*gasp* remember anyone's number. Stupid baby brain fog."

"So how are you calling me?"

"Your house phone…..GAH! DAMN IT ALL!" She yelled.

Carlton took the phone away from his ear slightly. "Okay, Sharon. Take some deep breaths."

"Yo-you try while everything hurts!"

"I have my cell phone out now and I will call my house number. Are you able to hang up?"

"Sure…*groan* I'm scared!" Sharon whispered.

"You'll be okay. I will be there in 8 minutes. I'll even call for an ambulance."

"I, I don't want the hospital."

"It's just a precaution."

"GAH! LASSIE!" Sharon screamed in pain.

"Keep breathing, I'm on my way." Carlton dropped the office phone as he sprinted for the door, cell phone already dialing his home number. "O'Hara?!"

"Coming!" Juliet replied as she ran after him.

"Lassie!" Sharon gasped as she answered the phone.

"Sharon. I'm heading out the door now."

"I…. It hurts! It hurts, it hurts." She groaned in pain and continued to whimper.

"I'm going to put on the lights and siren so we should be there in 6 minutes." Carlton took out his keys as he approached his car.

"I don't think *gasp* I have that long."

"Yes you do, keep breathing."

"I think my water broke."

"Crap." Carlton dropped his keys as he tried to unlock the door. "I hope you're talking about a glass of water."

"No such luck, Lassie. AHH! I don't want to give birth alone!"

"It doesn't happen that quickly." He looked at Juliet as they got into the car and told her. "Call an ambulance. Sharon's water just broke."

"Oh no!" Juliet whispered as she picked up the radio.

Carlton took a deep breath as he fastened his seatbelt. "Sharon, I need to hand the phone to O'Hara so I can drive, okay?"

"Hurry!"

"I'm leaving the parking lot now, so the sirens are going to be loud." He quickly handed the phone to Juliet as she finished with the radio.

"Hey Sharon." Juliet greeted as brightly as she could. "Yes, we are…. Just concentrate on breathing…. That's it." She covered her free ear as the sirens started. "You'll be fine. Just keep breathing…. I will call your dad and Gus once we get to you. Right now, just concentrate on breathing, okay?...I know, but babies come early all of the time….Yes, they generally survive….Look, my nephew was born at 32 weeks and, after about 3 weeks in the hospital, he got to go home….Yes, and he is perfectly healthy, although he does have some outdoor allergies but that's manageable….*laugh* She's going to be fine, you both are. Just concentrate on breathing….We're about 4 streets away, the ambulance should be 5 minutes behind us…. Sharon?...Sharon, just breathe through it. It will be over in a minute…."

"What's happening?" Carlton asked as they turned a corner.

Juliet covered the mic and answered him. "She's having contractions."

"Crap!" He sped up the car.

"Carlton! She's fine." Juliet shook her head as she talked to Sharon again. "I'm still here. Just keep breathing….That's it, keep going….see, it didn't last too long…yeah, well, that's kind of how labor works….*laughs* I would love to see that!...Okay, we're on Carlton's street now….Yeah, just keep breathing and save your energy, we'll come to you…."

Carlton barely threw the car into park before he was jumping out and running to the porch. He had the door unlocked in seconds and yelling Sharon's name as he ran into the house. "Sharon! Sharon, we're here!"

"She's in your bedroom." Juliet replied as she followed him.

Carlton sprinted down the hall and slammed the bedroom door open. "Sharon!"

Sharon was curled into as tight of a ball as she could manage, moaning into a pillow. Carlton quickly knelt on the floor right in front of her. "Sharon? I'm here."

She blindly reached a hand out to him, squeezing his hand. "I'm scared." She whimpered.

"I know, but it will be okay."

"I don't know if I can do this."

"Yes, you can!" Carlton said firmly as he pushed some of her bangs off of her forehead. "You are one of the most stubborn and strongest people I know. Women go through this everyday."

"Not true. A woman can only give birth once or twice a year."

"Smartass." Carlton chuckled as Sharon smirked and looked at him.

"Hey Sharon?" Juliet asked as she called a number on her cell phone. "How far apart are the contractions?"

Sharon shook her head. "I, I don't know. Maybe 5 minutes?"

"Five minutes?!" Carlton exclaimed. "How long have you been experiencing contractions?!"

"Almost all day." She took a deep breath and loosened her grip on Carlton's hand. "At first, I thought *gasp* they were the fake practice ones, so I tried sleeping it off." She laughed shakily. "By the time I realized they were the real deal, my dad had already left. I thought I could wait it out until you got off work. And then the rest of my body started hurting."

"O'Hara, how far away is the ambulance?"

"I don't know. I'll call from the radio in the car." Juliet quickly left the room as she greeted the person on the phone. "Gus? Are you busy? And are you sitting down?"

Sharon laughed, "Jules is way *gasp* way nicer than I would be to Gus. I w-woulda just blurted it out."

"You do like shocking people."

"Gets the heart pumping." She squirmed and started to sit up. "A little help here, Lassie."

He frowned as he gently held onto her upper arms. "I think you should lie still and conserve your energy."

"Tempting, but need I remind you that my water broke?" She winced as she settled on the edge of the bed, her feet on the floor. "Which means your bed is wet and gross and I would really appreciate being in something cleaner."

"If we end up at the hospital, they'll just take your clothes off anyways." Carlton sighed as he looked at what she was already wearing. "Sweatpants are probably a bad idea. What about an dress?"

"Sure. As long as it's dry, I don't care." Sharon groaned and clutched her stomach.

"What's wrong?"

"The baby is pressing against my bladder! I might need you to help me to the bathroom."

"You're not giving birth in my bathroom."

"It's very tempting if it means that these contractions end soon." She groaned again as she stood up. "Ugg, I'm so sore and tired already."

Carlton sighed as he slipped an arm around her waist and helped her to the bathroom. "Why don't we just wait until the ambulance gets here, and they can give you a catheter or something?"

"No thanks, I'd rather *gasp* enjoy my fr-freedom and dignity while I can." As they entered the bathroom, she joked, "Normally I'd cheekily ask you to j-join me, but I might need you to spot, spot me. *gasp* Just in case."

"Yeah, we definitely don't want you falling and splitting your head open or something. Definitely won't help your dignity or whatever."

"I'm not that clumsy, at least not normally." She groaned as she leaned against the sink and managed to slip her underwear and shorts off and onto the floor. "Ugg, you should probably just burn those."

"Do you want me to grab you a clean pair?"

"Naw, no point." Taking a deep breath, she slowly lowered herself down onto the toilet seat. "I will definitely not miss all this extra weight. Remind me to never get pregnant again."

"Like you would ever listen to me." Carlton scoffed as he let go of her arm and jogged down the hall to the guest bedroom. He grabbed a dress and yelled, "O'HARA! ETA on the bus?!"

"30 seconds!" Juliet responded from the front door.

"Good!" He quickly returned to the bathroom and smiled as he saw Sharon was starting to doze off. "Are you done yet? The ambulance is almost here."

Sharon jerked slightly and grabbed tightly to the sink. "Lassie! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Carlton frowned. "I was barely gone for 10 seconds."

"Sorry, I'm just so *yawn* so tired! Between my body trying to change genders and then the contractions, I'm so worn out."

"Come on. The paramedics should be here any second, it would probably be better to meet them in my bedroom than the bathroom. Do you want to change into this dress?"

"Sure." Sharon slowly took the dirty blouse off, letting it drop to the floor. She took a few deep breaths before nodding and holding her shaky hand out for the clean dress.

"Arms up." Carlton said gently as he lifted the dress over her head. Once it was in place, he ran a hand through her sweaty hair. "Do you want a hair tie or something?"

Sharon laughed shakily, "Don't overthink it." She grabbed a stretchy headband off of the counter and slipped it over her head and into place. "This is fine. Can you help me up?"

"Sure." Carlton supported Sharon as she washed her hands and then helped her to the door.

They were almost to the bed when paramedics entered.

"About time!" Carlton grumbled.

He was about to fill them in when Sharon suddenly groaned. She grabbed onto her stomach with one hand and tried to grab the bed with the other. Carlton quickly supported her under her armpits and helped her down onto the floor. "You're okay, just breathe. You'll be fine in a minute."

"S-s-suck it!" Sharon hissed between whines of pain.

One of the paramedics came closer and knelt in front of Sharon. With a kind smile on her face, she said gently, "Your friend is right. Just concentrate on breathing and the pain will pass in a minute."

Sharon struggled to take a deep breath while also trying to curl up into a ball.

"My name is Carol and this is Dave." The paramedic smiled as she opened her bag. "Did I hear correctly that you're Carlton and Sharon?"

"Yes." Carlton replied as he rubbed Sharon's back.

Carol took out a stopwatch and looked at Carlton. "Do you know how far apart the contractions are?"

Carlton shook his head. "I haven't been here long enough to keep track, but it has to be near the 5 minute mark."

"Okay, well I'm going to give you the stopwatch just as soon as this current contraction finishes. I think it's safe to take her to the hospital now. Are you the baby's father?"

"Yes." Carlton replied as Sharon grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly.

"Would you like to join us in the ambulance?"

"Yes, my partner will follow us."

"I'm assuming you mean the detective we met outside?"

"Yes. I should probably make sure that Sharon's doctor is called."

"Let's wait until we get her settled on the gurney first, okay?" Carol smiled as she turned to confer with Dave, who was taking notes.

With a deep sigh, Sharon loosened her grip on Carlton. "This is…so not fun."

Carlton chuckled as he started the stopwatch, "Who ever said it would be?"

"I don't know, *gasp* people who have like a dozen or more kids."

"I believe the saying is that you will 'forget the labor pains' once the baby is born."

Sharon laughed shakily, "Highly unlikely. How about you get pregnant next time? Because I sure as hell never want to go through this again."

Carol laughed. "Never say never, as another saying goes. So, how about we get you up on the gurney and settled so that we can make our way to the hospital."

"Can I take a nap first?" Sharon asked.

"You can try to nap in the rig, if you want."

"Lassie, did you call Doc Jen yet?"

Carlton shook his head. "Not yet. I can have O'Hara do that."

"Can you grab my phone? I think it fell under your dresser."

"I'll grab it in a minute. Let's get you up first."

"Okay." Sharon took a deep breath before trying to stand up on shaky legs.

Carlton held onto one arm as Carol came to her other side. Dave moved the gurney closer. "If you can just sit, we will help you get settled."

Sharon nodded and looked at Carlton. "Don't forget to tell Doc Jen what happened earlier, when I called you, okay?"

"Yeah. Let's get you on this gurney first."

"Sure, it's gotta be ten times more comfy than your floor."

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They were finally settled in the ambulance and were just about to start driving when Sharon experienced another contraction.

"What's the timing on that?" Carol asked as she helped Sharon to curl up.

Carlton grimaced when he checked the stopwatch. "Four and a half minutes."

"I hope you're ready for a baby today."

"I don't think I will ever be truly ready."

Carol laughed, "That's what most first time parents say, at least until they get to hold their baby in their arms for the first time."

After about a minute, Sharon slumped and mumbled, "Can I get that epidermal now?"

"Epidural." Carlton corrected.

"Whatever! Can I get some damn pain relief now?"

Carol smiled, "Unfortunately, paramedics are not qualified to administer such a strong drug; that is above my pay grade."

"Then what is the point of you?!"

"Spencer! Behave!" Carlton scolded automatically before turning to Carol. "I apologize for her."

Carol laughed, "it's okay, I've had worse. In answer to your rhetorical question, I'm monitoring your progress and sending updates to the hospital so that they can get you a room quicker. I'm also here in case something goes wrong."

"Speaking of things happening quickly," Sharon took a deep breath before continuing, "how soon do you think the baby will be born?"

"Well, I'm usually not around when the baby is born; but it can take several hours, maybe half a day, especially if it's your first kid.."

"That long?!" Sharon groaned. "I don't think I have the energy for that. They might have to knock me out and do a c-section."

Carol patted Sharon's hand. "The body is an incredible and complex organism that sends the right kinds of signals and chemicals to make the whole birth process work. If you really do have trouble, the doctors can decide if a c-section is necessary. They can have the baby out within 20 minutes if needed."

"Good to know." Sharon sighed as she closed her eyes. "I'ma just gonna take a quick nap first, okay?"

"Sure thing." Carol smiled. "I'm going to ask your partner here if he can answer your medical questions."

"You might have to call Gussy," Sharon mumbled. "I don't even know everything."

"Just relax already." Carlton took out his phone and stared at his messages. "Looks like Guster is already two steps ahead of us." He accepted the clipboard and started copying information down. "At least one of you is organized."

"Mmm-hmm." Sharon replied as her breathing slowed.