AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

I hope you enjoy! Please don't forget to let me know what you think!

111

Raffi had been nervous surrounding Gabe's birth, but the way she felt surrounding their daughter's birth was something else entirely. There was a constant churning of excitement inside of her, now, especially after running through holodeck simulations of childcare with Seven, but there was also a low-level hum of fear. The Doctor and Crusher would both be there for them, and they would do everything in their power to make sure that everything went off without a hitch, but there were still concerns. This was the first time, that they knew of, that something like this had ever happened, and that was terrifying in itself.

Unlike with her own pregnancy, where at least she had books, and research, and reassurance, there was nothing to tell them exactly how this might happen.

Still, the moment that it started, Raffi felt a kind of heaviness settling in her stomach that grounded her a bit more than she might have imagined.

At dinner, Raffi had only just finished pointing out that they couldn't stay too late in the Talaxian family's quarters because Seven needed to regenerate as much as possible—mostly because they were unaware of how much energy her body would burn through in the delivery—when Seven gave her a look that made her heart nearly stop in its chest.

"Raffi…I feel…unwell."

"Unwell how, Seven?"

"I'm going to be…"

Seven never actually finished saying what she was going to be. Raffi recognized the fact that she was going to be sick and rushed her to the restroom as quickly as she could. She held her hair back while she got sick, and she washed her face for her when she was fairly sure that Seven had to have emptied her stomach of everything she'd just put in there.

Seven tried to offer apologies, but they were interrupted by the declaration that something wasn't right. Something didn't feel right. Placing a hand on her belly, and feeling the terribly hard muscles beneath her palm, told Raffi what might be making Seven sure that her body was not acting as it should.

"Musiker to Crusher. I hope you enjoyed your nap. We're heading to sickbay."

"I'll be there when you get there. Crusher out."

The exchange over the comlines had been all that Raffi needed to stir Elnor from his seat, where he was still attempting to entertain the Talaxians, and to convince him to practically pick Seven up to rush her out of the private quarters and toward sickbay. Raffi assumed that Naomi could handle any of the niceties that were required, and nothing but support was tossed at them as they rushed Seven to sickbay as quickly as they could manage.

"There is no reason to be alarmed," the Doctor said, as soon as they had Seven in sickbay. The scramble around them was the main reason that the Doctor's subroutines probably suggested to him that such a comforting statement was necessary.

Though Elnor wanted to be endlessly supportive of Seven and Raffi, he wanted to do it from a somewhat safe distance. As soon as he was sure that Seven was in good hands, he'd left. Crusher had ordered Raffi to help Seven into her gown, and she'd started scanning Seven even as Raffi had been helping her out of her clothes. The nanonannies, of course, were blocking nearly every scan she tried to run, but she'd assured Raffi that they were prepared to do this the old-fashioned way—even if that meant modifying that old-fashioned way as they went.

B'Elanna was called in, just in case they needed her, and she attached Seven to a portable regenerator before even finding out if one was going to be needed. It was better to simply not have to worry about it. For that same reason, Seven was heavily dosed on her hormones as they got her settled in the biobed.

"Everything is fine," Raffi assured Seven. "It's going to be wonderful. Everything is going to go so…"

"Fast," Doctor Crusher offered. "Everything is going to go so fast, Seven. But it's OK. You can do this, and we can help you. Doctor, I don't think there's time for a medicated delivery."

"I am not certain, Doctor Crusher, that we can monitor things well enough to make the administration of anything recommendable, even if there were more time to spare," the Doctor agreed.

"I do not require medication," Seven asserted.

"It's going to be fine," Crusher assured her. "I had Wesley in an unmedicated birth. You'll be fine. We'll help you as much as we can."

Seven might not want medication, but she clearly wanted the comfort she was being offered, and she responded to it well. She held Doctor Crusher's eyes and nodded at her. Doctor Crusher squeezed Seven's left hand to offer any further comfort that she could, before she went back to work monitoring what was actually happening.

"I don't know what to do…" Seven said, directing her words at either the Doctor, who was still taking the approach of scanning and checking Seven's progress with the tricorder, or Doctor Crusher who was going for the more traditional manner of moving Seven's feet into the stirrups to get things going for the delivery. Seven protested neither method, but Raffi figured that the more direct approach might be the best, given their daughter's absolute impatience thus far.

"Just relax," the Doctor told Seven. "Take deep breaths. As we discussed, you'll be transitioning through several stages of labor before the arrival of your daughter."

"Ow…ow…ow…Relax, Seven!" Raffi barked as Seven tightened her grip on Raffi's hand and twisted her arm, making Raffi nearly see spots for a second as she felt like her wife came close to breaking her wrist, elbow, or both.

"We are moving through those transitions very quickly," Crusher offered. "Don't push yet, Seven. You're not quite there."

"I do not know how to push!" Seven barked. She looked at Raffi, clearly panicked. "Raffi! I do not know how to push!"

"You're going to know," Crusher assured her, patting her leg as she seemed to remember that Seven, throughout the pregnancy, responded very well to her physical reassurance. "Trust me. You're going to know. We all know when we need to know. Your body knows what it's doing. It's instinct."

"What if I lack this instinct?" Seven asked.

Raffi felt her pulse kick up into high gear. Seven was clearly panicked. Why wouldn't she be? This was happening every bit as quickly as everything that had already taken place. This was the first time she'd ever done this. This was the first time that anyone had ever done this with her particular physiology.

The room was crowded—it felt so crowded that Raffi could barely breathe, and she wondered if Seven felt overwhelmed. Being crowded and overwhelmed would only add to Seven's panic and make everything worse than it had to be.

"Back up!" Raffi said. Everyone looked at her, wide-eyed. "Just—just back up a minute! Let her breathe! Let us breathe! Doctor Crusher—just—let us know when she needs to push, OK? That's all we need to know, unless something's wrong. Just…give us a minute."

Raffi used the hand she had free, and the only one she was actually certain still worked, to brush Seven's hair back. She stroked the soft skin on Seven's face. She let her fingers touch the cool implant near Seven's eye. Seven closed her eyes for a second, relishing the touch, and she smiled. Through everything else, she smiled, and Raffi wasn't sorry for telling everyone to give them some room.

"Just breathe, Seven," Raffi said, keeping her voice low. "You're forgetting to breathe. Keep breathing, Baby. Nice and slow is best. Look at me. I'll breath with you, if you need me to."

There was pain on Seven's face, but she didn't voice any discomfort. She did hold Raffi's eyes, though. Raffi smiled at her, as reassuringly as she could. She did her best to ignore her own fear about everything, her own overwhelm, and her own pain from Seven's unintentional slow dislocation of Raffi's joints. She reminded Seven of the slow breathing techniques they'd studied, and Seven copied her.

"There you go…just breathe…you're doing great," Raffi assured her.

"This is all I have to do?" Seven asked around the breathing that was, clearly, at least having some impact on her discomfort level, even if that impact was only that having something to focus on was helping her to be a little distracted.

Raffi laughed to herself. She continued to trail her fingers over Seven's face, recognizing the comfort that Seven took in the gesture. Though she'd prepared for Seven to be soaked in sweat, as she remembered being when Gabe had been born, Seven was only just starting to break a sweat. Everything was happening at what must be some kind of record speed—not unlike the rest of the pregnancy.

"For now, this is all you have to do," Raffi said. "When it's time to push, we'll work on that, OK?" The panic returned to Seven's eyes. Raffi gave her a reassuring smile and shook her head gently. "Doctor Crusher didn't lie to you. You'll know how to do it. Don't worry."

"What if I lack this instinct?" Seven asked. Before she could worry about the question too much more, though, Raffi saw the change register on her face, and she felt Seven's grip tighten as she brought her left hand up to grab for Raffi's shoulder to get a better hold on her.

"We're about to find out if you have this instinct," Doctor Crusher offered. "Seven, it's time to push, when you're ready. Do you feel like bearing down?"

Seven didn't bother to answer her in any other way than to clearly begin pushing. She held Raffi's eyes, and Raffi did her best to reassure Seven, breathing with her and instructing her by more or less echoing what both of her doctors were instructing her to do.

For Raffi, it seemed that the pushing portion of the delivery lasted far longer than anything else had. In many ways, it seemed like time had slowed down nearly to a stop, and it was very different than it had been with nearly everything else in the pregnancy. Of course, they'd also discussed the distinct possibility that Seven's nanoprobes, though they tried to be helpful in everything regarding the pregnancy, would reach a point where they had nothing left to give, really.

It was possible that, at this point, the mechanics of bringing the baby into the world were under Seven's control alone.

"You're doing so good, Seven," Raffi assured her. "You're doing so amazing."

"She is doing wonderfully," the Doctor assured her. "In fact, our readings are starting to come in more clearly now."

"What does that mean?" Raffi asked.

"It seems to indicate that the nanoprobes are essentially receding," the Doctor said. "They are turning their attention toward healing, actually, and away from the baby itself. It appears they have adjusted their job assignment in Seven's system."

"That's because the baby is about to become a person all her own," Doctor Crusher offered. "Seven—you're doing wonderfully. I can see your baby's head. A few more really strong pushes, and your daughter will be here."

"You hear that? She'll be here soon, Seven!" Raffi said. "That's you, Baby—that's all you! Come on! Let's see her. Are you ready?"

Seven didn't move her eyes away from Raffi's for even a second. The hold she had on her was intense, honestly, and Raffi felt like she could feel Seven's eyes penetrating all the way down to her very soul. Still, she continued to hold Seven's gaze right back. Her vision blurred a little, overwhelmed by the way she felt about the miracle that she knew was taking place, but she didn't look away from Seven—not as long as Seven wanted her there, holding their connection.

"Do you want to see her being born, Raffi?" Doctor Crusher asked.

"I'll stay right here, if you want," Raffi told Seven.

"Go. I want you to see her. Just hold my hand," Seven said.

Raffi quickly kissed Seven's fingers. She didn't point out that she wasn't sure if she was actually capable of letting go of Seven's hand. She didn't point out that she might need a little quality time with one of the doctors when they were ready and able to divert their attention away from Seven and their daughter for a few moments.

Raffi left her hand with Seven, but she moved enough to be able to see her daughter born. Her knees felt shaky. She felt, honestly, a little light-headed, but she wouldn't dare admit to that. She didn't want even a second of attention taken away from the two most important people in the room.

Doctor Crusher seemed as confident as possible delivering their baby girl, but she caught Raffi's eye the moment that the baby's head was out. Neither of them spoke a single word to each other. Neither of them alerted even the EMH as he gave a report on Seven's vitals and the baby's vitals.

Doctor Crusher hadn't asked for a nurse's assistance, and Raffi was glad of that. She calmly told Seven that the baby's head was out, and she urged her to rest and push when she was ready.

"Can you see her, Raffi?" Seven asked through ragged breaths.

"She's beautiful," Raffi assured her.

"What does she look like?" Seven asked.

"Give me another good push to get her shoulders free," Doctor Crusher offered, interrupting Raffi's need to explain, "and you're going to see her, Mama."

Quick eye contact passed between them again. Raffi nodded her head slightly. Seven tightened her grip on Raffi's hand, and Raffi tried to squeeze back, though her fingers and hand had reached a point of numbness that made it so that she wasn't certain that she was doing anything at all.

"She's beautiful, Baby," Raffi said. "Push when you're ready, and she'll be here."

Seven did push. And when she pushed, Doctor Crusher maneuvered the baby free from her mother's body. Immediately, Raffi's heart nearly stopped in her chest. Slowly, it started beating again, as regularly as it might ever beat again for a while, as she reminded herself to keep her calm for Seven's sake.

"You want to—cut the cord?" Doctor Crusher asked.

Raffi had to give the woman kudos. She had clearly seen a lot in all her years of service in Starfleet. Though Raffi was a hundred percent certain that she hadn't seen this before, she was handling it as though she had. She hugged the baby against her chest, wrapped in the blanket she'd used to catch her, and worked to convince her to take her first breaths and start to clear her little lungs.

"I don't know how," Raffi admitted.

"I'll help you. Seven—you can relax. She is here. She's beautiful. She looks so…so healthy. Beautiful—just like her Mama. We're going to cut her cord and get her to you, so you just relax and get ready for her, OK?"

"Seven's vitals are stable," the Doctor reported. "There is heavy nanoprobe activity, but it seems to be concentrated on healing. The baby's vitals are reading as completely normal. It looks like a perfect delivery."

Somehow, without a word of communication, Raffi felt like she had an entire conversation with Doctor Crusher. The woman was calm as she directed Raffi on how to cut the cord. She clamped it off herself, cleared it away with one hand so that nobody would have to see it until they were cleaning things up, and she rearranged the baby's blanket before bringing her to Seven.

Raffi braced herself as Crusher neared Seven—Seven's arms reaching for their little one already.

"Raffi, help move the gown? We want the baby to feel her Mama's skin. Hear her heartbeat from the outside, this time. Seven—she needs to be cleaned up, OK? But I'll help you clean her up."

"I want her," Seven said, coming entirely out of her gown as Raffi tried to help her. "I want to see her. Let me hold her…"

"Here she is," Doctor Crusher said, resting the baby on Seven's chest so that Seven could hold her. Seven moved her whole body, shifting upward a little to see the baby better. The Doctor adjusted the biobed to help make her more comfortable. Doctor Crusher immediately brought several more items to mop at the baby. "Look how beautiful she is," she said, keeping her voice soft. She chose several variations on the theme to repeat as practical background music to the moment. Raffi had to admit that even she felt soothed by the tone and volume of her voice.

Raffi leaned over Seven, her possibly broken hand resting now on Seven's shoulder.

"Look at how beautiful she is," Raffi echoed, getting close to Seven.

She had no idea how Seven might react. None of them did. Honestly, Raffi didn't know how to react, herself—not entirely.

She made herself relax, though, with the simple reminder that their baby girl was healthy, and she was sincerely beautiful—because Raffi did think that she was beautiful.

Raffi saw the moment that Seven started to process everything. She looked at their daughter, in her arms, as Doctor Crusher helped to carefully clean her up. She hushed her with quiet whispers and reassurances that everything was fine, but she didn't try to truly stop the baby's crying, understanding that she was simply clearing her airways.

And when the doctor stepped away, Seven gently touched the baby's face and moved the little blanket that Crusher had draped over her to more fully examine her.

"Raffi?" Seven said, catching Raffi's eyes. Raffi heard everything that Seven didn't say. She gave Seven a reassuring smile. For the moment, they were being given time and space to greet their little one. All the questions they had about the visible implants—perfect replicas, it seemed at a glance, of Seven's—would surely be answered in time when they stepped in to examine her more thoroughly. Raffi caught Seven's face and tipped it up to kiss her. The kiss was salty, and Raffi tasted the tears that Seven shed without sound—maybe they mingled with her own.

She smiled at her, again, when the kiss broke, and she touched their daughter's face.

"She's perfect, Seven—just like her Mama."

"You really mean that?" Seven asked.

"Absolutely," Raffi assured her. "I couldn't love either of you more."

Seven looked back at the baby. Raffi could see the love in her eyes. She stroked the baby's cheek and brushing the blanket back, Seven slipped the pointer finger of her left hand into the little left hand that closed around it, the hue of the two different implants matching almost perfectly.

"I love her more than life, already," Seven breathed out.

Raffi kissed the side of Seven's face and pressed her cheek there, getting close so that she could lovingly examine the now-calm baby.

"That's just how it's supposed to be, Seven," Raffi said. "Everything's exactly how it's supposed to be."