First of all, thank you so much, you lovely readers for leaving me over 100 reviews! I'm over the moon and so happy that lots of you like my story :)

So, this chapter is quite short but I will update Part Two tomorrow (Pinky Promise) :) I hope you enjoy this chapter though it might be a bit upsetting :(

Disclaimer: None of the Savant World/the Benedicts belong to me – all rights to Joss Stirling :)

Chapter Twenty

„Riley?"

„No. Megan?"

„No. Michael?"

„No. Rebecca?"

„No. Stop trying to make a girl happen. It's not going to happen."

Xav sighs and flops down on the bed beside me.

"I have a very strong feeling it's gonna be a girl."

"Don't argue with me, Androcles. Arguing gets my blood pressure high and we sure as hell don't want that."

The look on his face makes me want to bite my tongue but at the same time, I keep thinking what the hell.

"I don't get how you can joke about this, Crystal" He says in such a disappointed tone and starts to stroke my now 31 weeks-bump absent-mindedly.

"What else can I do, Xav?" I say dejectedly and turn his face towards me. "I'm cooped up in this apartment 24/7 and it gets lonely and tiring and if I didn't have a sense of humour and a certain level of sarcasm I would literally go insane. Did you know that yesterday, I found out that there are 84 tiles on our bathroom floor and the ceiling fan in the nursery goes full circle 84 times a minute? That's how bored I am, Xav."

Xav, who has been listening to my monologue with a weary look on his face, gives me a half-hearted smile and a comforting kiss on my forehead.

"That's also something. You haven't given me a proper kiss in over a month." I complain and Xav's averted gaze gives him away immediately.
"Course I've kissed you." He defends himself immediately but from his unwillingness to meet my eyes, I know he knows that I'm right.

"Yeah, but only you haven't. You kiss me like you kiss your grandmother when you're five. Chaste. Not real kisses that lead to hot make-out sessions that we used to be experts on."

"Darlin', you don't know how much I want to give you that kind of kiss, you really don't, but we can't get you too… worked up." He smirks at those last two words and I struggle to slap him because I'm not able to get up fast enough.

"Fine." I mumble and smile a little as Xav presses light kisses on my bump. Relaxing into the pillows, I close my eyes and let out a little laugh. Everything feels so much better.

"Crystal?"

The voice sounds like it's coming from very far away, like through a thick glass wall.

"Crystal, open your eyes!"

I want to, I try to say but my mouth doesn't open either.

That's when I feel a slight weight over my body that quickly vanishes as I hear those familiar phone sounds.

I try to hold on to that last shred of consciousness floating around but just as I pick up the words 'I need an ambulance', it goes right out the window and I let the darkness and the pain in my abdomen swallow me up.

Blurry faces, shaky voices and that disinfecting smell that I hate so much. I sense people rushing around me, never stopping, never waiting. Someone is holding my hand and after stroking my finger along the other hand's ring finger, I realize it isn't Xav.

"What's going on?" My voice is hoarse and I have to twitch my eyes to make them open completely. Scrubs-clad nurses and surgeons are leaning across me, reaching for sharp instruments and lethal looking objects.

"You're being prepped for surgery, dear."

I angle my head towards the speaker and see that a middle-aged, female nurse is the one holding my hand.

"Why? What happened?"

"You've gone into labour prematurely and had a very mild seizure, so we will be delivering the baby as soon as possible via C-section."
I try to prop myself up on my elbows to get a good look at my surroundings but I am pushed right back onto the bed.

"Is the baby gonna be alright? Where's Xav? He should be here! Is he alright?" The words just come out in a flood as my brain is unable of producing a filter at the moment.

"Your husband is waiting outside, he would have been in the way."
"He could never be in the way, I need him right now!" The last few words come out in a sob and I can suddenly feel my shoulders and torso tense.

"Annie, you're distressing her. We need her to calm down", a doctor to my left says as he starts wheeling my bed out of the room.

"Crystal?" I can just about make out my Xav as I'm being wheeled past him. He hurries alongside the bed, holding my hand, pressing kiss after kiss against my face, whispering words so quickly I can barely make out what they mean.

That's when I feel it. That sheet, like the one I felt earlier, is being lowered over my face as all of my muscles contract at once, closing my vocal chords and windpipe. And this time, it is white.

So, how many of you hate me right now? The last sentence is because I read that a lot of people see a white light when they're about to …

Anyway, next chapter will be up very soon from Xav's POV...

Review, please :)

P.S. xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx: I built in a tiny TW reference (it is actually a quote) – see if you can find it ? :)