Chapter 21

He thought about her all morning at work He worried about her, being in the house all by herself so close to her due date but today Vivian had said she would drop in on her around lunchtime. Danny and Martin had been taking their turn too. He was suddenly jolted out of his daydream by his phone ringing.

"Jack Malone." He answered.

"Jack? It's Vivian, I don't want you to panic but I've just brought Samantha to the emergency room. She started having pains about half an hour ago."

"Shit! Shit! SHIT!" The last word was loud enough for a passing agent to come in and ask him if he was ok.

He waved him off jumping up, trying desperately to think clearly.

"Ok, Viv, tell her, I'm on my way and I love her and she's gonna be fine." He hung up and grabbed his coat, running out the office door.

Two seconds later he came back in and frantically dialled Vivian's number again.

"Hello?" Vivian said, still in the same position.

"Viv…."

"We're at NYU, dumbass." She hung up shaking her head.

Samantha was lying on the bed in a horrible gown trying to breathe. Vivian came back into the room. Danny, who had come with Vivian to Samantha's for the ride, preferred to wait outside the room. He explained he was a little squeamish.

"Viv, I forgot my bag, tell Danny to go get it. The house keys are in my purse… Where's my purse? Oh God this hurts! Where the hell is Jack?"

Vivian stood still for a moment, overwhelmed. She located Samantha's purse and sent Danny on his mission. He passed Jack on the way. He had to laugh when he saw him. Soaked through by the rain, his hair clamped to his face, out of breath and white as a ghost.

"Hey papa bear!" Danny greeted him cheerfully.

"What room?" Jack said breathlessly, not stopping.

"205! Good luck!" Danny called after him, shaking his head and laughing.

"I'm here!" He cried dramatically as he threw open the door. Vivian stifled a laugh as she sat holding Samantha's hand.

"Oh my God Jack, this hurts! Why didn't you tell me it hurt so badly?" He walked over and kissed her forehead, taking her hand which she locked in a death grip.

"You have to go tell the doctor it hurts!"

Wincing in pain, Jack said through gritted teeth.

"He'll be here honey, its ok."

Vivian sighed, highly amused and a little scared by the scene in front of her. She got up to leave.

"Well guys, I'd love to stay and watch the two of you attempt to handle this but I gotta get back to work. This room and her pain are bringing back memories I've tried hard to forget. Good luck you two."

They smiled at her and she left, sighing with relief as the door closed behind her.

An hour later, Danny had been and gone with her bag and she was a lot more comfortable, it just seemed to be taking forever. Jack got up from his chair as Samantha slept restlessly. He looked out of the window and it had stopped raining but it was getting dark, he looked at his watch. It was 6pm and he was beat already.

He was terribly worried about Samantha. He knew she'd be ok, but still. She was his wife, the love of his life and he hated seeing her go through pain that, indirectly or directly as the case may be, he'd caused. He realised he had things to do before the final push (no pun intended!).

The doctor came in to check on her progress and he made his excuses and went outside, breathing in the fresh air he started to dial numbers. He called Samantha's mother and then he dialled Maria.

"Hello."

"Hi, it's Jack."

"Hey, how's Samantha doing?"

"Actually that's what I was calling about, we're at the hospital, she went into labour a few hours ago. I just wanted to let you know so you could tell the girls. I guess we're going to have to put off this weekend's visit." He sighed.

"Wow. Um, well I could come with the girls tomorrow; they could see the baby and we could stay with my mother this weekend. She's been begging for the girls to stay over some time."

"Ok, if that's all right with you." He sighed.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just nervous. She was yelling a lot, I hadn't realised the pain involved."

"Yeah, men don't. You'll be fine. Just keep a hold of her hand and encourage her, that's all she'll need. Trust me, when that baby comes out and looks into her eyes she'll forget all about the pain she just went through. It's really cool actually; if she gives birth before midnight the baby will be born on your anniversary."

"Oh yeah! Thanks, I gotta go. Give my love to the girls."

He decided to scoot quickly up to the ward were his dad still was. He looked in on him and saw that he was sleeping, as he turned to go he heard his dad call him.

"Jack? What are you doing here this hour of the day?"

"I'm with Samantha; she went into labour a while ago." He said going back into the room.

His dad sat up and looked at him.

"Well if your wife's in labour what in the hell are you doing here?"

Jack smiled.

"The doctor's in with her. I thought I'd stretch my legs before the big finale."

"This isn't a finale boy, this is only the beginning and you should know that." He turned his head slightly and looked at Jack, puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"What if it's different this time? I'm going in with her and I'm going to see my baby being born. What if I don't say the right the thing or make things worse, oh, I don't know? I'm so strung out its unbelievable." He said as he rubbed his face with his hands.

"You're going to be fine. As long as she's got a hand to hold she'll be fine. You know I never heard your mother swear until she was in labour with you. She called me every name under the sun and a few she made up I think. It all passes. Can't expect them to go through that much pain and be serene about it. Would you be able to?"

Jack shook his head and sighed.

"I better go dad."

"You'll be fine, give her my love. Come see me later and tell me all about it."

On impulse Jack went forward and kissed his dad on the forehead. They were both a little surprised by it. They weren't that affectionate but Jack was now aware that maybe they should start. Jack shrugged and smiled as he left the room.

He went back in as the doctor was coming out.

"She's doing well, she's pretty much fully dilated so I'm gonna go get ready and then she'll start pushing. She's a little nervous." He patted Jack on the shoulder.

She wasn't the only one, he thought. Jack nodded and gulped as he walked into the room.

"Are you ready baby?"

"As I'll ever be. I love you."

"I love you too, don't worry, I'm staying right here. You're going to do great."

She sat up on her elbows and took Jack's hand, smiling up at him.

After what seemed like forever pushing and a pain that she could never put into words, finally the baby came out and wailed at the top of its lungs. Samantha fell back on her pillow, exhausted. She looked up at Jack who had gone extremely pale and was staring fixatedly on their new arrival.

"What is it? Is it ok?" She asked breathlessly as the doctor placed the baby on her stomach.

"I think it's a boy." Jack said.

"He's fine, certainly nothing wrong with his lungs anyway!" The doctor laughed.

Samantha gently moved the baby so she could look at his face. He was shivering so she held him closer and wrapped the blanket around him. Jack crouched down beside her, also wanting to get a better look. His face was wrinkled and red but he had stopped crying and his bottom lip was trembling. Jack touched his forehead with his finger and he opened his eyes.

They both broke into tears and fell in love with their son. They kissed and stared at him. He was perfect in every way and he was theirs.