Disclaimer: I don't own Lizzie McGuire.

Chapter 16

Lizzie's POV

"Morning, sweetie," said Gordo, coming into the kitchen and kissing me on the cheek.

"Morning, coffee's already on the counter," I replied, and went back to reading the paper.

My stomach gave a jolt. "Ooh, Gordo, the baby just kicked again!" He rushed over to me and put his hand on my large stomach.

"Oh, there it goes again!" I said excitedly.

"Ok, I have to go to class now, but are you ok for the day?"

"Of course, Gordo, you ask me that everyday!" I said, laughing. "I'm just going to do some sketching, and maybe fix up the baby's room. Oh, and don't forget, we have the last Lamaze class tonight."

"Ok, be careful though," Gordo said, kissing me as he left. "Bye bye, little guy," he said, leaning down to talk to my belly. I smiled. I saw him disappear down the hall and into the elevator, and blew him a kiss.

I retired back into our spacious New York apartment. We were lucky that Gordo's friend's mom was a real estate agent, and that both our parents were willing to chip in a little. As a result, we were able to buy a considerably large apartment in Manhattan, down in Soho.

I waddled into the area we called the baby's room, which was actually an adjoining section of our bedroom, meant to be used as a study. Gordo and I had put yellow wallpaper in it, rather than blue or pink, since we didn't know if the baby was going to be a girl or boy. Gordo wanted it to be a boy, but I wanted it to be a girl. I was now nearing the due date, with only 3 weeks left.

I organized all the gifts I had received at the baby shower Miranda and Kate threw for me when I visited in Thanksgiving. When that got boring, I walked into the large living room, sank down on the couch, and began to sketch.

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I began to sketch ideas for new fashions when I got too pregnant to go to work everyday. I was interning for an experienced New York designer, but had to have maternity leave.

Next week, I was so busy sketching that I didn't notice the door buzzing until the third time. I slowly got up and walked to the door. I pressed the intercom. "Who is it?"

"It's Frannie," the person on the other end replied.

"Ok, I'm buzzing you in!" I answered, and buzzed in my new, New York friend.

I let her in when she reached the 3rd floor, where our apartment was.

"Here you go, I baked you some of my famous banana bread," she said, handing me a pan. The delicious aroma wafted up into my nose.

"Mmm," I sighed. "You are too much. Thank you!"

"Hey, you know I really like to bake!" she laughed. Frannie lived just an apartment building away, and we met at the local Starbucks. It turned out that we had some mutual friends- well, she had some mutual friends between Gordo, and she quickly became my best friend in New York. She worked for the New York Times, author of entertainment articles. She plopped down on the couch while I put away the banana bread in the kitchen.

"So, decide on any more names?" she said to me when I got back.

"Well, for boys, we've narrowed it down to Benjamin, Gordo's grandfather's name, Austin, and Jacob. For girls, we chose Abigail, Natalie, and Rebecca." I laughed, remembering something. "Gordo suggested Jordan, but I said, NO WAY!" Realization dawned on Frannie, "Oh, 'cause then it would be," she laughed, "Jordan Gordon!" we both said, collapsing in giggles. "I would never want to put my child through that," I grinned.

"So, for sure, the kid is going to take Gordon as his last name?" Frannie asked, becoming serious again.

"Well, yeah," I replied. "I mean, we're probably going to get married sometime."

"You mean, when he asks you?" winked Frannie.

All of a sudden, a sharp pain went through my stomach.

"Oooooh!" I cried, wincing. I felt something warm come down.

"Oh, my gosh!" Frannie exclaimed. "Your water just broke!"

Another wave of pain went through my body.

"Ok," Frannie said quickly. "We need to go to the hospital, now! I'll call David."

She helped me downstairs, passing a few surprised passerby.

"Taxi!" she shouted, waving vigorously. Two taxis passed without stopping.

"Hello!" she shouted again, waving even harder. "Pregnant woman here!"

A guy next to us, who was just about to get into a taxi, paused.

"Uh, miss?" he said, getting our attention. "You can take my taxi, I can wait for the next one."

"Ohhh, thank you soo much!" Frannie said, hurrying my over to the taxi. I vaguely recalled the guy living on the floor below us. "Thank you," I echoed.

"Hospital, as fast as you can, we have a pregnant woman here!" Frannie ordered the driver. He zipped off. Fran whipped out her cell phone and called Gordo.

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Gordo's POV

"…and so we have to increase production by 25% in order to-" he was cut off by my cell phone ringing. I hastily picked it up. My boss frowned disapprovingly at me, but let me go on.

"David? This is Frannie."

"Hey, what's wrong? You sound weird," I answered.

"David, you need to get down to here right now!" she exclaimed.

"What? Where? I'm in a meeting right now," I murmured, avoiding the others' glares.

"Lizzie's water just broke! We're on our way to the hospital right now!"

"Oh, wow!" I said. "I'll be there as soon as I can." I hung up and looked at my boss. "Um, I have to go right now," I said, inching towards the door.

"Just wait a minute, Gordon, we're not done with this meeting yet."

"Mr. McPherson, Lizzie's in labor right now." His frown turned into a smile then.

"Well, then, what are you waiting for? Go!" he said. "Congratulations!" everyone told me as I hurriedly left the room.

It seemed as thought the subway was going especially slow that afternoon. I rushed into the hospital.

"What room is Elizabeth McGuire in?" I said breathlessly to the receptionist. "Room 402, the happiest floor in the hospital," she said, smiling. "Fourth floor, up the elevator, to your left."

"Thanks!" I said, and rushed to the elevator and punched the button.

"Lizzie!" I exclaimed, bursting through the door.

"Uh, sir, immediate family only," the nurse said, motioning for me to leave.

"I'm the father," I told her, and she relented.

"How are you feeling?" I said, taking Lizzie's hand. She had changed into a hospital gown and beads of sweat glistened on her forehead.

"I'm, ok," she said, but then pain took over her face. "Oww, oooh!" she screamed, clenching my hand.

"Contractions," the nurse told me. "Dr. Cheng should be here soon," she said to us.

"Ok, hopefully, it won't take us long, and save you a little pain," another doctor said, entering with a stack of papers. "Although you are two weeks early, everything seems ok, and the baby is just ready to come out!"

I sighed with relief.

"Hi, Lizzie, I got here as fast as I could," Dr. Cheng greeted us. "How close are the contractions?" She turned to the other doctor and spoke to him. I saw them talk softly, and the other doctor left.

"Ok, Lizzie, Doctor Thompson said that it should be all over before this day is done. So just relax, and all we can do is wait."

"Oh, relax," Lizzie said sarcastically. "I can really do that."

"Don't worry, Lizzie, I will be right here," I reassured her. "Remember all we learned at those classes? The breathing techniques, everything?"

Dr. Cheng left for a while, but a nurse stayed in the room, keeping a close watch on the monitors.

After a few hours, Lizzie squirmed in the bed, pain washing over her again.

"Aaaargh!" she screamed, scaring me a little bit. She tossed around convulsively on the bed. Dr. Cheng hurried in.

"Ok, I think this is it!" she exclaimed, grabbing her tray of tools.

I squeezed Lizzie's hand gently.

"Ok, remember our breathing exercises," I reminded her.

"Right," she panted. I looked down at my watch. 12:25. Looked like we wouldn't get this done on yesterday.

"Aaaaaagh!!!" she screamed.

"Ok, ok, Lizzie, breathe in," I coached. She did so. "Ok, now exhale slowly." She let out a whoosh of air.

"Ok, in, out," I repeated.

"Oh! I can see the head!" Dr. Cheng said from between her legs. "Ok, Lizzie, I need you to push that baby out into this world!"

I continued to coach Lizzie's breathing, but I couldn't resist looking. It kind of grossed me out, but I didn't mind, because this was my kid.

"Oooow!!!" Lizzie growled. "In, out," I said at regular intervals. She squeezed my hand a little harder than I wanted her to, but I was entranced at the round thing coming out.

"I see the head, I see the head!" I cried.

"Ok, push, Lizzie, it's almost all over," Dr. Cheng called.

Slowly, a little body came out bit by bit. Then the head popped out, chest, and little hands, and finally-

"Lizzie! It's a girl!" I shouted happily. She didn't answer me, her face scrunched up with pain, breathing like I told her to. Finally, there was our baby! Lizzie fell back, exhausted, her hair matted down from her sweat.

Dr. Cheng cut off the umbilical cord. It began to cry. "Lizzie, we have a girl!" I said joyfully as Dr. Cheng wiped off the blood and gunk, and wrapped it in a blanket.

"Here you go, your brand new, baby girl, born at 12:42, March 4th," she said, carefully handing the baby to Lizzie."

"Oh, my gosh!" she said, holding her. "Little Abigail." I leaned down and stared at my daughter. "So, Abigail, huh?" I said, smiling at Lizzie. She smiled back. "Only if you want," she replied.

"I think it's perfect," I said, kissing the top of Lizzie's head.

"Hi, Abigail," she cooed. "This is your mommy!" She looked at me. "You can hold her," she said, handing her cautiously to me. I remembered what we learned in those classes about how to hold a newborn. In the few minutes she wasn't cradled, she began to cry, but quieted as I held her tight.

"Hey, little Abby," I said softly. This was my daughter. A part of me. "I'm Daddy," I murmured, tucking in the blanket under her chin. She reached out blindly, and grabbed my finger with her tiny little hand. It barely fit around it. My heart went out.

"Oh, Gordo, look," Lizzie said, tears beginning to start in her eyes. I got a little teary too. I handed Abigail back to her so she could be fed.

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They let Lizzie and Abigail Joanne Gordon leave from the hospital a day later. They made us push Lizzie to the taxi in a wheelchair, "just in case," the nurse who accompanied us out said.

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Lizzie's POV

I smiled down at Abigail, who we were now calling Abby, for short. I was feeding her.

"How does it feel?" Gordo said, coming into the living room.

I made a face. "Gets kinda sore after a while," I grimaced. "So I have to keep switching her."

Gordo raised one eyebrow. "Hmm, I'll keep that in mind," he said suggestively. I blushed and slapped him. He laughed. Even though we shared a bed, we promised each other we wouldn't go all the way until we were married, which would make it more special.

"Anyways, that was your mom and dad. They got the earliest flight over here, and arriving next Sunday morning. Your mom says that she can stay for however long we need her, but your dad can only take 5 days from work, so he has to get back Friday," Gordo informed me. "So the apartment won't be too crowded, my parents decided to come when your dad leaves, but can only stay for two days, since they have patients to get back to." I nodded. Both of Gordo's parents were psychiatrists.

I went to bed, glad that my huge tummy had somewhat diminished, only to be woken up a few hours later by Abby crying. I groggily sat up and noticed that Gordo was gone. The crying stopped. I lightly walked over to the "nursery," and was touched with what I saw before me. I stood at the doorway, not wanting to interrupt.

Gordo was sitting on the rocking chair, holding Abby. He was singing softly.

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word,
Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird

And if that mockingbird won't sing,
Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring

And if that diamond ring turns brass,
Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass

And if that looking glass gets broke,
Papa's gonna buy you a billy goat

And if that billy goat won't pull,
Papa's gonna buy you a cart and bull

And if that cart and bull fall down,
You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town."

Gordo cradled the now sleeping Abby and stood up, noticing me.

"That was very sweet," I murmured. "You're going to be a great father."

"You think so?" he said quietly, as to not wake Abigail. He gently set her back down to sleep.

"Yeah."

"Thank you," he said, wrapping his arms around me. "And I think that you will make a wonderful mother."

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Thank you everyone, who supported me and gave me all those encouraging reviews!!! I hoped you liked the chapter- last chapter coming up!!! Comments, suggestions, criticism, please feel free to put all those things in your review. Thanks a bunch!