Author's Note: I don't own any character other than baby Winchester. If you do not know the story behind the song Closing Time by Semisonic, I recommend looking it up on YouTube to see why I used it as the chapter title. Warning: fairly graphic birth scene, not overly, but it's still kind of there.
Chapter 23
Dean pushed every speed limit between Bobby's and the hospital. Meanwhile, Hermione was getting increasingly uncomfortable, and not just because she was in pain. The leaking feeling was getting annoying. She tried to stay in a position such that she wouldn't leak on his seats, however, it was getting impossible.
"Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?" Dean asked frantically.
"I hurt, and no. Just get me to the hospital." Hermione told him, grimacing at a particularly sharp pain.
"One hospital, coming right up." Dean quipped, pressing just a little harder on the accelerator.
Another few minutes, and they were pulling up to the Emergency door. An orderly met them outside the car, asking Dean what was going on when he exited to help Hermione out.
"She's having a baby." Dean replied, looking at the orderly, his expression slightly panicked.
"Okay, let's get her in a wheelchair and up to Labor and Delivery then." The orderly replied kindly. Once Hermione's door was opened, the two men helped her into a waiting wheelchair. "How far along are you?" The orderly asked her.
"Nearing 37 weeks." Hermione replied automatically.
"Do you have a local OB?" The orderly asked.
"No, my doctor is in London." Hermione explained.
"No problem. Sir, go ahead and park in the parking garage. When you enter through the main entrance, someone will show you how to find her. Remember, she'll be in Labor and Delivery." The orderly informed Dean, wheeling Hermione into the hospital.
Dean, feeling more than slightly helpless, laced his fingers at the top of his head. It wouldn't do for him to panic. It's not like women didn't do this all the time. He forced himself to move away from the doors, to his car, and back behind Baby's wheel. He did as he was instructed, running into Bobby and Sam on his way in. They all entered the hospital at the same time, Dean asking for directions to the ward the orderly had told him.
When they arrived, there was a woman waiting at a desk behind glass. "Name?" She asked kindly.
"Uh, I'm Dean Winchester, my girlfriend was just brought in here." Dean explained.
"What's her name?" The woman asked calmly, sensing his panic.
"Uh, Hermione Granger." Dean replied, nearly forgetting her last name.
"Ah, here she is. See that door to your left?" When Dean nodded, she went on. "When you hear a buzz, pull the door open. We'll get you a wrist band, and show you where she's being set up."
"Okay, thanks." Dean replied, feeling nervous. He looked to Sam and Bobby who were standing behind him.
"Go on, son. We'll be out here waiting." Bobby said encouragingly.
"Dean, if you need anything, you let us know." Sam added.
"Thanks." Dean replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He then moved towards the door. When he heard the buzz, he pulled open the door and stepped through. The woman behind the window was standing at a counter waiting for him.
"Okay, Mr. Winchester, the band we're giving you has a number on it. It identifies you with your baby once he or she is born." The woman said, holding up a band with Hermione's name on it, as well as a barcode with numbers below it.
"She. It's a she." Dean replied as the woman slipped it around his wrist, fastening it.
"Congratulations dad." The woman said, smiling kindly at him. "Now, let's get you to your girlfriend. I'm sure she's anxious to see you."
The woman stepped out from behind the desk, and led Dean down the hall. He followed her as she turned right down another hallway, nearly running into her back when she stopped at a closed door, the fourth one on the right. She knocked and a nurse wearing navy blue scrubs answered the door.
"Yes?" She asked the woman.
"I've got the dad here." The desk woman told the nurse.
"Wonderful!" The nurse chirped happily. "Come right on in dad, the on-call OB has her all set up."
"Congratulations again, you're free to come and go as you please. I'll be on until three, and my name's Allison. I'll be replaced after I leave, and then Kimberly will be taking over for me." The desk woman, now identified as Allison informed him before walking quickly back to her post.
"Well, come on in. I'm Hermione's nurse, and my name is Jennifer." The nurse introduced as she pushed the door further open so he could step through.
"Nice to meet you." Dean replied, shoving his hands deep in his jeans pockets. When he stepped through the door, his eyes landed on Hermione who was lying in a hospital bed, wires and an IV tube protruding from her.
"Where've you been?" Hermione asked jokingly.
"Had to park Baby. Bobby and Sam are out in the waiting room." Dean replied, moving to sit in the chair beside her bed.
"Wonderful." Hermione replied. "I haven't been here long, just got to meet the doctor and the nurse. They seem nice."
"I just met the nurse, and the ward receptionist, I guess you'd call her." Dean replied, reaching through the bed rails to take Hermione's hand.
"Now momma, because this is your first, this probably is going to take a while. The doctor will be in every two hours or so to check your dilation until you get to six centimeters. Once you get to six, he'll check every hour. I warn you, those contractions are going to get worse. Don't wait until the last minute to decide if you want an epidural, or pain medication. There will come a point where we won't be able to do it if you do." Jennifer advised. "Dad, your job is just to be there for her. Be as encouraging as possible."
"He will be, I'm sure." Hermione answered for him, her hand gently squeezing his.
"Wonderful! See you in a couple of hours then!" Jennifer chirped again, before exiting the room.
"I want to punch her in the face." Hermione grumbled once the door was shut.
Before he could respond to her grumbling, Hermione's grip on his hand tightened exponentially. He looked to see her face scrunched up in pain, her free hand grasping her stomach. "Breathe, sweetheart." Dean encouraged, not really knowing what to do.
"Not helping." She forced out.
"Just make sure you breathe. It'll help." Dean advised, bringing his free hand up to rub the hand gripping his.
Once the contraction had passed, she released her death grip on his hand. It was then she realized the one thing she hadn't done. "Dean, we don't have a name picked out!" Hermione started to painic.
"One thing at a time sweetheart. We can talk about it after." He assured her.
For the next six hours, she contracted, squeezing Dean's hand, and sniping at him whenever he tried to encourage her to breathe. He finally met the doctor after two hours of their arrival, but he wasn't sure how he felt about Doctor Speight. The man seemed confident enough, but Dean was feeling rather territorial about the area below Hermione's waist.
Rounding out hour six, the nurse came in to check Hermione. It was determined that she was fully dilated, and that it was time to push. Dean was moved so he could help and hold her hand. By this time, she was really cursing his name, and loudly. The doctor came in and positioned himself at the end of her bed, lifting the sheet exposing her to the room.
"Ready to meet your baby?" He asked, pulling the ends of his gloves so they snapped.
"More than fucking ready." Hermione snapped.
"Sweetheart." Dean warned.
"No Dean, you did this to me!" She turned on him.
"Ignore her dad, it's the pain talking." Jennifer quietly told Dean.
"I know." Dean replied resignedly.
"Hermione, your next contraction, I want you to really push." The doctor told her in a professional, but kind tone.
Hermione's tired eyes met Dean's. "Soon it'll all be over sweetheart." He told her.
"I'm so tired." She whispered to him.
"I know. Soon you can rest, I promise." Dean replied, his free hand stroking her hair, limp with sweat, from her face.
"I want to rest now." She whimpered.
"I know sweetheart. Let's meet our daughter first though." He replied.
"She's contracting." Jennifer announced, looking at a monitor near Hermione's head.
"Go ahead and push." The doctor encouraged.
Her grip on his hand increased as she did as the doctor instructed. Dean helped, bracing her forward with his free arm and whispering encouraging things to her.
"I hate you." Hermione told him, somewhere around her third or fourth push.
"I know." Dean replied, smirking at her.
An hour later, and it seemed like they were making no progress. Hermione was starting to refuse to push, despite the encouragement she was getting from Dean, Nurse Jennifer, and Doctor Speight.
"Just get her out now, I don't care how you do it!" She yelled.
"Sweetie, just keep trying. She's close, I can see her head." The nurse told her calmly.
"I don't care!" Hermione was on the verge of tears. "Dean, help."
"Sweetheart, they say she's almost there. Just one or two more." Dean encouraged, kissing her sweaty forehead.
"If it's any more than two, I'm going to hex you sterile." Hermione threatened, though her teary eyes, though she wasn't overly serious about it.
"Yes dear." Dean decided humoring her would probably be the better option.
As Dean, had told her, two pushes later, and the room they'd been in for hours, was filled with the cry of a newborn baby.
"Congratulations mom and dad, it's a girl!" Doctor Speight announced, holding up the screaming baby.
Hermione collapsed back on the pillows, tears of joy running down her face. Dean had gone pale, but his eyes did fill with happy tears. When the nurses took her away to clean her up, Dean gave Hermione a tender kiss to her lips.
"She's beautiful." Dean whispered, pressing his forehead to hers.
"I love you." Hermione replied, her filter gone with the stress of the day.
Before Dean could reply in any way, the nurse came back with their daughter who was now cleaned, and wrapped in a pink blanket with a matching cap on her head. He moved away from Hermione as she held her arms out for the bundle.
"Someone wanted to meet her mommy." Nurse Jennifer said, carefully shifting said bundle into Hermione's waiting arms.
Dean watched in awe as Hermione instinctively brought the baby close to her, peering at her face. She was already a natural mom. He leaned closer to see his baby's face. What he saw made his heart expand by leaps and bounds. She was perfect, and he'd defy anybody to try and tell him differently.
"She's beautiful." Dean whispered again.
"She's perfect." Hermione agreed.
"We're going to get you set up in the maternity ward now, and then you can have visitors. You did well, Hermione." The doctor said, disposing of his gloves.
"Thank you doctor." Hermione replied gratefully.
With a smile and nod in acknowledgement, and the doctor exited the room. Fifteen minutes later, Hermione and the baby were in a maternity room. Dean had gone to get Bobby and Sam so they could meet the newest member of the Winchester family. He entered the waiting room, and encountered more people than he was expecting. Bobby, Sam, Jody, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hannah, and Minerva were all there. Dean went wide eyed for a moment, wondering when everyone had gotten there.
"What?" Dean asked the only question that came to mind.
"Harry wrote Bobby to ask where Hermione was, and the owl found him here, so he wrote back that you were here and she was having the baby." Ginny replied, tone wary.
"She has had the baby, both are doing great." Dean announced with more than a little pride. "Baby girl is six pounds, six ounces, twenty inches long."
"Congrats." Sam replied happily.
"She can only have two visitors at a time, and I have to walk anyone back." Dean told the group assembled.
The group looked at each other, trying to decide who was going in first. In the end, Sam and Bobby were the first pair back. Sam fell in love with her immediately after she was placed in his arms. He barely got to hold his niece for two minutes, before she was taken by an overly smitten Bobby. This went on for the remainder of the visitors. Harry and Ginny, both who had ribbed the new parents about not having picked a name for the baby. Harry threatened just to call her "baby" if they didn't think of a name soon, to which Dean informed him that nickname was reserved for his car. Ron and Hannah were next, Ron was adamant about not holding the baby for fear of dropping her. However, Hannah gave him her no nonsense look, to which he relented and allowed Hermione to transfer the pink bundle to his arms. Last was Jody and Minerva, the two honorary grandmothers. Both fawned over the baby, congratulating her parents.
By the time everyone left, both were feeling very tired. Dean sat next to Hermione on her hospital bed, one arm around her, the other holding tightly to his daughter.
"We still need a name." Hermione told him gently, her hand gently brushing over the soft pink cap.
"What about Hope?" Dean asked, identifying one of the things he had been feeling since the Hermione forgave him.
"I was thinking Brianna. It's a Celtic name meaning 'strength.'" Hermione commented.
"Brianna Hope." Dean suggested, studying the newborn's features in the soft lighting.
"I like it. Brianna Hope Winchester." Hermione said decisively.
Dean's eyes whipped from his daughter's, to Hermione's content brown ones. It was in that moment, just the three of them, that Dean finally spoke the words he'd been holding back for nearly nine months.
"I love you, Hermione."