Author's Note: Well, this is the moment you have been waiting for! Nancy and Frank's baby in finally born. For those of you who read Betting to Lose, you know that I left it off with Nancy being pregnant. I finally looked back at the story and realized that it had been exactly nine months since it's completion! And Nancy told me she was ready to have the baby anyway. I hope that ypu enjoy this...it is a simple one-shot fluff Frank/Nancy story.
And I am still working on Landmine. An update should be coming sometime soon!
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Nancy Hardy walked into her bedroom and smiled at the scene that greeted her.
"Frank, don't you think you being a little too obsessive over this?" she asked her husband, Frank.
Frank looked up from the duffel he had been packing and flashed Nancy a luminous smile. "I just want to make sure we have everything we need for the hospital."
Nancy chuckled. "Honey, you have repacked that bag at least a thousand tines already. We have everything we need so stop worrying so much."
Frank's smile turned into a sheepish grin. "I'm sorry. I guess I have been a little crazy these last few weeks. It's just you're already a week past your due date and I guess I'm just a little anxious," he explained.
Nancy walked over to Frank and gave him a kiss. "You're anxious? It feels as if I've been carrying around a ton of bricks for the past nine months."
Frank laughed and rubbed her tummy affectionately. "I think we both need to chill. She'll come along when she's good and ready," he said softly.
"She?" Nancy asked, arching an eyebrow. "What are you going to do if the baby turns out to be a baseball player instead of a ballerina?"
Frank shook his head. "First of all, the baby is going to be a detective. And, secondly, the baby's going to be a girl."
"And how do you know that?" Nancy asked. "We told Doctor Kane we didn't want to know the sex on the baby. Did you talk to her without my knowing?"
"I haven't talked to Doctor Kane," Frank assured her. "It's just instinct that's telling me we're going to have a girl."
Nancy just rolled her eyes as Frank kissed her and walked into the closet. A few months ago they had agreed they wanted to be surprised by the sex of the baby. And while it made shopping for the baby difficult, it was a choice they were glad they had made.
Nancy was about to fold a throw that was lying to the bed when it finally hit her.
"Frank!" she called anxiously.
Frank darted from the closet at the sound of her voice and stopped cold when he saw the look of shock that was evident on her face.
"What is it?" he asked.
"You ready to put all of your practice to good use?" Nancy asked.
"What?" Frank asked, momentarily confused.
"The baby's coming!" Nancy said, holding on to her stomach. "My water just broke!"
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A few hours later, Nancy was lying in a hospital bed with Frank sitting beside her.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, caressing her forehead.
Nancy gave him a weak smile. "No pain, but the drugs will do that for you," she said, joking.
Frank chuckled as the door opened and a nurse walked in. "I just need to see how she's doing," she said apologetically.
Nancy and Frank remained silent as she examined her over. When she finished, she looked at the both of them and smiled. "I think we're finally ready," she said. "Let me go get Doctor Kane."
Nancy grabbed Frank's hand and smiled as the nurse left the room.
"You ready?' he asked.
She nodded her head happily. "I've been ready."
The door opened again a few minutes later and this time the nurse was accompanied by Doctor Kane, a graceful woman in her forties with shoulder-length blond hair and brown eyes.
"How are you feeling, Nancy?" she asked, smiling warmly.
"Anxious," Nancy said.
Doctor Kane nodded her head. "That's understandable. Now, we just need to sit you up and we can get started."
Nancy nodded and with the help of Frank and the nurse, she was soon sitting up.
"Now, I want you to remember your breathing and when I count to three, I want you to push as hard as you can," she instructed.
Nancy nodded again. "Okay," she said. She started to do her breathing as a couple more nurses came into the room.
"Ready? One…two…three!" Doctor Kane said.
Nancy did as she was told and pushed as hard as she could while squeezing Frank's hand and grunting with exertion.
"That was good," Doctor Kane said reassuringly. "Are you ready to do it again?"
"Yeah," Nancy said, breathing hard.
"One…two…three!"
Nancy pushed again as hard as she could, crying out in pain.
"You're doing great, Nancy!" Doctor Kane said loudly. "You're almost there! You just need to push a little more!"
Nancy took another deep breath and pushed again until she reached the point of exhaustion. She fell back against the pillows, breathing hard. And it was then that she heard the most beautiful sound in the world.
Crying! Her baby was crying!
Nancy watched as Doctor Kane wrapped the baby up in a blanket. She held the baby up where they could see it. "Congratulations, Mommy and Daddy. You have a beautiful baby girl."
She handed the crying baby to one of the nurses and they cleaned up Nancy and the baby.
Just when they thought they couldn't stand it any longer, the nurse placed the baby in Nancy's arms.
Nancy held the baby and felt a flood of emotions go through her. She looked up at Frank, smiling and crying at the same time.
"She's beautiful," she whispered.
Frank looked at Nancy, a tear running down his cheek. "Just like her mother," she said, softly.
Doctor Kane cleared her throat. "So, have you come up with a name?" she asked.
Nancy smiled as she looked down at her daughter.
"Welcome to the world…Amelia Eve Hardy."
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Let me know what you think!