I saw the fear in my daughter's eyes and tried to breathe calmly. For her sake I had to pull myself together and be strong, even if I was beginning to panic myself. It was time; the birth had begun and only Izzy was here to help me.

"Mom? Do you need help?"

Izzy's bottom lip was trembling and she had her arms wrapped around her body as she stared in horror at the floor where the puddle of amniotic fluid was getting bigger and bigger.

"It's going to be okay," I ground out, clutching my stomach. "Can you help me to the sofa?" All color had drained from Izzy's face, but she somehow managed to wrap her arms around my waist and lead me to the sofa.

"What now?" She looked at me with wide eyes. "Should I call the ambulance?"

I shook my head. "Call Haley, okay? She knows what to do," I said, then took a few deep breaths. "We talked about this, in case nobody else is here."

"I wish Lydia was here," Izzy wailed. "She would know what to do."

"All right. Just call Haley and she'll take care of everything, okay?" I repeated again.

Izzy nodded and then ran out of the room to get her phone. From a distance I then heard her talking to Haley and briefly explaining what had happened. I leaned back in relief. Everything would be fine now. Haley would come and take care of everything. But it felt like an eternity before she finally came. By then I was in labor and I wasn't feeling quite as relaxed. "Finally!" I gasped out as Haley ran into the living room.

"How are you? How bad are the contractions? How often do they come?" she immediately attacked me with questions.

I took a few deep breaths and then answered them. "On a scale of 0 to 10, I'd say a 7. And if I counted correctly, they come about every 10 minutes."

"Okay." Haley breathed a sigh of relief. "Then we still have time. As a precaution, I called the ambulance on the way here so as not to waste valuable time. And I informed Julian too," she added.

I forced a smile and massaged my aching belly. "Then everything is settled and I don't have to worry." A contraction was building and I reflexively reached for Haley's hand and squeezed it tightly.

She smiled. "Hold on tight. I'm not that squeamish."

The contraction was over and I laughed softly. "That's what you say now. But wait a few more hours. Julian had pain in his hand for a week after Izzy was born."

"It's been 16 years," Haley recalled, smiling. "It was almost the same situation back then. I was there holding your hand and Julian came later."

I smiled at the memory, too, and then looked at my almost-grown daughter, who was looking at me with a worried look. "Everything will be fine," I said reassuringly.

"But Daddy won't make it to the birth," Izzy said quietly. "Can I go to the hospital instead?"

My little big girl! I would have loved to hug her, but another contraction prevented me from doing so. Groaning softly, I grabbed Haley's hand again. "It was more painful than the others," I said after the contraction was over.

"Of course you can go with us," Haley answered Izzy's question. "I'll take care of that."

We got distracted when the doorbell rang.

"It must be the ambulance," Haley said, hurrying to open the door.

The men and one woman came in, asked me a few questions, and then, after a quick physical and blood pressure check, loaded me onto a stretcher. It was just like back then, 16 years ago. Only this time, Izzy stood by me, along with Haley. After she wrote a quick note for the others and placed it on the kitchen table, I went straight to the hospital, where I was immediately taken to the maternity ward and hooked up to a fetal monitor. Haley and Izzy didn't leave my side. However, I had agreed with the doctor that Izzy should wait outside during the actual birth. After all, I didn't want to traumatize her.

"I'll stay with you until the end," Haley promised me and squeezed my hand. "No matter what happens."

I was grateful to her for everything she had done for me so far, but I really hoped that Julian would make it in time for the birth of his second daughter. At the moment things were still looking good because the contractions were still too irregular and according to the doctors it would probably be a few hours until the actual delivery.

"Mom?"

I looked at Izzy. "Yes?"

"Thanks for letting me be a part of this." She leaned toward my belly and whispered something I couldn't hear.

"What did you say to her?" I wanted to know.

"It's something personal between my sister and me," she said, grinning mischievously.

The fetal monitor started beeping, and I grabbed Haley's hand and squeezed it hard. Gradually the contractions became really unbearable. "Julian..." I stammered with the last of my strength. "Where the hell are you?"