Chapter 10

3 Months Later

"Uh, Jack? Wake up!" Kate was nudging him, trying to wake him up. It was 3am and Jack was dead to the world, sleeping soundly.

He groaned and turned over, pulling the pillow over his head, "What time is it?"

Jack had sold the beachfront condo and moved in with Kate two months ago, since neither he nor Kim were staying there anymore. He spent every night with Kate, savoring their brief time alone before the baby made his appearance.

"Jack, I think I just had a contraction." She was surprisingly calm considering this was her first child.

He sat up, wide awake, "What? Why didn't you tell me?"

She smiled, "I just did."

He clamored out of bed, "Jesus Kate, are you ok?" He was running around the bed trying to put his pants on but kept missing the leg.

"I'm fine, just help me up, ok?" She was nervous about the impending birth, but watching Jack panic was making her laugh while he helped hoist her out of bed.

"What are you laughing at? We need to get you to the hospital now." He was being what she had secretly dubbed "Intense Jack."

She went over to him and took his hand, "Relax honey, we have time, first babies usually take a while. Besides, haven't you been through this before?"

"Yeah, but this is different. I was too young and cocky to be scared when Kim was born." She had never seen Jack this flustered and it amused her immensely.

"Ok, then just go get my bag from the closet, and you might want to put on a shirt while you're there."

He could handle terrorists, torture, and nuclear bombs with ease, but his son's birth was clearly affecting his brain. She had seen him in action the day they met and thought he was the bravest person she had ever seen, so the dichotomy pleased her. It was nice to see that the Super Federal Agent Jack Bauer was essentially human.

He came out of the closet with a black t-shirt on and carrying her packed bag. "Ok, ready, let's go. I can call CTU and Kim on the way."

Kate smiled again, really enjoying this, "Uh, Jack?" She pointed at his feet. He had forgotten to put on shoes.

They finally made it to the car and then the short drive to the hospital. Kate's contractions were slowly building in length and intensity. Jack hated to see her in pain, but could do little to stop it, so he just held her hand and massaged her shoulder.

They were admitted and brought up to a delivery room, where Kate was checked over and administered an epidural. She was already 4 centimeters dilated and having regular contractions. The doctor estimated that she should be pushing in a couple of hours at the most, with luck.

In between contractions, Kate tried to talk to Jack, to keep her mind off the pain, "Jack, we still don't have a name, and I really don't think Junior will do."

They had been jokingly referring to him as Junior for the past couple of months because neither of them could agree on a suitable name. Jack wanted something strong and masculine, while Kate was more traditional and wanted to name him after a family member.

He came over to the bed and stroked her hair and kissed her forehead, "What, you don't like Junior?" He was trying to keep her spirits up.

She smiled as another contraction racked her body. "Oh, Jack, I'm serious, he needs a name," she said through clenched teeth.

They talked a little as Kate worked through the pain, still unable to decide on a first name. Finally, she tried to get a little rest and Jack sat next to her bed, when they heard a knock at the door.

Kim and Chase opened the door and walked into the room, "Hi Dad, how's it going?" Jack got up and hugged Kim then shook Chase's right hand, his left was still in a cast.

"Chase." Jack glanced at Chase's arm, still feeling a pang of guilt, "How's the hand?"

"It's fine Jack, how's Kate?"

"She's doing great, shouldn't be too long now." He said with a big smile. Kim hadn't seen her dad this happy in a really long time, and she was glad that he had made the right choice, her baby brother was going to be very lucky.

"Dad, I called aunt Amy, she's on her way."

"Thanks Kim, I completely forgot, but it's been a little hectic this morning. Michelle is going to stop by later." He went back over to Kate's side to check on her. She woke up when another contraction took over her body.

When it was over, she noticed Kim and Chase had arrived. "Kim, hi, thanks for coming."

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world, I'm finally getting that baby brother I always wanted." Kim went over to Kate's bed.

She grasped Kim's hand and said, "Kim, I was wondering if you would like to be here for the birth. Since my sister can't...well, it would mean a lot to me if you could be here."

Kim was touched, "Thanks Kate, I would love to, let me know if you need anything."

Kate hesitated, again in pain. After it subsided, she said, "Actually, your father and I have one more thing to ask you."

"What is it?" Kim looked between her father and Kate.

"Sweetheart, we want his middle name to be Terry, would that be ok with you?" Jack took both of her hands in his.

Kim's eyes filled with tears, "I think that would be perfect. Thanks Dad." She hugged him tightly and then hugged Kate.

"So does he have a first name yet?" She laughed through her tears.

Kate and Jack exchanged a look and answered at the same time, "No." Then Kate added, "But he will, won't he Jack?"

Chase was a little uncomfortable with all this girly talk and had his fill of hospital rooms in the past couple of months, "I'm gonna go get some coffee, anyone else?"

Jack spoke up, "Thanks, I could use some. Bring a couple, I have a feeling we are going to need it."

After Chase left the room, Amy arrived. Jack's younger sister had a tall athletic build with long light brown hair currently pulled up into a quick ponytail. She had been his savior after Teri died, but because she was an Air Force Pilot, they didn't get to see each other as much as they should.

"Jack!" She rushed over to hug him, her height nearly matching his.

"Hey little sister, good to see you. Crashed any jets lately?" They had always been close despite their thirteen-year age difference and usually used jokes to communicate with each other.

"Hey, it was only that one little crash! Are you always going to bring that up?" She loved how happy he looked now after she had seen him at his lowest.

"Hi Kate, how are you?" She had come to their house a month ago to visit and had instantly hit it off with Kate. Amy was glad he had found her and that she had stuck with him.

"I'll be ok when this is over, thanks for coming."

"I wouldn't have missed it, it's not that often that I become an aunt. As great as my love life has been lately, it's about as close as I'll probably get, " Amy joked.

The doctor came in to check Kate's progress and pronounced her ready to push. He ordered everyone out but Jack and Kim, who was proud to be present for her brother's birth.

The baby came after a half an hour of pushing, to two very proud parents. The baby was cleaned and Kate attended to.

Jack and Kim left the room to give Chase, Amy, and now Michelle the good news and let Kate rest. They all held the baby and took turns staring at him, thinking he was very handsome.

Amy joked as she held him, "He is very handsome, good thing he doesn't look anything like Jack."

He nudged her and looked over her shoulder at his new son. "He's perfect."

Michelle asked, "So does this little guy have a name yet?"

Jack grinned at her, "Still working on it."

Later that morning, after the visitors had all left and Kate had rested, Jack came back into the room, his hands hidden behind his back. Kate sat up and glanced over at the sleeping infant in the bassinet next to the bed.

"He's beautiful, isn't he Jack?"

Jack smiled and replied, "Almost as handsome as his father, but as beautiful as his mother." He then took a bouquet of pink roses from behind his back.

"Oh, they're beautiful, thank you." Tears began to fill her eyes again, and reached over for a Kleenex.

In his other hand, he offered her a small box. She looked down at it, then looked up at him.

"Jack?"

"Kate, I love you, will you marry me?"

At that moment, Jack realized how small all of his other problems seemed and silently gave thanks for another chance.

Ryan Terry Bauer was born at 6:35 am to Jack and Kate Bauer.

THE END

Note: This is the end of this story, sad as I am to finish it, it seemed like the perfect ending (happily ever after and all that). I borrowed the character of Amy from Rachey79 (Thanks Rachey!) and I think I read someone else had named Jack's son Ryan (so I give credit for that to them, sorry, can't remember who now). I am working out a continuation of this story set several years in the future, but it will probably be a while. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.