Maggie wanted her aunt to be in the delivery room when she went into labor. Lucille was like a mother to her and she couldn't imagine anyone else being in there with her and of course, Lucille agreed. Lucille loved Maggie like a daughter and she was over the moon that the younger woman wanted her in the room with her when she gave birth.
The thing was, though, that Maggie hadn't anticipated how much she would need her aunt in the room when it came time to give birth. The contractions kept getting worse and worse. It was pain like she had never felt before and she needed the only maternal person in her life with her. But when it came time to push, they wanted everyone out of the room, except the father, because not only was Lucille in the room, Marty, Fred, Jacob and Henry where in the room as well. Lucille stayed in the room, as well as Marty, but one of the nurses asked her to leave, saying that only the father could stay in the room. Lucille made it a point to stay in the room, but the nurse wouldn't have any of it.
"Ma'am, you need to leave," the nurse said. The nurse was starting to get irritated that Lucille wouldn't leave, but she had been explicitly asked to stay in the room.
"I want her to stay," Maggie interjected when the contraction she was having subsided.
"She can't stay in here. There's too many people," the nurse said. Tears sprang to Maggie's eyes at the thought of Lucille not being there. The nurse noticed this, let out a sigh and gave in.
"Fine, she can stay," she said and went back to what she was doing before she shooed everyone away. Lucille rushed back to Maggie's side, taking her niece's hand. She leaned over and kissed Maggie's head comfortingly.
"It's okay, sweetheart, I'm staying," she said. Maggie held onto her aunt's hand for dear life, another contraction hitting her.
"It hurts so bad, Auntie Lucille," she said softly when the contraction subsided again.
"I know it does, sweetie. But you're almost there and you won't remember any of it when first hold your baby," Lucille replied. Within minutes of Lucille saying this, it was time for Maggie to push and within another few minutes of that, Maggie had a baby in her arms. She was a beautiful baby girl, seven pounds and seventeen inches. Both Marty and Maggie had decided that if it were a little girl, they would name her Barbara, after Maggie's mother and that's exactly what they did. Lucille watched over the happy new couple while they looked down at their little girl. When Maggie realized that Lucille wasn't doing the same thing, she looked around the room. When she found her aunt, she smiled at the redheaded woman.
"Come here, Aunt Luce," she said. Lucille smiled and walked over to the bed Maggie was sitting in. She leaned over and looked at her grandniece.
"She's beautiful," Lucille breathed. "And she looks exactly like you, Mags," she added. Maggie smiled at the comment and then looked up at her aunt.
"Do you want to hold her?" Maggie asked. She could tell that Lucille wanted to hold Barbara and she wanted her aunt to hold her grandniece just as much as Lucille did.
"Of course," Lucille said and she opened her arms so the baby could be transferred to her. Maggie carefully handed the baby to her aunt. Lucille comfortably moved the baby around and when the baby's head was cradled in the pit of her elbow, she softly started rocking her back and fourth.
"Hi, sweetheart," she said softly to the baby in her arms. Both Maggie and Marty just watched Lucille while she rocked their daughter. "I already love you so much," she added, even softer. Marty looked down at his girlfriend and smiled.
"Congratulations, Mom," he said softly and leaned over, planting a loving kiss on her lips. Maggie kissed him back happily before Lucille handed them their baby and let them have a few minutes with her before the rest of the family welcomed the newest baby.