Chapter Nine – Mother & Baby

David had joined the others in the waiting room and had turned as pale as Joey had been. He had been ushered out of the delivery room by one of the doctors and was now convinced that something had gone wrong with the birth. Jen and Audrey and tried to convince him otherwise but his mind was set and all he could do now was wait for the doctor to come out of the double doors and change his life, for better or worse. Dawson couldn't keep still; he had drunk another cup of coffee from the machine and was feeling on edge. He hated the fact that his best friend was stuck in a hospital bed and he couldn't do anything to help her out. Pacey had tried to keep him calm but that had stopped working at least an hour ago. Jack was sitting in silence; he knew that there was nothing to say. Nothing they said or did was going to change the outcome of what was happening in that room and the more everyone worked themselves up then the worse it was going to be.

Finally, a doctor came walking out of the delivery room, pausing to throw his rubber gloves into a nearby hospital-waste bin. He walked over to David and ushered him away from the group, Jen stood up from her seat and started to walk over there but Jack held her back.

"He has to do it on his own, he'll tell us in a minute," he soothed as Jen fell into the seat beside him.

"I know but we've been waiting for hours. I just need to know that she's okay," she sighed, leaning her head on Jack's shoulder and smiling as he stroked her arm. They were all petrified of what was happening and the look on David's face was not helping matters. They all watched as he shook the doctors hand and walked over to them, collapsing into his seat. Everyone crowded around him, waiting for the news.

"I'm a father," he said, everyone laughed and patted his back. "It's a little girl, Joey was right all along,"

"How is she?" asked Dawson.

"Er, the doctor said she hasn't come round yet. She lost a lot of blood or something; they operated straight away and stopped the bleed. She's having a transfusion now but they don't know when she'll wake up…" sighed David, his head was whirling. He knew that there was no point worrying about it, medical science had advanced enough that people didn't die in childbirth anymore.

"She'll be fine," soothed Audrey. "She's getting the best care possible and you've got a healthy baby girl to think about in the meantime,"

"Yeah, David. You have a daughter," grinned Jack, patting him on the back again, David straightened up slightly.

"I do, I have a daughter," he repeated. "I should ask if I can see her," David stood, a little shaky on his feet at first, and walked across to the nurses' station. They watched as he spoke to her and smiled as the nurse nodded and pointed to a door down the corridor, David looked back over his shoulder and gestured for them to come with him.

They walked down the corridor and stopped in front of a glass window, the room was filled with cribs and newborn babies and Jen wondered how people knew which baby was there. As if her thoughts had been heard, a maternity nurse wheeled over a tiny incubator to the window and they looked down at the tiny person inside. The tiny little girl with tiny fingers and tiny toes, her big brown eyes looking up at them blearily through the plastic. Audrey felt like she was going to cry, Jen already was crying. Jack and Dawson both put their arms around her, Audrey squeezed David's hand briefly as he looked in awe at his daughter.

"She's beautiful, she looks just like Joey," whispered Pacey, David nodded smiling. She did look like Joey, she had Joey's huge brown eyes filled with passion and curiosity, she had Joey's small, rounded nose, Joey's slightly too big ears but she had David's mouth. His thin, curved lips that were always smiling were perfectly mirrored on his daughter's face.

"Did you decide on a name yet?" sniffed Jen.

"Yeah but I think we should wait until Joey's seen her, just to make sure she still wants it,"

"What is it?" asked Audrey, her inquisitive nature taking over. David turned to her and laughed.

"Oh no, I'm not risking the Potter wrath by telling you now. You'll have to wait for her to tell you," he grinned. They were all smiling and laughing until Joey's doctor came walking around the corner, the smile dropped fro David's face as he waited for any news.

"Mr Wilder, I thought you would be here. I have just checked on Joey and she's doing fine, her blood pressure is back to normal and she looks to be coming round if you want to see her," smiled the doctor.

"Thank you," sighed David with relief and followed the doctor back down the corridor and into Joey's room.

The image of Joey hooked up to a plethora of strange beeping machines with wires and tubes covering her was not pleasant but the knowledge that they were all telling him she was okay relieved him. Her eyes were barely open but her fingers stretched out to touch him as she sat down next to her bed. He gently placed his hand over hers and smiled, a solitary tear running down his cheek at the sight of her. Her hair was a mass of knots and her skin was paler now than it had been before the labour but he didn't care how she looked, she was perfect to him. She opened her cracked lips to speak but nothing could come out, David passed her the plastic beaker of water that sat on a table next to her, she thankfully took a large gulp of water and licked her dry lips.

"Is the baby okay?" she croaked, her throat aching with its dryness.

"She's perfect, she's absolutely perfect," grinned David, Joey smiled and tears of happiness and relief streamed down her face.

"I told you she was a girl,"

"That you did. I haven't named her yet, I wanted to wait for you," he said.

"Does she look like an Ophelia?" laughed Joey before bursting into a fit of coughing.

"No, but she does look like a Charlotte. She really does," he smiled.

"I'm so glad, it's such a beautiful name, can I see her yet?"

"I'll ask the nurse," said David and left Joey to find someone who could reunite the mother with her baby. Joey closed her eyes; she was absolutely exhausted and could easily have slept for a week. Her eyes flickered open at the sound of the doors swinging open but it wasn't David walking towards her, it was Dawson.

"Hey," she croaked. Dawson smiled and stood at the side of her bed, he brushed a stray strand of hair from the side of her face and stroked her cheek.

"Hey you," he smiled. "I just wanted to see you before the masses get in here," Joey smiled and nodded, she knew how much Dawson hated talking about his emotions in front of a crowd. "I just wanted to tell you how happy I am for you and David. You make an amazing couple and I can see how happy he makes you. I really love you, Jo,"

"I love you too, Dawson. You're my best friend, you always will be," she smiled. Dawson smiled back and kissed her cheek gently before leaving her alone again. David did make her happy; the three years she had spent with him were the best of her life and now, against everything she ever believed, she was a mother. Audrey was right, she had the perfect boyfriend and a healthy baby, little Joey Potter really had landed on her feet.

THE END.