ONE-SHOT AU
(Amelia was never working in LA, so everything that happened in Private Practice has nothing to do with this story. Amelia only is a former alcoholic, she never did drugs) TW: Mentioning of Blood (in the story is also a second warning marked!)
September 09th, 2020
It was a normal morning for the family of three. Link's alarm went off at 6.30 am like it did every morning.
He leaned over his daughter who came over during the night, to visit her parents and fell asleep between the two, with one hand on her mommy and the other on her daddy. He leaned over Pippa and softly poked his girlfriend Amelia in the side.
"Good morning butterfly, it's time to wake up. When did my little princess come into our bed?" He softly said to Amelia.
"5 more minutes Link," she responded to him.
"Okay, 5 more minutes. When I'm back from the bathroom it's time to get up."
Link got out of bed and looked back for a second, while he saw his girlfriend and daughter still laying in their big bed with the dark blue bed sheets. Pippa still laying on her back, with her right hand still on Amelia's hip and her other hand where Link had laid a few seconds prior.
Amelia's POV: I knew from the moment on, when Link's alarm went off, that something was different. I could feel that my period would start later today because I always had those stupid cramps the night before or in the morning of the day I would get them...
So great... Not the best day to get them. Because I had a very important surgery later at around 2 pm. This already gave me enough stress and now this crap. Life sucked today.
As I promised Link, that I would get up when he came back out of the bathroom, I turned around to my sweet baby girl who had climbed into our bed at 2 am and started stroking her left cheek with my pointer finger.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked at me with her beautiful and still sleepy ocean blue eyes.
"Good morning sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" I asked her.
" Yea, where's Daddy?" she asked me.
"He's already in the bathroom. We are the next to go there."
Link came out of our bathroom, so I and Pippa were the next, so we slowly rolled out of bed and walked hand in hand in it, to get ready for the day.
The girls made themselves ready, will Link already went down to make breakfast.
Amelia brought Pippa down into the kitchen so that she already could start eating her breakfast, will Amelia ran up again, to put a pad into her panty just in case, if her period would start, right when she is standing in an OR, operating on an open spine.
She went back down to join her little family. The cramps were still there.
Will Link was dropping Pippa off at daycare, Amelia was already changed into her scrubs, will she was standing at the nurse's station on the neuro floor. Will, she again went over the file of her patient, who had a tumor dangerously located near his spinal cord.
It was still around 5 hours until the surgery, but with the discomfort, she was feeling in her lower region she had to distract herself.
At around 1 pm she gladly was doing much better. So she took the 40 minutes she still had left before the surgery, to eat lunch with her boyfriend in the cafeteria. She slowly scrubbed in at 1.50 pm. The cramping was still there, but still no evidence of her period. So Amelia went to do her favorite thing. Operating on someone.
Amelia's operation went perfectly. She was able to dissect the dangerous located tumor from the men's spine, without paralyzing him.
She was exhausted after standing in that OR for nearly 5 1/2 hours.
She scrubbed out and grabbed a tablet to write her report from the surgery.
She looked at her apple watch that Link got her last Christmas and shockingly saw that it was already 8.30 pm. Her shift had ended already 30 minutes ago. Link and Pippa would be patiently waiting for her at home. Pippa would most likely already be deep asleep, dreaming of something sweet. But still, someone would be waiting for her.
So she wrote down the last few words of her report until she saved the file, to continue tomorrow, only the last few details were missing. She would hopefully find some time in between clipping two aneurysms.
She went out of her office to go to the nurse's station to give one of the nurses her tablet. She then again turned around to go back to her office. But she took a quick stop at the restroom. From the intensity of her cramps, she was almost 99 percent sure that her period was there, but after checking, there was nothing. She peed which gave her a little relief and then got out of the room to wash her hands.
She finally went back into her office to look thru her bag for a little tablet to relieve her pain, at least a little. She grabbed a bottle of water and took the medication.
Her next steps were going to change out of her navy blue scrubs and into her normal street clothes before she wrote Link that she was on her way back home.
Jumping in her silver BMW she directly drove to their small house they bought less than a year ago after they officially were Pippa's Mommy and Daddy on paper.
She arrived at the small house in which only the lights in their kitchen and living room were shinning. Link was either cooking in their kitchen or sitting on their sofa and watching the 174 baseball game.
She grabbed her house key and went into the house.
To Amelia's astonishment, Link was not sitting on their sofa. But the TV was playing a baseball game.
Link was standing in their kitchen with an apron around his waist.
"You are finally here. I thought you were kidnapped or so" he said. "I made us chicken casserole with spinach, you must be hungry and exhausted. Sit down on the couch. You can change the channels. I will bring you a plate with food and a glass of water."
Amelia sat down, finally feeling the comfy cushions of their sofa on her aching back. She would have fallen asleep instantly if she didn't have smelled the delicious food that Link had made.
Link came to her as said, with a plate filled with the casserole and a glass of water in his free hand.
"Enjoy your meal butterfly, I already ate with Pippa sadly. I wasn't sure how long your surgery would go." Link said.
"It's okay Link, but if you are not eating you could start massaging my feet," she said with a smirk.
Amelia ate up her meal and got up, to put away her dishes.
"Could we watch a movie on prime? I saw a good one the other night will scrolling thru prime" she asked on her way back from the kitchen.
"We can. Come over to me. We can cuddle a little will." he said.
Amelia grabbed the comfiest blanket from a basket that was standing next to their sofa and made herself comfortable in Link's embrace.
Soon the movie was playing on their TV. Amelia was dosing of here and there. Her cramps were only a 2/10 from the 6/10 she felt earlier before she took the pain medication.
The movie ended at around 11.35 pm and Amelia was fully asleep in Link's arms. He picked her up and brought her up into their bed. He laid her down onto it and put the blanket over her.
1 AM
Amelia shot up, feeling an intense pain for a short moment.
"What the heck was this." She mumbled this to herself. Link not even blinking a bit.
She slowly turned so that her feet were now hanging down from the bed. She still had her sweater on and her pair of jeans. She took a couple of deep breaths before she got up, looking behind her to make sure Link would not wake up.
Amelia went to her dresser and grabbed a pair of pj's out of it. She then continued to go to their bathroom to change and pee. She sat down and finally saw what she had waited for the whole day and which suited to her discomfort.
She changed the pad and got into the pink-colored flannel pants. She got up from the seat when she again was hit by an uncomfortable pain in her lower region. It took her a few seconds to catch her breath again and to stand straight. After taking a few breaths she changed her shirt and quickly brushed her teeth and got back to bed. The sharp pain not coming back again.
She laid down again and fell asleep pretty quick.
But it was not a comfortable sleep, she turned every few minutes in her sleep. Something was not right.
3 hours later...
From now on it gets graphic. Again TW: Mentioning of blood, body fluids
4 AM
Amelia opened her eyes wide when she suddenly felt the urge to pee.
She quickly jumped out of bed, not seeing the wet stain on her mattress. Amelia sprinted to their bathroom, yanked the toilet lid up, and quickly set down. But only a few drops came out until a big splash followed.
Amelia's POV:
"What the freaking heck," I said after feeling this bang in my body, and then a gush of water or so flew into the toilet bowl underneath me.
I directly felt my breathing getting faster and faster and I began to shake.
I asked myself if my bladder just exploded, but I couldn't think that fast when I suddenly doubled over in pain. I started whimpering until the pain was gone a few seconds later.
"Did my bladder just explode?" I asked myself.
I sat up straight, I tried to, but it hurt too much. My back hurt as if someone would stab me into it. I tried to breathe, I tried to take a deep breath. To have the air to call Link thru the closed bathroom door.
But I couldn't. I couldn't call him, because the moment I had my breath again. The pain shoots again thru my stomach, thru my back, and my pelvic area. It felt like someone would cut me open without any anesthesia or medication. It hurt like HELL.
The pain lasted for a full 20 seconds I think, but it felt like 20 hours.
The moment it subsided I started to cry. Hard. The tears just flow down my cheeks.
I didn't know whatever it was. But it was not normal. It felt like my organs were in a vice. There was pressure on my pelvis. Like the feeling that I had to poop, but 100x times more painful.
While I was crying, I was heaving for air. I stood up slowly, with one hand on the sink to support myself. I barely had 2 minutes to catch my breath again when the pain came back, much worse than before. I supported myself with both hands on the sink while I crouched over, slowly sinking, because the pain was too much for my legs. Suddenly I felt the urge to push, like if I would poop. But different.
I just did what my body said to me and just pressed my eyes shut and made my hands into fists while I did what my body wanted. PUSH!
Whatever it was. I just pushed! When I looked down in between my feet while pushing, I just saw blood and water running down my legs and onto my now reddish flannel pants.
I moaned so loud out in pain that Link should have heard me. But he didn't. He always was a deep sleeper. From the first moment, we meet. I so hoped that he would see that I'm not right beside him. I need his help.
This wave of pain was much longer, I can't remember how long but way too long.
I couldn't move, I felt something. There was something in between my legs. I lowered my upper body a little so that I could look with my index and middle finger at what was happening in between my legs.
When I felt something hard and flat my heart kissed the floor.
I'M IN LABOUR! I'M HAVING A BABY! I'M PREGNANT!
And my head went blank, I just stood there, still with my fingers on, MY BABY's HEAD! Trying to process what I just found out. What I just felt seconds ago.
But again I didn't have the time to think more when the pain came back.
But this time I knew what was happening, what was happening with me, happening with my body. I did a 2-week rotation in OB, thanks to Addison, my brother's ex-wife. Back then when I was still a little resident. So I knew a teeny tiny bit about what happens when a mother gives birth. But compared to birthing a whole human by yourself, practically alone, without even knowing it 1 minute before is a different thing. I wish Addison would be with me, right now.
I again steadied myself on the sink, while I pushed, in my mind counting down from 10. 10...9...8...7...6... While I moaned and screamed so loud again, even louder than I did before. Hoping internally that Link would wake up.
I pushed and pushed and I could feel the little head of my baby coming out more and more. I screamed. I pushed so hard, it hurt so much! Until it felt easier and the contraction subsided. I took a breath and took my right hand down from the sink and went down to feel what was going on.
In the meantime in Link and Amelia's bedroom:
Link was peaceful sleeping when he suddenly woke up. He bolded up. But he didn't know why. He didn't hear anything, he only saw some light shining thru under the door. He just thought that it was probably only Amelia flushing the toilet. So he just looked at his alarm, 4.23 AM it said, and laid back down again and was out like a light.
Back to Amelia's POV:
That was the moment when I felt that my baby's head was completely out. I could feel with my shaking hand that they had so much hair, I could feel their little nose, mouth, and chin.
This went so fast, I could only take one more breath when suddenly another contraction washed over me. This time I only could hold myself with one hand, while I supported my baby's head with my right hand, that was still down there, while I pushed!
SO HARD! AND I SCREAMED SO LOUD!
I could feel how my baby slowly came more and more out of me and suddenly there was this relief. I took my other hand fast down from the sink and placed it in between my legs and caught my baby in the right moment when they slid out of me.
There SHE was! I fell onto my knees, while I had her in my hands. I pulled her on me while she took a big breath and started to SCREAM her lungs out! She was crying and I was now crying too, shaking so so hard while I switched from sitting on my legs to sitting on my butt, situating myself on our bathroom rug, which was also full of blood and amniotic fluid from my baby girl. Suddenly...
Back to the bedroom where Link still is (before Baby Girl was born)
Suddenly Link woke up again, a few minutes later, hearing a desperate scream coming from their bathroom. A hurtful scream. Link grabbed the nearest t-shirt he found, flew into it, and ran to their bathroom. Suddenly he heard a second scream, more a cry. A small squeaky cry.
Back to Amelia's POV:
... the door flew open and suddenly Link was standing in the door of our bathroom. He was more than shocked. His face fell onto the floor when he saw the 'massacre' I did. Actually we two girls did.
There was blood around the toilet and sink and a good amount of amniotic fluid laying on the floor too.
And then there was me, his girlfriend, sitting on a former light blue bathroom rug which now was a different color, with her bloody pajama pants still around her ankles, sweaty hair, blood all over her legs and hands, and the most important part a little naked infant, laying in my arms, still attached to the umbilical cord, little whimpers now coming from the tiny baby, which I held so tightly to my shirt, which I still was wearing. Crying my eyes out and shaking so hard.
"What the...! Holy shit!" Link only could say to me.
"I know," I said crying. "I need your help" Link came running over to me, grabbing 2 big towels on his way to me. He went down to me and threw one towel right over us girls like a blanket so that our little girl would stay warm. The other towel he laid over my legs.
"Oh Amelia, when, what, how?" He asked me. While he looked over me and then lifted the towel to look at our little girl.
"Oh, that is a difficult and long story, my dear," I told him while I tried to get out of my shirt.
"What are you doing?" he asked me.
"I'm trying to take my shirt off so that SHE can lay on my skin, this will keep her warm," I said and Link gladly helped me with it until I had my shirt off and our girl was laying on my chest.
"I should call an ambulance, right? I know like 0 things about births but what I know is that there's still the placenta to deliver right? And that should happen with an OBGYN or more known person in this kinda field. And also so much more needs to look for." he asked me. Out of breath after saying this in one breath.
"You definitely should call an ambulance my dear," I said much more calmly, now that I had my baby girl right on me. "But I think that this part is already pretty much done," I said as I looked down. Seeing that I must have pushed the placenta out already without even knowing it. "Oh crap. How are you feeling? Are you dizzy? Feeling woozy?" he asked me after seeing what I did.
"Except for that my huha, pelvis, and stomach are hurting pretty much. I'm good. I'm amazing. Even if that was VERY SHOCKING!" I told him.
Link got up to run to get his phone to call an ambulance and to call Maggie so that she could have an eye on Pippa. OH, there will be so much explaining, first to Maggie and then to all the thousand people we know.
Link came back after calling both, an ambulance and Maggie.
"So the ambulance will be here in 20 and Maggie in 15. I only told her it's an emergency and that she should brace herself for the reason why she has to be here. How are you two doing?"
"Good, good. I think she's already searching for milk. But I have zero ideas how this works. Mer did breastfeed Ellis, but it never interested me. And I'm not even sure if I even have the system built for it. I didn't even know about her 20 minutes ago"
"Right uh, maybe I could help. Please don't call me weird or laugh at me, but I helped a little while I was a resident, on the postpartum station at the hospital where I did my residency too, to earn some more money during all that."
"Okay, haha. We can look if it works until the paramedics come. In the meantime, we also could think about a name for HER." I told him, he still didn't had realized that she was a girl.
"Her? Oh, shoot I didn't even ask or see what the baby is. OMG! We have two girls Amelia!"
"Oh, we really have," I said with again tears pooling down my cheeks. "Any name ideas?"
"Grace, Elaina, Freya, Liyah... I think she looks like a little Liyah, our little wonder light."
He said "Liyah, Liyah... YES! I love it! What do you think? Liyah?"
My little wonder just bumped her head onto my chest and smiled.
"I think she agrees. Come, let's look if I have something to eat for you."
Link got down to my level and pulled the towel back down and grabbed his tiny daughter for the first time so that he could position her right in front of my left breast.
Liyah eagerly searched for the nipple and started sucking on it.
"Oh that hurt, Ouch" Liyah continued to suck on my breast until she fell asleep a few seconds later and we heard a knock at the door.
Link went up to open it.
I heard Link talking to Maggie, informing her that she please should stay quiet, and then Maggie appeared in the open door of our bathroom.
"O-M-G what! When, how?" Maggie would have yelled out of excitement and astonishment if Pippa wasn't sleeping 2 doors down the hall.
"I know, I know. A very long story Maggie." I said.
"Everything went so fast and unexpected, but here is your newest niece, Liyah," I told her proudly.
"Wow!"
Maggie slowly came over to us two. I was still sitting on the bathroom rug. One towel was still over my legs, my pants still at my ankles, the other towel over me and Liyah.
"Link, could you maybe pack us a little bag? Some clothes, toothbrushes, etc. For the hospital. When we arrive, we also should look into buying this little one something to wear in the hospital and clothes for the first few weeks. And oh-my-gosh... We have to do so much, Link." I said.
"Slow down butterfly. We first get her some clothes and the important things for at home, crib, changing table... We can do this. We also still have a ton of things from when Pippa came to us. She was almost one but still needed a lot of things, a newborn also needs. We are not lost."
"Right yeah." I calmed down again and heard how the paramedics came into our house.
They took care of the two of us. While Link packed the hospital bag and grabbed my cellphone.
The paramedics put me onto a gurney after we dressed me in a pair of clean sweatpants and sweater and Liyah was given a little pink hat and was wrapped in a cute little blanket. I got to hold her again from the moment on when I was settled on the gurney. My sweet little unexpected, but sooo loved peanut.
Link thankfully was allowed to drive with us in the ambulance. We left Pippa with Maggie at home and told Maggie that we will inform her about every little thing and also when she could bring Pippa to the hospital to meet her little sister :)
When we arrived at Grey Sloan Memorial hospital, we were directly brought up to the maternity floor, where I was checked by an OBGYN and Liyah was being checked by Alex who was also more than shocked when he came into my room before.
Everything went amazing. Everything was good with me, and also Liyah was a perfect little healthy baby. Our little 36 weeker. Our little wonder.
Born being 19 inches (48cm) and weighing 6.1 pounds (2.7kg).
She was a little premature, I knew that now, but she didn't need any support, no oxygen or feeding tube or any medication.
Because she was a strong little girl, who latched onto my breast for the second time in her short little life. She again tried sucking on it and it felt different.
Not like I was shooting milk, that wouldn't even happen to a mother who knew she was pregnant from the beginning on.
But Liyah was getting something out of my breast. Maybe I really was able to breastfeed her, maybe my body build everything in those less than 9 months, without letting me know.
Because I didn't see and felt even a tiny bit of change on me. I lived my normal life every single day, without knowing that I was caring a baby girl in me for around 9 months!
Our little wonder, our little light.