Third and final part of this fiction. This was not the easiest fiction to write; it took me more than a week to get it done. I started it, decided it wasn't good and left it... Then had more inspiration and came back to it. And here is the final result.

As for me, I'm chilling out until Monday when I head to Melbourne for the race that stops the nation... the Melbourne Cup!

And so did the next few months of their lives begin. Their fights were less apparent; mostly fights about who had the last piece of chocolate or whether or not they would have a baby girl or boy. But nothing as volatile as it had been before. They had a way to go, but it appeared their rocky patch was over.

By the time Rachel was three months pregnant, and already showing, much to her dislike and to Jake's amusement, they were back to the inseparable couple they had been once before. With both their families completely in the loop, and completely over the moon by the up and coming arrival, they didn't spend a night alone. Sometimes they were at the Rafter house, some days they were at the house Jake shared with Alex. They were content, a place they had been far away from for a while there.

/

When Rachel had reached the six month mark of her pregnancy, they had had a fight.

But thankfully, it wasn't a terrible one. It was simply about their unborn child's gender.

"But wouldn't it be nice to find out?" Rachel had protested, following Jake into the Rafter kitchen as he went to place both his plate and Rachel's plate in the dishwasher. Julie and Dave were sitting on the couch with Ruby, amused as they listened to the banter between the two.

"But wouldn't it be nice to have a surprise?" Jake disagreed with her.

"And then if we knew ahead of time, we could go shopping and buy things based on gender," Rachel put across her point.

Nathan had walked in though the door to the lounge room, noting the conversation going on in the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Nathan asked his parents, looking down at them on the sofa.

"They're debating whether or not to find out if it's a girl or boy," Dave filled him in.

"Jake doesn't want to know, Rachel does," added Julie. Rachel looked over to where her parents and brother were sitting and standing.

"Oh, it's funny now, is it?" Jake merely shook his head at her hormonal outburst. "All I am saying is the advantages of knowing."

"And all I'm saying is that a surprise would be nice," Jake again stated.

"Wasn't this baby enough of a surprise already?" Rachel told him. She looked back over at her parents. "A happy surprise," she amended. "But still a surprise." Julie laughed and went back to her magazine, while Dave kissed Ruby's head.

"Surely it's not that big a deal," Nathan chose to say, walking over to the sink to get a glass of water. Jake cringed, and bowed his head for what he knew was to come.

"Not that big a deal? Not that big a deal?" Rachel told him murderously.

"No, I mean, can't just one of you find out?" Nathan called out as she left the kitchen. Jake simply laughed quietly before following her out.

"Touchy..." Nathan concluded, rejoining his parents.

"Pregnant women mate," his father had told him. "Never mess with them. And that was a good one."

"Oi, be nice you too," Julie told the boys before standing up to go and see if Rachel was okay.

/

It wasn't their first ultrasound, but it didn't make it any less amazing, especially as their 'little peanut' was growing and beginning to look more like a little person and less like a peanut.

"And everything's fine?" Rachel asked for what Jake thought was the twelfth time.

"Absolutely, positively fine," the ultrasound technician replied. "Would you like to know the sex?" Jake was about to reply, but Rachel beat him to it.

"No," she said simply.

"It's okay, Rach," Jake told her, squeezing her hand. "If you want to find out you can, just as long as you don't tell me."

"No, we don't want to know," Rachel didn't say anything to Jake, simply stating it to the ultrasound tech.

Leaving the clinic, they walked together until they split to hop into the car, Jake driving and Rachel passenger.

"You know, you could have found out," Jake told her, pressing his keys to unlock the car.

"No, because it's something you felt so strongly about. I understand that," Rachel replied, opening the passenger side door. "Besides, if I stated buying blue or pink, you'd be likely to twig." Jake paused as he watched her struggle a little getting into the car.

"You're amazing. You really are," he told her, watching her for another second before stepping into the driver's seat.

"And don't I know it..." Rachel's reply was confident, with a hint of sarcasm.

/

The day she'd gone into labour, Rachel was at home alone. Jake was at work with her Dad, her grandfather was with Chel and her mother was attending a mother's group. She'd woken up with cramps, but having suffered with Braxton Hicks for majority of the last trimester, hadn't thought much of it. But when her waters broke, Rachel had been shocked. Not only was it a month before her due date, she was at home completely alone.

Elsewhere, Jake had been alone at work. Installing an air conditioner for a client, it was only a one-man job. His phone on the table, Jake didn't hear it ring as he drilled a bracket to the wall.

With a frustrated sigh, Rachel threw her phone down on the bed before taking a deep breath, unsure of whether it was for the pain or to keep herself calm. Deciding on what to do next, she re-picked up her phone from the bed and left the house.

It was Carbo who answered the front door of the Karadonis house. Seeing his best mate's pregnant sister in the doorway, he called out.

"Benno, Rachel's here!" Rachel simply walked past him, muttering to him as she passed.

"Is Melissa home?"

Coming into the space near the living room, Rachel saw Ben standing next to the table, popping a potato chip into his mouth from the open packet on the table.

"Oh hey Rach, what are you doing here?" Ben said as he eyed her.

"Tell me Mel is here," Rachel told him calmly.

"Yeah, she's upstairs..." Ben's tone was question. "Why... oh, you're not are you?"

"Can someone just get Mel?" Rachel demanded. Carbo took that as his cue, heading for the stairs.

"Mel? Melissa? Rachel needs you!" With Carbo on a mission to get the nurse, Ben looked back at his sister.

"I thought you weren't due for another month?"

"I'm not," Rachel told him quietly, her hand rubbing at her 8-month-pregnant belly. She counted herself lucky in that she hadn't turned completely huge, although she felt it at times.

"Hey Rachel, are you alright?" asked Melissa as she hurried down the stairs, Carbo behind her.

"I think I'm in labour," Rachel told her.

"You're sure?" Melissa asked to which Rachel nodded.

"She's a month early Mel," Ben told his wife, worry evident in his words. "Have you called Jake?" Rachel groaned a little before nodding and telling her brother that she couldn't get a hold of him. Melissa nodded.

"We've got to get you to hospital," Melissa decided. "Ben, call Jake again and get my car keys."

And just as promised, they had gotten her to hospital. Melissa sitting with Rachel in the back, with Ben driving, he'd also continually tried to get a hold of the dad-to-be, who was still missing in action. Arriving at the hospital, Ben continued to call and attempt to get through to Jake, not knowing that the electrician couldn't hear his phone. Melissa got Rachel signed in and a doctor was on the way.

A doctor had already seen an assessed Rachel by the time Jake finally found the umpteen missed calls and messages on his phone. Rachel, Ben, Carbo, Nathan and Dave. By this point, Jake had realised what was going on, leaving the now finished job and heading outside, where he ran into Dave and Nathan who had just arrived in a bid to get the tradie to the hospital in time.

Rachel by this point had been told by the doctor that she would indeed be giving birth today. The doctor had assured Rachel that, despite being a few weeks early, the baby was at a healthy size to be born.

A while later, Rachel had hit the point of nerves, forgetting the calm she had, surprisingly, been earlier. Melissa was calm, her nurse training coming into affect while Ben on the other hand was having his own mini-freak out at having to be back in this situation. Being with his mother for part of Ruby's birth had scarred him enough.

By the time Jake had finally made it Sydney's Royal North Shore hospital, Rachel had reached the end of her tether. Spotting Jake and in excruciating pain, Rachel had sighed 'Finally!' as he came into the room a nurse had led him to. Melissa had sighed at the fact that he had arrived in time whilst Ben sighed at the relief he wouldn't have to be there to hold his sister's hand.

An extremely long, six hours later, the doctor had checked on the still unborn baby and saw the distress, prompting an immediate emergency caesarean. At this point, Rachel was exhausted and beyond herself with worry that she agreed with almost anything the doctor said. She didn't even hear as Jake managed to make himself allowed in the operating theatre.

And that was how Sienna Grace Barton came into the world, weighing six pound, eight ounces at approximately 3.1 kilograms, a healthy size given she was premature.

Rachel, despite her groggy state, couldn't help but smile as she was told by Jake that they had a daughter. And Jake couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he saw his daughter for the first time.

Hours later, once the family had left, Jake and Rachel had finally had the chance to spend time alone with their precious little girl. Rachel was sitting up in bed, and Jake was leaning against Rachel, both looking at the sleeping baby in Rachel's arms.

"Isn't she perfect?" Jake said to Rachel, although it was no question. Rachel nodded, not taking her eyes away from the newborn.

"I don't think I ever quite understood what Mum meant when she said what a miracle a baby is, how you have a connection with them and it's like magic," Rachel said. She paused and looked up at Jake. "You know she's the reason we made things work."

"I know," Jake agreed. "And that's why we're so lucky."

"Imagine where we'd be if she didn't come along and surprise us like she did," added Rachel.

"I don't even want to think about it, because right now, I have my two girls," Jake said. "My two girls who mean the absolute world to me. I love you."

"I love you too. And we're here as a family. Together."

And the curtain falls...

What did we all think? Would love you all to leave your reviews... Thanks again for reading, especially aussiebabe290.