Epilogue

Four and a half months later

"Remind me again why you thought making the dedication so close to your due date would be such a good idea?" Carter asked as Lucy put things in her purse.

"I've already told you that I didn't want to have the dedication after I had the baby." She explained. She knew that it didn't make sense to Carter but she had her reasons. Her due date was in two days and it was hard to get everything done by now, but that's how she wanted it to be. Once she made her mind up to form this center in Romano's name, she wanted it done ASAP. "This way, Dr. Welling takes over running it for me for the first few weeks while I am out with the baby."

"Ok." He relented. "I shall bow to your wisdom. But you have been practically killing yourself trying to get this done on time. I'm worried about you and the baby."

She crossed the room and gave him a kiss. "Look…everything is fine. I am fine and the baby is fine. Now let's get going so I'm not late."

"You know, if you were late, they would wait for you since you are the keynote speaker." He pointed out, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. He started to nuzzle her neck.

"Carter, c'mon!" She giggled. "We don't have time for that right now."

"We could be quick."

"Not now, ok?" She said, reluctantly pulling away from him.

"Ok. But later you are all mine."

"Can you please do me a favor and go upstairs to get my notes for the speech please? I think I left them on the nightstand when I went over them last night."

"Sure. I'll be right back."

As soon as he was out of sight, she doubled over in pain. She had been having contractions on and off all morning, but so far she had been able to keep that fact from Carter. She knew if he found out, he would insist she miss the dedication. And there was no way she was missing it.

She had been working round the clock for the past several months to get everything set. She had to oversee the renovation of an older wing of the hospital, she had to get the place fully staffed, stocked, and marketed so people knew about it. Thankfully she was able to convince her old teacher and Romano's old college buddy, Dr. Welling, to move up from St. Louis and become her second in command.

He would also watch things for her while she stayed home with the baby for a while. And that was a good thing because she was certain that this baby was going to make its appearance sometime today…hopefully after the dedication.

She heard Carter coming down the stairs and stood upright again. It wasn't easy to control the pain and conceal it from him. But it had to be done. She worked too hard to get the center up and running to be sidelined now.

"Are we ready now?" Carter asked, handing her the note cards.

"Absolutely." She smiled, following him out the door.

As Carter drove to the hospital, he looked over at his wife and smiled. He couldn't believe his luck lately. After she came back into his life and told him she was pregnant, he didn't waste time. She moved in immediately and he had to propose three times before she said yes.

The first time she laughed at him and said no. She claimed it was too early to get engaged. The second time she said they should wait until after the baby came. But the third time she agreed and they ended up getting married at the courthouse that very day. They bought a bigger place somewhat close to the hospital and he worked on getting a nursery put together.

He still felt like she worked too hard these last few months to get the center up and running, but his opinion on it always fell on deaf ears because she had made her mind up and wasn't going to let anyone change it.

He was proud of her though. All of her hard work was going to pay off. He was certain of it.

At a stop light, he looked over and their eyes met.

"You look deep in thought about something." She said with a chuckle. "What's going on in the pretty little head of yours?"

He smiled. "I'm just thinking about you…about us…about everything. We've been through a lot, both individually and together. But we've made it out together and we're stronger now. I'm proud of you Lucy."

"Thank you." She smiled. "And you're right. We are stronger now."

"I want to thank everyone for coming today." Lucy started her speech. "This center is very near and dear to my heart for several reasons. To begin with, I believe that this center will be able to do great things for the community by providing a place for people to come and get both simple and complex cardiothorasic procedures done by quality surgeons executing the newest, most advanced techniques out there."

"By partnering with County General, we can also ensure that their medical students are being exposed to and learning these techniques. This will allow them to take the knowledge and skills learned here to whatever hospital they end up practicing with in the future. We will also be advancing the research of newer techniques with our diverse research curriculum."

She paused for a moment. "On a more personal note, this center is being named for and funded by a mentor and good friend of mine who died earlier this year. Robert Romano was not the friendliest person in the world. There were actually quite a few people who despised him. But while he may not have had a lot of people who cared about him, he cared about his job as a surgeon and was dedicated to saving as many lives as he possibly could in the operating room."

"It is my absolute honor to name this center after him." She grabbed the ceremonial big scissors from Dr. Anspaugh. "Without further ado, I now declare that the Robert Romano Cardiothoracic Surgical and Research Center officially open!" She cut the ribbon with the scissors as people clapped. "There is a reception inside, so please feel free to enter and take a look around."

Lucy walked around the reception, hoping that if she kept moving, the pain would ease up. Her contractions were coming quicker now, but she didn't think it was time to tell anyone or go to the maternity ward yet. After all, her water hadn't broken yet.

She first made the rounds to all of the board members and other important people in the hospital hierarchy. While she was aware most didn't like Romano while he was alive, they seemed to be more forgiving and complimentary to him now. She had to keep herself from laughing about what his reaction would have been to that. She imagined he would have some rather choice words for them.

She was walking and smiling at people as she went, when she saw Elizabeth and Mark. "Hi!" She greeted with a big smile. "I'm so glad you two could make it."

"So are we." Elizabeth said, staring at Lucy's bump. "Wow. You look beautiful but also ready to pop."

Lucy laughed nervously. "Yeah. I'm getting there. How are you two?"

"Hawaii is great." Mark smiled. "Nothing but beaches and getting tanned on days off."

"Stop making her jealous." Elizabeth playfully poked him in the stomach with her elbow. "It isn't all fun in the sun."

"Sometimes it does rain." Mark chimed in. "Where is Carter?"

Lucy looked around. Somehow he had gotten separated from her. "Oh, he is over there at the bar talking to Kerry."

"I'm going to go say hi to them." Mark said. He kissed Lucy's cheek. "You did a good job with this place, Lucy."

"Thank you." She smiled.

"So, how are you really doing?" Elizabeth asked once Mark was away.

Lucy had reached out to Elizabeth after Romano's death because she felt like Elizabeth was one of the only other people who actually, legitimately mourned the man. "I'm doing a lot better. I think starting this place with the money he left me has given me a sense of closure."

"I'm so glad." Elizabeth smiled.

Lucy was about to say something but then froze. "Um…Elizabeth? Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"What did it feel like when your water broke?" Lucy asked, her eyes wide. "Because I think mine just did."

Elizabeth looked down. Since Lucy was wearing a skirt, she could see fluid pooling on the floor. "It definitely did."

"Shoot." Lucy sighed. "Now I have no choice but to leave the reception. I was hoping I could last until after it was done."

Elizabeth looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"I've sort of been having contractions all day." Lucy explained, shrugging it off.

"Lucy!"

"I know. I know." She held her hands up in mock defeat. "But today is important to me."

"For two reasons now." Elizabeth laughed. "We need to go find Carter and get you to maternity."

"I guess so." Lucy laughed.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were having contractions." Carter laughed after one of her contractions stopped.

They had gotten into a room fairly quickly and were waiting for Dr. Coburn to come in and check to see how dilated Lucy was.

"I knew that if I told you, you'd make me skip the dedication." Lucy explained. Now that the contractions were coming quicker and quicker, she was hoping there would still be time for an epidural.

"Well at least the dedication was at the hospital." He laughed. "Still, next time please just tell me."

"Oh you think there will be a next time?" She smirked.

The look on his face was priceless as he stumbled to find a response.

"Well…I…um…that is…if you…and we…maybe…possibly.."

"Relax Carter." She laughed. "With the way we can't seem to keep our hands off of each other, I think it is safe to say we will find ourselves in this situation again."

He smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Ah not again." Lucy grimaced as another contraction hit.

"How is mommy doing?" Dr. Coburn asked as she came into the room.

"I want drugs please." Lucy groaned. "Lots of drugs."

"The contractions are coming closer together." Carter explained. He looked at Lucy. "Here. Grab my hand and let's do the Lamaze breathing."

Lucy rolled her eyes and looked at Dr. Coburn. "Drugs? Please?"

"Let's see how dilated you are and then we'll talk." Dr. Coburn didn't take very long to assess the situation. "Lucy, I'm sorry to have to tell you but there is no way you can have drugs."

"Why not?" She panted.

"Because you're fully crowned and I can already see the baby's head." Dr. Coburn replied.

Lucy looked over at Carter, who looked over at her. "Um…no…I wanted drugs…I didn't want to do this without the drugs…"

"So Lucy, look at me because here is what we are going to do." Dr. Coburn said. "You are going to rest and then when the next contraction comes, I want you to push for ten seconds at a time." She looked at Carter. "You are going to count down from ten every time I tell you to. Alright?"

"Ok." Lucy said shakily.

"You can do this." Carter told her, kissing her forehead again. "I know you can."

It didn't take long for another contraction to hit.

"Ok Carter, count it down. Lucy, start pushing."

She pushed for what seemed like forever, but it was actually probably more like three or four contractions.

"Alright you are almost there." Dr. Coburn said. "Let's do one more big push Lucy."

"I can't." Lucy sighed.

"Yes you can." Carter encouraged her. "You're almost done."

"Next time, make sure I get the drugs." She told him. "Promise me."

"I promise." He smiled.

"Ok." She pushed one more time and then felt a giant release. Seconds later, there was the sweet sound of a baby crying.

"Good work Lucy!" Dr. Coburn smiled. "You did it!"

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Lucy asked. They had purposely not found out the gender in order to be surprised.

"Dr. Carter, why don't you come and cut the cord?" Dr. Coburn asked. She handed him the scissors.

"It's a boy." Carter smiled, cutting his son's umbilical cord.

"A boy?" Lucy cried. "That's wonderful." She would have been happy with either, but she was glad Carter would have a son that he could pass on things to.

It only took a few minutes for the nurses to clean up the baby and then place him in Lucy's arms. She smiled down at her son, holding on to his tiny fingers. "He's perfect."

"I agree." Carter said. "You did great Luce."

"We did great." She said, looking up at him.

A couple of hours later Lucy was resting while Carter held his son by the window. "We are going to have so much fun together. I didn't have a very hands-on father, but you will. I'm going to teach you how to do everything. And you're going to have the best mommy in the world too. You'll see. She is awesome."

"Hey." Lucy greeted, making him turn around. He walked back over and handed the baby to her.

"I was just telling him how wonderful his life was going to be." Carter smiled.

"It would be even more wonderful if he had a name." Lucy reminded him, scooting over a little and motioning for him to join them on the bed.

"I was thinking about that." Carter said, getting up there and wrapping his arm around her. "What do you think about naming him Robert? It serves a dual purpose because he can be named for both my brother and Romano."

"You'd really let us name our son Robert?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah." Carter nodded. "I think it is the perfect name for him. Just promise me that his nickname will never be Rocket."

She laughed. "Deal."

"Welcome to the world Robert." Carter said.

"I love you." She said, reaching over to give him a kiss.

"I love you too."

Alright...there you have it. That's the end of this story. I hope you all enjoyed! If you did, please be on the lookout for another Carter/Lucy story I am developing. The first chapter should be up in the next few days!