Author's Note: Meta-AU chapter; since the fit itself is already "AU" these chapters are simply what would've happened if Vincent hadn't died so not a part of the "normal" or "main" storyline, just a fun lil thing to break from the hard hitting stuff. I've been busy with final exams for summer school so I've been delayed in writing, but I hope this gives you some warm fuzzies. :)
I was reading Vincent's page on the Bones wikia, and in the notes section someone said that it was suggested that he had a crush on Cam and I nearly cried; I was not alone omg. I think his crush on her was definitely canon, but she felt too proud to reciprocate it. (And the guilt and regret from his death prompted her to seriously fall in love with Arastoo okay thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.)
"D-Did you know that at birth dalmations are always white?!" Vincent sputtered with a look of pure panic and agitation. Cam's water breaking in the lab had been nerve-racking enough, but it seemed quite boring now that the whole bloody, painful show was starting.
"Okay, I love you and all but this is so not the time一" Cam's sharp response was interrupted with a scream as another painful contraction broke. She was squeezing his hand so tightly that it quickly shut him up.
"You're going to have to start pushing, okay?" Dr. Amber said from the foot of the bed. "This is happening—fast."
Vincent could feel his legs turn to jello and his heart thumped harder against his chest at this. This miracle that they had been reveling in for so many months was now creating a pure, physical, worldly pain and presence. How could he wrap his head about that?
"O-oh?" Cam felt the same whirl of nerves too, but it was quickly pushed aside by her raw physical agony and exhaustion.
"A-Already?" He asked in a high pitch while feeling a nervous sweat coming on.
"Stop freaking out, Vincent!" Michelle bellowed from Cam's otherside. "You put her here in the first place!"
"I'm sorry! Oh my gosh, honey, I'm so sorry." He stammered to Cam apologetically, as if she hadn't been just as active of a participant in their poor decision making.
"Do you need to sit down?" Eric asked Vincent, noticing his pale face, over Cam's screams.
Cam let go of Vincent's hand and more forcefully grabbed his upper arm. "There is no way that you're going to be sitting down while this baby rips me in half." She said through gritted teeth. Fate really stuck her with one of the least sturdy labor partners imaginable, regardless of if she loved him and all that stuff. Her face became pinched as she felt another wave break.
"C'mon, Cam, push!" Brennan said, face full of intensity as she stood next to Michelle. Brennan was taking the whole situation with as much stamina and vigor as if it had been her own birth.
"Angela! Why didn't you tell me it would be this bad?!" Cam said with building agony while Vincent went into another jumbled, apologetic spell.
"Oh, honey, there's really just nothing to compare it to." Angela offered with a wince as she held onto one of Cam's knees.
Cam looked upward as she tried to push. "Oh my god, why on earth did I let you make me think this was a good idea, Vincent?!" Succumbing to the girting momentum, there was no use in clinging to her pride and composure at this point. Cam gave way to the contractions while her thinking became scrambled. Though it didn't hold her primary focus, she did share Vincent's amazement and fear at the swarming reality of the situation.
It was all very weird. One sits with this idea of a person and are forced to suffer through a myriad of annoyances. The changing wardrobe, the awful hormones, the constant aches, and the general dishelvement were very irritating to Cam's preference of order and control. But then there were those days where one did really consider the personhood of the jumble of cells, growing down deep.
It was these days where she and Vincent would ashew professionalism and look at the baby under the ultrasound in the lab. While he attempted to serenade the baby with Lime in the Coconut, she would allow herself a moment to consider how objectively lovely and sweet this time with him and this developing person was.
She would also occasionally catch him and Hodgins gushing about imaginative scenarios where their kids would do science experiments together, or they'd return from their lunch breaks with toys they'd impulsively bought for their babies, both born and unborn. As nervous as Vincent could get, he clearly did care about this accidental, budding life as much as she did.
On Cam's other side, Booth gave Vincent a tight slap on the back. "Vincent, buddy, she really needs you right now."
Mouth twitching, Vincent stiffly nodded. With a shallow intake of breath, he tried to focus his well of emotions. Maybe he wasn't the most adept at major stressors like this and maybe he wasn't completely ready for a baby just yet, but what did know was his sheer depth of feelings for Cam. He leaned in closer to her, attempting to lock down into each painful contraction.
"Camille!" He gave her an intense look with a tight squeeze of her hand. He was determined to absorb her immense agony as much as he could, if not in actuality then at least through his emotions.
She turned to him with a look of helplessness, face sweaty, and muscles strained.
"I just feel," his eyebrows joined as he tried to sift through his compounding, intense emotions. "Like my bloody heart is about to burst b-because you're so lovely right now a-and I know you can do this!"
"R-really?" She asked a bit breathlessly. Her previous painful rage had been hampered by his sincerity.
He hadn't been lying just for her sake. Though sweaty and on the brink of sheer exhaustion at this point, there was something magical about what was laying past her strain and their shared exhilaration.
"Yes! And-and we made this perfect, little baby!" He exclaimed. He was probably exerting so much stamina that he was going to pass out as well. "O-Oh, I just love you so much right now." He raised a hand to gently hold her face and look deeply into her still beautiful brown eyes.
She gave a strained, though sincere smile; maybe she had been stuck with a reliable partner after all. "I love you too...you sweet, sweet weirdo."
"I can see the head!" Eric encouraged followed by an shrill squeal from Angela.
"Oh my gosh, Cam, the baby has hair!" She excitedly squeezed Hodgins' arm.
"H-Hair?!" Vincent mumbled as if it was the most terrifying yet amazing thing he had ever heard.
Sitting up straighter, Cam beared down on the pain again, trying to push her muscles through the retching pressure while Michelle rubbed her back.
"One more big one; you can do it!" Michelle cheered with an equally breathless look on her face.
Vincent leaned in closer again, now holding her hand within his and eyes full of pure emotion. Past all of the heat and activity of this delivery room on this strange day, she could really sense the seriousness of his feelings. Every bumbling interaction they had at the lab, every date, every kiss, every longing moment between them had all come to this.
With her eyes watering, she gave him a similarly exhaustive and intense look as if trying to pull her into her distress. "Honey-!" She gave another stiff push which brought on another scream.
In a moment, brief and beautiful, the world opened up wide.
"It's a girl!" Dr. Amber said with a bright smile while wrangling the small, wriggling purple baby.
Cam wasn't sure who started crying first, the baby or Vincent.
"O-Oh my gosh," A whimper escaped his throat as he tightly squeezed her hand again, tears beginning to well in his blue eyes. The baby was small, yet she managed to hold more purpose and emotion than anything Cam or Vincent had ever encountered. He shared a fevered, but thrilled look with her.
"We have a girl..!" She said to him, completely out of breath though still able to harness a glowing smile. Now both of their hearts felt like they were about to burst as they marveled at each other and at the little human, waving her tiny fists and crying her cry.
Cam allowed herself to collapse into the mass of her pillow, now holding Vincent's hand over her heart as it beat at an intense pace.
Once Eric weighed and swaddled the baby and placed her in Cam's arms, she could now feel the bubbling of her own emotions with their friends waiting in the wings, faces sharing in the full splendor of the moment.
Just as quickly as the world around them had opened, it reduced to just the three of them; Vincent, Cam, and this baby locked into a kind of atmosphere of pure bliss and emotion. He rested his chin on her shoulder while he gently touched the baby's head, covered with a small purple cap.
"Oh no, Vincent, don't cry." Cam considered his tears with a look of sympathy as she lightly bounced the baby.
"I-I can't help it." He said with a smile. Every detail on the baby's face tugged at him in a deeply emotive way. She was their's and it was undeniable in her lightly tanned skin, narrow chin, soft nose, and bright blue eyes. No trace of uncertainty; no perhaps, maybe, or possibly, but absolutely their's.
Once the hysteria died down, Vincent and Cam were left to soak in the glow of their baby and all of the whirring emotions and possibilities that came with her. Past all of the excruciating pain and emotional exhilaration, there was such a sense of peace in the small delivery room.
"Oh, can we please bring her to the lab sometime?" Vincent pleaded from his position next to Cam on the hospital bed, arms wrapped around her. "We'll be the ultimate crime-fighting team."
"Absolutely not." Cam replied with a laugh. "If Michael can't visit, then neither can she. I may be a mother to a newborn, but I still have to at least try to be the boss."
"But Camille, she's so precious. I don't think I can ever stand to be away from her."
"No, I get that." She sighed, savoring so many parts of this moment. The warm breeze traveling through the open window, his comforting arms around her, and simply watching the baby breathe was all so perfect that it made her heart ache. "Fine, I'll consider it." She looked over her shoulder to smile at him.
He kissed her temple, feeling the warmth of the moment as well. "I just can't believe she's really here. What on earth are we going to do about a name?"
"I think I would like Hany to be her middle name." Cam propped herself on her elbow to reach over and caress the baby's soft stomach. "But Michelle likes the name Aida for a first name. It's no Staccato-Vincent, but it's a really sweet name "
Vincent's face lit up with his trademark zing of recognition. "Fun fact: the name Aida, tracing its origins to Arabic and Italian, means 'happy.' Since I'm about to practically burst in happiness, I think it's extremely fitting." He reached over, placing his hand on top of Cam's.
"Yeah," She said softly. "We didn't too bad, did we, Vinodelectable?" She smirked at him.
"Well, it was a bumpy road indeed, but we made it." He caressed her soft hand, admiring the glint of her engagement ring and the similar glint in Aida's big, gentle eyes. "It's all so bizarre; I already love her so much." He said into her neck.
"Me too."