Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

New Life and New Love

OOOOOOO

Danny stared at her for a full ten seconds, not understanding what she said, before realization dawned on his face.

"Now?" he asked in a shaky voice.

Sam gave him a dirty look. "No, tomorrow genius."

"Sorry, stupid question." Danny turned her around and helped her back down the stairs. "Are you feeling any pain?"

"No, but I could use a couple of towels," she said as she shuffled toward the bathroom.

Danny ran back upstairs and grabbed a bag that Sam had packed earlier that week, a clean pair of pants and underwear and headed back downstairs. He felt a mild sense of panic and tried to hurry, stumbling forward as he felt his left leg go intangible and sink slightly through the floor. Pulling his foot out, he placed the bag by the back door and turned back. Sam was standing by the couch, talking on the phone with Dr. Rossell. When she hung up, he handed her the clothes and she went back into the bathroom to change. When she came out, she had taken a couple of towels and wrapped them outside her pants like a diaper. She looked at him and scowled.

"Okay, she said we should head over to the hospital, and if you make one comment about the towels you will be a full ghost."

Danny just cleared his throat and helped her into her coat. "It's probably going to be quicker and easier if I just fly us there."

Sam nodded and Danny let the blue rings of light envelope him at the waist, heading in opposite directions and revealing his ghostly self. He easily picked Sam up with one arm behind her back and the other under her knees and turned them both intangible, phasing through the roof. When they landed at the hospital, he set them down in a small deserted corner by the door. Changing back, he put one arm around Sam's waist and guided her through the automatic doors and over to the desk. A young blonde woman was sitting in a chair at a computer screen and looked up.

"Hello," she said, looking at Danny and smiling brightly. "How can I help you?"

"My wife is going into labor we think, her water broke."

The woman's eyes casually flicked over Sam and turned back to Danny. "Okay, you need to be on the fourth floor, let me call someone to take her up."

Thanking her, Danny moved to the side with Sam and they waited for a couple of minutes before an older man came over to them with a wheelchair.

"I'm going to assume that you two are the ones waiting to go up to maternity?" The man had a twinkle in his eye and a friendly smile as he took Sam's arm and helped her sit in the wheelchair, making sure she was comfortable before setting off to the elevator with Danny in tow. "Is this your first?" Sam nodded to the orderly and he smiled fondly. "Well, congratulations." The three chatted amicably as the elevator rose and stopped on the fourth floor. The orderly wheeled her over to the desk.

"Hey Sally, I have another customer for you," he said, winking at Sam and Danny. He handed a paper over to the nurse and turned back to them. "Congratulations and good luck to both of you." He looked up at Danny and shook his finger at him. "You take good care of both of them young man, your family is everything. This pretty lady seems like a special woman."

Sam blushed and Danny nodded, looking the man straight in the eye. "Yes sir, she is, and I will." He shook the orderly's hand firmly and the old man nodded, content with his simple answer.

The nurse smiled at both of them as she took hold of the wheelchair and started down a hallway. "That's Charles, he's been here a long time, and he takes a real interest in all our patients." She wheeled Sam into a small room and turned the lights on. "Okay, so how are you feeling Samantha?"

"Please, call me Sam; I'm fine except for being a little wet."

The nurse laughed and pulled out a johnnie. "Well, why don't you go right into the bathroom and change into this while I get everything set up out here."

Sam nodded and took the garment and let Danny help her to the bathroom. When she came out several minutes later, Sally had pulled back the sheets on the bed and brought in the monitor. Sam climbed onto the bed and let her attach the wires for the monitor and run a quick test before the nurse turned to her again.

"Okay, so any contractions at all?"

Sam shook her head and answered several more questions. Sally smiled at her and folded a blanket up over her.

"I want you to try to get some sleep, I'll be back to check on you in a few hours so if you need anything just press the call button." She looked over to Danny and pointed to a large, funny looking chair in the corner. "That folds out into a bed, not the most comfortable thing, but better than nothing, there's a small snack room down the hall and you can use the phone in the room for any calls you need to make. She left the room, turning the main light off and pulling the door almost shut.

Danny pulled a smaller chair over next to the bed and sat down as Sam lay down and turned toward him.

"Nervous?" Danny asked quietly, taking her hand into his own and rubbing his thumb across the back of her knuckles.

"Not really, it doesn't seem real yet, I mean nothing's happened other than my water breaking." Sam yawned and Danny smiled at her squeezing her hand before letting go and grabbing another blanket from the closet. Sitting back down he covered himself up and reached over, taking her hand again.

"Try to get some sleep; you'll need your strength."

Sam looked at him seriously for a minute. "Danny?"

"Hmm?"

"You know, it's going to be hours before anything really starts to happen…you could go home and sleep comfortably…I can have them call later."

Danny looked at her in disbelief. "Sammi, I'm not going anywhere, so forget it, besides do you really think I'd get any sleep with you here?"

Sam gave him a relieved smile. "Thanks, I feel kind of bad with you sitting here for hours doing nothing, but I really want you with me."

Danny leaned up and kissed her gently to reassure her. "I'm right here with you, okay? Now go to sleep while you still can."

Over the next several hours Sam slept fitfully, her contractions had started in the early morning hours and the nurse kept waking her about once an hour to check on her. Danny left briefly around midmorning to get something quick to eat and make a few phone calls. He called Sam's parents first, telling them that they were at the hospital but that nothing was expected to happen for several more hours. Her mother wanted to come right over but he held her off, telling her that Sam didn't want them to have to hang around waiting all day, especially on Christmas day. Next, he called his parents and Tucker, giving them each a quick update and telling them he would call again later. After getting something to eat, he made his way back to the room where Sam was starting to look a little uncomfortable.

The rest of the morning and the afternoon wore by slowly with Sam feeling more pain and Danny resisting the urge to snap at the doctor and nurses to do something for her. Sam refused to have an epidural, a procedure that would substantially reduce the pain, and Danny argued with her, finally getting her to agree to an injection of a mild pain medication. The medicine made Sam somewhat groggy and she dozed off and on in-between contractions and Danny relaxed somewhat, sitting in the chair next to the bed and stroking her hair, talking softly to her when she would moan in pain. This helped for a couple of hours before Sam seemed to suddenly snap fully awake, trying to sit up as she cried out, causing Danny to jump from his chair.

"Sam? What is it, do you need the nurse?"

Sam shook her head, breathing hard for a minute before relaxing and slumping back on the bed. "Oh, boy, that one really hurt," she said, closing her eyes.

A minute later Sally, who had been gone most of the day and was now back on shift, came into the room. "Well, hello you two, still here I see."

Sam gave the woman a dirty look.

"Well, I saw the last contraction on the monitor and it looked like a good one, so hopefully were almost there."

Sam muttered something under her breath about "If that seemed like a good one, why don't you try it," and the nurse easily ignored it, winking to Danny when Sam wasn't looking.

The contractions started hitting Sam much harder after that and she snapped at Danny several times before bursting into tears, sobbing apologies, which Danny waved away. Dr. Rossell came in cheerfully shortly after that and told Sam it was time to start pushing. Danny climbed up on the bed behind her as Sam scooted toward the end and supported her back and shoulders, rubbing her back and encouraging her as she pushed. Sam grew tired after awhile but continued with determination. This went on for a few hours and Danny was starting to get a little worried at how exhausted Sam seemed. He noticed that the doctor and nurse had started talking in low voices together earlier and the nurse left and came back with an oxygen mask, which she slipped over Sam's face. She smiled reassuringly at Danny when he gave her a worried look and explained that they just wanted to make sure Sam was getting enough oxygen to help her keep her strength up.

More time went by, she pushed with all her might, every muscle shaking, but it was not enough and Sam started crying, saying she couldn't do it anymore. She felt like fire was ripping through her back and stomach as an enormous pressure built up and she could no longer feel her arms or legs. She could hear the doctor telling her just a few more pushes and Danny's voice at her ear, persuading her to keep trying, and she shook her head.

"I…can't…Danny, I can't do anymore…," she sobbed.

Danny started to feel scared, as she seemed to want to give up. "Come on baby, just a little more. You can do it Sam." He could see his arm go invisible from the stress of the emotions running through him, but ignored it, only caring about Sam, still talking to her, convincing her to keep going. Sam nodded and leaned forward again, pushing.

"That's it honey, you're almost there." She heard his voice dimly, almost muffled, as she felt pain rip through her and black spots swam before her eyes. A loud buzzing noise sounded in her head and she felt numbness sweep through her whole body as a sudden darkness descended.

Danny looked down as he felt Sam suddenly slump against him and saw that her eyes were closed, a slight bluish tinge to her lips.

"Sam? Sam!" He yelled panicking, shaking her, trying to rouse her.

He noticed a sudden commotion at the end of the bed and looked down in horror as the doctor started yelling, standing suddenly, causing the stool she had been sitting on to crash into the wall behind her. The nurse handed Dr. Rossell some sort of equipment he didn't recognize and less than a minute later, he heard the cry of a newborn echo throughout the room. Torn between relief that the baby seemed to be okay and fear for Sam, Danny didn't notice when the nurse came up to Sam's side and started checking her vital signs, injecting a medication into her IV and adjusting the oxygen flow.

He looked back down at Sam and felt his heart jump when her eyes fluttered open weakly, and she looked at him, scared, struggling to remove the mask.

"…Danny…baby…is the baby…?" She broke off as she heard the baby's cry and relaxed, relieved as tears slipped from her eyes.

Dr. Rossell spoke up to them from the end of the bed. "Sam, feeling better? You had us worried for a minute there, passing out on us like that." She put her hand up and smiled, stopping the questions she knew were coming.

"The baby is fine, just needed a little extra help with her entrance. You have a beautiful baby girl."

With this, she waved to the nurse standing over to one side, who came forward with a wrapped bundle in her arms. The nurse standing next to Sam took her oxygen mask off and stepped away as the first one handed the infant into Sam's arms.

Sam's breath caught as she looked at her daughter. She had jet black hair, a cute little nose, and a perfect little bow mouth. She felt Danny press a kiss to the top of her head and glanced up to see the look of utter amazement on his face, tears sliding down his face unabashedly. Their eyes met and they smiled, a feeling of completeness filling them.

Danny leaned down and kissed her softly as he whispered "She's perfect, Mommy."

Sam looked back at the baby in time to see her open her eyes as she gave a big yawn. They were a beautiful bright blue, like Danny's, with subtle specks of violet scattered throughout.

"Yeah, she is Daddy," Sam said as Danny reached out a hand and the baby wrapped her tiny fingers around his larger one.

"I love you," they both whispered to each other, and to the tiny person who had changed their lives forever.