Three and a half months later …

After Max's cancer went into remission, Peter wasn't needed at the hospital as often. When his time at New Amsterdam lessened, Embry lowered her own hours especially as she was nearing her due date.

The couple was sitting on their sofa when there was a knock at their door.

Fulton stood and made his way to the door, gesturing for Embry to stay seated. She'd been experiencing more and more Braxton Hicks contractions as each week passed.

Max and Karen Brantley entered their home, almost against Fulton's wishes.

"What can I do for the two of you?" Fulton inquired, closing his eyes as he saw Embry struggle to get up and join him.

"Dr. Fulton," Max began, "We've been investigating one of our surgeons. He paralyzed one of our patients for no good reason. What can you tell me about this?" he inquired as Karen shook her head, taking on her usual holier than thought stance.

Fulton reached out and grasped Embry's hand as he replied, "I pulled him out of the surgical rotation. At the time, that was the best option we had," he shared, keeping his head high even as Max looked down at him, giving him the full Max and not in the way anyone wanted it.

"Peter, this is a disaster," Max replied, "He should have been fired, not moved. How can I justify what we did?"

Embry felt a real contraction, which she ignored as she placed a small kiss on Peter's cheek, hoping to give him strength.

"I did the best thing I knew how to at the time," Fulton responded, "There was no universe where a jury would believe that a respected surgeon made a mistake where the only witness was a resident. I'm sorry if this is causing you problems now, but I handled it the best way I knew how at the time," he repeated, standing firm in his decision from the time, causing Max to nod.

Max looked down at the floor as he shook his head, "I suppose that we have no defense for when we tell this patient that she's only paralyzed because of a mistake of ours. I'm disappointed in you, Peter," he added.

Embry spoke up, ignoring her contractions, "Max, Peter did the best he could with the information he had and the options he had at the time. You can make this better by today's standards, but there is no way you can say that things could have been handled better fifteen years ago," she stated, firmly as she was no longer able to hide the pain she was experiencing as she hunched forward grasping her large bump.

"Max, distract me from this," Embry begged as she felt Fulton supporting her with one hand on her elbow and the other on her lower back, "Are you and Helen finally together? I know it might be a little soon after Georiga but you can't deny that kind of chemistry," she finished through gritted teeth as she felt the full force of a contraction hit her.

Max moved closer to help Fulton assist her through the contraction while answering, "She and I have been on a few dates, but there is nothing serious going on yet," he confessed.

Once the contraction ended, "That's better than nothing," she replied to Max before Embry looked at Fulton, "I think we need to go to the hospital. Our baby is coming," she shared as she looked into his eyes, staring into them with her own.

After a few hours passed while Embry was in active labor, it was finally time to push as Fulton stood by her side, holding her hand tightly.

"You've got this, my love," he urged, his thick New York accent more of a motivation than she'd care to admit.

Embry nodded as she listened to her doctor's instructions, one of her coworkers. She bore down as the contraction took over and counted to ten just as she was told to do.

Fulton placed a kiss on her forehead, "It'll be over before you know it," he encouraged her as she bared down again.

A few pushes later, their baby was on her chest, causing the couple to be overwhelmed with emotion.

"Congratulations, you two," the doctor began, "You have a healthy baby girl."

Embry looked at Fulton, her eyes inquisitive and filled with happy tears, "What should we name her?" she asked as she glanced back at their baby girl.

"I've always been partial to Piper. What do you think of that name?" he questioned as he placed a soft kiss on the top of their baby's head.

Embry felt her eyes filling with more tears than she had time for, "I love that name. What do you think, Piper?" she whispered to their tiny daughter. The baby's only response was to cry but Peter and Embry both took that as agreement to the name Piper.

The End