~*~o~*~
Carly had gone through a series of steroid injections to help prepare her baby's lungs for an early delivery. When contractions started again when she was 33 weeks pregnant, the doctors didn't try to stop her labor. They let nature take it's natural course as Lawrence and Carly arrived at the maternity ward of the hospital. Both Dr. Beaumont and Dr. Moreau were on hand to see Baby Alamain into the world.
"How long before we see our baby?" Lawrence asked Carly as he stayed by her side.
"Ohhh I don't know. I was in labor with Nicky somewhere around 28 hours."
"Ohhh my God. How unpleasant."
"You're telling me," Carly said with a heavy sigh.
"Well, things are going to be different this time, Katerina. I'm here," Lawrence reassured her.
"And Vivian's not."
Their gazes met. "This time, she's not going to steal our child from us. She's no where near here. And we are going to have a perfect, healthy daughter."
"I hope so, Lawrence."
"After everything we've been through... all the pain and all the heartache, we deserve this baby," Lawrence said as he raised her hand to his lips and gently kissed it.
"I love you," Carly said to Lawrence as she lay back against the pillows of her hospital bed and prepared for the birth of her daughter.
"I love you, too," he said as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. He couldn't remember when he had been this blissfully happy, and he knew that their new daughter was going to be the icing on the cake of their contentment.
Xxxooo
Several hours later, a new baby girl had been born. She was tiny, but beautiful with tons of thick, dark hair. "I want to call her Loren, after her daddy," Carly said as she watched Lawrence cuddling their new little daughter.
"Seriously?" he asked as he looked down at the gorgeous baby, then at her. "You want to name her after me?"
"Absolutely," she told him with a smile. "In fact, I think her name should be Katerina Loren Alamain, after both of us... but I want to call her Loren."
"I love it," he said as he kissed their daughter's forehead. "And I love YOU."
"Just wait till Nicky sees her. She's so small; he'll probably be afraid he'll break her."
"Well, she only weighs a little over four pounds," Lawrence spoke as he marvelled over the baby in his arms. "But she's strong and she's healthy. Everything you went through during her difficult pregnancy paid off, love. We have this wonderful, perfect baby daughter as the reward."
"I wish that Nicky were here to see her now," Carly said as she rested in her hospital bed. She was completely exhausted after her baby's birth.
"He'll be home soon. I'll send for him right away," Lawrence promised. "We all need to be together... you, me, our daughter, and our son."
"I like the sound of that," Carly told him with a smile.