A/N: OMG, did everyone see Marina's Instagram photo? Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Thanks for the reviews and support! I've never written something like this, so I hope you guys like it. Let me know what you think!
"What do you need?" Jay was rubbing Erin's arm with his free hand while the other was being held tightly Erin. She was rolled on her side with her eyes screwed shut as she tried to breathe through the contraction. They'd been moving closer together. She just shook her head and kept taking shaky breaths. There wasn't much to be done except to remember what was at the end of the pain. Jay eyed the clock and it was almost ninety seconds before Erin was able to relax. She rolled on her back with a moan. "You're doing great."
"Yea. Yea, if we have any more kids, you're going through labor next time." Erin joked as Jay chuckled quietly. Her back was positively killing her and she couldn't get comfortable in any position. She had been walking earlier but the contractions had gotten too close and strong for her to do that anymore. They'd tried the bath tub about an hour ago but Erin had gotten really hot and uncomfortable, even when they'd tried to lower the temperature of the water.
"Hey Erin!" Hadley greeted Erin as she walked in the door with Dr. Caldwell behind her. "We're going to check and see how far you've dilated." Erin nodded and wiggled down in the bed so she could check. She knew the drill. Dr. Caldwell had told her that she was progressing through labor quicker than a majority of her first time moms.
"You're moving along fast!" Dr. Caldwell said after she examined Erin. "You are officially in the last stage of labor. You're eight centimeters. You'll be meeting your baby very soon." Erin was floored. She had read several parenting books and researched online that labor for a first time mom often lasted twenty to twenty four hours. She hadn't been prepared for this to happen so fast.
"You've always been exceptional." Jay commented with a smile as he kissed Erin's forehead. His heart had been racing since they got to the hospital but he felt it speed up even faster when he realized that within a few hours, his baby would be here. He would be able to physically hold him or her in his arms. He couldn't wait to know if he had a little girl or boy. He didn't care which one he was having, he just wanted them to be healthy. Erin snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Thanks Doc!" Erin said as the doctor washed her hands. Dr. Caldwell gave them a smile and a wave before she left the room. "I guess we should tell everyone it's gonna be soon." She wrung her fingers together as it fully hit her that she would be meeting her son or daughter today. She was getting more nervous about the pain of the delivery and that she would have someone completely dependent on her.
"You want me to text them?" Jay asked when Erin didn't make a move for her phone. He didn't want Erin to do anything that inconvenienced her. He wanted to make her as happy and relaxed as possible to prepare for the birth of their baby. Erin nodded and Jay shot out a message to everyone in the unit and to Gabby so she could tell everyone at Firehouse 51. He had put his phone on vibrate and he felt it going crazy in his pocket only second after he'd sent the messages. He could only imagine how many of their friends were going to be in the waiting room shortly.
"Here comes another one." Erin reached out for Jay's hand. Jay quickly slid his hand across the bed so she could hold it. Erin winced as the pain rippled through her belly and doubled her over on the bed. She let out another moan as she squeezed Jay's hand tightly. She barely got her bearings back and another contraction hit her.
"You got this." Jay coached her as he tucked a few pieces of hair behind her ear with his free hand. He hated seeing Erin in this much pain. He was happy that they were having a baby but it made him sad that it came with causing Erin pain. Erin managed to give him a tiny smile as the contraction started to ebb.
"How are you doing, kiddo?" Voight asked as he knocked and entered the room. He had run into work to get everyone going and to sign off on something that couldn't wait but had rushed back to the hospital quickly. Everyone was distracted and wanted to be at the hospital with Erin but there were cases and leads that needed to be followed. He had brought Burgess up to replace Erin once she went on maternity leave but he was another detective down with Jay gone. He was probably going to just operate without Jay until he came back but that meant everyone working as hard as they could.
"Baby will be here soon." Erin let her head fall back against the bed as she got her breath back. She knew that another contraction would be hitting soon.
"That's good news." Voight smiled as he stepped closer to the bed. He kept getting flashbacks and seeing Camille in that bed instead of Erin. He could only imagine Camille here today. She'd be fussing over Erin and asking her if she needed anything a million times. She had always been the most nurturing person that Voight had ever met.
"Here it comes." Erin sighed as she felt another contraction starting. This one was the worst one yet and she arched her back off the bed, trying to find anything to alleviate some of the pain. Jay and Voight each let her clamp down on one of their hands. They felt helpless as they watched her struggle with the pain of the intense contraction. Voight remembered this part all too well with Camille but he could see from the look in Jay's eyes that he was hurting because Erin was hurting.
"It's going to be over soon." Jay hoped that was okay to say. Atwater and Ruzek had been torturing him lately with videos of men saying stupid things during labor or getting punched because of saying something awful. He just kept trying to say the truth and encouraging Erin. This part of labor wasn't supposed to last long. It was barely a minute before the next contraction hit and they just seemed to keep getting stronger. In the next hour, Jay noticed that the contractions were barely giving Erin any time to recover between them. He had stopped timing them and just tried to help Erin be ready for the next one instead.
"All right baby, any time now!" Erin's face was dripping in sweat and her hair was plastered to the sides of her face as she panted through another contraction. Jay and Voight had tried to hide it from her but she had seen both of them massaging their hands after she turned their fingertips white. Jay, Erin, and Voight jumped when one of the alarms on the monitor next to Erin's bed starting trilling. They looked to see where it was coming from. Jay saw it was on the baby's heart rate monitor that was attached to Erin's stomach and felt the panic rising in him. As he was reaching for the call button for the nurse, Hadley came rushing into the room.
"Hey guys." Hadley looked at the printout from the monitor and made a few notes with her pen. "Okay, so, here's what happening. The baby's heart rate is just a tad on the slow side. We're going to put you on some oxygen and get you positioned on your side. This is very common and we're not worried yet." She kept her voice light and peppy but Erin's eyes got bigger and bigger.
"What do you mean, the heart rate is slow?" She felt tears starting to form in her eyes as she looked down at her belly. She felt nausea wash over her at the thought that something could be wrong. "Are they okay?"
"They are okay. This is normal, especially as the baby's getting lower in the birth canal. We just take these precautions with everyone." Hadley kept her voice soothing. She knew these were scary words to a new mommy-to-be. She helped Erin roll on her side and put a pillow between her legs. They worked around the contractions to get her situated. Hadley threaded the nasal cannula under Erin's nose and around her ears before hooking it up to the oxygen on the wall. She hung around for a few minutes, checking both Erin's and the baby's heart rate. It didn't take long for the heart rate to jump back up into the normal range with the extra oxygen.
"Is everything okay?" Voight and Jay spoke at the same moment, unable to wait in silence anymore. They had been very quiet, trying to let the nurse work but they were struggling to control their rising anxiety and fear.
"Yes! Everything is okay. The baby's heart rate has come back down. We'll keep the oxygen on and I'm going to get the doctor to come check you again." Hadley had a suspicion from the drop in the heart rate and the fact that Erin's contractions were on top of each other, she was fully dilated. "Just keep the oxygen on and we'll be right back!" She headed out to find Dr. Caldwell.
"Hey Erin! I guess I sound like a broken record, but I'm here to check you again." Dr. Caldwell kept her voice light as she walked in the room. She did a quick check of the baby's heart rate read out and was pleased at how quickly the heart rate had come back up.
"Is the baby okay?" Jay's voice was higher than normal. Erin was focusing on breathing through the contraction but she turned her head so she could hear Dr. Caldwell's response. He was still recovering from the sound of the monitor going off. Voight nodded eagerly. He definitely wanted to know the answer but Jay had beaten him to asking the question. Neither Camille nor Olive had needed oxygen so it had made him nervous.
"Oh yes! Jay, this is seriously something we see almost all the time. With as quickly as the heart rate bounced back, there is nothing to worry about." Dr. Caldwell reassured the first time parents. She knew that everything that was happening was new and that made it all the scarier. She quickly checked Erin and confirmed what Hadley had suspected. "Well, I have some good news!"
"Yea?" Erin shimmied up a little in the bed and rolled back on her side. She was ready for some good news to take her mind off the pain and the scare they had just had.
"You are fully dilated and ready to push!" Dr. Caldwell clapped her hands together with a huge smile. She wished all of her moms moved through labor so quickly.
"What?!" Erin almost yelled with a combination of glee and anxiety. She didn't know why she was so shocked. She knew this was the endgame to all of the pain. Jay broke out in a huge grin as he gave Erin's hand a tiny squeeze back. He was still definitely anxious but their baby was going to be here soon.
"I know. It's okay to be nervous. But, you're ready. We'll get the bed and you prepped to start pushing." Dr. Caldwell put a hand on Erin's leg to comfort her. This was probably the scariest part for most moms. Erin just nodded, unable to find her voice.
"Okay!" Hadley and several other nurses walked into the room. Erin had met them earlier but she didn't remember their names. They wheeled in a warming unit and started pulling several things from the cabinets in the rooms. "So remember what we talked about earlier. You'll scoot down and we'll get these sheets draped." Erin just nodded. They brought out the foot stirrups and in what felt like it took the time for Erin to blink, she was in position to push. Voight was on the left side of her bed and Jay was on the right. Erin had gone to Voight a few weeks ago and asked if he would be there for the delivery. Voight was completely shocked and honored that she would ask and said he'd be there.
"If I feel like I need to push, I can?" Erin felt this weird pressure and knew that it was her body telling her it was time. Her OB/GYN had given her a lot of information about what this pushing stage was going to feel like and what was going to happen.
"You do what your body tells you to do." Hadley said. She had a hand on Erin's leg and was ready for whatever Erin asked for her to do. Jay was trying to stop himself from shaking as he exchanged a quick kiss with Erin. "If you push with the contractions, it is much easier." Erin didn't have to wait long and there was a contraction. She pushed down hard when she felt the contraction coming. The fear, panic, and terror were all fading away and being replaced by determination and strength that Erin had never felt before.
"You're doing so well!" Jay coached Erin as he wiped her forehead. He felt like the whole world could have been destroyed beyond this room and it would have made not one bit of difference.
"Holy shit!" Erin let out a scream after she had been pushing for about an hour. There were not any words to describe the fire she felt as she tried to push through it. It was like a million hot pokers in the worst possible spot.
"You're doing great." Voight comforted Erin. He knew exactly what was happening and it meant that the pain was about to end. She was grasping his hand and using it for leverage to get into a better position. Jay had one arm slung around her shoulders to help Erin sit up some with pushing.
"The head's coming." Dr. Caldwell announced happily as Jay snuck a quick peek. The baby had hair that was a shade lighter than his mother's. "Give me a small push." She instructed Erin. Erin let out one more scream and suddenly, all of the pain was gone. It was someone had found every little nerve that was causing the pain and killed them at the same moment. A feeling of total serenity washed over her as the sound of a baby wailing filled the room. Jay, Erin, and Voight all found themselves with tears in their eyes at the glorious sound of the baby crying. Jay stepped down and cut the cord. He didn't know there was a way to feel this happy.
"It's a girl!" Dr. Caldwell broadcasted to the room as she laid the new baby girl on Erin's bare stomach. Erin started sobbing as she laid hands on her little girl. She pulled her up closer to her face as the baby continued to scream. Erin had never been excited to hear someone crying but it meant that her little girl had a strong set of lungs that worked. She ran her hands over her baby girl's fingers, toes, face, belly, and back. She couldn't believe that she was here. The labor, the pain, the hurting, and the forty weeks of waiting were all unbelievably worth it now that she was in her arms. Every tiny pain, swollen ankle, stretch mark, or mornings with nausea fell away as she gazed in awe at her new baby girl.
"You did it kiddo." Voight gave Erin a half-hug as he beamed down at his new granddaughter. Erin had already told him that the baby would call him Granddad and Voight had no plans to view him any differently than Daniel. He'd refused to let Erin or Jay pay for anything in their nursery and while Erin and Jay didn't know it yet, he'd set up deliveries for the best diapers, wipes, and several other small items to come to their house for the next year.
"Erin, baby, you're so beautiful. She's so beautiful." Jay was trying to wipe away tears as he placed a hand on his daughter's back, half on top of Erin's. His daughter was the tiniest thing he'd ever seen but the most beautiful person he'd ever seen beside Erin. After a few moments of bliss, the nurse quietly slipped in to go clean the baby off and give her an initial assessment.
"Erin. I'm so proud of you." Jay laid one hand on Erin's cheek so he could turn her head towards him. He gazed lovingly in her eyes as they exchanged a long kiss. His wife had never looked so beautiful. Now she wasn't just his wife, but the mother to the baby they shared.
"She's so perfect." Voight reported back after a few minutes. He'd walked over to the warming unit with the new girl and watched as ointment was applied to her eyes and they wiped her off. Her lips were pink and her eyes were the most brilliant shade of blue. She obviously was going to take after her father.
"Thank you." Erin's cheeks were going to hurt tomorrow from the cheesy grin on her face. She didn't care about the pain she'd have for weeks until her body healed. She just couldn't believe her daughter was here. The baby that she and Jay had created was finally here. "Want to know her name?" She was eager for him to know now that the baby was here.
"Of course!" Voight wouldn't have let on but he was very curious about the names that the two had picked out. He knew that they had reasonable heads on their shoulder so they wouldn't name him or her anything obscene but he was just curious.
"Her name is Lily Camille Halstead." Voight had already thought his heart was totally full but it expanded to accommodate this news. He reached over and gave Erin a quick peck on the forehead and hugged her as he hid the new tears that had formed.
"That means so much to me." Voight knew that Erin had felt a huge void when Camille had died but for her name to be carried on meant an extreme amount to him. He extended his hand to Jay over the hospital bed and they shook hands. They'd put aside any differences they had when Erin had found she was pregnant and worked as a team to help out Erin.
"Are you ready to hold your new girl mommy?" Hadley approached with a little pink bundle in her arms. Lily had stopped crying and had her eyes wide open as she looked at her new world. Erin had to stop from screaming that she was ready as she held her arms out. Tears fell from her eyes as Hadley settled into her arms and it felt like time just stopped. She fit perfectly. She looked up at Jay and Voight and back down at her little girl. Lily was perfect. Her family was perfect. Her life was perfect.
A/N: Anyone want more?