Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters in this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: After this week, I will be cutting back postings to Mondays only. I was pretty sure I was going to have to do it soon, but after the past week of bb girl getting a mild case of chicken pox from her immunization and then my son getting the flu yesterday, it is now most definitely official. I did however get two chapters written Thursday night while my son was sleeping over with cousins and my daughter was sleeping during the three days between the end of the CP and beginning of the flu. The first chapter was very short and takes place soon after this one, so I decided to go ahead and post it this Thursday as usual, but after that it will be once a week.

Anyway, enough of the official announcements crap. Welcome to the birth of Baby G and finally discovering if BBG is a girl or a boy :) Thanks as always to my beta AgoodWITCH!


Welcome Baby Cullen!

It was chaos as I was led to the car and helped into the back, encouraged by Esme to lie across the back seat and try my best to relax. The anxious yet excited expression on her face was so endearing, it wasn't even funny. Sam's knuckles blanched white as he drove through the busy city streets to the hospital where we had arranged for the baby to be born.

I moaned as another contraction hit, making me once again feel like I had no idea what I was doing. I certainly wasn't prepared to be in the hospital for the next week or so. Just the thought of being stuck in a bed on a maternity ward for the next week made my skin crawl with the need to escape, and I wasn't even there yet. It was disappointing that even Carlisle's pull and Edward's money wasn't enough to get me a private room. Beyond the fact that the hospital was filled to capacity and no other rooms were available, all of the trained nurses would be working the Maternity Ward, the large room full of beds for new mothers only separated by curtains, and could not leave them to go attend to me alone. I understood, and normally I wouldn't think twice about being in a ward like everyone else, but while I was in the sites of the Volturi Brothers, I didn't feel safe in a place where anyone could come and go as the pleased, more or less. Then again, there was the added benefit of witnesses, I guess, but I didn't want to risk anybody else being hurt because of me either.

I suffered through three contractions as we slowly pushed our way through the thick traffic, made worse by an accident somewhere between the hospital and us. When we finally arrived, Esme walked in with me while carrying my bag, while Sam found a place to park the car. I was settled into a wheelchair before a large gruff nurse pushed me through the hallways to my destination, not even bothering to slow down when another contraction hit during our traverse.

I was soon settled in a bed on a ward with several women in various states of delivery. I couldn't help but feel anxious as I shifted on the bed, trying to get comfortable. I had read Dr. Grantly Dick-Reed's book Childbirth Without Fear and had been practicing his techniques for natural childbirth. I had done the few breathing and relaxation exercises for several months after my Obstetrician, Dr. Gerandy, recommended his work when I expressed worries about the sedation methods I had heard of. Thankfully, he was very cooperative with my desire, promising to only give me the medications if it was absolutely necessary or if they had to surgically deliver the baby.

Technically, nobody besides the nurses were supposed to stay with me, but the benefits of a doctor in the family managed to get me Esme, and at times, Carlisle, by my side to calm me and support me. Nobody else was allowed to visit. The pain was becoming increasingly unbearable, the 'back labor' as a nurse informed me with little compassion, was far worse than I had anticipated. I had expected to feel the contractions in my stomach region, not in my lower back muscles. My lack of mental preparation for this event had me panicking and abandoning my relaxation exercises quickly.

I cried and screamed, whimpering pleas for my husband who wouldn't have been allowed to be with me even if he were here, although I couldn't help but wonder if Carlisle could have pulled off a miracle there as well if the chance had arisen. Often the fathers were expected to stay away and smoke cigars in the waiting room, since most were unable to cope with their wife's discomfort. I knew, though, that Edward would have been at my side if he could. He would have held my hand and brushed the cool cloth Esme used on my forehead to comfort me. He would have been so excited and yet worried. It broke my heart that he was going to miss all of this, most especially his first child being born.

The nurses only popped in sporadically and there were no doctors in sight. We had been in my curtained cubicle for more than eight hours and nothing seemed to change except the slow intensifying of the pain. After I while, I began to beg Esme to help me move around a bit, shifting my position on the bed. When I shifted to climb down, I discovered that moving on my hands and knees seemed to help lessen the pain considerably. I sighed with relief as I shifted a little on the bed.

Esme looked toward the curtain separating me from the rest of the ward with concern before shrugging with a smile, massaging the tense muscles of my lower back lightly. The first contraction after my change in position was far more bearable if I moved a bit and concentrated on my breathing. After that Esme was all for my own methods of relief if they made the contractions that much more bearable.

We went on like that for a good half an hour before a nurse popped her head in and began instantly yelling for me to get back in the bed. She insisted that I would kill the baby and myself if I didn't stay in bed on my back. I cried as I crawled back under the covers.

Esme tried to talk to me and distracted me with the wonderful idea of dictating a letter to Edward while we were waiting so that he could be a part of the experience as well. It did help distract me until the second major contraction hit leaving me screaming on the bed. Something had changed and the pressure was more intense.

Esme looked up with worry as the nurse popped her head in again, informing me with a bored expression that I more than likely was in transition and that the pain would only get worse between now and the actual delivery. I sobbed as another contraction seized my muscles and my will to carry one dissipated immediately.

Esme frowned at the curtain after the nurse left before moving to my side. "Forget them," she mumbled into my ear as she helped me sit up. "Let's move you back on your hands and knees. It seemed to help you a great deal and was the way many women dealt with the pain of childbirth before medicine decided it knew better. My grandmother was a midwife and told me stories. You just do what you need to do, sweetheart. If that nurse comes in and yells again, I will make a call to Carlisle and Dr. Gerandy and make them clear it so you can do what you need to do. There are historical pictures of women squatting to give birth going back hundreds, if not thousands of years, and yet the human species has continued on. I'm pretty sure you crawling on your hands and knees isn't going to hurt either one of you!"

I gave hear a grateful, teary smile as she helped me shift back onto all fours where I focused on my breathing, surviving the next two contractions with far less screaming. Soon Carlisle looked back in, surprise showing on his face before it was replaced with a soft smile. Esme looked at him sheepishly with a shrug.

"She feels better this way. The nurse yelled at her earlier, but I don't believe it will harm them like she said, and with her back labor, I believe she's in much more pain that I was when I had Edward."

He chuckled, moving to her side to kiss her temple as he massaged her shoulders gently. "I believe that the passage of two and a half decades may have dimmed your memory of that slightly, but I'm sure you are right. Back labor is reported to be the most intense for the mother."

Another contraction hit and I shifted again, focusing on my breathing as Esme rubbed my lower back. I was so incredibly grateful for her. I don't know how I would have survived without her. How did women do this alone?

I whimpered a little as I pushed through the last of the contraction, shifting on the bed as needed. When I finally stopped, I sat back on my heels, taking a deep breath with closed eyes. When I opened them Carlisle was beaming even more brightly at me.

"You handled that extremely well, Bella. I'm proud of you. You keep doing whatever you need to in order to get you through until it's time to push, but then you must lay down for the doctor to deliver. In the time until then, I will inform the nurses that I have given you permission to do this as needed. They won't like it, but they won't argue."

I sighed, reaching for the cool wet cloth in Esme's hand. "Thank you, Carlisle. Do you know how long before I have to push?"

He looked to Esme. "How far apart are her contractions?"

I gasped, leaning forward to prop myself on my hands and knees again. Carlisle made mumbled, "Ah…I see," as I huffed my way through the contraction again, rocking and shifting as needed, tears pushing past my closed lids, but still bearable enough not to make me scream. When it passed, I looked up imploringly as he smiled at me.

"It shouldn't be long now. I'm going to ask for your dilation to be checked. My guess is you'll be ready to push relatively soon."

"How soon is relatively, Carlisle?" I half growled toward the curtain, before looking apologetically at my father-in-law. He chucked shaking his head.

"I can't say for sure. All deliveries are different. It could be anywhere from fifteen minutes to two more hours. It all depends on how dilated you are and how quickly you complete the process. Considering the closeness of your contractions, I would say it would probably be sooner, but you never know until the cervix is checked."

I nodded with a whimper, shifting on the bed once more. Within a few minutes, the nurse came in, scowling at me as I huffed on my hands and knees through another contraction.

"On your back so I can check your progress. If you are any more than an 8, I will insist you stay on your back as you are SUPPOSED to do."

Esme growled lowly from her seat next to me, glaring at the nurse who looked at her with an uninterested expression. "Just because you have connections does not mean you should get special treatment. There is a reason doctors give orders for laboring women. It's not just to hear themselves speak. You are using your connections to take unneeded risks and honestly I'm tired of hearing you cry and whine when you refuse to take the gas and put yourself out of your misery."

I cried out when she unceremoniously shoved her fingers into my uncomfortable private zone, tears streaming as the intrusion caused a different pain to shoot through my body. She removed herself abruptly before turning to leave without telling me anything.

"Wait! Please! How far along am I?"

She sighed, turning back with a look of disdain. "I'm going to find Dr. Gerandy. You are fully dilated and will be ready to push soon."

I wave of relief flooded through me for a second before another contraction hit, making me yelp in pain. I screwed my eyes tightly closed, somewhat grateful for the distraction from the panic I felt rising up deep inside me. This was it. There was no turning back. I was about to be a mother. While I was more than ready to end this horrific pain I was in, I was still terrified of taking care of this little life without his or her father by my side.

Esme ran her hands through my hair and whispered comfortingly at my side as I tried to breathe through the labor, wishing I could move back on my hands and knees, but knowing that the rest I would have to do on my back.

Soon the curtains opened wide, exposing my cubicle to several faces that moved inside the space, trying to make Esme leave. I looked up at Dr. Gerandy with pleading eyes.

"Please, please let her stay. She'll help me stay strong."

He frowned, glancing at the glowering nurse before sighing and looking at Esme. "If I tell you to, you have to move away and let us work if there are difficulties." Esme nodded emphatically before hunkering at my side and whispering in my ear.

"You are going to be fine, Bella. Women have been doing this for centuries. You are a strong and capable woman. You can do this."

I began to cry as my legs were lifted into stirrups by the two nurses who stood by the doctor while another stood at my head. Time seemed to slow into a horrific crawl as the doctor told me to push as my next contraction began. Esme's encouraging voice kept me grounded while the other nurse ordered me sternly from the other side.

I pushed and screamed and screamed and pushed for what felt like forever, but was only about thirty minutes when Dr. Gernady looked over the sheet draped across my legs. "Bella, try not to push for a moment while I get set up. The baby seems to be stuck and I need to use forceps to help it out. Do not push until I tell you too."

I cried as the next contraction came. I tried so hard not to push, but my body was doing it to a degree all on its own. The nurses yelled at me not to push as I cried out in frustration.

"I can't! I'm telling my body to stop, but it's not listening! Hurry Doctor!"

I panted loudly, trying to remember my relaxation tips from my book and finding that I couldn't remember a single one. After an eternity, the doctor called out to me from behind the drape.

"Now, Bella. Push!"

Esme held my hand as I bore down hard, grunting and huffing as I pushed through the pain, trying so hard to help my baby escape its captivity.

"Good, Bella. Good! Again!"

I leaned up a bit, putting as much force as humanly possible behind the push. The doctor told me to wait a moment again, before giving me permission to push once more and in an instant I felt the baby move free of my body. I began to sob as a tiny cry filled the room. Esme leaned forward and gasped a teary cry as the doctor held the baby up quickly at my feet.

"It's a girl!"

I cried harder as I saw my beautiful baby girl covered in disgusting blood and white stuff. The doctor handed her off to a nurse who disappeared behind the curtain. I cried, wanting to see the baby, but nobody would listen as the doctor and nurses conversed at my feet as my body continued to cramp lightly before I felt another sensation of something pushing through me and then there was a relief.

"She's beautiful, Bella," Esme cried quietly, pushing my hair back from my face. "She's so perfect. Are you certain about her name?"

I smiled through teary eyes as I nodded. "Gabriella Cherie Cullen…yes…absolutely." I paused, looking around before thinking of something.

"Oh, Esme, could you please get the letter to Edward. Let's write about this right now and put it in the mail to him. We'll send another more detailed one in a few days when we can have pictures developed for him."

Esme gasped, lifting her hand to her chest. "Oh! Of course!" The doctor left before we could even begin as the nurses cleaned me quietly and helped me get more comfortable on the bed again. I would move to the post delivery ward in a few hours, but for now, I was going to be staying where I was.

By the time Esme and I worked together to complete the letter to Edward telling him the wonderful news of his new baby girl, a kinder looking nurse walked back in carrying baby Gabriella wrapped in a beautiful pink blanket. Esme watched with watery eyes as she handed her to me. I was so exhausted I could barely keep my eyes open, but the second they put her in my arms, my exhaustion was completely forgotten.

Her perfect pink lips formed a perfect 'o' as she yawned, blinking up at me with glassy blue eyes. I smiled, cooing down at her as she stared intently in my direction, her tiny fists moving jerkily around her face. I began to cry again at just how perfect she was and how great she felt in my arms. I pushed the little hat back to reveal a tuft of perfect bronze hair, just like her daddy. I kissed her forehead as the tears flowed heavier.

"Esme, can you please add a note before you seal the envelope that she has his hair. He will love that."

"Of course, Bella," Esme rasped as she quickly flipped the pages open again, scribbling speedily before sealing it, with the promise to mail it on her way home for the night.

The nurse and Esme helped me position baby Gabby to nurse at my breast, to try to feed her quickly before I fell asleep. It took some work, but eventually she latched on, making me gasp in amazement as she suckled contentedly, grabbing above the nipple with her hand. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. After about ten minutes, she popped off and the nurse whisked her off quickly before Esme could even have a chance to hold her.

I was upset, but I was too tired to really fight too hard. Esme assured me that it was okay and she would see her granddaughter soon. She joked that Grandpa would get them in one way or another. She gave me one more kiss before promising to mail the letter and leaving me to fall into a deep sleep.

When my dream settled, I found myself walking around the decks of the ship toward the bunk area. I smiled. This was probably all in my own head, but I knew the layout of the ship pretty well now. I walked down until I found the bunk Edward usually slept in, his body laid out with his arm tossed over his head. I smiled as I climbed in behind him and fell into a deep sleep next to his warmth.

"Wake up, Mrs. Cullen. It is time to move you to the Post Partum Ward. We need your bed for the ladies coming in. Let's go sleepy head."

I whimpered as they shifted me quickly to a wheel chair and rolled me down the aisle between the closed sheets concealing panting and crying women. How I had ever managed to sleep through all of that was beyond me. We exited into a green hued hallway where we traveled a short way before I was pushed through another double door and down another row of beds. We passed several empty ones before I was settled in at the one beside the window.

The nurse who had been abrupt with me all day and commented on my preferential treatment sneered toward the window. "Hope you like the view. Your father-in-law pulled quite a few strings to get it for you. Doubt you'll appreciate it though."

I frowned at her in exhausted confusion before she huffed and walked away with the chair, not even bothering to close the curtain behind her. I lay there for a long while before deciding to try to get up myself and close it. My body ached as I moved, but anything was better than those contractions. I closed myself away from the rest of the ward and settled back onto my bed, smiling as I stared at the sun rising on the horizon outside and how the color of the light right along the horizon matched my daughter's hair almost perfectly.

I smiled toward the morning light a few more minutes before I fell back into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.

Author's Note: FYI, Bella being told that shifting position would kill her and the baby came directly from a audio slideshow I found when doing a little research about childbirth in the 40's to get an accurate description. A DOCTOR actually said that to the poor woman in labor in 1946. Also, many women were pretty much drugged for the majority of their labor during that time. Natural childbirth was a very new concept as far as hospital birthing went at that time, but I figured Bella would be hungry for info and latch onto anything that was supposed to be better for the baby. I hope you enjoyed little baby Gabriella Cherie's birth!