Hi everyone! A lot of people have asked for a vignette about Vera's birth. I hope this does it justice.


Welcome, Vera

Beca was six months pregnant the first time Stacie brought up a cesarean section. "Is that necessary?" Beca asked, sitting up after the exam was finished. She fixed her dress and looked at her friend.

Stacie made a face. "Strictly? No. But after what happened with the twins – I would feel better if we planned a c-section."

"How likely is that to happen again?"

"It's not a given," she said. "But it's more likely since it happened once. And you have other risk factors, including your occasional blood pressure. And being small."

"Being small is a risk factor?" Beca asked.

"It doesn't make pushing out a baby easier," Stacie replied. "Even if you go for a natural birth, if the labor doesn't progress – which is a bigger possibility when you're as petite as you are – you'd have to go in for a cesarean anyway."

Beca sighed. "I really don't like the whole surgery idea. It was unpleasant the first time."

"Sweetie, there is a baby in there and it needs to come out," Stacie said, gesturing to her baby bump. "There is no 100% pleasant way for that to happen."

"You have terrible bedside manner." Stacie smirked and a knock sounded on the door. She went to answer it and Chloe blew in, looking terribly harried.

"I'm so sorry. I'm late," she practically screeched.

"We're done, dude," Beca said, teasing her.

"I know! I'm sorry. There was an accident on the highway." She turned to look at Stacie. "How is everything? Is everything okay?"

"Aside from the fact that I'm apparently too small to give birth? Which my good friend the doctor did not tell me before either of the times I got pregnant." Beca said, annoyed.

Chloe gave Stacie a questioning expression. The doctor put her hands up. "I simply suggested that we plan for a cesarean – since Beca has several risk factors that indicate it will happen anyway."

Chloe nodded. "I thought you might want to do that."

"You did?" Beca demanded. "Why didn't you tell me?" Chloe sat on the table next to her and grabbed her hand.

"I didn't want to freak you out. I was reading about placenta previa and placental abruption – which is what you had with the twins. And it indicated that vaginal birth after that is not always a good idea."

Beca ran her hands through her hair. "So," she said, looking at Stacie, "you're offering this as though it's a choice. But it is not."

"It is unlikely to be a choice," Stacie said. "But if you want to try it the hard way – "

"Fine," Beca said with a glare. "I'm starting to think you just like to cut me open."

"Totally untrue," Stacie said. "I get paid the same no matter how I deliver the baby. And the surgery route is a lot more effort for me. Vaginal, you do all the work."

"When do we schedule it?" Chloe asked.

"39 weeks," Stacie said. "But as we get closer, that can always change. It depends on the kid." She looked at Beca, who she knew was freaking out. "And it is not going to be anything like it was last time. You were knocked out completely, including being intubated for a bit, because of how it happened and all the bleeding. That isn't how a planned cesarean section works. It's not nearly as hard on your body."

She sighed and looked sympathetically at her friend. "I'm not going to lie – it's not a total picnic – but it's not nearly as bad as what you already went through. You'll be awake, but you won't feel anything. You'll be able to meet the baby as soon as she's born. You won't be in the hospital for a week. There will be pain after, but it will be much more manageable."

While Beca did feel slightly better, she was still nervous about it. If she was honest with herself, she was going to be nervous no matter how this baby was born. Her last pregnancy ended in quite the spectacle and was a long recovery. Luckily, they were all healthy now – but it was still traumatic to think about.

The next few months flew by quickly, albeit with a lot of complaining from Beca. Although it did drive Chloe crazy, she was thankful that Beca was still always in a good mood with the twins. But when they were alone – watch out. Her back hurt, she needed pickles. She hated pickles. She couldn't reach to paint her toenails (not that she'd really paid much attention to that before, Chloe gently reminded her). She could never get comfortable, no matter how many special pillows and other implements they tried. She was cold, she was hot. She was sweating. She always hated her clothing, no matter what stage of pregnancy she was in, even when Chloe thought they looked a lot like the clothing she wore when not pregnant. But the redhead kept those thoughts to herself and kindly commiserated with her very pregnant, very cranky wife.

It was right around that time when the twins noticed that Beca just wasn't her usual self. She wouldn't pick them up as often, which they did not appreciate. Her stomach got in the way when they tried to snuggle. It was very inconvenient for the almost two-year-olds. Chloe and Beca decided it was time to try to break the news to them. They had a few books on new babies and read them. It only to the first book for Bella to pat Beca's stomach.

"Mama baby?"

"Yes, Mama is having another baby," Beca told her.

Poppy looked confused. "Poppy baby. Bella baby," she said, gesturing to herself and her sister."

"Yes," Beca agreed. "I have two beautiful babies. Now I will have three."

"Three?" Poppy asked.

"Three," Chloe agreed. "You'll have another sister."

They walked for a big longer and read a few more books about bringing a new baby home, but the mothers weren't sure if it helped.

On the requested date, Warren and Sheila arrived on a Sunday afternoon, bringing flowers for Beca and Chloe and gifts for their granddaughters. Bella and Poppy were delighted, hugging their new toys and hanging on to their grandparents. "Thank you for coming," Beca said, pouring coffee for them both and placing it on the table.

"Oh, honey, you don't need to do that," Sheila said. "You should be resting."

"The baby's coming tomorrow whether I go into labor or not," Beca said. "Resting doesn't really seem necessary.

"Why don't you rest to prepare for the new baby that's going to keep you up all night?" Warren suggested.

"There's no preparation for that," Beca told him. "I went a solid year without adequate sleep. I survived. I'll probably survive again."

"Don't sound so excited," Chloe teased.

"I can't be excited," Beca said. "My center of balance is all off. I can't see my toes – even when I lean forward and try really hard. I just want the baby. Pregnancy is losing its luster."

"Becs, you didn't like it the first time," Warren reminded her with a chuckle.

"And you people didn't think to remind me of that before I got knocked up again?" She asked. Warren, Chloe, and Sheila all laughed. Beca scowled.

The next morning, Beca and Chloe left for the hospital while it was still dark. An hour after her scheduled time, Beca was wheeled into the OR. A curtain was hung so she could see nothing below her chin. It was quite claustrophobic if she let herself think about it. So she didn't. She closed her eyes and tried to drown out the noise the doctors and nurses were making, her hand clutching Chloe's. Her wife stood next to her, out of the way of the nurses and doctors. It seemed like it took forever, but eventually Stacie was cooing at a beautiful baby girl. She handed her directly to Chloe, who was already in tears.

Chloe lay the baby carefully on her wife's chest so she could see and touch her without putting pressure anywhere. "Oh, Beca. She's gorgeous."

Beca nodded, her eyes tearing up. "She's perfect." A few minutes later, once Beca was out of surgery and the baby was seen to by the pediatrician, they were together in the recovery room. Beca was much too tired to hold the baby, but Chloe helped lay the baby in place on her chest so there was skin-to-skin contact and both mother and daughter quickly fell asleep.

Beca got two days of semi-rest at the hospital before the insurance decided she was good to go. Stacie, who had wanted to keep her another day, was annoyed – but could do little about it in this case. But it was good timing because her other daughters were beginning to meltdown. They did not like being way from Beca and Chloe for so long.

"Want Mama," Bella pouted, sinking to the kitchen floor, holding on to the table leg.

"Come on, Bells. You need to eat something," her grandfather said calmly. "Your moms are going to be home really soon."

Before she could answer, they heard the front door open. Bella ran for it – and Poppy struggled out of her booster seat at the table to do the same. Beca was first in the door, carrying only her overnight bag. The girls ran at her – hitting hard for toddlers.

"Fu-" Beca started, then stopped herself in time and just hissed through the pain.

"Girls, you need to be careful!" Chloe said. "Mama is hurt. You need to be gentle."

"Mama is hurt?" Bella asked, looking alarmed as she stared up at Beca.

"I'll be fine," Beca assured her. "Just no jumping on me for a few weeks, okay?" Both girls nodded. It was Poppy who first saw what – or who – Chloe was carrying.

"Baby!" She cried, moving to try to investigate the carrier that Chloe held aloft.

"Quiet," Chloe said gently. "The baby is sleeping. We need to be very quiet. Do you want to see her?" Both little girls nodded. "Okay, go sit on the sofa." They did, with Beca between them. Chloe took the newborn from her carrier and handed her gently to Beca.

Both of the twins leaned in, wanting to see her better.

"Pretty baby," Poppy said, sighing softly. Beca smiled.

"She is a pretty baby. You were all pretty babies."

"What's my name?" Bella asked. Beca and Chloe knew what she was asking – she was just mixing up her pronouns a bit. She was allowed, at barely two.

"What is her name?" Beca asked. Bella nodded.

"This is Vera."

"Our baby?" Bella asked.

"Sure," Beca said, smiling tiredly. "We'll share. She's your little sister. It's your job to teach her and love her and help take care of her. Think you can do that?" Both girls nodded emphatically.

"Baby play?" Poppy asked.

"She probably isn't very interested in playing yet," Beca told her. "She's still very little, so she needs lots of sleep. But before you know it, she'll be ready to play."

Poppy considered that. "I hold?"

"Maybe tomorrow when Mama isn't so tired."

"You should be resting," Chloe agreed.

Beca looked over to the side of the room where Warren and Sheila were grinning – and had been taking pictures galore. "Are you two done being the paparazzi?" Beca asked. "Do you want to see her before we go upstairs?"

"Of course," Sheila said, moving quickly to lift the baby from Beca's arms and study her closely. "What a beauty."

"Another redhead," Warren said, smiling. "I take it you're happy," he said, looking at his daughter.

"Deliriously," Beca told him. She had hoped that at least one of her children would end up with Chloe's hair color. Now she had two.

The first night Vera was home, Beca woke up in a cold sweat. She realized that she'd slept. Really, uninterrupted sleep. That wasn't supposed to happen. But she looked down at the bassinet by her side – and indeed, the infant was just fine, simply still sleeping. Chloe walked into their bedroom then, with a tray in her hands. "You okay?" She asked, seeing the terror in her wife's eyes.

"She didn't wake up last night." Beca looked at her wife. "Did you feed her with a bottle?"

"No," Chloe said. "She just slept. But it's only been six hours, Bec. It's fine. I'm sure she'll wake up any minute. By the time Beca returned from the bathroom with a washed face and clean teeth, Vera was awake, cooing at Chloe as she changed her diaper. Once Beca was situated back in bed with pillows in her lap, Chloe handed her the baby and she fed her, still looking concerned.

"Would you prefer being woken every two hours?"

"No," Beca said. "But it's weird, isn't it?"

"All babies are different, I'm sure," Chloe told her. "But we'll call Stacie in a bit and double check, if it will make you feel better." Once Vera had her fill, Chloe took her back so Beca could eat her own breakfast. Babies were all different. And Vera was a dream. She was sleeping six hours at night to start and was sleeping at least eight within weeks. Beca was worried at first that she wasn't getting enough to eat, but Stacie promised Beca that is she were hungry, she would wake. Vera turned everything they knew about parenting. A newborn on its head – which was great, because she made life much easier for them, which was elemental in surviving when they also had a set of twins about two turn two. They were a happy, content little gamily from the moment Vera entered their lives.


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