Chapter 18

House and Kate were ready to make settlement on their new home September 5. The baby was due at the end of September, which would give them three weeks to get settled into the house before the baby came. Of course, being the child of Gregory House, predictable was not to be.

On the morning of September 1, Kate woke up feeling strange. She realized it was because she was lying in what seemed to be a puddle. Petrified, she woke House up.

"Greg, something's wrong!"

Her words penetrated his deep sleep. "What?" he asked, sitting up, "What's wrong?"

"There's water or something all around me. Is your side of the bed wet?"

"No, of course not…wait," he said, sudden realization hitting him. "Your water broke."

"That can't be. Water only breaks when the baby is ready to come. I've got three weeks left!"

"Don't think so. Water breaks, baby's coming. Call your doctor."

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An hour later, Kate was being admitted to the hospital. She had protested this with her doctor.

"I'm not in labor. I don't' have any pains at all. I feel perfectly fine."

"That may be so," Dr. Akiro replied, "But once your water breaks, the amniotic sac is broken and not protecting the baby. There is a chance of infection, so we have to keep you in the hospital where we can monitor you. Also, the chances are that you will be going into labor soon, so you might has well be here."

Kate had grumbled some more, but in the end she did what Akiro and House both told her to do. She was given a room at Princeton-Plainsboro. House sat with her for a while, but looked bored and kept getting calls from his team. Finally, Kate told him to go to his office and work.

"You're right here in the hospital. Once I go into labor, they can page you and you can be here within minutes."

He didn't want to leave her, but waiting like this was driving him crazy, so he agreed and went back to his office.

Kate spent the next few hours waiting. The doctor had encouraged her to walk around as much as she could, as that might bring on labor. So she walked. And whenever he could, House can back to Maternity and walked with her.

The day ended, night came on. Still, they waited. Kate eventually fell asleep. House did too, sitting in the chair beside her bed.

Just before dawn, a nurse came in and told them that Dr. Akiro wanted to start inducing labor and they brought her to the delivery rooms. They started to administer Pitocin to induce labor. She started to experience labor pains and the obstetrician was confident that the baby would come soon.

But the baby didn't. They gave her the Pitocin three times, but her cervix was no dilated enough for the baby to come out. Meanwhile, the labor pains, which are much worse when being induced, continued. She was also given an epidural for the pain, but there was no relief in sight.

By early evening, Kate was still not dilated enough for birth and the doctor was afraid to let the labor continue. She came into the room and asked if she could talk to them.

"I want to do a cesarean. I don't want her to continue in this much pain. Also, the water broke 36 hours ago and it might compromise the baby."

Kate looked at House. "Greg, what do you think?"

"C-sections are done all the time. They're usually pretty routine. But it is surgery and they do have to cut you open, so there's always a risk."

"Should we do it?" She was putting her trust in him.

House looked at the woman he loved. He had hated watching her in pain all day. Living with pain himself, he never wanted her to experience it. But he also didn't want to risk her life. And surgery, no matter how routine, was always a risk.

Kate as looking at him, trust in her eyes. She was trusting him to make the right decision. He tried to separate himself as a doctor, to forget this was his woman, his baby. What would he advise a patient to do?

"Have the C-section." He told her.

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House stood near Kate in the operating room as Dr. Akiro started the surgery. He didn't know if he wanted to be here beside her or far away in office waiting. But he knew he had to stay. The operation was proceeding normally, when suddenly the monitors began beeping. House turned his eyes towards the machines, checking to see what was wrong. Her heart was going into distress. The doctor was almost finished delivering the baby and the attendants were assisting her. They heard the monitor, but had to finish with the baby. House began immediate CPR on Kate. Within moments, her heart rate went back to normal.

House breathed a sigh of relief, even as he realized that he had told her to have the C-section and she had almost died. The nurses were getting Kate cleaned up, so he walked out of the operating room to take a breath. Dr. Akiro followed him.

She pulled off her mask and said, "This might have happened if she didn't have the C-section. And with all the pain she was going through, she might have been weaker and not able to come back as fast. You made the right decision."

"Yeah, well, it was seconds away from being the wrong one."

'But it wasn't. Kate will be fine. And also," she said with a smile, "will your daughter."

"Daughter?" House asked in amazement, having momentarily forgotten about the baby in his worry for Kate. "We have a daughter?"

Dr. Akiro smiled and nodded. House went back into the room, where the nurse was washing the baby. He went to her and looked at the child in her arms.

"Daughter." He said in wonder.

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Kate was holding her new daughter in her arms. The baby finally opened her eyes and Kate saw deep blue eyes that she had only seen once before.

"Guess you're Daddy's girl, aren't you?" Kate said and placed a kiss on her downy head.

A/N: Please excuse any medical mistakes. As stated before, I'm not a medical professional in any sense of the word. Most of the pregnancy and birth, I took from my own experiences (except for the cardiac distress - didn't happen to me, thank God!). This was a rather short chapter, but I wanted to get the baby born. More fun to follow, so please stay tuned! Thanks again for the reviews.