December 17th

Derek pulled his truck to the side of the road with shaking hands. "You're... You're in labour..." he repeated, dumbstruck. "In labour..."

"You can keep saying it, but it won't stop being true," she deadpanned.

He nodded, cleared his throat. "Okay, I'll call JJ," he said, trying to remain calm. Unfortunately, though, JJ didn't pick up the phone. "Shit," he hissed, running a hand over his head. "Shit."

She huffed, breathing through her contraction. "It's fine," she insisted, "Just take me home."

He nodded shakily. "I don't want you to be alone right now..."

"I won't be," she said plainly. "You'll be staying with me."

"What? But..." he stammered, "I mean..."

She shot him a glare. "Like you said, I can't be alone right now."

"I still can't get ahold of JJ," Derek informed her, entering the room after hanging up the phone. "I've got no idea what she's doing or where she is, but she's ignoring my texts."

"Come here," Emily commanded.

"Why?"

She just gestured for him, ignoring the question. When he complied, she grabbed hold of his hands, using him as leverage to pull herself to her feet from the exercise ball she'd been sitting on.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, putting her weight on his shoulders. "It's called the slow dance position," she explained, "It's good for labouring."

Looking awkward about it, he rested his hands on her hips and swayed in time with her movements. "Are you nervous?" he asked. "For, you know, what happens next?"

"You mean birth or being a mom?" she replied.

He shrugged. "Either. Both."

She mashed her lips together to stifle a pained moan, breathing through her nose for a few moments. Finally, she answered, "I'm really not thinking about that right now – I just want to get through the next contraction."

"What can I do?" he offered.

"Counterpressure," she answered immediately.

"Huh?"

Shaking her head, she lowered herself back onto the ball, moving her hips in a circle. "During a contraction, you have to press hard on my back."

Kneeling down before her, he asked, "Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you..."

She gave him a pointed look.

"Right," he said with a shrug. "Small potatoes compared to labour."

She smiled softly at him. "Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" He reached for her hands, squeezed gently.

She returned the pressure. "For not making me do this alone."

"It's after midnight, Em," Derek said gently. "You should try to get some sleep." She gave him a skeptical look. "Just lay down," he coaxed.

He helped her to stand, gently guiding her to the bedroom and helping her climb into bed.

"Stay with me?" she begged.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

She nodded. "I really don't want to be alone right now," she whispered. She patted the bed next to her.

He couldn't stand to see the pleading look on her face, so he obliged, settling next to her. She immediately nuzzled into his side and he wrapped his arm around her.

"Would you talk to me?" she asked.

"About what?"

She shrugged. "Anything. Distract me."

He thought for a moment, then said, "I'll tell you a story...but you have to promise not to laugh at me."

"I promise to laugh at you," she retorted, never one to miss an opportunity to make fun of him.

He huffed as if annoyed, but added a wink to show he was only messing with her.

"Okay, so back in Chicago, I used to go to this coffee shop every day before work. And one day, I'm about to leave with my coffee when I catch sight of this total smoke show. Only, I don't have an excuse to talk to her...so what do I do? I throw out the coffee I'd literally just bought and get back in line behind her so I can chat her up.

"Flawless plan, right? Except that she saw me do it and totally called me out on it." He shook his head, wincing. "And not only that, but she knew my name...turns out she was replacing one of the paralegals who was going on maternity leave. When I saw her at the office later, I almost died of embarrassment."

Emily absolutely crowed with laughter. "Derek!" she gushed. "You really haven't changed a bit, have you? You're still the same kid offering to walk all the cute girls in his class home after school..."

"I'm a gentleman," he insisted.

She scoffed. "You're a manslut..." Anything further she might have said to tease him was cut off by her next contraction.

Derek immediately pressed his knuckles into her lower back to provide the counterpressure she needed.

She let out a watery little laugh between breaths. "Finally a good reason for all the time you spend at the gym..." she managed to tease, even while in the throes of labour pain.

"I do it all for you, Princess," he agreed.

As the contraction subsided, she let herself settle back against his chest, exhausted. If it felt a little too familiar for his liking, he certainly wasn't about to say so, understanding that she needed him in that moment, possibly more than she'd ever needed anyone. And if she felt safe enough to have him there during one of her most vulnerable moments, he wasn't about to take that away from her.

Several moments of silence passed, then Emily suddenly sat bolt upright, eyes going wide. "Shit!" she hissed, "I forgot to write to my pen pal..."

"I'm pretty sure that, given the circumstances, they'll forgive you," he assured her.

She nodded her agreement, but protested anyway, "I just don't want him to think I've forgotten about him or given up or something."

"I'm sure that if this mystery guy knows you at all, he'd know that you're too damn stubborn to give up on anything ever," he assured her.

She couldn't help the little laugh that bubbled up at that. "I thought you were trying to stay on my good side?" she said, brow raised.

"Oh, believe me, I am," he maintained. "I'm just giving the facts: you're the most stubborn woman I know and I love you for it."