"Stop here" Annie instructed. Eric pulled the van to a neat stop in front of the hospital entrance. Quickly, Annie opened her door and stepped out as Mary stepped out of the back door. Everyone exited the car as Matt took over the steering wheel.

"I'll call you on your cell phone when we know the room number." Eric instructed. "Don't hurry, there's plenty of time, try to find a good spot, okay?"

"'kay" he answered, watching his family enter, everyone crowded around Lucy. She had gone into labor many, many hours ago but wasn't nearly ready enough, and had been sent home. Now, with contractions 6 minutes apart, she would be admitted, although they still had hours ahead.

It took ten minutes to get a room, and another five before pain medications were administered.

"Thanks God" Lucy sighed, leaning back on her pillow. Yes, contractions were still painful, but they were so much more bearable. Still, she clutched the bed rail in pain. Trying to occupy herself, she took in her hospital room. It was a good size, to accommodate all the people that would be coming in and out in the coming hours. Currently, three women occupied the space. Lucy, in bed, Mary, reading a book, and Annie, standing worriedly beside Lucy. Eric was putting Ruthie and a protesting Simon into the hospital's day care, although it was hardly day. The contractions had started lightly during dinner. Unfortunately, as they should, they strengthened over the hours, not letting Lucy sleep. Now she had been awake for twenty hours straight, and it was 5 in the morning. There would be no possibility of sleep until this baby came.

Sadly, that seemed to take a while. When she was first checked, the doctor had declared her to be a good 6 centimeters dilated. The second time, an hour later, her water had just broken and she was 7 centimeters. The third time she had progressed a mere half centimeter. Now, 4 hours since entering the hospital and after a full day of labor, she was a little over 9.

"Lucy" the doctor asked curiously, "do you feel the urge to push?" Of course, Lucy was in pain from a contraction and didn't answer immediately.

"Ow" she huffed as it ended moments later. "Maybe…maybe a little" she answered, breathing deeply. Was she ready? Was it time yet?

"Okay, you're about 9 centimeters now, close to 9 ½. I know you've always been told, wait for ten, and we will, but do you want to practice a little, now? Not a lot, we don't want any tearing, but just enough to know you've got the hang of it?" she asked, explaining calmly.

Biting her lower lip, the teenager looked questioningly at her mother.

"It's your choice." Annie told her, "completely your choice."

"Um….what do you think?" she asked the doctor, sitting up a little more.

"I think that because you're so young, some practice would be good. You'll want to be as in control as possible when the time comes, and this is the only way I can think of to help you with that."

"Okay" she agreed, nodding.

"Alright. Now, to push, just do what feels natural. I'll be able to tell if you're doing it right, okay? You'll push for counts of ten, and then rest. Just until the contractions over. We'll see how quickly you get the hand of this. Any questions?" she asked, sitting down on her stool, and pulling a tray of shiny, scary-looking equipment over.

"Am I allowed to scream?" Lucy asked, nervously placing on hand on the rail, the other in her mother's palm.

"Make any kind of noise you want." Dr. Simon answered, smiling encouragingly. Remember, don't use all your energy right now, I'm just making sure you have the idea." The room was silent, except for a whirring and beeping of machines. "Okay, here comes a contraction. And….." Lucy's face tightened in pain, "push".

Lucy let out a low, monotonous moan as she pushed. Her chin connected with her chest as her mother's hand turned white from the pressure being exerted onto it.

"…9…10. Stop" the doctor counted calmly. "Breathe. You did really well Luce, but we can't practice anymore, you're to close." It didn't seem as though Lucy was hearing what the doctor had said. She had pulled her feet out of the stirrups they'd been in and curled slightly towards her mother.

"It hurts" she whispered between moans. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Annie smiled apologetically at Dr. Simon and bent down so that she was face-to face with her daughter. Eric crossed the room to join her.

"Sweetie, I know it hurts, but you have to trust me here. It's worth it. And it'll all be over soon. I promise."

"But it HURTS" she insisted.

"Do you want to ask for a C-Section?" Eric asked, smoothing down her hair.

"I want one" she whispered, nodding. Eric stood and began to talk to the doctor.

"Baby, you're being so brave" Annie assured her, smoothing out her hair. "I'm so proud of you."

"Proud of me for being pregnant at fourteen?" Lucy asked sarcastically.

"It's not your fault Luce, I know that. I'm proud of how you never ran away from that. I'm proud of you for struggling through and entire day of labor. Many women decide to have a C-Section before they've even gone into labor, but you struggled through more then I ever did. I was never in labor for more than 18 hours at a time. You've made many adult decisions, and I'm prouder than you can imagine." She whispered, a weak smile spreading across her face. She kissed Lucy lightly on the head before moving away so Dr. Simon could talk to Lucy.

"Alright sweetie. You're being a real trouper, but I'm going to ask you to wait a little longer, okay? Do you think you can bear about twenty more minutes, or is that too much?" she asked kindly. "It's only because we only have one room open for this kind of surgery, and we like to have one open for a big emergency. One room is just finishing up now, and we can be in there in twenty minutes tops, okay?" Lucy merely nodded. "Okay. So, we can't really let a lot of your family in, you're only allowed one person, but I think I can convince them to let both parents in, considering your circumstances. I'll be back in a couple minutes with gowns for them and a hair net for you. We'll also be strengthening your epidural a bit. Okay?" Again, Lucy's only response was to nod.

"Alright, I'll see you then." She whispered, patting Lucy's head as she stood and left.

"Matt" Lucy heard her father say, "Can you and Mary go pick up Simon and Ruthie?"

"Sure" he replied, and Lucy heard his and Mary's footsteps as they left the room.

"mmmmmmmmmmmooooow" Lucy groaned as another contraction started up.

Ten minutes later both Eric and Annie were putting on scrubs as Lucy tried to fit her long hair into an ugly net.

"Hey Luce" Matt whispered, pushing open her door. Ruthie giggled from her place riding on his back, as Simon burst passed them. Trailing quietly behind was Mary.

"Are you gonna have the baby now?" Simon asked eagerly. For some odd reason, the boy was looking forward to this.

"Soon" she answered, wincing as he jumped onto the bed, accidentally landing on her right leg. Matt carefully pried him off the bed before placing Ruthie beside Luce. Not discouraged, Simon popped up on Lucy's left, surprising her. "Hi" she greeted.

Just then the door creaked open, and all eyes fell on Dr. Simon. "Alright Luce?"

"Yeah"

"Everything's all set" she told her, striding over and helping her tuck the last strands of hair away. "Just say good-bye for now, okay?" Lucy nodded as the arms of Ruthie and Simon enveloped her. Lifting her arms over their heads, she hugged back, and it was a full minute before anyone let go. Then came Matt, bringing Mary up behind him.

As he hugged her he whispered something in her ear. "I'm proud to be your brother."

Not looking at her, Mary offered a light, insufficient hug. Then her parents hugged her. Although they would, of course, be there, it would be impossible for them to hug her during the procedure.

"It's a roller coaster ride" Eric joked as the bed was rolled a couple rooms over. He continued to joke, but Annie barley said a word. Instead, she just held Lucy's hand; keep a constant, reassuring pressure for her. When the curtain went up, Annie stayed by her side, but Eric moved a little to watch, but still support his daughter.

"Does this hurt?" Lucy heard Dr. Simon ask as she felt an odd sensation on her stomach.

"No" it didn't exactly hurt. No, it was more like ice-water was cutting into her. It was cold, and she could feel it, but it didn't hurt, exactly. Now the cut was being pushed apart, and there was some pressure. Then more. A whole lot of pressure. She gripped her mother's hand tightly, but out of nerves, not pain.

"Here's the baby" she heard the doctor laugh. Pressure released slowly, but she didn't hear the cries of a newborn infant. Instead, a couple nurses crowded around a small hospital-bassinet, their arms moving quickly. As Lucy felt the sensation of ice-water stitching the wound closed a nurse walked over, carrying a small bundle in her arms. She looked as if she were about to hand it to Eric, but he backed away, so any took it.

"He gave us quiet a scare" the nurse told them, "lots of gunk in his mouth, but he's fine now." She smiled at Lucy as Annie brought the baby down to eye level.

"My baby" Lucy whispered, touching his little face tentatively. "I'm a mother."

"And I'm a grandma" Annie added, smiling at the baby too. Eric had mysteriously gone. They assumed (correctly) that he was telling everyone else the news.

AN: sorry about not updating in FOREVER. I'm not sure how many more people will read this, and there's a 75 chance this is my last chapter, but who knows, right? If this gets a good enough reaction I might write one or two more, but I've sadly lost a lot of interest in this story.