Hour after painfully long hour passed, and each time the nurse checked to see how much more dilated Harper was, it never seemed to go up. She was certainly dilated and it was definitely progressing, albeit excruciatingly slowly. The contractions grew so frequent and violent that she swore she was dying.

It wasn't until late that evening that it all started to happen. Harper was drifting off in between contractions, desperate for just a wink of sleep, and Tom snoozed lightly beside her, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles soothingly. The nurse came in for the sixth time that day, and upon checking, she informed them that Harper was completely dilated and it wouldn't be too much longer.

And she was right - because twenty minutes later, Harper was wide awake and the baby wanted out! "Oh. My. God!" Harper cried, in complete and utter pain, unlike anything she had experienced with the contractions. If hell had a real life equivalent, Harper was damn sure it was the birthing process.

On one side of the bed, Arthur held one of her hands, and on the other, Tom. He kept brushing back her curls, which fell into her face. Two of the nurses stood at the end of the bed, directing Harper.

"Come on, Harper, push!" And Harper did as she was told. Considering this was the first try, the baby was obviously not born just like that. With the pain that flowed through her, she felt a situation-induced bout of hatred for the father of the child. Just why did she have to be put in this situation? Why her, of all people? The nurse spoke again, and with a bit of irritating encouragement from Tom, did Harper reluctantly cooperate. Harper promised herself right then and there that she was never having another kid.

The nurse spoke again, but at this, the woman's eyes went wide and she frantically called for towels. Tom's heart clenched in his chest, and he felt himself stop breathing. One of Arthur's hands went to his mouth, and Harper noticed and lifted her head up.

"W-what?" she asked. "What's going on?" Harper couldn't even what was going on through the panic of the room, and so she felt the fear that clung to her foggy mind intensify, hitching her breath and making it hard to breathe evenly.

"Harper, you're doing great," Tom reassured both her and himself. "I promise, it's almost over."

Harper nodded, smiling, but with a start Tom noticed her pale and her eyes look less lively. No. This wasn't happening again. Not when they were so close.

He looked up and saw one of the nurses pull away two towels, drenched in a thick, red blood, and panic coursed through his system. Arthur looked like he was gasping for air, and looking down at Harper, he watched as the literal life was pulled away from his granddaughter and felt a violent tug at his heart that made him feel ill.

Justified tears formed in Tom's eyes, and he wiped away at them furiously, not letting Harper see them. His heart broke when he saw her eyes drift shut, and he shook his head. "No, dammit!" he shouted, surprising the weakened woman below him, effectively keeping her awake.

The nurse looked at Arthur quickly. "If we can get this baby born, we'll be able to treat Harper more successfully." Arthur nodded at her, and took one of Harper's hands again.

The nurse nodded at both Tom and Arthur, and commanded Harper once again. "Push!"

Harper completely lacked the strength required for the task. She had no will left to move in her. "Harper, please," Tom begged from above her, kissing her nose. "We're so close."

Harper forced her eyes to look up at him, and saw the tears dripping from his face. From the sniffles to her left, she knew her grandpa was now joining in with the tears. Pain shooting up her body, Harper gathered all the strength she had and followed through with what she was told, tears spilling down her own cheeks.

This was all too much for her. Again, she heard a shout from one of the nurses, and she continued to draw strength from some unknown source within her, but when another five minutes passed, towel after towel getting soaked and then removed from the room only to be replaced, did the dam officially break and tears flooded over Harper's face, falling into her hair, and she screamed. She couldn't do this anymore!

Turning to Tom, she choked out, "Fuck! I can't do this anymore. I just can't!"

"Harper, listen to me," he spoke clearly, calmly, despite his inner, spiraling emotions. "You can do this. There isn't anything you can't do - because you're Harper. The woman I, quite frankly, don't deserve, but loves me anyway. I'm here, babe. We can do this."

Harper peered up at Tom with dull eyes, tears pouring from them. He squeezed her hand and tried to project to her how much he cared about her and how strong he knew she was. Harper bit her lip, and with one last bit of her strength, did she give another push, and the soft screech of a newborn broke the heavy tension of the air.

Tears of a different variety filled Tom's eyes, the sound of his baby's voice struck his heartstrings, and pulled at him. He was a dad now, and Harper was a mom. Together, they were parents.

The sound of the baby flooded Harper with a new energy, renewing her resolve and helping relieve her aching muscles in just the slightest. She blinked away the tears that sprung to her eyes, and without any direction, continued to push.

She heard a shout, but she couldn't make out the exact words. She was focused on seeing this baby, holding this baby now. She, however, could make out the next three words clear as a bell as they rung through her ears.

"It's a girl!"

Harper's heart swelled with indefinable love, despite the hardships she was currently facing. Tom felt his stomach flop at the announcement, pride surging through his veins. He could barely remember a moment he had been so deliriously happy, besides when Harper had accepted his proposal. A smile breaking out on his face, wide and prevalent, he bent down and pressed a kiss to Harper's lips. "You did it," he cried, pressing another one to them, tasting the salt from her tears.

Harper, with much difficulty, raised her hand to Tom's cheek and held it there, unconditional love being communicated through their unbroken eye contact. "We did it," she whispered. He nodded at her, before dipping his head to capture her lips in his again.

The baby was handed to the younger nurse who handled her with great care. She severed her umbilical cord and cleaned her off, while the other nurse continued to clean the never-ending mess of blood Harper was producing. Despite the fact that she had just given birth, Harper was still hemorrhaging horribly.

The nurse swore under her breath, before turning away quickly, going to a cupboard on the other side of the room, searching and then grabbing a vial of medication and a needle. She hurriedly deposited the medicine into the syringe and then rushing back over, she quickly administered the dose of medication into Harper's thigh.

She continued to place blankets and towels around Harper. "That should help clot the blood. Then we can finally get this under control. For now, we'll just have to keep checking on her until it kicks in."

Arthur nodded at her, before walking over to see his great-granddaughter. A small smile formed on his face as he gazed warmly at her jet black hair, her big, brown eyes that reminded him of Harper's, and long, dark eyelashes. She somehow looked exactly like both of her parents, but in the best way.

The younger nurse from before saw him admiring the baby, and weighing and measuring her quickly, wrote down the amounts (seven and a half pounds, nineteen inches), wrapped her in a cozy white blanket and then handed the still crying baby to Arthur, and she instantly calmed down. He smiled. Arthur brushed the baby's soft skin tenderly and chuckled. "Hey there, kiddo." Everyone was going to love her.

He continued to watch and hold the baby as Tom held tightly to Harper's hand, speaking comforting nonsense to the woman, reassuring her that everything would be okay and she'd get to see their baby soon. When Harper began to drift to sleep, Tom smiled at her form and reluctantly left her side. She was getting some well-deserved rest, and while he knew she wanted to see their child, it could wait.

Tom stood then, and walked over to Arthur. Arthur reluctantly handed the baby to Tom, wanting to keep holding his great-granddaughter all to himself. Tom peered down at his daughter with wide eyes, and she looked up at him before closing her eyes and teetering in between sleep and wakefulness like her mother just had. He studied his daughter - ten toes, ten fingers, a cute button nose not unlike Elliot's. He felt so much love for the little being that had only been in the world for fifteen minutes, and it was incredible. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and felt tears form in his eyes when he heard her squeak in reaction then hiccup.

"H-hey," he spoke to her for the first time, and she blinked at him. "I'm your daddy." He tilted the healthy little girl towards the snoozing Harper, who had a smile curled on her lips. "And that's your mom." She blinked at him again, before she tapped her hand with his and his smile just widened, and he brought forth his finger for his daughter to grab, which she did. The room was filled with a comfortable quiet, only interrupted by the baby's frantic babbling and Harper's soft snores. He tickled her toes a few moments later, which caused a short noise, not a laugh, but a noise, to escape her mouth, touching up his previously broken heart.

The nurse from before watched him admire his baby for a few moments longer, before directing Tom and Arthur towards the door and out of the room. "Let's leave Harper be now. She deserves a nice, long rest."

They nodded, and Tom eagerly exited the room to show the baby off to everyone, but not before he delivered a kiss to Harper's forehead.

Danni was initially awkward about holding the child - she felt like Harper had seven months before; like she'd break her or something. But once she got used to the feel of the soft baby in her arms, did she begin to hold her close and admire her. Parker moved in closer to Danni and extended his arm, smiling when the little girl wrapped her tiny fingers around one of his own. "She's got one helluva grip, considering she's not even a day old."

Eventually, the nameless child was handed to Elliot, who peered at his niece, studying her. He smiled when the baby smiled up at him, and Robbie, who was sitting next to him, wrapped an arm around Elliot's shoulder and admired his new niece along with him.

"Oh, she's so pretty," Imogen cooed as she took the baby in her arms. "I'm gonna spoil you rotten, just you wait." Imogen grinned up at Tom. "I'm totally stealing her."

Tom laughed. "Fight me, Wescott."

Imogen suddenly peered behind Tom, and he followed her gaze, spotting two familiar figures, one of them excitedly running toward him and roughly throwing his arms around him. "Tom!" It was Andy.

Tom grinned, returning the hug. "Andy! You finally made it."

"Sorry I'm late," Andy said. "But I got your text and ohmygod, congrats, seriously!"

As Tom pulled away, he looked up to see the other familiar figure in a black hoodie striding forward.

"Devon?!"

"Hey," Devon said casually, placing her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. "Andy told me what was up. Just thought I'd stop by and say congrats. Everyone else says congrats, too."

"Thanks," Tom replied, pulling Devon into a one-armed hug. "Dude, it's so good to see you guys again. You have no idea how happy I am right now."

"Uh, Tom?" Imogen cut in, still sitting with the baby in her arms, eyes wide with curiosity. "Who are they?"

"Oh, uh, these are my friends from Westchester," Tom said, taking the baby from Imogen and handing her to Andy, who was eagerly waiting to hold her. "You guys never met, huh?"

Andy was instantly enamored with the child, grasping at her and cooing over her, commenting on how much she looked like her daddy. The little girl smiled at his antics, which made his animated grin grow even larger.

Devon smiled at them before leaning in to whisper in Tom's ear. "Noah said Harper was in trouble." She stepped back and spoke again, her voice still lowered. "Is she okay now?"

"Y-yeah," Tom said, smiling over at Andy, who was taking pictures of the baby with his phone. "They're both okay, thankfully."

"Good," Devon smiled, before it faded back into a serious expression. "Um, I also wanted to tell you that the Power went kind of crazy earlier. I was just talking to Connor about it. So just be on your toes."

"Right," he nodded.

"She's so freakin' cute!" Andy exclaimed before turning to Devon. "Devon, you wanna hold her?"

"Nah, I think I'm g- oh!"

Devon stopped when the baby was quickly thrust in her arms and she awkwardly took her in them. She relaxed when the little girl cooed up at her, tiny hands curiously reaching for the drawstrings of her hoodie, making Devon smile. "What a sweetheart," she giggled, handing the baby back to Tom. "Congrats, Tom."

She nodded at Andy then. "Yo, Andy, you heading back to Westchester with me?"

"Yeah, hold up," Andy called to her, before clapping Tom on the shoulder. "Congrats, man. You're gonna be great dad. I hope Harper feels better soon."

As Andy and Devon said goodbye to everyone and turned to leave, Tom sat on a small sofa behind him, everyone watching and closing in on him as he cuddled the baby to his chest. His steady heartbeat lulled her into a sleep, an adorable yawn rising from her mouth before she drifted off. As he watched her, he felt a yawn catch him as well, and before he knew it, he was falling asleep, too. He wanted to spend more time with his daughter - hell, he wanted to never let her go - but he didn't want to drop her, either, so handing her off to Arthur, who gladly took her back, a tug at his heart as he gave her up, he settled against the sofa cushions and easily accepted sleep.