Chapter Fifty-Nine

July 18th, 1914
New York City, New York

Iris hurried back with a bundle of tangled sheets and quilts in her hands and quickly spread them over the mat. She set some pillows down and slowly, Tim and Jack laid Rose on her back. She let out another cry as tears began to rush down her flushed cheeks. Iris took off across the studio to meet Frenchie, taking a bucket from one of his hands. When they brought them to Rose, Iris immediately dropped to her knees and with shaky hands, reached for a rag, dunked it in the chilled water, and began dabbing Rose's face. Jack and Tim knelt at Rose's feet.

"Jack, have you ever done this before?" Tim asked quietly, keeping his cool as best he could. He was rattled, however, every time Rose's pained shriek pierced his ears. Jack's entire core was shaking inside of him.

"No," Was all Jack said as he reached for Rose's shoes, pulling them off her feet.

"What's our game plan?" Tim asked, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"I have no idea," Jack shook his head, not even looking at Tim, "Just help me take her stockings off."

Tim did as he was told, glancing fleetingly over Rose's knees at Iris, who was keeping Rose cool, and Frenchie, who was holding Rose's hand in a petrified state. It almost felt internally wrong to Tim as he reached up Rose's skirt and slowly pulled the stocking down. He did his best not to focus on the touch of her skin. He had a goal, he told himself, and that was to ensure the delivery of the baby and Rose's health. After they removed her stockings, Tim reached for a bundle of sheets, spreading them beneath Rose's feet.

"I've never delivered a baby, but I can remember watching the home-births of my last two sister's," Tim told Jack as he discarded Rose's balled up stockings on the ground, "I know there's probably going to be a lot of blood. We have to stop that as soon as possible."

"Okay..." Jack said slowly, staring down at all the blankets gathered beneath them.

"Jack," Tim pressed his hand to his shoulder, drawing the artist's eyes to him, "it's going to be okay. We can do this."

"Tim, I..." Jack was silent for a moment, his face pensive, "I don't know what to say."

"It's alright. Neither do I," Tim weakly grinned but it faltered as Rose let out another scream, squeezing Frenchie's hand so hard he was certain it was going to snap, "Alright, I'll guide you. You need to pull her skirt back."

Slowly, Jack did what Tim said. He craned his neck downward and looked to Tim like he had seen a ghost, "The baby is already showing!"

"That's good," Tim nodded. He finally willed himself to look, too, "That's the head! Good, good! You want the baby to come out head first."

Jack resituated himself closer to Rose on his knees, reaching his hands down. He gawked for a moment longer before he looked over Rose's knees, "You have to push, okay, Rose? Push with everything you got!"

"It hurts!" Rose wailed, shaking her head back and forth, "I don't think I can."

"Hey," Jack said, snapping her eyes to his, "You can do this, okay? Come on, you have to push for me. The baby is right here! On three. One, two, three- push!"

Rose ground her teeth together, whimpers escaping her ragged throat as she squeezed every muscle she could. Frenchie's hand grew numb. Iris hurriedly dabbed her face and neck. Rose let out an aggravated sigh, dangling her head backwards, "GODDAMMIT!" She screeched, shaking her head, "It hurts so much, Jack. I can't, I can't do it!" Tears pricked her eyes again.

"Yes, you can!" Jack insisted, not even looking up, "You're doing great. Your pushing did something!" Jack's fingers were just able to support the smallest inkling of a head coming out. His hands were already slippery in bright red blood, his forgotten cuffs forever stained. Tim held blankets beneath Jack's hands, doing his best to be unphased by the blood dribbling onto it, "Push again! Come on, Rose! Push for me."

Again, Rose squeezed with all her might. The pain was excruciating. It was unlike any book or magazine could ever describe or prepare her for. She felt a burning intensity in her hips, as if her entire skeletal figure was shifting dramatically, never to be perfect again. Her legs throbbed as it felt like all her blood was rushing towards her abdomen, that was taut with cramps she had never expierenced before. Her entire body radiated with an uncomfortable heat and her heart hammered so hard in her chest, she was sure it was going to explode. The damp rag Iris pressed to her face only left momentary relief before the heat burned away any coolness she could soak in. The more she pushed, the worse she felt. She didn't think she was making any progress. She couldn't even feel anything besides the pain. Rose shook her head again, panting heavily.

"If I can't do this, how can I expect to be a good mother?!" Rose cried out.

"Don't start thinking like that!" Jack told her, "Rose, the baby is right here. Just push a little more for me, please. Don't stop!"

"Jack, I don't think I can do it anymore," Rose whimpered, tears streaking down her sweaty face, "I'm not strong enough."

"But you are!" Jack looked over her knees, "You're the strongest woman I know! You can do this, Rose. I know you can. One more push and you're going to be the greatest mother the world has ever seen. Do it for me, do it for the baby!"

"Is the baby really coming out?" Rose asked, tensing her body as a painful cramp swept through her.

"I'm holding the head."

"Does it have hair?"

Jack smirked at her, "It's blonde."

Rose let out an airy laugh, sweeping a damp curl from her sweaty face. She took a few deep breaths, the tears still coming down her cheeks. Iris continued to dab her face. Rose let out a long sigh, "Okay... I'm going to try to push again."

"I'm ready," Jack told her, looking back down. He felt her leg muscles constrict as she tried again. One of her hands curled into fists and Frenchie's hand had grown numb to any feeling, but still, he did not pull his hand away as he watched in near horror at the fact a baby was being born in his studio. He never would have guessed this would happen, "Tim, put your hands up, the baby is coming out!" Rose let out a final push, a scream emitted from her throat. She felt a searing burn ricochete up her spine and she fell back into the pillows, her chest rising and falling heavily. The cry of a baby had her craning her neck as she watched Jack lift a squriming baby wrapped in bed sheets towards him. Jack's arms and chest were stained in blood. Tim dipped back down, balling blankets up against Rose. Rose was fixated on watching Jack peer down at the disgruntled bloody baby. Everyone sat in a silence of awe as they gazed at the new life they had successfully brought into the world.

Perched atop the baby's round head were soft blond curls that bounced as the baby waved it's arms and legs around for the first time, obviously stunned by their new mobility. Jack held the baby firmly in his arms, pressing the bloodied head against his shirt, uncaring of any new stains. Gently, he carressed the side of the baby's face and it calmed, squinting as it peered up at him. The baby had green eyes that were very similar to Rose's. Rose breathed heavily, resting against the pillows. Iris now took her time to properly run the rag across Rose's skin. Rose felt relatively weak, but luckily all the cramps and burning sensations had subsided. She now simply ached, as if she had done strenuous activity the day before and woken up sore.

"What is it?" Rose asked airly, looking towards Jack with her tired eyes.

Slowly, Jack shifted the small baby in his arms. It was fixated on Jack's face, only emitting small whimpers as he peeled the sheets back to expose small baby feet and short stocky legs. Jack grinned, looking up towards Rose.

"It's a girl."

"You're just pulling my leg," Rose panted, propping herself up on her elbow.

"No, really. It's pretty easy to see the difference," Jack laughed lightly. He shifted the baby in his arms and pulled himself to sit beside Frenchie. Slowly, Jack outstretched the baby, who still seemed overwhelmed by it's new surroundings. Iris helped Rose prop herself up on the pillows and she offered her arms out to Jack. Carefully, and with the biggest and proudest grin that could fit on his face, Jack lowered the baby into Rose's arm. Gently, the baby pressed it's pudgey cheek against Rose's collarbone, their small hand grazing her skin, hungry for the contact with it's mother. Rose had fresh tears in her eyes as she ran her fingers through the fresh curls.

Rose was absolutely astounded. She couldn't decide whether to cry or laugh so she did a mix of both. She ran her fingers down from the curls, over the rounded chipmunk cheeks that were rosy in color. She gently tapped the tip of the baby's nose and grazed their lips. Rose couldn't help but think the baby was absolutely perfect in every way. Rose peered into the messy tangled sheets, spying that Jack was right. They had a daughter.

"You win," Rose said quietly, lifting her eyes to Jack, who had been busy adoring Rose holding their new child, "It really is a girl. So... what will we name her?"

Frenchie swapped places with Jack. The artist lowered himself against the pillow beside Rose, craning his head over her shoulder to peer down on their newest family member, "I want to name her Hope," Jack said quietly. He reached his hand out to the baby and she latched her tiny hand around his pinky, earning a grin from her father, "Let's name her Hope Charlotte Dawson."

"Hope Charlotte Dawson... now where did you come up with that?" Rose grinned, pressing her tired and somewhat achey head against Jack's shoulder. His shoulders bobbed as he chuckled slightly.

"I dunno," He shrugged, resting his head against her's, "It sounded nice."

"Wow, look at her!" Iris cooed, leaning in over the sleepy Hope, "She looks just like you, Rose!"

"Yeah, we're in for some trouble," Jack smiled, watching Hope fight to keep her exuberant green eyes open, fearful she would miss even the slightest moment, "Just wait until she's your age," Jack gave Rose a nudge, sending her into her own roll of chuckles.

"I just can't believe it..." Rose whispered, feeling as sleepy as Hope looked, "She's finally here. I thought the day would never come, Jack. I was starting to believe I was going to be pregnant forever. All that pain... all those tiring moments of being pregnant... it was all worth it now that Hope is here. She's absolutely perfect."

"Welcome to the world, Hope Charlotte," Tim said politely, wrapping his arms around a beaming Iris' shoulders, "She's beautiful, Rose. Congratulations."

"Jack... I can't believe you actually did it," Frenchie finally found his voice. The entire time, his eyes had been fixated on the new baby, in absolute awe, "You delivered a baby! You should be a doctor or something!"

"I got lucky this time."

"This time?" Rose echoed, arching her eyebrows, "We are not doing this again!"

Jack let out a laugh, his head falling against the goosedown pillows he used to lay his lonesome head on in what seemed like a lifetime ago. Slowly, he took Hope from Rose's arms, laying the baby's stomach flat against his chest. He held the baby close to his chest, his shirt forever stained from the events that took place. It was worth it, though. Anything was worth it if it was for his daughter, he told himself. From this day forward, Rose and Hope were Jack's entire world.